I won! I won!

This was my entry in the Kennebec Valley Humane Society art contest this month.  And I won!  First prize!  This image will be reproduced on posters and t-shirts to advertise, promote, and fundraise for the Kennebec Valley Humane Society, May's Paws in the Park event, and the shelter at Pet Haven Lane in Augusta.  Think there will be a press release in the Kennebec Journal soon.  I'm so pleased and excited!

Operation Write Home

I posted this on the website for Your Maine Stamper, but thought I should include it here as well.

Anne here.  I've signed up to participate in OPERATION WRITE HOME.  Operation Write Home's mission:  To support our nation's armed forces by sending blank greeting cards to write home on.  

Our Remember the Troops event at Your Maine Stamper on May 18th, Armed Forces Day, will include an all-day make it session with me to create cards to be sent to Operation Write Home for distribution.  I will collect the handmade cards made that day as well as any received at Your Maine Stamper by May 18th and will prepare them for shipment and send them out for processing.  Won't you help families receive happy mail from their loved ones serving in the armed forces?

Here are the basic guidelines for creating cards for this project.

• NO GLITTER.  Seriously, it is a safety hazard for our heroes.  If it flakes off, it can't go.
• A2 SIZED CARDS.  4.25" X 5.5" -- pre-made cards or half a sheet of card stock.
• NO STOREBOUGHT CARDS.  Do not repurpose parts of old cards into handmade ones either.
• LIMIT MULTIPLES.  Maximum quantity for any one design is 30 cards.
• DO NOT VIOLATE COPYRIGHT LAWS.  It is illegal to use photography, cartoons, or illustrations, art from magazines, catalogs or books on cards with Operation Write Home on the back.  (I have a special stamp from them and will mark each card,)  Purchased papercrafting items are okay to use.
• LINE DARK CARDS.  If your card base is not white on the inside, please add light paper.  If you can't see pencil on it, add a liner.
• DO NOT HANDWRITE SENTIMENTS.  If you don't have a sentiment stamp to go with your card, let it be a blank card.  Blank cards are the most useful anyway!
• INCLUDE AN ENVELOPE FOR EACH CARD.  But do not put the card in the envelope.  There is a special way these need to be packaged.

Theme ideas:  Love/miss you; thanks, birthday, general all-occasion blank cards

Remember that both men and women serve in the armed forces and will be using the cards we make to write messages to loved ones at home.  Think about cards appropriate to send to spouses, parents, children, friends.

Staying out of the Card Hospital

The Card Hospital hosts problem cards until the shipper has time for triage.  Check your cards for these common issues before donating them to me.

• Glitter.  If it rubs off at all, it can't be sent.
• Dark card bases without liners OR with so much design that there is no place to write
• Orphan embellishments or die cuts falling off--not enough or bad adhesive
• Inappropriate themes (new baby announcement, invitation, etc.); stick with more general themes listed above.

I will stamp each card with the Operation Write Home logo, tuck it correctly into the envelope (they actually have a specific way to put these in envelopes called "The Tuck"), sort them by theme, and mail them to the shipper for processing. 

I hope that you will participate in this project, either by mailing to or dropping off cards with their envelopes at Your Maine Stamper or by participating in the card making day at the shop on May 18th.

Thanks!  For more information, you can visit their website at http://operationwritehome.org.

Playing with Paper Dolls

This is the piece I worked on today, thanks to a gift of paper doll clothes etc. from my artist friend John.

Just imagine the two scans as one larger 12X12 piece.  I used 6X6 papers from the Material Girl collection as the background for the four quadrants.  It has just the right vintage sewing feel and the colors blend well with the doll clothes.  I used the Memory Box dies to cut out a needle and thread and a large spool which I wound with yellow sewing thread.  I stamped several images on scraps of yellow card stock--vintage sewing pattern from Hero Arts, vintage sewing scissors and words from Paper Trey Ink, and a child's dress pattern clear stamp from Hero Arts.  I mounted each of the pieces on black card stock for more stability.  I popped out the skirts with dimensional foam adhesive.  I added some embellishments to some of the items--a ribbon waistband on the dress in the lower right, a yellow pearl on the center of the bow on the dress above that.  I added tiny black gems to the eyes of the ducks  and a yellow button in the center of the bow at the waist of that dress.  I added black gems to the eyes of the dogs and red dotted ribbons.    

I really love this!  It's very cheery with all the yellow.  And I love the ducky dress!

NEW Stamps Week @ OUTSIDE THE BOX

I'm kicking off a week of blogging on Outside the Box with this set of notecards I made using these two new stamps:

• April Showers BRING MAY FLOWERS combo (small flower on the side) B1912
• Wildflower Field E1919 (also available in Cling as CS1919E)

We'll be making these cards and more, all with the newest Memory Box stamps from the Spring 2013 April release, at Your Maine Stamper on Saturday, April 20th, 1-3 PM.  Class is $15.  Call the store at 377-4829 to reserve your spot!

Medical Update re: The Cough

I had an appointment on Monday afternoon at the Midcoast Medical Office Building with Dr. Paul LaPrad, my pulmonologist.  Those of you I've spoken with recently know how much I've been struggling with a chronic cough which had also developed into wheezing at night and difficulty sleeping.  We decided to try a new inhaler twice a day for the next month and see if that helps.  I had a breathing test in his office and a chest X-ray at Midcoast Hospital afterwards.  I picked up my inhaler at the pharmacy on my way home and we'll see how this goes.
 
I'm hopeful that this will help as I do have asthma and have not used an inhaler in quite awhile.