Just Muckin' Around--MFT Idol, Top 5

[Please don't forget to vote for your favorite Idol contestant (hopefully me!) from 10pm EDT tonight, April 28th until 10pm EDT tomorrow night April 29th! You'll find the poll here.]

It probably comes as no surprise that I really do love scenes! So, here's another scene for this week's MFT Idol Contest entry. Our challenge was to "Frame It". Yep, that's it! This challenge was "up for interpretation and anything goes." Whoa. I liked the sound of that! After thinking about it for a day or two, I decided a shadowbox was the way to go. Years ago, I used to do them a lot, so this was a blast from the past for me.

The shadowbox that I used was unfinished wood so I painted the frame and the outside of the box red since I knew I was going to use red gingham scrapbook paper to cover the front of the frame. The box was easy but the glass was glued onto the frame so that took a while. The next thing I did was cut the paper for the inside of the box. I used Soft Sky (retired SU! In Color) and sponged some clouds on with Whisper White Craft ink. It's hard to see in the picture, but they're there. Then I cut a strip of coarse sand paper for the bottom to simulate a gravel path. Then it was time to start stamping. I used four different sets of stamps for this project: Punny Farm, Tea With Flopsey, Can Ya' Dig It?, and Spring Sprouts. I stamped the tree from Tea With Flopsey twice, colored the trunks, cut them out and glued them to the background and then did the "leaves". I was wishing I had some green Flower Soft (the only one I have is Lavender) and then I thought about model railroading. There's a ton of stuff in that department at Hobby Lobby so I bought a bag of "shrubbery" material and used it with Flower Soft glue. Worked like a charm as you can see from the closeup! I stamped and colored the pig, cow, and horse with Copic markers, cut them out, and attached them with 3M foam squares. Then I made a strip of "grass" along the fence line with more model railroad "shrubbery" material. I made the fence out of twigs from a real shrub in my yard and some SU! linen thread and put that in front of those animals. Then I stamped the rest of the pieces (except for That Girl's boots--they're paper pieced using a SU! hostess pattern pack), colored them with Copics (see below), and cut them out. They were also attached with 3M foam squares to add dimension. That little sheep just cracks me up! He's running flat out with his legs straight out in front and back. He wants what's in those buckets, I'm thinking! The sun was colored, cut out, and also popped up on foam squares. Next I punched out some tiny butterflies and attached them with Crystal Effects and the scene was done!

Now on to the frame. I covered it with the red gingham scrapbook paper, sanded and distressed it a bit, and then sponged it with Tea Stain distressing ink. I added strips of "denim" scrapbook paper and embellished the bottom strip with a tiny overall buckle that I had in my stash. I bought it somewhere (wish I could remember where!) and thought it might come in handy and it did. Silk daisies with bright yellow button centers, green punched leaves, and vintage buttons tied on with dark blue Pearle cotton give it a country look, I think. I used a ton of Copic markers on this project, but I love how it turned out! I hope you do too and will vote for me. Voting starts at 10PM tonight (Tuesday, April 28) on the MFT Forum and ends tomorrow night (Wednesday, April 29) at 10PM.

Thanks for dropping by today!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Punny Farm, Can Ya' Dig It?, Tea With Flopsey, and Spring Sprouts (MFT)
Paper: Soft Sky, pattern pack (SU!); Pure Luxury 80lb card stock (Gina K.); Scrapbook paper (The Paper Studio); sand paper (Lowe's)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Tea Stain distressing ink (Tim Holtz); Whisper White Craft (SU!)
Accessories: craft knife, 3M foam squares, overall buckle, model railroad "shrubbery" shadow box, craft paint, brush; Pearle cotton (craft store); Copic markers; butterfly punch (Marvy); buttons (personal stash); Flower Soft glue; leaf punch (Martha Stewart); twigs (my yard); linen thread (SU!); silk daisies (Wal*Mart)