Above and Below by Penny

Hello everyone, I hope you're all warm, well and safe today.  With all the horrible weather we're having, the strong winds,the terrible flooding and all the damage to peoples homes I thought I'd share some bright and sunny projects with you.  These are some pages from a couple of calenders I made in 2018 as Christmas presents, having bought them from Chocolate Baroque.

Under The Sea.

The stamps I have used are Mermaid Queen and Underwater Kingdom sets, Distress Ink, Versafine ink, clear EP, pearlescent acrylics, alcohol pens and a stencil from my stash.

I stamped and embossed three images to create an underwater scene then coloured them all in using the paints and pens.  I masked the images then took a stencil from my stash and used blue DI to recreate the currents in the sea.

Sea Palace.

I have used stamps from the Seadragon and Underwater Kingdom sets, and the same products and tools as above.

I stamped and embossed some focal images then coloured them as before.  I then used the same stencil to create the background.  

Sunny Cove.


For this page I used stamps from the Seashore Scenes and Seaside Dreams sets, Versafine sepia ink, Clear EP, and Colouring pencils.

I stamped and embossed a scene  then added a border of shells either side.  I coloured everything with pencils.

Beachside Holiday.


This time I have just used stamps from the Seaside Dreams set,colouring pencils

I stamped and embossed the Beach Huts, and the borders, as before.  I then coloured the images with pencils.

Thank you for stopping by today, I hope my post has cheered up your day .  I shall be back next month with some more crafty fun, in the meantime stay safe.

Take care,


                             x x  Penny  xx

ephemera

Today I am sharing some pix of a journal I made for the October tv shows.
I don't know about you, but I find that if I try to plan a project out in detail, it always goes wrong - happened again with this journal! It's much safer to just play, get messy and inky and then see what i have got.
I used a Sizzix journal die, and had plans to create a mixed media holiday souvenir journal using all the stamps in the ephemera sets and some older seaside related sets.



The cover went ok, using kraft card as the base with lots of gesso and paint splodged on. and the beach huts stamped in the centre, with the journey word. I also used a mini photo from Creative Individuals
 I ended up salvaging the better of the inner pages to create a slim journal - this one had another  CI image, the beach huts again, ammonite stamp , sea shells and the travel ticket.
I also used the chess stamps, the fountain scene, lighthouse and flower stamps to create the other pages.

 I did have fun - sort of - and next time I won't bother planning it out!

 I also reused an empty coffee can, covering it with kraft card and stamping images using brown ink, adding colour with pencils.

All Worries Wash Away (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I am closing out the month with a couple more watery creations for you, using the sea themed stamp sets that we have been showcasing all month.

My first card was created by making a background using Distress Inks in shades of blue, yellow, pink and green. I stamped the shells from the Seaside Dreams stamp set, and masked the image before adding the second image behind. I painted both images and then added some pencil detail and white highlights. Finally, I stamped the sentiment onto three pieces of scrap card, and attached these to the background.

For my second card, I used a background from my stash that had been made by painting Brushos over the background with lots of water to make a colour wash. Sea salt had been sprinkled over the top and left to dry, which had created small bubbles randomly over the background.

I added some stencilling using coordinating Distress Ink, and stamped the small seahorse using first and second generation stamping. I added some stamping along the bottom using stamps from the Mermaid Queen and Underwater stamp sets. The bubbles were created by dipping a pen lid into white acrylic paint, and pressing it onto the background.

I stamped the large seahorse onto a scrap of card, another background left over from a previous project, and cut the image out, leaving a small border around the edge. I attached the image to the background, and added a sentiment from the Seaside Dreams stamp set. Finally, I edged the background with teal ink, before adhering it to a white card blank.

We hope that you have enjoyed our nautical creations this month, and hope that they have inspired you to try some of our ideas yourselves. Look out for some floral inspiration next month, based on the sell out shows at the beginning of January on Hochanda.

Don't forget that there is a callout for new members for our Guest Design Team. Do check out the post on the Shop Blog for details of how to apply. The deadline is 23rd February, so there is plenty of time to apply. We are a really friendly Team to work with, and you could get to see some of your designs on the TV!

Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

Live in the Sunshine by Brenda

Hello everyone, I hope you are ready for a little more inspiration from the seaside and I hope the thought will warm you all a little during these cold dark January days.

The card above was created my using distress inks and a stencil to make the rope frame, then with the frame still in place I stamped the scene from Seashore Scenes using Versafine black  and coloured the scene with pencils and a little shading using Pan pastels. The quote is from the same stamp set.

Here I have used  a mixture of stamps from Seaside Dreams and Seashore Scenes, stamping all with Versafine black, extending the sky line with a fine marker pen and adding colour with pencils and Pan Pastels. The top sentiment comes from the same sets and the Birthday greeting from Birthday Words.

My final card uses another of the images from Seaside Dreams stamp set, again stamped with Versafine black and coloured in with sparkle pens and matted and layered with coordinating card. The sentiment is from Seashore Scenes.

I hope you all have a good week and find time for some stamping and crafting.

Seaside Mini Hangers (by Anne)

Good morning. I made these mini hangers for the recent sea themed shows. I had so much fun making these, although one of them almost ended up in the bin – tee hee.

On my first project I used stamps from Mermaid Queen, Seaside Dreams, Underwater and the large Ammonite stamp.

1. I started with one of the white board panels (approx. 10.5 X 14.5cm) from a mixed media white board pack (Chocolate Baroque). I used a swirly stencil from my stash and spritzed through the stencil with blue ink containing mica. I then applied blue acrylic paint mixed with sand texture paste through the stencil with a palette knife for texture. When dry I added some sparkle with gold glitter glue and applied silver gilding wax to the edges.
2. I trimmed a piece of greyboard to make the top panel, stamped the sentiment with Versamark and heat embossed with WOW embossing powder (Detail White). Shells were stamped onto the background using blue pigment ink. The edges were finished with silver gilding wax and gold glitter glue. Holes were punched into the header and main panel and they were joined with string for hanging.
3. I applied Hollographic Crystal Gel over the Ammonite stamp surface and left it to dry for several hours before carefully peeling away. I rubbed over the surface lightly with gold and silver gilding wax to emphasise the detail. I then painted the surface with DecoArt Antiquing Cream (Titanium White). After drying I rubbed away the colour from the surface with a damp cloth (this medium remains water soluble when dry – so can be used to add detail to crevices).
4. I applied StazOn Ink onto the Ammonite and seahorse stamps, then I applied Soft Form Relief Paste (Silver) over the top and left to dry overnight. The embellishments were peeled away from the stamp and rubbed over lightly with gold and silver gilding waxes. The seahorse was glued to the background. I used a fine tipped pen to add in a little more detail (the ink didn’t transfer too well).
5. I stamped the shells onto cartridge paper using Versafine Ink (Onyx Black) and spritzed with orange/yellow and gold inks with mica to colour. The images were cut out and shaped lightly using a ball tool and sponge mat. I die cut a decorative star shape from black card and coated with gilding wax. The embellishments were glued in place with 3D glue gel.
6. White pen was used to add highlights to the pearls and seahorse eye, then Glossy Accents added for shine. I finished with some small embellishments created with air dry clay and silicone moulds from my stash.

On my second project I used stamps from Mermaid Queen, Seaside Dreams, and Underwater sets.

1. I started with one of the white board hearts from a mixed media white board shapes pack (Chocolate Baroque). The background was spritzed with blue ink containing mica. The background weeds were stamped with blue pigment ink and the foreground weeds with Distress Ink (Peeled Paint) and embossed with WOW Embossing Powder (Clear Gloss).
2. I stamped the seahorse and sentiment with Versamark and embossed with WOW Embossing Powder (Silver) and coloured with dark blue sparkle pen then added a layer of Glossy Accents over the seahorse. At this stage it all looked a complete mess and nearly went in the bin – tee hee. I stamped over the top using StazOn Ink (White) and decided to continue with ‘the mess’. Maybe it would be ok when other bits & bobs were added?
3. A fine tipped marker was used to add a drop shadow around the sentiment lettering which made it stand out better.
4. I spread some Viva Décor Crackle Paste (Teal) around the base of the heart and dropped in some blue seed beads for texture. When dry I rubbed over the surface and edges with a little silver gilding wax. I punched a couple of holes in the top to attach a hanging ribbon, and holes in the sides and base for attaching hangers.
5. The seahorses and weeds were stamped onto blue card with White StazOn Ink, cut out and glued with 3D glue gel.
6. The shells were stamped onto cartridge paper and spritzed with blue and gold inks with mica. The shells were cut out, shaped and acrylic modelling paste applied to the backs to make them a little more robust. I applied clear glaze onto the fronts for shine. When dry I created attachment holes and added them to the base of the heart using recycled jewellery chain loops.
7. Finally finished by adding some glitter glue sparkle – just had to be done – tee hee.

seaside nights (by Veronica)

 Maybe I should have chosen to show you more cheerful cards, considering the horrible grey weather outside!
I love trying to capture night scenes, and here are 3 of my latest efforts for the Chocolate Baroque shows on Hochanda last month
The seaside scene is perfect for this, as it shows a lighthouse and a setting sun - couldn't be better!
I stamped it using black versafine ink onto white card, and coloured it with watercolour pencils and a water brush in greys, adding a touch of yellow and orange to the sun , clouds and sea.
The background uses the big ammonite stamp, stamped in grey ink randomly round the edges of the card blank, with the sentuiment added in black versafine.

The beach huts came next, stamped in black onto pale grey card, shading again with the pencils. I masked off the huts and used distress oxide inks sponged over the sky to create a sunset.
Sentiment stamped in versamark and whitye embossed onto a black card blank, then the beachhuts mounted above it.

Same method for the final card, apart from stamping onto black card, this time with clouds and a moon in the sky.

Thanks for supporting the DT blog, we love to read your comments There are more cheerful samples coming up the the rest of the team, so keep looking - we do try to show you something different!

Dreaming of the Beach by Brenda

A very good morning to you all, today I have some more seaside inspired inspiration to share using stamps from last months Hochanda shows.

The card at the top uses elements from Seashore Scenes and Seaside Dreams stamp sets all stamped in Versafine Toffee. After stamping the sky I coloured with Pan Pastels and also stamped the Seagull image. Next I stamped the shell border onto Kraft card, added some white highlights and used a die to cut the aperture to create the frame.......to do this you first cut round the top only of stamped image then place the die onto the card tucking the bottom section behind the stamping as below and it's always a good idea to fix the dies in place with low tack tape to stop them moving..............

                            

You then have a frame with stamping as an integral part to place over the focal image. Finally I mounted onto a base card and added some string.

The focal image on this one is from Seashore Scenes stamped with Versafine black. I placed a sun mask in the skyline before colouring with a mixture of pencils and Pan pastels, added the sentiment from Seaside Dreams stamp set and also some foliage to the fore on the scene using a stamp from the Silhouette Grasses set.

Finally a CAS style card, I used a circle mark to stamp the Seagull from Seashore Scenes stamp set three times using Versafine Toffee, then used the circle from the mask and placed over the stamping and added some soft shading around the aperture using Distress Inks. The sentiment is from Seaside Dreams stamp set.

All of the stamps I have used can be found on the website here or by following the links above.

Lighthouse Scenes (by Anne)

Good morning. Today I am sharing a couple of my recent samples using the Seashore Scenes stamp set (plus Mermaid Queen and Underwater for embellishments). The first is a sunset scene mounted onto a patterned background paper from Crafty Individuals, the second a mini wall hanging.

Sunset Scene Card:

1. The patterned paper was trimmed and edged with black pen to frame before sticking to the card blank.
2. The background was painted with water based inks (orange and yellow) and the image stamped with Versafine (Onyx Black). Some areas of colour were lifted out using water and blotting. The image was coloured with watercolour pens and pencil. White pencil was used to emphasise highlights.
3. The foreground was created using Expand IT tinted with watercolour pen, heated to puff and create the texture. Mounted onto black card to frame and glued to the card with foam pads for dimension.
4. The shells were stamped with Versafine (Vintage Sepia), spritzed with blue and gold ink sprays, cut out and lightly shaped before gluing down with 3D glue gel.

Materials:

• Seashore Scenes, Mermaid Queen and Underwater (for shell embellishments) stamp sets
• 6 X 6 card blank, 6 X 6 background paper (Crafty Individuals – The Seaside), black card and white stamping card, scrap cartridge paper (for shells)
• Inkpads: Versafine (Onyx Black and Vintage Sepia)
• Alcohol ink pen (black)
• Watercolour pens and pencils
• Water based inks (yellow, orange)
• Ink sprays (blue, gold with mica)
• Colourcraft Expand IT (puff paint)

  The scene looks so different done in an alternative colourway.

Follow the river hanging:

1. The scene was stamped onto whiteboard with Versafine. A fine tipped pen and additional scene building stamps were used to extend the scene. Drawing Gum was used to mask the gull image while stamping the background images (i.e. grasses behind the gull and post).
2. The scene was coloured with watercolour paints. Extra details and texture were added with coloured pencils. Drawing gum was used to mask some areas while painting (e.g. clouds, water highlights).
3. Grey board was trimmed and cut with a rope edger die (top edge) and overlaid with red card cut to match. Holes were punched in the top to tie on the hanging string.
4. The starfish and shells were stamped onto cartridge paper, coloured with watercolour and mica paints. After shaping they were glued to waste acetate pieces with 3D glue gel to make them more robust (particularly as they overhang the ‘canvas’ edges).
5. The rope and ships wheel were cut 2-3 times each from Kraftcard, layered up and glued together to make them more robust. Colouring was added using Distress Ink, glaze and glitter pens.
6. The scene, embellishments and string were glued to the hanging. Finished with PVA pearls and touches of glitter glue.

Materials used:

• Seashore Scenes, Mermaid Queen and Underwater (for shell and starfish) stamp sets
• 15 X 10cm whiteboard shape (Chocolate Baroque kit), Grey board, red card, white stamping card, Kraft card, scrap cartridge paper and acetate
• Watercolour paints and water based paints with mica
• Coloured pencils
• Pebeo Drawing Gum
• Glaze pen (red) and glitter pen (gold)
• Fine tipped pen (black)
• Inkpads: Versafine (Onyx Black), Distress Ink (Scattered Straw)
• PVA pearls and glitter glue (clear)
• Bakers twine (red & white)
• Dies to cut ships wheel, rope edge (top of hanger) and rope embellishment

mermaid queen (by Veronica)

 The first post of 2018, so I would like to wish everyone a very happy New Year, even if it is a bit late.
I have a canvas from the last months seaside themed shows to share today.
A 7" canvas board, that started out being sprayed with some very elderly blue and green glimmer mist sprays,,,,,, I was surprised that some of them still worked! I used some pearlescent paste through a wood grain stencil to represent movement in the water, then sprayed again with the blue that worked. I sponged blue acrylic paint through the silhouette palace stencil, then randomly across the canvas below it.
The mermaid queen was  stamped onto white card with black versafine, clear embossed, then painted using equally elderly H2O paints. I fussy cut her out, and also several shells and the starfish to create the foreground. I used micro beads glued below the shells to create the sand on the sea bed, though they don't show up on the photo.
The small mermaid was stamped directly onto the board using distress ink, as I wasn't worried about a clear image. The bubbles were some very ancient pearl drops in silver - it's surprising what you find when you are forced to do a major clear up!
Thee are some lovely ideas coming up from the rest of the team, just what you need to brighten up the dull rainy weather we have now.

Sea Shell Seahorse (by Penny)

Hello everyone, today we are welcoming Penny Butler as a member of the Design Team. Penny has been a member of our Guest Design Team for some time now, and has also been helping us out with TV samples for our TV shows on Hochanda. Penny's imaginative, vibrant designs, and her love of mixed media are sure to inspire you. I hope that you will join us in welcoming Penny to the Team.

Penny writes:

Hi there and Happy New Year to everyone! I'm Penny and it is my pleasure to bring you this blog post, my first post as a full member of the Design Team! I feel so lucky and privileged to be on this wonderful team, and I hope you enjoy my first project.

Sea Shell Seahorse:

This card was one of my samples for the recent Chocolate Baroque Seaside TV shows. I have used stamps from the Underwater, Mermaid Queen, and Seaside Dreams stamp sets, Aztec Metallic paints, Distress Inks, black Versafine ink, and alcohol pens.

On a piece of white card I stamped and embossed three large focal images in black, then masked them off with masking tissue. I blended three colours of Distress Inks over the whole panel as a background, then stamped a couple of mermaids in second generation ink to add perspective and make them appear to be in the distance. When all of the ink was dry, I removed the masks and painted the images with Aztec paints to give them a pearlescent sheen.

Next, I stamped and embossed the seahorse on a piece of acetate in black. I cut the image out and attached it to the stamped image on the card. I wanted to add some definition and texture. I then added some bubbles with Glossy Accents and left them to dry. I stamped one of the lovely borders along two sides of a white base card and coloured the images with pens, adding Glossy Accents to the bubbles and seaweed. I edged the focal panel with a gold pen and attached it to the base card. To complete the design, I stamped, embossed and cut out a sentiment, then attached it to the card.

Thank you for popping in today, there are more pictures and details on my blog,

Penny.

Dreaming of the Beach (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have three projects to share with you today, which I took with me to last month's TV shows on Hochanda to use as demos on the shows. If you watched the shows, you will have seen two of these projects in action, but the third one did not make it to air, because the stamp featured sold out so fast. That's the nature of live TV!

For my first project, I created a watercolour background on a large piece of cartridge paper, and stamped a selection of stamps from the Underwater and Mermaid Queen over the top. I cut a postcard sized piece of cartridge paper, and stamped the seashells from Seaside Dreams, and masked the image. I added a watercolour wash over the background. I coloured the shells once I had removed the mask, using just three colours, blue, yellow and brown, mixing the three colours to create a variety of different shades. I added a sentiment to the bakground.

I created a postcard back by drawing some lines using a fineliner pen, and adding images from the Mail Art stamp set. Once I had completed all of my elements, I assembled the card.

To create my second project, I used the same selection of stamps to decorate some brown paper using brown, orange and red tones of ink. I used the paper to make first some wrapping paper for a present, addng some red hessian and some string as a decorative feature. I stamped and embossed some shell images onto kraft card using gold embossing powder, and added some colour using Distress Ink, before cutting the images out, and attaching them to the parcel. The card was made in exactly the same way.

To create my final project, I made a watercolour wash for a piece of watercolour card using Brushos, and sprinkled sea salt over the background while it was still wet. The salt draws some of the liquid away and creates beautiful patterns. Once the background was dry, I brushed the salt away, and stamped a seaweed image from the Underwater stamp set across the background, using first, second and third generation stamping. I also added a sentiment.

Finally, I stamped the Ammonite image onto cartridge paper using some of the left over diluted Brushos, which I picked up from my craft mat, directly onto the stamp. I used a water brush to draw some of the colour from the outline of the image. I cut the image out, and attached it to the card using 3D foam pads.

I will be back later in the month with more watery inspiration for you. Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

Take me to the Ocean by Brenda

Good morning and Happy New Year to you all.

Today I am sharing some of my creations made for Lesley's recent Hochanda show which showcases some lovely sea and beach inspired stamps.

Although it didn't occur to me when I made the card at the top, when Lesley mentioned on the show that it reminded her of the postcards which were always on sale in seaside resorts I could see the resemblance. I used various elements from Seashore Dreams and Seaside Scenes stamped in Versfine black coloured with pencils and the backgrounds added with Pan Pastels. 

This litter box had been sitting in my crafts room for a few weeks since one of my daughters in law 'donated' it to me and I thought the Kraft colour lent itself to the beach inspired stamps. All were stamped using elements from  Seashore Dreams and Seaside Scenes stamped onto card which I had colooured with Mica sprays, then cut round to add to all four sides of the box and a further panel on the top. I stamped the lighthouse several times onto shrink plastic, cut out and punched a hole in to top of each piece...............do remember to do this before shrinking as once shrunk it's impossible to punch and cut through, then tied the pieces to the box with twine.

The top of the box

For this one I stamped the main image from Seashore Scenes again using Versafine Black and coloured with pencils and Pan Pastels and fixed behind a circle aperture, added a border round the aperture and a die cut anchor.

This one is a fairly quick and easy card, stamping the image from Seashore Dreams with Distress Ink and dragging out some of the colour, then added some tiny shells collected from a beach in Majorca a year or two ago. The sentiment is from the same stamp sheet.

As always my thanks for popping in today and I hope I have given a little inspiration to get you stamping and thinking ahead to warmer days by the beach.

Seaside Dreams (by Julie)

Hello and thank you for stopping by. Today I have a quick card which uses a simple masking technique along with the shells from Seaside Dreams

I inked up the shells and by the sea sentiment with blue Versafine and stamped directly onto the card blank. Then you will need a supply of sticky notes to use as masks. Decide where you want to place the cut down versions of the main design, mask off the area with the sticky notes and stamp the image. For this card I used brush markers to colour the design.

I filled in the gaps with the "Let your dreams set sail" sentiment and created a frame from blue card-stock. I decided I didn't want to keep the bright white of the card blank so aged it a little bit with Old Paper Distress ink.

Many thanks for popping in and hope to see you again soon.

Julie xx

Seaside Dreams (by Julie)

Hello and welcome! I can't believe we are now in August...just where has this year gone? To try and capture the feel of Summer, even if it's not very summery where you are, we are featuring all things sunny and Summer this month, so I thought I would do a little project using the beach huts from Seaside Dreams

I started by inking up the beach huts and sentiment with grey Versafine and stamping onto watercolour card. Next I took a brush and applied a wash of plain water around the beach huts and then blended in liquid watercolour for the sand, sea and sky. To try and create some movement in the sea, I added Crystal Stickles and a white paint pen, with splodges of white Gesso for good measure. The beach huts were coloured with brush markers and the clouds were stencilled with Weathered Wood Distress ink. I cut a frame from some Kraft card, distressed the inner edges with scissors and stamped it with the wood grain/water effect stamp from Harlequin Fragments. I went over the frame with Walnut  Distress ink followed by a few dabs of Picket Fence Distress stain to finish.

Many thanks for stopping by. We would love it even more if you popped back very soon for more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

Rustic Bubbles (posted by Claire)

Good morning folks, I hope you're having a good weekend so far. The new Rustic Fragments stamps are fab, they will work beautifully with so many of the other stamps and I needed no excuse at all to ink up one of my old favourites,from Seadragon and Seaside Dreams with the lovely bubbly stamp from Rustic Fragments.

I began by using my distress markers to colour directly to the sea bed stamp from Seaside Dreams, I spritzed the stamp with a mist of water and stamped the image. I used a water brush to pull the colour out and add some shading. I inked in the background using distress inks in shades of blue and green and then stamped the mermaid with black archival ink. I stamped the 'bubbles with Brilliance White ink and once that was dry I used my water brush to life some of the ink from some of the bubbles and also from around the mermaid.

I've distressed all the edges and layerd the little scene up on some kraft card adding some pearls, a paper flower and a pretty brad from my stash.

Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

Along the Edge of the Sea Bed (posted by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have another watery sample to show you today, using the Steampunk Funk Fish and Steampunk Sea World stamp sets, currently on offer as Stamp of the Month sets.

I started my sample by stamping the seashell edge taken from the Seaside Dreams stamp set near the bottom of my background, but splitting it in half, and stamping a piece on either side of the page. I also created a mask of the image, and covered the original stamped image with the mask. I then stamped the octopus from the Steampunk Funk Fish stamp plate in between the two images, and masked that image as well. I stamped the seaweed edge slightly higher up the page in the middle, and then a piece on each side, to create a continuous run behind the first set of images, and masked these as well. I used some water based acrylic inks, which I diluted and blended to get the colours that I wanted, and then coloured the background, using a turquoise for the sea area, and an ochre colour for the sand. I added extra interest to the sea area by sponging Distress Ink through a stencil to create a bubble effect. I stamped several fish onto adhesive labels and coloured these with water colour pencils, and also stamped a few more directly onto the background. I chose to stamp the background fish with blue ink, so that they appeared to fade into the background slightly, toning the colours down on these fish as well. I removed the masks from the images on the sea bed, and coloured these with watercolour pencils, blending the colours with a waterbrush. I added a stamp from the Nature Fragments stamp set along the edges for a bit of extra funky seaweed.

 

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

The Beautiful Briny Sea (posted by Lesley)

For my first post using the gorgeous new Steampunk marine themed stamps I wanted to create the illusion of sea foam and bubbles and a great way of doing this is to use Acrylic Wax. This product is manufactured by the company that created Brusho. It is a white fluid that dries clear and is water and heat resistent and was actually developed to use with fabrics, but I have been putting it through it's paces with paper and cardstock.

This is a slightly longer post than normal as I want to explain how you can achieve this technique.

• Squeeze out a small amount of Acrylic Wax onto a piece of scrunched up kitchen roll and randomly dab across a blank cardstock tag. To try and achieve the sea foam effect I dabbed across the tag in four places, applying more or less wax as I went. TIP: Make sure you don't cover the entire tag or you will not be able to apply any colour. Set aside to dry thoroughly. Depending on how thickly you have applied the wax this can take up to an hour. You know when it is ready because you should be able to rub your finger over the surface without it feeling tacky.
• Next apply the colour using either brushes, sponges or Cut 'n' Dry Foam. I used Distress inks in Mustard Seed, for the sand, Peacock Feather in the middle and finished at the top with Broken China. Allow the ink to dry and then buff the whole tag with kitchen roll. 

• Because the wax acts as a resist it sealed in the plain colour of the tag underneath and only taken on the distress inks where there was no wax. For a more subtle, distressed, worn looking background apply a much thinner layer of wax, using a stroking rather than dabbing action.
• The seahorses are from Steampunk Funky Fish and they were stamped onto self adhesive labels using a Memento inkpad, coloured with alcohol markers and then finished off with coloured pencils. 
• To add interest to the bottom of the sea I stamped the coral edge stamp from Seaside Dreams using Archival ink in Orange Blossom. To get the faded appearance of the image I did second generation stamping i.e. stamped it first onto copier paper and then onto the tag.
• Finally the seahorses were cut out, stuck into place and a jumbo brad was attached at the top of the tag to finish.

I hope you get the feeling of bobbing along on the bottom of the beautiful briny sea (a line from the song in the film Bedknobs and Broomsticks) and that you may be inspired to play with the Acrylic Wax.

Thanks for stopping by and watch out for more delicious creations from the girls.