Hi everyone, this week I am happy to be posting four cards (one each day Tuesday – Friday) to help promote vacationing in Cape Cod and the small businesses of that area. If the idea of seaside cottages, lighthouses, and sailboats peak your interest you might want to consider a trip to the New England paradise. You can also consume more than your share of lobster and other fantastic seafood creations while you’re there.

You may wonder why someone in middle America would be “advertising” for Cape Cod. Well, the Cape Cod area, like so many other communities, is experiencing financial difficulties due to Covid-19. So, I have partnered with Jenn Shurkus to create themed cards using her new Cape Cod clear stamp set and, in turn, to help raise money for the Cape Cod Resilience Fund.

Jenn lives on Cape Cod and created this exclusive stamp set to raise money for the benevolent fund that will help small businesses on Cape Cod. The Resilience Fund will immediately help small Cape Cod businesses who are experiencing difficulties due to Covid-19; but, will continue to help these businesses in the future as well.

YOU can help by purchasing one of Jenn’s exclusive Cape Cod stamp sets. For each set sold between June 15 and July 1, $10 will be donated to the CCRF (That’s half the cost of the stamp set)! Another way you can help is to share this blog post with your creative friends and help spread the word. More details can be found on Jenn’s site.

For today’s card, I decided a lobster theme would be the way to go. I began by cutting a piece of Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80 lb cardstock into a 4-inch square. I then used the 4-inch Gina K Designs Wreath Maker template. This template takes the guess work out of making a perfect circle (wreath) when stamping a small image.

I put the Wreath Maker template into my Misti and then placed the 4-inch pre-cut cardstock into the template.

I began to build the wreath by placing the lobster stamp in the center of the top portion of the slot on the template. After I inked and pressed the stamp with Catherine Pooler Rockin’ Red Premium Dye Ink, I rotated my cardstock one position and reinked the stamp to make a second impression with the stamp.

I continued rotating the 4-inch cardstock until it had been placed in each of the eight positions on the template.

When the image was stamped eight times I ended up with a wreath of lobsters that were evenly spaced and in a perfect circle. I then used a Sizzix Framelits Die Set and my Big Shot to cut the square card into a circle.

I cut a slightly larger circle with 80 lb Rouge cardstock (American Crafts). For the plaid background, I used a sheet of cardstock from the Echo Park Celebrate America collection kit and, finally, a larger square of 80 lb Storm cardstock (American Crafts).

I made the card base out of 80 lb Neenah Classic Crest Solar White cardstock cut into a 10×5 sheet. I used my scoring board to make a fold halfway across the 10-inch sheet and folded it to make the 5-inch square card.

For the sentiment, I used the Cape Cod set to stamp the sentiment onto a piece of the navy cardstock with a VersaMark stamp pad and embossed it with white super fine detail embossing powder by Ranger. I also cut the sentiment tag using Queen & Co Foundation Dies.

I assembled the card and added the finishing touches with Echo Park navy enamel dots. I thought the inside of the card needed an extra touch so I added a strip of the plaid paper I had used on the background of the card and a smaller stamped lobster which is also found in the Cape Cod stamp set.

I enjoyed making this card and I hope that you can imagine ways these stamps would be useful in your crafting stash. A purchase of this stamp set would definitely be a great way to make some creative cards or scrapbook pages of your trip to Cape Cod – or any other beach locale and it would help the small businesses of Cape Cod while you are at it.

I look forward to sharing another card with you tomorrow with another how-to of ideas I have come up with. If you would like to see other cards made using this stamp set you can search @LoveLiveLocal on Facebook or #shurkusstamps on Instagram.

I have attached links where you can buy some of the items I used in today’s project. I am not an affiliate with any of the businesses that I have linked and do not get any financial benefit from any links I have posted. I just want to make it easy for you to purchase any items that you might have gotten inspiration from on my post today.

Products used:

• Cape Cod Stamp Set – $10 proceeds go to Cape Cod Resilience Fund
• Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80 lb cardstock – 25 sheets
• Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80 lb cardstock – 250 page ream
• Gina K Designs Wreath Maker Template
• Original MISTI stamp tool
• Catherine Pooler Rockin’ Red Ink Pad
• Sizzix Framelits Dies – Circles
• American Crafts Cardstock – Rouge
• American Crafts Cardstock – Storm
• Echo Park Celebrate America Collection Kit
• VersaMark Stamp Pad
• Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder – White
• Queen & Co Foundation Dies #3
• Echo Park – Enamel Dots

I would love to have you as a regular visitor to my blog. If you don’t want to miss any of my future posts, please scroll to the bottom of this page and click the box where it says, “Subscribe to Blog via Email” and click the orange subscribe button. (I will eventually learn how to add a subscribe button and a menu to the top of this page, but until then this should work). I would also love it if you would follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

I hope to see you again tomorrow!!