Monday, December 2, 2024

Be of Good Cheer ATC

Hi crafters! Today I have a fun surprise project to share, a Santa Artist Trading Card.

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.


DieCember® has just gotten started at Simon Says Stamp and today there is a big Cyber Monday surprise. You will get the exclusive Tim Holtz Be of Good Cheer set as a gift with any Tim Holtz $25 purchase (while supplies last). You don't need to add a code.

Layers of ink - Be a Good Cheer ATC tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I decided to make an Artist Trading Card for this project, since I thought Santa would fit well on the space of an ATC (2.5x3.5 in). I die cut Santa from various left-over papers and from Simon Says Stamp velvet paper. 

Tim Holtz Be a Good Cheer.

Here you can see the cute exclusive Be of Good Cheer set. There is also a snowman head. I die cut the pieces for Santa as you can see here. The rim of the hat was die cut twice, once from collage paper and once from white velvet paper. I cut off the beard part from the velvet paper.

Coat with Moon Dust Stickles.

Coat the collage paper die cut with Moon Dust Stickles. I used this same technique on my DieCember® blog party tag yesterday.

Assemble the snowman.

Assemble and glue all the pieces.

Color with Distress Ink.

I cut the ATC from watercolor paper which had already been colored with Distress Ink. Smear Distress Inks on a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water. Press the paper into the ink. Let the paper dry and then repeat. 

Mist with Distress Spritz.

Mist with Distress Spritz Tumbled Glass through the Sparkle Fade stencil.

Die cut foliage and pine branches.

Die cut pine branches using Tim's Vault Festive Wreath and Festive Gatherings sets. I die cut them from silver kraft-stock, Simon Says Stamp silver glitter paper and Navy cardstock.


Layer the pine branches on the ATC and add some Clear Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Gems. The sentiments come from Tim's Christmas Sticker Book.

Santas hat.

The Pawsitively Luxury Velvet paper adds a nice touch to the hat. 

Santa's glittery beard.

This shadow die cut is so cleverly done. It was die cut from a small piece of paper where I had tried out some watercolor paint. Santa was adhered with foam tape.

Pine branches die cut from silver and glitter paper.

Mixing different types of pine branch die cuts adds interest. 

Add gems to the stars.

The small stars also comes from the Be of Good Cheer set and were die cut from silver cardstock. I added gems to some of the centers. 



Thank you for visiting!

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.


Sparkly Snowflake Tag

Hi crafters! I hope you have had a good weekend! It is December and although we had an unusually warm weekend, Christmas is in the air.

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 Make it Sparkle theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Since it is the first Monday of a new month, the team is also showcasing products by a specific company/designer and this week it is Paper Artsy. You can find Paper Artsy's versatile range of products here. You don't have to use their products to join in the challenge, but it is fun if you do. 

We also have a new guest designer and this week Anita Rao will be joining us. I hope you will step by her blog to see the art journal page that she has created for the challenge.

Layers of ink - Snowflake Tag Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I am waiting for a parcel with new stamps by Paper Artsy and it might very well arrive tomorrow, but for this tag I used Paper Artsy's Infusions Colored Stains instead, which is one of my favorite products by them. You can do so many fun things with the Infusions and they are great for texture. 

Paper Artsy Infusions Colored Stains papers.

I have a whole bunch of watercolor papers which have already been colored with Infusions. Mist the paper with water and add a tiny bit of Infusions Colored Stains, mist with more water to blend. You can dabb off the walnut crystals if you want a less distressed look. 

Die cut stripes.

I used Simon Says Stamp EZ Strips Rectangles die, from the brand new DieCember® release to die cut the stripes from the papers. It cuts strips in different sizes.

Glue strips to tag.

Glue the stripes to a tag. I also die cut thin stripes from silver glitter cardstock. 

Die cut sparkly snowflakes.

Die cut the snowflake from Tim Holtz Vault Winter Wishes from Simon Says Stamp Holographic paper and from Teal and White glitter paper. I ended up not using the silver version.

Stamp sentiment.

Stamp sentiments on some of the stripes.

Add Pawsitively Dazzling Gems.

I also glued Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to the tag, for even more sparkle.


Layer the three snowflakes together and add a sentiment in the center. The snowflake is very sparkly.


You can use any colors you want and it is easy to line all the stripes up since the die cutting makes sure they are the same width. 

Join us this week in our Make it Sparkle 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 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.



Sunday, December 1, 2024

Simon Says Stamp DieCember®

Hello and welcome to my blog on this first day of December! I am happy to be a part of the big Simon Says Stamp DieCember® blog party, to celebrate the new release. 

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.

Simon Says Stamp DieCember release.

This is the 12th annual DieCember® celebrations at Simon Says Stamp and the new release is filled with versatile and fun products. They are perfect for winter and Christmas crafting, but also for many other themes. You can find the whole release here. 


Customers who spend $100 or more on DieCember® release products will receive the exclusive Fancy Ornaments embossing folder and die set as a free gift. The offer is valid until 12/1 at 11:59 pm ET or while supplies last. 

Layers of ink - DieCember Blog Party Snowman tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I made a glittery, winter tag featuring two cheerful snowmen. The snowmen were die cut with the cute Simon Says Stamp Festive Snowman set from the DieCember® release. You can easily turn the design into a card instead or you could add a whole bunch of little snowmen.

Apply gesso.

Start by coating the background with gesso.

Paint with Distress Paint.

When dry, paint the sky with Distress Paint and mist with water.

Add texture paste, mica flakes and rock candy glitter.

Add a thick layer of texture paste as snow and sprinkle some Mica Flakes into the paste. Then sprinkle Rock Candy glitter to cover up the rest of the paste.


Splatter the sky with white paint. 


I made the snowman bodies from a piece of collage paper that I made for a tutorial on the Simon Says Stamp store blog. That time, the paper was turned into ghosts, this time it became a good textured background for the snowmen. 

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Festive Snowman.

I die cut the rest of the Festive Snowman pieces from Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Luxury Velvet cardstock, Simon Says Stamp glitter cardstock and left-over pieces of inky or watercolored paper.

Add Moon Dust Stickles.

Apply Stickles Moon Dust to the bodies. Let dry.

Assemble the snowmen.

Glue the snowmen together. Aren't they cute?

Die cut Snowflake Swirl from glitter paper.

Die cut the Simon Says Stamp Snowflake Swirl from White Glitter Cardstock. I also die cut it from vellum, but ended up not using that piece.

Add Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Gems.

Glue the Snowflake Swirl to the top of the tag. I cut sentiment from the DieCember® sentiment strips and added Bubblegum Pawsitively Dazzling Gems. 

Festive Snowmen.

The snowmen were adhered with foam tape. I also added Surf and Clear Dazzling Gems to them. 


The rim of the hat and the scarf are die cut from Simon Says Stamp Velvet paper, giving a warm and fuzzy feel to the snowman.


The buttons and eyes were die cut from Simon Says Stamp Black Glitter Cardstock. 

Velvet paper scarf.

The text in the background adds texture and interest without overwhelming the design.

Mica and Rock Candy snow.

Texture paste combined with Mica Flakes and Rock Candy glitter is one of my favorite ways in which to create snow. The sentiment was stamped with the Simon Says Stamp Cozy Together stamp set.

Layers of ink - Festive Snowmen Tag Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

Don't miss all the inspiration along the blog party or during the entire month. All the links are available at the Simon Says Stamp Store blog. Don't miss it!

There is also a special DieCember® gallery where you can find inspiration and add your own projects.


Thank you for visiting!

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.



Saturday, November 30, 2024

Winter Berries Tag

Hello friends! Today I have a tag to share with stamped and watercolored winter berries. I can't believe that this is the last day of November. Tomorrow it is December!

 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.

Layers of ink - Winter Berries Tag Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I thought the pretty berry branch from Tim Holtz new Forest Floor 2 set deserved to be the focal point of a tag. I am also fond of red winter berries. For this tag, I went with a neutral color scheme, to make the red pop, but also added a little bit of gold.

Color with Distress Ink.

Start with a tag die cut from watercolor paper. Smear Distress Inks on a non-stick craft sheet, mist with water and press the tag into the ink. Let dry and repeat.

Stamp with Tim Holtz Forest Floor 2.

Stamp the berry branch from Forest Floor 2 with Potting Soil ink. Ink parts of the stamp with Jet Black ink and restamp. I used my MISTI to make this easier.

Watercolor the berries.

Smear Distress Ink on the craft sheet and mist with water. Pick up with a paint brush and watercolor the berries and the branches.


When dry, add a white highlight to each berry with a white gel pen. Stamp the sentiment, from Home For Christmas. 

Stamp with Simon Says Stamp Old Letter.

Stamp here and there with Simon Says Stamp Old Letter. By mistake, I inked the stamp with first Potting Soil and then also some Jet Black. 


Ink and distress the edges. The the tag with organza ribbons.

Close up of berries.

The white gel pen will pick up some of the red from the berries, but that doesn't matter.

Add Christmas Sticker Book sentiments.

I also added sentiments from Tim's Christmas Sticker Book, and Simon Says Stamp gold sequins.


The pine branch from Tim Holtz Festive Gatherings was die cut from gold kraft-stock paper. I also added a sentiment from the Christmas Baseboard set.



Thank you for visiting!

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.