And I do think if you allow yourself to try things without fear, those accidents can end up really teaching you a lot.
One such accident happened at my very first retreat several years ago. We were doing my updated shaving cream technique - where you make a modern version of sort of a dated technique with the use of stencils. You can see my video on that here.
Well we got distracted, and we left a bunch of the dyed plates of shaving cream sitting around and we just chatted all night - well into the night. After everyone went to bed, I was cleaning up and I noticed that the shaving cream had sort of oxidized and gotten bubbly. I could not resist pulling a print with it - and I LOVED it! I went home after retreat and played some more, and this was a very repeatable technique, and so I incorporated it into my NEXT retreat and we played for hours.
It's a fun and simple technique that is perfect for beach/ocean backgrounds and galaxy backgrounds, but it does require patience, which you'll see in the video below.
But I'm burying the lead! My sweet friend Julie has a new release today and it's ADORABLE, just like her. If you love mythical creatures, you'll love it. So let's start with our Inner Mermaid!
I used the technique to create the background, and then I stamped the tail from the set in Verdant ink on Fabriano, and watercolored it with Daniel Smith watercolor. Then I stamped the sentiment in Nocturne, and mounted it on Easter Grass cardstock and then onto no-shed glitter paper and then onto a white card base. Hard to see, but I also coated the whole tail in the super shimmery Nuvo shimmer pen and it's very sparkly.
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Here's what the full stamp set looks like - the sentiments are perfect - I love "shell yeah" and "what the shell?":
I cut the tail out with matching dies before gluing it onto the background.
Then, I had to tackle the unicorns! Julie designed a separate sentiment set that works with BOTH the mermaid and the unicorn sets with the cutest sentiments.
I had to pair the little unicorn and rainbows with the "I'm so happy you exist" sentiment - it's so perfect! I stamped the unicorn and rainbows in Memento on Solar White. Then I colored them with the markers listed below, and shimmered the whole unicorn with the Nuvo Shimmer pen. Then I die cut a circle from this beautiful partly cloudy paper with the Circle Infinity Dies, and cut the bottom off in my paper trimmer, before lining the bottom of the rainbow up with that straight edge. The unicorn and rainbows were cut with the matching dies.
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You can actually see the sparkle in her mane this time!
This became my sister in law's birthday card - happy birthday Jessica!
Here's the full stamp set and matching dies.
So fanciful.
Fanciful is important. Keeps you happy while everyone else in the world is arguing about politics.
Julie is also releasing this super fun rainbow slider die today, so be sure to check that out on the site. I bought it, but I haven't had time to play yet!
Ready for the background video? Watch below or click here to watch in HD on YouTube.
Then go raid your bathroom for shaving cream! I'll deny that I encouraged that though, just so you know.
What do you have planned for the weekend? I'm teaching my class, so I'm looking forward to stamping and lunching with my favorite peeps!
love your watercoloring on the mermaid tail. Awesome background.
ReplyDeleteLydia- this is such a fun background technique! Thanks for sharing. The mermaid tail is just beautiful!!! And the unicorn card completely made me smile!!
ReplyDeleteYay you! You did a Bob Ross! Another "Happy Accident"! That background is gorgeous and perfect for the mermaid stamp.
ReplyDeleteSuch fun, Lydia! Your mermaid card is gorgeous (and I'm not normally a fan of mermaids). Such beautiful colors and texture. I adore your unicorn card, too! Such fun!
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing cards Lydia! Love, love, love that mermaid card especially!
ReplyDeleteLove how this looks! I really like this stamp set, I have the other mermaid set and it's still one of my favorites. I'm hoping we can open the house up tomorrow, this heat wave has been brutal.
ReplyDeleteYour brilliance is mind-boggling. I could watch you create all day n night. That shaving cream update is surreal. What a happy accident. I'm happy you had the gumption to print those old plates! Sentiment from your unicorn card SO applies.
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