Fair Week Follow Up!!

  I love small town USA!! You might remember my post from last August.  Here are some highlights from last year as I look forward to the festivities for this year!!





Hope you are having a great Summer 

                                                                                                                                                    

Oregon's only 4~H Court / 2015

Today, a celebration of youth !! Our family enjoys the 4H program, volunteering and learning. 4H has so much to offer in ANY subject area.  If you can find someone willing to lead and kids interested in the subject, you've got a club!!
Our Wallowa County hosts the only 4H Court in Oregon and in 2014/2015 my daughter Georgia earned her place on it.  What a busy and exciting year it was. So I finally put together the cover page layout for the book the girls made.  I thought I would share a few of the fun things I did with it.

I started with a pale blue paper and made a 4 leaf clover stencil using heart shapes; carefully pounced green, turquoise and blue ink within the clover shapes ~ 2 sizes randomly scattered. 

When I was satisfied with the results I carefully splashed water over them and let it thoroughly dry (in the oven on super low ~ I was in a hurry!!) I also rubbed the page edges with the blue ink to give them some extra depth.  I decided this was not enough so I took my white NUVO Crystal Drops and and put dozens of dots as randomly as possible.  I wanted it to have a spattered look but I wanted the spatter to be super white ~ I think it worked !!

I had the idea of a belt buckle on the page since each girl received one to commemorate her year.  I used a buckle shaped die, dry embossed it, rubbed the high spots with watermark ink and heat embossed that with silver.  You can guess how I made the 4 leaf clover(?) that in the end decided not to use!! Its enameled with clear heat embossing.

My favorite part was figuring out how to include the 4 pictures I wanted to use without crowding the page and also introducing the girls individually. I came up with the idea of flaps, hinged with gross grain ribbon.  I asked each for a quote and found some great alphabet stickers to add in their names. 

I reflected the layered ribbon shapes from the first page to make the lift flaps adding their name to the flap to be lifted to see their individual photos with each quote!

Originally the papers were plain, it was a very dull look ~ adding background stamps in a monochromatic color & accenting with "stitching" perked up the page a bunch without making it too busy.

🗱Click on the photos to browse close up

Here are some close ups just for fun!  All of the silver pieces were cut & embossed from silver papers - high spots were heat embossed with silver powder. It is a great effect in person, gold is also stunning this way :) 

Another detail that is hard to see is the curve of the belt buckle.  Using the same technique as with the Jar Labels I curved the "buckle" then while attaching it, added 2 layers of dimensional tape to the central vertical axis and glued the ends down tight to the page.  Even with this heavy book closed, it will retain its dimension.

 some open space was for journaling depending on what the girls decided, but I also think it looks great without anything. 

 

You ~ Smile :)

I am just in love with the fresh happiness of this digi from Sasayaki Glitter!  SMILE

I also love the "You" set from Unity Stamp Co and look how great they are together!! 

Welcome to the 28th week of the New Year!!! And your invitation to play along at PIP Challenges!!!This is a fairly large card as the "you" stamp is oversized, so I printed several of the digi girls and fussy cut them after coloring. Then it was just a matter of stamping the sentiment and die-cutting the top edge as well as the "thank" and gluing it all together !  

I had to play with the inside because I love the cloud edging & wanted to use it more! I love these, maybe my favorite in quite some time ;)

  

Win!!! If you're feeling inspired,  upload up to 3 of your own creations at PIP Challenges for a great chance to win a fun prize.  Go get crafty ~ the Challenge is ANYTHING GOES!!

I thought it would be fun to show a color variation which I carried through to the inside of the card too.

She's just so happy!!

Thank you for visiting!  I hope your Summer is off to a lovely start!!

Sparkle & Sprinkle PIP Challenge #1826

Be not only a garden my friends.....

Be Like a Watered Garden

Colored with gel pens & water colors & accented with Nuvo Crystal Drops

Link up for your opportunity to enter the PIP Challenge Blog and win a prize From our Image & Prize sponsor "Sparkle & Sprinkle"


Wishing you a lush day and many happy returns!

Everlasting Refreshment ~ Isaiah 58:11

Sparkle & Sprinkle is sponsoring this weeks PIP Challenge which means you can WIN $15 to use in their store!! Challenge #1826 is all about ANYTHING GOES! so it is a great opportunity for you to work on ideas that are uniquely yours & load up 1, 2, or even 3 of them before Sunday at 6pm!!!

My all time favorite stamp from Sparkle & Sprinkle is Watered Garden Isaiah 58 and here it is as a note card that offers hope & refreshment.  I like it because it can be used for encouragement or a just because! I think inside a little frame on a desk top would be really cute!!

So many sizes and colors to make this great digi!!  Today I decided to use several Nuvo Crystal Drops as accents, including the water and blue edging.

                

the back is attached with a die cut flap

                           





This digi is also available pre colored which is a wonderful time saver!!  Thanks for stopping by, be sure to glean inspiration from the other Design Team Members & have a wonderful day ;)

Pam
Birdie
Kren
Terri

Summer Zazzle!

I love Summer! I love finding a place to sit, like in a hammock or even the crotch of a tree, closing my eyes and just listening.  Ahh, the sound of the birds singing to eachother, busy little dragon flies swirling around . . . I love the way the sun causes dazzles even when my eyes are closed!  That's what inspired my choice for this weeks inspiration card for the PIP Challenge Blog!


You know what that means... another fun chance to win!!  One lucky crafter in PIP #1824 will receive $12 in products from Bugaboo Stamps, this weeks generous sponsor.  This beautiful digi "Spring Block" is so versatile!!  I like having several printed since it's great for any occasion & any sentiment can be easily added. 

I think this one is so pretty you may see it again really huge as framed wall art!

Super Fast Greeting Card with Polkadoodles Digi

In a hurry?  As homemakers, bread winners, mommies, wives etc who of us isn't??  Still, we know the beautiful joy we share in sending homemade items to loved ones and friends. That includes greeting cards. But who has time? ~ Well, here's a card you can make in a FLASH!!

Welcome to PIP Challenge inspiration #1822, sponsored by Polkadoodles!  They are generously awarding the PIP Winner a prize of 3 digis of their choice from the Polkadoodles store!

 




If you're not familiar with the Pammies Inky Pinkies Challenge blog each week they sponsor an ANYTHING GOES CHALLENGE with different sponsors and prizes each week.

This cutie is Polkadoodles "Earlie Hedgehog Dandelion"  and is available in black & white or color!!  Since I'm talking about speed you've probably guessed I opted for the pre-colored version.  I LOVE it!!  It is so sweet and all I had to do is print and die cut it, layer it up with some fun color and texture a sentiment (optional) ... & done!!!!

The recipient only knows that you cared enough to send a home made creation!

Now it's your turn!!  Create up to 3 new  projects and get them posted to the PIP Challenge Blog before the Sunday @ 6pm for your chance to win!!!

Want more inspiration?  Check out what the rest of the PIP Design Team came up with this week!
Pam
Terri
Bridget
Kren

Introduction of characters!!

Hooray, back to sunshine. Thought I would share how happy everyone is to have sunsine!  We've recently had goslings and chicks hatch out (from under their Momma's) so later I will try to post some pictures of that adorableness~!

I just love the colors coming out on our little black ducks!  They are Cayuga. This is the first time we've raised that breed.  They are so fun, they splash and play in their kiddy pool ~ the social hub of our chicken yard!!

Sampson got a hair cut today.  He looks like a different dog <3 When he's shaggy he has large fields of liver and white, but when he's clipped all of his amazing speckles show up!

My kitty Sophie and the smallest bummer lamb I've ever cared for!!  Doesn't Sophie look annoyed!!