More Fourth of July cards

We had a quiet July Fourth until the neighbor across the road cranked up the music for his party and the fireworks started. There are still firecrackers going off once in a while but it's fairly quiet again. Hope everyone who celebrates the holiday had a good day. I'm posting the last three of my cards to celebrate the holiday. The first card was for a cousin who has dogs. I used Cricut cartridges Plantin Schoolbook and Paper Pups to cut the images from Stampin Up Riding Hood Red and Brilliant Blue card stock. The card is a Halcraft Original Greeting Card. I sometimes choose to use their blank cards since the card and envelope come in the same package, and if you are not planning the standard 5 1/2 by 4 1/4 card you don't need to search for an envelope that's the right size. I guess I was in sort of a whimsical mood so I didn't try to line the letters up in a straight line. It's fun to occasionally let things be a little random. ;-) The second card was for my mother and her friend who collects Teddy bears. The stamp is made by The Rubbernecker Stamp Co. It was colored using Derwent Watercolor Pencils and the Niji Waterbrush. The background is Technique Junkies Bingo Blast from the April/ May 2009 newsletter. I used Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers Red Pepper and Sailboat Blue on Stampin Up Whisper White card stock. This is a really fun technique but a little messy. I usually do it in a box so I don't have paint splashing all over. Since this one was done at a crop, I didn't have a box, but I lined the table with newspaper and still managed to get some paint on the table and had to do a little cleaning. The card and matting are Stampin Up Real Red and Brilliant Blue card stock. The third card was for my sister-in-law's Fourth of July birthday. Card stock, markers, and stamp are Stampin Up. The technique is Technique Junkies Double Bugging from the June/ July 2009 newsletter. Cuttlebug folders are D'Vine Swirls and Swiss Dots, stamp was stamped with Palette Noir Black, and the ribbon is from Michael's. This is another fun technique but I find that I'm not real good at sponging on the inks. This time I tried a very slim cosmetic sponge and found that I did a little better keeping the ink only on the raised portions of the embossed card stock. Notice the color is darker on the card posted yesterday using the same technique. That card I applied the ink to the embossed areas with Stampin Write markers which is my modification of the technique as it's described in the newsletter. I like both methods and think they both have a look I like, but sponging on the color does give a much softer appearance. That's all for today. Thank's for stopping by my blog and comments are always appreciated.