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

Lucky Punches with Friday Mashup!

Happy Friday to everyone! It's not related to this weeks Mashup but I just have to point out that today is the great Dr. Seuss's birthday! I am from the same hometown as him, Springfield MA, and can remember my kids being young and awed by the fact that I have actually been to Mulberry St :) Nowadays that doesn't elicit much of a response from them but hey, I think it's cool! In honor of Dr. Seuss I encourage everyone to grab a book, doesn't matter if its his or not...just grab a book, read, and relax!
Ok, now on to this weeks Mashup challenge. We have a great one from Rita.....she has a brother whose birthday falls on March 17 so there was always a lot of green in their house this time of year. She wants us to get inspired by St.Patty's day and green and create a project around that, plus she wants us to use 2 or more punches. That's right, get punchy!

I'm half Irish so you'd think I would have been able to think of something for this challenge but I was drawing a huge blank, I cant lie. I was going back and forth with ideas until the last minute and I finally came up with this card. I used the Heart to Heart punch for the 3 leaf clover...first I punched it out in Garden Green and secured it to the card stock, and then I punched again with Garden Green DSP and popped them up with dimensionals on top of the first layer. The stem is from the Build a Bird punch...it's just the branch cut down in size. Using an oldie but goodie stamp set, Tag Time, I created my own DSP with the small 4 leaf clover stamp. The third stamp used would be the small oval punch for the sentiment.

Make sure you head over to The Friday Mashup blog to see all the great projects from the rest of the design team!

1. Make a project for "St. Patrick's Day".
2. Or Make a project using "at least 2 Punches".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project for "St. Patrick's day using your Punches".

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Tag Time, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Garden Green, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Garden Green DSP

Ink: Garden Green

Accessories: Heart to Heart Punch, Build a Bird Punch, Small Oval Punch, eyelets(non-SU), sponge

MU#4--Lets Get Punch "Baby" with Kim!

Happy Friday everyone! Its time for another great challenge from the Mashup crew and this week our challenge comes from Kim! Lets see what Kim has to say:

It's Kim here, and I have a fun challenge for you! I work for a non-profit Christian ministry...and we help mommies and babies! I LOVE babies!! And I love making baby themed cards...for a new born, for a first birthday, even for the first time mom while she is still pregnant! Feel free to make other non-card baby-themed projects.



Now, part 2...Last night was literally the night of a major fund raiser for the ministry, and I have been working long hours trying to get things just right. I am generally a night-owl, but with the extra stress, I have been a little punchy lately...so there's the inspiration for the second part of the challenge!! Bring out your punches...special shapes, pretty borders and corners...even dies and sizzlits that you crank through your Big Shot. Can't wait to see what you create...Time to get Punchy, Baby!!

Isnt this a cool challenge? I'll tell you what, it definitely challenged me! I love babies, but really dont make any baby cards, and then I dont use my dies or punches that much either, so I was really out of my comfort zone! I sat there thinking about it and remembered a card my friend Tera had made for a swap we were in. I grabbed that out of my stash, and went looking for a tutorial, and this is the one I used.

Now, I originally started my card out intending it to be for a boy, since one of my daughters best friends is due to have a baby boy in about a week. It looks like somewhere along the way my brain had a different idea and the finished product is definitely girly. Oooops!

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Punch Bunch

Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Delicate Dots DSP

Ink: Marina Mist, Bashul Blue, Certainly Celery, Summer Sun

Accessories: Small Tag punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, Scallop Circle punch, Whisper White ribbon, brads, sponge

Head over to The Friday Mashup and link up your creation!! Make sure you link directly to your project though please, not just to your blog, and if you're uploading to any online gallery use FM04. Cant wait to see all the great cards!