American Made by My Minds Eye 18 comments  

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This reveal is very exciting for me.  I have a deep love of patriotic things, 4th of July, and the United States of America. I grew up in the hometown of Harry S Truman (Independence, MO and now I live on Independence St), with huge family celebrations for Independence Day, marching in the 4th of July parade, and a thirst for knowledge about the Presidents of our great nation.   May is also the month for Memorial Day and the start of a patriotic summer.  It was on May 17, 1804, that Lewis and Clark began their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase a journey that led them on their way across the state of Missouri and through 13 other states over the course of 2 years.  Therefore, it is fitting that My Minds Eye should come out with American Made in the month of May.  My heart beats red, white, and blue so it has been my pleasure to pour my heart into the beautiful designs and colors of this My Minds Eye release. 

The first pages I made are very patriotic, indeed.  The town I live in celebrates its Civil War Heritage with tours and demonstrations of historical places.  You've seen a page from me before of the cannon demonstrations.  We also visited one of the nicer and older homes in the area during the last Heritage Days.  The home is a mere 20 years older than my own home and has been placed on the National Historic Register.  It is beautiful inside and out but even more so when decorated for the event.

This page is not quite square because as I often do, I forgot to cut the edge off the paper before I decided on my final design but I find that I like my pages to be a little out of square and it will still fit into the album.  To make the page, I cut the Celebration Banner paper, sprayed it with some glimmer mist, dribbled some blue paint across it, and backed it with white then blue cardstock.  There are fabulous trim and cardstock embellishment pieces in the American Made line.  I used one along the top of the paper to create a patriotic border and then some of the other diecuts on the page as the title and as other decorations.  I created some paper roses and use them atop chandelier pins adorned with polkadot flags. 

There is a teensy bit of journaling on a small tag on the right side of the page.  I really love this picture of me with the boys last summer.  I feel this page is simple but beautiful in its simplicity.

The next two pages I made come from a little later in the summer - the pictures were taken on the 4th of July.  There is a long standing tradition of fireworks in my family.  We spend the 4th with my cousin and his boys that are similar in age to my boys.  This past year, the boys were really into smoke bombs.  As soon as they were lit all of their little bodies were running and dancing through the colored smoke.  It was magical.

I wanted to capture the energy of that moment so I chose to make medallions of many sizes on a field of stars and stripes. 

I added True Blue Stickles to the diecut from American Made to give the title a spark of interest.  And, I ruffled a paper ribbon to wrap up the top of the page.

The second page from the 4th is of my son with a sparkler.  A few years ago we had some issues with sparklers so he was a little nervous holding onto the sparkler.  The shirt he's wearing is not something we got special for the holiday, its one of his favorite shirts because of the eagle on it.

I cut an eagle image using my Silhouette and distressed it with some acrylic paint.  The title is made from several of the diecut images.  I cut and tore strips of paper and used the star diecuts to make a border on the page.  I thought the border on the left could use a little punch so I used the pinwheel diecuts and the pinwheel paper to make a pinwheel border.  The page is accented with Prima crochet buttons. 

One thing I like very little about the summer is the humidity and stillness of the air in the swampy area where I live.  Inspired by a wedding accessory made by BHLDN, I created the perfect little fan to carry with me on the steamier days.

It's double sided just like the MME papers and was made by cutting 2 strips of paper approximately 3 inches wide with a scalloped edge.  I divided one of the strips in half so that I had 2 pieces 6 inches long and glued them to the ends of the 12 inch long striped paper. 

I then glued the ends of the papers to tongue depressors with my hot glue gun and added a piece of bakers twine, glued in place, so that I could keep my fan open or closed.  It really is a fantastic little accessory and I think I'll make a few more!  I would have made more for this reveal but I used up just about every scrap of paper.

Inspired by an logo for Black Star Co-op, I created this star card to give away for Father's Day.  The Navy has been in the news a bit lately and I'm very proud of the men in my family who have served in the military.  I thought this would be a perfect way to celebrate my love and respect for them.

Each strip of color was cut and placed individually on a piece of white cardstock.  The chipboard star was painted with Glimmer Glaze and the word HERO was added from the diecut shapes.  This card makes me a little misty-eyed when I look at it.  I hope the recipient appreciates it. 

And, finally, I have something to share that shows a little versatility of this line by moving away from the patriotic theme.  I had such a great time working with American Made that I was literally left with scraps of paper and one whole sheet of paper at the end of this creative frenzy.  I used the scraps and a piece of Coredinations cardstock to create a page about another wonderful summer pastime- picking strawberries.  Actually, I don't know if the picking the strawberries or eating them is the wonderful part but I enjoy doing both!

I've used pieces of 5 different papers on this page and added in a little bit of fun from my own stash to turn it into something totally unrelated to American patriotism.

Thank you so much for looking at my projects.  Be sure to look for them in the gallery for more detailed shots and products used on each piece.  And, charge into the store to buy American Made by My Minds Eye at A Cherry On Top for your perfect summer projects. 

Products used in this reveal article include