Some Gave All...

Vietnam POW bracelets were very popular when I was in middle school.  Being from a military family and having a father who served in Vietnam,  I had one that I wore, never taking it off.  I wore one bracelet until it broke and my dad was able to put it back together for me…when that finally broke again and was not fixable, I got a replacement bracelet.  I watched the released POWs step off the plane and run into the arms of their waiting families…all except the man on my bracelet. 

Maj. Kurt C. McDonald
 

I continued to wear my bracelet, hoping that one day he would come home.  I finally had to take the bracelet off when the edges became sharp, but I kept that bracelet, in a safe place…still hoping…

One day, while surfing the Internet, I searched for the man on my bracelet.  I was surprised to find information on him…but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.  He was 30 years old when he went missing on 12/31/1964 when his plane went down after taking off from Da Nang, Vietnam.  In August of 1982, he was declared Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered by the US Government.  I also found photos of him online- photos of him growing up, photos of the handsome man he had become, photos of the Air Force pilot fighting for his country.  Putting a face with the name made the connection I had with the bracelet-with the man- even stronger.  I never knew this man, but he is never far from my thoughts and remains in my heart to this day.

I found that his name is engraved on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC but I have not yet been able to get a rubbing of his name from the wall.

I decided I would make a SMASH page about the man and the bracelet.  Here are those pages:

On the left side, there is an envelope that holds various pictures of Kurt, along with the picture of my bracelet, and a report from the USAF in regards to his MIA status.

Kurt would have been 89 years old this year.  Nearly 60 years have passed since he gave his all for his country, fighting for our freedoms.  Please take the time to say a prayer for those lost in battle, as well as those soldiers still fighting for those same freedoms.

New Junk Journal

I spent the day in my hide-away making a new junk journal.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  I gutted an old book and covered it inside and out with Graphics 45 Secret Garden papers.  I sewed in 5 signatures of various papers.

Here are pictures of the outside.

Here is the binding where I sewed in 5 signatures.  I really need practice doing this!

This is the inside cover.

I made several pages in this journal today., most using items that I received from Happy Mail RAKs.  Again, I need practice on this, too!

 The little brown page is made from a sheet of cork paper.  It cracked when I folded it so I just addes some Washi tape to hole it together.

The cork paper page opened.  I added a tiny vintage file folder inside. There is a mini vintage post card in the pocket with the Victorian lady.

Here the little file folder is open with some things in it that I received in Happy Mail from Lisa.

This page is made using items I received in a Happy Mail from Sherry.  We participated in an RAK event where we had to make an altered playing card and mail it to someone else in the event.  Her card is inside the doily pocket she made.

This page was made using items I received from Lisa.  The honeycomb/bee paper was what she had my package wrapped in.  I love that paper and decided to use it.  There is a journaling card inside the pocket on the left side. Lisa's altered playing card is in the center of the right side page with the balloons.

This ladt page is made using items received from Vanessa.  Her altered playing card (APC) is inside the envelope on the left side that she also made.

I'm really enjoying working in my journal.  I keep looking for stuff (junk) that I can use!  I hope you're all having a nice weekend.  Remember to take a few minutes to remember the solders who lost their lives while serving our country.

Altered Playing Cards

I recently participated in an altered playing card RAK event of the Newbie Junk Journal Makers FaceBook page.  I had never made an altered playing card before, but, hey, I make cards...so how much different can it be?  It was actually harder than I thought.  We had several prompts that we had to follow- the theme had to be circus there had to be circles, the color purple, yarn or ribbon, either fussy cutting, embossing, or use die cuts, and use foil.  Trying to get all of that on a small playing card is tough!  Here is the first one that I made.  I didn't use a playing card but I was within the size guides that they give.

 This is the front:

This is the back:

We had to choose someone who was playing along with the event to send our card to.  In return, I would get one from someone else.

Today, I decided to make another one (I actually found some old playing cards in a drawer).  Here it is:

I had a lot of fun  making these.  The Newbie Junk Journal Makers page is a lot of fun, too.  You should check them out!!!  (I just realized I used the same circus photo for both cards!)

Altered Paper Clips

I've been wanting to try something that I've seen online- altered paper clips- to use in my junk journal.  It turns out that they're pretty easy to make!  Just grab some assorted cardstock or papers, some glue, some do-dads for the front and a large paper clip and put them together.  That's it!

Here are the first ones that I've made:

The Smiley Face one is made using some patterned paper that I had with emojis on it, along with a black tag that I had received in a happy mail.  I cut the large smiley face from a Thank You note that I had.  I added some coordinating buttons and a stamp and that was it.  The middle one I used a piece of patterned paper from Bo Bunny and a piece of book paper.  I added a silver bottle cap, punched out a 1" circle from Whisper White CS and a tiny heart punched out from a red CS that I had.  Coordinating buttons and a ripped piece of book paper finished it off.  The right one is made using patterned papers from Miss Caroline.  The ticket is printed off the computer (received in a happy mail) with Prima flowers and stick-on gems and a piece of cream-colored lace trim.

I had a lot of fun making these and I'm sure I'll be trying out some different designs in the near future!
Thanks for stopping by!

Paper Bag Journal Pages 4 and 5

I've finally had the chance to get into my hide-away and craft.  Since I was a little behind, I decided to work on my paper bag journal.  The prompt for April was COLOR.  This is the page I made for that prompt...

This was an easy page to do.  I just decopauged the colorful tissue paper to the bag using Collage-Pauge and a brush.  The Live Life In Color was printed on the computer and sponged with coordinating colored ink.

May's prompt is Quote.  We could use any quote we wanted.  I had just found this postage stamp with Janis Joplin on it and thought I'd use that.  The background is designer paper and again, the quote is printed on the computer and sponged with SU's Bashful Blue ink. I had received the LOVE sticker in a happy mail and thought I'd add that.  Again, this was also a very easy page.

This paper bag journal is turning out to be a lot of fun!  I can't wait to see what June's prompt will be!
Have a great evening and I'll be back again soon!