Pip!!

Good morning friends!! Are you all set for another Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge?? Your hostess is the lovely Jeanne Streiff...she's challenging us to use Twine or Floss on our projects this week.

This lovely young mermaid is "Marina". I used some fun papers from Imaginesce. I matted her on the scalloped patterned paper because I thought it kind of looked like the scales I was trying to create on Marina's tail. To keep with the scalloped theme, I also pulled out my Lacey Circles Spellbinders and a Martha Stewart border punch. I used a little bit of white embroidery floss on the button and then added a little clamshell charm attached with jump rings. LOL...I had a bit of fun with the title of my post today. Do you remember what book talked about a goldfish kiss that made the sound "Pip!"??? Think waaay back to your childhood favourites. Think cats in hats, Pops that were hopped on, people houses, ham and eggs in less than traditional colours...gosh, I LOVED Dr. Seuss!! One of my many Seuss favourites was Mr. Brown Can Moo...and in that book, Mr. Brown could make the noise of a goldfish kiss...PIP! Too fun!! :)

Confession time...I was running a bit short on time this week so lucky for me I had this image already stamped out and partially coloured from a colouring demo I did at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Booth at Scrapfest back in October. I honestly cannot remember the complete list colours I used on her tail, but taking a look at it I will guess that the following colours were included: YG00, YG11, YG63, YG67, G99, Y00, Y17. When colouring the Kraftin' Kimmie mermaids, I like to try to replicate the texture of scales on their fishy tails. I lay down my colour in little "U" shaped flicks...be very lighthanded with these strokes as you will be building up the depth of colour. If you are too heavy-handed, you will end up with too much ink saturating your paper and will loose the crispness of the strokes. It's these crisp and clean strokes that will create the appearance of actual scales. I layer the strokes heavier towards the outer edges of the tail, especially the outer edge that is furthest away from the light source. As I work towards the middle of the tail (and the highlighted area), I use fewer of these "U" shaped strokes...and I will use much lighter colours for them in this area. I take my lightest shades (in this case they were probably YG00 and YG11) and go over all the strokes to soften them slightly...remember you want to keep some of the strokes visible to create the texture. I always end up going back in to add more ink for additional depth and detail. As a final touch, I used some Smooch Illuminate and Stardust Stickles for a bit of "glam". :)

When I pulled out this partially coloured image, I had coloured her hair in tones of yellow but I wanted to change it up a bit so I started playing with some auburn tones layered over top. I'm guessing that the blonde base would have included some Y21, Y17, E50 and some E30's...not sure though as it was so long ago. The additional colours I added were E11, E13, E17, E99 and E59. The skin was most likely coloured with my go-to combo of E000, E00, E11 and R20.

If you play along this week, you could win Stella Strawberry, the stamp Jeanne used on her beautiful card this week! (just make sure to use a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp on your project to be eligible) You can check out all the gorgeous projects created this week by my fellow Krafty Girls and our lovely Krafty Guests at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge Blog!

Thanks for stopping by today blog friends!! Your visits really do mean so much to me. I understand that life is very busy, and so the few minutes you take to stop by here at Paper Blessings is VERY much appreciated.

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Marina"
Ink: Memento, Copics
Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, Imaginesce
Embellishments: Crocheted trim, stretchy ribbon, button, embroidery floss, metal charm, machine stitching, Startdust Stickles, Smooch Illuminate
Tools: Martha Steward punch