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 

                                                                                                                                                    

FAIR WEEK!!

Spending the week at our local fair!!  I have the best job at our fair. I am the Small Animal Superintendant.  I get to see all of the cuddly critters that come in with the kids <3   



I love seeing each project and enjoy asking how they acquired them, their names
etc. It is delightful to see the kids light up when they talk about their projects.

What an amazing thing it is to be in a small town and recognize personal projects on an individual and personal level. From animals that weigh 1,600 lbs to others that are only a few oz! 

It is an exhausting week of animal shows,

 punctuated with leisure time spent walking around the static exhibits, admiring the extreme talent of gardeners, photographers, quilters, cooks . . . .  Creative inspiration is everywhere you look!!!!           

 
At the end of the week when all the shows are complete and before the awards show there are "Games on the Grass".  Three legged races, watermelon seed spitting, a water balloon toss & even Betsy Bingo which includes a grid on the lawn and a cow. . . . .

 Following that the local Future Farmers of America Chapters host a BBQ and then the stock sale capping off fair for another year! 

 I admit it ~ the small animals steal my heart, but the true joy of fair time for me is witnessing community; kids watering another's animal if they see a need, young participants offering onlookers the chance to pet a calf or cuddle a bunny.

      I think the true reward of fair is watching young adults help each other even when they are competing against each other. A personal story ~ a girl who made it to a Round Robin show.  She was a sheep showman but for this competition would be required to also show a pig, goat, beef, and someone else's sheep. Really quite an honor to be in this competition.  The problem, she is deathly afraid of the 1,400+ lb beef.  Teary eyed I watched kids she would be competing against comfort her and offer animals to practice with.  
   
So that's it!!  My country roots summed up in a post about the county fair!!  I would love to hear about events near & dear to your heart that bring community together.  Feel free to share in the comments or at "HI!" Noteson Facebook!  You're welcome to post pictures there too!!

Sending Happy Wishes

Wow!  What a busy last couple of weeks!  Traveling to my big brother's wedding, 4H conference in Corvallis, headlong into Spring Fair, replanting my garden, as we had several days below freezing & now on to Summer Camp (luckily I'm only driving there and back!!) Which means that as long as it is raining (Yes, I forgot to mention the arrival of rain! Beautiful, cool WET rain) I may have time for some crafting and blogging!!

First I would again like to thank Unity Stamp Company for my prize package which came somewhere in the midst of all of the above! $50 worth of beautiful stamps <3  I highly recommend visiting their store and Face Book sites and JOINING IN THE FUN !!

Which Brings me to my next subject:  Weekly Challenges!  Always inspirational, this week on the Unity show & tell FB page the challenge is: any item made with one of the "Unity Girls" 

This is the one I chose. She is from the Kit Of the Month MAY 2014.  I used a sentiment from a newer kit Sending Up Something Beautiful.

I needed to make a few birthday cards and the request was for bright colors.  I first water colored the image with my "Zig's" and then decided that this shade of pink (Pixie Pink from Stampin' Up!) went best with the colors I'd used.  I wanted the background to "pop" a little so I inked  my multi-striped embossing folder from The Paper Studio with Rose Red from Stampin' Up then embossing the pink cardstock which also transferred the color simultaneously.  I thought it was beautiful just like that!  Adding Black to the card made it a little more sophisticated and punching a lacey edge for the white card base gave it the vibe I was looking for. 

 I added the tag on the inside just to finish it off as a birthday card, but I could've left it as a note card otherwise.

Simple, beautiful and so full of celebration!

A Dog's Life

Today I put every thing on hold for my son's big event of the Spring.  The local dog show sponsored by his 4H canine club!!  What a great time!  All levels of experience for dogs and kids.

    The irony of this sign at 

the fair grounds hasn't escaped me over the years!  Ha! Ha!  I just had to click a photo to share :)

Since I've no new project to share I thought I'd share a clipboard tic-tac-toe game I made for Jacob years ago! Sampson has only 1 dark colored leg so I colored the dogs that way.  I love love love the papers and colors I used in this.  And the envelope is perfect for keeping the pieces safely with the clipboard!  He could also use it to work on homework or other things when ever he wanted!!

 Remember to CLICK photos for full size images

 

All of the rubber stamps for this project are vintage Stampin' Up!

"Bow Wow" & "Canine Capers"

Sorry I don't remember the origins of the papers!