Queen of the Sandcastle

Happy Sunday, my treasured friends! I hope you're all doing well. What a busy bee I was last week... not a single crafty moment until this weekend. Thank you for sticking with me, despite my inability to post as often as most!

**EDIT: God had a different purpose for this card, which explains some things that transpired after I posted it at the end of June. It is now for Olivia, who certainly deserves every burst of sunshine possible. She was the one on my heart without me even knowing it. **

This card serves a very special purpose, which made the creative journey especially sweet. This goes beyond princess... she's going straight to Queen!

"Queen of the Sandcastle"

High on my wish list are the Cricut paper doll cartridges, as I adore them. I recently remembered the Playtime cartridge that came with my Cricut and I was so excited. I had forgotten there were sweet kiddos on there. I chose this one to be our sandcastle sweetheart, gave her a happy Peachy Keen face, dressed her in popsicle purple, and then turned to my sparkles for the rest. Her belt is made of deep purple rhinestones, Star Dust covers her shoes, and I altered the Gypsy Wanderings crown to make room for alternating clear and purple rhinestones. The center top point is a heart stone, which is a bit hard to see in the picture. The crown itself is covered in silver Stickles, while the band holding the sparkles matches her dress. (I would totally give the lovely recipient a crown to match every one of her outfits.) Her braids are adorned with bows of Grape Fizz trendy twine, purchased from My Craft Spot. In her hand is a shimmery heart, because this Queen has a heart of (rose) gold.

The sandcastle and sand base are made with Core Couture cardstock, so they're super sparkly. I embossed the bottom for some textural variation. Every sandcastle needs a sparkling moat and since this is for a sweet child, I topped it with an extra-twinkly seashell path. (Yes, I covered the glitter DCWV paper with Star Dust to make it twinkle more.) The castle's flag is lined with rhinestones, as I want to deliver everything sparkly to this strong child. All cuts in this paragraph are from Create a Critter.

When I think of vacation, I think of whimsical nature... so I used my cherished Magnolia butterfly paper to give her a fluttery backdrop to look at during her difficult days. (One 6x6 sheet of the turquoise butterfly paper remains. Can you feel my fear?) I added a couple of Core Couture white butterflies for dimension, placing one atop the castle.

The computer-generated sentiment is printed on My Mind's Eye paper and cut with a Spellbinders Lacey Circle to somewhat appear as a sun with pretty sunbeams dancing along it. The card base is the stamp from Elegant Edges, chosen to be like a vacation postcard postage. :o) I hope and pray this gives her beautiful heart a smile. I love her to pieces.

Challenges entered:
Celebrate the Occasion~ Welcome Summer
Charisma Cardz~ Summer
Getting Cricky~ Summertime
Krafty Girls~ Fun in the Sun

Thank you for visiting me today! I hope you have a gorgeous rest of the weekend. :o)