When my husband and I got married, one of the very first purchases he insisted on for our new house was was a flag pole! And what a joy it's been over the years to see those stars and stripes waving above us in the yard. The flag reminds me of how blessed I am to live where I do. Right along with those feelings is this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme, which is "red, white and/or blue." I tried to focus in on red/pink and teal/blue for my United States collage:
I had so much fun with that one that I decided to make three tags to go along with it:
To create all of these projects, I started with sturdy white background paper and cut out the United States outline in black cardstock using a Tim Holtz US die.
Next I stamped background images in various colors onto my white paper bases. I used some fabulous stamps from IndigoBlu for this, namely Raindroplets, Calculus and Rugged Edge. Lots of good Tim Holtz stamps, too, and that ever-handy Simon Says Stamp Scribble Flowers set.
I did a little more stamping, then using sponges and Distress Ink, I smeared Distress Ink down the tag and also inked around the edges.
I cut a few paper hydrangeas out of plaid paper with some Martha Stewart punches, glued them on, then glued a piece of the United States outline on top. For the tags, I cut the US shape into thirds. I added a piece of embroidery floss through the top hole and added the sentiment, which are from Tim Holtz's Occasions Small Talk stickers.
Here's the tag made from the middle of the US. Same process, but a different color palette and I added die-cut stars instead of flowers.
Here's the last section, which features an orange-y color scheme and uses polka dots and plus-sign-shaped dies:
This was my first time playing with the United States die and I found it a lot of fun- especially when you can utilize the outline as well as the inside and frame all sorts of fun stuff behind it.
Here's the list of supplies I used the you can find at Simon Says Stamp:
I'm looking forward to seeing your red, white and/or blue projects this week! Be sure to upload them to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog to inspire the rest of us and to give yourself a shot at winning the $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp!