Summer By the Sea - Bliss

This card is the same basic design as this one I did the other day. I liked it so much I decided to play with a different image and colors, but kept the original sketch design. I'm planning to do one more after this, so I hope I don't bore you with the repeated elements! ;)

The only thing I'll say about this one, since I already described the making of the card similar to it, is that I messed with the main image a bit. The boat normally doesn't extend that far back, so I extended it with the narrow end of my Basic Black marker. The water line was added and I realized it was crooked (!!) after I finished it. I hope it's not too noticeable. I was NOT going to start over! Too much work involved!

For the streaks in the water I used a mostly-dry brush and some Night of Navy and CTMH Dutch Blue inks to get the lines after coloring in the water with Bordering Blue and Bashful Blue. It was a blue fest! ;) I just kept layering colors over each other until I got the desired effect, adding more Night of Navy under the boat. The same with the boat - layer upon layer.

I love these sketchy images, don't you? I hope to see some new ones in the new SU catalog next month!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamps: SU Summer By the Sea, SU Canvas, SU By the Sea wheel, "Bliss" stamp from Jody Poesy

CS: Creamy Caramel, CTMH Dutch Blue, Black, White

Inks: Creamy Caramel, Basic Black, Night of Navy, CTMH Dutch Blue, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom, Bordering Blue, Bashful Blue

Markers: Creamy Caramel, Basic Black, CTMH Dutch Blue, Blush Blossom

Other: Cuttlebug embossing folders "Spots and Dots" and "Swiss Dots", Nestabilities, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals, Water brush, Black ribbon, Plaid ribbon

Playing with Nesties and the CC172 Color Challenge

This card may not look like it made me crazy, but it did. The one thing I didn't struggle over was the main image. That I had down right away. The rest was *ugh* grueling to say the least. I had wanted to combine a sketch challenge with a color challenge, but ended up more focused on the color. The sketch challenge I was aiming for was SC183 but that little extra piece #2 was just baffling me. So it's that challenge minus the #2 piece. :)

The SCS color challenge this week is not my cup of tea. I felt no excitement at the thought of trying to create something using Groovy Guava (a peachy color), Barely Banana (pale yellow) and Chocolate Chip (dark brown). But I did like the choice from 2 weeks ago - CC172 - of Taken with Teal (a dark turquoise), Wild Wasabi (a soft green) and white. And of course, being who I am I threw in some black to pop those colors out. Couldn't help myself.

This is the first card I've made with my new Nesties, and may I say that they are the coolest! For some reason I thought they were going to be heavy, but they're incredibly light, yet sturdy. I used a plain oval and a scalloped oval. You probably already could tell that, though, right? ;)

As usual, I went nuts with the Cuttlebug. I can't get enough of that Cuttlebug!!!!! Help me someone!! It has been one of the best investments I've ever made in my card making.

For the square green piece I used the Swiss Dots folder. Then I mounted it on black cs. On the Taken with Teal piece I rolled the SU By the Sea wheel in Basic Black, then ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Spots and Dots embossing folder. Then I mounted it on the main Wasabi cs piece. The spots folder reminds me of water a little, this being a beach scene and all. I figured I'd give the Tiny Bubbles folder a rest. Wouldn't want it to become overheated, ha!

I cut out and dry-embossed the white oval for the main image. Then I stamped it and had to touch up parts of the image that ran across the embossed parts with a marker. Next time I will stamp before embossing. I mostly colored the image with markers. But I used Creamy Caramel ink from the pad and a water brush for the sand.

I want to point out that watercoloring on regular white cs will cause a bit of warping. So keep that in mind if you try it. The oval is a tad warped on the bottom. Not a biggie, but it slightly ruins the perfect look of the cut oval. *sniff*

The "friends" stamp was kind of a last minute thing. It was hard trying to place it in a comfortable spot on the card. So I had it kind of opposite the bows for balance.

For the bows, I used pinking shears to trim the ends which gave the ends of the black and white plaid ribbon a frayed look. I like that.

I almost forgot to mention that I used the SU Canvas background stamp on the main green piece, stamping it with Certainly Celery ink because I don't have Wild Wasabi ink, only paper. Worked perfectly, though. I just love activity all over my cards, don't I? ;)

I used Dimensionals to pop up the oval and the square pieces. Love those Dimensionals! I should buy stock!

Thanks for looking!
Stamps: SU Seaside Sketches, SU By the Sea wheel, SU Canvas, SU Smorgasborders (sentiment)

CS: Wild Wasabi, Taken with Teal, Black, White

Inks: Certainly Celery, Basic Black, Creamy Caramel (for sand)

Markers: Taken with Teal, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Summer Sun, Baroque Burgundy (for red highlights in brown hair)

Other: Cuttlebug embossing folders "Spots and Dots" and "Swiss Dots", Nestabilities ovals, Dimensionals, water brush, Plaid ribbon, Thin organdy ribbon