A"Pearler" for the Paper Craft Crew

Today has been a bit of a busy day for me, running around to various appointments but at least the sun has been shining and the rain has been banished for one day anyhow! I must make it sound like it is always raining in Melbourne but actually, we have just had one of the driest Summers on record! But maybe that's why when it does rain everyone notices it and after a day or so of it we have had enough thanks :-)
And so my card for this week's sketch at the Paper Craft Crew has an Underwater theme LOL!

The Design Team have come up with some great samples to inspire you so do take some time and pop over and have a look if you can :-) Here's my take on the sketch:

My inspiration also came from The Stamp Review Crew blog hop this week where they featured the By the Tide stamp set with some amazing creations! So I decided to feature the Sea horse - one little fellow I haven't used that often, and the shell.

For the card base I used some Bermuda Bay and used the same colour for the square Frame. The frame was easily created with the Square Framelits and I cut the stamped card behind with the larger of the two squares.

Next I passed half the Whisper White piece through the Big Shot with the Decorative Dots EF - I love this folder, it looks like bubbles and am so glad it is going to become available again soon! Then I stamped a piece of Crumb Cake with some Gorgeous Grunge in Baked Brown Sugar and added the Burlap ribbon over the top. The Burlap is so wide I decided to add some White Bakers Twine over the top too!

The shell itself is quite shiny - I embossed the image with White Embossing Powder onto white card stock and then coloured over it with a Crumb Cake marker. I love how it turned out - Like a shell in the sand :-)

Inside the frame I first stamped the "splatter" image from Gorgeous Grunge in Pool Party ink. I wanted this really subtle so I stamped off twice beforehand. Then I used a sponge to add more Pool Party ink to cover the entire panel. Next I stamped the plant image in Baked Brown Sugar, and finally the greeting in Real Red over the top.

The cute little Sea horse is stamped in Real Red and then coloured using a Crisp Cantaloupe marker and  then it was time for all the  pearls! The sketch called for the three large ones on the ribbon and I used more pearls inside the frame for the same reason. Then it was hard to stop really :-) Of course the Sea horses needed some eyes and then the shell couldn't be left out now could it :-) Such a fun card to make!

Card stock: Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake, Whisper White

Inks: Pool Party, Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red, Crisp Cantaloupe, Versamark

Stamps: By the Tide, A Dozen thoughts, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Decorative Dots EF, Square Framelits, White EP, Burlap Ribbon, Whisper White Bakers Twine, Basic Pearls

Thank you so much for popping by today and I do hope you have time to check out the rest of the Design Team cards for the Paper Craft Crew this week and I can't wait to see what you will be inspired to create!

Happy Stamping until next time,

Jan