Happy 4th of July

The city's parade is in full swing as I write this. There are floats, bands, cars, cheerleaders, and all the fun that accompanies parades. However, after years of working the parade and going to watch my grandchildren march in their various bands (all on drum line and they're soooo good), I've decided that I can sit parades out for a few years. We will have family and friends over later for a little cookout, and then walk to the bluff on the Lake for fireworks. It gets crazy around here with cars....hundreds if not thousands descend to take advantage of the view the bluff affords. Thankfully, my driveway will accommodate at least seven cars, so no one has to hunt for a spot! How did/do you celebrate our nation's birthday? One thing comes to mind for sure; blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream...Yum!

I've got a couple of cards to share with you today. The first one celebrates one of blogland's most famous and dearly loved bloggers; Darnell. She just celebrated a birthday, and the lovely Loll has thrown a party on her CAS Watercolor Challenge blog in Darnell's honor. Isn't that just the sweetest?! My second card is headed off to Time Out and Inkspirational.

Since I've blathered on, I'd best get right to the cards now. 

I did a light watercoloring on those pretty blossoms by Poppystamps, and just used plain cardstock. The hand die is from EH, and the Altenew frame was cut from a scrap of patterned paper. I added some nearly clear sequins, but they've shown up pink here. In real life, they're much more complimentary. 

My "three," according to the prompt at Inkspirational, are the three pink flowers in these floral swags. And those flowers fulfill the requirement over at Time Out, too. All the stamps used on this are from a WPlus9 set. I used the matching die, and put sections across the top and bottom. To give it a more CAS look, I added the sentiment close to the larger floral grouping, leaving tons of white space in the center. The flowers and leaves were all watercolored with Zigs. So that's it. Hoping to get a bit caught up on commenting today, so will wish you all a Happy 4th, and as always...