Watercolor Flowers ATCs

Hello friends! I hope you are well and had a good weekend. It is starting to get chilly here, especially at night. 

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 'Not a card'. Lots of options here! Don't miss the project by our September guest designer Kerry B.

I made two Artist Trading Cards, which although the word 'card' is in the title, aren't really the type of cards we are talking about here (greeting cards). ATCs are 2.5 x 3.5 in and a really fun size to work with. I did no-line watercoloring using a stamp set by Simon Says Stamp. I used lighter colors than normally when coloring, aiming for an airy and almost see-through look.

Cut two ATCs from watercolor paper and stamp flowers from Simon Says Stamp Wild & Free Flowers with Lost Shadow Distress Ink.

I watercolored the images with Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints. Start by deciding which colors to use and then mix with water on a palette. The aim is to make quite light colors. Start coloring the outlines and then pull the paint into the petals. You might need to rinse the brush to avoid getting too much pigment in the center of the petals. Do the same for the leaves.

Use a more concentrated version of the same colors and darken som of the areas, still keeping most of the flowers very lightly colored. I couldn't help but to add some texture and splattered a little green paint along the bottom of the cards. Round the corners with a Corner Chomper. 

Stamp sentiments with grey ink. Add a few highlights with a white gel pen.

I finished the cards with a few pearls. The purple flower might be my favorite. 

Some of the Lost Shadow stamped lines will still show and add details and movement to the flowers. They look like pencil marks, which I like.

The sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery.

Next, the pink flowers, which have more greenery and also some flower buds. 

I added just a few dots with the white gel pen, as you can see here. I often add more.

The sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Create stamp set. I filled in the 'w' a little with a grey marker since it didn't show well.

Don't worry about getting the coloring perfect. The flowers are meant to have a loose and imperfect look.

Join us this week in our Not a Card challenge! You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

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.

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.