Mermaid Tails & Fish Scales, Oh My!

Every girl wants to be a princess mermaid! Everywhere we look, we are inundated with a sea of little girls (and some not so little girls 🙂 ) donning some sort of tribute to the beautiful mythical creatures. Mermaids are so popular that they have incorporated themselves into everyday, useful items: from mermaid tail blankets to mermaid tail swimwear, dressing up as a mermaid is no longer just for costume. And at Close To My Heart we love them too! (Have you seen our Make Waves collection?!)

Because we’re sure you’ll have plenty of reasons to scrapbook memories surrounding this trend, including a trip to the beach or a tropical getaway, we want to share with you how to duplicate the fish scale pattern we created in this layout from our Seasonal Expressions catalog.

Mermaids and Fish Scales #ctmh #closetomyheart #mermaid #magic #magical #stardust #mythological #fishscale #fishtail #fish #tail #scale #girl #girly #sea #ocean #beach #water #getaway #vacation #technique #cricut

The technique is quite simple, but the end result will be stunning!

STEP 1—Consider the space you will be covering up with scales and decide what size circles you want to use.

Mermaids and Fish Scales #ctmh #closetomyheart #mermaid #magic #magical #stardust #mythological #fishscale #fishtail #fish #tail #scale #girl #girly #sea #ocean #beach #water #getaway #vacation #technique #cricut

Once you know the size of circles you will be using, a little basic math comes in handy in figuring out how many you will need to cut in order to fill your space. In our example layout we have a 12-inch piece of cardstock and 1¼-inch circles. So, 12 divided by 1.25 equals 9.6, which means we roughly needed 9½ circles per row. To cover the bottom four inches of our paper with this pattern, we needed 7 rows (of 9½) circles. That made 67 circles, which we cut with our trusty Cricut®. (If you don’t have a Cricut®, a hole punch will work, too!)

Of course, math isn’t for everyone so if you’d rather wing it, go for it! 😉

STEP 2—Lay your circles down starting with the top row.
Mermaids and Fish Scales #ctmh #closetomyheart #mermaid #magic #magical #stardust #mythological #fishscale #fishtail #fish #tail #scale #girl #girly #sea #ocean #beach #water #getaway #vacation #technique #cricutSTEP 3—Add a second row.

Mermaids and Fish Scales #ctmh #closetomyheart #mermaid #magic #magical #stardust #mythological #fishscale #fishtail #fish #tail #scale #girl #girly #sea #ocean #beach #water #getaway #vacation #technique #cricut

You’ll want to attach these circles off-center, covering up the lower half of the circles in the row above.

STEP 4—Continue adding all of your rows, one by one.
Mermaids and Fish Scales #ctmh #closetomyheart #mermaid #magic #magical #stardust #mythological #fishscale #fishtail #fish #tail #scale #girl #girly #sea #ocean #beach #water #getaway #vacation #technique #cricutstep 5—Trim your edges, and you’re done!

Told you it was easy! Now go make some mermaid tails of your own and let us know how they worked out for you in the comments below!


Recipe:

 12″ x 12″ Mermaid Page
D1764 My Acrylix® Make Waves—Scrapbooking Stamp Set, X7227B Make Waves Paper Packet, X5941 Bashful Cardstock, Z3146 Watercolor Paper, Z2841 Glacier Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z3271 Archival Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, X7227C Make Waves Complements, Z4142 Make Waves Sequins & Gems, Z3132 Watercolor Paints, Z3188 Paintbrush Set, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z3389 Cricut® You Are Here Collection

CricutÂŽ Shape:
You Are Here
1Âź” Title <RandR> (cut 67, p. 42, #M46F6E)

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Complement Day!!! (AND GIVEAWAY!!)

Did you know that we have over 1,500 national (unofficial 😉 ) holidays here in the United States? Observed annually on January 24th is compliment day—a day specifically set aside to pay attention, acknowledge something nice about someone, and to then share your sincere observations with that person. What an easy way to brighten someone’s day and spread joy!

Since it would be near impossible to sincerely share a compliment with each and every one of you, we thought we’d put our own Close To My Heart spin on things and celebrate this holiday by sharing our Complements instead! We can think of no better way to do this than by showing you how easy it is to use them and by giving some away to our loyal blog readers!

For those of you new to the lingo, Complements are stickers and die-cuts designed to complement, or complete, our creative collections. Each of our collections features a coordinating paper packet and other embellishments, like sequins, gems, and trims, all following the same color scheme and design esthetic. This makes it easy for you to find coordinating products for any given papercrafting project.

With the launch of our newest catalog, Seasonal Expressions 1, we have four new creative collections for you to pick from. Take a look at how we made use of each collection’s complements in the artwork below. Then, decide which one is your favorite for a chance to win it, FREE!

Chelsea Gardens

Complement Day #ctmh #closetomyheart #diy #card #cardmaking #complements #compliments #stickers #embellishment #embellish #accent #accessory #accessories #flowers #floral #inthistogether #together #Chelsea #gardens #feminine

Complement Day #ctmh #closetomyheart #diy #page #scrapbook #scrapbooking #complements #compliments #stickers #flowers #floral #butterflies #butterfly #layout #today #Chelsea #gardens #memorykeeping #memory #keeping #photos #album #feminine

Make Waves

Complement Day #ctmh #closetomyheart #complement #compliment #sticker #embellish #embellishment #accessories #accessory #make #waves #floral #flowers #bashful #glacier #lagoon #pansy #something #beautiful #every #day #polkadots #dot #diy #card #cardmaking Complement Day #ctmh #closetomyheart #complement #compliment #sticker #embellish #embellishment #accessories #accessory #make #waves #floral #flowers #bashful #glacier #lagoon #pansy #shine #mermaid #girl #girly #fish #sea #ocean #water #polkadots #dot #diy #card #cardmaking

You’ll notice that each card and scrapbook page was made without any stamping, using only our Complements for titles and embellishments. Cardmaking and scrapping can really be that easy!

Stargazer

Complement Day #ctmh #closetomyheart #complement #compliment #sticker #accessory #embellish #embellishment #stargazer #star #gazer #space #galaxy #diy #card #cardmaking #oneofakind #kind #blue #sapphire #boy

Complement Day #ctmh #closetomyheart #complement #compliment #sticker #accessory #embellish #embellishment #stargazer #star #gazer #space #galaxy #diy #page #layout #scrapbooking #scrapbook #photo #memorykeeping #memory #keeping #oneofakind #kind #blue #sapphire #red #yellow #lemon #primarycolors #primary #album #boy #girl

Gimme Some Sugar

complement day #ctmh #closetomyheart #diy #card #cardmaking #friends #gimmesomesugar #gimme #some #sugar #kitchen #pink #flowers #floral #rustic #hearts #embellishment #embellish #complement #compliment #stickers #accessories #accessory #bashful #peacock #woodgrain #wood

complement day #ctmh #closetomyheart #diy #page #layout #album #scrapbooking #scrapbook #photo #memory #keeping #girls #girly #friends #gimmesomesugar #gimme #some #sugar #kitchen #pink #flowers #floral #rustic #hearts #embellishment #embellish #complement #compliment #stickers #accessories #accessory #bashful #peacock #woodgrain #wood

Now that we’ve got your attention with our complements, it’s your turn to acknowledge something nice about them! In the comments below, tell us which collection is your favorite and why. For a chance to win it free, make sure you are also subscribed to this blog. It’s super easy—just push the blue “Subscribe to list” button on the sidebar! 🙂 After you’ve complimented us, we’ll select 12 lucky winners to receive their choice of Complements, FREE! We’re giving away three sets of Complements from each new collection and you can only win one, so make sure to share this giveaway with your friends! Don’t delay, all qualifying entries must be submitted by 11 a.m. (MST) tomorrow, January 24.

We believe that compliments should be given away freely every day, so make the extra effort today and really spread that love and admiration you have for the people in your life by sharing some sincere praise.

Can’t wait to hear from you!


Recipes

4Âź” x 5½” We’re In This Together Card (Horizontal)
X7230B Chelsea Gardens Paper Packet, X7230C Chelsea Gardens Complements, Z4155 Chelsea Gardens Dots & Gems, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

12″ × 12″ Today Page
X7230B Chelsea Gardens Paper Packet, X7230D Chelsea Gardens Coordinating Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X7230C Chelsea Gardens Complements, Z4155 Chelsea Gardens Dots & Gems, Z4154 Cream Ribbon, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape

4Âź” x 5½” There Is Something Beautiful Card (Vertical)
X7227B Make Waves Paper Packet, X7227C Make Waves Complements, Z4142 Make Waves Sequins & Gems, Z1263 Bitty Sparkles, Z4146 Make Waves Shimmer Trim

12″ × 12″ Shine Page
X7227B Make Waves Paper Packet, X7227D Make Waves Coordinating Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X7227C Make Waves Complements, Z4142 Make Waves Sequins & Gems, Z4146 Make Waves Shimmer Trim, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

4Âź” x 5½” One of a Kind Card (Vertical)
X7229B Stargazer Paper Packet, X7229C Stargazer Complements, Z4143 Stargazer Dots

12″ × 12″ One of a Kind Page
X7229B Stargazer Paper Packet, X7229D Stargazer Coordinating Cardstock, X7229C Stargazer Complements, Z4143 Stargazer Dots, Z4145 Light Grey Ribbon, Z1979 Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

4Âź” x 5½” Friends Card (Vertical)
X7228B Gimme Some Sugar Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X7228C Gimme Some Sugar Complements, Z1263 Bitty Sparkles, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

12″ × 12″ Fine & Dandy Page
X7228B Gimme Some Sugar Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X7228C Gimme Some Sugar Complements, Z4153 Gimme Some Sugar Cork Shapes, Z4144 Peacock-stitched Ribbon, Z1979 Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape

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