Mermaid Wishes & Butterfly Kisses

I have a birthday card to share today, that I've been working on since before we moved house. I got halfway through and then we had to pack everything away, including my sewing machine. I finally set it back up again last week, and so I pulled this project back out and got sewing up my layers. I do so love the look of sewing on cards and wish I did it more, but I don't have a set spot for my machine, so it's down to when I can be bothered setting it up for a short burst of use. But I'm so glad I did it for this card. I think it really finishes this simple design off so nicely. 

I've used two doilies in this card. A large square one as the base layer, which is just slightly larger than the 8x8 base of the card and a smaller circular one behind the image. I do love old fashioned paper doilies for that quick easy touch. My last Christmas in the UK my baby sis sent me some utterly gorgeous embellishments from Michaels in the States and these lovely glittery paper blooms were amongst those. I found two that were a great match for the paper layers and added a pink sparkly gem to the centre, which was more the colour of the lilies, so tied in all the colours nicely with the addition of a green dienamics flourish. I would have added a couple more of these, but this was the only one I had left from a previous project in this colour, so one it was! The butterfly is from a set I had in my stash from one of my favourite magazines. I do so love the cover gifts you get with these mags and I do use them, often!

I've added some liquid pearls to the stamen tops on the lilies and used a Letraset metallic marker in pink on the gems in the mermaids hair. I used a metallic gold on her bangles. I coloured the rest of this sweet image in using my Promarkers, which I've loved ever since I bought my first. I'm so happy with these pens and the finish I get with them. I still have loads to learn about colouring with them, but art like life, is a journey right?

So are you wondering where this gorgeous mermaid is from? She is from a small company in Scotland called Funky Kits from their Sugar Nellie range. I LOVE these stamps. They are full of the most enchanting, gorgeous images and offer a mix of rubber and digital. If you haven't discovered Sugar Nellie stamps from Funky Kits, get your patooties over there. You won't regret it. Karen has an eye for choosing stamp ranges with sweetness and charm and I'm happy to say, that my all time favourite stamps have come from Funky Kit's Sugar Nellie collection. This enchanting mermaid is called Water Lily and is my favourite from the Under the Sea collection of Sugar Nellie stamps.

Finally just a closer look at the sentiment on this card, which comes from a sweet Lili of the Valley Inspirational Sentiments set. I didn't want to ink it in black or brown as the look was so soft for this card, so I chose a 'barely there' blue. It doesn't show up well in the pics, but it's a soft subtle perfect finish in reality. The final touch on the card was some lilac pearls in two opposing corners.

Thanks for popping in to visit today. I love it when you do! I'll have another post very soon, so come on back. Hope you're having a great weekend. I've been struck down by a sore throat lurgy, so I'm hibernating. Hugs, Wends x

Challenge Entries:

Crafty Girls Challenges: #20 ~ Anything Goes

Sister Act Card Challenge: #61 ~ Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar Challenge: June ~ Petals & Pearls

Crafts & Me Challenge: #149 ~ Add Wings (Butterfly)

Deep Ocean Challenge: Inspired by a Song (My Sunny Sailor Boy)
Crafty Creations Challenge: #265 ~ Tic Tac Toe (Flowers, Two Layers, Circles)

Crafting Musketeers Challenge: #14 Stamped Image (Sugar Nellie rubber stamp)

The Sugar Bowl: Anything Sugar Nellie Goes (So gutted this is the last challenge!)

A Creative Romance: Anything Goes Birthday Challenge (Option of Happy Birthday)

Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Challenge: #72 ~ Tic Tac Toe (Pink-Green, Die-Cut, Birthday + Pearls, Summer, Flowers and Sentiment. Almost a full board!)