Cards for Heroes Blog Hop!

Welcome, and thank you for participating in the Card for Heroes Blog Hop! If you have landed here in the middle of the hop, I encourage you to start at the "top of the hop" at cardsforheroes.org! There are many great blogs to check out to see beautiful card samples and learn more about what cardsforheroes.org is all about! Hop 'til you drop!

This is a card I made in a patriotic theme. It is the same layout as the Father's Day card posted here, but I have used Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White, and Basic Gray with silver brads. The stars are punched using the Stars #2 die with the Big Shot, but the two coordinating star punches from Stampin' Up! would make this card a breeze to make as well. By changing the greeting and colors, the card has a totally different feel.

I made this card to send as an "Any Hero" card as part of the 25+2 challenge. The thank you greeting seemed appropriate to tell a soldier thank you for serving! I am new to cardsforheroes.org, but I am very excited about participating with the organization. Stamping is a great hobby for me, but making cards for our nation's heroes brings more meaning to it. I make many more cards that I can use personally, and it is great to share cards with soldiers who appreciate them so much. If you wonder how much, check out the hero blog on the website!

The next blog on the hop is that of Marianne Walker in Eugene, Oregon. She is the product specialist for Copic Markers and designs stamps for Our Craft Lounge. She is very talented and has FANTASTIC tips on coloring and shading with Copic Markers on her blog. Her work is beautiful!

Hop on over to Marianne's blog,

"I Like Markers"!

Cards for Heroes

Tonight I had some time to work on some Cards for Heroes. When preparing for my May stamp camp, I was doing a lot of experimenting with the brayered roses technique. I was trying to see how the different color combinations would work together, and then I picked my favorite for the camp project. After all the experimenting, I had ten extra brayered roses. I paired these with some Tangerine Tango cardstock and the Thinking of You greeting from Sincere Salutations to make several cards to send to cardsforheroes.org.

New Take on an Old Favorite

I had been thinking about this card for a while. It's a new take on an old favorite. We made a pink version of this card at Penny's camp quite some time ago, and I had been thinking about changing the colors up and using some clear rhinestone brads. This card uses the 5-Petal Flower Punch and the Boho Blossoms Punch (thanks to Stacey for sharing her toys!). The greeting is from the Heard from the Heart stamp set. I inked it up with Basic Gray and removed the bottom part of the greeting with a baby wipe. You can also use a Blender Pen to do the same.

May Stamp Camp!

On Saturday, we stamped, stamped, stamped. And then stamped some more! Wow! Hope you enjoy the recap!

This first card that we made is taken from my buddy, Penny. It's a great little layout that can be used with all different designer papers, punches, and greetings. I made a couple using a Birthday Wishes greeting for birthday cards. I used this layout with some Candy Lane DSP and the Full Heart Punch with a LOVE greeting and I Miss You greeting for some cardsforheroes.org. The So Saffron card was cased from Splitcoast Stampers. I've been told that I love Chocolate Chip, and when challenged, I couldn't have a camp and not use Chocolate Chip! The stamps are from the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. I made up my extras and substituted an "I Miss You" greeting and will send them to cardsforheroes.org.

One of my stampers had a list minute request for graduation cards....shame on me for not thinking of it first. Since I don't own a graduation stamp set, per se, I improvised. The template for this mortar board gift card holder is something I came across on Splitcoast. I reduced the template on a copy machine to about 85% so it still has room for the giftcard yet will fit inside a standard medium envelope!

You print the template on cardstock and cut it out. It's really that simple. It can be made in any school colors, but we used Basic Gray to keep it generic. The little note inside allows space to write a short congratulatory note, or you can include a gift card or cash in the little pocket.

This wedding gown card is gorgeous in person. One of my stampers requested to make this card using Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, and Certainly Celery to match her daughter's wedding colors. It looked great as well. I wish I had taken a photo of it to share with you! It is cased from Sharon Field and she so graciously provided instructions on her blog.

Another late addition to camp was this Father's Day card. Since I wasn't sure we'd be able to have June camp prior to Father's Day, we needed to make a card. As I was told, you can't give Mom an awesome homemade card and then get Dad the 99cent card from Wal-mart! True, true! Inspiration for this card came from Splitcoast, but I didn't have any design paper that really worked for Father's Day. My card turned out completely different than the inspiration cards that I started from, and my stampers were really happy with the design.

Again, we use Chocolate Chip! The background is Sahara Sand cardstock that was run through the Big Shot with the Texturz Plate so it gives a wood grain look (I want to try this on Kraft to see if looks like old barn wood). The stars were also punched using the Big Shot Stars #2 die. They could also be made using the two star punches offered by Stampin' Up! The greeting is from a retired stamp set, but I have kept it for its Father's Day and Mother's Day greetings! When you find a great set, you just have to hold onto it!

Patty Bennett shared a tutorial on this brayered rose technique using the Manhattan Flower embossing folder and a brayer. My stampers loved this card! We used Pretty in Pink and Apricot Appeal inks. This card also turns out beautifully when stamping a greeting from the Sincere Salutations stamp set directly onto the white background.

The two baby cards that we stamped were inspired by a similar pink card on Splitcoast by stampininutah, but they were modified to be more clean and simple. I had to make a blue card as well because you never know which you might need. Stampers were given the option to make either one, but nearly all of them loved it so much that they made both! The cards are 4-1/4" square. It's a cute little size that is interesting and will still fit in a standard medium envelope.

cardsforheroes.org