Good morning, crafting friends. Thank you for stopping by my blog today.
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so since this card was the subject of my Facebook Live on February 18, 2024, I will (attempt) to be brief when I tell you about the creation of this card.
This is one stamp set that I will probably not sell when it retires. I love Sea Turtles. Some times I feel like a Sea Turtle – comfortable in water, slower on land and when the water gets too cold I’m subject to “cold stun”. Do you know about this phenomenon? When the water drops to 50 degrees, sea turtles are subject to cold stunning. They become lethargic and, if not rescued, may not be able to swim and may drown. David and I were in South Padre Island just after the Christmas Freeze of 2022. More than 150 sea turtles were rescued from the Laguna Madre and warmed up in the convention center before being checked for other injuries and health concerns and then released into the Gulf. We were excited to be there for the release of almost all the stunned sea turtles.
But, I digress. Today’s card is a stamping collage technique I learned from fellow demonstrator Robyn Armbrecht that I am trying to perfect. As my stamping base I used a piece of Basic White card stock. I stamped my large focal image in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Next I stamped a piece of masking paper with the same large turtle. I used paper snips to fussy cut the masking paper and placed it over the large turtle image. I added several smaller turtles in various orientations around the card using Night of Navy full strength ink and then partial turtles with Night of Navy stamped off once or twice. After stamping with Night of Navy, I used a blending brush to add just a little ink over the stamped areas.
I used Costal Cabana, stamped off once each time, for the next set of stamping. My goal with this stamp was to make two lines that intersected at the turtle focal point. I used the Coastal Cabana ink to add ink over the large turtle. I have done this both really dark (the blog photos) and medium dark (the video). I personally preferred the medium dark. The important part is to put enough ink around the focal point so that it pops when the mask is removed. I used the Coastal Cabana, stamped off once, to stamp the little fishes randomly on the card panel where I needed a little texture or fill in.
With Calypso Coral, the final color, I stamped the larger starfish in a variety of places, including over the sea turtle. As I did in the other areas, I used the blending brush to add Calypso Coral ink over these Calypso Coral stamped images lightly. I wanted some white space because I knew that I was going to put a tag with the sentiment over the space. I added a few stamps of the Courage & Faith dots in Night of Navy ink to the card front, including over the masked turtle.
For the spatter, I added a drop of Memento Black refill ink to a clear D block. I added just a little water from my water painter and mixed the water and ink together. I tapped the wet water painter over the card front panel which created black drops on the card. Once the spatter had a little time to dry, I removed the mask over the turtle. I love the look of it after removing the mask :).
I stamped the Courage & Faith Stamp Set sentiment on Basic White with Calypso Coral ink and die cut it with the 2nd largest angular Tailor Made Tags. After die cutting, I stamped the top and bottom corners partially with the Sea Turtles Stamp Set bubbles in Coastal Cabana ink. I threaded the Night of Navy & Gold Glittered Ribbon thru the top of the die cut Tailor Made Tag and tied with with the white twine from the Baker’s Twine Essentials pack. I added Stampin’ Dimensionals to the back of the tag and adhered it in a skewed manner on the card front. I added three gold Blooming Pearls, one large and two small, to the front of the card. I adhered the card front panel to the Night of Navy card mat with liquid glue before adhering the matted panel to the Coastal Cabana card base with stampin’ dimensionals.
For the inside panel, I stamped another Courage & Faith stamp set sentiment in Night of Navy ink. I used Calypso Coral ink to stamp the small turtle in the bottom right corner. After I stamped the small turtle, I cleaned and flipped the Sea Turtle stamp and inked up in Calypso Coral. I stamped off twice, then stamped the turtle background over the turtle detailed stamp. I added liquid glue to the back of the sentiment panel and adhered to the card base.
For the envelope flap, I added DSP. My sample card has Waves of the Ocean, my favorite (but retired) DSP which I may or may not have 2-1/2 packs of still. For the video, I used the By The Bay DSP which is also retired. My intention was simply to match the colors of the card with my DSP, but any DSP will work for the flap. I used the star fish, inked in Calypso Coral, and stamped the envelope front three times without reinking.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for coming to my blog today. I hope you make this card – if you do, please tag me at #StampWithNel.
I typically post card blogs on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and email a newsletter on Wednesdays. I very much appreciate every visitor and every comment. I hope you found something here that encourages you to return for my next blog post. It’s my pleasure to help you nurture your creativity.
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Host Code
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Use my host code when you order $50 (before tax and shipping) or greater and receive five (5) handmade cards and a variety of 6″ x 6″ double sided Designer Series Paper (a $20 value) FREE from me. You will also receive the monthly online tutorial. The May tutorial features the Adventurous Sky Bundle.
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Retired Stampin’ Up! Products
My online Stampin’ Up! retired product store has been refreshed with additional products. I will be adding more retired products as I come across them. I have a variety of stamps, dies and embellishments. My stamps and dies are all gently used and most were purchased within the last two years (although some may be “vintage”). Dies might be on magnet cards as I did not start saving the original packaging until just recently. Designer Series Paper and embellishments are new in unopened packages unless otherwise stated.
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Do you subscribe to Paper Pumpkin? Paper Pumpkin is a monthly subscription that provides a unique variety of paper projects for new and experienced crafters alike. Part of the fun of Paper Pumpkin is that the contents are a surprise every month.
MAY: The Best There Is
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Make cards for Father’s Day and more to express your gratitude and admiration!
- Makes 9 cards: 3 each of 3 designs with 9 coordinating envelopes
- Precut paper pieces and butterfly designs
- Champagne foil images, sentiments, and labels
- Coordinating colors: Lost Lagoon, Moody Mauve, Basic Beige, Basic Gray
(Classic Stampin’ Spot), Basic Black, champagne foil
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Coordinates with the Country Woods Designer Series Paper (item 163393).
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What a wunnermus card! And yes, I also suffer from the cold stun – but for me it looks like shaking and a little crying! I love your collage technique – and really enjoyed the video the other night! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by Mary. I hope Houston is warmer when you visit next month. 😎
I really enjoyed your personal story about sea turtles and why they are so special to you. Looking forward to that latte card! Let me know when you’re going to make that one on a Sunday night
Thank you mom. Glad you liked it.
Such a sweet card! Love the turtle images, great colors too! 🙂
Thank you Amy.