Friday, February 19, 2010

A Wee Bit About Me!!

Hi, my name is Angy and I am a PTIaholic. I discovered PTI late in 2007 while living in Garmisch, Germany. That is in the German ALPS and is so very breathtakingly beautiful. I earned my first anniversary set in February 2009 right before moving to Italy. I love stamping though initially it didn't appeal to me at all. I started out as a scrapbooker and nothing fancy. Just simple and easy.

I was invited to my first stamping party in August 2000. The only reason I went was because my husband was TDY (that's military speak for out of town on business) and the hostess allowed me to bring my two boys (who were 4 & 2 at the time). I bought 2 stamp sets ~ Say It With Scripture and Watercolor Garden. I figured I could make some scrapbook pages with the flowers and quick cards with the scripture. By January of 2001 I made the plunge to become a demonstrator for that stamp company. I loved teaching other women that they, too, could make something beautiful and fun. I worked as a demonstrator for 6 years before finally giving it up. (When we moved back to the US from Germany I couldn't get anyone interested in hosting demos for me so I retired as a demonstrator).

I wasn't really disappointed though because by then I had discovered PTI and had fallen in love with their products and customer service. My husband is equally impressed with the company because of all the FREE information that they have available for us. The release parties, the blogs, templates, card ideas and more.

Now a little about me... I grew up a very poor child in Phoenix, Arizona. I was in abusive household but always knew that God had something else in mind for me. Eventually, I was placed in foster care and had 3 wonderful families. My last family is still my family. They got their foster parent license just for me and my children consider them their grandparents. I met my husband right after high school and married him 5 days after my 19th birthday. We have been together ever since. It was an answer to prayer for both of us. This summer we will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. He is a great and loving man who indulges me in my passion for stamping and other craftiness:O)

We have two very smart, amazing boys. I homeschooled them when they were little, then they spent 3 years in public school after which we pulled them from school and homeschooled them again for another 3 years. It was a wonderful experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. My oldest is entering his high school years and so we decided to put them back into public school. They are adjusting amazingly well and have both made the honor roll.

In 2004, we were able to move to Germany for my husband's job. We absolutely loved it. We then came back to the US for 18 months before being moved to Italy (again for my dh's job~ being a GS employee means we are only allowed 3-5 years overseas before going back to the US for at least one year). Italy is a neat place to be but we really miss Germany. We are hoping to be able to get back to Germany some day soon.

Meanwhile, I still do my stamping and papercrafting. I have a THRIVE group (for women whose husbands are deployed) called Craft Your Art Out. We meet once a week and I use the time to complete projects for myself. Or I spend my time teaching them how easy it is to actually make something themselves. I really enjoying the teaching aspect of my group. It is so satisfying to see how pleased they are at creating something themselves.

I look forward to learning more about all of you and stalking your blogs. This is a wondeful way for us to grow and create together. Thanks for the daily inspiration.

ciao for now!!!


The photo is our most recent family photo. We took the picture in front of our Christmas tree in 2009.

7 comments:

Aimes said...

Ciao, Angy! Thanks for letting us get to know you a bit better! Sounds like you have a fabulous DH! Your THRIVE group sounds wonderful and really satisfying to be a part of! Can't wait to see more of your wonderful creations!
x

Rhonda said...

It's nice to know more about you Angy! You can't ask for anything better than husbands who support our habit. You have a beautiful family. HUGS

Terri said...

It is great to learn more about you. I am sorry to hear what happened in your childhood, so glad to hear you have a wonderful DH and family now! I think it is great that you use to home school you kids too. Glad your they are doing well in traditional school now.

peggysue said...

Angy wow, you have had quite a life journey! I love stories with a happy ending and while you are not at an 'end' by any means I love hearing about how people met and hearing about happily wedded couples and families. Thank you for sharing so much and sharing your art with other military wives.

Marinette-Scraptherapie said...

Ravie de faire plus ample connaissance avec toi
Gros bisous

Sharron said...

I really enjoyed reading a little about your life. You have a beautiful family and sounds like an extremely supportive husband. It is such a fabulous experience for all of you to be able to see so much of the world. Looking forward to seeing more of your wonderful creations. Hugs!

Carol's Ink Spot said...

Hello Angy,
So nice to get to know you better.