Art by Marlene Octopus Mixed Media Tag Tutorial

Hi friends!  It's Autumn Clark from SewPaperPaint with you today to share a fun project tutorial!  I've slowly collected a few Art by Marlene products from Topflight Stamps and was excited to finally pull a project together.  I used the AMAZING mixed media surface: Art by Marlene Tab Tags.  I'm sharing the vertical video on IGTV today, so make sure to follow.  I used PaperArtsy Infusions in Royal Blood and Emerald Isle to add a grungy/earthy base color for the tag and the stamped images.  Then I painted over portions with PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics in Captain Peacock, Cloud 9, Twilight and Bubble Gum. 

I used PaperArtsy Sara Naumann stencil PS101 with a babywipe and Frescos to add the circles in the background.  I used Art by Marlene dies for the greenery and scallop detail.  The Octopus and Oyster Shell stamps come from the So-Fish-Ticated Sea Creatures stamp set 13.  I added Stickles glitter glue, large adhesive pearls and Pink Diamond Sparkles Gemstones to finish it off.  I really hope this funky project makes you smile and encourages you to be your brave beautiful self today!  Hugs, Autumn

Find these products at Topflight Stamps!

Oceanic Fun!

Summertime means oceans and animals to this SoCal-at-heart girl (I no longer live there but I'll always be a beach girl). So when I got the Creative Expressions Whale of A Time Stamp Set, I knew I wanted to make fun summer CAS cards.

For all three cards, I used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks in Broken China, Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch to create deep ocean ombre backgrounds. I varied the amount of the card front that was inked up but because the colors used were the same, there is a consistency to the card set. I also splattered water on them to create a splotchy, more watery effect.

Then for the first card, I used a scrap of Bristol Paper that I had inked up and sprayed with Ken Oliver Color Bursts to stamp out and fussy cut five jellyfish from the stamp set. The fussy cutting was a bit intricate, but it was well worth the dimension and detail. I doodled some black and white squiggles and swirls to give each jellyfish a slightly different look and to add some extra interest. I hand wrote the sentiment to simply say, "FLOAT ON" with a white gel pen and black ink pen for the shadow.

I only blended ink on about 1/3 of the second card front. I wanted it to look like this was a peek into a much larger ocean scene. I also used the Lawn Fawn Waves Die Set to die cut in some wave details into this inked area. This also gave me a place to tuck in the adorable whale from the stamp set, which I Copic colored and fussy cut (including around the fin so it could be tucked over the wave). For a little added interest I also added some water drops spurting out from the whale's blow hole and coated those drops with Glossy Accents. The sentiment, "Have a WHALE of a time" is also from the stamp set.

For the last card, I wanted to give the sense of an ocean teeming with animal life. I had blended ink on 3/4ths of the card front and stamped in the octopus and the schools of fish directly onto the ink blended area so that I could avoid fussy cutting all those thin arms and tiny fish. To color up those images, I used Sharpie Markers, which provided great opaque coverage over the Distress Oxide Inks.  I stamped the dolphin, some splash droplets, and the turtle on separate pieces of paper, colored them up with Sharpie and Copic Markers, and fussy cut them out. I popped both up on double sided foam adhesive to add a little dimension. The "Oceans of Love" sentiment is from the stamp set, and to add a bit of shine, I traced the stamped sentiment with a Black Sakura Glaze Marker.

These ocean critters were so fun to play with to create these cards. If you'd like more details about the products or would like to watch a process video, please check out my blog post HERE.