Operation Write Home Top Cards of 2014

Just for fun I thought I'd take part in this blog hop to showcase contributors' favorite cards.

Many of the cards I make are the result of trying new techniques or products, or CASEing cards I like. Here are some of the ones I made during the past year that I liked best:

Playing with gelatos:

Misted distress ink using a stencil as a stamp:

Stenciling, and stenciling with texture paste:

Fun with die cuts, including penguins created for a special call:

Stamping on stamping and stamping on stenciling:

And lastly, a cute little paper-pieced squirrel sitting in a stamped frame. The background was the fun part, where a pattern was heat embossed in clear on a patterned paper background and then distress ink was worked in -- one of the favorite techniques I learned this year.

OWH "Thanks to Our Heroes" Challenge

"Thanks to Our Heroes" is the theme of the current Operation Write Home challenge to make a thank you card using one of their sketches and a stamp. I used OWH sketch #57 and a thank you stamp from the new Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments set:

I had to laugh at myself, though. I first created some cards thinking I remembered the challenge criteria, and made several love cards using the same stamp set. No problem, they're off to my OWH shipper tomorrow too.

I'm loving my new Hero Arts sets. They stamp a sharp, clean image and they stick strongly to the acrylic block and then back onto the carrier sheet.

OWH Eyelet Challenge

We R Memory Keepers is sponsoring a contest at OWH to make a card using eyelets. I made this Cricut cut a couple weeks ago when I got the new Paper Lace cartridge, intending to use it on a card; but it was too plain and needed something. This challenge made me think of eyelets -- you know -- those things we all like the look of and forget to use? Little brass eyelets were just the accents the shape needed, and the card came together.

Contest deadline is Friday, Sept. 9, and there's a Crop-a-Dile prize -- here's the link: OWH Birthday Bash

Not only do I enjoy making cards for our servicemen to use, but the OWH blog has so many great card-making ideas that I sometimes don't know which idea to try first!