Simon Says Stamp Handmade Holiday Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my blog! I am happy to take part in the blog hop to celebrate the new Simon Says Stamp release, which is called Handmade Holiday. If you are following along the hop you should have arrived here from the very creative Keisha Charles.

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

The Handmade Holiday release is full of wonderful new stamps, stencils, dies, ink, glitter glues and other products. It is perfect for holiday crafting, but also for many other themes. You can see the whole release here. If you use the code DMADE4U you will get a Salvaged Patina Distress Oxide ink pad FREE with any purchase! This promotion will expire 11/14 at 11:59 pm EST or while supplies last.

I am also very happy to have designed two of the stamp sets in this release, namely Mixed Labels and Real Leaves.

I made an art journal page, but it could just as well be a card, tag or canvas instead.

I love trees, and birch trees are one of my favorite trees. The interesting bark texture makes them particularly fun to paint and I created a winter scene in my Dylusions Square 8x8 art journal. From the Handmade Holiday release I used: Birch Trees Stencil, Etched Berry Branch die, Love, Joy, Peace Rainbow stamp set and Glitz Glitter Gel.

Start by coating the page with gesso and don't make it too smooth, we want some texture.

Paint with Distress Paint - I used white at the bottom, but forgot to include it in the photo. Mist lightly with water to blend and create spots. I painted both sides, so the one to the left is ready if I want to do another winter project there.

When dry, place the Birch Trees stencil on the background and apply Texture Paste through it with a palette knife. Let dry and then add two more trees.

The texture paste is slightly translucent and I like to either mix a little white into the paste, or paint it afterwards. Here I sponged on the paint with a mini-round ink blending tool, adding texture to the trees. 

Start with light shades of grey and brown. Decide from which direction the light is coming and make the trees darker on the opposite side.

Continue, adding darker shades as you go along. I mixed Blueprint Sketch and Black Soot to make a very dark blue, but also used both of them as they are. 

Stamp two deer from the Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery set, with Potting Soil ink. Wipe the ink off their feet before stamping, so that it looks like they are standing in the snow.

Stamp sentiments on the page, from the Love, Joy, Peace, Rainbow set.

Cover the words with post it notes and splatter the page with white paint to create the look of a snowy sky.

Add shadows under the deer and some blue and grey in the foreground.

The new Glitz Glitter Gels are fabulous! I really like glitter gels since they are so mess-free, compared to lose glitter. I applied just a little at the bottom, at the top and on the trees.

Then I realised that I had forgotten to add shadows to the trees. Paint a thin shadow at the one side of the tree with grey and black.

The Etched Berry Branch is so pretty. I will be using it a lot. Here I die cut it from vellum.

I cut two of the branches slightly and rearranged the leaves. Add sequins as berries.

The stamping will pick up some of the background texture, which adds a nice worn look to the deer.

I see a lot of deer when I go on my walks and always enjoy seeing them. By wiping off the ink from their feet before stamping, the deer look like they are standing in the snow, rather than on top of it.

Here you can see the mix of splatters and glitter and paint on the trees.

Up close you can see how simple the paint marks are on the trees, but together they make the trees look like birch trees.

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 17th of November.

Your next stop on the hop is Vicky Papaioannou who will share beautiful inspiration with you.

Here are all the stops along the hop:

Simon Says Stamp Blog

Laura Bassen

Debby Hughes

Bibi Cameron

Keisha Charles

Anna-Karin Evaldsson (you are here)

Vicky Papaioannou

Mindy Eggen

Barb Engler

Miriam Prantner

Tina Smith

Norine Borys

Sandi MacIver

Adelle Emery

Emma Williams

Yoonsun Hur

For more Handmade Holiday inspiration remember to check out the Handmade Holiday gallery at Simon Says Stamp, 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 blog hop was yesterday, so don't miss all the inspiration there.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by here today! I'll 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.