Slightly Scrappy

Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home Memorial Day BlogHop .  I hope you are having fun checking out all the great cards being posted.

I used OWH Sketch number 145 as inspiration for my card(s).  This is probably the simplest card I've made in a long time.  So simple, that I had to make two!  The backgrounds are from an older BoBunny Press 6x6" paper pad.  The word "Hero" was cut using my Silhouette Cameo.

These cards will be used as Any Hero cards in my next shipment to Sandy.  A handwritten note goes a long way in encouraging our heroes so far away from family and friends.  

Thanks for visiting my blog and I encourage you to send in lots of Any Hero cards.

Great Free Classes at Craftsy.com

In case you aren't familiar with the free Craftsy mini-courses, here are thoughts on some of my favorites.  I have enrolled in several of the free classes and they are awesome,  All courses have the same top-notch production values with lots of content. Sewing Machine 911: Give your sewing machine some TLC with the help of this free course. Learn to clean and maintain your sewing machine with tips and tricks taught in this class.  Creative Quilt Backs: Make the back of your quilt just as interesting as the front! Oh, Fransson! blog author Elizabeth Hartman walks you through everything you need to know to make beautiful quilt backs.  Bag-Making Basics: Reversible Tote & Zipper Pouch: Kristin Link of Sew Mama Sew guides you through making the reversible tote and zippered pouch. I recently made two of the zippered pouches. Kristin Link has shared suggested measurements for three additional pouches sizes at Sew Mama Sew.  I made the original pattern first and then the smallest size to match.  The small one should be great for keeping earbuds safe in my purse.   Check out all of the other free Craftsy mini-courses by clicking here.

I'm a Craftsy Fan, Are You?

Craftsy is an awesome online learning center.  The courses cover a wide range of crafts including Quilting, Knitting, Cake Decorating, Sewing and several more.

My favorite thing about Craftsy is the fact that you have lifetime access to every course.  There are no time limits and you can go back whenever you are ready to work on a project.  The HD video lessons have the best productions values around and the instructors are available to help when you get stuck or have a question.  Frequent sales and discounts make it easy to save some cash, too.

Another great  Craftsy feature are the free classes. These are shorter, but still excellent courses. Learn about Sewing Machine Feet from A to Z, two courses on Making Bags, Creative Cabled Necklines and making Perfect Pizza at Home.

New courses are generally offered every 2-3 weeks.  I'm itching to sign up for Precision Piecing, taught by Norah McMeeking and the Bead Stitching: Right Angle Weave course led by Barb Switzer.  I will come back soon with another post reporting on my progress.

Easy Street, Part I

I have started on Clue number 1 of the Easy Street mystery quilt by Bonnie K. Hunter. So far, so good. The first photo shows my progress with the 4-patch blocks as of Sunday. I now have about 100 finished 4-patches.  The second photo features the Sewing Machine Seam Guide that Bonnie sells along with her books. That thing is fantastic! I used it tonight and there is such a difference in the accuracy of my seams.  That's Washi tape marking the 1/4" seam on the throat plate of my machine.

This is my first post using the Typepad IOS app. It makes it easy to do a quick post from the craft room without having to upload the photos to my Mac mini in the living room.  

Memorial Day Blog Hop - Operation Write HOme

Welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home annual Memorial Day Blog Hop. I chose OWH Sketch Number 121 for my inspiration.

This was a pretty simple sketch to work with, and is great for using up narrow strips of leftover cardstock. The patterned paper is from a great 6 x 6 set called "indigo bleu" from Pink Paislee. I used my brand-new Silhouette Cameo to cut the heart shaped pieces. The tiny letter stickers came from a past Studio Calico kit.  I'm loving the Cameo and hope to spend part of this holiday weekend experimenting with new designs for cards.

Thanks for your support of Operation Write Home!

Products I used:

We Have Some Winners

Wow, thanks so much to everyone that posted a comment.  You all are so kind!

Without further ado, the Random Number Generator chose these two winners:

"I love using negatives along with the positives! I love the cards and thanks for the chance to win great prizes!

Posted by: Sandi | February 04, 2012 at 06:56 AM"

and

"I love the simplicity! It is a great reminder that they can be simple and very effective. Thanks for being a part of OWH!

Posted by: Lynn Ramsey | February 05, 2012 at 12:48 PM"

Thanks again for all the nice comments.  I will be contacting Sandi and Lynn shortly.

 

OWH Clean and Simple Blog Skip/Win a Prize!

Welcome to my stop in the latest Operation Write Home Blog Skip.  You are in the correct place if you came from Petunia's Paper Passion. (Opens in a new window)  Check back in at OWH Stars and Stamps blog if you need to start at the beginning.

This short Blog Skip will be featuring cards made using techniques taught in the latest class offered by Online Card Classes.  I really enjoyed this class and learned several techniques that will be great inspiration for those looking to make Clean and Simple cards for Operation Write Home.

My first card uses an idea by Maile Belles.  I die cut the word "Love" with the new set of Block Alphabet Upper Case dies from Papertrey Ink.  The little flower is made with PTI's Flower Fusion #12 die. The blue layer is raised up with some foam tape.  I added the center of the letter "O" back in the the same tape.

 

 

I used the actual die-cut letters to make a second card.  The letters are adhered to the yellow strip cut using a die from the Half & Half collection.  A little bit of twine around the yellow strip makes a simple embellishment.

 

As a thank you for visiting my stop in the Skip, I'd like to offer up prizes.  As you can tell, I'm a big fan of Papertrey Ink stamps and dies.  Recently, PTI has been including a nice little Limited Edition stamp set as a "Thank You" to customers.  I somehow (wink-wink) manged to receive a couple of extra sets and will be drawing two names to each receive one of the sets.  There will most likely be a few other little extras added to the envelopes going out if you win the drawing.

Just leave a comment here on the blog by 9:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) Monday, February 6.  The drawing will be done by random number generator shortly after 9.  Here's a photo of the set:

 

 

Thanks again for visiting my blog.  Now it's time to hit the next stop at Yvonne's

penguinpapers

 

 

Operation Write Home Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop in the OWH Blog Hop. I hope you are having fun visiting all the blogs. I have been making Christmas cards to send in my next shipment.

My card used cardstock from the Basic Grey Nordic Holiday 6" x 6" pad. The red mat and ribbon are from my stash. The hanging tag and "Joy" stamp by Papertrey Ink.

New cards for the Memorial Day blog hop

I was inspired by this post on the HomeFront Blog and decided to try a couple of pinwheel cards.  What fun! 

Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop!

 

Thanks for stopping by to see the card I made for the Memorial Day Hop.  My card is super simple.  I used some Club Scrap textured blue cardstock, a torn piece of white from my stash, and a brand new image from Papertrey Ink for the sentiment.  The red word "you" is a die, also from Papertrey Ink.

Added on Sunday:  I'm keeping this post at the top of the blog during the holiday weekend, but will keep on creating cards.  My plan is to post a few highlights during the next two days.  Scroll down for now to see something new.

Have fun visiting my fellow blog hoppers and take some time to remember the reason for our Memorial Day holiday.

Your next stop on the hop is:

Hello From Kate