Silhouettes Art Journal Page

Hello crafters! It is a new month and spring is in the air. The weather changed completely in just a few days. Today I have a mixed media tutorial to share with you.

We have an Art Journal theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog this week. If you have never tried art journaling before, this would be a great time to do so. It is very freeing and fun. If you don't have an art journal, you can work on a sheet of paper. 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 Dyan Reaveley with her Dylusions range. You can see her fantastic products here. You don't have to use Dyan's products to join, but it is always fun if you do. 

We also have a new guest designer and during March, Sandra Rupp is joining us. Be sure to visit her beautiful blog SRpaperlove to see what she has created for you.

Both boys have their birthdays in the second half of February, so it is normally a time of celebration and parties. This year was a little different, but they were happy with their birthdays anyway. Last year, both of them had parties, and it was literary just days before everything changed because of Covid. Hopefully, by next year, they will have normal birthdays again. 

I made a double page art journal spread in my large Dylusions Journal to celebrate brotherhood. It's about 16.5 x 11.4 in. Sometimes it is fun to work large, but you can of course use the techniques for smaller sized projects too.

Coat the page with gesso and when dry, paint with watered-down Distress Paints. Mist with more water to help them blend.

I used Dyan Reaveley's Otis Silhouette stencil, which was perfect for my theme since it has two boys of different size. Apply paint with a mini round ink blending tool, starting with the lighter shade of blue and gradually adding darker colors. I used Dina Wakley's Ocean, Lapis and Night paints, in that order. The balloon got two layers of yellow paint.

The Otis Silhouette stencil also comes with masks, place them on top of the boys. Place Dyan's Martha's Mat at the bottom of the layer and mist with Dirty Martini Shimmer Spray.

Repeat on the blue areas of the background, but this time use white paint.

Place the masks over the designs and add a shadow, by dry brushing night and black paint.

Next, I added some pen work with a black pen and a white gel pen. 

Lots of sentiments were stamped on the background using Simon Says Stamp Because of You, Stronger Together, Anna's Flowers and Thoughtful Flowers sets. I also stamped the Circle Pattern with black ink and the Crackle Background with Deep Sea ink.

The Simon Says Stamp Circle Loops were die cut from Memory Box Frosted Glitter paper.

The Because of You set has really great sentiments.

The white gel pen highlights add a lot of life to the balloon. This sentiment comes from Anna's Flowers.

You was stamped repeatedly here and there, without reinking in between.

This 'you' was stamped with white paint. Remember to always clean your stamps immediately after using them with paint.

The simple white gel pen lines add movement to the silhouettes.

The shimmery spray is very shimmery, but it was hard to capture on a photo. This area, where the spray meets the turquoise paint is one of my favorite spots on the page.

When you stamp on a shimmery background, some of the shimmer will show through the stamping.

I really like the Simon Says Stamp You Matter die and die cut it from Frosted paper.

I hope you will join us this week in our Art Journal 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.

Stitched Circle Card

Hello friends! I have a card with stitching to share with you today. There was a time when I used a lot of embroidery floss on my cards, but I haven't done it as much lately. 

I used to do embroidered designs on my cards often when I started cardmaking, partly since I had a lot of DMC embroidery floss at home. When I saw the Memory Box Stitched Circle die, I thought it would be fun to do a stitched design again. You can do lots of different designs and patterns with the help of this die. 

Start by inking a heavystock paper with Distress Ink, mist with water and also add some water drops.

When dry, die cut the Stitched Circle and try to center it on the paper. If it isn't in the center, you can also cut down the paper a bit.

Stamp the background with the Simon Says Stamp Old Letter Background stamp and Dark Chocolate ink. If you want more subtle text, use Khaki ink instead.

Start with the beige DMC floss. I used a whole strand and every second hole in the design. You will get a different look depending on how much you angle the threads. 

Continue the same way, but the other way around. 

Next, take the blue floss and repeat the process, but in the die cut holes that are still empty.

Finally, repeat the blue thread again, but the other way around. 

I cut away a circle in the center with a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Circles die.

As a back drop, I used a piece of watercolor paper which had been inked with Tumbled Glass and Broken China. Apply the inks to a non-stick craft sheet, mist with water and press the paper into the ink. This was a second paper pressed into the ink after another paper had already soaked up most of the ink. That's how I got that light, mottled look.

Mark the middle of the card with a pencil dot. Stamp the sun from Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Circles with Mermaid Lagoon ink.

White emboss a heart from Mix and Match Circles.

Distress the edges of the panels and stitch to the background with a sewing machine.

The sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Butterflies and was stamped with Dark Chocolate ink.

Experiment to see what designs you can create, by using different colors, thinner threads, and different patterns.

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.

Shimmering Butterfly Tag

Hello friends! Today I have a tutorial for you with a wax paper resist technique as well as some other fun details. 

I was in the mood for a warm yellow-brown project, but you can of course do the techniques with any color. I used the Simon Says Stamp Boho Circle die together with wax paper to get the resist effect in the background. It is pretty subtle and if you want more contrast, work on a lighter background instead. I also used gold foil and Modeling Film on the tag.

Ink a tag with Distress Ink.

Die cut the Boho Circle. This is an intricate die and it is easier to die cut if you place a piece of wax paper in between the die and the paper. I actually started out planning to use the heavystock die cut to the right, but then decided to use the wax paper instead.

Move the wax paper around on the tag until you are happy with the look. Place baking paper above and underneath the tag and then iron on top, without steam. The wax will melt on the paper - but you don't really see it until the next step.

Ink the tag with darker shades of Distress Ink. As you can see, the ink is darker on the areas where there were no wax paper, giving you a reversed image of the Boho Circle. 

I added texture by dropping a few drops of water on the tag.

Stamp here and there with the Simon Says Stamp Crackle Background stamp and Vintage Photo ink. 

Apply glue around the edges and wait a short while, so that it starts to dry, but is still tacky. Rub gold foil over the glue, with the shiny side up.

Stamp butterflies from Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Butterflies on Wendy Vecchi Clearly For Art Modeling Film.

Cut them out and turn them around. Apply Valencia and Gold Mixative alcohol ink to the back.

Use a heat tool and carefully heat the butterfly, one side at a time. Shape the wings. You can reheat if you are not happy with the look. Modeling Film will hold its shape perfectly when cool. Staple to the background.

I stamped words from Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery and All Seasons Tree on the background with Dark Chocolate ink.

Here you can see the resist effect better. I also stitched a little on the background.

The Detailed Leaf Cluster was die cut from Memory Box Frosted Glitter paper and I also added some copper sequins.

The main sentiment comes from Forest Scenery and was stamped with Dark Chocolate ink.

The combination of the very shiny gold foil, glitter paper, metallic alcohol ink under the butterfly and the warm shades makes for an interesting looking tag.

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.