Plaid Mixed Media Background

Hi friends! Today I have an art journal page to share, but the techniques can also be used for other types of projects. 

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 Simon Says Stamps Stripes and Plaid builder stencil set is so versatile and you can make many different backgrounds with it. I used only two of the three stencils here and could seamlessly fill the whole background with them, even though the page in my Small Creative Journal is taller than the stencils. I used products from the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember® release.

Autumn arrived here on Monday, after one last weekend of summer. 

Start by coating the page with gesso. When dry, apply texture paste with a palette knife through the largest stripes of the set. Let dry.

Place the stencil back and complete the first diagonal stripes. It is easy to line up the stencil. Then repeat the process, but turn the stencil the other way around. I accidentality deleted some of the step photos for this project.

Paint the page with watered-down Mustard Seed and a little Carved Pumpkin Distress Paint and let dry. The paint the thick stripes with Carved Pumpkin. Use more water for one direction to get a lighter color. Let dry and then use one of the other stencils. Sponge Abandoned Coral through the stencil. Repeat to cover the whole page. 

Turn the stencil in the other direction and add more stripes with Abandoned Coral.

Paint the whole page with watered-down Ground Espresso. Remove most of the paint with a paper towel. Skip this step, if you don't want a distressed look.

Place one of the stencils back on the design and add Starshine Stickles Glitter Gel with a palette knife.

Die cut the flowers from gold paper with the Simon Says Stamp Crimped Floral Embossing Folder and Cutting dies and emboss in the coordinating folder. You can emboss a bunch of flowers at the same time.

The Simon Says Stamp Fancy Just Because die was die cut from Simon Says Stamp Color-Blend cardstock, Lemon glitter cardstock and black cardstock.

The die cut and embossed flowers look pretty in gold. For a different version of these flowers, check out my Just Because tag.

Using a combination of texture paste, acrylic paint and glitter gives an interesting look to the plaid pattern.

There is a piece of organza ribbon behind the title. I like the combination of the glossy Color-Blend cardstock and the glittery Lemon glitter paper. The second sentiment 'kindness matters' was stamped with the Simon Says Stamp Just Because stamp set.

Don't miss all the surprises and inspiration during STAMPtember®! You can find the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive release here.

Thank you so much for stopping by here today! Have a good weekend!

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.

Birthday Card with ink and pencils

Hi stampers! I hope you had a good weekend! We went to a fun Lego exhibit and an autumn market. Today we are continuing our STAMPtember® celebrations at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.

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.

In honour of STAMPtember® we have a Stamping theme this week. There is nothing better than stamping. Don't miss the fun project by our September guest designer Kerry B.

I made a birthday card this week using new Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember® exclusive stamps. The image was stamped with the Simon Says Stamp Birthday Party set and colored with colored pencils. I didn't add as much texture and details as I normally do.

Start by stamping the image from Simon Says Stamp Birthday Party on heavystock cardstock.

Color with pencils. I used Prismacolors. Color the light areas too, using a light color or white pencils. This is to protect them from the inking.

I stamped the boy one more on Simon Says Stamp Masking Paper and masked him, but this step is not really necessary. I just wanted to make sure that I hadn't missed coloring any skin areas, since those areas would then become blue. The colored areas resist the ink. Ink with Distress Ink.

Remove the mask and ink around the edges. I like the way Scorched Timber blends with other colors, creating a dark grey/brown.

Add grass and a shadow with the colored pencils. Then add details and highlights and grass with a black pen and a white gel pen.

I stamped sentiments from Simon Says Stamp Birthday Party on the background. I also added Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Surf Gems. I love these gems. They are so sparkly.

I used bright colors since that fit with the birthday theme. 

I hope you enjoyed this project! 

Don't miss all the surprises and inspiration during STAMPtember®! You can find the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive release here.

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

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.

Recycled Tag

Hello stampers! It is STAMPtember®! The best month of the creative year! This year it is extra special because it is the 15th STAMPtember®.

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.

Our theme this week at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog is Recycle. Lots of fun options with this one! Since it is the first Monday of a new month, the team is showcasing products by a specific designer/company and this week it is Brutus Monroe. You can find all their stamps, stencils, papers, embossing powders and more here. You don't have to use products by Brutus Monroe, but it is fun if you do. 

We also have a new guest designer and during September Kerry B will be joining us. Visit her blog Kerry's Papercraft to see what she has created.

I made a tag and used cardboard for the base of the tag. The buttons are also recycled from old clothes and all the die cuts were made from left-over paper. Autumn is starting to make its presence known, with a chill in the wind and some of the trees starting to change colors. 

After cutting the tag, I tore off some of the top layer and coated the tag partly with gesso. When the gesso was dry, I applied texture paste with a palette knife through Brutus Monroe Lots of Lines Slimline Stencil. Let dry. 

Paint with Distress Paint and mist with Twisted Citron Distress Spritz for glimmer. 

I placed the stencil back on the tag and applied Ranger's Starshine Glitter Gel with a palette knife.

The autumn leaves were die cut from left-over paper with Tim Holtz Vault Foliage Wreath. I used paper that had been colored with Paper Artsy's Infusions Colored Stains.

The Just Because stamp set is from the Simon Says Stamp exclusive STAMPtember® release. I used the same stamp on a background on my STAMPtember® Blog Party post earlier today, but here I stamped it with black ink on inked heavystock cardstock to get individual sentiments that can be cut into strips.

I cut out some of the sentiment and inked the edges with Scorched Timber. The leaves were shaped a little and glued here and there with Simon Says Stamp craft glue. I also glued recycled buttons to the tag. 

I really like Simon Says Stamp Dazzling Gems and here I used the Mandarin gems. 

The Just Because die is also from the STAMPtember® release. I die cut it from left-over paper and from black cardstock. The die also comes with a matte, which you can see on my STAMPtember® blog party tag here.

More gems and buttons.

The Distress Spritz sinks in between the texture paste areas, while the Stickles Glitter gel glitters on the texture paste.

Don't miss all the surprises and inspiration during STAMPtember®! You can find the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive release here.

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

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.

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember® Blog Party

Hello and welcome to my blog! The best month of the creative year has begun and I am happy to take part in the blog party to celebrate the start of STAMPtember® at Simon Says Stamp. This year it is extra special because it is the 15th STAMPtember®. There will be even more surprises than normally. And don't miss all the inspiration!

STAMPtember® is a month-long celebration of stamping at Simon Says Stamp, with inspiration, new products and many surprises. You can find the beginning of the blog party on the Simon Says Stamp Store Blog. It is a big party, with 82 stops!

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.

There is of course also a big new exclusive STAMPtember® release. The STAMPtember® release is full of fantastic new stamps of course, but also dies, stencils, inks and paper products. So much! You can find it all here.

I also have a free gift for you. You will get the Prism Pawsitivily Dazzling Gems free with a qualifying purchase, if you use the code DAZZ. It is valid while supplies last. 

I made a tag, but you can easily turn it into a card instead.

Just Because is such a great sentiment since it works with many different themes and because it is fun to send a card or craft 'just because'. I really like both the Just Because sentiment die and the Just Because background stamp. This tag consists mainly of words, except for the flowers made with the Crimped Floral Embossing Folder and Cutting Dies.

Start by white embossing the Just Because stamp on a tag. I liked how most of the sentiments on one side of the stamp fit onto the tag.

Ink with various Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated Inks. The embossing will resist the ink.

Die cut the four flowers from Simon Says Stamp Crimped Floral Embossing Folder and Cutting Dies several times from watercolor paper. Mist with water and then emboss in the coordinating folder. Aren't these flowers cute? 

Watercolor the flowers loosely with Distress Inks and Pawsitively Saturated Inks.

Add a bit of shape to the flowers.

Die cut the Just Because sentiment from heavystock paper and ink with Spring and Surf Pawsitively Saturated inks. 

Emboss with several layers of clear embossing powder. Be very careful when using a heat tool and never touch the melted powder until it has cooled down completely. Sprinkle white embossing powder into the last layer for a textured, almost marbled, effect.

I glued Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Velvet Luxury Cardstock to cardstock and embossed Just Because again. 

Dye May Arts Faux Wrinkled Silk Ribbon with Pawsitively Saturated inks.

The shiny and speckled words look nice together with the soft, matte velvet paper. The sentiment was adhered with Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Perfect Foam Tape. 

I added Simon Says Stamp Dazzling Gems to the center of the flowers.

The Just Because stamp works great as a background, but you can also use the individual sentiments.

Don't miss all the inspiration along the blog party. All the links are available at the Simon Says Stamp Store blog. Throughout the month there will be surprises. Don't miss it!

There is also a s special STAMPtember® Gallery where you can find inspiration and add your own projects.

Here are all the participants of the party: 

1. Alberto Gava
2. Allison Frazier
3. Amy Rysavy
4. Anna-Karin Evaldsson (you are here)
5. Anne Fiene
6. Barb Engler
7. Barbara Tarayao
8. Beth Opel
9. Betsy Green
10. Bibi Cameron
11. Bobbi Lemanski
12. Bonnie Crane
13. Brennan Keane
14. Caly Person
15. Carly Minner
16. Carol Hintermeier
17. Cathie Cowles
18. Cathy Zielske
19. Charlene Madrid
20. Cheiron Brandon
21. Cindy Norberg
22. Dana Joy
23. Daniel West
24. Debby Hughes
25. Debby van Diepen
26. Emily Midgett
27. Enza Gudor
28. Hanh Nguyen
29. Hannelie Bester
30. Heather Hoffman
31. Heather Ruwe
32. Inderjeet Kaur
33. Jean Doeringsfeld
34. Jenn Shurkus
35. Jennifer Kotas
36. Jennifer McGuire
37. Jessica Vasher
38. Joe Sysavath
39. Joy Ott
40. Kailash Naidoo
41. Karen Boyce
42. Karen Downs
43. Karin Åkesdotter
44. Kath Stewart
45. Keisha Charles
46. Kim Hamilton
47. Kristin Sluhan
48. Kulbir Kirkland
49. Laura Bassen
50. Lea Lawson
51. Lien Leysen
52. Lisa Addesa
53. Lorraine Aquilina
54. Maggie Haas
55. Mary Reiner
56. Maura Hibbitts
57. Megin Brooks
58. Michelle Peckham
59. Michelle Short
60. Mindy Eggen
61. Miriam Prantner
62. Misty Elam
63. Mitchell Koenig
64. Natasha Vacca
65. Nichol Spohr
66. Nicki Baxley
67. Nina-Marie Trapani
68. Pam Torkelson
69. Rachel Alvarado
70. Revati Panickar
71. Rosemary Dennis
72. Samantha Pfrimmer
73. Sandi MacIver
74. Seeka
75. Shari Carroll
76. Simeen Batra
77. Sue Symens
78. Susan Babcock
79. Susan R. Opel
80. Suzy Plantamura
81. Tracy Ware
82. Yana Smakula

Thank you so much for stopping by here today! 

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.