Operation Write Home - First Date Scheduled

Greetings All!

I have decided on the first date for our Operation Write Home (OWH) session. The date for local peeps will by Saturday, December 6th from 1:00-3:00 PM (NO CARDMAKING EXPERIENCE NEEDED). Cards from our online peeps are to be received by December 20th (I need to get them there by the 31st). Each month I will give you a theme and the general cards that are being requested. For this month they are:

December Theme: 

Valentines and winter

5 General Themes requested:

Love *most requested
Missing you *most requested
Thank you
Birthday
Thinking of you, Hello, Blank (no sentiment)

Unaccepted themes:

Get Well
Sympathy
Wish you were here
Party invitations
Baby shower cards
Bridal announcements
Wedding cards
To mommy/daddy
Retirement, other rare themes

OWH is a great way to give back. And remember that, as an incentive, I will compile a list of names of all those who participate in the month and one person (each month) will win a $10 gift card. You can choose from the following retailers:

* Dunkin' Donuts
* Starbucks
* Walmart
* Target

You could also apply the $10 on my Close to My Heart website (suenj.ctmh.com). I hope we can accumulate lots of cards for our servicemen and women.

I hope you will join my in this endeavor to bring a smile to those far away from their families. If you have any questions (need my address to mail cards), you can drop me a line HERE.

Operation Write Home: The Lightbulb went off in my head!

Today is Veteran's Day and I was remembering all who have served this country. That includes my Dad and Grandfather (Navy). This has been weighing on my mind for a few weeks now and today the light bulb went off in my head when I woke up today! Why make Veteran's Day just one day? It can be every week or once a month. 

So..........

I have decided that I am going to organize a local group to join me in person and extend the offer online too. Here is how it will work. I will create an event Monthly on Facebook and post the information on my blog as well. For those not in the area, you can participate by making cards and mailing them to me to collect. For the local peeps, I will open my home for 2-3 hrs and we will make cards using my supplies. There is NO COST to the participants. I feel it is time to give back to those who give of themselves to serve our country. 

As an incentive, I will compile a list of names of all those who participate in the  month and one person (each month) will win a $10 gift card. You can choose from the following retailers:

* Dunkin' Donuts
* Starbucks
* Walmart
* Target

You could also apply the $10 on my Close to My Heart website (suenj.ctmh.com). I hope we can accumulate lots of cards for our servicemen and women. 

Here are the guidelines for cards we can send:

1. No glitter! It can flake off and cause a safety hazard. Please nothing shimmery.
2. A2 sized cards with envelopes are requested. No handmade envelopes.
3. Line cards made with dark cardstock.
4. Limit multiples to five.
5. NO handwritten sentiments

To read the full guidelines, click HERE.

I will be obtaining an Operation Write Home stamp to stamp the back of the cards received. Should you wish to order your own, you can read all about it on the OWH website.

Come back tomorrow for information on the first date. Until then....

Crafty Card Gallery's Sketch Blog Hop #3 - February 17th & 18th

Welcome to another Sketch Blog Hop. Everyone has had so much fun doing these it's turned into a regular event! The purpose of this hop is to show how all of these talented bloggers can take the same sketch and come up with totally different cards. If you've never used a card sketch before, give it a try! Be sure to check back on Sunday, as there will be some bloggers posting cards on day 2. So sit back & be inspired! If you just happened on the hop, be sure to go to the first stop http://craftycardgallery.blogspot.com/ so you can see the whole hop! Grab your favorite beverage and sit back & hop along with us!

Today I decided to break out a stamp set that I never used before called Sweet Summer from Stampin' Up. I used my favorite colors for this card and the card base and paper flower are from Creative Memories. Here is what I came up with:

Thanks for joining me today and I hope you will stop by tomorrow as well. For now I send you off to Miss Kerry's blog....

I'm Baaaaaacccckkkkk......

Hi there all! I hope this blog post finds you well on this hot and humid summer afternoon. I have to say that it has been a wild week here at the Casa de Bermudez. One child severely sunburned (when not with me ) and a general running around. That all said and done, it was a productive weekend in the card making department. I attended my monthly Stampin' Up technique class and swapped my cards. I also got my Scrappy Jack June cards made and finished my July swap cards for next months card class. I was a card making fiend. I also got one project made for the next blog hop I am participating in. 

It will be on July 9th and 10th. I have one project done and an idea for another. Now to get back to the Craft Cave do get it done. I hope you will be joining us for a fun and creative way to use your scraps (you know we all have them )

Well, let's get on with the show and tell for the day. If you have any questions about the cards, please feel free  to email me at susanascorner at yahoo dot com. First up is the cards that I received for the swap. We all make 5 card fronts so I usually get two of my own back. I decided not to wait and I turned them all into cards already:

Next up, the cards that we made at the class. We played with different techniques with ink, different kinds of paper/stamps and premade cards.



I became so inspired that I took my card sketch for July and came up with these:




Since I had a brain moment, I ended up making these cards that were NOT with the right colors :

I plan on entering these in the Made It Myself Monday's challenge. You can find the link HERE

Unfortunately I cannot share the Scraps Blog Hop or my Scrappy Jack cards yet. I also have several scrapbook pages to share that I made yesterday. Until next time....

I have had a WONDERFUL weekend.....

I have to say that it has been a long time since I have had a weekend where I did things that were fun and left the work behind. A little shopping, a movie and some creating was on the menu. Thank you to my supportive hubby for aiding me in this weekend of R&R. I needed to finish my 3 card fronts from my swap coming up the 22nd and work on my Scrappy Jak projects as well (they are due the end of the month). I can't take pics of my Scrappy Jak projects but, trust me, they will be worth the wait. I had several more ideas but I ran out of time. For now, here are the card fronts I can share:

A HUGE shout out to Provocraft, Stampin Up and Sizzix for aiding in my creative endeavors. 

I also was very blessed to receive a new blog award from Gina of http://www.ginascraftingspot.com/. It is the "Your Blog is Cricut-tastic Award". The rules of this award are as follows:

Wear this badge proudly on your blog and share it with friends. Share this award with 10 people that you think have Cricut-tastic blogs. You also have to tell 5 cricut related things about yourself. So here are the 5 Cricut related things about me:

1.  I received my first Cricut for my 40th birthday (yes I am that old)

2. My favorite cartridge is Doodlecharms

3. My Pixar cartridge boggles my mind! (anyone want to give me lessons )

4. I can never seem to win a cartridge on Ebay :(

5. I wish to delve deeper in the Cricut community (I would love to participate in Hello Thursdays- hint, hint)

Thanks to Gina for blessing me with this wonderful award.

Here are some wonderful bloggers that I want to share this with:

* Cooking with Cricut

* Bit By The Cricut Bug
* Comfy on My Cloud
* Disney Dreamer Designs
* Mr. Cricut Crazy
Well, the weekend is over and work will be coming soon. I look forward to sharing more creativity before Friday. Until then....

It was a Scrap-a-Doodle-Doo Day!

Greetings and salutations my scrapping friends! I have to say that today was the perfect day for a road trip. I have the bestest hubby in the world. I have been wanting to go to a scrapbook store in Northern NJ for the longest time. Since we had to have a follow up sleep study (we both HAD sleep apnea) and I had pre-admission testing (surgery is Friday) we decided a road trip was in order. We went to Scrap-a-Doodle-doo in Ramsey, NJ and were greeted by Norma (aka Mama Doodle). We were given a tour of the shop as a private crop went on in the other room. I found some items that I had not seen before and it was Tim Holtz Dreamland. I can't wait to play with my new stuff but decided to post now that Blogger has come back up. Here are some projects that I have made or were made for me in the interim. 

This is a card front for a Stampin Up swap we are doing (1of 2)

This is a another card front for a Stampin Up swap we are doing (2of 2). I need to make 3 more!

I received this album for free and decided our grandson needed his own album.  I took  a feminine album  and hid the ladybug with a dinosaur :)

This is the front of my Mother's Day card my hubby made all by himself

Here is the left inside of my Mother's Day Card. He writes so beautifully but I chose not to  show it.

Being as tired as I am there will be no creating tonight. We are settled in and will watch the season (and series) finale of Smallville (what will we do with our Friday night. While it is on I am going to relink all my cartridges since I had to factory restore my Gypsy. Provocraft's customer service was excellent and very helpful. If this restore does not work then they will replace my Gypsy. So please cross your fingers for me. 

Remember that the winner of the 200 blog follower giveaway is being picked tomorrow. Please leave your comment on THIS POST (that can be found below). Thank you all for being a part of this blog. Until next time...

It has been a Scrappingly good two weekends.....

I have to say that it has been a crafty good time here in NJ! I have had two weekends with my favorite Stampin' Up friend Julie (Stampin Up Demonstrator: Julie Kudish) and have made some pretty awesome things (if I do say so myself). In addition to that, I had craft time with our niece Vanessa. She will be turning 4 and loved making cards with Aunt Susan. Here are some pics I wanted to share with you: 

This is a shaker card made with actual  sand

I just could not resist taking a bite

Here we are hard at work

This was the first layout I have EVER made without having pics already printed

 The next day, I went to the dollar store with my sister in law and my niece in law. We saw this damaged saying and Julie turned to me and said, "You good make something prettier!" Well here is what I came up with.....

 Today I went to a stamping up party for one of the gals in our monthly stamping group. This is the projects we made (card was put together by my dear friend Erin (Comfy on My Cloud):

Very looooonnnggg bookmark

Love this card!

Well as they say in Looney Tunes, "That's all folks...." Until next time....

Happy Scrappin'

Sue

I may not be a Superhero but I know how to mask

I promised a little creativity this weekend and I will not disappoint. On Saturday, we had our monthly Stampin Up card workshop. Our friend and teacher, Julie, decided to teach us a masking technique (Read about Masking here). We had tried this before with a two step flower stamp but she gave us all new ideas with the Butterfly Prints stamp set (http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=120738). Here is a duplicate of the card that she showed us:

This card used three new colors from Stampin Up (Stampin Up Brights Ink Pads, SU Brights designer buttons (these are AWESOME!) and Versamark for that tone on tone look. Then Julie let us loose to come up with our own designs. Well I came up with these other cards using the masking technique:

The tie dye looking card was done with a sponging technique and the same ink pads used to stamp the butterflies in card #1. I ended up with the green when I had to cover a slight booboo.

The yellow card was made the new color, the SU brayer (http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=102395), and I used the Decorative Label punch (see it here) to make the mask. The sentiment is from the butterfly stamp set mentioned above. I think this stamp set has a lot of options and can make some wonderful cards. 

You can leave a comment if you have any questions on how to make these cards. I may have to get a brayer to try some other techniques with it. I was seriously hoping that my friend Erin from Comfy on My Cloud (Stop by and show her some blog love) would have posted hers but she must be swamped with her current work project. Well, I am feeling under the weather today, so I am going to end here. Until next time........

Happy Scrappin'

Sue

Scrappy Jak January Card Challenge

Oh what a fun one this challenge was. It was a day of firsts. It was the first time that I used my Paper Dolls and Mini Monsters Cricut cartridges. It was also the first time I designed mu challenge cards on the Gypsy. But the HUGE first was that I used my new Peachy Keen Face stamps. They were a Christmas present from my dear friend Erin. I had a wonderful time with them and I can see that there will be more in my future :)


Now onto my cards...

This sweetheart was made with love. It kind of looks like me but I don't wear stripes I am blessed with a great husband and fantastic kids. I wanted to reflect how special and supportive my husband is.

This cranky snowmonster reflects my feelings about the snow. It seems that we are shoveling every week. Bring on Spring!

And speaking of Spring, I wanted to share that I will be participating in my first blog hop. 




I hope you all will come and have fun with us. Well, it is very late here and snow is falling again. Time for me to get some rest so I can face a new day tomorrow. Until next time......

Don't I wish I could share what I did today....

Yesterday was a non crafty day. My friend Erin and I, both had terrible headaches. Today after Church, my daughter asked to make a Nemo and Dory from the newer Best of Pixar Cricut cartridge. I have definitely not gotten the hang of that cartridge yet! In my defense it is the first time I used it.

While watching the Jets get thrashed lose to the Steelers (insert sad face), I made my two cards for the Scrappy Jak cards of the month. I cannot post them until the 26th. If you are on Facebook, please join the group. 

I had fun working with my Cricut Gypsy today. I designed both cards on it. I will be sure to post them in 3 days. Until then.....

Happy Scrappin '

Sue

A Stampin' Up Morning.....

ok, Mother has a sense of humor. We have had more snow. Not a lot but it is now so icy. Luckily before the storm picked up, we had our monthly Stampin Up get together. This month's technique was Faux Silk. I had a wonderful time and came up with these 3 cards:

This is a photo of all 3:

Here's the recipe:


Stampin Up cardstock, punches, inks and stamps
Tissue Paper
Bone Folder and scissors


You can either stamp on white or light cardstock or directly on the tissue paper. Scrunch the tissue paper and slightly flatten it. Use glue stick when the image dries and lay the tissue paper on the light cardstock. Use your bone folder to slightly flatten it out and trim excess around the edges. I then mounted it on a card and used border punches. 


I really think I may need to do a video of this. It would be easier to show you :)


I hope you enjoyed the pictures and I hope to have a video for you soon. Until next time....


Sue

A Scraptacular Halloween Card Challenge (and giveaway)

courtesy of my friend Scrappy Jak on Facebook. I got a little overzealous on this one and had originally posted in on Facebook too early. I deleted them and was able to repost them yesterday. We were given the paper and ribbon and we were to come up with our own design. Here is what I chose....

The pumpkin is my favorite because of his googly eyes. The spiders remind me of one of my favorite childhood characters, Charlotte, from Charlotte's Web. 

Don't forget about the birthday blog giveaway in honor of my daughters birthday. All you have to do is be a follower of this blog and post a comment about your favorite birthday memory. I will use Random.org to pick the winner next Friday the 29th (gives more time for everyone). Good luck! I will have another post for you all with another great layout! Until next time....

Happy Scrappin'

Sue