BOO!

This page was inspired by all the questions and interest I had in my last post about Pumpkin Beer. As you can see these guys are having lots of fun in the pumpkin patch!

I applied a very thin layer of light red Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour paint with a baby wipe and then sprinkled Colourcraft Brusho Crystals powder over the top. I used three colours of the Brusho powders, dark brown, orange and yellow, and spritzed them with water, and then I watched the magic as the colours exploded on the page. These Brusho powders are amazing; there are so many different effects you can create with them. Once dried I stamped leaf images using Archival Ink, then re-stamped them off-centre using Distress Inks to give them a ghostly appearance. I added the ghosts which are rub-on transfers I bought in the sale at a local craft store. To finish I applied Faber-Castell Big Brush marker ink using an old plastic gift card and Uni Pin black marker to the edges of the page and some gold gem stones. This was a really fun page to create and makes me smile when I see the – BOO!

Thanks so much for all your interest in our pumpkin beer, we make beer throughout the year and pumpkin is one of our favourites. It’s subtly spiced and amber in colour with an ABV (alcohol by volume) of 5.2%. To answer some of your questions, it takes around 6 hours to make and 6 weeks until it is ready. This time we made 40 UK pints (that’s 50 US pints) and it will be ready in a couple of weeks, although it does improve with a little ageing – if it lasts that long! In the meantime I did manage to find a photo from last year, as you can see I always coat the rim of the glass it is served in with sugar and cinnamon – yum! Our inspiration for this beer comes from our holiday visits to America as pumpkin beer is readily available in the fall, unlike here in the UK. That’s why we get so excited when pumpkins are available in our stores as we can start to make our own pumpkin beer.

One of the reasons we enjoyed our American holiday so much was the many pumpkins on display at farmers markets, farm stalls and just around town. It’s always such a lovely time of year to visit!

With this month’s theme “Indian Summer – Golden October – Autumn”, I’m delighted to be able to join Valerie over at Art Journal Journey.

I’m also pleased to join the Halloween Party challenge over at Moo-Mania.

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Colourcraft Brusho Crystals (Dark Brown, Orange, Yellow)
• Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolours (Light Red)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, Brushed Corduroy)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush artist pen (Sanguine 188 B, Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• BoBunny stamps (Falling Leaves #12105154)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Bats, Cats & Ghosts #EDW355 Rub-on)
• Poundland (504 Gems)

Happy Owl-oween

As Halloween approaches, it’s time for witches, bats, pumpkins and Frankenstein so I thought I would get creative and have some fun with owls, which are one of my favourite birds, they are wishing you all a “Happy Owl-oween”.

I started by painting the spider web patterns using masking liquid and leaving it to dry thoroughly before adding the pumpkin coloured acrylic paint. I blended three hues of orange paint using Liquitex acrylic applying them in horizontal stripes to the page and blending the joins using a brush and a baby wipe, I like the way this makes the colour graduate down the page. I then stenciled stars using two different colours of purple ink and splattered the page with black acrylic paint.  Next I removed the masking liquid with my finger to reveal the lovely white spider webs. The owls, branch, leaves, spider, robin and wording are all hand drawn, they are made from coloured paper and stuck to the page using matte gel medium, I think a UHU Stic would have been better for this as the coloured paper leaked pigment into the wet gel medium. I passed the branch through a paper crimper to give it more texture and used three colours for the leaves, shading them with Distress Ink. I made templates for the owls and their costumes then cut them out from coloured paper, their eyes are cut from a paper pad and their feet are made from pieces of a paper punched flower. I then decided to add a couple of friends for the owls; the spider was made using some white multi-media paper for his eyes and the robin was created the same way as the owls, although I used yellow acrylic paint for his beak and black marker for his eye. I used inks to shade the coloured paper to add greater depth and dimension before they were stuck to the page. Lastly I used a Uniball Signo white gel pen and a black Uni Pin marker to add further details to the page, such as outlining the wings and letters and drawing patches on their clothes. I think this worked really well.

Halloween is about the only time we can buy pumpkins so my hubby always makes one of my favourite yummy beers – Pumpkin Beer! I hope Bleubeard and Elizabeth and the rest of the T Gang at T Stands for Tuesday will join me today for a pumpkin beer – Happy T Day! As you will see we have quite a few bottles and here’s how we made it …

So on a sunny October day the beer was brewed. First the pumpkin is roasted in the oven to make the puree.

Then the grains (malted barley) are weighed and the water is heated. Once at temperature the grains and pumpkin puree are added to the water and stirred to release their sugars.

Once the natural sugars from the grains and pumpkin have been released into the wort (as it is now called) it is drained and then boiled for 90 minutes with different hops and spices being added at different times.

After the wort has finished boiling the cooler goes in until the wort is cool enough to add to the fermenting vessel, where the yeast is added. Once fermented (around 2 weeks) the beer is bottled and left somewhere warm for 2 weeks to condition and then somewhere cool for 2 weeks for further conditioning. It is then ready to drink!

As Halloween and pumpkins are synonymous with Autumn and October I am so very pleased to be able to join Valerie over at Art Journal Journey with this month’s theme “Indian Summer – Golden October – Autumn”.

I am also delighted to be able to join the challenge over at Moo-Mania, who are currently throwing a HALLOWEEN PARTY!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Cadmium Red Medium Hue/Lacquer Red, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Apricot, Ivory Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Hobbycraft (Assorted Ink Pads)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Art Discount (Blue Mask)
• Star Stencil
• Leon (X-large Colour Paper Pad)
• Creative Rox Craft Asylum Paper Pad (Into the woods 480326)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media paper
• Fiskars (Paper Crimper 6.5 inch – Straight)
• Flower Punch
• Winsor & Newton Matt Gel
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (The Dual Action Glue Pen)

Autumn Patchwork

There is nothing better than snuggling up on a chilly autumn evening in my cosy patchwork blanket on the sofa enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate! There have been so many patchwork inspirations for me this autumn that I just had to create a patchwork design journal page.

I started by dividing the page into sections to represent patchwork pieces, and then I stamped a Hessian texture stamp using London Fog Memento Ink to the whole page to give a woven textile look. I cut pieces of green flowered and grey dotted decoupage paper and glued them into place using a UHU Stic. Next I painted some of the other sections green using diluted Spectrum Aqua Marker ink and then stamped a leaf design over the top using Distress Ink. I painted diluted mahogany Distress Ink to the remaining sections, then stamped a maple leaf design on some white tissue paper using the same ink. This tissue paper was cut to size and then stuck on top of the mahogany sections with a UHU Stic. The hexagon shape is made from paper which I cut to shape and glued down, it’s from an oddment paper bundle I bought from my local craft shop – I love the little hearts design. I then stamped borders along each section to represent stitching, using Hampton Art Doodlebug Design stamps and Archival Ink. To finish I added grey dotty flower stickers, some lace trim and a lovely felt bird.

This is a photo we took of the fall foliage in New England, I remember remarking at the time when I first saw the hills and mountains that they looked like a patchwork quilt of beautiful fall colours. So I am very pleased to be able to join Valerie over at Art Journal Journey with this month’s theme “Indian Summer – Golden October – Autumn”.

We often walk to town and last weekend I captured these wonderful clouds, which look just like patchwork too.

And here’s my blanket I snuggle up with on the sofa, it has a lovely patchwork design.

Oh and not forgetting the hot chocolate, this time of year we often enjoy a cup of my hubby’s secret recipe hot chocolate, even I don’t know how he makes it! All I know is it has malt and pumpkin spice added to the mix and cream and mini marshmallows on top – yummy! Today we are serving it with scrummy Lebkuchen which have just come on sale in our local food store. These ones are dipped in dark chocolate – delicious! As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big welcome and hello to the T Gang – Happy T day!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Memento Dye Ink (London Fog)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist’s Markers (Moss)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Texture – Hessian CS153)
• Docrafts Papermania Urban Stamps 4×4 stamps (Owl Folk – Sentiments PMA 907228)
• Royal & Langnickel clear choice stamps (Pressed Leaves MIN-CCS102)
• Hampton Arts Doodlebug Design cling mounted rubber stamps (Borders ICO160)
• Santoro Decoupage Papers (SNDEC039)
• Vivi Gade Decoupage Paper (Skagen 25564)
• Paper Bundle
• Wilko stickers (Flower Embellishments)
• The Works stickers (Felt Bird Embellishments)
• Lace trim
• UHU Stic
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (The Dual Action Glue Pen)

This is Your Time to Shine

I particularly like this quote and thought it would look great for Autumn so I created this page, I hope you like it. I am also pleased to be able to join Valerie over at Art Journal Journey with this month’s theme “Indian Summer – Golden October – Autumn”.

I decided to experiment and use only Spectrum Aqua markers for the colour on this page, so I diluted gold Spectrum Aqua marker ink with water on an acrylic block, then smooshed it onto the page. I kept the colour around the edge of the page pulling it towards the centre so the intensity of colour faded as it reached the middle. Then I painted white gesso in the centre of the page and pulled it outwards towards the edge making sure the gold border could still be seen. Next I stamped different leaves over the gold border making sure that each leaf design was a different colour. I did this by applying the Spectrum Aqua marker directly to the stamp then stamping it, gradually building up the leaves to frame the page. I stamped the quote into the centre over the white gesso using Archival Ink because it gives the lettering a cleaner finish. Next I added the fabric leaves, red gem stones and gold sequins, which finish the page nicely.

Erica’s recent post prompted me into reminiscing about the spectacular fall foliage in New England which we saw on our last holiday in that area. This picture was taken along the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire and I think it really captures my journal page design beautifully and as you can see the leaves really do shine!

We also took this photo too and we loved it so much that it is in our hallway, it is a lovely reminder of our trip which was to celebrate our 25^th wedding anniversary.

This was a little way down the road, we stopped to walk amongst the breathtaking autumn foliage and followed the trail up to some beautiful waterfalls.

We travelled to New Hampshire from Maine and stopped to visit the Fryeburg Fair on the way. This photo was taken as we were entering the fair and was near a display of vintage fire trucks/engines  – the scene made me smile as the tree looks like it’s on fire!

The foliage was stunning and we have such happy memories of our trip!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Spectrum Aqua Artist’s Markers (Gold, Orange, Sepia, Terracotta, Scarlet, Burgundy)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• BoBunny stamp (Falling Leaves #12105154)
• Papermania 2 pack A-Z clear stamps (Leftover Alphabet PMA9071102)
• The Works (Craft Leaves)
• Poundland (Assorted Accessories)
• Poundland (504 Gems)
• UHU Stic
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (The Dual Action Glue Pen)

Happy Anniversary

We celebrated our wedding anniversary last weekend and had a wonderful day in our town – walking on the beach and Pier, playing on the amusements, looking in shops and having the Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea for two at Alices Tearoom.

The background is Distress Inks, I stamped the Tea Dye and Brushed Corduroy ink pads directly onto an acrylic block and then diluted it with water and smooshed it over the page. I stamped a circle and heart design over the whole page with the same Tea Dye ink, the stamp is new to my collection and I love the design. The menus at the tearoom were playing cards so I added vertical lines of spade and club shapes using a Royal & Langnickel stamp and Archival ink. The pier images are from local advertising booklets and we won the tickets playing in the arcades, they are stuck to the page using a UHU Stic. Next I added the fabric tape and two playing cards, the king and queen of hearts, which I kept from a Christmas cracker. These depict me and my hubby and tie in nicely with the Alice in Wonderland theme and of course being hearts, also our anniversary. The image of Alice with the Mad Hatter and March Hare is a printed photo which I took in the tearoom of our serving plate.The Alices Tearoom logo is from their Takeaway Afternoon Tea menu that I collected whilst we were there. I added the flamingos which I fussy cut from a store catalogue, they are so much fun and again link to The Queen of Hearts storyline – I know this as we enjoyed watching the film on DVD for our Anniversary too. The heart is a wedding place card and is stuck to the page using double-sided foam tape. I arranged alphabet beads to form the sentiments and words and to add our initials to the playing cards; they are stuck down using Zig Memory System glue pen and were a bit fiddly to place. To finish I embellished the page with the heart, flower and pearl gemstones and pink flower gel stickers. After I took the photo of the page I thought it would be a good idea to record the number of years we have been married, so I added some bright pink gel stickers for “28” years.

Here we are at Alices pictured with our scrummy Afternoon tea – to accompany our goodies we had a pot of Green tea for two. As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big hello to all of the T Gang over at … Happy T Day!

As you can see we had a lovely selection of sandwiches and cakes …

… including my favourite, warm scones with jam and cream – so delicious!

You may remember Alices from my previous post, the tearoom is so beautifully decorated – here’s another amazing set of light shades, yes they are actually hanging from the ceiling!

The weather was nice and sunny, so after our lunch we decided to explore the shops and head towards the pier for some fun on the 2p waterfall slots in the arcade and take in the beautiful views and finally we walked home along the beach. We had such a wonderful time!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush artist pen (Black 199)
• Studio G clear stamps (VS4911 Series 11)
• Sugarloaf Inc. Anita’s wood mounted runner stamp (unknown)
• The Works (Fabric Tape)
• Dunelm (Place Cards)
• Playing cards
• The Range (Shaped Gem Stickers CR0521)
• Poundland (Design Gems)
• The Works (Alphabet Beads)
• Home Bargains (Mini Gel Stickers 30287)
• UHU Stic
• The Range double-sided foam tape
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (the Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Magazines, booklets, photo, tickets and Takeaway Menu

Every Leaf is a Flower

I find Autumn is so inspiring with all its different shades of gold, orange, red, brown and yellow. I love this season and I’m pleased to be able to join Valerie’s “Indian Summer – Autumn – Golden October” challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

To start I stippled areas of white gesso over the page using a paint brush. I then added apricot and parchment Liquitex acrylic paint using a palette knife and added some grey watercolour paint, blending all of these paints together using a baby wipe. I stamped leaf images with Royal & Langnickel stamps using Faber-Castell Big Brush marker ink, and then flicked some of their sanguine ink which I had diluted with water onto the page. Next I tore three strips of decoupage paper and stuck it to the page using a UHU Stic. The image of the beautiful lady is the packaging from the decoupage paper and I arranged the image so it looks like she is leaning back onto a wall or pillar. I stamped the quote onto tissue paper using Archival Ink and stuck it to the page using a UHU Stic, when the glue had dried I coloured it with a Spectrum Aqua Marker and outlined it with diluted Big Brush marker ink using a paint brush. I added the flower embellishments using a Zig Memory glue pen to her hair and cascading down the page with the leaves.

I love flower arranging and in my hall we display a different homemade wreath every season. I never tire of seeing these beautiful autumn leaves.

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Apricot, Parchment)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush artist pen (Sanguine 188 B, Cold Grey IV 233, Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Range Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist’s Marker (Slate)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice stamps (Pressed Leaves MIN-CCS102)
• Dovecraft upper and lower case alphabet stamp set (WDN Alpha Stmp DCVW0050)
• Santora Decoupage Paper (SNDEC044)
• Poundland flowers (Accessories Pack)
• White tissue paper
• UHU Stic
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (The Dual Action Glue Pen)

 

Hello Autumn

Now the nights are drawing in and the temperature is falling, we are saying farewell to summer and hello to autumn. I’m pleased to be able to join Valerie’s “Indian Summer – Autumn – Golden October” challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

I covered the page with a very thin layer of orange acrylic paint with a baby wipe and while it was drying started stamping leaves on white tissue paper using a different colour of Distress Ink for each leaf image. I then stamped the relevant leaf image onto the page using Jet black Archival Ink before I used a UHU Stic and Liquitex matte gel medium to attach the relevant tissue paper leaf images over the top.  I diluted some gold and dark sepia Spectrum Aqua marker inks on an acrylic block by spritzing with water and painted them over the background to intensify the colour and textures.  The pheasant heads are fussy cut from a leaflet and stuck to the page using a UHU Stic, so they look like they are peeking out from behind the leaves. I cut the “hello” wording from a paper pad and the word autumn from a magazine, sticking them to the page with a UHU Stic and double-sided foam tape for the central ones. To finish I edged the page with the Spectrum Aqua marker ink using an old plastic gift card.

With the change of seasons, comes a change of house decorations and now it’s autumn we have beautiful autumnal leaves and pumpkins. They are so colourful and bright that they make us smile with delight when we see them – autumn colours are definitely our favourite!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Cadmium Red Medium Hue/Lacquer Red, Cadmium Yellow Medium)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade,  Mustard Seed, Brushed Corduroy, Tea Dye)
• Range Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist’s Marker (Gold, Sepia)
• Sharpie Permanent Fine Point marker (Black)
• BoBunny stamp (Falling Leaves #12105154)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice stamps (Pressed Leaves MIN-CCS102)
• Creative Rox Craft Asylum Paper Pad (Into the woods 480326)
• White tissue paper
• Leaflet and magazine
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic
• The Range Double-sided foam tape