the homefront blog

To celebrate Flag Day on June 14th, Impress Rubber Stamps in Tukwila, WA held their first Hero Party to make cards for our heroes!

“I have the space,” said Ann, the owner of the store. “And I love the idea of using it for this.” The store staff advertised through word of mouth and with a small rack of brochures on the counter, and ended up filling all the seats they have available at their tables!

Ann and her team designed 8 cards for the stampers to replicate, and had all the tools and materials, pre-cut papers, inkpads and stamps ready in trays when the 20 attendees arrived. Each sample card was fairly easy to follow along with, and for those who needed help, the store staff were on hand to give instructions. Attendees were able to try out a Making Memories tagmaker, paper tearing, the “kiss” stamping technique, stickles, and punches — quite a smorgasbord of techniques!

Stampers of all experience level were able to create cards from the samples; the more seasoned crafters helped out the others, and it was a great time to see the stamping community rallying together for a great cause. “It was so easy and the cards were so well organized,” said one stamper. “I’ve never made cards before, and it was so much fun!” Door prizes were given out, and snacks were available for nibblers, but the cardmaking definitely took prime focus — no slackers among this group! Participants also had the opportunity to peruse a scrapbook filled with letters and photos from the recipients of the cards, and were inspired to dig in and work hard on the cards. “It’s so wonderful to see how specific this is — that the cards really do go to an individual person to give out,” said Ann. “I like that it’s a one-to-one connection with the troops, and we know the cards are getting to them.”

At the end of the afternoon, stamped-out participants left with smiles on their faces. “I am thrilled that I can do what I love and serve our troops at the same time, said one stamper. “I’ll definitely do this again!” She turned back just before leaving to ask with a grin, “When’s the next party?” So the store plans to hold another event to make holiday cards in September! It will be even more prominently advertised, so hopefully many more local stampers can get involved!

The final count for the day? 247 cards in just a few hours! Impress sent our volunteers home with enough envelopes to match up with all the cards as well…thank you so much for your amazing donation of all the materials, time, and effort!

Attendees and other patrons were also invited to bring their own cards to donate (click here to see a blog post with photos of all the cards!), and a $5 donation to Cards for Heroes was requested to assist with shipping. Tallying all the cards that came in during the weeks before the event and the day of:
247 made at the party (birthday, baby, thankyou, general)
167 birthday cards
48 love cards
46 spring holiday cards
185 thinking of you cards
52 thank you/get well cards for wounded warriors
80 Christmas cards
27 fall holiday cards

TOTAL: 852 CARDS!!!!!!

Many many thanks to our new Cards For Heroes family at Impress, and to all who made this such a successful event! Our heroes and their families will be blessed by all your efforts!