This week the CASology Challenge cue is Tropical and after this long, cold winter I really wanted to play along! I looked through my stamps and I didn’t really have anything that would fit the theme…which meant improvisation time! Ha.
To me, tropical ALWAYS means the beach so I created a little textured beach scene with a hopeful sentiment! 😉
I started off by taping a top-folding card to my craft sheet. I used post-it tape to mask off a rectangle on the top third of the card. Then I smushed a little Chipped Sapphire and Salty Ocean distress ink onto the craft sheet and mixed a little texture paste into each individual color. Working quickly, I used a palette knife to add the Salty Ocean distress paste to the rectangle leaving room at the bottom for the “sand.” I deliberately put it on a little thick and made sure that it wasn’t too smooth. I added the Chipped Sapphire paste working from the top of the rectangle down so that I didn’t overly blend the colors. I also made sure to clean my palette knife frequently so that I wasn’t getting any unwanted mixing. I used the knife to put some sharp edges in the waves and and dragged a little of the darker color up to the shoreline to give it more shadows and texture. Finally I sprinkled a little rock candy stickles onto the texture paste for a little sparkle.
Next I took a piece of double-sided tape and cut it to fit against the water. It didn’t have to be perfect because I planned to cover it with the puffy paint. I sprinkled gold and brown glitter on the tape and burnished it so that it wouldn’t go anywhere. I peeled off the backing and wedged it up against the texture paste. Then I removed the post-it tape while the paste was still a little wet so it wouldn’t harden and break. After the paste was dried I squeezed on some white puffy fabric paint and varied the thickness and depth of the paint. I sprinkled a little more rock candy stickles on the paint. I let it air dry for 5 minutes and then I blasted it with the heat gun briefly. The heat helped to puff the paint and create the swash (and yes, I looked up that technical term on Wikipedia)!
Finally, I spelled out and stamped the sentiment using letters from Lawn Fawn’s Smitty’s ABCs. I stamped it in Memento Luxe Bahama Blue pigment ink from and heat-embossed it with clear powder. I’m hoping it’ll fit the criteria for CAS. It didn’t actually take me that long, there’s plenty of white space, and it’s almost a one-layer card!
Now, I’m ready for summer! 😉 Thanks for visiting!
nancy littrell says
Wow…Love your eb paste and puff foam textures and colors. TFS your detailed description too.
Ardyth says
Absolutely stunning! I’ve never thought of a card as sculpture, but with all that lovely texture, colour and sparkle – amazing! So glad you joined us at CASology this week!
Celeste Goff says
So cool!!!
Judy1223 says
Jess, this is a work of art…just gorgeous!!!! I love it when you improvise, good heavens! 🙂 That small square of water and beach has such an impact in such a small area! Thanks for joining us at CASology!
Melissa says
Swoon! Jess, this is fantastic! All that texture & sparkle kept within a very defined space! Wow!!! This is a stunner!
Thanks so much for joining us over at CASology this week! 🙂
shamav says
Love your card … Thanks for the step by step!
Kara Lynne says
Excuse me as I pick my jaw up off the floor! This is so amazing!! I’m so inspired to get out the embossing paste!
Susanne V. says
An artsy CAS card – fantastic!
Jen W. says
Jessica, this is a STUNNER! Love all the movement and texture of your sparkly little beach! Thanks for playing along with CASology this week!
Shawna says
All I have to say is WOW!! This is seriously an awesome card!! I just can’t stop looking at it.. Wow!! I’m speechless.. Wow!
Christy Q says
Love this card! The texture you added with the paste, the puffy paint and that glitter. This is just one awesome card!!
May Park says
Oh my!!! This is my favorite of this week!!!!!! Well done, Jessica! Thank you so much for sharing your creativity with us at CASology. Hugs, May
Effie says
This is amazing!
Maria says
Fantastic!!!! I love it!