Beelieve in Freedom Free Cross Stitch Pattern

If you enjoy cross stitching and haven't been over to Pinker & Punkin's blog, you're missing out. Melisa has so many wonderful things she's stitching, and many are her own free, including THIS ONE that is oh so adorable!

This was an easy piece to stitch and it fits perfectly into a square frame, which I love. I got my frame on Amazon, but the size will vary depending on the count size aida or linen that you use.

Many thanks to Melisa over at Pinker & Punkin for so much wonderful inspiration!

Get Whale Soon Card

I love puns; good puns, clever puns and even bad puns. Most people roll their eyes and change the subject, but not me. So if I see a stamp set that has a good pun in it I'm running with it.

This very old set from 2013 is one I picked up at a sale. I love its playful nature and simplicity, but there's a lot you can do with it. It even has a Valentine's Day aspect to it. Here it's wishing someone a speedy recovery.

My complete supply list is:

• Stampin' Up! Oh, Whale! Stamp Set
• SU! Bermuda Bay Card Stock & Ink
• SU! Balmy Blue Card Stock
• White Card Stock
• SU! Marina Mist Ink
• SU! Blueberry Bushel Ink

I had to use a dauber on the whales to keep them from getting over-saturated with ink, but other than that it was a really easy card to make. It'll be soon on its way to send someone some get whale wishes.

Patriotic Birthday Slimlines

Today I had fun making some cards that are especially designed for Veterans and those with birthdays around the 4th of July.

I started with dies from Unity Stamps called "Say It Big." I love it when dies come with a background because it's such an easy way to give some contrast to a card. however with these, I mounted gray on gray, so the contrast wasn't as pronounced.

Here's my complete list for these cards:

• Unity Dies "Say It Big"
• Stampin' Up! Cherry Cobbler Card Stock
• SU! Night of Navy Card Stock and Ink
• Coredinations Small Gray Dot Paper
• SU! Smoky Slate Card Stock
• Star Paper from Place & Time (Joann)
• Happy Sentiment from SU! Kite Delight

I'll probably have an opportunity to send these fairly quickly, for there are always guys who have served in the military, plus Veterans Day is coming up soon too!

Just a quick shout out before I go. I used Pink & Main's Sticker Paper when cutting out the fine words with the dies and it was wonderful! It's so much thicker than other sticker papers, so it really comes away clean from the sticker backing. I don't get any compensation at all for saying that, I just really like it. So if you're looking for sticker paper, be sure to check their's out!

Wishing everyone here in the States a wonderful 4th of July. Thanks so everyone who took the time to stop by my blog today!

Christmas (or Not) BINGO Challenge #8

Happy July! Once again it's time for a new challenge over at Christmas (or Not) BINGO Challenges. It's their 8th challenge and there are some really fun choices on the BINGO board. 

It was hard for me to choose on this one, but I went with the "O" column. My card featured all ot the elements there: Rectangle, Stenciling, Pearls (Diamond Pearls in this case) and a Digital Image.

Since the 4th of July is my favorite holiday, I went with that theme for this card. My digital design (feel free to grab it below) is a cute dog celebrating in full style.

I started with a slimline card to emphasize the rectangle shape. That also gives me a lot of free space to play around on the front of the card. I used Stampin' Up!'s Night of Navy for the base.

For the stenciling, I tried a couple of things before getting it just right. I ended up settling on a stencil from Heidi Swapp and embossing paste from Stampin' Up!

For the pearls I subbed peel and stick clear rhinestones, hoping that they would add to the firework's feel of the card.

Lastly, I created the digital image of the dog all decked out for the 4th. He's mounted on Stampin' Up!'s Real Red card stock. It's finished off with a piece of red ribbon with dots that came from my stash.

We would love to have you play along with us this time! Head over to Christmas (or Not) BINGO Challenges and pick a column. You do have to choose just one column straight up and down, but you only have to use 3 of the elements in that column, and one is always a free space, so it's really easy to play. We can't wait to see what you create!

And if you'd like to send someone a 4th of July card using my freebie below. As always:

1. Snag it to your desktop or photos.
2. Put it in a Word or Pages Document.
3. Resize it to the size card you want to make.
4. Print it out, either at home or at a copy center. 

I hope you enjoy the freebie! Thanks for stopping by my blog today and have a wonderful day!