Hot Air Balloon Art Journal Page

Hello crafters! It is the last day of the month, and maybe also of summer. I have an art journal page to share inspired by a yellow hot air balloon that my youngest and I saw a couple of days ago.

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.

Bright hot air balloons against a blue sky are such a joyful sight and I wanted to preserve it in my art journal. I used distress Paint and texture paste for the background. The balloons were die cut and embossed with Simon Says Stamp Adrift Air Balloons set. I worked in my Dylusions Small Creative Journal. You can of course also make a card instead.

Coat the page with gesso and let dry. Paint with Distress Paints and mist heavily with water to blend. 

When the blue paint was dry I used Simon Says Stamp Clouds For Days together with texture paste to make the clouds. 

Apply Ranger Moon Dust Stickles glitter gel to the clouds, once the paste is dry.

Stamp with Simon Says Stamp Swiss Dots and Cobalt ink.

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Adrift Air Balloons from watercolor paper.

Mist the balloons with water and place them one at a time in the coordinating embossing folder. 

Smear Distress Ink on a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water, pick up with a paint brush and watercolor the balloons. 

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Fancy Just Because from Simon Says Stamp white glossy cardstock and ink with Mustard Seed Distress Ink.

The words are shiny, because of the glossy cardstock, which is a nice touch. 

Glue the balloons to the background. If you make a card, use foam tape. I like to keep my art journal pages fairly flat and avoid foam tape there.

This sentiment was stamped with Tim Holtz Tiny Text and Cobalt ink.

I made a couple of very colorful balloons, but liked the ones with one or two colors better. 

This word stamp comes from Simon Says Stamp Beautiful and Curious.

Tomorrow STAMPtember® starts at Simon Says Stamp. Don't miss all the inspiration and surprises. The best month of the creative year!

Thank you for visiting! See you soon again!

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.

Seaside Mixed Media Scene

Hello friends! Today I have a mixed media seaside scene to share, made with stencils, ink, an embossing folder and bits and pieces.   

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 wanted something on my wall to remember summer and the sea. The shells and seaglass were found on the beach that the piece reminds me off. I used a stencil for the background and a Simon Says Stamp embossing folder for the little boat. You can also turn the design into a card instead. 

Start by applying Matte Medium through Tim Holtz Bubble stencil on watercolor paper. 

When dry, apply Distress Paint to a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water. Press the paper into the ink.

Let dry and repeat until you are happy with the look. Use Distress Oxides for the last layer, but only dab here and there. 

Emboss the boat design of Simon Says Stamp Sailboat on watercolor paper.

Smear Distress Ink on a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water. Watercolor the boat and cut it out.

Stamp birds using Hero Arts Sunset Over Waves.

Add matte medium to the bottom of the page and adhere shells, fragments of shells, seaglass and Tim Holtz Baubles. Sprinkle Rock Candy Distress Glitter on top. 

I also used Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzing Surf Gems to the sky. Distress the edges of kraft and kraftstock cardstock and mount to chipboard or mount board.

The many layers of Distress Ink and then also Distress Oxide ink gives great texture and depth.

The sentiment was stamped with Simon Says Stamp Beautiful and Curious.

I added a little cheese cloth under the boat as waves.

I also glued Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Opal Gems among the shells, for extra bling.

This sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery.

I also tucked a little cheese cloth here and there. 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Thank you for visiting! See you soon again!

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.

Butterfly Thank You

Hello friends! Today I have a card to share made with an embossing folder, Micro Glaze and various mists. It's a quick and easy background, which will look different each time.

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 made a butterfly card, using the Simon Says Stamp Confetti Butterflies embossing folder, from the Happy Camper release. You can do the technique with any embossing folder. The sentiment and butterflies were die cut from glossy cardstock which had been inked.

Mist watercolor paper with water and dry emboss in Simon Says Stamp Confetti Butterflies.

When the paper is dry, apply Distress Micro Glaze to the butterflies, with your finger.

Mist the paper with Distress Spray Stains and then add some Distress Spritz. The Micro Glaze will resist the mist.

The Simon Says Stamp Giggle Thank You and Bright Butterflies were die cut from Simon Says Stamp gloss cardstock, which had first been inked with orange ink. I also die cut the butterflies from Simon Says Stamp Shimmer Vellum. 

Distress the edges and mount on kraft cardstock and folded brown cardstock. Here you can see the effect of the Distress Spritz. 

Fold the wings of the butterflies and off-set the vellum ones slightly. Add Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Prism Gems as a trail behind the butterflies.

Die cut the mat for the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Shimmer Vellum and gloss cardstock, off-set the latter slightly. Adhere with foam tape. 

I hope this card inspired you to combine dry embossing, micro glaze and mists. 

Thank you for visiting! See you soon again!

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.

Field of Heather Art Journal Page

Hello crafters! Today I have a stamped and watercolored art journal page, in memory of beautiful fields of heather which we saw this summer. The lovely scent and the buzz of bees. 

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 wanted something light and simple as a memory of the fields of heather at the sea where we were for a week this summer. There was much more heather than last year and those purple fields are so pretty. I worked in my Stamperia Happiness Journal.

Start by drawing a hill with a pencil and then paint the sky with yellow and blue watercolor paint. Dabb out some clouds with a kitchen towel.

Paint the field. 

Ink the heather stamp from Tim Holtz Flower Jar set. Mist with water and stamp. I used two shades of green ink.

Paint the flowers purple.

Darken the greens at the bottom of the page.

Stamp a sentiment with Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery and cut into a strip. Ink another Flower Jar stamp with green ink, mist with water and stamp. 

Splatter with just a little Winsor & Newton White Gouache.

I used two shades of purple, one of which is a little more pink than the other.

Later I added two more sentiments from Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery. The first one was originally stamped on the background, but I messed up the stamping and had to cover it up. 

The darker foreground adds dimension.

This is a simple watercolor scene, but looking at it makes me think of those lovely days at the sea.

Thank you for visiting! See you soon again!

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.