My Experiences in Making Cards for Operation Write Home

I thought I might share some of my experiences and lessons learned while making cards for OWH.  I have set a goal of making 100 cards a month and keeping to that schedule has allowed me to understand some simple truths for myself.  In not particular order I will talk about budget, the creative process, the assembly process, and keeping up with needed stock items (papers, adhesives, inks, etc.).

How much money one chooses to spend making cards is is highly personal.  Since my own goal is for 100 cards per month, I have decided to forgo lots of little bits and adornments and stay with cleaner, simpler layouts.  That means I don't have to buy lots of buttons, flowers, ribbon, and bling.  $$$ Savings!  With the Cricut Imagine, my primary expenses are paper, cutting mats, blades, and ink (it prints and cuts). Other than my Cricut, expenses include tape, glue and envelopes. Secondary expenses include enhancements like stick-on jewels and pearls, ink pads, some rubber stamps, paper punches, corner rounders, and ribbon.  Throw in craft knife blades, paper trimmer blades, markers, and a bone folder or two and you have the bare bones of what is needed.

In one months time I will go through a minimum of  80 8.5x11 sheets of paper, 100 sheets of 12x12 paper, 2 36yd rolls of 3M ATG tape, 3 cassettes of Mono tape, 2 Zig 2 Way glue pens, 15 yards of 3M foam tape, 2 Cricut cutting blades, 2 Xacto #11 blades, 2 Cricut cutting mats, 100 envelopes, and 2 paper trimmer blades.

However, money is not the only item that must be budgeted.  Creating, printing, assembling, stamping, gluing, taping, and wrapping all take time.  A simple card might look like it took no time at all, but it can include elements that have 4-5 small paper layers that had to be individually cut, glued,  taped, and assembled.  Some of these can take much more time than anticipated.  If I can find a general layout that works with three or four different elements using the same color scheme, then I can produce three or four sets of ten or twelve cards without too much trouble.  When I really get a rush on, like when I made a quick batch of cards for kids, I spent 4 10-12 hour days getting it all done.  You wouldn't think it took that long by looking at them, but those cards had more bits and pieces and layers than my usual cards.  I usually do cards several days at a time in batches and I can get twenty or thirty done in about 3 8-10 hour days.

I really enjoy that sense of satisfaction when I package up the cards for shipment.  After that box goes out, I tidy up my crafting table and get ready for the month's batch of cards.

Operation Write Home - Cards for Kids

I was reading on the Operation Write Home web site that parents serving abroad were looking for cards they could send their young children.  In response, I quickly put together these four, in groups of 10.  I hope the parents and kids enjoy!

Why I Love Making Cards for Operation Write Home

I have always enjoyed making cards to give as gifts and once I found Operation Write Home, I had a mission and set some goals for myself.  At first, I thought I'd like to ship 100 cards.  OK.  I did that.  I didn't think my next shipment would add up to much but it turned out I made 50 cards in only 3-4 days.  So now my goal is to make and mail 50 or more cards per month.

The Operation Write Home web site provides the card makers an area where we can read feedback from service members who receive the cards.  Tonight, after reading some particularly touching messages, I am happier than ever that OWH serves as a clearing house so that heroes serving overseas have handmade cards to send home to family and friends. 

Several parents mentioned how much their kids enjoy getting cards from them, so I am going to focus my energies on creating a number of child friendly cards in addition to my usual thank you, miss you, and thinking of you cards.

If you want to learn more about Operation Write Home, click here or click on the OWH icon below.

More Cards for Operation Write Home

I read on the Operation Write Home site that they really needed more Thank You, Miss You, and Thinking of You cards, so I put a few together rather quickly. I also was able to make two different layouts for Valentine's Day cards. Those needed to be post marked by January 7, but I got a hustle on and got them done in 2 days.  Most images and layouts  are taken directly from the Cricut Imagine cartridges Imagine More, Imagine More Cards, and Best Friends.  You'll find photos below.  Forgot to take a photo of the second V-day card.  It was of an owl standing on a mushroom and I stamped "Owl Always Love You".  It ended up pretty cute because I left most of the leafy pieces loose to give the card more dimension.  My first time using glue dots.  I thought a box of three hundred would last a while, but I made 24 V-day cards and used most of the dots.  Go figure.  It did save me time over cutting the 3M foam tape I usually use.  These cards photoed very flat but they are somewhat dimensional.  I'll use better lighting next time.

Holiday cheer to make you smile

Scrapbook.com has put together a cute little video to welcome in the holiday season.  Hope you enjoy!