A card of thanks

My family has been supporting the troops since before I ever married my husband, who, if you didn't know, is a Soldier in the U.S. Army. We have sent care packages to numerous Soldiers and Marines since 2006. And it's like pulling teeth to get them to tell you something they need. It's understandable, they are very far away, supposed to be strong brave men, and we are just strangers writing them letters. But one of these guys broke down and told me he needed a new toothbrush. Well, this just got my family in an uproar! These guys are over there for a whole year and they have to ask a stranger for a toothbrush?? Not to mention, my grandmother was a dental assistant and now works as the receptionist for our dentist back home. Dental health has always been a big deal in my family. So since that one Soldier asked for a toothbrush, all of the care packages my mother has sent have included at least 2 toothbrushes, so they can share.

A good friend deployed to Afghanistan about a month ago. Their living conditions are some of the worst I have ever heard of; very similar to the stories I heard about Iraq in 2003. I have heard that many of the guys (if not most) are physically ill with the food and water they have available. So I asked my mother to once again rally the troops (i.e. my family) and get some care packages off to this guy, and no worries, he'll share, he's a great guy. So she called my grandmother for some tooth brushes. Her theory is that if they are getting sick, they NEED to change their toothbrush fairly often. Our awesome dentist gave my mom whole boxes of toothbrushes, small variety tooth pastes (which one deployed Soldier told me he liked because it was just another variation for his very "Groundhog's Day" deployment), and floss! And of course, all of the old "dude" magazines from their waiting room. I just couldn't believe it. So the nerd I am, I immediately thought about making him a card! (Sadly, this is not the first card I have mailed to my dentist, but that is a different story. And quite frankly, my dentist rocks!!)

So here is the card I mailed to him and his staff:

They're dog tags!! Aren't they awesome?!?! I love the Stand & Salute cart for just this reason. They have so many images, but then each image can be made into a note card, dog tag, or border.

Red, White, & Blue

Happy Independence Day!!

I got the "Stand & Salute " Cricut card in the mail yesterday, just in time for the 4th of July!!

That star is 3D, it pops up off of the card front.

The dog tags were inspired by Lucy (yes, the same "Lucy" from Welcome to the Blog of an Army wife). She wanted dog tag shapes. But she got her Quickutz Silhouette before I got the Stand & Salute cart so she got her dog tag images. :) Now she just needs to start a blog so I can see what she's making!! I think the thing I like best about the Stand & Salute cart is that I can make a dog tag with ANY image or saying that's included on the cart. More dog tags to come. I wish I could write names in them. But I can make a solid one and use the Don Juan cart to make letters.

FREEDOM!! And a firework. I like the glitter paper I got, although it is a bit thicker and has a hard time staying on the mat, since it isnt as sticky as it used to be. But I have ordered new mats.

My Hero!! I was given a bunch of handmade cards from a friend a few weeks ago, before I got my Cricut, they included 2 of these My Hero cards. Hers are much nicer than mine, and have plastic stars on the star images. But I was so excited when I saw this image on the cart! I know so many women I can give these to so they too can celebrate their husband's dedication!

I love the plain star. I tried to put other stuff on it to "fancy" it up, but I just couldnt. Red star, that's it. And I had to try out the 4th of July image!

Joe + Ebay = ????

Joe found Ebay.

This could potentially be a scary thought. But what's the first thing he won?

STAND AND SALUTE!!

I am so excited! It was the next cartridge on my list. Yay yay yay!!

AND just now he got Walk in my Garden!!

So have LOTS of fun on Ebay Joe!!