Quick Open Sea

   
     Hello!  Today's card was inspired - eh hem - CASE'd from Bonnie Klass' blog, Stamping with Klass (here).  I mean really, what's not to love about her card?  It uses The Open Sea (my favorite set) it's incredibly quick and simple to make and there are no tools or accessories needed!  Bonus: it's a great masculine card!
  

Stamps: The Open Sea, Woodgrain
Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso

I Saw This Where?!

     Hello!  Today's card is one that I originally saw online somewhere but for the life of me I can't remember where!  I'm very good at bookmarking cards that I'd like to CASE but for some reason I didn't do that for this card.  If it looks familiar to you or you know who the original creator is please let me know!

Stamps: The Open Sea
Paper: Night of Navy, Sahara Sand, Nautical Expedition DSP (retired)
Ink: Night of Navy
Tools & Accessories: Brads, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, dimensionals

Sketch Challenge #331

     Hello!  Today's card was inspired by the Sketch Challenge #331 over at SCS (here).  I've been wanting to use up my Nautical Expedition DSP and knew this was the perfect layout for it.

     My hubby and I visited with childhood friends of his for several days on Martha's Vineyard earlier this summer.  On our last day they took us to a beach in Menemsha for the sunset.  We brought wine and cheese and watched the sun fall slowly into the ocean, it was beautiful!  As a way to thank his friends we'll be sending them this card along with a group photo we took on the beach.  
     Aaron and I have decided that when we win the lottery we're going to buy a summer house on the Vineyard... someday.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: StazOn Black
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Nautical Expedition DSP (retired)
Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Bitty Banners Framelits die, circle brad (retired), bakers twine, dimensionals


Sunset on Menemsha Beach

Nautical Birthday Wishes

     Hello!  I was sooo excited to see The Open Sea stamp set in the new SU! catalog - it's one of my favorites!  And it's perfect for masculine cards, which is what I made today.
    The inspiration for this card came from another card that's been sitting in my "favorites" folder for quite a while.  Check out Fran Sabad's "It's Called The Open Sea" card over at her blog (here).  Loved her layout, especially the torn card stock with the ship peeking out.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Occasional Quotes (retired)
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, Bashful Blue
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand, More Mustard, Early Espresso
Tools & Accessories: Circle brad (retired) baker's twine, dimensionals

Blue Birthday

     Hello!  Today's card was inspired, or rather CASE'd, from serelewis's card The Clear Block Sea over at SCS (here).  I loved everything about her card so I changed very little, only the sentiment at the bottom.  I should mention that The Open Sea stamp set was originally featured in the Summer Mini catalog and normally I would have changed the image to reflect a current set.  However, I absolutely love this stamp set and I have my fingers crossed that it will make it into the 2012-13 Idea Book & Catalog (please, please, please!?)
   The technique used to create the blue background is very simple: use the clear block as a stamp!  Ink it up and stamp on paper just as you would with a traditional stamp. 

     This card was super simple to make and could easily be mass produced... hmmm.  Maybe I've found my masculine birthday card for the year!

Stamps: The Open Sea, Occasional Quotes (retired)
Ink: Marina Mist, StazOn Black
Paper: Whisper White, Marina Mist, Basic Black
Tools & Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals

Birthday on the Open Sea

   Hello!  As of 8:20am there are only 10 1/2  more hours of school left... but who's counting, right?!  You know I absolutely {love} my job but for some reason I am just itching for summer vacation to begin.  My big plans? Sitting out on our balcony with a margarita (or two or three) reading as many books as I can (I've recently rediscovered our local library).  Aaron and I do have tickets for a Red Sox game and plan to spend the night in Boston but that's in August.  So until then it's the balcony or the family beach house if the weather's nice!

     Enough about me, on to the card!  Today's project is a quick and simple birthday card.  I stamped the globe image from The Open Sea stamp set in Sahara Sand on Sahara Sand and then stamped the other images in Early Espresso.  The images were punched out and layered.  The blue strip of DSP you see is Nautical Expedition, I just cut the strip diagonally.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Sincere Salutations

Ink: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand, Nautical Expedition DSP

Tools & Accessories: Square punches, brads

Sailing Away

      Hello!  I think I've found two new favorite stamp sets - The Open Sea and Sail Away.  I can't put them down!  There are quite a few male birthdays this month and both sets are perfect for a masculine cards, especially when most of my family still lives near the coast.
     The layout for this card came from the SCS Sketch Challenge 327.  I didn't follow the sketch exactly but it was definitely the inspiration for the card.

  To make the main image pop I stamped the image twice; once on white and once on Sahara Sand.  I then cut out the sails from the white and adhered them to the Sahara Sand with dimensionals.  I can't take credit for this idea; I CASE'd it from Mary Fish's Sail Away card on her blog.
     It is difficult to see in the photo but the ledger image from The Open Sea was stamped in Sahara Sand on the left side of the card as well as behind the boat image.  This gives the image a bit more dimension.

Stamps: Sail Away, The Open Sea, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Early Espresso
Paper: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Tools & Accessories: Large oval punch, Stampin' dimensionals

On the Open Sea

      Hello!  I don't know about you but I am loving the new Summer Mini!  The instant I saw The Open Sea stamp set I knew I had to have it (as well as several others!).  I grew up near the ocean and this reminded me of summers at the beach.  The nautical images are elegant and coordinate perfectly with the Nautical Expedition DSP (I love the colors!).  Since I was in need of more masculine birthday cards and most of my family still lives near the coast this was the perfect set to grab!

   When creating cards my weakness is always the layout.  To help me with this I headed over to SCS and perused past card sketch challanges.  I loved SC317 and decided this would be perfect for a masculine birthday card.

     It may be hard to see in the photo but I stamped the globe image in Sahara Sand and then stamped the ship in Espresso on top of it.  This gives the image a little more dimension.

  

Stamps: The Open Sea, Sincere Saluations

Ink: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso

Paper: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy

Tools & Accessories: Baker's twine, jumbo eyelets, Stampin' dimensionals