More 'Any Hero' Cards

     I'm still working on getting the box completely filled with cards before I mail it off to Operation Write Home and today I have two more 'Any Hero' cards to share with you.   These are cards we make to show our appreciation to those who are serving overseas.  They are not addressed to any particular soldier but are sent in each box that OWH ships so that they can be given to our troops who otherwise wouldn't get a lot of mail.  In each one, I write a message of thanks and hope and appreciation for what they are doing.  Sometimes I sign it, other times it is just from an anonymous American at home.

    The first card uses a sketch from clean&simple, turned on its side, and a Penny Black stamped image.  The Penny Black challenge, starting today, is "For the Guys."
 

    Before I give you the card details, let me tell you where the inspiration started.  CAS-ual Fridays has a tic-tac-toe challenge this week.  They give us a chart and we have to pick one row -- vertical, horizontal, or diagonal and then use each item in that row on our card.  Here's the chart.



     I chose the middle, vertical row -- gems, punch, & flowers.  Keep in mind that I still needed to keep this card very CAS in design, partly for the challenge but mostly because it's going to OWH and clean and simple cards are best for that.

     The image is stamped and heat embossed with Black Detail EP from Sparkle 'N' Sprinkle.  If I haven't said it before, they have some of the best EPs around, especially their detail EPs.  I used only blue and red for coloring the image, leaving the animate objects (like people and animals) black and white.   I punched the border of the image with a border punch from Fiskars and the corners with a corner punch.  I mounted the image right onto the card base.  The sentiment is part of the stamp.  I added the flowers to three corners of the card instead of to the sentiment and put little, flat gems in the center of each one, making sure they are secure by using a toothpick dab of craft glue on the back of each one.

      The second card uses digi images from Doodle Pantry where the challenge is a very simple one -- use a Doodle Pantry image and any other kind of paper crafting material.

     Each of the three images is from one of the Patriotic sets and the Patriotic Sheep is so cute, holding all those stars, that I just had to use it, along with the other two, for this Any Hero card.  I printed the images, colored them with Copic markers (following exactly the pre-colored images which are also available on the same sets) then matted them with blue CS and adhered each one to the card base of red.  I added five small gems to the corner (again using craft glue) and it was finished.  If I had used the pre-colored images, I'm sure I could have put this card together in under 20 minutes, including scrounging around for the CS scraps I used for the matting and cutting them to size!

     That's not to imply that our deployed heros aren't worth cards that take more time -- they are.  But this way, I can do more cards and let more of our troops know that they're special.  If you want to know more about Operation Write Home, click on either of the links in this post or on the badge to the right.  They're such a great organization and do so much (with our help) to support the troops and encourage them to stay in touch with loved ones by using the handmade cards we make and donate specifically for that purpose.  If you want to make just Any Hero cards, that's fine, too.  Either one or both are much appreciated.

     It's the weekend.  I hope the weather is going to cooperate and allow you to have some wonderful weekend activities.  If not, and you're stuck inside, then may you be blessed with creativity flowing through your veins.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie