Paper Hoarders Memorial Day Challenge

Good Morning!!!! Yes! It's been a while. And I'm back to show you the layout I made commemorating Memorial Day...

First, a bit of history. What? No... you didn't get enough of that in high school. History continues on... Memorial Day is for ALL of our fallen soldiers, who have fought for our country and died while doing it. There is not enough we could offer them, but we try... we give them our thanks and honor them on this day.

Our country is based on history, and we were asked to do a project for Memorial Day. Um... that's really hard for me. Difficult, I say. Well, because I don't (personally) know of anyone who sacrificed their lives for our country. I haven't known the men and women who have died for us.

So... at first... I thought I'd make a tote. Tote made... I was going to sponge-paint a flag on it and use it forever (like the stamps!) for groceries and such... then I remembered... OMGOSH! This is for Paper Hoarders... What the heck does a pillowcase tote have to do with paper. Ok... scrap that.

Then... I got the inclination to do dog tags. I had these really cool vellum tags that have been just sitting here... and with some vellum labels, I could print something? Awesome. So... Recollections (from Michaels) has this really cool shimmery navy blue cardstock that I used for my background.

And then I began searching the internet for awesome photos of soldiers in the field, or even commemorative photos of soldiers. I intended to put a pic in each star on my blue background, but... I came across this photo. And I love it. It basically says it all.

I'm not overly religious, but... I do honor our Pledge (of Allegiance). I believe that no matter what other people believe, our Founding Fathers began this nation under these beliefs. This part of history is part of US, as a Nation. And whether you believe in God or another higher power, or nothing at all, just by stating it... we are together as a Nation, identifying with our history. And these people, the men and women who have died defending our country and/or those who we were trying to protect, as well... Deserve to be honored in our country's history.

And so... the dog tags state:  (White) - "In God We Trust... We also trust those, who have given their everything, their lives. To our soldiers who offered us so much..." and (Red) "In Memoriam... to honor every soldier who has fallen... for our Nation... One Nation Under God".

I just love blues, reds, and whites. They are awesome together. And I just HAD to use the Recollections white cardstock, that's flecked with red and blue. How fitting for this. I distressed the photo, to show the wear each soldier has taken on... ultimately... (and yes... I finally got my Distrezz-It-All...)

I hope you like it, and remember it. If you'd like to see the other DT members' projects (they're AWESOME!), just go visit Tanya's blog and give everyone a little love. They work hard for it. Oh! and don't forget to leave a comment here... Have a wonderful Memorial Weekend, no matter how you choose to celebrate (I'll be walking a pool deck... working! lol!)