Dr. Kilkealy's Bouvet Island Mermaid

Dr. Kilkealy is a peculiar man. He's a recluse, has a brilliant mind, and is in love with a mermaid. For the past ten years he has lived on the remote Bouvet Island, where he has observed and befriended the mythological merpeople, and has devoted his life to mermatology. During his studies, his affections toward one mermaid in particular, Aina, has proven rewarding both monetarily and emotionally. Aina, knowing Dr. Kilkealy's research needed funding to continue, agreed to be shipped off as a sideshow attraction in order to keep him on the isolated island. As distressed as he was, Kilkealy affirmed his love and wrote letters to Aina daily. And our lonely Aina sat on display, reading heartfelt letters from him, anticipating the day of her return and the embrace of the man she loves.

Okay, so I'm no romance novelist, but I knew there was a cheesy story in this project somewhere.

It's all about the mermaids over at Alpha Stamps! I had an absolute blast creating a fun little sideshow cart. A special thanks to the brilliant Miz Bella who titled this project, and sparked the inspiration for my nonsensical story behind "Dr. Kilkealy's Bouvet Island Mermaid".

The mermaid's cart was created using a Small Paper Theatre Box, a few 1" round wooden disks, and Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays- Mermaid Seashells. Lindys Sprays are amazing! I sort of went nuts playing around with them, and in a minute or so I'll show you how I used the sprays to decorate the cart.

 In addition to those fantastic shimmery sprays, Lindys Stamp Gang also has embossing powder in coordinating colors, which I used on the wheels of the cart, the large coral die-cut chipboard, the small coral die-cut chipboard, and the raised areas of the cart. These embossing powders have some serious shine to them!

 

Supplies List:

Small Paper Theatre Boxes 
Lindys Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays- Mermaid Seashells
Lindys Stamp Gang Embossing Powder Set- Mermaid Seashells
Brass Ship Wheel
Diamond Stickles
Goldenrod Stickles
Have a Seat Collage Sheet
Irridescent Glass Micro Beads (two thumbs up)
Large Coral Die-Cut Chipboard
Marie Takes Tea Collage Sheet
Molding Paste
Room with a View Collage Sheet
Seaside Slides Collage Sheet
Sew Lovely 6x6 Paper Pad
Small Coral Die-Cut Chipboard Set
The Deep Blue Sea Collage Sheet
Thin Fleur Dresden Borders- Gold
Thin Looped Dresden Borders- Light Blue
Tim Holtz Stencil- Speckles
Tiny Green Leaf Garland
Tiny Vintage Letters and Postage Collage Sheet
True North Sky Map Scrapbook Paper
Wide Scalloped Dresden Border Set

Here's a link to see all of those the supplies in one place.

Extras included 1" round disks, a small length of 1/8" dowel, adhesive rhinestones in two sizes, and a Recollections Craft It Valentine cling stamp for the wheels.
 
Now I'll show you what else I did with that awesome Mermaid Seashells spray. 

After using Lindys Starburst Sprays on the first project, I couldn't leave well enough alone and wanted to spray all of the things. I sprayed everything with this stuff, I love it so much. This quickie sea maiden piece can be whipped up in a jiffy, and here's how you do it.


Supplies List 
(plus some watercolour paper)

Fill your sprays for the first time following these instructions and then spray them randomly on a craft mat. Spritz your watercolour paper with water and then smoosh it onto the spray.

I repeated this a few times, drying the paper with a heat gun in between adding colours, and ended up with this:

It is impossible to tell in the photo, but the sprays are vibrantly coloured with an impressive shine, like a mermaid's tail. (I'm guessing).

Next, place the 4x4 die-cut chipboard frame onto your masterpiece and trace round. Cut out the tracing and glue it to the frame. Don't forget to do the back, too!

Well, that was fun, wasn't it? Now let's add some texture. I used Tim Hotz Stencil- Speckles and some molding paste (along with a superior art supply, the popsicle stick) to add some dimension and a surface for that super cool embossing powder.

Blast that thing with the heat gun, because who wants to wait around while that stuff dries? Once dry, tamp your VersaMark Watermark pad onto the raised molding paste, then sprinkle the embossing powders on top. I used pretty much all of the colours in little areas. The excess powder was dusted off and then heated with the gun.

The sprays and embossing powders produced a gorgeous sparkle, so I knew that I didn't want to overcrowd it with too much decoration. I chose a sweet little mermaid from the Caribbean Blue Mermaids Collage Sheet and glued it to the 4x4 die-cut chipboard frame.

Almost there! Glue a length of fringe from the Sea Fiber Set around the inner frame, add a bit of Blue Sea Glass  on the bottom, and then adhere a few 3mm Brass Flat-Back Studs on either end of the glass. Scissor out a word from an old book that is fitting and glue it to the glass. And FINALLY, (although I did not take pictures of this part), spritz your craft mat with a bit more Lindy's sprays and smoosh a length of cream seam binding into it, saturating the binding. Once dry, punch two holes along the top of your piece and thread the seam binding through. Glue the seam binding between the front of the 4x4 chipboard frame and the back, ink around all of the edges, and enjoy!