Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Celebrating the Fourth of July

Family reunion plans to spend the Fourth at the lake have been squashed by oppressive heat and drought.   All open fires have been banned.  It's too darn hot to have a roasted marshmallow at a bonfire anyway.  But also the town's fireworks have been cancelled.  The sun has burnt our grass to a dormant brown.  No rain in sight.


We'll still get together--but inside where there is air conditioning and an indoor pool.  Not a bad second choice.  And we'll enjoy wearing our tee shirts that celebrate ten years of fun at Sunfish--the lake property. 


Wishing everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July!


As long as I have to stay inside to keep cool, I put together this little Independence Day project. I went with a sailor suit theme.


I'm joining in the Crafty Secrets Vintage Paper Crafts Linky Party.


The shadow box is Crafty Secrets. I painted the chipboard with Golden acrylic glaze to thin the paint. Paper is 7 Gypsies.  I edged with Adirondack gold paint dabber. I fussy cut Gecko Galz images from the Star Spangled ephemera set as well as from the new June 2012 release, Yankee Doodle.  The image of the girl on the far left is from Altered Artifacts. The sheet music behind her was a free printable from Crafty Secrets.  Bingo cards are the mini examples off the back of the Jenni Bowlin package. Across the top, the 3-D effect is created with pop dots.  I used the wet distress technique on the image on the left to crinkle the edges.

My bottle cap is a mix of stickers from my stash, some D3 gel and a metal screen number (an antique store find).  

I used my Stampin' Up Crumb Cake Writer pen to edge the images--softer than using black.  I like how the boy's hand looks like he's got it cupped around the shadow box frame.  The balloon image is floating on pop dots. 

I'm also linking this up to Inspiration Journal for this month's Red, White and Blue Challenge.  This is a new challenge for me but I've seen it on several blogs that I visit, so I decided to join in the fun.

Later this week, I'll be linking this up to Beverly's Patriotic Pink Saturday because this time around it's also is Red, White, and Blue Saturday.

For those of you who also listen to my music, today I have Irving Berlin, composer of God Bless America, singing it on the Ed Sullivan show in 1968.  He wrote this song in 1918.

25 comments:

Terry said...

What a great patriotic creation! Love this and those vintage images are adorable! Happy 4th!

Carol Salisbury said...

Gorgeous Helene! I love all the images you used and that bottle cap is wonderful. I'm gonna have to get my butt in gear and alter one of them!
Hugs!

MsMad said...

Such a great 4th of Juky decoration.

MsMad said...

okay I can't spell this morning....July !!! lol

My Sweet Confections said...

So sad I'm missing the 4th this year. Check out my blog post - thinking of you and Grandma today :)

SusanK said...

Sorry about the party having to go indoors but you're much better off. Love this patriotic piece!!!

Joan said...

Helene,
This patriotic piece is awesome!!!
I love it!

Shelly Schmidt said...

Wowzers- this is amazing! Love everything about it! Love the music too- wonderful song and hubby wants me to google it to see how old he was when he sang it on Ed Sullivan...!

Anonymous said...

Hi
What a pity your plans have been cancelled due to weather. Here it has been wet, wet, wet obviously much in contrast to your own weather.
This is fabulous, the wonderful vintage images and colours - amazing detail.
Wishes
Lynne

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Wonderful creation, very patriotic.

Valerie-Jael said...

Beautiful, patriotic work, very special. Happy 4th July to you and yours! Valerie

Brenda Brown said...

Love this Helen, a gorgeous piece. Here's wishing you and yours a happy 4th July. Shame you have to be indoors. Perhaps you could swap some of your sun for our rain. My garden is lush and green but no weather to sit out in it - how ironic is that??
hugs {brenda} xox

Sharon said...

This is a fabulaous creation Helene!!! Very patriotic! Hope you have a great day celebrating!

Marjie Kemper said...

So beautiful! Love the bottlecap, especially. Hope you get some rain soon!

Shelley said...

It is awesome!

Vicki Chrisman said...

OH.. I love your Shadowbox! Thankyou so much for using my die in such a beautiful way!

trisha too said...

This is ADORABLE, what a great piece!!

:)

1CardCreator said...

Gorgeous shadow box! I love all the details! Really looks like the real thing, your distressing is fabulous!

Kate Yetter said...

This is lovely! I love the vintage goodness. Ver gorgeous!

Liz said...

So beautiful! Liz

LV said...

You are one very talented and creative lady. Love your work.

Robyn said...

these are wonderful, an perfect for the holdiay, nicely done. Hope you have a fun Pink Saturday!

Sandi McLean said...

Oh this has all of your special "2amscrapper" touches! The shadow box is one of my fav Crafty Secrets items and you have put it over the top.. hugs,

Anonymous said...

A stunning triptych! You've captured the very spirit of Summer with this one!

Kelly Booth said...

LOVE this...Great Project! Thanks for Playing at IE

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