Fintastic birthday fishes

In case you couldn't guess from the post title, today I have a couple of "fishy" birthday cards to share with you.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Fintastic Friends, Year Four (both Lawn Fawn)
Paper: Watercolor paper (Strathmore); Brilliant Blue, Tempting Turquoise card stock
Ink: Jet Black StazOn; ZIG Clean Color Real Brush pens - 050, 061, 020, 024, 037, 036, 066, 803, 080 (Kuretake); Project Life journaling pen
Accessories: Fintastic Friends Lawn Cuts dies (Lawn Fawn), Tide embossing folder (Lifestyle Crafts), Rhythm 'n Blues sequins (Craft Medley), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), water brush with detail tip (ZIG), Glue Dots, Dimensionals

I had fun watercoloring these images with my ZIG Clean Color Peal Brush pens. My technique is getting better, although I wish I'd made the water a little darker. I am especially proud of the orange fish because I had to blend together red and yellow pens. I think the color turned out perfectly.

To add a birthday aspect to the card I stamped a balloon on a scrap of watercolor paper, colored it and cut it out. I attached it to the focal image above the fishbowl and hand-drew the string to make it look like the balloon is tied to the fish's tail. I embossed the card base so it looks like waves or water and added a few blue sequins for bubbles.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Fintastic Friends (Lawn Fawn), Essential Messages (Hero Arts), Remembering Your Birthday
Paper: Thick Whisper White card stock; Designer Series Paper (DSP) Patterns Stack - Brights, window sheets (Judi-Kins)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Jet Black Staz On; Pumpkin Pie, Pacific Point markers; Blendabilities markers: Skin Tone, Smoky Slate, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight assortments; BT4 marker (Spectrum Noir); E19, YG09 markers (Copic)
Accessories: Fintastic Friends Lawn Cuts dies (Lawn Fawn), Rhythm 'n Blues sequins (Craft Medley), silver glass glitter, natural ribbon trim, Corner Chomper (We R Memeory Keepers), foam adhesive strips, Glue Dots

The fish tank image is great for a little shaker element on this card. To make the shaker, I first die cut the tank shape out of a piece of DSP that was slightly smaller than the card front. I place the DSP on the card (without adhering it) and then stamped the image onto the card front through the opening. I stamped a few images in the tank, as well as the fish and food canister on scratch card stock, and colored everything.

I taped a piece of window sheet on the back of the DSP and then added pieces of foam adhesive strips all around the opening, making sure there weren't any openings where sequins could escape. (I also added pieces of foam strip on a few other places on the DSP so it would be level when attached to the card base.) I placed a few sequins, a bit of glitter and three die-cut fish in the middle of the focal image and then carefully placed the DSP on top.

To finish the front of the card I added a natural ribbon wrapped around the DSP and knotted in front, a stamped greeting (made by combining two different stamp sets) on a banner, a colored die-cut image, and a few additional sequins.

Inside the card I stamped a birthday sentiment and added three more little fish to tie in with the front of the card.

I hope your day goes swimmingly! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) Thanks for stopping by!