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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Color Coordination Made Easy

Introducing Sea Glass, our first-ever Color of the Year! #ctmh #closetomyheart #seaglass #mint #scrapbooking #cardmaking #crafting #colorinspiration #trendycolor

One thing we are most proud of is the way our color palette makes color coordination effortless. Essential crafting supplies like cardstock and inks are available in all of our exclusive colors, which are the same colors used in patterned papers and many accessories.

This year, we’ve introduced a new color that we’re calling our Color of the Year. Like our other colors, this trendy, minty hue called Sea Glass comes in a stamp pad, mini pigment pad, re-inker, cardstock, and glitter paper. You’ll also see hints of Sea Glass in different patterned papers, embellishments, and other products throughout the year.

Since Sea Glass has been introduced in this stand-alone way, today we want to share some ideas for how you can combine Sea Glass with our other colors.

Introducing Sea Glass, our first-ever Color of the Year! #ctmh #closetomyheart #seaglass #mint #scrapbooking #cardmaking #crafting #colorinspiration #trendycolor

We love Sea Glass paired with yellows. It’s a great color combination for your spring and summer layouts because it’s bright and happy. Add black to the mix for a clean, modern vibe.

Introducing Sea Glass, our first-ever Color of the Year! #ctmh #closetomyheart #seaglass #mint #scrapbooking #cardmaking #crafting #colorinspiration #trendycolor

Sea Glass also looks really sharp with metallics, like on the “Best Day Ever” card shown above. The minty hue and the gold give your artwork some vintage flair. If you want to go a more monochromatic route, pair Sea Glass with greens, like the Emerald cardstock on the “Yay” card.

When it comes down to it though, Sea Glass is such a versatile color that you should just try it out in all different kinds of color combinations to see what you like best—you really can’t go wrong!

Finally, we have some great resources to help you replicate our exclusive colors using some other coloring tools: the ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ markers and our watercolors. Take a look to see what combinations of markers or watercolors you can use to fit in with our palette colors—including Sea Glass!

Download Marker Guide

Download Watercolor Guide

Freshen up your favorite color combinations by adding minty Sea Glass to the mix, and then finish off your artwork with watercolors and markers that perfectly match!

Recipes

12″ x 12″ Lucky in Love Layout
Z3253 Adventure Fundamentals, Z3263 Uptown Fundamentals, X5789 Sea Glass Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3240 Sea Glass Glitter Paper, Z3269 You & Me Complements, Z3265 School K-6 Complements, Z3264 Good Life Complements, Z2027 Mini Stapler, Z2097 Mini Staples, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape

4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ You Make My Heart Happy Card
A1192 My Acrylix® Happy Heart, Z3262 Rustic Home Fundamentals, Z3253 Adventure Fundamentals, X5789 Sea Glass Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2507 Sea Glass Exclusive Inks™ Mini Pigment Pad, Z3267 All Together Complements,Z3269 You & Me Complements ,Z3265 School K-6 Complements, Z1263 Bitty Sparkles, Z3274 Clear Sparkles

4″ x 4″ Yay Card
D1700 My Acrylix® Way to Go, X5783 Emerald Cardstock, X5789 Sea Glass Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3240 Sea Glass Glitter Paper, Z2105 Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z3273 Baby Boy Complements, Z1263 Bitty Sparkles, Z3274 Clear Sparkles

4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ Best Day Ever Card
Z3263 Uptown Fundamentals,X5789 Sea Glass Cardstock, Z3269 You & Me Complements,Z3264 Good Life Complements, Z3267 All Together Complements, Z1263 Bitty Sparkles, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, X254 White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack

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