Happy Memorial Day!

Let Freedom Ring!

I hope you're enjoying a great Memorial Day! 

I'm enjoying a day to relax.  .....and I did a little creating this morning.

I put together this card with a patriotic theme.  I started with the idea to cut the stars for a frame around the flag image - the stamp is from Artistic Outpost Hero set inked with Memento Lady Bug and Danube Blue plus Vintage Photo.  One thing led to another and ...... this card came together.

I took a few photos along the way so you can see some of the steps.....

{-------I used Spellbinders Stars Five S4-092 to cut my star frame.  The top stars are for the blue and the bottom for the red.

Then I cut Spellbinders Labels Thirteen S4-248 ------------}
out of star paper from The Paper Loft "Old Towne Tavern".

This shape didn't quite fit my design so I trimmed off 2 edges!

----------}

To get a narrow red edge for each curved end, I cut 2 red strips with Labels Thirteen again.  Once I had them glued to the star piece, I trimmed the side edges flush.

In this photo I have the pieces laid out the way I want to put them together.  I thought I'd show you the paper before distressing.  If you compare the card to this photo you'll see a big difference.  My stamped flag didn't coordinate with the papers as well as I'd like before the distressing.  The Antique Linen and Vintage Photo pulled all the elements together.   I used my JustRite Times New Roman font set to stamp "Let Freedom Ring".  I added a little Antique Linen to the edges.  The words and the star are mounted with foam tape.  I added a piece of twill tape....distressed, of course!......and an old button.   The beige card (4 1/8" x 5 3/8") shows a tiny margin around all the edges.

 Please take a few moments to remember all those who sacrificed that we may continue to enjoy all the freedoms we so often take for granted. 

God Bless America!

Happy 4th of July

I hope you're all enjoying this celebration of our nation's independence!

I was lucky enough to have Friday off, too, so I'm enjoying a 3 day weekend. This is the first weekend in about a month that we haven't had family visiting or events to attend.........I'm enjoying just being home, catching up a bit on some chores & relaxing.


The best part........I found time to play today.



My inspiration for this card was a tag on a new T-shirt........a great start for a patriotic card.


I trimmed off the top edge to eliminate the hole and the bottom edge just above the perforations (about 1/4").



I then matted it on navy, white, navy & red cardstock. I stamped the greeting from Artistic Outpost's Hero set with Versamark & embossed it with white EP. I used a Spellbinders oval tag die to cut and emboss it. I added the white faux stitching with Ranger's Inkessentials White Gel pen (the best white gel pen I've ever used!) I punched holes at each end and added white eyelets. I threaded a red satin ribbon through the eyelets & tied a "half bow"(only 1 loop). I cut & embossed the little star from glossy white cardstock. Before I removed it from the die, I colored the center embossed star with Copic B39 (use rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer to clean any marker off the die). I attached it to the bow with a Glue Dot.

I love the crispness & boldness of the red, white & blue!

I posted a totally different 4th of July card on Artistic Outpost's blog today. Click here to see a card in military green.

Enjoy a safe & relaxing 4th!