Hero June 30! Last day!

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
Today's hero is: L!

L is one of those heroes who some could easily pass by. You could miss the fact that she's really special, because she doesn't wear a blazing "S" for "Super Hero" or "Super Mom" on her chest!

L is a single mom. A single mom of four. A single mom deployed.

Now, most moms would definitely leap in front of a moving vehicle for their kids. Jump into a shark tank to rescue them. But how many go overseas and carry a gun to defend not only your own kids, but their very way of life? A lot more now than used to, but I really think each and every one of our deployed moms, including L, is an absolute Superhero.

L and her colleagues have to be able to have the kids, leave them with someone else (grandma! thank you to grandmas out there!), and love them enough to go out and put their life on the line for them. To love the free country they live in so much that they'd give up watching those kids grow up for a time. To take a year — or often more — and not be able to tuck those kids in every night, kiss their boo boos, help with homework, discipline and celebrate with them, drive them to a million soccer games, all those things the rest of Moms across America may get tired of doing. To give that up....to create a better life for their children — and everyone else's.

So L, and every Mom and single Mom serving overseas: thank you. I know you have an "SM" for "SuperMom" tattoed on your heart! (Yes, I know this card is probably supposed to be "SuperMoose," but too bad! I know who is TRULY super! )

And to everyone who's faithfully checked in here for hero stories every day...thank YOU! It's been an honor to highlight 30 of those who I've "met" in some capacity through my work with Cardsforheroes.org, and I loved getting your comments all month, here and on Facebook both! You kept me going, just by letting me know you were watching...if I'd thought I was doing this month of posts for the air, I might have given up, but....I lasted! Thank you, cheerleaders!

PS - Any ideas on other things you'd want me to share about CFH here? I'll put a link to the month of posts on the Homefront Blog if anyone who doesn't check in here wants to read through them. Other ideas for the Homefront Blog too, while I'm asking? I really do value your help!!

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Hero June 29

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
My hero for today: G!

Today's hero served in Iraq as a nurse in a combat support hospital. She's hopefully stateside right now, but seeing as how I'm not aware of travel dates, she could indeed be in transit. But the last thing she said in one of her emails was that she used to often come to Washington State in her other career—and that she'd be definitely looking me up.

And I am truly hoping she wasn't just saying that! I would be so honored to shake the hand of a hero we've supported. I'd be thrilled to sit down for a glass of lemonade and hear her stories, to know what it was like to be deployed. To have her share what happened with our boxes of cards, how they distributed them, what differences they made in her own deployment. To just make it real.

So...this card's for G: let's chat. Come by anytime, you are most welcome here anytime! And I promise not to ask a thousand questions, and I promise to try not to cry. (I do that sometimes when I talk to someone in uniform at an airport. I'm enough of a mushball that just having the chance to tell y'all thanks makes me cry! How lame am I!)

See you stateside, girlfriend!

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SummerHaven Day 2

Today was not a terribly productive creative day. Darn!

It started off with Houdini-dog....I went out for a while to see if the crazy dog I'm sitting would be ok at home without me, especially since he has Ciara for a friend. Uh, no such luck! I came home to no dog. And no idea how he got out! But he did at least stay in the area, because when I went back out front after realizing he wasn't in the house, he ran right up to me. His owners want to take their first trip since having Toby (they got him years ago, so they haven't been on a trip since)—and I'm not sure I'll be the home to keep him either. We'll try a couple weekends this summer and see if he gets used to it. If anyone has dog training tips for the crazy mutt, I'd sure appreciate them.

I attacked the weeds today too, since it was so beautiful out; I aimed to pull all dandelions over 3'6", and still ended up with a big yardwaste bin! Agh. Yeah, I'm lazy about weeding. Once it gets to a certain out-of-control level it hardly seems worth trying! But I'm going to work at it. Today also saw a few chores done 'round the house, including cleaning up the dining room table from the crafting frenzy! It had gotten so bad I could hardly figure out where to work.

And then there was the nap. Ohhhhh did that feel decadent, but good! Got a bunch of computer tasks done too, which also helped me feel a little better able to tackle a yukky week ahead. Tomorrow's a big day in my world....and I've been dreading it. Rough news with cutbacks at the office, and we'll find out who it'll be—but at least weeks of worry will be over, one way or the other. But at least I feel like I got a few other things under control this weekend, and some inky time always makes me happy. So without further ado, a couple cards I made today!

This card is for a drive-by challenge, so a link won't help you out too much. It closed at 9pm tonight so it was a quickie! Chris posted it, asking us all to create a food-related card; it seems like each Sunday we have a regular dinner thread over at StampHaven, sharing what we're all cooking, and a guy named Daniel always has something to make us drool—or occasionally ewww—over! lol. So this little card is made with a RAKd little image, colored with copics, and I made the background papers with a cute set of stamps from Hero Arts. All the white bits are doodles I did with a Signo Pen (Stampin Up).






And this card wasn't technically for a StampHaven challenge, but Dawn showed us a link to a great video—and it's so cool I snagged it to post here! Scroll down past the card pics to see the tutorial video.






















I hope to be in the mood to get creative the rest of the week, too—and I hope some of you will as well! I'm offering up some colored stamped images as a RAK every day, with winners chosen from among all who post a creation that day, so go qualify!

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SummerHaven Day 1

Have you checked out SummerHaven yet?? SO many great challenges...lots of inspiration! The event goes on for 2 weeks but there's some items only good to play each day, so you'll want to stop in regularly! Here are a few of my creations—some are samples for challenges I'm hosting, others are for ones hosted by others!

At left is a card made for a sketch challenge—with the sketch made by Greta, the daughter of the hostess! How cool is that! Greta even had her own design team make samples from her sketch....go check it out here. I used an image received as a RAK, I colored it with Copics of course. The felt embellie has been hoarded for a while, but no longer!





This is a Christmas card for my Christmas in July challenge...secular or religious themes are welcome, and it's a CFH challenge but it's not required to send them. (But if you get them to a shipper by July 12th, you get a double entry!! This is a housemouse that I layered part of—click on the image to see the front mouse and the gumdrop path popped. The challenge post is here.



My little sleeping Gruffies card is one of the samples for my "Good Ol Summertime" challenge—creating cards relating to summer! Lemonade, ice cream, sunshine, beach, whatever goes. *notice food is first on my list?? what does that say about me?? Click here for the challenge.





Next on the runway is a bella card I made for the stash challenge. The hostess gave us a ginormous list of supplies to choose from, and we could pick 3 - I used a Stampin Bella image, flowers, and ribbon. And more stuff of course, you know me, I overembellish everything! :) Click here for the list of supplies.




Dawn set up a challenge to create cards for teen boys—and that's hard for me! I picked up this great Snoopy surfing image and went right to it. I have lots of other ideas on how to use this stamp, so you might see more of these this week! (Doesn't it look delightfully Abercrombie-and-Fitch-esque?) Teen boy challenge thread is here!






This card is for the Song Inspiration challenge...come on, sing it with me, "She's my Lil Deuce Coupe, you don't know what I got..." I don't know all the words so I hope it doesnt say it's a red car or something. And I have no idea what kind of car. But there ya have it anyway! lol. I stamped the car in Memento and colored it, stamped the background paper in Versafine on tan paper and distressed it. I love the stamp in the set that I used on the back—"Made in the garage." How cute is that!

By the way, these were some of the new stamps I got from Bombshell during my bloghop shopping spree...coz you know I "had" to support the companies supporting CFH, right? It's only good partnership, isn't it? (shhhh don't tell my wallet!) Song challenge link is here.




Here we have a card for the Celebrate America challenge—must include a flag. And since I just picked up another patriotic HouseMouse stamp from RK during the hop, too (yes, see? good partnership! They now give CFH a discount!! Click here for details on that!) This card will have a note in it for a hero in my next box going out next weekend. Ann's Celebrate America challenge thread is here.




And last yet not least is this little simple Christmas card, another sample for my challenge! I have a bunch of Christmas stamped images that people gave me that I have yet to color, so broke those out to get started on holiday cards. Last year I waited til Sept to think about starting, and got so overwhelmed with cards that I ended up making hardly ANY at all. So sad! This year I'll make a big stash this summer, and set a bunch aside for me to write my own Christmas notes to my contacts in. :)



There's one more card I did that I can't show you til I give it to the person it's intended for....she's on Facebook so will see this post scroll by on her page, so in case she looks, I don't want to wreck the surprise!

So I hope some of that inspired you to get over to StampHaven and check out the SummerHaven challenges — go go go! Quick like a bunny! :)

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Hero June 28

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
Hero for today is: N!

There are some of our heroes who just make me grin in a totally different way, and N is one of them! He serves our nation bravely in Afghanistan, and sends out newsletters full of what their unit is up to. (Oh how I wish OPSEC —Operational Security—would allow me to share some of it, my goodness. These men and women are awesome and I love hearing all about their lives!)

So why does N make me grin? Well because he's secure enough in his manliness that he's willing to admit to liking the "mouse cards"!!! How many brave and burly guys do you think would actually fess up to thinking they're really cute? This gentleman is married but doesn't have kids, so I'm not sure who he sends them to—but he sure does like them.

Each one of our boxes to them contained a bunch of HouseMouse cards once I knew he liked them—I wish their unit was still on our list so I'd have an excuse to still make a lot! lol. But....I think I'm really much happier they're home now instead! This missing-you card was made in N's honor....and it's on a manly blue card base, and made in patriotic colors just for him...lol.

2 more days....ack! I've nearly made it all month!!!

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Hero June 27

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
My hero for today: G!

G is a Commander in Afghanistan—and a hoooot! Quite a chatty gentleman in email, and I'm enjoying getting to know him a bit.

He's one of a number of recipients of the blessing of coffee; I met someone on Twitter who was looking for deployed folks to receive cases of donated coffee. It had been given to Soldier's Angels, and prior to it going bad in their warehouse they needed to get it out there. G's unit is one that asked for a few cases to drink and share around with others in their area.

One comment from G just made me smile—and isn't this just like a hero to say:

"Let me know if you need anything from us over here."

Uhm, huh? Seriously? Whoooo does he think he is, superman or something? *grin* I just love the helpful attitude our service members have! :) Always ready to give give give, even when we're trying to give to them!

So with all the whoooo's, of course I had to make an owl card for G! lol. Fairly masculine for a card with ribbon and cute owls, if I do say so myself!

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Hero June 26

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
My hero for today is K!

This is a hero who blesses me with every contact. She's a Chaplain's Assistant serving in Iraq, and is serving in a post that I think has a great blessing on it—before K arrived we had been supporting the last person serving in her post! I love when one unit loves getting our cards enough that they "hand us off" to the following unit...it speaks volumes for what they think of our cardmaker's work!

K and I have something in common, which I can't say about too many of our service members. (With most, the only thing I live up to is being an American, and that's not a huge achievement!) And that's having a love for leading worship! She's sent me a few photos of their worship team at rehearsal, and it's so fun to see her smiling face. Looking at these photos, I just want to put down my cards and go pick up my guitar again for a little bit! :)

One of the things that really blesses me about K is her sweet disposition and cheery attitude. K sends happy chatty emails, newsletters, forwards, and photos, and I just love it. I'm constantly amazed by the positive outlook that she and so many of our heroes have!

Now, I do get it that they may not have that sunshine attitude as they walk around doing their job all day (though I wouldn't doubt it about K!). But to be able to "turn on the charm" when talking with us civilians — that's such an honorable thing to do. It should be us making them smile, not the other way around! So the card for today in honor of K is this happy little bee card—I wanted to make something bright and fun to show off our hero of the day!

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Are you EXCITED!?!?!

Okay stampers - it's almost time for more online fun! And this time it's a little different - the challenges all run different lengths over the course of 2 weeks, so there's no excuse not to come and play!

I'm copying the list of challenges (you'll have to go to the link to see the dates for each) to get you EXCITED!

• Inventive Recycling
• Song Inspiration
• Celebrating America
• Sketch challenge
• AnyHero card
• The Good Old Summertime!
• Vintage Challenge
• Stash Challenge
• Christmas in July
• Background Beauties
• Re-Purposed Cards
• Don't Color Me In
• Button Challenge
• Reflections of You
• Scrappy Sketch
• Teen Boys Card
• Lots more to come, and some drive-bys that are only good for a short time! Check in often!
  

How does it work, you may ask? Well, go sign up to be a member, and start by introducing yourself on the welcome thread. Poke around the boards, peek into the gallery, and learn how to post a card yourself, so you're ready to go.

Challenges go live Saturday, I think with a thread for each with instructions/detail about the challenges. Prizes will be listed hopefully too, most are TBD right now.

Especially be sure to play along with the CFH challenges!!!! A couple of folks are offering some up, so come show us some loooveeee! (And win cool prizes!) I'll post more details here as they come in. Happy stamping!

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Hero June 25

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
My hero for today: R!

Now, R isn't someone I've sent cards to. I've tried, but to no avail thus far. R is a hero I've talked with quite a lot online!

He's a Marine in Iraq, "by way of NC" as he puts it. He's a hero, though never wants anyone to call him one; what a humble man! He logs on when it's evening at my time zone—and when I'm winding down, he reports how many miles he's run and how his workout that morning went. (He works out at 3am!! Beats the heat!) I know those ads talk about how much a soldier does before most people get up in the morning....and this hero takes that to a new level being a Marine, of course!

R is such a classic service member...never a complaint even when he's got something worth a whine! His AC unit in his "can" (picture a metal trailer housing unit, ugh!) is out, so he's been having trouble sleeping, but has not even called for repair on it. Why? He's going to be leaving for a new post with no one following behind him, so instead of wasting our taxpayer dollars on it, he's just letting it stay broken. I can't imagine in the 110-degree heat letting that kind of thing go—but then again, that's why I'm here comfortably whining in the U.S. while the real heroes do the hard work in the rough conditions. They're all amazing—and R is no exception!

So of course this card is a classic for a classic hero. A simple guy-card, to celebrate a not-so-simple hero....thanks so much, R, for being such an impressive example of an American Marine!

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Hero June 24

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.

Hero for today: N!

N is a 2LT in the Army, serving recently in Iraq; and, of course, is another favorite. (Which one isn't?)

She didn't have the ability to email, so really appreciated having cards to write home on. She said she missed her family so much and was enjoying getting to write home a lot. She especially missed her sister:

"We did everything together when I was home, and I can't wait to get back and hang out with her again. Writing a lot is one way to keep in touch."

N said her sister kept up with writing her a letter a week, and our cards helped her to respond regularly. Hopefully by now they've been reunited for a whole lot of girl-talk again!

This card is in N's honor, a Stampin' Bella image colored in Copics. (Thanks Dawn for the image!)

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Hero June 23

Hero for today is: J!

(I hadn't realised til doing this blog series that a LOT of first names start with J!)

This particular J has a heart of gold, and I do call her friend. (I know she reads this blog on occasion, so Hi J!!) She served in Afghanistan, and found CFH because of the stamped url on the back of the card in her hand. Someone in a unit she was visiting had a box of our cards and she brought it back to write home on:

"The card I had was so cute. It doesn't make up for me not being home for my children's special occasions but it gives you an opportunity to say that they got something special, which makes hard times a little more bearable. You and your group are true patriots!!!"

We supported this dear lady and her unit for the remainder of their time in Iraq, and she sent a number of letters, often asking for prayer for something specific. She always really appreciated having someone who would listen and seek the Lord for her, and it was an honor to be that for her.

"Thank you for having us Soldiers in your thoughts and prayers, it gives me a sense of peace. I want you to know that I personally value what you are doing and your organization has a place in my heart. When I return home I would like to contribute to your cause."

J honored me by sending me her family Christmas card this past holiday—complete with the 2-page letter, photos of her and her kids, the whole deal. I've gotten a lot of Christmas cards from heroes over the years, but never the personal family letter....and that spoke volumes for how she felt. Hopefully someday I'll get to meet this dear lady. And in the meantime....I'm posting this "friend" card in her honor! I picked a cheery image (sent to me as a RAK), and colored it with Copics. I added some simple layers in nice bright colors, and love how it came out so simply yet looks like it has a lot of heft to it. :)

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Hero June 22

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
Hero for today: K!

Today's hero was serving in a JAG office in Iraq—serving the legal needs of soldiers in the area.

This contact, and all the subsequent ones we supported at this office throughout the deployments, put boxes of cards in the waiting room. I can only imagine that if someone had a legal problem while so far from home, it would have to be double the stress of the same troubles stateside, so the cards there must be a welcome respite from whatever they had come to that location for.

The JAG staff always went through them and pulled out some fun ones for themselves, too, and their thank-you letters always included some specifics about what those individuals really liked...it was almost always whatever funny ones were in the box! They'd comment on the Snoopy cards, or certain goofy animal cards.

So the card I made in their honor is one that made me giggle when I created it. It's a new stamp I bought by accident, and wasn't really sure what to do with it. I didn't like the stamped image at first, but when I added the wiggly eyes, well....that did it. I put it onto some goofy paper, and the whole thing just seemed to work. I have no idea what occasion anyone will use it for, but I hope someone finds it amusing and sends it home with some love inside!

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Hero June 21

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
My hero for today: M!

She's a woman serving in the Air Force, and was in Afghanistan while we supported their unit with cards. I chose her for today's hero for something specific she said in one of her letters:

"Thank you all for all of those beautiful cards that you all made for us! My leadership loved them. They mentioned that their wives are going to think they are the husband of the year, for sending the cards. It even reminded one of them of a birthday coming up."

What a fun thought—that we're helping a wife think of her husband as Hubby of the Year, and that we're giving our deployed service members the opportunity to feel like they're doing a special thing for their loving wife at home! I'm sure they feel really remote from all the day-to-day things they'd do for these amazing women each day....and I know from seeing some comments they make, there's more than a little guilt about all that the wife has to deal with at home on her own. So these cards help them feel like they're treating their ladies to something wonderful...and that makes me feel sooo good!

I love finding female contacts like M...those who take great pleasure in enabling the guys they serve with to remember special holidays and treat their wives well. T, a hero previously honored here, said this about how she handed out cards before Valentines Day this year:

I strategically placed them on the desks of the guys in my unit with a note "Dont forget, Feb 14th....the mail takes 3 weeks!"

So M, this card's for you. A lovey dovey owl! For all those men you were able to get the cards out to so they could be heroes to their spouses! Thanks for serving our country, and for serving all your battle buddies so well while you were at it. You're awesome!

And to all the Dads serving so far from your own kids today, Happy Father's Day!

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Hero June 20

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
My hero for today is: "Joe Cool!"

Alright, alright, so I don't know his name. But he's just plain cool. And I hope someday to find out who he is—I wonder if he knows just how much he's made everyone involved with CFH grin when they see his photo?

The photo I'm talking about was sent to us by one of our Marine contacts in Iraq. She had told me last fall she took pics of everyone with the cards, and I waited and waited...but assumed they weren't coming when weeks passed. I hate to bug them when they're all so busy. But at the end of February, suddenly an email came through with the photo....of "Joe."
Yes, he's cool, you have to admit it, right? What a classic! We get a number of photos, but it's rare to find one of a guy so comfortable in his coolness that cheesin' with a bunch of cards in his hand doesn't look painful! :) I mean, we love any photos of our men and women....but this one is simply a classic.

During the bloghop you might have noticed that Tereza posted this photo and talked about the red card being one of hers. Well....the blue one is one of mine! I think she and I both had the same thrill at seeing our cards in the hands of "Joe Cool"!!! The blue card is one that I fortunately had taken a photo of while it was here...because I had to doublecheck to see that it really was mine. :) The idea that this big burly hero picked out my sweet little lamb Christmas card just made me GRIN bigtime! And it's a stamp I had only made about 5 cards with after purchasing it last fall—hardly worth the purchase until the photo showed up!

So my Joe Cool card is dedicated to this unknown hero with the big grin...I'm so thankful for him, his whole unit, the person who took the photo, and the contact, S, who sent it to me. I'm thankful for all the cool Joes and Josephines who serve our nation so well every single day, and I sure hope they know how much all of us at home think of them!

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Cardsigning at Swarovski - go sign one!

Swarovski Crystals is partnering with CFH for the next couple weeks to get 30,000 cards signed! They're gorgeous cards with a little crystal bling added to them . . . and about 150 cards are at each of their store locations til July 4th to be signed by customers. (Some of the stores have a sweet deal offering a free tshirt with purchase, check and see if yours does!) The signing is free—so please take your friends and family with you. Email them about it too! Click on the image above or ---> here <---to search for a store location near you! Fellow bloggers, please feel free to post on your blogs too—let's get the word out to lots of folks! Post a link to the boutique locator, so your readers can find a store near them.

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Hero June 19

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
Today's hero is D!

D is a young man serving his country in the Army, and was in Iraq on his first tour. He had received an AnyHero letter I wrote in a cardswap on AnySoldier, and wrote me back afterwards.

(A cardswap on AnySoldier is a group of supporters who each write a quantity of letters—typically 20-25—and mail them to the host/hostess. He/she then sorts them out and mails them back to each one of us so we receive letters from across the USA to put into our boxes! If you love getting your letters out to lots of different units, feel free to join in a swap; you can have "your" share of the letters sent to any of our shippers who will get them out in their boxes....and all your letters will get mailed in each of 20 different packages from all over! Connect with the host for the swap you want to join and let them know what you want to do, and they'll be happy to work with you.)

Back to our hero! D wrote letters to me, filled with all sorts of details about the things he missed from home—his small town, skiiing in winter, fresh mountain air. I ended up sending him packages with just some cards but more with other goodies to help him feel a little less homesick. Including (shhhh!) a seed for a pine tree and a tiny pot and soil to plant it in for Christmas! (I think the PO might consider that bad, so nobody tell 'em, okay? lol) The tree didn't do much during his deployment, but the fun we had joking back and forth about starting a Colorado forest in the desert of Iraq was worth a laugh!

So the card for this hero is a wonderful hometown scene...and I do hope he's back home enjoying a scene like this at his home, and not out on another deployment yet!

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Hero June 18

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
Today's hero is Chaplain A!

And yes, I know what you're going to say, why the lovey dovey card for a Chaplain? Well read on and find out!

A is a contact whose initial request sent me over the MOON! Here's what he'd said:

"I am a Chaplain that is deployed to Iraq. While we were going through Kuwait I heard about you. I am not sure how to get cards for the soldiers in my Squadron."

Someone heard about us! Heard about us while traveling through another country—wow! It was the first time I realized CFH was getting a reputation among the deployed, and what an honor to receive this kind of request!

"You have no idea how much it means to the soldiers to be able to send their loved ones something that looks nice. It gives them more of a reason to write home. I know that you get lots of requests and you may not be able to fill mine, but know that I thank you for what you do to help soldiers to stay in contact with there families."

So we've been sending cards to this Chaplain, and his squadron has been enjoying them. And we know that the Chaplain, too, has been enjoying the cards, because we got a note from his lovely wife too! When I saw her last name in the email, I asked if the Chaplain was her husband, and she was quite surprised, not knowing he was our contact for cards! Here's her note:

"I am the wife of a deployed soldier who continues to send cards home. My entire family (my children as well as my parents) look forward to receiving the cards. My kids and I love them because it means so much to get mail from daddy. He always uses the different cards and makes the decor applicable to our kids. The other day we got one with an eagle stamp which was perfect for our one son who likes to pretend he is an eagle. My mother loves to see them. She constantly is amazed at how beautifully done they are. People who donate these are so creative and put so much effort into what they are doing. Thanks. This is one of the best ways to support the troops because it supports us at home missing our loved ones as well."

So, of course, having letters from both of these wonderful folks, I had to create a lovey dovey card in their honor! It uses a new penguin stamp I bought during the bloghop....gotta love penguins! I colored them with copics layered these lovebirds and I think they came out adorable.

A little PS - it's possible Chaplain A is a hero I may get to meet in person! He's with the WA National Guard, so will be returning to my state shortly! A comment from his final email when he passed us off to the next Chaplain: " I hope you don't mind but I have been telling everyone who will listen about you." Keep up the word of mouth, Chaplain!

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Hero June 17

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
Today's hero is K!

This hero is a little of an anomaly, because he's not been a member of the armed services while receiving cards. Yes, I know! But—he was a contractor, and shared our cards with the units he was working alongside.

This gentleman had served in the military in his past, and has such respect for all those who wear the uniform:

"These soldiers are the finest we’ve ever had when it comes to being trained, equipped, and having the right attitude. One of our members is a National Guardsman from Massachusetts who is making slightly less than he would at home but, because of the mission and the value of the experience for his career, wants to extend for a second year. Not the kind of story you’ll hear on CNN, though, is it?"

K received cards from us for close to two years, and sent us a special request during that time too:

"If you have “wounded soldier” cards, send some of those, too. Maj. X, frequently goes to the Combat Support Hospital (CSH, or “Cash”) to visit troops wounded in the line of duty. I’m sure she would like to take some cards from folks back home who support the soldiers and the mission."

So you know we sent some get well cards for the wounded at their CSH! What a blessing to know these cards went to those who were in need of some TLC as they were dealing with injuries and illnesses so far away from home.

K has come home now, but "passed" us off to a new contact, a LtCol who will continue to share our cards at their local chapel.

The card I made in K's honor is a special one...the "You're a Classic" sentiment is so true of him! He's a classic hero, continuing to serve his country even beyond his tours of duty...and he's also a classic letter-writer—he's a calligrapher too, how about that! :) The car stamp is a new one to me, and I layered it, and even added a little transparent acrylic to the windshield! The manly design and bold coloring seemed to fit K to a T. (Is this a model T? I have no idea, lol!)

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Hero June 16

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
My hero for today: S!

Today I'm honoring a soldier serving in Afghanistan! She's such a sweetheart, as so many of our heroes are! I love getting letters from heroes that mention something specific that was sent, and she commented on some photos I had sent along with a recent box.

I had packed copies of these photos of my kids "helping" me sort and pack earlier this spring! The cards had been coming in fast and furious and I couldn't resist snapping their pictures to give a little context to just how many cards came in. These were from the Cardmaker Magazine drive, and wow, was that a heavy time of sorting! (Christmastime looks a little like this at my house!) Ciara was very very patient, letting me spend hours working while she sat patiently nearby, bringing her ball over just in case I was bored and needed a playbreak.

And here's little Miss Tsuki (aka can't be wrong!) on one of her tries at getting completely and entirely in the way. What a nut! The boxes were ready to receive all those sorted cards, but there was no work to be done til she decided to stop lounging on the table.

S enjoyed receiving the photos—they all love getting pictures from home! So I try to include pictures once in a while...(feel free to include a photo in your AnyHero letters sometime, too!) I think I'll be sending a few pictures of the kids decorating the flat-rate-boxes at the garage sale last weekend, that should get some smiles!

And since S is an animal lover, I created a cat card in her honor...the image was gifted to me, and I colored it with Copics, and distressed it of course with Tim Holtz inks! :)

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Hero June 15

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
My hero for today: C!

C is a Sergeant in the Army who served in a CSH ("Cash", or Combat Support Hospital) in Iraq.

She consistently wrote notes after each box received; I always made sure to send her get well cards to hand out to all the wounded, and she spoke of how much they were appreciated. The blank cards were given out as well as the AnyHero get well cards, and here's how she described the response:

"We here are very grateful for all that you and your friends have done. The injured soldiers appreciated the letters. Everyone all loved the cards because they usually do not have time to get to the post exchange because most of their time is spent outside of the wire. While in the hospital they were able to send cards to the people they miss and love. God bless you. I will be leaving soon and will pass your name on to the new hospital troops."

While it's hard hearing that down-time while injured is a good time to get cards to our heroes, it's also nice to know that they get a little benefit when they do have a small injury...getting to write home. I've heard of a lot of heroes getting injured and not telling their loved ones til they return—so I wonder what they wrote in those cards! *grin*

C was always really faithful in getting them distributed and letting us know when she needed more! Her emails were always quick, she always seemed like she only had a moment to jot off a note...thus the speedy little scooter I put on her card! I'm pretty sure Baghdad looks nothing like that pastel city, though... :)

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Happy Flag Day!

As promised! The triangle flag frame was red at first...and I didn't like how that color looked with the certificate. So I decided to frame the certificate with colors that worked for it, and alter the triangle frame later. I chose a gunmetal green color that goes perfectly with the helicopter, and a thin gold frame for a decorative edge inside. The mat is a deep mottled green/brown, hard to photograph here. The triangle frame I then painted the gunmetal green, and did the front edge of it in gold.


For more on the hero who gave the flag to me, scroll down two posts :)

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Thoughts on following

I was inspired by this post by Gabe to think about and publicize my own list of criteria for following/not following others online. Gabe's post is all about Twitter, (and is well worth a read, especially for new tweeps who want to know what makes you appear follow-worthy to most twitter users), but I thought I'd share my thoughts on blogging and friending too...since I'm now overwhelmed with those I'm 'friends' with in all these different social media! Some of this may get harsh, I warn you now...I need to start setting some parameters before I totally drown in all of this!

Twitter
I was told that Twitter can easily get overwhelming, and it sure has. I'm past 500 followers and following about the same, ack! When each one can tweet a bunch each day, that makes my head spin.

• Tweeps I follow: When someone follows me, I look at their profile. I check out their bio, to see who they are. (so please, tweeps, populate that field!) If they have a relatively balanced follower-following ratio, that's good. If they're craft- or military- related, I give them the benefit of the doubt. If they post regularly, and it's a mix of new thoughts, RTs, @s, and links, that looks like a human being to me, so it's a great sign. And of course, I look for the negatives in the next bullet point before clicking "follow."
  
• Tweeps I don't follow: If a person has 0-5 tweets and are following thousands - nope. Even if they post a lot and their follower/following ratio is way out of whack, that screams spam to me, so nope. If they have tweets full of profanity, or invitations to parties - nope. If they post the same tweet over and over and over driving to their website - nope. If they describe themselves as a "social media marketing expert" who can "teach me how to get thousands of followers - nope. (For me, twitter isn't a game of finding followers, it's engaging with those who I already have!)
  
• Tweets I read: I apologize to anyone who thinks I'm waiting with baited breath for your next tweet....but I've gotten down to reading the most recent few screens-worth of tweets, scanning for things of interest, and for a few individuals I'll look at their profile to look at all they said recently because they're really really of interest. But lots just slide on by.
  
• Tweets I won't read: The tweeps who tweet 28 things in a row - never. You can't possibly think of that many interesting things within seconds, can you? I am debating how long I let that go on before unfollowing you. (To the stores that put up 28 links to their 28 products they want to buy...please please please don't do that anymore ok? I'd like to RT your sales once in a while, but not when you do that to me.)
  
• Tweeps I unfollow fast: PROFANITY! Get thee out of my twitterfeed. No excuses for that. And as soon as you try to get me to buy into your pyramid scheme or sell me your social media marketing ideas, I'm done with you.
• #FollowFriday and #milimonday: I started out participating, but it got overwhelming when I had hundreds of people to choose from/type out. Ack! So I am incredibly grateful to those who list me in their FF or MM tweets, but please don't be offended if I don't have time to play along. I have a day job, and there's just not enough time for that.
  

Facebook
I've taken to accepting a lot more friend requests than I previously planned to. I may need to start unfriending a few soon, ack. The feed gets so long, and my real friends disappear amongst everything posted...I need more hours in my day!

• CFH—lots of stampers have friended me, and I'm happy to get to know everyone there. I recently friended as many of the members of the CFH group as I could...it doesn't let me sort the list by who is/is not a friend, so unfortunately I can't be sure I got everyone. If you're a CFH stamper, send me a request (with a note about who you are, please!) and I'll accept.
  
• Work—this one got sticky recently! I was initially friending any work people. But our social media policy is in flux, so til I know what the plan is, I quietly removed a lot of management from my friend list. (So those who are still on here, shhhhhh!! Don't tell them, okay? lol) I have no idea where the company will come down on things, but better safe than sorry for the moment.
  
• Unfriending—this usually takes something pretty serious for me, aside from simply being far above me in the work food chain. But those who post profanity - bye bye. Those who get all political and hate-filled on me - I don't need that. And those who make nasty comments on other people's posts - the day is too short to have you on my page.
  
  And a special note to those who post too many of those ridiculous quizzes - unless I know you personally, that's soon going to be cause to unfriend. I "hide" the quizzes regularly as they come up, but more and more are showing up and I hate them! They push all my friends' updates down further on the page so that I can see what Twilight character you resemble, and, frankly, I just don't care. Sorry. Even to my good friends, please consider not publishing the results to your page....you do realize those quizzes aren't any kind of true assessment of your personality, right?
• Special requests like Farmtown, LilFishies, pillowfights, snowballs, gifts, etc — please don't be offended, but I get hundreds and hundreds. I ignore them now, I just don't have time! Please don't send more, especially if you're taking extra seconds to search for me to click "send."
  

Blogs
I use the RSS reader that comes with Flock (a great social media browser!) and follow WAY too many blogs. But I keep them in there, and as I have time I do try to at least peek at what everyone is doing. I added all the blogs from the bloghop and that's pretty overwhelming...so please don't expect comments from me too much, friends, but I am looking!

So that's my list for the moment...it may morph as I have to be more selective, but we'll see.

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Hero June 14

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.
My hero for today: T!

Today's hero is in Afghanistan, and is a special treasure to me. I selected her for today - June 14th, Flag Day - specifically because of a special treasure she sent to me. But first, a great story!

She was so sweet in sending regular emails when she got boxes of cards...she also sent me this really sweet story about how much her girls LOVE the cards they get from Mom, and I thought you might like it too:

"I have a hilarious story to share with you. I am from Tennessee and we just had several tornadoes run through middle Tennessee. The news was telling everyone to take cover. My two teenage daughters and two toddler sons went into a closet that is under our stairs (our safest place in our house) My Mom went in to check on them after the storm had passed and all four of them were asleep. She looked down and both girls had taken some important things with them (just in case the house blew away and that is all that survived) Both girls had their shoebox with all of your cards in them, their arms wrapped tightly around it. My oldest had her prom dress, prom shoes and prom jewelry also! I thought it was hilarious because they were convinced that the house was going to blow away and that is all they cared about. Too funny."

During the week of my birthday this year, she sent me a flag that had been flown on a mission!

This is one of my prize possessions! Though you might not know it yet if you came to my house; I've been so busy the last few months that I haven't finished the display project I planned. I had the certificate framed (way expensive but WAY gorgeous), and it's hanging on a prominent wall, but the triangle-shaped frame didn't match what I wanted for the frame, so it still needs to be altered (painted). So....guess what I'm doing today in honor of flag day! Stay tuned for a photo once I get that finished and the flag installed and displayed.
The card I made for today is a superstar card - because T is certainly a superstar! Any Mom who would leave her home and kids to defend the rest of us and our kids—that's a superstar to me! The card also uses a gift from another superstar, Jen McGuire; she sent me a cooooool star set and starry design block, and a bunch of blank cards/envelopes. And all this as a prize from Hero Arts because of the bloghop—no matter how many times I kept 'forgetting' to respond to her demands for my address! (lol) We didn't do the bloghop to get anything for ourselves, only for our heroes....but Jen, you know I'll get tons of use out of this set!

So...thanks to T, to Jen, to Hero Arts — and for all of you silently suffering through my month of NaBloPoMo posts! *grin*

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Day at the races

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Hero June 13

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.

My heroes for today: Vipers!

This post today honors the amazing men serving in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. Viper Company. These gents are insanely amazing heroes, and I am SO proud of all they do every day! I've communicated with a few of them on Facebook, and just following all the news coverage their unit has gotten along with a few messages on occasion, I feel like they're "my" kids. (Yes, R & S, you're not kids, but to this ol' lady, you're my boys! lol!)

These guys live pretty primitive conditions. (Check out some incredible images here.) I see photos of the rugged terrain, and I can't imagine having to hike up and down those mountains every day — and never being able to go back to somewhere comfy to recover from a crazy day. I can't picture being out in what would feel like the middle of nowhere...a place that could easily make you feel forgotten by the rest of the world. And having to fight practically-invisible foes, trying to convince locals that you really are there to help, and attempting to keep up your motivation all the while. These units have lost an unfair number of lives through their deployment, and that alone would knock me for a loop—yet they fight on. (Pink boxers and all!)

So today's card is for these guys out there living life to the fullest. Camping out in rugged terrain. They may not have marshmallows like this moose does, but they're out there roasting the enemy on a stick. (Alright, alright, it's a stretch, but I gotta tie these cards in here somehow! R&S, are you guys laffing over there??)

You'll be home SOON!!! We can't wait!!

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Hero June 12

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.

My hero for today: R!

It's funny how you get an image of someone in your mind by something they say or do. Something that 'sticks.' And for R, it had to do with food.

R was a soldier serving in Iraq, and one time he sent a photo. It was just a little snapshot. Really, not much at all. But it means the world, you know? A lot of our contacts send letters, and those are awesome, but when I get a photo, it's as if suddenly the people become real in a whole different kind of way. So I get all silly-happy over the smallest picture!

R. sent this photo of some of his fellow soldiers at their then-new chow hall. It may "just" be a dinnertime picture, but to see at least this group has a quiet place to hang out and eat a meal that doesn't look like this...I don't know about you other civilians, but I'm not sure I'd last on that kind of thing for very long!

So of course when thinking about a card to honor R's service, it had to do with food! This little stamped image was a gift from someone...I colored it with Copics and distressed it. I punched a rough hole in the front of the card, stamped some Hero Arts cooking images on it. And with a little piece of cuttlebug-embossed paper, ribbon, and sentiment, it was done. :)

So, R...I hope you're having good stateside meals now—and for those of you reading this for whom these trays look tantalizing...THANK YOU for putting up with MREs like you do. If you're ever in my town, or even within hours of driving distance, I'd love to buy you a real dinner!!

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Hero June 11

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.

My hero for today: M!

Yes, M seems to be a really popular first initial, eh? Well this one is a Marine Corporal who served in Afghanistan, and she was blessed to serve alongside her husband! Yeah! :-)

One of the things about our heroes that amazes me is how they roll with the punches. (I am NOT so good with that!) They get told they're being sent here or there, or they're going to be extended on their tour, or dates change for redeploying... and they might have a time of frustration but they get right back up and get to work again. I see this with so many units, and M's was no exception! They were extended for one extra month at the very end, and they just kept plugging away....and our boxes were apparently a help in boosting that morale back up for the end of their tour:

"The Marines were pretty down about that decision but all was soon forgotten when you all send these wonderful notes and cards that says we care about you, or thank you or we are praying for you. Once again thank you for all that you do and keep us in your prayers!"

It's not often we get to see a hero's husband, and the photo she sent was an inspiration—great smiles from this happy hero couple! Someday I'd love to hear how they met...I wonder if it was in the Marines, or before?

M came home last fall, and I'm assuming her sweetie did too; so this little 'bananas' card is in honor of the two of them being happily bananas at home together instead of in Afghanistan! :)

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Hero June 10

NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month — June theme: HEROES! Link to my original post is here. I will only be using first initials to protect each person's identity.

My hero for today is: M!

And today just happens to be her birthday too! Happy birthday, M! Hopefully this card pictured has made it to her in time, we'll see how fast the mail carrier gets going!

M found CFH from her location in Iraq because someone had shared a card with our url on it (another reason we stamp the backs of the cards!) and emailed to request cards. Ever since then we've kept her busy with plenty of cards, and she and her unit have been loving them. We've gotten other emails from others serving near her who she's shared the cards with, so we know she gets around with them! Thanks for that, M!

She has been so sweet the whole time, too — she's written lots of short notes, but the thing that has struck me is that she always takes the time to say thanks, and always calls me her "friend"! And I know this will seem silly to some, but she uses smiley faces a lot like I do, except the eyes are wide open! =-) I gotta love a person who's not ashamed to use smileys! :)

So M, happy birthday, my friend — have a SAFE trip back home soon, and keep in touch. I have a feeling we'd get along really well if we ever met, so be sure to let me know if you come out my way someday!

Stamp was a RAK...Penny Black maybe? colored with Copics. Scrap papers. Pierced by hand. Flowers punched with cuttlebug dies; centers are adhesive bling ($1 a pack at Joanns!)

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