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Can you believe that the 4th of July in just 2 weeks {ok, a little more than that}? Weren’t we just battling snow and ice? Seems like this year is flying by…just like all the others!

After making the patriotic shadowbox the other day, I still had the Verve set, American Hero {currently ON SALE…a really good sale, too!}, sitting on my desk. Hmmm…what to do, what to do!?! Make a cute lil’ acetate tag is what you do…

I first cut the acetate tag with my Labels 19 Nestabilities die and then embossed half of it. The bottom portion is covered with pattern paper on both sides. The front side is stamped with the “4th of July” sentiment and I adorned the star with yet another {embellished} star…

The rosette was created with the Easy Rosette die and cut from some fabby Pink Paislee paper that has stars on it. I {heart} using pattern paper with simple designs to make these rosettes. I think it provided the “punch” for this project. The firecracker was a late addition, but I am glad that I decided to add it. It was just what this embellishment/sentiment needed…

I added a little bling bling to make it shine and then topped it off with some {very} thick hemp twine and linen thread. I was going to go with ribbon, but I needed/wanted something to complement the kraft cardstock on the tag. Subtle, yet effective.

Hope you all are finding fun inspiration for all your patriotic projects. I’m off to keep creating! Have a great weekend!

Howdy friends! Are you all {y’all} having fun with all of this year’s sketches for SFYTT {Sketch For You To Try}? I am so glad that I switched it up to a monthly sketch. There are just so many challenges out there and I know better than anyone that there are just so many hours in a day. We can’t spend them all stamping…even if we wish we could. The last couple of month’s have been hectic and I haven’t even been able to squeeze more than one sketch card in {tisk, tisk…I know!}. Fortunately, this month I got a couple extra minutes and came up with this fun creation using Stamping Bella’s You Perk Me Up PEEPS…

Psst~ I flipped the sketch and took a few creative liberties, as well.

Don’t forget, you can embellish as you choose. I went with a corrugated heart/button/baker’s twine combo here…

I {heart} coloring Bella images!!…

All of the details, as well as the entry link system, for this month’s SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY can be found on THIS post from the first Saturday of the month. Here’s the sketch…

Have you ever had a project that started out one way and ended so completely different from what you had planned? That’s what happened here. Fortunately, it was for the better…which, I think that we all know is not always the case! This project started with a normal A2 card base and then switched to a square card base and then turned into a home decor project…with lots of other detail changes along the way.

I don’t think that I have any other Independence Day decor, but I guess this is a good place to start…

As you can see, I had a little bit of trouble with glare and such, so here’s kinda the same photo from a different angle…

This project uses a variety of pattern papers with one of the best 4th of July/American sets EVER, American Hero. This set is the set of the month and is on SUPER sale. Check it out!!! I couldn’t pick which stamps to use from this set, so I just went with it and used 5! You know me, I’m generally an image and sentiment girl. Rarely do I create scenes or montages, but this came to me and it works! Next time, I might just have to figure in some handmade/stamped pattern paper {LOVE doing that!!}.

A couple of detail shots {can you see the Stickles on the stars??}…

The whole project measures 5 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ and is inserted into a shadowbox from IKEA. I have a few extra shadowboxes stashed away. They make great gifties and it’s fun to have them on hand when your project takes a turn like this one did!

How many times did you write that in someone’s yearbook when you were a kid? Quite a few, I’m guessing. I thought it would be pretty cute paired with double walled cups filled with plastic ice and Crystal Light as end of the year teacher gifts {idea seen on Pinterest}. Whatcha think?

Packaging, as decorated by my *almost* 5 year old, Ellie…

{I did the “J” outline}

Ellie is off to Kindergarten next year. Here’s a shot from her graduation program…

My sweet friend, Susan, also used this idea for her end of the year gifts. If you haven’t seen hers {with super cute tags attached}, check ‘em out HERE on her blog. PSST…if the post is not there yet, it will be soon.

It’s that time of year. School is winding down. The heat is turning up. As moms we search out the best ideas for what to give our kiddos’ teachers as end of the year thank yous. I’ve had a good time making up the gifties for this year. I can’t say that my ideas are absolutely original {thank you, Pinterest!!}, but they came out darn cute!

I broke out some Verve stamps to make a couple of the gifties to be given. This first project is a bouquet of tissue paper and tulle flowers {tutorial link} in a black and white bucket that I found at Target a long while back and have been hoarding for the perfect project. The pick is stamped with the “Bloom and Grow” sentiment from the new Verve set by the same name. I added my own hand written sentiment around the edges to compliment it…

I think it’s pretty tough to tell from the above pic, but the pink stamped words are also shadowed in a lighter pink {Copic}. Just trust me when I say that it looks pretty darn cute that way The bottom portion is stamped with the polka dots from Bountiful Backgrounds {one of the best sets to have in a stamp collection} on Kraft paper and as I finishing touch, I added a butterfly cut from the Flutterby Verve die.

The whole kit-n-kaboodle…

Detail of the flowers…

Other details include leaves cut from Nesties {from My Mind’s Eye Lime Twist paper} and a scallop border cut from felt around the top of the bucket. I filled the bucket with Kraft crinkle paper, which I think is a nice contrast to the bright and bold colors of the rest of the project. The flowers are stuck in there with lollipop sticks that I hot glued to the flowers.

This second project is comprised of a tag with a matching {non-stamped} gable box…

I’m just gonna come out and say it~ I {heart} this tag!! …

As you can see, I am having a wee bit of trouble putting the Flutterby die away! For my projects, it’s been the perfect adornment. In addition to the Flutterby die, I also used the Jotted Heart die and FOUR Verve sets. Who knew I would use so many different pieces of Verve on something that only measures 3″ x 3.5″. The heart is stamped with both the jotted heart from the Love Notes set and the background stamp from the Wishful Elegance set {also used on the Dad card a couple posts down}. The leaves are stamped with large leaves from the Bloom and Grow set and then die cut with the Elegant Leaves die. Finally, the sentiment comes from the Friendly Phrases set…another great essential for a stamp collection! Put that all together with 3 different types of polka dots, a plaid and brown and black combined and someway, somehow it looks good…and to think that most of my wardrobe contains black, gray and white! LOL!

I have another giftie to share, but I think I am going to save it for next week. It’s not quite all the way wrapped up and I think this post is lengthy enough! Hope everyone has a great day! I’m off to prepare for our neighborhood garage sale. Blech!!