WWC73 - Gail's Clean and Simple Challenge - Summer

It's officially summer now, so how appropriate that this weeks Watercooler Wednesday Challenge hosted by the wonderful Gail Allen is a Clean & Simple (CAS) challenge with a Summer theme.  What fun! 

Living on the West Coast it's hard not to equate summer with being at the beach.  I have fond memories of end of school year outings to the local beach.  My classmates and I were always looking for sea life in the tidal pools, and hoping we'd be the one to discover something bigger and better than a sand crab?  It was so exciting and such fun!

Well I had that same feeling of excitement while using the two-step star fish images from the Picture Perfect stamp set for this card. It was my first time inking up these stamps and that little star fish was calling my name. 
Here's my card:

Background Design:
Visually I divided this card into three sections, but if you wanted to you could use an acetate or post it note mask on each area.  My card base was an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Soft Suede Textured card stock scored at 4 1/4".  I added a 4 x 5 1/4" layer of Island Indigo and a 3 7/8 x 5" piece of Whisper White card stock that was sponged with with Crumb Cake, Island Indigo and Soft Sky inks. Working with a piece of scrap paper beneath the layer of card stock I'm stamping makes it easier to manage the amount of colour I'm applying.

Sand:  Starting from the bottom and working towards the sky with Crumb Cake ink I sponged in circular motions until I had the sand a third of the way on the card stock.  To give some life to the sand I stamped the speckled image from Gorgeous Grunge in Soft Suede and then again with Versa Mark and Gold embossing powder.

Water: To get the look of movement in the water I stamped the lined image from Gorgeous Grunge in Island Indigo ink just above the sand line.  Starting off the card stock I began sponging with the Island Indigo ink in a soft circular motion until I had sponged the ink just above the lined image. 
 

The Gorgeous Grunge Set contains 5 texture images that are perfect for creating background scenes.  For this card I used the top speckled image for my star fish and sand and the lined image that looks like tire tracks for the water.

Sky:  I sponged Soft Sky ink in a circular motion from the water line to the top of the card, so it looks like soft rolling clouds on the horizon.  The sentiment is from Rose Wonder and is stamped in Early Espresso ink.   

Note:  I'd already attached the star fish to the card base before I chose this sentiment, and while I was stamping it I rocked the stamp resulting in some blurring.  If you're CASing this card I'd recommend stamping the sentiment first and then adhering your star fish. Lesson learned.

Star Fish:  To bring this star fish to life I began the process by stamping the first image in Crumb Cake ink on a scrap of matching card stock.  The second star fish stamp has more texture and I stamped it in Soft Suede.  I stamped a third time in Crushed Curry and then stamped the small speckled image from Gorgeous Grunge in Versa Mark ink across the center of the star fish and heat embossed the speckles with Gold Embossing powder. The star fish was adhered to the back ground with small strips of the new foam adhesive strips - love this stuff!  It's only 1/8" wide so perfect for this embellishment. 

Inside of the Card:

Since I didn't have any small star fish stamp images, I couldn't resist stamping these little sand pipers on the inside of my card.  There from one of my favourite Stampin' Up! sets called Wetlands.  

Supply List:
Stamp Sets:  Picture Perfect, Gorgeous Grunge, Rose Wonder, Wetlands 
Card Stock:  Whisper White, Soft Suede, Island Indigo, Crumb Cake
Ink:  Island Indigo, Soft Sky, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, Versa Mark
Accessories:  Snips, Heat Gun, Paper Trimmer, Gold Embossing Powder, Tom Bow Glue, Foam Adhesive Strips 

Well that's it for today. I love hearing from all my visitors, so I hope you'll leave me a comment and let me know what beach or summer memories you remember.

Click here to access the WWC73- Gail's Clean and Simple Challenge and visit the other design team members to check out the details on their WWC73 CAS Summer entries.  There are some awesome designs and tips so you won't want to miss out on.  And, I hope you'll decide to play along, it's a great way hone your stamping skills.  It's easy and you have until next week to get your entry in.  In the meantime Happy Stamping! 

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot