Aloha, all!
I was just looking at my list of birthdays that are coming up this at the end of this month and into February. Yikes, I have GOT to get into the Birthday Card-making soon or I’ll miss some! I have 5 that I have to get into the mail by the beginning of next week, so there’s no time to be putting this off!
The first birthday is my friend, Maureen, who lives nearby, but whom I rarely get to see as we have conflicting schedules. While I have a New Year’s resolution to make more time for my friends, I’ve still not worked out how that’s going to, well, work.
One of Maureen’s pet projects of the last year or two has been the purchase and renovation of a house not too far from the ocean, which she rents out as a vacation home. That’s always a good idea here in Hawaii, especially when you’re in a place where you can hear the ocean at night. Of course, a vacation rental has to have a name, and she has named her rental, Mermaid’s Retreat. So I decided that a mermaid had to be featured in any card I made for Maureen. The new Magical Day Stamp Set and Magical Mates Framelits Dies from the Stampin’ Up! 2018 Occasions Catalog were perfect for this.
This is the same basic layout that I used for my last post here, for the SUO Challenges Monochromatic Card challenge. But this time I made a mat for the central image and used a piece of ribbon for a “stripe” running down the length of the card. I also used some glimmer paper for this card, but made it a mat for some Designer Series Paper and for the square with the sea waves texture.
The glimmer paper I used for this card is from the Myths & Magic 6″ x 6″ Glimmer Paper set, also in the Occasions Catalog. I cut both the Pool Party Square, which I’d texturized with the Seaside Embossing Folder, and the square of Glimmer Paper using the Layering Squares Framelits Dies. I colored the mermaid using the Bermuda Bay (both dark and light), Ivory and Bronze Stampin’ Blends Markers. I colored the little seahorse using Old Olive Stampin’ Blends, which really do a good job of matching the Glimmer Paper.
I really do like the Myths & Magic Specialty Designer Series Paper set that goes with this suite of products. This is one of the “back” sides without the iridiscent glittered designs on the “front” sides. But it’s perfect as the background for any kind of a seascape, no matter how small.
Maureen let me know that she really did like her card, and I’m so glad. I’ve thought about making a wall hanging for the rental. But many people have discouraged me from doing that as renters are not always the most careful when it comes to decorations. So I’ll save that for the day when, maybe, Maureen may decide to move into the house herself!
Here are the products I used in this project. It’s a long list. But I love trying to use as many products in a card as I can to make it JUST the way I want it. There are simpler ways to make a mermaid card. I should probably try to come up with something along those lines before too long, huh?
