There is a back story to my entry in the challenge this week. Some weeks ago, we were invited by the President of our Alma Mater (Bowling Green State University) to attend the BGSU v Univesrsity of Indiana game in her suite at "The Doyt" (full name - "The Doyt L. Perry Stadium", named for man who led Bowling Green to a 77-11-5 record in his 10 years as the head coach of the Falcons). Two weeks after that, we get an invitation from the BGSU Foundation, inviting us to the President's Club pig roast before the game. Free tickets, air conditioned comfort (when we were invited, the temps were in the high 80s! Saturday, 60 was as high as it got! LOL), free food and drink --- who could resist?
I was apprehensive --- after all, BGSU hasn't had a great record against the Big Ten, their last win (of five wins in the history of the school) being back in 2008! Being a fanatic fan of my alma maters (Bowling Green is just the first of three), it would be painful to sit there and watch our team be slaughtered like it was in 2013 against the same team. And of course, the clear purpose of both invitations was fund-raising (It turns out we are members of the President's CLub for donors becasue of our lifetime donor record, and the 1910 Society because way back in grad school something tempted us to buy an annuity for BG!). Still, one doesn't turn down a Presidential invitation, rIght?
So we showed up, ate and made our way to the suite, up three stories to the very top of the East side of the stadium. Talk about viewing a game in luxury high above the field (leather seats, no obstructions, no wind (Bowling Green is FAMOUS for their windy weather) and, above all, not cold! --- except one couldn't hear a thing in that glassed-in box. We had to rely on our own eyes and knowledge of the game to make sense of what was happening on the field. But once we caught on to the new coach's plan, it became a little easier, if not less nerve-wracking! Ten exchanges of the lead followed in the next four hours and the final score was made in the last 8 seconds! Can you imagine that I was ecstatic that it was OUR team that scored last? Final score 45 - 42!
During the entire day, I was scavenging "souvenirs": napkins, the ribbons that tied up the silverware at the pig roast, postcard copies of the alma mater (embarrassing, but handy as I couldn't remember the words!) and, of course, game ticket stubs. Given that I KNEW that the only one of the four required Effect Powders that I owned was Antique Linen, I had no a plan in mind for the challenge, but after seeing all these ephemeral goodies, I decided their fate would be a two-page layout of the game day! And Antique Linen worked right in with the color scheme!
The products I used were all Distress:
- Antique Linen and Weathered Wood Embossing Powders;
- Antique Linen, Pumice Stone, Vintage Photo and Weathered Wood Distress Inks;
- Gathered Twigs Distress Paint;
- Spiced Marmalade Distress Stain;
- and Barn Door, Chipped Sapphire and Ripe Persimmon Distress Markers.
I used the Effect Powder technique on the chipboard letters (b, g, s and u) with Antique Linen Powder and Ink. I dyed one of the silverware ribbons (which started out white with brown polka dots) with Spiced Marmalade stain, diluted and applied with a paint brush (it looks a little more orange in real life than it does in the photo). I aged the alma mater postcard with Pumice Stone ink and attached the ribbons from our name tags. I also used one of the napkins to glue on the orange school name. I aged the other side of the post card with Vintage Photo, and colored in the flag with the Barn Red and Chipped Sapphire distress markers. The football jersey was a napkin as was the logo in the frame (the orange in the logo is Ripe Persimmon). Oddly enough, one of the heroes in the game (besides the entire defensive team, that is) wore the #1 on his jersey! Finally, I adhered the parking ticket and the two ticket stubs as well as the lanyard which held my name tag, and stenciled the final score at the bottom of page 1!
What resulted was my hoped-for two 12 x12 page layout: