By the Sea

This week the CI challenge is "Inspired by Texture." I must admit that I love using texture in my art, both tactile and visual texture. First, I must say that Creative Inspirations paints are create visual texture for me. The shimmer of the paint on the artwork just makes me want to touch the image.

On this card, the entire image is painted with CI paints. I decided that I was going to stretch myself a little and use several colors that are not my usual first choice. I love all the colors, but by habit I usually reach for certain colors first. This time I used citrus and spring green on the hillside. The flowers are lavender (a gorgeous color I had somehow overlooked before). For the lighthouse I used tan. The sky was done with my oft used sky blue, but I tried a different technique. I used a stipple brush and a torn paper towel to create the sky. I had done that with inks, but never with the paints. I like how it turned out.

For this card I also added texture by layering, embellishments and dry embossing for texture. I used fairy dust on the embossed background. That really added a sparkle--like sitting on the beach watching the waves shimmering in the sunlight. Oh, I'm ready for the snow to disappear and the warmth of summer to be here.