Getting Punchy with the State Fair

Happy Friday! It's my last Friday on day shift, I head back to overnights on Monday. I can't believe how quick the summer went. I am more than ready for the fall and winter to arrive!

One way to tell that fall is on the way here is the arrival of the Alaska State Fair at the end of August. It's held in Palmer, which is across the valley from me, and people from all over the state come to it. My family loves going to the state fair so since it's my week to host the challenge at The Friday Mashup I decided to use that as my inspiration.....make a project that's inspired by your state fair. Maybe the food is your favorite, or perhaps you like the rides and carnival portion? Maybe it's the farm animals that you can't wait to see...whatever it is, create a project based on it and while you are at it use punches on your project!

The Alaska State Fair is known for it's record breaking pumpkins. I always make a beeline for the hall that has all the livestock and fruits and vegetables because I just get a huge kick at looking at the monster pumpkins, cabbage, rhubarb, etc. The record for the largest pumpkin is 1,287lbs and that record has not been broken since 2011. A pumpkin came close in 2014 though, it was only 3 lbs away from beating the record! My love for these giant pumpkins is what inspired my card (even though my kids wanted me to do a card about fair food).

I created my pumpkin using 3 oval framelits. I used a circle punch to make the stem. The background was embossed with the Woodgrain TIEF. I thought the sentiment with the curly ends went perfectly with the pumpkin theme so I stamped that in Mossy Meadow and created a banner.

Head over to The Friday Mashup blog to see what the rest of the DT came up with and then I hope you'll play along with us!

Here's your Mashup Challenge this week:

• Create a project " Inspired by your State Fair".
• Create a  project using "Punches".
• or Mash it Up and created  a "Project inspired by your State Fair that uses Punches".

Here are some photos I took at the Alaska State Fair in 2013:

And my card:

Stamps: A Dozen Thoughts

Paper: Mossy Meadow, Tangelo Twist, Whisper White, Mossy Meadow DSP, Hello Honey DSP

Ink: Tangelo Twist, Mossy Meadow

Accessories: Big Shot, Oval Framelits, Woodgrain TIEF, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, sponge, dimensionals

Getting Punchy for Friday Mashup

It's Friday, woohooo! It's my last Friday working days this summer, I go back to nights on Monday and I am so happy. It will mean less crafting time but I am sooooo not a morning person, I much prefer going to bed at 4am and sleeping during the day. This also means fall is just around the corner, another reason to be excited!

Friday Mashup challenges also get me excited and this week is no different. I love to see what my fellow DT members come up with and a lot of the time its something I've never tried before and I like that they make me think outside of the box. Avery is our hostess for this challenge and she wants to see some punch art mixed with pom poms! What a fun way to mix things up!

Now, I will admit that I was a bit stumped by the punch art simply because its not something I do. I surfed the net (ok, mainly Pinterest) for ideas and finally decided to do a tab punch dress. It reminds me of my daughter as she is very girly girl and loves her dresses.....the complete opposite of me! I used Real Red to punch the top of the dress out and then used a scallop punch for the bottom half. The edges were sponged on both pieces for a bit more definition. I used some Real Red ribbon to create a belt and I added a single small black pom pom as an accent, along with some pearls along the neckline.

My card base is Crumb Cake and I created another panel in Crumb Cake and embossed it with the Modern Mosaic folder. I sponged it with Crumb Cake for added dimension again. The banners are cut from Fresh Prints DSP and Whisper White.

My layout came from the current challenge at The Paper Players. As soon as I saw the sketch I knew the dress would work perfectly!

Make sure you head over to both The Friday Mashup and The Paper Players to check out both challenges!

• Create a project with "Pom Poms". 
• Create a project with "Punch Art:.
• or Mash it Up! and create a "Punch Art project with Pom Poms on it". 

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Create a Cupcake (retired)

Paper: Crumb Cake, Real Red, Whisper White, Fresh Prints DSP(retired)

Ink: Real Red, Coastal Cabana, Crumb Cake

Accessories: Tab Punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Real Red Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Small Pearls, Big Shot, Modern Mosaic EF, dimensionals, sponge