Seaside Designs

I just LOVE the new summer line of Gina K Designs. The stamps are all a seaside theme and I’ve been having a fabulous time playing around with them the past few weeks! So cute, so adorable and the sentiments are just perfect! I adore anything with a seaside or nautical theme. Some of our best times of the year are spent with my family on the beach or sailing a small sailboat on Lake Huron. You may be wondering why you haven’t seen any of the designs yet….well, I’ve had to keep them under wraps until now. I’m so excited to be Gina K’s Guest Designer for July! Yay! If you wish, you can check it out on Gina’s Guest Designer Page. Thanks so much Gina for the fabulous opportunity! 🙂

O Say Can You Sea…

Giggle… I just love this design. Some of them you just do! LOL I’m still tickled that this popped into my mind. I’m not sure how it did, I’m not even American! 🙂 I was wanting to do something with these cute little guys and decided to go through my chipboard to add a little depth. I love chipboard! I came across this darling “O” from the Cosmo Cricket button alphabet line…so cute. Hey…that looks a little like a life preserver…perfect! And then….eureka…for some reason “o” started the USA national anthem… and I  put my own little spin on it from there! Lots of pun….oh, sorry, I meant fun! 😉

I had this great Daisy D paper line arrive from Jacksonbelle about the time I started working on these designs. Love the whole line…so adorable. It is a nursery line but wow…does it ever work well for beach-themed designs too! I started out with my 5″ square cardbase and layered on my Rose Red cardstock and the striped patterned paper. Check out the bottom of the patterned paper….fun little waves are stitched on the design. I also stitched around the outside of the panel and distressed the edges. Things are always a little weathered at the beach, right?

The “o” is covered with the red dotted paper from the same line and sanded with my Basic Grey Precision File set. I then tied some black gingham ribbon (Michael’s) through the “button holes”. For the darling little crustaceans…I stamped them onto whisper white cardtsock, painted them with my inks and then cut them out. To add a little fun definition to their eyes, I dotted on some Crystal Effects and allowed it to dry.

Quick Tip: Use an exacto knife for trimming out tiny areas that you can’t reach with your scissors.

Lastly, the sentiment. Love my little Karen Foster Snap Stamps. Nothing quite like being able to have any sentiment at all you desire!!! If you want to know about the snap stamps, I have a little tutorial on them HERE.

Supply List:

Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Whisper White, Rose Red – Stampin Up

Patterned Paper: Daisy D’s

Stamps:Crabby Dancer & Seafood Surprise –  Gina K Designs, Mini Casual Alphabet – Karen Foster Designs

Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid ink – Stewart Superior, Ruby Red, Soft Sky, Close to Cocoa – Stampin Up

Other: ribbon – Michael’s, Sewing machine, Cosmo Cricket Chipboard, brads – Creative Impressions