artsystamper: Nature of the Beach with Carole

Hello and Happy Monday!

I am thrilled to be joining the Artsystamper Addicts Design Team and this is my first project for Artsystamper.com.

I used the Nature of the Beach Digital Stamp Set and Marble Magic Digital Paper. Here is the 5 x 7 inch card I made:

I planned my card design in MS PowerPoint on my laptop, simply because this is what I am most used to. This is very easy to do as Bev provides all the images in .png format which means they have transparent backgrounds. I opted to use the pre-coloured images this time and I need to tell you that the colours and details are terrific! Once I was happy with my design I printed out the individual elements and the River Meadow Marble Magic background paper. I fussy cut the images right up to the black line and die cut some seaweed from the spare background paper. Then I gathered all the tools I would need for my project:

I started by lightly inking over the paper to make it darker, especially close to the base where there would be shadows. I inked the edges of the paper with Peacock Feathers and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide. I also inked the edge of the seaweed to give it a bit more definition so that it would stand out better on the background.

I always run around the edges of my fussy cut digi images with a black Copic marker. This conceals any white edges which are left after cutting. For this project, I decided to shape the turtle, shells and starfish by using a large stylus on a foam mat. Simply turn the image upside down and roll the stylus around from the centre outwards - some creases may occur, but this is not a problem.

Now that the elements are ready, I place them roughly where they are to go and take a photo to remind me where to attach them.

I decided to add a little extra stamping and such to the background, not that it needed it, but I just like to add my mark on cards I make using pre-coloured images. I stamped some wild grasses in Hickory Smoke and Black Soot Distress Ink. I also added some watered down white acrylic paint splatters and some water spots which bleached out some of the colour. The turtle was the first image to be attached using foam pads in the centre and glue around the edges. The shells, seaweed and starfish were also arranged on foam pads to keep their shape and dimension.

Once everything was in place, I added some Stickles to the starfish and shadows to the conch shells and the turtle shell using grey Copic markers. I also added some white highlights to the images using a white Posca paint pen. Some dried flowers were tucked behind the shells to mingle with the seaweed.

Small iridescent sequins were added to the background along with some Nuvo Crystal drops to replicate bubbles. Wet glue was applied along the bottom of the background and Golden Prills sprinkled over to represent the sandy sea floor.

Finally, the sentiment was matted onto blue card and attached on foam tape.

The background was then matted onto dark blue card and placed onto a 5 x 7 inch card base.
Here a final look at the finished card:

***

I mentioned before that I prepare my design in PowerPoint. I decided to print out the slide and make a one-layer, flat card - perfect for popping in an envelope and mailing. These digitally designed cards are quick and easy to make. Bev has a great tutorial on how to do this on her You Tube channel here.
You'll notice that I added some of Bev's Field Flower Silhouettes to the Marble Magic background paper, digitally changing the colour from black to teal and green. I added Posca paint pen lines and dots in black and white to the images. I matted the image onto dark blue paper and attached it to a 5 x 7 inch card base.