"WAT-ER" YOU THINKING?

It's March, Spring is coming on and that usually means rain.  So, let's get this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show "WATER" challenge going with some wacky fun thanks to that multi talented, multi faceted lady from across the pond, Dyan Reaveley of Art and Soul.  I love her spirit!  I love her style and I love her products!

On my February 11th  "Let's Get Messy" post, I made the comment that I really loved the free feeling of playing with Dyan's Dylusions Ink Sprays and her art journaling style and that I knew I would be doing it again.  Well ... here I am, one month later and I have a new art journal piece for you ...

I did this page on a separate piece of Bristol paper because I don't have my Dyan Reaveley Art Journal yet.  But, as soon as it comes in, I can just tape this page right into the book!  I made it the size of the pages in Dyan's Art Journal.

I spritzed and sprayed and played with Vibrant Turquoise, Cut Grass, Calypso Teal and a little Fresh Lime Dylusions Ink Sprays to create an "underwater" background....reminiscent of the different colors you see in the crystal clear ocean waters.  Then I added some ghosting techniques using Biscotti Perfect Pearls Mist and Dyan's Flowered Dots Stencil.  After I created my background (you will see more of that in a minute), I stamped some background images onto my page to create the ocean floor.  Here I am coloring in come seaweed from Dyan's new Ocean Backgrounds stamp.  I simply sprayed just a drop or two of Cut Grass onto my Non Stick Craft Sheet and picked up the color using my Sakura Small Water Brush to fill in the seaweed.

Here you can see more detail in the blending of those gorgeous colors and the ghosting technique that is really visible with the random polka dots (almost like air bubbles in the water).  I stamped the leaves from Dyan's Around The Edge stamp set and colored them in using the green and then highlighting them with a white opaque pen.

For a little texture, I added just a touch of Wendy Vecchi's Embossing Paste that has been colorized with a touch of Melted Chocolate Dylusions Ink Spray that I sprayed on the paste and mixed it up.  Love the background!  All of those varying tones of green and blue and the white ghosted polka dots really does remind me of an underwater scene.

Enter these fun and wacky characters from Dyan's newest stamp releases:  Under The Sea and Monster Mash.  I stamped my characters onto Ranger's Specialty Stamping Paper and heat set them.

Then, using my Small Sakura Water Brush, I began coloring in all of the characters with various Dylusions Ink Sprays.  They are ALL so bright and fun! 

The inspiration for this wacky piece comes from the hilarious sentiment from Dyan's new Say It How It Is stamp set.  With everyone acting so stupid, I needed to be sure my characters looked like they were "getting stupid".

When was the last time you saw a purple octopus holding a polka dot umbrella underwater?  (The umbrella is from Dyan's Ruby Rainbow stamp set.  I LOVE how all of her stamp sets are so interchangeable!)

Or a pink jellyfish looking creature with a dunce cap on?  (I made the dunce cap myself). 

Or how about fish being so stupid they not only wear dunce caps but swim upside down?

And then we have our poor monster standing on the ocean floor in rubber galoshes.  I'd say that all of these characters would exhaust anyone with their stupidity!  But, they are FUN!

So..."WA-TER" you thinking of creating?  Do it and then post it to our challenge blog at Simon Says Stamp and Show! You could be the winner of our most generous sponsor's 

$50.00 credit voucher!  You could also be named as one of our TOP THREE entries for the week!  If you need some more inspiration, stop by the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog and check out the other beautiful projects my Design Teammates have waiting for you.

Good luck!  I can't wait to see what you make!

Here are the products used in creating this fun art journal page ~

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