Rockpools and Beach Finds

I was quite excited to do this week's tag because I love the beach. However, when I walked along our beach (along the shores of Lake Michigan), I found myself depressed and sad. Beach finds? Did I really want to use old candy wrappers, cigarette butts, and other things too disgusting to mention?  I walked to the end of the beach and saw a little girl and her Mom picking up garbage near a sign that said "Please don't litter". This lifted my spirits and I looked more closely on the walk home. I was lucky enough to find some lovely drift wood, a small bit of sea glass, some interesting shells entangled in sea weed and some beautiful seaweed. For my tag, I used some old dark blue card stock that I sprayed with  Ink Refresher and wrinkled the paper. I dusted this with Ranger "Perfect Pearls " in a variety of blues and greens. I then sprayed my driftwood with spray adhesive and dipped it in the sand on the beach. I glued the sea glass down and attached the entangled shells and some ribbon. I looked at my tag and it just felt so incomplete. I realized that I needed a "Help keep our beach clean sign". I made one by distressing  paper with Ranger distress ink. I then took an old piece of "fence" that I had gotten at a hobby store and distressed that with Tim Holtz's Ranger weathered wood distress stain. I wove some seaweed through the fence and wired on my sign. I then took the fence and bent it around the tag like the weathered snow fences that line some of the properties along the lake. I wish that I were a better photographer so that you could better see the final results... I am quite pleased with the way this tag turned out especially because it is a wonderful reminder of the hope that I felt when I saw that little girl doing her part to make this world a better place.

Wishing you all a creative week!

Best, Mary Ann