Saturday Sketch...Take 2

Wow...last week must have been crazier than I remember! I haven't posted since Lauren's last Saturday sketch?! No wonder all I wanted to do this weekend was stamp :O) I did knock out a few cards, but I'm only going to post two of them tonight. On to Lauren Meader's Saturday Sketch (on Sunday)...
I suppose I like the simplicity of the templates and the freedom to put my own spin on them. I didn't stray far from the template this time, but I did make the circle a window instead of a layer :O) Not hugely significant but a little different. I didn't know what kind of card I wanted to make when I started, so I just went through my stamp sets and waited for something to jump out at me. Stampin' Up! Fishy Friends did the trick. I have only made two cards with this stamp set and I think it's about six years old. Shame...

Anyway, I like the fun, carefree feel of the card, so I added the simple "It's Your Day" sentiment. I wanted to add bubbles to my pseudo "fish bowl", so I used Stampin' Up! Crystal Effects on the outside of the acetate. It turned out cute...though if the bubbles were colored in any way I would think chicken pox! I colored the fish using a Stampin' Up! blender pen and the ink from the lids pressed to the ink pads. I wish I had Pearlescent Watercolors for this project...I think the iridescent look would be completely appropriate for fish. My family owns a bait and tackle shop back home, so I remember vividly all of the fish and the silver residue the scales left. Unfortunately, I was left to figure something else out. I decided to color the fins with my silver gel pen. It was definitely silver but looked a little flat...so I embossed them in silver. I was disappointed that the embossing covered the details from the stamps, but figured it wouldn't be that noticeable behind my window of bubbles :O)

I also stamped some Papertrey Ink Polka Dot Basics circles on the turquoise cardstock to extend the illusion of bubbles. I like the black contrast in the ribbon and the squares. I can't wait to send this card to a sweet niece or nephew!

I made another card today where I derived inspiration from a shirt my daughter tried on yesterday. While the shirt isn't my favorite, I loved the flowers with sporadic sections of color. It made me think of the flowers in Lisa Johnson's new stamp set that was released on Sunday by Papertrey Ink...it's called Remember. But, in the absence of the stamp set that hasn't arrived yet, I used Lisa's first set, Flower Garden. It worked just as nicely, I think :O) I also used a masking tip that Lisa posted in June on her blog. She stamps the images that she plans to mask on acetate and cuts them out. I tried it with this card and it worked nicely. I actually cut out two templates for the flower I used because of the close proximity and the amount of flowers. I'll follow suit with future sets :O)

My list of supplies can be found in my new Split Coast Stampers gallery. Thanks for stopping by!