Forest Printed Canvas and Three ATC Cards

Hi crafters! We have terribly chilly weather today with snow. Hopefully spring will return tomorrow again. This irregular kind of weather is unfortunately expected to increase as a result of climate change, and since today is Earth Day today, I thought I would do a nature-inspired post. I have three tree-themed Artist Trading Cards to share with you, inspired by a canvas.

Please note: this post has are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Here is the canvas. The art work is by Annette Schmucker and the canvas comes from Photowall. The painting is called Forest Bathing and since the forest is my favorite place I really like it. It reminds me of one of my favorite spots in a nearby forest. I also really love the color combo and the texture. Recently, I was asked to collaborate with Photowall a second time. I hardly ever say yes to such collaborations, but in this case, I thought it could fit on my blog, and I also created a little inspiration project of mine own, which you will see below. Photowall is a Swedish company that sells wall-murals, wallpaper, canvas prints and posters and there are thousands of designs in a wide variety of sizes. 

You can also use your own photos and art. If we had our own place, I would have loved to have one of my own photos as a wall-paper, or maybe something like a textured mixed media background.

The canvas arrives a narrow box and the canvas frame is easy to assemble. You can find a handy video for it here. I also posted some photos last time when I assembled one of their canvases. 

I made three Artist Trading Cards inspired by the canvas, particularly by the mix of colors, although I used a little more green and skipped the purple shades. Initially, I only planned to do one ATC, but I ended up liking all the three backgrounds I made, so it turned into three.

Cut ATCs from watercolor paper (2.5 x 3.5 in). Coat with gesso using a palette knife.

Paint with Distress Paint and mist pretty heavily with water.

When dry, stamp with trees from Simon Says Stamp All Seasons Tree and Forest Scenery.

Add color to the trees and the lake/ground using a palette knife. Let the initial layer dry and then add more color.

Next, I added some white and yellow paint in the same way. This time I used Dina Wakley's paint, which is thicker than Distress Paint.

When the paint was dry, I decided to do some white gel pen and black pen work on the trees, in the background and around the edges.

The first ATC features a single large tree, with the lake behind the tree. I stamped words from the Forest Scenery set on each card.

Let some of the branches show through the paint.

The card with the three trees is my favorite. The smaller trees add a sense of perspective and make it look like they are on the other side of the water. There are also some reflections in the water. I rubbed white paint in the sky to lighten the area between the trees.

Here you can see the mix of stamping, paint and pen squiggles.

Drag the side of the palette knife through the paint to create water ripples.

The pine tree card differs from the other two and I think the two smaller trees stand on top of a little hill, rather than at a lake. 

To the right of the tree you can see that I rubbed some white paint.

The canvas is 100x70 cm and hangs above the sofa at the moment. My eldest loves it and wants it in his room instead, so it might move there later. You can see more of Annette Schmucker's paintings here.

If you would like to have a look at the Photowall products, I have a 25% discount code for you, it is layersofink25 and will be valid for two months. They deliver to many different countries. Since this is Earth Day, you can find info on their environmental work here. 

Thank you so much for stopping by here today! See you soon again!

Happy crafting!

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by here today! I will see you again tomorrow.

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.

Flower Layout

Hello friends! Today I have a scrapbooking layout to share, but it can also be turned into a card. 

Please note: this post has are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

I used products from the Simon Says Stamp April Card Kit. It is such a beautiful kit. You can also get the stamps, papers and stickers separately. The patterned papers, from Simple Stories Vintage Cottage Fields are so pretty and I wanted to create a scrapbooking page with them, so that I could use a bunch of papers on one project. If you would rather make a card, just use one or two of the papers instead. I used an old photo of my eldest. Pink and flowers can be used for a boy page too. 

The beautiful flowers and butterflies from Simon Says Stamp Friendly Flowers were embossed on vellum with the Cream Embossing powder. The powder is in the kit, but not the vellum. 

Cut out and color the images on the back with colored pencils. 

Turn the vellum around and add a few details with a white gel pen.

I used cardstock from the kit and arranged the panels that I wanted to use on top. 

Distress all the edges and tear some of them. 

Stitch around the layout with a sewing machine. Some of the vellum pieces were stapled to the background and the others were glued.

I also added a few stickers from the Simple Stories sticker sheets included in the kit.

Coloring at the back of vellum gives a soft and subtle look.

This sticker is also a part of the kit. Crafting with kits is fast!

Shape the wings of the butterflies a little and only adhere them in the center. If you are making a card, you can layer butterflies on top of each other to create a dimensional look.

I hope you enjoyed this post and I will see you soon again.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by here today! I will see you again tomorrow.

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.

Bright Squares Background

Hello crafters! I hope your weekend was nice. We had really good and sunny weather and went looking for blue and white anemone flowers. Blue anemone flowers are protected here and when I was a child, I hardly ever saw one. They are easier to find now, especially if you know where to look.

This week we have a Bright and and Cheerful Colors theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us and don't miss the stunning project by our April guest designer Autumn Clark.

Please note: this post has are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

I made an art journal page this week, in my Dina Wakley Media Journal and with a very bright and happy color combo. The background was made with square stamps from the Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Squares stamp set, using both Distress Ink and Distress Oxide ink to get a layered effect.

Working on watercolor paper, use the solid squares from Mix and Match Squares and ink them with various shades of yellow, pink, orange and red Distress Ink. Mist with water about three times before stamping. I used three sizes of solid squares here, the smallest one was used a little later. Mist the paper with extra water when you are done stamping and the squares will blend into each other. Let dry.

Next I stamped with Distress Oxide ink and this time without adding water. Stamp with various frame or outline squares from Mix and Match Squares. I also used the smallest solid square. Use stamps in different sizes. The stamps in the set are designed to coordinate and you can create many different patterns and layered effects with them.

I wanted a bold flower to fit with the background and used the Simon Says Stamp Hibiscus Bloom. Die cut from white and heavystock paper.

Glue the white outline on the background and ink a piece at a time from the heavystock flower. Glue into the outline to create an inlay look.

I stamped the petals with the Old Letter Background and Candied Apple Oxide ink, for more texture.

I was in a bit of a hurry and had ink on my fingers, which is why the white outline is no longer completely white. To avoid that, let the pieces dry a bit first (and wash your hands).

I stamped sentiments and star from Mix and Match Squares on the background with black ink, adding a few other sentiments too.

The watercolor look of the solid Distress Ink squares combine very well with the opaque Oxide stamping.

This sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Butterflies.

Bright colors are great for a cheerful and uplifting project.

I embossed two butterflies from Simon Says Stamp Thoughtful Flowers, with Cream Embossing powder on vellum. They were colored with colored pencils.

Here's the second butterfly. Apply glue only under the more solid embossed area to prevent the glue from showing through.

Two more sentiments, from Mix and Match Squares and Beautiful Butterflies.

The title was die cut with Simon Says Stamp Beautiful die using Memory Box Frosted Glitter paper.

I hope you will join us this week in our Bright and and Cheerful Colors challenge. You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

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

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop 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.