Beachy Birthday Card

Hello, Friends!  We enjoyed another birthday weekend, and I thought I would pop in quickly to share the Beachy Birthday Card I made for our dear daughter.  We still have 2 August birthdays to celebrate in our family and then we get a little break in the celebrations.  Friday found me cleaning house, baking cream puffs, and getting the guest room ready for our daughter’s visit.  Lots of work, but happy work.  Nothing is better than time spent with the people you love.

In between all the cleaning, baking and prepping, I managed to squeak in time to dig through my stash of beachy papers and put this card together. I liked it so much, I thought I’d share it with you here.

I Must Go Down to the Seas Again

Since I also love the beach, the Closet of Creativity and Delight (formerly known as The Closet of Shame) holds lots of lovely beach themed papers.  The color palette of this ancient K and Company Travel Specialty paper pad made me think of Liz.  This is one of the very first 12×12 paper pads I purchased way back in 2012 or so.  Sadly, the papers are no longer available.  But I had enough left to create this fun fold card design for Liz.  Here’s how to  make the card base.

• First, cut kraft12x12 cardstock into  6″ x 12″ and a 5 1/2″ x 10″ panels.
• Next score each panel in half.
• Now, with the fold on the RIGHT hand side of the smaller card, center and adhere it inside the larger card base on the right hand side.  Make sure that the fold clears the edge of the card.
• Then cover the panels with designer paper and add your decorations.  If desired, add magnets between the front layers of the card.

This simple base is really versatile, and makes a lovely presentation.

Now print out the words to “Sea Fever” on your computer  Tear sections of the poem to fit the card panels.  Ink the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  Then smoosh Abandoned Coral Distress Ink on your craft sheet, spritz with water and tap the torn panels to add another layer of distress/color.

Sand and Sea

Next, die cut the elements from Sizzix Sand and Sea from kraft paper.  Cut the sand dollar from a piece of the cream paper in the paper pad.  Now dry emboss the starfish and seahorse with to add texture.  Then heat emboss with layers of powder to create the mixed media finish.  A rusty bottle cap makes the perfect nest for tiny shells and sand.

A Peek Inside

Fussy cut shells are layered over the gorgeous sea weed paper along with more verses from the poem.

Add a little octopus (Liz loves them) twine and glitter glass on the final panel.  This card will match the banner I made for her office and give her something happy to look at when work gets stressful.

Although this paper collection is out of circulation, I hope the ideas I’ve shared will inspire you to dig into your own paper stash and make something beautiful today.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy