Hello Friends. If you have been following me on Instagram you would know that we have just returned from our 6-week long, summer vacation! And, as happy as I am to be home a little part of me wishes I was still on a beach building sandcastles instead of making them from paper. Oh well, it was amazing while it lasted and now it's time for reality. For those of you that want to see more about our travels, I have all the highlights saved in my Stories over on
Instagram.
So anyways, lately our hospital has witnessed a wave of retirements among people I've known for over 25 years. Although saying farewell fills me with a tinge of sadness, there's an undeniable thrill and perhaps even a twinge of envy, considering the long path that lies ahead before my own retirement years arrive.
Today's post is dedicated to my esteemed nursing colleagues. I am well aware that many of them are eagerly anticipating well-deserved travels and the pursuit of a leisurely life, perhaps lounging on a sun-kissed beach!
CARD RECIPE
Now, let's dive into the details of this card.
1. Begin by crafting the backdrop for the shaker pocket. For the background, I used a piece of paper from the
Vitamin Sea Paper Pad. To give the card some dimension, I trimmed the sandy part of the paper and set it aside, and then just glued the top part of the paper to an A2 card panel.
2. Next, I stamped out the sentiment onto the top part of the panel using stamps from the
Mini Messages Stamp set.
3. Wrap the panel to create the shaker pocket. For shaker bits, I used
AURORA LIGHTS Confetti Mix, seal the top flap to close the pocket, and attach it to a card base.
4. To the front of the panel, glue the sand layer that was trimmed earlier using foam tape to add some dimension. This will hide the shaker bits until the card is shaken.
5. Die-cut the Sand Castle using the
Sand Castle Builder Dies. I first added some ink splatters then inked up the edges to give it a sand-like texture.
6. Add the castle to the card front using
foam to create dimension.
7. For an extra touch of realism, I added some beach grasses from the
Lovely Layers: Seashore Dies. For balance, I just cut the grass in half and added it to each side of the scene with a little
glue.
8. Finally, for a touch of sparkle I added some
red gems to the castle flags.
Here is a photo, of what it looks like when the shaker bits nestled beneath the inviting sand layer.
And here it is again, with the shaker bits in motion. Almost like it comes alive, dancing with the fervor of water bubbles frothing in the mighty ocean.
I hope this fun retirement shaker has inspired you today. Of course, this card could be used for any summer/beach purpose by simply changing the sentiment.
Thank you for stopping by and until next time... Happy Crafting and relaxing!