I like playing with my stamps and dies, but just because they coordinate doesn’t mean they have to be used together. Take today for instance, despite having the By The Dock Stamp Set handy, the case stayed firmly closed. To create my waterside scene all I needed was a simple die-cut piece, some ink pads and my Water Painters.

WATERSIDE SCENE

As I knew it would take time to dry I began my project with the waterside scene.

First I used the largest flat Water Painter to paint a layer of clean water over a piece of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. Then I painted some Seaside Spray ink onto the water and let it dry. Next I painted some Balmy Blue Blue on top of the dry Seaside Spray layer. Finally I added a little more Seaside Spray ink over the top and set it aside.

TIP – If you don’t have reinkers, squeeze the lid of a closed ink pad to transfer ink to the inside and use that as your palette.

With the sky done it was time to turn my attention to the waterside part of the scene. I found a scrap of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper and cut out the grass and bullrush shape using a die from the Dockside Dies. Going back to my Water Painters I first painted the top of the bullrush with Cinnamon Cider ink. Then I added a light wash of Cinnamon Cider ink over the ‘ground’. After that I painted on some Old Olive ink onto the ground and leaves, Once it was dry I added a little more Old Olive ink and set it aside with the sky piece.

One last tiny scrap of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper was needed for my “Miss you” sentiment. I found this in the Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set and stamped it using Cinnamon Cider ink. Now I could focus on the background layers for my card.

NATURAL BACKGROUND

To compliment my waterside scene I wanted a background that was neutral and natural, so wood seemed an ideal option. For this I turned to the In Good Taste 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) Pack. There are a number of different wood patterned sheets in the pack and I decided to use three of them.

With my backgrounds decided I then chose Cinnamon Cider Card for the card base. After cutting and scoring the card using my Paper Trimmer, I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

From the three wood patterns I chose the lightest of one for my main background piece. First I cut a 3/4″ strip and using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I attached it down the side of a layer of Very Vanilla Card. Then I added a thin strip of Cinnamon Cider Card beside the DSP before fixing the assembled layer inside the card base.

Going back to the lightest DSP I cut another piece and glued it to the flap of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope. Then I trimmed it to shape with Paper Snips using the edge of the flap as a a guide. With that done I cut one final piece of the main DSP design and glued that to the front of my card base.

From the two remaining wood designs I cut two strips, one with the pattern going vertically and one horizontally. With liquid glue I mounted each strip onto a layer of Cinnamon Cider Card then fixed them to the card front.

FINAL ASSEMBLY

Going back to my watercoloured pieces I used liquid glue to fix the bullrush piece onto the sky layer to complete the waterside scene. Then I mounted the assembled layers onto Cinnamon Cider Card and added them to the card base.

That just left the tiny sentiment which, like everything else, was glued to some Cinnamon Cider Card. Next I folded a small piece of Cinnamon Cider 1/4″ Ribbon and fixed it to the back of the sentiment using Mini Glue Dots. Then I used more Mini Glue Dots to fix the sentiment to the scene and my project was finally complete.

I’m really pleased with now this project turned out. The natural colours and theme are perfect for a masculine / gender neutral card don’t you think?

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