As Memorial Day comes to a close . . .

my granddaughter summed it up beautifully~~LOVE IS FREEDOM! We had Sydney here for a couple of days and she spent some time down in my scraproom. After she left, I went down to clean up and on the floor among punches and markers and paper, here was this picture she made. She and grandpa made a couple of bird feeders for her house and this past week her school had an assembly honoring the men and women who fought for our freedom. As a matter of fact, on the drive to our house she sang all of the patriotic songs she learned that week. (She is also learning cursive!) So I think she learned a lot this past week and put it into her artwork. I will have this in my scraproom as a reminder to remember the men and women who love/loved their country enough to fight for freedom, not only on Memorial Day but everyday. Children truly are precious!

Memorial Day

Originally this holiday was for commemorating our deceased service people. Today, not only do we honor those who died for our freedom but also for those who have fought or are fighting for our freedom right now. You have read and/or heard me talk about Operation Write Home. I make blank cards so that our military men and women can send special notes to their family and friends back home. Another thing Operation Write Home also thinks about are those military men and women who get very little mail. So when OWH sends a box of our handmade cards overseas, packed on the top of that box are cards and letters thanking and encouraging our military personnel. These cards for our service men and women are called "AnyHero" letters because they're going to be given out by OWH's contacts to those who get little or no mail. Inside is a note written by you letting these service people know they are appreciated and thought about by you or me. So if you ever find yourself sitting at home and wondering what you can do~~grab a paper and pen and write a note to "Any Hero". You can read more about OWH at http://www.operationwritehome.org. I will be more than happy to forward your cards or letters to OWH. And remember thatyou can get the kids involved. They, too can draw pictures or write letters. Happy Memorial Day to all and a special thank you to all of our men and women who continue to fight fo rour freedom.

Backyard Birds

The feeders are out and the birds are loving them! It is so enjoyable to see what birds come to the feeders John puts out. The orioles love the grape jelly and oranges, while finches are always at the finch feeder. Someone told me that if I tie a yellow ribbon on the finch feeder that even more finches would be attracted to it. So I am going to try that. In the meantime, I just though the finch in flight was just adorable. And speaking of adorable, we will have Sydney with us this weekend! She and John have plants to plant and I have a fun project or two in my craftroom for her. Have a great day. If you are traveling for the holiday weekend~~safe travels!

Scallop Circle Easel

The card was just going to be a simple attempt at making a scallop circle easel card using the Sizzix die. I once again used the Sailaway stamp as it was an extra image I made and was not using. Everything looked good until I used my white gel pen. I just wanted to put a dot on each scallop. Well, the dots were not very uniform so I took my punch and punched a hole in each scallop. I wasn't even going to post the card, but sometimes you have to post the not so good too! Not sure if anyone will get this card, but it was good practice and I will make more scallop circle easel cards. This can be a very fun shape card not only to make but to receive. Have a great day!