Scenic Train Card Tutorial

Hi everyone! I hope you had a fun weekend! We had a lovely swim in a lake during a soft summer rain. The water is really warm because the weather has been good for such a long time all ready. There was also the very first sleepover, which went really well, and Leo has been playing with his new airplane and a bunch of spiders. His favorite spider is a green glittery one. 

This week at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog we have a Transport It theme. Don't miss the wonderful transportation project by our June guest designer Christine Bedford with her blog Pearshapedcrafting.

The other day when I needed a card, I realized that my 'general purpose' cards, which work for almost any occasion, were in short supply, so for this week I thought I'd make one. It's a scenic stamping card of a train travelling through an open and empty desert. The train and background were colored with Distress Inks, and it is easy to do. I used Ranger's Specialty Stamping Paper, which is a lovely matte coated paper, but you can also do the same technique on glossy cardstock, and on some white papers (depending on how smoothly the ink blends on the paper).

Start by stamping the train from Tim Holtz's On the Railroad set, on Specialty Stamping Paper with Jet Black Archival ink. I used the new Detail Blending tools together with Craft Nibs to color the train, with grey, brown and black shades. Make sure to color some parts of the train darker, to create shadows and dimension. For the background, I placed a piece of printer paper along the horizon line and used that as a mask. Start with the lightest shade of ink and gradually build up darker colors.

One of the really nice things with Specialty Stamping paper is what happens when you splatter it with water. Cover the train with a piece of paper and splatter the rest of the background with water. Dab with a paper towel and you will get these lovely white splatters.

Mask the sky again, smear Ground Espresso and Black Soot ink on a craft sheet, mist with water and pick up with a fine paint brush. Tap the brush to create splatters. I also extended the train tracks with a black pen.

I wanted a wispy cloudy look for the sky and got the idea to drag a pipette filled with water across the paper. It turned out pretty cool.

Finally, add highlights to the train with a white gel pen. This step makes a subtle, but big, difference.

Here's a closer look at that wispy sky. I am looking forward to using that technique again.

I distressed the edges and added a black matte under the main panel. I also added a piece of burlap. Then I layered that on one of Tim Holtz's papers, which reminded me of train tracks.

This train stamp is great and I like the combination of an old fashioned train and the sketch look of the stamp. Did you spot that I by mistake tore the paper when I distressed the edges?

The sentiment was die cut with the Sizzix Adventure Words Script set, from brown and cream paper.

When you splatter Distress Ink on Specialty Stamping paper its gets this cool effect where the ink dries darker around the edges of the splatters. This tiny detail happens to be my favourite part of the card.

I hope you will join us this week in our Transport It challenge. As always, you have a chance to win a $50 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until next Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Don't forget to follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram, they post great stuff daily. 

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

Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog today!  

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies: 

Wood plank background tutorial

Hello friends! Another weekend is over and our sunny weather continued. We had a weekend of soccer, swimming in the local outdoor pool, playing Uno and doing arts. Anton got the idea of picking four random markers and then having to use just those four colors on a coloring page. We picked different colors and colored the same image. It was lots of fun and we got some surprising color combos.

This week we have a wide theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog, namely Anything but a Card. Our June guest designer is Christine Bedford with her blog Pearshapedcrafting, don't miss checking out her project for this week.

I made a tag this week, but the techniques can be used on practically anything. For this tag, I used a warm color combination of brown, yellow and gold. You will get a different effect if you use other colors. My favorite part of this tag is the wood plank background.

Start by die cutting three Woodgrain Blocks from heavy stock paper. As you can see, the die both cuts and embosses the paper.

Cut the blocks into planks and arrange them on a tag. Make sure to vary the placement to get an interesting look. Add a layer of clear gesso on top. The clear gesso gives great tooth for the Distress Crayon in the next step.

Color with Distress Crayons. I used Mustard Seed, Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo. Blend the colors with your finger.

Use a paper towel which is just slightly moist - too much and you will remove too much color. Remove as much color as you want.This step reveals the texture of the wood.

Stamp in a few places with the SSS Good Reading Background stamp.

Use a permanent marker to add nails to the planks.

The lovely Flower Cluster die was die cut twice. Apply embossing ink on top and sprinkle with two shades of embossing powder. I used a yellow and a gold shade, and the difference is quite subtle.

Here you can see the shine from the embossing powder better. It contrasts nicely with the matte background.

The wood background has a really nice texture.

I used Tim Holtz Sizzix Funky Floral 1 and Funky Floral 2 to die cut the small flowers. The larger one is in the first set and the small ones (I love them) in the second set. The small flowers were die cut from gold kraftcore paper and the larger ones from Sunshine Glimmery cardstock. Use the Tonic Tool kit to give them some dimension and glue them on the page.

The sentiment from Uplifting Thoughts was stamped on a piece of paper that I found in my scrap box. It had been watercolored with Distress Inks. This sentiment is so true and something important to be reminded of. Even a little bit of kindness can make a big difference.

I really enjoyed creating this background and want to try it on a larger surface soon.

I hope you will join us this week in our Anything But A Card challenge. As always, you have a chance to win a $50 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until next Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Don't forget to follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram, they post great stuff daily. 

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

Thank you for taking the time to stop by 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.

Dramatic Seascape Journal Tutorial

Hello friends! I hope you are all well! We have had another week of summer weather and have been swimming quite a bit in the lakes around here. There are lots of lakes in Sweden, and you are almost never far away from one or more of them.

This week at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog we have an All Things Bright and Beautiful theme, so it is time to bring out some bright paints, papers or inks. Since it is the first Monday of a new month, the team is showcasing products by a specific company / designer, and this week the turn has come to Paper Artsy. Paper Artsy has lots of wonderful stamps, stencils, paints, and one of my favourite coloring media Infusions Colored Stains. You can see all their products here. You don't have to use Paper Artsy products to join, but it is always fun if you do. 

Our June guest designer is Christine Bedford with her blog Pearshapedcrafting, don't miss checking out her project and blog. 

I interpreted this challenge a little differently, probably because I have been in such a summer mood lately. The 'bright and beautiful' part made me think of a sparkly summer sea and I created a dramatic seascape scene in my Dina Wakley Media Journal. There are bright colors too, in the form of Infusions. I also used the lovely Paper Artsy Eclectica3 Scrapcosy 11 stamp set. 

Start by stamping the ship on one of the cotton-rag watercolor pages in the Media Journal, or you could use a lose sheet of watercolor paper. I masked off the top of the ship and stamped the scenic background twice, to cover the whole page. As you can see my stamping isn't perfect, but it won't show in the end.

Add a tiny bit of Distress Micro Glaze with your finger here and there in the water, on the sails and as clouds in the sky.

Next to the really fun part. Mist the page with water and sprinkle Infusions powders onto it. I have pricked a hole in the top of the lids of my jars. You need very little powder, and it is better to start with just a little and add more later. I used: A Bit Jaded, Sleight Blue, Lemoncello, Sunset Beach and a little Orange County. Mist with more water to help the colors blend. You can also dab off some of the pigment with a paper towel.

When the page was dry, I added color to the ship and cliffs, as well as some shadows, with Distress Inks.

The text stamp that comes in the Eclectica3 Scrapcosy 11 set has swirly details that almost looks like clouds and waves, and I stamped it randomly here and there on the page.

For even more sparkle, I misted the page here and there with Wendy Vecchi Pearl Mica Spray. You might see some of it here.

The words were die cut with Tim Holtz's Sizzix Handwritten Journey set, from cream and SSS Coal Glimmery cardstock. The Glimmery Cardstock is really glimmery, which you can see here.

This stamp comes from the SSS One with Nature set.

The Micro Glaze resists the Infusions powder and leaves white areas. I just love the close-ups of the all those different colors.

Another of the three words. I die cut them only in cream first, but they disappeared too much on the background.

It is such fun to play around with the Infusions powders and you never get the same result twice.

My sentiment comes from the SSS One with Nature set, and I thought it fit with my scene and the feeling I wanted to convey.

This ship stamp is awesome and so intricate. I like how it is on it's way out to sea. I used a paint brush to add color between the sails, and drew the horizon line with a marker, as well as extended the rock to the left, since that part had been masked out when I stamped the scenic background stamp.

Finally, I draw a rough border around the page and added some lines to the sea.

I hope you will join us this week in our All Things Bright and Beautiful challenge. As always, you have a chance to win a $50 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until next Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Don't forget to follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram, they post great stuff daily. 

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

Thank you for taking the time to stop by 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.