I recently enjoyed being a student in the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 103. I had taken courses 101 and 102 previously, each time immensely enjoying the process and play involved, and learning about how to mix various products and colors so as to not “create mud,” but to create something wonderful. I find the process of creating to be most therapeutic, and my Pazzles Creative Cutter certainly brings me to the next level, combining a variety of techniques, tools and Pazzles Craft Room designs to create art to decorate my home.
My Ocean Treasures piece was inspired by the latest mermaid design in the Pazzles Craft Room, created by Miss Kate. This cute mermaid caught my eye, however I wanted her sitting on a rock, so I needed to perform a little “surgery” in my InVue software. Using the scissors tools, I could swap the body of a seated mermaid with the head and arms of the one I preferred. I also found a wonderful assortment of rocks and ocean themed designs in the Pazzles Craft Room. Engraving round metal jewelry blanks with appropriate quotes seemed like a good solution for my vision of golden treasures, thanks to the Engraving On Sequins video in the Craft Room, I was able to do this with ease. To make the letters stand out, white picket fence distress crayon was smeared over the letters, the excess rubbed off with a finger. The smudged appearance gave the illusion of being made old by sand and water.
The rocks, sand, mermaid and scalloped shell were cut from watercolor paper, using the Pen Tool with drawing pencil for the mermaid’s face. Various distress inks and texture paste colored with distress ink created the look of the rocks and sand. Watercolor pencils were used to color the hair and face of the mermaid, with ink blended in the background for the skin colors.