rubber stamp show and mailboxes

Hi friends.  Saturday I went to the rubber stamp show in Milwaukee with my sister and some friends.  I had won some tickets, so we got in free.  And anyone with advance tickets could get in a half hour earlier than the show opened to the public, which also meant we got free parking.  How cool is that?

Along with the show, they also have a card contest, which I entered.  The theme for Saturday was mailboxes.  Well, guess what?  I don't own a single mailbox stamp!  Nope -- not even one!  I really wanted to enter the contest.  Why?  Because the prizes were show money!

So.... I needed to improvise.  I looked for digital images, but couldn't find any that I liked enough to buy.  So I decided to try a different idea.  I used a Sizzix birdhouse die and created a mailbox from that.   I started by gluing some dotted paper to a piece of cereal box chipboard and then die cutting the birdhouse.  I cut a door opening shaped like a regular mailbox and then cut a door slightly larger out of another piece of chipboard covered with paper.  I stamped the letters and cut them out and glued them to a scrap of card stock.  I then glued that to the front of the door.  The door is hinged so that it opens.  The handle on the door is a half pearl. 

For the roof and base, I made faux woodgrain on card stock, and also stamped it with a woodgrain background stamp.  I then die cut that with the birdhouse die, and trimmed off the parts I needed to add to my mailbox. 

The card base is chocolate chip, with a layer of white, which is stamped with a canvas background stamp and another old Stampin' Up set called Toile Blossoms. 

I stamped lots and lots of the flowers.  They are colored with Copic markers and many are cut out.  Some are just glued on and others are popped up on dimensional tape.  I wanted it to look like a flowering vine growing up and around the mailbox. 

For the letters in the box, I looked on line for some letter images and then shrunk them way down to fit inside the mailbox. 

Although it took more than a day to complete this card, I had fun making it and was pleased with the result. 

And the best part?  I won 2nd place -- YAY! -- which meant I received $75 to spend!  I was thrilled! 

Thanks so much for stopping by.