Oceans of Love

Which kind of challenges do you find the most ... well, challenging? For me it's often the sketches that stretch my crafting muscles more than others, so you may have noticed that I participate in sketch challenges much less often than, say, colour or inspiration ones. But this week the Freshly Made Sketches post caught my eye and sparked an idea ...

I flipped it 180 degrees and got busy getting inky, lol.

I began with embossing a piece of heavy watercolour card, then inked it and embossed again before giving it a water spritz. Love this new embossing folder from SU, those swirls are just gorgeous! Trust me, it looks even better in real life. The whale was just black and white card (obvs, lol) and the other die-cut pieces were coloured with distress inks. 

Materials used:

• dies - Whale in a Bottle (Spellbinders)
• distress inks - salvaged patina, peacock feathers, uncharted mariner, lucky clover, wilted violet, brushed corduroy, pumice stone, abandoned coral, hickory smoke
• other - Big Shot, Soft Waves embossing folder (Stampin' Up), water spritzer, blending brushes, Dimensionals, craft foam, clear acrylic dots

Hope you've had some crafting in your day and thanks for swimming by.

Cheers

Kerry

Beach in a Bottle

This week's Tic Tac Toe challenge really got the old grey matter ticking and cranking, lol. Here's the board:

I was sorely tempted by the beach option. It's been so cold here the last couple of weeks, courtesy of a polar blast from Antarctica, that the idea of a sunny beach really appealed. So I picked the middle horizontal row - Beach, Yellow and Fun Fold - and let an idea percolate for a day or two until this morning I sat down to see if it would pan out. Happily, it did! Here's my offering:

Everything was cut from white cardstock and coloured using distress inks. I repeated the sunrise colours on the inside, stamping towards the bottom so it shows in easel mode, and attached the seagull from the set to act as a 'stopper' - and because it looks so cute there! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Polynesian Paradise (My Favorite Things)
• dies - Surf Shack (Cottage Cutz), Whale in a Bottle (Spellbinders), 
• distress inks - salvaged patina, peacock feathers, squeezed lemonade, mustard seed, antique linen, tea dye, brushed corduroy, vintage photo, twisted citron, mowed lawn, abandoned coral, scattered straw, saltwater taffy
• other - blending brushes, Big Shot, Dimensionals, circle punch, masking paper

Hope this brings a warm wish and sunny smile to your day! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry