Happy First Day of Summer – May Your Day Be Sunkissed!

Hi everyone! It's almost Friday! And it's the official first day of Summer 2024! I am excited for Summer for a few reasons….mostly the Olympics! And also, because when Summer is over – it's FALL! Lolz. I've been working on some patriotic stitching and other 4th of July projects to share.  It's been hot here in Sacramento and we're due to get 100's again starting this weekend. I could do with a little road trip to the beach! Well, my card is the perfect beach card! There is an AMAZING new release from Honey Bee Stamps and I have been making projects with it. Today's card is perfect for this first day of the new season! All the new dies are so great – and I do love paper piecing a good die cut card together. This card was super fun to make – colorful, happy and beach themed! SHOP the new release here! I'll be sharing another card made with the gorgeous new Americana themed items soon. Yay!

My finished card is an A2 white card base. Layered with sky blue stripes and then my beach scene…. I used Summer colors of aqua, lime, hot pink and yellow…. My uncle, and then my mom both had VW vans and they are so cute and fun. Really brings to mind certain memories doesn't it? 

When I'm making cards like this – with lots of pieces and bits – I usually die cut out everything first and put the pieced in little stacks. Then I sit down and ink the pieces if needed and assemble them. Once all the elements are assembled I will play with them until I get the right scene look I want. I really wanted both the palm trees and the umbrella in there, so it took some time to get it just right. Tip: Once everything is the way I want, I'll take a quick iPhone photo for reference in gluing it all down.

I used this pretty new sentiment set – I adore this font! I stamped it in aqua ink to match my van and then die cut it out with the matching dies. I created a 'beach' by freehand cutting a kraft strip to go across the bottom of my oval. I added a little white beach fence too!! All my supplies are listed at the bottom of my post.

I used two different shades of green for my palm trees, and added some pearl coconuts!! I die cut a yellow surfboard and inked it with yellow and orange distress inks for a sunset look! The windows in the van are vellum and I added white gel pen accents to them. The headlights are grey pearls…

I just had to add a couple of seagulls flying by. I added gems to the pieces and a little bit of Stickles Diamond glitter glue too. If you zoom in on this card, you can smell the ocean! (I wish) LOL!

Hope you had a great week so far! Happy SUMMER! Wishing you a fun Summer full of everything you enjoy!! Our favorite coffee shop is hosting a social club on the weekends where no phones are allowed and there will be live music and good conversation! What a grand idea – we'll be stopping by there tomorrow night. And then next week some fun art festivals. Yeah! See you soon! Lots of projects to share before the 4th of July! XOXO