Fourth of July Blog Hop!

Welcome to our Fourth of July Blog Hop. You should have reached me from Kerry's blog, but if you've gotten lost along the way, no problem,  the complete list is below.
Here's what I came up with for you:

I thought for sure that I knew exactly where my Dreamweaver Stencils fireworks stencil (LJ886) was, but alas I could not find it! So I started flipping through my stencils to come up with something that would work and I found my Spider Mum (LJ892) stencil instead! I used painters tape to block off the areas of the stencil that I did not want to use, then positioned the two flowers at an angle on white paper. I carefully pasted one with the Glossy Red Embossing Paste, then the other with Glossy Blue Embossing Paste, removed the stencil and sprinkled red glitter on the red paste and blue glitter on the blue paste.  While those were drying, I cleaned and dried the stencil so it would be ready to use on the third "fireworks".  The background papers are from Rusty Pickle a couple of years ago.
After the paste was dry, I flipped the stencil to the opposite side I used the first time, taped off the areas I didn't need, and positioned just one mum as my other firework, again using Glossy Blue Paste and blue glitter. When that one was dry, I used Distress Inks (Antique Linen, Old Paper, and Fired Brick) to age the white background so it would blend better with my other papers. Put it all together and they really do look like fireworks! (OK, maybe you have to use a little imagination, or squint your eyes a bit, but I think they worked!). Don't forget to leave me a comment for a chance to win a prize. Then hop on over to Liz's blog for another great idea.

Stop by the following blogs for lots of inspiration, ideas, and fun!  Leave a comment on each by 6 pm EST Tuesday, July 5th for a chance to win some great prizes.  Winners will be drawn at random from the various blogs.  Here's the list:
 
Taylor -- http://taylorusry.blogspot.com
Cyndi -- http://scrappychickcyndi.blogspot.com
Alison -- http://alisonsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com
Berenice -- http://karbersweetescape.blogspot.com
Mary -- http://softangelkisses.blogspot.com
Janelle -- http://rainpuddlesdesign.blogspot.com
Erin -- http://stamptillucramp.blogspot.com
Maria -- http://riacreations.blogspot.com
Jennifer -- http://just4funcrafts.blogspot.com
Pam -- http://1pamperedstamper.blogspot.com
Angelique -- http://scrapping-angel.blogspot.com
Sandie -- http://sandieshores.blogspot.com
Wendy P -- http://paperinkandsmiles.blogspot.com
Suzi -- http://mrsweyremaster.blogspot.com
Kathy -- http://pixieduststudio.blogspot.com
Beth -- http://inkyfingersrule.blogspot.com
Wendy J -- http://papertherapy-wendy.blogspot.com
Kimme -- http://kimme-thelifeofaprincess.blogspot.com
Kerry -- http://kerryischilling.blogspot.com
Louise - http://www.artfullyarticulate.blogspot.com/
Liz -- http://www.blackcatsstudios.blogspot.com/
Laura - http://www.rememberinglifesmoments.blogspot.com
Hope you have a great weekend and enjoy the hop!
Happy Creating,
Louise