Arrrgh, Matey!

I LOVE Paper Doll Dress Up! This has been one of my all-time favorite carts, since acquiring it a couple of years back. It never ceases to amaze me at how many "hidden" designs there are on this cart. Case in point, this pirate card! I was invited to a birthday party for a 6 year-old-to-be, and his theme was Pirates. I decided to make the card coordinate with his party theme, and found this cute little kid, clothes, hook, map, chest, and flags on PDDU!
I started with a cream-colored card and randomly inked it with SU Close to Cocoa to give it depth. I then added some torn paper that was linen/sand-like. Then, I put my Cricut to work! I was able to lay everything out on my Gypsy and cut it all at once (what a TIMESAVER!), then all I had to do was pick things off the mat and embellish! For the boy, I used Pebbles, Inc. chalk to add a "dirty" appearance to the clothes. I also used pink chalk to give 'rosy' cheeks. The eyebrows were drawn on with a black marker, but the eyes are blue due to a small blue paper glued behind the eye holes. The mouth is done the same-layering white and red to give a life-like look. I aged the map by wrinkling and inking, as well as tracing the trail and gluing a small red square behind the X. I used foam dots behind the child and map to give dimension. For the pirate flags, I copied two onto the Gypsy and then flipped and welded them at an angle. I also added white paper for the skulls and drew on the eye sockets, nose, mouth, etc. For the treasure chest, I added a metallic accent color. The 6 year-old enjoyed his card, but I know his mom (fellow crafter) probably appreciated the card a whole lot more--she knew the time invested in a project like this! :o)