Butterfly Thank You

Hello friends! Today I have a card to share made with an embossing folder, Micro Glaze and various mists. It's a quick and easy background, which will look different each time.

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

I made a butterfly card, using the Simon Says Stamp Confetti Butterflies embossing folder, from the Happy Camper release. You can do the technique with any embossing folder. The sentiment and butterflies were die cut from glossy cardstock which had been inked.

Mist watercolor paper with water and dry emboss in Simon Says Stamp Confetti Butterflies.

When the paper is dry, apply Distress Micro Glaze to the butterflies, with your finger.

Mist the paper with Distress Spray Stains and then add some Distress Spritz. The Micro Glaze will resist the mist.

The Simon Says Stamp Giggle Thank You and Bright Butterflies were die cut from Simon Says Stamp gloss cardstock, which had first been inked with orange ink. I also die cut the butterflies from Simon Says Stamp Shimmer Vellum. 

Distress the edges and mount on kraft cardstock and folded brown cardstock. Here you can see the effect of the Distress Spritz. 

Fold the wings of the butterflies and off-set the vellum ones slightly. Add Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Prism Gems as a trail behind the butterflies.

Die cut the mat for the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Shimmer Vellum and gloss cardstock, off-set the latter slightly. Adhere with foam tape. 

I hope this card inspired you to combine dry embossing, micro glaze and mists. 

Thank you for visiting! See you soon again!

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Field of Heather Art Journal Page

Hello crafters! Today I have a stamped and watercolored art journal page, in memory of beautiful fields of heather which we saw this summer. The lovely scent and the buzz of bees. 

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I wanted something light and simple as a memory of the fields of heather at the sea where we were for a week this summer. There was much more heather than last year and those purple fields are so pretty. I worked in my Stamperia Happiness Journal.

Start by drawing a hill with a pencil and then paint the sky with yellow and blue watercolor paint. Dabb out some clouds with a kitchen towel.

Paint the field. 

Ink the heather stamp from Tim Holtz Flower Jar set. Mist with water and stamp. I used two shades of green ink.

Paint the flowers purple.

Darken the greens at the bottom of the page.

Stamp a sentiment with Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery and cut into a strip. Ink another Flower Jar stamp with green ink, mist with water and stamp. 

Splatter with just a little Winsor & Newton White Gouache.

I used two shades of purple, one of which is a little more pink than the other.

Later I added two more sentiments from Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery. The first one was originally stamped on the background, but I messed up the stamping and had to cover it up. 

The darker foreground adds dimension.

This is a simple watercolor scene, but looking at it makes me think of those lovely days at the sea.

Thank you for visiting! See you soon again!

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Crazy Dog Card

Hi stampers! I hope you are well and had a good weekend! We are back with a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. 

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

This week our theme is 4-legged friends. I hope you will join us! And don't miss the project by our August guest designer Ann Chuang.

I made a card with a fun dog stamp from Tim Holtz Crazy Dogs set. It was watercolored and then sentiments were stamped with Simon Says Stamp Mandala Blossoms. 

Stamp one of the Crazy Dogs with Archival Ink on watercolor paper.

Color with watercolor paint, leaving a few highlights. 

Paint the background and add shading under the dog. 

When dry, ink Simon Says Stamp Pepita Background with Lucky Clover Distress Ink. Mist with water and stamp on the background. Avoid stamping on the dog. You can mask him out if you want to.

I didn't want the dog to be centered on the background, so I cut off some of paper on the left-hand side, but left the tail.

White emboss the larger sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Mandala Blossoms. Stamp the second sentiment with black ink.

Add Glossy Accents to the collar and highlights with a white gel pen. I also added some marks with a black pen.

This is such a fun dog image.

The watercolor stamping in the background gives texture and a tone-on-tone effect without being overwhelming.

I also added Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Prism Gems. 

The tail sticks out, but can be carefully folded up if the envelope is too small.

Join us this week in our 4-Legged Friends challenge! You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.

Thank you so much for visiting today! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Butterfly Artist Trading Cards

Hello friends! I hope you are well! There is a chill in the air here, but I hope summer will remain a little longer. 

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

This week we have a Play with ATCs theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us! Artist Trading Cards are such a fun format to work on (3.5x2.5 in). Don't miss the beautiful project by our August guest designer Ann Chuang.

I made two ATCs with a butterfly theme. The cards were stamped so that they can fit together on both sides. I only stamped each butterfly once. The butterflies were colored with Prismacolor pencils, which also acts as a resist, protecting them from the inking, so you do not need to do any masking. 

This is how they fit together from the other sides.

I started by cutting a two ATCs from heavystock paper. They are 3.5 x 2.5 in. Place them together and stamp Tim Holtz Perspective Butterfly. Make sure to place the stamp so that the entire body is on one of the cards. 

Switch the cards around and repeat with a butterfly from Tim Holtz Flutter set. Stamp the body on the card that only has wings.

Color them with Prismacolor pencils. I aimed for strong, contrasting colors.

Ink with Distress Inks using an ink-blending tool.

Add dots and highlights with a white gel pen and darken some of the details with a black pen.

Stamp the sentiment with Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Butterflies. Stamp here and there with Tim Holtz Craze & Planks stamp, using Archival Ink Potting Soil.

Splatter with a little Winsor & Newton Permanent White gouache.

Butterflies are always fun to color! The card with the large butterfly can easily be on its own too.

I found some tiny butterfly charms in an old box and stitched them to the card. 

This sentiment was stamped with Tim Holtz Tiny Text.

On the second card, the focus is on the smaller butterfly and the sentiment.

I distressed the edges slightly and added Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Mandarin Gems to the cards.

Try not to get too much crackle stamping on the butterflies, but if you do, it doesn't matter.

White gel pens are great for adding highlights. 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Don't miss the Kid's Summer Vacation Challenge, which goes on until 29 August. There are three great surprise parcels to be won! For kids 2-16 years. Read more here.

Join us this week in our Play with ATCs challenge! You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.

Thank you so much for visiting today! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.