Sand Between Your Toes

Hello, Friends! My family is headed to the beach soon and I can not wait to feel the warm sand between my toes and listen to the crashing waves! That is DEFINITELY what inspired today's card!

All of these fun stamps are from Pink Ink Stamp Co -- the great Beachtown Fence, Beach Sign, and Sandy Toes sentiment. Let me tell you how this card came together (All bold products are linked below in the supply section):

After stamping the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto X-Press It Blending Card, I tore a piece of scrap cardstock to use as a mask to create the waves. I placed the mask along the bottom 1/4 of the card, where I wanted the edge of the waves to meet the sand, then I softly airbrushed Copic B00 along the the edge of the torn mask. (I have moved the mask upward a little in the photo, so you can see where the airbrushing occurred). In all of my airbrushing, I am getting close to the stamped fence/images, trying not to get too much overspray onto the image ... This is my lazy way of not having to use a mask! You will see a few steps below how I handle any accidental overspray:

Next, I flipped the mask the other direction (with the torn edge up) and placed it right above the line of the previous airbrushing, leaving a little white space. Then I airbrushed the B00 in an upward direction (again, I have moved the mask downward so you can see where I airbrushed):

Next, I flipped the mask over to the straight edge and moved it upward again, to create a horizon line. Using BG01 I airbrushed the sky above the mask, leaving some white space to serve as clouds:

Next, I flipped the mask upward again, placing the straight edge on the horizon so I could airbrush a little darker BG02 color just below the mask, to create the darkest water far off in the distance along the horizon:

Finally, I flipped the mask over again, using the torn edge as a mask to cover the water line, so I could airbrush the lower 1/4 of the card with E42 to create the sand:

Once my airbrushing was complete, I used my Copic Colorless Blender pen to "erase" any unwanted overspray color from the images:

Not too bad for no masking!

Then I finished coloring the images with these Copic markers, using the lightest B00 to hand color the water between the fence posts:

To create the crashing surf, I used a cotton swab dipped in Copic Opaque White and dabbed it along the edge of the water where it meets the sand and the first row of airbrushed waves I created:

To finish the card, I stamped the sentiment onto more X-Press It Blending Card and hand cut it into a banner shape; it is popped up on the cardfront with X-Press It Foam Tape and distressed colored it with Copic C2 and E41. The airbrushed beach image was die cut with a stitched die and then adhered to the cardfront with a new tape I recently tried, X-Press It Double-Sided Tape Runner:

Compared to other popular tape runners, X-Press It Tape is a great buy (about 5¢ less than others, per foot). It is extra strong, permanent, acid and solvent-free as well as heat resistant. And it is a nice hand-held portable size. But my favorite quality is that the applicator won’t “gum up” -- you can count on a smooth application every time! AND it has a very good, strong hold -- another very important factor for my adhesives since I live close to the Gulf where we have lots of heat and high humidity!

I hope you are enjoying your Summer!

SUPPLIES:

Copic Marker Store	atyouSpica Store	COPIC X-Press It Blending Card Store	Air Compressor	Airbrush Starting Set ABS-3	COPIC Opaque White Store	X-Press It Double Sided Tape Runner, 1/3" x 13 yards
X-Press It Double-Sided High-Tack Foam Tape -1/2"