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.

Fresh Cut Floral Card

Hi friends! I hope you are enjoying summer (or winter if you are in the southern hemisphere). 

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.

It is Monday and we have a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This week our theme is Make Your Own Background. I made my own backgrounds almost all the time, it is one of my favorite things to do. Don't miss the project by our July guest designer Thom Santilla.

I made a background with several layers: watercolor, stencil-stamping with mist, heat embossing and script stamping. It was paired with two bright flowers and stamped sentiments. 

I started out with this piece of paper which had been watercolored for another project - my Blue Shark Card, which you can find here.

Using Tim Holtz Latticework, I misted through it with Distress Spritz Peacock Feathers and Tumbled Glass and then some Distress Spray Stain Salty Ocean. Turn the stencil around and stamp it on the watercolored background.

I was doing the previous step outdoors and got a surprise visit by a curious dog, making my stamped impression not exactly as planned. I continued by misting through Tim's Linen stencil using Antique Linen Distress Spritz.

The Simon Says Stamp Fresh Cut Floral Stem was die cut from various backgrounds in my scrap pile, most of these had been inked with Distress Ink, some were watercolored.

I cut off the edges of the background and then white embossed Simon Says Stamp Outline Hearts on the sky part.

Stamp in a few places with Simon Says Stamp Old Letter and black ink.

The heart from Simon Says Stamp Retro Hearts was stamped with Pawsitively Saturated Guava ink. The sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Love Letter. 

Shape the petals before gluing them to the background. I also added Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Dusk Gems.

The sentiments come from Simon Says Stamp Retro Hearts and were stamped with black and Guava ink. I also added a piece of lace trim and organza ribbon.

The background had layers, depth and textures, without overwhelming the flowers.

Join us this week in our Make Your Own Background 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.

File Folder Ephemera Card

Hi crafters! It is a new week and we have a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for you you.

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 our theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog is Stitch It. Fun! Stitching adds such a nice tactile feel to projects and can be used instead of adhesive too. Don't miss the gorgeous project by our July guest designer Thom Santilla.

I made a card this week with three file folders and four double-sided tags. The folders were handstitched. I used lots of words, ephemera, fibers, stamping and stencilling. 

Start by die cutting the file folders from Ranger Heavystock cardstock using Tim Holtz Sizzix Vault Noteworthy set. 

Ink them with Distress Ink and then use stencils to add a pattern to the front of each folder. I also stamped them partially with stamps from Tim Holtz School Desk and Ultimate Grunge, using black and Red Geranium Archival Ink.

For the background I used a piece of Tim Holtz Backdrops paper and stamped it with the same stamps as the folders, as well as Simon Says Stamp Crackle Background. 

Pierce holes down the sides of the folders and stitch with DMC floss. 

Cut labels from various Backdrops papers. Add a tag circle and punch a whole. Stamp sentiments, sand and ink the edges. Then add ephemera and stickers. 

Embellish the back of the tags too.

I stamped a sentiment from Tim Holtz Warehouse District on the most visible folder.

Round the corners with a We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper. Mount the background on cardstock and then again on folded brown cardstock. Adhere the three folders. As you can see, I also stamped sentiments on the label part of the folders. Most of them come from Simon Says Stamp Mixed Labels.

I added words from AALL & Create Mindful Moments to the folders and to the tags.

A few Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Gunmetal Gems were added to the tag.

I tied a fibers and twine to the tags. These are the fronts of the four tags (except for the first one).

I had fun picking out ephemera pieces that fit together. 

All the tags have postage stamps on them from Tim Holtz Postmarked. The stamped sentiment comes from Simon Says Stamp Mixed Labels.

This sentiment comes from Stamper's Anonymous Classics #5.

More details.

The backs of the four tags look like this, more words, ephemera and stamps.

I sanded the edges of all the tags and left some almost without ink, so that the white paper shows.

This tag was cut so that the word 'colour' would be visible.

I found a couple of Swedish stamps on Tim's Postmarked set and used them.

An interesting background paper.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! 

Join us this week in our Stitch It 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.