#TGIFC530 — Inspiration Challenge

Hi Stamping Friends and welcome to a new TGIF Challenge. This week, we have an inspiration challenge using the photo below. It’s a gorgeous photo! I love the whole scene, including the rays of light, colors, and tranquility of the ocean. The problem was that I don’t have any current ocean-themed or even turtle related products!!! I could have simply decided to grab some retired items from my stash, but I really wanted to make this a challenge. So I gave it a lot of thought and ended up deciding to create something entirely different focusing on the color combination and rays of light.

My card features the Scenic Adventure Dies. It’s an Online Exclusive that’s bundled with coordinating stamps. But for this card, I just used the dies. I had a vision in my head of what I wanted to do and was so pleased when it actually worked!!! Haha.

I watercolored several strips of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper: one for the background (Azure Afternoon and Petunia Pop ink), one for the mountains (Azure Afternoon and Night of Navy ink), one for the background trees (Old Olive and Azure Afternoon ink), one for the foreground trees (Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, and Crushed Curry ink), one for the meadow (Mossy Meadow and Blackberry Bliss ink) and one for the flowers (Poppy Parade and Old Olive ink.)

For the background, I used a clean paint brush with a little water to remove some of the ink and create the rays of light. For the foreground trees, flowers and meadow, I added clear water splatter to the sheets to create watermarks.

The sentiment is from the Wonderful Thoughts Bundle stamped with Blackberry Bliss ink on Basic White Cardstock.

After layering all the die-cuts, I roughed up the edges with my Paper Snips and layered the watercolor over a sheet of white and an Azure Afternoon card base.

I had a few leftover die-cuts that were perfect for decorating the inside.

Be sure to click over to the TGIF Challenges Blog to see the other designers’ projects. I’m sure they’ll inspire you even more. Then, use the inspiration photo to create your own project and enter our challenge at the bottom of that post.

Have a wonderful and creative day!

Purchase products from my online store to qualify to receive free exclusive project tutorials. This month’s PDF includes 12 creative tutorials designed by my demonstrator friends and I to inspire your paper crafting! The projects feature products from the 2025 Annual Catalog, Online Exclusives, and Sept-Dec Mini Catalog. Enjoy!