Monoprint ocean background

Happy new year! I hope you and your loved ones enjoyed the holidays. I was lucky enough to receive some papercrafting supplies this Christmas (yay!), and one of the first things I tried out was my new gel printing plate. I made a few different backgrounds during my first printing session, and most of them were so-so. But I really liked one of them that looked to me like an underwater scene. So I pulled out a fish stamp set and turned it into a card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Fish Frolics
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Bermuda Bay card stock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Gel printing plate (Gelli Arts), brayer, turquoise nailhead metal stickers (Mark Richards), acrylic paint (various), paintbrush and other tools for printing (various)

I read the directions for the gel printing plate, watched a couple of online videos and then dove in (no pun intended). I used a few ocean-like colors -- light green, teal blue and maybe another blue, I can't remember exactly -- a small paintbrush and a couple of sponges to create the background. I love how the colors are layered and lighter in some spots, like the sunlight filtering through the water.

Once the paint was dry I stamped the fish and bubble images using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. The ink took quite awhile to dry on the acrylic paint: I blotted it, applied heat, and still had to let it air dry. I probably should have used a permanent ink, such as StazOn.

To finish the card I matted the focal layer with Basic Black and then adhered the panel to a Bermuda Bay card base. I didn't want to detract from the background with a bunch of embellishments, so I added a simple turquoise nailhead metal sticker in each corner.

Thanks for stopping by!