Octopus Shaker--#tgifc222

The TGIF Challenge this week is shaker cards.  Fun, fun, fun!  This challenge inspired me to make the shaker card I've been wanting to make since last year:

When I first got the Under the Sea dies, I saw the little fish die as a stencil maker and have only used it for that.  I always said I was going to save up the little fishies and make a shaker card, but never did.  So today was the day.  I die cut a bunch of little Crushed Curry fishies.  They are showing in the photo and hiding among the retired Tranquil Textures Sprinkles.

For my card, I made a porthole showing an octopus peeking inside the ship. I picked out this Sahara Sand textured design from Woven Threads designer series paper for the inside of my ship.  I mounted the paper on a piece of Whisper White card stock for strength and then cut a circle in it using the second largest plain circle die in the Layering Circles die set.  I used the largest and third largest circles to die cut a Silver Foil frame for my porthole.    I added the small silver metallic brads for the porthole hardware.

My Poppy Parade octopus from the Sea of Textures stamp set and the little fishies are swimming in a sea of Balmy Blue card stock. You can barely see it in the photo, but I used the long texture stamp in the same stamp set to create some texture in the water.  I stamped off the Balmy Blue ink twice before stamping the image for a subtle texture.  I added some tall sea plants in Mossy Meadow in first, second and third generation stamping. I die cut my octopus and then glued it down to my background.

The shaker portion was created with a piece of Window Sheet over the die cut hole in the top piece.  I added a circle of foam adhesive strips around the octopus and put two strips of the adhesive on either end of the Balmy Blue card stock.  Then I filled my "well" with the fishies and sprinkles and put the top piece over it.

To finish the card I added a piece of Night of Navy/Sahara Sand baker's twine to the top of the card and tied it in a square knot.  I mounted the shaker piece onto a Whisper White Thick card stock base.

I was going to add a greeting from the Sea of Textures stamp set; however, before I finished the card I received a call from a customer and friend.  She desperately needed a shaker card for her grandson's birthday and asked if I had any made.  God's timing was perfect.  I added "Happy Birthday" using the Well Said stamp set and the card is now in the mail headed to a special little boy.

There are so many ways you can incorporate a shaker element in your cards.  Head over to the TGIF Challenges Blog for some great inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by today!--Sara Nell