Christmas is Here at Last!

Christmas is here at Last

        This was one of those cards that I didn't have time to do and send out. I loved the arrangement and the tones with the highlight of color on the tree. And for all my blog friends, I loved the sentiment.

Another picture I am fond of is this one from our friends at Fort Sills (take a look--->). There is a wonderful slide show on Operation Write Home's web site (www.operationwritehome.com). Go to the Mail room for the slide show... some of the slides are so touching, it has soldiers who are still on deployment having their Christmas in the field. It helps me and our other card makers identify why we are making cards for these heroes.
While we've taken time off from making cards; I have been busy, nevertheless. I was thinking about card patterns and new designs for this coming year.

What if we use this design from OWH and use our Valentine papers to make troop cards. OWH deadline is Jan. 31... so we'll have to get started in order to have some new designs ready. Remember card size is a little smaller than a regular greeting card ( 4.25 X 5.5). No glitter on these cards and use a very quick drying glue or double sided stick tape runner. All the information is on the OWH website.

  I thought..."What if we used some different colors for these valentine cards?" (These colors are great!)
Card Making Mag. features this as a color challenge not long ago. We could use these colors on the card challenge design and block in a background and add them as part of the bottom squares---a heart where the circle is located and our sentiment in the square where the OWH sign is. Why not try a card with these colors? Here a valentine-style card with a heart motif in these colors. What do you think?                  

    One of my goals for next year will be to explore other techniques and try other styles. So far in this first year we have been pretty basic, but I think we are ready to do more designing on our own and have fun with ideas and new challenges.  Take a look at your scrap drawer and see if you have any of those papers and colors left from last year. ( We'll put those scraps to work!)   
In the meanwhile, I want to wish you all a wonderful holiday season..... and last-but-not-least, if you are still procrastinating about making your cards, here's two vintage patterns

                                

for some ideas and eye candy.  And HO (x3),
Merry Christmas 
Gloria J. and all the Card Makin' Cuties!                              

Thanksgiving-Our American Holiday

This is one of my favorite picture of the fall scenery. Its beautiful! Another part of its beauty is it pulls our families and friends together in a way that no other holiday does. It brings us together to celebrate our thankfulness. We do have so much to be grateful for, don't we!

We've had a wonderful first year in our non-profit card making project. Our team has grown in size. We've made a progress in learning more about our craft and  what it takes to have this kind of  commitment.
We've had to fun, loads of fun!  Of course, I personally,want to thank our group of "card makin' cuties," with out you, I can do nothing--- with you I can do everything. You are all wonderful. The women of CMC have shown me they are all  a very high distinguished caliber of person indeed---I am so thankful God brought them by our door.  By the end of this year, we will have made and sent to OWH (Operation Write Home) over 526 cards to send off to our troops so they may mail them home to their families. Wow!

This is a great picture of our recent fund raising booth we had at the Hancock  Co. Homemakers Holiday Bazaar. It was a wonderful way for us to connect with people and get our name out there in the public eye. The thing I was so grateful for was the encouragement and the support we were given. Some people really got the whole idea of what we were doing. Every single item in our booth was made of card stock or paper, it was all hand made.That's including Garry's handiwork in building the booth,  doing the lighting and installation on site.
While we were given recognition by the visitors to the booth, one of the participants also wanted to help us.
I want to link you to a lady who has been in the business of giving others a hand up ever since she started--- Jana Bass and the Bass Farm, who are makers of Goat Milk soaps and lotions. Jana has sent their products to cancer patients. Jana  have sent many, many of their lotions out to our troops in the home front care kits. They have some great products for hands who deal with  cracking and dryness in winter months. I'm sorry you can't feel how wonderful and silky it is! Soooo...Take a look at her web site:

www.bass farms.com  ---all their products are on their site. If you order anything for the holidays use our code : CMC on your order and Jana will give you a 10% discount on the total. (And a must try is:  "Baby Butt Butter"!) This is Jana's way of helping you as one of our supporters.
This has been the theme of this year, good tidings and great joy have come to us in many different places, in many people and through  many different sources. To all of you I am extremely grateful.

It is my deepest prayer for all of you that you have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving holiday--- that your homes are graced with the meaning found in an attitude of gratitude and that this one day of thankfulness may grow and spread in our hearts and in the hearts of others throughout the whole year.

Most of all, our prayers go out to the troops who serve to keep our freedoms in this land. May we give them honor and praise for their bravery.

It is Fun Raising Time!

 I am so excited!!! It is fund raising time!!! and it has been fun trying some new things.
That's not to say it's been all play,  we have been working our little fingers off, cutting our beautiful paper for cards and making lovely boxes. One of our Cuties,
Judy made these boxes for her Mom's home made cookies. And BTW, Ginny's cookies are delicious, she's been treating us to these scrumptious cookies every Thursday. We are using the boxes to place our cookies in to sell at the Home Maker's Holiday Bazaar.

  AND cards, YES, we will have cards ready to do in a "Make-It, Take-It" format. The cards are simple to make, an easy project of 5 or less steps ( 10 to 15 mins. tops) and you get to take it away with you all complete. Ta Da! There are over 10 designs in all. Some Birthday, some Thanks and others.  AND ...Where is this Home Maker's Holiday Bazaar--- in Greenfield, IN. at the 4-H Fair ground. Nov 5th. Check the paper for the start time.

Are you looking for a pattern? Here is one I liked for a Thanksgiving theme.
We used a 3-D turkey and placed it where the heart is. The sentiment... " Eat More Ham".

It was somewhat like the Chic-Fil-A commercial, but then, we do borrow ideas---beside, my family thought it was funny ( and that was priceless!.)

We found lots of good ideas in this month's Classic "Crafts and things" magazine. The ideas are classic.

Some of the projects are on- line and they are free instructions to help you.

When so many groups are trying to do fund raisers... its nice to have fun---while your doing those projects.

We are looking forward to folks in our area stopping by our booth and  helping us with card making. All the donations will go to help us send cards to our troops through Operation Write Home. I  hope you do pass the word along to others.
Thank you, Gloria

August, gone? On to Fall's Excitment!

 Are you ready to go to work on some new plans for fall cards? I am!
      Have your seen the new fall lines for Bo Bunny and others? I love the fall colors, the new paper lines, some exciting new combo colors for Christmas and  new embellishments. Card Makers Mag. www.CardMakerMagazine.com has a great article with some wonderful border and layering ideas for fall cards. I hope you can get your hands on a copy of their September issue.

 This summer we visited two area shops in Indiana. It was a real "shop hop" traveling from Bloomington, in the southern half of the state and up to Fort Wayne in the northern part of the state, that is, to  PaperTrix www.papertrix.com and Stamping Day and Night www.stampingdayandnight.com respectfully. Each shop has their own classes if you need new ideas.  They are wonderful people who graciously did a little tutoring with  our card makin' cuties. I urge you to go to their web sites and you'll see what talented ladies they are! It was well worth spending our summer traveling and enjoying meeting these new friends.

How do you like simplicity in your life? Isn't this simple yet,
quite a beautiful card.
It's made by Lisa Haynes.
Lisa has been a contributor to OWH, too,
and shares her work there.
Here's design sketch # 83  which she used for her card from OWH.  

   You can go directly to their link from here www.operationwritehome.com for other ideas.


And ... here is another clever inspirational idea for a fall design card and perhaps the sentiment... "Happy Birthday!"
 Just goes to show you, ideas can come from many different places. This one comes from a Flickr  photo. Take a look at this for a re-purposing idea... "fall theme-Birthday". Just use one of your cake design stamps. Give one of these old cake  stamps a new lift by adding a few punched out leaves around your stamp design .
And Ta-Da! A new fall flavored birthday card! I love it.
               Summer may be over, but our card making is never finished! Just clear off some of your summer fun stamps, because summer closing opens a whole new trip of inspiration, more new friends and fresh new projects to use in our card making arts.

                A friend once re-framed this scripture by saying:   Always remember: There is a season for everything. Some times its a new season for moving on in our lives, or a season to learning some thing new. It may be a time of making new memories and a time for letting go of our old regrets. There is a new season for everything.      
Personally speaking, I like that idea.
Have a great day and Happy Fall Carding!
Gloria J.

Getting Your Stuff Organized

Garry and friend at the grill

Whether your off having the summer bar-b-que or you're  on vacation, we all have to get some things organized to really enjoy our time. Right?

I came across several tips from an article written for Creative Keepsake Magazine/March/ 2009 issue. The article had "31 Tips For Organizing" and getting your crafting stuff organized. Among the most effective tips for me was the idea start somewhere! It doesn't make much difference where you begin, if it is a box or a drawer, just start there. Take small steps so you're not overwhelmed in the beginning.  I think this is a tip we all can use, whether we are card makers and stamper or into crafts or not, we begin to reduce stress when we start with small steps and keep moving forward. We will eventually make progress.

I noticed with our Card Makin' Cuties, we have to make a new spaces for all the card making tools. One of the tips addressing this was getting your organizing style established. Are you a visiual organized person? If so, then put all your stuff where you can see it in clear boxes and bags. Maybe you'll want your things out of sight? If so invest some cabnet or closet space for this purpose and buy baskets or decorative boxes. 

                    Another tip was label everything. Label, label, label. ( I must admit, I'm don't do very well at this and I put things away where they don't belong.) The article drew attention to labeling once a "home" or place could be established for like items or tools. Get all your things in order.   Especially, 

begin by having the things you use most frequently close at hand. When these items are placed where they are easily accessible we tend to spend less time running around        trying to find them. (A waste of a crafter's time.)

Where do you go for inspiration and creativity? 

I was on-line looking, when  I found most manufactures want to inspire us with ideas about their new products so go on their websites for a card gallery of ideas. A tip from our article was, " make a date to go to your magazines or on-line and view new ideas."

For our new assignment with Operation Write Home, www.operationwritehome.org (click this web link for summer deadlines and new ideas, too), we are starting our fall designs and a few Christmas ideas. OWH has a some ideas for their fall cards and do take note about their advice for Halloween cards. Look over this information and their instructions on their blog.

         Our July group took another field trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to a small shop called Stamping Day and Night, www.stampingdayandnight.com, just connect to Sarah's link and see the wonderful card samples we were treated too. (We wanted to say thanks so much for the wonderful day with you and Lana.) Sarah Kimber is the owner of SDN. She shared some new coloring techniques with colored pencils that were fabulous! We are so grateful for the "show and tell" with you Sarah. 

She pointed out that everyone can use help along the way, how to use the tools in our tool kits or help learning a new skill or art form. We can all use help in staying organized and inspired to create the new images in our stamps. 

I personally think stampers and card crafters are the nicest, most hospitable people I've ever met in all my years of crafting. You guys are great!!!

Well, until later, I'll be organizing my label's labels.

Gloria J.

Sending Out Encouragement Cards

We found sending cards of encouragement help others so much. I must admit I only think of doing so when I hear someone is ill or in some type of distress. Just recently, I was reminded  there are many people in the service- related industry that would love to have some type of tangible encouraging message, like a card,saying-- " well done," "continue your good work" or even, "You make my day!"  Cards of encouragement are great.

       Just recently I was introduced to a wonderful group who were helping any one with children of Autism. The struggle the family goes through is a "journey" all unto itself and they need our encouragement.

Hands in Autism is one resource center  available in our local area who are part of a whole resource agency-- IRAC located at www. iidc.indiana.edu/irca . This website can answer many questions about autism and it can get you started in the right direction if you think your child has this neurological disorder.

    Soooo--------Why am I talking about this our blog site? Well, it is directly related to military families and our card making for OWH .
Did you know there are approximately 8,800 children of retired military families who are not currently covered under TRICARE, which is the Department of Defense's health care program? Congressmen John Larson and Walter Jones have introduced a bipartisan legislation which is aimed at resolving this issue for children of retired militarywho have children with Autism/  Asperger'sSyndrome.
   The bill was introduced on June 22,2011 by these congressmen as the Caring for Military Kids with Autism Act. You can read more about this legislation by clicking onto:  www.autism-society.org.
I am passing this information along to you not only as awareness in their resources, but also as a way for you to encourage people you know in service-related areas. ( Autism Society/ 4340 East-West Hwy, Suite 350/Bethseda, Maryland, 20814).
     Let me pass along this sketch. Isn't it perfect for  a card of encouragement?... I think it is too.

 I'm looking forward to  other designs and sketches too. Be sure to sign up for the free newsletter to Paper Crafter newsletter. It is a great way to look at new products, give-aways and designs.
It's been great to chat with you all.Last, let me say be an encourager to others,  you have all been an encouragement to me,.... so until later.  Enjoy the summer. Leave a comment.

      

You wanted Web sites for July 4th Info

Ha---ha---or should I say ...Opps! I wrote my Fourth of July Blog late last night, and that is not the best time for me to write.  I left out some things, especially the website for our friends and some information about an up coming stamping craft cruise.
So here is what I omitted.Please read the Relax, It's Summer article first and then, come back to this blog for the other details. You will understand why-- read the blog first and come back.
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The cruise was offered in Paper Creation's ad, go on line at www.PaperCraftConnection.com ---the ad for the cruise is on-line.
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Also Cindy and Wayne Hawry at Paper Trix  has a web site and you can see their shop and look at their event schedule from there.  Go to:
 www.papertrix.com  click onto their link for more classes in the southern Indiana area.
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Remember Copic pens has a new Color Book out . It is $14.95 but it is worth it if you are a beginner in this media art for cards.
That's my corrections to the July 4th blog. I hope that helps the "dazed and confused" (and that would be me!) Thanks for reading on--the blog is worth it.

Relax, It's Summer Fun!

I know this summer is going by so quickly. Here we are celebrating the Fourth of July weekend. Yes! 

Our group of card makers is on a summer break- a fun break. We are gathering some new resources, doing some shop watching, sharing some new tools and new techniques.  We've managed to plan a few outings, maybe take in a class or two later this summer and  plan  a summer salad luncheon.

While looking for things we might do, several web sites are offering great cruises at great prices. Several of the magazines (like Card Maker) have details about the cruises and what opportunities they are offering. Check them out. 

 

Gloria and Ellen ready to travel.

By the way, we were looking Card Maker Mag. for ideas and we ran across an article about a little shop in Nashville, Indiana, called PaperTrix, owned and operated by Cindy and Wayne Hawry. We got the car gassed up and took off for southern Indiana and this little shop called Paper Trix. It was wonderful. The article explained the shop was little but mighty. Cindy was such a gracious hostess and informed us about several classes they will host for the summer months. Wayne couldn't wait to share his secrets on ink and blending. Like I said, they were so gracious, we had only met them and yet, stamping and card making brought us together as friends. We finally left the little shop and it deserves the name Paper Trix...my Oh! my, the small shop was crammed floor to ceiling with wonders and magic...real specialty items, you can't get at the box stores.

Judy made us another birthday card! We can't stop her,  she's on a roll with several paper tricks of her own.  This one was showing off a new punch design. 

While her card looks very difficult, she said its the punch that makes the card look difficult.

She added a few paper stickers, with paper flower...that's when  the WOW factor happened. Way to go, Judy.

The Cuties send everyone our greatest sentiments for a glorious holiday celebration. We hope you have a restful summer, a fun filled summer and some great fun with friends making cards. Let us know of your finds by leaving us your comments.

The Big Bang--is a Birthday Card!

It all started just six months ago. That is, our group of fabulous women, Card Makin' Cuties,  has grown every month. So we are celebrating! And why not celebrate with a new card;  we have some new punches,other new tools and, even, new graphic paper along with some new ideas. Let's go girls--- we've set our goal for OWH.

We are learning more and more about the vast variety of card makers out there. Who are you all? I've been connected with "Handmade by Julie" www.handmade byjulie.com who has been so helpful. She was part of the recent Memorial Day Blog Hop hosted by Operation Write Home. They are lots of fun. When you go onto one of the cardmakers sites, they not only give you inspiration but help with some ideas and then send you on to another site. This was my first time to blog hop with the group and I loved it. I can't wait to do it again.

This little sign wasanother way of inviting us to look  for inspiration through Penny Black and their Saturday Challenge. This is a lot of fun, especially if you think you have a dry spell and think there is nothing new to do.

OH MY! After a challenge, you feel like you can't stop making cards and more and more ideas flow. On the Penny Black site was a download on a new stamp pictured below.

Isn't that a cute little bear, sitting in a field and loving this fluttery butterfly. Now, can you put this idea to work on a design pattern for example (#68) from OWH.

 

www.operationwritehome.com. The ideas just keep coming and inspiration fills the air. 

Well, I want to thank Judy for loaning us her card design. It was the big bang we all needed to start us off with new ideas for  another 6 months.

This is so wonderful. We have found a second purpose with OWH and so have our card making skills. We are just  little pebbles in this sea of cardmakers...but Oh boy! are we enjoying the boat ride.

Check out some of these resources and stop by other websites for more ideas. If you have been inspired yourself to try something, good!...Let us be the first to encourage you to continue the good work forward. Some times, the most exciting part of the trip is the journey just getting there.  Until later, Gloria J.

God Bless America

First, God has blessed this country with a force of men and women who feel a love and sense of duty to preserve this nation and our way of life. I am so grateful for their commitment.

Second, in case you missed it, Operation Write Home has reached a goal of 1 million cards!  www.operationwritehome.org We just wanted to give a shout out to all the people involved in making cards for

Do you like the card designed above? The card above was completely made by two of our Card Makin' Cuties for  the Fourth of July. They did an excellent job on the design and colors for the up-coming deadline for Fourth of July cards...but  I also think its perfect for other celebrations too. Do you need a cute design for a Fourth of July invitation-- well, here you go and thank Judy and Ellen for their idea.
  "You guys did a great job! Thanks Judy and Ellen!

The next holiday coming up is Father's Day. Here is an example we really liked by our group of card makers.

This card design was just one design we used for "Father's Day." The design uses several different scrap cuts and new paper punches. One of the reasons I like the design is it has a lot of built-in forgiveness. By that I mean, if you mess up the stamp on the "light house" you can remove it and stamp another circle. The over all card is 4.25" X 5.50" as OWH has asked us to make---a good size.

Any part of the card can be repositioned, squared up or replaced before the final card design is finished. Our group, Card Makin' Cuties, likes this style of card very much.
Using the various hues of blue for effect,  light blue, sky blue, medium blue, and a navy chalk pad for edging--- with  gray, as the neutral it impressed us with its look of simplicity. Look closely, the pop comes from the tiny bit of red in the stripe gross-grain ribbon in the design.  Hope you try one of these designs and give us some feed back.
Well, happy card making.  We are  still novice at this, but we love making cards.
Gloria J.

Color choice makes a difference!

Hello! We have deadline coming up for OWH. One deadline is for more masculine cards for Dad--- cards that can be used for birthdays and other celebrations for men. We also will be making Fourth of July cards for celebration.  The design below is one we wouldn't think to use for a Fourth of July card, even though it has a flag in the design. Look again.

 

The print design used above has much cooler colors in it. You can see the gray in the design is very strong and this color may indicate a cool background such as blue or blue gray to off-set the total card design.

Embellishments (like punched-out stars) might be brushed on the edged with a blue gray chalk ink color before we adhere them to the card front design. This might be used as a card for remembrance or for Memorial Day. 

When we design cards, we are expressing something of ourselves within the card. This is one reason hand made cards are so personal.  

I usually sit in my studio experimenting with colors before a whole design is finished, just ready for the next card. I love to look outside watch the birds and the trees now green. Its all the little creatures and their activities that make life so enjoyable.  We, like all God's creatures, make our own homes warm and inviting for friends and family. Likewise, we make our cards with the same spirit of hospitality, for the pure pleasure of enjoying the "free gifts" of life and liberty of expression. 

Operation Write Home is a wonderful way to give our cards away to soldiers in deployed areas who want to reach out to loved ones back home. The soldier can find a card they like that expresses what they want to say and mail these cards back home to family members for a birthday, anniversary, get well, or a special occasion. 

Its with this same spirit of hospitality when I sit in my studio watching the neighbors struggle with their garden, mowing grass, or digging in their yard, I look for subjects of life and colors; earth tones, neutrals and  natural sources of color and simplicity. I work and forget myself, leave my situation behind me and think of the one who might select one of these cards. I realize what motivated our Lord with the passage: "Love thy neighbor as thyself." I serve out of God's love. My only regret is I can't express this feeling to everyone I meet. 

In order to have a ready made selection on hand, I have a little box of  2"X3" of scraps in different colors cut just for this designing purpose. I try several combinations with my print papers before I make a final choice of colors and patterns for the design. Then, by adding on embellishments our design is completed.

A card is a special way to communicate who you are and share how you feel. Always choose to make a card a blessing to someone; one that communicates your freedom for life and your liberty to create a work of beauty.  

I hope you all have a great day making cards for someone you love and care about. 

Gloria J.

Mom's Day: Havin' Fun Together

We're having fun with one of our friends. I think it would be safe to say Ginny is "mom" to more than few women besides her own two lovely daughters. AND... I will also stick my neck out further to say Ginny is beyond 39 years old. ( She's in her early 80's, though you couldn't tell it by her skill level.) She can make cards with the best of 'em. She is a remarkable lady who has given us a new perspective on life and living. 

We make cards to give them to others! This embraces what Ginny is all about---"you can't live if you just sit at home sitting on your hands and doing nothing." This is her philosophy. 

We celebrate role models like you, Ginny, who demonstrate with their own talent and life experiences how to live a joyous,victorious life in spite of life's age traps, adversity, deboggles and disappointments. We've witnessed your smile.

On this Mother's Day, Ginny, have a great day and enjoy your life as we enjoy the pleasure of your company...  you are one of the "Cuties."  You are special and we love you!

Brunch: Wanna have a brunch for Mother's Day? Check out what Julie is serving up on her web blog.Handmade by Julie,www.handmadebyJulie  has a cute card and some tutorials that are fabulous. Click from here to take a peek at what she's doing with her cards. Thanks Julie for the great ideas!

Don't forget to get your cards ready for OWH!

Have fun with friends, celebrate each day with them. They are gifts to each one of us and Sunday is just a day named to celebrate this fact!--- After all, Mom's deserve to be treated with some TLC more than just one day a year. Right? Right!

Birthdays and other celebrations!

Hello! This has been a wonderful week to make cards before all the outside activities begin. We've had some rain and then we've had more rain. This has added up to a lot of water and no gardening or planting taking place. So while we were inside, we used our time to catch up on a few cards and made these simple and easy cards for children entitled, "Enjoy your Birthday! Our clever card makers designed the front of the card with the stamp, the colored card stock, a print paper layer and the sentiment stamp. Easy enough... and the "wow" factor were the tied buttons. Cute, Judy! This was really clever. I call this simple design... Design 101. Everything is centered on the front of the card. The stamp design is attached to background on card stock,  which graduate in size from the center stamp design to the larger print paper on the card fronts.
Another design, Judy used all primary colors on this card and it looks great.

 The colorful print background gives the card "fun-appeal"--- and who doesn't like a cupcake for their birthday! The "balloons" stamp is printed onto  a white card stock, cut out, small bakery strings are attached to the back of the balloons and then, paper pieced onto the left side of the card front, with the sentiment stamp anchoring down the balloon cluster strings. Judy, Ellen, Ginny, our Card Makin' Cuties, did a great job on these birthday cards for Operation Write Home (OWH),  www.operationwritehome.org which provides hand made cards for our troops to send home to their loved ones.Click onto their link right here.Read more about what they are doing.

With lots of Graduations coming up this May, you might have just enough time to make your own hand made card. Here is another easy pattern to follow.

The idea we wanted to try was a bit different than the typical Graduation cards of black and gold. This design was based on the bright colors of the celebration papers. The lime green in the printed paper is placed along the right side of the card front. The colorful print is added off-side and the punch out scalloped oval is stamped with the sentiment.

 Just A Great Tip: ( thanks to OWH) We saw a need to multi-stamp our design stamp onto a blank sheet of card stock. These prints are colored when we need time fillers, like, waiting in long gas lines, at the doctors, or for children after school. Any time you have a second or two, color them in. Stamping and coloring them when you have a few minutes is a real time saver.
NO EXCUSE. When you need a card in an emergency---cut one of your pre-stamped, pre-colored prints out, attach it to colorful card stock and print backgrounds add the embellishments...and pop it in the mail.

 With Mother's Day, Graduation, Birthdays and more, spring is a wonderful time to be a card maker. I hope you can adapt these easy designs to your own cards. Share your thoughts and ideas too. Let me see what you are doing or leave a comment. What is your best tip? And by all means, show us how you used these tips and ideas.

Cards and Congratulations!

From the studio and onto the blog. Hurray! Look, I finally figured out how to make this leap! And, I want to personally thank you so much, Ellen, for being the photographer. As you can see the pictures we have here are from our March workshop. I am so excited, now, they are on the blog site. I mean this has taken me weeks to figure this step out.
In a way, its a real congratulations to our Card Makin' Cuties         (http://www.cardmakincuties.blogspot.com) and to finally see our work published. As I said, Ellen (one of our cuties) took these shots. These are  just a few of the cards we made at our March session for OWH (www.operationwritehome.org).
Our cards are generally very simple designs because we are so new to this craft. We are still learning how to use many of the materials and tools for this art form. Yet, we fell in love with making cards. As you see from the photos, this is where we begin in our studio with our group hand making each card for our troops through OWH.
The saying I'm thinking of is: "the journey begins one step at a time." In our first group session, we had all our cards made and they were ready to mail out the next day. That morning I went to the studio to get the cards... and I don't know what happened. Maybe it was the moisture in the building, the change of temperature, the glue we had used... or all of the above. The printed paper had pulled away from the card stock and was all curled up.
I sat down and almost cried. What happened to our lovely cards? Only a few remained stuck. I got on my computer thinking surely there was an answer out there. I typed in "glue problem" as a cry for help. We solved the problem at the "card hospital"  by one of our fellow card makers and Operation Write Home.
Who knew glue can get old... or for that matter, that glues have different purposes.
I always thought of glue as glue!  NO!
I watched a tutorial about glues and their purposes. I guess you could say the whole world is not all stuck on one brand as a commercial would indicate.  You may prefer one brand over another but the key to the tutorial is use the brand of glue that works well for the job you are doing.
By agreeing on one brand of glue at our next session, you can see the results in our pictures (shown above). What was that again?..."the journey begins by taking one step at a time." And so it does! We know we are just simple card makers. Just as we know we are new to this whole art form. We hope to keep going forward just as many of you have done.  So let's continue to enjoy the journey we've begun.
Proudly displaying our progress one card at a time!! Gloria J.

Beauty Beneath the Surface

  I came across this picture of my daughter's high school play. These kids had many challenges getting this production off the ground. Yet I know the experience drew them together. Now, if your looking at picture for perfection, it is not particularly a great picture. The composition, lighting, and arrangement of color are all a little off---but its beauty is what it represents. Its a memory, a moment in time for the people in the picture. The beauty is not on the surface, but beneath it.

What the card makers do for Operation Write Home (www.operationwritehome.org) goes way beyond providing their beautiful hand made cards to the organization. Beneath every card mailed to deployed service men and women is someone who cares enough to support them and encourage them to write home. In turn, the soldiers are reaching out and sending a loving thought to someone they care about and love. This circle is completed when a friend or family member open the card and have this tangible moment of being loved. The "Any Hero" cards do the same from the children who make them, to OWH and are placed in the hands of a soldier. The shared love completes the circle.

Other acts of beauty are they unselfish ways our bloggers share some great ideas on  OWH through the blog site link. Terrific designers who have their own blogs to help you get started. Sandy has a TV program on line now and you can up grade your skill-level by just tuning in to the TV show on OWH.  Beneath the surface of this organization doing good, is this selfless effort of love and caring.They are giving themselves, as are many hundreds of card makers all over the states who want to share and encourage our deployed troops.

Directly, beneath the surface is the real, true beauty;
the beauty of sharing time with one another, getting to talk and know others across the country with this same interest and sharing a way to communicate our love for them and our art. Just this week, I was reconnected to one of my own high school friends who knew we were making cards for OWH. We live hundreds of miles apart. Many years had passed between the days we were in high school plays together. As we reconnected I found out she made her own cards, and asked to send them for mailing. What a beautiful gift!  A moment for us to remember those days and make some new days of our own.  Like my daughter's high school play picture, we are friends connected to one another though this experience in our lives and the moment will be remembered!

What thoughts do you have about beauty? or Card making, or friendship? Or looking at our link with OWH? Share them with us.  

Life--Still Learnin'-Thankfully

Life is still a learning curve for me. I am retired and today I just learned how to grab a button.  Thanks due to Julie www.handmadebyjulie, I learned to place this button on the blog. Julie is a blogger I met through Operation Write Home.  She's a wonderful teacher, check out her blog link. She has some great ideas on card making on her site. She's a talented woman. Along with others, the OWH  team, our shippers, Julie helped me (a retiree) gain some confidence about blogging and stamping with Operation Write Home www.operationwritehome.org  (OWH).

My grandchildren have been learning to make cards over Spring Break. It was interesting watching their eyes as they learned about the "Any Hero" cards from the web site. Megan and Ronnie discovered making "AnyHero" Cards are an important part of OWH and supporting our troops.  I listened as they carefully chose the message stamps for the cards they were making. They were aware of the word meanings in this very different context. Soldiers under deployment was a new term for them... so the sentiments stamps and what they wanted to say was important. One of their cards said, "Thank you for our freedom."
I wondered, "what do you think they will remember of their Spring Break? My awful spinach quiche or making cards for heros?"  What do you think?
Once again, I learned something from them, "LIFE" is so very precious!
It's the reason we want to be involved in something emotionally, personally or perhaps financially. We want to matter or as one of the children's cards stated we want to make a difference in this life.
Life is precious all the time, in the happy times, in the busy times, and even in the sad times.  Teaching others about OWH is only one way of expressing our gratitude about life. Today is thankful Thursday. I am thankful for all those, (whether it's family or friends... old friends or new friends), who have shared in the effervescence of life.
               Let me know your thoughts with a comment.

Riding High, Thankful Thursday

    Have you ever felt your life was just hum-drum, status quo, or your creative juices were a little stale? Changing just one thing, like our point of view, helps us to gain a different perspective. That's certainly true about creative arts or crafts. I know its true about card making. Creating something interesting is as simple as using a different color, finding a different subject or taking up a new challenge.
Now, maybe sky diving is not be your cup of tea, but it certainly does change your perspective!

I've found OWH's blog site www.operationwritehome.org./starsandstamps.blog has given us some new ideas and challenges to help with our creative mojo. Located on their site are tutorials and advice on card making. I found it to be very helpful when I'm looking for a new perspective.  I'm always thankful for new ideas. This site has ideas and suggestions to give us inspiration as card makers.

Other sites from card magazines such as Paper Creations,and Cardmakers are excellent publications for a fresh look at making cards. The editors of these magazines have a vested interest in showing us new products and artists in the field of card making.

Just by looking at the picture above, I am so thankful for the creative eye who saw the colors of the water and the sky. It helps me see people are only a small part of the space that surrounds us. I am thankful for the view. What could you do with these colors: aqua, gray and tan? What other types of balloons are there, beside the sky diver's canape?
Let's sum up this week's thanks for the creative minds, who share every week through OWH and its website. 

Thankful for Inspiration

Are you thankful for inspiration? I sat with our group making cards yesterday and their gift to me was their inspiration for making cards. One brought some lovely paper for future projects and another brought some coupons for supplies so we might save some of the out-of-pocket  expenses.One of our new attendees came just to learn what our operation is like  so she could give a helping hand to to the group, also.
All this  is inspiring. Our group is small but its growing. We have others interested in seeing what the OWH www.operationwritehome.org  is all about and how they might be of help.  I challenge you to look at their web-site and you will see some other opportunities to help support our troops.
 I find such encouragement in-and-of itself  very inspirational. So today, I am thankful for the power of  inspiration as it motivates us. I am very grateful for the men and women who are serving our country and for OWH and their support to our troops. 
Finally, we may want to keep the people of Japan, our many troops deployed in this area in our prayers. 
  Thanks for stopping by--- be inspired.