State Fair of Texas

We went to the State Fair of Texas on Saturday, a day after the iconic Big Tex burned to the ground. We ate, drank, and were merry during our day at the fair. We watched several of the shows, including the pig races and puppet show. Here are a few photos from our day.

From the Creative Arts exhibit:

I was really loving the hooked rugs this year. 

From one my favorite entrants, Jennifer Babcock:

This embroidered hat won a Best in Show ribbon:

We were there in time for the cake contest judging. It's a shame they don't give out the leftovers. They looked so yummy!

My fried food for the day was the Deep-Fried Divine Chocolate Tres Leches Cake. I was disappointed, because it wasn't a chocolate cake (just some cocoa sprinkled on top) and it didn't taste like a tres leches cake. It tasted good, just not what I expected it to be.

And my favorite stop, always, is the petting zoo. We saw baby goats, sheep, zebras, kangaroos...

We had a fun and tiring day at the fair!
 

More from the State Fair

Yesterday, I shared the scrapbooking winners from the State Fair of Texas. Here are photos of some of my favorites at the fair.

This dress is made from crocheted doilies that are stitched together. It was stunning.

A sweet needlework hanging.

Great altered art.

 My favorite wreath. Received an Honorable Mention.

Isn't this a sweet doll? Again, an Honorable Mention.

State Fair

We spent the day at the State Fair of Texas. We got there early, before it was hot and crowded. If you're not familiar with the State Fair of Texas, let me say it is big, fried, and definitely Texan. My favorite part is the children's petting zoo. I love seeing the baby goats. This year, we had a set of triplets that were six days old when we visited.

We ate fried foods - deep fried pineapple upside down cake, fried pumpkin harvest pie, and fried bubblegum (below). I think the bubblegum was our favorite - it's really marshmallows flavored like bubblegum and then fried.

Of course, the real reason we went to the fair was to see my scrapbooking projects on display in the Creative Arts building. I won Honorable Mention for both of my projects. Here are the other scrapbooking projects that won. (I apologize for the photos - the projects are behind glass, with all kinds of glare.)

12x12 double layout 1st place:

12x12 double layout 2nd place:

12x12 double layout 3rd place:

And my Honorable Mention:

Here's a better look at the layout:

Apparently, the judges did not appreciate my handmade paper rosettes and pinwheels, or layers of coordinating patterned paper, or my vintage 3-dimensional embellishments, or my photo editing skills. Sigh.

On to the 8.5 x 11 layouts.

1st place:

2nd place:

3rd place:

Oh wait. The judges didn't bother to award a 3rd Place ribbon. Instead, they gave the Honorable Mention to me.

Here's a better look at the layout, with vintage sheet music, handmade paper flowers, and coordinating embellishments:

Was I glad I entered? Of course. Will I enter again next year? Nope. Am I disappointed that my ribbons don't even have the big ribbon rosettes? You betcha!

  

I'll share photos of some of my favorite projects from the fair tomorrow - most of them didn't place either.

 

State Fair

OK, I know this isn't a Halloween project, but we spent a (warm) fall day out at the State Fair of Texas. I made a layout for a multi-pic layout challenge. I ended up doing a double page layout to showcase the activities of the day.

I started with two pieces of plain white cardstock and stitched a black border around each.

Then I misted the paper with Black Magic Glimmer Mist - one spray where each of the fabric squares would go.

I went through my fabric stash and found 12 pieces of fabric that didn't match, but fit the theme. The more colorful, the better. I adhered the fabric pieces and then started making a mini collage on each - one or two for each of the activities at the fair.

Using the fabric added a lot of color, but wasn't overwhelming. It also helped ground each of the photos to the layout, which can be a challenge when trying to put 3 or more photos on a page.

The last square gives the who, what, where, and when of the event.