From Our Hearts

April and Roxie From California Donate

From Duarte, CA, Roxie A sent us another package - we found 18 lovely Christmas cards inside:

Well made!

And we appreciate receiving the cards - they help fill up the many boxes that we anticipate shipping overseas!  We can't receive too many holiday cards as our goal is to ship at least 2 boxes to every contact on our list.

Roxie mailed us $50 of supplies donated from the WalMart in Duarte - this donation was coordinated by Carol C - she emailed us, asking what we needed or what we could use.  She used the donation to pick up white card stock (we use this on the inside of cards that we receive that need it), packing tape, pens, scotch brand double sided tape, post it notes (we use so many of these!), and colored card stock, too!

Roxie mailed a check inside her box, too!  Our thanks to Roxie, Carol, and the WalMart in Duarte!

From Chino Hills, our official volunteer, April S sent two boxes our way.

Inside, we found 270 cards total, 6 dozen pens, and a cash contribution, too - enough to ship over 4 boxes.

Many Christmas cards, love you, Valentines (she got a head start on our Valentine shipment!), miss you and more -

Even birthday cards - April's style is one that we recognize and we can pick her cards out of a box full!  They are lovely!

Our thanks to our California stampers!  We thank you both for your continual support!

Welcome New Contributors To From Our Hearts

We are always happy when we receive a box with a new name on the return address!  This means another card maker has found the time to support our troops!

Lina W, from El Paso, TX is one of our newest contributors to From Our Hearts.  When we opened her box, we thought she had sent us food! Instead, she carefully packed the 42 cards inside these boxes so they would not shift and be damaged in transit.  How clever!

Lina sent us a stamp set (thank you!), a cash contribution, and very lovely cards!

40 of her 42 cards were Christmas cards, arriving in time to be packed up in the initial 40 boxes!  And Lina provided them "box ready" - thank you, Lina, this is a tremendous help to us!

Just about every card was made differently - and some very cute ones, too!  These gingerbread look like real cookies!

And other lovely, lovely cards!

We had a difficult time picking out just a few to show.  We know her cards will be well received -

Thank you, Lina, and welcome to From Our Hearts!  We are happy you found us!

From Clayton, WA, Sandy W sent us 76 cards and a note: "This is my first time to contribute to your cause and I sincerely hope my cards will meet your criteria."  They certainly do!  Just take a look:

Well made - this is our main criterion - that they are handcrafted with care.  And Sandy most certainly did this!

We took an "inside" and "outside" shot of the card below as it is just so pretty!

Every card was stamped with a verse on the inside.  This is okay with Christmas cards, Halloween, etc.  (When it comes to every day cards, we ask that if they are stamped on the inside you let us know, somehow, that this is done - as we affix labels on the front to the clear envelope if it is needed!  Many times our stampers will stamp the verse on a piece of paper, and enclose it in the back of the card with the customized slip - so that it can be read without opening the card.)

More of Sandy's cards . . .

She has quite the variety of style!

Sandy also sent a cash contribution to help purchase clear envelopes and to mail over one box of cards.  We welcome Sandy to From Our Hearts and keep the cards coming!  (That was the comment written on her check in sheet!)

Next us is a new contributor from our home state - Lesley T is from Kirkwood, MO.

Lesley sent 139 beautiful cards, each one "box ready" - and we appreciate it!

The personalized slips indicate the cards were made by the members of the First Free Chruch in Manchester, MO.

Lesley sent love you cards, miss you, thank you, thinking of you and the rest?

Christmas cards for our holiday shipment.

Lesley included a cash contribution - and we appreciate it!  Welcome to From Our Hearts, Lesley!

Contributions Arrive From Neighboring States

Contributions arrived recently from our neighboring state of Oklahoma.  Pam O, from the city of Moore, sent two boxes and one of them was VERY heavy - because it contained lots of supplies!

Stamp sets, and many of them!! card stock, paper, embellishments of all sorts, markers, ribbon, tape, you name it, we found it!  She writes:  "This is my first direct donation to From Our Hearts.  I previously donated cards and supplies to a group in Norman, OK, led by Ruth C.  She inspired me to contribute to this wonderful effort to connect our troops and their families."  She continues, "The second box contains card crafting supplies, pens, markers and rubber stamps & ink for use by your other volunteer card makers.  Hope this helps the cause!"  You bet it helps!!  Thank you Pam.

Pam's first box contained 108 cards, and about half of it were Christmas cards.  She enclosed a customized slip.  We took a photograph of it, and decided to show it on our blog as an example of what we typically see as a "customized slip":

Pam's cards included birthday, congratulations, hi/hello, and many more -

to include much needed miss you cards -

Our many thanks to Pam for joining our effort and for the additional, most welcomed box of supplies!

Leslie K hails from Mahomet, Illinois - another adjoining state to Missouri - Leslie is a first time contributor and sent us 85 cards and a nice assortment we found.

And well made; we know that they will be well received!

Birthday, congratulations (we are pleased to be finding these in the boxes we open!), thank you, and several "blank" note cards were created by her.

Thank you, Leslie!  And welcome to From Our Hearts!

Christmas Cards And More Arrive

A heavy box arrived yesterday and we knew it was more than cards and we were right!

Deb M, a new contributor from Ruth, Michigan, mailed 111 card fronts and enough card stock to turn those fronts into lovely cards.

She writes: "Please accept this package as my donation to your cause.  I appreciate what you do for our troops.  Keep up the good work!"

Thanks Deb!  We appreciate the contribution - 111 more cards will be created and mailed overseas.

From Our Hearts is fortunate to have a new "card front" converter on board - Mary M who lives in Indiana is now helping us out - and we appreciate her help!  So keep the card fronts coming in - our volunteers in Kansas and now Mary in Indiana enjoy helping us with this important part of our operation.

Connie D sent another box - Connie is from Roanoke, VA and she placed several of these stickers on her box - a little ray of sunshine for us!

Connie's cards are always made so beautifully - and this time, she sent 95 of them.

Not only Christmas, but Connie made Thank you, Sympathy, Birthday, Love You . . .

Hi, and several other all occasion cards.  She even mailed us a 1 1/4" punch - and we appreciate getting this (now Martie can put her personal punch back in her stamp room!)

Our thanks to Connie for her box, and her continued support!

Next up, Dacia S from Winston-Salem, NC - and these cards come from Love Notes, a Barnabas Ministry from Calvary Baptist Church.

214 cards (their boxes never contain less thank 200!) and all "box ready", as usual!  194 Christmas cards and a few thank you/thinking of you cards, too.

We thank "Love Notes"!!!

Pamela M from Westchester, Illinois sent 30 cards -

Each card is a Christmas/holiday card -

and nicely made!

Our thanks to Pamela!

From Sacramento, CA, Beverly W mailed us a package with 22 Christmas cards.

She writes: "I think every day of the HUGE task you all face! and still do such a great job!"  We appreciate the compliment.  We do our best!!!

And Bev makes our job easier by sending her cards "box ready" - that is, each card arrives with an appropriate sized envelope, all dark based cards are lined with white/vanilla, the card/envelope is sealed in a clear envelope and she includes a slip in each one (customized!)  All we have to do is check her box in and put the cards away.

And Bev helps us by sending a cash contribution, too!  Thanks Bev, for everything!

Kavi C is our next contributor - she is from Hillsville, VA.  The 236 cards she mailed to us were made by the Carroll Wellness Center Seniors 55+Papershakers Group and the Retired Elementary Teachers and Staff in Carroll Co, VA.

Lovely fall, Thanksgiving, thinking of you and anniversary cards (photographed above) were among the variety we found.

Hi/hello (half of them are "masculine" - and that is awesome!) and many, many Christmas cards.

Kavi included a cash contribution from the teachers - enough for mailing at least 4 boxes of cards.  Our thanks to Kavi for organizing the card making events for these groups and for mailing the cards our way!

Another Glimpse of Our Operation

Today, as Martie left the post office and headed over to the office with 6 boxes in hand, the thought occurred to her:  our contributors have never seen the steps that we climb every day - with boxes in tow - we do get our exercise!  With camera in hand, a snapshot was taken - at the very bottom of the photo are the tops of the boxes on the bottom few steps.

When she reached the landing and turned the corner - WOW!  40 boxes of Holiday cards - waiting to take the trip DOWNSTAIRS on November 1!

Our volunteers have been busy this past week while Martie was at work!  Many, many thanks to Susan F, Susan T, and Sue S (we have many Susans and Sues who help us) who have put in many hours to get these boxes ready!  Countless number of boxes have arrived - just the other day, 16 boxes arrived!

And this process includes filling out the much "dreaded" custom declaration forms, a task normally left to Martie.  All done, thanks to Susan F!

Inside our office area are boxes of Holiday cards on the table that Tom and Martie worked on the night before while watching our favorite baseball team win the world championship!  Notice the table in the back?  Below is a close up of the boxes on the table.

These are the Holiday cards that have not yet been boxed up - as we are awaiting several more boxes that are en-route - and as we put a variety in each box, we will wait for more cards to arrive before boxing any more up.

Susan T prepared these boxes of all occasion cards - these are for our new contacts - so that we have a box ready to ship when a box is requested.

Martie got busy checking in the 6 boxes that arrived.  This is one box that she checked in.  Martie stepped back, after photographing a card, and took a shot of the contributor's box, cards, and checking in sheet, etc.  We do make a mess when we check in the boxes, but all the cards are put away in their "holding" boxes, right away!

Thanks for spending time with us at our office today!

Hello Beautiful Card Makers!

I wanted to take a moment to than you for making all those beautiful cards.  My friend and I found a giant stack of gorgeous cards for all occasions in one of our chapel facilities here.  When we're deployed, our choices are so limited.  It's rare to find any stationary worthy of the way we feel about writing to our families.  Thank you for taking the time to remember us in such a special way.

Gratefully,

Sonja

Envelope Addressed: c/o The Springs Church (St George UTAH)

From Our Hearts received this letter addressed as follows:

To the women of SMCC, The Springs Church, St George, Utah:

Thank you for the many handcrafted cards you've sent.  I and my soldiers have used them.  They are very much appreciated.

Cards, letters & packages - sent home and received are still one of the biggest morale boosters there is.

Thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers & cards!

Sincerely,

SFC M S

1st SFG(A) US Army

: )

From Camp Eggers, Afghanistan

10 October 2011

Dear Cardmakers:

Thank you very much for all the beautifully hand made cards.  I picked up a lot of cards at the USO in Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan to send to my daughter and family.  Betty from Erie, Colorado and Beverly from Keller, Texas are some of the cards I have used.  I am now at Camp Eggers, Afghansistan.  We get home made cards here, too, but I don't know where they were made.  I love your cards.  It just makes writing home so much cozy.  I can't access your website here, but I'm glad I have an address to write and say thank you.

Sincerely,

Major Tara M

Note from the home office:  We are please to know that Major Tara loves our cards!  We don't send cards to Camp Eggers, but will be sending her a thank you card, as we respond to each and every letter that is sent to us - and soon OUR cards may be heading her way!

Contributions From Ann, Connie and Karen

More from July - - -

From Clemmons, NC, Ann C once again mailed a full box of 282 cards, extra envelopes, and pens for the troops. The slips:  "Love Notes, Calvary Baptist Church" - Both Ann and Dacia S regularly contribute cards made by this special group from North Carolina!  Ann included a monetary contribution and also a contribution from her daughter, Dawn B from Chapin, SC - Thank you!!

All cards a variety of sentiments ranging from thank you, thinking of you, sympathy . . .

. . . and many, many "kid" cards!  Our many thanks to Ann and "Love Notes" for all the cards they mail to us!

Next up is Connie D from Roanoke, VA, just north of Ann!  Connie sent a box full of supplies and some cards, too.  We can use the supplies!

Connie listed her 107 cards on a sheet of paper, enclosed in her box and we appreciate the inventory.  Her list is extensive:

Congratulations, sympathy, general all occasion, friendship, Father's Day, birthday, thank you, wedding, love you, anniversary, miss you, thinking of you, hi, encouragement and get well.  Wow!  We appreciate the variety - as we send a variety like this in every box we mail over.

Lovely cards!

Our thanks to Connie for the cards and supplies, and most of all, for her continued support of our effort.

Karen W is our self proclaimed "addicted stamper" from Crest Hill, Illinois and she didn't let us down this time!  300 cards - each and every one made by her!

She writes: "These are from your addicted stamper from Illinois.  900 to date for me, and I have only started."  We are amazed...

Karen sent us Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving cards - and lots of them!

Thanks Karen!  We look forward to your next box!!

From The Hospital Chapel Staff Bagram Air Field

The following letter was recieved, address to Martie, but is to all who contribute to our cause - because, it is all of you who make this possible!

-Martie (AKA Martha)

 

Dear Martha,

We received your GRACIOUS donation of handcrafted cards for our troops and hospital staff.  Thank you for your thoughtfulness and for your support of our troops and our mission in Afghanistan.  It is so greatly appreciated.  It is always a blessing to be able to receive things from the states that we can't really get here.  I am sure that the families who receive these cards will be thankful too.

The support given from caring people such as you help us to carry on through the challenging days we face here.  God bless you.

Blessings,

Hospital Chapel Staff

Craig Joint Theatre Hospital