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!