Happy Birthday Card

Hi stampers! Today I have a quick birthday card to share, using mainly scrap papers.

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.

With the Simon Says Stamp A2 Marquee die set you can make a layered background very quickly and the dotted borders add such a nice touch. It is from the new Simon Says Stamp Happy and Joyful release. 

I started out by looking through my box of scrap papers and picked a green and a blue piece and a watercolor paper which had been colored with Paper Artsy Infusions Colored Stains. I think the blue and green papers had been watercolored with Distress Ink. I used the three rectangles in the A2 Marquee set to die cut them and also die cut an extra rectangle from vellum.

Stamp the two colored papers with coordinating shades of ink. I used Simon Says Stamp Halftone Background and Soft Plaid Background.

I really like the look of this sentiment stamp, from Simon Says Stamp Time To Party and stamped it with black ink for a bold look. The sentiment panel was adhered with foam tape.

I used Simon Says Stamp Glimmery Cardstock for the cardbase. Here you can see all the layers.

The hearts were die cut from a scrap piece of holographic paper using Simon Says Stamp Clipping Hearts die. I keep even tiny scraps of holographic papers.

I hope you enjoyed this project! 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.

Altered Vintage Bottle Tutorial

Hi friends! Today I have a fun vintage altered bottle tutorial to share, using a bottle that I found in a second-hand store.

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.

I haven't altered a bottle in quite many years, which made this project extra fun to do. The bottle is about 5.5 in tall. You can use any kind of glass bottle or glass jar instead. Sea glass was one of my inspirations for this piece, but with added texture. I wanted the bottle to be translucent, although not everywhere. It was decorated with paper flowers, pearls and some Tim Holtz idea-ology metal pieces.

I started with a layer of clear gesso, for a base to work on.

Next add white gesso, but don't cover the clear layer completely. I made the bottle more opaque towards the bottom.

Next, Distress Paint in two shades. Try to keep the layer thin, so that light can still move through the bottle.

I rubbed darker brown paint into some of the areas, particularly at the bottom and along the rim.

For more texture, add a little Translucent Grit-Paste here and there. Let dry.

Stamp the bottle lightly with Simon Says Stamp Old Letter and black ink and Simon Says Stamp Crackle Background and brown ink.

Finally, rub some Sizzix silver and gold luster wax here and there on the bottle, particularly on the edges and where there is grit-paste.

Fringe to strips of paper cut from Tim Holtz Backdrops paper. Roll into flowers.

Die cut four roses from backdrops paper using Tim's Tattered Pinecone die. 

Trim the roses with scissors to make the pinecone shape more like a rose. Roll back the petals with tweezers.

Assemble the flowers and ink the edges.

Apply a tiny bit of wax to the flowers.

I decorated both sides of the bottle, so that it can be turned around for a different look.

I dyed cheese cloth with Distress Ink. The leaves were die cut from Backdrops paper with Simon Says Stamp Fine Textured Leaf. I added black alcohol ink to the pen nib.

The larger leaves were die cut with Simon Says Stamp Tattered Leaves. White paint was rubbed into the Word Band.

I also dyed four Tim Holtz Baubles with Aqua alcohol ink and tucked them in among the flowers. Here you can see how dimensional the flowers are.

On the other side of the bottle there is one additional rose and more beads.

I sanded some of the roses slightly.

The metallic wax looks particularly good on the edges of the fringed flowers.

Making paper flowers is a great way of using scrap patterned papers.

Again, there is white paint rubbed into the letters on the Quote Token, and some gold wax around the edges.

I tied a piece of twine around the top of the bottle, and added more leaves and another rose.

The texture from the gesso and paint comes through nicely.

Here you can see the grit-paste better. It also has an interesting feel to it, like the feel of very old glass.

When the bottle is held up against the light, you can see that it is slightly transluscent.

The stamped crackles add just a bit of extra texture.

Here you can see the effect of the metallic waxes better.

I hope you enjoyed this project! 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.

Orca Underwater Scene

Hi stampers! Today I have a tutorial to share for an underwater scene, using dye ink on glossy cardstock.

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.

My youngest wants to be a researcher studying water creatures, in particular the spectacular orca, which is his favorite animal. I made this scenic stamping piece for him. You can also easily turn it into a card instead. 

This scene was done on Simon Says Stamp white glossy paper, which works great together with dye inks, but is hard to photograph because of reflections.

I used Hero Arts Layering Orca set and stamped the first impression with Watering Can ink. In real life, this should be black, but what couldn't work with the layering and shading effect. I considered blue, but picked dark grey instead, since I knew my son would not think a blue orca was correct.

Stamp the next layer with black ink. It might help to use a stamp position tool when stamping layered stamps, but don't worry if your layers do not align perfectly. I also always test stamp on scrap paper first.

Stamp the third layer with a light grey or light blue ink. I used Archival Ink Shadow Grey.

Stamp on Simon Says Stamp Masking Paper and cut out. My mask wasn't perfect, but I left it like that anyway. 

I used a Speedball Brayer to apply the ink, starting with the lightest shade. Avoid lines by running the edges of the brayer on scrap paper first. Ranger also has brayers, which you can find here.

Continue with darker shades. Here I started making the deeper ocean gradually darker than the surface.

Next add layers of Blueprint Sketch and finally some Black Soot.

I wanted rays from the surface and started doing them with a ruler and a thin paint brush dipped in water. I got too much water under the ruler in one area at the top, but that didn't matter at the end. I thought the effect was too subtle for what I was aiming for.

Instead I used a white gel pen. Remove the mask and let some of the rays go behind and some in front of the whale. Stamp small fish and a turtle. Add dots as highlights with the white gel pen.

The sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery.

The rays gives additional focus to the orca. As you can see here, the mask was too small at the bottom of the orca, but if anything, it helped her blend better into the background, since there isn't a lighter halo and since it didn't matter that some blue ended up on the light gray shadow area.

The rays don't need to be perfect, but I did use a ruler. The lighter areas in the background from the first layer with only water gave more depth to the rays. Sometimes the unexpected effects are the best.

Here you can see the finished scene without the frame. It's 5x7 in.

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.