You have to kiss a lot of fish before you find your prince! (CQC153)

Hey folks! I hope all is well with you, I've got my 3rd and final kid going back to school today! Honestly, I'm really ready to get in a good groove, though getting up so much earlier has really been wearing me down! LOL ;) I am hoping that now that they're all "back" it will be easier for me to create, blog, submit, and go out for DTs, etc. It seems I've been doing a lot of stamp shopping, but not very much creating! Guess now that I will (hopefully) have more time, I will have lots of fun new things to use! And even though it's still crazy hot here, I am ready for Fall as well! Got my decorations up over the weekend, and burning yummy smelling candles at every opportunity. :)

This card is for this week's ColourQ 153! Love this feminine palette:

So, back to my shopping obsession! Ever since the triathlon relay I participated in in June, my cousin has been teasing me and calling me "Ariel." Which in itself is hilarious because I really do NOT look very pretty with my goggles, cap, and nose clip! Ha! But the more I thought about it (and the more I realize that no matter whatcha do, one will be teased unmercifully in this family!) I kind of liked it! I really do LOVE the pool far more than the bike or the running part of triathlon, so I guess I'll take my mermaid and go with it! I decided some mermaid stamps would be fun. I knew I'd seen Jenny Peterson make some adorable mermaid cards with KK stamps, so that's where I went. My first ever Kraftin' Kimmie order! So, I ordered Nerissa I but when I opened the package, cute mermaid Marina was in the package instead... well, it only took about one second to decide that I'd like to keep her and I'll just have to order Nerissa next time! :) I also ordered another mermaid set, which was called "Sea Jewels" (no longer available) it had this sentiment in there, plus 6 other sentiments, and 3 smaller mermaids, so I'll have enough mermaids to keep me busy for a while! Of course, I couldn't stop there (I *told* you I've been shopping a lot lately!) and I also got: Noelle (for obvious reasons!), Sarah Shopper, Mandy, and Carole. These stamps are just too cute! :)

So, I couldn't wait any longer to play with my new toys, and thought I could make this palette work for a mermaid card. I made this card for my friend Juliana. She is coming out this Fall and I can't wait! She is one of those people that no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, it's like it's been no time at all. We were roommates through most of college, were in school together, worked together, and were in plays together.... But yet every night when we got home we would STILL stay up too late talking! So much so that we were often late to our early Shakespeare literature class! Fortunately we had an very cool professor that accepted bribes of coffee and muffins. ;) Julie is a girly girl, and I knew she would love this pretty mermaid! 

So, I stamped Marina, colored her with Copics, and fussy cut her out. Same with her fish friend. I added Stickles for some glitz. The circle she is on top of, was a multi-layer Copic project. I colored the circle with a medium shade of teal (BG72). Then I dotted the circle with the colorless blender, and then again with a lighter teal (BG10). I repeated these two steps several times, I was trying to get a watery look. Finally, I die cut a wave and used it as a mask to spritz some homemade spray ink over, it's harder to see in the pictures than in person. 

I had done all this before picking my DPs for this card. I was so happy to realize that I had recently bought this K&Company 12" paper pad with this coral colored shell print. The other DP is Stampin' Up! and I used my wave die from TCP to create a border strip to adhere that to. 

I had a lot of fun with this card! These colors are so fabulous, I hope that you will come play with us at the ColourQ this week! Wonder what YOU will come up with! :)

big hugs, Noelle

supply list: stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie; dies: Spellbinders and The Cat's Pajamas; markers: Copic; decorative papers: K&Company and SU!; solid cardstock: SU! Stickles; glitter gem: Pebbles