LOVE IN A FISHBOWL

I'm not sure why, but I seem to have something of an affinity for fish in captivity. Take me to a pet store, and I have my eyes glued to the fish, especially BIG fish, who always look so weird. It's my favorite aspect of many medical waiting rooms: the big aquariums. My husband and I had a community fish tank for many years when we first married. I adored our huge koi in our pond. My granddaughter, had a carnival goldfish, Luna, for years -- and she grew very large and turned white! I've had bettas on and off over the years. 

I don't know what it is, and it certainly doesn't seem fair to the poor fish. But watching fish in captivity is so relaxing. I guess since I'm not a mermaid able to live with the fishes up close and personal, this is the next best thing.

So, when I spotted the darling hostess set in the new Mini Catalog, I was immediately smitten. Found on page 73, Make A Splash is so very appealing to me. Once again, I couldn't wait to get it in my possession.

I spent quite a lot of time playing with this set, with lots of trial and error. Mostly trial and error. Finally, this image seemed sorta OK, so I decided to make it into a card.

The card is a precious 4 1/4" square. The fishbowl image fits perfectly inside a 3 5/8" circle die, so that's how I cut it out and mounted it with Stampin' Dimensionals against a cute heart-y DSP I had in my stash. 

I stamped the fishbowl itself in Smoky Slate, and added the water line in Pool Party. All the rest of the water stuff was done in Pool Party also. The bit of coloring in the water is accomplished by using an Aqua Painter and removing a bit of color from the Pool Party Watercolor Pencil, and applying it that way. This gives it a little more of a watery appearance..

The two loving fish are stamped in Pumpkin Pie ink. I used a fine line black pen to add details to it. The gravelly bottom was stamped in Crumb Cake and I added a few Pool Party colored sequins at the bottom to complement the air bubbles I'd added by the fish. 

I didn't want to clutter up the front of the card with a big sentiment, so I opted for a very subtle loving sentiment with a bit of baker's twine. 

Captive

Smiles.