Pink Florals Card

Hello crafters! I hope your weekend was good! Here new signs of spring appear almost every day, which is wonderful. 

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 Bright & Cheerful theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Lots of options! Don't miss the beautiful project by our April guest Thom Santilla.  

I made a card with very bright and cheerful colors and some glitter and bling too. The flower was stamped with Simon Says Stamp Beautiful and Curious (I just love the name of that stamp set) and everything was colored with watercolors. 

I die cut a square from watercolor paper with Simon Says Stamp Basic Shapes Squares. White emboss the floral stamp from Beautiful and Curious. 

Paint the flowers with watercolor paint, dropping yellow paint into the pink before the pink paint was dry. 

Paint the leaves and stem and then paint the background. I didn't use green for the grass, but instead dropped in yellow paint letting it mix with the blue paint on the paper.

When the paint was dry, I white embossed dots from Tim Holtz Halftone background as a frame around the flower.

The embossing will resist the paint. Don't worry about trying to get perfect coloring. 

I die cut squares from Simon Says Stamp White glitter cardstock and from watercolor paper, using them as mats. Distress the edges of the watercolor paper squares. A Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker was used as a sentiment. 

Add Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Opal Gems to the flower centers. 

The sentiment was die cut with Tim Holtz Handwritten Celebrate from Simon Says Stamp Color Blend cardstock and white glitter cardstock. The Color Blend cardstock is glossy. The stamped sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Cool Birthday.

I used mummy cloth / cheese cloth as a border together with an old heart ribbon.

Join us this week in our Bright and Cheerful 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.

File Folder Book Tutorial

Hi friends! I hope you are well and had a good Easter. We have had rainy and stormy weather almost the entire Easter, but apart from that, it has been good.

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 Not A Card theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us! Since it is the first Monday of a new month, the team is showcasing products by a specific company / designer and this week it is Tim Holtz. You can find Tim's large range of products here. 

We also have a new guest designer. During April Thom Santilla will be joining us. Don't miss checking out his fantastic project on his Instagram account.

I made a mini book this week, using file folders as my base, die cut from bright papers and stamped with sentiments, images and texture stamps. There are photos in the pocket. I used Tim Holtz Vault Noteworthy to die cut the folders and a whole lot of Tim's stamps from the stamping.

Start by die cutting file folders with Tim's Vault Noteworthy from inky papers.     

Color the inside with Distress Watercolor Pencils.

Stamp with various Tim Holtz sentiment stamps.

Add smaller sentiments on the back of each folder.

Stamp with butterflies and flowers. Mist the stamp with water after inking. I stamped with Distress Ink.

Stamp dots with Distress Ink, using a stamp from Tim's Tiny Textures. Mist with water before stamping. Stamp more texture with Simon Says Stamp Crackle Background and Tim Holtz School Desk alphabet.

Pierce three holes and thread with embroidery floss. 

Stitch the sides with a sewing machine.

Tie all the threads together at the spine and string glass beads to make the spine prettier.

 I matted small photos on cream cardstock and tucked into the pockets. The sentiment is from Tim's Warehouse District and the butterfly is from Flutter.

You can also make a separate cover, but I wanted one of the file folders to be the front of the mini book.

I used some of my favorite sentiments in this book, such as from Nature's Wonder and Creative Muse.

These butterflies are from Tim's Attic Treasures set.

I stamped words from Tim's Tiny Text on the flaps.

Using a mix of colors and bright, inky background makes for a cheerful look.

I used a mix of childhood photos to fill the pockets.

The flower was stamped with Tim's Nature's Moments.

More butterflies and a dragonfly. 

This dragonfly is from Simon Says Stamp Big Botanicals. There is also some Distress Spritz in the background, misted through Tim's Sparkle Fade stencil.

Look for sentiments and words that will fit right only the folders, such as 'photographs'.

The butterfly was stamped with Wilted Violet Distress Ink.

The back of the little book, stamped with flowers from Tim's Winter Watercolor 2.

Join us this week in our Not a Card 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.

Imagination Art Journal Page

Hello crafters! Today I have an art journal page to share, with an Easter theme. You can of course also use the techniques to make a card or a tag instead.

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 bunny from Tim Holtz Spring Sprung stamp set is a favorite of mine and I decided to use the stamp on an art journal page. The page has an Easter theme, but with the addition of the theme of imagination. I used pastel colors, stencils, textures page, glitter and cheese cloth. 

Start by coating a page with gesso and let it dry. I worked in my Dylusions Small Creative Journal. Apply texture paste at the base and press cheese cloth, or mummy cloth, into the paste. Let dry.

Paint with pastel Distress Paints and mist with water to blend. I used Abandoned Coral, Cracked Pistachio, Squeezed Lemonade and Salvaged Patina.

Stamp the bunny from Spring Sprung, birds from Mini Ornates and a sentiment from Nature's Discovery. All sets are by Tim Holtz / Stamper's Anonymous. I fixed the mistake in the sentiment later. 

Sponge paint through Tim Holtz Nordic and Sparkle Fade stencils. 

Sponge white paint through Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Circles, in a few places.

Paint the bunny with Distress Paint and stamp a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Hoppy Spring. I also stamped Simon Says Stamp Old Letter in the background.

I applied Moon Dust Glitter Gel through Tim Holtz Bubble stencil, here and there.

The sentiments come from Tim Holtz Small Talk Stickers.

The bunny releases three glittery butterflies. For more examples using this stamp, check out my Sweet Treat Tag where he sprinkles jewels, Colored Pencils on Kraft tag, where he holds a heart balloon, and 12 Tags of March 2015, where he kicks a sparkly ball.

Pastel shades are fun to use. 

I applied both white paint and glitter gel to the cheese cloth, to give it texture and sparkle.

Use paint to add a shadow under the bunny.

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.