Be Brave Journal Page

Hi friends! Happy Sunday! Thanks for tuning in today! I’m so pleased to welcome back the amazing Anna-Karin Evaldsson back to our blog as a guest writer today! To see more of her fabulous work, be sure to tune into our Monday Challenge Blog each week. For now, keep on scrolling to see how Anna-Karin created this gorgeous canvas page and enjoy!

Be Brave Journal Page

Hi everyone! I am so happy to be here today with a fun and easy tutorial. Outside my window, most leaves have now fallen, after a really beautiful autumn season, and winter is knocking on the door. We had our first flurries of snow today. I was in the mood for an art journal page with some lovely fall leaves, but the techniques work just as well for cardmaking, scrapbooking, tags or 3D projects.

Fall is such a beautiful and vibrant part of the year, full of color and texture, and I wanted to capture that on an art journal page. I really like Dina Wakley’s Media Journal, which has four different surfaces: cotton rag watercolor, canvas, kraft and burlap. The latter works great for depicting the texture of fall, so I worked on one of the burlap pages. There are different types of leaves, and various layers on the page, but I avoided bulky elements, so that my art journal will close relatively flat.

Be Brave Journal Page

1.I wanted lots of gold on the page and embossed a piece of gold kraft paper (5.5 x 8 in) with Sizzix Impressions Leaves 3-D folder. These folders work best if the paper is slightly moist, so mist the gold paper on the back with water first. Use this sandwich: Sizzix Multipurpose Platform Tab 1, 3-D folder with paper inside, Cutting Pad. Repeat for the lower part of the paper. As you can see, I left the right-hand side of the panel without embossing, just for a different look from what I normally do.

Be Brave Journal Page

2.Sand the embossed area and the edges slightly and then ink with Ground Espresso. The ink will stick to the areas where the gold was sanded off.

Be Brave Journal Page

3.White emboss Wendy Vecchi’s Collage Circle on watercolor paper. Always be careful when using a heat tool so that you don’t burn yourself. (I am sorry about the slightly grainy photo, I had forgotten to change the ISO settings on my camera).

Be Brave Journal Page

4.White emboss various leaves from the SSS Fractile Leaves set, also on watercolor paper.

Be Brave Journal Page

5.Roughly cut out the circle and leaves. Smear Distress Inks on a non-stick craft sheet, mist with water and press the papers into the ink. The embossing will resist the ink. Try to vary the look of the leaves.

Be Brave Journal Page

6.To make the leaves shine, they were misted with Buttercup Mica Spray.

Be Brave Journal Page

7.Stamp the You Matter Background stamp with Jet Black Archival Ink on manila cardstock. Don’t worry about getting a perfect impression. I wanted a partially stamped look.

Be Brave Journal Page

8.Smear Distress Inks on a craft sheet, mist with water and press the paper into the ink to distress it.

Be Brave Journal Page

9.Cut a rectangle of woodgrain paper and ink it with Ground Espresso. Punch holes in the ends and tie with twine, to create a swing.

Be Brave Journal Page

10.Die cut two Cottage Stems from manila cardstock and ink with Ground Espresso and Mermaid Lagoon.

Be Brave Journal Page

11.For the sentiments, I cut a line from the You Matter stamped background and also white embossed a sentiment from Uplifting Thoughts. The panel was colored in the same way as the blue circle. Here you can also see the effect of the sanding and inking on the gold paper better.

Be Brave Journal Page

12.Tear some of the edges of the You Matter stamped paper and place a Halloween Deco Sheet underneath. Glue the blue circle on top. Everything was glued down with Distress Collage Medium Matte. The hearts were die cut with the Clipping Heart die.

Be Brave Journal Page

13. I adhered a piece of design tape down the length of the embossed gold panel.

Be Brave Journal Page

14. Glue the swing and a girl from Tim Holtz’s Paper Dolls set on the blue circle. She was colored slightly with Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink.

Be Brave Journal Page

15. Tuck leaves below the circle to make it look like the ground is covered in leaves. I also added a Paper Doll dog, more hearts and a piece of Prima Dresden trim.

Be Brave Journal Page

16.Glue the Cottage Stems in place. I cut one of them into two pieces.

Be Brave Journal Page

17.I also die cut You from manila cardstock and inked with Ground Espresso. This is a favourite die of mine, since it is so versatile.

Be Brave Journal Page

18.Add a little group of leaves at the top left corner of the page too. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it inspired you to do a fall themed project, or play around with textures or Distress Inks.

Thank you so much for looking! Happy crafting! Anna-Karin

Supplies:

Dina Wakley Ranger MEDIA JOURNAL…
[ SSS ]
Ranger WATERCOLOR PAPER Inkssentials…
[ SSS ]
Ranger Inkssentials 8.5 X 11 MANILA…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz DISTRESS WOODGRAIN…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Idea-ology 8 x 8 Paper…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Idea-ology HALLOWEEN Deco…
[ SSS ]
Simon Says Cling Stamps YOU MATTER…
[ SSS ]
Simon Says Clear Stamps FRACTILE…
[ SSS ]
Simon Says Clear Stamps UPLIFTING…
[ SSS ]
Wendy Vecchi Background Cling Rubber…
[ SSS ]
Simon Says Stamp CLIPPING HEART Wafer…
[ SSS ]
Simon Says Stamp COTTAGE STEMS Wafer…
[ SSS ]
Simon Says Stamp YOU Wafer Dies…
[ SSS ]
Sizzix Textured Impressions LEAVES 3D…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad RUSTY…
[ SSS ]
Ranger WENDY VECCHI Designer Mica…
[ SSS ]
Simon Says Stamp EMBOSSING POWDER…
[ SSS ]
Simon Says Stamp Embossing Ink Pad…
[ SSS ]
Heidi Swapp HEAT TOOL MINC Tools USA…
[ SSS ]
Ranger Archival Ink Pad JET BLACK…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Idea-ology PAPER DOLLS…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Idea-ology PAPER STRING …
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Idea-ology POSTAL Design…
[ SSS ]
Prima Marketing WROUGHT IRON GOLD…
[ SSS ]
Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz DISTRESS SPRAYER Ranger 4…
[ SSS ]
Ranger MINI ROUND INK BLENDING TOOLS…
[ SSS ]
Sizzix BIG SHOT PLUS MACHINE Gray And…
[ SSS ]
Sizzix Big Shot Plus CUTTING PADS…
[ SSS ]
Sizzix MULTIPURPOSE PLATFORM STANDARD…
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Idea-ology SANDING GRIP…
[ SSS ]
We R Memory Keepers CROP-A-DILE…
[ SSS ]

Thanks so much for reading, and thanks again to Anna-Karin for the fabulous inspiration!

cardmaking blog grab bag

Blog Candy Alert!! Follow our blog via email and comment on this post for a chance to win a special blog candy!

  1. This is so beautiful! Thank you for showing us all the elements in detail – the leaves are especially lovely!

  2. OMG , what a fabulous page … great tutorial. Those gold leaves are amazing love the technique ( thanks for that tip too ) !

  3. Just lovely – so many great details: the woodgrain swing seat, the glow of the colourful resist leaves, the contrasting colour pops, especially the turquoise circle for her to sit in and those gorgeous cottage stems – and it all looks fabulous against the rugged burlap. I love this!
    Alison x

  4. This is so fabulous with all the layers and dimension. I absolutely love the embossed leaves on the gold kraft paper. Thanks for the inspiration.

  5. I love the colors of fall! Anna-Karin, you definitely give them beauty, too! I also like the concept of mixed media, but I have such difficulty with a start & end spot. It IS so beautiful, Anna, you have a beautiful talent.

  6. Holy Cow, This is a lot of work, it is just AMAZING, I love it. I love tim Holt products, I always use his products when I work in a journal.My journals never turn out anything as stunning as yours, lol, I think I don’t have the patience you must have, this is just a wow and Thank you for sharing I really enjoyed this blog post.

  7. Many thanks for the step by step
    I really love that you added all Media
    like Gold..the Die cutting..also stamping and embossing in White …great details and texture..
    Lovely Project miss Lady
    hugs
    Monika

  8. Such a unique and gorgeous project! I love how the stamps and ink came together with the embossed and inked gold and red paper. The die cuts, the girl on the swing…I could go on about each element, but it’s how the come together as a whole that have me really loving this journal page!!!

Leave a Reply to Cindy Thick Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

We use cookies to give you the best online experience. By agreeing, you accept the use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.