Nicola used:

InLinkz.com

Anna-Karin Evaldsson made a beautiful card and has a fabulous ‘how to’ video on her blog to show you how she made it!

Anna-Karin used:

Macarena Ziuziakowska made 2 gorgeous cards and showcases the Mosaic Heart Stencil beautifully

Macarena used:

So now it’s your turn to get out your LOVE-ly supplies and get creative! This is our more arty challenge and we do love to see a more mixed media/altered art style, let your creativity loose and get inky! You might be surprised at how liberating and fun it is if you have never tried this genre!

Hello crafty friends! Its Nina-Marie back again this week with a new Studio Monday video for you!

Are you a watercolor fan? I sure am! Today I thought I would use my Tim Holtz Distress Crayons with the ADORABLE new Nuts About You stamp set and do just that! I love the unpredictability of how watercolor goes onto a paper and dries; much less controllable than markers or pencils. Because Distress Crayons are a water reactive pigment, they are great for a variety of techniques that include watercoloring.

I wanted to step up the watercolor look however and create a subtle shimmer over top of my card background. You could do this many ways, including but not limited to:

• using a shimmer spray
• a glitter brush
• adding Perfect Pearls to water

I thought it would be fun however to see the Tonic Studios Nuvo Embellishment Mousse used as the shimmer inside of a spray mist bottle. You can use any type of spray bottle you have on hand; I had a few empty travel-size bottles in my studio, so I used one of those.

To create the shimmer spray, I filled my mister bottle about halfway with clean water. I then took the end of a paintbrush and dropped in two generously-sized scoops of the Peony Pink embellishment mousse. The amount of shimmer you have on your project when you spray the bottle will depend on how much mousse you add to the water. If you use just a small amount, you will have a very subtle, faint shimmer; the more mousse you add, the more prominent the shimmer will be. At two scoops of shimmer, mine was pretty easy to see in person as it caught the light. It is subtle, but still easily seen. I would suggest adding a bit more shimmer to the water if you want a more visible shimmer.

Also note that the shimmer will not be full-on glitter. It will instead be more of a metallic/pearlized shimmer. But I think the subtly is what makes it so gorgeous! Unfortunately, because it is subtle, it was harder to capture in the video and photos after it had dried on my project. I’ll show you a few angles in the video and hopefully you will get the idea of how it looks, because it is indeed very pretty in real life!

You’ll notice the two die sets I used in today’s card; the cute postage stamp edging is made with the Postage Stamps nesting die set from Hero Arts; and the hearts are from an-oldie-but-goodie favorite of mine by Simon Says Stamp (the Holiday Shapes die).

The video below covers the creating of this card from start to finish, so you’ll want to check it out to see all the details! Also something I’d like to point out: while this card has more of a “Valentine’s Day” overture to it, you could adjust the colors a bit to make it a love themed card that could be used year round. Love cards are always handy to have around for mailing to someone you care about!

Thanks for visiting with me today… a lot was covered in this post and video! I hope you have been inspired to either use this Nuts About You stamp set by Art Impressions, try out some Distress Crayon watercoloring, or make your own shimmer spray! I will be seeing you again next week for the next installment of Studio Monday… until then, have a great week! :D

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Hi readers! Thanks for stopping by today! Please welcome special guest Emma Williams! She made this truly gorgeous mixed media canvas with the theme of Valentine’s Day and love in mind, and I can’t stop staring at that GORGEOUS moon! Be sure to read on for more information, and enjoy!

Hi everyone!

I’m so excited to be back on the Simon Says Stamp Blog today and can’t wait to share my mixed media canvas panel which uses some of the latest releases from Tim Holtz, combined with a few of his older products.

It can’t escape your notice that February is the month of love and love is most definitely in the air with my romantic project, full of vintage nostalgia! The panel itself, has many techniques and ideas that can also be used on extra special Valentine’s or wedding cards, home decor pieces or even scrapbook layouts ~ so, the possibilities are really endless and I hope you enjoy how I created this!

•  I started by creating my background by cutting down a Dina Wakley Media Board to measure 7” x 9.5”. The board is already pre-gessoed, so there is no need to prime it.

• I then added a layer of Antique Linen Distress Paint over the entire surface of the canvas and heat dried the paint before adding my next layer.

• Taking small amounts of gesso and using either a palette knife (Tip: If you don’t have a palette knife, then you can use an old expired credit card which works just as well), scrape the gesso onto the central area of the canvas in a fairly free and loose style. Heat dry the surface thoroughly.

• To add the colour onto my background, I used Distress Crayons and began by scribbling the Stormy Sky Crayon directly onto the central gessoed section of my background before blending it out with a semi dry baby wipe ~ this creates a base layer of colour for me to work with. To start adding more depth of colour and more layers, I used Chipped Sapphire which I lightly scribbled over the top of the previous layers adding it to random areas and then blending out the colour with my fingers. I continued to build up the background by using the Black Soot and Pumice Stone Crayons, together with more Chipped Sapphire and just continued adding the crayons to build up the intensity. You can also see from the photos that I kept the look of paint strokes around the outside of that blue central section.

• To create the vintage, distressed looking border around the outside of the canvas, I applied Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distress Crayons in exactly the same way as before, blending the colour over the surface with the wipe and then adding more intensity by using my fingers to create the darker areas.

• Once happy with the background, I added splatters of Black Soot Distress Paint, gold paint (from the Gold Metallic Paint Dabber) and gesso, picking up the paint with a paint brush and just flicking it across the surface. I also added gesso paint scratches around the edges of the canvas to create a border. Give the canvas a blast of heat to ensure everything is dry.
• Now comes the fun part of creating the magic of the focal point and that textured crescent moon.

• Using the Tim Holtz Crescent Moon and Stars die, die cut the moon and some of the smaller stars from Sizzles Mat Board. Apply Glossy Accents to the stars and then sprinkle with Vintage Platinum Distress Glitter. Set the stars to one side until later.

• To create the textured moon, apply a layer of Dina Wakley Sterling Acrylic Paint over the top of the die cut. Once the paint is dry, using a palette knife, add a good amount of Prima 3D Matte Gel to the surface and sprinkle Pearl Glass Glitter, Gold Rush Glass Glitter, Sterling Glass Glitter and Silver Micro Beads over the top. Tap away the excess and set aside to dry.

• Once dry, it will leave you with the most gorgeous textured moon surface, which I then attached to my background using foam pads and placing it over a small amount of natural coloured floristry sisal. (You can also use thread if you don’t have the sisal).

• For the photographic image, you can either use an image of your choice or…if like me, you’ve fallen madly in love with the new Tim Holtz Paper Dolls collection you can use the wedding couple from this pack! I lightly colour tinted the couple using Distress Marker Pens, adding Mustard Yellow and Shabby Shutters to the bouquet and Antique Linen onto the skin areas. Using foam pads, attach the image onto the background, placing it so they appear to be standing on the moon.

• Antique one of the large silver Arrow Adornments by applying Treasure Gold Rose Quartz Gilding Wax directly onto the metal and then buffing the metal with a soft cloth to create a shine. Attach the arrow to the left of the moon using Glossy Accents to secure it into place.

• Cut a strip of crinkle ribbon and place the ribbon onto a craft sheet. Mist the ribbon with Pumice Stone and Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain. Scrunch up the stained ribbon and either heat dry for quickness or allow to dry naturally.

• Wrap the ribbon around the four fingers of your hand. Remove the loops from your fingers, pinching them together in the centre and tie a further piece of ribbon around the centre to create your bow. Fluff out the loops of the bow and tie knots into the ends of the ties.

• Separate one of the Bouquet Findings flowers to give you two separate stems and using a paint brush, apply small amounts of watered down Mustard Seed Distress ink directly into the centre of the flowers.

• Using a hot glue gun, attach the flowers and the bow over the top of the arrow.

• Using the Heartfelt Die, die cut five smaller hearts and one medium sized heart from the Sizzles Mat Board. Paint the hearts using Candied Apple Distress Paint and allow to dry. Use Collage Medium to attach the five small hearts onto the background, together with the small glittered stars, placing them around the outside of the moon and bow arrangement. Run a Black Soot Distress Marker Pen around the outline of the heart and blend out the colour with your finger.

• Place the remaining, medium sized die cut heart over the top of the knot of the bow and then add the number ’14’ using numbers from the Typography pack. I added a light wash of Antique Linen Distress Paint over the top of the numbers.

• Finally add a Quotation Sticker with the quote “Love You To The Moon & Back” and attach it directly onto the canvas, applying a Gilded Accent Remnant Rub beneath it.

• To create a frame around my canvas, I matted the finished project board onto ivory card, followed by a layer of regular white card which had Butterfly Designer Tape attached around the edges, each time leaving a border around the outside. I then mounted the entire project onto a layer of black mountboard to add stability.

I hope you love this project as much as I loved creating it and thanks so much for stopping by today ~ I’ll see you again very soon!

Emma

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Thanks for reading, and thanks to Emma for being our guest!

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