Good morning! Before we get started I just wanted to share a short personal message. You may have noticed I’ve been off my blog for most of May and if you follow me on other social media you already know why but if not I thought I’d give a quick life update to explain my absence.
On May 5th I had an otherwise normal and routine OB check-up. On May 7th, at 22 weeks, I was suddenly and unexpectedly diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome as well as IUGR; and unfortunately on May 9th my husband and I had to say goodbye to our beautiful daughter.
The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur and I needed a little time away from my craft room. But I wanted to say thank you so much to those of you who reached out to me over the last few weeks. I greatly appreciated your messages and support…it really meant a lot to me. And this past weekend I spent some time in my craft room working on a card for the new Lawn Fawnatics challenge. It took me like 6 hours to create my card but I was relieved to find joy and comfort in the creative process and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you today.
As the weather gets warmer I have dreams of resting on a sandy tropical beach somewhere so I decided to use that as inspiration for my scene! Here’s what I created:
To start I stamped images from On the Beach and Smooth Sailing and colored them with copic markers before die-cutting them with the coordinating dies. I also die-cut the Palm Trees from Tropical Backdrop and colored them with copic markers as well. Then I stamped the sentiment from Happy Happy Happy onto black cardstock with versamark and heat-embossed them with white embossing powder.
I used a lot of ink blending to create the background for my card. My sky is blended with Scattered Straw (though you can’t really see much of it), Wild Honey, Abandoned Coral, and Picked Raspberry. The water is blended with Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, and Mermaid Lagoon and splattered with water. And finally the sand is blended with Antique Linen, Tea Dye, and Frayed Burlap and splattered with water, Frayed Burlap, and Tea Dye.
To put the card together I started by adhering the sky to an A2 panel. I die-cut a slider channel on the waves and then adhered it to the card with foam tape before using foam dots to add the sailboat to the channel. Then I built up the rest of my scene with a mix of foam tape and regular ATG adhesive. Especially when building scenes I like to use foam tape to add a little extra dimension…for example, I love how the palm trees kinda pop off this card! To finish the scene I added a few accents with a white gel pen and nuvo crystal glaze.
And now it’s your turn! I can’t wait to see what you create!! You can link up your entries on the Lawn Fawnatics blog! Thanks so much for visiting and have a fantastic day!
Interested in the products I used? To make them easy for you to find, I have listed them below. (Affiliate disclosure can be found here). Your purchases help keep my blog running and I thank you for the support!
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It’s beautiful Jessica, you always have the perfect little details. I am so sorry about your daughter, and I’ve been thinking of you and Steven. I know you have many creative talents that you nurture, I pray that they are an outlet that will help process your grief. Sending hugs.
An absolutely perfect beach scene, Jessica! I’m glad to see that you are starting to get back to your crafting; however, go at your own pace. Healing thoughts and prayers for you.
Super cute!!
Love the beach scene you created! Beautiful color combo.
I’m so sorry to hear of your loss.
Dear Jess and husband, so sorry for your loss….
thank you for all of your creative cards.
The Lord is with you and your husband.
I’m so sorry for your tragic loss. I’m thankful thank God is providing comfort and healing. Your card is lovely. This is a great scene. The ink blending is superb and I love the palm trees. May God continue to bless you as you continue through the grieving process.
Wonderful card as usual and I adore your beach scene. I have been and will continue to pray for you and your husband. Sending big hugs.