Beyond the Sea

The motivation behind this card is the Embellish Nautical Color Trends Challenge.  I'm originally from Hawaii and my grandfather was a fisherman, so I have a strong affinity to the ocean.  The images and colors of the Embellish inspiration board are more New England than Honolulu, but they're wonderful all the same! 

I started the card by embossing the background with my Tim Holtz woodgrain embossing folder.  I cut windows into both the background and base card with 2 sizes of my round Nestie dies.   The light blue backing (under the bow) is a piece of cardstock painted with acrylic paint and then sponged a bit with brown ink.

For the boat stripes, I masked off lines and rubbed over deep blue and red ink.  I love how they really mimic the lines on a real wooden boat.   To get that weathered look and bring up the woodgrain, I sponged the entire card with a rich brown.  

I experimented with a bunch of real nautical knots and they all seemed so clunky.  So I went with a rustic bow instead.  At first glance, this card doesn't hit you over the head with wow factor, but I'm very pleased with how the soft colors and textures turned out:)  

Thanks for looking! 

{aloha, jj} 

Stamps: Teeny Trees (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Ink: Red, Blue (Colorbox), Brown (Memento)
Paper: Rustic Cream and Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink)
Embellishments: Hemp twine

Tools: Round dies (Spellbinders)