Birthday Fishes

   I had such a great time figuring out this birthday card for my nephew!  What to do for a boy turning 16 and a beach/surfing themed room?  Why...just whip up some birthday fishes!  I am a huge fan of all things pun-y and this older Hero Arts clear set helped me create to my heart's content!  I am only just now getting to play with my new stash from the latest Hero Arts/Basic Grey releases, and I love this graphic pattern background cling called Zig Zag and More!  
   I wanted to use my Kaleidacolor pad to ink this up, but the little lever that slides the different colors together sticks up and does not make for easy inking of large stamps...so out came my trusty rubber brayer!  I rolled up some color and then ran it over the background stamp to transfer it and I felt like an old fashioned print maker!  I've got some more ideas to play with that technique another day!
   Next I found some scraps of plain and patterned paper to emboss the different fishes...see the googly eye one on the left?  If you look closely you'll notice it is 'upside down' as I wanted it to face to other direction.  The design is forgiving with the fins, so I just masked the eye when I inked it up and embossed it, then used the googly one in it's place.  Easy peasy and it adds a little wiggle!
   May is the biggest month for birthdays in our small family, and this year we have a graduation celebration or two with friends to celebrate as well...no rest for the weary and there's more fun to be made!  Make it a great day!