Urban Mermaid Designs

Mermaid Trend in Scrapbooking & Cardmaking 3

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Thu, 04 May 2017 15:59:00 +0000

The mermaid trend continues into 2017 for fashion, home decor and also in the realm of Arts & Crafts. Here are some of the new mermaid stamps, stencils, washi and dies that have caught my eye and will make a "fintastic" addition to your crafty stash.
If you right click on the image you should be able to "search Google for this image" to find a retailer in your territory.

Mermaid Washi, Stamps, Stencils & Die sets by Recollections (exclusive to Michaels, USA only)

Becky Seddon Mermaid Stamps & Stencils available at Hochanda.com or HERE

Jane Davenport Mermaid Journal available in Michaels, USA or online HERE

Dreamees Mermaid Stamps, CD and MDF available at http://www.Createandcraft.com

Tattered Lace Mermaid Dies:

Disney Little Mermaid Collection available exclusively from Create and Craft.com

Stampendous Mermaid Stamps & matching dies

Frantic Stamper Mermaid die

Inkadinkado Mermaid Rubber Stamp

tampendous - Laurel Burch Mermaid Stamps & Dies

Chocolate Baroque - Mermaid Queen Available HERE

Carabelle Studio Stamp Set - Zinouk de l'océan by Azoline

Sugar Pea Designs - Anchored

Cutesy Mermaids:

Reverse Confetti - Mermaid Kisses (also has matching die set)

Spellbinders Mermaid die

My Favourite Things: Mermazing

Sweet Stamp Shop Mermaid Shelfie

Lawn Fawn - Mermaid For You

Neat and Tangled - Mermazing

Chocolate Scented Ink!

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 13:12:00 +0000

NEWSFLASH!
Chocolate scented ink for stamping is now available by Hero Arts!
It's designed for children, but how fun would it be to make chocolate-scented cards.

Here are some ideas for stamps to use with this ink:

My Favourite Things - Chocolate Sentiments

Graphic 45 - Parisian Cafe - 1

Inkadinkado - Eat Cupcakes

Avery Elle

Newton's Nook - Love & Chocolate

Marca- Close to My Heart - A Chocolate Affair

Marianne Designs- Chocolate is the Answer Stamp & Dies Set

My Cute Stamps - Sweet Chocolate

Lora Bailora

Stampin'Up - For the Love of Chocolate Wood-mounted Set

Stamping Bella:

The new scented inks also come in Grape, Strawberry, Orange, Licorice and Lime.

Spring Blooms Tag with UTEE

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Sun, 23 Apr 2017 15:51:00 +0000

This week I have created a Spring Blooms tag. I am enjoying experimenting with my embossing enamels, but I only have one silicone mould. I am hoping to get some more as I tried pouring the molten enamel into some of my Prima clear plastic packing that had a cool flower shape and predictably...it melted. Oops, always use silicon or heat-resistant moulds, folks!

I used the feather mould by WOW for the 2 resin feathers and the other feathers are stamped & heat-embossed onto vellum.

I used a Prima stencil and watercolours to create the background on a Prima tag which I had first blended with Colour Clouds.

Then I fussy cut my Prima Princess (Sydney), which I coloured in using a Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen instead of a brush and water and water-based pastels and watercolours.

I mixed a few colours with the transparent UTEE to get a blended effect. I first lightly dusted the mould with a mica embossing powder to add some extra shimmer.

Close up of UTEE feathers:

I die-cut some blooms with Memory Box and added those:

Supplies:

Heat-resistant vellum
WOW! Feather Mould,
Melt It ultra thick embossing powder, embossing powders to colour
Sentiment from Kaisercraft Boho Chic 6" pad
Nuvo Drops - Morning Dew
Prima Flowers & Berries
Prima Stencil 6"
Prima Watercolour Tag Pad

Prima Princesses Planner Dividers - Sydney also available as a stamp
Cosmic Shimmer Watercolours - Frosty & Chic
Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen
Prima Oil Pastels

Seam Binding
Dies: Kaisercraft (Dream Big), Memory Box (Pennington Rose Blossoms),
Tim Holtz (Garden Greens)

Challenges:
Simon Says - Spring Blooms 25/5

Mixed Media - AG with a twist 12/5

*Scrappy Land - Spring Blooms Dies: Kaisercraft (Dream Big), Memory Box (Pennington Rose Blossoms) Winner

Handmade Easter Egg Box

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 21:10:00 +0000

I have always wanted to have a go at altering a polystyrene egg with decoupage, so I decided to give it a go for Easter. This is how the egg started out!

In the past I have had trouble with glues and media dissolving polystyrene objects, so I watched a few tutorials on Youtube first to make sure I was using the right ones.

My method below is a mix of those and I am sure you will find your own way. The basic rule seems to be any water-based media is fine, e.g. Modge Podge and Acrylic Paints.

I used some damask paper napkins as my base layer. You just use the top layer of the napkin, tear it into pieces and then stick to the egg with Mod Podge.

The result was pretty, but too much of the polystrene was showing through. I used a selection of spray misters to colour the egg building up layers until the desired colour was achieved.

To add further interest and a vintage feel I stamped the surface with a script stamp (Marianne - Anja's Text).

I then added a few layers of Ranger Crackle Accents and once dry I used a gilding wax to bring out the cracked details to make it look more like the shell of an egg.

I lined the base with some cream netting and used Prima Opal Magic Rose Gold paint to gild the inside edges.

Next came the fun part- decorating the egg.

I created matching flowers and leaves using mainly Prima flowers and some brads. I stamped a few of the leaves and tinted the petals where needed.

I attached a lace ribbon trim all around the edge of the egg lid, but overlapping, so that it would hide the join.

I also added some netted ribbon and a woven ribbon bow to the back of the egg.

*Emerald Creek - Double Duty - Top 3 Honours

*Happy Little Stampers - Mixed media with Sprays: Favourite

Supplies:
Large Polystyrene Egg Box (Wilkos)
Lace Ribbon
Ranger Crackle Accents
Gilding Wax
Netting
Prima Opal Magic Rose Gold Paint
Ink Sprays : Cosmic Shimmer - Frosty Mink, Prima Bloom - Worn Leather, Lindy's Opal Sea Oats
Prima Flowers & Leaves
Large Script Stamp - Marianne's Anja's Text
Versafine Ink - Sepia
Brads
Mod Podge - Matt
Glue Gun

Challenges:

Craft Heaven - Flowers ends 10/5

Creatalicious AG #113 29/4

Stamped-All Over Easter Card

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 12:38:00 +0000

I was inspired by the look of some a new home decor trends to create this monochrome, mini-stamped Easter Card.

I started by sketching a hare freehand onto a large piece of multi-media paper. I used this silhouette I found on Google for reference. If you don't feel comfortable drawing free-hand, you could print out a silhouette and trace it.

I then assembled all of my mini stamps. I would highly recommend using an acrylic rod or several rather than an acrylic block when working with minis. You can attach a mini stamp to both ends and just stamp directly into the ink pad for speed. You will find that the image builds up really quickly,

CLOSE UP: Hand stamped paper. You build up the image gradually. I couldn't resist hiding a few fairies in with the flowers.

I mounted the bunny onto some paper and card and then added a bit of bling with a flower I had harvested from an old necklace!

To finish I highlighted some of the daisy centres with yellow. You could colour in each flower if you wanted, but I was going for a monochrome effect.
I printed the sentiment out and then went round it with a white pen to give a chalkboard effect.

Supplies
White, black A4 card
Mini stamps: various brands incl. Prima, Cardio (Enchanted Garden)
Black stamping ink
Flower embellishment
Rusty Pickle Princess Bride 12" paper
Majestix Acrylic Stamping Rods
White Posca Pen

Challenges
Addicted to Stamps - Not a Square Card + Stamps 16/5

CAS Card "Smile" - Feminine

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 00:21:00 +0000

Trying to achieve a CAS - Clean and Simple style card is very challenging for me, but I gave it a shot this week and created this SMILE card.

I was using the Heidi Swapp cut out Roses paper as a stencil for another card and coloured them with Colour Cloud inks. These work better than spray or dye inks for colouring detailed pieces as they have a special formulation which makes them very smooth and easy to blend and are less likely to saturate the paper.

I liked the colour of the blended roses so much that I decided to use them for a card instead.

I heat-embossed the SMILE die cut sentiment with a blend of WOW powders.

I added the butterflies as they went so well with the style of the roses and I needed a dot for the I in smile!

Supplies
6" Square White Card Blank
WOW! Powders in Perissa and Pastel Pink
Colour Cloud in Frosty Blossom and Frosty Mink
Mini Smoothie Sponge
Heidi Swapp Mixed Media Lace Papers
White die cut butterflies
Kaisercraft Collectables Breeze "Smile" die cut

Inspired by these Challenges
Creative Embellishments - Spring - inspired by spring blossoms that make me smile 30/4

CAS Card "Smile" - Masculine

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 23:49:00 +0000

This is my second CAS card this week. This time with a more masculine vibe.

I started with an 6" card blank in square and used new Prima Rose Quartz paper as a backing.

I heat-embossed the sentiment for a metallic industrial finish.

The silver brads are actually Viva Decor liquid pearls. I recommend dropping them on acetate first, letting them dry then adhering them to your project, rather then squeezing directly onto your card.This way you can choose the best ones, or in this case, the ones which were equal in size.

Supplies
6" Square White Card Blanks
WOW! Powder in Champers
Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Chrome
Prima Rose Quartz 6" Paper Pad
Project Life Mini Kit paintable card 3" x 4"

Follow Your Dreams - Mixed Media

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 22:21:00 +0000

I was inspired to create the layout of this piece from the City Crafters case card.

I have been wanting to do a space theme for a while and thought the circles would give me the opportunity to stamp some planets and create orbits and rings by stamping onto acetate.

The base paper is from Kaisercraft Boho Dreams and so is the Follow your Dreams sentiment, the other sentiment is stamped in white in on black card.

I stamped the Eclectica stamps onto acetate and then heat embossed. This is one of my favourite embossing techniques!

A good tip is to only buy heat-resistant acetate, so that way you won't ever get it mixed up and melt it!

I stencilled the stars with clear embossing ink and then heat-embossed with WOW! powder. I heat embossed some star chipboard shapes to match.

*City Crafter Challenge Blog Birthday CASE #1 (week 356) Spotlight Award

Materials
WOW! Powder in Fairy Tale (molten gold with chunky iridescent glitter), black embossing powder
Heat resistant acetate
Paperartsy rubber stamps Ecletica Emma Godfrey EE G07

Prima Love Clippings Stamps

Chipboard stars (Basic Grey Chip Stickers)
Tattered Angels Glimmer Glass Traveller
Kaisercraft Boho Dreams 6" Paper Pad
6" Star trail stencil

Inspired by these Challenges:
Stampotique Challenge - Bling It On SDC271

Easter Card - Negative Space Stamping

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 21:44:00 +0000

I was inspired to try this negative space stamping technique by a Wendy Gage greeting card.
The method is simple, but really effective. You place tape in a cross shape on your card blank.
Then stamp mini flowers with inks of your choice.
Once dry, carefully remove the tape.
Optional: Add enamel dots for flower centres and as sprinkles.
Add a cut-out butterfly and/or sentiment to finish.

Supplies:
Washi or low-tack tape
Distress Inks
Card blank
Mini butterfly cut from Bo Bunny Butterfly Kisses paper
Mini floral stamps - I used Cardio Enchanted Garden
Nuovo drops by Tonic

* Inkspirational - Spring Challenge Top Pick Winner

Dancing In The Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 19:02:00 +0000

I started by dripping a rainbow of watercolours down a sheet of watercolour paper.

I snipped the dancer from a Prima adhesive border sheet and coloured them black with a marker so that they would be sihouetted against the background. (Prima also released this set in black flock, so that would work too)

I tried hand-writing the sentiment a few times with white marker on black card, but I didn't like my writing, so I printed it out instead. Sometimes I forget to use my printer as a tool for art pieces!

Sentiment reads: Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain.

I mounted the painting on black card and so it can become a card or framed as art.

*Time Out #80 Inspired by Words - Honorable Mention

Materials:
Prima Adhesive Border
Prima Watercolor Confections Pastels
Watercolor Pad A4
Black marker (Spectrum Aqua)

Inspired by these Challenges
Bizzy Becs - Anything Goes ends 31/4 *Top 3
Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes Watercolour optional Rainbow ends 29/4
Happy Little Stampers - April CAS ends 29/4

Steampunk Underwater Mixed Media Artwork

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Sun, 02 Apr 2017 00:52:00 +0000

I created this Shadow Frame Steampunk piece as a gift for my cousin's nursery. She is planning on decorating the room in Steampunk style (how fun!)

I have been waiting for an opportunity to use my Graphic 45 Voyage Beneath the Sea Collection and I thought the fantasy/whimsical motifs in this would be perfect for a baby boy.

I chose my favourite images from the papers and arranged them on a blue 12" background that I had spritzed with Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays to give an ocean feel.

The gears are mostly die cut from card, then coloured with inks and then heat-embossed.

I also used some chipboard swirls and seaweed die-cuts that I coloured with Lindy's Glitz Spritzes.

I aged the metal charms with Verdigris embossing powder.

I inked and stamped the chipboard seahorse with gear stamps.

I gilded a wooden shadow box frame with gilding flakes in similar tones to the artwork.

Materials:
Graphic 45 Voyage Beneath the Sea - Papers (12", 8"), chipboard, ephemera
Cosmic Shimmer Gilding Flakes - Egyptian Gold
Embossing Powders: Wow!: Verdigris, Copper, Perissa. Atlantic Seaspray, Under the Sea, Ranger - Verdigris
Scrapberry's Metal Charms - Seaside 1 & 2
Chipboard letters, swirls, seahorse
Prima glass beads - butter
Stampendous - gold frantage glitter
Lindy's Stamp Gang: Mermaid Seashells, Bucaneer Bay Blue, Cocklebells Coral, Glory of the Seas Gold, Opal Sea Oats, Sea Mint Green,Treasure Island Aqua
Dies: X Cut -Chronology Cogs,Memory Box - Mini Gears, foliage, scallops, Creative Expressions - Dandelion Clocks, Joy Crafts - Under the Sea,Santoro Dies
Tattered Angels Glimmer Chips - Beachcomber

Challenges:
Sandee and Amelia - Anything Goes - Steampunk 13/5
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Creatalicious - Anything Goes #112 29/4

Easter Style with Stamps & Die-cuts

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 14:37:00 +0000

Boticelli’s Birth of Venus offers another classic example of thirds-based compositioSometn

The sky, sea, and land are divided into horizontal bands of approximately one third the image height. The groups of figures are arranged in 3 columns; the angels on the left occupy the top two thirds of the left column of the image.

oticelli’s Birth of Venus offers another classic example of thirds-based composition

I created this Easter Fashion themed mixed media piece, but something didn't seem right. The background seemed too close to the tones of the dresses and the embellishments were disappearing against it.

I don't know why, but something in the flow of the piece or shape of the 2 dresses on the right reminded me of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, so I looked to that for clues as to how to rearrange the composition.
Boticelli’s Birth of Venus is an example of thirds-based composition. The sky, sea, and land are divided into horizontal bands of approximately one third the image height. The groups of figures are arranged in 3 columns; the angels on the left occupy the top two thirds of the left column of the image.

By coincidence (or artist's intuition) I already had the division of thirds, both horizontally with the central stencilled panel and vertically with the 3 dresses, so it was just a case of rearranging the elements to closer match that of the painting and using a white background.

Have you ever tried a Scrap Lift from a painting? This might be a good challenge for another day.

Here's the final piece. I fought my urge to apply paint splats & texture beads to the white paper...white space is something I struggle with, as I am more of a "Maximallist"!

Here are some of the techniques and materials used in case you wish to try this at home:

I stamped the dresses with DI Black Soot onto 3 different papers from Kaisercraft True Romance 6" pad. I chose these as they are lovely rose florals in pastel, spring tones.

For the centre panel I used The Artsplorations Flourishes stencil on white paper. I used a mix of Distress Inks and applied them with a mini Smoothie sponge. This gives a soft, blended finish.

I stuck the heat-embossed letters onto tags from Kaisercraft True Romance collectables to match the papers.

I die cut some roses, swirls and leaves and heat-embossed some and used Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays and pigments on some others. Lindy's products have mica in them, so this adds to the glamour of the piece and ties in with the gold in the embossing powders.

Materials:
Dies: X-Cut Alphabet, Memory Box: Pennington Rose Blossoms, Little B Bouquet, Poppy Stamps Small Marianna Vine outline, Bo Bunny Flourish, Joanna Sheen Swirls and Curls, Ultimate Crafts Rose Cutting
Stamps: Dawn Bibby Designs - Fashion
Stencil: ARTplorations by Stamplorations - Flourishes
Paper: Kaisercraft - True romance 12" Passionate and Paper Pad 6", Collectables (tags)
Embossing Powders:
Wow! Rose Mist, Mulberry Mist. Ultra thick clear embossing powder,

Inks: Distress Inks - Spun Sugar, Shabby Shutters, Black Soot

Lindy's Stamp Gang - Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz, Tres Chic Magical Powders

Challenges:
Craft Heaven - Keep Calm and Love Spring #18 8/4
-----------------------------------------
Stamplorations - Anything Goes

Cutsplorations - die cuts & Garden Party Fashion Stamploratons Product Used: Stencil flourishes RW

Blue & Ochre Mixed Media

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 01:31:00 +0000

This week I was inspired by Scrapmasters Challenge and Paperartsy Blue & Ochre colour scheme challenges.
I also just realised that this colour scheme ties in with the new Beauty and the Beast live-action movie, so the Beauty/Beautiful theme works for that inspiration too. I think this is a colour scheme we will see move of in 2017.

I was reminded of some papers and ephemera I had in my stash by Glitz Design. They are all blue and ochre toned with gorgeous vintage imagery, the line is called:Vintage Blue. I started by layering up some papers and Whatnots.

I stamped the word art BEAUTIFUL with a Technique Tuesday stamp and WOW slow-drying embossing ink, then heat-embossed with Midnight Dream powder. I wanted to convey the Beauty of spring with Butterflies, Flowers and Birds. I echoed the Beauty theme with the word art quote by John Keats "Beauty is truth, truth beauty".

I layered up some Whatnots, distressing the edges with ink.

I stamped a large butterfly onto paper (Kaisercraft - Bonjour) and cut it out, then I stamped and heat-embossed 3 small butterflies. (Prima - Fairy Belle) with Wow powders - Daytona Sands and Iridium blend.

added some micro beads in places to add texture.

I heat-embossed some chipboard swirls and these lovely chipboard Poppies from Blue Fern with Stampendous enamel. It's a marbling enamel with a mix of deep blue and gold - yummy!

I stamped the word art from Paperartsy Eclectica with Faded Jeans DI and cut it into strips.

I added some Prima flowers and one I made with a quilling die.

* Stamps and Stencils: Chirpy Cheep Top 3

Materials:
Stampendous - Aged Marine embossing Enamel
WOW! Daytona Sands, Iridium and Midnight Dream embossing powders. WOW! Slow embossing pad.
Papers: Glitz Design Vintage Blue and Whatnots, MME Lost & Found 2
Chipboard: Blue Fern Gingers Poppies
Inks; Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Faded Jeans, Scattered Straw, Fossilised Amber
Stamps: Prima clear butterfly stamp and Kaisercraft Bonjour clear stamps
Technique Tuesday - "Beautiful" Stamp, (In a word:Children)
Paperartsy - Beauty word art stamp Eclectica3 Sara Naumann 16
Flowers: Prima
Prima Funnabair Glass beads Butter
Dies: Half Doily die by CC Downton Abbey
Gold bird charm

Altered Birdhouse Mother's Day Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 02:38:00 +0000

I wanted to make something special for a Mothering Sunday gift this year. I had a chipboard birdhouse in my stash for a while, so as my mum has lots of birds in her birdhouse in spring, I thought it would make a lovely gift.

I was inspired by the Prima and Agiart "Air" March boards as aqua and peach is such a gorgeous combination and I love the flowers and soft tones.

I cut the scalloped orning from some chipboard I had in my stash and heat-embossed it several times with Mint Macaroon WOW! Powder. This colour is translucent, so needed a few coats. I would recommend priming chipboard/greyboard with white gesso first.

I used the Prima Finnabair stencil with Finnabair Art Alchemy Paint in Rose Gold to create the roof tiles.

* Prima March Challenge - Featured

Materials:
Prima Fairybelle Papers
Prima Leaves Dies
Prima Flowers - Fairy Belle and other Prima flowers
Prima Stencil by Finnabair
Prima Art Alchemy Acrylic Paint in Rose Gold
WOW! Embossing powder - Mint Macaroon, Vintage Romance
Chipboard Bird House

Inspired by these Challenges:
Creative Embellishments - Spring - A home for the nesting birds of Spring 30/4
I Kropka #43 - Spring Chipboard (house) and Green

Believe You were Born to Sparkle

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 00:39:00 +0000

I was inspired by the Words & Paintery sentiment: " You are a diamond dear, they can't break you" to create a mixed-media 12" x 12" layout.

I used this paper as my starting point, it was a bit sad to cover up the mermaid!:

I used the Believe sentiment from Kaisercraft's Sea Breeze Collectables Pack and heat embossed it with a blend of Coral Reef and Peach Bellini WOW! Embossing powders. The pretty pink shell is an iridescent sequin I had in my stash.

The Seahorse was in the Mermaid Tails Collectable pack and I heat embossed it with WOW! Powder and a seahorse stamp from Heartfelt Creations Under the Sea set.

The Dreamcatcher is made with the Kaisercraft Dream Big set and detail is stamped & heat embossed with WOW! Mint Macaroon. The drops are Tonic Nuvo Drops.

The flowers were from my stash, but I created the centres of the pink ones using Tim Holtz Tattered Florals dies to echo the starburst stamens of the ones in the Kaisercraft Sketch.

The berries are from Prima's Royal Menagerie - Maud (Velvet Leaves & Berry Clusters)

Materials:
Kaisercraft Mermaid Tails - Collectables, 12" Paper Pad, 6" Paper Pad
Kaisercraft Boho Dreams - 6.5" Paper Pad
Kaisercraft Stamp & Die Set - Dream Big
Kaisercraft - Sea Breeze Collectables
WOW! Embossing Powders: Coral reef
Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Dies
Papermania - Self-adhesive Chevron Stencil
Misc Paper Flowers
Foliage Dies includes- Intricutz - Beach Fern, Memory Box- Beach Sprig
Nuovo Drops - Bubblegum,
Prima Royal Menagerie - Pink Berries

Handmade "Hello Spring!" Greeting Card

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 00:14:00 +0000

Spring is officially here and so to celebrate I have created this "Hello Spring!" greeting card.

I used the fabulous My Prima Planner Princess Coloring Dividers 2 and tried a new technique with my WOW! embossing powders - colouring in.

I used the WOW! embossing pen on areas of the picture and then heat embossed each area individually. The centres of the flowers are a blend of Daytona Sands and Champers. I also used the pen to dot a few colour sprinkles around the hair.

I used Neutral Sparkle on the Eyelids to look like glittery eye shadow.

I used the WOW! French Music Stamp and Atlantic Seaspray powder to emboss the background.

I then heat embossed the wooden sentiment from Heidi Swapp Wanderlust pack and embossed the dress in my favourite shade: Atlantic Seaspray - a pale aqua pearl base with gold marbling:

The finished piece:

*
That's Crafty - Bling It Up Top 3

Materials:
My Prima Planner Princess Coloring Dividers 2
WOW! Embossing Powders: Atlantic Seaspray, Rose Mist, Mint Macaroon, Peach Bellini, Pink Perfection, Champers, Daytona Sands
WOW! French Music Stamp
Heidi Swapp Wanderlust Wood Veneer
Pearlescent Card Stock

Inspired by these Challenges:
Creative Embellishments - Spring - spring birdies and blossoms ends 30/4

Mermaid Trend in Scrapbooking Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 19:53:00 +0000

Graphic 45 are known for their high-quality products with a vintage theme. They have brought out some fun Steampunk-inspired ranges in the past and for 2016 they have combined Steampunk with Mermaids to create...Voyage Beneath the Sea.

There are 3 cool stamp sets in the collection, pockets, chipboard and 3 x paper pads.

I haven't had time to play with this one yet, but there are lots of amazing projects to check out using this collection on Pinterest or search Google images

Tim Holtz is also getting in on the trend with his new Distress ink - Mermaid Lagoon:

Also catching the mermaid wave this year are WOW! powders with a new underwater-inspired collection. I am a huge WOW! fan and had the pleasure of attending a workshop with the designer of this collection Marion Emberson earlier this year. She is super talented and when I asked her kindly to design some mermaid powders, she looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and said "just wait and see!" So they were obviously already in the pipeline...great minds, etc!

The line includes: Mermaid Tails, Coastal, Under the Sea and Pacific Wave

These gorgeous powders came in handy for this mixed media mermaid canvas:

I used Under the Sea and Coral Reef for the crown:

I just had to use Wow! Mermaid Tails on the mermaid's tail!

The finished piece:

Challenges:

MMW#16: Under The Sea

Creative Iinspirations - Summer Challenge Seaside

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Stamps used for seaweed, stars, bubbles and vintage script.

Mermaid Trend in Paper Scrapbooking Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 18:57:00 +0000

Mermaids are finally making a SPLASH in the paper scrapbooking world! I have noticed quite a few lines this season with a mermaid theme, so will share them here and in the next post for all you fin-tastic and mermazing mermaid fans!

Echo Park have released a fun and girlie mermaid collection called Let's be Mermaids: by Lori Whitlock.

You can also buy a co-ordinating ephemera set and stamp & die sets:

Lawn Fawn have also released a cute mermaid stamp & die set which would work well with the Echo Park collection, How cute is that Narwhale?! :

Let's be Mermaids would be best suited to young girl or teen projects, for mixed-media and more sophisticated mermaid projects, I would recommend Mermaid Tails by Kaisercraft. This watercolour inspired range includes beautiful papers, album, stickers, die-cuts and stamps.
There are also some Kaisermists which co-ordinate with the collection.

The papers come in 12" and 6" and with Kaisercraft it's always worth buying the 6" too as some of the papers are different and they also include die-cuts and tags in the pad.

The Collectables pack is great and jam-packed with goodies (50+). It also has some large word art pieces which would be great heat-embossed with glitter powders.

A stand-out of the collection is a large scallop-shell shaped cardstock. This would be nice framed, but if they had created it symmetrically it would've also made awesome covers for a scrap album.

The only slight niggle I have with this collection is the mermaids themselves, which appear to have been created with Poser software. They have a computer-generated look which is incongruous to the style of the collection. They are in the same style as the fairies used in their Fairy Dust Collection. What a shame they didn't hire a water-colour artist to create the mermaids too.

I do love their matching gloss resist papers which work well with the Kaiser mists and other watercolour media you may have.

Here is a layout I created with the Kaisercraft Mermaid Tails Collection and based on their July Sketch Challenge.

Supplies:

Kaisercraft:

Kaisermists Turquoise, White

Mermaid Tails Paper Pads 12" & 6"

Mermaid Tails Collectables

Sea Breeze Collectables

Tonic Nuvo Drops in White Blizzard, Morning Dew, Ivory Seashell

Martha Stewart Scallop Punch

Prima French Riviera Background Stamp

Challenges:

Challenge #70 - USE 5 OR MORE FLOWERS

Bunny Zoe - Summer Florals

Cinspirations

Watercolour Card

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 21:27:00 +0000

Here is a clean and simple card that I made, inspired by the fashion challenge over at Runway.

It is based on their inspiration image of this dress by Banana Republic.

I painted some navy cardstock with deeper navy watercolor mixed with gesso to create that deep blue/black background of the dress.

I wanted to represent the flower design with watercolors.

I used a resist paper by Cosmo Cricket and cut up 3 square pieces.

And painted with watercolours in blue and purple shades.

I liked the purple tints in the dress, so I used a Versamark dazzle pad to run glue across the background of the card. I then embossed it with Lindy's Stamp Gang Angel Wings Ruby. This is a clear powder, with an interference mica, so that it shines purple in different lights and on different colour backgrounds.

The Dazzle pad has a silver/white shimmer base.

Supplies:
Cosmo Cricket - Just Add Watercolor 12 x 12 pad
Spectrum Aqua Pens
Lindys Stamp Gang - Angel Wings Ruby embossing powder
Papermania - navy card stock
Clear gesso

Challenges:

Country View - The Colour Blue
Ribbon Girl - Use any Image
Runway Inspired Challenge - ric#96 Banana Republic

Marilyn Monroe Christmas Card

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 17:33:00 +0000

Today I am sharing a hand-made Christmas card inspired by some online blog challenges.

The first inspiration is a sketch challenge over at Make the Day Special, this is a UK shop that has some great US imports that are unavailable elsewhere. (e.g. the Winnie & Walter stamps and glues used)
Here is the sketch for their current Christmas Card challenge:

I also remembered a Marilyn Monroe stamp that I had, and thought that would work perfectly with the theme "World's Greatest" for the Craft Barn weekly challenge. Ie: Marilyn was the world's greatest film star.
The stamp is part of a set all based on sketches by Hollywood costume designer William Travilla.

As Marilyn is dressed in her costume for the number "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, I decided to go with a diamond/Christmas bling theme.

I thought the diamond accents in the scrapbooking set Bella Rouge by Pink Paislee would work well with the theme and color scheme.

And also working well with the theme are My Precious stamps by Winnie and Walter.

I stamped some diamonds onto Shrink plastic using pigment ink in silver and pink. Then cut them out and using a heat gun, shrunk them down and stuck them on using clear glue dots. First I tried using embossing powders, but the heat gun melted the powder again during the shrinking process, turning the diamond into a silver nugget!

I stamped some background sparkles onto the tag, using versamark, then embossed them with silver powder.

I went round the edge of Marilyn with a glue pen, then sprinkled Chloe's Ice Maiden Glitter over it. I also did this in the bottom corner.

I made the tag from black cardstock and used an eyelet punch to make the hole.

I went along the edge of the tag with a chisel tip glue pen, then applied fine clear glitter (Tim Holtz rock candy or CS Diamond snow) I also dotted a few bits of chunky glitter on top.

I covered 2 doiles in Versamark, then heat embossed them with WOW! powders. This makes them look super glam, but also very durable, as doilies are prone to tearing. The Rose Mist has a white pearl base with 2 tone pink fine glitter and the Icicle has a white base with silver glitters.

The edges of the card are embossed with the WOW! powder in Rose Mist.
Then I used a black ink and a Christmas stencil to create snowflakes. I added a pink gem in the centre for added bling.

I used Spectrum Aquas to colour in the stamp.

Supplies:
Pink Paislee Bella Rouge Scrapbooking paper, ephemera
WOW! Embossing Powders: Rose Mist, Icicle, Silver
Stamps: Personal Impressions: Marilyn Monroe by Travilla
Winnie and Walter: Big Bang Confetti and My Precious clear stamps
Stencils: Viva Decor Steampunk Christmas
Spectrum Aqua watercolour pens

Diamond gems - The Range
Shrink Art - Crystal Clear Shrinkies
Cardstock: Silver Mirror Card, black card
Small white doilies embossed with Versamark and Wow powders
Glitter: Stamps by Chloe Sparkelicious Ice Maiden, Cosmic Shimmer -Diamond Snow
Zig 2 way glue pen

Challenges:
Make the Day Special - Nov Xmas Card Sketch Challenge (22/11)
WOW Embossing Powder - Anything Goes with lots of Wow powder (Rose Mist & Icicle)
Craft Barn - World's Greatest - Film Star = Marilyn Monroe! (22/11)
That's Crafty - Black and White with a Hint (of Pink) Challenge
As You Like It Season Challenge My favourite season is WINTER as it's full of sparkle and shine!
Live and Love Crafts Christmas Tic Tac Toe Challenge GLITTER (lots of it!) SNOW (Snowflake diecuts & stamps) STAR (confetti stars and FILM STAR!)
Deep Ocean White and one other Colour PINK (30/11)
Creative Inspirations ~336 Festive Fun Challenge
Bunny Zoe Crafts Sparkle Nov/Dec Challenge(9/01)
Sweet Stampin Star Challenge - confetti glitter stars, stamped stars and a movie STAR!

Decorative Christmas Sleigh Dies

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 18:19:00 +0000

It's that time of year again! I have been looking for a decorative sleigh die to use on winter / Holiday / Christmas cards and home decor projects.

I though I'd post a list of those I have found with dimensions to help anyone else deciding which one to buy.

Five of these will even fit the new mini die-cutting machines Spellbinders Sapphire and Tattered Lace Baby Blue.

The perfect sleigh can then be teamed up with presents, reindeer, horses, Santa Claus or even the Snow Queen and cut in miri board or embossed with powders or covered in glitter and snow effects.

Tonic Rococo Santas's Sleigh 1015E

Dimensions/Size: 4" x 2.5" (103.5mm x 60mm)

Marianne Creatables Santa Sleigh

Dimensions/Size: 1.5" x 2.5" (40mm x 65mm)

Spellbinders Holiday Collection Shapeabilities Reindeer and Sleigh Set

Dimensions/Size: Reindeer: 2.10" x 3.60", (53mm x 92mm).

Sleigh: 4.10" x 2.75", (104mm x 70mm)

Die-namites Merrry Sleigh DN-1206

Dimensions/Size: 3 3/16" x 3" (80mm x 76mm)

Tattered Lace Sleigh

Dimensions/Size: 3.5" x 2.5" (90mm x 62.5mm)

Sweet Dixie Santa's Sleigh SDD003

Dimensions/size: 4" x 2.5" (100mm x 60mm)

Cottage Cutz Holiday Sleigh

3.6" x 3" ( 92mm x75mm)

Cottage Cutz Winter Wonderland Sleigh

Dimensions/Size: 3.6" x 2.5"(95mm x 65mm)

Day of Dead Project

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 17:42:00 +0000

Where did October go?! Here is a mixed media piece I created for Halloween, based on the Mexican sugar skull traditions for their Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead).
While looking through my scrapbooking stash, I noticed a chalkboard paper with the banner "don't forget to smile" on and thought it would be fun to add it as an ironic sentiment to my Gothic image. I thought it would work well with the portrait as a kind of "Day of the Dead" high school yearbook concept.

I started with this 4 x 6 paintables card by Prima:

I painted a base of white gesso and then had fun decorating the face with inks, pens and glitter to create a Sugar Skull makeover.

Using Tim Holtz and Tattered Lace dies I created the headdress. I also used Wow embossing powder in Vintage Peacock on the flowers.

I added some self-adhesive black pearl swirls.

Close up of the Wow embossing powder in Neutral Ultra Shimmer

I made a web strand with clear glue, dusted in embossing powder. I found the spider in a mixed pack at a pound store. I now have a hundred other spiders to use somehow!

I embossed the Tonic flourish die in Angel Wings Peacock embossing powder. This is clear on white card, but transforms on black. The roses are a quilling die cut from Marianne.

The somewhat tongue-in-cheek banner. Cut from Prima's Optimist paper.

Detail of the Marianne rolled flower die cuts, finished with glitter and inks.

Close up: Wow Vintage Peacock embossing powder on black card, gives a textured, silver and blue glitter effect.

Supplies:
Prima Marketing Bohemian 4"x6" Paintables
Prima Optimist - You & Me 12 x 12 paper
Santoro Mirabelle 6 x 6 paper
Dies:
Cheery Lynn - Spider Web, Memory box - Spider web border, Tonic- floral swirls fancicul flourishes,
Marianne - Branch and roses, Tim Holtz - mini tattered florals, Spellbinders Die-D-lites Ivy, Tattered Lace - Foliage
Tim Holtz distress inks,Spectrum Aqua Pens
Embossing Powders:
Wow! Vintage Peacock and Neutral Shimmer, Lindy's Stamp Gang - Angel Wings Peacock
Hobbycraft black pearl swirls
Dovecraft glitter glue (like Stickles)
IOD for Prima - Build-a-Frame stamps, dictionary and script stamps on leaves.
Spider - pound store!
White gesso for face

Challenges:
Country View - Blue
That's Crafty - Haunted Halloween
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Lost Coast Portal to Creativity - Day of the Dead
Wow Powder - Anything Goes
That Craft Place - Anything Goes Mixed Media
Dream in Darkness - November

Mini Paper Parasol and Tag Project

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 21:55:00 +0000

Sharing a little red and black paper parasol and tag that I made with some scrapbooking supplies.

To make a paper umbrella or parasol, the basic method is to fold a paper circle into 8 segments.
You can then glue a rod or thin pencil wrapped in ribbon to the centre.
I added a red voile ribbon to the handle to finish it off.
To make the Victorian style frill, I edged it the parasol with adhesive lace tape which I cut up into pieces, so it curved round the circle more easily. I also put a little on the tip to match.

There is a similar tutorial here, It's in Portuguese, but the photos are a good guide and you could use Google Translate if you wish to try this at home. http://ateliedovlady.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/guarda-chuva-de-papel_25.html

The tag is a rectangle of matching scrapbooking paper matted on black cardstock.
I used a cute edge punch on the sides and stamped a "dream a little dream" sentiment.
The matching flowers I created from my stash and used a "dress it up" button for the centre.

Supplies:
Paper - Docrafts Papermania Sew Lovely
Stamp: Autumn Leaves - Word Flourish
Black adhesive doily/lace tape - Hobbycraft
Heart lace border punch - Hobbycraft

Challenges:
We Love 2 Create - Anything Creative/Mixed Media
Craft Stamper - Take a Technique
Stamps And Stencils - Make it 3D with a Hop
Bizzy Bec - Anything Goes

Steampunk Stamping Project

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 21:10:00 +0000

Today I'm sharing a monochromatic steampunk mixed media piece using a lovely Santoro Willow stamp as my starting point.

Supplies:

Santoro Willow - 6 x6 papers, wooden shapes (birds and cog), Metal cogs and clear stamp.
I stamped the wooden cog and coloured the birds with inks and Pinflair gold Buff It.
I stamped the girl and used the cog stamps for the background along with a few others from my stash.
The key is from the Willow stamp set and is stamped onto gold card and fussy cut out.
Centres of the cogs are various metal brads (Chronology).
Girl's skirt is from a Kanban Steampunk stamp onto vellum.
Time Holtz Distress Inks
Brown Cardstock - Papermania
Gold Edging- gold embossing powder on Versamark

Challenges:
Little Claire Designs - Favourite Stamp (15/11)
Bizzy Bec - Anything Goes (5/11)
We Love 2 Create - Anything Creative/Mixed Media

Craft Stamper - Take a Technique
Rubber Dance - October Challenge Colours

Gilded Lily Castle Card

noreply@blogger.com (Urban Mermaid) — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 16:53:00 +0000

Today I am sharing a 3D card made with the Gilded Lily Collection by Graphic 45.
This is a beautiful Marie Antoinette and Versailles inspired paper and embellishment collection. There are lots of Madame Pompadour and courtesan vintage illustrations to cut out. There are also 3 matching stamp sets by Hampton Art. It's a great kit for altered art and mixed media projects, as well as traditional card and scrapbooking makes.

I loosely based the structure of the card on Deneen Treble's castle template. You can find the template here:

The roses are made from the Gilded Lily co-ordinating Patterns and Solids Paper Pad (a must have!) and Tim Holtz Tiny Tattered Floral dies by Sizzix.
These are small dies, which will also fit the Spellbinder's Sapphire. They are so much fun to make, using the included quilling tool, and give a lovely shabby chic rose result.

The cute bling button is glued onto a piece from the chipboard set and holds an envelope from the Pockets and Tags set. The bling is from a co-ordinating elements kit exclusively by Fotobella. They also do lovely metal trinket packs which they hand-pick to co-ordinate with their Graphic 45 ranges.

Detail of the back panel, for a personal message. I used the Tim Holz Tattered Florals again in the 3 sizes here and a card from the Gilded Lily journalling card pack.

I also cut out a royal carriage using a Tattered Lace die and added some characters from the paper pad to make a coach fit for a princess. The wheels are gilded with Viva Decor Buff It.

The gentleman was originally holding a cane, so to add some Rococo romance, I gave him a paper bouquet instead!

The tile effect on the roof was achieved with Prima Elementals Stencil in Scales (12") and texture gel. I then coated the gel in Wow Embossing Powder Vintage Romance and heat set. This is a beautiful new powder in a peachy-pink base with gold shimmer. It is similar to Stampendous Shabby Pink Embossing Powder, but is paler with a less glossy finish. I love the Vintage Wow powder range and hope to post some swatches as there are very few online.

This is the card when laid flat. I could've kept embellishing this card, as it was so much fun to make, but it was for a birthday, so I had to stop! :-)

Supplies:
Graphic 45 Gilded Lily Collection
Wow Embossing Powder - Vintage Romance
Ranger Clear Texture Medium
Prima Elementals 12 x 12 Stencil - Scales
Tim Holtz Tiny Tattered Florals by Sizzix
My Minds Eye - Madison Avenue Lost & Found 6 x 6 Paper Pad - flag
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Tattered Rose
Pearl ended stick pin for flagpole.

Challenges:
Creative Inspirations - 329 Anything Goes
Live & Love Crafts - 40 Pink
Country View - 32 Add Some Texture
Die Cuttin' Divas - 235 Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Take Your Pick
Stamps & Stencils - make it 3D
The Craft Barn - People
Inky Chicks - Think Pink