Life--Still Learnin'-Thankfully

Life is still a learning curve for me. I am retired and today I just learned how to grab a button.  Thanks due to Julie www.handmadebyjulie, I learned to place this button on the blog. Julie is a blogger I met through Operation Write Home.  She's a wonderful teacher, check out her blog link. She has some great ideas on card making on her site. She's a talented woman. Along with others, the OWH  team, our shippers, Julie helped me (a retiree) gain some confidence about blogging and stamping with Operation Write Home www.operationwritehome.org  (OWH).

My grandchildren have been learning to make cards over Spring Break. It was interesting watching their eyes as they learned about the "Any Hero" cards from the web site. Megan and Ronnie discovered making "AnyHero" Cards are an important part of OWH and supporting our troops.  I listened as they carefully chose the message stamps for the cards they were making. They were aware of the word meanings in this very different context. Soldiers under deployment was a new term for them... so the sentiments stamps and what they wanted to say was important. One of their cards said, "Thank you for our freedom."
I wondered, "what do you think they will remember of their Spring Break? My awful spinach quiche or making cards for heros?"  What do you think?
Once again, I learned something from them, "LIFE" is so very precious!
It's the reason we want to be involved in something emotionally, personally or perhaps financially. We want to matter or as one of the children's cards stated we want to make a difference in this life.
Life is precious all the time, in the happy times, in the busy times, and even in the sad times.  Teaching others about OWH is only one way of expressing our gratitude about life. Today is thankful Thursday. I am thankful for all those, (whether it's family or friends... old friends or new friends), who have shared in the effervescence of life.
               Let me know your thoughts with a comment.

Riding High, Thankful Thursday

    Have you ever felt your life was just hum-drum, status quo, or your creative juices were a little stale? Changing just one thing, like our point of view, helps us to gain a different perspective. That's certainly true about creative arts or crafts. I know its true about card making. Creating something interesting is as simple as using a different color, finding a different subject or taking up a new challenge.
Now, maybe sky diving is not be your cup of tea, but it certainly does change your perspective!

I've found OWH's blog site www.operationwritehome.org./starsandstamps.blog has given us some new ideas and challenges to help with our creative mojo. Located on their site are tutorials and advice on card making. I found it to be very helpful when I'm looking for a new perspective.  I'm always thankful for new ideas. This site has ideas and suggestions to give us inspiration as card makers.

Other sites from card magazines such as Paper Creations,and Cardmakers are excellent publications for a fresh look at making cards. The editors of these magazines have a vested interest in showing us new products and artists in the field of card making.

Just by looking at the picture above, I am so thankful for the creative eye who saw the colors of the water and the sky. It helps me see people are only a small part of the space that surrounds us. I am thankful for the view. What could you do with these colors: aqua, gray and tan? What other types of balloons are there, beside the sky diver's canape?
Let's sum up this week's thanks for the creative minds, who share every week through OWH and its website. 

Thankful for Inspiration

Are you thankful for inspiration? I sat with our group making cards yesterday and their gift to me was their inspiration for making cards. One brought some lovely paper for future projects and another brought some coupons for supplies so we might save some of the out-of-pocket  expenses.One of our new attendees came just to learn what our operation is like  so she could give a helping hand to to the group, also.
All this  is inspiring. Our group is small but its growing. We have others interested in seeing what the OWH www.operationwritehome.org  is all about and how they might be of help.  I challenge you to look at their web-site and you will see some other opportunities to help support our troops.
 I find such encouragement in-and-of itself  very inspirational. So today, I am thankful for the power of  inspiration as it motivates us. I am very grateful for the men and women who are serving our country and for OWH and their support to our troops. 
Finally, we may want to keep the people of Japan, our many troops deployed in this area in our prayers. 
  Thanks for stopping by--- be inspired.
 

It's Thursday-Thankful Thursday!

 I am so thankful for the people in New Orleans.
It was good to see their lives restored even in a small way from the devastation they have suffered. One of the news reporter said,' crowds are up this year as well as the number of festivals.'
 Reflecting on this statement, I thought this is  just another way to think of "returning to the calm." This is the normal for New Orleans this time of year.
I might not think of this setting as particularly calming.  Never-the-less, this is New Orleans at Mardi Gras with pancakes on Fat Tuesday, and all the festival before Lent. It's their norm. Their productivity and the very presence of the parties, the people and the laughter has a calming effect to the folks who live there.

I am grateful for the times I can gather with friends to share card making, our designs and laughter. To an observer all the noise may not reflect a definition of calm.  Yet for the those who are engaged in this hobby, it is our restoration; the calming effect is there. We leave renewed, regenerated and restored as a result from this time spent with one another. I am thankful for the creativity that provides such a calm in my life.

I hope to encourage you to share my blogspot with your on-line community friends. In addition, don't forget to share our link to OWH : www.operationwritehome.org . Tell others about their support and care for our troops.

The Second Tuesday Chat

This is the second Tuesday of the month and I thought we'd come together every second Tuesday to chat about the dreams of our group and what we will be doing or where we will be going.
Over the weekend I joined two other blogging sites. Exciting! I linked onto their talent and knowledge about making cards. I found there are different functions of these sites. Some provide free downloads while other sites specialize in sharing  techniques and ideas.
For  the Card Makin' Cuties this month, we will be making some general theme cards for Birthdays, and TOY ( Thinking of You), and cards for Graduation. We  respect certain deadlines set up by OWH (www.operationwritehome.org.)so our cards are received by  our soldiers in a timely manner. By checking their mail box on the web site today, I found   a great many cards will be shipped to Afganistan  among other places for the coming holidays.

As our group of card makers continues to learn more ideas, techniques, etc., we discover more about ourselves. It's a given we all need the big things like love, security, and faith to be happy. But it's the little things that bring us moments of joy like friendship, the bright morning sunshine after a storm ( we've had a lot of rain here) or reaching beyond ourselves.
Our group provides a little burst of joy as we make our cards, share with each other and do something that makes a difference to someone else. It is the reaching out to one another that provides the "icing on the cake." Do you agree?  Well, thanks for letting me chat for a while.
Comments are welcome.
Talk with you on Thursday--- Thankful Thursday. Share this blog with others and pass on the website-- so others will begin to see the mission of OWH. Thanks Gloria J.

Getting the Mail

  The picture of this shell sitting on the sand reminds of the definition for the word waiting. I remember as a kid waiting with excitement for the mail to arrive. A trip to the mailbox filled me with  anticipation. You know: " What will be there?" " When will it arrive?" Will this be for me?"

This is the same feeling I'm having as I enter the program http://www.operationwritehome.com . I think of the soldiers writing home and staying in contact with their loved ones.   It's an awesome feeling for people  to use their talents and skills to make cards for these heroes. Our group, Card Makin' Cuties is small but we take such delight in knowing we are making a difference by providing handmade cards to our troops.

I think the hardest part of getting mail is the waiting part. As I learn more about this blogging process, I continue to hope we can pass along information and help one another. If you scroll down the page,there is a place at the bottom  to leave any comments. At this point, I am a little like the shell  in the photo, I'm waiting for others to come by and take note by share their comments with me.

Thankful Thursdays

Check out this link: www.operationwritehome ; you'll find out where this idea of Thankful Thursday's comes from. It will provide all the information on their web site. Personally, on this Thursday, I am grateful for meeting and spending the evening getting to know a family member who is visiting with us this week. It was wonderful seeing all his family sharing their memories with him  last evening. A new baby (he had never met) was the center of our attention. Babies never miss the opportunity to share their talents and enthusiasm for life, especially when they have an audience!This was a wonderful reminder to me to lift up my gratitude this Thursday  for my family far and near and all the friends, who I love so much. *** Before you go...Don't forget to check on the website link and see why we are making cards for soldiers. Send your comments of thanks to me, too. It's Thursday! Gloria J.

Hello  This is my first blog.  I'm so glad to be part of this forum. Card Makin Cuties is our a non profit mission to send handmade card to our soldiers. Link to: www.operationwritehome for more information about the excellent work that others are doing to support this mission. Our group is growing every month---this is exciting. We are interested in any others who would like to share our enthusiasm for this service to our troops.