Month-End FREEBIES & 4th of July Designs

The 4th of July holiday is right around the corner. For those of us living in the US, it’s a holiday filled with parades, barbecues, and lots of red, white and blue.

I’ve been making 4th of July inspired patterns to use as wrapping paper and to add to my Society6 shop as coffee cups, coasters, tray liners, cutting boards, phone cases, tote bags, notebook covers and more!

Let’s make one together. In the tutorial below, I demonstrate how to make a simple pattern using star shapes.

Create your own star pattern!

Here are written instructions as well, which may make more sense after you watch the video tutorial.

There are 3 key steps to making a repeat pattern in Adobe Illustrator:

1.     You need a bounding box to “hold” all of your motifs,

2.     You must ensure that any elements that touch the top of your bounding box are repeated along the bottom (and vis-versa); and that any elements that touch the right-hand side are repeated along the left-hand side (and vis versa), and

3.     You must have a copy of your bounding box that's BEHIND the first one.  This copy must have NO STROKE and NO FILL.

While that may sound complicated, it’s actually not once you have done it a few times.

I’ve included copies of the pattern in the tutorial as well as 2 more that I created as my gift to you for the 4th of July holiday.

Click on this image to access these free 4th of July gift wrap sheets.

Please download them and print them out on regular paper, or bond paper if you prefer. They are each 8.5 by 11 inches in size.

Here are a few ideas for how to use them over the 4th of July weekend:

·      Wrap small gifts in them

·      Fold them into a Regency fold (here’s my blog post with a demo)

o   Place something inside as a surprise!

·      Laminate them and cut them into squares to use as coasters

Take photos of how you use them and post your pictures inside Anne's Art Club, our private Facebook group. Or post them on Instagram with the hashtag: #4thofJulypatterns.

If you are on my email list, you'll be receiving my month-end FREEBIES which include: 

·      An iPhone wallpaper pattern

·      A desktop wallpaper pattern, and

·      A printable July calendar

Here is what they look like:

If you would like to get these too, just join my email list and you’ll receive new ones at the end of every month!

Finally, my Society6 shop is all set up and ready to go with a special collection of 4th of July patterns.

Newly available items that are just perfect for a picnic or barbecue include: trays, coasters, cutting boards, coffee cups, tote bags, travel mugs and more. Check out the collection. Many items may be on sale!

Enjoy the few remaining days of June and I'll see you next week.

Remember, It’s Never Too Late To Create!

Xo,

Anne