Friday, July 8, 2016

Good Things...Monochromatic Seahorse Card

Hello friends and visitors! I have another monochromatic card for you today, this time in shades of red and featuring a sweet little seahorse family! As you probably know the males bear their babies and carry the unborn young in a pouch on their abdomen. So the red seahorse is the Daddy here. Seahorses are also monogamous, mating for life.



The background was made following a tutorial posted by Jenny Marples at Pushing the Right Buttons using a Tim Holtz  Splotches stencil and Ranger Transparent Texture Paste in Matte. Jenny makes the most incredible backgrounds, and this one looked like one I might even be able to do. I'm not completely satisfied with the way mine turned out. In Jenny's example, the patterned paper appeared to be covered by the ink, but even after several layers of ink, mine remained translucent. The patterned paper from my stash had some "distressing" on it, and it came out a little yellow looking in those areas once the paste dried. This doesn't show up so much in real life, so I think this still qualifies as monochromatic.

I used Abandoned Coral Distress ink to color the background and edged in Festive Berries.  I added some more random stenciling using Tim's Faded Dots stencil for "bubbles". I distressed and heat embossed the edges of this panel  and the panel below it with Holographic embossing powder. You can see I also stamped a rope image from Prima on the bottom most panel. The Chit Chat sticker sums it up...

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A Flourish die cut from Tim's Mixed Media #2 set was torn around the edges, and I added Distress Crazing Medium, then sprayed with Abandoned Coral Distress spray stain when dry.  I added Festive Berries ink here and there to give it some depth and edged with Black Soot. The tag is a My Sentiments Exactly stamp and fussy cut. I hand cut a second tag.


I stamped four seahorses and fussy cut them. The two larger images are My Sentiments Exactly, and the smaller image is All Night Media. I stamped this one in Archival Vermillion ink and gave it a coat of DecoArt Crackle Glaze. When dry, I highlighted the cracks with DecoArt Antiquing Cream in Carbon Black and edged in Jet Black Archival ink.


I gave the other larger seahorse a coat of DecoArt Sand Texture paste, several coats of gesso, some crackle paste and Bead Gel medium. I got a little impatient and gave it a blast with the heat gun and made some grungy bubbles. That's OK, though--in my research on seahorses, I saw that most of them get pretty grungy at the bottom of the sea. I colored him with Abandoned Coral. Festive Berries and Barn Door inks and edged in Black Soot. His baby is inked with Abandoned Coral and coated lightly with Rock Candy  Stickles for a little sparkle. Seahorses take on the color of underwater plants to avoid predators, and mine are blending right in!


The little baby's older sibling was covered in Sand Texture paste and a coat of gesso and Abandoned Coral ink. He isn't mimicking his surroundings, and he stands out against the "seaweed" (Tattered Lace Ornate Leaves die cut). I hope you've enjoyed my little underwater family of the sweetest sea creatures!  I had so much fun making it!



I am sharing my card with ....
Scrapy Land Challenge #45 Anything Goes Dies used Tattered Lace and Sizzix
Southern Ridge Trading Company-Anything Summer I always think sea themes as summery and I used summery colors. Shhhh! It's for a summer birthday!
Mod Squad Challenge Lazy Days of Summer What could be lazier than floating around in the sea?
Creative With Stamps CWS Challenge #4-Ink Splatters Mine come in the form of splatters from the spray stain on the Mixed Media #2 die and the splotches in the background.

Thank you for stopping in today and for leaving your wonderful comments! Iread and appreciate each and every one of them!
Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily 



26 comments:

  1. Wow, Sara Emily, another monochromatic crafting gem from you! What a fantastic seahorse family and what a brilliant design! I adore seahorses and yours are simply awesome with all those crackles and sparkles! I love the way how you did your amazing background and all the wonderful techniques you used! It's beyond stunning, my friend and I LOVE it! Big hugs to you! Branka xx

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  2. Well Sara, I think you know already that I love this gorgeous creation! I adore seahorses and the way you have coloured the 'daddy' is superb and I just love the texture you created on him. I love how the wording shows through on the other large seahorse and I think the background you created is wonderful. I quite like that the wording shows through in the background. The ripped flourish element is just the icing on the cake - love it!

    Thanks so much for joining in our Monochromatic challenge at A Vintage Journey! Hugs, Anne xx

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  3. Hi Sara, love your monochromatic Seahorses. Wonderful texture, dimension and layering to your design. Love the wording that is still visible, lovely touch. The flourish is a lovely addition. Thanks so much for joining in my Monochromatic Challenge at A Vintage Journey. Tracy x

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  4. Wow, this is incredible Sara Emily!! I love that you used a coral colour palette, so perfect for your seahorse theme! Beautiful crackle on the one seahorse, and I love the text pattern underneath! What a great idea to cut around that negative die and use it as a backdrop, so genius!! This is really amazing, and I had no idea that seahorses mate for life. Lobsters, yes, seahorses... who knew!! hugs and happy weekend dear friend :)

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  5. OH WOW this is so awesome Sara! LOVE the pattern of the sea horses and your overall design is FABULOUS! Thanks so much for playing in our ‘OUTDOOR FUN’ challenge at Dies R Us! Please come back again soon!

    Darlene (DRU Blog Leader)
    DIES R US CHALLENGE BLOG
    DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS Please come for a visit.

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  6. This is one terrific make - I love that shade of coral.
    My daughters and her 4 kids are here plus an extra teenager. When they leave Art and I are going to do some light traveling. So I will not be posting for a while.
    Thanks for visiting Sara Emily!
    sandy xx

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  7. Fabulous monochromatic card, SaraEmily! And the splotchy background is perfect for the sea horses :-)
    Thank you for playing along with Creative With Stamps-Ink Splatters Challenge this month!

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  8. Oh my goodness, Sara Emily, this is spectacular!! I love, love the cracked seahorses!! Wow!! The texture is amazing!! I love the die you used as the background!! The colors are gorgeous!! I love everything about this!! It's an underwater vision in coral!! Such a sweet seahorse family :) Thank you so much for playing along at Scrapy Land!! I hope you have a great weekend dear friend!! Big hugs :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  9. Fabulous card Sara Emily! Love the texture you added to the seahorses. Thanks for playing along on the Southern Ridge Trading Company Blog!
    -Katelyn DT member at Southern Ridge

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  10. brilliant use of red Sara - its awesome - I would never have attempted this in red but it works brilliantly! Love it! Hugs rachel x

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  11. Hi Sara Emily. I love seahorses and your mixed media piece is just delightful. Such a clever monochromatic design with gorgeous textures. The circles in the background are perfect for our have fun with circles challenge over at Country View. Thanks for joining in again. Hugs xx

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  12. Hi Sara Emily. I love seahorses and your mixed media piece is just delightful. Such a clever monochromatic design with gorgeous textures. The circles in the background are perfect for our have fun with circles challenge over at Country View. Thanks for joining in again. Hugs xx

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  13. Hi Sara Emily!
    You've created yet another stunning piece! This is the prettiest family of sea horses I've ever seen. I love monochromatic themes, and you really rocked this one. Each of your works are so lovingly crafted down to the last tiny detail. It's such a pleasure to visit your blog and be inspired by your art!
    Hugs,
    Nancy

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  14. Oh wow love, love this Sara, beautifully created in these tones of red with so many wonderful effects. Thanks for sharing with AVJ and CVC. Xxx

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  15. This is delightful, Sara! Thanks so much for joining our challenge at Dies R Us.

    Barbara
    Dies R Us Challenge Blog DT
    http://carterie-creative.blogspot.fr

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  16. This is gorgeous, Sara! Beautiful colors and design. Love the seahorses. Thanks for joining the Dies R Us "Outdoor Fun" Challenge.

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  17. Such a wonderful deep sea creation full of your usual impressive , texture, detail, crackle and creativity, Sara Emily. It isn't easy to use shades of red together but you have made it look effortless .
    Thanks for sharing not only a fabulous piece of art but also your knowledge of seahorses .
    Delighted to see you joining in the Monochromatic fun over at A Vintage Journey .
    hugs x

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  18. Love the monochromatic look ! Thank you for joining us over at Country View Challenges !
    Corrie x

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  19. Stunning !
    Thanks for joining us at Scrapyland Challenges blog and good luck !
    Maryvonne DT Member

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  20. Just gorgeous Sara, good things do indeed come in small packages as evidenced by your wonderful monochromatic card! Deb xo

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  21. Love all the crackle, the sparkle and wonderful reds on this beautiful monochromatic card Sara Emily! Thanks so much for joining us in the AVJ challenge! Julia xx

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  22. Just gorgeous! I love the blue version, too!
    Thank you for joining us at Creative With Stamps!
    Lilian
    The Leaf Studio

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  23. Interesting card - Thanks for joining our challenge at "Creative with Stamps"!

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  24. Woo hoo baby! Guess the lucky streak runs in the (ABC) family! Ha ha ha ha! Have fun growing your stash! ;0 And congrats on your score at AVJ.

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