Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Happy Fall Card Tutorial

Hi all! Today you could feel autumn in the air, and some leaves have started to change colour. I love watching the seasons change, and autumn is one of my favourite seasons, also when it comes to crafting. I am sharing a tutorial today on the Sizzix blog, for an autumn card.

Layers of ink - Happy Fall Card Tutorial by Anna-Karin
I used new die and stamp sets by Jen Long for the focal piece: Happy Fall Y'all and Christmas in Color. The technique used on the dry embossed background is lots of fun and works for most embossing folders. It involves Ranger's Pearl paint and is a technique I last used several years ago. I was happy to remember it for this card and used it together with the Autumn Phrases folder.

You can find all the steps on the Sizzix blog.

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Crafting!

Anna-Karin 

Supplies:



Monday, August 29, 2016

Fabric Pieced Cards



Hi and welcome to my blog on this last Monday of August! We had a good weekend. Anton and I went to see Finding Dory, which just started to show here. The English shows were in the VIP theater, and we had fun with the added luxury of huge seats and tables. We wanted to see it in English, and not with Swedish voices. I prefer the original versions, and it is good practice for his English.

This week at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge we have an It's a Stitch Up challenge. Such a fun theme, I can't wait to see all the creations by the participants. 

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
I made two cards and had fun using both fabric, canvas and some machine stitching. I was looking at Dina Wakley's Scribbly Girlies stamps and thought it would be fun to give the kids fabric clothing. My sewing machine is almost only used for paper projects, and I always liked the look of a stitched border or frame around projects, and of some fun messy stitching, where you don't need to worry about keeping it straight. 

I took a few step photos.

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
I have liked tag shapes ever since I started paper crafting, and before dies were widely available, I used to cut my own tags, or use templates (remember those?). Even though you can get a good angle by measuring and cutting, it takes a while and I was often annoyed by the angles of my tags being uneven. So when I saw the new Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper Angle tool, I knew I had to have it. How I would have loved to have this tool 12 years ago. In a second, you can cut perfectly even angles on tags, or other projects. On these tags, I used the Large Angle, but there is also a Small Angle on the tool. The papers are from from Tim Holtz Correspondence pad. 

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
I took two pieces of sticky-back canvas and coated them with gesso. When that was dry, I applied Dina Wakley's paints with a palette knife. Wait until the paint is dry before stamping. The heart stamps are from Scribbly Girlies and the border stamps are from the Assorted Borders set.

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
I wanted to try something and to make that work better, I first applied two coats of Clear Gesso to the background, letting it dry in between.

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
Then I wrote words all over the backgrounds with a Faber-Castell Graphite Aquarelle pencil. The clear gesso gave the pencil something to hold on to. Finally, I misted the background with water, making the watercolour marks run.

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
The kids were stamped with Jet Black ink on the smooth side of Ranger's watercolour paper, and then again on various Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric. The paper was watercoloured with Distress Ink and I cut out the fabric clothes and pieced them on top of the paper images.

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
I stamped the pants so that one leg would be darker than the other. Look at the fabric that you have at home to see interesting parts that can be used. If it is too patterned or too dark, the stamping might be hard to see, so just keep that in mind.

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
The tags were stamped with stamps from Tim's Correspondence set and the new Shadow Grey Archival Ink. I have a thing for grey inks, and this is a great light grey, a perfect companion to Watering Can.

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
I cut a piece of burlap slightly larger than the tag and used the Corner Chomper Angle Tool to create a burlap tag underneath the paper one. They were stitched together. The tags are tied with fibers from Prima's Esmeralda Cord roll.

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
Here's the first finished card. I tried to match her clothes and the background. The sentiment also comes from the Scribbly Girlies set. I also added some staples at the end, both to the tag, and to the cord at the base.

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
I know all three images on the stamp set are probably meant to be girls, but I thought this one works just as well as a little boy. Anton wanted it to be himself, although he noted that 'my hair is not so big'. On this background, I added a little less water, so the writing stands out more.

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
Make the tags from parts of the patterned paper that you like the most. I tried to avoid areas with too much detail. Since I am sure you know I like letters, this paper in particular appeals to me.

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
The sentiment on this card from from the Grungy Stars set. And more messy stitching. 

Layers of ink - Fabric Pieced Cards tutorial by Anna-Karin with Dina Wakley stamps and Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements.
I used Tim Holtz Index Label stickers as tag toppers, and punched a hole and set an eyelet with my Crop-a-Dile.

I hope you will join us in our It's a Stitch Up challenge. As every week, you have a chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

 
If you want to, follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram, they post great stuff daily. 


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







Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies: