Now, given that it is now officially summer and ALL of the things we had planned for the summer have been canceled due to COVID-19, I decided to go with what I considered summer fun as a kid.
Every summer, we packed up the car and drove the 800-plus miles for the annual two-week visit with the grandparents in New Jersey. The highlight of that two weeks in New Jersey was, for us kids at least, day trips to "the shore". It might have been Asbury Park (for the carousel and the boardwalk) or Matawan or Manasquan or a beach near Matedeconk. One glorious summer, we kids were even allowed to spend a week at the summer cottage rented by an aunt and uncle at Ocean Beach (that was the summer when I saw a hurricane pass through with the waves running over the dunes and down the street where the cottage was! We kids thought it was cool. Just goes to show how innocent/dumb we were!). I associate those trips with hot hot sand (so hot it nearly burned one's feet), serious sunburns (blisters!), tar balls and orange rinds floating up on shore from the naval ships offshore dumping garbage (yes, dumping garbage), and, always, the smell of the sea. We'd hunt for sea shells, build sand castles, and play in the waves (with the grandparents constantly worrying about rip tides). Before heading home, there would be a seafood meal where Dad would always have steamed clams. And with all of that, there was only one constant worry: keeping one's towel far enough away from the high tide line! Hence the following card!
I blended four colors of ink on a white card base to create sand and water. I then inked a wave stamp (twice) and embossed it with white (discovered it was upside down) and clear (right -side up). I added a pair of footprints in the sand near the wave boundary (where the sand would have been cooler because it was wet) and a sentiment on coordinating card/paper:
- Stamps: GinaK “Ocean-Minded” (card kit)
- Inks: GInaK “Sandy Beach”, “Ocean Mist”, “Turquoise Sea”, “Tranquil Teal”, and Amalgam “Jet Black”; Versamark
- Embossing Powders: GinaK “Fine Detail white”; Ink on 3 “Crystal Clear”
- Papers: Neena Solar White; Altenew Gradient Cardstock “Sea Shore - Lagoon” (ALT 3235); Memory Box “Kraft” A2 notecard; scrap of white
- Adhesives: GinaK “Connect Glue; ScorTape 1/8”