Red and White / Blue Suede Shoes

I simply can't pass up a Stampin' Dymonz challenge, and the 4th of July Explosion Box challenge was no exception. I had so much fun making it, and making it my own, that I totally blew the deadline even though she gave us an extra week! I'm happy that I get to share it with all of you, though, and I'm also entering into this week's Allsorts Challenge.
Here's Dymonz's Explosion Box recipe:

• Box must be red, white, and blue.
• There must be an "explosion" inside the box of some sort in addition to the box itself exploding.
• There must be plenty of red, white and blue flowers and ribbon throughout.
• You must use the pictures you took (or found online) of this year's 4th of July festivities.

When I saw the 4th of July Fireworks coloring page at Made by Joel, I knew I just had to heat-emboss it for this project. I know it's not what was intended, but I hope Joel will understand. I printed it on Recollections Metallic paper; for this type of paper, I find that printing at "best quality" for "plain paper" works best. I used a combination of gold, silver & copper embossing powders.
I love how neat and tidy the box looks. And then it explodes: Before I even cut the box pieces, I decided that I wanted to use some of these wrapped-wire embellishments. I figured I could walk into WalMart and grab something USA-themed, but let me tell you my wonderful & patient husband walked many an aisle in various stores until I finally smartened up and we just stopped by Party City. Honestly, America, don't we buy cheap useless patriotic decorations anymore?!
The ribbon "explodes" from the sides as well, on two different layers.
Here are the mats for the photos: The background paper is something I've had in my stash forever, and the star stamps are heat-embossed. I made the flowers, which took me significantly longer than any other part of this project. I made my own paper flowers, inspired by Dr Sonia's Circle Flower & Punched Flower tutorials. Hmm, I think it might be easier with thinner paper? I ended up making some final flowers by just swishing up small punched circles. They're actually my favorites! I made a mix of blue, white & red daisies (thank you Mother Nature for making anything possible!), and added golden centers with Stickles glitter glue. I carefully followed all of the directions except for the last one, because I want to use photos from last year's 4th. I have lots of great photos that I haven't scrapped yet, and, well, this year the most exciting thing we did was bathe Percy, and I'll make a special book for that. Here's a peek: Have a wonderful day!