January ODBD for OWH - stripes & hearts

There is a new Our Daily Bread Designs challenge up for Operation Write Home (don't know what that is? Go here and find out. Then link up your own card.) 

This month's challenge is to use stripes. Now, my office/craft space is a Disaster. Capital 'd' disaster. I've been spending 15 minutes a day the past few days to whip it into shape and it's much, much better, but not ready yet to create anything... luckily, I made this card back in November and saved a photo of it.

Supplies:

Stamps: paper smooches simply said sentiments

papers: my Mind's Eye, Gina K

Dies: Quickkutz heart dies

Ribbon: old - maybe American Crafts

Thanks for visiting me today! Stay warm - it's frigid here in Wisconsin, and school has already been cancelled for Monday. We're staying in!

Jen

Top 13 of 2013

Hello, friends! It's hard to believe another year has come and gone already.  I'm making some important changes in 2014, so you may not see frequent updates to my blog. I am prioritizing some other areas of my life and hope to resume frequent blogging and card making a little later in the year... it's a good reason to stay focused on my goals, no? :)

I decided to give my blog a new look for the new year, and I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Be sure to hop back to the OWH Stars and Stamps blog to visit the others' top 13 posts as well, 'k?

I have a few things to sell and will be updating this short list the first week of January. I'll post when I do, but just so you know, there is a page over here -----> and please email me if you see something you like. Prices are negotiable and shipping quite reasonable. :)

In no particular order...

  

  

  

 

I wish each of you the very best in 2014; peace, joy, health, and all that is good. :)

Jen

OWH MWT - love/valentines

Hey guys, just popping in with a quick card share. This week's Operation Write Home challenge is love or valentine's cards. I made this one a while back, and saved it to share now. :) I love black and white; it's uber chic... I debated on adding a red heart and left it as is. I trust that you all will tell me if it needs a pop of color!

Paper: I think My Mind's Eye
Stamp: Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday
Gina K card stock

Hope you guys are having a great week! We're in the midst of birthday hoopla (my eldest turns 8 tomorrow!) and then it's full-on Advent. I love this season of preparation for Christ's birth! Also, I shocked my seven-year-old nephew the other day on the way to school with the news that our Advent calendar did not contain just chocolate, but days where we served the poor and did random acts of kindness. Go figure, right??

Best,

Jen

Growing in Unity - day 1

Hello and happy Monday! I'm super excited to be this week's Growing in Unity girl. Unity stamps make up the vast majority of my stamp collection... my husband even got me new Unity for Christmas last year. Hey, what can I say? I have good taste AND my husband is a keeper! :)

Today I have two cards to share; I make a lot of cards for Operation Write Home - they send blank cards overseas for our troops to write home to family and friends - and with the delay in sending mail overseas in time for it to have time to travel back here to the US, we are already on to Valentine's Day and love cards already. Crazy, huh? Anyhow, here's two I made with a fun Jillibean Soup/Unity set. One of these will probably go to my husband... he saw them and liked them both. :)

My Mind's Eye paper
Jillibean Soup/Unity set - hearty barley
Twinery twine
Papertrey ink smoky shadow card stock

My Mind's Eye paper
Jillibean Soup/Unity set - hearty barley
Twinery twine
Papertrey ink smoky shadow card stock

We are actually headed to Puerto Rico next Saturday for a belated 10 year anniversary trip. I am excited! And very overwhelmed. We will come to home to our youngest's birthday, then Thanksgiving, then our eldest's birthday just after that. EEEK!

Unity is allowing me to do a giveaway of 2 Itty Bitty stamps this week, so be sure to come back each day and comment to win! Have you seen the new releases? Oh my gosh - cute!!

Jen

November ODBD/OWH challenge - love cards

Hello!

Just a quick link up for the November Our Daily Bread Designs and Operation Write Home challenge... each month we are allowed to link up one card per blogger. If there are 50 links, ODBD will donate the cost of shipping two boxes overseas to our heroes!

Since the holiday deadline has passed, we're getting into love mode around here. I've made several love cards lately; I don't tend to make Valentines since love cards can be used year round:

My Mind's Eye paper
Ali Edwards for TT sentiment

Thanks for looking!

Jen

OWH winter challenge & WCMD winners!

Hello!

Today's Operation Write Home challenge is to make a winter card that uses a nature element. I was completely predictable and chose snowflakes. :) I won two Itty Bitty's of my choice recently and this was one of my picks - I *adore* it!

Unity Stamp Co sentiment
SU crochet trim
Sizzix snowflake embossing folder
poor attempt at following a sketch... all me!

I'd also like to announce the winners from the OWH World Cardmaking Day Hop this past weekend. Thank you for all of your kind comments!

The paper pads go to:

Ann said...

Jen, what a fabulous story! Thanks for all you do for our heroes. I love how each edition is dedicated to ones who are so deserving. Great job!

OCTOBER 5, 2013 AT 7:56 AM 

And the stamps to:

Colleen said...

What a great story and a way to honor the Heros!

OCTOBER 6, 2013 AT 3:40 PM 

Ladies, please email me at jennifer.mueller409 AT gmail dot com (remove spaces and insert appropriate punctuation) with your mailing addresses, please! 

Thanks,

Jen

OWH sketch 193

Time for another Operation Write Home sketch - did you hop yesterday for the World Cardmaking Day blog hop? I did, though I only made it about 2/3 of the way through the hop. I can finish off the rest today. There's so many great cards! If you didn't see my card, be sure to scroll down to the next post (there's blog candy!). 

Today's sketch is number 193. I really like this sketch! And since my eldest has been sick this weekend, no Mass for me today. :/ She went to bed still feeling really sick but woke up chipper and happy, which is wonderful, but I don't want her to over-do. And heaven forbid we share germs... no other family wants what she had! :(

These were my first efforts. The ribbon tab card was #2... my seven year old decimated my bling stash the other day, and I wasn't liking what bling I had to add on the left side, so I added ribbon tabs.

My Mind's Eye papers
Twinery twine
Gina K card stock

Then I decided to make a couple more changes, and I really really really liked the end result. See what you think. The left card was #3 and the right was the final card, which is my favorite of all of them.

My Mind's Eye
Gina K card stock
Lawn Fawn sentiment

And I think this is my last Scrapfest photo: Jillibean Soup class cards

Thanks for visiting me today! Remember Sandy is asking for holiday cards to arrive by October 15 if possible. I already sent a bunch and I'll be sending my final batch next week! Then on to Valentine's Day. :)

Jen

Operation Write Home World Cardmaking Day HOP! Thanks, hero!

Hello! 

I'm so happy you are here for the Operation Write Home blog hop! Click on the link above to see all of the links; there's always great inspiration! Today we are using OWH sketches (a new sketch is posted every Sunday) to make thank you notes. 

My story for this card is too long for this post, so if you would like the back story of how I made this card for a local hero who was interviewed for our local phone book's "Tribute To Veterans" edition, go to this post. 

I won't tell you that I didn't read the directions and use a sketch to make this card, soooo... let's say this is based on sketch 189 and I REALLY played around with the measurements   'K? Good. :)

My Mind's eye Lost & Found 6x6 (Christmas papers, go figure!)
Paper Smooches Circle of Honor sentiment stamps
Stamping up Ruby Red and Momento tuxedo black inks

Now go read that back story and comment to win some blog candy. Wherever you are, I hope you are having a beautiful day!  Thanks for visiting me!

Jen

OWH World Cardmaking Day blog hop - the PRIZES and the story!

So, first for the story.

This is what we do:

Yup, that's a telephone directory. We are one of the few independent (read: not a telephone company) publishers left in the US, and one of the very, very few that only publishes one book. Each year we have a theme - past themes have included a police & fire edition, a community events edition, and a made in central Wisconsin edition. This year was our tribute to veterans edition. There's really cool kid artwork in the front of the book.

The top left says "I love you solders!" awww.

The top right says "thank you for the peace." :)

I helped contribute "filler space" in the yellow... with a nod to OWH:

But the most important section, the back of the book, is reserved for the stories of local heroes. There's also information about local companies that supported war efforts, including Weinbrenner Shoes, which has recently been awarded multi-million dollar contracts for military boots and Roddis Plywood Corporation, who dedicated 90% of wartime production to the needs the Allied production of aircraft and naval vessels during WWII. And this from a small town of less than 20,000 people!

Anyhow. I happened to make an Anyhero card for a sketch challenge as we were finishing the book and sending the files to the printers, and my husband suggested that it would be a great thank you note to the veterans and the families that contributed. The guy that did the interviews was thrilled when I asked... so I got busy. 

And now you know the story! On to prizes! First up is paper, because I could give a LOT away and not make a serious dent:

Basic Grey hello, luscious and Jillibean Soup homemade 6 bean soup

And then a second prize:

Layers of Color birdday party
Inky Impressions
Studio G holiday stamps

Leave a comment below for a chance to win. For a second chance, you must leave a second comment telling me that you are a follower!  Winners will be announced on Tuesday to give everyone a chance to hop. :)

Jen

OWH sketch 192

Happy Sunday! It's time for Operation Write Home sketch 192. I'm at the very tail end of this Jillibean Soup paper pad, so I think I may make a few more of this theme. :)

Jillibean Soup designer paper
Unity Stamp co clipboard and sentiment
kraft is embossed with a woodgrain folder
Gina K chocolate brown for the layers

And... a couple of promised photos from Scrapfest last weekend! I still have to show you the Jillibean Soup photos and the Unity ones. These are the make & takes that we did; we didn't have much time between classes:

From l-r: Bo Bunny, Lawn Fawn, Simple Stories

There were others I would have LOVED to do. We spent nearly an hour waiting in the Lawn Fawn line, but it was so worth it! That's the bell jar turned upside down for snow globe!! :)

And then these are three of the cards I made from the Doodlebug class. We only had time to make 3 in class and we brought three home to complete. Their stuff has glitter, FYI, not OWH safe and not my preference, but the cards turned out very cute. Washi flags are HARD to do but the result is very very cute (top card).

That's all for me tonight! Thanks for visiting!

Jen

OWH sketch 191

Happy Sunday, people! I'm recovering from a long, busy day at Scrapfest yesterday. It was so much fun!! I owe a HUGE thanks to my bloggy and now real-life friend Sarah for saving the day - I was supposed to attend with a local friend, but she was unable to come at the last minute. Sarah agreed to come and take her place at the classes, so I rocked some tunes and diet coke and made the 2.5 hour trip there and back yesterday. 

AND she is as lovely and funny as you would expect reading her blog. I'm so glad we got to meet and hang out all day! :)

I will review some of the classes and share some of the projects this week, so stay tuned! (Hint - my favorite class (AGAIN) was Jillibean Soup. Love Jill!!!)

It's time for another Operation Write Home sketch, this week is 191. I made this card:

Jillibean Soup apple cheddar soup
Paper Smooches sentiment
Gina K dark chocolate card stock
labels 8

And if you can't tell anything odd about it, I will thank you greatly. (The labels don't 'nest' well, so I die cut the sentiment and then trimmed the red around it. Can you tell?)

I'm not sure about that green apple background, so give me a yay or nay in the comments, will you? 

And my moment of shame... I bought these yesterday:

In the Archiver's 'sale' section. 8 paper pads, people! The problem is, they all call to me. And the truth... I had more in my basket that I put back! This is most of my haul. Technique Tuesday! I'm not sure why we didn't hear more squeals when we were shopping... oh the good stuff to be found!

Jen

OWH sketch 190

Hey there, it's Sunday again! How is it that once it's the 4th of July, summer seems to be nearly over and once school starts, that fall is immediately upon us? I don't understand. We've had nights in the 40's already! It's dark by 7:45 and no one is excited to get in the car in the morning for school unless I let it warm up first...

Oh well. It's football season, and time for fuzzy sweaters and throw blankets. I should just move onto the card, right?

This is the new sketch, 190 from Operation Write Home:

MME lost & found christmas pad (yeah, I know, looks patriotic to me too!)
Market Street Stamps God bless America set
Nesties Labels 18, Quickkutz heart die

I stamped the heart stamp from the God bless America set in antique linen, die cut it, and then stamped over it with SU not quite navy. I like it!

Thanks for visiting me today! I'll be gone next weekend.... Scrapfest!!!! Woot!

Jen

OWH sketch 189 - my coolest friend

Hello and happy Sunday!

Time for another sketch challenge from Operation Write Home! I've been trying to use up some of my 6x6 pads that are nearly finished or those that are not my favorites... this one definitely falls into the "nearly finished" category. I love these bright winter patterns and colors! 

This was the first time I made a snow hill and didn't try to glossy accent the heck out of it. What do you know? I really like it plain (I know it's harder to see. I popped it up on dimensionals; you do see it more clearly in person.) 

This is sketch 189, by the way:

Crate Paper snow day collection
Paper Smooches swanky snowdudes
Smokey Shadow/PTI card stock

Thanks for visiting me today!

Jen

OWH/ODBD September challenge & 6x6 use it up challenge

Hello! 

Today marks the beginning of a new Operation Write Home/Our Daily Bread Designs challenge. This challenge is to use wheels. my first attempt... well, I would show you, but you wouldn't stick around very long - and I wouldn't blame you! :) So I went in a different direction, and went to find a trusty OWH sketch (this is 180), and I'm happy to show you the end result:

Hero Arts for OWH set
PTI smokey shadow card stock, Bazzill cherry splash and walnut cream
Momento tuxedo black ink, SU edge punch

Notice how I didn't use ANY patterned paper on that card? Are you shocked? Yes, me too. :)

And then... I've been trying to use up this My Mind's Eye Christmas 6x6 pad that I hate dislike kind of very much. I had a moment of inspiration the other day when I realized I could focus on using the non-holiday sides and go for more masculine themes.  I ended up making a few holiday cards and a few masculine. These are the holiday ones:

My Mind's Eye paper "merriest days of Christmas"
Stamps via Unity Stamp Co, Lawn Fawn, and Hero Arts for OWH

And these are the masculine ones:

Stamps via Unity Stamp Co and Paper Smooches

There were just a few scraps after finishing these, and you can bet I recycled them with no guilt. It was very much an "I shall conquer you" moment... and I am pleased with the end results. No one should use up (what you think is) ugly paper and have made ugly cards, right? That kind of defeats the purpose. This was not a full pad, by the way, maybe 2/3? And I ended up with 15 cards.

This weekend marks the end of the first week of school, our parish fall festival where I failed to make pies and instead purchased them with little guilt, and I think the littlest child is getting sick. On an up note, last night my husband and daughters spent time on YouTube looking for "homemade trapeze systems". Today he is the best.daddy.ever for getting them a trapeze bar for their play set.

Have a great weekend!

Jen

OWH MWT - blue skies are ahead

hello!

Today's Operation Write Home challenge is to make kid cards (not kids making cards, cards that a parent would send home to a child). These cards are so fun to make!! I pulled out some bright paper and some new stamps for this one.

MME lime twist
Lawn Fawn blue skies stamps
Sassafrass stitchery stamps

I used some of my new favorite stamps, these from Sassafrass: 

You can find them here, among other places.
Which means I don't have to get out my sewing machine every time. GENIUS. I even bought them super cheap from a local person selling some things. Bonus for me, right??

Happy Wednesday!

Jen

OWH sketch 186

Time for another Operation Write Home sketch! Today was kind of a lazy day. It was actually over 80 today, which it hasn't been in over two weeks, so the kids played outside in the sprinkler while I lazed on the deck with a good book and some diet Coke. Ahhh, the life. :)

I've been trying to use up this My Mind's Eye 'the merry days of Christmas  pad and it's just not my favorite. I went to it for this sketch thinking Christmas but I ended up just making a masculine card. Hmm.  Now I'm thinking harder about using up these papers, if I can use them in a non-holiday way! 

Behold, sketch 186:

MME merry days of Christmas paper
Gina K warm cocoa card stock
Unity Stamp Co sentiment
big eyelets and twine from stash
CTMH desert sand & TH antique linen inks

Also linking up with the Drunken Stampers blog challenge, which is to use twine! (hey, ladies!)

Happy start of the week! Thanks for visiting me today.

Jen

OWH MWT - fall theme

Autumn... say it isn't so! The summer is flying by; school starts in less than 30 days. I need to finish school shopping... thank goodness for Catholic school uniforms, at least. (Yeah, retailers, I'm looking at you. Clothing for seven year olds should make them look like seven year olds, not teens. Thanks.)

Since this week's Operation Write Home challenge is to make fall cards, and I don't have much "fall" stamping stuff so I dug into my stash of "gotta use this up" baggies that just have a few pieces of random paper lines. This is Authentique, I do believe, what line exactly has escaped me. I wasn't all that keen on it. :)

It still made a nice card, though!

Authentique paper
Gina K card stock in dark chocolate
Paper Smooches sentiment

Thanks for visiting me today! 

Jen

OWH MWT - punch cards

No, not discount cards, cards made with punches. That said, I LOVE me a good punch card (discount card). I prioritize stores that care about my return business. :)

Okay, so the OTHER kind of punch cards is the midweek challenge for Operation Write Home today. I have been living it UP with my sis and my nephews that are in town on vacation so this card is an oldie but one that I haven't shared before. I made it for a friend whose infant son was being baptized. I was short on time and decided to go with a simpler "congrats" card than try to finagle a baptism card with no baptism stamps.  I wish I would've taken a pic of the inside; I did the inside too with some pretty Verve scripture stamps and it looked nice. I thought so anyhow. 

As it goes, I was so busy taking a pic of the card before leaving for the party that I left the card in the lightbox. True story. I apolized the next day and she told me she knew the gift I had was from us since I had also decorated a tag for the bag. LOL

Paper Smooches sentiment
SU ribbon
My Mind's Eye (blink, maybe??)
PTI smoky shadow card stock

So there you have it! Punches. Of all kinds. sorry, I'm kind of punchy today (TIRED!!). LOL

Oooh, also, come see me Friday. I will have some great things to show you!!

Jen