NOVEMBER TAG; The 12 Tags of 2016....A Nod To My Native AmericanHeritage

      November always brings thoughts of all the blessings we are thankful for, and it also happens to be set aside for celebrating - & discovering - the original peoples of this great land called America; Native American Indians. I've always felt deeply for 'the underdog' in any situation/circumstance, and ever since I can remember, whenever my school studies involved the Indian Tribes, their unjustified "removal to reservations of set-aside land for them to live freely on" ( aka: really nice wording for every tool they owned for their way of life having been stripped from them, and forced death marches on foot to where they would be neither seen nor heard from and not able to re-claim their rightful lands)... let's just say that my heart always knew there was more 'dirt' layered under "Manifest Destiny" than the clean paper it appeared on in elementary school U.S. History books.

      Having more time during this period of housewife life known as "empty nest" while The Chief is at work -especially during the time of my Dad's illness and passing at the start of this year- I've had a bit more time to once again dig back into the Native American ties in my ancestry. It takes quite a bit of time to research. But, the biggest thrill was our trip to Glacier National Park in July where I got just a glimpse into life now of NAI - their vast lands of Montana. The views on trips we make up to Minnesota (to see the ygr set of cpl kids) always takes our breath away, but the reservations are sparse in the lower section. The NAI we have met in the Red Wing area are always welcoming, and there is an awesome hand-made items shop in the downtown where you can browse the awesome talented authentic beading. While our kids have ventured further north and seen how beautiful the land and its Native tribespeople, is; we have yet to go further than the line from Minneapolis & due west. But we plan to accompany them on a rural hiking/kayaking/camping trip sometime soon. Only in our heart-buried desires to keep this land pristine and save it for future generations, do we have a huge volume of learning to do from America's REAL "first settlers".
       Thus; my take on Tim's November Tag for 2016. I'd gotten the "Feathers Set" of Tim Holtz's Alterations earlier in the summer from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, and hoped to somehow use it for my November Tag. Tim's choice of Remix did not disappoint for my plan! But, first, I wanted to get some real meaning behind feathers in general just for inspiration....

Then, inspiration having taken its hold... I was armed & ready!

Tim used his stamps, and while I did NOT have a matching stamp to this set, I DID have an idea to use the embossing folder WITHOUT running it through my BigShot: I simply used it -on the raised side- as a stamp. And I got better with a bit of practice on how hard or soft to press. I wanted a crisp, clean image, but at the same time; a "feathery-soft" image. Worked!!!

You can see how I was trying to figure out if I wanted to follow the Feather Meanings info on the designs of my three feathers for each tag, but I ultimately opted to go with Color Meaning since USA Americana and the 'first' people (moho: aka the NAI peoples) match together very well. I am a Peacemaker at heart...ALWAYS. 

I tried my hand at making a similar set of trinkets to the NAI DreamCatcher. Several of our group purchased one during our trip to Montana, & I'd already fallen in love with them many years ago.

Left: my hand-made trinkets for the November Tags and; Right: the pair of earrings that caught my eye during one of pur shopping excursions to the GNP shops. These are NOT authentically made, tho. Real hand-woven beading is much, MUCH more beautiful, sturdy. and LASTING! Certainly worth MUCH more than these shops bring in for factory-generated tokens. But, they DO give me the general design and inspiration to follow! FYI: The tribesppl we met/chatted/askedQsOf were from the Blackfeet Nation. A very proud, yet totally humble, people indeed. We learned quite a bit abt them and my ChiefHubby quipped "Aha!! That's how I need to keep you from talking too much: take away yer 'Talking Stick'...PERMANENTLY!" 

Hey, can I help it? I LOVE to TALK!! (And I type like I talk: A LOT!) lol

So these are what I ended up with. These are the FRONT SIDES...and some closeups follow:

Thanksgiving seemed the perfect time to add those IdeaOlogy cuttlery items... and use my very FAVE TH IdeaOlogy items: the Compass and an Arrow pointing out the NW Montana direction. I tied both- w bindertwine on the feathers to the cuttlery, and hemp on the arrow- for a more natural look.

I used some Silver Distress Spray as well as the Spritzer w Black Soot Distress Marker to give a little pop matching the metal colors of the IdeaOlogy. On my Gift tag, I used the same colors, but w the exception of a different Compass color... just to make each Tag a bit different from the other.

And here's that DreamCatcher hanging on the ribbon...matches in really nicely with the awesome background of the Remant Rubs!!! You'll notice that my resist is not as prominent as Tim's. That's because I started w a darker tan/gold shaded stockcard, and color-matched my Distress Inks in coordinating shades. It took on a much more subtle look that I wanted. It reminded me of the many different shades of rock, shale, and clay that run throughout the mountains and the colorful, CLEAN rocks in the clear, cold rushing waters! Think: PURE& NATURALLY BLENDING!

You see the layers?! I used two layers of thinner cork and stacked them...like the layers of rock we hiked over. And the awesome depth of the sky, tree-covered mountains, layers of green grass and flowers sticking out of - and growing BENEATH!- the still-melting foot of snow left in July, ....the deeply running clear rivers... it was like living in a TENTH dimension of sight, sound, and color!

These are the BACK SIDES of the November takes on Tim's Tag.

My Bestie in Florida (whose Family was the entire reason we ended up making plans for the Montana trip) who made FREEZING on JULY FOURTH worth the trip! She attacks anything put in front of her with gusto...and a GENUINELY -FELT smile on her face. She and her Husband, John, changed our lives in so many ways, and they continue to help us see possibilities in life: even when it seems so far out of reach. Christie shares my love of getting to know other people and knowing that we are all made with love, and in the Image of Our CREATOR! 

Closeup of one of three Arrowhead stones I found in one of those GNP shops. Indiana has tons of sites where these can be found that are originally left from Tribes of Miami, Shawnee, and very early before those- Sioux, among others who had been forced from lands further east of Indiana. The Potowatomi Tribe was the main native peoples in all the surrounding area of our Jefferson Township in Cass County. In fact; the very land the ChiefHubby and I currently own, & live on, were Potowatami lands. (Pottawatomie - coumpound for 'Put-ta-wa' & 'me' means "a nation of fire blowers" ... kinda cool having been a 3- generation firefighter family that we are!!) Their "Trail of Death" is marked all along the backroad we drive on to get to our house, so the thought of those misdeeds of white settlement is never far from my mind. Logansport, which is the county seat and our address city, is named for Captain Logan- a US Soldier who was famous as a Scout for General Harrison. Captain Logan was half Shawnee.

I guess I could say I was 'tickled' by the final result of my NOVEMBER TAG! lol

Thanks so much for checking in this time, and hang on for another Tag I worked on this month that was a 2nd take on October Tag for my 51st Birthday on the 18th that I'd been a bit behind getting done. But, the time spent was worth it: in time for GIVING THANKS!!!

Stay safe, and...

HAPPY BLOGGING!