Peace on Earth

Hello again, crafty friends! It's been a busy day in the Closet today, and I have another tag to share with you. Here in the United States, we celebrated Veteran's Day last week...a day when we honor those in our armed forces who protect us and keep our country free.

I made this tag (a little late) in honor of an old friend, Lt. Col. Richard C. Dornbrock, who served in the US Air Force as a navigator, but it is also to express my gratitude for all of our armed forces that protect our freedom. Dick sadly left us in 2010, and we celebrated his life in Arlington Cemetery in February of that year. He was like a father to me; we met years ago in Capon Springs, where we vacation every year.  He even made a special trip there the year I was pregnant with my twins to surprise me.  We loved to play golf at Capon, and he lovingly nicknamed my husband The Gorilla, because of his intense tee shots. When I was too huge to play golf that visit, he brought me milk and cookies and made sure I was comfortable. Oh, I miss him so much!

On to the tag...I started by spreading Ranger transparent texture paste through Tim Holtz Stars stencil. I made a puddle of Blueprint Sketch Distress ink mixed with spritzed water, and ran my card through that. I dried with my heat tool and then blended on more Blueprint Sketch and Antique Linen Distress ink and dried again. I wiped the stars with a damp paper towel to remove the ink. I love how the texture paste resists the ink.When I was through with the background, I cut it into the shape of a tag.

Many people associate red poppies with Remembrance Day because of the poppies that bloomed in the battlefields of Flanders Fields in World War I; their red color a symbol for the blood shed in war.In 1918 an American woman working in the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries headquarters distributed silk poppies during it's annual conference. From there, she worked to have the poppy adopted as a national symbol of remembrance, and two years later the symbol was adopted by the National American Legion Conference. This custom quickly spread to Europe. Some people wear white poppies to symbolize looking forward to peace rather than back at the sacrifice of those who fought. I chose to use white poppies on my tag to symbolize my desire for world peace in light of the recent horrific events that have quickly unfolded throughout the world in the passed several weeks. I embossed on red to honor those that did and still do sacrifice their lives for our freedom.

Stamps used are as follows:  Lady Liberty -- Inkadinkado, American Flag --  Imaginair Designs, and Poppies --  A Stamp in the Hand. The flag and Lady Liberty were inked with Jet Black Archival ink and colored using Distress inks and my water pen and blended with Antique Linen. The poppies were heat embossed with Ranger white embossing powder.  All images  were fussy cut and edged with Black Soot Distress ink. The Globe is a Tim Holtz Thinlit die cut, inked with Antique Linen.

I edged the tag  as well as Chit Chat stickers  with Black Soot distress ink. Gratitude is a metal piece from my stash.  I dabbed on Black Soot and Picket Fence Distress paints. The ribbon was given a vintage look with Antique Linen Distress ink, and fastened with a painted jump ring.

I hope my friend is enjoying Oreos, golfing, and reading lots of Harry Potter books in Heaven.  We miss you, Dick! A belated thank you to all of our veteran's--you rock!

I would like to enter this into the following inspiring challenges:

Emerald Creek Dares Remember the Fallen

Country View Challenges November #33 The Colour Blue

Use Your Stuff Challenge # 200 and A Blog Hop Celebrate I'm celebrating our veterans with a late Veteran's Day tag. You've inspired me to use some very old stamps and part of an old ornament! I'm using my stuff!

Mixed Media World MMW # 9 Anything Goes

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge # 18 Texture

Thank you, once more, for visiting today, and for all your wonderful comments! Hugs!

Sara Emily