What lurks beneath the surface?

What a profound question! Apparently strange scenes lurk in my brain.

This project uses three of the fish skeleton stamps from SCACD's Montage Set #1, a fabulous set that contains sixteen (16) stamps! However, if you don't want 'em all (why not?), the stamps ARE available in smaller sets. I used one of the stamps from the Fossilized Sea Shells set and three stamps from the Fish Frames set.

The first step was to sponge Jet Black and Watering Can Archival ink over the Skullduggery stencil (Andy Skinner for Tando Creative) onto 140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock by Strathmore. I also sponged the ink over the stencil onto a piece of scrap paper, which I cut out to use for masking. When I was done sponging, I darkened the eye sockets with a Prismacolor marker.

The mask was positioned over the skull using removable adhesive. Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, and Chipped Sapphire Distress inks were lightly sponged over the Brain Coral stencil by ArtistCellar. The Distress inks were heat set.

The skull's mask was removed and the temporary adhesive was erased. Three of fish skellies from the Fish Frames set were stamped using white pigment ink and embossed with White Filagree Fine Detail embossing powder. The bottom swordfish's tail has disappeared into the blackness of the skull's eyesocket. The long snaky fish has swum (is that a word?) behind the skull and is emerging through the nose hole. The shell has become cemented to the skull's forehead. And yes, this piece reveals a bit too much about my psyche.

The branches of the trees looked like coral to me, so the small tree from the Baobab Tree set was inked with Jet Black Archival ink and stamped along the bottom of the piece.

Old Paper, Black Soot Distress, and Watering Can Archival inks were sponged around the skull to age it and add dimension. The embossed areas resisted the ink as planned. Chalk pencils were used to add additional dimension and shading to the skull.

The skull mask was placed over the skull again and the Brain Coral stencil was taped in the same position. Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, and Chipped Sapphire Distress inks were sponged more heavily over the Brain Coral stencil. The stencil was lifted and the entire piece was edged with the same colors of Distress ink, the Black Soot Distress ink was sponged along the edges to add additional contrast.

The last step was to add the sentiment using my rapidly diminishing supply of Doodlebug rub-on alphabets. 

Thanks for visiting today!

I shall enter this card in the following challenges:
• Craft A Scene: Use Your Favorite Technique -- I love stencils and ink sponging and masking :D
• Make It Monday #179: Anything Goes
• The Artistic Stamper Challenges: Use Distress 
• Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenges: Anything goes with the optional twist Triple Play Three fish, three colors of Distress ink sponged over the stencil.