Bon Voyage

From The Funkie Junkie

Purely for the love of crafting, I have created what I think of as a wonderful retro study of a South Seas vacation. Sit back, close your eyes, let your body relax. Breathe deep. Can you smell that tang of salt in the air, maybe laced with a little pineapple smell? I deeply enjoyed making this card. The farthest south I have ever been is to the Caribbean, but this card carried me off on a little vacation. I could just feel the balmy sea air. I could envision packing my trunks...they had a little musty smell when I opened them the first time...then I pictured myself flying off in a propeller airplane, not a jet...sending a postcard back home, wishing someone special was there to enjoy it with me.

Okay, back to reality, but don't you just love these wonderful beach images from Flourishes and the travel icons from

Stampin' Up? Working with vintage and retro just satisfies some sort of creative yearning I have inside me. So I don't know if anyone will actually like this card, but I sure had a wonderful time making it!!

I am entering this card into two challenges:

Stamp Something - a card that recalls your summer vacation

Cute Card Thursday - At the Beach!

The base cardstock layers are Baja Blue (one of last year's SU In-Colors) and Creamy Caramel. On the Creamy Caramel, in Close to Cocoa ink, I stamped a montage of every travel stamp I owned. Then I stamped a selection of travel stamps over the montage with black ink and Versamark. Then I clear embossed them. I created a scene with the Flourishes Beach Life set and turned it into a vintage postcard by deckle cutting the edges and then sponging them with Creamy Caramel, my favorite distressing ink. Of course, I "damaged" it by folding over a corner and then ripping off a piece. Then I gave the damaged corner some extra sponging with Creamy Caramel. I stamped the three travel stamps on the left, cut them out and popped them up on craft foam. The "Beach Cottage" sign is a Melissa Francis sticker, sponged with Creamy Caramel, of course.

For the interior panels, I did the montage and embossed overlay thing and then added the sentiment from the Flourishes stamp - a beautiful, uplifting quote from Victor Hugo. For the blank panel to write a special message, I created another vintage post card style. So, there is a super lot going on with this card. Please let me know what you think about it. I am curious to see if it appeals to anyone besides me - LOL!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Flourishes Beach Life, SU Travel Post, World Tour, Balmy Breezes, Aged to Perfection, Crafty Secrets Clear Art Stamps
Paper: Creamy Caramel, Baja Breezes, Very Vanilla, Neenah Solar White Ink: Versamark, Stewart Superior India Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black, Summer Sun, Really Rust, Copic Markers for coloring

Accessories: Clear EP, Silver EP, swing machine

Update: This card was featured on Card of the Week