Miss-you cards for OWH

I am hoping to send another shipment of cards to Operation Write Home (OWH) sometime during the holiday season. (They won't, of course, be holiday cards as that deadline passed several weeks ago. But I have enough of my own holiday cards to keep me busy on that front.) Typically I send a good number of birthday cards along with some general/blank cards, thinking-of-you cards, a few thank-you cards and maybe a few love-you or miss-you cards. This time I decided to spend more time focusing specifically on miss-you cards, which I know our overseas heroes can always use.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Feathered Friends
Card stock: Naturals Ivory, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Perfect Plum, Summer Starfruit
Ink: Jet Black StazOn; markers: Going Gray, Basic Gray, Soft Suede, Marian Mist, Poppy Parade, Old Olive, Gumball Green, Perfect Plum, Summer Starfruit, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Small and large classic scalloped oval Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders), Framed Tulips embossing folder, 1/16" hole punch, Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon, Dimensionals

I've had this stamp set for ages -- I think it was one of my first hostess sets years ago -- and it goes back and forth between my "keep" and "donate" stamp stashes. I love the adorable bird-themed images; I just don't use it very often. At any rate, it's one of the keepers right now, and I don't think I've ever used this particular image in the set, so I put it to good use. I kept the layout of these cards simple; I die cut and matted the focal images and used Dimensionals to adhere them to card bases that I had embossed with a frame. I also added a bit of ribbon to the purple and yellow card. Which color combo do you like better? I think I like the red and blue flowers because it has a little patriotic feel.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Up, Up & Away
Card stock: Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Sky, SOft Suede, Wild Wasabi, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Hounstooth embossing folder, Wild Wasabi stitched ribbon, Dimensionals

I made two copies of this card, and it wasn't much more work than making one. I just stamped and cut out six balloons instead of three, and I embossed one piece of Wild Wasabi card stock that I cut in half to make wavy hills for each card. Then it was just a matter of doing a little stamping, assembling and adding the ribbon to each card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Poppy Parade, Naturals Ivory, Pool Party card stock; Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Ink: Poppy Parade
Accessories: Fun Flowers die, Framed Tulips embossing folder, Everyday Enchantment brads, 1-1/4" square punch, Dimensionals

OK, you caught me: This card doesn't say "miss you." I figured "thinking of you" was a pretty close alternative, though. This card base was originally for the card on the left in the first picture above. But Poppy Parade is such an orange-y red that it just didn't look right with the Marina Mist mat of the focal image. So I put it aside to use for a different card. Here we have a simple layered die-cut flower (I snipped the petals on the smallest flower) with a brad in the center. To the right of the flower I added a banner stamped with the greeting and matted with a slightly larger Pool Party banner.

If you like to make more cards than you can possibly use, consider donating some to OWH. You'll get to have some quality time with your stamps, our heroes will be able to keep in touch with their friends and families, and their loved ones will receive beautiful cards they can treasure while they wait for their husband, wife, son, daughter, mom or dad to come home. It's a win-win-win.

Thanks for stopping by!