Monday, March 15, 2010

Triple the Scraps, Neighbor


I look forward to our scripture challenges and usually work on them Sunday evenings. It's way too fun.

Our sixth scripture challenge focused on the concept of neighbor. I am continuing to use Close To My Heart products to create my 6”x 6” pages which, by the way, I display from a Seven Gypsies free-standing photo holder. It looks quite stunning. I chose the Parable of the Good Samaritan as my backdrop and focused on Luke 10:36-37 to define the moment.. In light of our own lingering winter and wet spring, I thought that a nautical theme would be appropriate so I used a page from our Majestic Blue Level 2 Paper Pack (X7081C) for our flood or raging waters and a sheet from our Everyday Celebration card making kit for the sky. I used Crème Brulee cardstock to stamp the birds and mounted the project on a 6” x 6” piece of Colonial White cardstock. I used our Springtime (D1415) stamp set for my birds and my umbrella boat. Our added a few details to our needy neighbor to create a sense of distress. As you can see, four of the little birds were piled in one umbrella boat hoping to get to safety while one little brave Samaritan was returning to help his neighbor. I quickly discovered that Crème Brulee was not the best color choice, so I used two Copic markers to adjust my hue: Y38 Honey and Y08 Acid Yellow. I used the CTMH Around the Block (D1377) to form my journaling clouds. I used Outdoor Denim (Z2140) to stamp my clouds and for chalking the edges. I also used pop dots to bring additional dimension to the umbrellas and glue dots for a slightly lesser 3-D effect.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Operation Welcome Home

These 4 ½” x 5” cards are for: Operation Welcome Home Maryland. This organization includes handcrafted cards in their "welcome home" packages for servicemen and women returning from overseas assignments. Operating of BWI, they greeted 42,088 returning servicemembers in 2009. My personal goal is to make a minimum of 25 cards per month. 
      While not all cardmakers like to include an inside sentiment, I do. I also like to stamp the matching envelopes. Operation Welcome Home Maryland doesn't require envelopes. The first card reflects both the card cover and the inside message. I normal stamp the inside before building the card.
      I made 24 of these cars using CTMH products. I used Cocoa cardstock (X5642) on a white card base and Desert Sand (1273) for the helmut base. Much to my disappointment, I ran out of my cocoa cardstock . . . and I didn’t even have any chocolate on hand to substitute! I also CTMH Exclusive Inks Cocoa (Z2114), Vanilla Cream (Z2169) and New England Ivy (Z2135).
     I used the following CTMH Stamps:
  • Welcome Home (D1370) 
  • Around the Block (D1377)
  • For Every Occasion (D1187)
  • Hero’s Pride (C1315)
  • Just Like You (C1300)
  • Dainty Thoughts (C1350)

     I used my stippling tool from our Texture Tools set (Z1298) for my background on the second card.

 

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Great American Scrapbooking Convention

I just made my hotel reservations for the Great American Scrapbooking (GASC) Convention in Chantilly, Virginia.  A wonderful passerby took this picture of me with my friend, Skinny Cow, last year.

(GASC) is slated for June 25 and 26, so my excitement level is through the roof. Online registration is supposed to start this month, which means I will be even MORE excited before all is said and done. I attended the convention last year and learned some incredible techniques. I am so totally ready for new classes, new techniques and a great vendor fair.

I have four overnight scrapbooking conventions on my calendar for this year: Stamp,Scrap, Art Tour in Oaks, PA on March26-27, GASC on June 25-26, Close to My Heart in Washington DC July 7-10 (for consultants only), and CKC at Valley Forge. Their registration opens April 21 at 1:00 PM EST.

But I'm not selfish, honest! When I return, I simply can't wait to share what I've learned with my friends. How exciting is that?

By the way! Speaking of sharing with friends, I finally purchased a web cam for my laptop computer. I made sure I got one with good picture quality so I can do online workshops. If you're game, let me know.

But now I must get serious about preparing for these conventions. Maybe 15 to 20 minutes a day on the eliptical will help me come up to speed for all the walking I'll be doing between workshops and at the vendor fairs . . . (Sigh, the sacrifices we must make. . .) In the meantime, have a blessed day. Maybe I'll get to see you there!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Cardmakers can support our troops


When my husband and I arrived at BWI at 11:30 this morning to pick up our daughter who was returning from Kyrgyzstan, I never expected to stumble across a way for cardmakers and scrapbookers to support our troops. Since our daughter's flight was delayed another two hours or so, we were invited to help put together goodie bags for the returning troops (see the bag in my daughter's left hand). It was filled with a water bottle, a home-made thank you card, two pieces of candy, a protein bar and peanut butter crackers. Leslie's "card" was made by a little girl named Alicia who thanked her for her part in keeping the war from coming to us. When I asked volunteer Larry W. Shipley  if they could use any more cards, he said, "yes, we're running low." Today, they were meeting 430 returning military servicemen and women. Another volunteer told me that last year they greeted 42,088 returning heroes and sheroes.

I can't tell you how much seeing this picture of my daughter in body armor and carrying an M-16 gave me pause to stop and think. She's an equestrian, working on her master's degree in finance, and enjoyed doing little girl things when she was a child. I tried to rationalize, thinking that maybe she was holding someone else's weapon for the sake of the photo. So I asked her if the M-16 she had in the photo was hers:

"Of course, Mom," she said. "I was in a hot spot. We had to wear the body armor and carry the weapons. We all had to qualify on them too. It was a pain in the neck carrying them around when you're trying to do your job. I was glad when I could get rid of it."

Yeah, these are our children, doing their best to keep the war on terror away from our shores. And these wonderful volunteers at Operation Welcome Home Maryland pause a moment and give our returning military members a sincere "thank you."

If you're interested in sending thank you cards (I didn't see envelopes with the ones we placed into the goodie bags) to our returning service members, you can mail them to:

Operation Welcome Home Maryland
Attn: Larry Shipley
46 Carroll Street
Westminster, MD 21157

Thanks for your support.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Scripture Challenge 5: FOLLOW

When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. (John 10:4, NIV)


I knew which scripture and what images I wanted to use for this challenge. The only thing I didn’t know was where to find the sheep. I do have some cute Cornish Heritage Farm sheep stamps, but I wanted to keep using the Close to My Heart products just to see If I could. Then I remembered some wonderful punches I had, so here they are! My CTMH products include STAMPS – D1377 Around the Block and D1418 Felicity. I used papers from Level 2 paper packs – X7082B Expedition and X7096B Blue Ribbon.

The punches were primarily EK Success. The tag punch (for the legs) also accommodated the ears and the eyes. I used a 1/2-inch circle punch for the tail. A light chalking of the sheep's bodies with CTMH Desert Sand added depth and a white Inksentials pen added the rest of the features. I stamped the clouds with Moonstruck (Z2124) Essential Inks. This project came together quickly, which made it all the more fun to do.