An Elegant Touch...: Day 11: July - Stars and Stripes

Learn to do right; seek justice. DEFEND the oppressed. Take up the cause…

Isaiah 1:17

Welcome to the Third Annual ’25 Days of Christmas’ in conjunction with My Paper Crafting.com, the blogsite for which I am on the regular Design Team – and loving it! Here’s a bit of an introduction, history and explanation of what you can expect during this 25 Days of December. Don’t worry if you’ve missed any of the original posts to this point – You can click on links on Melin’s post to get to posts from previous days. I am posting on Days 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 18, 20, and 25, corresponding to the days of this month – and possibly some other days in between, depending on how my time goes…

We have almost 30 designers who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to create some spectacular projects to share with you! So pull up a comfy chair and get ready to be inspired! There will be daily projects featuring:

* Cricut Cartridges

*Electronic Die Cutting Files

(Svg type, using Pazzles, Silhouette, Gazelle, Cameo type Machines)

*Digital Stamps with Coloring
(Using Copics, Digital and other coloring mediums)

*Stamping and Inking

*Traditional Dies, Punches and all the other tools we love.

A Little Something For EVERY TYPE of "Paper Crafter"

Format: Each day the designers were given a “theme” to work with, so each day will be different. We will also have a daily FREE Cutting File and a daily FREE Digital Stamp-Printable along with some FREE Royalty-Free Vintage Graphics. Today's theme:

Today’s theme is ‘July – Stars and Stripes.’ We, as a nation, celebrate our freedom from oppression after hard-fought wars many years ago on a day in July established for that purpose – that of remembrance and thankfulness to those who fought to defend us. My son is a Marine Captain (USNA 2005). He is currently serving our country and has served three deployments to this point. We, as mothers of Active-duty Military, are called, Blue Star Mothers. I decided to make a Marine-themed Mini Album Cover for a mini-album that I purchased at Michaels Craft Store a while back – one of the several items I pick up to have on hand when I need a quick gift. I used the FREE cutting file for today, adding appropriate embellishments – stars – and the Marine Globe and Anchor insignia.

Here is the album – Before –

Here is the album cover now -

* I painted over the black design at the edges of the cover with white acrylic paint.

* I cut the elements from the file – white plain and red, blue and gold sparkle cardstock.
* I embossed the blue section with my Stars embossing folder and my Cuttlebug.

* I found the ‘wood carved’ Globe and Anchor photo online last year for another project and have used it several times. I printed it on photo paper and adhered it to the back side of the cutout window. Because I had a ‘mishap’ while putting the cover together, I ultimately printed another ‘just the globe’ section of the photo and adhered it to the original globe with PopDots to raise it up. As often happens, I turned a ‘mishap,’ into something better, and I could say I had it planned that way, but perhaps it’s encouraging to you to know that ‘mishaps’ need not be ‘total devastation!’ *smile*

* I adhered buttons where the pattern called for paper stars to be placed. I dislike using buttons without thread or something being tied into the holes, but I wasn’t able to do that with these, so I used a red marker on the white stars and a white gel pen on the red stars to simulate stitching. I did have white yarn that I used on the Blue Star.

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As mentioned above, Melin will be giving away FREE digital die cutting files, digital printables and vintage graphics. Please note: Each day we will have new files. Be sure to stop by each day as they will be free one day only! Please also note, the free files will have a price listed by them, but when you add them to your cart to check out, they will be free during the day they are posted only. These files have been generously donated by PaperCraftingWorld.com. Be sure to take advantage of the great 50% off sale on all downloadable files through December!

Today’s FREE files are –

Here are just some of the prizes we will be sharing with you!

~ Quick Quotes Prize Pack
~ The Twinery: Twine
~ PaperCraftingWorld.com: Gift Certificate
~ Page-Kits.com: Gift Certificate
~ Melinda Beltran: Close To My Heart Stamping Items
~ Miscellaneous Weekly Prizes

We will share details on all of these prizes as the days unfold.

SO HOW ARE YOU ELIGIBLE TO WIN?!!!!
Be a follower of Melin’s My Paper Crafting blog AND leave a comment on any of our daily posts. That's it, that's all we ask!!! Please only one comment per day. ALSO join us on our Facebook Page and leave a comment telling us you did and that will be an extra chance to win! Pretty easy!

Thank you for joining us today. Be sure to go back tomorrow for some more great projects and our new FREEBIES! I do hope you've been enjoying this December Adventure with us! We're about half -way through, so come back daily! ;-}