Monday 9 May 2016

A Birthday Octopus by Alison

Hello all!

Alison here from Words and Pictures.  I'm happy to be back from my little sabbatical to share a slightly unusual (for me) project today.  My nephew is fascinated by - and very knowledgeable about - marine life.  His favourite creatures are squid.  There isn't (yet) a Calico squid, but when a fabulous octopus turned up as a new design a while ago I knew it was the perfect choice for his birthday card.


I'm afraid I haven't any making-of photos... but here's the Octopus Wood Shape Style 2 in its naked state.


I'm no octopus expert so I did an octopus image search on Google and, as I scrolled down, this was the look which appeared most often.  I used DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics, built up in layers, to recreate it as best I could.


There's Pyrrole Orange, Quinacridone Gold and Transparent Red Iron Oxide involved, with Paynes Grey and some Burnt Umber for the shading; and then Titanium White with some Titan Buff for the pale areas.


The background panel was created with spritzes of DecoArt Media Misters in Yellow Green and Turquoise.  The Turquoise is a shimmer spray, so there's a glistening look of sunlight on water in places.


I added some translucent texture paste through a stencil, hoping to capture a watery translucence for my seaweed.  And I stamped some trailing tendrils of weed too.


I used embossing powder for my sentiment to make sure it would pop nicely against the background, and used a paintbrush cap to create my bubbles, both on the ocean panel and on the kraft card I mounted it onto.


So, a slight hop-out-of-kin for me but my nephew loved it, and that's what counts!


Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I'll see you again soon.

Alison x
Words and Pictures

27 comments:

  1. He looks great against your wonderful watery background x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic! Your nephew is bound to love him. Lx

    ReplyDelete
  3. The octopus looks stunning on his shimmery painted background, I'm sure your nephew will keep it forever,
    Love
    Amanda x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great card Alison ... Love your altered octopus and of course the background is exquisite xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. The perfect card for the young marine life expert, Alison!
    Love both - how you did the sea weed background and how you coloured the octopus!

    Claudia x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, what a lovely card, I'm sure your nephew was chuffed with it!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. A wonderful card for your nephew Alison, the octopus looks fabulous, but the bit I really love is that stunning background!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is absolutely brilliantly, Alison! I hope Laura will get him a frame so it can go on his wall afterwards. It's a keeper!

    Lucy x

    ReplyDelete
  9. A gorgeous 'butterfly signature' colored background with a fab octopus! Equals one cool card!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gorgeous! Your really captured the deep sea look with your background, and the octopus is adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your background is gorgeous, Alison, really looks like water shimmering in the sun , and your octopus with all the mix of colors looks great , he is so wonderful.
    xx, Dorthe

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wonderful card, Alison!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Definitely a different direction for you although the signature colours are there in the background lol.

    Sally xx

    ReplyDelete
  14. Fabulous, love his deep sea background.
    Avril xx

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a fantastic Birthday card! So cool! Hugs Dagmar

    ReplyDelete
  16. A fabulous boyish card, Alison, no wonder that your nephew loved it!

    ReplyDelete
  17. You certainly created a wonderful watery background and the octopus is just an absolute delight!! xx

    ReplyDelete
  18. Brilliant! No wonder your nephew loved it! Chrisx

    ReplyDelete
  19. This is too cool. I think Octopi must be all the rage. I just got an octopus card for my birthday too.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love this Alison, your watery background is fabulous xx

    ReplyDelete
  21. A fabulous card for your nephew and a great change of direction for you xxx

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love the background - can't say I am particularly fond of the Octopi family though! Your nephew ought to love the card.
    Sandy xx

    ReplyDelete
  23. I adore this stunning card and the way you have painted and highlighted this wonderful Calico Octopus, wow!! Coco xx

    ReplyDelete
  24. What a brilliant idea for a young boy's birthday card, Alison! My daughter has always loved all kinds of sea creatures and I can imagine she would have loved something like this too! Great background colours and superb texture. xx

    ReplyDelete
  25. Fabulous card Alison. The octopus is swimming in the sea like a real!! Already you know octopus is a very near presence for us. The colour is stunning. xx

    ReplyDelete
  26. I imagine your nephew did love this card! heck, I am not an octopus fan ,but I would love this card!! Gorgeous Alison!!Love how you rock Calico parts!!

    ReplyDelete