Wish I Was on the Beach-Twinkling Tuesday

Mother nature is a cruel jokester. We got snow today! Not the usual snow we get in April in Southern Ontario, but real, stayed-on-the-ground snow! I had even put away my boots! Most snow we get this time of year doesn't accumulate or get thick enough to keep you from wearing shoes! So my first thought for this week's Twinkling Tuesday challenge was this lighthouse stamp because I would sooooo prefer to be at the beach! The actual challenge was "In With The Old", use an old stamp that needs some love. Funny story about this stamp; I entered a swap once called 'Favourite Stamp'. Well the lighthouse stamp was brand new and therefore couldn't be my favourite but I used it for the swap anyway.

Yeah, I know, not funny yet right? What I didn't tell you yet was that it was a swap where one card is sent to your partner, the other however was submitted to a magazine! I was shocked about two months later to find out I was going to be published! WOOO HOOO!! So they phoned me, but never having been published before, I didn't realize that they were writing down what I was saying for a blurb in the magazine! Of course they asked why was this stamp was my favourite! Clearly I couldn't admit that it was a brand new stamp for fear I would be disqualified from being published so I just prattled on about loving the beach and wishing I was there! I think I am safe to admit this now in public because the cards was published and they can't exactly take back the free issues I got as compensation!

This image is watercoloured except for the sea grass which was so thin I chose to use markers; old olive for the grass in the foreground and artichoke in the background. The watercolour paper is distressed along the edges with chocolate chip ink and gold rub on paste as well as burned with a heat gun. The entire image is distressed with close to cocoa marker in the SU! colour spritzer giving the fly specked look. The image itself is 6" tall even though you can see I left virtually no extra watercolour paper beyond the image. This means that even with 12x12" paper, you can't do a top fold card. I really wanted it that way, (though I'm not sure why) so I matted the image with riding hood red paper, 1/8" border, then added a picture frame style backing, you know the ones that hold the frame up if it is on a table? It is large enough to still work if you want to write a message inside. It looks much better IRL, I had to colour correct it to keep it from looking too dark to the sky looks washed out and overall a bit too orange-y. Gotta save up $ for a photography class!

Be sure to play along with us! Try your hand at this challenge and upload to PCP or SCS with MTTSC17 or your blog so we can see what you create and leave a link at the main challenge blog. Don't forget to visit the Twinkle Team to see their work giving some new lovin' to some old stamps! Links on sidebar!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: UK
Ink: chocolate chip-SU!, Stazon black
Paper: Strathmore watercolour paper, SU! riding hood red CS
Accessories: SU! colour spritzer, metallic rub-on paste, gold sand dollar charm, hemp twine-all UK, close to cocoa, old olive, artichoke markers-SU!, shell-Dress It Up!, 0.2 Copic Black Multi-Liner (fixing missed areas of stamping)
Techniques: distressing with heat gun, watercolour