Friday, May 29, 2026

Artsy Flowers Tag

Hello friends! Today I have a bright floral tag to share, made with stamps and watercolors.

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 - Artsy Flowers Tag Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

For this tag, I wanted bright and happy colors. The same floral was stamped three times, using masking tape to make it look like the flowers overlap. 

Stamp Simon Says Stamp a little artsy.

Start by stamping the large flower from Simon Says Stamp A Little Artsy once on the tag and once on Simon Says Stamp Masking Paper. Cut the mask out and mask the first flower. Stamp the second flower and repeat. 

Paint with Daniel Smith watercolors.

Paint the flowers with watercolors, leaving some of the white paper showing. I painted each flower with one color and dropped in a second color before the first was dry. The colors will blend on the paper.

Paint the background.

Paint the background and add Daniel Smith Lunar Black around the edges.

Stamp dots and add highlights.

When dry, I stamped the messy thread stamp all around the edges, but didn't ink up the loop part each time. I also stamped the dots from the same stamp A Little Artsy set with Distress Oxide Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick. The stamp with the small numbers was also stamped here and there, but with black ink. I added highlights to the flowers with a white gel pen.


Hello friend comes from Simon Says Stamp Swiss Dots. 

Distress the edges.

Distress the edges and tie the tag with various ribbons.


I added three black sequins to each flower.


This sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Stay True.

Layers of ink - Artsy Flowers Tag Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I hope you enjoyed this bold and bright tag. 



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.



Monday, May 25, 2026

Word Background Art Journal Page

 Hi friends! I have an art journal tutorial on the Simon Says Stamp store blog. 

Layers of ink - Word Background Art Journal Page Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

The art journal page is inspired by alphabet dies. I am very fond of alphabet dies; with them you can create any word or message imaginable. Here, I made them a part of the background, at the same time as they carry the message of the page. The techniques are easy to do and work great for cardmaking too.

You can find the full tutorial on the Simon Says Stamp store blog. 



Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin


Anniversary Card

Hi friends! I hope you are well and had a good weekend!! We had two fun outings this weekend and the weather was lovely.

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 Wedding/Anniversary theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us! Don't miss the last project by our May guest designer Estelle Palumbo. 

Layers of ink - Anniversary Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I made a card using neutral shades for this week's challenge, using stamps, dies, papers, inks and embossing powder. I was going to go for mainly white and cream first, but then added a bit of darker brown too. 

Stamp Simon Says Stamp Retro Hearts.

Start by die cutting the Simon Says Stamp Retro Hearts coordinating heart die from heavystock paper. Stamp the heart with embossing ink and white emboss. I added several layers of embossing powder. The heart was stamped so that there would be an unstamped area at the bottom of the heart.

Don't worry about stray embossing powder, it will only add texture.

Ink with Distress Ink.

Ink with Distress Inks. I aimed for an ombre look to the heart and inked darker around the edges. The larger edge at the bottom then becomes a shadow. 

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Heart Chain.

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Heart Chain from Simon Says Stamp Glimmer Vellum and from left-over gessoed paper.

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Detail Pincushion.

For the background, I used Simon Says Stamp Detail Pincushion Plate. Die cut from heavystock paper.

Stamp with Tim Holtz School Desk.

White emboss the alphabet stamp from Tim Holtz School Desk here and there.

Ink with Distress Ink.

Ink lightly with Distress ink, making it darker around the edges.

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Layered Bird Bunch.

I die cut Simon Says Stamp Layered Bird Bunch from various papers and glued them together.


They were adhered with Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Perfect Foam Tape. I also added cheese cloth under the heart.


Use a white gel pen to add a highlight to the eye.


The sentiment was die cut with Tim Holtz Vault Travel set from cream paper. 'Happy' was stamped with Simon Says Stamp Cool Birthday.

Layers of ink - Anniversary Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

Behind the pincushion panel there is a piece of Tim Holtz Neutral Palette paper, woodgrain pattern.

Join us this week in our Wedding/Anniversary 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.


Friday, May 22, 2026

Beautiful May Art Journal

Hello crafters! Today I have an art journal page to share, made about the beautiful month of May. 

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 - Beautiful May Art Journal Page by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

May is perhaps the most beautiful month here, everything turns bright spring green and it goes so fast. Flowers appear all over, but it is the green that is the most amazing thing. I never get tired of butterflies and you can make them in any color imaginable. It is also easy to make them dimensional. You can of course make a card instead of an art journal page, if you want too. 

Apply texture paste through the stencil.

Watercolor paper was first coated with gesso. When dry, I applied texture paste through Simon Says Stamp Petal Lattice stencil. At this stage, I was still planning to make a card and to cut down this panel, but I liked it so much with the open area that I decided to use the whole paper instead.

Paint with Distress Paint.

Paint with Distress Paint and mist with water to blend.

Mist with Antique Linen Distress Spritz,

Mist with Antique Linen Distress Spritz here and there for shimmer.

Add Stickles.

When dry, apply Stickles Moon Dust in a some areas.

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Flourish Butterfly Trio.

Next, I die cut Simon Says Stamp Flourish Butterfly Trio from left-over watercolor paper and from Simon Says Stamp Silver Shimmer Vellum. Most of the watercolor pieces were papers where I had tested different shades and how they blended. The bodies were die cut from Simon Says Stamp glitter cardstock.


If you want to, you can add Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Perfect Foam tape under the wings. I didn't, since this is an art journal page

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Alphanumeric Bulletin.

I die cut the title with Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Bulletin. I die cut it from Tim Holtz Neutral Palette Paper and from Simon Says Stamp White Glitter cardstock.


The butterflies will all look different, since they are die cut from leftover papers.


The background was covered with gesso and then paint with brown shades of Distress Paint. Mist with water to blend. I stamped it with Simon Says Stamp Old Letter.


The dot stamp comes from Simon Says Stamp Beautiful and Curious and was stamped with Blueprint Sketch Archival Ink.


I had fun using pastell colors. I also added a trail behind each butterfly with Simon Says Stamp Opal Rainbow embellishments.


I like that there are three different sizes of butterflies in the Simon Says Stamp Flourish Butterfly Trio. Here I used all of them, but for some projects you might want just small butterflies.


The first part of the sentiment was stamped with a stamp from Simon Says Stamp Beautiful and Curious. I cut off the rest of the sentiment since I only wanted the word 'beautiful'.


I added Clippings Stickers here and there.


The Stickles adds a nice glittery touch to the background.


Here you can see the effect of the Antique Linen Distress Spritz better.


The gesso and paint background on today's page had been done a long time ago. I often use up leftover paint in my art journals. It was next to this You Shine page, which you can find a tutorial for here.




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.