Hand Crafted by Elsie: April 2014

It was a productive year - 514 cards sent. Of those, 58 were Any Hero Letters written by students when I was subbing for a friend at the local middle school. So 456 were my creations.

The February Box - 105 cards

Usually I don't make multiples of one card design. I might use one set of papers or one image for a series of cards, however.

One task I set myself to was using some OWH Sketches for cards, so here are the first twenty. There are more than 220 sketches now, so I'm woefully behind. I love red, white, and blue, but I did get tired of using that color scheme in this collection of cards.

These are all cards from Vicky's monthly card class.

The truck is from a Stampin' Up set and is perfect for masculine cards. The card bases are the kraft paper pack from A. C. Moore so didn't require an extra layer as they would have if I had used white card bases.

I love the digital stamp of Ciara, the OWH mascot. The paw print ribbon is from Mighty Dollar. The pink and green cards have a fake bow made by threading the ribbon through two holes punched into the paper.

I love this giraffe image - perfect for a man to send or a woman to send to a man. More kraft card bases and envelopes.

This sailboat is another perfect masculine image.

The May Box - 118 cards

Here they are!

"What's the Word, Bird?"
This Bird Assortment stamp set from Inkadinkadoo is good for many different occasions.

It was finally time to use those elements from the card kit I bought without realizing that square cards take extra postage. Boo! The stamped tulips were fun to color.

The three on the top left were made at Vicky's card class.

This accordian fold was made with the Martha Stewart Score Board.

Orange and purple - a good combination. I was practicing using water color sticks and a paint brush.

"I'm blue without you" using the Martha Stewart button punch which also embosses the paper into a three-dimensional element.

A circle punch makes parentheses for the hug. The cat is from the "Fluffles Wuv" set from Stampendous.

This stamp set is has three parts to each image, the outline and two colored sections, but I just used the outline and did some coloring. It's the "Mindy's Zoo 2" set by Stampology.

A variety of CAS cards using paper with big flowers. It's paper best used for 12 x 12 scrapbook pages, but cut into smaller pieces and paired with some solids, it looks good on cards. Why did I get this paper, I wonder? I'll be using it forever.

These birds are made with blobs of watercolor paint - from the Faber-Castell set I got at the Hospice Thrifts and Gifts. A box of forty water color sticks for $4.00 - what a deal. I found the tutorial at Elvie Studios. She also includes directions for other critters, including pigs, mice, and rabbits.

The cute My Favorite Things rabbits are from the fund-raiser at OWH. The set is "Flopsey Bunch of Hearts" but is discontinued, I believe. The hedgehog is from a stamp found at a thrift store - hooray!

The September Box - 119 cards

More of the owls from the Inkadinkadoo set.

It was fun to make these Japanese kimono. I do wish I knew what the text says!

I've had this paper forever so am trying to use it up.

Here's more of that 12 x 12 floral paper best used for large scrapbook pages.

More paint blob birds. I love making these!

The lady slipper stamp is a challenge to color, so I just looked online to see their color variations. The cat sleeping on the chair is paper pieced. The circle is several layers of card stock so it's popped up on the uncolored background.

These birds and sentiment are from another Inkadinkadoo set, "Heart Flutter."

More of that large-image floral paper. I think these would be better if I'd used larger amounts of the brown card stock. The blue bows are crinkled paper that comes in ropes that can be untwisted and torn into strips.

The Hero Arts Operation Write Home stamp set came in handy for these RWB cards.

Pink, chartreuse, and brown -- colors taken from the striped paper.

The double-sided green, pink, and brown paper has a variety of patterns and lent itself to this set of nine cards. My new scalloped Spellbinders die is great for layering sentiments.

Rainbow trout, fishing boats, sailboats, and fishing gear make for a collection of Dad or Father cards. Since they don't say Happy Father's Day they can be used all year.

This steam engine stamp was in the bin at the Foothills Thrift Store and is perfect for a hero to send to a young son at home.

More steam engines with birthday paper.

The OWH deadline for Christmas cards is October 15, so these are going early. I put real ribbon on the stamped image. The background paper is shiny red paper from the Hospice Thrifts and Gifts. There was a big box of a variety of sizes and colors of card stock. The shiny red is perfect for Christmas cards and Valentines.

Snowmen colored in non-Christmas colors can be sent all winter, not just at Christmastime. The snowman stamp is another thrift store find.

The October Box - 114 cards

I had to stand on the chair to get all the cards into the photo. This is the last box for 2013.

Autumn cards - pumpkins, baskets of apples, wheelbarrows, and cans of weeds.

This little set from Studio G has "I think you are..." and four pictures. The popsicle says 'cool,' the pepper says, 'hot,' the ice cream cone says 'sweet,' and the Swiss cheese says 'cheesy.' I haven't used the pepper or cheese, though. Studio G sets are a bargain at $1.00 each.

A variety of stamps, punches, and dies. I love my new Stampin' Up Bird Builder punch. The cat on the chair is a Stampin' Up stamp and the beehive is another thrift store find. The red, white, and blue card is a swap card received made by Patti Northrup in a card swap. I love the stamped images and the die that makes it look like real postage.

A variety of cat and bird cards using up the dog patterned paper I've had for ages.

The postage stamp die that came with the Cuttlebug and the inch square punch make for a perfect way to use up scraps. My new goal is to cut papers in such a way as to avoid having scraps at all.

The paper with wrapped presents makes great cards, and with a 'Celebrate' stamp the card can be used for any occasion.

More snowmen colored in non-Christmas colors.

Thanksgiving cards using some tiny stamps (thrift shop!) and my favorite corner punch by Carl.

For some reason the total number of cards sent to OWH in 2012 was only 205, perhaps because life events cut into my crafting time. Perhaps I was stitching more temari or knitting more than before.

In the following photo I see more layers and focal points on the cards, and also some masculine and CAS (clean and simple) designs. There are also a few which wouldn't be acceptable using current OWH standards, but at the time I think they were OK to send.