Thank You for Your Sacrifice

Happy Friday!  It’s Julissa of Paper Gems by Jules hoping you’re all ready to start this summer season.  Memorial Day is known for its kick off to the summer season, end of school and vacations, but it is also a time of pause.  Memorial Day is a day of remembrance of those who died in active military service and I’d like to share these cards dedicated to those heroes and their families.

Growing up I thought military dog tags were so cool.  I had even found a company that made them with your own quotes or names, but I didn’t know what they meant.  It was only later, when visiting the Arlington National Cemetery, that I learned tags were initially created for soldiers in the Civil War because they feared being unidentified if killed in combat.  The reason for having two tags was so the soldier be buried with one and the other would be given to the family.

The “Dog Tags & Thanks” stamp set is a beautiful stamp set to show love to military families and soldiers.  There are four sentiments that allow for lots of great cards to show our love and support to our brave troops.

Unity also has the “Charles Guy” stamp set that I thought would be fitting.  This guy can be wearing all sorts of uniform styles, from camouflage to the solid military green uniform.  I decided to use the same sentiment from the “Dog Tags & Thanks” stamp set because I thought it was more suitable for this theme, but the “Charles Guy” stamp set also has its own sentiment.

Both of these cards are also used Unity’s new Postage Stamp Nesting Dies.  I like the postage stamp as it reminded me of my dad, a US Marine veteran, who retired from the US Post Office.  I am so grateful for all of the amazingly strong relatives that served for our country:

Grandfather:  Jose A. Padilla, Sr – US Army

Father:  Jose E. Padilla – US Marines

Brother: Jose E. Padilla, Jr. – US Marines

I’d also like to dedicate this blog to my husband’s friend who served our country in Iraq:  Joseph P. Bellavia.  May he rest in peace.

Let us all take a moment to remember those brave men and women that have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.