Simon Says Stamp Make Merry Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my blog! I am happy to take part in the blog hop for the Simon Says Stamp Make Merry release today. You should have come here from the very creative Keisha Charles.

The Make Merry release is a wonderful release full of autumn and winter/Christmas themed products, but many of them can be used at any time of the year. You can find the entire Make Merry release here. If you use the code FSTC25 you will get a  Stickles Festive Glitter Glue with your order. This promotion will expire on10/11 at 11:59 pm EDT.

I made a card and a sketchbook/notebook, both are tutorials. Let start!

The card has a fun double embossing technique and is very inky with lots of texture. I love texture and for autumn themes it works particularly well. I used the beautiful Center Cut Fall Leaves background stamp. This is a large 6 x 6 in card.

Start by embossing the Center Cut Fall Leaves with Mixed Media Sea and Lime Powders. There is a heart which fit into the opening in the stamp, but I removed it first, since I wanted the heart to be open.

Stamp again, but off-set the stamp so that the impressions won't line up. You can use a stamping platform, but I just eye-balled it, using the heart in the center as a guide. My impressions could have been a little closer together, for more of a 3-D effect, but I liked this overlapping effect too. 

I did a video on this technique recently, but for a different card. I am adding it here if you want to have a look, since the technique is the same. It is only the background stamp and the ink colors that are different. Click here to watch it in HD. 

Smear Distress Inks on a non-stick craft sheet, mist with water and press the paper into the ink.

When dry, add more ink in the same way, for a textured effect. This time, I also used two Distress Oxide Inks.

Splatter with a little White Gloss Spray. It will pick up some color from the ink and get shades of yellow and orange.

Die cut the Thankful For You from the Make Merry release from gold glitter paper and from two shades of orange/red.

Layer the sentiments together, placing the gold letters inside the orange/red die cut. I also added a gold piece in the background, which just shows a little bit.

Die cut the Leafy Branch from the Send Happiness release from the orange paper. 

Here you can see the fun double embossing effect, if they are closer together, it creates more of a 3D shadow effect.

I also added some sequins to the card, using the Marvy Jewel Picker.

You can also leave the heart stamp inside the background stamp when stamping, for a different effect. But here I wanted the heart to stand out by being different from everything else.

My second project is a sketchbook/notebook/journal. I love to make my own sketchbooks and they are also great gifts. I always carry a sketchbook when I am out in nature and by making my own, I can add my favorite paper inside, use different books for different themes or seasons and make them just the right size. You can easily turn this design into a card instead, if you would rather make a card.

For the base of the book, I used mat board, which is perfect for book covers and can handle paint and ink very well. Cut two covers. Mine are about 4.3x6 in. Coat with gesso and let dry.

I used the stunning and very versatile Geometric Arch stencil from the Make Merry release. Place the stencil over the cover and apply Texture Paste with a palette knife. Repeat for the back cover. Let dry. I cut off the part at the bottom after the paste was dry.

Stamp leaves from the pretty Autumn Leaves set on watercolor paper with Archival Jet Black ink.

Smear squares of Distress Ink on a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water. Don't add too much water.

Cut the leaves apart roughly and press lightly into the puddles of ink. Use two or three ink colors on each leaf and you can also leave some of the white paper showing. This is a quick and easy way of getting a watercolor look on the leaves.

Let the leaves dry and cut them out. There are also coordinating dies to the Autumn Leaves set. I repeated the inking process with just a tiny bit of Distress Oxide ink. They give a nice chalky look combined with the Distress Ink. 

Finally, I added a tiny bit of Gilded Avocado Opal Blaze Polish to the leaves, using my finger. You only need very little.

When the paste is dry, paint the covers with Distress Paints. I watered the paints down a little.

I rounded the outside corners with a Corner Chomper. When dry, add some Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint around the edges. You can also skip this step.

When the crackle paint is dry, crackles will appear. Paint watery Carved Pumpkin paint over the crackle paint and mist heavily with water. Some of the paint will run into the grooves created by the stencil, as you can see here. This gives a great look as it dries. 

Die cut Thankful For You from cardstock and a leftover inky paper. Cut off the 'for you' part.

Cut papers for the inside just slightly smaller than the covers. Round the outer corners and punch holes with a Crop-A-Dile. Bind the books with Tim Holtz Mini Book Rings. 

Assemble leaves under the title panel until you are happy with the look.  

Here you can see the shimmery effect of the Opal Blaze Polish better. 

I also used a Thought Token with some Dried Marigold paint rubbed into the word to make it stand out better. The sequins come from the Simon Says Stamp Smiles pack.

The crackle paint has a glossy finish, which contrasts nicely with the matte look of the texture paste. The paint sinks into the crackles, making them more visible.

The leaves from the Autumn Leaves set are so pretty. They would also look great on their own on a card. I have a bunch of leftover to use for other projects.

I left the back cover as it was, but you can add leaves there too if you want to.

Here is my sketchbook out in nature ready to be filled with ideas and thoughts. If you want more sketchbook / notebook inspiration, check out my post from yesterday where I made three vintage nature notebooks.

Don't miss all the inspiration along the hop. There are of course prizes to be won too, and at each stop on the hop SSS is giving away a $25 coupon, randomly drawn from those who leave a comment. The winners will be posted post on the Simon Says Stamp store blog on Wednesday, the 14th of October.

Your next stop on the hop is Bibi Cameron and she will show you wonderful card inspiration.

Here are all the stops along the hop:

Simon Says Stamp Blog

Laura Bassen

Debby Hughes

Amanda Korotkova

Heather Hoffman

Yoonsun Hur

Laurie Willison

Bobbi Lemanski

Preeti Chandran

Dana Joy

Daniel West

Keisha Charles

Anna-Karin Evaldsson (you are here)

Bibi Cameron

For more Make Merry inspiration, remember to check out the Make Merry gallery at SSS, and if you make something with products from the range, it is fun if you post it in the gallery too. There are galleries for all releases, and for the card kits, full of inspiration. Part one of the Make Merry blog hop was yesterday, so don't miss all the inspiration there.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog today!  

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

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