Hope, Love, Peace, Joy

Blue Ribbon Winner #8:

The text pieces have been rearranged from the original image . . .

. . . by cutting them out and extending them beyond the border, they mimic the cross and help add dimension, which is always a worthy objective in my book!

Cardstock:   Generic textured Green, Beckett Iceberg, Bazzill White, Raven

Stamps:        The Stamp Barn Tulip Cross, Inkadinkado Leafy Cross

Inks:               ColorBox Black

Emb Powder:   Judikins Detail Black

Dies:              Imaginations punch Fern, Spellbinders Deckled Rectangles

Watercolors:   Twinkling H2O’s Sea Glass, Mallard Green

Doo Dads:    Gelly Roll pen Clear Star

Inspire

Blue Ribbon Winner #7:

I went for subtle variations and gentle colors on this one . . .

. . . but couldn't resist adding a little quiet bling via some clear sequins

Cardstock:   Generic textured Taupe, Stampin’ Up Sahara Sand, Bazzill

                           Pear, Beckett Moonlight

Stamps:        Fiskars Mesh brayer, For the Birds set: image and text, Stampin’

                           Up Itty Bitty Background, CC Rubber Stamps Fibers

Inks:               Archival Jet Black, Distress Pumice Stone, Bundled Sage,

                           VersaColor Chateau Gray, Stampin’ Up Sahara Sand

Dies:              Wplus9 Banner Trio, Fiskars border punch Diamond, Family

                           Treasures corner punch

Emb Folder: Ellison Plaid           

Doo Dads:    Simon Says Assorted Moonshine sequins, Distress Stickles

                           Rock Candy

Discover

Blue Ribbon Winner #6:

While not a maker of jewelry, I do love to collect gorgeous beads to string as accents on some of my cards . . .

This is probably a little over the top and not so easy to mail, but so what:  I like it and hope the recipient will too . . .

  

Cardstock:   Generic textured Turquoise, The Paper Cut Watercolor paper,

                           Beckett Iceberg, Generic scrap Navy

Stamps:        Judikins Waves, Local King Chinese Flowers 2, Appaloosa

                           “Discover”, CC Rubber Stamps Fibers

Inks:               ColorBox Frost White, Ancient Page Deep Harbor, VersaFine

                           Majestic Blue, various Gelatos in Blues & Greens

Emb Powder:  Judikins Opaque White

Dies:              Local King Chinese Flowers 2, Cheery Lynn Japanese Lace

                           Pattern, Spellbinders Labels 20

Doo Dads:    Beads

Meddle Not

Blue Ribbon Winner #5:

In my occasionally humble opinion, there's always room for some humor in just about any endeavor . . .

However, since it took four tries to get the text straight, the humor part began to wear a little thin during this project . . .

The dragon's wings are propped up with foam tape which looks pretty cool in real life.

Cardstock:   Bazzill Red Devil, Raven, Beckett Iceberg

Stamps:        Appaloosa Dragon Dreams: Resting Dragon, text, Just For

                           Fun Fractured Background

Inks:               Archival Jet Black, ColorBox Black, Frost White

Emb Powder:   Judikins Opaque White, Detail Black

Dies:              Wplus9 Label Layers 4

Colored Pencils:  Prisma Orange, Black, General Pencil Silver

Doo Dads:    Pilot Marker Silver, Antique Silver brads

New Arrival

Blue Ribbon Winner #4:

This image of a flower-faced baby went straight to my heart . . .

I fussy cut the baby and the large sunflower and it went quickly as all of the cuts were pretty much straight ones . . .

  

Cardstock:   Bazzill Rain Forest, Beckett Iceberg, Generic Pumpkin

Stamps:        Cat’s Life Press Baby Flower Face, Stamp La Jolla Bette’s

                           Sunflower, Stampin’ Up “On your new arrival”

Inks:               Hero Black, Distress Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed,

                           Peeled Paint

Dies:              Paper Shapers Label, DieNamics Grassy Edges

Emb Folder: Darice Basket Weave Background 

Doo Dads:    ¼ “ Green gingham ribbon

America

Blue Ribbon Winner #3:

I had a little two-level fun with the background flag on this card . . .

 By cutting out the blue field and popping it up with foam dots, the flag has much more dimension.  With a little imagination, it actually appears to be caught in the middle of a gust of wind . . . 

Cardstock:   Beckett Iceberg

Stamps:        Eureka Flag, Statue of Liberty, Limited Edition text, Stampin’

                           Up border: All Scallops set, Era Graphics Spiral, Stampa

                           Barbara Crystal Vase

Inks:               Hero Black, Distress Chipped Sapphire, Festive Berries,

                           Encore Silver

Doo Dads:    Art Glittering System Silver, Fiskars punch Star

Happy Anniversary

Blue Ribbon Winner #2:

This layout was an update of a card I posted awhile ago.  I love using skeleton leaves because they take color well and they are so beautiful.  They are, however, a little bit on the fragile side and adhering them is difficult as there's so much open space that it's hard to hide the glue . . .

 My solution was to cut out leaf shapes from the same cardstock I used for the background.  Then I pressed these cardstock leaves against a sheet of Therm-O-Web's Sticky Dots to transfer the glue dots.  This was topped with the skeleton leaf which was pressed into place with a piece of non-stick release paper so that I wouldn't lose any of the tackiness of the glue dots.  I then sprinkled extra fine glitter over the two leaves and pressed this into place before tapping off the excess.  I was left with a sheer shimmer that I hope the camera is kind enough to pick up . .

Cardstock:   Bazzill Dark Butter, Raven, The Paper Cut watercolor paper

Stamps:        Club Scrap Feather, Stamper Anonymous Skeleton Leaf

Inks:               Distress (ink pad and stain) Brushed Corduroy, Stampin’ Up

                           Always Artichoke, Archival Jet Black

Emb Powder:   Vippies Transcendence

Dies:              Tim Holtz Labels, Tattered Lace Everyday Sentiments:

                           “Happy Anniversary”

Doo Dads:    Past Time Stamps Ultra Fine Glitter, 3/8” Green ribbon,

                           1/8” Gold ribbon, skeleton leaves

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Same Direction

It's that thrilling time of the year yet again, folks – the annual New Jersey State Fair held in the sunny downtown North NJ township of Branchville!  I entered nine cards and will be posting all of them throughout the month.  While I've happily done very well over the previous six years, there was a new judge this year and this sort of change can always alter one's winning streak.  Thankfully, I still scored . . .

   . . . nine cards entered and nine blue ribbons won.  Well, I always was into excess!  Maybe I should consider retiring from competition?   Nah – I'm having too much fun to quit now!  Meanwhile, onto the first of this year's winners:

Blue Ribbon Winner #1:

I wanted some cheery colors for this card and what could be cheerier than going in rainbow order . . .

I consulted with my dear artsy BFF Mr ROY G BIV (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet) and I got the happy effect I was after . . . it's hard to be glum when you're playing with rainbows

Cardstock:   Strathmore #90 Watercolor paper

Stamps:        Hero Floating Hearts, Inkadinkado Exupery Quote

Inks:               ColorBox Black, Frost White, Ancient Page Leaf Green

Emb Powder:   Judikins Detail Black, Opaque White

Dies:              Spellbinders Labels 23, Lil Inker Stitched Mats: Rectangles,

                           Balloon String  

Watercolors:   Gansai Tambi Red, Orange, Mid-Green, Ocean Green,

                              Cobalt Blue, Purple

Doo Dads:    Perfect Pearls mist Silver, Fiskars corner punch Hearts