Simon Says Stamp And Back Again Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to my blog! I am happy to take part in the Simon Says Stamp And Back Again blog hop, to celebrate the release of the To The Moon and the And Back Again releases. If you are following along the hop, you have come here from the wonderful 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 To The Moon and And Back Again releases are full of wonderful new stamps, stencils, dies, reinkers and other products. You can find the To The Moon release here and the And Back Again release here. If you use the code GNOMIE you will get the cute 3x4 Love Gnome stamp set FREE with purchase! This promotion will expire 1/23 at 11:59 pm EST.

My 'And Back Again' parcel hasn't arrived yet, so I used products from To The Moon. I made an art journal page and a tag. Both are tutorials. 

Let's start with the art journal page, which has a heart theme and a mixed media background. You can use the techniques for card making too. I worked in my Dylusions Small Creative Flip Journal. 

Start by coating an art journal page with gesso, aiming for an uneven result.

When dry, apply texture paste through one of the Polka Hearts stencils. Let dry and then repeat to cover the page.

Paint with watered-down Distress Paint and mist with more water to blend the colors.

Use the Polka Hearts stencil with the vertical heart design and ink with Ground Espresso.

Stamp here and there with the Chevron Pattern stamp and Island Blue ink.

You can leave the background as it was or, for a grungier look, add shading to the dots and splatter some black paint on the page.

Ink through the Stylized Heart stencil with Distress Ink, aiming for an ombre look.

Sprinkle with clear embossing powder, melt and cut out. Be very careful when using a heat tool and never touch the melted powder until it has cooled down completely.

Die cut a Dotted Heart from old book paper and ink the edges. Stamp sentiments from Simon Says Stamp Mixed Labels on the margins in an old book. Cut into strips. This stamp set is from the Handmade Holiday release.

Stamp one more sentiment and cut into a strip. Add design tape and label tape to the background.

The label was stamped with brown ink on the margins of an old book paper. Cut out or use the coordinating Mixed Labels die set.

The inky hearts almost sinks into the paste dots, creating a layered look.

The edges and texture of the gesso shows clearly after you have painted the page.

The second project is a tag with a dry embossed color-blocked background. This is a fun and quick technique which is perfect to use together with scrap paper.

Start by adhering squares of colored and patterned paper on the background, overlapping slightly. I used a mix of Tim Holtz Backdrops and Warm Kraft Stock paper.

Emboss in the Simon Says Stamp Geometric Lattice folder. (Sorry about the bad photo)

Sand the edges lightly and ink with brown ink.

Die cut the Dotted Heart from pieces of Tim Holtz Backdrops paper.

Ink with Distress Ink.

I also die cut the heart from Simon Says Stamp Gold Glitter and Vellum paper.

Shape the hearts and staple them together, off-setting the gold glitter heart slightly.

By off-setting the gold glitter heart, the gold also shows through the dots.

You can make these in any color and they are great for small pieces of scrap paper.

The label comes from Mixed Labels and was stamped on heavystock paper. The sentiment is from the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set.

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 26th of January.

Your next stop on the hop is Bibi Cameron who will share beautiful inspiration with you.

Here are all the stops along the hop:

Simon Says Stamp Blog

Nina-Marie Trapani

Caly Person

Nichol Spohr

Jennifer McGuire

Cathy Zielske

Suzy Plantamura

Sidnie Des Jardins

Lisa Addesa

Keisha Charles

Anna-Karin Evaldsson (you are here)

Bibi Cameron

Yana Smakula

Mindy Eggen

Barb Engler

For more And Back Again and To The Moon inspiration remember to check out the And Back Again and To The Moon galleries 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. 

This is the first blog hop for the And Back Again release, don't miss blog hop day number 2 tomorrow.

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.