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!

#12 Green Challenge for Altered Pages

Here's my entry for the Altered Pages Blog Challenge #12.  Because the theme this month is GREEN, here is a mermaid book that I created. 

Materials used:

• watercolor paper
• my own outline drawing of a mermaid template
• rubber stamps for the faces, hair, tails, sand dollar hairpiece
• stencils for more layers on the tails
• paper scraps from my green bin for the bras
• lots of bling--white and yellow pearls in several sizes, silver disks, gemstones in a variety of colors
• pencil for body details
• Micron pen for writing on the mermaid poem, "Mermaid Fair" (found on-line)
• ink for rosy cheeks applied with a rag and Gathered Twigs Distress Ink to ink the edges of each page
• hole punch, tiny; iredescent ribbon threaded through to tie the pages together

Along came a spider...

This is the card I made for today's post on the Outside the Box blog.  We'll be making this card in the Monday stamping group that meets today at Your Maine Stamper.

And I'm the WINNER!!! Dreamy Nights Challenge #11 @ Altered Pages

This is my entry for the Dreamy Nights Challenge #11 at alteredpages.com.  It is an homage to the MOON.  The base is a blank black board book purchased from alteredpages.com and enhanced with Tarot cards, stamped images, washi tape, an image cut from a calendar, a round metal-framed stamped tag, die cut clouds, stickers, and jewels.  The writing is in my hand using a Signo Uniball White pen.  Since my camera is not working, I scanned all of the images into my computer which is why some of them are a bit fuzzy--my scanner does not like dimensionals.

left:  the back cover;  right:  the front cover

left:  Page One;  right:  Page Two

left:  Page Three;  right:  Page Four

left:  Page Five;  right:  Page Six

left:  Page Seven;  right:  Page Eight

left:  Page Nine;  right:  Page Ten

left:  Page Eleven;  right:  Page Twelve

Monday's card July 15th: hello Summer!

Newest Memory Box cards!!!

Christmas in July
Card for Monday group July 1
This one and the variations below posted on the Outside the Box blog on July 1

Manor House Happy Halloween Card
posted on Outside the Box blog July 5

Card for class on Monday, July 8