I. Love. This. Set.
It’s no surprise that this set has become a quick favorite of mine. I love anything to do with mysteries, treasure maps, and adventure, and this set captures that essence so cutely.
No joke – it took me THREE WEEKS to make this card. I struggled with the layout a lot at first because I wanted to use an interactive die, and I just couldn’t make it work. Then I had some ideas about the water, but I didn’t own any wavy dies, and I finally decided to just order some. (I don’t regret it either; those “scene builder” types of dies are true staples and I know I’ll get a lot of use out of them, the way I do with my other border dies.) Finally, the SAND. I went through a bunch of attempts to make my paper look like sand but I couldn’t achieve the look I wanted. There were very few videos out there showing how to blend sand and add texture (at least that I could find) but I finally found one that showcased what I wanted (I should have saved it so I could link it here.) Of course they used a tool that is no longer sold. Luckily I was able to find it on eBay, and that did it! After weeks and weeks of a mental block, I had the scene I wanted and I had sand that looked like the sand I wanted. Success!
So now here are some gratuitous pictures of sand:
I don’t think the sand can be appreciated until it’s seen up close because the effect is subtle. I ink blended Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy distress oxide inks first. Then I took the magic tool – the Tim Holtz Distress Marker Spritzer – and used it to airbrush on some specks with Copic markers E13 and E35. That tool definitely took a little getting used to (at first I was discouraged that it wasn’t going to work at all) but once I got the hang of it, I loved the look it produced. I can see using this with many different colors for sand or water or sky, the possibilities are truly endless. I can’t wait to try it with more things!
That black banner at the bottom is so “pirate” to me; I just love it. I have plans for about 5 more cards using this set now so be prepared to see more island fun in the future! Thank you Lawn Fawn for creating such a gem!
Materials used:
- Ahoy Matey stamp and die set by Lawn Fawn
- Copic markers
- Cloudy Stencil by Lawn Fawn
- Tumbled Glass distress oxide ink
- Ocean Wave Borders by Lawn Fawn
- Salty Ocean distress oxide ink
- Stitched Hillside Borders by Lawn Fawn
- Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy distress oxide inks
- Distress Marker Spritzer by Tim Holtz (discontinued)
- Palm Trees dies by Lawn Fawn
- Picket Fence blending brushes
- Mowed Lawn and Ground Coffee distress oxide inks
- Sandy Accents dies by Lawn Fawn
- Fancy Wavy Banners by Lawn Fawn
- Black Licorice cardstock by Lawn Fawn
- White embossing powder
- Heat gun
- Misti stamping tool
handmadebyrachelle.com 