the last cut

My husband is one of very few people I know that LOVES to mow the lawn and make it perfect! The lawn lines in the summer and snow plow edges in the winter are all ruler straight. This was the last cut of the season last fall.

Originally I was planning to do a big title where the green chevron strips are, but wanted somehow to convey the directions of a mowed lawn. I cut out the strips from a piece of paper from a 6x6 paper pad by drawing 3 lines on the back, and drawing lines from the outside lines to a point 1" ahead on the middle line, then just cut along the lines with scissors. It was pretty easy! Then I filled in the spaces with sewing lines to create different widths and texture.

I mainly used the 35mm kit by Studio Calico but since it didn't have a lot of bright green, I grabbed those pieces from the Sketchbook line by American Crafts. Other than that I grabbed some pieces here and there from various other lines and kits to pull this whole thing together!

HOW-TO:

• The main background paper is "White Wood" paper from the On the Bright Side collection by My Mind's Eye
• The colorful Chevron is "Multi Chevron" from the same collection, as well as the banners along the top
• The green dotted paper is "Viridian Vignette" from the Sketchbook collection by American Crafts - I cut the bottom strip with regular scissors and pulled back to create a grass-like look
• The green strip along the top was cut from the bottom of another piece of paper from the same collection
• The happy badge is a Marcy Penner exclusive
• I cut out the clouds from "Genuine Sky" paper from the Fly a Kite collection by My Mind's Eye
• I cut the starburst shape by Studio Calico in the upper left corner in half and drew with pen to outline it a little and have it show up
• I used twine by Jillibean Soup and drew a line with my Zig glue pen where I wanted the twine to go, then placed it on top
• The "Real Life" stamp is by Studio Calico and the date stamp is from the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan collection by American Crafts - both inked with Wet Cement shadow ink by Hero Arts
• I used Orange and Creme sticky keys by October Afternoon for the word "the" in the title and Amy Tangerine Olive letter stickers by American Crafts for the rest of the title