Hello Summer!

School let out at the end of May, but the hot and humid temperatures of the area were signaling summer even earlier. Still, it wasn't until our week at the beach that it really felt like summer was here. And hello summer! This little boy can't get enough of the water. Boogie boarding in the gulf or goofing off at the pool; it's all good. Back home we had a few more weeks of swim team, but things are beginning to wind down...too quickly. I just wish it didn't have to end. School starts back up in the middle of August. Boo. Hiss. He will not be a happy camper.

I simply love these Paradise Beach papers by Echo Park...the perfect papers to scrap Kevin's perfect day at the beach. The surfboard silhouette on the fussy cut paper and "postcard" remind me so much of the boy and HIS board...inseparable.

Did you know that you can change the color of foam Thickers with ink? The letters that spell "summer" were originally a brighter blue. By using a bit of distress ink on my blending tool (with most of the ink rubbed off on a scrap sheet of paper), they were dulled sufficiently to match my papers.

I love the tropical feel these hibiscus flowers add to my page. I used my die-cutting machine with Susan Stringfellow's cut file found on her SketchSavvy Blog HERE. After cutting out the flowers, I inked the edges and rolled the petals slightly up and under. Their centers were handcut, inked and pop-dotted for even more dimension. Leaves were also cut randomly and folded with ink applied to the edges and to define the center vein. 

It would be nice to scrap more of my beach vacation photos, but I've had them printed TWICE at Sam's Photo Center and every single one that has a bit of blue sky has vertical streaks from the machine. Seriously? I'm going to try one more time and hope they get it right. The photo department manager asked me to call her before I send my pictures and she'll make sure the machine is cleaned just prior to my order. Shouldn't it always be cleaned sufficiently for streak-free pictures?!