I can feel the ocean breeze and smell hints of floral in the air. That first fragrant whiff you take in the minute you get off the plane to Hawaii. It's a sense that I'll never forget, as in my youth, we'd travel to the islands yearly, it's a recollection that stays with your soul. It's been a minute or two since I've been to Maui, and good times are ahead of us, as my grown up kiddos (and their others), hubby and I, have planned a trip to paradise in the future. I didn't lose that unwanted weight, I still have time to chisel off a few, but that's ok, I'm not a teenager anymore, and sporting a bikini isn't my objective with this trip. It's so much more, I'm looking forward to the fresh pineapple, beautiful sunrise and sunsets over the aqua blue ocean, all what I need to soothe my inner well being.
I REALLY enjoyed making this card. One of my Craft Roulette goals is to crank out a card in less than 2 hours, from start to finish. Well, this isn't one of those...that's just ONE of my goals.... Another, is to USE supplies that I wouldn't think otherwise to use. Along my craft purchasing journey, I felt compelled to buy so much that is left untouched. My 2nd goal, I achieve almost weekly, as I never know what the parameters are going to be until Friday night comes around. I am NOT going to go out and purchase supplies specific for a parameter. That is not the objective of Craft Roulette. After Mr. Wheel gives it a spin, I'm perusing through my many bins of stamps, paper and such...and then the craft madness begins!
This week, I KNEW I was going to Hawaii with the "Elements" parameter:
If you have ever been to Hawaii, it's pretty much a given you will see rainbow colors, and more than likely, you will see an actual rainbow. It didn't matter whether I added a rainbow or not to this card, the blue waters, greenery of the volcano & hula skirts, bright flowers and fire, all colors found in a rainbow. I decided to take this card literally, and added a rainbow. Unfortunately, I took my sweet time deciding which rainbow stamp (I have at least 2) or die (same) to use...that I wasted an entire evening on that dang rainbow. NOTE.TO.SELF... just make a decision and go with it. I definitely OVERTHOUGHT the rainbow, and had I just stuck with my first find, I could have finished this card on Tuesday night instead of Thursday. I had great plans for other things with this card, but I wanted to be done, I needed to get to bed. I've been working 5:30 a.m. days already, and not loving it. (dreaming of Hawaii though)
I do think the remaining parameters are equally evident here....
1. A7 card, is simply a 5"x7" card, which this is.
2. Rainbow Colors (yeppers)
3. As I mentioned, we are Maui bound in the future...tickets/condo already booked.
4. Three in a row... At this Maui luau, we see three hula girls, all in a row.....
Stamps Used: Olivia Girl , Let Your Soul Wander, This Way To Rainbows, Floral Rainbow and Clouds Side Notes: On my rainbow, I simply cut part of it off, and hid parts that I didn't want to show. It's a beautiful image as is, but I didn't want the pretty flowers and leaves on it, and out of the multiple rainbow options that I spent hours fiddling...this is the one that I liked the best. Holographic Clear Sticker was adhered to my alcohol markers colored rainbow, giving it that sparkly look. I LOVE working with that stuff, it's not pricey, and a little goes a long way. I don't hoard it, I use it quite often.
Dies Used: Tiki Torch included in the June Spellbinders Club Crate Subscription, which is an exclusive to those who purchased that crate.... Because of that June crate, I have now become a "crater". The exclusive dies are so dang cute, and if you blink, you can easily miss out... this month... check out the geese... I also used This Way To Rainbows for my inside "sign". I didn't stamp a sentiment on the inside, I decided to keep it blank, I already had so much going on, and this will leave the card more generic.
Paper Used: Seaside Summer NOTE: At first, I planned on ink blending. I knew I was going to be limited for time...and as a result, I decided to peruse through my patterned paper packs before clearing away a space to ink blend on my messy messy desk. The 6"x6" summer beach scene paper exceeded my 5" size and my eyes kept saying where oh where am I going to put that rainbow. I decided I needed a volcano or two! Once I figured out my volcano issue (which set to use, how to make one)..I knew I needed to "tuck it under" my ocean....so, problem solved...I CUT my designer paper along the water line. I brushed a little white (brush tip) ink pen over the edge for a slight "wave cap" look...adhered my volcanoes to the sky, where I felt they should go, and then overlapped the cut water paper to the sky half. I was hesitant to cut through that paper. I should trust myself more, it turned out perfect for my needs.
Embossing Folder: One of the great inclusions in that June Spellbinders crate: Island Style embossing folder. I LOVE this folder. I see MANY uses for this folder!!! (who remembers the Tiki Lounge at Disneyland with the talking birds?!) (Oh how I would love to travel back in time!) I used it for my inside, I like to decorate the insides of my cards too, but, truly try not to make it a marathon of card making and simplicity is the goal. Not sure I achieved simplicity on this inside, but, I really wanted to use the fun die with the little signs on it, and like I mentioned, I adore that embossing folder! I did ink blend with a brown dye ink on my tikis to give an aged look, it looks splotchy, maybe next time, I'd skip that part.
Oh what a fun card this was to make. I would never have thought to put 3 hula girls and a rainbow on a card, plus make my own volcanoes, and yet it all pulled together. It really has become effortless to come up with the ideas when 4 unique parameters are determined. I'll say it again, it doesn't have to be Craft Roulette...any challenge truly helps when you are stuck in a rut, creatively. I know for me, 132 challenges later, I see things and approach things differently, and am really enjoying my paper crafting time!
And to think...it starts all over TONIGHT! You should join!!! It's fun!
Lastly... I provide the links exclusively to share knowledge. I am not on any design team currently, and am not receiving affiliate benefits from any company that I shared links of on this post. I am non biased, and you truly know, my intent is pure. If I can help another small business, or craft enthusiast, I'm all in!
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