Operation Write Home CArds and why I make cards for them.

I think it was 2010 when I began sending Operation WRite HOme cards. I made lots of Christmas cards on my first load. That little red card peeking behind the other cards the deployed hero is holding on the OWH button was one of them. :)

But here is what keeps me making these cards. Most years I am able to send a couple of boxes full of them. But the time I spend in the "tower" (as I call my scraproom) is a time of meditation, prayer and recharging my energy. It's a ministry and service that only in Heaven will I know how fruitful they were.




Sandy from Operation WRite Home is now unboxing cards and sharing them with us the cards of many contributors from all around the country. I was so inspired I decided to share my cards the same way. So my box is full, my cards are packaged, my packing slip is filled out and I am taking this box to the post office to ship. Enjoy the video below where I share my latest shipment of cards to OWH!






Do you make cards too? Would you like to join us and show our heroes some love by sending them some of your handmade cards?

Blessings,
Tereza

Operation Write Home Blog Hop

Hi everyone,

Today I am blog hopping with the awesome card makers that send their handmade cards to Operation Write Home. If you haven't come from the blog hop you might want to start HERE.

I have lots to share so make sure you go all the way to the end of this post. BLOG CANDY is at the end of the post.

I want to share with you a bit how I create my cards. Yesterday, it went like this....

I was reading the Country Living magazine of this month and saw the  photo of a hallway with a staircase and a dresser that had flowers for knobs. (picture on the right) The wall color was a beautiful guava rose and there were white flowers and black and white and stripes... I had to put the magazine down and run to my craft table and make a card. The inspiration juice was dripping off me as I found the guava cardstock and cut it into 3 cards and then found my white flowers. Then I quickly searched for something to make the yellow centers... Ah-ha!! 3D yellow paint. The scraps of striped black and white papers were easy to use - they were just laying around on my messy table. So here is the result of such great inspiration...

Have we inspired you enough to make a few cards and send them on to our Heroes?? I hope so. :) The next deadlines are:
March 18th for Easter cards
March 31st for Mother's Day cards

If you need some more encouragement be sure to check out my videos and some tutorials on my YOuTube channel. :)  Also check out OperationWRiteHome Ustream videos...they are so much fun and you get to meet Sandy the lady who began all this!!!!

Make sure you hop over to Misty to see what Springy creation she has come up with. :)









And above the BLOG CANDY... Every comment will be entered to win, if you follow me you get an EXTRA chance to win, and if you sign up for my newsletter you get ANOTHER chance... so there is up to 3 chances to win this awesome vintage kit... Melissa Frances papers, handmade embellishments, Prima roses, a Sarah Kay stamp, ribbons, laces, wrinkled baby pink seam binding, manila tags, raw chipboards, doiliesand even some Papertreyink cardstock for you to get started making cards. The winner will be announced on March 12. So you have a whole week to come back here and enter for more than one chance to win.

I have used these gorgeous papers to create my last vintage chipboard album. Go check it out!!!

Have fun this weekend blog hopping and be blessed,
Tereza

Hoping to inspire you...

 Hi everyone,

here are a few of the cards that I made these past couple of weeks to send to OperationWriteHome. Because of my busy life at home, I haven't been as active listing and selling my cards and scrapbook layouts on Etsy. Although I am still available for custom orders (Email me anytime) I have reduced the amount of time I am spending listing items in my shop. So if you find anything on my blog that you are interested in, just email me, I will be happy to duplicate or re-create something for you.

 However it's difficult not to create at all, because I am such a creative spirit and I really need an outlet to express myself. So making these cards for our heroes to use is really refreshing.  I cannot resist and play with some of the digital things available on line. These beautiful silhouettes were found HERE. ArtCult is one of my favorites shops to purchase digital collages.

 I have also used a new technique for me. I have stamped on pages of old books and then cut out the images. Those stamped frames are from Prima and I just love how they look stamped and cut out. I have a few more sets of Prima stamps that I definitely need to use this technique on, so be sure to subscribe to my blog to see what I have coming up.

I also found Crescendoh Stamps!!! Oh, my!! I love to stitch or sew my cards and layouts, but sometimes it is just not possible. I have a baby sleeping, or my machine is acting up or I don't have enough time or the right thread. So when I found these stamps that look like stitches I just jumped for joy and purchased both of them. Doesn't that look great? Oh, it makes my heart soooo happy!! You can find the stamps I used HERE and HERE.

While browsing the Crescendoh blog I saw this post with these adorable cards and it inspired me to create these darling ones to your left. Aren't they adorable?! 

I hope to make some little girls day when she receives these in the mail from her Daddy or Mommy. :)

The little girl is a Sarah Kay stamp that you can find HERE. Besides stamping the image on a page of an old book, I water colored it and cut it out. I also water colored the background and doodled a border around it. Cut out some strips of gorgeous scrapbook scraps and used my Cynthia Shaffer's stamps on them.

This is another batch of cards that I made using digital papers and my first purchased stamps at PaperTrey Ink. You PaperTrey Ink fans out there, can you see the stamps I used?

Now to finish this sharing session, I think these on your left are my favorites.

I used my favorite scraps of my most precious favorite scrapbook collections: K&Co., Daisy D's, Websters' Pages, Basic Grey. Can you spot them? When I fall in love with a collection I have a hard time throwing away the little scraps, so I hold on to them until I can make little quilted cards. I used the Crescendoh and PaperTrey Ink stamps again. I think I will be stamping everything with them. :)


The heart is just some acrylic paint on bubble wrap stamped on pages from an old book. I talked about this technique in my last Thrifty Thursday. My husband thought that these cards were too busy. I loved them, mainly because I had so much fun making them and they are so colorful. What do you think?

Ooh, did I wear you out? I hope you had fun checking out my latest creations and get inspired to donate some of your time to brighten someone else's lives.  How do you give back from the abundance you have in your life?

Let me know you stopped by and tell what you think. You don't have to leave a comment if you don't have time, but do tell what you think by checking one of the REACTIONS boxes below. Thanks so much and be blessed, :)

Tereza

OperationWriteHome Birthday Bash

Fall is here!

All September long it was Birthday Bash celebration at OperationWriteHome. I wrote in and set a goal of 500 cards to send in, BUT I didn't meet my goal. I was able to create 110 cards only.

I have been so busy with our children. They are taking music lessons once a week. DD7 is learning piano and DS5 is learning the drums. Well, that was the initial plan but they are actually learning more. DS5 is also learning the bangos and DD7 is also playing the drums. About a month ago, God led me to a music shop in town and I was able to purchase an used working keyboard for $5.00!!! And last week, we purchased an electronic drum set for $200.00!!! So I guess we are preparing to become a worship band!! hahahaha Who knows!!???

Anyway, busy with that. Also I found a homeschool co-op that meets every other week and our social life has picked up a bit. :) My craft life has become second in my priorities. I have a lot of inventory in stock and I am cleaning up my studio. I have come up with a little marketing strategy to increase my sales in my Etsy shop and clean up the many treasures I have in stock.

Here are some of the cards I sent to OperationWriteHome last week. And if you don't know about them yet and you like to make cards you should check them out. :)

I made many more that I will share later on. Have a blessed week and thanks for stopping by,

Tereza

Happy Father's Day!

Below a batch of cards I sent to Operation Write Home.

I hope they made a Father's Day!!






Kiss your Daddy today! Mine just arrived all the way from Brazil. :)

Tereza

Blog Candy during Memorial Day Blog Hop.

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all having fun blog hopping during this holiday! To celebrate the sacrifices our heroes have made in the past and present day I am giving away this fabulous Vintage Blog Candy. Lots of card making goodies here.

The picture above says it all but here is what is included:

- 36 doubled sided 12x6" Crafty Secrets Pastel Collection papers;
- 01 Sarah Kay darling little girl stamp;
- some handmade paper roses;
- 01 gorgeous 3D butterfly;
- some awesome chipboard frames and other elements that I purchased from Annie;
- 2 yards each of baby pink seam binding, copper brown seam binding, acqua satin ribbon;
- 1 yard each of 2 different laces.

Be sure to click on the image to enlarge for you to see it all. :)

To enter the give away just
leave a comment here AND become a follower
, OR
leave a comment AND subscribe by email.

One entry per person. I will run the give away for a week, so you have time to come during the week. The winner will be announced next Saturday - June 05th.

And here is a card I made using Graphic45 papers and sent to our heroes thanking them for their service. Because of men and women like them, we can enjoy freedom.



Now go have some fun and check out Yolanda's post.
Be blessed,

Tereza

Blog Hop and give Away!!

Hi everyone...

this weekend I will be participating with Operation Write Home in their Blog Hop!! It's going to be lots of fun and I will be doing a Give Away, so be sure to stop by and participate!!

Hope to see you Saturday!!

Tereza

I am on a roll!

Can you tell what I have been doing? :)

Here's a video to give you a clue.



Tereza

Christmas in May???

I am making cards for Operation Write Home and made some Christmas cards. These are smaller cards measuring 4.25x4.25" or 3.5x4.25" and are so adorable. They will fit into a A2 envelope without any problem.

I will also be sharing more on the ribbon technique later this week.






I am selling a set of 6 of Shabby chic cards on my Etsy shop for just $15.00. That is less than $3.00/ card for a handmade embellished card. Talk about a bargain!!! They would make the perfect gift. :) Be sure to stop by and check them out!









Have a blessed week!

Tereza

Thrifty Thursday and my new YouTube channel!

Hey everyone,

I have been so busy! I just got a new custom order for another Word Album and I am hoping to be able to share the how to of it here. :) Yes, isn't that exciting?! I got a YouTube account so you can go check it out HERE and see all the videos I have already uploaded there.

You can also check Thrifty Thursday every week to see a technique or a tip that will not bankrupt your wallet or bank account or credit card! ha! LOL

Today I am sharing how to make your own flowers with what you got!


I am also making a ton of cards for Operation Write Home! This is an awesome organization and you should join in and make some cards too. Here is a video showing off some of the cards I made.




There's still time to make some Father's Day Cards, so be sure to join in.

Would you leave a comment so I know you stopped by? Have a blessed week!

Tereza

Cards for Heroes Blog Hopping!

****Memorial Day Update - some people on the comments asked how did I know that the RED CARD in the soldier's hands was mine. Earlier on there was a bigger photo on CFH blog and I was really able to see it closely and it is mine. Below is a bigger picture of one of the cards I sent. And like I describe below on my original post I cut up pieces of a Christmas fabric and machine stitched to a red cardstock and hand stamped Merry Christmas on the inside. there were many different images on the fabric: Snow man, Christmas tree, bells, angels and with them the Christmas wishes for Joy, Peace, Love etc. I was so happy to see the fruits of my labor and it really motivated me to keep making more cards to send to them. It really takes very little to make someone's day.***********



If you follow my blog or have been here before you might have noticed my little banner of Cards for Heroes. Cards for Heroes is an organization that donates cards to our soldiers abroad so they can send hand written notes to their loved ones here back home. They also provide encouraging cards to our wounded heroes helping out another organization that provides quilts and other needed personal items to the soldiers that are wounded and have to be transported to a hospital.

I have become involved with this organization and have sent some cards to them a couple of times. My daughter and I got busy and made a bunch of them, as well as Christmas cards last year. If you would like to see some of them and the tips I shared please click HERE.



so I am participating on a Blog Hop to help promote this organization and get more people involved. Please check out their website for more information.

You don't need to be an expert card maker to join, or send dozens of cards. Just do a little or as much as you can. There are so many creative ways you can help. If you don't want to make cards, you can donate supplies, send a few dollars to help out with shipping, sign AnyHero cards...there is so much to do.

I have recently started collecting the cards that don't sell in my shop and I am sending them over.

Also do you see that red card in the hands of that hero on the first photo on this post? It's my card!! That is a Christmas card that I made using some donated red cardstock. I cut up some Christmas fabric that had cute pictures on them with sayings like Peace, Joy, etc and I machine stitched them to the cardstock. Them my daughter and I hand stamped MErry Christmas on the inside of them and they were ready. We sent over 50 cards. They were simple, cute and it was a great opportunity to do some bonding with my little one.

Have I convinced you yet? :)

Be sure to hop over to Pamela's website. Pamela is also participating on this blog hop. Pamela designs stamps and has some wonderful unique designs and scenery stamps, as well as beautiful cards and useful techniques and tips.

As you browse around the blogs make sure you leave traces that you were there. :) Would love to hear your comments.

Have a beautiful weekend and let's celebrate the heroes of this country! :)

Tereza