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Monday 3 August 2015

Seaside Themed Birthday

Hi there everybody.  It was DH's birthday a couple of weeks ago and the usual dilemma is what am I going to make as I'm sure most of us find it more difficult to make masculine cards.  He does like to get out into the countryside or down by the sea, and in the past we have done a fair bit of walking, not so much these days though, but we do try to get out and about, and he has taken up photography in a bigger way since he retired.  Well,  I do have some seaside themed stamps and I decided to stick with them.



I found a snippet of white card about 5" square and started with the background to the image.  When looking on Pinterest recently I found some cards where the background had been applied using the sticky side of masking tape which gives it a rougher more textured appearance, so I thought I would give it a try.  I used Sunshine Yellow and Stonewashed Adirondack ink and Faded Jeans Distress ink.  It did say you should use shiny card so that the glue would not stick firmly to and damage the surface.  Well I wanted to use ordinary white card so I ran the tape over my trousers a few times to remove some of the tack and then inked up a piece cut a bit shorter than the card.  To ink I just ran the pad straight over it and then pressed it down firmly on to the card and worked my way up from yellow to light blue to the darker blue.  If it didn't seem dark enough I inked and went over it again.  When I changed colour I used a fresh piece of  tape.

I used my Sheena Douglass stamps for the plant, I think it's called Thrift (I didn't ink quite all of the stamp), and the Puffin, and a set from Crafty Individuals for the Seashells, and I stamped these using Espresso Adirondack ink.  I then coloured these images with my Spectrum Noir pencils.  I did think that the brown was a little dark but decided to go with it, and I also used a white gel pen to whiten the feathers on the Puffin a bit.  I also used the pencils to add a litle extra shading and to darken the horizon.  I layered the topper on to a snippet of blue card.

The background was made using another slightly larger snippet of white card and a NBUS stencil from That Special Touch called Wavy which I bought for using with sea related cards and I inked it very lightly with the same two blue inks and a very little Peacock Feathers DI as well.  I applied it using some blending foam and I moved the stencil over a bit to fill up the gaps for a bit more coverage.

Before putting the card together I ran off the personal sentiments from the computer on to the inkjet paper I use for inserts and cut them out using a stitched circle die and punched a hole in each one using a screw punch.  I then wrapped three pieces of baker's twine round the image mat and fixed the tags in place with a bit more baker's twine, and to keep them in place I adhered them to the card as they tended to twist.

I finished with the die cut sentiment which I cut from a snippet of dark blue card.

I wasn't quite sure if he would like it but he has said several times how much he loves it so was relieved that I made the right choice. 

Thank you for stopping here today.

Pat x

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 188 where we use up our left over stuff/snippets.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Stamping Sensations  - Anything Goes with a Stamp and a Die.
Artistic Stamper Challenge - Anything Goes.


13 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Beautiful card. I love the seaside theme and think it would be suitable for a recipient of either sex ... I'd certainly appreciate it and so would my husband :) The puffin is lovely and I like colours you've used to create the beach scene. Elizabeth xx

Eve said...

Wow! Pat - thank you so much for entering the playground with your stunning card. I'm not at all surprised that your hubby liked his card - it is a work of art! Definitely one to be framed.
Eve xx

Heather said...

A gorgeous card Pat, a lovely design with a lovely background and a beautifully coloured fabulous image!!

hugs
Heather xx
Thanks so much for joining us with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Barb said...

What a lovely card Pat. I really enjoyed reading how you'd made it. My hubby is a keen photographer too and recently made a hide in the garden. Thank you for your visit earlier. I am your new follower. Barbxx

Lynne K said...

This is lovely, Pat, a gorgeous seaside scene. Thank you for sharing it with us at Stamping Sensations.

Lynne

Tracy said...

Fab creation, thanks for joining Stamping Sensations, good luck.
Happy crafting
Tracy x

MaryH said...

How could he NOT like this one? I enjoyed reading about the background techniques (another new one to me!) It was just lovely and the seascape is a perfect choice for someone who loves the sea. Love the stencil wavy background too, good design with the focal image. I think it is wonderful, and I'm sure Mr. did as well. Happy Belated Birthday to him. I see he's sort of in my generation!!! TFS & Hugs

Jacee said...

What a lovely design Pat. great image and I love how you've used the twine
hugs Jacee
Simply Paper Card Design

Shilpa Nagaonkar said...

Beautiful card, Pat. Thanks so much for joining us at Artistic Stamper this month.

Barb said...

Congratulations on being one of Eve's picks Pat. I did comment on this lovely card a few days ago. Barbxx

Notations of a Crafter said...

Gorgeous car Pat. Thanks for joining in the The Artistic Stamper challenge

Sarn said...

Congrats on being showcased at the Snippets Playground. Lovely card. xxx

brenda said...

Rather belatedly as I am only just back from holiday, but wanted to say thank you for sharing your lovely work and joining in our stamp and die theme at Stamping Sensations this month.

B x