It's a SEQUEL!!

There's a point in the summer when the wet, sticky air has been so hot for so long, the ocean lays back and decides it calls himself, "on vacation."  The waves are soft as a melody, and the noonday sun casts a light that commits to no certain time at all.  This is the time to pull your beach chair right up to the water's edge, and let the waves play around your feet. 

I had a longing for a beach day like that.  So I made this.

This was made with my friend Melanie Muenchinger's GinaK Designs set, Gifts from the Sea.  This set has the most beautiful beach sentiments, and the artwork on the shells is really outstanding.  There is even a stamp that does the speckles that were used to do the sand.  This was the first prize I won as a cardmaker.  I talk about that here, and here. 

Oh yes! And from the Toot your own Horn department, Sweet Melanie Muenchinger has another (!) guest spot with me on her blog, Head, Hands and Heart.  I answered a questionnaire, and also made another sample using her The Vine stamp set, from GinaK Designs.  She is such a magnificent supporter of Yours Truly, and she creates some beautiful artworks.  Check it out!

Oh yes, the card.
The background was done with my Tim Holtz Ink Blending Tool, and Antique Linen Distress ink for the sand, with Antique Linen and Tea Dye for the speckles, SU Marina Mist  and Baja Breeze for the water, and SU Bashful Blue for the sky.  I used post it notes to separate the layers.
I stamped the birds in Tea Dye, and stamped it off to make them seem further away. 

The shells were stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink, and I sponged over them with various colors.  I have used colored pencils on them before, but this kept them a bit simpler.  In with my other inks, I added SU Perfect Plum and Pretty in Pink.  I cut them out after inking them, and cut some foam squares in half width-wise, so they would pop off the card just a little less than usual., after attaching some 1/4 inch aqua ribbon from AC Moore.
(As a side note, I have these SU inks in Stampin' Spots.  I need to talk to my rep about them, because they seem really "NOT JUICY".  I may have gotten some old ones or something.)

The sentiment piece was a happy accident.  I originally wanted to stamp it directly onto the card face, wet emboss it, and then wet emboss a big sand dollar to look like a background for it.  This was pretty much a big fail at first.  In my frustration, I used the image to test out my Marina Mist stampin' spot in a direct-to-paper swipe, to see if I wanted to do the water that way.  Fail there, too.  But THEN......

When it came time to figure out exactly WHAT I was going to do to make the sentiment work, I looked down at the mess I had made. Inspiration struck!  I gently ripped the edges of the card stock away, and then sponged the rough edges with Tea Dye distress ink.  Well, what do you know?! It works! 

I attached the card front to a layer of sandy colored stock, then to a piece of aqua, leaving just a 1/16" reveal.  Subtle is the watch word on this one...

The waves were the last to be done.  The water was really pretty, but the sentiment is about WAVES, remember?  So, I got out my gel pen and drew some in by hand, and then added some depth with a green colored pencil.  Then to give them that last bit of punch, and to really wake up the whole thing, I added some Stickles to the waves, too.  I was really scared this would turn the whole thing into a cheesy mess, but I was very delicate with the application, and I think it really works.

I hope your weekends and vacations bring you to someplace restful.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard