Monday, March 9, 2015

Happy Birds Journal Tutorial

Hello everyone! I hope you had a good weekend! Thank you for all the comments on last week's happy news. We are home from the hospital and doing well. This week we have a 'B is for...' challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Anything you can think of inspired by the letter 'B'.

The first thing that popped into my head was birds and I wanted to ink up this new fun Bird Crazy stamp set by Tim Holtz. These birds are so much fun and they worked well for a happy art journal page in my Small Creative Journal. The birds are singing different parts of the lyrics to each other. The page was done on a background in my journal that had already been coloured when I smeared some leftover paint on it after another project. I turned this post into a little tutorial.

Start by stamping the birds with Jet Black ink on the smooth side of Ranger's watercolour paper. We are going to use water, so it is important that the ink is waterproof.

I love the new Cracked Pistachio distress colour, such a great addition to the distress line. I used only the Distress Ink here.
 
Smear Distress Inks on your craft sheet and mist once with water. Pick up with a paint brush and watercolour the birds. Let the colours blend somewhat.

This was the journal page background. It was first given a coat of gesso and then Squeezed Lemonade and a mix of Evergreen Bough and Peacock Feathers had been smeared on the page with a palette knife.

Stamp the background with a graph, number and dot stamp, using Monarch Orange, Watering Can and Sap Green Archival Ink. The Sap Green colour is pretty similar to Cracked Pistachio.

I printed part of the lyrics and die cut the most important words from kraft-core cardstock with the Alphanumeric set. Use this sandwich: Sizzix Magnetic Platform, Cutting Pad, paper, dies facing down, second Cutting Pad.

The birds needed somewhere to sit to ground them to the page and for this I used one of my favorite dies, the Branch Tree. Die cut from Tim Holtz 8 x 8 Mini Collage papers. You only need the top part of the tree. 

Cut the branches of the tree apart to get more branches for your birds and to make sure they don't all look the same. Glue to the page with Glossy Accents.

These birds are so much fun to colour and they have such great expressions. 

 A combination of paint and stamping is great for a quick background.

I used small pieces of tissue tape here and there, with music notes to fit with the theme.

The stars come from the Typography set, stamped with Jet Black ink. I love the different sizes of the eyes of this bird.

I just realised that I forgot to add colour to the wing of this bird. These birds will be great for cardmaking too.

Join us this week in our 'B is for' challenge and you might be the one who wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp, drawn randomly.


Leo is doing very well and putting on weight every day. He looks a lot like his brother at the same age.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Happy crafting!!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:






39 comments:

  1. Welcome to the world Leo, how gorgeous you are. Many congratulations Anna to you and your family. I'm so pleased all is well despite his early arrival. I think B if for beautiful baby and birds! What fab pages you made in your journal. Take care x

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  2. Congrats with the birth of your beautiful sun! Hope you will find a fine daily routine with the two boys...
    I love the way you coloured the birds and gave them all an own branch. A beautiful AJ page! Inky greetings, Gerrina

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  3. Great page, i love crazy birds! Did one myself yesterday, fortuitously,,so will link up later. Leo looks gorgeous... Congratulations! Nikki x

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  4. Welcome to the world, little one! Beautiful baby!! Congratulations!!
    Beautiful journal page, fresh colours, crazy looking birds.., fun all around! ;) xx

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  5. What joy to have a new baby join he family! Congrats again and he is adorable! Your page is fantastic and those birds and the colors are fabulous!

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  6. Welcome Leo! Congrats! What a fun bird page. The colors are so happy. Great idea on the branches to give them something to perch on.

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  7. Absolutely SENSATIONAL! Just when I thought those birds couldn't get more fun..you went and did it. Love this!!!

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  8. Sweet photo of your baby Leo! Also, I love this page. So whimsical and happy. Gorgeous!

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  9. Little Leo is so beautiful! What a sweet little bundle to cuddle. Congratulations again!

    Your journal page is so cute and funny. I love the Happy Birds...much better than the grumpy ones that are so popular. The colours are so pretty and I like his little B&W wing. The placement of your little birds is perfect.
    Thank you for sharing the project and the sweet baby pic! :)

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  10. Wow, this is amazing beautiful !!!!!!!!!!!
    Best regards Berdien

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  11. Oh my goodness! Let me just say, congrats again on sweet baby Leo! So lovely to see a pic and I'm very happy to hear he's doing well.

    Your art journaling pages are oh so gorgeous! I love all of the dimension and the use of text paper for the trees turned out really cool :)

    *mwah*
    Steph
    Simon Says Stamp!

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  12. Beautiful new baby...I know you and your family are enjoying this time together.
    I just received this stamp set a few weeks ago and was wondering where to go with it. Thanks for the inspiration. I'm lovin your journal page, it's a beauty and so much fun! I think I need to go and stamp up some birdies now!! :)

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  13. Wow! Absolutely gorgeous. I still haven't braved the art journal world, but seeing work like this really makes me want to go and try. Thanks so much for the inspiration.

    Hugs to little Leo. Hope baby and Momma are getting lots of rest.

    Hugs,
    Snoopy :D

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  14. Oh Anna-Karin, Leo is just adorable!

    I love, love, love your 'happy' page, it really is beautiful and it made me smile - it is wonderful! Hugs, Anne xx

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  15. this is so very cool Anna-Karin! I love the colors and the stamp and the composition....just everything.

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  16. j adore ces oiseaux et le fond de pages!

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  17. What a beautiful little boy! I hope all is going well for you.
    Your journal page is so cute and those birds are awesome for cards. LOL

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  18. And B is for baby. But, this bird page is ah-mazing. Great colours and thanks for the lovely technique. When my crazy birds come in the post...I'm going to try. Thanks so much and Congratulations with your new, very special family addition.

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  19. I love these pages! I have bought these birds and just love them. Leo is so sweet. Thanks for sharing!

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  20. First, Anna, congratulations! What a BEAUTIFUL baby!!!

    Your journal pages are wonderful! I just finished using one of the Crazy Birds with some Ken Oliver Color Bursts. I decided to catch up on email while it dried. How fortuitous!!

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  21. What a sweet little boy! Congratulations!!
    Love those crazy birds...what an awesome page!,

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  22. First thing: congratulations! Little Leo is adorable! I'm in love with "Bird crazy", Your page is stunning, totally breathtaking! BArbarayaya

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  23. What a sweet baby picture! I love those tiny baby eyes! Congratulations to you! Sending prayers for good health and happiness for your family!
    Your project is so wonderful! I love the scene you've created with these birds, branches and words! Thanks so much for sharing. Have a wonderful day!

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  24. First of all congratulations on the birth of your beautiful son Leo! And this journal spread- absolutely spectacular!! I could look at this every day and not tire of it. These birds and your colors and words sure do make me happy!

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  25. Just a note to tell you how much I love your journal page. Also your new little baby is just adorable. You must be very busy. So glad you are able to still keep up with your art work.

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  26. Congratulations on the beautiful baby!!!! Love your gorgeous pages!

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  27. Leo is just gorgeous and thank you for sharing this beautiful photo! :)

    As for your journal pages, love...love...LOVE everything about them!! They are just fabulous Anna-Karin! Have a great weekend with your wonderful family!

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  28. FABULOUS project and fabulous little Leo! He looks totally wise and adorable at the same time-- like he can teach the world a thing or two that it needs to know! And speaking of teaching, thanks for describing how you made this amazing creation. I really love the background and how you created it with smeared on colors.

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  29. An insanely fabulous page... the first time I've really looked at Cracked Pistachio and thought that absolutely works! Love how you've combined the colours on your perfectly shaded Crazy Birds, and the book page branches are wonderful. The background is completely magnificent!

    I know I've missed a lot, so I'm off for a scroll through your amazing inspirational work... and very glad I caught the picture of adorable Leo - congratulations!
    Alison xx

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  30. Ohh wow, Anna-Karin! This spread is seriously amazing! I love the beautifully colored birds and the background is so pretty! I love everything about it! And what a sweet picture of Leo! He's adorable! Glad he's doing great! Hugs, Sandra

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  31. What beautiful pages! I love the color combination.
    But I must admit, that the photo of Leo has stolen the show. He is such a beautiful baby!
    Sending my love
    Michelle

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  32. Such a cheerful journal page ... it makes you happy !

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  33. haha...great use of alllll the birds! Love this project and of course the new TH Distress inks. great! thanks for sharing! :)

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  34. Leo is adorable. Congratulations and Congrats on being selected for Tim's Blogworthy Links. Great tutorial and art journal page.

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  35. Hi Leo aren't you a handsome guy. Love your birds what a great idea adding the branch underneath.

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  36. Very fun happy journal! Congrats on the new little guy!

    Noreen
    Crafty Journal

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  37. Great journaling pages. I arrived here from the Tim Holtz blog and I'm glad I followed the link. I love that song and the birds are so adorable.
    Eveline.

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Thank you so much for leaving a comment! Happy Crafting!