‘Ode to the Ocean’
Card with matching Domino Magnet
by Leigh Snaith-Brunton
The Sharpie Domino Queen, Design Team Leader

The Valentine card I made this year for my husband celebrates his love for the ocean and kayak surfing. My aim was to combine a collage of ocean related stamps, colours and shapes to convey my message in the form of what I like to call ‘visual poetic imagery’. Inside the card I included a domino magnet as a little extra surprise too.

The compilation of themed stamp images, colours and shapes can be used for any gender, young or old and for any occasion. Definitely perfect for upcoming Mother’s and Father’s Day projects!

The Card

Stamp all the ocean related images with Indigo Ancient Page dye ink (www.clearsnap.com) individually onto a sheet of white paper. I selected blue ink to work with my whole idea of having these extra ‘hidden’ meanings behind each component of my creation. So blue ink symbolizes the colour of water! Colour all the images with Derwent Water Colour pencils concentrating on using colours of the ocean…again the ‘water’ part was the deciding factor on which media I selected ;-) Blend the watercolour pencils with a Dove Blender Pen. Run the sheet of paper through a Xyron (www.xyron.com) to add adhesive to the back and then cut out all the images with detail scissors.

Decide how big a card you want to make and then decide on the size of the heart. Make a heart template from cardboard or use a stencil. The heart shape obviously symbolizes ‘love’. Hold the heart template over the stamped wave image (Stamp Out Cute) and then play with the position of the remaining images until you’re happy with the layout.
Remove the loose images and trace the heart template onto the wave image and cut out. Peel off the backing from each image and adhere them to the wave. The whales (PSX) went in the top right corner, the kayak surfer (Stamp Goods) in the center as the main focal point and the mermaid (PSX) on the left hand side. The dolphins’ stamp (PSX) consists of 3 dolphins, which I cut apart and placed the largest dolphin in the top left corner. The medium-sized dolphin I trimmed down so that it appears to be peaking out of the water and the baby dolphin appears to be leaping out of the water on the right hand side of the heart. The whales and the 2 smaller dolphins all mirror the curve of the wave, which leads your eye into the center to the focus of the design, which is the kayaker.

To make the images pop out more from the background, outline them and add in some detail with a black fine point permanent marker. I created the collage of images in this way and outlined them in black instead of masking and stamping each image into the wave to achieve a more 3 dimensional quality. Trim any portion of the layered images that sticks out beyond the edges of the heart and edge the heart shape with a broad point metallic gold paint pen (DecoColor).

Peel off the backing from the heart collage and adhere it to a piece of red cardstock. The colour red obviously symbolizes ‘love, romance and Valentine’s Day’. Cut the red cardstock to form a border and edge with the gold paint pen. Run the red cardstock heart through the Xyron to add adhesive and cut a matt from a sheet of sparkly silver/blue cardstock.

Stamp the blue cardstock with bubbles (All Night Media) in Indigo dye ink before adhering the red heart to it and then cut out leaving a border. Fold a sheet of pale blue cardstock in half to form a folded card. Place the heart on the cardstock and determine the size of the circle needed. The circle card symbolizes the letter ‘O’ for ocean and mirrors the shape of the bubbles. Trace the circle using a template (Tip: if you don’t have a selection of circle templates try using bowls or containers from your craft room and kitchen!) Make sure the template goes off the edge of the cardstock on the folded side and off the opposite side so that the card will stand. (Tip: it’s important for the template to go off the edge on the folded side, but if the template is smaller than your folded card then you can always just cut a slice off the bottom of the circle later). Cut out the circle card and stamp bubbles in Indigo dye ink randomly all over. Spotlight some of the bubbles by colouring them with dark blue watercolour pencil and blending with a Dove Blender Pen. Once dry, give the coloured bubbles dimension with crystal lacquer or Judikins Diamond Glaze. Add little Stampendous heart stickers to some of the other bubbles and finish off by edging the folded card with a metallic gold paint pen.

Edge both sides of the inside of the circle card with the metallic gold paint pen. Stamp the message ‘To My Valentine....’ (Rubber Romance) and the bubbles in Indigo dye ink. Colour and coat with crystal lacquer in the same way as the bubbles on the front of the card.

For the domino magnet you’ll need a shiny white standard sized domino. Don’t do any surface preparation because you need the shiny slick surface when using my ‘Sharpie Domino Queen’ colouring technique! Stamp the kayak surfer in coal black Ancient Page dye ink and heat set with a heat gun. Colour the kayak and the man with ultra fine point sharpie markers. Colour the background with fine point sharpie markers. To achieve the ‘lined’ look of my background first apply the orange colour (just randomly, you don’t need to cover the entire area) and then go over the orange with a yellow sharpie. By colouring over the orange sharpie the yellow sharpie will partly spread, blend and lift some of the orange and by applying the colour in lines as opposed to circles you’ll get that ‘lined’ look. Just keep adding more orange and yellow until you like the effect. For more information on my ‘Sharpie Domino Queen’ technique please visit my website at http://www.velvetpawcreations.com .

Edge the surface of the domino with a black sharpie and then colour the sides. To protect the domino seal the sides and surface with a coat of crystal lacquer or Judikins Diamond Glaze. I like to dribble some of the liquid onto the domino and spread it around with my finger and then do the sides once the top is dry. Adhere a strong magnet to the dot side with E6000 glue and adhere the finished domino magnet to the inside of the card with a removable glue dot.

I hope the recipient of your finished creation will love it just as much as my DH did his. The domino magnet now adorns his metal filing cabinet!

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