Your Flower = My Shell

Today is the beginning of one of my favorite weeks of the year - it's the week of the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on Splitcoast.

This is a week long event exclusively for our Fan Club members, to thank them and reward them for supporting the site with their membership. In addition to the other perks of being a Fan Club member, this is a week where all the Dirty Dozen Alumni cook up amazingly creative challenges - 5 or 6 per day, and the participants can win prizes, not just inspiration.

A few months ago, when I received my Blossom Builder punch, the second I took it out of the box, I saw shells, not flowers. I even wrote myself a note on my daily task list that said "Shells w/Blossom punch" to remind myself to try this idea out.

Then, summer happened.

But when I saw my friend Lori's challenge for today, I knew it was an idea whose time had come and so I got to work. I still have never made a flower with this punch, and actually - I have a confession to make.

Are you ready? It's scandalous.

I don't like punches.

There. I said it. I'll wait while you all recover.

I've said this to people before, and I ALWAYS get a gasp in return, so I've sort of stayed in the closet about it. It's like saying you don't like kittens or rainbows, apparently, but the fact of the matter is, I don't, and here's why:

• They're heavy.
• They require hand strength that I don't have. I typically don't use craft supplies that smell or cause pain.
• Did I mention that they're heavy? Because they're heavy. If I used punches in a class I'm giving myself a herniated kidney lifting the bag.
• They take up a lot of space in my craft room - in a room the size of mine, this is a huge deal.
• They're heavy.

So I'm super judicious in the punches I buy.

But every now and then, one comes along that I love, and has something that I can't get in a die, and when I looked at the shapes in this one, I knew even if I just made this one card that was in my head, it would have been worth buying the punch for. So, mission accomplished. I enjoyed the heck out of this project.

Blossom Builder Punch	Rose Wonder Stamp Set	Avery Removable Label Paper	Twisted Citron Distress Ink	Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink	Peacock Feathers Distress Ink
Old Paper Distress Ink	Tea Dye Distress Ink

InLinkz.com

To make the background, I tore a piece of Avery Repositionable Label Paper the same size as my watercolor paper, and kept both pieces to mask.

Then I used the Wrinkle-Free Distress technique to get the water (Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron and Mermaid Lagoon) and sand (Old Paper and Tea Dye) areas, and I used the sand colors to watercolor the faux shells made with the Blossom Punch.

I went around the edges of the shells with a Soft Suede marker to make them stand out from the background a bit, and then as I was positioning them on the background - I sit facing a window, so I let the natural shadows fall on the card, and then colored where the shadows were with a WG04 Copic marker to give them some dimension. There's glitter at the shoreline, which you of course, can't see. #thehumanity

I did a little video of the process for you - it's an easier and quicker card than you'd think, I promise.

Before you head off to watch though - do come join us this week for Dare to Get Dirty - and consider being a Fan Club Member!

Loveyameanitbye.