Strong Women Make Waves

Yes! Yes! Yes!  Amen to Taylored Expressions for creating this beautiful Be A Mermaid stamp set with a killer empowering, "strong women make waves" sentiment!  Yes! Yes! Yes!  Also because it's Friday!  Who's ready for the weekend!?  My parents are coming down from Maine for a visit and I look forward to seeing them.  I also have a full class on Saturday in my home studio with 14 people attending and I can't wait for my mom to participate and meet many new crafty friends.   Live in Western Mass and want to come to a class?  See my class calendar here.

Because I am not currently creating technique video content on my website, I highly recommend checking out this Easy Alcohol Ink Background Tutorial by Jennifer McGuire.  She has created a very simple introduction to working with alcohol inks to create some basic backgrounds.  This was the first video I watched after purchasing my alcohol inks and then I just spent time playing around with them!  The great thing is there is no right or wrong when it comes to art.  You just have fun (and usually make a mess) with it!  *My only tip would be that you don't need to spend your money purchasing polysynthetic Yupo Paper at nearly $1.00 per sheet.  You can use the reverse side of any high quality photo paper (like this one by Kirkland) and achieve the same results!   I used this same Kirkland photo paper to create today's alcohol ink backgrounds.

I am, however, s-l-o-w-l-y beginning to dabble in some video content.  Essentially still photos with animated displays and music.  I haven't attempted audio voiceover or video while creating cards yet, but it's a slow work in progress.  I hope you enjoy this short 1-minute clips of the mermaid cards I have created this week:

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Tempting Turquoise cardstock (sorry, it's retired Stampin' UP!) Using the Gina Marie Designs Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangles, I die cut the scalloped background on Kirkland photo paper.  To create the background I used Ranger Alcohol inks in Sailboat Blue, Turquoise and Pool.  I stamped the sentiment in the upper left corner in Versamark ink and heat embossed it in silver embossing powder.  I stamped one mermaid tail in Tempting Turquoise ink (retired) on Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock and one in Granny Apple Green ink on the same paper.  I stamped the third mermaid tail in Versamark ink on Tempting Turquoise paper and heat embossed it in white embossing powder.  I die cut the tails and adhered them to the card using 3M foam adhesive. 

Here is the Be A Mermaid stamp set and coordinating die from Taylored Expressions:

Card details:

The base of this second A2 sized card is also made from Tempting Turquoise cardstock (retired, Stampin' UP!).  I used a scrap sheet of 5 1/4 x 4" paper with tiny light clouds on it for the background.  Sorry, I do not recall who made this paper!  I cut two pieces of a previously colored alcohol ink background with the Lawn Fawn Stitched Waves Border Die and adhered those to the center of the card.  On a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock, I stamped "Let's Shellebrate" in Versamark ink and heat embossed it in white embossing powder.  Then I used a Heffy Doodle Stitched Slopey Joes die to create a stitched border on the "sand."  I tapped a small eraser into Crumb Cake ink and stamped the background of this Crumb Cake border.  I stamped one Mermaid Tail on Temping Turquoise cardstock and heat embossed it in white embossing powder.  I die cut another mermaid tail from Granny Apple Green cardstock and backed it with a piece of Turquoise Glitter paper.  Lastly I stamped the seashells on Neenah Solar white cardstock, Granny Apple Green cardstock and Tempting Turqoise cardstock and adhered them to the card using 3M foam adhesive. 

I hope you have enjoyed these vibrant cards and, even more, their powerful message. 
Strong women make waves!

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!

XO, Crystal

You might also enjoy: