Turtley Terrific

Hi everybody.  This is a card for a terrific couple Chris and Marianne who have just completed a journey around the globe which has taken more than four years in a small motorhome which they call Trudy, and whose adventures we have been following via there Youtube channel.  Since their return they have had various meet ups so that anyone who has been following them and would like to meet them in person could do so, and they were having one not that far away from where we live so we thought it would be lovely to meet them. 

This card with a turtle is significant in that not long after they set off from Ironbridge in Shropshire the pandemic struck and they were in Turkey for more than a year until things began to open up again and they were able to continue their expedition.  They did a lot of travelling round Turkey in that time and they met a lady who with her son was trying to protect the turtles that nested on a local beach.  She had given up her job and every day went up and down the beach picking up rubbish, marking the nests and putting up signs and was trying to alert the locals to the plight of the turtles as unfortunately some locals and tourists were driving their cars right onto the beach and lots of the nests were damaged and the baby turtles were being killed, as well as the mother turtles as they laid their eggs at night, and also the loggerhead turtles are considered to be vulnerable and the green turtles endangered, so they need all the help they can get.  Chris and Marianne decided to set up a charity funding page to help raise money to set this lady up with an observation centre on the beach, so she could invite the local children along to teach them about the turtles and also general conservation of the beach area including plants which grow there, and they have now raised more than £40,000 which is amazing and the local authorities have got on board with it and no driving on the beach is now allowed.

I stamped the Pink Ink turtle using Versafine Smokey Gray Ink and coloured with a few Distress Inks including Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Spiced Marmalade and Peeled Paint.  I then cut it out, and turned my attention to the background.  I used Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Crushed Olive and Mustard Seed applied with blending brushes.  I also used my finger and dabbed some water on it, along the bottom and then some bits further up to remove some ink then applied a bit more of the green and brown and blue over it and also added some first and second generation stamped underwater foliage using the green, and coloured some but not all of it.  I finally used a fan brush to make a few smaller white marks, more at the top of the piece to give the impression of light shining through the water.  I finished by adding it to a 7" square card and then added the turtle using Glue Gel.  

P.S.  We have since been to the get together and found them to be just as lovely a couple as we thought they would be and she loved the card, and kept touching the turtle which has lots dimension with the glue gel used behind it.  Marianne sends out an online weekly newsletter to subscribers, and much to my surprise considering we were only there yesterday, it was included in this week's copy with a lovely thank you.  Their website is called Tread the Globe and they have links to their Facebook, Instagram and Youtube on there.  If anyone would like to see the work done by Seher out in Turkiye here is the link to DEKAFOK and there is a link for donations there too if anyone feels inclined.  

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - Oct. '24 Anything Goes/Autumn.
Stamping Sensations Challenge - Oct '24 Anything Goes/Autumn Colours.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 802 Anything Goes/Magical, Myths and/or Legend.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Add Some Texture.

I am also joining in with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set herself but says anyone can join in with.  This is Week 1: Ink/Colour Mediums.