The Studio Stars & Stripes Challenge

In honor of yesterday being Independence Day here in the U.S.A., Anna has called for a brand spankin' new Stars and Stripes Challenge over in The Studio.  There really isn't any better way to celebrate the 4th than a page of my kiddos all decked out in their red, white, and blues.  I dove right into a conglomeration of lots of different manufacturers' fabulosities, that I've collected over the years, for this one.  So glad to finally give so many oldies but goodies a home!

I started this page by stamping the kraft, stripe, base page, in White ink, with the star images.  I then layered a number of hand-cut, banner, patterned papers, horizontally, behind my photos before anchoring them all with gold-threaded, straight, machine stitches.  A few more color-coordinating, patterned papers, which were secured with more gold-threaded stitching, along with a bit of gold, heart vellum, back the photos themselves, which were matted with Whisper White cardstock and tied together with a length of Baker's Twine, tied, in a bow, near their combined center.

A number of die-cut, red, glitter stars, as well as a vellum, 2014 tab were then tucked in amidst the layers...

before dressing up the photos' base with a vellum, journaling label; cardstock, jar sticker; "THIS DAY" flair button, flanked with a couple of gold, sequin leaves; and a gold, glitter, "FUN" banner.

I then grounded the whole look with the beginning of the pledge, which was a cut-away from an old Echo Park line, and backed it with Whisper White cardstock just to help it stand out a bit more.

The space between the photos and the pledge was filled in with a vellum banner, topped with the Cameo-cut, Whisper White cardstock, "god bless the USA" title and dressed up with lots of little bits and bobbles, including one lone, soft blue, cardstock sticker star; gold sequin and sticker stars; both soft blue and clear sequins; gold, sequin starbursts; vellum, stripe stars; chipboard and star buttons, laced with white string...

"OH, YEAH!" brad; and a wood veneer, star button, laced with white thread and flagged with a "FRIDAY" cardstock sticker. 

Further inspiration for this page came from Let's Get Sketchy's trendy June Week 2 Sketch Challenge.

Please be sure to stop by the challenge link above to get all your challenge details, as well as to be inspired by my talented teammates.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week, friends!

{Supplies & Tools}
Stamps: Blast Off (Market Street Stamps) Paper: Whisper White, gold heart vellum, & red glitter (SU!); floral & red stripe (MME); soft blue chevron & cow (Studio Calico); red stars (Jenni Bowlin); kraft stripe (Crate Paper); pledge (Echo Park) Ink: White (SU!); Black PITT artist pen (Faber Castell) Other: gold thread (Coats & Clark); sewing machine (Janome); Clear Cut Stackers: Stars die (Wplus9); Big Shot (Sizzix); vellum die-cut bits (Studio Calico); leaf sequins & jar cardstock sticker (Crate Paper); gold starburst sequins (Jenni Bowlin); Cornflower, Sparkling Clear, & gold star sequins (Pretty Pink Posh); foam tape (Scrapbook Adhesives); star button (unknown); white string (Hobby Lobby); veneer star button (Jillibean Soup); chipboard button & "THIS DAY" flair button (MME); "OH, YEAH!" brad (Simple Stories); Baker's Twine (Paper Sweeties); "FRIDAY" cardstock sticker & gold glitter "FUN" banner (Heidi Swapp); GodBlessTheUSA cut file (Ali Edwards); Cameo (Silhouette); soft blue star cardstock sticker (Pebbles, Inc.); gold star stickers (Pink Paislee)