Smooth Sailing

I bought a refill of a Paper Pumpkin kit called "Pinwheel Party," to make these cute sailboat cards.  (Refills of past kits are available for purchase to Paper Pumpkin subscribers. To try a kit, click here) 

I was thinking about variations to make on this card, like adding a little sponging to bring out the layers of waves, or doing a daytime/nighttime card, when Mojo Monday came out with a really great, very simple sketch for their 400th weekly Mojo sketch challenge.  By the way, Julee, if you're reading this, 


I already played this week's challenge, but I find that often the simplest assignments lead to the biggest explosion of creative juices.  It's so easy to come up with a with ideas for this sketch--I think I'm going to return to it frequently in the future.

It was perfect for my day/night sailboat card with the sponged waves.  It may be a little hard to see here, but I also used a paint brush and white pigment ink and a very little Night of Navy ink to add a little bit of cloud mist. I used little scraps of Irresistibly Yours DSP for the sails, and a 4-1/16 x 5-5/16 piece for the starry panel.  It is sponged in Night of Navy.  The sail is sponged in Daffodil Delight and Real Red.  The daytime sky is Soft Sky, and the water is Marina Mist with Night of Navy sponging, and just a little white pigment ink on the lowest wave to highlight the crest. The sailboat is Calypso Coral. 

This card took a bit of paper-piecing and fussy cutting.  The ball of the sun, the circle cut-out for the daytime scene and the ball at the end of the mast are all punched.  The waves were cut with a Colluzle knife and template. Everything else was fussy-cut free hand.  The banner was drawn and written freehand as well.

It is hard to see in this photo, but the daytime circle is actually flat to the card base, and the night sky panel is popped up on dimensionals.  The waves are sponged the way the ocean looks:  darker towards the horizon, lighter towards the shore.  The banner is further popped up, adding to the card's depth.

Some of the best times of my life as a kid were spent on a little lake at Varsity Day Camp in Pinkney, Michigan, sailing little sunfishes back and forth across calm water. Swimming, archery, and of course, arts and crafts were all on the agenda.  The Wisniewski family made a lot of kids very happy, year after year.  Here's to you, Mr. & Mrs. Wiz!



Julee--are you still reading?  Pick Me!