CARDS FOR THE TROOPS DAY

WOW!  If you weren't here for a terrific day of creating cards for the troops and writing heartfelt messages - you missed out on all the fun!

Our goal was to prepare 300 cards, most to be given to incoming troops who will be coming home through Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The majority of cards were created today, but some were cards which were completed using card fronts generously donated by many stampers and Stampin' Up! Demonstrators.  Some of those will be more appropriate to send to the troops who are still deployed for them to use. 

I truly thought that 300 was stretching it - but we completed just under 450 cards!!!!   325 of those had handwritten messages written in them, another 100 were taken for members of the Puyallup Valley Lions Club members to inscribe, leaving just a few to still be written in, or sent with the group to those who are still deployed. 

The youth of St. Peter's United Methodist Church were, once again, nothing short of phenomenal.  They met the evening before to prepare snacks for everyone and then spent the entire day working on  cards. They and their leaders, Jennifer and Scott. What a bunch!                               325 cards ready to be           
Their enthusiasm and their dedication is contagious and inspiring.                     delivered
Thank you- to each one of you. 

L. Cindy and Sue - from Puyallup and Lynwood.  They were here all day long - and then had the  long drive home. Talk about dedication!        

R.  Marilyn, Dorothy, Jane, Karen from Puyallup Valley Lions club.  Another long drive.


At one time, we had so many people working that we ran out of chairs.  That didn't stop anyone from continuing.  Some just stood up and wrote cards or took care of some go-fer tasks. 

Here are some samples of our cards.  Enjoy the creativity of both the teens and the adults. What a delight.

Unfortunately, I didn't get photos of everyone who attended - but here are a few more.  Again - thank you, each and every one.  It was a wonderful, wonderful day.

I still haven't figured out how to locate pictures on the page or how to get the titles just where I want them.  I'm always surprised when it works right,  And, now the last photos aren't going where I want them nor are the captions, so here are the  people in the photos starting top left and going clockwise:

Jane and Terry

Pastor Tom

Rebecca and Sydney

Julie

Marissa and her Dad and Adora

The two photos at the top of the page - I also couldn't get titled. On the left are Erica and Kaity and on the right is Blue, with Karen in the background

Cards for the Troops

As many of you know, I have been actively collecting and making cards for the troops. My fellow Demonstrators and stampers have been very, very generous in providing hundreds of card fronts and full cards. Some arrive with envelopes, which is especially welcome.

The cards are sent to our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and the wounded warriors hospital in Germany. Some have messages written in them to the troops and those go directly to Chaplains to distribute to those men and women who don't receive as much mail. Or - they may be put in the goodie boxes sent to the troops.

Most of the cards are left blank so that they can be made available for our troops to use to send to their friends and loved ones. Of course, we need envelopes for those, so that is why we appreciate donations.

Here are some of the cards that we have made in multiples of 10-20-30, depending on how much card stock and designer paper we have available. These are all made with retired papers, so I won't list those. The patriotic stamps are among my favorites but will be available only until January. I'm sorry to see them retire, but maybe there will be something just as nice to replace them. Let's hope so.

You can check the website of the organization I work with at: http://www.supportamericasarmedforces.com/. It is an excellent non-profit organization that was started by a Mom in the community where I used to live when her son was deployed in Iraq. If you look at the website, you will see how it has grown and the many, many people it serves. Amazing!

Here are some of the cards that we have made.