Thursday, December 29, 2016

Vintage Notebooks Tutorial

Hi everyone!! I hope you had a lovely Christmas! We spent it with my family and had a great time with multiple celebrations. And Santa arrived twice - although his first appearance was quickly named 'grandpa-Santa' by Anton. The second Santa was a little harder to figure out. In Sweden, Santa usually knocks on the door on Christmas Eve and personally hands out the gifts.

Layers of ink - Vintage Notebooks Tutorial by Anna-Karin with Sizzix dies by Lori Whitlock


I am sharing a tutorial on the Sizzix blog today, for three quick and easy vintage notebooks. These were made as gifts for Leo's teachers and I used just one die set to make them, Lori Whitlock's Essential Mini Album. The papers are by Prima. If you use different papers and colours, you can make these books for any theme. They are 6 x 4 in, which is a great size for a little notebook.

You can find all the steps and close-ups on the Sizzix blog.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!!

I also want to wish everyone a Happy New Year, with many creative adventures!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:





Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Quick Watercolor Gift Tags Class

Hi everyone! I hope you are well and enjoying December. I am happy to have posted a new online class on Skillshare. I've been working with it for a while and had hoped to have it up earlier, but things have been a little too busy (and as you can maybe hear on the videos, I've had a bit of a cold).

Layers of ink - Quick Watercolor Gift Tags Class Skillshare class
As a papercrafter, I like to make my own gift tags for parcels, but very often when I need to wrap a parcel, I don't have any gift tags at hand, and end up cutting one quickly from patterned paper. Does anyone else recognize that?  So for this class, I thought I would make myself a big stash of gift tags, which are suitable for many different occasions. In the class, you'll learn a very easy resist technique using acrylic gels and watercolour paint. I am also showing you the same technique with Distress Inks and spray mist.


Here is the introduction video to the class (you can also watch it on YouTube), showing you a bit about what the class is about. I sat too close to the camera for this video, but didn't have time to redo it one more time (I had already shot it quite a few times). So I decided to let it be, even though I am not totally happy with it.

Layers of ink - Quick Watercolor Gift Tags Class Skillshare class by Anna-Karin
Tags are a fun surface to try out new techniques on, since they are so small and it doesn't matter if something doesn't work out as planned. But, as with all my classes, you can use the techniques on any type of project. It will work great for card making, art journaling, scrapbooking, 3-D items, or as a background for a mixed media piece.

Layers of ink - Quick Watercolor Gift Tags Class Skillshare class
I stamped sentiments on some of the tags, but left most of them blank, so that I can use them for any occasion.

Layers of ink - Quick Watercolor Gift Tags Class Skillshare class
I am using stencils in the class. If you don't have any, you can cut your own, or use a die to die cut your own stencils. Check out my Frosty Deer Clipboard, for an example of the latter.

Layers of ink - Quick Watercolor Gift Tags Class Skillshare class
As you will see in the class, almost any acrylic gel will work, and I will show you a whole bunch of different ones, glossy and matte.

Layers of ink - Quick Watercolor Gift Tags Class Skillshare class
Although some of the tags have Christmas sentiments, this is not at all a Christmas crafting class, but the techniques and tags work for any theme or occasion.

Layers of ink - Quick Watercolor Gift Tags Class Skillshare class

Skillshare is a subscription service, which gives you access to a wide range of classes. If you want to try it out, you can try it out for three months for $0.99 by following this link. I particularly like that the classes are divided into chapters, so you can watch one chapter and try out that particularly technique and then proceed with the following chapter when you have time. My class, for instance, consists of eight different videos and it is easy to follow along. I hope it is almost like taking a real life class with me.

Since it is almost Christmas, I decided to make the class free as a Christmas gift to you all, but only for a week (until 27 December). After that it will become a premium class (for Skillshare subscribers). So if you hurry, you can watch it for free.

I am linking the products I used for the class below, as a resource for the class.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope that you will enroll in my class. I would really love to see you there.

If I don't see you again before Christmas, I hope you will all have a very Merry Christmas!!

Happy crafting!!

Anna-Karin

Supplies (affiliate links):






Additional supplies:
Watercolor paint: Daler & Rowney Artists Watercolours
Mediums: Golden Artist Colors: Regular Gel (Gloss), Molding Paste, High Solid Gel (Gloss), Light Molding Paste