Saturday, June 25, 2011

The Sunshine of Life

There are a lot of challenges this week asking for “clean and simple”.  I used to do more of that but now I think most of my cards kind of fall in the middle of the scale.  I sat down in my craft room with an idea in my mind, trying to do clean and simple.  Though it looks more complex, it really is just adding ink technique to the background and I stayed with the two layers and minimal embellishment requested by most.


I started by placing a round piece of paper with removable tape on the top right hand side of a piece of glossy cardstock and brayered the top two-thirds of the card.  I used torn post-it paper to mask off the bottom and a straight piece to mask off the top, then brayered the “water”.  Using more masking, I added the “land” by sponging black ink and added the “sand” with a combination of brayering and sponging.  I sponged dark blue and then a little black ink around all the edges.  For more info on techniques like this check here.

I removed the circle and stamped the Sun Wave image from Sparkle N Sprinkles Summer Swirl set with Versamark ink on glossy cardstock in the middle.  Then I brayered light blue over the top part of the card, including the circled area.  I lightly sponged some yellow ink over the sun and buffed the whole card lightly with a paper towel and heat set it to make sure it was all dry.  I used black StazOn ink to stamp the Sunshine of Life sentiment and the Swirl Umbrella, both from Sparkle N Sprinkle.

To add a little texture and sparkle, I sponged the sand lightly with Versamark ink, added Hit the Beach embossing powder, and heat set.  Then I used a glue pen to add Poolside embossing powder to the water and heat set.  I crossed some fibers on the top of the card and then ran ¼” double sided “Tear-ific” tape around the back of the card, leaving a small border extending past the card edge and layered it on a cream card base.  I sprinkled Blue Lightning glitter onto the edges of the double sided tape.

Pretty simple, right?

This card is entered in the following challenges:
Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge Week 61 - Make it SPARKLE!
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge #116 – Fun in the Sun
Crafty Creations Challenge #124 – Sparkly Things
Dutch Dare Card Challenge #118 – Clean and Simple
4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #43 – Clean and Simple (no more than 2 layers)
Moving Along With The Times Challenge #104 – Clean and Simple
Sentmental Sundays Challenge #59 – Summery or Sparkly (plus a sentiment)
Top Tip Tuesday Challenge #39 – Cross It Challenge

21 comments:

Anita said...

Stunning card! Thanks for joining us at Delightful Challenges.

Lisa Minckler said...

Your card looks so realistic. You are amazing at creating gorgeous backgrounds! Really enjoyed reading the "how to." Thank you for sharing and thank you for playing with us at Top Tip Tuesday for our Cross It challenge!
Hugs n' Happy Stamping...
Lisa

Winnie and Patty said...

This is such a cute card! Great job with the challenge! Thanks for playing along with us at Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge this week!

Elaine Stark said...

A beautifully made card. Lovely colours and texture. Thanks for joining Top Tip Tuesday. Elaine

sallysbitz2 said...

WOW, this is stunning. Love your technique with the brayer x

Thanks for joining us this week @ Delightful Challenges & Good Luck x

hugs sally x
sallysbitz.blogspot.com

Sandra H said...

Stunning card.....:) Sandra H

Bettina L. said...

Wow this was gorgeous:) Love the way you make it look real:) Thanks for playing at Top Tip Tuesday this week. Bettina

Lisa Jane said...

Beautiful little scene
Thanks for joining us at MAWTT this week
Lisa x

craftingsue said...

What a beautiful card. You are really skilled at doing direct to paper technique. thanks for joining in at Dutch Dare and I hope to see you again in next week's challenge. Sue (Dutch Dare DT member)

Linda said...

Wonderful card Marie. I really like the sponging of color. My kind of CAS card.

Shirley said...

It's gorgeous! You can see the water breaks and that umbrella on the sane is lovely! The sentiment is perfect!

Donna Ellis said...

Marie, this is an amazing card! Each section in itself is breathtakingly heartfelt. Simply beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Fabulous card love the extra sparkle from the blue stickles and also the criss cross string! Great card hunny, love your image too! thanks for playing along with us at Top Tip Tuesday this week for our Cross it challenge, hugs Samantha

Carol Hurlock said...

Marie this is awesome. I love the sparkle on the waves of the water. How ingenius. A beautiful card with a wonderful summer theme. Thanks so much for joining us at Speedy's Friends Challenge this week. I love coming to visit and see your work!

DesignerDiva said...

What a beautiful sentiment. Great card it is on too.
Thanks for sharing with us at MAWTT this week and good luck with the challenge
Hugs Laurie x

Leanne said...

Thanks for playing at 4 Crafty Chicks, very nice card! Love it very much, wonderful job!

Leanne DT 4 Crafty Chicks

papertrails leaver said...

Such a beautiful card! The background is superb! Thanks for joining us at Crafty Creations! :-)Amy

Harriet Skelly said...

What a beautifully crafted CAS card - great work with the background!! Thanks for playing with Speedy's Friends!

Larelyn said...

It may appear clean and simple, but you did an amazing amount of work. It's a stunning card. Thanks for sharing at Delgihtful Challenges.

Colleen Dietrich said...

Fabulous scene created with those stamping techniques! Well done. :) THanks for sharing it with Speedy's Friends this week.

Stacey G.-2 Craf-t-4u said...

So pretty! Love the umbrella and the sentiment! Perfect CAS card! Thank You so much for joining us this week at Dutch Dare! If You get a chance, you may want to hop over to my blog, as I am hosting a blog candy with several gifts to win!