This pattern is the latest in my Premium Pattern offerings. I had a reader request that I come up with a Mermaid, and well, the rest is history. Like any of my patterns, the movement and design of this pattern can be recreated as shown here in embossed aluminum, painted in acrylic on any surface, drawn in pen and ink, watercolor, or duplicated in any form or size that you would like. My mermaid is not only sleepy, but very versatile!
I decided to take advantage of my recent family reunion and show some of my family members how to re-create this little mermaid using the embossed aluminum method. Basically, I wanted to show how easy it is to emboss with disposable aluminum pans and the mermaid just seemed fitting for our reunion at the beach.
For this project we used:
The Sleeping Mermaid Pattern
One disposable aluminum cookie sheet
Extra disposable aluminum pan if you decide to make 3D effects
Glass or metal glue (If you are doing 3D)
Knitting needle and paint brush handles for embossing
Towel
Metallic Acrylic Paints
Black primer spray paint for metal surfaces
Stick-on gem stones
We began by cutting the edges off of our cookie sheets so that we have a flat surface to work with. Lay the cookie sheet on top of a towel and then using the knitting needle and a ruler, score 1/4″ from the edge on all four sides. Clip each corner with scissors, and then fold the aluminum towards the back along the score line. This will create nice smooth edges that will not cut you.
Keeping the metal on the towel, lay your pattern over top and score the lines of the pattern into the metal using your knitting needle.
Use the knitting needle and the blunt end of your paintbrush to rub the pattern into the metal. The towel underneath gives you some play, but be careful not to push too hard.
There is no right or wrong way to do this. Just emboss the design in the way that you would like. I had six people working on this project at the same time and each one created their own version of this design.
Once all the embossing is complete, spray each piece with a coat of black primer and allow to dry.
That’s my sister-in-law behind the mustache! Some of us went with the 3D theme, cutting out fins from an extra aluminum pan. If you decide to go 3D, just spray paint these additional pieces along with the main picture when you prime it. Then glue them down how you would like them with the glass/metal glue after the primer has dried.
Once the primer was dry, we got out the metallic acrylic paints. We brushed color along the raised edges of the picture, leaving the indented areas black. I was very excited to see how many variations of color could be used on this pattern!
We used blue, greens and a mix of purple metallic paints for the water, and green in the seaweed, being sure to leave plenty of black showing.
It was at this point that two folks dropped out. This pattern is considered “challenging” and while they did very well with the embossing, they ended up frustrated with adding color. One threw her hands in the air and tried to throw her project away, and the other just simply wandered off when I wasn’t looking. Ha!
So I want to stress here, that if color is not your forte, this project looks amazing in just the embossed aluminum!
And don’t give up! Some of my best work comes from projects that went awry!
We finished by adding stick on gem stones to bring out the mermaid sparkle. You could even add a bit of glitter if you wanted. To display this picture, I painted a canvas black and glued the metal down onto it using metal or glass glue. Use a canvas larger than the picture and it will make the colors pop!
For a great video on this embossing technique, look here!
I just love the variety of colors and design ideas!
Like this pattern? I currently have it on sale for $7.00 in my shop. It is a downloadable pdf file that can then be enlarged to any size that you would like.
There are plenty of other patterns and kits in my shop to choose from. Be sure to look around.
If you would prefer a simpler pattern to start, check out my free pattern page for some easy patterns to get you started!