Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Autumn Blooms Card

Hello stampers! It is so beautiful outdoors with all the shades of autumn and I was inspired to create an autumn-themed card, using watercolor stamping and an easy background technique. 

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Watercolor stamping with Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers and Circle Pattern stamps.

My card is a square card, a little larger than 6x6, folded at the top. I was inspired by the last autumn flowers and by the beautiful flower husks that you can find in nature now and created a card using only yellows, oranges and some browns. I used the Simon Says Stamp Laugh in Flowers set and Circle Pattern Background stamp, from the STAMPtember release.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. White emboss the SSS Circle Pattern background stamp.

Start by white embossing the Circle Pattern Background on watercolor paper. I love circle and dot background stamps and this was designed to be a versatile stamp, which can be used for many themes and techniques.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Color with Distress Ink.

Smear Distress Inks on a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water. Press the paper into the ink. Let dry and repeat if you want stronger colors or more texture.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Watercolor stamping.

When dry, I watercolored some of the dots in the background, to make them stand out, while still keeping a tone-on-tone effect. Smear the inks on the non-stick craft sheet, mist once with water and pick up with a paint brush.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

Next, I inked up the tree floral stamp from Laugh in Flowers with various shades of Distress Ink, using two or three shades on each flower. Mist about three times with water and stamp on watercolor paper.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

I was having so much fun stamping with yellow and brown shades that I stamped a whole lot of flowers. I love watercolor stamping and the fact that you can still see the fine details, such as the thin stems between the flowers on the Queen Anne's Lace.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

I wanted to share some close-ups too, since I only used a few of the flowers on the card.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

This flower was stamped with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo. 

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

Here I used Fossilized Amber combined with various browns. Vintage photo gives a warmer and slightly lighter brown than Ground Espresso. You can see the two combined on the flower to the right.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

On these, I think I used Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and a little Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

When you mist with more water, you will see fewer details, but using too little water makes the watercolor effect less visible. If you look at the two dandelions in the middle, I used a bit too little water on the one to the right and a little too much on the one to the left. But it of course depends on the look that you want. Sometimes I am after a very watery look, but today, I wanted to keep some details. 

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

Cut out the flowers you want to use and layer them on the background. 

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

Adding color to just some of the dots makes for an interesting background. You can also use contrasting colors.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

The sentiment also comes from the Laugh in Flowers set. For more inspiration with this stamp set, check out my Cling Wrap Watercolor Floral Tutorial.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

At the bottom of the card, I added two pieces of Mummy Cloth, which had been dyed with Distress Ink, and three fibers that I found on my desk.

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

I die cut the leaves with the SSS Tender Leaves die, from watercolor paper and from gold paper. The watercolor ones were colored with Distress Inks. 

Layers of ink - Autumn Blooms Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers stamp set.

You can see the shine from the gold leaves better here.




Thank you so much for taking the time to visit 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.

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial

Hello stampers! Today I have a video tutorial with a fun resist technique using wax paper, die cutting and dye ink.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I hadn't used wax paper techniques in a long time. They are such fun to do and gives great texture and patterns. This is a an easy technique and you can experiment with different dies and colors. I used the Simon Says Stamp Detail Ringlet Plate for the background. I made lots of backgrounds and turned two of them into butterfly cards.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Die cut the design from wax paper .

Start by die cutting the Detail Ringlet Plate from watercolor paper and wax paper in one go, placing the wax paper between the watercolor paper and the die. This is also a great method for die cutting intricate dies, which is actually what I had initially planned to do. But then the wax paper looked so pretty, that I switched techniques.




Here is the video, if you want to watch it in HD click here to come to YouTube. You have to excuse my inky hands in the video - I had already made quite a few backgrounds before I decided to do a video. I had picked blueberries too, which stain my hands badly. So it was either a video with inky/blueberry hands, or no video at all.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. White emboss the butterflies.

White emboss butterflies from Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Butterflies set on vellum.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

Color them at the back with Prismacolor pencils. As you can see, the back doesn't have to be pretty.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I picked one of the brown and blue/turquoise backgrounds for this card. The leaves were die cut from old book paper with the Tender Leaves die.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

As you can see here, there are two large butterflies layered on top of each other, to give dimension.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Friendship handmade card.

White emboss a sentiment from Beautiful Butterflies on the background.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

The brown color at the back of the butterfly is just barely visible.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Vellum butterfly.

On this butterfly, there is more open space and you can see the colors better.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I stitched around the panel with my sewing machine and added some sequins.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

The second card has shades of orange, blue and green. I like how this color combo turned out. It's very cheerful.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

There are two big layered butterflies on this card too.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I like the look of this orange butterfly, with all the lovely details. Note that I didn't flick off the stray embossing powder, but kept it for extra texture. Check out my Stray Embossing Powder tutorial for more inspiration on this technique.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Vellum butterfly.

On this card, I used pearls instead of sequins as embellishments. The Beautiful Butterflies set is so pretty. 

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

Just because also comes from the Beautiful Butterflies set.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

This sentiment was stamped with SSS Melon ink.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

Here are some photos where you can see the different textures. Since the wax paper was sandwiched between two sheets of watercolor paper, you get different patterns on each side, since the wax transfers differently. A more dotty pattern to the left, similar to the die cut, and a different, more solid, but also more textured pattern to the left.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I just love the dotted pattern from the Detail Ringlet Plate die.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

It is the paper to the right that was used for the lighter card. I can't remember if I added another color here, maybe Cracked Pistachio, to get that shade of green. It was one of the first backgrounds that I made, before the video.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

These were both made in the video. You will get a different result every time you use this technique.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

Try using different color combos and test doing the technique with other dies too.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

Beautiful textures. I think this is the background that I used for the blue and brown card.

Layers of ink - Wax Paper Resist Video Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it inspired you to use wax paper for resist techniques. 







Just two more days remain of  STAMPtember®, but the stamping inspiration will remain. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit 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.


Monday, September 28, 2020

Circle Photo Frame Card

Hello stampers! The month is flying by and we are having beautiful warm autumn weather at the moment. Today I have a slimline card to share with you, with a pretty floral watercolor stamped background.


We are celebrating STAMPtember® this whole month at Simon Says Stamp. It is Monday and at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog we have an Add a photo theme this week. I love to add photos to my projects, so this was a fun theme for me (which is the case every week). It is the last week for our September guest designer Tracy Ware, She created such a beautiful card for this week

Layers of ink - Circle Photo Frame Slimline Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

Remember that I wrote that I had mixed up the dates for last week's steampunk challenge, this is the card that I had done for last Monday - and you might recognize it from the sneak peek I posted on Instagram. I used six old family photos featuring my grandmother and since the card was ready a week early, I could send this to my Mom before she saw it on the blog. The background was done with Simon Says Stamp Anna's Flowers and Crackle Background, from the Let's Connect release.

Layers of ink - Circle Photo Frame Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Die cut the SSS Repeating Circles die.

Start by die cutting a piece of watercolor paper to the size of the card that you want to make. If you don't make a slimline card, you can just leave the lower part of the card and focus on the circle frames. Die cut the frames with the Repeating Circles die.

Layers of ink - Circle Photo Frame Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp the card with SSS Anna's Flowers.

Silhouette flowers like these from Anna's Flowers are perfect for watercolor stamping techniques, which is what I did here. I started with the lightest Tumbled Glass and then stamped the darker colors. Mist the inked stamp with water about three times before stamping. You need less water for the small stamps. 

Layers of ink - Circle Photo Frame Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp the card with SSS Crackle Background.

When dry, stamp the Crackle Background with light brown ink. The ink I used was no longer available at SSS, but you can use Vintage Photo Archival Ink or Simon Says Stamp Khaki ink instead.

Layers of ink - Circle Photo Frame Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Stamp sentiments with Anna's Flowers.

Stamp sentiments from Anna's Flowers with black ink, so that they will stand out well.

Layers of ink - Circle Photo Frame Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I used one of Simon's beautiful slimline envelopes and stamped it with the same flowers from Anna's Flowers. But this time, I stamped it with Simon Says Stamp inks, instead of with Distress Ink. Don't the flower stamps look gorgeous with the turquoise ink?

Layers of ink - Circle Photo Frame Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

Ink the edges of the card and the circles and then adhere small photos behind the windows. I like how the light blue flower frames the photo to the left.

Layers of ink - Circle Photo Frame Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I die cut the SSS Tender Leaves from vellum. The dot design looks gorgeous die cut from vellum. I also used one of Simon's sentiment strips and added some pearls.

Layers of ink - Circle Photo Frame Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

It is really fun to sit and do watercolor stamping in layers like this, and you don't need to worry about perfect impressions. Experiment with different color combos.

Layers of ink - Circle Photo Frame Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson. Decorated envelope for a slimline card.

The card together with the front of the envelope.

Layers of ink - Circle Photo Frame Slimline Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

And with the back of the envelope. 

I hope you will join us this week in our Add a Photo challenge. You have a chance to win a $25 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.






Just three more days remain of  STAMPtember®, but the stamping inspiration will remain. 

Thank you so much for stopping by here 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.