Framed Beach

I had this great idea for the sand card challenge that involved using a tropical frame stamp (wooden picture frame with flowers on one corner).  But when I looked at the stamp it was pretty tiny, only large enough to hold a sentiment, not for the idea I had.

So I came up with this, which no longer fit the challenge (CAS) but, I think, still looks good.

I used some wood grain paper for the frame, cut a bit wavy so it would look like branches in a rustic style frame.  For the picture I took some watercolour paper.  I blended watercolour crayons and gelatos with water and then added some glitter glue once it was dry over the brown for a rougher 'sand' look.  I added a few lines for waves in a darker blue that I didn't mix in so much, so you'd get the wave effect in the water.

Finally I mounted the image and frame on beige paper.

Life's a Beach

I made this card for this week's Less is More Challenge: Sand.

I took a piece of light brown/dark cream cardstock and stamped my hula girl stamp in tan ink.  I stamped the sentiment on the bottom and then spread yellow glitter glue (as sand) along the bottom of the card.  Voila.  Clean, simple and fast.

Beach Card

I'm submitting this card to two challenges, Simon Say Stamp & Show's Water challenge and A Blog Named Hero's Freestyle challenge.

I started the card by making the water background.  I used a mixture of metallic gelatos, distress reinkers and water.  The original mix was too uniform (I just blended all the above together into a mass), so I added some more drops of ink and rubbed them in as smears.  I was smart enough to use watercolour paper, so the amount of liquid I added didn't warp the page.  I wanted a bit more dimension and so added white streaks to indicate waves.  My white gel pen didn't work on the gelato, so I used a white paint marker I got.  I don't normally use it as the colour tends to get washed out with whatever clear medium they use for the marker, but the watercolour paper accepted the extra liquid, and I was able to get enough white out to create the effect I wanted.

The shells were also stamped on watercolour paper using Hero Arts stamps.  I originally tried stamping them in gold gelato, but the image wasn't dark enough, so I stamped it with black stazon, then inked over top in gold.  I also rubbed some more gold on the paper, so it wouldn't have a white background.  Interestingly, the stamped gold didn't blend, so I've still got a nice gold outline along the black.  I used two small foam pads and a bit of glue to attach the larger shell, then used one foam pad and glue for the smaller shell.  This gives them more dimension (as one shell is on the other) without popping the card up too high.

For the bottom, I cut a piece of yellow holographic paper.  I tape runnered it to the water page, then decided it needed something more, to show the water getting onto the sand.  So I ran a bead of blue glitter glue along the shoreline, and spread it over the sand.

The card is quite shimmery, as even the water and shells (thanks to the metallic gelatos) have a glimmer to them.