Pages

Monday, May 4, 2015

Coral Butterfly Tutorial

Hi friends! I went for my first bicycle ride in a long time yesterday, it was wonderful. It made me think of a bike themed journal page of mine. It is Monday and a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This week our challenge is 'don't abandon the coral', inspired by Tim Holtz new Abandoned Coral Distress colour. But you can also be inspired by coral in general, or perhaps do a beach or sea themed project. 

I worked in my Small Creative Journal this week and had fun making a very coral textured page. I only added a little Cracked Pistachio, otherwise, this page is pretty much all Abandoned Coral. I liked the cheerful feeling of this page, perfect for spring and for the theme of my page. Art journaling to me is not only about the words, you can say a lot with colour, images and design too. To create the background, I used Tim's new Number Blocks stamps and a fun resist technique. I took stepped photos, and as usual the technique works for many different types of projects.

The lovely Abandoned Coral, which was the new Distress colour for February. I used the ink and the paint on my page, not the spray. There is also a marker and a reinker.

Coat a page with gesso and let dry. Start by clear embossing all the numbers with clear powder. Since they are rectangular, they are pretty simple to line up, but don't worry it if is not perfect.

 Here you can maybe see the embossing a little better.

Paint the page with Distress Paint, don't worry about how it looks at this stage, it is about to get better. Leave to dry for a while, it is hard to say how long since it depends on the climate where you live, but test on a small area first, If you wipe off the paint too early, you can always just add more.

Wipe the paint off from the embossed areas with a cloth. If the paint dries completely, it will dry on top of the embossing, but if you start wiping too early, you'll wipe off paint from the non-embossed areas too. 

Stamp with a mesh stamp and Abandoned Coral paint. Immediately clean your stamp, otherwise the paint dries on the stamp.

Stamp sentiments on the page. Stamp the dot background stamp with Cracked Pistachio paint, again immediately clean the stamp.

To add more texture, I applied Texture Paste through an alphabet stencil in a few places. Let dry.

Splatter a tiny bit of Brushed Pewter Distress Spray Stain on the page.

Let's make the butterflies too. Stamp them on watercolour paper and white emboss (or use clear powder). 

Smear Abandoned Coral and Cracked Pistachio Distress Inks on your craft sheet, mist with water and pick up with a paint brush. I also added a little Iced Spruce to the body and feelers. Wipe the ink off from the embossed areas. 

Cut out the butterflies and add some number rub-ons to them. If you made a card, you can shape the wings and only glue the butterflies down at the body, but since I was working in my journal, I kept them flat.
 
The multi-layered background is very interesting, but also flat, which works great in a journal. The resist letters add a nice texture and the paint stamping adds a fun extra layer. I also rubbed some numbers on the background.

I used Small Talk Stickers as additional sentiments. Love the sayings in this sticker pad.

Here you can maybe see the texture of the embossed letters a little better.

 Love this sentiment stamp, and the font is great.

I die cut some tiny butterflies from silver Deco Sheet. These sheets are so shiny, you have to see them in real life.

And the main sentiment stamp, which I thought worked well together with the butterflies.

I hope you have time to join us this week in our coral challenge. As always, one random participant wins a $50 gift voucher to Simon Says Stamp.


Thank you for the visit! Enjoy your week!

Happy stamping!!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:




22 comments:

  1. Hi, Anna-Karin. Wonderful page, I always learn things from your tutorials. I wasn't sure about these two new colors, but they are growing on me. Hello to Big Brother Anton and Baby Leo too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic journal page ! Loved the new color combo and thanks for sharing the pictorial ,Its helps in learning new techniques !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh Anna-Karin, with only two colors have created a page so enchanting! What a marvelous artist you are!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a beautiful page with the new colours! Your works are so inspiring!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gorgeous page! I love how you used the paints for the background. When I saw your page I had to chuckle as my next project mixes up the same two colors! Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. a great page , love your use of colour x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Seems I always love your creativity Anna-Karin. This is really lovely. You put everything together perfectly including the colors. j.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Abandoned Coral is such a beautiful color and I love what you did with it here. I think it looks fantastic paired up with Cracked Pistachio. Wonderful techniques and tutorial. Love those butterflies, first time I've seen them embossed in white. Gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is such a beautiful page - the Abandoned Coral is gorgeous on the butterflies and background. The splats are a lovely touch too. Anne xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. this is stunning Anna Karin - love it to pieces! Abandoned Coral is lush xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. WOW!! Stunning layout Anna-Karin! The background and butterflies are phenomenal :)

    *mwah*
    Steph
    Simon Says Stamp!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is fabulous! I love how you bring a plain white page to life with all that texture. You actually want to look at it for a while, as there is so much to discover. Truly inspiring. Thanks for sharing your techniques too!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anna, adoro esas mariposas :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. This page hit my heart! I love everything, I can not say what I like most! I find it really fantastic! ! Barbarayaya

    ReplyDelete
  15. Stunning page, Anna-Karin! Love that we embossed the stamp butterfly. The color combo is perfect! Love it! Hugs, Sandra

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love this new Coral and the colours you used, this is an amazing page!!!! I love it to bits!! Thank you for the great tutorial too, I miss time to come on your blog as much as I'd love to, but really regret... You do always so stunning and beautiful works, and also share it generously. A BIG THANK YOU! Hugs, Coco xx

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is lovely!
    Thanks for the tips. I have never been good at this technique. Could never get the drying time right.
    You've done this beautifully. Great pages!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Such a gorgeous page, Anna- Karin. Love the beautiful colors and the textures you created. The butterfly is amazing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. What an amazing technique with the numbers! I really like how you always share your creativity and give us insight into your process. Great mix of the light teal with the coral, too.

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a beautiful page and such a wonderful use of colour! I love how you've created the background and the butterfly makes such a beautiful focal point ~ just gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  21. stunning made! so pretty to let it show how it is made. GREAT!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wowzas. This is a stunning composition of color and eclecticness. Reading through your post my jaw just kept dropping lower and lower in awe. Gorgeous!!

    ReplyDelete

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