Monday, August 15, 2011

Sailboat Sailing on a Map Card and Green Lips are In

Picture of a portion of the front of my sailboat card
It's five a.m. and I'm sitting here at my computer drinking my morning coffee and listening to the rain come down outside.  It's been raining here since Saturday night and I'm not complaining because we need it.  Since I have water on the brain this morning, I thought I would share a card that has a water theme to it.  Hence, a nautical card with a sailboat sailing on a river constructed of map paper.

For this sailboat card I used a little different strategy in my design process.  I started with a saying and used it as inspiration for my card.  The saying I selected is "We cannot direct the wind...We can only adjust our sails."  Of course a sailboat came to mind and I found a great little image in one of my Dover royalty free design books.  Then I came across a map paper that I decided to incorporate into the design and used it for the basis of my color palette.  And wah-lah...my card was born.  This card also meets the Stamp Something Challenge criteria for this week.  The challenge is "Dog Days of Summer" and sailing is a summer activity.

Since I have water playing in my mind, I'll share some pictures of three little guys that have taken up residence in our ornamental pond this summer.

Picture of a frog floating among plants in a pond


Picture of a frog floating among plants in a pond

Do you see why I say green lips are in?  Every year when the wetlands behind us start drying out we get a migration of frogs into our garden and pond.  Right now we have these three little guysWhen we winterize our pond, we'll capture these little guys and take them to a nearby lake or river so that they survive the winter.  Our ornamental pond is only 300 gallons so the water freezes in the winter and they wouldn't survive.  One year we fished out 18 frogs for relocation.  Just another piece of the wildlife that share my backyard with me.


Creating My "Sailboat Sailing on a Map" Card


Card Statistics
  • Final Card Size: 5.5" tall x 4.25" wide
  • Tools: digital stamp, scoring board, paper cutter, scissors, ruler, blending stumps, computer
  • Materials: cardstock, map paper, cover stock, adhesive, colored pencils, gamsol, spray sealer
  • This card is available in my Polished Moxie Etsy Shop: Sailboat Sailing on a Map Card


Card Front

Picture of the front of the sailboat card
 
I selected a periwinkle cardstock for my card base and scored it across the top so that the card opens vertically from the bottom.  After constructing the card base I printed the saying in a wave like configuration on the lower portion of the card face.  I affixed a sage green strip of cardstock along the left edge of the card and then positioned the wave like strips that I cut from my map paper.

For the sailboat image I printed my digital image to size on white cardstock and colored it using gamsol and colored pencils.  Once I completed the coloring I fussy cut it and the clouds out.  I affixed the sailboat and clouds in position with silicone adhesive so that they are popped from the surface of the card.  It's hard to see in the picture, but I also added some depth to the clouds by penciling a little color around their edges.  


Angle Views of Card Front to Show Dimension

Picture of the card front sitting at a left angle to show dimension of its elements
  
Picture of the card front sitting at a right angle to show dimension of its elements

These pictures give you an idea of the dimension I achieved by popping the sailboat and its background clouds off the card surface.

Here are a couple of closer views of the sailboat.

Close up picture of the sailboat at a left angle

Close up picture of the sailboat at a right angle


Inside Card

Picture of the inside of my sailboat card
  
For the inside panel I used sage green cardstock.  I affixed a wave of map paper to the bottom and popped another sailboat and cloud off the surface.  I used the same gamsol and colored pencil technique to color the sailboat and cloud.

Here are a couple of angle views so that you can see the dimension of the sailboat.

Picture of the card inside sitting at a right angle to show dimension of its elements

Picture of the card inside sitting at a left angle to show dimension of its elements

And a couple of closer views of the sailboat.

Close up picture of the sailboat at a right angle

Close up picture of the sailboat at a left angle

I also constructed an envelope from heavy cover stock to compliment the card.  To decorate it I printed the sailboat and clouds on the lower left corner and colored them using gamsol and colored pencils.  When the image was completed I sprayed it with sealer to protect it.


Final Card and Envelope Ensemble

Picture of the finished sailboat card and its coordinating envelope

This card and envelope ensemble is available in my Polished Moxie Etsy Shop: Sailboat Sailing on a Map Card


Card Recipe Specifics 
  • Cardstock: Wausau, The Paper Company
  • Map Paper: K & Company
  • Cover Stock: Staples
  • Digital Stamp: Dover Royalty Free Designs
  • Prismacolor Pencils: peach, cloud blue, blue violet lake, white, pale sage
  • Koh-I-Noor Pencils: 8750/2 orange, 8750/23 dark brown
  • Tools: Martha Stewart scoring board, Making Memories paper cutter, ruler, scissors, blending stumps, computer
  • Misc: adhesive, silicone adhesive, gamsol 
  • Techniques: digital stamping, gamsol, fussy cutting 
 
Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you come back soon!

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1 comment:

  1. Oh, I just love your sailboat card and that sentiment. Your frog pictures are so adorable. I agree, green lips are in! I've had a frog floating in my pond this year too. He is starting to get pretty big.

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