Krafty Girls Challenge Number 1 and Blog Hop!!!

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!  Welcome to my lil' ol' blog!  I am so excited to be a part of the Krafty Girls DT, and I'm super excited that today is the first challenge!!!  The challenge is to create a card, 3D item, scrapbook page, etc. that represents the place that you're from/live.  I live in California, so this is the card I made to represent some of my favorite things about living here!  California has soooo many things to offer (deserts, agriculture, some really big cities), but I chose to represent what I love most: a big redwood tree, the ocean, and (of course) Mickey Mouse because I love going to Disneyland!!!  I also added twine around the state, this represents the area of California where I live!  Hope you enjoy and I can't wait to see what all of you create over at Krafty Girls!!!  :) 

Do not forget to enter my awesome GIVEAWAY!!!!!

A7 sized card (10 x 7" paper folded in half) Zooballoo- waves cut at 1.24" (I welded them to a rectangle on my Gypsy so they would be taller)
50 States- state of California cut at 5.94", "California" cut at 1"
Gypsy Wanderings- sun cut at 3"
Create a Critter- "sunny" cut at 2.41"
Disney Princess Dreams Come True- pine tree cut at 3.12"
Mickey and Friends- Mickey cut at 2.76"
Cuttlebug- d'vine swirls, forest branches
K. Andrew Stamps- Positive Thoughts
MS Glitter- crystal fine
Twine

Hope you liked your visit to California, hee hee!  :)  Here's the Blog Hop order if you need it!  :)

Krafty Girls 
http://www.kraftygirls.com/
Amy  <---------  (You are here)
http://redheadedcrafter.blogspot.com/

Candy
http://candyscraftcorner.blogspot.com/

Chris
http://chatterscene-mom.blogspot.com/

Cyndy
http://arcyscraps.blogspot.com/

Jennifer
http://www.jennuinecrafts.com

Jessica
http://www.craftinandstampin.blogspot.com/

Karen
http://craftedwithlovebykaren.blogspot.com/

Maribel
http://ilovescrapping.blogspot.com

Stephanie
http://www.scrappyrae10.blogspot.com/

Tracey
http://www.trailoftreasures.com/

Patriotic Card for 9/11 Heroes

Good morning everyone...  I can't believe that today marks the 10th year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks...  I remember that day like it was yesterday.  I was in college at the time, and I still lived at home with my parents.  My sister came in to my room and started shaking me and told me I needed to come watch the news.  My mom and sister had watched the second plane hit on live television.  I had to get ready for my morning class, but I remember not even wanting to tear myself away from the television...  I ended up going to class, and my instructor told us we didn't have to stay, but we could if we wanted to talk about what was going on.  I stayed for a little while, then I drove home to watch more of the news...  I went to work that day (in an after school program with first graders), and I just kept looking at the sky and thinking about all of the horrible things happening right here in our own country...  The kids wanted to talk about what was going on, and I found it hard to discuss this with first graders.  I didn't know how to word things, or how to explain it to them...  There was a candle light vigil held in our local Veteran's Park that night and I remember just standing there and crying...  I know I will never forget that day, and I will continue to remember the people who lost their lives, lost loved ones, and the men and women who continue to fight for our country so that we can keep our freedom!

Cricut 360 -create a card for our heroes
Sweet Sassy Diva- honoring 9/11
Papercraft Star- use patriotic colors

Independence Day- flag cut at 3.47", "freedom" cut at 2.29"
Cuttlebug- stars
K. Andrew stamps- Positive Thoughts
K & Company- Americana paper pack

Thank you to our heroes!  I'm proud to be an American!!!

Cowgirl Birthday Card & Link Up Love Party

Well howdy y'all!!!!  Oh my goodness, it has been a busy first week back at school!  The first week is always a tough one, but the kiddos seem to be adjusting to first grade pretty well...  My bookmark was a big hit with all of them, and they are loving the chapter books, so it turned out great!  :)  I can't believe it has been a week since I posted anything!  I was finally able to sit down and make a card, and one of the challenges I wanted to enter is now closed... :(  I am still going to enter it into a couple of other challenges that I came across, though....  Hope you have all been doing well, and I hope to stop by and see you soon!  :)

Whimsical Wednesdays- use 3 cuts, 3 colors, 3 of the same embellishment
The Paper Variety- use twine
Birthday Sundaes- use at least 3 brads

A2 sized card
Country Life- guitar cowgirl cut at 4.18"
Storybook- denim piece cut at 3.35"
Gypsy Wanderings- music notes cut at 0.65"
Sentiment- K. Andrew Stamps:  Positive Thoughts
DCWV paper- The Lodge Stack
Star brads
White gel pen

I am also going to enter this into the K. Andrew Link Up Love Party!!!  This is so much fun and it really does help you meet a lot of new crafty friends!  :)

Start at http://www.gettingcricky.com/ for all the details on how to join in the fun!  :)  One of the rules is to name something you are grateful for....  I am grateful for all of my friends and family, and a job that I really do enjoy! :)