T Stands for Vets

Welcome again to T Stands for Tuesday.  I'm earlier than usual today because it is Veteran's Day in the US and this is the hour (11:00 am) we pause for a moment of silence.

Here is where you will link your T Tuesday post. Last week I forgot to mention the guidelines (since I'm not into "rules") to T Stands for Tuesday, so I thought I would go over them today.  So what qualifies as a T Tuesday post?  First, let me make it abundantly clear that you do NOT have to drink tea.   And, you do NOT have to photograph your image(s) on Tuesday.  You can take your photo(s) any day of the week, then link your post here, unless of course, you are playing in AEDM..

Some of you are going to ask why I normally post on Monday afternoon.  Most of my internet friends live in different places than I, which is in the central time zone of the US.  In the real scheme of things time zones, this time zone is toward the end of the 24 hour day.  So, those of you who don't live in my time zone can post anytime, because the linky link went live at the same time as this post.

Now let's get back to T Stands For Tuesday.  You can talk about anything, enjoy any drink, create a recipe, show tea stained journal pages or scrapbook pages that use tea bags, flower arrangements, encaustics, your favorite pet (which Bleubeard would love), sewing, altered book pages, a shopping trip, a day at the beach, visiting a museum, shoveling snow, skate boarding, combing your hair (you get the idea), and any photos, as long as you can relate them in some way to T Stands for Tuesday.

Today we in the US celebrate Veteran's Day. It is a day of remembrance which officially ended WWI ("the war to end all wars," or the "Great War," as it was originally called) on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month (the time this post went live) of 1918. In the United States, it is known as Veterans Day, although it is a worldwide event. Other countries celebrate it as Armistice Day. It is a day dedicated to world peace.

My inspiration for today's T post came from this photo I first showed on Veteran's Day, 2011.
I found it on Wikipedia and remembered how my Grandfather (my grands raised me from birth) often bought those cute paper poppies for us, and wore one each Veteran's Day.

Veterans Day was first celebrated on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. The day's observation included parades and public gatherings, as well as a brief pause in business activities at 11 a.m. On November 11, 1921, an unidentified American soldier killed in the war was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. As an aside, unidentified soldiers were laid to rest that same day at Westminster Abbey in London and at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The US Congress passed a resolution in 1926 calling the date  an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938.

Janet (Fairy Thoughts), who gave me permission to use this photo of a lovely beaded poppy she made, pointed out that Great Britain's Remembrance Day was Sunday.  Janet also shared that a friend named Sue Garvey (a non-blogger) designed the poppy, with all those who made one donating them to charity, or what Janet called a "poppy appeal."

Some people in the US get Veteran's Day confused with Memorial Day, I suspect because both involve our armed forces. Memorial Day (the fourth Monday in May) honors American service members who died in service to their country or as a result of injuries incurred during battle, while Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans, living or dead. Services, parades, and such are especially designed to gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peace.

These poppies were offered as freebies at 12 months in view.  The link takes you directly to the November freebies, and I have another of my British friends, BJ (see below), to thank for the link.

A brief visit to the web site of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs notes:

• In 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day. This was so veterans of WWII could be honored, too.
• In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed by Congress, which moved the celebration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. The law went into effect in 1971, but in 1975 President Ford returned Veterans Day to November 11, due to the important historical significance of the date.
• Britain, France, Australia and Canada also commemorate the veterans of World Wars I and II on or near November 11th: Canada has Remembrance Day (sometimes referred to as Poppy Day), while Britain has Remembrance Sunday (the second Sunday of November as noted by Janet). In Europe, (Britain and the Commonwealth countries) it is common to observe two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. every November 11.
• Although it is considered a National holiday, in actuality, there are no U.S. national holidays because the states retain the right to designate their own, and the government can only designate holidays for federal employees and for the District of Columbia. In practice, however, states almost always follow the federal lead.

(courtesy of the office of the Dept. of Veteran Affairs)

BJ from C Craft Corner who also shared the link to the flower of the month above, created her November calendar using poppies.  Aren't they stunning?  A direct quote from BJ: "Yep - loving the poppies this month."  Thank you BJ for allowing me to show these beauties during T today.

Speaking of T today, I'm drinking in all the love and gratitude I feel for veterans who risk or risked their lives to keep mine safe and free.

Because I posted so early today, I didn't have time to finish this piece I made am in the process of making specifically for Veteran's Day.

I brought it to my dining room table, so you can see it better.  I began by dyeing the background fabric with tea, but it's very pale.  I paired it with a smaller piece of my rusted fabric (see my right sidebar or my tutorial page for how I rust fabric).

While the background fabric was drying, I also dyed some lace using tea, but the color wasn't strong enough, so I switched to coffee.  I also dyed the organza at that time, using the same very strong coffee.  I love the mottled effect I got from the organza.

While the tea and coffee stained fabrics and lace were drying, I found the perfect image of a poppy on the internet and fussy cut it (a fancy term from cutting as close to the image as possible).  After sealing the image with Krylon sealer and allowing it to dry,

I began the assembly using gel medium to affix the printed image to the now dry fabric.

One final close-up shows the image of the poppy I chose to honor this day.   One day soon I'll add batting and a backing to this piece, but that's my T (and coffee stains) today.

Please join me for T Stands for Tuesday.  Once again, it doesn't hurt to reiterate you don't have to drink tea, you don't even have to drink anything, but it's nice when you can tie the post to something drink related, even an empty mug or glass.  Or show some art that is tea (or other drink) related like I did today.  Anything is fair game.  So, won't you join us?  We'll visit and share your adventure, too.

Please be sure to use a direct link to your specific blog post in the URL box.  And please include T Stands for Tuesday somewhere in the post, because Bleubeard will be pleased, then link back here (and to Leah, too, if playing along with AEDM).

Enjoy your day, however you spend it and whatever you are drinking, but most of all  please thank a Veteran for what s/he has done for you and your country, no matter which country you visit from.





Today is a rather chilly Day 12
and I'm also joining Leah for AEDM.