You're Fintastic!

The current Lawnscaping challenge theme is "Patterned Palooza." I both used patterned paper (Echo Park's "Soak Up the Sun" 6x6" pad) and created a pattern on my shaker card.

The inspiration for my card came from this one by Kimberly Crawford. She made a peek-a-boo shaker card, using dies from My Favorite Things. I don't have the fishbowl dies that she used, so I used Lawn Fawn's "Fintastic Friends" stamps & coordinating dies instead.

I began by die cutting 2 panels from seafoam green cardstock, and one from Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, using the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Small Stitched Rectangle" dies. I stamped my greeting, from "Fintastic Friends," and the fish tank on one of the green panels, using my MISTI and Versafine Onyx Black ink. I left the tank stamp on the door of the MISTI, and stamped it again on my bristol panel, this time with Delicata Silvery Shimmer pigment ink. I sprinkled on Ranger Silver embossing powder. After brushing away the powder from the sand granules in the image, I heat embossed the tank.

Inside of card, with stamped & colored images

I stamped several of the images from "Fintastic Friends" onto bristol and colored them with my Zig Clean Color pens. Then I die cut them with the coordinating dies. After I'd colored the sand & water in the embossed fish tank, I glued my fish, sandcastle, coral, & seaweed in place.

Now it was time to start on the construction of my card. First, I die cut the fish tank from the green panel. (The stamped image on that panel had been just a "placeholder" so I would know where to die cut.) I lined up that panel with my other green one, and die cut the second with the same die, using the opening in my front panel as a guide for where to place the tank die.

Another view of the front of the card

After stenciling the "bubbles" with Peacock Feathers Distress ink & the "Falling Snow" stencil by Simon Says Stamp, I adhered clear acetate to the back of my front panel. I cut an opening in the front of my card base, larger than the fish tank, but smaller than the green panel; & from 2 pieces of striped patterned paper cut to A2 size. I adhered my green panel to one of the striped pieces with ATG tape. I adhered my second green panel to the second striped piece, and used Scor Tape to adhere another piece of acetate on the back. Then, I adhered that panel to the inside of my card, green panel side facing out.

To create my shaker, I applied 2 layers of foam tape to the back side of my front patterned paper/stenciled panel, creating a "well" around the die cut tank opening. I filled it with mostly seed beads, plus some 4mm Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh & 6mm teal sequins from Doodlebug Designs. I took my card base, and lined it up carefully with the front panel, pressing it firmly once I was sure they were accurately aligned. This created the "peek-a-boo" shaker, since there was acetate on both sides of my die cut openings.

I next adhered my stamped & colored bristol paper panel to another piece of patterned paper from the same Echo Park pad. I glued that to the inside of my card, so that the fish tank peeks through the shaker window. As a final touch, I colored over the sand granules in the fish tank with a black pen, adding highlights with a white gel pen. I also created a frame for the opening on the front of my card from white cardstock, inked with Peacock Feathers. And that finished this card! I really like the way it turned out. Even better, I like how I didn't have to redo anything because I messed up! :)

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Pile It On #113: "Shaker"