Life at the Beach

Today I'd like to share with you a plaque I created for a friend's beach house using the Tiki Bar and the Life Is Better Cute Cube, both from Die-Versions.

The sunset background for the Tiki Bar is actually a paper towel that I used to sop up Distress Inks from my craft mat.  I thought it was too pretty to just throw away, so I used an adhesive spray and adhered it to a piece of cardstock.  Then I die cut it using a scalloped oval  die.

The Tiki Bar was die cut from a semi-glossy grey piece of cardstock and also from fun foam (my favorite way to add dimension).  The sand is from Mudd Puddles.  (It's actually called Snow, but it looks more like the type of sand I'm used to seeing, not snow.)  The small shells are also from Mudd Puddles (Shells).  The large shells are from a beach trip to Florida a few years back.

I left the Life is Better at the Beach Cute Cube in white as I wanted it to stand out from the glossy black background.  The netting is recycled from a sack of oranges.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the DV design team has created using all the new releases.

Big Wet Kisses

My aquarium shaped card showcases the new Big Wet Kisses stamp set from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  I used the digi version and printed it out, colored it with Copic markers and did some fussy cutting.  I added a bit of shimmer to the fish with Memories Mists (Bright Gold and Copper Shimmer.)  The aquarium was a free clip art I found on Google.

The background was created with Bister wood stains and watercolor paper and Mudd Puddles (Ocean Water and Shells) create the sandy floor.  The fussy cut hearts were covered with Dimensional Glue and Gypsy Red velvet glitter.

For the inside, I wanted to replicate the front, so I added the digi sentiment to the center of my clip art and printed it.  The sand was created with Copics and the shells and sea weed are brads.  

Shimmer embossing powder was heat set onto the background of the fishbowl and Ice embossing powder was used to Bling my Brads - shells and seaweed.  (Click the link for the SNS tutorial on how to do this.) 

I outlined the sentiment with a Sakura glue pen and covered it with Gypsy Red velvet glitter for a bit of color and sparkle.

Time in a Bottle

Today I'd like to share another digi image exclusive to Sparkle N Sprinkle called Time in a Bottle and another tutorial using a variation on the Dryer Sheet technique.

I started off by printing the image twice (once in the complete version and once cropped, just showing the boy) as I knew I wanted to add dimension to the final project by fussy cutting the boy out.  As you can see from the photo, I sometimes practice my coloring/color combos on the portion that will be eventually hidden or not used at all.  The boy on the right doesn't have any shading or depth; he looks flat.  The boy on the left has been colored the way I want him to end up and I've already added Glossy Accents to the bottle before I fussy cut the image.  I practiced the colors of the water on the one on the left before doing a final version on the right.

Once the image was colored to my satisfaction, I began the Dryer Sheet technique process like you normally would.  I covered the image with a Super Adhesive Sheet and stretched a used dryer sheet on top of the adhesive.

Next comes the Cloud Nine Velvet glitter poured over the entire area.  This is where I deviated just a bit.  Instead of lightly rubbing the glitter into the dryer sheet, I burnished it pretty hard with my fingertip and then placed the excess glitter back in its bottle.  Then I kept rubbing the image with my finger to remove the excess dryer sheet.  It really didn't take long and was pretty easy to do.

The results are completely different than the traditional dryer sheet results in that you don't have the fuzzy material left behind.  (Click here to see my tutorial using the traditional version of the technique.)  What's left is lots of sparkle, but the glitter is more spaced out over the image (like a sun-kissed beach).  The dryer sheet has holes in the weave that the glitter penetrates and sticks to the adhesive below.

(without the addition of the fussy cut piece)

(with the fussy cut image)

Now I know what you're thinking, why do this extra step with the dryer sheet?  Well, if you just covered the image with a Super Adhesive Sheet and then covered it with glitter, the glitter would be much denser (like this image) and you wouldn't see as much detail.  It's like using a soft blur when editing a photo.
With this variation, I still get the sparkle, but not the soft blurring of the image.

To finish the card, I printed the sentiment on vellum and heat set it with Clear embossing powder.  The "sun" behind the focal point is the Lotus Pendant (from Spellbinders) and it was die cut from Sticker paper and covered with Tequila Sunrise embossing powder, and heat set.

The Distress Embossing technique was used around the edges of the card base, along with Mediterranean Star embossing powder.  A couple shells from Mudd Puddles completes the card.

Summer Treats

Here's a quick and fun idea using the new Sandcastle Sweet Petite from Die-Versions.  It's a coupon book that you can fill will all sorts of special treats for the kids during the summer.

I've used Mudd Puddles (Tropical Beach) to cover the sandcastle and popsicle brads to hod the coupon book closed.   Die-Versions Sparkler and Mister Micro fonts were used to create the title of the coupon book.

Fun in the Sun

This month's new release from Die-Versions is all about Summer Vacation.  I've incorporated two of the new dies into my layout: Fun in the Sun Sweet Spot and the Sandcastle Sweet Petite.

The Sandcastle die cut is covered with Mudd Puddles Tropical Beach for a realistic looking and feeling sandcastle.  I also added some Mudd Puddles Seasehlls below the die cut and more of both in the flower centers.

The date was added using the Die-Versions Make A Date 1 Compliments die.

Be sure to visit the Die-Versions Blog to see all the new releases this month as well as the Die-Versions Facebook page.  We'd love to see your Die-Versions creations on our FB page.

At the Beach

It's time for a new blog hop from Sparkle N Sprinkle and this month our theme is At the Beach.  The blog hop goes from May 9 - May 10.  So you have plenty of time to check out all the wonderful creations.
To create my tropical island, I've used a couple stamps from both the Surfin' Woody set (Beach Fence and Palm Hammock) and the Serena Mermaid set.  I started out by stamping the Palm Hammock image and then masking it so I could design the sponged background.  Distress Inks were used for the backdrop.  In addition, I added Mudd Puddles (Tropical Beach) to the island.  If you've not used this product before, it's something you should try because you get lots of texture when the mixture dries.  It really does look and feel like grains of sand.

I colored my image with Distress Markers and paper pieced the hammock.  The sea shells and the sentiment are from the Serena Mermaid set and I heat embossed both of these with Clear Detail embossing powder.  For specific details, you can always visit my SNS Art Gallery.

Hopefully you arrived at Anne-Made from Karalee.  If not, you will want to start at the beginning - SNS Blog and go from there.  Plus all the details are posted on the SNS Blog as well as a complete list of all the designers participating.  Be sure to leave each of us a comment as there will be winners selected from three Mystery Hosts, as well as an overall winner.  Now it's time to head on over to April and see what she's designed just for you.