Watercoloring a dry embossed background

Hi friends!! You can color a dry embossed background, as you would any other image and today I have a fun tutorial to share where I watercolored an intricate 3-D embossed background. 

We are having warm summer weather here and it is amazing to see what happens in nature every day. 

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.

Have you seen the new 3-D embossing folders in the Rainbows release by Simon Says Stamp? They are gorgeous and so intricate. I loved the leaves on this Vine Canopy folder and decided to watercolor them with Distress Ink. You can of course also use ordinary watercolor paint.

I wanted to work on tinted paper and to get that effect in one quick step, I misted the embossing folder with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain. Mist the paper with water on both sides and emboss. The details in the 3-D folders come out better when the paper you emboss is moist.

Smear Distress Inks on a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water. Pick up with a paint brush and watercolor the leaves. Work on one area at a time and add darker shades before the lighter shades are dry.

Add shading with Hickory Smoke and splatter some Distress Ink on the background too.

The dry embossing in combination with the paint and shading gives an interesting look, with lots of texture.

The Beautiful sentiment was die cut from the same two Simon Says Stamp cardstock colors as used for the mat and cardbase: Peacock Teal and Mint. The small part of the sentiment was stamped with a stamp from Anna's Flowers.

The splatters add texture and gives the appearance of more foliage in the background.

It is hard to capture all the dimension and the embossed details on a photo.

For another example using the Vine Canopy embossing folder, check out my metallic embossed tropical card.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by here today! I will see you again tomorrow.

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.

Birds Mixed Media Art Journal Tutorial

Hi friends! I hope you are well and that you had a good weekend. The sun has been shining here and we spent a lot of time outdoors.

This week at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog we have a Mixed Media theme. Since it is the first Monday of a new month, the team is showcasing products by a specific designer/company and this week it is Dina Wakley. You can see Dina's range of paint, media, stamps, stencils and more here. You don't have to use her products to join, but it is always fun if you do. 

It is a new month, so we also have a new guest designer and for June we are welcoming Nikki Acton with her gorgeous blog Addicted to Art. I hope you will stop by to see what she has created for you.

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 page in Dina's White Journal, which is 6 x 6 and contains thick cotton rag watercolor paper. Two cute birds made their home on the page, from one of my all time favorite sets, the Scribbly Birds.

To make a quick and colorful background, I misted the page with Lime and Turquoise Gloss Spray. It is an acrylic paint based spray.

When the page is dry, sponge white paint through the Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Circles stencil.

Add a little more texture by stamping the Simon Says Stamp Circle Pattern and Halftone Backgrounds.

I also added splatters, using my favorite splattering technique. Dip a Scribble Stick in water and flick a paint brush against it.

Stamp two Scribbly Birds on watercolor paper.

Smear Distress Inks on a non-stick craft sheet, mist with water and watercolor the birds with the ink. You can also use Scribble Sticks.

I also added some additional scribbles with a white gel pen and a black pen.

The background has lots of texture, even if it is only one layer.

The sentiment was stamped with Simon Says Stamp High Dive ink on white paper. I rounded the corners.

The birds were loosely painted as blue tit, but with a little more teal than the original birds.

I scribbled some branches for the birds to stand on and die cut a sentiment with the Simon Says Stamp The Best die, from the new Rainbows collection.

I hope you will join us this week in our Mixed Media 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 taking the time to stop by here 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.

Simon Says Stamp Rainbows Blog Hop

Hello stampers! I am very happy to take part in the Simon Says Stamp Rainbows blog hop, to celebrate the new collection. If you follow along in the hop, you should have come here from the very creative Heather Hoffman.

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.

The Rainbows release is full of versatile stamps, dies, embossing folders, stencils, sequins and paper products. If you use the code ENVIES you can get a pack of Holographic envelopes for free (with purchase). This promotion will expire 6/6 at 11:59 pm or while supplies last.

I made an art journal page and a card for the blog hop and you can find tutorials for both below.

I created a sunny and happy art journal page using the Slimline Sunburst stencil. You can easily turn this design into a card instead. I didn't originally plan to add all the sentiments along the rays, but got that idea when I had stamped the first couple of sentiments.

Start by coating a page with gesso, let it dry and then paint it with Distress Paints. Mist with water so that the paints flow and blend. I worked in the Small Creative Flip Journal.

Place the Slimline Sunburst over the page and apply texture paste through it with a palette knife. Let dry.

Place the stencil back over the design and apply Sizzix 3-D adhesive with a palette knife. Leave to dry for a short while.

Place foil over the design with the shine side up. Press down on the design or rub it with a bone folder. This transfers the foil to the 3-D adhesive. 

I stamped 'sunny days ahead' from the Hello Sunshine set first, and then just continued adding sentiments all around the sun. I used stamps from Tropical Silhouettes, also from the Rainbows release, and from a bunch of previous Simon Says Stamp sets.

Add some texture with the Halftone Background and High Dive ink.

This sun stencil is so fun and it looks really nice with the combination of texture paste and foil. 

I had missed a couple of places when I applied the glue and went back later to add more glue, even though I knew there was a risk that it would get a little messy, which it also did. But I was okay with that.

I also stamped the two clouds from Hello Sunshine on white paper and cut them out.

A few circles were added with a white gel pen.

The The Best die is such a great die and very versatile since you can add lots of different words both before and after. I wrote the word 'time'.

If I had planned to fill the sun with words, I would have made sure they all started at about the same place, but the slightly larger sentiment stamps didn't fit as close to the sun as I needed to be.

My second card is super shiny and uses the gorgeous Vine Canopy embossing folder together with silver metallic paper for the background. It is a quick way of adding lots of interest. Delicious Monster leaves are a favorite of mine, so I was happy to find them on the Tropical Silhouettes set.

Adhere Sizzix Silver Aluminium Adhesive sheet to white cardstock to give it stability. Emboss in the Vine Canopy folder.

Ink the flamingo and leaves from Tropical Silhouettes with various Distress Inks. Mist with water and stamp on watercolor paper.

The sentiment was die cut from another piece of watercolor paper which had first been colored with the two pink Distress Inks that were used for the flamingo.

The sentiment was stamped with Spring Rain ink.

It is difficult to catch the shiny effect of the foil and all the wonderful details on this embossing folder. The leaves have gorgeous embossed veins.

I cut the leaves and flamingo out and glued them to the background. There is a coordinating die set which would work great for this.

Don't miss all the inspiration along the hop. There are of course prizes to be won too, and at each stop on the hop SSS is giving away a $25 coupon, randomly drawn from those who leave a comment. The winners will be posted post on the Simon Says Stamp store blog on Wednesday, the 9th of June.

Your next stop on the hop is Bibi Cameron who will share wonderful inspiration with you.

Here are all the stops along the hop:

Simon Says Stamp Blog

Debby Hughes

Laura Bassen

Jennifer McGuire

Heather Hoffman

Anna-Karin Evaldsson (you are here)

Bibi Cameron

Keisha Charles

Yoonsun Hur

Vicky Papaioannou

Mindy Eggen

Koren Wiskman

Norine Borys

Tina Smith

Natasha Vacca

Adelle Emery

For more Rainbows inspiration, remember to check out the Rainbows gallery at Simon Says Stamp, and if you make something with products from the range, it is fun if you post it in the gallery too. There are galleries for all releases, and for the card kits, full of inspiration. Part one of the blog hop was yesterday, so don't miss all the inspiration there.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by here 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.