Flag Ladies

Did you notice on my sidebar the time in Iraq?  Thought that was neat.

I stayed kinda busy today so I didn't have time to get depressed!  Ashley called me at 3:30 am during her layover in Bangor, Maine.  We didn't talk for long but it was good to hear her one last time.  I was really surprised when she told me the coffee shop & gift shop was open at the airport.  Seems they open them for the troops when they fly in or out.  It's amazing all the support out there that we just don't know about.  There is also a group called the Freeport Flag Ladies who, like the Hug Lady, are there for support for our troops.  These three wonderful ladies greet our soldiers giving them a small gift and taking their picture which they post on their website.  I am patiently waiting for this morning's pictures to be posted!  You can read about them HERE.

Doesn't this just give you faith in the American people?  It does for me!

I am having a hard time with Ashley's address.  For those of you who I e-mailed her mailing address (TWICE), I think it is still wrong.  She gave it to me yesterday when I was on my cell phone (and she on hers).  Don't know about you, but clarity is not always the best with cells.  I repeated the address to her but think it is still wrong.  Her friend, Dawn, who has just returned from Iraq from her second tour told me the address didn't look right to her.  So, I am trying to get in touch with the FRG (Family Readiness Group) to get the correct address.  I already have a letter and a package that I want to send to her so it will be waiting for her in Mosul when she arrives.

Here is a Christmas card that I made tonight.  I still need to work with this stamp set.  This was my first time playing with it.

I stamped the image (Christmas Collage from Holiday Mini) on red cardstock with Silver Craft Ink and embossed it in silver.  Then, I stamped "merry" in the little rectangle.  The Joy is actually stamped in black & cut out - very carefully!  I used my Nesties to get the black circle around "25".  What do you think?

The Dreaded Day

Well, the day I have been dreading is here.  Ashley will be leaving US soil in a short while (scheduled for 10:30 pm)  I have spoken to her several times today and her Uncle Jack, Cousin Melinda & Melinda's son, Jake, spent a few hours with her this afternoon at the base.  They brought her a meal from Burger King.  The meal the Army gave them today consisted of Bumble Bee Chicken BBQ, Vienna Sausages, Applesauce, Friday's Potato Skin Chips and canned ice tea.  Just what I would have ordered for my last meal!!  Well, she just called me from the airport where they are getting ready to board.  They will be taking a chartered commercial airplane with stops in Maine, Germany and then on to Kuwait.  She has sent us several leaflets and books for parents of deploying soldiers so we will know what to expect.  One of them that I read this morning was written by a wife and mother of three Army soldiers and was very good and informative.  One story she included in the book has stuck with me all day.  She told about when they were stationed in DC on Fort Myer (which is also home to Arlington Cemetery) that she was walking her dog & noticed a family gathered on the porch of the house next to hers.  One of the young men from the group came out to pet her dog and told her they had just buried his brother who was killed in Iraq.  After offering her condolences, the young man told her "I feel so bad I never wrote to my brother while he was over there.  I kept thinking he was coming home, and now it's too late."  That was gut-wretching to me for many reasons.  You can believe I will be writing to Ashley a lot!!  She was able to give me her address before she left and my first letter will be written tomorrow right after I put my yellow ribbon on my mailbox.  

Today was the return of Sunday football!!  I was so excited to watch my Steelers again even if Ben wasn't on the field.  I really did not have high hopes that they would win against Atlanta but THEY DID!!  As usual, they played a "heart attack" game and won it in overtime.  But, a win is a win!

I worked in my craft room most of the day yesterday getting the cards ready for my Club on Thursday.  We will be doing three cards which I will share with you later.  I actually cleaned my desk before I started and it looked like this -

Very unusual but don't worry .... it doesn't look like that now!  But, it is nice to see the surface of my desk once in a while!

I finally got my Monday Mailer yesterday and it is bee-u-tiful.  Our theme this month is holidays and my card is a Christmas card.

It uses Tree Trimmings (pg 44, SU catalog) stamped in Chocolate Chip and glittered.  The vanilla card was run through the Big Shot with an embossing folder.

Remember

I hope you will all take a minute today to remember those who lost their life 9 years ago.  This is a great country with wonderful opportunities and FREEDOM!

Weather Facts

Interesting Weather Facts!

Top 10 cities with least weather variety
Based on temperature variation, precipitation, wind, severe weather

1. San Francisco, California
2. San Diego , California
3. Los Angeles , California
4. Santa Barbara , California
5. Eureka , California
6. Long Beach , California
7. Honolulu , Hawaii
8. Santa Maria , California
9. San Luis Obispo , California
10. Kahului , Hawaii

Top 10 Tropical storm / Hurricane prone cities
Average # of years with no storm. Totals based on data from 1871- 2007, hitting within 60 miles of the city

1. Cape Hatteras, North Carolina   2.49
2. Delray Beach , Florida  2.54
3. Hollywood , Florida  2.58
4. Deerfield Beach , Florida  2.58
5. Boca Raton , Florida  2.58
6. Florida City , Florida  2.63
7. Grand Isle, Louisiana   2.63
8. Ft. Pierce , Florida   2.69
9. Miami , Florida   2.69
10. Ft. Lauderdale , Florida   2.69


Top 10 Thunderstorm cities
Avg annual number of thunderstorms

1. Fort Myers , Florida      89
2. Tampa , Florida   87
3. Tallahassee, Florida   83
4. Gainesville , Florida   81
5. Orlando , Florida   80
6. Mobile , Alabama   79
7. W. Palm Beach , Florida  79
8. Lake Charles , Louisiana    76
9. Daytona Beach , Florida    75
10. Vero Beach , Florida   75

Wicked Cool!

I've been playing around with one of my new stamp sets - Wicked Cool.  I was trying to restrain from buying any Halloween stamps since I really don't do that much decorating or card sending anymore for Halloween.  But I've got two little boys in Austin that I'll be sending a card to for Halloween so I decided I could splurge.  Plus, I just love this stamp set - especially the witches boots stamp!  So, without further ado, here's a few cards I made with it.

This is the first one I made.  I embossed the hat and shoes with black embossing powder.  The polka dot strip is one I found in my stash (non SU).  Don't you love the label?  I forgot I had it!  It's SU's Sizzix Lots of Tags (pg 211 in catty) and it is so simple to run that black cardstock through the Big Shot!  I layered the sentiment using the oval punch.  The green cardstock is retired Green Galore.

This is the next one I made and this will be my shoebox swap at Quarterly.  I used the Spider Web embossing folder for the strip across the witches and stamped a few bats in the background.  The cardstock base is Eggplant.

This card was sent to Jana for her Monday Mailer this week.  I think I may do this one for my club also next week.  The colors I used are:  Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, and Perfect Plum.  I used Incolor ribbon with rhinestones.  The spider web was made by running my black cardstock through the Big Shot with the web embossing folder.  Then I sponged Frost White Shimmer Paint over it.  For a final touch, I topped the web off with a little black ink sponging.

Tomorrow night I am doing the Stamp of the Month at our local stamp store with my friend, Judy and Marianne.  I haven't done the stamp of the month in probably 6-7 months, but the Halloween board looked so cute this time, we couldn't resist! 

I'm on a Roll!

I have been on a roll today!  I finished putting together two scrapbooks (without pics) and a calendar today for my craft show.  The scrapbooks were two that I picked up at CKC.  All the pieces were pre-cut so it was just a matter of putting it all together.  One of them I started yesterday and it was really simple.  The other one took me most of the day since there were so many pieces to it.  But I really like how it turned out.  I will include directions in the box with suggestions on how to finish the scrapbook with pictures and journaling.

This is the cover - isn't it pretty?

This is one of the layouts above.  They are all pretty simple like this one.

This is the title page of the second book I made.  Below are some of the layouts.

This is the back page.  You can put photos or clippings in the envelope.

The calendar I made (actually, I'm still in the process of finishing) is from a kit I bought a couple of years ago at a big box store.  I found it among my stash of "things to do on a rainy day" items!  So I decided, even though it is not rainy today, to put it together.  It is a scrapbook calendar since each page has a place for a picture.

Tags to Die For

Hope you didn't "labor" too much today!  I sure didn't.  I finished up a couple of cards I was working on, did a quickie SEI scrapbook that I had gotten at CKC and went to the movies with my hubbie.  We saw The Americans with George Clooney.  The movie was ok; a little slow in my opinion, but George was smokin'!  He is such a hunk.  I used to love to watch him on ER. 

Sonny & I also went to M's real quick - he was surprised that I could go in and out of there that quickly!  We were looking for a flag to put up next weekend for 9-11.  I ended up getting a small garden flag and a new holder.  That way, I can keep the US flag up and change out my other seasonal garden flags.  I also want to go back this week with my coupon and get a yellow bow to put on my mailbox while Ashley is in Iraq.  I have been pretty teary today just thinking that at the end of this week, she'll be leaving US soil.  We probably talk to each other at least once a day, so there will be a huge gap in my life when she is gone.  I have Skype installed on my computer so that will be a help when she gets there.  Who knows how long it will take?  They will be leaving on Sunday for Kuwait.  She's not sure how long they will be there - probably a month before heading to Mosul.  She is going to try to get "qualified" tomorrow with her weapon.  That has not been going so well for her.  I'll have my fingers crossed for her.

I am participating in two Christmas Tag Swaps and I have both of them finished thanks to my trusty Big Shot and a few other tools.  I really like how they both turned out.  What do you think:

This one is for a swap at our local stamp store.  It uses a stamp set by JustRite.  I embossed the Happy Holidays in white detail powder.  I didn't even know there was a detail powder in white!  I made a couple of discoveries making this tag.  The other one was how I cut out the top of the tag.  I used my Nesties and just put the top through the Label Six die and cut the top out.

This one is my favorite!  It uses the SU Sizzix Two Tags Die with the Big Shot.  The tag is folded up & tucked under the little slit.  I made the little trees using my SU big star punch.  The snowflake is an SU punch and I ran a little glue over it and dipped it in white chunky glitter.  The button is actually from a die also!  It is the SU Sizzix Buttons die - doesn't it look real?  I distressed the white bottom part and stamped the sentiment from Punch Pals stamp set.  I'll be swapping this one at the SU Quarterly in Shallotte.

Just Believe

I have been playing with my new stamp sets for a few days now and I think I have made a card using each one of them.  This one was made for a friend's birthday.  She reads my blog so hopefully, she will have received her card before she reads the blog! 

This card uses the Just Believe stamp set.  I think this is one of the sets that was given to demonstrators at SU's convention this summer.  Sadly, I had to purchase mine!  Well, I guess really, they purchased theirs when they payed to attend convention, forked out $$ for a hotel & plane ticket ... maybe mine was cheaper!  I keep saying I won't buy anymore floral sets, but they are just too hard to resist!! 

This next card does not use a new set.  It is the final Monday Mailer that I sent to Naomi for August.  It uses one of the Decor Elements stencils that I love.  I sponged the flower in Peach Parfait (In Color) and Pumpkin Pie and used the Greenhouse Gala DSP to accent the card.  The ribbon is Peach Parfait

Have you been enjoying the Labor Day weekend?  I have.  Marianne came over Friday and spent the night so we could work on our projects for the upcoming SU Quarterly meeting we will be attending in Shallotte.  We are doing several swaps - a Christmas Tag swap (which I am coordinating), a Holiday card swap, a 6x6 recipe swap and a Shoebox card.  I am also doing a demo for the event that I have to prepare for 32 people.  A lot to do!!  But, we made a lot of headway on Friday and Saturday.  I actually have everything done except the recipe card!  I am so proud of myself.  Marianne also got a good start on her projects and I think only has the recipe swap to finish also.

Sonny & I went out on the boat for a few hours this afternoon.  The weather is starting to cool down a bit and it was nice.  But, I hear the humidity may be coming back next week.  I hope not! 

Well, enjoy yourself tomorrow!

Winter Flurries

Wow!  It's Thursday already.  Where has this week gone?  Definately not to posting on this blog ... sorry about that.  Yesterday was my Newcomers Coffee.  We had an antiques expert there who assessed some of our valuable antiques and gave us an estimate of what they were worth.  I took in a couple of items and learned a bit about them.  I have a beautiful porcelain pin that was my grandmothers.  Her son brought it back to her from France when he was in the Army in the spring of 1946.  On the back, it says "Imoges France".  Turns out these were popular for soldiers to purchase back then for $5-$10.  But it is worth a bit more than that now.  He estimated about $50.  (I was hoping for more!)  I also took in a stein of Sonny's that was given to him by my mother's cousin.  It has a German slogan on the front that loosely translates to "Dr Luther speaks well, Water alone does not make you happy"  Turns out it is worth more than my pin - around $100.  Really, what difference does it make?  These are our treasures and we will not be selling them!

I received a bunch of new goodies Tuesday but have not had time to play with them much.  This morning I was determined to make a card with something new.  So, I got out the Northern Flurries embossing folder and a piece of SU's vellum.  (I love their vellum because it is thick similar to cardstock.)  I ran the vellum through the Big Shot with the Flurries folder and dabbed a little glue on the back where the snowflakes were so it wouldn't show through.  Then I glued it to a piece of Bashful Blue cardstock and tied a Bashful Blue bow on the front.  The final touch was adding a few little pearls to the center.  Voila!  A Christmas card .... my first!  It was so simple but looks so gorgeous. 

I love SU's embossing folders ... combined with the Big Shot, you just get such a deep impression and it shows up so well.

Well, I am off to a luncheon at a friends house.  One of friends and neighbors moved away a few months ago.  She is back this weekend so we are having a luncheon for her.  I am making brie in a new brie pottery bowl that Ashley gave me.  Hope it turns out!!  I am going to top it with a little Pepper Jelly and pecans.

Friends

"It takes a long time to grow an old friend."   ~John Leonard

I had a wonderful day Monday with my girlfriends.  My two college friends come for a visit Monday.  It is so wonderful that we have kept in touch all these years.  We met in 1966 when Jackie and Brenda lived across the hall from me at Umstead Dorm at ECU.  They were such a livesaver to me since my roomies weren't the greatest.  They were both from the mountains and called me the rich city girl.  We were pretty inseparable and all three were education majors.  Those were the days!  We have come a long way from those silly college girls to now be silly senior citizens! 

This is us at the end of the night drinking our usual strawberry daiquiris!  I used to make daiquiris for us in the dorm room - sitting on the floor with the blender and the contraband rum.  Of course, drinking was against the rules in the dorm but that didn't stop us.  So, everytime we get together one of us brings the rum and we have a drink or two. 

We started out the day Monday with lunch which Brenda treated us to since she will be first one of the three of us to receive her Social Security check!  Her birthday is next week, mine in October, and Jackie in December.  Then we headed out to do some damage with our credit cards!  We shopped till we dropped and finished up with appetizers at P F Chang's.  We had to watch our time because Brenda had forgotten to bring the rum so we had to get to the ABC store before they closed! 

It's funny - in college, everyone thought Jackie and I were sisters.   We really never saw the connection.  Jackie told us about one time when she was stopped in the hall of our dorm by a girl from Charlotte that I had gone to school with and who knew me.  The girl, Jane, asked Jackie if she was my sister.  Jackie replied, "no - are you Dracula's sister?"  That is so funny now and so unlike Jackie who was always pretty quiet and shy.  (Of course, around Brenda and I, we didn't give her much opportunity to get a word in edgewise.)  Well, last night I found an old picture taken our freshman year.  It was of the three of us pretending to be in a band.  Brenda was playing guitar with the broom, one of us was drumming a washpan and the other was singing in a pretend mike.  Would you believe Jackie and I had a hard time trying to figure out which one of the two was her and which one was me.  Brenda had to tell us.  I guess we really did look alike back then.  Jackie said she felt bad now being a smart-ass to Jane!!

Do you have a friend you haven't connected with in a long time?  Give her a call!  Girlfriends are the best!