Sunshine on a Serene Scene!

One of my husband's best friends has a birthday at the end of November, and he wanted me to make him a nice birthday card.  Masculine cards sometimes play havoc with my mojo.  To get started, I focused on the current Splitcoaststamper Alphabet Challenge.  I am several weeks behind, so I had a variety of letters to work with.  When I saw Letter S/ theme: sunshine, I thought of a scenic card that I made back in January at a card class, using a new Stampin' Up stamp: Waterfront.  Our hostess-designer was Luci Kirschenbaum, and I decided to CASE her card design, because I loved it and the stamp set so much.  It fits the alpha letter/ theme perfectly as a lovely scene with its sun.

For my new card, I made my watercolor scene panel just a bit smaller so more of the deep green mat would show around the edges and contrast with the navy patterned paper background.  I watercolor-stamped my scene with less "stamping off" so that I would have darker and richer color hues...not quite so pastel as the design sample.  My changes to the scene were to position my trees closer to the mountain base rather than in the green meadow, and I moved the sun a bit higher in the sky to suggest more daylight and sunshine as though it was earlier in the afternoon.  I also added more splatters all the way down to the bottom of the panel...I just love splatters!  I also made my sentiment into a double fishtail flag instead of a rectangle.  

For the inside design, I also followed Luci's plan with changes.  I centered my birthday verse instead using her left offset.  I did stay with the left offset for my mountain and trees, but not as far off the edge, so my mountain range is longer. I also raised the images about 3/4-inch so the tree trunks did not sit right at the paper ege.  When I was done fussing with it, I was pleased with the end results.  Take a peek below, inside and out, I think my husband's friend will like his card.  It may remind him of some lovely camping spots he was visited throughout the years, as he and his wife loved to camp as well!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Night of Navy, Tranquil Tide, Whisper White, Crumb Cake.  Patterned Paper--Delightful Daisy.  Stamps--Waterfront, Perennial Birthday (sentiment/ inside verse).  Ink--Night of Navy, Tranquil Tide, Early Espresso, Pear Pizzaz, Daffodil Yellow.  Water-base Marker: Black.  Size: 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches.