On the farm banners

When Papertrey Ink first sneak peeked their On the Farm set last month, I thought for sure that I wouldn't be buying it. Sure, we have cattle on my mother-in-law's farm, but I didn't think this set would be terribly versatile. As the week went on though, I saw how different designers used the set and I started to cave. (Of course, it didn't help that Sage kept saying: "A horse and cow stamp set? Buy it!")

Then, Melissa Phillips posted this card... and I knew that I had to have this set. I love how she created a banner with the set!

So, when I pulled the set out yesterday to make a birthday card for my soon-to-be nine year old nephew, I knew I wanted to use this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: pocket cards with the Barn Die, as well as include a banner.

Here's my card:

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (lemon drop, rustic white, pure poppy), stamps (on the farm, distressed stripes), impression plate (simple stripes), twine and dies (barn, tag sale #5.) I also used some Crate patterned paper.

Here's a close-up of the banner:

And when you pull out the barn....

.... the doors open up to reveal...

On the back we signed it from Uncle Cam, Aunt Leigh and your "country" cousins: Austin, Jonah and Sage. :)

After I finished the card, I decided to pull out some of my photos that we took at the Brandon Fair. In setting up this layout with photos of Jonah on a horse, I thought that here, too, would be a great place to add  another On the Farm banner.

I used Bo Bunny (background), Crate Paper (green and off white), American Crafts (orange woodgrain) and Simple Stories (stripe, star, off white banners) patterned paper. I also used Papertrey Ink stamps (on the farm), twine and dies (tag sale #5.) I also used some Pink Paislee chipboard letters.

For my journaling, I cut a piece of patterned paper out of the background (behind the photos and the block of patterned paper) and trimmed it down to 2.25" tall and printed my journaling on it. Then, I adhered it to the layout. I'm not quite sure why all of the lines didn't line up, though.... (If you'd like to read the journaling, you can click on the photo to see it bigger.)

And here's a close up of the banner. I had cut out the star from a sheet of patterned paper and adhered it to the banner. Then I thought it needed a little something extra. I was thrilled with how the 100% country stamp fit perfectly!

So, thanks to Melis for the inspiration and to you all for looking!