Cards for Heroes

Thanks for stopping by! As Spring is upon us life seems to be ramping up leaving less and less time for things like scrapbooking and blogging!  Kelli has been getting her nest all ready for baby.  I have been doing what I usually do this time of year - making plans for every single day and weekend of the summer. Not really, but sometimes it feels like that with the crazy schedule I create for myself.  Enough about us though...let's talk crafts!

Today we wanted to share some information with you about a great organization called Operation Write Home.  About a year ago, we came across this group that sends homemade cards to troops serving overseas.  They recruit crafty people like us to make homemade cards to give to the troops to write home to their loved ones.  After learning about this great organization we were feeling inspired and went to our friend Toni - the best card designer we know!  Last year, a small group of us got together and made about 85 cards in one day for the troops. Toni would design the cards and we would each make a few of each. We worked from 10 AM to 10 PM, stopping to refuel on snacks periodically.  It was quite a day, but we felt great giving back to those serving our country!

This year Toni decided to host a special event called Stamp-A-Stack.  She invited all sorts of crafty ladies to make cards for Operation Write Home.  She designed all of the cards and had stations set up for everyone to complete some cards.  We all made 30 cards - donating one to the troops and keeping one for ourselves.  We had a blast!  After all was said and done approximately 430 cards were made for the troops!  Thanks Toni for hosting such a great event - YOU ROCK!  If you would like to check out some of the cards Toni designed hop on over to her blog. She has been posting them every day for a couple weeks now.  If you are interested in making your own cards for Operation Write Home jump over to their website. They have monthly card-making challenges you can participate in OR host your own event like Toni did! It's so much more fun when you get a whole group of crafty friends involved!

In case you haven't heard, Saturday is National Scrapbooking Day!  We have blocked off some time this weekend to celebrate our passion - SCRAPBOOKING!  What are your plans for National Scrapbooking Day?  Be sure to stop by... we will show you what we are working on and we will be having a special giveaway!

Happy Scrappin!

-Crystal & Kelli

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today Kelli is sharing with us the Valentine she gave her hubby.  This project can easily be altered for any holiday or occasion.  She chose to do four pockets, one for each Valentine's day they have been together. 

Each panel is 6x6.  She created pockets to hold special cards and notes. 

Other uses? Days of the week, members of the family, the possibilities are endless!

Also shown are the Valentine's cards she made. 

All were made quickly using a simple color scheme, regular playing cards, and photographs.

 

Happy Valentine's Day & Happy Scrappin!

Kelli & Crystal

Dressing up a Gift Card

We have a great way for you to present your next gift card!

Some people love receiving gifts cards, even if we don't always love giving them. If you're like us, you find picking out a gift is WAY more personal and fun, after all, gift cards can be kind of boring to give. We can help change that! Create this cute gift card holder! We promise you'll have fun making it and feel better about giving a gift card.

Here's how it's done.....

Materials:

PAPER:

1 two sided paper cut to 7 inches x 2 1/2 inches

1 solid coordinating paper cut to 4 inches by 2 3/4 inches

Embellishment pieces in coordinating colors/patterns cut to:

2 1/4 inches by 1 1/4 inches (first layer)

2 inches x 1 inch (second layer)

1 3/4 inches x 3/4 inch (third layer)

RIBBON:

coordinating color cut to 14 inches

(or get creative and use a different style closure - see end of this post for examples)

Mini Book in Minutes

We LOVE mini books! In addition to being cute and little, it is nice to sit down for a short amount of time and complete a project. We thought we would share this mini book design with you that literally takes minutes to assemble. They are so easy you will be whipping up all sorts of them for yourself, friends, and family!

You start by taking a 12x12 piece of cardstock and cutting it into 3 - 4 by 12 inch strips.

Then cut one of the strips down to 4 by 8 inches. You will then fold the strips every 4 inches in the opposite direction as shown above.

Next you will use the 4 by 8 inch strip to attach the 2 - 4 by 12 inch strips.

Put adhesive on the small strip and line up the 2 large stips with the fold in the center.

You will then have one large strip that folds up into a 4 by 4 inch square.

If you would like to add a covers to your mini book you can cut 4 by 4 inch squares out of a tagboard. (for example: you could use the cover of a paper ream or even a cereal box!)

You will then have a mini book all ready to embellish.

For our mini book we used our Round and Round kit.

You can cut out 4 by 4 inch squares to adhere your favorite pattern paper on to each page.

We created a couple of slots to hold tags for journaling.

This mini book is perfect for a brag book for your purse or on your desk at work.

The holidays are right around the corner and this mini book could make a wonderful gift as well!

We had fun making a few of these mini books and hope you do too!

~Kelli & Crystal