Key West Gratitude

I wanted to make a special card for my sister-in-law and her husband who hosted us for a vacation in Key West. Here is the result. Unfortunately, I forgot to take the pictures before I wrote my message so I blurred it out. I used the new Beach Life set from Flourishes. I love this set. I have been wanting something with palm trees forever. I am entering this card in the "Something New" challenge on The Crafty Pad blog.

I used designer paper from the K&Co. Sea Glass stack. I matched the paper up with the Sea Glass paper ribbon of sand dollars. I started following this week's sketch from Our Creative Corner, but couldn't fit in a sentiment strip at the bottom.

The images were stamped on Neenah Solar White with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics. The sky was sponged on with Bashful Blue. The elements were aged by sponging the edges with Creamy Caramel, my favorite ink for aging. The K&Co. paper is mounted on SU's Baja Breeze. The sun was stamped on with the circle from the old SU Shape of Things set. I inked the circle stamp first with Summer Sun, then rocked it around the edges first on a Only Orange pad and then a Really Rust pad. I wanted a sunset feel to the card. The main panel was cut with a Spellbinders Mega Rectangle die. The Baja Breeze mat was cut with the same die, and then cut diagonally.

The small beach gear images were paper toled and glazed with Crystal Effects. Inside, the sentiment Key West Memories was printed on the computer. The beach chair, which is also paper toled and popped up, is colored the exact colors of the ones at the house where we were guests. The seahorse and other sea creatures were cut with a Cuttlebug die and the bottom panel was cut with the Top Note die from Sizzix.