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Monday 21 April 2014

Underwater World

Hi to everyone, and I hope you are having a good Easter weekend.  The card I have chosen to show you today uses a technique that is not a new one, but which is new to me, and uses tissue paper to give a nice textured surface.  The stamps are a set from Crafty Individuals - Seaside Treasures  from which I used some of the shells and starfish, a sentiment and the lovely seahorse.




To start the background I used a scrap/snippet of white card, and a snippet of tissue paper which I scrunched up, opened back out and stuck with a wet glue to the card trying not to flatten it out too much.  I used a selection of inks to colour - Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers, and Adirondack Ink - Lettuce, and Memento Inks - Nautical Blue and Bamboo Leaves.  The shells and starfish were stamped on to snippets of white card using Memento - London Fog and coloured with inks and a water brush using the Nautical Blue and Adirondack - Sunshine Yellow, and for the seahorses I used the Sunshine yellow and DI - Spiced Marmalade, and a little Nautical Blue.  These inks were well watered down to keep the colours reasonably light so they harmonise but don't merge into the background too much.  I cut all the pieces out and before placing I decided to darken the bottom area with a bit more of the dark blue to the bottom and the sides, and added some touches of the green to look a bit like underwater foliage.  Luckily the Memento ink pads are triangular which makes it easy to use the ink straight from the pad.  As a final touch I used a Letraset fine line pen to add a little more definition to the background and to the seahorses etc.  I added the sentiment using Memento - Tuxedo Black.

Finally I glued the seahorses and shells etc. using Pinflair Glue Gel, and looking at it again I thought some bubbles might look good.  When showing my DH the card he said he didn't think seahorses blew bubbles, but I think they add something to the finished look.   I don't know what you think, but I quite like the effect although mine are not as stylish and beautiful as those Ryn produces, but for a first try I think they are ok.  There is a rather dark area on the left where I overdid the blue shading rather, and sometimes it's knowing when to stop messing with something and to call it done, but overall I'm happy with it.

Hopefully I will have a bit more time this week and it won't be so long between posts.  Anyway, thank you for stopping by today and taking an interest in my meanderings.

Pat x

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop where we have to use some scraps/snippets, which I have on this card.
Crafty Individuals - Nature's Beauty.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Animal Antics.  They did say including birds and insects, so hopefully my seahorses will count as well.


17 comments:

Cathy said...

Gorgeous card Pat. I love the background. I think the bubbles look great as they follow the lines of the seaweed and the seahorses and give more texture. Love your inking too, Cathy x

Paper Creations by Shirley said...

Hi Pat your card art is gorgeous! The tissue created beautiful texture for your sea world. love the colours as well. I hope you had a wonderful Easter, Shirleyx

thassos456 said...

Fab card, I love the colours and the details on it :)

Di said...

Wow Pat, this is stunning! Wonderful how you did the background and I'm all for the bubbles.

There's a seahorse link here http://images.inmagine.com/600wm/amanaimagesrf/amrf213/amrf10172000803.jpg - you might want to show your hubby :)

Hugs, Di xx

Anonymous said...

You achieved wonderful texture on this card, so perfect for your underwater theme.
Thank you for joining the Crafty Individuals Challenge.
Wishes
Lynne

Anonymous said...

That's lovely, Pat! I was going to say that (as one who travels in a bubble, often without a safety net!) I'm sure that sea horses blow bubbles ---and then I followed Di's link which proves it---- :) Love the 'depth' of the sentiment, too--- Marilyn. xx

Julie said...

I think the dark area is perfect. It's a bit like my underwater panel. Remember the further down in the ocean you go the darker it gets. Carry on carding!!

Jean Hardy said...

This is a beautiful card Pat - love the tissue texture, and the bubbles too. Thanks for joining in the Crafty Individuals Challenge for April. Jean x

Mrs A. said...

Wow. what a stunning underwater sea scene. I don't think you have over done the blue at all as all sea water has different depths of blue when you look down on it. I love your sea horses and if they don't blow bubbles then how do they breath! Hugs Mrs A.

Lin said...

This is yummy cubed! Thanks for sharing it with us at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge!

Dragon said...

Stunning card, thanks for sharing the background technique.

MaryH said...

Oh Pat, there is not one thing I would change on this super beautiful card (in ref to your 'too much shading'). I understand what you meant - as I'm prone to the same thing. But truly, I don't think it's too dark any where on this card. That is a fabulous technique, and it's new to me! Your shells were so translucent, just as 'real' shells are, so you did a fab job with the water & coloring to achieve that look. I thought your bubbles were Ryn's stamp until I read the post. This is a totally fabulous card, and thanks for explaining the how-to's. Take care. TFS & Hugs.

Lucy Edmondson said...

What a stunning effect you have achieved here, Pat, quite magical! Thank you for joining in the Crafty Individual's challenge,

Lucy x

Sarn said...

Skipped over from the Snippets Playground . . . love this seahorse scenic card. Great inkyness!

Hugs, Sarn xxx

Darnell said...

Pat, this is breathtaking!! It looks so entirely like an underwater scene. As I had seahorses for a short while as pets in my childhood, this really made me smile! Hugs, Darnell

maria's knutselplezier said...

Wow Path this card is really amazing I , love the structure and the colour use, the background is magical , a real exiting live world for sea animals !!Great ART!!!

Greetings
Maria

Joanna Wiśniewska said...

Beautiful card. Love the theme and all details and texture.