Good morning! Emily Midgett here with you today to share some super summery projects with you. I went to Cancun with my best friend from high school two weeks after we graduated, and it was seriously one of the coolest experiences of my life. Granted, I was 18, thin (so wearing a bikini was seriously no big deal), and had seen exactly nothing of the world, but it was one of those experiences from your youth that sears itself into your memory. The sights, the sounds, the smells… We laid by the pool (which was right next to the ocean…. couldn’t go in the ocean water because ew haha) for hours and hours, getting the perfect tan, listening to the music du jour… in my case, Weezer. Every time I hear the song Island In the Sun, I am transported back to that beach chair in the shallow part of the pool, drinking my first strawberry daiquiri, feeling the ocean breezes that made the Mexican heat palatable. The new Palm Trees and Wave sets that we’ve been showcasing do that for me now, too. This first project is an homage to my memories of that marvelous trip to Cancun.

I started by stamping the beautiful turquoise waters from Wave onto an A2 card base using  Hot Tourmaline, Caribbean Turquoise, and Cobalt Breeze inks. I then used my Clarity Stencil Brushes to add some Azurite ink around the edges to create that beautiful summer sky. I also cut a curved hill shape from some kraft card stock, then used the spray stamps from Wave and Aspen Cocoa ink to create a sandy beach.

I die cut the large palm trees from Palm Tree twice using the coordinating dies, as well as the hammock. I then stamped the palm leaves with the Crystal Garden collection and the trunks with Found Topaz and Aspen Cocoa inks. The hammock was stamped with Caviar Hybrid ink. I popped up the trees and sand dune using dimensional adhesive, then added a sentiment from Wave on a strip of card stock using Caviar ink. All in all, a super quick and easy card that I finished in less than an hour, and it invokes some fabulous memories for me. Love it.

While I was in a summery, beachy mood, I thought I would create a project using the absolutely adorable Sunnies stamps and dies. I started by stamping and die cutting all three (adorable) pairs of sunglasses onto some watercolor paper, then heat embossing them with sparkly gold embossing powder. I used my Zig markers and a damp paintbrush to color them. I wanted the lenses to be a bit more realistic looking, but they ended up being more “artistic” than I had envisioned. Oh well.

After finishing my watercoloring, I decided to create a subtle pattern for the card base using the smaller palm tree from the Palm Tree stamp set, the pineapple from Stand Tall, Be a Pineapple, and one of the little hearts from Darling Flamingo. I stamped all of these images in a semi-consistent pattern across the card front using Crystal Pewter ink. I then heat embossed the cheeky sentiment from Sunnies using  the same sparkly gold embossing powder at the bottom of the card base. The final step was to adhere the sunglasses using some dimensional adhesive on the card front.

Well, that’s all for me today! I hope you enjoyed my little trip down the coconut scented memory lane. 🙂 Don’t forget, our monthly challenge at The Ton’s Challenge Blog is still open! Enter your project using products from The Ton and inspired by our Mood Board for this month to be entered to win a $50 shopping spree to The Ton’s store!

Have a marvelous weekend, friends!