Wish You Were Here

Hello from Monterey, California!

I'm writing this in advance of our kayaking of the Elkhorn Slough and trip to the Monterey Aquarium, but by the time you are reading this, we will have done both, and I made my card with this part of our trip in mind!

I am beyond excited to see all the sea otters, seals and other marine and avian life this area has to offer, up close!!  We hiked Ano Nuevo a few days ago and spent time with elephant seals, brown pelicans and a host of other wildlife, but it was the elephant seals' show there as 8 year old males practiced play fighting and younger males just rested on the beach and tried to get through their molt!

This is such an amazing part of California and the United States, so if you've not been, I recommend it!  It's been a dream of mine for a long time! 

Here's my card at the Aquarium overlooking Monterey Bay, which is actually an underwater canyon ( similar to the Grand Canyon) and from here you can see whales, dolphins, sea otters, lots of cormorants, and my favourite, harbor seals, to name a few wildlife! The otter population is still of concern, but their numers are rising and there are currently about 3,200 Southern Sea otters along the coast.  Numbers in the Elkhorn Slough are about 112 according to the person I spoke with.

I'm hoping to kayak this very area on Friday!

I opted for a postcard design cuting a two rectangles from the Gina Marie Designs cross stitch die, and then stamping my scene, which involved a bit of stamp surgery and masking!

I cut the -ly off the Lawn Fawn sentiment so it fit mine! The postcard was stamped on other diecut, then they were adhered back to back.

Here's the back, using a different Lawn Fawn stamp set to create the postcard.

I wrapped it all up with some wax twine and sequins!

If you've seen our challenge, which began yesterday, you'll note that I used the colors in my design!

Thanks for stopping by! We'll be heading to Big Sur then back up the coast to San Francisco for the last leg of our trip! Hope all your trails this summer are happy ones!

Supplies at The Heart Desires Store:

Gina Marie Designs Cross-Stitch Rectangle
Delicata Gold Ink
Hero Arts Inks
Hero Arts Blue Whale Stamp set
Concord & 9th Scripty Letters
Lawn fawn Year Five Otterly