Blackcurrant Jam art journal

Hi friends! I hope you had a fun weekend! School has started. It is starting to get chillier and darker in the evenings.

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.

At the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog we have an Lots of Layers theme this week. I love adding layers to my projects, layers in all forms. Don't miss the stunning project by our August guest designer Cassie Lynch!

If I can get hold of blackcurrants, I always try to make blackcurrant jam and enjoy it with my breakfast cereal. It is a bit of summer that lasts into autumn and maybe even winter. This year I picked lots of blackcurrants and have more jam than most years. The page was done in my Small Creative Journal.

The background is from my recent gel printing session. Here I used papers embossed in Simon Says Stamp Stitching Sampler and Star Lattice. I liked the warm feeling of both the patterns, the colors and the distressing and thought it fit well with the theme.

Stamp the berries from Paper Artsy Fodder Berry Edition. I masked out the name of the plant when inking since these aren't really blackcurrants. They had to do as blackcurrants for this project.

Color with pencils. I used Prismacolors. 

Add white highlights with a gel pen.

Sponge Salvaged Patina through Simon Says Stamp Bubbles stencil.

Next add som marks with Walnut Stain and Tim Holtz Speckles.

For a little shimmer, mist Distress Spritz Antique Linen through Tim Holtz Sparkle Fade.

I thought the berries were too blue and added more of a currant shade to them. 

Stamp Tim Holtz School Desk alphabet here and there.

Stamp Tim Holtz Flower Jar on Simon Says Stamp Acetate with Stazon ink.

Color on the back with alcohol ink. Later, I added more currant.

The colors of the berries and the way they hang from the branches aren't quite correct, but that doesn't matter. I didn't want to make them as dark as they are in real life since I wanted to use several colors and shades.

This sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Be Your Beautiful Self.

I dotted the jars with a Q-tip and blending solution to get the dotted look.

The title was die cut from Simon Says Stamp black cardstock using Tim Holtz Vault World Travel.

I like that the jar comes in two sizes. Here you can also see the shimmer from the Distress Spritz layer.

Summer was stamped with Simon Says Stamp Chill Vibes. 

Pencils work well on background gel printed with acrylic paint.

Join us this week in our Lots of Layers 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.

Seahorse tag

Hello crafters! I hope all is well! School starts again this week, but we still hope for a bit more of summer.

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.

At the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog we have an On/Under the Sea theme this week. Fun! Don't miss the project by our August guest designer Cassie Lynch!

I went with Under the Sea and created a shiny and shimmery shaker tag using a stencil, texture paste, Stickles, acetate, alcohol ink, stamping, sequins and gems. The focal image is a Tim Holtz Nautical Blueprint image.

Start by cutting a tag from Simon Says Stamp acetate and stamp the Tim Holtz Nautical Blueprint seahorse with Stazon ink. I wanted the right-hand line to be closer to the edge of the tag and didn't stamp the entire image.

Turn the acetate around and color the seahorse with Valencia and Butterscotch alcohol ink. 

Color the background with alcohol ink too. I used Limeade, Pool and Turquoise. To create bubbles, use Alcohol Blending Solution on felt and dot on the background.

Turn the tag around and stamp sentiments with Stazon ink. I also stamped dots with Tim Holtz Psychedelic Grunge.

Coat a tag with gesso and let dry. Apply texture paste through Simon Says Stamp Bubbles stencil, from the new Every Happiness release. Paint the edges with watered-down Pumice Stone.

Apply Unicorn Stickles all over the tag. Let dry.

I placed a strip of paper at the bottom of the tag since the sentiment on the acetate didn't read well otherwise. Sprinkle Simon Says Stamp Mist and Cottontail embellishments in the center of the tag.

Stitch around the edges with a sewing machine.

I glued Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Mandarin Gems in three places, to add more orange.

The texture paste dots are visible through the acetate, as is the glitter.

This saying is a favorite of mine, from Tim Holtz Nature's Wonder.

The orange seahorse contrasts nicely with the blue and green shades. You can also see the glitter in the background.

Here you can see how the paper strip in the background helps the sentiment be more readable. The sentiment is from Tim Holtz Tiny Text.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and tag!

Join us this week in our On/Under the Sea 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.

Creative Overlay Shaker Notebook Tutorial

Hello crafters! Today, I am happy to have a notebook / sketchbook tutorial on the Simon Says Stamp Store blog. Here is a sneak peek of my project:

I had fun using Simon Says Stamp Creative Overlay Transparencies, combined with a great dry embossing technique. It is a shaker too!

Have you ever had a dry embossed background what you were really happy with, but you wanted to add some stamping on top? Stamping on top of a dry embossed background only works with very few embossing folders. With Simon Says Stamp Creative Overlay Transparencies, you can easily add the look of stamped elements on top of dry embossing, while also creating a space for shaker elements. 

Head over the the Simon Says Stamp store blog to see the tutorial and all the details. 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

.

Mouse Card Tutorial

Hi crafters! Today I have a cute card to share with you, with an acetate cardbase and see-through elements.

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 background has a whole lot of small die cut hearts and was placed on folded acetate, so that you can see through the hearts. Cards with clear elements are such fun to make and a surprise to receive. I used a mix of products by Simon Says Stamp, such as the Drawn Hearts and the very cute Fable Mouse. 

White emboss Simon Says Stamp Nature in Bloom on an inky piece of watercolor paper. The paper had been inked with a mix of Distress Ink and Distress Oxide Ink, by first smearing the inks on a non-stick craft sheet, misting with water and pressing the paper into the ink. 

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Drawn Hearts from the background.

Ink the edges with two shades of brown Distress Ink.

Adhere to a folded piece of Simon Says Stamp Acetate Sheet. 

Die cut the Drawn Hearts again, but this time from Simon Says Stamp Champagne Luxe Glitter Cardstock. Keep the small hearts in the die and glue some of them on the background. It is easier to pick the right heart if you leave them in the die, since the hearts are different from each other.

Die cut a frame using Simon Says Stamp Frames from Simon Says Stamp Shimmer Vellum and from heavystock cardstock. Ink the thin frame with brown Distress Ink.

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Fable Mouse from white Neenah cardstock and from Simon Says Stamp Cotton Candy and black cardstock. Ink the white pieces with Distress Ink.

Glue the mouse together and die cut again from black cardstock. Add a dot to the eyes with a white gel pen.

Adhere to the background with foam tape and add a little cheese cloth underneath.

The sentiments were stamped with Hickory Smoke Archival Ink using Simon Says Stamp Be Your Beautiful Self stamp set. Die cut with the coordinating die and then one more time from grey cardstock. The sequins are from Simon Says Stamp Opal Rainbow.

The Luxe Glitter hearts are very pretty and shiny. You might have noticed that I used them on Monday's At the Beach Mixed Media piece too. 

I also added two pieces of ribbon to the card, with mini staples. 

Acetate cards are always a challenge to photograph. Here you can see that the hearts shine through the vellum if the light hits the card in a certain way.

On a white background, the card will get a different look. 

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.