Mermaid Bookmark

Hi, everyone.  I am Sandy and this is my first shared project. Once a year, we vacation in the Caribbean, and I always make sure to pack sample sizes of Paverpol in my carry-on.  This year, I used the transparent to make a bookmark for my daughter.  Sitting here surrounded by snow, I thought we could all use a little reminder of warmth and sunshine. List of materials: 2 pieces of 2” x  8” paper strips cut from my sketch pad (or whatever size you want your bookmark) 1 Wrapper www.paverpolusa.com Transparent Paverpol www.paverpolusa.com Face – made from polymer clay and commercial push mold (optional – can sketch one or use stamp or stencil) Paverplast for shell “top” – (optional – can sketch “au naturelle” version) ColourArte Twinkling H2O watercolors – (these travel well) www.colourarte.com Watercolor pencils Bits of ribbon, netting, and silk fabric for tail – any natural  fabric will do                                                                    Brush for Paverpol and paints Brush Paverpol on one side of each paper strip and press together, smoothing the entire length of the strips as well as the edges. You could skip this step and only use one strip but doubling them makes for a stronger, more durable bookmark.  Next, sketch your mermaid on what will be the front of your bookmark.  If you don’t trust your sketching skills, you can use a stamp, stencil, or tracing from a mermaid image. Once happy with your image, brush over it with the transparent Paverpol, let dry (you can use a hair dryer to speed up this step), flip over and repeat on the blank backside of the bookmark.     Let dry, then start painting your background ocean colors on the backside and around the mermaid image on the front side.  If you are using a clay face, attach it with Paverpol and let dry.  Then cut the wrapper into ¼” strips, no need to be exact, dip them into Paverpol and arrange as ”hair” around the face. While that is drying, if you would like to make “shells” for a modest mermaid like this one, mix a small amount of Paverpol and Paverplast together until you have a clay-like consistency.  With your “clay”, form two small balls large enough to cover the desired area when flattened.  You can score lines across the surface to make them look more shell-like or press a real shell into the surface to add texture. I used green silk cut to the shape of the upper part of the tail and treated with Paverpol to apply it flatly. I used a small scrap of metallic green netting to simulate scales.  Even though this wasn’t a natural fiber, it was a small area and still worked well with the Paverpol.  You could also use an old fishnet stocking, Stockinette (www.paverpolusa.com) or simply paint scales onto the silk.  I used the same green silk treated with Paverpol for the lower part of the tail.  I scrunched it during the application to give the impression of a “flowing tail” but still pressed it flat, keeping in mind that it would eventually be pressed between the pages of my daughter’s book.  Lastly, I finished painting the body, face, and hair with Twinkling H2O watercolors from ColourArte and set it aside to dry thoroughly before using it.