The Free & The Brave

Hello Stampers!

The holiday season makes me think of all of the solders who will spend the holidays away from their family. While I don't have any family members serving I think it would be nice to take a minute out of our busy day and remember the solders currently serving, the solders who went before them, and the solders who will go behind them. It is truly a job that I could not do. I think it's important to keep not only the solders, but their family members in our prayers this holiday season.

When I flew to Utah this past summer I had the pleasure to be sat beside two young gentleman who are serving our great country. The first guy I had the pleasure to speak with was in the seat beside me on my flight from Moline to O'Hare. He was on leave and on the way to Vegas for a wedding. He was use to flying as he jumped out of them for a living. How exciting would that be?

On my return flight I sat beside another young gentleman who was a mechanic in the Air Force. He seemed very interested in the New Catalog as I flipped through it. He found great humor in the Pun Fun Stamp Set sayings and others similar sets like that. :o)

This guy, as we spoke, was on his way over seas for his 2nd tour. WOW is all I can say. I couldn't do it once let alone twice. As we talked he told me about his younger brother who was also in the process of going into the Air Force. He was very proud of his younger brother who was at basic training to be a pilot, and he was very confident that his brother would succeed in his endeavor.

When I asked him what his job was he said, "I'm just a mechanic." Well let me tell you that almost broke my heart to hear him say the word JUST. I proceeded to tell him that I was coming home from the Stampin' Up! convention, where Shelli had just addressed the word JUST.

Shelli was referring to the demonstrators who thought about themselves as Just Hobbyist. She wants to 100% eliminate the word just, because every single person is important to the company and to her. I told him to say, "I'm a Mechanic!" No JUST!!! Whether he did that the next time I don't know, but I hope he remembers our little talk and feels proud to be a Mechanic.

OK I'm sure you're getting tired of me going on and on, and I want to say THANK YOU for reading this far. I decided to look through my convention swap cards yesterday, since that's were my thought were anyway. I came across two cards that I just have to share with you.

Both of these cards use the stamp set The Free & The Brave (110982 $19.95), which is currently on the dormant stamp set list. What's the dormant list you ask??? Well it's a list of stamp sets that are not retired, but they are not listed in the current catalog either. You can view the complete list on the right side of my blog. . . just click the Dormant List link.

The stamp sets found on the dormant list are still available for purchasing. When the new catalog comes out these stamp sets may find their way into that catalog, stay on the dormant list, or even find their way onto the retired stamp set list. (Speaking of the retired list it will be released on December 9th!)

OK onto samples:

This first sample is a card front I received was from from Sandy Adas while swapping at Convention. Sandy used Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke and Basic Black Card Stock. Ink was Basic Black and Always Artichoke. Accessories included 1/4" Basic Black Grosgrain Ribbon and the Star Punch. I love how Sandy used the Always Artichoke ink pad to apply ink directly to the base of the card.

The second sample was a swap I received from Traci Gentry. Traci used Real Red, Night of Navy and Kraft Card Stock. She also used Kraft Ink and Real Red classic ink pads. For accessories Traci used the star punch as well as a silver brad.

I think anyone would be proud to receive and/or send a card like this. Good Job Ladies!

Moral of this LONG post. . . Next time you see a solder don't forget to say Thank You! Better yet check out one of these websites to see how you can help: http://www.americasupportsyou.com/ or http://www.redcross.org/email/saf/. :o)

Thanks for blogging with me today!

Georgia