Let's Craft and Create Challenge #161: STARS & STRIPES - Anything USA/red, white & blue...

It's time once again for another fun challenge on Let's Craft and Create. This month we're focusing on red, white and blue. It's a great time to make a card that honors a service member. I know some of you even make cards that are offered to the troops to send home to friends and family members. If you're one of those kind people, thank you for doing that! My dad, both of my brothers, my grandfather and almost all of my uncles served in the Military, and I know they would have appreciated some handmade cards to send home.

I decided to make two 4th of July cards to send to my aunts. They get such a kick out of receiving them. They told me they had "never heard of sending 4th of July cards," so I enjoy adding a little fun to their holiday.

Here are my two cards. I started with one white card base, one blue one and two white panel fronts, which I dry-embossed with a stripes embossing folder.

For my first card, I dug out my star dies and some red, white and blue glitter cardstock.

It was a simple matter to organize my stars into a "flourish," laid out diagonally across my front panel.

I love the sparkle on this card. In fact, you can see that I even added some colored flat-backed gems. The flurry of stars and gems reminds me of the fire works displays we watch each year.

My sentiment was stamped with Versamark ink onto red cardstock, heat-embossed with white EP, fussy cut and popped up on foam tape.

On the inside of my card I used a red mat and three glittery blue stars to embellish my stamped sentiment.

For my second card, I used a star-shaped shaker element as my focal point. My entire front panel is popped up to provide room for the sequins in my shaker.

The sentiment was heat-embossed and I added a few blue gems on either side to tie in a little more of the blue.

In this photo you can clearly see the blue card base which also serves as the background of my star shaker.

I love making shaker cards, and I think they are such a nice surprise for the recipient. I hope my aunt likes this one!

I used the same stamped sentiment on this card and randomly adhered a few tiny holographic stars. In person, these little stars reflect the blue of the interior left side of my card base.

That's it for my red, white and blue cards. I hope you'll join in the fun and post your cards on Let's Craft and Create. You can also check out the inspiration from the other amazing Design Team members.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl