Patriotic Cards

I made four patriotic cards, three using the Top Note die and the Big Shot (thank you again Ellen). This is my first time using it with my own projects, I've used it many times in craft class. I can see why everyone likes it so much. Below is a picture of the Top Note die.

Here is the first card I made with the die cut. I cut White, Real Red and Brilliant Blue cs into
4 1/4" x 11" strips to run through the Big Shot. As the cs base for the flag I used white, you can also use red or blue. With the red die cut I positioned it length wise and cut 3/8" strips and adhered every other one to the white cs base to get the red stripes. I then made the blue corner by cutting the blue die cut into four pieces. I used my star punch on white cs and put a red jewel brad in the center. I put the red ribbon top to bottom on the side and a card was born, not bad for the first one.

This next card was easy to make and uses the same cs colors as above, White, Real Red and Brilliant Blue. Instead of using the top note die itself I used the leftover part, which looks like a window after being run through the Big Shot. Following is a picture of what that looks like after I put the die through twice with one strip of cs.

Ever since I saw the frame (what I call it) I knew it could be used on some card project instead of throwing it away. It has endless possibilities with all kinds of stamps to frame. For the card below I used dimensional's on the flag stamp and blue eyelets on the right hand side of the card.

With this next card I used red as the base cs and white 3/8" strips as the flag stripes. I did this because I wanted to see if it made a difference using white or red as the cs base and to me it doesn't make a difference. I used a different star punch for this flag and added a USA paper clip for decoration. The background of the card is So Saffron cs using the Textured plate and the Big Shot. I adhered the red white and blue ribbon using the red star eyelets. I like the Saffron cs with the flag colors, don't know why but I just do :o)

This last card is my favorite of these four cards I made. I like old, rustic pictures, stamps, etc. and this one of the American flag is great. I inked the stamp with blue then red, breathed on it to give it moisture and then stamped it on white cs. I tore all four edges of the white cs to help give it a worn look. A few months ago I saw this red ribbon at Pocket Full of Treasures and got it because I knew I'd use it at some point. It gives texture and color to the card that I like. The sentiment was stamped on white cs using blue ink and framed in red. I used dimentional's on both the flag and the sentiment.

For some reason this flag stamp is difficult to get a usable image from. I had to use my rubber brayer a few times to get this image. It was well worth it to me. I've decided I'm going to make another one of these cards so I can keep this one.