“Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” – Adlai Stevenson

The patriotic ATC's were very fun to make and a subject that is quite dear to my heart - the love and pride I have for my country! On the back of each card, I included a patriotic quote that I felt was represented by the image on the front. I made all three sets for my (ex-) fiance' who was serving in Iraq at the time. I decorated an old Band-Aid can to match and shipped all the cards in the tin to him overseas. I have to say that I'm glad I took my mom's advice and scanned an image of them before I mailed them off because now they are gone with the man!

The backgrounds for this first group was made by sanding down a set of patriotic playing cards I found in the clearance bin at Wal-Mart. I just added stickers to coordinate and then brushed a gel medium over the top of everything:

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.” - John F. Kennedy

“America” 1/5 Spirit of America series

“Territory is but the body of a nation. The people who inhabit its hills and valleys are its soul, its spirit, its life.” – James Garfield
“Proud” 2/5 Spirit of America series

“This, then, is the state of the union: free and restless, growing and full of hope. So it was in the beginning. So it shall always be, while God is willing, and we are strong enough to keep the faith.” – Lyndon B. Johnson
“We Salute You” 3/5 Spirit of America series

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” – Elmer Davis
“Land of the Free” 4/5 Spirit of America series

“A great man, tender of heart, strong of nerve, boundless patience and broadest sympathy, with no motive apart from his country.” – Frederick Douglass on Abraham Lincoln
“God Bless America” 5/5 Spirit of America series

These next two sets were all created together but then I separated them into two groups... one that was more fun, "Celebrate USA," and the other (below) that I called "Patriot Dream."

“Americanism means the virtues of courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood – the virtues that made America.” – Teddy Roosevelt
“USA” 1/8 Celebrate USA series

“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” – Erma Bombeck
“Independence” 2/8 Celebrate USA series

“There are those, I know, who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American dream.” – Archibald MacLeish
“Let Freedom Ring” 3/8 Celebrate USA series

“When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect.” – Adlai Stevenson
“Land That I Love” 4/8 Celebrate USA series

“The things that the flag stands for were created by the experiences of a great people. Everything that it stands for was written by their lives. The flag is the embodiment, not of sentiment, but of history.” – Woodrow Wilson
“Three Cheers” 5/8 Celebrate USA series

“A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.” – George William Curtis
“America the Beautiful” 6/8 Celebrate USA series

“Breathes there the man with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land!” – Walter Scott
“Happy Birthday USA” 7/8 Celebrate USA series

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776
“1776” 8/8 Celebrate USA series

“It is the love of country that has lighted and that keeps glowing the holy fire of patriotism.” – J. Horace McFarland
“United We Stand” 1/7 Patriot Dream series

“Off with your hat, as the flag goes by! And let the heart have its say; You're man enough for a tear in your eye that you will not wipe away.” – Henry Cuyler Bunner
“Precious” 2/7 Patriot Dream series

“I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for...”– Thornton Wilder
“Flyin’ High” 3/7 Patriot Dream series

“Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.” – Kahlil Gibran,“The Vision”
“Lady Liberty” 4/7 Patriot Dream series

“These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” – Thomas Paine
“I Serve” 5/7 Patriot Dream series

“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.”– Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Dedicated” 6/7 Patriot Dream series

“Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have.”– Margaret Mead
“Freedom” 7/7 Patriot Dream series