Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Stef to host this week and she has a fun seasonal theme challenge for us to work with:
Beach time! Well, I was tempted to go with another sunset like the one in the inspo photo, but I've made one using htese colours before so instead went with a daytime beach scene as I wanted to use the lifeguard hut image from the 'Beach Day' stamp set and dies that I haven't yet used on any of my beach-themed projects. I decided to use the layered sketch over at Tuesday Morning Sketches for my layout and the colours from the bright palette over at Color Dare (I went down the right hand column with Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana and (retired) Starry Sky as my equivalent colours, and a little Lemon Lime Twist from the top row too). I was faithful to the square shape of the sketch and had a lot of fun stamping and diecutting - take a look:
Here's the low-down on today's card:
Perennial Postage - I decided to use my Perennial Postage Dies to cut out my layer shapes; for the larger square that I used for my beach scene, I simply used one of the larger rectangles and then ran through the die cutting machine a second time to cut the end off to make it square - easy peasy! The dies almost make this look like a postage stamp, don't you think?
Beach Day Layers - I worked on my beach scene first, layering all of the elements to create my scene. I masked off the edges and added an inked sky using a blending brush, then cut my sea, complete with foam, and my sand, onto which I stamped some shells for added interest. I used the diecuts only for my lifeguard hut as I wanted it to be completely white, and added a couple of stamped gulls to complete the scene. I added a sun for another of the sketch elements (diecut using the retired Hey Chuck Dies) and a trio of shells to another of the panels.
So Swirly - I decided to use (retired) Starry Sky cardstock for my cardbase as it really compliments the other elements and embossed my mat layer with the new So Swirly embossing folder. Oh my - I love this! I bought it to compliment my Latte Love bundle, but I thought it worked well to add a sense of watery movement to this card too. I think I'm going to get so much use from this EF - it comes in the new larger 6x8.5" size too, which is so useful. You can see the embossing and layering in more detail below:
I actually make this card with a birthday sentiment on the inside, but in hindsight I should perhaps have made it as a congratulations card for the youngest of the James Juniors who has spent the last week training to be a lifeguard (pool not beach as we live about the furthest from the sea that you can possibly get in the UK!) and passed his final tests and gained his qualification yesterday. Luckily I already had a card ready! I really love the Beach Day stamp set and dies and am so glad they carried over as I otherwise might not have added them to my collection and I'm getting so much use from them. I'm also linking today's card up over at Time Out Challenges where the quote to be inspired by is "It's always summer somewhere"; for me a visit to the beach is synonymous with summer - I would so love to leave near the beach all year round too, preferably a Caribbean one!!
Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:
You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any.
Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:
The Paper Players Design Team
Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:
1. Create a new paper project
2. Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
3. Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL.
4. Have FUN!
Enjoy your day; I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:
