OWH Blog Skip Number One

Welcome to the first Stars and Stamps/Operation Write Home Blog Skip. I'm a little early posting this, but I wanted to make sure that I got it done in time, and I'm in the Florida timezone rather than on the West Coast. If this is the first entry you're seeing, please go back to the Stars and Stamps blog to visit the rest. Here are the rest of the blogs in the skip.

1. Stars and Stamps
2. Barb
3. Yolanda
4. Cindy
5. Sandy
6. Karen
7. Marianne
8. Holley
9. Paula
10. Seongsook
11. Cora

Our challenge was simple - each participant was given a card pack with some patterned paper squares and a cute bunny stamp, and asked to make a card using these supplies and whatever else we felt like adding. There were two bunnies in the pack (one to practice on) but I don't do a lot of colouring, so I was able to use both. In other words, you get two cards for the price of one! (note - my scanner has a peculiar quirk - everything I scan comes out MUCH more contrasty than it is IRL. That is not blue ink around the edges of the shield, it's violet almost the same shade as the ribbon!)

The first thing I did was to make this card base with three of the patterned papers. I used my heart border punch to add a little interest. Then I set it aside and started cutting shapes on my Cricut to find the ideal shape for the bunny. I had wanted to use an oval or a heart but it didn't fit the image - the shield fit the stamp on perfectly. I cut a larger shadow layer out of the last paper, and I planned to use it on this card base... but when it was done it was just too busy. So I set the shield aside and used the plain white bunny stamp in a simple square. (If an image doesn't quite fit nicely on the page, tilting it an angle can make a big difference - I could trim a little off two corners without losing any of the image or making it seem too squashed.) It covers up a lot of the center circled panel but that's okay - I like the floral and leaves much better! Lastly I cut the sentiment with my Cricut. It didn't quite 'pop' enough, so I added a very thin black shadow layer beneath it. I fiddled around a bit to find a good placement for the sentiment. I was going to put it straight down the right-hand edge of the card but I wasn't entirely happy about it - then I laid the card down on my desk and the sentiment slid sideways and lo and behold, it fit PERFECTLY on the diagonal! It just goes to show - don't be in such a hurry to glue everything down. It might pay to take your card pieces and play with them awhile to try different arrangements and see what happens.

On to the second card... as I said, I cut this shield to use on the first card but it was too busy - it needed a plain background to make it really stand out. I don't really like colouring, but it was too plain for this background, so I compromised and just coloured in the flower and ladybug with kiddy markers. I lightly inked a plain cream cardbase with one of those fingertip inkers. It's mostly green but I added just a touch of purple to echo the paper colours. I usually cut the decorative band from paper, but I was running out of pieces and I had a purple ribbon exactly the same shade. It already had the lace sewn onto it... All I had to do was to glue it down with my ATG, and use some glue dots to add the punched flowers.

And there's my two-for-one special. Are you inspired by these cards? Want to share some of your own? We hope so! There will be more blog skips through the year, so many of you will get a chance to show your stuff. But why wait? OWH is hosting a full-blown bloghop in March, and signups are open now. You have until March 2 to put your name in. We'd love to see what you can do... In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the skip. Your next stop is Marianne...

But before you go I have one final treat for you - blog candy! I'm a premium bargain-hunter when it comes to Craft supplies, and the good folks at Target put a bunch of stamps on clearance in time for me to grab some. Three lucky people will get one of these stamps and a handmade card from me. Interested? Leave me a comment on this entry and make sure that I have some way to get in touch with you by email or through your blog. Then check back on Monday to see if you are a lucky winner. Good luck!