Cool, Refreshing Hugs

Let's take a trip under the sea!

It sure has been a HOT & DRY summer in my part of the US; so I thought it would be be fun to take a trip under the sea for some refreshing hugs!  Ok, in reality, our temps finally took a dip recently and were wonderfully comfortable for a couple days.  And we got some very desperately needed rain for  a couple days; so we're thrilled  that the farm has had at least a couple days to come out of the burning drought.  We'll take it!!

So, on to my card!  This is one of my favorite SNS stamps  Little Darien.  I just love this stamp because every time I look at her, she just makes me smile!  And that's why I thought it would be perfect for a card that you could use for wide variety of occasions. Whether it's for a birthday, anniversary, thinking of you, or even a valentine; this cute little mermaid makes such a sweet card.  And it works equally well for both children and adults!  

 




When I look at this cute little mermaid; sometimes I think she looks like she's giggling.  But then I also think it looks like she's blowing a kiss.  So with that in mind, I decided to use this pretty Hugs & Kisses stamp with her.  I think they look perfect together and it"s a versatile saying that makes the card appropriate for so many different occasions.  









Copic markers were used to color the image because I wanted something really vibrant.  And you'll have to forgive, this was very early in my Copic collecting & experience; so there's only a bit of shading & tones.  In all fairness though, I probably only had about 12 markers at this point & almost no collections of shade groups.  And besides, it certainly did come out nice and bold like I wanted.  But I do love this stamp and am going to have to do it again now that my Copic collection has grown large enough to allow tones & shades.  It's definitely on my to do list!

To add a watery feel to the card, the entire image was covered in Tear-ific Sheet (also called Super Adhesive Sheets) and then covered with clear microbeads. The tiny beads reflect and distort as you move the card; making it look much like you're looking through water.  In this second picture, you can see the beads a bit better and how they create this look as you move the card.

I also added an unusual touch to the whole card that takes advantage of a unique characteristic of the embossing powder I used for the saying.  By the Lake embossing powder is one of Sparkle N Sprinkle's Cosmic Embossing powders which has an extremely fine sparkling component to it.  When embossing with this powder, sometimes it will leave a small amount of excess sparkle or a "halo" around where you emboss.  This halo can be easily removed with a dusting cloth (a Swiffer cloth works really well).  But in this card, I decided to take advantage of this unique characteristic.  Instead of removing the sparkling halo, I not only left it in place; I poured even more embossing powder over all of the edges of the card for a little extra sparkle!  

Now, you have to bear in mind that this will slowly wear off as it's handled. But it will certainly stay in place long enough to be given to your recipient and for light handling.  And if you really wanted that look to be permanent; I'd bet you could spray it with an art fixative.

I just love this cute little mermaid & do think it made a really fun, bright, and versatile card.  I hope you enjoyed the card & Little Darien as much as I do!  Full instructions for this card can be found in the SNS Art Gallery Here.  Thanks so much for stopping by and don't forget to leave a quick comment so I know you were here! 

Until next time,

***Julie***