Farmer's Market Time

Well, it's the perfect time of year to get some wonderful fresh veggies and fruits from your local growers.  We are lucky here in town, as we have a different farmer's market in a different location pretty much each day of the week.  I love the fresh veggies, the beautiful and unique flowers and the artisans that present their treasures at some of the locations.  That being said, the new challenge over at SVG Cuts was to make a card using their cut files, for any occasion/theme (except for some major holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas).  And, the  Farmer's Market is the theme on which I decided.

Here's the final result.  To get a feel for the size (or lack of size) the dimensions of the card are as follows:  The height, all the way to the top of the banner flags on either side is 7".  The width, as opened in the photo, is 9-1/2".  When folded up, it is 4" across.  Each of the banner letters saying Farmer's Market are close to 1" tall.  So, it's pretty tiny, even though the photo would have you believe otherwise.  I'll go through some of the steps and show some close-ups below.

 I started out by choosing the papers I wanted to use.  I will say that choosing papers is probably the most time consuming part of a project.  I chose the Garden Variety Paper Pack by Cosmo Cricket, and I used the digital version purchased from Jessica Sprague.  What I like about the digital forms of paper is that you can size the pattern to fit what you're using it for.  This card is fairly small, so I was able to decrease the size of the pattern in order to see more of the smaller objects.  Also, I like to be able to print out only the amount of patterned paper that I will be using, so as not to use excessive amounts of ink.  Here's a screen shot of two of the pages I printed for this project (please note I did not use one of the papers on here as it was from a different pack).

Once I printed these out (11x14 paper), I cut around each pattern.  I then began to set up the pattern pieces I was using onto the virtual mat in the ECAL software (software that runs the Sizzix Eclips Cutting Machine).

At this point, I got my mat and placed the pieces of copied paper over the place it would be on the screen mat, using the grid marks to make sure the pieces I cut would fit each of my paper swatches.

I did change my mind a couple of times, so had to re-print a few small pieces and recut them.

Then, it was time to start assembling the card.  I used my Xyron sticker machines to put adhesive behind all of the background pieces and place them on the card.  I love the Xyron because you get this thin covering of adhesive that does not glop or run like liquid glue, and it is a permanent adhesive and very strong.  You just have to be sure to get it on straight the first time, because IT IS PERMANENT!

I made the Farmer's Market banner pieces in Photoshop, printed them out at 2"x 8", and then folded each piece in half, then cut between the letters.  I then cut the inverted V out last, so it would match the back perfectly.

I began making all of the veggies and fruits.  I used elements from the following SVG Cuts collections:  September Afternoon SVG Collection (baskets), Veggie Garden Pt. 1 SVG Collection (all veggies), April Avenue SVG Collection (bird), Summer Street Carnival (card base), My Happy Garden Hideaway (grass, spade, ladybug, signs), and 24 Valentines SVG Kit (strawberry).  Love my SVG Cuts files.  They are the best, cleanest, most amazing svg files you'll find.

Here's a close-up the banner portion of the card.  I used Sew Easy Fancy Floss (yellow and white) from We R Memory Keepers for the hanging flags.

Here's a close-up of the peas.  These are made very small, so each pea was cut separately and was about 1/8".  The full length was the pea pod was about 1". The grass is no more than 1/4" tall.  My Eclips cut it all without a hitch.  It's pretty amazing.

And, lastly, here's a close-up of the carrots.  Each carrot is about 1-1/8", and the greens on the top are just under 1/2".

So, there you have it.  Hope you enjoy it.  It was so fun to make.

Support your local farmer's market, friends!