Tuesday, July 31, 2012

A Labor Of Love


This project has definitely been a labor of love!  I've been working on it for several days, and I never thought I would finish it.  I work on it, take it apart, and then re-build it!  Jennifer's birthday is this week, and since I would love to buy her a barn full of horses, my check book won't allow it, so this is my version!

I started by making a 5 inch square explosion box.  Using my Scor-Pal, I made the vertical lines on the outside of the barn.   The top of the barn I drew freehand using pictures on the web as a guide.  Then I just cut some narrow strips of cardstock to make the trim.  The top door on the hayloft is propped open with some raffia that I scrunched up to look like hay and adhered directly to the barn with some Score-Tape.  Using the My Favorite Things Fish Tail Die-Namics and an alphabet stamp set, I made a banner with Jen's name.  It is attached with some baker's twine and some mini clothespins.

Now, onto the inside:


I used a variety of October Afternoon papers to make the inside of the explosion box.  They are from the Sasparilla Collection.  The cake was made using the Sizzix Bigz XL 3-D Pop Up Cake Die.  I decorated it with some jute that "cooked" on a dowel to make it curly.  It is accented with some paper punch flowers.

Using the Country Life Cricut Cartridge, I cut out some horses and some little chickens.  I cheated a little on the chickens, and colored their facial features.  The chickens are 1 3/4 inches, so those accent pieces were super tiny, so a few Sharpie pens did the trick.  I used a few more of my paper punch cowgirls to decorate and added a few more chickens.  To make "Jenny" braids, I just braided some DMC Embroidery Floss and adhered them under her hat.  The sentiments are from the My Favorite Things Big Greetings Stamp Set.

Here are some inside shots of the panels:



I added a little more raffia to give the appearance that the horse was eating some hay.  Diamond Glaze was added to the horse hooves.




Supplies:
Stamps:  My Favorite Things-Big Greetings, JoAnn Fabrics-Alphabet
Ink:  Stamps by Judith, Versafine
Paper:  October Afternoon, Bazzill, Recollections
Misc:  Scor-Pal, Scor-Tape, DMC Embrodiery Floss, Country Life Cricut Cartridge, Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut Cartridge, mini clothespins, baker's twine, pop up dots, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, sewing machine, jute, paper punches, Diamond Glaze, raffia, half pearls

I am entering this in two challenges:
and

Thanks for stopping by,


15 comments:

  1. there are not enough words to express how wonderful this is, the detail, the design, just FAB! thanks for joining in the fun at BBTB2, hugs

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  2. Wow, this is fantastic. She is going to love it. All the details and the construction is fabulous. The barn and the cake are so clever. Thank you for joining us this week at Simon Says Stamp and Show!

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  3. Wonderful explosion box Beth!You can tell it's a work of love...so many fabulous details and cuts.Thanks for joining us at BBTB2.
    Jayne x

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  4. Wow Beth,
    this is very impressive! You took the words right out of my mouth...labor of love! very nice, thank you for sharing :)

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  5. This is just incredible! What a work of heart. Thanks for joining us at BBTB2. Stephanie

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  6. Oh my gosh Beth - you have out done yourself. Just when I think you can't get any better I see this. You are the best Aunt in the whole world - I love you, Mom

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  7. wow im sure this took forever to make :) great job :) thanks for sharing it with us at bbtb2

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  8. Well, Well, This is so darling and looks like a ton of hard work...I love it..Thanks for playing along at BBTB2..Krista

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  9. Ps..A lot of people from BBTB2 can't read the codes so they may not leave a comment..if u remove it, u may get more comments from our team..I actually can read most of them..U did a great job:)

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  10. Wow, wow, wow Beth, this is jaw dropping! You never disappoint my friend. I love this explosion box, love the horses and chickens and love that little punch girl, so stinkin cute!! I love that you made it look like a barn too. I can see why this was a labor of love. Thanks for joining us at BBTB2 ;-)

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  11. Oh Wow,this is amazing,I absolutely love this..
    You created a fabulous project....

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  12. Fabulous explosion box - the details, patterns, and embellishments are just wonderful! Love your liberal use of chickens and the entire barn "approach"! Great!

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  13. I have no idea how I missed this, but your creation is beyond fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing with BBTB2 and congrats on a well deserved win. xxD

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  14. Wonderful work....I just loved it! Thanks for sharing. Cathie
    www.creativecutterroom.com

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