September 2011 Cricut Circle Magazine Challenge: Echo Park Contest

For September, the Cricut Circle Magazine Challenge was as follows:

Use any Echo Park Collection and at least 4 Cricut Cuts from your favorite cartridge in your design.

Seemed simple enough, but I didn’t have any Echo Park products on hand, and there are no specialty scrapbook shops that carried these products in the Houston area.  So, I checked out their products on the internet, but since I had no project in mind, I wasn’t sure what paper to order.  I finally decided on a couple of the packs and was going to wait until the papers arrived to decide what to create.

As it turns out, I was working on something else for the fall, when a happy accident actually determined my project for the month.  I was creating files for a scarecrow on my Gypsy, and could not get the shirt layer to size correctly.  In a moment of brilliance, I realized I wasn’t supposed to get it correct, as it was destined for me to actually “stuff” my scarecrow.  From there, it was easy to create the scene for this challenge.

When the papers arrived, I selected The Apothecary Emporium paper pack.  I used the following Cricut cartridges:  Happy Hauntings, October 31st and Simply Scarecrow to create the scene.

I used red eyes on the scarecrow, the crow and the pirates to give it that eerie pirate feel.  Every pirate has to have some bling, so I added a vintage button (from my mother’s vast collection she generously shared with me) to the pirate’s head gear.  The shirt buttons were also from my mother’s stash of buttons.  The scarecrow’s eyes and the eyes of the jack-o-lantern were stitched with black thread.

The shirt and bandana on the scarecrow’s head were stuffed with fall colored raffia.  I carefully selected pieces and gently poked them in the holes I created.  Once filled, I then added some glue to hold the stuffing in place.To create the overall look of the scene, I covered a block of foam in paper, then added Spanish moss to give it the look and feel of dead grass.  I found the perfect “tree” in my front yard after a rain storm knocked it from the tree.  I painted the twig in flat black, then sprayed it with CC International’s Iridescent Spray and Sparkle.  (Please note that this item should never be used indoors; only use in a well ventilated area.)  Some of the items were misted with shimmer sprays to give them the added eerie look. 

I love the way project came together, and especially the scarecrow.  It was a great reminder to me of what I always used to tell my scrapbook clients when I was teaching classes:  “There are no mistakes in crafting; only opportunities to be creative."