#TGIF173 is Tropical Chic

We are hosting an inspiration challenge this week at #TGIF173.  This one is timed perfect for me since I just spent almost two weeks in Puerto Vallarta basking is the sun.

I had no idea where this card was going to go when I first started creating it.  I knew I wanted to "paint" the sand, water, and sky with stamps and ink and Glossy White Cardstock, but after that I had no plan.  To "paint" a background it's easy.  You must have glossy paper or it won't work.  You ink up with dye based ink and pounce, swipe, and drag an inked up stamp over and over again to cover your paper.  The more ink you offload onto the paper the easier it is to blend.  For this card I used the striped stamp from the Tropical Chic Stamp Set to create my painted background.

After I finished my background I decided to cut the word sunshine as my anchor image for my card.  To that I layered in florals and foliage to finish up my beachy card.  Just before adding the flowers I decided the white edges were to stark so I sponged them with Grey Granite Ink and fell in love with the look.  It instantly reminded me a vintage Hawaiian postcards.  

My ink colors include:  Grey Granite, Balmy Blue, Coastal Cabanna, Tranquil Tide, Shaded Spruce, Old Olive, Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo, and Melon Mambo.