Saturday, November 14, 2009

Veteran's Day Blog Hop

Let me first say a heartfelt Thank You to the very hard working and dedicated OWH "shippers"... Sandy, Fabre and Kris, who do a whole lot more then "ship". Without them, none of this would be possible.

It is my honor and pleasure to take part in th
is Veteran's Day Blog Hop. I have been making cards for our heroes since April 2008 and can say with certainty it is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I have a deep respect and admiration for all who serve and am a dedicated supporter of our Armed Forces. Every year on Veteran's Day I make a point to try to get out-and-about and I look for at least one Veteran, who I don't know, to thank. A few years back I spotted an older gentleman in a local shopping center. He was wearing a hat embroidered with military insignia. I walked up to him, said hello, and I asked him if he had served, as I motioned to his hat. He said yes, and proceed to tell me briefly where he had served. I will never forget the stunned look on his face when I reached out to shake his hand and thank him for his service. We owe our Veteran's a debt that we can never fully repay. Let us never forget that America is the Land of The Free, Because of Our Brave. God Bless our Veterans!

Below is the "Any Hero" card I made for the blog hop. One of my favorite color combinations has always been Red, White & Blue so it's very hard for me to make Any Hero cards that are not Patriotic in style. This one uses a slightly off variation, as it's a deeper red/burgundy and slate blue combo. Every so often I spend a crafting session making a stack of patriotic, blank any hero cards. I find having a dozen or so on hand makes it easier to include them in shipments. I can take a couple, write a simple but sincere note of thanks in them and send them along with whatever cards I have packed and ready to go. (These stamps are from CTMH, I think retired now).


Here is the Valentine's Day Card I made. I most often try to
stick to the "generic" messages in my cards so that if it takes me a couple of weeks to get a shipment ready there is no concern for missing a deadline. I enjoy using a variety of materials and techniques, sometimes coloring, other times stamping and still others using a combination of papers and layering alone to create cards. The background on this card is a page from an old damaged dictionary that I bought at a used book sale. I enjoy incorporating unusual things and recycling odd paper elements from places you wouldn't normally think of like this.



Last, but not least, as my way of saying Thanks for stopping by and supporting OWH I am sharing my stash and offering a box of crafting goodies. (If you're like me you have enough stuff to open a small craft store in your basement!) As you can see in the pic it's a mixed lot of papers, embellishments, ribbon, rub-ons, stickers, cardstock and more! Open to anyone who is interested, no blog comment necessary. Just email me at PSPAG3@aol.com with the subject line OWH and I'll include you in the random drawing. I will draw a winner and notify them via an email response on Tuesday, November 17th.



Now it's time to move on, there's so much still to see, so off you go to the NEXT STOP ON THE HOP...
If the great cards on Shelly's blog are any indication I can tell you that Life on Altadena Avenue is great! Make sure you see her absolutely adorable Monster Cards, and if you're a dedicated card maker like me you'll wanna bookmark her blog for future inspirational visits!

http://lifeonaltadenaavenue.blogspot.com


OR CHOOSE YOUR DESTINATION BELOW



If you are a crafter, cardmaker or simply wish to express your support of our military with a donation or note of thanks, please be sure to visit the OWH home page and consider joining us.

If you have some time, I also encourage you to check out the links at the left of my blog to see how these great organizations honor and support our Armed Forces.



33 comments:

Operation Write Home said...

Oooooh Paula! Your cards are AWESOME!! I'm always jealous when I see Fabre got another package - lol! Thanks so much for all your support of our heroes...you rock, friend!

And thanks for sharing your story of that older vet---I wish more people would reach out and say thanks!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful cards.Thank you so much fro sharing and for the chance to win the woderful candy.

JPScraps said...

I love how you make your cards. They're awesome!!

Tammy said...

Fantastic patriotic cards!! Thank you so much for sharing!! Also thanks for a chance to win your candy!

Dixie Cochran said...

Terrific cards! Thanks for all you do for our heroes!

Patty K said...

great cards!!! thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

What a wonderful blog, Paula! Thanks for sharing!

Cyn said...

Great cards and love that you use recycled materials! And hello from another CT gal!

cdm317 said...

Wow, I am impressed by the number of cards you made! I can't even finish 1 card a weekend! LOL!
This blog hop is a wonderful cause, and I enjoyed stopping by your blog.

debb said...

beautiful cards!

Scrappycath said...

Terrific cards... love the V-day image!

The Wired Angel said...

Hi Paula.. I'm so glad I stopped by to see your great talent. Thanks for all you do for our soldiers and for sharing your story.

peggysue said...

You have quite the stamping talent, how lovely your cards are . . . where did you get those stamps you used for the card on top, the ones that look a bit like postage stamps? All very pretty.

Shelley said...

This is such a heartening venture. Here in Canada, the painting guild I belong to also creates and sends cards for our troops. They range from painted, thru to stamped and embossed cards in every style imaginable and are received with great appreciation. It's such a little thing we can do for our heroes!

~ Shelley

shelly said...

I really love your valetine day card!! thanks a ton for the kind words about my blog!!!

Rhonda Miller said...

I love your cards.

Carmen O. said...

Fabulous cards! What a great idea to make up Any Hero cards and have them stashed for when you need them. Beautiful work!

Kay said...

Such great cards! I really like the one using the recycled dictionary - very cool.

Tanya said...

Great Cards!!

Mary said...

beautiful cards!

MarcyK924 said...

Super cute cards! Thanks for supporting OWH.

Carla Gade said...

Awesome cards! What a wonderful crafty and supportive thing we can do for our troops! God bless them, and you!

carlagade [at] gmail [dot] com

Kas said...

Your cards are very beautiful!

MiamiKel said...

Your cards are soooo beautiful - what a wonderful story :) Thanks for the wonderful stop on the hop!

cr8iveme said...

love your cards.

Thank you for the chance at the blog candy.

I'm also participating in the hop and I've got Blogoversary candy up for grabs.

{hugs}
M.E.

Holly @ InkPaperStamps said...

What a wonderful Veterans Day tradition you have! No doubt you've inspired many here (including me) to do the same next year.

Very pretty cards--our heroes will love them!

Scrapacat said...

Awesome cards, and I love the story about the veteran you thanked!
~ky
http://bunnynest.blogspot.com

Nancy Keller said...

Yes, thank you senders! Your cards are awesome! Definitely adding you to the list of people I "FOLLOW" :) Happy blog hop day!

Caryl P said...

Fabulous cards Paula, I love that you incorporate recycled paper too. That's one of my favorite ways to go green while still being a papercrafter!

Dana said...

Awesome cards. Thanks for supporting our troops!

Michelle's Inky Fingers said...

Awesome cards Paula - I am proud to be one of your blog hop neighbors! have a great one! ~Michelle :)

Maggie said...

Your cards are beautiful. I have been checking out your blog and I have to say I am in awe. Bless you for all of your work making these card. Thank you for supporting OWH.

GretaB said...

Your cards are great! I love the valentine's one with the writing paper background. And I'm inspired by how you set out to thank veterans. I'm going to keep that in mind and try to muster up the courage to do the same.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...