Under the Sea — Mixed Media Octopus Tag

Hello Crafters!

Dark tag, messy and slightly dramatic. Apparently that is what happens when I’m given an Under the Sea theme. LOL

This week’s Simon Says Stamp Monday Challange theme is:

On / Under the Sea

For this challange Simon Says Stamp kindly offers a $25 gift voucher to shop over Simon Says Stamp!
Simon Says Stamp is also on Instagram! If you would like you can also share your projects there, but don’t forget to use the hashtag #sssmchallenge

This week’s Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge sent me underwater, and I built the whole tag around this rather impressive octopus from the Stampers Anonymous Sea Life stamp set. I wanted the background to feel deep and grungy rather than bright and tropical, so I stayed with dark blues, black, rusty accents and plenty of texture.

For the background I worked with Distress Paint in Black Soot and Antique Linen, followed by Distress Spray Stain in Uncharted Mariner and Salty Ocean. I also brought in Picket Fence to break up some of the darker areas and keep the background from becoming one giant blue-black mass.

Texture Paste added plenty of raised detail, while scraps and fibers behind the focal point created another messy layer between the background and the octopus.

The octopus comes from the Stampers Anonymous Sea Life stamp set and was cut using the Simon Says Stamp coordinating dies. After stamping it, I added embossing powder over the image to give all those detailed lines more dimension. The raised embossing catches the light and helps the tentacles stand out against such a heavily textured background.

Small touches of Foundry Wax went over some of the raised areas of the tag to catch the texture without turning everything metallic. I also kept a few rusty accents running through all those dark blues to add some warmth and contrast.

When working with a dark background, bring lighter colors back in here and there rather than trying to keep everything light from the beginning. And if your stamped focal point has to compete with lots of texture, embossing it is an easy way to give those details a little more presence.

That’s it from my desk today!
That’s my slightly darker trip Under the Sea this week. Would you go murky and dramatic or full tropical ocean? More ink, paste and suspicious amounts of texture can be found in my other mixed media tags.

Stay happy , stay creative…Till next time!

Ciao Zoey