Liberty!

I want to share my appreciation that I have for all the wonderful men and women that serve for our freedoms. Thank you! 

I had been planning to share another Cricut Provocraft Expression 2 Anniversary Edition E2 project today.  However, after I had heard President Obama give a speach last night and I guess how can you miss it as he again spoke to our wonderful nation again today.  Our troops had an elaborate operation and Osama bin Laden is dead. So, I decided to rearrange my posts to share my layout that I created to honor our Liberty! 

I cannot help but, to reflect on the last 10 years.  During 911, I had been living abroad and it was a very emotional time.  I think we all were very shaken up by the tragedy.  I pray for all those that lost their loved ones. I also want to give honor to those that risk everything to protect us and serve.

I wanted to include a picture of when I lived abroad for some years in this layout where on our honeymoon we went to Paris. It was overwhelming, when I came across the Statue of Liberty in Paris, how much pride and love I had for our country. The emotions were overwhelming and I felt like I was home although I knew that this was a mini version of our beauty. I lived abroad for some years in Europe and I really missed home. I think you grow a greater appreciation when you are away from home. For many soilders the hardest part is being away from family during deployments. I cannot begin to understand what all our soilders and their families go through to protect our freedoms.  A soldier once shared that "Freedom isn't free and every time they think about the freedom, they have to think about a service member who has lost their lives in order for us to have the freedom we have and love!” 

I will be doing this layout again and including the picture of myself and my darling husband with the Statue of Liberty behind us. Hopefully, we can go to NYC one day and see her in the full version.  I am sure that there are many visiting ground zero, the Statue of Liberty and other places of note especially today.  Take a moment to thank our men and women as well as their families for their service and sacrifices.  Thank you to all of them!

I made a layout in Red, White and Blue!  The heading is "Liberty" and it features the Statue of Liberty, Fireworks and Stars & Stripes! 

I made some embellishments using red stitched ribbon, brads and rhinestones.  I also added a hat pin with crystal beads for additonal bling!

I used the Stand and Salute cartridge for this layout.  On the dark blue firework cut, I used silver metallic ink and sparkling embossing powder.  It has a lot of shine and bling.  It really shimmers as the light hits it.   

Using red and white striped ribbon, I created folds and used rhinestone brads and adhered it to the bottom of the layout.  It is reminescent of the flag's stripes especially with the lace star background against the white cardstock.  

The word "Liberty" was cut out in dark blue using the shadow feature.  I also cut out the word 'Liberty' in red and white layering them over the shadow.  By layering it with pop dots, it gives it great dimension. 

I cut out a star frame to showcase the picture from 4th of July in white.  Using pigment dark red ink and clear embossing powder, I embossed "Those who reach, touch the stars."

Lady Liberty was cut out in red.  By using pigment dark red ink and sparkling embossing powder it highlighted her cuts and added shimmer.  She was also cut out in shadow using dark blue cardstock. 

Please take a moment to send a thank you to our men and women currently serving as well as our veterans and all their families.  Thank you for our freedoms and protecting us so that our babies can live in a safe America!

God Bless America!

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