Foxglove Tag Tutorial

Hi friends! I have a sweet foxglove tutorial to share with you today. Foxgloves are such pretty flowers and I always stop to look whenever I see one.

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 used products from the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember® release for this tag. At first I meant to use the foxgloves on a different background, but it was too busy and they disappeared on it. A dry embossed background can add instant interest and texture, while still being neutral.

Start by die cutting the Fine Foxglove from watercolor paper. I die cut one batch of extra flowers, you can use even more flowers if you want to.

Color the flowers and stems with Tombow markers. I scribbled the markers on a clear acrylic block and picked up with a paint brush. Darker details were added directly with the markers. 

Shade the flowers and leaves with ball embosser tools. I used the Tonic Craft Tool set.

Glue the flowers to the stems. I decided to make one of the shorter, which is why there are no flowers at the top of the right-hand flower. I later cut off the green top.

Add highlights with a white gel pen and darker dots and lines with Tombows and a black pen. It is easier to do this step before you shape the flowers, but I forgot.

Apply Distress Ink to a non-stick craft sheet and press a heavystock tag into the ink. Immediately place it in the Triangle Burst 3-D folder and dry emboss. This is such an amazing design.

When dry, ink with Frayed Burlap and Ground Espresso.

Apply a little Sizzix Gold Luster Wax to the tag, with your finger. This step gives a really nice metallic shine.

Tie lace trim to the top. The dry embossed background gave enough interest, while not being too busy for the foxgloves.

I added a little collection of Tim Holtz idea-ology Field Notes ephemera, inking the edges first. Paint was rubbed into the letters on the Thought Token.

Try to think of the shading when coloring the flowers, but aim for a loose look. No need for perfection.

The leaves comes alive with several shades of green, and some white and green lines.

The sentiment comes from the Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers set. 

This is one of those projects which people will want to reach out and touch, since it has all that texture and dimension.

Also, don't miss all the STAMPtember® inspiration, surprises and exclusive products during the month. There has also been a huge Simon Says Stamp release for STAMPtember®, with stamps, dies, stencils, inks and paper products.

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.

Doodle Tag Tutorial

Hello crafters! It is Monday and I hope your weekend was a good one. Today I have a tag to share with some doodling and other fun elements. It is the last day of this month and tomorrow STAMPtember® begins at Simon Says Stamp. It is a month-long celebration of stamping, with wonderful new products and inspiration and surprises every day. Best month of the year! 

This week we have an Oodles of Doodles theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Don't miss the last project by our August guest designer, Anne Redfern. We are so happy that Anne could share projects with us this month. 

I used both some actual doodling, aiming for it to be pretty messy and imperfect, and used the Simon Says Stamp Circle Doodles Background stamp. The background comes from a Double Embossing video tutorial that I posted on Saturday. One of the background was turned into a card and for today's post, I thought I'd use the second background. 

You can see how I made the background in this Double Embossing post. Die cut a tag from the background.

I splattered some black Scribble Stick on the tag, for more texture. Doodle a little around the edge and around some of the circles and added some Tim Holtz Specimen rub-ons.

Die cut hearts with the SSS Windows to My Heart die from Neenah cardstock.

Doodle circles in the same style as the background. I did this fast, not aiming for a perfect result.

Color the circles with Tombow Dual Brush Markers. I also die cut the hearts from black glittery cardstock.

Die cut the Bold Hello word from a Tim Holtz Journal Card. Doodle a wiggly border around the edges.

Layer the doodle hearts on top of the glitter hearts, leaving a thin border. 

I colored the hearts quickly, leaving some white here and there.

The tag got something of a number theme, with the three hearts and lots of rub-on number. 

Mummy cloth was dyed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and I also used a piece of Tim Holtz Label Tape. 'Sunshine' was stamped with the Thoughtful Flowers set.

Add some sequins as an extra touch.

I hope you will join us this week in our Oodles Of Doodles challenge. You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until next Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Don't forget to follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram, they post great stuff daily. 

Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog today! Don't miss the start of STAMPtember®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.

Tombow Blocks Background Tutorial

Hello stampers! I have a fun tutorial to share with you using Tombow pens and acrylic blocks to create backgrounds, and also for collage or tissue paper flowers.

Today we are celebrating Midsummer's Eve in Sweden. It's a very traditional celebration of summer, usually involving dancing and singing around a maypole. All that has been cancelled this year. But at least the sun is shining and we will perhaps go and swim in a lake.

Recently, I found my old Tombow Dual Brush Pens and was impressed to see that they were still juicy and working perfectly. I bought those first pens very long ago in South Africa. I only had a few, so I decided to get more shades and I am having fun with them now. For today's tutorial I used them together with acrylic stamp blocks to create backgrounds. It is a fun and easy technique and I couldn't stop so I ended up making two projects. It is also a great technique if you want to play around with color combos and color mixing. 

You can get a similar look with Mini Distress Inks, but you have more control with the markers. Mix and match the acrylic blocks that you have at home to get different sizes.

Start by scribbling three colors Tombow Dual Brush Pens on an acrylic block.

Mist fairly generously with water.

Stamp the block on a piece of watercolor paper. This could be the base for a mini summer scene on a card. I used Tim Holtz watercolor paper, working on the textured side.

Continue with three shades of orange and yellow, using a small block.

Add blocks until you are happy with the look. You can use blocks in the same size only too.

I also made a tag, using shades of pink, purple and blue. 

White emboss the Circle Doodle Background on the card, and Tim Holtz Leder Script on the tag.

I wanted some big, fluffy flowers on these projects and decided to make tissue paper flowers. It is a favorite technique that I hadn't used for a while. Fold up a piece of Tim Holtz Plain Collage Paper. 

Cut a rough circle from the folded up paper. Do the same thing with a smaller fold of paper, until you have circles in three sizes.

Assemble a whole bunch of circles together and staple them in the center.

Start scrunching up the center of the flower. It looks nicer if you work one or two tissue papers at a time.

Continue until you are happy with the look of the flowers.

Use Tombow pens to add a bit of color to the edges of the tissue paper flowers.

 

I used the two smaller flowers for the tag and added a piece of lace trim underneath them. The sentiments come from the SSS Tabbed Sentiments set and was stamped with blue SSS Hybrid Ink from the Key West set. The tag was die cut from watercolor paper.

You can also make tissue paper flowers from recycled gift tissue paper.

Experiment with the amount of misted water on the blocks. More water gives a more watery, blended look, while less water gives more texture. It also depends on the surface you use and you need more water on a textured surface such as the watercolor paper that I used here. On smooth (hot-press) watercolor paper, you need less water.

You can also line up or overlap the blocks, but here I left a small space in between them.



I already had the small flower from before, with a yellow brad in the center. It was made with gift wrap tissue paper, which is a little thinner than Tim's Collage Paper.

The tissue paper flowers are fluffy, delicate and dimensional.

The second panel was turned into a square 6 x 6 in card. I like the color combo on this one and the texture from the white embossed circles.



The Spinner Trail die was die cut from Neenah cardstock and from white SSS Glimmery paper. I colored the Neenah piece with the same Tombows as used for the background. The sentiment was stamped with one of the SSS Hybrid inks from the Key West set.

I distressed the edges and stitched a border with my sewing machine.

The sequins come from the SSS Fall Festival set.

I used the largest flower on the card and this flower also has more layers of collage paper than the others.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit 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.