Clean and simple....sometimes not so simple if you're messy

I thought I'd do some Operation Write Home cards this morning before the Colts game.  (Yes, I like am completely obsessed with my hometown boys!)  In order to get as many completed as possible, I thought I'd be smart and just do an assembly line of a clean and simple design.  That would have been an excellent idea if it weren't for the fact that I am a really messy stamper.  Let me clarify that:  I have to wear an apron when I'm crafting otherwise I wind up with inky finger prints all over myself.  I should get a giant button down to wear and I could look like a pre-schooler during finger paint time.  lol

My choice of the Tim Holtz stamp I used was to fulfill the Our Daily Bread Designs September challenge for OWH.  The challenge this month is "wheels."   (I don't have any Our Daily Bread stamps, yet.  Since they have some really gorgeous stamps, I foresee their absence in my collection coming to an end very soon.)  In addition to offering monthly winners a $25 gift certificate, Our Daily Bread also pays for a shipment of up to 2 boxes of cards over to our heros.  I love that!

Sticking to the masculine feel of the cards I've been making for OWH, I went with shades of blues for a loose ombre effect on this set of cards.  My intention was to complete all of them in the CAS design you see in the photo of the single card.  My success rate for that plan ended up being 50%.  Remember I'm messy.  It looked like I was being booked at the police station with all of the inky finger prints I left on a few of the cards.  I've heard people say that there are no mistakes in card making simply new opportunities for embellishing.  That quote will be on a sign hanging in my "someday" craft room.

After all of the cards were stamped, I just started pulling bits of paper out of my scrap box to hide my mistakes embellish a few of my cards.  I think all of them were salvaged.  Now all that's left to do is to stamp the backs, get them tucked into their envelopes, and send them off to Sandy at OWH.  I've got quite a shipment in the works for my second donation and I feel pretty satisfied.  Once again, I think it's such a wonderful mission that Operation Write Home is on and I'm proud to helping in my little way.

You can find this card in the following challenges:

Operation Write Home -- ODBD September challenge
Outlawz -- Paper A la Mode: Monochromatic
Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards -- Anything goes
Crafty Catz -- Men/boys cards
The Squirrel and the Fox -- It's raining men