Hello Ai fans and welcome to our March Monthly Guest Designer Challenge!
As you may have heard...Simone Carr has become our newest Watercolor Design Team Member.
That left an opening for our Monthly Guest Designer Challenge.
We were THRILLED when Debbie Hedges agreed to accept that position!
For her first card, she created a BEAUTIFUL beach themed card,
because, aren't we all ready for a little sunshine?
I feel so honored that Renee offered me the opportunity to be guest designer throughout the year now that Simone has moved to the Design Team. Simone does such an amazing job with her projects! I am a huge fan of Art Impressions and have been for years! I hope I can provide inspiration for you to use these amazing products. For this project, I cut out my rectangle with the die from the #5543 Journal Die set (2.75”x4”). I normally cut the project at the end, but I wanted this project to have a border. I then used my ruler to add a horizon line for the ocean approximately 1.25” from the top of the rectangle. I had stamped and cut masks for the beach ball and the tote bag from #5509 Beach Accessories, so I used them to determine where they should be stamped in the foreground. It helps to figure out placement before you start stamping. Once I had the masks in place, I added the dunes in pencil in the middle and then also drew the shoreline in pencil as a guide. My next step was to stamp the tote bag and beach ball. I started with the tote bag by inking it in #40 Brownish Grey so that I could avoid inking the tropical scene on bag. I then applied the mask and used my positioner to stamp the beach ball in Shadow Grey Archival ink so it looks like it is slightly behind the bag. With my positioner, I then added the seagull – also stamped in Shadow Grey Archival Ink. I still use Marvy Le Plume markers for my projects. Most of these can be converted to Tombow colors, but choose colors that work for you. These just happen to be some of my go-to colors for any project I work on.
Here is the link for the Tombow conversion chart.
https://www.artimpressions.com/shop/art-impressions-most-loved-color-conversion-chart/)
I started with the tote bag by pulling out the color along the edges. Then added color using #17 Steel Blue, letting layers dry in between. I added more color along the edges, leaving the center of the tote bag lighter. I then used a mix of #45 Sepia and #86 African Violet to apply color to the handle and the accents on the bag. Marvy Markers have a fine tip, and I used #40 Brownish Grey to add some darker areas on the handle, stitching accents and the buttons. For the beach ball, I used #65 Cherry and #3 Blue. For the white area, I carefully added shadows with the same grey mixture I used for the tote bag. My next step was the ocean. I mixed #14 Turquoise with #17 Steel Blue to soften the color. I started with the horizon line and then filled in the area with horizontal strokes making sure to have light and dark areas for interest. I let layers dry in between. For the sand, I used #30 Rosewood for the area near the shore and #45 Sepia for the dunes and foreground. I added layers along the top of the dunes to define them and the other areas used more of a wash to just show the “idea” of sand. For the grass, I used the grass from #5826 WC Large Tree Set 2, starting at the edge of the project and stamping a couple times down the hill I created. I also placed my mask on the tote bag and stamped the grass along the edge of the project to show the foreground. With Post-it tape, I covered the “sand” and stamped the teeny t iny grass stamp from #4051 WC Foliage Set 1 to add some smaller grass to taper off down the dunes. I wanted some tall grass as well, so I used my positioner and stamped tall grass from #KH5820 My Favorite Birds Set a couple times on each side. All of the grass was stamped with #17 Olive Green. I then used the fine tip on the marker to add some “tufts” on top of some of the tall stems. Using #75 Sky Blue, I added sky. I made sure to apply the color so there were light and dark areas and also some white space to show clouds. With seagulls being white on the underside, I mainly just added grey shadows at the bottom edges of his wings and his tail feathers, along with shadows on his body. I darkened his eye with a Micron pen. I used the fine tip of #43 Brilliant Yellow to add color to his beak. With Dr Ph Martin’s Bleed Proof White, I added waves to my ocean. I also added some dots along the water’s edge to show how the waves can froth as they reach the shoreline. Next to the tote bag, I added some larger white dots for daisies along with some smaller dots as well. When they were dry, I added yellow centers with the fine tip of #43 Brilliant Yellow. With #45 Sepia, I painted an uneven line under the grass, tote bag and beach ball to anchor them in the foreground. I also used the fine tip to add some dots for sand and then signed and dated my project. I hope you’ll give this project a try. The monthly challenge does not have a theme, so please be sure to enter your projects using Art Impressions products for a chance to win! Who doesn’t love a chance to win free stamps??
The winner of a freebie from be is #11 Lynn C.
with your full name and address and I'll send you a photo of the freebies I have available for you to choose from.
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