Monochrome Sea Town Scene

It was the other half's birthday last Friday and this is the card I made for him.

At the start of the year our monthly craft group had a meeting where our theme was creating backgrounds and some of the pieces created during this session were used to make this card.  There are two different backgrounds here, one created deliberately and one accidentally. 

The backgrounds for the main topper and the little one behind it were made using shaving foam with distress inks swirled into it to create the marble effect to stain the pieces of card.  Tesco's cheapest shaving foam and Tim Holtz's distress inks in Sail Boat Blue and Pool were used.  Although the pieces were made back in January the card still had a lovely smell from the shaving foam lingering on it.

The stamp used on the topper is a Michael Powell design from Docrafts Urban stamp range.  The stamp was inked with Versafine Majestic Blue ink and stamped straight on to the background.

Another technique we tried that day was dropping distress ink on to acetate and blowing at it through a straw to spread the ink over the acetate.  The accidental backing paper behind the main topper was a piece of card I'd set the pieces of acetate on and ink had been blown off the acetate on to this card.  It left a watery effect frame, like splashing waves, so this piece of card was used to back the main image.

Half inch circles were punched, sponged with ink and layered with peel off letters added to personalise the card and blue butchers twine was wrapped around the card to add to the nautical theme.  The plain blue card stock used was from the Papeterie along with Stampin' up's baha breeze card which was embossed with a sizzix embossing folder to add texture and mimic the stonework of the houses in the stamped image.  The printed gingham paper was from the Cuddly Buddly download A Patchwork of Papers Blue.

From this view you can see how the toppers were layered up.  The sentiment was stamped using a stamp from the Stampin' up set Petite Pairs and punched out and layered using their plain and scalloped oval punches.   Above it is a bow made from the butchers twine.

Two die cut clouds, cut using a Joy die, were sponged with Brilliance pearlescent sky blue ink and added to the top corner.  The same ink was used to sponge around the scalloped edges of the main card and the insert inside the card.  Other embellishments used were brads in a toning colour and crystal dot stickers.

Hope you enjoyed the trip around the bay today

Liz xx

I'd like to enter this card in the following callenges
Crafting for all Seasons Challenge 51 - Monochrome
Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge -  Anything Goes
Crafty Sentiments Challenge - The Letter B ( Blue, Boat, Brad, Butcher's Twine)
Through the Craftroom Door Challenge - Anything Goes
Artistic Inspirations Challenge 39 - Lots of Layers
Cupcake Craft Challenge 240 - All at Sea
Lexi's Creations Challenge 89 - Happy Birthday
Creative Moments Challenge 16 - Brads
Delicious Doodles Challenge 33 - Something Fishy
Stampin' for the Weekend Challenge - Die Cuts and/or Punches 
Moving Along With The Times Challenge - One for the Guys
For Your Inspiration Challenge 45 - Photograph Inspiration (Lighthouse)