Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Land of the Free Because of the Brave Blog Hop

Welcome and Happy Veteran's Day!

It's finally time for the Veteran's Day Land of the Free Because of the Brave Blog Hop! Veteran's Day is a wonderful time to reflect and appreciate all veterans and current service members for their dedication and service.

I decided to make a layout using cut from the Cricut cartridge Stand and Salute. I also used bling with my I-Rock.




KarelJ's neice Charity, was kind enough to answer some questions to share with everyone.

How are you connected to the Military? I have two cousins that are members of the Marines and the Army. My husband Jon is currently a member of the Air Force.


How has this connection impacted your life? Watching my cousin's families go through their husbands/dads being gone I learned a lot about what sacrifices our service members and their families go through to protect our freedom. Now that my husband is also in the military it has impacted my life more personally. Moving away from family (across the country) was especially difficult (I have never been away from my mom for more than a week haha).


What’s the hardest part of being a military relative (wife? Child? Friend?) The hardest part of being a military wife is probably knowing that Jon could leave at any time for any amount of time. And the feeling of not knowing if he will come back. (No matter how small the possibility) The hardest part of being a military friend is knowing that you will move away from each other. It makes it very difficult to open up to people or to even put yourself out there to make friends.


What do you do to make it easier? We just try to keep busy. Take Seth (my son) to the park, have play dates, bake, and hang out with the friends that I do allow myself to make. But I don’t know if it will ever be easy.

Do you think Veterans and Service personnel get the respect they deserve? Sadly, no. There are MANY people out there that do support our military and I am very thankful to those people. However, these men and women deserve much more respect than they get!

What do you think artists and crafters could do to support the Military? I remember when my husband was in basic training many people sent him cards and letters and it was such a blessing to him. All military personnel deserve to have that kind of encouragement.

What else would you like to share with the people reading this? Many people believe that supporting our troops means agreeing with the war. They are there protecting our freedoms that we have, and they should be supported no matter what your views on the war are. They are away from their families 6 months or more out of the year so that you can safely be with yours.

I'd like to thank Charity for answering these questions and her husband for his service.

As Charity mentioned, handmade cards are a great way to let service members know that they are appreciated. Operation Write Home is a wonderful way to make a difference by sending encouragement to the troops or providing blank cards that can be sent home. Please consider volunteering your talents to a worthwile cause.

To celebrate Veteran's Day, I'd like to give away some red, white, and blue blog candy.


All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this post with a way to contact you. I'll pick a winner on Sunday using Random.org.

KarelJ who organized this amazing blog hop is thrilled to announce that some blog candy has been donated. Our amazing Blog Candy (2—count ‘em! TWO Chances to win!!) are brought to you through the generosity of Marlo, who created the marvelous Scrap’NTote and Anne, from Paper Patch Crafts.


The rules for entering are the same for both prizes: Hop along our path and leave a comment AND a way to contact you on each and every stop. Please leave contact information in a safe manner ( ie, written out, rather than a direct link). On Friday, November 12, KarelJ will use random.org to first select a blog number (1-20) and then a comment number from that blog for each prize. She will post the winner’s name on her blog and notify the bloggers, so they can also post the winner. KarelJ will contact the winner, using the information left in the comment. If there is no information available, she will choose another winner from the same blog. It is up to the winner to contact KarelJ at ksjennings(at)gmail(dot)com. If she has not been contacted by Monday, November 15, another winner will be chosen.


Now, on to the good stuff! Our first prize is a wonderful Pink Scrap’Ntote to store your Cricut Cartridges in! It comes to us from Marlo, at ContainYaCrafts. You can see the wonderful way this binder system keeps all your carts together, and ready to go in a flash on this link: http://www.cricutcartridgestorage.com/index.htm Need more than one? Put it on the Christmas Wish List and have the hubs order NOW, as they are simply flying out of stock! We got one of the final donations for the year, and are so grateful to Marlo!Our second terrific prize is a set of Spellbinders Nesties in the Crown Circle Shape. It comes to us via the generosity of Anne, whose family has an incredibly strong military heritage. You can read more about Anne and her husband on Linda and Gina’s Blogs. You can also check out paper Patch Crafts here, to see what other incredible things Anne has to sell! http://stores.ebay.com/Paper-Patch-Crafts?_rdc=1

Here's the list for the Land of the Free Because of the Brave blog hop:

1. KarelJ at One By One The Flamingos Are Stealing My Sanity http://karelj.blogspot.com/
2. Celeste at Touched By a Butterfly http://www.touchedbyabutterfly.blogspot.com/
3. Deb at Tidbit’s Place http://tidbitsplace.blogspot.com/
4. Michelle at Peanut Butter and Jelly Designs http://peanutbutterandjellydesigns.blogspot.com/
5. Jennifer at Young’s Scrapping http://youngsscrapping.blogspot.com/
6. Diane at Crafting This Moment http://craftingthismoment.blogspot.com/
7. Judy at Be Present Be Real http://bepresentbereal.blogspot.com/
8. Marianne at Life From Marianne’s Table http://number1aunt.blogspot.com/
9. Deb at If It’s Groovy http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com/
10. Christel at One Scrappin’ Sista http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com/
11. Belinda at Queen Bee’s Musings http://queenbeesmusings.blogspot.com/
12. Colleen at Col’s Creative Corner http://scrappycol.blogspot.com/
13. Summer and Jennifer at Cricut Diaries http://cricutdiaries.blogspot.com/
14. Rachel at Suburban Crafter http://www.rachelstampshappy.blogspot.com/
15. Gina at Gina Thornton Stamping http://ginathorntonstamping.blogspot.com/
16. Becky at Sew in Stitches http://sewinstitches.blogspot.com/
17. Rebecca at Creations With Becca http://www.creationswithbecka.blogspot.com/
18. Bobbi Jo at Sweet Sassy Diva http://sweetsassydiva-gspot.blogspot.com/

19. Angie at Gypsy Paperie http://gypsypaperie.blogspot.com/ – YOU ARE HERE!
20. Linda at The Tulip Collector http://thetulipcollector.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by! Please go visit Linda at The Tulip Collector to finish the hop!




60 comments:

Anonymous said...

Absolutely wonderful layout..Thank you so much for sharing your story and thank you for the chance to win some fab candy... Huggs

Josie0602 said...

I love your layout. Thanks for doing the blog hop to honor our military!

http://www.scrappininthewoods.blogspot.com/

Jeannie said...

I'm so impressed! My Veteran, my DH, is currently retired from the Air Force, but he is and always will be my hero. He spent many months away from home serving our country. Thank you so much for recognizing these self-less individuals!

Summer said...

Great project and great giveaway! Thanks for hopping with us!

Unknown said...

Love your project! Thanks for joining us on this hop! Thanks for your support on this important day!!

Scrappin' Sista said...

Love the LO. TFS!

Christel
Blog Hop Sista
www.onescrappinsista.blogspot.com

pattyk said...

Great layout--Thanks for honoring our heroes---millierose651@aol.com

Unknown said...

What a wonderful and patriotic layout! Thanks so much for sharing Charity's story, and for being in the hop! Karelj

Terri said...

Great patriotic layout!!! I want to thank everyone that fight for our freedom in this country!!

Terri
tycole(at)frontiernet(dot)net

Hoo's Crafty! said...

OoOhhhh...I love your candy!!! and your project is great!!!

Liza
lizahenderson814[at]yahoo[dot]com

Michelle said...

Love the layout. Its super cute. Thank you for doing this blog hop with us and for supporting the military all at the same time.

johnnysgirl said...

love the layout, all of you have honored our veterans beautifully
cheryl
c.antley130@comcast.net

Marlene said...

Thank you for participating in this important blog hop, and thank you for sharing Charity's story. I definitely agree...our service people and veterans definitely deserve a lot more respect than they get.

Your layout is perfect.

TR said...

All the pictures and stories on this blog hop
are just wonderful......
Thank you for acknowledging and honoring
our veterans. They are a brave troupe.


TR

Tammy said...

I love the layout! It is really wonderful. Thanks as well for the chance at some fab candy!
Thanks
Tammy (A Proud Military Wife)
otrbanks at earthlink dot net

scrapperbecka said...

Lovely layout, TFS

~*Jen*~ said...

Loved the layout!!! The bling is rad!! I so need an iRock!! Thanks so much!!

alaska.girl.24(at)hotmail(dot)com

Marionment said...

Love the layout. Thanks for honor our heroes.
marionment@msn.com

B said...

wonderful LO and the interview was great. Thanks for being part of the hop!

Unknown said...

Great LO and your candy is truly fitting, thanks for the hop!!
miller896042atbellsouth.net

Granny Anne said...

I love your layout. Thanks for sharing.

grannyanne16@hotmail.com

Tammy said...

What a CUTE layout! I love the liberty bell!! Wonderful job!!

tammy (at) iplanitmeetings (dot) com

Cherylann's "Outta-My-Mind " said...

I really like your layout. Thank you for doing your interview.
Cherylann (prinkles)
prinkles@woh.rr.com

pattyk said...

great hop thanks for sharing-millierose651@aol.com

Ann Marie said...

Love the layout! And thanks so much for sharing your family! I wish everyone could read about our service folks. Enjoy your day. amporath@ gmail .com

Unknown said...

The layout is fab. I love the huge liberty bell

Burffrau @ aol dot com

Anonymous said...

Love the layout.
joanshanks@eastlink.ca
Joan

LesleyfromWI said...

Great LO. I love the bell!
lfuchs1 at wi. rr. com

Anonymous said...

Great Job! Loved the story and the art work.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE your layout. It's perfect. Thabks for sharing.
stuff at gt dot rr dot com

jennyplace2 said...

Beautiful job on your projects, TFS! and thanks for the chance to win the blog candy.
jennyplace26@gmail.com

Kathy Balman said...

Great layout thanks for sharing kathybalman@gmail.com

Unknown said...

great project and blog candy.. thanks for sharing..
http://juicycricutcards.blogspot.com/

pattyk said...

wonderful stories--thanks for sharing. millierose651@aol.com

Crystal said...

I love the layout! I love that bell! Gorgeous!

ScrappinMomma said...

Great LO TFS I heart my I-rock!!
NYGIRL1994 at yahoo dot com

Tonya said...

I love the layout. Thank you for sharing with all of us.

Tonya

tleigenheer at yahoo dot com

Patricia Hurlburt said...

Nice layout! Thanks for sharing it as well as the interview.
lilbitee1971 at hotmail dot com

Anonymous said...

great projects loe all the hard work everyones done for this blog hop

stratus2134 at aol.com

Scrappymama Elaine said...

love your layout! thanks for the blog hop one more stop and I have made it all the way thru the hop.

Awesome time!
esigmon at cox dot net

Groovy Deborah said...

Oh how I wish that more people would feel patriotism and give the respect that our Veterans and others serving deserve! Sending my thanks!!!

HVD, Groovy Deb♥
groovydeb@yahoo.com

Laura said...

love your layout!!!
lauraleed48atlivedotca

Penny said...

Great layout. Thank you for doing this and for the opportunity to win.

pennyspad at sbcglobal dot net

ScrappingDeb said...

Love your projects! Thanks for participating in such a good cause. debsweeney99atyahoodotcom
Thanks

Becky said...

Love the interview. I'm just hopping through to see what every else posted!

SweetSassyDiva said...

wonderful layout! I'm so honored to be part of this blog hop! and love the bling!
http://sweetsassydiva-gspot.blogspot.com

Gina Thornton said...

Can you believe that as close as I am to Philadelphia, I have never been to see the Liberty Bell?? May have to be a trip we plan soon! I have been to Valley Forge MANY MANY times!!

Love the layout!!! Oh hey Angie...I have swaps for you! Send me your addy!!!


Thanks for hopping along with us!
Gina
GRKIDDO at Verizon.net

Marianne B in AZ said...

Your Liberty Bell LO is fantastic! Thank you for sharing Charity's interview with us. Thank you for being a part of this fun blog hop and offering the red, white and blue goodies!

Dana said...

Loved your post! Thanks for sharing!

dmcarlisle09atgmaildotcom

stefeni said...

Great layout! The chalking on the edge of the bell really makes it come to life.

spunkycrayon at yahoo dot com

Stacey said...

Love this layout! Thank you for sharing it with us and for being part of this hop!

shalbgewachs(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

CyndiU said...

Awesome layout. TYFS and being part of the hop.

cureta2 at yahoo dot com

Lisa said...

Love your layout! Thanks for the opportunty to win some candy along the way.

davenlisagorlewski AT sbcglobal DOT net

cdm317 said...

Thanks for the interview. I loved you layout! You are a natch with that I-Rock, aren't you! Thanks for hopping today!
Colleen
cdm317@yahoo.com

Clara said...

What a great LO!Thanks for being part of this great blog hop!
Clara

Vicki said...

Beautiful layout. Thanks for sharing.

vwilson577 at yahoo.com

Becky said...

I have been hopping through tonight to see what everyone else posted. Your "let freedom ring" is awesome!
Thanks for sharing Charity's interview too.

BUZZY BEE DESIGNS and GRAPHICS said...

Thanks for give away some red, white, and blue blog candy And doing this blog hop my husband is a VET.
Rebecca Minor
buzzybeedesignsATyahooDOTcom

Norma said...

Love the layout and thank you for doing this great hop and sharing!!!

doverdi said...

Wonderful layout & thank you for sharing the stories & participating in the blog hop. God bless all of the veteran's & military for their sacrifices for our countries.