Rosies Studio - Seahorse fun

 Hello there!! The weather has been doing all sorts of crazy things of late. The last few days have been really hot and sunny but this morning I woke up to rain, which pretty much stopped by lunchtime and now its boiling hot again with lots of cloud. Talk about bizarre!! So I didn't end up by doing any gardening today but its given me a chance to catch up on all sorts of jobs I keep putting off at home....

You will have seen me use products from Rosie's Studio over the years on my cards. They are a small craft company based in Auckland, New Zealand. They come out with around 7 collections each year with stamps, papers, stickers etc. Their stamp sets have gotten so much better over the years and I always try to get my hands on them. And the price of them is phenomenal!!

 One of their latest collections is 'Salt and Sunsets', I really loved the stamp set as it has a large seahorse image. I got it last week and spent some time over the weekend colouring. I don't make many 'under the sea' scenes so this one was a bit of an experiment:

 I was trying to create the effect of sun-rays in the water. I watched a YouTube video by 'Much Love, Sara' which was so beautifully done. She used Distress Oxide inks and small blender brushes. I don't have any little brushes and not the right colours in Oxide inks, so I did what I could with normal Distress Inks. Pretty pleased with my first attempt!! 

First off I stamped the images with Gina K Amalgam black ink, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out. 

I cut a panel off Strathmore Bristol Smooth CS and blended lots of blue and green distress inks, finishing off with a little black around the bottom edges for depth. I then flicked over some water (ended up with some bigger blobs than I wanted...) and pressed with tissue paper. After working out where the seahorse would sit, I stamped on some tiny blue fish. I also stamped some seaweed on white CS and because I couldn't cut them out without lots of white CS showing, I blended over some of the distress inks. 

I trimmed the panel down slightly and popped up on a piece of white CS. I glued all the seaweed, shells and starfish into place. The seahorse was put on foam tape, along with the sentiment (from the same stamp set). To finish off I added some Studio Katia pearls and put lots of Wink of Stella on the seahorse, shells and starfish.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'A Bit O'Green'. This is my 2nd entry.

I'm off to the supermarket now (seem to go there every day.....) and will then pick up Max from College. Phoebe has been trying the Vegan way of eating again and I found a recipe for Oatmeal Vegan cookies today, so might give those a go when I get back. Sure would be easier if the whole family went vegan so I didn't have to do separate meals. I could easily go vegetarian but I would miss my dairy products!

Take care

Shona