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Saturday, March 20, 2010

Let's get Hoppin!!

Thanks for joining me today on the Operation Write Home Spring Break Bloghop!  If this is your first stop on the hop, you may want to start from the beginning by heading to http://www.owhstarsandstamps.org/ or you can keep on going from here!

Wasn't Denise Lynn's page wonderful?  Her stamps are super cool and she's an incredibly talented stamper!  How lucky is anyone who receives one of her special cards?!

For those of you unfamiliar, Operation Write Home is a non-profit organization that sends thousands of cards overseas to the men and women fighting in support of our country.  These handmade cards are used by these Heroes to write home since there is no Halmark in the desert!!

I love making cards for our troops.  I really believe it is a great way to use our stamping talent to provide a smile to both ther sender and receiver of the card.  I hosted several of my customers in my stamp room last Friday night with a goal of making 250 cards for Operation Write Home.  In about 5 hours, we achieved our goal and had a great time in the process! 


Our plan was to use all white card bases, helping cut my cost but also get us a little out of our comfort zone.  I know I fall into a stampin trap often of becoming very dependent on multiple layers, lots of dimension, and complicated designs.  Not all cards have to be that way!  We had a great time keeping our cards plain and simple.  We added color with ink and maybe a couple punches of Designer Series Paper.  It was a great night that turned out tons of beautiful cards and lots of new ideas!

Thanks for visiting my little place on the web and my contribution to this important Bloghop!  The next stop on the hop is with Rachel Brumley at http://www.stampingbyrachel.com/.  Rachel has lots of fun and beautiful ideas on her blog to help inspire your own stamping adventures.

Before you leave, please take a minute to let me know you were here!  Leave a comment and be sure to include your email address.  One lucky hopper will be chosen at random to receive a box full of goodies you can use to make lots of great cards to contribute to our Heros through Operation Write Home!

Thanks for visiting and God Bless our Troops!

78 comments:

Fabre said...

These are fabulous cards - I love especially love the brown flourish with the blue flower - I need to dig out those flourish stamps today - you are the 2nd blog that has inspired me to use them! Happy hopping!

Debra said...

Like your cards, time to do spring cards! cardkel@gmail.com

Dawn said...

I love the be yourself card. It's really pretty!

Operation Write Home said...

I love all your cards! My fave two are the row of houses (it's a little hometown! cute!) and the embossed birthday card - that patterned paper is amazing! Thanks for joining in the hop!

...Darlene said...

Kelli,
Thank you for sharing your collection of cards. Lots of great ideas to use for making quick simple cards. Easy to make, easy to mail.
again thank you for sharing,
darlene a

Karel Hamilton said...

Great cards. I need to get started on some Spring cards too.
karel2006@comcast.net

Karen McAlpine said...

Beautiful use of embossing folder. happy hopping

Rhonda Miller said...

What great cards. I love them all. Thanks for sharing your talent.
rmpoohbear75 at gmail dot com

Meg Bean said...

I love the simplicity of your card designs. It really makes the images stand out!

mgardiner_ttu at hotmail dot com

SuzAnn said...

I love your cards~especially the be yourself one! Thanks for supporting OWH

Anonymous said...

I love the simple, yet great cards you and your group made! I especially love the card with embossing. I think I need to add embossing folders (whatever they are) to my wish list. I'm new to OWH! robinski6 at yahoo dot com

Paula S. said...

I love the white backgrounds in these cards. It really creates a showcase foe the other elements. Beautiful work!

Tami Bayer said...

Thank you for sharing the story of your card making party. I love that you started with white card bases. beautiful work!

Brittany said...

Beautiful cards! Sometimes I have hard time creating simple cards. Hopefully, one of these days, I'll get the knack for it. :)

Julie Craig said...

Love your cards! I like that they have a very clean look to them. Simple and straight to the point!! Beautiful :)
Julie
ejej523(at)yahoo(dot)com

Jeanne said...

I love your reminder that simple cards can be beautiful too. I think I sometimes try to make mine too complicated and they look a little messy. Thanks for sharing!

jeanne706 at yahoo.com

Betty said...

Very nice cards I liked them all especially the red flower card:)

Bonita Rose said...

Love all your cards.. especially the BE YOURSELF.. card.. love that! hugs
bonnierose in Fargo
bonnieangel1797@gmail.com

lavendarrose29 said...

Fabulous cards. I love all of them. The texture and details are great.

hiscreation2 said...

What a great reminder how powerful white cards can be! I love the embossed one, but they all are fabulous!
hiscreation2@hotmail.com

AprilsL8 said...

Love your cards! simple is GREAT!!


AprilsL8@windstream.net

Wendy said...

All of these cards are very nice but my favorite has to be the "be yourself" card! I like the flourish and really like the sentiment.

TN Granny said...

Kelli,
You are so right about simple cards being beautiful, I love SU and I love the simplity of your cards.
God Bless,
Jeanine #14 on the blog hop.

Wendy said...

Using white card stock can take us out of the comfort zone. I've been experimenting with using craft paper. All the cards are creative and will brighten someone's day!

wgstrong@gmail.com

Erika said...

Beautiful cards! And as a military wife I must say thank you for helping OWH keep families close in heart despite being separated by duty.

Anita said...

Beautiful cards! Thanks for the reminder that simple is ok. anitamocha@charter.net

Missy said...

Wow 250 cards that is amazing. I liked all the cards you have displayed.

JenMarie said...

WOWza, you've been busy!!!

Unknown said...

I LOVE our cards...I think simple is better!! Thank you for sharing.

Renee said...

Thanks for reminding us that simple white bases can make awesome cards like the ones you posted!

One Scrappy Gal said...

Thank you for all the cards you send! Your cards are adorable! Scrappygal1 at gmail dot com.

Merry's Musings said...

Just love love love your cards. So super 'clean and refreshing' I just love that style. Thanks for the inspiration, lovely blog!

Dixie Cochran said...

Kelli, your cards are always pretty and these are no exception. Thanks for all you do for our heroes!

Kajikit said...

Wow! I love all those beautifully clean and simple card designs... I find it really hard to keep things simple sometimes! Good for you and your friends for getting so many cards made in a sitting...

Louise Fox said...

Kelli, I like all of your cards. It is harder than many think to do a simple, white card! I especially like the red and white card with the flower next to the ribbon. Blessings, Louise

JPScraps said...

AWESOME CARDS! I've been doing the same type of cards for OWH.

Kathy H said...

Fabulous!

Martha said...

Such fun to see your cards! I love the simple ones best too. Thank you for sharing your talents with us.

Marci said...

Cute! My favorite is the hello circles one.

laurlynn said...

Your cards are great! Love the clean and simple look even though they can be very tricky sometimes!

laurielehnertz at comcast dot net

~Jeri~ said...

Your cards are beautiful!! Love the clean and simple look!!
As a military spouse and someone new to OWH, I thank you for taking part in this awesome blog hop and in OWH!

Kas said...

So many wonderful cards!!

Whispers and Wishes said...

love your cards... they are clean and simple but not lacking in anything. your design elements are wonderful.
fourwalls.nowindows at gmail.com

Jennifer Moore said...

Great cards.

Melissa Rossi said...

love the simplicity of your cards- the home one is super cute

grandmalee said...

Thanks to you & your customers for making your goal! WOW! That's so awesome! I love the CAS look which also means that more cards can be shipped since they're is less bulk. Make sure to thank your customers too! I'm one of the bloggers & my daughter is a soldier, so we're very appreciative of what others do. Thanks!
grandma_lee_tATyahooDOTcom

Christine said...

your cards are beautiful. my fav is the one with the flourish... I love that you added the flowers to it - that is soooo something that I wouldn't think to do. hope i can step outside the box and do some stuff like that....

Darla Lewis said...

i love all your white base examples, I will be using these ideas to make some for OWH too!! What a great idea to make 250 cards in one night-WOW that's a lot of cards.

Cathy... said...

What fabulous clean and simple cards! I especially love the one with the embossing! Thanks so much for organizing workshops and getting others involved with this great cause!

Janice said...

Love the simplicity of your cards, very much like my style. The be Yourself one is my favorite.

Unknown said...

Thank you for the pleasure of visiting your blog and congratulations on your achievement. Making 250 cards in 5 hours is going some.
Best wishes from England
http://stampinslippers.blogspot.com/

buglvr2010 said...

Beautiful cards....thanks for the reminder....sometimes I overthink my cards and forget how pretty a simple card can be. The white backgrounds really make the stamps pop.

buglvr2010 at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

Hi Im Lynn and I love the cause your working for, I would love to get involved as my son is overseas so contact me if you can
faesgrammy@yahoo.com
Your cards are wonderful
Im still a beginner so those cards are right up my alley

shelly said...

wow so many cards, all so pretty

Gloria Westerman said...

What a fantastic idea....with just stamping and maybe some coloring...
I like that....and I know I can do that.....thank you for the inspiration and your beautiful cards.....job well done....
gw0109@gmail.com

Cyn said...

Your card are beautiful!!!

Lauretta See said...

beautiful cards.. enjoying the hop ;)

great job!!

Hugs x

Rufus said...

What great cards! As you say sometimes CAS is harder to do that complicated! Esp. like the flourish (I love flourishes!) and the embossed Happy Birthday card. What a great idea to get a group together. 250 now that's impressive! Doesn't the thought of the smiles on both sides of the mail melt your heart? I've been with OWH for a long time and it just makes me happy to help. Thanks for your support of OWH and our Heroes!
R/

Rufus said...

Forgot my email in case you can't get it off blogger. It's rufus704 at yahoo dot com.
Thanks again!
R/

lisa808 said...

Great selection of cards. Thanks for participating in this amazing hop.

lisawhs808 at aol dot com

andyjay said...

Very pretty cards. Very clean lines and classic. Love them! TFS!

jengd said...

What a fantastic lot of cards you guys made!! Great goal and great results! jgerwigdively (at) hotmail {dot} com

StampinSher said...

You are absolutely correct about remembering how to go back to basics and keeping it simple. I loved the idea that you did your class and achieved your goal. Your contributions to the OWH Blog Hop are terrific. I always like to go back to simple and easy. Amazing what a person can come up with when using just one stamp, chalk or pens.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks for sharing and contributing to OWH.
Sher

Carolyn Bounds said...

All of these cards are gorgeous!!! I couldn't pick a favorite if I had to!!! You and your talented customers truly outdid yourselves!!! Like you, I really need to try more clean and simple creations. After seeing all these lovelies, you have definitely inspired me to give it a try. Thanks for the inspiration and for helping our heroes keep in touch with home:o)

Hugs!!
Carolyn
themadscrapper at nc dot rr dot com

Shelly said...

Wow! 250 cards in 5 hours!!! That's awesome! You gals rock!

I love your cards. Keeping them clean and simple sure didn't detract from them. They're great.

webe34him (at) bellsouth (dot) net

mtscrapgal said...

Bless you for making so many cards for the blog.They are all so different and perfect for the drive.

dawna said...

Your cards are beautiful. I especially love the embossed birthday card and the 'be yourself' card.

Unknown said...

All of your cards are beautiful. I love how they are simple, yet gorgeous!

Cut n Paste said...

Those cards are really great - makes me want to try just using white cardstock to make a few. Thanks for supporting our troops and thanks for your efforts in getting more people involved.

Loni said...

great cards. Thx for supporting OWH.Hugs, Loni (Stop #55)

Purple Princess said...

Wow! Look at all your wonderful cards!!

debb said...

Wow- what a lot of fab cards! Love them!

Susan said...

GREAT cards! I hope to be with you on the next blog hop!
this is such a great organization, I wish I knew of it sooner.

I am also now following you :)
Thanks for all you do,
Susan

Lyneen said...

OH MY GOSH YOU LADIES ARE AWESOME! Congrats on making your goal. The white base cards turned out great. Thanks for sharing and supporting OWH.

Collette said...

What a great job - the cards all look great!

Kimme said...

I am hosting a card making day in May and your cards are wonderful inspiration. I may have to borrow some of the designs. Great job!

Trevorstuffmammas said...

Love the simple look you have going here....my style is very similar. You have given me a few new ideas. Thanks

Anonymous said...

Wow! Lots of cards. I like the one with the little house, so cute. And the embossed one and all of them really! LOL

Corinna
www.myscrapbooklife.com