Die Cut Designed Cards for “Operation Write Home”

I'm enjoying my “Cricut” and “Cuttlebug” machines. Designing new cards and learning various techniques is just so much fun. But along with each of these new techniques, comes dozens of homemade cards! So what do you do with all these small pieces of art?

You can give some with gifts to relatives and friends, but then there are way too many that could surely be put to good use. While surfing the Internet, I found Operation Write Home or OWH for short. Basically, American crafters throughout the country hand-make cards, then send them to a shipper who packages them and sends them to our nation's armed forces overseas, who use them to write home to their relatives and friends. The handmade cards are blank inside. The cards can be used for birthdays, holidays or general greetings, and all can be put into service in order to help our people far from home communicate with their love ones. What a great idea! For information on this worthwhile cause, go to:
http://operationwritehome.org

Some recent cards make use of the “Cuttlebug” machine, and the finishing touch is done with the “Cricut” machine.

Supplies:

Blank cards: A2 or 4”x5.5”/4.37”x5.75”
Blending chalks in soft tones
Q-tips for for spreading or blending chalk
Variety of cardstock scraps
Spellbinders Shapeabilies – Daisy Heads
Spellbinders Shapeabilies – Assorted Leave
Spellbinders tan embossing pad
Zig two-way glue pen
Narrow two-face tape
Start with a contrasting cardstock base adhered to the white card with tape. Using either set of Spellbinder dies, stack from the bottom up for your cutting sandwich in the “Cuttlebug”:

A plate
C plate
Spellbinder Die (cutting side up) (The cutting side has the ridges.)
Cardstock (leaf or flower color)
B plate
Run the sandwich through the “Cuttlebug” machine. Do not remove your cut from the die. To emboss the newly cut die, stack from the bottom up as follows:

First remove C plate for embossing sandwich.
Place A plate on bottom.
Leave die with cut still in die face up.
Place embossing pad on top of the die.
Use two or three pieces of cardstock to shim (more than three will result in B plate breakage).
Place two B plates on the top of the sandwich.
Run through “Cuttlebug” to emboss the Spellbinder die.

To add detail and color, turn the cut over and work chalk through the stencil holes. I have also worked freehand with chalk to give a bit of realism to the leaves and flowers.

Run several scraps through the “Cuttlebug” and emboss some. Others can be used as contrasting elements on the card.

Use tape or glue to adhere the design to the base color card. Finish the card with a die-cut Happy Birthday or another sentiment, accomplished either on the “Cricut” or the “Cuttlebug” machines.

Use these cards to communicate with your friends and relatives, or bundle them off to our service men and women. Check information on the website for Operation Write Home.

One last tip: If you are designing cards to be used by our service men and women for use in time for a specific holiday, check the site for deadlines.