Okay, story time--I have a little "Scrap Rehab" confession.  I know, I know...I'm not looking to be cured of the creative paper bug.  But seriously.  Let's be frank.  We all have our scrapbooking obsessions...like paper hoarding [insert shifty eyes here] or embellishment hoarding...or the "I must have every Tim Holtz Distress Ink under the sun and I so fought off the lady next to me in the local scrapbooking supply store for January 2015's color of the month Cracked Pistachio and I'm proud of it!"  Or the surreptitiously wiping the drool from your keyboard or touchscreen after viewing the latest Prima flower confections.  



My mom would say I'm guilty of paper hoarding.  I always say you can never have enough of it and sure...there are some that are just too pretty to cut into--like Basic Grey's Out of Print collection.  And yes...I "hoard" some embellishments; but really, I'm just waiting for the perfect project to use them on, I swear!  No I did not fight off anyone in my local scrapbook store to get Cracked Pistachio but I waited around 3 months for the darn ink color to be in stock on any, and I mean ANY online store or local shop's shelves.  When I had it it my hands, along with Abandoned Coral I nearly cried with joy.  (Tim Holtz, you are a genius and I tip my hat to you.)  And I try not to drool on my keyboard every time Prima releases new paper flowers...or buy up every single KaiserCraft paper flower color under the sun...or add every Petaloo flower to my wish list.  Yes!  I have a paper flower problem, okay!?  I have a ba-gillion flower die cut files for my Silhouette too and I could literally make them until my fingers bleed...  


Whoa!  That felt good to get off my chest!  But that is not what I meant to confess...Here it goes...I literally jump at any chance to use my Julie Nutting mermaid doll stamp.  Yup, I think I'm a little obsessed with mermaids.  Hey, did you hear about the gorgeous mermaid crowns trend?  So cool!  Alright!  I know!  Back to my issue with the Julie Nutting mermaid doll stamp.  Would it be okay if every beach-themed layout or project of mine included this insanely cute stamp?  Why yes, yes it world!  And does it give me a great excuse to buy other Julie Nutting doll stamps?  Why yes, yes it does!  

So when I received an order from a client and it included some adorable first beach trip photos, I had to use my mermaid doll stamp--I HAD to!  

A Fish Tale:  The beautiful Julie Nutting mermaid doll stamp, Seaside Sally, was the perfect accent to this mixed media layout.  Tinsel embossing powder on filagree flowers and iridescent druzy stones add even more sparkle to this underwater confection!

Can you believe that this layout started out as a blank, white page?  I used a bunch of color mists and Distress Inks in hues of blue and blue-green that I wiped and sprayed on my non-stick craft mat and then ran the white cardstock page through it until it was covered to my liking.  Once the page was dry, I added some opaque matte modeling paste with a stencil that resembles fish scales from Prima.  

Textured blue metallic foil cardstock was the perfect item to give the illusion of fish scales for the mermaid's tail.

I cut out the filigree flowers with my Silhouette and covered them in clear embossing ink and then a glittery embossing powder that gives them a shimmery effect.  Then I used my Silhouette to write out the sayings on the banners and cut them out.  I also cut out the title on dark blue cardstock then used a mixture of Glossy Accents and fine glitter to cover the title in a glitter paste.    

Tinsel embossing powder gives a shimmery effect to these filigree flowers.  Cup sequins and druzy stones add even more bling to the mix!

I also used my color mists to color-coordinate small white flowers, crinkle ribbon and white doilies.  Then while everything was drying, I stamped out the mermaid doll onto several papers, including that awesome textured blue metallic paper for the tail and then cut out each piece by hand or with my Silhouette Pix Scan mat.  I inked the edges of everything in a coordinating color of ink so there were no white edges and then used Copics to add dimension and shadows to the doll's face and hair.  I added some leftover glitter paste to the tail and popped on a few pearls to finish her off.  

A glitter paste made with Ranger Ink's Glossy Accents and an extra fine glitter add dimension and sparkle to the mermaid's tale and the title.

I matted the photos in a coordinating blue cardstock then began layering and assembling everything.  I added cup sequins with a heavy clear gel artist's medium and also to glue on all the flowers.  I also added druzy stones to the center of the filigree flowers and a few around them and some Doodlebug glitter enamel dots to the banners.  I then added some glitter to the flowers and to the doilies and finished it all off with a crinkle ribbon bow and druzy stone.  I used pop dots to adhere the mermaid and title for more dimension.  

Crinkle ribbon colored with sparkling mists add a bit of whimsy to the page while the modeling paste stenciled on in scales add repetition to the theme.

Mixed media pages are always time consuming, but I just love how they turn out!  Each one is an individual.  Seriously, isn't that mermaid doll stamp the perfect touch to this first beach trip for such a cute little girl?  Now you know why I HAD to use this stamp!

Isn't she cute!?  Why yes, yes she is!  So this cutie deserved a super cute layout to match!

Products Used

• Bazzill:  Cardstock - sugar cream, surf's up
• AC:  Cardstock - admiral
• Colorbök:  
• The Paper Studio:  Cardstock - black, white, blue
• Recollections:  Specialty Cardstock - gold, blue metallic; Extra Fine Glitter - marine, paradise; Tinsel Embossing Powder - marine; Small Doilies - white; Rhinestone Stickers - iridescent druzy; Pearls - white/black mix; Paper Flowers - mini white sachet, tiny mulberry
• Silhouette America:  Sketch Pens - blue; Pix Scan Mat
• Copic:  Sketch - process blue, sepia, pink, colorless blender
• Doodlebug:  Sprinkles - winter assortment
• Versa Mark:  Watermark - clear
• Ranger Ink: Archival Ink - jet black; Glossy Accents
• Tim Holtz:  Distress Ink - mermaid lagoon, peacock feathers; Distress Marker - peacock feathers, tattered rose; Distress Glitter - stormy sky; Idea-ology - crinkle ribbon
• Craft Medley:  Cup Sequins -rhythm and blues
• Heidi Swapp:  Color Shine - navy, teal
• Lindy's Stamp Gang:  Starburst Spray - tibetan poppy teal
• Marion Smith Designs:  Color Lab Sprays - monterey, corvette
• Prima:  Julie Nutting Doll Stamp- seaside sally; Elementals Stencil - 12x12 scales; Color Bloom - pearl white; Art Basics - modeling paste
• Golden:  Heavy Gel - gloss
• Other:  pop dots

Happy Scrapping!
Adrienne