Distressed Destination

I loved this Destination image from Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy line ever since I saw the beautiful cards that stampin' sister and fellow design team member Trena was making with it this summer. To make it my own, I did heavier distressing and added twine and beads.

A little back story.  I have a colleague, Kate, at work who has been working on a major project for about 18 months.  Tonight, we deploy.  (In fact I'm writing this as we wait at 2:00 am for the OK from IT to go in and test it and give the final green light.)  Throughout the whole time, she kept focus despite all the windstorms that threatened to throw the project ship off course.  I thought this card was destined for her.


First I stamped the image in black on to white card stock.  I used walnut ink (you dissolve the crystals in water; more water gives a less intense brown) to heavily sponge the edges.  Since it is a liquid, it tends to soak in and spread, giving a more saturated, vintage feel.  I then used my Spectrum Noir alcohol markers to shade pale grey on the sails, and tan on the land where the walnut stain hadn't hit.  A touch of grey-blue defined the ocean shore.

I distressed the edges and layered it on to a white mat, also distressed.  Because the walnut ink was so dark, I wanted the white for a bright contrast. This was then mounted on a side-fold A2 tan card base.

To finish it off, I added twine around the left fold, and beads, including some rolled paper beads that I made from scraps cut into long thin triangle shapes.  (Yes, I save my scraps, LOL).  I frayed the edges of the twine, and it was done!