Crocus Card Tutorial

Hello crafters! Spring is in full bloom and one of my favorite spring flower is the crocus. Today, I am sharing a card with a row of crocus flowers in different colors.

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.

I used photos I took last spring as inspiration for the colors. My favorite crocus color is the white one with purple lines. It is so delicate. The yellow ones give a nice contrast to the purple. For the background, I made a soft, textured background with resist stamping.

Start by die cutting the petals of the Simon Says Stamp Fresh Crocus Duo from watercolor paper. 

Test shades of watercolor paint on scrap paper first and then paint the flowers. Leave some white showing for highlights. 

Paint watercolor paper with three shades of green and when dry, die cut the leaves and stems.

Use Tim Holtz Shaping Kit to add shape to the flowers. Make one concave and one convex shape for each flower.

Shape the leaves too and assemble the crocus flowers.

White emboss Simon Says Stamp Friendship Background on watercolor paper.

Apply Distress Ink to a non-stick craft sheet, mist with water and press the paper into the ink. Let dry and repeat until you are happy with the look. 

As a final layer, use Distress Oxide Ink. I made two backgrounds at once and will use the second one for another project.

The sentiments come from Simon Says Stamp Loving Thoughts and were stamped with Frayed Burlap Archival Ink.

Text and script stamps are some of my favorite stamps and I tend to use them a lot. This one has a friendship theme, which fit extra well here.

Glue the flowers to the background. I used Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Perfect Foam Tape for some of them.

You can also add a piece of foam tape inside the flowers, to make them more dimensional.

At the bottom o the card I stapled two pieces of trim. I also tucked in extra green leaves here and there, until I had used all the leaves that I die cut.

The trim tides up the card and hides the places where the leaves might not have gone all the way down.

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.

Ladder Tag

Hi crafters! I hope you are well! Today I have a mixed media tag to share with die cutting, heat embossing, paint and stamping. 

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.

I had one of the die cuts from Sizzix Seth Apter Tracks on my desk and turned it vertically. It looked like a rickety ladder which gave the idea for this tag. I paired it up with some words and die cut one word with alphabet stamps. 

Start by die cutting five ladders using Seth Apter's set. I die cut from Tim Holtz Kraft Stock and a wood grain paper. 

Glue them together with Simon Says Stamp craft glue, off setting the back layer slightly to create a shadow. The top layer is the woodgrain paper.

Coat a tag with white gesso and press patterns with a palette knife. When dry, paint with Distress Paint. Mist with water to blend.

When the tag is almost dry, wipe off some of the paint. 

Silver emboss Simon Says Stamp Swiss Dots in some areas. Add a little silver powder along the edges too.

Stamp the background with Tim Holtz School Desk alphabet stamp and birds from Mini Ornates.

Add a little Black Soot around the edges.

The clouds were die cut from Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Velvet paper using Tim Holtz Vault World Travel.

This sentiment was die cut from silver kraft stock and black cardstock using Tim Holtz Sizzix Handwritten Journey. The stamped sentiment is from Tim's Tiny Text.

Gesso in the background can give very interesting textures.

This sentiment was die cut with Tim Holtz Vault World Travel, using the same combination of papers as for 'explore'. The sentiment is a Small Talk sticker.

By layering many die cut, you can get a more dimensional ladder. The edges were inked slightly with Scorched Timber. 

Thank you for stopping by here today! Have fun crafting!

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.

Faceted Hearts Tag

Hi friends! Yesterday we went to look at the Sakura trees flowering, which is always a sign of spring. And today I have a pink and purple tag to share.

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 Use more than one stencil theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will take out those stencils and join us! Don't miss the project by our April guest designer Thom Santilla.  

I made a tag with five dimensional faceted hearts and used two different stencils for the background. I used Tim Holtz Vault Rosettes for the hearts and the two stencils are Tim Holtz Sparkle Fade and Simon Says Stamp Snowfall and Banks.

Start with a tag cut from watercolor paper and build up layers of Distress Ink. Smear ink on craft sheet, mist with water and press the paper into the ink. Let dry and repeat. Use a little Distress Oxide ink at the end.

Ink Simon Says Stamp Pepita Background with Wilted Violet. Mist with water 3-4 times and stamp.

Apply paint with a sponge through Simon Says Stamp Snowfall and Banks.

Die cut hearts using Tim Holtz Vault Rosettes. I used papers from Tim Holtz Pink Palette and Red Palette 8x8 in paper packs.

Fold and score the lines. Ink with Distress Ink.

Mist the tag with Distress Spritz Saltwater Taffy through Tim Holtz Sparkle Fade stencil. It will give a beautiful shimmer. Also mist the hearts. 

Assemble the hearts.

I added Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Opal Gems to the tag, and three Tim Holtz Small Talk stickers for sentiments.

Distress the edge of the tag and add a line with a white gel pen.

When die cutting the hearts, place the die so that the text on the front of the heart is the right way around. Test on scrap paper first. 

I added a little bit of cheese cloth under each heart.

Here you can see the shimmer from the Distress Spritz better.

Each heart has a different pattern and a different shade of pink.

You can of course also use the techniques for a card.

Here you can see the Distress Spritz better.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Join us this week in our Use more than one stencil 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.