Mary's Corner - Fourth of July Layout

I love the vintage appeal of this page and had a blast layering lots of festive elements.  Fourth of July can be fun yet busy and loud, so I wanted my page to convey all of that.  It all started with this patriotic background paper by Creative Imaginations that I picked up at Archivers.  It looks like parchment and its muted reds and blues look classy and allow the more vibrant elements to pop.  Instead of any white, I used all off-white/cream to maintain the vintage feel.

SVG Collections Used:

Uncle Sam's Extravaganza Part I SVG Collection
Uncle Sam's Extravaganza Part II SVG Collection
Simon's Simple Square Cuts SVG Collection
Christmas Cookie Party SVG Collection
Cuddly Animals Part II SVG Collection

Dimensions

Here are the exact shapes, sizes and colors I used.  Size to the dimensions shown below with “Keep Proportions” checked in the Shape Properties window.

Design Tips

• When I need solid-colored cardstock, I try to use American Crafts cardstock whenever possible.  It always cuts smooth and clean for me and I love that it's solid-color core (not white-core).
• I added pizzazz to the KaBoom and the stars with red glitter and used a few metallic brads to add a touch of military feel.  I also used a few red star-shaped brads that I picked up at Michaels and a tiny bit of navy blue polka dot ribbon which I secured with a brad.
• When I'm using brads I always pre-poke a hole in my paper with an Xacto knife and then put the brad through.  It's just easier to push through that way and can be more precise.
• As always, I inked the edges of most pieces in brown, which adds to the vintage feel.
• When choosing the brown and yellow for my eagle, I held up various browns and yellows to my other paper to see what looked good.  You would think any old brown and yellow would work, but some looked yucky and others looked great.  Subtle differences do matter!

I hope my layout inspired you to get crafty and that you have a great weekend!  ~Mary