Simon Says Stamp Cozy Hugs Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to my blog! I am so happy to take part in the Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop to celebrate the new Cozy Hugs release. If you are following along in the hop, you should have come here from the wonderful Cheiron Brandon.

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 Cozy Hugs release is full of wonderful new stamps, stencils, dies and other products. Perfect for winter and Christmas crafting, but also for so much more. You can find the whole release here. If you use the code COZY you will get the Giant Hugs Card Wrap FREE with any purchase of $75 or more!! This promotion will expire at 10/9 at 11:59 pm EDT.

I made a fall-themed tag and a Christmas/winter art journal page, with tutorials below.

Fall is at its most beautiful here now and always inspires me with its colors. One of my favorite birds is the blue tit, so when I saw the gorgeous Simon Says Stamp Friendly Birds embossing folder and die combo, I knew I wanted to turn the birds into blue tits.

Start by applying Distress Ink directly to the Friendly Birds embossing folder. I removed some of the ink around the birds. Mist a tag cut from watercolor paper with water and emboss.

When dry, add more ink to deepen the colors and frame the birds. I painted the berries red using a Distress Watercolor Pencil.

The two birds were die cut from watercolor paper and then embossed in the same folder. I love how versatile these emboss and cut folders are. You can find a whole bunch of them in the Cozy Hugs release.

I colored them with Distress Watercolor Pencils by picking the pigment up from the tip of the pencils with a paint brush.

Die cut the Budding Branches from watercolor paper and color with the pencils.

Dip a pencil into water and flick a paint brush against it to create splatters.

I added a piece of Design Tape Trims at the top to hide the part that wasn't embossed.

Don't worry about getting a perfect result when painting the birds. You can also get the colors to blend more by using a paint brush and water. The birds were adhered with Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Perfect Foam Tape.

I die cut the Simon Says Stamp Berry Stems also from the Cozy Hugs release from Simon Says Stamp Crimson glittery paper and glued to the berries on the branches.

The sentiment was cut from the Sassy T-Day Sentiment Strip.

Next I made an art journal page with a Christmas theme, since I wanted to use the beautiful Painted Christmas Wreath stamp and to turn the birds into bullfinches. I worked in my Dina Wakley White Journal which is 6 x 6 in and if you rather want to make a card instead, that works just as well.

Start by smearing Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap on a non-stick craft sheet. Mist with water and press the page into the ink. This gives us a nice neutral background as a base.

The Distress Watercolor Pencils are great to stamp with. Wet the tip of the pencil and color right onto the Painted Christmas Wreath rubber stamp. Don't worry about getting it perfect. I used a Sizzix cutting pad as my stamping block.

Mist with water and stamp on the background. The white journal has quite rough watercolor paper and you will get a different result depending on the paper you use and the amount of water.

I stamped a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Let It Snow with black ink. The snowflakes come from the same set and were inked with Black Soot Distress Ink and misted with water before stamping. I also die cut the Berry Stems from Simon Says Stamp gold glitter paper and added to the berries. Later, I added some red glittery berries too.

Dip a pencil in water and flick a paint brush against it for splatters.

The bullfinches die cut from watercolor paper and then embossed with Friendly Birds. They were colored in the same way as the blue tits. 

When they were dry, I added highlights with a white gel pen. The branches from Berry Stems were die cut from kraft cardstock.

Finally, I added a little Ranger Nebula stickles glitter gel around the edges. There are star sequins in the gel.

I also added a few more sentiments from Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery. 

The splatters and glitter add texture and interest to the background.

I splattered extra much yellow in the center of the Poinsettias. 

The bullfinch is the quintessential Christmas bird in Sweden and it is always such a joy to see one.

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 12th of October.

Your next stop on the hop is Lisa Addesa.  Don't miss to see what she has created. If you get lost along the way, here are all the stops:

Simon Says Stamp Blog

Nina-Marie Trapani

Caly Person

Nichol Spohr

Cathy Zielske

Amy Rysavy

Suzy Plantamura

Keisha Charles

Yana Smakula

Sidnie Des Jardins

Heather Ruwe

Bibi Cameron

Cheiron Brandon

Anna-Karin Evaldsson (you are here)

Lisa Addesa

Lea Lawson

Barb Engler

For more Cozy Hugs inspiration remember to check out the Cozy Hugs 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.


This is the first blog hop for the Cozy Hugs release, don't miss blog hop day number 2 tomorrow.

Thank you so much for stopping 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.