a dia de los muertos (day of the dead) cat mermaid shrine??

Well, why the heck not? I love cats, day of the dead shrines and mermaids are really apropos right now. Last but not least, Alpha Stamps is doing mermaids this month and I really wanted to participate (not be left out, lol). So, I created a collage sheet with mermaid parts to fit the awesome Articulated Mermaid Paper Doll so you can make this...

Isn't she cute?? I love her, she has so much attitude! Anyway, you could just make a mermaid (or two) with the new collage sheet and be done with the whole thing... or you could make a whole day of the dead shrine to house her in!

 I made a shrine because I really do love day of the dead shrines and never need an excuse to make one.

 The shrine is composed of an Arched Shrine Shadowbox, a Balcony Balustrade - 12 Inch, and a brand new Stairstep Shrine Base. Plus a whole bunch of brightly painted doodads...

I used the Tiny Scalloped Shingles or Scales Stencil - 5x5 Size to add some texture to the top of the shrine base...

Of course I used Nuvo Embellishment Mousse - Aquamarine to push through the stencil because this stuff is the most amazing thing on the planet! Not only is it awesome to paint with and dimensional enough to hold its shape through a stencil, it is iridescent and comes in some luscious colors too!!! It's now available in nine colors at Alpha Stamps. (To see the colors I used click on my supply list for this project.)

 I attached my little mermaid to the interior of the shrine by gluing her to a couple of Small Wooden Spools then gluing the spools to the shrine wall. Makes her look like she's swimming around inside the shrine :)

 Someone has left her a yummy offering of chocolate mice and some lovely marigolds (which are really Tiny Paper Roses - Orange because I have yet to find miniature marigolds). The chocolate mice were made by a lovely miniaturist in England. I purchased them a few years ago on eBay.

Thanks for stopping by and reading all the way to the end. I hope you enjoy making your own day of the dead mermaid kitty and shrine :)

pirate's booty...

Alpha Stamps has an awesome kit out this month with lots of pretty undersea inspired goodies in it. It's called Beneath the Sea Kit and can be found here. I was so inspired by the lush teal color in the kit I just had to make something with it!

 

 I LOVE the Mini Kraft Treasure Chest that comes in the kit!

I was able to make this awesome pirate's chest by covering the box with images from the Treasure Chests Trims Collage Sheet.

 I simply glued the box together, inked any edges that might show and cut the pieces out as shown above. (I did use two copies of the collage sheet to have enough of the black image though.)

Don't you just adore the new Chipboard Mermaids Miniatures?! I used black satin spray paint to give them a quick coat of color.

I hinged the Arch Top Reliquary - Triptych with a set of 1 Inch Fancy Metal Box Hinges so that it would stand on its own.

Then I made a base out of 8x8 Heavy Chipboard and covered it with paper from the kit.

That nifty Under the Sea Chipboard Border was designed by moi :)

I'm pretty happy with how it all went together and I hope I've inspired you to go out and make something undersea inspired with one of our kits or other new goodies. 

Here's a list of all of the supplies I used to help you shop ;)