Vintage Carousel

Hello everyone! One of my favourite things with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog is the great variety in challenge themes, you really never know what you are going to get and this week is no exception. We have another super fun challenge for you, a Carnival challenge. There are lots of options with this theme, be inspired by the colours of carnivals, a specific detail, maybe scrap about a circus memory, etc.

 

I had photos taken in a vintage carousel and thought this was the perfect time to scrap them.

 

I love vintage and worn carousels and thought these photos were perfect for a carnival challenge. Carnivals are busy, full of colour and bling and I tried to make my layout in that same way. The watercolour paper background was misted with Dylusions mist and a little bit of Biscotti Perfect Pearls for shine. When dry, Wendy Vecchi's lovely gold embossing paste was applied through a Prima stencil. The embossing paste gives a  rich and ornate look which fits with the theme. The background was inked with Antique Linen and Gathered Twigs and stamped with a circle background stamp.

Tim Holtz Cirque Alphabet stamps were perfect for this layout. I stamped them on cream cardstock with Vermillion Archival Ink, cut them out and inked the edges. Love the look of these letters.

The only carousel stamp I found in my stash was one of the stamps on Tim's Tiny Things set. Since it is a small stamp, I needed a way to make it stand out on the layout. Tickets, which also fit with the theme, were die cut and the carousel was stamped on top. I coloured it with Distress Markers, which are perfect for such small details.

I wanted to mimic the ornate mirrors on the carousel and gold embossed a frame on cream paper. The centre was cut out and I inked the frame with Tumbled Glass. A mirror sheet was placed behind the frame, which looks like a real mirror (and is therefore hard to photograph).

 

A blue print game wheel stamp also fit the layout well. It was stamped on watercolour paper and watercoloured with Distress Markers. I reached for my favourite game spinners again too.

The heart stamps come from the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Lots of Hearts set, and were stamped with Vermillion ink. The little heart border comes from Sunnier Days also by Simon Says Stamp.

You can see the shine from the gold paste a little bit better here.

I hope you will join us this week and it could be you who will win the $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp, as always drawn randomly.

Thank you for stopping by!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Ranger Mirrored Sheets, Watercolor paper; Neenah Smooth Cream Cardstock
Dies: Sizzix: Mini Tickets
Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Cirque Alphabet, Artful Silhouettes, Tiny Things, Mini Blueprints 4; Stampers Anonymous Wendy Vecchi; She Created Art, Collectible Art; Simon Says Stamp; Lots of Hearts, On Edge, Sunnier Days
Ink: Distress Ink: Antique Linen, Chipped Sapphire, Tumbled Glass, Gathered Twigs; Archival Ink: Jet Black, Vermillion
Markers: Distress Markers: Antique Linen, Scattered Straw, Tumbled Glass, Barn Door, Pumice Stone
Mist: Dylusions London Blue; Perfect Pearls Mist: Biscotti
Embossing powder: Ranger Gold
Medium: Wendy Vecchi Stampers Anonymous: Gold Embossing Paste
Stencil: Prima Flourish 6 x 6
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Mini Paper Clips, Game Spinners, Long Fasteners

Central Park

Hello stampers! Today I am sharing my second scene for the Craft a Scene August challenge - In the Park. You can find my first scene here.

 

The park theme made me think of a photo stamp by Darkroom Door, from Central Park in New York. To do something a little bit different, I populated it with a person and her dog, using a Stampscapes stamp, and added some branches at the front too. Going for a walk with your dog, is one of the main activities I think of when thinking of parks.

Central Park was stamped on glossy cardstock with Archival Jet Black ink and coloured with dye inks, using a Colorbox Stylus tool. As usual, I started with the lightest shades and gradually built up darker colours. I stamped the person and dog on a stamp positioner plastic sheet, to determine where in the scene to place him, so that the perspectives would be right. Highlights were added with a white gel pen and just a little bit of mist by dry-brushing white pigment ink among the branches of the trees.

The background is embossed and sanded Core'dinations cardstock. The metallic border was a leftover from yesterday's layout, it was die cut from glossy cardstock which had been covered with foil tape. Alcohol ink was applied on top to give it a tarnished look (Pitch Black, Ginger, Espresso).

Thank you for looking! There is still plenty of time to join us in the challenge this month.

Happy Stamping!!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Kromecote glossy cardstock; Core'dinations Tim Holtz Kraft-Core cardstock; Ranger foil sheet
Stamps: Darkroom Door: Central Park Photo Stamp; Stampscapes: A Dog Walk 227A, Prickly Branches 272G
Dies: Sizzix: Borders
Embossing folder: Sizzix: Dot Matrix & Gridlock
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black; Distress Ink: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Gathered Twigs, Peeled Paint; Adirondack: Aqua, Willow, Stonewashed, Pitch Black; Colorbox Frost White
Alcohol ink: Adirondack: Pitch Black, Ginger, Espresso
Embellishment: Darkroom Door: Venetian Word Strip; twine

CSI case file #85 - Cousin clothes

Hello and happy Saturday! I love the colours and inspiration image of this week's CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration case file:

 

 

I had some baby photos that fit very well with the colour combo, except from a green blanket in the background, and made a double layout.

 

From the evidence items I used: tags, numbers, metal, buttons, string and decorative border. From the testimony items I wrote my journaling on a tag, and I was inspired by both 'souvenir' and 'save'. The layout is about this baby outfit, that I picked out when shopping with my sister, when she was pregnant. Later, my son got to wear it too, turning it into treasured 'cousin clothing'.

 

I used an embossed paper as background, similar to the white blanket in the photos. The background was inked and layered with patterned papers. Lots of Prima stuff on this layout, most of the papers and I used some of the new wonderful Sizzix/Prima dies: Mariposa and Elisse.

 

The tags were die cut from patterned paper, and I wrote the journaling on ledger ones. I like the scalloped top of these tags. The rulers were cut from a Prima Engraver paper and the title letters were die cut from orange Core'dinations cardstock.  

 

I love the tarnished metal plate on the inspiration photo and wanted something similar on my layout. Foil tape was adhered to glossy cardstock, you can use ordinary cardstock too, but if it has texture, the tape will pick that up. The borders, buttons and some of the butterflies were die cut from the foil covered paper. Additional butterflies were die cut from patterned paper. The metallic ones were coloured with alcohol ink (Ginger, Espresso and Pitch Black) and embossed in the Dot Matrix folder.

 

The borders were die cut with the Thinlits Borders die and the buttons with Eileen Hull's Labels & Buttons die. I was happy with the look of the metal pieces. 

 

 The buttons were embossed in the Retro Circles folder, pretty cool aren't they?

 

I used an old Prima chipboard number. You don't see it here, but by chance the word 'week' was printed on the patterned paper, and I placed the number right in front of it, since these photos were taken when he was four weeks old. The little hearts were die cut from mat board and inked with Spiced Marmalade.

The Mariposa die makes such pretty butterflies, in two different sizes. I layered the smaller ones on top of the larger ones. All the butterflies were shaped using Susan's Garden tool kit, using the Loop tool, which works great to give shape to other things than flowers too.

All the edges of the papers, tags and butterflies were inked with Gathered Twigs. 

A round embossed button. This was a really fun way of making buttons.

And a close-up of the border piece.

 

Thank you so much for looking! Have a great weekend!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Prima 6 x 6 paper pad: Engraver, Lady Bird; Prima Ledger 12 x 12 paper pad; Heidi Swapp: Vintage Chic; Core'dinations Distress Color-Core, Core'dinations embossed; Ranger Foil Sheet
Dies: Sizzix: Elisse, Mariposa, Borders, Labels & Buttons, Flower & Heart, Wanted
Embossing folders: Sizzix: Dot Matrix & Gridlock, Rays & Retro Circles
Ink: Distress Ink: Gathered Twigs, Spiced Marmalade
Alcohol ink: Adirondack: Ginger, Espresso, Pitch Black
Embellishments: Prima chipboard number

Butterfly Window Card Tutorial

Hello crafters! As promised on Monday, I am sharing a step-by-step tutorial on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog today. We have a die cut challenge this week, and since I love dies, I thought I would do a tutorial.

I made an interactive butterfly card, using Karen Burniston's 3-D Butterfly Window die. The Sizzix pop 'n cuts dies make interactive projects so easy. I've used this butterfly window die in a mini-book too. In the tutorial, I also used dies to make my own masks and stencils and die cut a word for the sentiment. Lots of distress ink, Dylusions mist and gorgeous Darkroom Door stamps.

Join us this week in the challenge and you can be the one who wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp.

 

To see my full tutorial, head over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.

I hope you like it!

Happy die-cutting!

Anna-Karin

Coffee Mug Pop-Up Card

Hello! Today I am sharing a pop-up card made with Karen Burniston's Sizzix 3-D Mug & Heart die. It is such a fun die and I decided to make a coffee themed card.

I used to really dislike coffee, then one day I stood in the kitchen planning to make tea, and instead made coffee, with a feeling that I would keep on choosing coffee over tea, and that was also what happened. For the card, I decided to go with a coffee theme, and used only white, beige and brown, with a tiny bit of gold. The 3-D Mug & Heart was die cut from cream cardstock, first placing it inside a pop 'n cuts base die. The cardbase was die cut from the same cream cardstock, with the base die.

I  like stoneware mugs and wanted to try to imitate that. I placed a piece of scrap paper under the mug and inked it with a Ranger Emboss-It dabber. It was heat embossed with Aged Ivory Embossing Enamel from Stampendous, which gave a great texture to the mug, with random spots of gold. The two small hearts come from the Love die. The heart next to the cup was embossed with Vintage Photo Distress Embossing powder, which has a texture that reminds me of coffee. The heart steam was die cut from vellum, to look like real steam.

 

You might see the texture better here. I inked it with Walnut Stain, which added colour to the tiny spots that had not been embossed.

 

The background was stamped with a love definition stamp and Antique Linen distress ink. I also stamped coffee rings with Gathered Twigs. The background was embossed in the coffee folder, leaving a smooth area in the centre. I inked the background, first with Antique Linen and then with Gathered Twigs, taking care to get the brown ink only on the coffee beans and around the edges. The background was splattered randomly with Walnut Stain ink, smeared on my craft sheet and misted with water.  

 

The Love Sizzlits die is another favourite of mine. Here I die cut it from white cardstock. The hearts were die cut from grungeboard and embossed with Aged Ivory.

 

I wanted to use this sentiment stamp from Tim Holtz, but thought it was too large for the card. The solution was to die cut a Funky Label from shrink plastic, stamp the sentiment on top, punch a hole and shrink it. Perfect Size! It was coated with Glossy Accents, for smoother and glossier look and happened to fit perfectly inside the Fancy Frame. The frame was embossed with the Vintage Photo distress powder. The back piece was die cut from white cardstock and the oval from cream cardstock. 

 

This is the front of the card. It was first stamped with the love definition stamp using Antique Linen, and with the coffee rings using Gathered Twigs. The whole card front was embossed in the coffee folder and inked the same way as the inside. I thought the Ornate Plate worked well together with the theme, since it looks like a pretty table cloth. It was die cut from mat board and embossed with Aged Ivory.

 

I like to repeat elements on the outside and inside of pop-up cards and wanted a mug on the outside too. I used the coordinating embossing folder and cream cardstock. The mug was cut out and embossed with Vintage Photo powder. It has the same vellum heart steam as the mug on the inside.

 

The butterflies were die cut from vellum using the Butterflies and Butterflies & Labels dies. The former is slightly smaller than the latter, making them perfect for layering. I white embossed them with a swirl pattern.

 

Isn't this tiny wavy label cute? It was die cut from shrink plastic, stamped, shrunk and coated with glossy accents. You can see the texture of the Aged Ivory powder well on this photo. 

This is what the card looks like from the top.

 

Thank you for the visit!!

 

Happy crafting!!

 

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:

Surfaces: Ranger Shrink Plastic; Sizzix Little Sizzles White mat board 6 x 13; Neenah Smooth Solar White, Smooth Cream; Tim Holtz Idea-ology grungeboard; vellum

Dies: Sizzix: 3-D Mug & Heart, Fancy Frame, Love Set, Butterflies, Butterflies & Labels, Flower & Heart, Funky Labels, Wavy Labels, Ornate Plate, Horizontal A2 Card Pop 'n Cuts Base Die, Tattered Banners

Embossing folder: Sizzix: Coffee Set

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Tiny Textures, Stuff to Say, Love Struck, Way with Words, Mini Muse; Hero Arts: Find Joy CL497

Ink: Distress Ink: Antique Linen, Gathered Twigs, Walnut Stain; Archival Ink Jet Black; Stazon Jet Black; Ranger Emboss-It dabber

Embossing powder: Stampendous: Aged Ivory Embossing Enamel; Ranger: Seafoam White, Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powder

Embellishments: lace trim; cheesecloth

Adhesive: Ranger Glossy Accents

 



Butterfly Window Card

Hi everyone! We have a die cut challenge this week challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Since dies are a favorite tool of mine and I rarely make anything without using some dies, I'll be posting a step-by-step tutorial on Wednesday.

Here's a little sneak peek of my project. You'll have to check out the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog on Wednesday for the whole tutorial. It is a fun one!

Join us this week and you can be the lucky one to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp.

Thank you for stopping by!!

Anna-Karin

CSI case file #84 - Enjoy the journey

Today I am sharing my layout for CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration, still on the July travel theme. Since it is the second week of the month, there is Page Drafts sketch. Here's the case file:

 

 

My layout:

 

I loved the sketch with the four narrow photos and it made me think of these photos which hadn't been scrapped yet, of one of my son's very first excursions on his own legs. From the evidence items I used: stripes, fringe, textured paper, twine and fabric, and from the testimony items it was inspired by 'explore'.  

 

The background is ledger paper which was distressed with watercolour paint. I also splattered some paint here and there. It was stamped with three Tim Holtz transportation images, which I really like. You might recognise this plane from last week's layout. The sweet sentiment stamp comes from Simon Says Stamp.

Behind the photo there is a panel of watercolour paper. I applied crackle paste through a brick stencil, to mimic the bricks in the photo. It was left to dry overnight for cracks to develop. I misted it with water and painted with watercolour paint. When it was dry, I stamped it here and there with an alphabet background stamp. There is also a layer of cheese cloth behind the photos.

Core'dinations cardstock was sanded and then die cut in the Tapered Fringe folder. I inked it a bit and shaped the grass. Two strips were layered on top of each other.

The title was die cut from a piece of paper I found in my scrap box, made with a mix of watercolours and Twinkling H20's. Texture was added with the cling wrap method (see this post).

Journaling: 'These are some of the first photos I have of you walking on your own. You had been able to walk for a little more than a month. It was so cute when you left off on your own, with new shoes and too big jeans, step by step. On a journey of exploration in the world. Love you little one.'

Thank you for stopping by!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Basic Grey Basics ledger paper; Canson watercolour paper; Core'dinations colour-core cardstock; Ranger kraft paper; Jenni Bowlin dot paper
Dies: Sizzix: Stacked Artful Words, Tapered Fringe
Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Going Somewhere,Travel Ways; Simon Says Stamp: Beautiful Words
Ink: Archival Ink Jet Black; Distress Ink: Gathered Twigs; Versafine Vintage Sepia
Paint: Daler & Rowney watercolours
Medium: Golden Artist Paint: Crackle Paste
Stencil: The Crafter's Workshop Mini Bricks
Embellishments: cheese cloth; twine