Patriotic | Catered Crop

There's an amazing event going on this Memorial Day weekend for stampers and Heroes. Over at CardsforHeroes.org there's a Blog Hop of 135 paper crafters showcasing cards they've created to send to our troops. If you've never been to the CFH site, you'll definitely want to check it out. The mission of the site is to "support our nation’s armed forces by sending blank greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." To date, they've sent 147,875 cards.

I didn't get in on the hop in time to participate, so I thought I'd just pass along another card I made – actually a rerun from this time last year.

This card uses the spotlight technique with the stamp set, The Free and the Brave. The artifacts in the background are a tribute to my favorite hero, my Dad.

This scrapbook page is one I helped my Mom make ages ago. She said she fell in love with Dad just after he finished his tour of duty. He was nicknamed The Captain on their college campus because, he was, in deed, a Captain when he left active duty. It's a simple page – we just stamped Captain with acrylic paint and stamped Mom's sentiment on twill ribbon. We let Dad's handsome picture and the paper do the rest.

I hope you all enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and have a chance to pay tribute to our men and women in the armed services in your own way. To those of you in active duty here and abroad – and to your families – I can't thank you enough for the sacrifice you make to keep us safe.

May 23, 2009 | Filed Under: Patriotic, Stampin' Up! | 35 Comments

I love Sunday mornings. Tom and I are frequent visitors to Bedside Baptist – okay, my not so clever way of saying we don't make it to church every Sunday. On those days, we watch our favorite Sunday morning program, fix a big breakfast, and leisurely read the paper together.

So, this Sunday, I got to read the Parade magazine insert in the paper and Barack Obama's letter to his daughters. You can read the whole letter here. Here's my favorite excerpt:

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give other the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much – although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because its only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

Wow, doesn't that just knock your socks off?! Since I was still in my jammies, I didn't have socks on to knock off yet, but if I had, they'd be in the next street. So, in honor of those patriots around and within us who hitch their wagons every day, I'd like to share a card my dear friend Jann Formica gave me on Saturday.

You know, it's one of those cards that, well, at least with my limited photography skills, my camera can't quite capture, but it just makes me swell with patriotism when I look at it.

Thank you, Jann! And thank you wagon hitchers.

January 19, 2009 | Filed Under: Patriotic | 3 Comments

I wanted to get this card finished and to you before the Memorial Day finished, and, well, didn't quite make it. It's hard to find a way to somehow express my gratitude to the soldiers and families who make such supreme scarifies for our liberty. This stamp set is called "The Free and the Brave," and this card is my heartfelt thanks to the brave who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us free.

The recipe:

Stamps: The Free & the Brave, French Script
Paper: Western Sky designer paper, Sky Blue Textured, Blue Bayou, Whisper White
Ink: Versamark. Ruby Red, Creamy Carmel, River Rock, Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red watercolor crayons with aquapens.
Misc.: Black embossing powder, Chipboard, Meadow and Spotlite Making Memories acrylic paint, Delta Crackle, 1-3/8" and 1-1/4" square punches.

May 27, 2008 | Filed Under: Patriotic, Stampin' Up! | 3 Comments