Seaside Friends by Joe Morgan

For my artist trading card, I wanted to create this under sea scene after getting some inspiration from a piece of Robin’s Nest paper that reminded me of ocean waves.

I started off with one of Want2Scrap’s Chipboard ATC’s. I love the weight of these and they are nice and thick so they don’t bend when you put glue or paint on them. I covered the ATC with Zip Dry adhesive to adhere my piece of Robin’s Nest paper. I wanted my background to be glossy, but not as glossy as the mermaid, so I covered the Robin’s Nest paper with PPA Gloss which gives a nice glossy, but satin like finish depending on how you apply it. After that, I inked the edges with a Charcoal Cat’s Eye ink pad from Clearsnap.

For the mermaid, I used a Stampendous cling stamp, and colored with Copic markers. Then I cut out the mermaid and covered her with Sakura Crystal Lacquerand set aside to dry. If you’re wondering, the seahorse is part of the mermaid stamp.

For the word Friends, I used Want2Scrap’s Chipboard Sentiments – Words of Love. First, I covered the word with pearl colored acrylic paint, and then used alcohol inks to add color, and then a light coat of clear crackle paint to finish it off. I also used the same colors of alcohol ink to dab a little matching color on the bottom part of my ATC to make my ocean floor.

After all of my pieces were ready, I used some more Crystal Lacquer to adhere the mermaid the the ATC, and then the word friends on top of the mermaid.

To finish my ATC, I used bling from two different packs of Want2Scrap bling. I used Maxxi Girl Swirls in Brown and the Finesse Swirls in the new LeCreme Pearls color. The mermaid stamp showed her with a braid or string tied around her hair with seashells on it. I covered that with the brown rhinestones and some of the LeCreme Pearls. I just cut off what I needed and placed them one at a time. I also put some down in the sand as well as a couple of large swirls to show the movement of the water. I just happen to love mermaids and seahorses, so I had a great time making this.