Colorful Birds Art Journal Tutorial

Hi stampers! Today I have a colorful and joyful art journal page to share, with a whole lot of birds.

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 thought it would be fun to make an art journal page filled with birds in different colors, flying across the page. I worked in my new Dylusions Multi Print Square Ledger Journal. I am very fond of old ledger papers and here you can see the ledger pattern in the background. The journal is 8 x 8 in.

Start by die cutting many Simon Says Stamp Soaring Whirl Birds from scrap papers. I used a mix of Distress Ink, watercolor and Paper Artsy Infusions colored stains scraps. After die cutting, I smeared various Distress Inks on a non-stick craft sheet, misted with water and pressed some of the birds into the ink, to add more texture.

Glue the wings to the bodies. I use Simon Says Stamp Precision Craft Tacky Glue.

Apply gesso to the art journal page, but don't cover the entire background.

Paint with watered down Distress Paint. Add some marks with a palette knife.

Stamp sentiment stamps on the page after planning where the birds will be. As you can see I stamped 'best day ever' twice, since the first one ended up too far down. Stamp the alphabet stamp from Tim Holtz School Desk here and there, as well as Simon Says Stamp Crackle Background.

Splatter the page with Scribble Sticks. Dip a stick in water and flick a paint brush against it.

Draw a border around the page with a black pen.

Glue the birds to the page. Use the black pen for the eyes, and add a dot with a white gel pen.

I had three hearts on my desk left-over from yesterdays Many Hearts Tag and glued them to the page.

Using scrap papers in this way is a favorite technique and it is fun to combine a left-overs from many projects. 

This sentiment comes from the Impression Obsession Easter Joy Pooh set.

The main sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Printmaking Birds. As you can see here, the grid pattern is visible in the background.

The birds are all different from each other.

I drew a border around the hearts as a shadow.

I like how this heart frames all those colorful splatters.

Thank you so much for stopping by here today! 

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.

At the sea mixed media tutorial

Hello crafters! On Friday we celebrated the traditional Midsummer in Sweden, with a maypole, dancing and strawberries. 

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 Vacation theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us! Don't miss the last project by our June guest designer Kerry B.

I created a tranquil seaside scene in my art journal this week using acrylic paint and a palette knife. Being at the sea is wonderful almost any time of the year, but mostly so during summer. I made the little boats out of design tape and an old dictionary page. The dictionary page was about the sea.

I worked in my large Dylusions Journal. Start by coating the page with gesso, adding a horizon line and som gentle waves. Place cheese cloth or mummy cloth into the gesso and add more gesso on top.

When the gesso was dry, I painted the page using a palette knife and Dina Wakley's acrylic paints. Start with the beach and the sun.

Continue with the sea using shades of blue and turquoise and mixing in some white here and there.

Continue in the same way with the sky, making it lighter towards the horizon line.

Add a darker shade of turquoise at the top of the sky and towards the beach, this adds a sense of perspective. I used Dina's Ocean color. Add some Ground Espresso Distress Paint to the beach area. When the paint is dry, dabb on white to create clouds, foam and highlights.

Adhere Tim Holtz Chatter Design Tape words to heavystock paper and cut into boat shapes. Draw the sail on dictionary paper and cut out.

Stamp birds with Tim Holtz Mini Ornates and words with Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery. Add more white if needed.

Dina Wakley's acrylic paint is thicker than Distress Paint, making it easier to get these types of textured effects. 

I am very fond of repeat stamping words without reinking. 

I added shading under the boats with a black pen.

The dictionary paper is from a page about the sea, which is a nice detail. But you can use any type of old book instead.

Ink the edges of the sails and the boats slightly.

The cheese cloth gives an interesting texture to the beach.

I stamped sentiments from Tim Holtz Tiny Text on inky papers and cut into strips.

A border was drawn around the sentiments with a black pen.

It is a lot of fun to paint with a palette knife.

Using a paint brush would have given a different look to the scene.

If I wasn't working in my art journal, I might have added some real shells to the beach area, but I try to keep the pages in my journals fairly flat. 

I hope you will join us this week in our Vacation 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 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.

Color Sampler Art Journal Tutorial

 Hi crafters! Today I have a fun color sampler project to share with you, made in an 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.

I recently got some new Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors and they look so pretty that they inspired me to do a color sampler, but in the shape of an art journal page. I used Tim Holtz Stacked Squares to die cut the shapes and since they come in several sizes, I could pick a size that perfectly fitted the page in my Dina Wakley Blue Edition Media Journal.

Start by die cutting lots of squares from watercolor paper using Tim Holtz Stacked Squares.

I love the look of watercolor pans and these are no exception.

Watercolor one square at a time.

When I was working, I accidentaly dropped one of the squares on the paper I was leaving them to dry on. It gave a really cool texture. I started over and dropped or touched all the squares to the paper. I pressed some of them down and let some just touch the paper. 

Continue until you have as many color samples as you need. The set I used has 24 colours, but you could also use a larger 48-color set.

I placed the colors in the same order as they were in the watercolor set and adhered them to a cotton-rag watercolor page in my Blue Edition Journal.

White emboss one of the Simon Says Stamp Leaf Edges on the squares.

Die cut the title using Tim's Alphanumeric Emporium set. I die cut the letters from Simon Says Stamp Color Blend papers.

Stamp sentiments on the background and Tim Holtz alphabet stamp here and there.

Don't worry if the white embossing isn't perfect. Repeat stamp some of the sentiments.

The paper smooching effect isn't as visible on the lighter shades as it is on the darker.

I added pieces of Tim Holtz Trims Design Tape.

Use tape to underline the title. 

I stamped a mix of sentiments from different Simon Says Stamp sets.

The Leaf...stamps are so pretty.

The color sampler could have been done without the texture too, but I really like texture.

I cut a Simon Says Stamp sentiment strip apart and sanded the edges.

The purple square was the one that I originally by mistake dropped on the paper. My youngest thought it looked like a galaxy.

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.