Mermaid Lagoon

Hello and welcome.  Today, I'd like to share another framed piece I've been working on for a few weeks thanks again to my migraines.  I've only been able to concentrate for short periods of time especially this last week.  Between wildfires, heat and humidity I've not been doing good physically and mentally.  The mermaid image was a  Gecko Galz freebie last month for their fantasy challenge.  Besides, swimming in a lagoon is a lot cooler than sweating in the heat. ;)

I started out by printing the image as a 5x7 photo on Neenah white card stock then set it aside.  Taking some of my dusty Sizzix© and Cuttlebug© dies, I die cut several leafy branches, seashells, starfish and sand dollars before stippling all of those with Tim Holtz mowed lawn, dusty concord, tattered rose, broken china, tea dye and chipped sapphire distress inks and my blending brushes.  Taking the 3.5x5 mat out of the frame, I then blended Altenew lagoon dye ink to get a soft "teal" palette before re-adding it back into the frame.  I then added my printed image taping it to the die cut mat to make sure it stayed in place before re-adding the glass "window" behind my mermaid so she'd be a bit more secure.  Taking all of my die cut little pieces, I adhered all of those to the frame and mat using Ranger's© glossy accents.  It was at this point I decided she needed some coral so taking my dusty EK Sucess "oak tree" whale of a punch and more scraps, I punched out several colors of "oak trees" making sure to snip off the lower tree trunks so it would like more like coral.  The final touches were adding some small pearls all around the frame and googlie eyes to the sea horses, ice stickles to the mermaid's hair/tail and a few red crabs made using an old Fiskars© crab punch.  It took a while to make this but I'm very happy how it turned out.

 

Here's a close up showing all of the dimension before adding the last two googlie eyes:

Challenges entered:

 

Never Before Used Schtuff (NBUS) #64 - Use Your NBUS (mermaid image) 

Gecko Galz Quarterly July 2024 - Altered Wall Plaque 

Snippets Playground #484 - Use Those Snippets/Scraps 

Splitcoaststampers USEIT2024 - Use Your Unloved Stash (sizzix/cuttlebug dies)

Shopping Our Stash #525 - NBUS (never before used schtuff) (frame, image)

Gem of a Craft #13 - Anything Goes 

Park Hopping My Happy Place July 2024 - Anything Goes Theme Park Related (inspired by the original submarine ride at Disneyland, had "real" mermaids at one point )

Gecko Galz Facebook Group July 2024 - Mermaid Dreams 

Gecko Galz Facebook Group July 2024 - Ocean Life (die cut seahorses, mermaid)

CD Sunday Plus #137 - Anything Goes Digital (Gecko Galz image)

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a great day.  Please stay hydrated and out of the heat/sun.

Stamps: Gecko Galz

Ink: Altenew Lagoon; Tim Holtz Mowed Lawn, Dusty Concord, Tattered Rose, Broken China, Tea Dye, Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks

Card Stock: Neenah; Scraps/Snippets

Accessories: Computer, Printer, Big Shot, Cuttlebug Dies, Punches, Pearls, Googlie Eyes, Glossy Accents, Frame, Blending Brushes, Ice Stickles