Ocean animals

I'm back again after a short break, and I'm happy to announce that I've successfully buried myself in my crafting corner to avoid dealing with reality :) Jokes aside, while I'm busy with what I call being a full-time patient, I managed to get creative for a bit. The result of my little escape is my DT inspiration to the newest challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog, where we'd like to see "Ocean animals".

As you see, my card is rather simple, mostly because I couldn't figure which animal I should feature, so I figured I'd start by putting together a background. I went through my patterned papers to see if any of them had any ocean related living things - to no avail. I then looked through my digi collection, where I couldn't find anything but mermaids and turtles. Nothing against mermaids or turtles, but I didn't feel like working with them. Back to the papers, this time those pebbles caught my eyes. I picked a kraft card base to go with them, and to match the colour scheme, I found a vintage print of a jellyfish in my stash. I believe it must be from the wonderful collection put together by The Graphics Fairy, but I'm not 100% sure. 

Anyway, once I had my main motif, I had to figure out how to present it on the card. To avoid the usual square shapes, I decided to use my new circular cutter. I then took this sentiment from my stash, and "framed" it with a piece of dark brown paper. If I remember correctly, the quote comes from a piece of scrapbook paper, and I decided to keep it as it seemed like something that could come handy some day. I now placed it on the lower part of my picture to connect it to the main motif. In the end, I added a row of tiny white beads around the image. I like how they create some sort of frame, but still look subtle enough to blend with everything.

I like the sandy/brown shades that ended up looking good together. I'm not sure how to connect the image with the sentiment, but  like to think that jellyfish are somehow wonderful, floating around in the waters. Also, I can imagine that an encouraging quote like this may make the card suitable for many occassions.  

challenges: 

- krafty chicks: CAS

- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a place to start: ATG

- allsorts challengeblog: ATG

- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT 

- crafty calendar: ATG

- crafty catz: ATG
- crafty gals corner: ATG

- critter crazy: ATG animals

- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade

- lovethoseprettypapers: ATG patterned papers

- make my monday: kid friendly card

- morgans artworld: ATG

- path of positivity: power of words (I like to think that the sentiment includes the expectation of something positive, which might be interpreted as growth and/or change for the better)

- pennys papertake: ATG paper
- scrapping4fun: ATG

- wortartwednesday: ATG

If you need some more jellyfish inspiration, here are some shots from the major jellyfish invasion on the Slovenian coast in spring 2022. A quick one-day trip to the seaside to soak up the sun and catch a glimpse of the remains of the spectacle.

And while there were some creatures still swimming in the harbour...

... most were washed up at the shore, which allowed a closer inspection.

What is there not to love about the Big Blue?

Textures of the sea...

... and those lovely narrow streets...