Cards: Operation Write Home and Cards For Soldiers

Operation Write Home is the most popular organization we have been donating to, and for good reason. They are top-notch!

Millions of cards have been sent to soldiers through Operation Write Home and we are thrilled to support them.

 

http://operationwritehome.org/

Cards for Soldiers is another fantastic organization. They are smaller but still serve the same purpose.

 http://cardsforsoldiers.blogspot.com/

The cards we ship are blank on the inside and are shipped straight to our soldiers who are able to pick them up for free and use them to correspond home with their loved ones. They are able to ship the cards at no charge through the US Postal Service.

 Click by each organizations logo above to go directly to their site to find out more about them but in a nutshell here are the guidelines if you would like your card to go to Operation Write Home or Cards for Soldiers:

*4.25X5.5 size cards ONLY. This is 1/2 of a 8.5X11 sheet
*NO GLITTER-It is a safety concern for the soldiers and they won't be sent. I get at least 100 every show that are gorgeous but also very glittery. No problem for the Juvenile Detention Center, so they are donated, but they will not go to the soldiers. You can use stickles or glitter pens are fine as long as the glitter does not rub off. that does not rub off.
*No store bought cards
*Nothing handwritten-if you personalize it on the back it WILL NOT be accepted by Operation Write Home but will be accepted by Cards For Soldiers. Just try to avoid this if at all possible.
*Thickness- Remember these are shipped USPS, keep the thickness to a minimum so it can safely travel through the mail system.
*Quality-Quality is much more important than quantity. Use quality product and make sure everything is adequately attached.
*Include Envelopes-Please include envelopes if at all possible (white, cream or tan).
*White Lining- If you use dark cardstock for the card, that is fine just please "line" the inside of the card with white cardstock so the soldiers can actually write inside the card with a regular pen.

Donated in October by Brittany A. during our Card Challenge

Themes:
Birthday (General)
Blank
Thinking of You
Miss You
Friendship
Love (General)
Holidays: Valentines, Easter/Spring, Halloween, Thanksgiving/Fall, Christmas/Winter

The best cards are those that have a long shelf life, meaning that they can be used at various times throughout the year.

Remember: While there are many women in the military, there are more men. Try to keep the themes as "neutral" as possible since we do not know who giver is or who the receiver is. That does not mean that pink swirls are out, just make a blue card for every pink card :).


Each card that goes to Operation Write Home needs to be packaged a certain way with a stamp on the back. You are welcome to help out with this process at the show (in fact we would love it). Just stop by the Care With Cards booth and let them know you have a minute or two to give.

Thank You Cards - Perfect for an Operation Write Home Donation

Hello and good morning...

It's Wendi here and I'm sharing some thank you cards with you. With Scrapbook USA being just a few months away, it's the perfect time to start working on a few homemade cards for Operation Write Home.

Here's a batch of quick and easy cards that I came up with.
My first #thank U card wa made using the "Homeroom" DCWV collection, normally it's a school line, but I pulled some of the less themey papers from the line for this card. I also used the "Natural Fibers" paper for the pinwheel.

My second "Thank You" card used the DCWV " Modern Meadow" collection.  For the blue layers, I fuxxy cut a few of the scallop layers on one of the paper sheets and then staggered the scallops.

And my third "Thanks" card, I used DCWV "Sweet Tangerine" collection. I fussy cut the flower and butterfly from the papers and used pop dots to add them as embellies to the card.

On each of my cards I also used my sewing machine, just to personalize the card a bit more. It's amazing how sewing on a card will really grab someone's attention.

So grab your supplies and create a special note to someone and express your thanks.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Other supplies: October Afternoon mini alphas, Kaisercraft bling, Basic Grey brad, machine sewing.

Homeroom DCWV Stack!

Wondering where to send your cards? Find all the details HERE for our October Card Drive!

Have you seen the totally cute Homeroom stack from DCWV? Oh my gosh, love it!! I am totally excited to use it for a couple of layouts I'm planning, but for now I've got this fun and easy card for you:

I loved this paper airplane sheet and thought it would be perfect for a card. I just cut the sheet down to the size I needed and folded it in half, added a little word bubble with mini alphas for my sentiment and then fussy cut the word bubble w/ HI out of a full sheet of fun word bubbles that was in the stack. I punched the side of the card to give it a notebook paper look, inked my edges and then added a little marker doodling to finish it off. 

 Super fun and cute! 

:)Ange

Supplies:

DCWV - pp

colorbox - ink

stampin up - marker

ek success - punch

making memories - tiny alphas white

mls - tiny alphas red/green

The Sky's The Limit

There is still plenty of time to put some cards for our Operation Write Home Card Drive!

Remember our goal is 500 cards this month!! Every card that is submitted will enter you into a drawing for great prizes including more card making supplies, Scrapbook USA show tickets and more!!

The Sky's the Limit! Especially with this fun stack from DCWV! I created this card using 4 papers from the stack:

I pieced together the layers over white cs (after inking the edges of course), added a strip of washi tape and then fussy cut these fun elements out of another pp from the stack. I inked their edges and added them to the front of the card. Inside I added y-heart-u! with alphas and a fussy cut heart in a slightly larger size than you see here.

 

  I think it turned out pretty cute.

:) Ange

Supplies:

DCWV - Sky's the Limit stack

sei - ink

american crafts - thickers

stash - washi tape, white cs

Let's Get Cardmaking!

 

 

This is it!

 

500 Cards is a BIG undertaking in one month but I know we can get there!!

 

A few things to remember:

 

Theme: Christmas, Miss You, Love

These cards will be sent to US Troops stationed throughout the world who will then be able to select a card at no charge and send it home to a spouse, parent, child, friend, etc. Make sure it is appropriate!

 

Envelopes must be included

 

There are regulations and rules for these cards

Visit Operation Write Home for the guidelines

 

Must be received by October 25th

 

We will share selected cards on our website

 

Write your name and e-mail on a sticky and attach it to your cards

 

Drawings will occur each week in October for product and Scrapbook USA Tickets!!

 

PLUS!

Once we reach our goal of 500 cards 1 lucky winner (random drawing) will win

2 tickets for our 2014 All Night Crop Party!!

 

Of course if we can get to 1000 cards we will have to do another drawing!!

 

 

 

 

 







Care With Cards - Operation Write Home

This year at The Original Scrapbook USA Expo we will be continuing to support Operation Write Home.  We have already donated over 10,000 cards to this great organization. Let's see what we can do this year!

Over 1.5 million cards have been sent to U.S. troops stationed overseas through Operation Write Home. Ever single week they are shipping to U.S. bases all over the world.

Thanks to this great organization our troops are able to pick up a handmade card for free that they can use to write a note to a love one and then ship home to family and friends.

Because of the nature of this project there are a number of guidelines that must be followed in order for Operation Write Home to be able to use the card.

Please visit their GUIDELINES page before getting started so you know the do's and don'ts.

Appropriate themes are really important. Upcoming holidays that we can be involved in are:

Father's Day

Independence Day

Halloween

Other themes that are ALWAYS welcome are:

Just Because

Birthday (teen and adult especially)

Thinking Of You

Blank

Bring your cards to the show. We have a collection area near the center stage where we will be collecting your cards.

In addition to Operation Write Home there are a few other organizations we will be supporting this year. Check out other opportunities:

Utah Juvenile Justice System

Huntsman Cancer Institute

More About Care With Cards