Barnyard Swap at The Stamp Shack

Sherry over at The Stamp Shack is hosting a swap which is to focus on the barnyard. While I don't usually participate in swaps much anymore because of the cost of the postage, I did want to do this one. I had an idea in mind and couldn't wait to get started. Well, this is nothing like my original idea and just proves, once again, that we improvise as we go along. Okay, it's totally changed from my original idea but there's a reason for that. I was blurfing not long ago and fell in love with a card I saw on Kendra Giles blog, Inkin' It Up, and I just had to CASE this card. I did change a few things like the stamps and the orientation of the card, but mostly it's a CASE pure and simple. I just had to do it and hope that Kendra believes that "imitation is the higest form of flattery". Here's my card for this swap.



While this card is beautiful, (humble, aren't I)an amazing amount of work went into it. First, choosing the stamps was a trial in itself. I knew I wanted the scarecrow and cow, but I also wanted a sheep and a chicken, but it was obvious that unless I made a 12" x 12" card, it wasn't happenin', baby! Out went the chicken and sheep, sorry guys. With the stamps settled, I choose the patterned paper and from that, decided upon the colour of cardstock. To colour the images, I carefully scrutinized the pp so that I could pull the colours from there. So far, so good. Let me tell you, colouring seven images (I always make an extra for myself) puts a strain on these old eyes. Then I went back to Kendra's card and noted she had double-matted her main image. I couldn't because it was already just barely fitting on the pp. Looking closer I note the machine-stitching. Ladies, I'm no seamstress by any stretch of the imagination. I still keep my sewing machine manual beside me just to change stitches. And the zig-zag stitch will challenge me for the remainder of my natural life, I'm sure. I never get it spot-on, but this is my absolute best effort, if that counts for anything. I zigged-zagged around the blue mat onto the pp, then I had to change the stitch (see manual) and straight-stitched the white cardstock. Oh yeah, then I needed the photo corners and, without a punch, I had to improvise. I'm going to do a tutorial soon of how I accomplished this so you can all learn you don't need a dedicated photo corner punch. Next, I assemble the card and note I need a sentiment, too. That was easy. I just went to my Farm Faces stamp set and used one from there that fit perfectly. I used my small CM oval and used the green blade for the green paper and the blue blade for the blue paper, attached a couple of square brads and placed it on the card. Then out came the ribbon. First, I punched a hole in the card which caused some stitching to start unravelling. Quickly I applied Ranger Glossy Accents to the edges to stop it from further damage. I decided to not do that again and knotted the ribbons first, then attached them to the card with Glue Dots. Even though it took a very long time from start to finish, about seven hours altogether for the seven cards, I love the way it turned out. It was well worth the effort.

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Brilliant Blue, CTMH green, PTI Select White
Stamps: Hambo Stamps, Inkspirations
Ink: Palette Hydrid Black and Cognac
Accessories: Ribbon, brads
Coloured with: Tombow and Prismacolor Markers