Under the Sea

It's Arwen's turn to host the Stampotique Designers Challenges and here's what she's got to say about it!

Who doesn't remember Arielle, The Little Mermaid? :)

I love the sea and the residents there. Mixed with fantasy and mysticism, it's a perfect theme for a Stampotique Challenge! Let me see what your underwater world looks like!

If you'd like the chance to win $30 worth of Stampotique stamps, you should play along. Visit Stampotique Designers Challenge blog and be sure to read the rules, so that you'll have the chance to win a great prize!!!

My card features Stampotique's Birdy Up (Kira Nichols) stamp. I know I use it a lot. I love it because I love birds, birdwatching, and am somewhat birdbrained. I also love that it's so versatile. You can use one birdy, two birdies, three birdies, or all four. You can keep 'em as is, you can fussy-cut them, you can add costumes and accessories, kinda like I have here.

Here's my card, which is a little "out there", even for me. 

I stamped Birdy Up using Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto Neenah cardstock. I colored three of the birdies with Copic markers,  fussy-cut them, edged them with a black marker, and put them aside while I worked on the background and their accessories.

I started my background by mixing DecoArts' Primary Cyan Media Fluid Acrylic paint with Titanium White Media Fluid Acrylic paint. This was sponged horizontally onto a piece of 140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock by Strathmore. While it was still wet, I mixed some Primary Cyan Media Fluid Acrylic paint with Primary Yellow Media Fluid Acrylic paint to get a nice turquoise. This was sponged over the blue background using horizontal sweeps. I wasn't stoked about the color, so I created a wash with Cobalt Teal Hue Media Fluid Acrylic paint and water and sponged it over the cardstock. Much better.

The next step was to create a green paint by mixing Primary Cyan Media Fluid Acrylic paint with Primary Yellow Media Fluid Acrylic paint. This was sponged over the Kelp Forest stencil by The Crafter's Workshop. Please note that this stencil (and five others) are by Carmen Medlin and are based on the stamps in Montage Sets 1 and 2 by Susana Loves Stamps. I think that these stencils and stamp sets will work swimmingly well together (pun intended).

But I digressed. When the paint was dry, I mixed Burnt Sienna, Titanium White, and Vermillion Media Fluid Acrylic paints to come up with a sand color, which I painted over the base of the cardstock to become the sea floor. It didn't look as sandy as I wanted and I remembered that I had something in my stash that would work well! Better yet, I remembered where I put it (which is sadly a rare occurance). Diamond Glaze, a dimensional clear adhesive, was applied over the sea floor and tiny glass beads were poured over the adhesive. As per my usual modus operandi, I edged the piece with Black Soot Distress ink.

Now it was time to change my air-dwelling Birdy Up birds to sea-dwellers. Round Ideology fragments were edged with a Krylon silver leafing pen. Diamond Glaze was added to the back of each fragment, then placed over each bird's head to become a deep-sea diving helmet. Silver embroidery floss was attached next to each helmet to become air hoses and clear Dew Drops by The Robin's Nest were added to become air bubbles.Voila! My birds could now breathe underwater!

The piece was missing something, so I added Linen Magic Mesh to the sides of the piece, used Dymo Tape for the sentiment, and used jute string to adhere silver charms.
 

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card into the following challenges:
• A Random Fan Challenge #13: Anything Goes
• Aurora Wings Challenges: Under The Sea
• The Crazy Challenge: Cute Little Animals
• Stampin with the Dragon: Sun, Sand, and Sea