Do you like to make cards? Do you LOVE to make cards?

Last week I became aware of something that has gotten me soooo excited!  I really love to make cards, but I'm the type that needs a reason/purpose to make them.  I'm not real crazy about entering challenges, so that doesn't motivate me, but now I have found my "purpose".   Some of you are probably already aware of Operation Write Home (I'm always one of the last to know things.)   For those of you like me who haven't heard of it:  OWH is an organization that collects handmade cards to send to our troops so they in turn can use them to write their loved ones back home.  You can make cards for the soldiers as well.  One of the most touching things I read about this is that any card you make has the potential to be a treasured keepsake for someone, maybe for years to come.  Everyone who has had someone far away from you can relate to this.  Especially with today's emails & Skype, a card with your loved one's own handwriting that can be looked at & held close to the heart is something special.

With that said.... I am making cards like a crazy woman every chance I get.  These are just a few of the first ones I did.  I'm trying to pick a topic/theme and go with that for each day.  I think I ended up with 2 or 3 of each of these T.O.Y. cards shown, and just as a sidenote, I'm trying to stay away from the ribbons.  I'm afraid they might be too bulky & not do too well in shipping.   More to come later.............

Make it a good day for someone & it'll come back to you.

3 in 1: A card for a friend, A challenge & A homemade mini wobble

I have 5 friends that have St. Patrick's Day birthdays.  This one is for my Leprechaun friend Teresa.  (I can post this because she doesn't know anything about my blog.)  I'm also going to enter it in the Peachy Keen Challenge Sketch #45.   I don't care too much for entering challenges so I don't do very many, but I do enter every once in a while.   What's to lose if they're random draw, right?
I realized after I posted this pic. that I haven't finish the card yet.  Got a few more little finishing details to add.  Hubby is off work today & is waiting for me to hurry up & get ready so we can go out for the day.  Yayyy! for getting to spend the day having fun with him, but he's rushing me, grrrr.
What I'm really excited about is my homemade mini wobble I made to make the little guy above be able to do an Irish jig.  My real Wobbles were too big so I made a smaller version using the thin wire that I pulled out of some "wired" ribbon.  It works great!  I can't remember the exact links I watched but there are several video tutorials on how to make wobbles.  I just modified what I saw from a couple of those.
Happy day everyone- be sure to do something nice for someone else & it'll come back to you.

Pass it On

A Baby in Need of Smiles - Please Help Little Aidan

Tanya from Scrappin KY Momma needs help from all of us crafters. She knows this little boy and his family and would like to send him cards. Here's his story...

Aidan is a sweet lil 2 year old who was recently diagnosed with T Cell Leukemia. On Wednesday, he had a port installed in his chest, spinal tap, bone marrow, and chemo in his spine. He did GREAT! This lil guy is such a trooper. His parents have accepted that their BABY has Leukemia.. NOT the easiest thing to accept, but their faith in God and their support system have kept them going. T-Cell Leukemia has a high cure rate although chemo will be continued for quite a while. Lil Aidan LOVES mail, like any 2 year old does. So....

Let's get our crafting supplies out and send this lil guy some LOVE!!! Pass this on to all your crafty friends. I think we can all take a couple minutes and make something special for him that will bring LOTS of smiles and he can look at over and over. We all know how laughing and smiling can be good for the soul. Let's give him this much for him to enjoy while he's battling this horrible disease. I have no doubt in my mind that God can perform a miracle in this beautiful child. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.Lets all come together and put Lots of BIG Smiles on Aidan's and his parents faces.

You can mail your cards to:

AIDAN

c/o Tanya Stilwell

P.O. Box 143

Cecilia, KY 42724

Thank you  Zeni  for this write up.

You may copy and paste

A Winner! It's on its way!

I was walking around the backyard yesterday (it was a beautiful--sunny & 72 degrees!) and this is what I found, the first color of spring is showing, so spring is definitely on its way.  Hang in there all you friends still buried in snow.   Speaking of on its way....I'd like to send the blog candy for the Valentine's Blog Hop on its way.  The winner (picked by Random.org) is # 20 -Sheila    

Sheila

Love the easel card box and the suspension card - both are awesome. Would love to know how to make the suspension card - I've never seen one before. What I love about Valentine's Day is surprising my girls. This year I decorated mailboxes for them and filled them with love notes and lots of their favorite things. On V-day morning, at my girl's school, they're having "Muffins with Mom". All of us moms are invited to enjoy a muffin breakfast with our kids and they've made something special they will be presenting to each of us - looking forward to this.

Sheila, I hope you're reading this- Congratulations!  Please send me your address so I can get your prize in the mail. 

THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by and left all the sweet comments and for becoming a follower.  It means a lot.  I have tried to get around to everyone who stopped by.  IF I missed you please send me a link to your blog so I can follow you back.  For some reason, Blogger sometimes will only show a list of the blogs that you follow & not give your blog name on your profile page.

Make it a good day for someone & it'll come back to you.

The Princess and the Paper Valentine Blog Hop

Hey Ya’ll, thanks for droppin’ by (or hoppin’ by actually.) 

Well you’re almost to the end.  Haven’t all the ladies and gentleman done a fantastic job?! 

I just want to say thank you Miss Jillian from The Princess and the Paper for organizing and for inviting me to join the hop and thanks to Karen for suggesting me.  Jillian is an amazing young lady (she's not even a teenager yet) and she's the first stop on our trip today.   Jillian has just designed and released her own stamp sets, so if you didn’t start with her, be sure and hop all the way around to check out her cute projects and her new stamps.  

Since this is my first blog hop to participate in I am soooo excited.   You’ve probably been there already, so you know what I'm talking about.  Anyway, I had a very hard time deciding what I wanted to show for my post.  (Didn’t you with your first hop?)    After much debate, I decided on just showing what I made for my daughter’s Valentine and a little extra card I made from the scraps. 

 The easel card box is my first one to make and is full of chocolate bars, (which more than makes up for any goofs on the box itself.)                                                                                                                                

  

By the way, can anyone tell me when they quit wrapping Hershey Bars the old fashioned way with silver foil & paper?                                                                              

The little “Be Mine” card is a suspension card which is a lot of fun to make and even more fun to open.  You wind it up & when the recipient opens it the little sentiment tag spins.   See the picture below for a look at the inside.  For some reason the close-up I took of it didn't load.  If the card looks a little worn, it IS, because it has been played with a lot over the past 2 weeks.

To thank you for dropping by today I have a little candy to giveaway.   It’s the Pink by Design Girls Just Wanna Have Fun stamp set.   You know the drill….. leave a comment below.  Tell me what you like or hope to get for Valentine's Day.   I would love for you to become a follower, but it is not required, just be sure if you are not a follower, to leave a way for me to contact you if you win.   I will pick and post the winner next Tuesday.   To my followers, remember to tell your friends to stop by & leave your name (or blog name, which ever will let me know who you are) in their comment to give you an extra entry. 

Make it a good day for someone else & that will make it a good day for you!  

Now hop along, but please come back & visit again soon.

Jillian http://princessandthepaper.blogspot.com/

Bunny http://bunnyrunswithscissors.blogspot.com/

Tanner http://mrcricutcrazy.blogspot.com/

Kara http://www.karassweetcreations.blogspot.com/

Ashley http://myscrappinpalace.blogspot.com/

Karen http://karens-kakes-krafts.blogspot.com/

Tami http://www.tamiscraftconnection.blogspot.com/ me

Carolanne http://www.loganscraftymomma.com/  your next stop

Wendy http://wendyscreativecraftingcorner.blogspot.com/

Simple Valentine Treat Box/Bag

It's not a box and not a bag, so what do you call it, a bog or bax?

Don't forget- make it a good day for someone else & it'll come back to you!

UPDATE:  I've had several requests here and via email for the instructions for this.   

Start with a square piece of cardstock- (just for this example we'll say 9 inches,) then divide the big square into 9 little squares by making score lines at the 3 inch & 6 inch lines, scoring both vertically & horizontally. Your big square will now have score lines that look like a tic-tac-toe board.  Crease your fold lines. 
On the 4 "corner squares" score them diagonally from the actual outer corner (point) just down to the score line. 

Fold these short diagonal score lines inward.  You should be able to make out the shape of the little basket at this point. 
Each of these folded sections will need a hole punched in them to thread the ribbon/twine thru.  *Please note that in my rush to do this addition I did not do a good job punching the corners, but if you look at the bottom right corner of the photo below, it is done properly & that's how it should look.

see the bottom right corner for how it should look
(because I was in a rush, the other 3 corners were not punched properly)

  

Thread your twine or ribbon thru & then pull the corners together like a drawstring bag.

Decorate the sides with panels, stickers, etc.   I hope this makes sense.  

I am an addict

I came to this realization last week.  I couldn't play in my craft room because of all my family coming in & being here for my grandmother's 90th birthday, and I kept thinking about and wanting to get in there so bad (or is it badly?...whatever)  The party was great, we had a wonderful time getting together and it was so good seeing family I haven't seen in years, but I am glad to be able to get back into my playroom.  In all the hoopla for the big 90th bash I missed someone else's birthday last week, one of my in-laws (oops!) so I whipped this card up this morning so I can get it in the mail ASAP. I am soooo loving these Wobbles.  I'm putting them on everything lately. 
Hope everyone has a good day! 
Don't forget the Valentine Blog Hop this Saturday over at http://princessandthepaper.blogspot.com.  There are only 10 sites, so it won't be one of those long overwhelming hops.  HOPe you'll HOP by.

An early invitation to a Blog Hop

I know this is a while away but I just wanted to invite everyone to what I think will be a really fun hop on March 26th.  It will be all Disney &/or Pixar themed projects.  Shawn, http://craftychicsblog.blogspot.com/ the angel who has given us the wonderful Cricut Search page http://www.cricutsearch.com/ is hosting the hop.
My son found out I'm going to be in this hop & announced that he wanted to pick my project for this one because it's just a couple of days after his 16th birthday.  He wants me to make him a card and here's the "kicker" & oh so subtle hint, he wants me to do something from "Cars".  I think he better just be happy getting his license, oh, and a card of course.   Happy day everyone!