Final Day of Red, White & Blue Week

After the parade has gone by, the BBQ is over and all the fireworks are spent you are left with just your memories and maybe a few photos with your family and friends.  Be sure to get those photos off your phone and into a system that they can be enjoyed by everyone.  Project Life is a wonderful solution to the cure of the unseen photos.

You don't need a lot of products do get the full Project Life experience.  In fact I only used the pocket pages here.  The slots are perfectly sized for your 4x6 photos.  There is a variety of pages for photos that go both ways.  Stampin' Up! also has card collections to go in all of the different sized slots with great sayings and cute designs.  I simply cut some standard cardstock and designer series paper for my slots.  I used a few stamps and punches to decorate some of the areas and cut a large Deco Label to put some journaling.  The only thing left for me to do is print 4 photos, do some quick trimming so they are 4x4 and slide them in the pockets.  Below is a close up of the cute butterfly I made with the Watercolor Wings Stamp Set.

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Red, White & Blue Week--Day 4

Our men and women in uniform deserve a personal thank you every day.  While signs in store windows, hanging a flag in your yard, and posts on Facebook are great, please ask yourself when you last personally thanked a man or woman in uniform.  This can be a member of our military, firefighters, first responders or police force.  Any service that someone does who puts their life on the line to help others.  

If your BBQ this weekend has a lot of left over food, I encourage you to take it to the firehouse.  While at the community festival and fireworks this weekend, shake the hand of the police officer who is there to keep things safe, so your family can have a great time.  Most importantly, next month, when we are not focused on patriotic holidays, send a thank you card to your neighbors soldier.  1% of our population serves in the military.  That means 1 or 2 kids from EACH graduating class will enter the military from EACH high school EVERY year.  These are our children, who are asked to become adults overnight.  Pray for them.  

OK, I am off my thank our service members soap box.  Here is today's project.  Again, it is not flashy or over the top, just a thank you from the heart.  The pattern paper is from the Brights Designer Series Paper Stack (#138434)  You get 4 double sided sheets for each color in the collection, 40 sheets total.  I cut a 3" square from the blue then turned it in the corner.  I used a bit that I trimmed off for the bottom corner.  The red stripe strips are 1" wide.  There is a 1/2" strip of glimmer paper over top of the right striped piece.  The star was made with the 2nd size Star Framelits (#133723) and cut from Silver Glimmer Paper (#135314).  The sentiment is stamped in Pacific Point from the One Big Meaning Stamp Set (#138788).  The entire card is layered on a mat of Real Red (4-1/8" x 5-3/8").

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Red, White & Blue Week-Day 3

I made a beautiful Red, White & Blue butterfly the other day, but was not sure how I wanted to use it.  Then I got a text from a friend of mine.  Her family was driving across country from one duty station to their next and they were passing through my area.  We only got two hours to visit before they had to continue their drive, but those two hours meant a lot to me.  I sat down this morning and made this card for her.  

I have yet to figure out how to take a good photo of a white card with embossing in the background.  If you look closely, you can see the Fluttering Embossing Folder(#139304).  The butterfly was made with the Bold Butterfly Framelits (#138135) and the Butterflies Thinlets (#137360).  I cut a solid Pacific Point butterfly, then cut one Whisper White and one Real Read lacy butterfly.  I adhered the white one to the blue, then put the little red pieces in the spaces.  I used glue stick on half the blue area at a time.  If I made another one, I would attach the white one with glue stick and then put little dabs of Multipurpose Liquid Glue on the little spaces for the red bits.  By the time I got to the end of attaching the red bits the glue stick had dried and the bits kept falling off.

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Red, White & Blue Week--You're Invited

It's Party Time!!  Here is an invitation for that big block party you are planning for the 4th of July.  Or the kids Captain America birthday party.  Or the retirement celebration for a dear friend.

I love the Red and Silver Glimmer Paper on this one.  I cut two 1-1/2" x 4" rectangles from each paper.  Then cut each on diagonally in half.  I covered a piece of scrap cardstock in glue stick and put the glimmer triangles on with all the points meeting in the middle of one side.  I then trimmed the extra glimmer paper off the edges.  It is put on a Whisper White piece of cardstock and onto a Pacific Point card base.  The Stitched Satin Ribbon is wonderful.  There is a texture on one side from the stitching and the other side shines with the subtle lines.  The sentiment tag was made with the Decorative Label Punch.

I am hoping my son picks Captain America for his birthday party theme this year, so I have a reason to make more of these.

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Red, White and Blue Week

4th of July is this coming weekend, so I thought it would be a great time for a week brought to you "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue."  I love that song.  Toby Keith rocks!   Those who follow my blog or come to my classes know my husband is a proud Army soldier.  I am a proud Army wife who does what I can to support our unit and the families.  There are lots of military spouses who do the same.  While we never do it for the recognition it is nice when the thank you's come.  Be it a verbal thank you in front of the group, a certificate for outstanding dedication or a handmade card.  I like to keep a few cards on hand to give to someone who might help at the car wash fundraiser or clean-up from the summer picnic after everyone else has gone home.

Stampin' Up! has several stamp sets that can be used to simulate stripes on a flag.  This stamp is new to the 2015-16 catalog.  It is called Brushstokes (#138952) and is actually a full size background stamp.  I used my Real Red and Pacific Point Markers to color in 7 stripes on the stamp in the 3x4" size I wanted.  I then cleaned my stamp and inked only the blue stripe area again.  I carefully laid my cardstock back on the stamp to fill in the white spaces in the blue field.  I cut the flag out with my paper snips following the curvy lines the brushstroke stamp made.  The 3 stars are punched out with the star from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack (#133787).  The saying was inked with my marker and is from the One Big Meaning Stamp Set (#138788).  The background was done with the Gorgeous Grunge Stamp Set (#130517).  You can ink it with you marker a few times or use your Pacific Point ink pad.

Cards do not have to be lots of layers and use lot of accessories to make someone know you appreciate what they have done for you.  Just give them a simple card and a "Thank You" from the heart.

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Layered Letters--Last Day

I hope you have enjoyed this week with the stamp set Layered Letters.  It truly is a wonderful alphabet set.  I have one last project to show you.  The inspiration for this came from the Baby card I showed you yesterday.  I like to keep various cards on hand for a last minute need.  Baby cards are tough though.  I never know which gender I might need, so I end up making them neutral colors.  It has also been 6 years since I was on the receiving side of the baby card.  Things have sure changed in that short time and now, gender reveal announcements are all over the place.  I live far from my family, how cool would it have been to announce the gender with a card.

The Layered Letters Stamp Set has several additional symbols.  I used the # sign the other day.  How perfect is the ? sign for this project!  I used my Stampin' Write marker to draw in the apostrophe.  Then of course we have the REVEAL!  (And so my blog reading family and friends know--I am NOT having another baby!)

How much do you love that cute print used inside the explosion box?  It is from the Go Wild Designer Series Paper Stack.  And the ribbon?  I loved the Stitched Satin Ribbon in the last catalog.  I was so glad to see them get 5 fresh colors for it this catalog.  

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Layered Letters --Day 4

The great part about alphabet stamp sets is that you can spell anything you want.  LOVE, HELLO, or THANKS are popular.  Another favorite is BABY!

I mentioned yesterday that the Layered Letters Stamp Set comes with two different shapes to layer the letters onto.  This is the circle image.  I stamped it full strength in So Saffron today.  I stamped the letters in Calypso Coral and Pear Pizzazz.  Did you check out the Weekly Deals yesterday?  I used another one today.  The Large Polka Dot Embossing Folder is on sale this week.  (hard to see in photo--it is embossed on the Whisper White background)

The "Welcome" is from a stamp in the And Many More Stamp Set.  I inked only the word I needed and stamped it on my So Saffron cardstock before punching it out with the Word Window Punch.  I advise getting any stamp set with small words in wood.  It makes it much easier to handle the words, clean them, keep them from getting lost, and stamping them straight without ink marks from rocking a block.

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