Monday's Cards

This is the card I taught the Monday morning stamping group at Your Maine Stamper.  I used an old Cuttlebug embossing folder to create the background.  "Wallpaper" (3 X 3 1/2) and a "carpet" (1 X 3) were cut to fit the larger rectangle.  The PoppyStamps Large Chair was stamped in Hero Arts Cup O' Joe ink on Memory Box dot paper.  I cut it out and colored the pillow with a marker.  I added a Small Sitting Cat, a PoppyStamps die cut from black sticky-back paper, and pop-dotted the finished chair on the paper background.  I also rounded all four corners of the finished card to echo the corners in the embossed paper.  The sentiment is a stamp from DRS.  Each person in the group made a similar but different card using other papers and chairs that were stamped and cut from either yellow, pink, or blue distressed dots papers.  Cute!

This is the card I posted Monday morning on the Outside the Box blog for Memory Box.  Details for how to make this card can be found on the blog at http://davebrethauer.typepad.com/outsidethebox/.  Just scroll down until you come to "Spooky Halloween at the Manor House".

Happy Crafting!

Lots of Blue Ribbons!

Dad's Scarecrow took First Place in the Senior Division!  He also won blue ribbons for the Dahlias, green peppers, butternut squash, birdhouses, license plate dustpans, bird whirlygig, and more.  Total premiums paid:  $99.95.

I also won a lot of blue ribbons for my handmade books and scrapbooks and for my pickles.  Total premiums paid:  $74.60.

Prepping for Litchfield Fair

Dad and I spent most of yesterday and today getting our entries ready for the Litchfield Fair.  The fair runs Friday through Sunday at the fairgrounds just up the road from us.  Last year we didn't enter anything in the fair because I'd just had surgery and started chemo.  We more than made up for it this year with 48 entries!

From the gardens:

• green peppers
• red tomatoes
• yellow tomatoes
• kale
• pole beans
• butternut squash
• sunflower head
• pumpkin
• glads
• dahlias
• mixed flowers bouquet
• a potted Christmas tree

From Dad's workshop:

• birdhouses
• carved fish
• weather sticks
• tin can frog
• lightbulb bugs
• flowers made from old metal faucet handles
• a bird whirlygig
• a collection of vintage license plates
• license plate dustpans
• a Witch Scarecrow

From my workroom:

• collages
• handmade books
• scrapbooks
• mixed media books including the three different mermaid books I made this summer
• poster and notecard from my Adopt a Shelter Dog winning design
• greeting cards
• calendars for 2013

From my sewing "room":

• woodchuck/chipmunk pillows
• vintage crazy quilt pillow
• Double Irish Chain quilt

And I'm sure there's more!

I started at the Exhibition Hall this morning at 9 when I delivered the 5' tall scarecrow and picked up all of the entry forms and tags I needed.  Dad and I then spent an hour or so filling out tags and tying them to items and then recording everything on the appropriate entry forms--Flowers, Vegetables, Fruits; Arts and Crafts; Fancy Work; Canned and Baked Goods; Scarecrow Contest; etc.

After lunch this afternoon we raided the gardens, cleaned the produce, plated and tagged everything, cut and arranged flowers, etc.  Around 4:30 Dad and I went to the fairgrounds with most everything in boxes and placed the entries in various designated spots in the Exhibition Hall.  I know there are things that Dad and I intended to enter that just didn't make it this year.

There are no entry fees and the premiums paid are pretty good.  Dad usually gets more than enough to pay for the next year's garden seeds and seedlings.  And I hope to pick up some extra money for the California/my-son's-wedding trip.  

All of the judging happens on Thursday and we won't know how we did until we actually go to the fair this weekend and check out the ribbons.  Even then we won't know how much the premiums paid out are until we get our checks on Sunday night when I have to go back and collect everything between 6 and 8 PM.  The lines get pretty long when there are lots of exhibitors.  So I usually go up around 4 PM with a good book and claim a spot in line to wait.  And I take my little red wagon ( the one I actually had as a child) and fill it up!  I think it's going to take three or four trips to the car this year to collect everything!

So, if you happen to go to the Litchfield Fair this weekend, check out the Exhibition Hall and look for tags for Gene Thompson (his all have a blue circle with 90 on each one) and Anne Thompson.

And don't forget French Fries, Fried Dough, the Pig Scramble and the Horse Show!