Mermaid Birthday Cards With Watercolor Details

This pair of mermaid themed birthday cards has lovely watercolor details and a fun sentiment. Pink Ink Designs Stamps have intricate designs, heavy on the flourish and smooth on the charm. They have become my new guilty pleasure. 

~ I SEA It's Your Birthday ~

The jewel tone card is layered with Glossy Violet/Gold Foiled Paper by Rinea. The mermaid and sentiment are from the Sea Nymph stamp set. The shell and seahorse are from the Shell Nymph stamp set. I fussy cut her two little friends and used foam tape to pop them up.

The pastel card is layered with Starstruck Jade Foiled Paper by Rinea. The fancy fish is from the Mermaid stamp set. Both card blanks are cut and folded from Craftsmith paper.

If you get an opportunity to sea Pink Ink Designs stamps in person you will be delighted. The detail and quality is stunning. Here's a link to the UK shop: Pink Ink Designs UK.

The watercolors I used are from Close To My Heart.

Stop by my Instagram for more crafty inspiration.

Craft On!

~charity hotrum~

How To Make a Mermaid Valentine Card With Stencils

Little did I know that when I posted this Mermaid Valentine card using Funfare Stencils that the technique I used to make the ocean and waves would interest so many people! This project was posted 4 years ago. I loved the process and am thrilled to share it for you again. It was a long and artsy process so settle in for a LIST of photos. 

~ Oceans of Love ~

Paper Supplies in Inches:

Heavy cardstock for card, 4x6

Medium to heavy weight cardstock for image base, 3.5 x 5.5

Scraps of paper for tearing. 7x3

Tear your paper scrap in half. Tear slowly and with lots of "dips".

Don't feel silly practicing this!

The torn paper is the key to the wave look.

Coloring Products:

 White embossing powder (Zing), white pigment ink (Clearsnap), and three colors of mist.

I used a mint green (Heidi Swapp), a teal (Tattered Angels)

and London Blue (Dylusions).

For tools you will need sponges or cotton rounds and a pointed stick (mine is for applying rubons).

Adhere the torn paper strip with the strait edge 1/4 of the way from the top. Apply the adhesive just to the ends so that no debris remains on the image base.

Mist the sponge with the lightest color and spread it on the base in a circular motion. The color should cover all the paper beneath the torn strip.

Repeat the process with the medium color but do not cover the entire paper.

Sprinkle the darkest color onto the base by removing the spritzer and tapping the tube. Be sure to cover the top of the base with a scrap paper to catch oops drips. Leave the drops on the paper about 10 seconds before spreading them in a circular motion.



 The base needs to be completely dry before begin this next step.

Using the pigment ink daub the base right at the edge of the torn paper. The width of the ink strip will be the width of the white caps on the waves.



Dust the ink with embossing powder. Tap off the extra and use a paintbrush to remove any unwanted portions. Use the stick to scrape circular lines in the powder. Heat to set. 

Place the mermaid stencil over the ocean and apply ink.

Dust with embossing powder, heat to set.



To complete my mermaid I used Clearsnap ink and WOW embossing powder. The Sentiment is MME and the sticker is Heidi Swapp. All papers used are Craft Smith.

I can't wait to see this technique showing up on projects!

Be sure to share.

Scrap On!

~charity~

Sheer Rainbow Card With 3D Glossy Gel

Today's project has a sheer rainbow made from texture gel. This amazing product can be applied with a paint brush, through a stencil with a pallet knife, or left to dry then peeled and shaped. I created this card as a sampler of the uses for 3-D Glossy Gel from Calambour in the hopes that my local art store will begin stocking their products.

 The first step is to paint the glossy gel onto a non-stick surface. I used plastic product wrapping. For an even surface use a pallet knife; for a more textured approach a paintbrush works well. The product takes a few hours to dry, depending on the thickness. Once the product is dry peel it from the plastic and cut or shape as desired. I ran the dried, yellow gel through my die-cut machine. I die-cut a boots and umbrella figure from tissue paper and painted an additional die-cut umbrella with the yellow gloss. 

 I used pale pink folded cardstock for the card blank. Using a paint brush I applied two colors of glossy gel to simulate a puddle.

 I cut the legs off the tissue paper figure and glued them to the card front. Best Glue Ever adhered the tissue paper directly to the glossy gel puddle with no trouble at all.

 More dots of Best Glue Ever, precisely placed with the No-Clog Writing Cap, hold the die-cut boots to the tissue paper. Even though the boots are sheer, Best Glue Ever holds them down without a smear or discoloring mark.

 The coat portion of the tissue paper is lined with craft foam and then attached to the card, over the legs. Another helping of craft foam lines the yellow umbrella. Best Glue Ever holds the umbrella down, attaching craft foam to tissue paper easily.

 The strips of color that compose the rainbow are peeled, trimmed, and stacked to form a single band. Best Glue Ever holds the rainbow to the card. The edges are trimmed after the rainbow is placed.

 In my region rain almost always means mushrooms. I applied 3-D glossy gel through a stencil to create pink mushrooms. A toothpick and white glossy gel give the mushroom caps their spots and fill in the stalk.

 This mixed media rainbow card has so many bright colors it glows with happiness. Best Glue Ever ensures messy spots and smears don't get in the way. The NO-Clog Writing Cap puts BGE exactly where it is wanted.

Stop by my blog Scrappin' Chaos for a list of supplies.

Scrap On!

~charity~

How To Make A Lovely Watercolored Mermaid

This watercolored mermaid card is as lovely as it is easy to make. The watercolors were painted in pastels and dried to an attractive chalky finish. Fussy cut waves flow around this water beauty and fade away into the background. The quote reminds us to 

~ Always Be A Mermaid ~

 The first step in making this card was stamping and embossing the mermaid. I chose watercolor paper and clear embossing powder. The heat embossing defines borders that hold the watercolors in.

 Water pens are a most universal tool and provide the just-right amount of water color for the pan of color. When painting the tail I went over all of it in the light blue. When that had dried I went back over it and added bright colors to a few scales. The hair was done very carefully, with drying time between each additional color.

 I stamped the center of the card base with waves in a light grey ink. I dotted the mermaid with Best Glue Ever and placed her at the center. I left the tip of her tail free to curl over the wave.

 The waves are stamped and then heat embossed with white embossing powder on grey cardstock.

 I fussy cut the waves and added a stripe of Best Glue Ever to adhere craft foam.

 Quick drying time and then a layer of Best Glue Ever on the craft foam prepared the waves for placement on the card.

 The sentiment is stamped in purple ink and heat embossed with clear powder.
"Always Be Yourself,
Unless you can be a mermaid, them

Always be a Mermaid"

 One final layer of Best Glue Ever adheres the base to the 4x6" card blank.

 The ScraPerfect blog has many crafting solutions for the discerning crafter. The online store can be reached at www.ScraPerfect.com .

Stop by my blog Scrappin' Chaos for a list of supplies.

Scrap On!

~charity~

How To Layer Llamas for a Stunning Page

Today's layout is a shining example of how to layer llamas for a stunning page. Paprika paper collection from Photoplay Paper is bright and cheery and scattered with merry llamas. With a bit of texture and a few added die-cuts the whole layout has a happy feel.

~ Shine ~

 I started the background texture for this layout with Rub-ons, Calambour 3D Gel, Nuvo Embellishment Mousse, and tissue paper images.

 A couple layers of gloss medium and lots of drying time secured the edges of the tissue paper.

 The photo mat started with patterned paper and finished up with a flourish of product packaging. I even made a few clips with ribbon ends.

 I left the edges of the photo mat loose, only adding glue to the center so that I had room to scatter stickers and paper shapes around the edges.

The orange blossoms and tissue paper leaves at the edge of the photo are separated with stacks of craft foam.

The laser cut chipboard was rubbed with Nuvo Embellishment Mousse then layered over the orange blossoms with a few drops of Best Glue Ever.

A variety of die-cut doilies are stacked at the corners of the photo mat and interspersed with the blossoms. 

The lacy edges of the doilies are echoed in the white outlines of the flourish on the photo mat base. The llamas add a touch of whimsy while the triangles of mandala set this layout apart. The lime lace and matching chipboard and the final touch of spice.

Supplies:
Cardstock:Crafters Warehouse, Craftsmith
Patterned Paper, Stickers, Alpha:Photoplay Paper
Product Packaging, Rub Ons:Ranger
Ribbon:Vintage, Thrifted
3D Gel and Tissue Paper Images:Calambour
Embellishment Mousse:Tonic Studios
Stencil:Momenta
Gloss Medium:Tattered Angels
Paper Clips:7gypsies
Brad:EchoPark
Doily Dies:Peachy Cheap, Crafter's Companion
Doily Punch:Martha Stewart

Craft On!

~charity~

How To Make a Glowing Gratitude Card

Today’s project is a greeting card that glows with gratitude. The layer of cardstock and fussy cut flowers are topped with Rinea Foiled Paper. The result feels like a walk down a garden path.

For this card I die-cut scalloped circles and feathers from cardstock. The bird is die-cut from Rinea Silver/Silver Starstruck Foiled Paper. The ornate circle frame is die-cut from Rinea Copper/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper. The sentiment is die-cut from Rinea Blush/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper.

The roses and leaves are fussy cut from patterned paper. It’s a time consuming process, but sure looks great layered. The key is not to worry about the details. If you cut a little too much off, ink the edges with a dark neutral and it’s all good.

The first layer of the card is a circle cut from Rinea Silver/Silver StarstruckFoiled Paper with punched edges.

That layer is topped with cardstock circles separated by foam tape. I slipped the fussy cut flowers between the circles with more foam tape.

Finally the die-cut bird, feather, frame, and sentiment are arranged with the help of more foam tape. Two feathers were a little too much. I had to save one for another project. The remaining die-cuts in spring shades express “Thanks” with class and garden charm.

If you haven’t tried Rinea Foiled Paper with dies grab a Variety Pack and get started. Kitty says “What are you waiting for?”

Supplies:
Cardstock:Recollections
Patterned Paper:Craftsmith
Foiled Paper:Rinea
Dies:Momenta, X-cut, Echo Park, Crafter's Companion
Border Punch:Kreaxions
Ink:Close To My Heart

Scrap On

~charity~