Seashell Symphony

One of my favorite summer activities is beach combing.  I don't live on the coast so it is rare & special when we (my family & I) are able to get up in the dim chill of the early summer, ocean mornings and walk along the empty beach. It's actually not a quiet place at all ~ the ocean is always roaring, even if softly, the seagull seem to never sleep and the waves accent it all with their rhythmic crashing.  But somehow it's relaxing, still & peaceful . . .


This beautiful background stamp from Unity Stamp Co. inspires me to ponder our coastal memories!  I have never been lucky enough to come upon a cache of seashell treasure like this one though!

There are many different textures on this card; although my photo doesn't show them off well! You can CLICK on photos to see them in more detail.  Here's how I did it :)

First, I colored this card VIVIDLY with Zig water colors and Stampin' Up! markers! (it's stamped on watercolor paper with Versafine Clair) I knew I was planning to use Ranger's Perfect Pearl powder in Pearl and it can significantly reduce color intensity.  After the coloring was complete I covered the whole image with the powder and set it with a light misting of water. 

Upper area - no powder

Lower area = Ranger Perfect Pearls

 I discovered that it affected the colors (including outlines) more than I had anticipated so I put more water color/ink over some areas - It works!  There is a beautiful and interesting shimmer to the coloring as the water color and inks seep under and through the pearls.

As you can see, the shimmer blurred the lines, removing a lot of crisp detail.  I sprayed the whole thing with workable fixative to seal & simply realigned  the stamp with the colored image (in my MISTI)  and stamped over the colored image with black Versafine Clair which leaves a delicate and deeply colored outline. 

The finishing texture was made with tiny dots of Nuvo Crystal Drops on the sand (antique rose & copper penny), and the starfish (ripened pumpkin). 3 colors of pearl accents were also added after the stamped vellum panel was in place. (taupe, gold and lavender from Wal*Mart with no brand name!)

Sentiment stamp: Impression Obsession

I put the matted image on one of my favorite map papers but I couldn't bring myself to cover over the beautiful map pattern, so I created a cardstock hinge and made it the interior of the card.  A plain panel was added to the navy inside for a handwritten note and an accent of nautical motifs in the lower right corner finish it off! (also from Unity Stamp Co.)

Prayers for your walk on the beach, even if it happens only in your crafting space! Stay well.

#papercraft #scrapbooking #fussycutting #watercolor #rubberstamping #stamping #embossing #heatembossing #distressink #unitystampco #seashells #map #Ranger #perfectpearls #timholtz #zig # impressionobsession