Weekly Treasures: From Sea to Shining Sea

Happy 4th of July / Independence Day!  This is probably the first year I've not spent the holiday celebrating with friends or family.  My father and his father (who is no longer with us) are both retired Air Force.  My mother's father is a retired Marine who served in Vietnam.  Her sister and brother both did a few years in the Marine Corps and her nephew (brother's son) is still in the Marines and served in Iraq.  Many of my friends from high school are in the Air Force and I just got a text from a friend from college today telling me he was in basic training.  I say all of this to say that even though I don't always agree with the decisions the leadership of this country makes, my friends and family have sacrificed a great deal to ensure I can live in a country that is peaceful and free from external oppression.  I'm thankful and proud to be a citizen of the United States of America.

For those of you readers outside of the US, July 4 is the day we celebrate our independence from Britain and the official birth of our nation.  At only 200+ years old (234 since the Declaration of Independence and 221 since the Constitution), the US is still a very young country.  We've got a long way to go still with protecting civil rights, ensuring equal opportunity, and developing economic stability but we've also come a long way over the years in each of those aspects.  In my small way of celebrating this proud day for my country, I've curated an American-themed treasury on Etsy:

From Sea to Shining Sea

I've titled this treasury "From Sea to Shining Sea" not only because it's a line from a famous patriotic song (America the Beautiful) but also because I tried to reflect that sentiment with the items I chose for the treasury.  I've included images of New York City, Washington DC, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and my current city Raleigh.  The rest of the treasury is peppered with items that use beading, woodworking, sewing, and screen printing techniques.  I hope you'll take the time to visit the treasury, click on the items, and, if you have an Etsy account, leave a short note in the comments.

Thanks for reading and may you have a safe and fun-filled Fourth of July Weekend.

Until next time,
Elle