Home » 4th of July

Category Archives: 4th of July

Layered Eagle Thank You

(If you are opening this post in a mobile device, be sure and click a second time on the header to go to the blog where the pictures are shown correctly.)

Hello friends, bear with me as I catch up on my blog posts – or journaling as I like to think of it.  Let’s start with the Layered Eagle die set that Sharon gave me for my birthday. I used it for thank you cards. The patterned paper is Whaline Patriotic paper I purchased on Amazon.

I guess it makes sense if someone gives you a die that you make a card with that die to thank them.  

It also makes me use it to see how it looks.  The eagle die is from Honey Bee Stamps.  I will link the site down below where little Sal is waving at us from the computer.

This is a Starburst card, however the diagonal strips are not adhered next to each other, there is a gap between each strip where the navy blue shows.   This keeps the card from being overly busy.

Recipe

  • Base:  Red, 8 1/2 X 5 1/2, scored at 4 1/4
  • Layer 1:  White, 4 1/8 X 5 3/8
  • Layer 2:  Navy Blue, 4 X 5 1/4
  • Base of Starburst:  Navy Blue, 3 3/4 X 5
  • Patterned Paper:
    • 2 pieces, 4 1/2 X 1 1/2, cut on diagonal
    • 4 pieces, 3 X 1 1/2, cut on diagonal
    • Mark your center point on the Starburst base and position each strip on the base.  When you are happy with the placement of the strips, adhere them to the base and then turn the base over and cut off all the excess sticking out from the base.  Now you can adhere the base to the larger Navy Blue layer.
  • Circle:  White 2 3/8″ die cut with circle dies
  • Eagle:
    • Soft Suede, large wing feathers
    • Early Espresso, body and top of wings; talons
    • Shimmery White, head and tail
    • Crushed Curry, beak and feet
    • Evening Evergreen, Branch
    • Soft Succulent, Berries
  • Inside Greeting, Patterned paper for shadow,  Navy Blue for letters,  3 3/4 X 1 1/2, die cut with Scrapbook.com Word Dies Grateful Sentiments
  • Heart:  Cut out from a Kokorosa starburst die

That die you started with that didn’t work very well?

Yes, it wouldn’t cut out all the detailed cuts without having a metal shim plate, so I wasted a bit of paper but saved the heart!  I ordered the metal shim plate from Amazon so I can try again another time.

  • Star Embellishments are silver star gems I colored with red and blue alcohol markers.

I hope you found some inspiration for your card making today!

SAL,    Saluting A Land we love

Karen

Riddle of the day:

Question:  What game is dangerous for your mental health? 

Answer:  Marbles; you don’t want to lose them.

 

‘Twas My Birthday

Check out these beautiful handmade birthday cards from my dear friends.

Lucille’s was the first one I received in advance of my birthday.

Jo had a very clever little purse which opened and then the inside had a pull tab with an additional wish:

.   

Joy’s card was a unique circle shape with lots of texture and layers:

 

Christine used a fun die and paper piecing to create this card:

 

Lisa’s card was a beautiful teacup filled with flowers and lots of layers on a fun fold.  Lisa joined with Sharon to celebrate my birthday with a real tea party!  I felt like a queen.

   

At the tea, Sharon gave me this card and many goodies:

 

Lucille made me a second card:

 

Thank you, dear friends, for those beautiful creations!

The family is not into card making, but Amber is a wonderful cook and she, Tyler and Stacia put on a great birthday celebration up at the lake.  Amber made brownies and her awesome potato salad and Tyler grilled steaks and grilled corn on the cob with fresh corn Stacia had brought.  We were able to get two campsites close together at Willow Creek Reservoir, just minutes from Grandby Lake and Shadow Lake.

   

Paul, not to be outdone for my birthday, booked us on a hot air balloon ride in Steamboat Springs a couple weeks later.   It is quite awesome to have a daughter, Stacia, and son in law, Jonathan, who own a hot air balloon business.

https://wildwestballooning.com/

 

It was a month of birthday celebrations.

Back to the July 4th week — Jaxson and Emmitt, our two grandsons, were camping with us for the week and we drove from the lake to Steamboat Springs for the 4th of July parade.  Jonathan asked Paul to drive the jeep with the float they had made.  It looked like a hot air balloon basket with lots of red, white and blue balloons attached above.  Stacia and the girls were on this float blowing bubbles at the crowds.

The royal wave!

  

The boys got to ride with Uncle Jonathan in the ‘real’ hot air balloon basket!  You can see the burners on  the silver truck behind this picture.  Jonathan would do a quick touch of the burners to create the sound you hear as they fly the balloon.  They won first prize in the commercial float category.  I wonder what they will come up with next year!

 

Then it was back to the lake!

It was Jaxson’s and Emmitt’s first long camping trip with us.  Mom and Dad came up on the 4th and Stacia and the granddaughters came up on the 5th.  Emmitt had me pull his first loose tooth.  In this picture he is trying to show you the gap in his mouth.  Grandma is a doctor who can pull splinters out and now a dentist who can pull a loose tooth, but my favorite role is just being grandma and cuddling these grandchildren before they are grown and gone.

Here’s a picture of Emmitt after he caught his first fish.  Jaxson had three fish on his hook that were ‘almost’ a catch.

 

After the Buchholtz family headed home, we took Stacia and the girls and anchored beside a little island on Shadow Lake for a picnic on the boat.

 

And Ruger was always with us, of course!

When the Whiteheads went back home, it was time for a little R&R with my beloved:

Thank you everyone for a memorable birthday month!

SAL,  Shown A Lot of love for my birthday

Karen

I cannot pick a ‘best’ birthday card so I will show the hot air balloon and link Sal in the computer to their site.  The videos are awesome to watch even if you have no desire to fly!

From Jonathan:

Question:  What do you call it when the hot air balloon shadow passes over you on the ground?

Answer:  A balloonereclipse!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karen Decker’s June 2024 Shoebox Event- Red, White & Blue

It is time to catch up with my card postings here on the blog.  As is now becoming common, I post cards for the holiday or celebration we just had instead of the one coming up.  If you are thrilled with the card you can find it on Pinterest or Instagram under Stampalosopher and save its design for next year.  Or you can come back to this blog and click the ‘Recipe Box’ tab and scroll to the card and click its thumbnail in the Recipe Box to access the blog post for that card.  With that being said, let’s look at cards for the Fourth of July (or perhaps July birthdays)!

 

I wondered if we had been archived!

No, Sal, I just had a camping trip with the two grandsons, then both families joining us over the 4th for some boating and camping.  Later I had the two granddaughters for a week with trips to and from Steamboat to pick them up and take them home.  It has been a wonderfully full month!

Recipe for Firework Card:

  • Base:  Night of Navy, 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 scored at 4 1/4
  • Layer (X2):  Real Red, 5 1/4 X 4, Emboss with textured embossing folder (just a guess)
  • Top Note:  White 5 1/4 X 4, die cut once with the top note, then turn 90 degrees and die cut again
    • sponge the edge with Night of Navy
    • Use Taylored Expressions 6 x 6 ‘Party in the USA’ Stencils to stamp the background
      • stencil 1 – Night of Navy stars & stripes
      • stencil 2 – Real Red stars & stripes
      • stencil 3 – Basic Grey stars & stripes
  • Firework strips
    • Night of Navy, 4 X 3, score at 2, fold and then cut 12 -1/8 inch strips
    • Real Red, 2 1/2  X 3, score at 1 1/4, fold and then cut 12 – 1/8 inch strips
    • Put a little bit of glue on each strip on the unscored end and attach it to itself; put another tiny bit of glue on the inside of the blue strip to attach the red strip.  Place the strips symmetrically around the fireworks securing them to the Top Note with a 3/4″ punched circle from a double back sheet
    • When all are attached to the circle, add tombow glue to the center to reinforce the pieces
    • Punch a 3/4″ circle from the Amazon DSP and add to the very center
  • Inside Top Layer:  White 5 X 3 3/4
  • Bottom Strip:  Whaline Patriotic Pattern DSP from Amazon, 3 3/4 X 3/4
  • Bottom Front Strips:  Night of Navy, 3/8 X 4; White 1/8 X 4
  • Bottom Greeting:  White 3 X 1 1/2, die cut with detailed Bands Die then stamp with ‘Band Together’ stamp set; the little blue stars are from the Hometown Greetings Edgelit Dies

The inside greeting of ‘Celebrate Freedom’ is from the Taylored Expressions ‘Land That I Love’ foil it sheets.  The sheet is foiled with blue foil and then cut to size.  The inside and the front greeting are lightly sponged on the edges with Night of Navy.  I will link Textured Expressions in the computer at the end of the blog.

The next card uses the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ stamp from Taylored Expressions, the ‘Land That I Love’ foil it sheets, and the ‘Hometown Greetings’ edgelit dies from Stampin’ Up!

 

Recipe for God Bless America card

  • Base:  Real Red, 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 scored at 4 1/4
  • Layer (X2):  Night of Navy, 5 1/4 X 4
  • Top (X2): White 5 X 3 3/4, Use sticky notes to mask the red for stamping blue and then mask blue to stamp the red of the flag. Use the stamparatus so that you can stamp several times to get a nice dark blue/red
  • Church:  White textured paper, 3 X 1, cut with Hometown Greetings Edgelit Dies
    • Die cut from Night of Navy a second church, 2 3/4X 1, to adhere behind the white and slightly to the side for shadow  (next time I would add a blue strip connected to the greeting like the inside has)
  • Note:  The Foil It Sheet from Taylored Expressions has several greetings on one sheet so it needs to have the greeting cut first and then use a separate set of blue foil sheet for the layer, usually you can cut the blue foil to size and then foil it and use the negative for the layer
  • Greeting:  Foil God Bless America
    • God Bless America, 2 1/2 X 1 1/8
    • Blue Foil, 2 3/4 X 1 3/8
    • The Foil It Sheet from Taylored Expressions has several greetings on one sheet so it needs to have the greeting cut first and then use a separate set of blue foil sheet for the layer
  • Greeting Inside:  Land That I Love
    • Land That I Love, 1 1/2 X 2
    • Blue Foil Layer, 1 3/4 X 2 1/4
  • Blue Houses on Inside:  Night of Navy, 3 1/2 X 2, die cut with Hometown Greetings Edgelit Dies
  • Top Strip on Inside:  Amazon Whaline Patriotic DSP, 5 X 7/8

Thanks for visiting!

SAL,  Salute A Land we love

Karen

Click to go to Taylored Expressions

Riddle of the day:

Question:  How can you drop a raw egg from a height onto a concrete floor without cracking it?

Answer: Concrete floors are very hard to crack.

 

Graduation Card to celebrate Joshua

Congratulations to our grandson, Joshua Decker, on his High School Graduation!

.  

 

.     .  

.   .  

We are so proud of Joshua!

For his card, I used the colors on the graduation announcement to make the front of the card.  There was just a touch of green on the Eaton Eagle so I bordered the circle with a little green.  The banner is silver but to get the stamped images on the sides to show in the picture I had to turn it a bit sideways and the banner looks gold!

Recipe for Joshua’s graduation card:

The card uses several stamp sets:

  • Clearly Whimsy Stamps Collection – Graduation- DA1173
    • You Did It on the circle
    • Diploma on the left
    • Inside (one stamp)
  • Vertical Greetings for Congrats on right side
  • Reflected In Nature for the Eagle on the top left
  • Day By Day Numbers for the 2023 on the bottom right
  • Make A Difference for Joshua’s name

Heather taught us how to use the Tailored Tag Punch to make the graduation cap (mortarboard cap) by punching once and then hold the punched image with a sticky note and punch a second time.  Punch just the side of the punch for the base of the cap.

The circles are made with dies from the retired circle set with the 5th largest die in Granny Apple Green and the 4th largest die in Basic White embossed with the confetti embossing folder.

The Banner Die is the 5th in the retired banner die set.

  • Base:  Thick Basic White, 5 1/2 X 8 1/2, scored at 4 1/4
  • Layer 1 (X2):  Night of Navy, 4 X 5 1/4
  • Banner:  Silver Foil, 2 1/2 X 4 1/4 die cut then embossed with the Star embossing folder
  • Granny Apple Green: Die cut for a border with 5th largest circle
  • Basic White: 3 3/4 X 5, die cut with 4th largest circle and emboss with confetti embossing folder
  • Cap:  Black Foil, 2 X 3, cut with Tailored Tag Punch
  • Inside Layer:  Basic White, 3 3/4 X 5, stamp and color
  • Embellishments:  Navy Twine made into a tassel secured with a black brad, 3 Swarovski crystals

Did you use Copic markers to color the inside? 

Yes, Sal, but I failed to write down which colors I used. Next time.

The design inspiration comes from the card Heather Guitreau made at our shoebox event:

.

Lovely cards, Heather!

Thank you for stopping by my blog for…

A pinch of creativity to spice up your crafting world! 

Karen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 2021 Swaps

Hello Stamping Friends,

Hostess Code for August:  WRQKTXMA with Joy as our hostess!

Announcement from the home office:  The delayed products are back in stock and you can order them now!

If you are new to following blogs, be sure and click to open the blog post in your email and then click the title again to go to the main site.  Sometimes the videos don’t even work if you don’t completely open the blog post by clicking twice.

Thank you for giving me some of your precious time as I share inspiration to bring a pinch of creativity to spice up your crafting world!

Today’s inspiration comes from the July swaps!  Let’s look at the red, white and blue ones first!  I love to decorate the house with cards for the season and now I have some to save forever and put on the end tables and shelves around July 4th.  Do you decorate with cards?


Joy’s card feels like a 4th of July picnic with a plate of goodies on a red and white tablecloth amidst a garden of flowers!  Love it! She used the ‘Encircled In Friendship’ stamp set and the ‘Encircled in Beauty’ dies with Basic White, Paper Blooms DSP, Berry Delightful DSP,  Crinkled Seam Binding and Opal Rounds.


Jo’s card is another ‘save forever to decorate’ card.  She used the ‘Ornamental Christmas’ framelits for the stars, the ‘All Around Wreath’ dies for a red and white layered wreath, the ‘Playful Alphabet’ dies for the lettering of July, and ‘Family Party’ for Happy 4th.  Inside she used the ‘Celebrate You’ dies.  She sponged with Pacific Point ink to get the shaded blue look on the base!


The inside of Sharon’s card was as decorated as the outside and both were beautiful!  She used the’ American Celebration’ holiday stamps from Close To My Heart and a 4th of July block stamp for the inside.  She used silver, white and aqua tinsel embossing powders with Carousel & silver sparkle embossing glitters.  She has a silver star embellishment on the flag, a gold star brad on the fireworks, and blue and red stars from a roll of stickers for the inside.  She used a Spots and Dots cuttlebug embossing folder and square dies from Hobby Lobby.  Her cardstocks are Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler and blue.


Lori’s swap card would put a smile on anyone’s face!  She made watermelons from the ‘Layering Circle dies’ and a ‘Tasteful Label Die’ for the sentiment.  She also used ‘Create With Friends’ stamp set and a Close To My Heart ‘August Word Puzzle’ for sentiments.  She used a small flower punch and the ‘Pattern Party’ hostess DSP with Whisper White, Polished Pink, Garden Green and Blushing Bride card stock.


Prepare to be wowed, awed and inspired by Ann’s fabulous diorama card!  She used the ‘Mountain Air’ stamp set and ‘Majestic Mountain’ dies with a sentiment from Happy Trails by Simple Stories.  Her cardstock is Old Olive, Crumb Cake, and Basic White with inks of Early Espresso, Shaded Spruce, Mossy Meadow, Balmy Blue, Pool Party and So Saffron.


My card is a ‘sort of’ case of one I saw Frenchie Martin post at Frenchie Stamps.com.  I used her idea of the ‘Stitched Stars’ with the medium ‘Daisy Punch’  and ‘Daisy Punch’ to layer red, white and blue on top of the stars, but I cut the stars in half so they covered more of the card front and I added a different sentiment and ribbon.   The dies cut out stars that I used on the top of a 1/2″ Basic White circle and on the inside red and white strips.  Do you recognize that Stampin’ Up! red, white and blue ribbon?  No?  It is the 1/4″ ‘Quilted Ribbon’ in red and green and I used our ‘Dark Night of Navy Blends’ to color the green to make it blue!   The sentiment is from the ‘Hey Birthday Chick’ stamp set stamped on a ‘Stitched So Sweetly Die’ with a sponged edge of real red.

.  

Recipe for 4th of July Card:

  • Base:  Thick Basic White, 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 scored at 4 1/4
  • Layer 1:  Real Red, 5 1/4 X 4
  • Layer 2:  Basic White, 5 1/8 X 3 7/8
  • Swirly Star:  Night of Navy,  4 X 2, cut in half and adhere to red daisy then adhere to card front
  • Daisy:
    • Real Red 2 1/2 X 2 1/2 punched with larger daisy punch
    • Basic White 2 1/2 X 2 1/2 punched with larger daisy punch
    • Night of Navy 2 X 2 punched with medium daisy punch
  • Circle on top of daisy:  Basic White, scrap, with 1/2″ punch layered with a small star cut out from the die
  • Greeting:  Basic White, 2 1/2 X 2, Stitched So Sweetly Die, stamped in Night of Navy, sponged with Real Red
  • Stamp Set:  Hey Birthday Chick
  • Inks:  Night of Navy for sentiment and Real Red for sponging
  • Dies:  Stitched Stars Dies, Stitched So Sweetly
  • Punches:  Daisy Punch, Medium Daisy Punch and 1/2″ circle punch
  • Ribbon:  1/4″ Quilted Ribbon, 6 1/2″ with the green stripe colored with a Dk Night of Navy Stampin’ Blend
  • Inside strips:
    • Real Red 4 X 1/2
    • Basic White 3 7/8 X 3/8
    • 3 Night of Navy stars from the die cut outs used for the swirly stars on front
  • Embellishments:  3 holiday red rhinestones

I am so blessed to have found these dear stamping friends!

Didn’t some of them actually find you?

Yes, Sal, that is true!  Through mutual friends and the online search for a demonstrator, we all came together.

We would love to have more of you join our circle of stampers so give me a shout out if you are interested in club or holding a workshop or attending events.  303-815-0838.  If you would like to join my team of Carin’ Crafters we have a special offer during Sale A Bration and you can pick out a bundle of your choice to add to your starter kit.  Check the details out HERE in my previous blog post!

Hostess Code for August:  WRQKTXMA with Joy as our hostess!  Click on Sal in the computer to go to the store.

SAL,  Smile A Little

Karen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to my blog!

Sal Window to Products

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 158 other subscribers

Categories