Remembering with Tim ... Holtz May Tag of 2014

Thanks for dropping by for a very special post.  Next week, we celebrate Memorial Day.  It is a day of remembrance of all those who died while in military service to our country.  While thinking about this day, I decided to make a tag honoring my Dad's service in the Navy.  My father was a rural mountain boy who went to do peacetime service for his country and got caught up in the middle of a major war (or conflict ... depending on your point of view).  He did not die during his service stint, but some of his shipmates did.  This post is dedicated to them ... those fellow sailors who died on the USS Valley Forge and USS Essex during the Korean War, as well as the friends and family they left behind.

My tag honoring Dad's service was inspired by Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2014 tag for the month of May.  Tim asked us to use some of our treasured embellishments and trinkets in a creative composition.  I've been collecting some wonderful pieces for my Dad's Navy scrapbook.  I've held onto them for years and this tag was just the kick in the pants to make me use them.

The tag's background was made with Faded Jeans and Pumice Stone Distress Stain that I mixed with watered down Brushed Pewter Distress Paint.  I dried it with a heat tool and then grabbed the sand paper.  I sanded the edges and then ran the the sand paper across the face of the tag to create some scratches in the paint.  I took Pumice Stone and Walnut Stain Distress Ink to lightly go over the surface (to get in those scratches) and around the distressed edges.

Let's talk about some of my treasured pieces on this tag.   I love this picture of my dad.  He was so proud of the planes that he worked on.  It's hard to see in this small picture, but one of the planes is behind him.  This favorite photo went in one of my all-time favorite Idea-ology pieces, a Collage Key.  I added a little crystal star charm and a small ribbon on the end.  It is mounted on some of Tim's paper that I put glued onto recycled packaging.  I found some great Navy themed ribbon that I immediately grunged with Walnut Stain Ink and added behind the key.  I was so excited to find the phrase "see the world" on Tim's Remnant Rubs.  One of the Navy's slogans is "Join the Navy.  See the World."  Perfect, right?

The tag tie is Tim's Linen Ribbon dyed with Faded Jeans Distress Stain.  My Dad went to basic training in San Diego CA, but he came back down south to Memphis to get his aeronautical electrician training (he worked on Navy planes on aircraft carriers).  While in school, his "uniform" was a white t-shirt and denim "dungarees".  The linen ribbon really gave me the faded denim look I was going for here.  I added the Courageous Muse Token because my Dad turned out to be pretty fierce when his peace-time service world turned upside down.  In May 1950, my Dad left out on the USS Valley Forge for their first major aircraft carrier training.  On June 25th, while the Valley Forge was in port in the Philippines, North Korea crossed the 38th parallel.  This aircraft carrier was the only ship in the area able to respond.  My Dad's squadron , the Fighting Fifty-One, were the first planes to fire shots in the Korean War.  

Okay ... check this out.  I stumbled on one of my favorite possessions of all time a couple of months ago.  Some of you may remember  that my dad and his family were caretakers of a mountain in NC.  They had very little money and they used and treasured everything.  My mom found my grandmother's "button box".  Granny saved buttons that were special to her and put them in my Dad's elementary school "lunch pail".  One of the buttons that I found in there was off of one of Dad's Navy uniforms.  I mounted that button on one of the squares on this tag.  It is backed with on of Tim's calendar papers.  I cut out the month of May and circled the 26th (that's the date of Memorial Day this year).

On the second square I have a propeller to represent the planes that Dad helped keep in the air.  Speaking of planes, after the fleet joined in the war and things settled in for the long haul, the Valley Forge went back to San Diego to be refitted and Dad's unit stayed on the base for a few months.  His squadron was shipped back out for a second tour on the USS Essex.     My dad's job entailed prepping planes for missions.  He was often the last person a pilot talked to before launching off the aircraft carrier.  Dad told me this was difficult sometimes when a pilot didn't come back.  Let me tell you about one who did come back.   A new pilot joined my Dad and the Fighting Fifty One on the Essex.  He came straight from flight school in Pensacola.  My dad knew him quite well.  This new pilot's name was Neil Armstrong.  And now you know the rest of the story.

I am going to leave with a few more pictures of the completed tag.  Thanks for letting me share a little about my Dad with you.  Since this tag is all about him, I am going to enter in A Vintage Journey's "All about him " Challenge.  I hope this post helps us all to remember that those who gave their lives in military service were just ordinary people who got caught up in extraordinary circumstances. I am indebted to all who served. -- Mary Elizabeth