Before I get to anything...

scrappy, I want to take a moment to recognize our nation's veterans. Today is, of course, Veteran's Day. Many in our lives have gone before us and served, sacrificed and protected to give us the great freedoms we all experience today. If not for them, can you imagine where we'd be today? According the the US Department of Veteran's Affairs "The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m." Although many business do not close anymore, the day is still observed and honored with parades, meetings and special events. So, I'd like to send out a huge thanks to our Veteran's (and those still serving today) and their families for their service to our country.

I don't know about you but I love to surf blogs. That is, afterall, where I find TONS of inspiration! I have seen much of the talented Maren Benedict's work before. I was redirected to her blog again last night and could hardly believe my eyes! I saw the cutest project! Wanna see?

See, I told you! Is that not the cutest darn turkey you've ever seen?! Maren used Unity's Build a Turkey stamp set to make this little guy. She has decided to make these as the place cards for their Thanksgiving meal! How fun! Thank you Maren for sharing this adorable turkey with us! Be sure to add Maren's blog to your favs. I promise she will not disappoint!

While I was perusing Maren's blog last night another one of her projects inspired me to break out my Unity stamps.

I used Unity's Simple Blessings stamp set and arranged the leaves on the acrylic block and stamped them all at once. Then, before I added my papers I used my Scor-Pal and Scor-Bug embosser to add the line of piercing (directly above the line of leaves; click on the photo to enlarge for details). After adding the paper and ribbon, I stamped my sentiment then cut it out using Spellbinders Labels Three. The label was trimmed to remove the excess and allow it to line up flush with the patterned paper. While this card has a fall theme to it, you could easily give it as a simple thank you card for any occasion!

Jenn's creativity is still in overdrive and she just can't get enough of Santa's Workshop! Check out this great gift idea she came up with...

Jenn used the Wintergreen album cover and added the Sugarplum Spine to make the book thicker. She decorated the front cover with the Sizzix paper doll wearing the doctor outfit. For the inside,

Jenn simply used a repositionable adhesive to adhere a packet of soup! How clever! Again here you have a project that you could easily alter for any occastion!

I am thankful for ALL of our crafty friends and their willingness to share their creativity to inspire others! Thanks to all of you for stoppin' by today! While you're here, please take a moment to give our guest, Maren a little love! We'll be back on Friday for our Friday Sketches! I sure hope you can join us! See you then!

Katie