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~

Handmade Cards Enhanced With Stitching

Stitching enhances any card with a flick of the needle and a toss of the thread! View the tutorial for these lovely cards on the Canvas Corp Blog!

The Creative Studio

Scrap On!

Charity Hotrum

Layered Christmas Card With Watercolor Wreath

Today's project is a layered Christmas card with a watercolor wreath. The deep red poinsettias are accented with glitter glue stems and foiled paper holly at the corners. Layers of red and grey cardstock are the perfect setting for this seasonal wish.

~ Merry Christmas ~

The first step with this card is to emboss, die-cut, and paint the wreath. Watercolors dry quickly, but the glitter glue accents will need to sit much longer.

The center piece of cardstock is 3.25 x 5.25". The corners are detailed with a holly punch and the sentiment is placed at the center. Gold pigment ink is layered with gold embossing powder and then heat embossed.

 A rectangle of emerald green foiled paper lines the back of the center piece. Best Glue Ever holds the foil secure.

 The center of the holly punches are decorated with red glitter glue.

 The card base is 4 x 6" topped with a 3.75 x 5.75" rectangle of striped cardstock. Best Glue Ever holds these pieces together without a wrinkle.

 The top piece is added with scant amounts of super strong Best Glue Ever.

 When all is secure and dry, a thin ring of Best Glue Ever holds down the wreath.

 The layers give this card a luxurious look and give Best Glue Ever a chance to really shine as it holds everything together. Stop by the ScraPerfect online store and buy yourself a couple bottles for your Christmas Card crafting.

Supplies:
Cardstock:DCWV
Patterned Paper:Teresa Collins
Foiled Paper:Rinea
Watercolors:CTMH
Pigment Ink:Clearsnap
Embossing Powder:WOW, Martha Stewart
Glitter Glue:Ranger
Corner Punch:Kreaxions

Stamps:Pink Fresh Studio
Adhesive:ScraPerfect

Craft 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 Make Mixed Media Bubbles For Scrapbook Pages

Today I have a fun layout that is all about imagination and how to make mixed media bubbles for scrapbook pages. My two youngest children discovered this tree with above ground roots by the river. They lived 100 Adventures between those wooden arms. Even at 10 and 12 their imagination is going full tilt!

~ Adventure Is ~

To echo the water scene I used 49 and Market papers from the Sand and Sea collection. I fussy cut this giant jelly fish and popped it up with craft foam. Best Glue Ever holds the project together securely.

I created the bubbles with Drip Rings, a Memory Box stencil. I used Nuvo Embellishment Mousse in Lilac Lavender, Citrus Green, and Coastal Reef over the stencil. Nuvo Mousse dries quickly with plenty of texture and pliability.

 I used Close To My Heart watercolors to fill in the bubbles. The color palette is excellent and the water brush by the same company makes water painting a snap!

Today is reveal day for Lucy's new sketch. For the full reveal stop by

  My Sketch World.

Supplies:

Cardstock:DCWV
Patterned Paper:49 and Market

Border Stickers:Echo Park, Bo Bunny

Alpha:Studio Calico

Tiny Type:Echo Park

Stencil:Memory Box

Mixed Media Paste:Tonic Studios
Watercolors:Close To My Heart

Scrap On!

~charity~

How To Make a Mixed Media Layout With Doodles and Diecuts

Today's projects is a mixed media layout with doodles, diecuts, and lots of little accessories. It's launch day for My Sketch World. Lucy Chesna is back after a 5 year hiatus and has a wonderful reveal prepared for her first month back.

~ These Little Moments ~

 I ordered the Photo Play Paper:Moments In Time collection as soon as it began shipping. I have a soft spot for Eiffel Tower images and dress forms. This lovely collection has both so it was a guaranteed buy.

 I used a Pink Paislee stamp with heat set embossing powder on water color paper for the pink and blue flowers. I fussy cut them and painted with CTMH watercolors. I popped them up with a bit of craft foam.

 I have an old set of Kiwi Lane hexagon dies. I cut 2 of each size then layered them on the photo corners. I added doodling around the edges and liquid pearls on top.

 Echo Park flourish dies turned out more layering components. I doodled around the flourishes and then scattered sequins. Underneath it all is a square of Nuvo Embellishment Mousse in blue and green, run through a Kite stencil.

 Here is a look at Lucy's June 1st sketch. 

Stop by My Sketch World for the full reveal.

Supplies:Paper, Stickers:Photo Play Paper

Stamp:Pink Paislee

Ink:Tsukineko and CTMH

Watercolors:CTMH

Liquid Pearls:Ranger

Sequins:SpiegelMom Scraps

Stencil:Kite

Colored Paste:Tonic Studios

Scrap On!

~Charity Hotrum~

Layout with Watercolors and Gold Embossed Mermaids

Decorative scissors, watercolored tags, and a dusting of gold embossed mermaids take this waterside layout to the next level. During a previous crafting challenge I water painted several 7gypsies tags. I used those lovely paper bits as layers on this project and the result is stunning.

~ Her Reflection ~

The craft knife got a good workout on this ships wheel and the cluster of images at the side. I used decorative scissors to give the mermaid a postcard edge.

To help each image stand out I added vellum doilies beneath. I die-cut a couple mermaids from the scraps cut out of the center of the ships wheel. Gold embossing powder dusted along the edges of the mermaid gives her an extra glimmer.

I used more scraps from the center of the wheel to mimic waves. I had to ink the upper edges to give them definition against the photo. Die-cut vellum doilies create sea foam at the waves edge.

A strand of seaweed shaped ribbon is wound through the layers of ephemera and around the ships wheel. I secured it with strategically placed dots of Best GlueEver.

Never one to shy away from glitz and glam, I stacked foiled paper for the photo mat. The first layer is Silver Starstruck Foiled Paper and the second Lavender Starstruck Foiled Paper, both from Rinea. The Starstruck Foiled Paper with its embossed stars and matte finish give the photo the seat of honor.

Supplies:

Patterned Paper:Blue Fern Studios

Foiled Paper:Rinea

Water Colored Tags:7gypsies

Chipboard:Echo Park

Plain Tag, Alpha:Studio Calico

Trim:May Arts

Design Vellum:HobbyLobby

Doily Die:Crafters Companion

Ink, Water Colors:Close To My Heart

Embossing Powder:WOW

Pigment Ink:Color Box

Scrap On!

~Charity Hotrum~

Childhood Hero Layout, Stitched and Water Colored

Today’s project is a stitched, water colored, layout featuring my daughters childhood hero. I used 3 different patterns from Graphic 45’s Fairie Dust, majoring on the B sides. Those tiny prints appeal to me and make layering a snap.

~ Childhood Hero ~

The signature page for Fairie Dust has a lovely frame with images outlined along the edges. I knew right away that I wanted to add watercolors to it. The color intensity is muted by the background of blue and green, but over all I like the way the fairies are highlighted.

I fussy cut violets but had to back them with vellum doilies. I didn’t want them disappearing into the purple of the central strip.

The frame ended up with a few chunks bitten right out of it. To camouflaged the small gaps by inking the inner edge of the frame. The large bits were covered with fussy cut fairies from Tiny Toadstools.

I folded down the corners of the photo mat and stitched them with gold braid. I also stitched the purple central strip to grey cardstock. I tried a fancy stitch first, but it didn’t really show up so I went over it with a zigzag.

This layout is a Fairie Garden in response to a prompt from Inspired By:

~ time to garden ~

Supplies:

Cardstock:Crafters Warehouse

Patterned Paper:Graphic 45

Design Vellum:Hobby Lobby

Flowers:Prima, Recollections

Alpha, Stickers:Studio Calico

Tiny Type:My Minds Eye

Cutting Die:Crafters Companion

Ink:Close To My Heart

Scrap On!

~Charity Hotrum~