OWH Post-hop inspiration: Digiday 2

On the second day of digi, Bubbly Beauty came to me (from here)...
And then I went and made a little card!

It was a challenge to figure out what sentiment goes with this one...so I decided to do a birthday card wishing the recipient a bubble bath maybe...lol.

OWH Post-hop inspiration: Digiday 1

After seeing so many digi stamps - and of course downloading the freebies - I looked through my hard drive and found some other images to add to the page I was printing out with the new ones. So this week's cards are all going to be from digital stamps!

Today it's the image that Phindy created just for OWH - how cute is this little baby!!! Thanks Phindy for creating such a treat :) :) :)

OWH Veterans Day Bloghop!!!

Welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home BLOGHOP! Woohoo! I've been so excited about this for weeks now! :) If you're happening upon this post without starting at the beginning, you're really going to want to go to the...

Top of the Hop!

I had a whole blog post planned - but the events of Friday redirected me. I hope you'll find this to be a funny story! (At least it's still funny to me at the moment!)

For the last bunch of weeks, I've had some strange back pain. I'm getting old, according to my doctor, so I figured I just needed more ibuprofen. But after a couple bad bouts of it, I made an appt. Not a rush one, but just to check it out....and that appt happened this past Wednesday. The doc heard my symptoms, did a few quick tests, and diagnosed me this way:

"Congratulations, Sandy, you're about to give birth to a kidney stone!" 

Well those of you who know kidney stone pain know what that means. OWWWWH! He sent me for a CT scan on Thursday, to see how big/where the thing was. And Friday morning, I called his office to see what the results had been. The nurse said I was to immediately — now, no waiting til the afternoon — had to get to ER to have the thing removed! She panicked me. "I'm not feeling pain though, how can this be an emergency??" The location/size apparently dictated the urgency. And oddly the thing most forefront in my mind? The bloghop!!! Yes, I'm a dork!!

I closed things down at the office, picked up my test result papers at the doctor's office, swung by my house to grab my laptop, a change of clothes, and, yes — cards. (I'll get to that.) And I stopped off at the Post Office to mail the 8 boxes of cards that I'd packed the night before. (I know, I know, but I didn't want our heroes waiting because of a stupid kidney stone!) I made a bajillion calls while I did all this, trying to get things rearranged for the 'hop...and headed for ER.

After doing blood work and running some tests and taking xrays....they concluded that I was NOT going to need to give birth to a bouncing baby kidney stone quite yet. It's moved out of the kidney already (for those who know what that means!) and is just sitting there. Each time it moves I'll get to enjoy the excruciating pain of it, but - in the meantime - I feel nothing. So I'm just in waiting mode.

I've never been pregnant, is this what its like!?!?

Oh and I nearly forgot to tell you about the cards! I always take some with me when I know I'll be sitting around. And ER is a good place for a lot of waiting...so I grabbed a bunch of Get Well cards for the combat support hospital, and a pen. Well, of course while all the staff was running around at the ER, they wondered what I was doing with all the cards. And you know me, I had to tell them! And guess what? A few of them signed a card! :) :) :) So even if today was a real pain in the back(side), I got a few extra letters out of it for some wounded warriors - and they are going to love them!

One more goofball thing to share...this song has been running through my head ever since I found out about having a kidney stone - enjoy this crazy blast from the past!

 

 And now...my cards!
This Valentine is a square card....I have just a few square envelopes left so decided to make a card to fit one of them. The flower image is by Holly Berry House - I love love love popping layers on this image! The background squares are embossed with Cuttlebug folders, image colored with Copics.

Here's my AnyHero card, using a stamp by HouseMouse - just love this little flying rodent!

The prize on my blog is a little different than most: Help me name my little kidney-stone-to-be! Leave me a suggestion in a comment....this ought to be fun! I'll draw a name from all the comments left to win a pack of Valentines goodies :)



And now, without further ado...I send you on to the next stop on the bloghop - Greta over at "I'm Unique, Just Like Everyone Else." Isn't that a great name for a blog?? She's an amazingly talented lady — I love her photography, and her cards are simply beautiful! Peek around on her blog and check out some of her other work, she's awesome!

Here's a link to Greta's blog - go have fun!

Cuttlebug Challenge

Did you see the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog on Veteran's Day?? They featured OWH! How cool is that! :) I used their sketch to make this card....I ended up moving the three embellies to the other side. I had this circle cut from this pretty paper, and it looked a little like a moon...so I figured Snoopy could be writing home by moonlight.... :)

I'm SO excited about the Bloghop on Saturday...be sure to stop by and say hello!!!!

Veteran's Day

What an incredible day - dedicated to remembering all of our country's veterans! I was curious about the history of the holiday...here are a few snippets I found online:

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.” 
In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"
The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.

—U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs

So...at 11:00 am, stop whatever you're doing and remember our nation's heroes!

Here's an AnyHero card I made for the holiday...to thank especially the women who serve our country so faithfully. They seem to amaze me even more than the men; probably because I can't picture myself, as a woman, doing all they do! (I'm a WUSS!) I've often thought if I were a big burly guy maybe I could have served, but....these ladies put their lives on the line just like the men. Sometimes more so - and with many different issues to deal with as they do. So I'm honoring our "She-roes" with this card...outside and in, it's a tribute to girl power! (Stamps by Artistic Outpost.)

One other thing - if you haven't signed up yet, the Veteran's Day (week!) Bloghop is coming up this weekend! Go check it out and sign up - you need to do so by the end of the day today to join in the fun! I'm wayyyy excited about the card I have to share that day....so be sure to come by Saturday morning!

One card a month

One of the great challenges at HolidayHaven is the "1x12" challenge - creating a card for a holiday that falls in each month.....some of these are a little stretch, but it was a fun challenge to dive into!

Spending the last of the holiday mojo