Happy Place Journal Page

Hello friends! I hope you are well! The sun is shining and we have a new challenge for you at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog. Our theme this week is Let's Art Journal.

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.

If you have never done art journaling before, I hope you will try it out. It is a lot of fun and there are so many options! Don't miss the project by our August guest designer Ann Chuang.

I made a page in my Dylusions Small Creative Journal, a mixed media background with texture paste and Distress Paint, stamped and watercolored flowers and some bits and pieces I found on my desk.

Start by applying texture paste through Tim Holtz Focus stencil. When dry, paint with Distress Paint and mist with water. Let dry.

Stamp here and there with Simon Says Stamp Old Letter.

Add Stickles glitter glue to the stenciled area, using your finger. 

Stamp Tim Holtz French Garden flowers on watercolor paper.

Paint with watercolors. Drop in darker shades before the first layer dries completely.

Die cut with Simon Says Stamp coordinating French Garden dies.

I also die cut Simon Says Stamp Stitching Butterflies from paper that had already been painted. 

Add a few postage stickers from Tim Holtz Postmarked and numbers from his Clippings Stickers.

Don't worry about perfection when watercoloring.

I also added Tim's Design Tape Trims and sentiment stickers.

I found some strips of Tim Holtz Backdrops papers on my desk and added them to the page, together with Design Tape.

Don't miss the Kid's Summer Vacation Challenge, which goes on until 29 August. There are three great surprise parcels to be won! For kids 2-16 years. Read more here.

Join us this week in our Let's Art Journal 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.

Floral Art Journal Page

Hello friends! Today I have an art journal page to share, with a summertime field of flowers. You can also turn it into a card instead.

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.

On one of my walks there is a gorgeous field of wildflowers and that field inspired this page. I wanted flowers in bright colors and with the addition of long grass. The page was done in my Stamperia Happiness Mixed Media Journal 8.5x4 in.

The background was done by smearing Distress Ink on an acrylic block, misting it with water and stamping on the background. Repeat for the lower half, leaving a thin white line.

When the background was dry, I stamped the page with various Tim Holtz Wildflowers and Mini Bouquet stamps. Ink with several Distress Inks, mist with water and stamp. Simon Says Stamp has recently released coordinating dies for both these stamp sets: Mini Bouquet and Wildflowers. You don't need them for this project, but they are great if you want to cut out these images.

Next, I added grass with the grass stamp from Tim's Spring Sprung set.

I used Simon Says Stamp Crackle Background to add a little texture to the page, focusing on the bottom area, where the soil would be.

I thought the page needed another layer and a bit more white and white embossed some of the flowers, placing them lower on the page.

The main sentiment comes from Tim's Perspective set. I also used Small Talk and Clippings Stickers.

The inks will blend on the stamp and on the page. 

Using embossing powder is often a good idea if you want to add an element on top of an already busy background.

Some white embossing powder got stuck on the crackles, which added a nice effect. I initially stamped the sentiment from Curiosity Shop on the background, but it was hard to read, so I restamped it on watercolor paper and cut out.

Thank you for visiting! 

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.

Floral Watercolor Art Journal Page

Hi stampers! Today I have a stamped and watercolored art journal to share, using granulating watercolor paint for the background. 

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 worked in my Stamperia Mixed Media Happiness Journal, which is 4x8.5 in. It is a fun tall size, similar to a standard tag in proportions. A Tim Holtz Embroidery flowes was stamped on the background and watercolored. I also added stamping and splatters.

Start by stamping one of Tim Holtz Embroidery stamps on the background with Jet Black Archival ink.

Paint with watercolor paint. I left some of the paper showing on the flowers, for highlights. Drop a pink shade into the purple before the latter is dry.

Continue watercoloring the entire design.

The background was painted with Daniel Smith Lunar Black, which is a granulating color. I dropped in Amazonite Genuine before the black paint was dry. I wanted almost a bokeh effect and added plenty of water when painting, pulling the paint into the page from the edges.

When the paint was dry, I stamped the page with sentiments from Simon Says Stamp Mixed Labels and Beautiful Butterflies and from Tim Holtz Perspective.

The 'WI' disappared on the dark background and I filled it in with a white gel pen instead. I colored 'dream' with a matching colored pencil and added a white shadow. I also added some white lines to the flowers and quite a few black lines. The latter made the flowers stand out better and gave them more of a pen and ink-look.

Stamp around the edges with the dot stamp from Tim Holtz Tiny Textures.

Finally, I splattered Winsor & Newton Permanent White gouache on the background.

Here you can see the cool granulating effect of Daniel Smith Lunar Black. 

Adding black pen work gives more of a sketch look to the flowers.

It might look a little weird close up, but using a white gel pen, saved the two almost invisible letters in the title.

Try to avoid splattering white paint on the sentiments.

Thank you for visiting! See you again tomorrow!

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.

Pastel Butterfly Journal Page

Hello crafters! Summer seems to have arrived here, with warm and sunny weather this 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 Spritz and/or Splatter theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us! Get messy! Don't miss the lovely project by our June guest designer Wanda Hentges.

I made an art journal page with summery, pastel colors, butterflies, Distress Paint, texture, paste and spray mists. The butterflies were misted with Distress Spray Stain and Distress Spritz. I also added some Spritz to the background. I worked in my Dylusions Small Creative Journal.

Start by applying gesso to the background. I had left-over paint from another project (coming later this week). Mist with water to blend.

Stamp three sentiments with Tim Holtz stamps and then apply texture paste through Tim's Harlequin stencil. I used Simon Says Stamp Very Very Low Tack tape to protect the background from the paste.

Stamp here and there with Simon Says Stamp Old Letter.

Apply Orange Slice Stickles with a palette knife through the stencil.

Die cut Simon Says Stamp Stylized Butterfly from watercolor paper.

Mist the butterflies. I used Mermaid Lagoon Distress Spray Stain, Saltwater Taffy, Peacock Feathers and Walnut Stain Distress Spritz. (I forgot to include the Peacock Feathers spritz in the photo). 

Mist a little Saltwater Taffy on the background too.

I also stamped butterflies using Simon Says Stamp Mandala Blossoms and Mother's Day sets. This sentiment comes from Tim's Perspective set.

The butterflies are more shimmery than what you can see on the photos. 

Originally, I planned for the harlequin pattern to be white, but they disappeared a bit on the page, which is why I added the Stickles.

This butterfly covers a bit of the main sentiment. I stamped the sentiment before deciding which butterflies to use. The main sentiment comes from Tim's Warehouse District. 

Join us this week in our Spritz and/or Splatter 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.