Born in the USA | Bramble Fox

Happy Independence Day!!!

I made this layout last month for Bramble Fox using several of their products, including the brand-new Spirit of America Perspextive pack, which includes two awesome title pieces. Please note that I scrap 8 x 8, so the products look a bit larger on my layouts.

I started out my layout with a free cut file from Paper Issues and backed it with various patterned papers from Pink Paislee's Sweet Freedom collection. I created fireworks in the background with the Fox Cut Stencil #27 using red and blue distress inks and a blending brush. After brushing the ink through the stencil, I rotated the stencil a bit and used a different color or the same color with a lighter touch.

I fussy-cut some designs out of a couple of patterned papers to use as embellishments and added star Perspextives from the Cool Stars pack.

I originally brushed some light blue ink behind the star cut file to make it stand out against the white paper but felt like it was still getting lost in the busy-ness of the fireworks, so I added a layer of navy blue and then used a fine-tipped pen to add further definition to the cut file.

How awesome is that two-tone title? To make the beautiful USA title stand out from the background, I traced around it on navy cardstock to add another layer.

I used the navy cardstock around the embellishments I fussy-cut to make them stand out. And the final details were some patriotic phrase stickers, some red enamel dots, and a heart Perspextive from the Monochrome Hearts pack on the buffalo (because I always put a heart on the layouts I give away).

Wishing you a wonderful 4th of July, and be sure to pick up some of these gorgeous products for those pictures you're going to take of your celebrations!

Celebrating Freedom | CSI Case File No. 325

I created this layout for our second July Case File at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration.

Here are the Case File and clues for this challenge:

Does anybody ever read my blog posts? I've decided that for my CSI layouts, I'm just going to share about the clues I used because it takes a lot of time to write up my blog posts, and I'm not sure anybody's even reading them anymore.

I'm making layouts for a friend and I was so excited to find these photos of her darling children to use for this Case File. I brightened up the color scheme for my page and used a lot of the Evidence clues, including stripes, stars, wood, 4th of July-themed elements, jar, flowers, flags, elements, and metal. I had cut out a tricycle from the same patterned paper I used, but I just couldn't make it work, so I changed it to a wagon. From the Testimony clue, I obviously am documenting 4th of July and also using the Inspiration word "freedom."

So here are some closeups:

Celebrate Freedom {CSI Case File No. 258}

Our mid-month challenge at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration is just perfect for beach-inspired pages, like the page I already shared in the post below, but it's also perfect for all those 4th of July photos you might've taken. Because of the color scheme, I just had to make a second page to scrap a photo from this year's 4th of July celebration.

Here's the Case File. I drew inspiration from the colors and the stripes.

I also played along in the Keep it Sketchy challenge at Paper Issues.

Here are some details. I used papers from Echo Park's Celebrate America collection and Pebbles' Land That I Love collection. I fussy cut the jar of flowers from one of the Echo Park papers. You can sort of see that the big letters I used for my title are shiny silver, not black, as they appear in the photograph of my layout. It's so frustrating to photographic metallic elements!

Here are some more things I fussy cut from some of the papers. That blue paper perfectly matches the color of the jar, though for some reason it doesn't look like that in the photograph. It's really old textured paper. the "4th of July" is a free cut file from Paper Issues. They have so many awesome free files. So generous!

The word Freedom and the label it sits on are both cut files form the Silhouette store, and the fireworks and stars are cut from papers from the Echo Park collection.

I hope you'll come play with us at CSI. Check out all the awesome sponsors donating prizes and gift certificates this month:

[Fire] Crack-Ups {CSI Case File No. 206}

We have a new Case File open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration:

Here's the page I created. Clues I used... Evidence: all of them! Testimony: Thank you note. The photos were taken last summer when Tracee was visiting me. We were at my sister's 4th of July party.

I used this sketch that I had pinned a while back:

Here are some details. For my background, I used the "package" technique with two different blue watercolor paints. I then stamped in red the Kaiser Craft grid stamp (one of the clues). I added some splashes with watercolors on my paintbrush. Then I used a Heidi Swapp stencil with texture paste. Finally, I added some stars in gray stamp ink. The flair badges are by A Flair for Buttons. I have a ton of puffy stickers, so I'm always happy when I can use them (also a clue). The jars (another clue) are a stamp by American Crafts, and the leaves (another clue) are from an old  Technique Tuesday stamp set.

The tags were cut on my Silhouette machine. I added the chevron arrows for my wood clue. The banner is from Michaels, and I outlined it with white gel pen.

I used the filmstrip for the frame clue, and I found that "girls are silly," which fulfilled the metal clue, in my stash--I've had it for about a hundred years! The artisan-shaped label (another clue) is by BasicGrey.

Another flair badge from A Flair for Buttons. The tiny red letters are by Jillibean Soup and the white fabric chipboard letters (fabric was a clue) are Thickers.

I had so much fun making this page. I hope you'll come play. We've got nine great sponsors donating prizes this month!

A Positively Patriotic Palette {at Color Combos Galore}

We've got a little twist to the traditional red, white, and blue color scheme over at Color Combos Galore this week.

A perfect opportunity to scrap pictures from last weekend's 4th of July celebration! My sister had set the table with these bandannas to use as napkins. We, of course, had other ideas!

I love this challenge for so many reasons. First, it gets me really digging through my stash to find papers that have the perfect shade of the colors. I always rediscover things I forgot I owned. Most of what I included on this layout is ANCIENT!

I also love the new twist on our Designer's Challenge. I took the suggested challenge of combining the gingham with the floral paper, and I also used the basic composition of the photo to design my page, and I used vintage images.

I hope you'll come to CCG and check out what the rest of the team created and play along with us!