Artisan Mermaid Scales

Mermaid scales pendant. Individual, hand pigmented and molded silicone scales, created by

Pearlie Mae's Beautiful Nonsense on Etsy.

My Dream Fins: Color & Inspiration Collage

This is a mish-mash of themes, imagery and color that will serve as the basis for my Viking inspired mermaid tail. It will hopefully be done in silicone by one of my two favorite tail makers; Finfolk Productions or Merbella Studios. I'd also like to create a first 'draft' in neoprene over the chilly holidays using my Mahina monofin,  water-appropriate paint and other gilding in the above color pallet. I want to make this tail design mine as soon as possible!

Using one of the fun little online make-your-own mermaid doll games, I designed something that is close to how I want the colors and spotted pattern arranged on the tail itself. It's not the exact tail or fin shapes I want, but it's a good reference point. As you can see, it's inspired by fish of the related Norwegian salmon and rainbow trout family, complete with their cute freckles which I've always loved. The Norwegian salmon theme is played up in the platinum silvery colors and hints of gold.

 

Hehe...and I kind of want this phone case.

Testing: The Fabric Version

Over the last few days I was able to track down some great swim-worthy fabrics for a first mermaid tail. At least the first since I was about 10, heh! Only this time, the materials will be much better....and there's an actual swim fin in there.

I'm still drawn toward a coral pink & silver with a hint of blue green for my dream tail. But that won't happen until I save my money for a silicone tail.
For now, I was looking for fabrics that will flow and look great in the water, without fraying into a tangled mess and have the right kind of content to hold fit in water. I found an amazing metallic gold swim spandex for the main body of the tail and to cover the monofin.
Initially I had considered using an aqua or light turquoise to pair with the gold, for the fins (dorsal, pectoral, extra fluke fins, etc). When I had brought it home, I had inadvertently laid it next to a pink shirt I have, and the colors looked fantastic together. So, that had changed my mind toward this:

The soft pink material is that weird sheer spandex knit, with a dotted pattern in pink glitter.
Depending on your monitor settings, it may look hot pink but it's actually a softer bubblegum color.
I know the glitter will come off eventually, but like I said; this is just my first test tail and the fins I cut from it wont unravel horribly.
While the fabrics are of a really good quality, they were so discounted I'm really not all that concerned about real longevity. I think the final price for the fabric alone ended up around $30.
The basic look I'm going for is a serpentine/beta fish hybrid. Something that will create a flowing line in the water.
I want to get it done before I leave for Disneyland next Thursday evening, because our hotel has a pool I can test all this out in!
xoxox