The Captured Mermaid

She was found tangled in a fisherman's net, her arm badly broken. That day there happened to be a journalist at the harbor photographing the boats when the fisherman came in with his odd catch. Before anyone could say 'Fish and Chips' she was whisked away to London, her arm repaired with the most advanced technology of the Victorian era, placed in a large, specially made tank and hauled to the British Museum where she was the talk of the nation as folks came in droves to see her.

She spent many months in her beautiful, small prison..........

watching all the passers by much the same way they were watching her.
After a few months, the novelty wore off and the people were off to see the newest, shiniest thing and it was decided that she would be moved to another location to make room for the Gryphon that would soon be coming from the mountains of Tibet.

Whilst in transport over the London Bridge, the wagon bearing the full load of the tank, hit a large pot hole jarring the tank and cracking the glass viewing window.
The mermaid saw her chance, pushing as hard as she could on the damaged glass.
The glass burst with the added pressure, water came rushing out, the mermaid along with it. Eye witnesses said for a moment or two she clung to the rails of the bridge before she plunged into the Thames and disappeared.
It was speculated by many that she made her way to the sea. She was never seen again by human eyes.
Back in London in a dusty corner of a minor museum, her empty tank can still be found....

Here is where I began...
The lovely Alpha Stamps supplied all the wonderful items used in the project including this spectacular Arched Shrine Shadow Box and the Stair Step Shrine Base.

I began by cutting and fitting my interior papers, then gluing the basic box together, leaving the front facade off for the moment.
I put a couple of rubber bands around the box so it would glue tightly fitted together with no gaps.

I assembled the Stair Step Shrine Base and let it dry.

I painted everything black.........

And cut by papers for the risers of the steps and used the facade as a template for the front piece of paper.

Using linen hinging tape, I carefully attached the gates, making sure the tape came up to the edge (and no more!) of the inside of the gates and  also making sure that the tape was wide enough to fold over the outside of the box, giving the gates more strength and support. I then painted the hinge black.

Next, I VERY CAREFULLY dry-fitted the facade paper over the top of the gates, trimming where needed as I opened and closed the gates. This is an important step. If the paper impinges on the gates in anyway they will not open and close properly, so make sure before you glue that you've got plenty of leeway there.
After the paper was dry, I started messing with my chosen elements and embellishments until I got a layout that I liked, my object was to give her tank a steampunk look to match her repaired arm.

A detail picture of what I ended up with liking best. I glued everything down using E6000.
Make sure you've got ventilation...this stuff is super smelly and not good to breathe, but boy does it stick well!
I decided she need some flotsam in the tank so I used some closed cell Styrofoam that I tore into a couple of chunks and painted to look like sand mounds.

I glued them in the tank and used shells, pearls and micro beads to embellish them.
Here is a detail picture of my little mermaid....

I used the top half of the Mermaid Paper Doll in the Mermaid Paper Doll Kit and a tail from the Mermaid Tales Half Sheet.
I used small watch parts to repair her injured arm and had fun embellishing her with Liquid Pearls, a crown and pretty shell sequins. (all supplies are listed below)

In the above picture, you can see the little dot details and arm a bit better. (please ignore my paint dotted hand)

So, if some day you are out fishing in the deep, deep ocean and you see a mermaid with the sun glinting off of what appears to be a metal arm, give her a wave.
Thanks for stopping!
For a link to all the wonderful supplies provided by Alpha Stamps click HERE

SUPPLIES:
Arched Shrine Shadowbox
Stair Step Shrine Base
Wrought Iron Gates For Arched Shrine
Mermaid Paper Doll (smaller size)
Finnabair Mechanical Metals Rustic Gears
Belle Epoque Mermaid Heads & Hats Collection
Spanish crowns Collage Sheet
Mermaid Tails Half Sheet
Coral Chipboard Set-4 pieces
1mm Micro Beads-Aqua
Brass Patina Conch Shell Charms
Seashell Sequin Mix
Seashells in Plastic Tins
Brass Patina Seahorse Charm
Voyage Beneath the Sea-Deep Blue Dreams Scrapbook Paper
Down By the Sea Tide Scrapbook Paper
Mini Steampunk Seahorse-Set of 2
19mm Fancy Metal Drawer Pull or Box Feet
Hitch Fasteners
Liquid Pearls White Opal
White Pearls Mix in Tin
4mm Brads-Antique Gold, Copper & Pewter
Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Ink Pad

Additional Supplies
Larger Shells
Watch Gears
Black Acrylic Paint
Matte Medium
Tacky Glue
Styrofoam
Green Glass Pearls
Brilliance Galaxy Gold Ink Pad
Liquid Pearls Lime Green
Thank you for visiting!