Hi...

This is for Anyone for Anya's photo, Paper Sundae's "Just Say Hi!", and Stamptacular Sunday's "Fancy Folds" challenges.  The Anya photo is a tropical beach, sand, clear blue sky and water, palm trees, etc.  This is for the sand and the mermaid to go with the ocean/tropical theme.

 

This is an easel card with a base of Very Vanilla.  It has layers of Chocolate Chip and the DSP is from Me and My Big Ideas.  I used the scallop border punch from SU to create the scallop square.  Directions for how to go all the way around is on Splitcoast Stampers.  The ribbon is my new Early Espresso 1/4" grosgrain I won as blog candy from Sarah Wills at Sarah's Ink Spot.  Thanks, Sarah!  The image is Mer Ian digi from TGF and is colored in copic warm grays.  Once I cut him out with a nestabilities deckled rectangle, I inked the entire piece with versamark, then coated with clear embossing powder and used a heat gun to set.  I had to do this several times to make it thick and I had to work fast to dump more powder on the hot melted stuff before it could cool.  I actually burnt a layer, but it worked to my advantage as I forgot to distress the image before I started embossing.  Once it was thick enough, I put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes, pulled it out, then cracked it.  What is great is, if you don't like how it cracks, reheat it with another layer of embossing  powder and repeat until you are happy.  (I didn't notice at the time, but some teeny specks of blue glitter have made it into my embossing powder...what I get for not checking my emboss buddy tray...but I ended up liking it.)  Next, I rubbed Close to Cocoa craft ink into the cracks, then wiped it off with tissue, again, adding to the aged look.  Finishing the card is some Tim Holtz tissue tape, a faux vintage button with the shank cut off, and a decorative label punch, folded in half with the sentiment written with a white chalk pen.  Thanks for looking!  April

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