Stamped Beach Card

 Hi friends! It is Monday again and I hope you had a good 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 Summer Fun! theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us! Don't miss the beautiful project by our guest designer Laura Cassina. 

I made a summery beach card with bright and happy colors. The card was mainly made with Hero Arts Color Layering Sunset over Waves stamp set and watercolor stamped with Distress Ink. 

Ink the cloud bank and the sun with Mustard Seed and Abandoned Coral. Mist the stamp with water before stamping. Let dry.

Restamp both images with Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Ink and emboss with clear powder. This step will protect the stamping from the next layers. Also clear emboss some ripples in the sea.

Stamp the sea with Mermaid Lagoon towards the back and Salvaged Patina towards the front. Mist with water before stamping.

Stamp the sky by applying ink to an acrylic block and misting it heavily with water. stamp with the block.

Repeat the shades of the sun and clouds in the sea.

Stamp more ripples with Uncharted Mariner towards the back and Mermaid Lagoon towards the front.

When dry, stamp the beach using the acrylic block. Add some white to the sea and to the clouds with a white paint pen. Add a little Unchartered Mariner to the upper part of the sky.

Stamp the birds, the child and the sentiments with black ink. The birds and the silhouette of the child also comes from Hero Arts Sunset over waves.

I added texture to the sand with Simon Says Stamp Crackle Background.

I also stamped 'summer' with Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery. Distress the edges of the watercolor panel.

Here you can see the ripples caused by the clear embossing better.

Scribble a shadow for the child and castle.

This sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Dandelion Messages.

Join us this week in our Summer Fun 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.

Orca Underwater Scene

Hi stampers! Today I have a tutorial to share for an underwater scene, using dye ink on glossy cardstock.

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.

My youngest wants to be a researcher studying water creatures, in particular the spectacular orca, which is his favorite animal. I made this scenic stamping piece for him. You can also easily turn it into a card instead. 

This scene was done on Simon Says Stamp white glossy paper, which works great together with dye inks, but is hard to photograph because of reflections.

I used Hero Arts Layering Orca set and stamped the first impression with Watering Can ink. In real life, this should be black, but what couldn't work with the layering and shading effect. I considered blue, but picked dark grey instead, since I knew my son would not think a blue orca was correct.

Stamp the next layer with black ink. It might help to use a stamp position tool when stamping layered stamps, but don't worry if your layers do not align perfectly. I also always test stamp on scrap paper first.

Stamp the third layer with a light grey or light blue ink. I used Archival Ink Shadow Grey.

Stamp on Simon Says Stamp Masking Paper and cut out. My mask wasn't perfect, but I left it like that anyway. 

I used a Speedball Brayer to apply the ink, starting with the lightest shade. Avoid lines by running the edges of the brayer on scrap paper first. Ranger also has brayers, which you can find here.

Continue with darker shades. Here I started making the deeper ocean gradually darker than the surface.

Next add layers of Blueprint Sketch and finally some Black Soot.

I wanted rays from the surface and started doing them with a ruler and a thin paint brush dipped in water. I got too much water under the ruler in one area at the top, but that didn't matter at the end. I thought the effect was too subtle for what I was aiming for.

Instead I used a white gel pen. Remove the mask and let some of the rays go behind and some in front of the whale. Stamp small fish and a turtle. Add dots as highlights with the white gel pen.

The sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery.

The rays gives additional focus to the orca. As you can see here, the mask was too small at the bottom of the orca, but if anything, it helped her blend better into the background, since there isn't a lighter halo and since it didn't matter that some blue ended up on the light gray shadow area.

The rays don't need to be perfect, but I did use a ruler. The lighter areas in the background from the first layer with only water gave more depth to the rays. Sometimes the unexpected effects are the best.

Here you can see the finished scene without the frame. It's 5x7 in.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop 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.

Mixed Media Winter Scene Tutorial

Hi crafters! The snow is falling outside my window and I was in the mood for a snowy winter scene. Creating snow with different techniques is one of my favorite things to do.

I made a little 4x6 in canvas board using various media: crackle paste, texture paste, Grit-Paste, glitter and Glossy Accents. The images comes from the Snowy Town stamp set by Hero Arts.

Start by coating a canvas or canvas board with a layer of gesso. I used a Dina Wakley Media Board, size 4x6 in.

Apply Crackle Texture Paste to the sky area with a palette knife.

Stamp images from Snowy Town on tissue paper with Archival Ink. I always stamp a few extra.

Tear around the images. A torn image disappears much better on the background than a cut image. Place them out just to get an idea of where you want them to be.

Apply texture paste to the scene with a palette knife. I left out the area where I planned to place the icy pond.

When the paste is dry, work one image at a time, apply a layer of gloss medium and carefully place the tissue paper into the medium. Add a second layer of medium on top of the images. As you can see, the edge disappears.

Paint with watery Speckled Egg.

Add Faded Jeans, also mixed with some water.

Continue adding color to the scene until you are happy with the look. 

Paint shadows and darken the edges with Black Soot.

Apply Opaque Grit-Paste to some areas. I made it thicker at the front and thinner or patchy towards the back of the scene.

Add a layer of Glossy Accents on the ice.

When the Grit-Paste is dry, dry-brush it with white paint. 

Add a little Moon Dust Stickles here and there, if you want some sparkle.

Splatter the scene pretty heavily with white paint, to create the look of falling snow. I used a Splatter Brush. Remember to protect your work surface and clothing.

The crackle sky works really well with the snow theme and I love the texture it adds. The thicker the application of the paste, the larger the cracks and the other way around.

Here you can see how splotchy the Grit-Paste is in the background, just adding a little extra texture.

The shadows grounds the images to the background.

The perspective is not quite right with the pond being too large, but I wanted the Glossy Accents to shine, so I left it like that. You can make the pond narrower if you want to improve the perspective. The sentiment comes from the Simon Says Stamp Anna's Flowers set.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop 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.