From Our Hearts

From Our Hearts Mailed 30 Boxes Today to Iraq and Afghanistan

Today was a banner day for From Our Hearts.  All the time, effort, energy that we have spent this week readying 30 boxes of Holiday cards was well worth it - they are in the mail!

Pictures will be forthcoming in the next couple of days.  We are taking a well deserved weekend off!

And to all of you who have not yet heard from us that your boxes have arrived - please be patient, you will receive an e-mail in the next few days.  Our hours are limited as we all have full time jobs in addition to all we do for From Our Hearts and our time this week has been spent to meet the October 31 deadline to get these cards in the mail.

Happy Halloween to all!

Stay Tuned

From Our Hearts is focusing our energies on getting those beautiful Holiday cards ready to ship to Iraq and Afghanistan by Saturday and we are a bit busy so stay tuned . . . more posts and pictures will be forthcoming!

Jefferson City Rubber Stampers Support From Our Hearts in Many Ways

We cannot and do not forget those individual card makers who help us locally, here in Jefferson City - those who show up at our monthly library events, those who volunteer their time, those who solicit help with providing supplies and those who drop off cards on our doorstep . . .

Linda W left this shopping bag of cards - it took us a while to finally get this coordinated, and we thank Linda for her patience as she worked around our busy schedule.  They are safely tucked away in clear envelopes and in boxes, ready to ship overseas.

And Sue S - she helped to design cards on the "fly" this past month at the library (they turned out beautifully!), and took donated cards pieces home and worked on them, turning them into cards to send over - her efforts and TALENT are very much appreciated!

Stefanie N., your continued support of drumming up local support and providing envelopes to our cause, well, we thank you so very much.

Debbie L designed and donated 200 cards for the public to make at our free monthly library event.

Jefferson City stampers, you are the best!  From Our Hearts thanks you so very much for helping and supporting our cause!

Pens and Cardstock...and a few Cards

Jen R from AZ send us a box.  As is customary of every box, we photograph it, we open it.  And what we saw were some cards, yes, but wait...

Pens?? hmmmm . . . her note...

16 cards (yes, 16 cards....)

600 card BASES???????

 

Jen, HELLO????? !!!!! Can we put these to good use?

Oh yes, Jen, we can put these to very good use!!!  We can most CERTAINLY use these to turn those card front into cards!  And, we can use these at our FREE From Our Hearts events for the public that we hold monthly.  We need donations of this sort as well as cards!

Jen, we don't have your e-mail address so a card will go in the mail to you as well!!!  Yes, one more unexpected surprise to show up on our doorstep and so VERY much appreciated!!!

Sometimes We Get Surprised

Yes, many times a package comes to us out of the blue, with no forewarning of an e-mail telling us a box is on the way (or even an e-mail address included in the box so that we can say thank you.)

This box is no exception.  A note included in the box, however, reveals that this box of card fronts is from Elizabeth B., all the way from South Bethlehem NY.  A first time contributor, she found out about From Our Hearts from one of our faithful contributors in Texas.  Word is spreading of our effort and we are THRILLED!!!

Just look at the heart around the "For Our Troops" on the box -

And inside, just a wonderful assortment of card fronts . . .

Elizabeth, we thank you for your surprise.  Your contribution of card fronts will keep our volunteers in Topeka busy - our most recent report from our coordinator tells me they are "addicted" to turning the card fronts into beautiful cards.  And we don't want to keep these volunteers idle!

Never Heard of Ava, NY? From Our Hearts Has!

And here are some of the fine folks from upstate New York who turned out at Sandee R's Cards for the Troops Event to make hand stamped cards to donate to From Our Hearts:

 

Sandee, an Independent Stampin' Up!® demonstrator, is in the back (picture below), in the green sweater, helping to create the cards that she designed for the event.  She and her group of stampers worked for several hours to fill up a box of cards to send our way.

We just love the heart on the return address!

 

Inside, an assortment of carefully, detailed and beautiful cards, all made with such care.  In total, 227 cards were created - one full box sent to From Our Hearts for our troops, and we know that the recipient of these cards are going to be very, very happy.

Sandee, we thank you and all of your card makers in Ava, NY for all the hard work that you put into making this even happen all the hard work that went into making this box of cards appear on our doorstep!

Faye and Bill from Manhattan, KS Hand Deliver Cards to From Our Hearts

It is such a treat to actually MEET our contributors in person - to give them a hug and to thank them for all that they do to make it possible to send our cards over to our servicemen and women serving our country.

We had such an opportunity recently.  Faye K from Manhattan, KS was passing through Jefferson City and hand delivered her donation of cards - with her husband, Jim - who graciously said "yes" to taking a slight detour to Jefferson City to drop off her box to us.  Thank you, Bill!

There is more to the story.  Faye coordinated a stamping event for the students of the St. Thomas More Youth Ministry - yes, these cards, and they are all just very well made, were created by teenagers, both young women and men!

 

Were we ever impressed!  Each card we took out of the box was just so well done.  We cannot thank these young ladies and men enough for taking time out of their busy teenage lives to do such a wonderful thing for our troops.

Faye and Bill tells us the students want to do this again - that they just had a great time creating these cards.  Faye, we thank you for introducing the fine art of cardmaking to the students of the Youth Ministry and for donating the cards to our effort.

And, we also thank you and Bill for being our "mailman" and hand delivering two boxes to our volunteers in Topeka.  You have done double duty - those dollars we would have spend mailing those boxes can now be spent on postage overseas!

NJ Donates again!

When we see a New Jersey postmark it can only mean one thing - Cindy B is sending us cards made with love and care by her and her twin daughers, Sarah and Marissa.

And this day was no exception - here arrives a BIG box of Hanukkah cards!  We don't get very many of these so Cindy and her daughters made sure we have plenty to go into the boxes.

Look closely at these cards . . . all made with love and care for our soldiers!  Over 100 in total.  What time, care and attention the three of them put into these cards.

Our thanks to you three, Cindy, for your continued support - you are doing your part in filling an unfilled need over in Iraq and Afghanistan!

Fayetteville GA Stamps on World Card Making Day with Enthusiasm!

From Our Hearts only wishes we could have been there!  Take a look at this display board, carefully and creatively put together . . . we are honored that Diane G. and her group of Independent Stampin' Up!® demonstrators (Naturals) chose From Our Hearts to make and donate the cards created at her World Card Making Day event to From Our Hearts.

Diane's press release says it all.  Here is a portion of what she released to the public:

“Everyone wants to do something to help the men and women who are protecting our freedom and this event is the perfect opportunity,” states Diane G, event coordinator.  “Even people who have never stamped can help assemble cards as well.  I am excited to be a part of such a rewarding experience.”

Never made a card? No problem! You will be supported by local independent Stampin’ Up!^® demonstrators that are happy to get your hands-on help on this day to celebrate the creativity and personal connection of handmade cards for our troops.  Please join us on Saturday, October 3rd in honor of the men and women who serve our country so that their loved ones can receive a happy surprise in the mailbox this holiday season!

 

She received donations to help with her expenses.  They worked hard to pull this all together.  One afternoon of stamping . . .

 

coordinated by many willing volunteers . . .

 

cards stamped and assembled by many eager ladies . . .

who took their card making seriously but had fun, too . . .

 

Did I say FUN?  It looks like they were having alot of fun!

 

And here is the result:

While they aimed for 1,000 cards . . .

1,247 cards!!! With envelopes and clear envelopes!!!

Sincere thanks to these 21 stampers who attended and stamped:  Vicky A., Shirley A., Joan A., Nicki B., Ann B., Diane C., Cindy F., Daria G., Elizabeth G., Kaye H., Debbey K., Barb L., Kim M., Erika M., Killian S., Gwen S., Wilma L., Aimee W., Cera W.,  Rita W., and Mayumi Y.

Thank you to the 10 stampers for contributing preparation work and hand stamped cards ahead of the event:  Joan A., Dori D., Karen I., Marge K., Julia M., Lori M., Barb L., Kimberlee R., Lindsey R., and Rita W.

Last, but certainly not least, a big thank you to the 10 Independent Stampin' Up!® Demonstrators who contributed materials, preparation work ahead of the event and gave assistance on Saturday:  Kay B., Annrea D., Saiko E., Angela H., Ginny H., Phetric J., Beth R., LeAnne S., Dixie S., and Jennifer S.

And of course, our very special From Our Hearts thanks to Diane for contacting From Our Hearts, for opening her heart and for planning this event.  We know just how much time and effort it takes!  These many, many cards, carefully handcrafted, will put smiles on literally thousands of faces!

Another unexpected box arrives from UT

This box arrived without notice from Juliet W. - a brand new contributor:

And this is what we found:

 

Holiday cards and all occasion cards were included, bundled by type - and again, making our work light and easier.

Thank you Juliet from Magna, UT.  Your box of cards is very much appreciated!