by Richelle Naegle

It’s time to get out your red, white, and blue paper! If you don’t have any, never fear; there are so many great patriotic paper collections to buy. Many of them go well together. Regarding new releases this year, we have the All American Collection Kit, a solution from Simple Stories that is ideal for making 4th of July scrapbook layouts. Also, check out the Sweet Freedom 12″ x 12″ pack from the clever designers at Pink Paislee. Both of these are great options for a variety of projects.

4th of July Layout

The first thing I made was the scrapbook layout. I love to scrapbook, and sometimes, finding the right inspiration for a layout proves to be a little difficult. So, I hope this layout inspires you to get out your scrapbook supplies this summer and create some fun projects. Be sure to share them with me on our Facebook page. These cute bears are from the Silhouette Store. The girl bear is called the 4th of July Girl Bear, designed by Stinking Cute Paper Piecings. I used the CAMEO 3 to cut her at about 5″ tall. The boy bear, called Patriotic 4th of July Bear, was designed by PPbN Designs and cut out at 4.5″ tall. For the sparkler, I used some Tim Holtz Stickles. I also added some ribbon to give the pictures some depth.

As an avid scrapbooker, I’ve bought a lot of supplies. Finding the perfect album has always proven to be a challenge for me. I have tried everything from ringed to post albums. I have tried about 5 different brands. Recently, I discovered Pioneer albums and put them to the test. I love how these albums are made. The rings stay together, and they are large D-size albums, so I can fit a lot of pages in one album. They offer a large selection of colors and different styles, too. They even made this beautiful Flag Print Postbound Album, which would be perfect for the above layout.

4th of July Banner

The second project I made was this Freedom banner. Banners are super easy to make, even if you don’t have a die-cutting machine. You can use the Banner Punch Board or the Alphabet Punch Board. Both are part of an extensive selection of We R Memory Keepers punch boards.

For this banner, I used my Cricut Explore Air 2 with a little help from the classic Birthday Bash Cricut cartridge. The new Explore Air 2 cuts twice as fast as the older models, making projects less time-consuming. The banner is 5.5″ tall, allowing me to cut 4 pennants out of one 12″ x 12″ sheet of patterned cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my 4th of July papercraft projects.

Happy creating!