Cards for Operation Write Home

I discovered Operation Write Home a few months ago and have since been setting aside a handmade card or two from the "sets" of cards I make to donate to them.  For those that don't know, Operation Write Home (OWH) is an organization that collects handmade cards from crafters around the nation and then sends them to "heroes" (soldiers, Marines, deployed Coast Guard) stationed overseas so those men and women have something nice on which to write home.

OWH reached 1,000,000 handmade cards last month!  I am hoping to get my cards shipped off within the next week or so.  I don't have very many (maybe 25?) but the thing I love about OWH is that you can send any number of cards - be it 1 or 300!  I don't have the time, funds, or resources to go about making 300 cards to ship off every month, but I am grateful for the ladies that do.  As for me, as I make cards for my soon-to-be business I take a card or two every few sets and make sure that they have plenty of extra glue (extreme heat tends to dry out adhesives).  I thought I'd share some of the cards I've been making.

I have never been much of a stamper - I don't have the patience (or the skills) to color in stamps and especially recently, as I've been trying to get my card business going, I haven't used them due to all the Angel Policies (those laws regarding whether you can sell things stamped with a particular image.)  But I really wanted to try digi-stamps and I found this adorable one from Sliekje (she draws digi-stamps and posts them on her blog for others to use for free.)  I love all things Japanese and this one was printed on vellum paper and then embossed.  The digi-stamp can be found here.

This is another digi-stamp from the same blog.  It reminds me of Strawberry Shortcake!  But I decided to do it in blue instead of Strawberry's signature pink so the "you are my sunshine" would match if I put it on the inside.  It's probably hard to see since I took this picture head-on, but the sticker is actually a pop-up!  I simply stuck it on some paper, cut out the sticker, and made a simple little pop-up box.

I made a few other cards with digi-stamps from Sliekje's blog but found that, because I was trying to use actual glue runner and glue dots (I didn't think cards with vellum tape would be practical to send to countries so hot that the Wicked Witch of the West could melt without the aid of water), the glue showed right through.  I'm going to have to find something to cover up those areas (really just the corners).  I'm thinking about using glitter glue to make a border or circles where the dots show through (they won't be OWH worthy at that point, but at least I'd be able to use them or give them away.)

I hope to share some more cards with y'all very soon.  These next ones for OWH will feature my true passion: origami!