Marshall County 4-H Fair

Marshall County Fair

This year my entries were...Three in Photography Color, received 3-Second Place ribbons.

All of these pictures were taken this year when I went to New Jersey. The sunset picture at Sunset Beach the judges comments were excellent in all sections except, workmanship and the note written on the paper was Sunset colors muted-not distinct. The picture with one dolphin, judges comments were excellent in all sections, except originality and the note written on the paper was focal point should be closer. The picture with two dolphins was the same as the picture with one dolphin.
Christmas at the Fair-Ornament, received Grand Champion! Judges comments were all excellent and nothing was written on the paper.

Christmas at the Fair-Needlework, Cross Stitch, received Grand Champion and a ribbon I have never seen before "Superintendent's Choice Award". Judges comments were all excellent and a written note on Choice of Materials/Trim "Really adds to tree!"
Beadwork-Garden Party Necklace, received 1st place, all excellents and had written note "Very well done".

Beadwork-Flip Flop Earrings, received 1st place, all excellent, except in Workmanship, no note. Beadwork-Criss Cross Bracelet, received 1st place, all excellent and two notes "very neatly done" and under usefulness "It seems a little small, but it if fits you, great!".

Basic Crafts-Tile Coasters, received 2nd place, all excellents, except Originality, note from Judges under Choice of Material & Trim "Neat use of materials".

Needle Art-Cross Stitch-Garden Faries, received Reserved Grand Champion, all excellent and note at bottom of paper said "Nicely done, fun piece, bright & cheerful. I noticed the spacers used when framing (good), the masking tape is acidic and won't hold up well, there are other tapes available that would be better choices." That comment made me giggle, because I have pictures framed over 20 years with masking tape on the back and haven't had any problems with them.

Needle Art-Cross Stitch-Moon Fairy, received Grand Champion, all excellent and written note at the bottom of the paper said "Beautiful piece, it inspired me to do mine".

I was very happy with what I received at the fair! This is the first year I have ever received Grand Champion and I brought home 3 of them!! Woot! Woot!
Bob and I took Kayden to the fair. We told him about all the animals we were going to see and he just kept saying he wanted to see the frogs. We didn't find any frogs there.

Thursday night I met some high school friends at the fair. I had a few tickets left from when I took Kayden so we all rode the Merry Go Round.

I bought this horse for Kayden a week ago, we just didn't have time last week to see him, so when we came over this week it was a nice surprise for him. But when he saw it, he said "I wanted the blue one". A few days later (Saturday night) he spent the night and asked what happen to the blue ones.(yes I altered the picture, because it was taken in the garage and I didn't want everyone to see the mess that is in there.)

I love these sandals!

Yes, still ordering beads...this is my stash for this week.
I did take a little time to myself this week and spent 3 hours on the beach.
The rest of my week...

Sad to say that my Uncle Jim C, had passed away. He laid down for a nap and didn't get up, heart failer. He will be missed. When I worked at Wittley a few years ago, I thought that Jim was working there too, but I didn't see him the first week or so I was there. Then one day, when it was break time, I was walking up to the break area, when I heard a whistle and I told myself "I know that whistle, that is Uncle Jim" and when I turned around he was a few people behind me.

Got a new do! Yes, I have had the same hair style for a good 5 years or so, just in longer-shorter through the years. I am having a heck of a time trying to style it. I even went back to the girl that cut my hair for some help and bought a new brush to help me style it, but it just isn't right.

I don't know if you will be able to tell but in the first picture of me at the fair with Kayden is my old style, the second picture of me with my friends is the new style. The new style is more flip out, wind blown look as the old one was more in place type of look.

We built three above ground pools this week, but I forgot my camera each time.

Beading patterns, I have 3 new ornament patterns and 2 new bracelet patterns that are almost done and ready to be posted.

Well that was my week, hope you had a good one.

A Fun Week

Dara's Open House

We had Dara's Open House. It went very well. We had about 60 people show up, sent out 150 invites and had 4 people RSVP.

Dara
Fair
Thursday I went to the fair with a few of my friends. Lorrie, Lori and Jody.
My Fair Entries Christmas At The Fair
I entered the baby blanket, the Christmas Spider and Beaded Ornament.
They all received 1st place, blue ribbons.Needlework-Cross Stitch
I entered 3 framed pictures and they all received 1st place, blue ribbons.Pictures

I took these pictures last year when I was in Tennessee. I entered pictures a few years ago, but I didn't know they weren't suppose to be framed and they were disqualified. This year all 1st place, blue ribbons.Beaded Jewelry

This is the first year I entered my beaded jewelry. They all received 1st place blue ribbon.Another new entry for me was piece work-no quilting. It received 3rd place.
Friday - Sunday

We went camping and floated the river Saturday.

Todd, Jody and Steve

Bub, caught 5 fish!

Me & Bob

We made a few stops along the way. Waiting for the others, but they were so far behind us it was over an hour before they even made it make to the campsite.

Along the way, spiders 3 or 4 inches long, Carin or Haroun and we also caught two Leather Back Turtles, but the pictures were blurry. Dragonflies were so beautiful. We saw black with teal, black and a deep blue and black with white dots on the wings. Didn't get any pictures of the dragonflies, they didn't like the camera.

It was a great float even if we were with the crowd. Sometimes that is a good thing, if we had been with the crowd, we won't have seen nature at it's best. It did rain a few times along the way, but the rain felt good.

Etsy

Yes, I still have my etsy shop and I have been working to add new items. So far I have added Links in Shades of Purple-Bracelet

Thanks everyone that voted for my niece on the curb appeal. Sorry to say they didn't win.

County Fair

Progress picture of Kayden's Christmas stocking. Working on the last section. Yeah!!!
I received the other two witches that I ordered from the ILCS retreat.

Picked up my fair entries last Saturday. On the tin I received Reserved Grand Champion. What a surprise! Because it was a last thought entry. LOL!

Remarks from the Judges... all Excellent are checked and handwritten in Workmanship " one more stitch on "H" would help it be different than "N".

I don't know if you can see it good enough to tell in the picture or not but then is an extra stitch on the h's.

On the left-from the Judges...all Excellent are checked and handwritten at Choice of Color "wonderful color, lovely pattern" then in Workmanship "letters very good-consider french knot @ ends, work on stretching /blocking-top pulls to right-not frame great! even @ bottom"
Hen & Chickens-from the Judges...General Appearance Neat & Clean-needs improvement and handwritten "presentation is very important". Then Excellent in Choice of Color, Choice of materials & trim, Workmanship, Usefulness and Originality. Handwritten in workmanship "stitch work very nice, letters are good". In Proper Finish-needs improvement.

This is the one that I framed the night before and I had a really hard time getting the masking tape to stick to the backing paper and frame.

From the Judges...all Excellent are checked and handwritten in workmanship "stitches very even, nice work".

Then just for fun I entered two beaded ornaments. They both received all Excellent and "Very tiny, fine work!" was handwritten at the bottom.
From the Grill! Pineapple Shrimp Packets and Baked Apples.

Pineapple Shrimp Packets-6 canned pineapple slices, 1-1/2 pounds med shrimp, peeled and deveined, 1/3 C chopped sweet red pepper, 1/3 C packed brown sugar, 1 TBS seafood seasoning, 3 TBS butter-soften.

On heavy-duty foil (12" sq) place a pineapple slice, top with shrimp and red pepper. Combine brown sugar, seafood seasoning and butter. Dot on each packet. Fold foil and seal tightly. Grill, covered, over med heat for 10-15 min.

Baked Apples-4 med tart apples, cored, 1/3 C raisins, 1/3 C flaked coconut, 1/4 C packed brown sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon. Place each apple on heavy-duty foil (12" sq). Combine ingredients, spoon into center of apples. Fold foil over apples and seal tightly. Grill, covered, over med heat for 20-25 min.

Marshall County Fair 1st Place

I just picked up my cross stitch from the 4-H fair in Marshall County.
The Halloween pillow received 1st blue ribbon and the judge wrote "Colorful, good design job."
The Turkey pillow received 1st blue ribbon and the judge wrote "Nice over all appearance, turkey could be defined with back stitching."
The Halloween box received 1st blue ribbon and the judge wrote "Nicely finished, design centered."
The Halloween pin keep received 1st blue ribbon and the judge wrote "Cute, nicely finished."
The Hoosier needle book received 1st blue ribbon and the judge wrote "Nice you used a variegated thread, nicely finished."
The Halloween flat fold received 1st blue ribbon and the judge wrote "Cute, nicely finished."
The Halloween cube it received 1st blue ribbon and the judge wrote "Nicely finished, good job on cross stitch."
The Halloween stand up received 1st blue ribbon and the judge wrote "Cute, good definition."
The Dragon tray received 1st blue ribbon and the judge wrote "Interesting! Nice design."
The Bag (boruse) received 1st blue ribbon and the judge wrote "Interesting design, nicely done."
The Christmas ornament received 1st blue ribbon and the judge checked "Excellent" in all the categories...General Appearance, Neat & Clean, Choice of Color, Choice of Materials/Trim, Workmanship, Proper Technique, Proper Finish, Usefulness and Originality. And then wrote "Nice job. Hopefully you'll put the year & your initials on the back."
The Snowman pin keep received 1st blue ribbon and the judge checked "Excellent" in all the categories, then wrote "Maybe you could date this on the back! Nicely done!"
Last but not least...Snowman flat fold received 1st blue ribbon and the judge check "Excellent" in all the categories, then wrote "Very nice for the holiday!"
Well that is it. I hope to get a few things framed this year and I will try to enter them next year at the fair.
Thanks to everyone that stops by and leaves comments!

Marshall County Fair 2008