Frostie December Journal

Hi crafters! One of my favorite projects of the year is my December Daily journal, inspired by Ali Edwards concept of documenting the month of December. I have been doing this since 2012, making this my thirteenth December daily journal.

We are getting our first snow of the year as I type this, so it might soon be time for a snowman.

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.

When I saw Tim Holtz Mr. Frostie, I knew I wanted him on the cover of my journal. My journals have looked different through the years, but the focus is on words rather than on adding photos, to make it easier to document each day. This year I made a journal with a stamped and watercolored cover. The book is 5.5x6.3 in and my December countdown tags will go into it. Although they might not be tags this year. I will share that post in a couple of days.

Start by stamping Mr. Frostie and the tree on watercolor paper with Archival Jet Black ink.

I used pens to extend the tree and create more snowy ground.

Paint the snowman, tree and snow with watercolors. Drop in darker shades to create shadows. 

Paint a light layer of blue for the sky.

Add details and highlights with a black pen and a white gel pen. The white gel pen can also be used to create snow. 

I die cut the title from Simon Says Stamp white glitter cardstock using Tim's Vault Seasonal Sketch set. 

I used Sizzix Little Sizzles Mat Board for the covers. Glue the watercolor paper to the mat board and place under a heavy book. Round the corners and punch two holes along the other edge. Cut pages from your favorite paper. I used a paper good for writing, but often also use sketch paper or watercolor paper.

The back cover was covered with one of Tim Holtz Christmas Backdrops papers. I love the backdrops papers.

For sparkle and more snow, I added Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Clear Gems. 

I stamped this sentiment from Tim's Tiny Text Christmas on the background first, but it ended up difficult to read because of a couple of those splattered dots. Instead, I stamped it on white paper, cut into a strip and covered up the bad stamping.

This is such a great stamp! I really like snowmen. There is something so joyful about them. 

There is also a gem on mr. Frostie's hat. 

Don't forget to add some shadows. No need for perfection! This sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Season's Greetings. 

I glued the letters unevenly on purpose, for a playful look. 

I also added a few Tim Holtz Christmas Emporium Layers to the inside. 

These vintage artificial snow adds are so pretty.

You can also turn this design into a Christmas card. 

I am looking forward to filling my journal with memories.

You can find my previous Christmas Daily journals here:

2023 - Home December Journal

2022 - Folio December Journal

2021 - Snowy Hills December Journal

2020 - Peaceful Winter December Journal

2019 - Snowy Mountains December Daily

2018 - Birch Forest December Daily
2017 - Narnia December Daily
2016 - Winter Village December Daily video
2015 - Believe December Daily
2014 - December Daily
2013 - Christmas Daily
2012 - December Mini-book

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Christmas 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.

Christmas in the City

Hello crafters! My walks were windy this weekend, apart from Friday when we had great weather. I have also enjoyed time crafting and working on Christmas projects.

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 an Emboss It theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us. Lots of options with this one! Our guest designer Teresa York has created a stunning, don't miss it. 

I made a Christmas in the City card this week, which both sparkles and shines. There are lots of fun techniques on this card. I used both dry and heat embossing, since I couldn't pick just one. The background is dry and heat embossed and many of the die cut elements are heat embossed with several layers of clear embossing powder. The background, moon and light post lamp sparkles from Distress Spritz.

Start by dry embossing watercolor paper in Simon Says Stamp Star Lattice embossing folder.

Apply embossing ink to the stars with an ink-blending tool. Cover with white embossing powder, return the excess to the jar and carefully heat emboss. 

Mist the background with Distress Spritz. Start with Saltwater Taffy, continue with Tumbled Glass and finish with just a little Uncharted Mariner.

Die cut Santa's sleigh, the city silhouette and the cars from heavystock cardstock with Tim Holtz Vault Christmas Magic set. Ink with Distress Ink by applying the ink directly to the paper with the ink pad. Emboss with several layers of clear embossing powder. Be very careful and never touch the melted powder until it has cooled down completely. Finish but sprinkling just a little white embossing powder on Santa's sleigh and the city. 

Die cut trees and the lamp post. The lamppost was die cut from silver paper and from black kraft-stock paper. I misted a small piece of paper with Antique Linen Distress Spritz and placed it behind the silver lamp post as a sparkling light.

Die cut the moon from heavystock paper. Ink the base with Lost Shadow. Only add a tiny bit of Mustard Seed to the front part. Then mist with Antique Linen.

Ink the edges with Scorched Timber.

It is difficult to capture the Distress Spritz shimmer on a photo, but you can see some of it here. The edges of the embossed paper were distressed.

Don't worry if you get some stray white embossing powder here and there, it only adds to the texture of the background.

Santa's sleigh and the deer were colored with Scorched Timber. Scorched Timber gets very dark when applied directly to the paper, I didn't want to use black since that might have been too stark.

The speckles of white embossing powder on the cityscape are meant to look like snow.

I found three clippings stickers to use as sentiment in Tim's Christmas Sticker Book.

The cars are embossed with several layers of embossing powder, but I used cardstock for the wheels and the trees, for contrast. The cars were inked with Saltwater Taffy and Abandoned Coral.

Join us this week in our Emboss It 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 my blog 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.

Thankful Tag

Hello crafters! It is a new week and I hope you had a good weekend and got some crafty 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.

This week we have a Thanks/Thanksgiving theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us! Our guest designer Teresa York has created a lovely project, don't miss it. 

I made a tag this week, with a background made from Simon Says Stamp sentiment strips, stamped flowers colored with pencils, gems for sparkle and gold letters. I like to cover an entire background with words and there are many different ways to do that. You can also use stamps or old book paper.

I used a Gratitude sentiment strip sheet from the new Simon Says Stamp Festive Fun release. Cut one of the pages into strips and then cut apart the individual sentiments. I cut off some of the words too, since I needed shorter sentiments. Glue them to a tag cut from watercolor paper. Add a layer of Matte Medium on top too. Let dry. 

Paint with watered-down Distress Paint and mist with more water if needed. Wipe some of the paint off from the words.

Stamp Tim Holtz Floristry on heavystock paper.

I used the coordinating Floristry dies by Simon Says Stamp to die cut most of the larger flowers and some of the smaller ones.

Color with colored pencils. I used Prismacolors. Use a white pencil to blend the colors. 

Add details with a black pen and highlights with a white gel pen. Then give the flowers some shape with Tim Holtz Shaping Kit. Place the flowers on Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Perfect Craft Pad when using the stylus tools. 

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Pointy Pine Needle Sprigs from green and Pine Glitter cardstock. Tuck the pine needles under the flowers.

Adhere the flowers with foam tape. I used two layers for some of them.

Don't worry if the strips aren't completely straight and even. In fact, you can make then uneven on purpose, for a playful look. The paint will collect in the recessed areas.

The sentiment was die cut from gold and dark brown kraft-stock paper, using Tim Holtz Vault Seasonal Sketch set. I also added Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Gems here and there.

Join us this week in our Thanks/Thanksgiving 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 my blog 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.