So now i start the summer, with road trips to hotels nearly every week.  I got through the 9 day stretch with a large bag for crafting packed - and we had a marvelous vacation!  And I had a great time yesterday shopping at my local A.C.Moore craft store.  I'm usually an online shopper via a few different webstores - for brick and mortar I generally prefer to give my money to HobbyLobby, but they don't have everything - so yes - do keep up with stock shifts and changes at and periodically purchase from the other national chain craft stores in the area.  I'd heard rumor of a storewide 40% off sale at ACMoore...and couldn't resist.  Turns out the local store is converting(ed?) to an outlet store, and everything in the store is at least 40% off.  And will always be!!  So I managed to keep the total bill under $100 - but i got a bunch of new stamps - some cardstock scrap packages for die cutting accents, yet another storage container for papers, spare cutter blade dealies for any of my cutters they had blades for...and some other stuff i just don't remember right now.  I just generally had fun!!! There's a few of the stamps that just jumped up and talked to me - told me how they had to be used on the next batch of cards for my next shipment! 

I am horribly distressed over the recent uptick of activity in Iraq this past week, as well as the most recent hostage swap - as both mean our soldiers over there are in even greater danger.  Hopefully the efforts of the crafters around the United States through groups like Operation Write Home provide some smiles to our military and their families. 

These are the last 2 sets of cards to go in the box shipping tomorrow - these are Happy Birthday and Thinking of You, and bring the total in the box to 95 cards. They are rather simple cards and again, they are all on StampinUp Card Stock, stamped with Memento inks.  The Birthday cards are stamped on the Recollections GoldWhite Shimmer Paper.  The background and accent papers are StampinUp, mostly retired, or papers from one of those sale packages at those National chain craft stores mentioned above.  Die Cuts are done on papers and card stock from the 'pound of paper, again from one of those National chain Craft stores. And I have this great little corner rounder that i use a lot!  I got the Spellbinders die set for cutting the shapes with 2 square and 2 round corners for use with my Cuttlebug - but i still find myself at the table grabbing my little yellow one and using it more often than not! 

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Again - it's been quite a while since i've spent time here. 

Turns out a lot of my time has been spent working on making cards - the past cupla years i've been growing a skill set in card making.  2 years ago i did Christmas the cards for my own use, and have pretty much made all the Anniversary, Congrats, Sympathy, Graduation, Thanksgiving, Wedding, Engagement, Mother/Fathers Day cards I've needed since.  Last year i added another 120 cards for the 2 offices I support, using that as a way to keep occupied in the hotel rooms I was staying in for a week to 10 days at a time while assisting sites in the enterprise with software implementation.  I had a whole separate rolling bag with nothing but my Craft/Card Supplies.  The housekeeping staff got a real kick out of it - and I was even questioned about the cards by the front desk at one hotel. 

Over the past cupla years I've accumulated quite the collection of dies, stamps, stickers, Peel-offs, and papers and cardstock, and am working on the markers - and I'm not too bad at all this! I'll probably never make money at it - but my efforts seem to make everyone who sees them happy - so i'm banking on that for our military!  

Late last year i discovered Operation Write Home, which is a perfect fit for me!  I wish i'd found them sooner!   I get to create cards - lots of them - and them mail them off to get shipped out to deployed military groups.  My efforts directly benefit military members, and their families!  Regretfully, with the exception of a really cool Wedding Card i made for my daughter last spring, I've not taken pictures of any of them!  I shipped off a box of 59 cards to OWH a cupla weeks ago containing some of my best work ever, and took not a single picture.  

Butterflies - Birthday for teen maybe	Male oriented
I love window cards!  This is a Happy Birthday ,,,,	with Love - and Flowers!
Another male oriented Birthday card	Classy maybe - I Love You.
I Miss You - Home is where the heart is type quote. These are my favorite kind of cards to make, mayhaps because i spent time overseas while in the military, and understand what it's like.	Inside of the card. I leave plenty of space on the inside of all my cards for the military member to write notes - blank area and a lined area, with some kind of accent, and occasionally a border.
Generic Best Wishes - longer shelf life...	Operation Write Home is reminding those of us who create cards to start really focusing on Mother's Day, as the cutoff is the end of this month.   So...i will start focusing on Mother's Day... This will give me a chance to use some of the really cool floral stamps I've collected!