Under the Sea Journey

This project is more about a flight of fantasy than a real journey but sometimes I think those are the best kind of travels. Every since I saw this candleholder at Kohl's I've had this project running around in my mind. I thought it looked very nautical with that porthole-like door and would make a perfect home for a mermaid in her undersea garden.

The front and back of it are glass so I cut a circle of heavy vellum and colored it with Distress Stains to make it look like water. I also cut a strip of vellum to go around the inside and stained that too. I stamped some fish and plants onto it as well as misting with Perfect Pearls to give it some glimmer. Another reason I used vellum is because I wanted to light up this little scene! Last Christmas I found battery operated strings of mini rice lights and I picked some up because I just knew they would come in handy. ;-) Before installing the vellum backgrounds, I threaded in the light string and taped it place around the sides and on the back. The lights shine nicely through the stained vellum:

For the interior scene, I used some Tim Holtz dies in an atypical way. The coral actually comes from the Autumn Gatherings, Festive Greenery, and Tattered Pinecone dies! I cut them out of bright colors and glittered some of them up with Glossy Accents and Clear Rock Candy glitter. I also mixed a little glitter in with the sand I glued to the ground for some extra sparkle. A few mini seashells fit in nicely too.

The mermaid I stamped with black archival ink and then watercolored using Distress Pens and Distress re-inkers. I also brushed on some Perfect Pearls powders to add shimmer. I bent a Tim Holtz word band to fit the curve of the dealy-bopper (technical term alert) on top. I painted it with Picket Fence paint and then wiped the excess off, leaving some in the letters to make them white. To color the crinkle ribbon, I puddled stain on my craft sheet and dragged the ribbon around in it. Then I crunched it into a ball and dried it with my heat tool. Some dangles made with shell beads, pearls and other glass beads complete the embellishment.

If you want to join in the Inspiration Journal August challenge, you still have a week left to link up your project! It should be about travels and journeys - real or imagined. You'll have a chance to win a $50 gift credit for Inspiration Emporium (and the odds are good this month, only a dozen entries so far!) We would love to see your work.

Most of the supplies I've used in my project can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Follow the links below and use my code JUICE to save 10% if you go shopping.