Serene scenes

It's cold in my neck of the woods today. Really cold. So I'd happily be transported to either of the scenes in these two cards. They're not tropical scenes, which would be heavenly right about now, but I do imagine that they are decidedly warmer than what's outside my door.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: By the Bay
Paper: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla card stock
Ink: Soft Suede
Accessories: Tin Tile embossing folder, burlap trim, Neutrals Candy Dots, sponge, Dimensionals

This stamp set, By the Bay, is one of the sets you can get free during Stampin' Up!'s 2019 Sale-a-Bration promotion. I love the seaside-themed images and the classic sentiments in the set, so it was one of my first choices.

I'll admit that when I started making this card, I planned to add color to the image. I tried a couple of times, but it just wasn't turning out the way I wanted it to. So instead of getting more frustrated, I decided to create a clean, monochromatic card instead. I love the texture provided by the Tin Tile embossing folder.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Natural Beauty (Heartfelt Creations) 
Paper: Soft Suede card stock, watercolor paper (Strathmore) 
Ink: Jet Black StazOn; ZIG Clean Color Real Brush pens, Nos. 036, 041, 061, 043, 065, 037 
Accessories: Pinewood Planks embossing folder, Small Stitched Rectangle Stackable dies (Lawn Fawn), Neutrals Candy Dots, foam tape (3M)

I painted this focal image a couple of years ago when I was making a sympathy card. At the time I must have liked it enough to save it, but not enough to use it on the original card. Who knows. But when I came across it recently, I decided to make it into a card. I just added a card base with an embossed layer and a few Candy Dots.

I realize that both of these cards have basically the same layout, so I apologize for the lack of variety. But sometimes a certain layout just works, and if it isn't broke, why fix it? It also didn't help that I made both of these cards shortly before Christmas when I was madly trying to finish a box of cards to give to my uncle. I was running low on time for creativity.

On a technical note, recently I've been getting a lot of spam comments on two particular old posts. I wish I could just turn off the comments on those posts, but I can't. So instead I turned on the verification feature for comments. That means if you choose to leave a comment there will be an extra step to prove you're not a bot. I'm not crazy about that since I try to make it as easy as possible for readers to leave comments, but I'm hoping this will cut some of the spam.

Thanks for stopping by!