Mermaids everywhere!!

They do seem to be something of a recurring theme in my crafting atm... this is, what, my third mermaid card in just over 2 weeks? :lol:

However, I'm blaming this one squarely on Julie. I loved her DT card for this weeks "At the Beach" challenge at Passion for Promarkers so much that I had to head over to her blog for a closer look... and then I had to go and have a look at where she got the cute mermaid in a jar image from... and that was me falling in love with and buying a bunch of A Day For Daisies digi stamps then! Including the one I used on this card:

I coloured her with Promarkers and added some Stickles highlights and even a bit of real sand ("borrowed" from my daughters' sandpit! :D). I used scrummy paper from the Crafty Individuals "The Seaside" 6x6 paper pad and some pearlescent cardstock for matting. I added a ruffle of turquoise chiffon ribbon and, for a real seaside touch, a couple of pieces of real Scottish sea glass, sent to me by my good friend Lisa. :)

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Passion for Promarkers - At the Beach

Inky Impressions - Ribbon
Crafts and Me - Use a Digi
Emerald Fairies - Bling
Avadares - Anything Goes

Paint and glitter

Is there anything more fun? :)

I wanted to have a play with paint because of the fun "Paint It Up" challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show this week. But I also desperately wanted to have a play with my new summer colours Distress Inks... ever since I saw them used in this project by Sarah Engels-Greer, I just *loved* the colours and decided I had to have them! And they arrived this week. :)

So this is what I made:

Aren't the colours just lush?

I cut a piece of card and used Tim Holtz's Wrinkle Free Distress Technique (from the fab Chemistry 101 online class I did earlier this year) to make the background and then stamped some abstract foliage around the bottom using Jo Capper-Sandon's Splatter Long stamp from Stampotique and then stamped and embossed the sentiment (another Stampotique stamp).

I also used the Distess Inks to paint in the stamped dragonfly and added a layer of magenta Stickles over the top before cutting it out.

I added paint into the mix by dabbing little "flowers" of Paper Artsy Fresco paint across the foliage, adding dots of more Stickles on top.

I used the same paint to paint a larger piece of card and then stamped the edges using a Tim Holtz foilage stamp, and added some more Stickles. Both pieces of card were then matted onto black card.

To finish off, I added a piece of ribbon, mounted the whole piece onto a card blank and added a couple of metal pen nibs which I'd painted with Vintaj Patinas (curse you, Craft Stamper magazine, you keep making me buy new stash! :lol:). Et voila!

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Paint It Up

Stampotique Designers Challenge - Sketch

Inky Impressions - Ribbon

The Stamp Man - Metals