Celebrate Freedom Blog Hop

Hello and Welcome to the Celebrate Freedom Blog Hop!!

Today we are celebrating Freedom.  I am grateful for my freedom thanks to the many military personnel who fight tirelessly for it!!!  

In this blog hop today, you will find a variety of projects all about Freedom.  You should have arrived from HERE, but if you found me first - no worries - just hop over to the BEGINNING so you don't miss a thing!!!

Here is a complete list of stops along the way in case you get lost!

1. Lisa Pontious ~ http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com/

2. Ashley - http://thebloghopprincess.blogspot.com

3. Sandy- http://scrapbookblessings.blogspot.com

4. Pam - http://lovebugcreations3.blogspot.com/

5. Haidee-http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/

6. Melisa ~ http://melisascraftycreations.blogspot.com/

7.  Angela - http://angelascraftyspot.blogspot.com

8. Kathy - http://kathyand3kids.blogpot.com

9. Tabetha - http://tabethascreations.blogspot.com/

10. Sarah - www.sarahbiswabic.blogspot.com

11. Lori - http://scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/****HERE

12. Carolyn - http://grandmacarol46580.blogspot.com/****NEXT

http://grandmacarol46580.blogspot.com/

I love celebrating the 4th of July and honoring our freedom.  I created a layout that will feature a picture of my son this coming 4th.  I started with my Gypsy:

I used:

 Birthday Bash for the 4 sized to 2.76 inches.

George for the star sized to 9 inches.

Billionaire for the "th" sized to 1.12 inches and welded.

Lyrical Letters for "of" and "July" sized to 1 and 1.47 inches.

I originally cut all of these out of white cardstock, but the letters and number were getting lost on my page, so I re-cut them in blue cardstock.

I did cut the regular layer of the 4 and ended up only using the regular (not the shadow layer) of it.  

I found the Freedom from Independence Day and sized it to 1 and 1.24 inches.  Used the bigger one on the layout.

These cuts were made with blue cardstock.

I needed some smaller stars.  I went back to George and sized them 1 and 1.12 inches.  I cut both sizes out of red and blue cardstock.

I use the negative cuts as my template when placing my letters and titles on a page.

I tied some twine around the 4 and pop-dotted it to the page.

I used a circle punch to hold the "th" and pop-dotted it to the page.

I added Freedom on the bottom with some ribbon and stars.

I will slide in a photo from the 4th of my son in all his firework glory!!!  I tied twine and pop-dotted a star on the photo mat.

We have several sponsors for this hop:

Royal Prize Pack from Theresa TheScrapbooking Queen

http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com/

$15.00 Gift Certificate from KaDoodle Bug Designs

http://www.kadoodlebugdesigns.com/

$10.00 Gift Certificate from Treasure Box Designs

http://treasureboxdesigns.com/

$20.00 Gift Certificate from Little Scraps of Heaven

http://www.littlescrapsofheavendesigns.com/

$20.00 Gift Certificate from MB's Treasurista

http://mbtreasurista.com/

$10.00 Gift Certificate from Designs on Cloud 9

http://designsoncloud9.com/

Stamp Set of winners choice from Paper Sweeties

http://www.papersweeties.com/

Large custom handmade keychain the winners choice 

of style and color from Chelle's Custom Designs

https://www.facebook.com/ChellesCustomDesigns

$15.00 Gift Certificate from The Paper Parade

http://www.thepaperparade.com/

$20.00 Gift Certificate from Scrappy Dew

http://www.scrappydew.com/

$15.00 Gift Certificate from Too Cute by Jessica

http://www.toocutebyjessica.com/

A gift valued at $10.00 from Lettering Delights

http://www.letteringdelights.com/

I hope you have a safe and Happy 4th of July!!!

Your next stop in the hop is HERE.

Summer Party Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Summer Party Blog Hop!!  We were encouraged to share several projects from our party.  You should have come here from PAT.  If you found me first, please hop on over to the BEGINNING so you don't miss anything!!!

Here is a complete list of blogs in the hop in case you get lost along the way:

   Shannon-  http://shannonleffew.blogspot.com
Daphne- http://craftyscrapsofstuff.blogspot.com

Angela - http://www.crazy3monkeys.blogspot.com/

Pat - http://patacakespages.blogspot.com

Lori - http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/****HERE

Robin - http://cutonedesignsbyrobin.blogspot.com/****NEXT

Sandy- http://scrapbookblessings.blogspot.com

Christine- http://hotberrydesigns.blogspot.com/ 

Every year we host a 4th of July BBQ and fireworks so it just made sense to share some of my decorations for the party this year!!

I made a fun banner to hang up on the front door.

I made a fun centerpiece for my entryway table.  I saw something similar on Pinterest and LOVED it as we are a baseball family!!!

I made a fun gift bag.

I also made some Photo Booth Props.  I have been having fun with these since Easter.  I am re-using some from Easter and Graduation, but did make a few 4th of July pieces.

The Banner:

I cut out the banner flags from the cricut cartridge Birthday Bash sized to 3.5 inches.  I did not save the file and did not remember to get a photo :(  I cut them out in red and blue cardstock.

The starburst came from the Silhouette store as a stacked set.  I sized them to 2.5 inches and cut them out of white cardstock.  I made several of these banners to share with my friends!

The USA also came from the Silhouette store and I cut them out at 2 inches.  I cut them out in red and blue cardstock.

I alternated red and blue and used some star ribbon to complete them.

This clear container was once filled with cheese balls (to my family's delight).  I bought them ONLY to create this project!!!  I filled them up with baseballs from our garage with minimal grumbling from the boys about wasting "perfectly good" baseballs....

The flags came from Michaels.

I was not sure which would look better, a solid star with 4th of July in blue, or just the 4th of July in red so I cut both!!

The stars came from CTMH Artiste and the big one is sized to 5 inches.  The smaller star is for another project.

4th of July is from Independence Day and sized to 4.41 and 2.29 inches.

I cut them out of red and blue vinyl.

I put the blue 4th of July on a piece of transfer tape....

and stuck it down on the star while it was still on the mat.

I used the transfer tape to put the star on the container.

I liked this as you can see it from a distance.

But, I also like this on the front when you are close up.  I kept one on each side and will probably rotate the container every time I walk by it!!

For this project, I cut out another star (from the baseball container project) in cardstock.  I placed it on a white kraft gift bag that I purchased at Michaels.  I used red spray paint and painted the bag.  I covered the handles with scrap paper.  Once it was dry enough to take the star off, this is what I ended up with.

Here is a close up.  I added blue glitter tulle to one of the handles.  I now have blue glitter EVERYWHERE even after I vacuumed!!!

I used the smaller star as a gift tag.

Here is one of my new props for the photo booth:

I love these word bubbles!!! 

The 4th of July, stars and fireworks came from the Silhouette store.

I cut these out of red cardstock.  I added some blue stars and fireworks (shown below) to create the word bubble.

The actual word bubble came from cricut.  It is from a digital CCR cut called Word Bubbles.  I sized it to 8.53 inches. 

 I cut it out of  white poster board.  I adhered the words, stars and fireworks to the bubble and taped a skinny dowel (mine are from Wilton) to the back.

I also cut these props from the Silhouette store in blue cardstock.

I drape a white sheet in a corner of my room and place the props near by.  I also leave my point and shoot camera and extra batteries near by to encourage the younger ones to have fun!!!

Here are some of my models:

I hope I inspired you to have a creative summer party!!!

Your next stop in the hop is ROBIN.

4th of July Layout (SweetSassyDiva)

This week at SweetSassyDiva, our theme is Big Bang and today is my day to Design!!

I wasn't sure if I would be able to craft once I fell and broke my right (dominant) wrist.  I was determined to make something!!!

We usually host a 4th of July party at our house and I am too busy to take a ton of photos.  For this 2-pager, I only left 2 spots for photos....I can take 2 good shots this year right?!?

I got out my Gypsy and tried the left hand orientation but really couldn't make it work, so I switched back.

I strarted out with the star from Stand and Salute sized to 9.59 inches.

This left room for my title 4th of July also from Stand and Salute sized to 4.41 inches.

I cut out this layer in red and blue.  Here you can see my beautiful cast!!! 

On Layer 2, I put two stars sized to 5.50 inches.

The fireworks are also from Stand and Salute and are sized to 1.82 and 2.41 inches.

The banner pieces are from Independence Day and are sized to 2.06.

I used blue cardstock to cut this layer.

Layer 3  included one star and six fireworks copied from Layer 2.

Also on this layer are the other two banner layers.  I grouped the pieces so the top half will be cut in white cardstock and the bottom half will be cut in red cardstock.

Here they are cut out.

I ran the red and blue layers through my Xyron.  I stuck the twine on the top of the red layer and sandwiched it between the red and white layers.

Here is the banner assembled.

The musical note paper is Recollections from Michaels.  Everytime I think of fireworks, I can hear music in my head...well except for that one episode of the Brady Bunch!!!

I pop-dotted the fireworks to my page and put some stickle dots on the edges.

I had my friend Jenny from YogiMemories ink my edges with Brick Red for me.  I thought that would be a disaster if I tried!!!

I pop-dotted the banner flags to my page and wrapped the twine around the back of the paper.

More fireworks and inking.

I really liked how this turned out!  I hope I inspired you to create a project that reminds you of a BIG BANG!!

Thanks Bobbi Jo for having me over today!!