Mixed Media Winter Scene



Hello everyone!! I hope you had a good weekend! It is Monday and time for a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This week we are doing winter projects, very fitting for this month of the year.

 

When I made this page we had just gotten quite a lot of snow, and since I love to make wintery scenes, I let the snow outside the window inspire me to create a clear and cold winter's night in my journal. I started with a layer of gesso and continued with Dina Wakley's paints, using Sky and Lapis and a mixture of the two to make a graduated background.  

 

I used Hero Arts' lovely Forest stencil and smeared Ranger's Texture Paste through it. The stencil wasn't wide enough for my page. I let it dry, and added another two trees to the right. When all the paste was dry, the trees were painted white and I mixed up a grey to add shading. I also splattered the background with white paint and added some silver dots and silver to the trees with a Krylon Silver Leafing Pen.

The moon was also painted white and I added shine around it with more white, dry brushing it on for a subtle effect. A tiny bit of blue was also added to the moon, so that it didn't look like it was floating.

Before the paste dried after stencilling it, I added more paste at the base to create a snowy hill and extend the scene a little. The snow was painted white and given extra texture with blue paint and the silver marker. My son thought I needed to add some glitter too, and I decided to use Prima's Frosted Mica Flakes. I love the shine and imperfections of mica. 

 

Alison Bomber posted this quote in a beautiful blog post recently. I thought of that quote when I was busy making this page and it fit pretty well together with the feel of the scene. 

 

Here you can maybe see the shine of the mica a little better.

 

Join us in our celebration of winter this week, and it can be you who wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp, drawn randomly.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

 

Happy crafting!!

 

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:

Surfaces: Ranger Dylusions Small Creative Journal

Stencil: Hero Arts: Forest

Paint: Ranger Dina Wakley: Lapis, Sky, White; Distress Paint: Picket Fence, Black Soot

Medium: Ranger: Texture Paste, Dina Wakley White Gesso

Marker: Krylon Silver Leafing Pen

Embellishments: Prima: Frosted Mica Flakes; Tim Holtz idea-ology: Seasonal Chit Chat stickers

Happy Days Oven

Hello everyone! I am having issues uploading photos to the blog, I hope it will be resolved soon. Today I am sharing a post on the Sizzix blog, for a little 3-D oven made will Eileen Hull's 3-D Oven ScoreBoards die.

 

I love making 3-D items and this oven die is so cute. I wanted to make a loved and worn 1950s oven. The oven lid opens and become a little drawer for a small gift. I used Hero Arts stamps and some fun embellishments.

 

For more photos and info, head over to the Sizzix blog.

 

Thank you for stopping by today!

 

Happy crafting!

 

Anna-Karin

Poetry Mini Album Tutorial

Hello crafters! I am sharing a tutorial on the Sizzix blog today, for a cute mini album made with new dies by Lori Whitlock.

 

This is the finished album. It is full of pockets with tags and file folders inside. I used papers by Prima and the papers made me think of my own and my grandmother's poetry albums, which we both had in school. Friends wrote little poems in those albums, and many of the poems are the same in both albums. I made those poems and books the theme of this mini album.

To see the full tutorial, you'll have to head over to the Sizzix blog.

Thank you for stopping by today!!

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Out on a limb

Hello friends!! My blog will start seeing more posts again, I just had to catch up a bit and there are still lots of things to organise here. It is Monday and we have a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, namely to create an inky background.

 

Our container, and therefore also most of my craft supplies, is still making it's way across the oceans, so I am crafting with limited supplies. I love creating background with layers of ink and there is something magical about making a background appear out of a blank piece of paper. This week, I worked in my Small Creative Journal again, using Distress Spray Stains, Distress Ink, Archival Inks and some heat embossing. The stamps are all by Darkroom Door.

I started out by heat embossing a lovely script stamp using white embossing ink. Then I misted water on a page and the continued with Squeezed Lemonade and Spiced Marmalade Distress Spray Stains. The embossing resists the misted ink. When the first layer was dry, I used two stencils by Simon Says Stamp and Distress Ink to add another layer.

 

The parrots were inked with mini Distress Inks, which work well for this technique. I misted the inked stamp with water about four times before stamping on the page. The watercolour effect gives a great fuzzy look to the parrots, almost like feathers.

For a final layer, I stamped sentiments, scratches and some more images with Potting Soil Archival Ink, which stands out nicely against the other layers of the page.

 

I hope you will get inky with us this week! And then it might be you who wins this week's $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp, drawn randomly.

 

Thank you for stopping by today!!

 

Happy inking!

 

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:

Surfaces: Ranger Dylusions: Small Creative Journal

Stamps: Darkroom Door: Love Birds, Scratches Texture Stamp, French Script Texture, Love Letters Vol. 2, Gum Trees

Ink: Distress Ink. Gathered Twigs, Mowed Lawn, Spiced Marmalade, Aged Mahogany; Distress Ink Mini: Kit #1, Kit #2, Kit #6; Archival Ink: Potting Soil

Mist: Distress Spray Stain: Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade

Embossing powder: Ranger: White

Stencil: Simon Says Stamp: Swirls & Dots, Polka Dot Party

New Places Old Things Art Journal

Hello all! We are kicking off the new year with a Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, focusing on old and new. There are many options: use old and new products or techniques, focus on old and new as a theme, or anything else you can think of.

I made an art journal page about new places and old things, and about handling things that are new. I also used a mix of newer and older stamps by Tim Holtz. This spread is also the first page in my new Small Creative Journal. I started by glueing three columns of old dictionary paper to the background, among others containing the word 'Columbus'. The background was coated with a layer of gesso. 

 

When the gesso was dry, I painted the pages with Distress Paints (Dried Marigold, Pumice Stone, Tumbled Glass and Broken China), adding some black drops at the top. Most of the stamping was done on tissue paper, so that I could move it around and decide where to place everything.

 

The stamped tissue images were applied by adding a thin layer of gloss multi medium on the background, placing the tissue image into the medium and giving it a thin layer of multi medium on top. When dry, the images were given some colour with Distress Paints, using the same colours as on the background. 

I stamped the title using a set by Tim Holtz as well as one of my older and most used alphabet stamps by Hero Arts. It is probably the stamp set that I have used the most ever.

The elephant is shouting 'I love new', but even though new is fun and interesting, I do love old places and things too.

This city stamp is a favourite of mine and worked well for this project. The background was stamped with a cracks stamp and splattered with some black paint.

 

I hope you will join us in our first challenge of the year. As always, one random participant wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. I am looking forward to seeing all the creations.

 

Thank you for stopping by today!

 

Happy stamping!

 

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:

Surfaces: Ranger Dylusions Small Creative Journal; tissue paper

Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz: Rockstar, Cracks & Specks, Tall Text, Tiny Things, Mini Muse, Going Somewhere, Just Thoughts; Hero Arts: Travel AC031, Printer's Lowerscase

Ink: Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black

Paint: Distress Paint: Dried Marigold, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Pumice Stone, Black Soot

Medium: Ranger: Gloss Multi Medium, Dina Wakley White Gesso

Embellishments: Tim Holtz idea-ology: Laboratorie Tissue Tape

Favourite Projects 2014

Hello friends! As one year is over and a new one begins, I thought I'd look back at my blog posts during 2014 to pick some favourites. I am, however, not very good at picking favourites, which also applies to books, movies, etc. If I had made this list yesterday it might have looked pretty different.

Let's start with this little textured window canvas, made for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog, with Wendy Vecchi embossing paste and Sizzix dies. I love creating texture on my projects.

I had such fun making this Silhouette Filled With Thoughts layout, using a silhoutte of my son that I made from a photo. It contains a lot of little meaningful details. Made for CSI:Color, Stories, Inspiration.

Another favourite was this Frameworks Mosaic Tutorial. I loved the technique of using embossing paste as grout and the Sizzix frameworks dies by Tim Holtz are so much fun to play around with.

 

I love using dies in ways they might not have been originally intended for, such as to construct various 3D items. These two Grungy Tall Houses were made using Eileen Hull's Sizzix block dies. It is a tutorial.

This Medival Castle Tutorial, also built using dies and paste, was a little more complicated to build than the houses. My son loves it.

 

After I made the castle, Anton wanted me to make a rocket. It is also a tutorial, if you want to make your own.

 

I have a hard time picking favourites among my art journal pages, because they all have a special meaning relating back to feelings, thoughts and memories. One of my favouries was this Bold Birds page with stamps by Dina Wakley.

Another favourite layout this year was this Dream Big layout, with mixed media elements and lots of stamping using Darkroom Door stamps.

 

Here's one more construction project, using dies to make a Treasure Chest Tutorial. My son has been playing with it a lot and has added quite a few extra treasures into the box.

 

I love making Artist Trading Blocks (ATB) and have made quite a few this year, using dies by Eileen Hull. This is one of my favourites, as well as this one.

 

I had lots of fun making my version of Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2014 May, turning the tag into a burlap panel.

 

Made for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog, I was happy with how this Seaside mixed media canvas turned out, with fun 3D elements. It is also a tutorial.

 

I am very fond of watercolours and really enjoyed extending the scene of this photo with watercolours, also made for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

 

My Nautical Blueprint Caddy, made with stamps by Tim Holtz and dies by Eileen Hull, has found a great place on my desk. I love making these types of useful projects.

Mini books are always fun to make, and the Bubble and Gelli Print mini album was a favourite of mine, made for Sizzix as a tutorial. I was also really happy with my Bird mini book.

The Dragonfly and Bee mini burlap panels were so much fun to make, especially the wings and textures of the insects.

One of my most used items is this Family Locket Idea-ology Necklace, made for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. I had such fun making this.

I also really enjoyed making my Textured Elephant Canvas, featuring one of my favourite animals and colours that I don't often use. It is also a tutorial. I am looking forward to the arrival of our container, so that I can hang my canvases up on the wall.

One of my autumn projects was this Autumn Burlap Panel, a tutorial with a fun stencil technique. The panel was made for the Tim Holtz Media Team.

 

The Spooky Mixed Media Canvas Tutorial, is a Halloween version of the seaside scene above. My favourite part is that Anton asked to be placed inside the house, so I added a little photo of him there.

 

Because of the topic of changes, I picked this layout, and I also like the colours and the white elements. Made for CSI:Color, Stories, Inspiration.

 

One of my favourite scenic stamping pieces was this full page black and white scene, with a photo added into the scene.

 

I love creating little 3D scenes and this Winter Scene Shadowbox tutorial, made for the Tim Holtz Media Team, was my favourite winter project last year.

 

Speaking of winter and Christmas, my December Daily journal is a yearly favourite. I love filling it with details and memories. This year, our December was pretty unusual, so it was extra important to document.

I really enjoyed making the Owl canvas, since it contains many of my most used products: dies, stamps, stencils, paint, paste and ink.

 

I ended up picking more projects than planned (I told you I am bad at picking favourites :). A Happy New Creative Year to everyone! And thank you again so much for your visits and comments during last year.

 

Happy crafting!

 

Anna-Karin

Memories 2014

Happy New Year!! I can't believe this is the last day of the year, time really flies. We had a pretty eventful year and I made a layout about it so that I wouldn't forget any important small or big events.

I've been doing these end of the year layouts for about ten years now and they are fun to look back on, a little summary of the whole year. To make this I used some new Sizzix dies by Jen Long and there are a lot of small die cuts embellishing the file folder cards used for the journaling. Each card contains two months. The background of the layout is a gelli printed paper that I had in my stash.

To read more about this and see the details, head over to the Sizzix blog.

Thank you for all the visits and comments during this year, I really appreciate it.  I hope 2015 will be a happy year for everyone, full of creativity and fun.

Happy New Year!

Anna-Karin