Paint sampler layout

Hi friends! Today I have a scrapbooking page to share, but with techniques that can be used for cards or tags too. 

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.

Seasonal products can often be used for other themes too, and most of the products that I used here are from Christmas sets. When I saw the pretty paint sample page among Tim Holtz Christmas Backdrops and knew I wanted to use the full sheet on something. A scrapbooking page was perfect for that. I picked a photo of my grandmother, my mom and a on or her friends. 

Start by applying embossing ink through Tim's Sparkle Fade stencil. Sprinkle with white embossing powder and emboss. I used watercolor paper as my base.

Smear Distress Inks on a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water. Press the paper into the ink. Let dry and repeat. The embossing resists the ink.

Stamp the title letters with Tim's Sign Painter set on a ledger piece of Backdrops paper. I used various green and turquoise Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated inks. I forgot to include Surf in the photo. Die cut with Simon Says Stamp Sign Painter coordinating dies.

Die cut the poinsettia from Tim's Vault Festive Wreath set from shades of pink left-over inky or watercolored papers. Die cut some foliage from various scrap paper. The Simon Says Stamp Windswept Leaves were die cut from Mint cardstock.

Shape the flowers just a little and then glue in clusters to the layout. Tuck foliage in here and there.

The Sparkle Fade is such a pretty stencil and worked well with the distressed look of the embossing. I used stickers from Tim's Christmas Sticker Book.

Distress the edges of all the papers to add dimension.

The largest cluster is under the photo, to help draw the eye to the photo.

I am very fond of alphabet stamps and being able to stamp and die cut my own words. Having coordinating dies makes it even easier. There is a strip of Christmas Backdrops paper under the title.

Thank you for visiting!

Happy Christmas 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.

Autumn Scrapbooking Layout

Hello friends! I hope you had a good weekend. We had lovely sunny autumn weather and did an outing to a favorite place. 

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 fall inspiration mood board as our theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will create something inspired by this gorgeous mood board. Don't miss the beautiful project by our October guest Lori E Kennedy aka cr8tive_lori.

I was inspired to do a scrapbooking page this week.

Last week, we had this misty weather one morning and I just had to go for a walk in the forest and also took a bunch of photos. It was so beautiful and when I saw the mood board it inspired me to scrap some of those photos. I embellished the layout with lots of stamping, birds and mushrooms. You can use the techniques for cardmaking too.

I started with watercolor paper. Smear Distress Ink on a non-stick craft sheet, mist the water and press the paper into the ink. The grey background was inspired by the moodboard.

When dry, plan where the photos will go and stamp sentiments and images around them. I stamped with both Distress Ink and Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively inks. The Simon Says Stamp Real Leaves were inked with Distress ink and misted with water before stamping.

For texture, stamp here and there with Simon Says Stamp Stained Glass Background and Sherbet Pawsitively Saturated ink.

Dip the tip of Distress Watercolor Pencils in water and flick a paint brush against it to create splatters.

I die cut mushrooms from Sizzix Tim Holtz Funky Foliage from watercolor paper. The birds were die cut and then embossed with Simon Says Stamp Friendly Birds embossing and die combo from the newest Cozy Hugs release. Color by picking up pigment with a paint brush from the tip of Distress Watercolor Pencils.

Last week, I stamped and colored a robin for my project. This week we are seeing robins again, but die cut and embossed. I really like the emboss and die cut combos of Simon Says Stamp. Highlights were added with a white gel pen.

For more Friendly Birds, check out my blue tits autumn tag and bullfinch art journal page from the Simon Says Stamp Cozy Hugs blog hop. You will also see all the steps for how to create the birds there.

The Tim Holtz sentiments were stamped with Simon Says Stamp Cappuccino and Sherbet Pawsitively Saturated inks.

I placed the Simon Says Stamp Real Leaves in empty areas of the background. Add Simon Says Stamp Autumn Sky sequins here and there.

To stamp the tree with Simon Says Stamp All Seasons Tree, first stamp the crown with Distress Ink and Distress Oxide inks (I stamped it twice). Ink the trunk and a few branches brown on the tree stamp, mist with water and stamp. The deer comes from Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery. I also painted ground with the Distress Watercolor Crayons.

After coloring and assembling the mushrooms, I added Glossy Accents to the tops.

The sentiment was stamped with Sherbet ink using Tim Holtz Worn Text and the line of dots come from Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Circles.

The splatters add to the sense of falling leaves.

I hope you will join us this week in our Fall Moodboard 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.

Dry Embossed Background Tutorial

Hi stampers! 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 an 'Use an embossing folder' theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us and don't miss the last project by our January guest designer Estelle Palumbo aka Atouscrap. 

I have always loved embossing folders, since I used one the first time years ago, and I am so happy that there are so many new ones out now. Simon Says Stamp's 3-D embossing folders are amazing, with wonderful details and deep embossing. I couldn't pick just one, but instead used nine folders on this scrapbooking layout about some amazing cross-country skiing over ten years ago. I came upon the photos as I was looking through some photos and was inspired to use them. 

Start by cutting watercolor paper into 4x4 in squares and emboss in the folders. You actually see the embossed effect better on this photo than on the main photo. I used these folders: Kaleidoscope, Winter Trees, Geometric Lattice, Snowflocked Hills, Christmas Floral, Triangle Burst, Vine Canopy, Filigree Snowflakes, and Blossom Field.

Distress the edges.

Adhere to a background paper.

Smear Distress Inks on a non-stick craft sheet, mist with water and press the paper into the ink, here and there. Splatter some more ink on the page.

Die cut branches from cream, white glitter and holographic paper using the Simon Says Stamp Etched Delicate Frond, Tender Leaves and Etched Berry Branch die.

Stamp labels from Simon Says Stamp Mixed Labels with Royal ink and add sentiments from Forest Scenery.

I glued sequins to the berries. 

Stitch around all the squares with a sewing machine. The photos don't quite capture how deep this embossing is. 

Glue the branches in three areas of the layout, adding labels in between.

I love this Snowflocked Hills embossing folder. You can find a faux-linen technique using this folder here.

The stitching and distressed edges add even more texture to the background.

The white glittery paper and the holographic paper gives a nice contrast to the matte textures of the background and fits well with the snow theme. 

I hope you will join us this week in our Use An Embossing Folder theme. 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 my blog 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.