Monday, January 18, 2016

Best Friends Watercolour Layout



Hi friends! I hope you are well and had a good weekend! I am sorry that it has been a little quiet here on the blog, I am working hard on an assignment for a course that I am taking. Almost done, the deadline is on Wednesday. Today, it is Monday and a new Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is up. This week's theme is best friends.

Layers of ink - Best Friends Watercolour Layout by Anna-Karin
When Christmas is over, I usually don't do any more Christmas themed crafting, but I really wanted to scrap this year's Christmas card photo of the boys. The background of the layout could work for other themes too, and it was made mainly with stamps and watercolours. I hope the boys will be best friends also when they are older, even though the age difference is quite big. On the back of the layout, I also wrote the story about taking this photo, which was one in a series of quite a few not-so-good photos. 

Layers of ink - Best Friends Watercolour Layout by Anna-Karin
I wanted to use these Bird stamps from Prima, which come from a set with great bird stamps. They were stamped on Prima's 12 x 12 watercolour paper using Jet Black ink. I masked the birds when stamping the wood grain background, which was embossed with white powder. All the colouring on this page was done with watercolours, and I also painted a branch for the birds to sit on. 

After embossing the wood grain pattern, I painted the page with beige and brown, using the darker brown here and there to highlight the embossing. The page was embellished with Simon Says Stamp exclusive dies, such as the pretty Kinley snowflake, and 'snow'. They were die cut from white and dark grey paper, using the latter as a shadow to make them stand out better from the background. The clouds were stenciled with Snowflake Paste, it is a Simon Says Stamp stencil called Make a Scene, but I couldn't find it in the shop when I wanted to link it. 

Layers of ink - Best Friends Watercolour Layout by Anna-Karin
The title was done with Label Letter stickers, and I also die cut two Sketch Trees, and another word. 'Let the wind carry you' comes from the Birds stamp set, and so does the pretty berry stamp. I also used the Scandinavian Holiday set by Hero Arts, particularly because of the straw goat - which you can also spot on the photo. Anton bought it for his room for his own money at a Christmas market and is very proud of it. You can spot some hearts stenciled with Snowflake Paste behind the cheese cloth. 

There are also stenciled hearts peaking up behind the photo, which was matted on the same grey Simon Says Stamp cardstock as the die cut embellishments. 

The stamped and die cut labels and tags comes from Sizzix Labels and Numbers set, and were stamped with Simon Says Stamp exclusive inks. 

I also used a Carousel Horse die cut to give a more playful feeling to the layout. It was die cut from two shades of grey paper.

Below the photo there are three stamped trains, painted with the watercolours.

I hope you will join us in our best friends challenge. As always 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. 




If you use instagram add #sssmchallenge to your challenge entry uploads, so that we can see them on there too.






Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:




21 comments:

  1. Oh sooooooooooooooooooooooo SPECIAL. Wow, what a FABULOUS project Anna-Karin. Love it all - especially those birds! j.

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  2. Gorgeous layout Anna-Karin! the photo card is adorable and all the details are fabulous, I love the little robins :-)

    thank you for sending me one of these cards too, LOVE it :-)

    luv
    Lols x x x

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  3. Gorgeous! I love that golden background with the red birds and the sweet photo of the kids in their holiday attire! Beautiful page!

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  4. A very pretty page. I love the way you colored those birds, I just recently ordered that bird stamp set, this gives me more ideas. A darling photo of your boys, too.

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  5. A very pretty page. I love the way you colored those birds, I just recently ordered that bird stamp set, this gives me more ideas. A darling photo of your boys, too.

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  6. I am blown away by your project. "WOW" is an understatement.

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  7. Anna-Karin, what an awesome page! I love the background and the birds!!
    Hugs xx ZOey

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  8. I love this sweet photo, Anna-Karin! I loved receiving a copy in the mail :D

    The two little red birdies really pop off this page! Love the layout :)

    *mwah*
    Steph
    Simon Says Stamp!

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  9. A little hi by me today, taking the time to stop by and send you again all my very best wishes for 2016, with lots of love and happiness!!

    This is such an adorable page with your little boys Anna-Karin!!!! :) I wish that it comes true and they they become the best friends indeed later!
    And I love how you used the birds and other stamps, really stunning.
    Receive all my friendship :)
    Hugs and 'Bises'! Coco xxx

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  10. Anna-Karin this is beautiful!! everything from the background, the birds and oh the photo!!!

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  11. Anna-Karin, the photo of your boys is so sweet, I love it! Love how you echo them with the two red birds. This is a wonderful layout, fun pops of red against the creamy yellow, just delightful!

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  12. Brilliant watercolour work as always - what a stunning layout, and a delightful photo at the heart of it (love the red Santa costumes echoed in the birds and berries - so cool!).
    Alison xx

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  13. I'm just generalizing but I wonder if brothers would be more likely to remain friends than sisters. But I have no basis whatsoever for this statement and I haven't any brothers, to boot. I do think the age difference is in their favor.

    I like the honest expressions on your page, the birds are really nice and that must be a very useful stamp set.

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  14. This is one fabulous LO, it's obvious so much love (and talent) went into the production. What a beautiful BG to surround your sweet boys.

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  15. What a wonderful tribute to both winter and your boys! They are so full of energy and I love how you always make them the stars of the show, but still surround the pictures with your gorgeous art. For the record, my brother and I about killed each other a few times growing up, but he is my hero in all ways and a wonderful person in my life. So yes- I'm sure they'll be a great support system throughout the years!

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  16. This is just gorgeous Anna-Karin and I adore that photo of your boys, surrounded by all the beautiful detail of your artwork...fabulous!!

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  17. Such a stunning layout Anna-Karin! That picture of your boys is fabulous. So sweet. And what a gorgeous background. So much details, love it! Hugs, Sandra

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  18. I really love this beautiful layout, Anna-Karin. The colors and texture on the background are awesome. Love the cute photo, too. :)

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  19. Amazing layout! The picture of your boys is fabulous! I love the textures and the birds are absolutely incredible!Barbarayaya

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  20. Your boys are so adorable! I love the expressions. Only little brothers! lol
    Your LO has so many interesting techniques and ideas. I like the wood grain embossed in the white and then painted. The birds look awesome and the clouds made me look twice. I thought at first they were cut out of something. The medium makes them look so airy and translucent.
    Cutting the shadow for the die cuts makes them stand out so much better too. Lots to inspire me!
    Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful work! :)

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Thank you so much for leaving a comment! Happy Crafting!