Monday, June 18, 2018

Scenic Train Card Tutorial

Hi everyone! I hope you had a fun weekend! We had a lovely swim in a lake during a soft summer rain. The water is really warm because the weather has been good for such a long time all ready. There was also the very first sleepover, which went really well, and Leo has been playing with his new airplane and a bunch of spiders. His favorite spider is a green glittery one. 



This week at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog we have a Transport It theme. Don't miss the wonderful transportation project by our June guest designer Christine Bedford with her blog Pearshapedcrafting.

Layers of ink - Scenic Train Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson

The other day when I needed a card, I realized that my 'general purpose' cards, which work for almost any occasion, were in short supply, so for this week I thought I'd make one. It's a scenic stamping card of a train travelling through an open and empty desert. The train and background were colored with Distress Inks, and it is easy to do. I used Ranger's Specialty Stamping Paper, which is a lovely matte coated paper, but you can also do the same technique on glossy cardstock, and on some white papers (depending on how smoothly the ink blends on the paper).

Layers of ink - Scenic Train Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson with Tim Holtz stamps

Start by stamping the train from Tim Holtz's On the Railroad set, on Specialty Stamping Paper with Jet Black Archival ink. I used the new Detail Blending tools together with Craft Nibs to color the train, with grey, brown and black shades. Make sure to color some parts of the train darker, to create shadows and dimension. For the background, I placed a piece of printer paper along the horizon line and used that as a mask. Start with the lightest shade of ink and gradually build up darker colors.

Layers of ink - Scenic Train Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson with Ranger Specialty Stamping paper

One of the really nice things with Specialty Stamping paper is what happens when you splatter it with water. Cover the train with a piece of paper and splatter the rest of the background with water. Dab with a paper towel and you will get these lovely white splatters.

Layers of ink - Scenic Train Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Mask the sky again, smear Ground Espresso and Black Soot ink on a craft sheet, mist with water and pick up with a fine paint brush. Tap the brush to create splatters. I also extended the train tracks with a black pen.

Layers of ink - Scenic Train Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson

I wanted a wispy cloudy look for the sky and got the idea to drag a pipette filled with water across the paper. It turned out pretty cool.

Layers of ink - Scenic Train Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Finally, add highlights to the train with a white gel pen. This step makes a subtle, but big, difference.

Layers of ink - Scenic Train Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Here's a closer look at that wispy sky. I am looking forward to using that technique again.

Layers of ink - Scenic Train Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson

I distressed the edges and added a black matte under the main panel. I also added a piece of burlap. Then I layered that on one of Tim Holtz's papers, which reminded me of train tracks.

Layers of ink - Scenic Train Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson

This train stamp is great and I like the combination of an old fashioned train and the sketch look of the stamp. Did you spot that I by mistake tore the paper when I distressed the edges?

Layers of ink - Scenic Train Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson

The sentiment was die cut with the Sizzix Adventure Words Script set, from brown and cream paper.

Layers of ink - Scenic Train Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson

When you splatter Distress Ink on Specialty Stamping paper its gets this cool effect where the ink dries darker around the edges of the splatters. This tiny detail happens to be my favourite part of the card.

I hope you will join us this week in our Transport It challenge. As always, you have a chance to win a $50 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until next Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.




Don't forget to follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram, they post great stuff daily. 




Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.





Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog 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.



16 comments:

  1. Fabulous card Anna-Karin :-) the train is spectacular and I love the background, I need to have a go with this speciality paper, I have some but never used it, thanks for the tips :-)

    luv
    Lols x x x

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  2. awesome card Anna Karin! - love that stamp set and the background you created.

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  3. Love your beautiful card. Always enjoy seeing your fantastic art.

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  4. So stunning Anna-Karin! This is just beautiful! ;-) I saw this week also that my all purpose cards are also a little low and I must make a few too! ;-) Thanks for the super inspiration! ;-)

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    1. Thank you Denise! All purpose cards are always useful to have around. :)

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  5. This is beautiful and so romanic. I really love the mood you achieved on this card, it's like from a wild wild west movies. This stamp is fabulous and so huge! I love the way you colored the sky and ground and how the splashes of water look like snow... Very pretty! Hugs, Marzena

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  6. WOW Anna-Karin, this is gorgeous. It has the 'old West' feel to it and I love the tattered edge. No, I didn't notice your 'mistake' because I thought it was the look you were going for. Mistake or not, it is AMAZING! Beautifully done!

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    1. Thank you Teresa! I was going for an old West look, for a while I was going to add more stuff to the background, but then I kind of liked the empty desert and left it like that. One of the great things with distress is that a mistake looks like it is done on purpose! / Anna-Karin

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  7. Stunning card, Anna-Karin! The detailing to the background with layers and coloring really make this train come to life!

    *mwah*
    Steph
    Simon Says Stamp!

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  8. wonderful distressed card, Anna-Karin! I love that train stamp (and love to travel on trains) so this brought some good memories. Awesome splattered background. xxMaura

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  9. I love this beautiful card Anna-Karin, you are so right about the white pen enhancing the detail! My hubby loves trains and yet I rarely use this wonderful stamp set - thank you for the inspiration, you have solved his birthday card idea for this year! Hugs, Anne xx

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  10. I always love your scenes Anna-Karin and this has to be one of my favourites, it's just perfect and you've bought it to life in such a wonderful way...gorgeous, as always! :)

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  11. this is just a beautiful scene Anna-Karin and your colouring is amazing, hugs kath xxx

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  12. This card is amazing, Anna-Karin! Love the train and the background is gorgeous! Hugs, Sandra

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  13. You're the Queen of Landscapes! You're incredible! love love your watercoloring, always I love this! your card is fantastic !Barbara

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