Hello everyone! It’s Sweta here, and I am so excited to be back on the ScrapbookPal.com blog sharing a vibrant, textured ocean scene that will bring a huge smile to your favorite person. Today, I’m diving into the gorgeous Catherine Pooler Designs Clear Stamps Best Fishes and matching Best Fishes Dies. If you love combining dimensional backgrounds, stenciling with texture pastes, and clean stamping, swim along with me for this step-by-step tutorial!
Step 1: Blending and Pasting Shimmery Ocean Waves
To set the scene for our underwater adventure, I wanted a background that truly looked like moving water. I began with an A2-sized light blue cardstock panel and the beautiful Honey Bee Stamps Stencils Swirl & Flourish.
First, I ink blended a beautiful ocean gradient directly through the stencil using two classic blues: Catherine Pooler Ink Pad Cummerbund for a soft, tropical aqua hue, and Catherine Pooler Ink Pad Dress Blues to anchor the depths with a deep navy tone.
Next, I took my palette knife and spread a layer of Ranger Ink Simon Hurley Solar Paste Neptune across the top. Solar paste looks white in the jar but shifts magically in the light—giving the swirled waves an incredible metallic, dual-tone flash. I set this aside to dry completely.
Step 2: Die-Cutting and Ink-Smooshing Coral Reefs
Next, I built up the seafloor architecture. I ran the detailed Catherine Pooler Designs Dies Under the Sea Coverplate through my die-cutting machine using watercolor cardstock. Because I only wanted the organic plant life for this particular layout, I used my detail scissors to carefully snip away the coral and kelp sections from the main frame.
To give the coral a natural, variegated look, I pressed a mix of vibrant Catherine Pooler inks onto my media mat: Flirty Fuchsia, Drive-In, and Mardi Gras. I spritzed the ink with water and dipped the die-cut coral directly into the puddles, creating a beautiful blend of purples, teals, and greens.
Step 3: Stamping the School of Fish and Sentiment
While the scenery dried, I worked on our main characters! Using stamps from the Best Fishes Clear Stamp Set, I stamped the larger fish in Rockin' Red and Samba. For the smaller patterned fish, I used Be Mine pink ink. Once stamped, I used the coordinating Best Fishes Dies to cut them out flawlessly.
For the sentiment, I selected the sweet "Love You More Than All the Fish in the Sea" stamp, stamping it in deep Dress Blues ink.
Step 4: Assembling with Layered Dimension
To give the impression of fish swimming through different depths of the water, I used a combination of adhesives. I used a postage-edge rectangle die to frame our beautiful wave panel and attached it to a standard A2 card base.
I adhered the watercolor coral tucked neatly into the bottom left corner using Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue. To bring the scene to life, I glued a couple of the smaller pink fish flat to the background, while popping up the larger red fish and the sentiment banner using Ranger Ink Simon Hurley Create Clear Foam Tape.
Step 5: Final Oceanic Embellishments
To finish off the project, I tapped a wet paintbrush loaded with diluted white acrylic ink across the panel to create a subtle spray of tiny sea bubbles. Finally, I scattered a handful of clear, iridescent sequins across the card to catch the light alongside that gorgeous Solar Paste shimmer.
I love how the texturized paste completely changes when it catches the light! This stamp set is an absolute must-have for summer birthdays, anniversaries, or just-because cards. I hope this tutorial encourages you to combine your inks with texture pastes for your next underwater design.
Happy crafting ✂️
Sweta
@Table_in_the_Attic
Supplies Used
