Poinsettia Art Journal Page

Hello friends! December is continuing with really bleak and wet weather here. My indoor Christmas lights are helping a little to cheer things up, so do the new poinsettia plant that I got the other day and which inspired this project.

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.

This week we have a Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us and don't miss the lovely project by our December guest designer Carrie Swift.

I was inspired of the poinsettia plant that I got and how it increased the Christmas feeling at home and decided to make an art journal page about it. The flower and the background was watercolored. I added silver embossed elements and some more stamping. The page was done in my Stamperia Mixed Media Happiness Journal 4.5 x 8 in.

Stamp Tim Holtz Stamper's Anonymous The Poinsettia twice on a page in the journal - or on watercolor paper if you are making a card instead.

Watercolor the flowers, leaving some of the paper white for highlights. I used Daniel Smith watercolors.

Watercolor the background too, making it darker around the edges.

When the background is dry, stamp three sentiments.

I wanted to add silver and silver embossed the music stamp from The Poinsettia on the background. Ink the stars from Simon Says Stamp Festive Merriment with Uncharted Mariner Distress Ink, mist with water and stamp.

Splatter with Winsor & Newton White Gouache.

The silver embossing adds shine and texture, without adding bulk. The sentiment is from Tim Holtz Home for Christmas.

The yellow dots were added with a paint pen.

This was the message I wanted to convey, how the flowers contributed to the feeling of Christmas. This sentiment is also from Tim Holtz Home for Christmas.

Don't worry about perfection when watercoloring the flowers.

So true, but sometimes easy to forget in the long to-do list. This last sentiment comes from Tim Holtz Scenic Holiday.

Join us this week in our Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays 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.

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

Thank you so much for visiting 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.

Winter Wonderland

Hi crafters! Today I am happy to have a tutorial on the Simon Says Stamp store blog, for a mixed media winter wonderland. 

It was nice to create a winter project, since the weather here is pretty much the opposite of this project now. Grey and rainy.

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 had a wooden piece at home and decided to turn it into winter / Christmas décor. You can make a card instead, or do the techniques on a canvas. My piece of wood is 3.8×8.2 in. I used dies from Simon Says Stamp And Everything Nice and DieCember® releases, combined with paint, media and glitter. 

The cute snowmen were made with Simon Says Stamp Jolly Snowmen Embossing Folder and Cutting Dies.

You can see the full project, tutorial and all the details on the Simon Says Stamp store blog. 

Thank you so much for visiting today! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Altered Christmas Gift Box

Hello crafters! We are still waiting for winter weather here, after another grey weekend. 

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.

This week we have a Wrap It Up theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us and don't miss the beautiful project by our December guest designer Carrie Swift.

The new DieCember® release is filled with dies, stamps and other great new products. 

I had a gift box which I got sometime ago, with I believe chocolates inside and decided to alter it into a Christmas gift box. It had a nice floral pattern on the lid, that I didn't want to cover up. I used patterned paper to alter the box, and gesso and paint for the lid. There are sentiments stamped on each side.

This was the original box.

I covered the sides of the box with a pretty Poinsettia paper from Tim Holtz Christmas Backdrops and added another piece of backdrops paper to the base. I kept the part that the lid would cover as it was, since it was a tight fit and I was afraid that the box would be difficult to open otherwise. The lid was painted with gesso. 

Paint the lid with Picket Fence and then dry brush Pumice Stone, especially on the floral design and the edges.

I used a mix of stamps for my sentiments. Many of them come from Simon Says Stamp Festive Merriment. 

Die cut three hearts using Simon Says Stamp Heart Shaker Shapes from the new DieCember® release. One was die cut from a Christmas Backdrops paper and two from Simon Says Stamp Silver Vellum. Fold in the middle and shape.

The lid already had a hole at the top and a ribbon pull. I pierced a hole through the hearts and used the original ribbon. The lid was stamped with two sentiments and I also added Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Lilac Gems. The sentiment at the top comes from Tim Holtz Darling Christmas and the one at the bottom from Tiny Text Christmas.

The vellum hearts gives a nice hint of shimmer.

I positioned the heart die so that I would get a section of the paper that I liked. I used this same paper for my December Journal.

Tie ribbons around the bottom of the box. The sentiment on the lid comes from Simon Says Stamp Festive Merriment and the one on the box from Tim Holtz Watercolor Trees.

Each side of the lid and of the box has a different sentiment.

Silent Night comes from Tim Holtz Tiny Text Christmas.

Dry brushing paint on an embossed design, makes the design stand out better.

I sanded the edges of the papers after gluing them to the box.

The patterned paper at the bottom finishes the design, while also covering up the text that was printed there.

Join us this week in our Wrap It Up 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.

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

Thank you so much for visiting 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.

Santa Tag

Hello friends! Today I have a quick and simple Santa tag to share. You can also turn it into a card.

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 was in the mood for a traditional Christmas project and thought this Santa stamp from Tim Holtz Letter To Santa would be perfect. I also used traditional green, red and gold colors. 

Using my MISTI, I inked the stamp with Red Geranium for his clothes and then added Jet Black. I repeated the stamping with only the black ink, adding some to the red areas too. 

Ink the tag with Distress Ink.

Stamp with a holly stamp and then gold emboss the sentiment from Tim Holtz Mini Holiday 4. Apply some embossing powder around the edges too. Restamp the sentiment with dark brown ink for a shadow effect.

Add sequins as berries to the holly.

Next I added some white details with a gel pen to Santa and Stickles to the beard and trimmings on his hat.

I die cut a gold star using Simon Says Stamp Holiday Window Decor and added a sentiment sticker and some pretty ribbons.

The Stickles adds a much nicer effect in real life than photographed.

Thank you so much for visiting 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.