Seashore Shaker

Since we had snow yesterday, I decided to make a warm card. The idea started forming in my head to make a shaker card with sand, for this week’s MFT sketch challenge.

Using the same technique you would use if you are making a glass ornament, so I tried it, and this is what I came up with.

Starting out, I stamped the image from the MFT set By the Seashore on a transparency film for plain copiers, I found that onyx black versafine does not work for this, I even tried heat setting it. So I used jet black stazon instead. I turned the transparency over colored with bic markers, flipped it back to the side I stamped on, dabbed white craft ink over the colored image, then embossed with detail white ep. Next I cut it and a white piece for the background with circle nesties. From there I chose my sizzix circle scallop frame and cut three pieces of cardboard from a cereal box, glued the three pieces of outside ring together, making sure all the scallops lined up. I guess you are wondering why? It's my way of making room for the shaker material to have space to move. While waiting for them to dry, I tried stippling for the first time. The background was stippled with tumbled glass, faded jeans, pumice stone and antique linen distress inks. I’ll be doing more of this, too bad it’s hidden behind the frame, it turned out looking good. My cardboard layers were dry enough to add the transparency too, so I attached it, and then had to wait for that to dry. Now I need dp, I chose a piece from the DCWV Café Mediterranean, and cut it to size. Then I chose my layer color, a light brown. The base card is a lt. blue with a (depending on the lighting) a real light green tint to it. Ok, it’s beginning to shape up, but rather blah looking. The colors look great together, but it needed something else, so I grabbed a MS corner punch (I don’t remember the name), since this particular punch has two little holes, I popped gold mini brads into those holes. Now it’s really shaping up. I chose a ribbon to match the blue color, tied a triple bow with the bow easy. The name may be a bow easy, but sometimes it’s a bow not-so-easy. I must be doing something wrong, I get it all done, take it off, and it pulls apart, when trying to fancy it up. My answer….put a brad through it, and the cardstock and it stays there. By this time, because I’m too impatient, I am fiddling with the transparency/cardboard rings again. I took a piece of the brown layer color ran it through the cuttlebug with the sizzix die and realized there was enough room to stamp the seashell images from the stamp set, they are stamped with antique linen and pumice stone distress ink. The antique linen just barely shows. Time to glue the brown stamped ring to the transparency/cardboard ring, making sure to line up everything,  and when that dried, attached the background. I left an open space at the top, before completely sealing it, and dropped a small scoop of sand (What’s a beach without sand?), stamped four more seashells in pumice stone on the brown paper, cut out and dropped them in with the sand. Perhaps I shouldn’t have put so many seashells in with the sand, or wiped the embossing buddy over them, a dryer sheet, something to take the static out, they seem to stay together instead of separating. There you have my version of a shaker card. It’s finished, time for pictures, while editing the pictures, I realized I hadn’t put a sentiment on it, so I take it back to my room, decide to use “life is a beach” from one of the MFT twisted sets. First I embossed it on transparency with antique linen distress ep for the bottom right corner, decided it looked good, why not emboss it on the dp itself. I am my own worst critic.  I should have left it with no sentiment!!! I stamped it with versamark, embossed with antique linen distress ep, it was way too light, you couldn’t tell what it said,so..... I tried distressing the distress powder with pumice stone distress ink, using my finger. The only thing distressed is me, the ink didn’t attach to the ep, but did get on the dp. Now my beautiful card (I thought so) isn’t so beautiful anymore. I won’t bother to show what it looks like now. They say “you learn something new every day”. I could have done without today’s lesson. Thanks for looking and any comments.