Introducing A Day at the Beach

Candice Aguilar is the designer of the set which I am introducing you to today, entitled A Day at the Beach.  It is just full of images that remind you of lazy summer days and warm weather fun in the sun!  Perfect to use on invitations for all those wonderful summer get togethers, seasonal just because cards for friends near and far, and of course you can't forget all of those summer birthdays!  There are several sentiment choices too in this $24 set making it so worthwhile. 

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Of course, I couldn't resist whipping up a few projects myself with A Day at the Beach and I though I would share a few them with you today!  First is this cute set of flip flop cards.  I love it when I am able to come up with such a simple design that is easy to recreate, yet maintains some visual interest to keep them from being boring! 

There are several different ways to "build your own" flip flops with the different elements that Candice included in A Day at the Beach.  There are solid soles (one plain and one with polka dots) for those who do not like to color.  There is also an outline (used here with fresh snow ink) that you can use for coloring or paper piecing.  I colored mine using the darker shades from our New Leaf Copic Trio.  I love how vibrant the color turned out on the classic kraft cardstock.

The "thongs" portion of the flip flops is a separate stamp, which I added here with fresh snow ink.  A few little rhinestones were the perfect accent for these classic summer footwear favorites!  The sentiment, one of the MANY wonderful summer themed sentiments, was stamped in black detail ink.  I used a white Gel Pen (Uniball) to draw the frame around the focal points.

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The finished result is a clean & simple card with a bit of color pop.

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I liked the way the green turned out so much, I decided to also try it in pink!  EVERYTHING looks good in pink, don't you think?  :)  I used the two lightest shades of the Raspberry Fizz Copic Trio for this.  The vibrancy really pops from the page!

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I liked the white ink & Copics look so much, I decided to execute it
with these drink images.  There are two different glasses in this set. 
For those of you who do not like to color, there are solid stamps for
you to *fill* the glasses with the beverage color of your choice!  Lots
of versatility for everyone!

I colored the drinks in with the New Leaf, Raspberry Fizz and Ocean Tides Copic Trios.  Be sure to do your shading on the same side for all three glasses to make it look more realistic.

To make things even more fun, there are little accessories to go with the glasses!  A lime wedge, ice cubes & straw and of course, an umbrella.  I added them to my glasses using fresh snow ink. I was really happy with how will this technique worked for these particular images.  Notice the sentiments I have shown you so far?  Don't you just LOVE the font combo?!?!  I think it is fresh, fun and fabulous!!!

 

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My 30th birthday is coming soon and seeing as how I hardly ever do much to celebrate the monumental day. I decided to throw a big girls weekend at my house this summer in honor of the occasion!  We'll hang out in the pool, grill-out, become gossip girls and lots more!  What better way to officially announce the weekend to my guests than with a pretty invitation!

This adorable bikini image is in two parts so you can use them separately or together.  It also makes it easy to ink each piece in a different color if you like!  I heat embossed mine with White Filigree embossing powder onto Lemon Tart cardstock.  I stitched a tiny lemon tart vintage button to the center of the top to give it a bit of textural detail.

I used Nestabilities Label 1 die to cut the white mat.  The edge of it was pierced and stitched with lemon embroidery floss.  A bit of lemon tart grosgrain ribbon was looped and trimmed and snugly adhered behind the bikini focal point.  As one last detail, the background of the card was stamped with Polka Dot Basics using fresh snow ink.  I think my guests will enjoy these when they receive them!

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I decided to have fun and build a beach scene using a few of the other elements from A Day at the Beach.

 

The "sand" in created with kraft cardstock and stamped with Background Basics: Text Style using Dark Chocolate ink.  The starfish is heat embossed with white embossing powder.  The umbrella is stamped with pure poppy, trimmed and placed right above the umbrella pole, which is a separate image as well, making it easy to add it to your project first using an alternate color.  The background is Polka Dot Basics, using Versamark.  I think the foam tape used under the umbrella top and starfish, really make the project!

So there you have it!  A few fun things you can begin experimenting with when you receive your own copy of Day at the Beach.  Which technique/type of project do you think you will try out first?  Just for sharing your thoughts
with us today, you could have a chance at winning a nice little prize!

• A Day at the Beach stamp set

You have until 8am EST , Thursday, May 14th, to share your thoughts here.  One comment
will be randomly chosen to win this fun prize package.  The winner will
be announced HERE on our May Prize Page, after noon EST the same day.  Please play nice, only one comment per person. 

Thanks
for
stopping by today and I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow as we
reveal some more exciting projects and products!  Thanks for stopping
by!

After all that talk of summer it got to me thinking about what the first signs of summer are in my own home, and a few things came to mind…

…hanging baskets on the front porch, spilling over with blooms.  This year I have petunias.

…the appearance of fresh garden veggies in my kitchen again.  Somehow they make the food more meaningful, not to mention they taste better!

…and of course, eating the meals made with the fresh garden veggies out on the screen porch once again.  Watching the show put on by our local friendly lightning bugs, accompanied by a custom soundtrack composed of the sweet chirping of crickets.  A little candlelight is always nice as well.

…and don't forget about the ol' American tradition of Little League games on Saturday afternoons.  This picture reminds me of just how fast Owen is growing up.

What are your first signs of summer?

Michelle Wooderson had fun with A Day at the Beach too!  Be sure to stop by her blog to see what she's been up to!

Stop by Lauren's blog today to see more peeks at her new templates for May!

Lisa Johnson has another project using Let Freedom Ring that will leave you inspired!

Melissa Bickford has more to share with you today using her new Bird Watching sets!

View complete supply lists for all the projects above, HERE!