Sandpiper Birthday in the Cove

Hi there and welcome back!  The card I have to share today was made for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  Here's the sketch:

http://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/ 

It is such a versatile sketch, I'm sure I'll refer back to it again.

I again pulled out the Wetlands stamp set (3rd time in as many weeks), as the card is for a friend who loves the water, either scuba diving, crabbing, fishing, or just out on his boat.  I thought a little ocean cove scene with the sandpipers would work nicely.

The sandpipers were stamped on watercolor paper with Craft Early Espresso ink.  After I dried the image with my heat tool, I used an Aquapainter to create the background.  I tried to create the sense of waves in the water, but admittedly I am not an experienced watercolor painter, so the perspective isn't perfect and the waves look rather...um, frothy LOL!!

Early Espresso was used to create the sides of the "cove" and an Itty Bitty Background stamp was used to create a bit of texture in the sand, after being inked up with Crumb Cake and stamped off once.

The designer paper is Soho Subway and while the catalogue doesn't list any type of green as one of the colors in this paper, Garden Green matches up nicely with this piece and is a rich contrast to Island Indigo and Early Espresso.  Hmmm, I may have stumbled upon another favorite new color combo.

I used retired Antique Brass Eyelets in the upper left corner as it reminds me of metal fittings on a boat.  Buttons, Linen Thread and twine finish it off.

Thanks for taking a look!  I'd love to hear from you, if you have a moment to leave a comment. I hope the rest of your weekend is very enjoyable and at least part of the time doing something you love!

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Wetlands, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Paper:  Garden Green, Island Indigo, Early Espresso card stock and Coordinations paper, watercolor, Soho Subway designer paper
Ink:  Summer Starfruit, Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Hemp Twine, Linen Thread, Naturals Designer and Regals buttons, Woodgrain embossing folder, Antique Brass Eyelets.