Hello Friends! It's the second Wednesday of the month and that means a new release from Heartfelt Creations. You are going to love this new collection!
Take a walk along the edge of the deep blue sea, feel the warm sand between your toes and breathe in the salty air. Balmy breezes tousle your hair and toy with the exotic hibiscus flower behind your ear as you stoop to snatch a lustrous seashell that has been swept onto the beach with the incoming tide. Cares and worries melt away because life really is better at the seaside. The cool, crystal clear water lapping at the shoreline beckons you and you cannot resist the sudden urge to dive right in. Before you know it you have been submerged into a magical underwater world where you find yourself settling on a jagged reef surrounded with burnished coral, glassy seashells and mystical sea creatures more beautiful than your imagination could ever conjure. A peek behind the coral and waltzing seaweed finds you nose to nose with a school of fish gliding every so gently with their long, graceful flowing tails and glistening scales decorated with an abundance of shimmering and alluring colors. Delicate sea horses and magnificent jelly fish dart and flit among the dancing aquatic plant life as to entertain you with a glorious underwater show being performed just for you. Welcome to “Under the Sea”, the newest collection by Heartfelt Creations. This water themed assembling of magnificent papers, stamps and dies will have you creating ravishing underwater scenes perfect for documenting your seaside vacations, ocean themed altered art pieces or salt water card creations. The tranquil color palette of calming blues, greens and teals, paired with golden yellows, subtle shades of pinks, purples, corals and reds are sure to soothe your soul. Creating projects with a tropical flair that will “make a splash” has been made simple with decorative papers boasting mesmerizing patterns of sea shells, florals, delicate swirls and alluring hibiscus blossoms. The intricate, detailed stamp illustrations of underwater sea creatures, glistening seashells, and exotic hibiscus flowers are sublime for shaping and creating dimensional elements adding a realistic touch to any underwater themed paper craft design. We invite you to take the plunge and come along with us on an underwater adventure as we explore Under the Sea!
Here is my first project.....



Under the Sea Shadow Box
Products Used:
Under The Sea Paper Collection
Tropical Hibiscus Cling Stamp Set
Under the Sea Coral Cling Stamp Set
Tropical Hibiscus Die
Under The Sea Coral Die
Coral Reef Collage Die
Under The Sea Die
Memento Dye Ink Pad - Rich Cocoa
ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink Pad - Rouge
Tu Tu Pink Prills
Deluxe Flower Shaping Kit
Art Institute Glue - Dries Clear
Metal Glue Tip - Art Institute
Project Instructions:
Other products: White Text Weight cardstock; Distress Ink Pads: Pickled Raspberry, Spun Sugar, Squeezed Lemonade, Shabby Shutters; sponges, Crystal Stickles, Scor-Tape, white acrylic paint, paint brush, wooden shadow box, Multi Matte Medium (Ranger), fine grit sanding paper
Watch this videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84Re1-gaq1ofor shaping tips and techniques on the hibiscus flowers and leaves.
Instructions: The finished project measures 8" x 8". Before I started painting my wooden shadow box, I noticed that it was very rough so I gave my box a light sanding with some fine grit sanding paper. I wiped the box with a damp rag to remove any dust and painted the edges and outside of my box with white acrylic paint. This box required 2 coats of paint. After the paint dried, I applied strips of patterned paper (shells) from the collection around the outside. I also adhered strips of patterned paper on the inside of the box. I cut the sheet of patterned paper that I wanted to use as my background to fit the inside of the box and adhered it into place using Multi Matte Medium and a paint brush. Using a dry paper towel, I rubbed the background paper to make sure there were no bubbles and that it was adhering well to the box.
To decorate the inside of the box, using the beautiful Under the Sea papers, I created a "vignette" inside my box. I picked the papers I liked best and cut them using my scissors. I used the bottom corners of 2 different patterns. I wavy cut the papers and I also scored them at about 1/4" in from the sides and bottom. Using that scored portion as a flap, I adhered the papers into place, spacing them out on either side of the box to look like an underwater playground!
Using the matching dies and the sheet of preprinted images, I die cut the fish and shells that I wanted to place in my box. I adhered these either with the matte medium or with 3d foam squares.
To create the hibiscus flowers, I stamped the image onto white text weight paper using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink, inked them using sponges and die cut them with the matching dies. Using the flower shaping kit, I shaped my flowers. I added Minnie Pearl Prills to the center of my flowers. I used 4 large flowers and 4 medium flowers. Stamp the Under the Sea coral stamp onto white text weight paper using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink, color with ink and sponges and then die cut with the matching dies. I used 3 of these images on my box. Adhere the Coral and flowers into place on the edges of the box as shown. I used matte medium to adhere these for added security. Embellish the fish and other sea life with Crystal Stickles.