A salute to the dairy heiffer

I was in the mood for a small project last night, and I was overdue to design a one-page homage to the Illinois State Fair butter cow for my Favorite Things scrapbook. I knew I needed to make a butter cow page when I found a sheet of yellow, teal, gray and tan cow-print paper last spring at The Paper Boutique ( http://paper-boutique.com/). Isn't it funny how the supplies you find sometimes determine your projects as much as the reverse? 

I also pulled out my big bag of pre-cut letters, which have been in storage since I got my Sizzix Big Shot a couple years ago and started using it exclusively for lettering. I'm having a big of crank fatigue, though, so I'm feeling the urge to sort through my many incomplete sets of letters and use what I can. Some of my headlines might resemble hostage letters for a while! (Luckily, I only needed a few letters for this page and had all I needed in the same color and style.)

I had printed two pictures of the cow -- I wanted an overall shot and a close-up of the face. I didn't have room to use both, since I had enlarged the overall shot to a 5x7, so to make room for the large headline and journaling block, I cut out the close-up and used my Ranger Liquid Pearls to highlight it. I also used a sponge dauber to add some Stampin' Up! Bermuda Bay ink to the glittery die-cut letters so they would stand out more boldly against the lively background of the cows. I still wish I'd had darker-colored letters, but sometimes it's nice to use up old supplies and clear out space. Cleaning out clutter freshens my imagination and improves my creative process. 

I'm hoping to find more time to scrap this weekend and complete at least one more small-scale project. I might stick with the state fair theme and work on some pages from a night at the fair this past summer when I went to the Boyz II Men concert with my friend Michele. With all the snow and slush outside, it seems like the perfect time to focus on warmer times. 

Happy scrapping!