Mermaid Mystique

Well, here it is!  In all honesty, I could have gone on designing this collection forever.  The sirens that they are, these mermaids captivated and mystified me!  I wanted to include so much more, go in different directions, but I had to be disciplined and limit myself, keeping to my original vision.  Here's the collection:

Mermaid Mystique Collection

In my original vision, my papers would be misty, watery abstract backgrounds that would just give you the feeling of the ocean. Normally I use a combination of textures, patterns and color overlays to make my papers, and they turn out rather quickly and easily.  This time I used photographs, lots of brushes and filters, and I experimented with the art history brush tool in Photoshop.  I taught myself some new techniques, but it was very time consuming.  I made a ton of backgrounds, but there were only a dozen or so that I really liked.  I just wasn't going to have enough papers to turn out a collection "Biggie."  

Consequently, I found myself with an over-abundance of embellishments.  I looked through them all and found a theme within a theme - treasure!  So I took most of the treasure and put it together in an embellishment mini.  I added a couple of pirate coins for good measure.  To make these, I modified a style that I created when I designed the coins in another of my collections, Via Dolorosa Collection Mini.

Sunken Treasure Embellishment Mini

When I design a collection, I make layouts during the process rather than at the end.  That way, it's the photos and the scrapping process that determine what works and what doesn't.  I know you'll get a product that you can use to make your own layouts, not something that just looks pretty in the boutique but won't get used.  In one of my favorite layouts, I used a mask that I created and clipped a paper to, to make a border.  And rather than leave you alone to figure out how I did it, I just included the mask in the layered scrapbook page file that comes with this JIF Plus:

JIF Plus: 12x12 Undersea

And in case you hadn't guessed yet, all three products are available together in a Value Pack!

Value Pack: Mermaid Mystique

And here are the layouts!

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into the design process of this collection. I hope you have fun using it on your own digital scrapbook pages and hybrid crafts!