Cards for OPERATION WRITE HOME (OWH)

Happy Sunday everyone. Hope you're all enjoying your weekend.

Recently, I've been searching for an organization that accepts handmade cards to send to our troops overseas so they can send cards home to their loved ones. Coincidentally, I discovered Operations Write Home (OWH) on Cyndi's blog a few days ago. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. OWH is obviously very well established and they already sent out their 1,000,000th card (yes, 1 million). How amazing is that?

If you'd like to support our troops in a fun and creative way, click here for details. Need ideas? Click on the "Get Involved" tab, then click on "resources." They list a bunch of ideas and tutorials. Before you start making your cards, please be sure to read the guidelines thoroughly. I think this is also an excellent way to maximize the use of your rubber stamps. Plus, you can make cards at your convenience and pace, then mail them directly to the "shipper" closest to your state. Let's get creative, make a difference, and put a smile on someone's face. Our cards will certainly touch the recipient's heart.

For starters, here are a few cards I finished this morning....

Recipe:

Bouquet Birgitta by CC Designs

Copic markers

Punches by Martha Stewart

"You Are Special" stamp by Hooks, Lines & Inkers (an olidie but goodie)

"Sending You a Great Big Hug" stamp by Stampendous

"Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday" stamp by Viva Las Vegasstamps

"Thinking of You" stamp by Close to My Heart

Let's also take a moment this Memorial Day weekend to remember our fallen heros who served our nation.

Thanks for stopping by and have a FABULOUS weekend.

Hello Kitty Vegas Shaker Card

Following the fun Shaker Card class I took this past Saturday from Debi and Island Scrapbooking, I was so eager make a card.

With two things in mind, I came up with this Hello Kitty Vegas Shaker card. First, this is my entry from this week's Lollipop Challenge. The theme is Bling so I added some pearls to the shaker. I'm really enjoying the weekly challenges A LOT!!! Hop over to their blog for the deets.
You could get lucky like I did. I won last week.

Second, I'm sending the card to my friend who's going to Vegas in a few weeks. I'm gonna surprise her and I hope she likes it.

The shaker is filled with micro beads that I won from Jenny's candy. The multi-colored beads matched so perfectly with the Colorbox DP. I also added some gold and heart sequins, and a little plastic $100 bill. Love that "Good Luck in Vegas" stamp too. I'm not too crazy about frogs but this one is kinda cute. LOL. Oh, don't mind the upside down $100 bill. I tried to get it to turn around but couldn't. Oh well, maybe while it's enroute thru the mail, it'll turn around. Ha-ha.

Take a peek inside the card. I made a little envelope using DP by Martha Stewart.

When my friend opens the envelope, she'll find a gold Good Luck frog. Hope I can rub off some good luck onto her as I've been quite lucky recently. Hope she hits the BIG ONE....cha-CHING!!!

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Scrap Happy Day.

Oriental Shaker Card

I've been wanting to learn how to make the Shaker Card. When Island Scrapbooking posted the class several weeks ago for a session this past Saturday I couldn't sign up since I didn't know what time my son would be coming back from Oahu.....had to pick him up at the airport. Well, by the time we booked his reservation, I thought the class was definitely full so didn't call.

Oh joy, I got lucky. When I stopped by that morning to buy a few things, Debi said there was a cancellation so I happily hopped in. Thanks again Debi for such a FUN class.

Yesterday, I started making another card and will post it within the next couple of days.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a "scrap happy" day. :-)

BRAK from Jenny

Oh boy, today was a GRRRREAT day!!! I received some totally awesome b/d goodies from Jenny. Come check 'em out.

Isn't this the sweetest card?
Here's the gift bag Jenny made. The flower on the bag is made with the same DP as the card.....NICE!!!

Got some pretty blue and pink pearls, and pink rhinestones, colors that I didn't have, so these are great!!! Also, a cute cupcake stamp set.

I've been dying to get my hands on these cherry blossom flowers. When I saw them, my eyes popped and I was like, 'OH WOW, WOW, WOW' !!!!

Thanks a million Jenny for making my b/d so special.

"Thank You Teacher" Challenge

Oh joy! I'm glad I didn't sell my apple stamp because it came in handy for this week's Lollipop Crafts Challenge....."an apple for the teacher" is what I had in mind. I had no stamps with a teacher sentiment so I did a google search for some quotes and found a couple. Yay!!!

There's still time to enter so hop over to Lollipop Crafts for the deets. Deadline is Saturday, 5/21 at 8:00 p.m. (PST).

Happy Friday and hope you have a "scrap happy" weekend.

Three Japanese Girls

Yay, it's Hump Day tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the weekend and going to Island Scrapbooking. Haven't been there for about 3 weeks and getting "withdrawals." LOL.

Below is the card I sent to Colleen for the Secret Sister Swap for May. I'm happy she liked it. She also asked where the stamps were from. Well, actually, I got it from Jenny's blog candy along with the micro beads and other goodies. If you enlarge the picture, you can see the beads on the kimono. Boy, when they say "micro" they mean micro. I think I have some in my carpet too. Hee-hee...no problem....the vacuum will suck 'em up. They're really neat!!! I love it.




Tonight, hubby and I went out on "a date." He really wanted to eat at a Prime Rib buffet. Ha, here in Hilo on a Tuesday night? Uh-uh, no such thing. So we decided on a restaurant with a sushi bar. There were a few to choose from. I won't mention the name of the restaurant because we were disappointed that the sushi bar was closed on Tuesday's. Though I suggested we go somewhere else, he said, "Ah, we're here already. Let's just eat here." Wrong move. The dish he ordered wasn't so great. Poor thing.

This is what I had for dinner. In the foreground to the left is the misoyaki butterfish.....a little bit "charred." To the right is grilled teriyaki chicken. Pretty good. I gave my sashime to my hubby as he loves sashime and I like my food cooked. He said he'll put the sashime on his rice and make his own sushi. Hee-hee.....clever.

We topped it off with dessert at Yogurtland. Aw shucks, no coconut flavor this week....my favorite. Oh, that's OK, I really enjoyed the Taro, Arctic Vanilla, and Dutch Chocolate with granola topping. Ahhhh, hit the spot.

Hope you all have a fabulous Wednesday. :-)

Maria's Treat Box

Hope you're all enjoying the weekend. My afternoon was spent cleaning up my craft area. Who would ever think that rubber stamping would be such a messy hobby? Doesn't matter....I wouldn't give it up for anything. TOO MUCH FUN!!!

Last night I made this treat box from a tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers and decided to use Cupcake Birgitta (again). This is one of my favorite images from CC Designs. I stamped just the top cupcake from the stack and cut them out to stick onto the sentiments.
Hmmmm, what should I make next????