Masculine sea-themed cards

It's always fun to play with new stamping goodies, which I've been doing a lot lately. But it's also great to pull out a well-loved, oldie-but-goodie stamp set. That's what I did -- with the From Land to Sea stamp set -- when I needed to make some masculine birthday cards last week.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: From Land to Sea, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Tip Top Taupe, Lost Lagoon
Ink: Tip Top Taupe, Lost Lagoon
Accessories: Know the Ropes embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), clear droplets (Pretty Pink Posh), sponge, Dimensionals

This is a pretty basic card in terms of layout and technique. But I love the animal images from this stamp set, so I wanted to let them be the focus. I did sponge around the edges of the card base and focal layer to add some depth, and the embossed strip of card stock provides a bit of color and texture. My favorite detail, though, are the three clear droplets, which look like bubbles coming from the turtle.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: From Land to Sea, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Artisan Textures
Paper: Tip Top Taupe, Ruby Red, Naturals Ivory card stock
Ink: Tip Top Taupe, Ruby Red, Crushed Curry
Accessories: Helm die (Taylored Expressions), Scalloped Tag Topper punch, linen thread, twine, cranberry grosgrain ribbon, Aqua Painter, Dimensionals

I used two different images from the set for my second card. To make the tag, I stamped the lighthouse on Naturals Ivory card stock using Tip Top Taupe ink. I wanted to add color to the image, so I used an Aqua Painter to carefully paint on some Ruby Red, Crushed Curry and Tip Top Taupe ink. I used a light hand so the outline didn't smear too much, but a little bit of blurring was fine with this image style.

To continue the nautical theme, I stamped the helm image repeatedly on a panel of Tip Top Taupe card stock and adhered the piece along the bottom of the card base. I did sneak in one new product -- the Artisan Textures stamp set -- to add some texture to the top of the card base. The twine on the tag and the perfect die-cut helm are the finishing details.

Thanks for stopping by!