Simon Says Stamp Gratitude Blog Hop

[This is my second post of the day, for my Winter Scene Pop-up tutorial, see below]

Hello crafters! I was so happy to be asked to be a part of the Simon Says Stamp Gratitude Blog Hop. Even if we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, I always thought it has a very meaningful message, to count your blessings and the things you are grateful for. What are you thankful for?

There are so many things to be grateful for, little things and big things. The first thing that comes to my mind is quite a big thing and that is how grateful I am that everything turned out all right when my son was born. I got very ill (without knowing it) and things could have gone really bad if I had had a check-up just one day later than I did. It was an emergency and he had to be born preterm. Even if it is soon three years ago, I still think about how lucky we were daily.

I decided to do a wall-hanging with a photo of the two of us from last year. The sweet sentiments in the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Words stamp set worked really well for this theme. I used some of my favourite things: dies, dry embossing, stamping, hearts, birds, branches, and of course techniques. I took some step-by-step photos during the process of creating this.

This is a pretty long post, don't miss the end which has info about a giveaway and a special Simon Says Stamp offer.

I started out with a Wendy Vecchi Art Parts Five Panel Frames and clear embossed an alphabet pattern stamp from Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz School Desk set.

Paint the frame with white paint, and before it dries completely, wipe off the paint from the embossed letters. The embossing resists the paint, but not completely, creating a great worn look.

I wanted to play a bit with Tim Holtz's new Frosted Film. I knew I would love it, even by just reading the name 'frosted film', I love using clear elements. I applied the film (which is self-adhesive) to patterned paper and cut the larger heart from that. I cut it one more time from grungepaper and glued the two together to give it more weight. It is so hard to photograph the frosted film, it gives a matte, frosty look to the heart.

I also used this great Core'dinations Tim Holtz Colorcore cardstock, which comes in a handy pad. It is so easy to see all the colours at once and pick the ones that fit the project. They are the perfect size for die-cutting and coordinate with the distress range.

I used one of my favorite techniques with the Core'dinations cardstock, dry embossing. Love the subtle effect of the dry embossing once you have sanded off some of the surface colour. I smeared some Distress Stickles Rock Candy on the papers for a bit of shine.

The metallic parts were painted with Ranger's Patina ink, which is opaque and covers the metal very well. After the word band dried, I rubbed some white paint into the text to make it stand out.

The Bird Branch and Heart were die cut from grungeboard which was first covered with white sticky back canvas. I wanted a watercolour effect and smeared distress inks (Dusty Concord, Broken China, Gathered Twigs and Walnut Stain) on my craft sheet and misted them lightly with water. I misted the canvas pretty heavily with water before applying the ink with a paint brush. If you don't mist the canvas, it absorbs the ink very quickly, making it hard to get the fluid watercolour effect.

I just had to use one of my favourite dies, the Sizzix Birds on a Wire, by Karen Burniston. I wanted to try something different and adhered the Frosted Film to a strip of Clearly For Art modeling film. The die doesn't cut through the thick film completely, but it easy to cut the birds out with a pair of scissors. I coloured them lightly on the back with alcohol ink (Stonewashed). I am not sure how heat resistant the frosted film is, so I heated the birds very carefully from the back with my heat gun, one section at a time, and shaped the birds. Be careful not to burn yourself. Once cool, the modeling film keeps its shape perfectly.

Time for assembly. The Five Panel Frame comes with a backing piece so it is very easy to assemble. I used multi medium to glue everything together. One of the sentiments was stamped on a little ticket. I also added a little wood veneer man standing on a branch.

The wings were die cut from modeling film covered with Frosted Film. I wanted them to be whiter, so I coloured them at the back with Snow Cap alcohol ink.

The sweet banner stamp was stamped with Tumbled Glass on Specialty Stamping paper. It fits perfectly for the sentiments in the stamp set. The sentiment was stamped with Archival Ink Jet Black and when dry, I covered the banner with the Frosted Film. The green heart was stamped with second generation stamping using Peeled Paint ink, and also covered with Frosted Film. The small hearts were die cut from left-over pieces of modeling film covered with Frosted Film and coloured at the back with alcohol ink (Wild Plum and Stonewashed).

I sometimes end up with wall-hangings that never make it to a wall, because I don't take the time to add a hanger at the back. For this project, I picked an easy option, hinge clips. I painted them with Opalite Patina Ink and tied a piece of string between them.

The 'thank you heart' was die cut from purple Core'dinations cardstock, carefully sanded (while all the pieces were still stuck to it), inked and coated with Glossy Accents. I sprinkled a little bit of dry Rock Candy Distress glitter onto it.

You can see the Frosted Film effect better here.

I will be giving away a $50 donation to the charity of a commenter's choice. Just leave a comment with what you are most grateful for and you will be entered in the drawing (there is not need to write the charity of your choice in the blog comment). After the winner is chosen Simon Says Stamp will be in touch with you to find out the charity you have chosen. We will draw winners on Wednesday 11/28.

This Friday Simon Says Stamp will offer a Black Friday discount code to its customers for 35% off selected items in the store. But blog hoppers get the code early for stopping by my blog! Click here to see the items that are included in the sale. Enter SIMONBF35 in the Promotion Code box (be sure to use all CAPS) and you will get 35% off of those items. Happy Shopping!

Thank you so much for visiting! The next stop in the Simon Says Stamp Gratitude Blog Hop is the amazing Debby Hughes and her blog Lime Doodle. If while hopping, you encounter a broken link, you can go back to the beginning for links to everyone who is participating in the hop.

Happy Crafting!! And Happy Thanksgiving!

Anna-Karin


Supplies:
Dies: Simon Says Stamps: Thank You Heart die set; Sizzix: Bird Branch, Birds on a Wire, Heart & Wings, Hearts Set Movers & Shapers, Mini Tickets;
Embossing folders: Sizzix: Bingo & Patchwork, Dot Matrix & Gridlock; Playing Games Texture Trades
Stamps: Simon Says Stamp: Beautiful Words; Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz: School Desk, Odds & Ends
Ink: Distress Ink: Dusty Concord, Frayed Burlap, Broken China, Gathered Twigs, Peeled Paint, Tumbled Glass, Walnut Stain; Archival Ink Jet Black; Ranger Patina ink kits: Antique Window, Weathered Copper
Alcohol ink: Adirondack Stonewashed, Wild Plum, Snow Cap
Paint: Adirondack Snow Cap
Stickles: Distress Stickles Rock Candy
Glitter: Distress Stickles Rock Candy dry glitter
Embossing powder: Ranger clear
Surfaces: Core'dinations Tim Holtz Distress Colorcore 4.5x5.5; Wendy Vecchi Art Parts Five Panel Frames, Clearly For Art Modeling Film; Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Frosted Film, Grungeboard, Grungepaper, Crowded Attic paper stash; Claudine Hellmuth white sticky back canvas; Ranger Specialty Stamping paper
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Word Bands, Game Spinners, Hinge Clips; Hero Arts Light Yellow pearls; Studio Calico wood veneer Potty People
Twine: Hemptique Thick Natural Hemp Cord twine
Adhesive: Ranger Glossy Accents; Claudine Hellmuth matte multi medium