Recently we discovered a new tea and coffee house called The Blackbird, it is a lovely setting with pretty birdcages hanging from the ceiling, quotes and sayings adorning the walls, along with different merchandise made by local crafters decorating the room. The place was so uplifting that I created this page adding the words “I believe I can fly”.
I started by stenciling Mustard Seed, Mermaid Lagoon, Cracked Pistachio and Black Soot Distress Inks through a Dutch Mask by Dutch Doobadoo using a blending tool, outlining some of the shapes with a black Uni Pin fine line marker to give more definition and interest. To tie into the blackbird theme and birdcages that we saw in the café, I fussy cut the bird and also the birdcages from a gift bag that someone had given me. I then stenciled the fussy cut birdcages using the same background mask and Distress Inks so when they were stuck to the page it looked like you could see through them. I also added some gold acrylic paint to the cages so they were a slightly different tone to the background. I coloured the bird and birdcage details with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and the same black Uni Pin to make them stand out more. They are stuck to the page using Matte Gel Medium and the birdcages are hanging from border stickers by Sandylion. The flowers are felt pads which I fussy cut to create the different pieces and adhered using a UHU Glue Pen. I stamped black dots using black Archival Ink and then I stuck a flower rhinestone in the middle of each one. As there were quotes and sayings around the cafe, I thought I would add one to my page as well. The wording is rub-on transfers, except “FLY” which is stamped using the same Archival Ink and an alphabet stamp set from Papermania. I added some word border stickers from the same set by Sandylion, these remind me of the time we had at the café. To finish I added shadows around some of the elements using a Slate Spectrum Aqua marker.
My page includes a quote so I am just in time to join Try it on Tuesday again for their challenge “Add a Quote” and as we went on a “Magical Mystery Tour” and discovered this new café, I’m also pleased to be able to join Hazel over at Art Journal Journey.
The Blackbird tea and coffee house is in Ansdell, not that far from where we live. It’s located in a parade of shops and the building used to be an old bank.
The inside of the café is so welcoming, I loved reading all the sayings on the wall art and looking at the beautiful birdcages.
They also have lovely craft pieces for sale that have been made locally, my favourite were these gorgeous Birdies especially Hector (top shelf second from the right). I’ve been looking online and it looks like I can buy the materials to make my very own Hector (grin!). Which little Birdie do you like best?
As T Stands for Tuesday I’m joining the T Gang with my pot of green tea, chicken and sweetcorn sandwich and the most amazing salted caramel cake ever – yum!
There were other delicious looking cakes to choose from …
… as well as this selection of teas and coffees to suit all tastes.
Wishing you all a very 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:
- Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mustard Seed, Mermaid Lagoon, Cracked Pistachio, Black Soot)
- Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
- Poundland Metallic Acrylic Paint (Gold)
- Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Slate)
- Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
- Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
- Dutch Doobadoo A5 Vintage Mask (Dutch Mask)
- Papermania Alphamania A-Z clear stamp set (Leftovers Alphabet PMA9071102)
- Paper gift bag
- Letraset Transfer (Helvetica Bold Condensed 5mm RDC0251)
- Sandylion Kelly Panacci Scrapbook Collection (Stickers & Borders KSCB102)
- Poundland Felt Pads (Black)
- UHU Glue Pen
- Winsor & Newton Matt Gel Medium
Your lovely Blackbird spread is wonderful. I love how you take everyday life and turn it into art. The art is fabulous, and I love that idea that you think you can fly.
It was a fabulous tea and sandwich shop. I loved the building architecture, too. But the inside, with the bird cages was out of this world. I think I like Wilma, but they all look like they would be easy to make.
Your lunch looks wonderful. I am so hungry now. The food and dessert is out of this world. Thanks for sharing your lovely journal page and your photos of the Blackbird, as well as the wonderful food and tea with us for T this Tuesday. Those tea pots were truly colorful, too!
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Thanks very much! I often find myself singing the R Kelly song ‘I believe I can fly’ and it makes me feel happy so I added it to my page 🙂 . We had a lovely time and I can see why you choose Wilma with her lovely colourful markings 🙂 . Wishing you a Happy T Day! J 🙂
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The Blackbird tea and coffee house looks wonderful! I love those little birdies! You have made a lovely page. The black silhouettes, words, and images against the coloured stenciling looks so effective!
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I love those little Birdies too and was very tempted to bring Hector home with me, although I will probably have more fun making one myself 🙂 . Thanks so much and wishing you a great week! J 🙂
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What a cute little Tea shop. And what a delicious looking lunch! You made a cool page, using some of the Tea pot colors and you are really good at fussy cutting. I think I would have bought one of those little birdies. It would be hard to chose, but I think Dylan and Angus are my favorites. Happy T day Jo. I always love where you take us.
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Thanks very much! The tea shop was such a lovely place, there was so much to look at and as a result so much inspiration too 🙂 . I enjoyed creating the page. I was really tempted to buy one of the little Birdies too but I thought they were a little pricey and that I would have so much fun making my own, Dylan and Angus do look fantastic in their tartan and Union Jack finery! Wishing you a Happy T Day Erica! J 🙂
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What a gorgeous journal page, and that cafe looks more than wonderful. Such a lovely idea, and those little birds are all gorgeous, they would fit my birdie collection very well. The food looks great, too. And hanks for joining us at TIOT! Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie
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Thank you! I think you would love the cafe, it had so many birds to discover, they even had some of the Birdies in the birdcages hanging from the ceiling which was fun 🙂 . Wishing you a Happy T Day! J 🙂
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I bet you can fly if you try lol always good to visit you blog and see the happy smiling faces and wonderful photographs. What a great place for tea and cake
Happy T Day
Love Chrissie X
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Forgot to say thank you for joining us at Try it on Tuesday
Love Chrissie xx
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Thank you and have a great week! J 🙂
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It was a great place for tea and cake, especially if it’s the salted caramel cake we had – so yummy! Thanks so much and wishing you a Happy T Day! J 🙂
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i wish i would live near this Café – i surely would be a frequent guest. i love the interior (yes, the Cages and the birds are so beautiful), and i always like if different old chairs are combined and give such a cozy Ambience. and what a good idea to capture this airy feeling in your journaling!
well, love the Food, too. the cake selection Looks yummy!
happy t-day and have a great week!
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We really enjoyed visiting this cafe and it did have a lovely light and airy feel, I’m glad you think I captured this feeling on my page 🙂 . Thanks very much and wishing you a great week too, Happy T Day! J 🙂
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A wonderful café and an amazing page dear Jo! I am thrilled about the beautiful page – so elegant and charming!
This old building in which the café is located and all the yummie cakes there and their pleasant interior – all is simply stunning !
The photo showing the both of you is so lovely!
Thank you for sharing this all with us at AJJ, Try It On Tuesday and TSFT!
Have a wonderful T-Day and a nice rest of the week!
oxo Susi
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Thanks a lot! We had a wonderful time, there was so much to eye candy at the cafe that I focused my page on just the birdcages and birds because they were my favourite 🙂 . The salted caramel cake was amazing too – yummy! Wishing you a great week and a very Happy T Day! J 🙂
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What a lovely birdie spread! And that cafe looks great! Beautiful inside and out! Hector looks very cute, and I love the shelf!
Hope you’re having a lovely week Jo,
Alison xx
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Thanks a lot Alison! We had such fun and the shelf was the perfect setting for all those birdies 🙂 . It’s been a fun and busy week so far, the weather has been a bit strange though – we had a snow flurry for about 5 minutes followed by bright sunshine today. Hope you’re having a lovey week too! J 🙂
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What a bright and cheery spot and a great busy location. I love the decor, and the food! Tasty looking. I’d be unable to resist that yellow teapot 🙂 Happy T Tuesday!
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Many thanks! The teapots were adorable and I loved seeing them all lined up on the dresser 🙂 . Happy T Tuesday! J 🙂
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Love the art journal page…the crisp black over top of the colorful background is fantastic. Fun cafe…love the colorful teapot display.
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Thanks so much! It was a lovely page to create and I like the black silhouettes against the colourful background too 🙂 . Happy T day! J 🙂
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Visiting you by my phone today….internet is down on computer…so ill keep it short..LOVE the colors in your journal page…and the bird cages…LOVE the building the restaurant is in…Happy T day! Hugs deb
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Thanks for stopping by and your lovely comments Deb! Hope you get your computer up and running again soon. Happy T Day! J 🙂
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oh wow, I am really hungry now! food looks delicious, as does your beautifully created page! love those colors and the contrast of the silhouettes. What a charming shop…happy T day! ♥
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That salted caramel cake was so good and we had a lovely time looking around 🙂 . Wishing you a Happy T Day! J 🙂
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I want you to know that I believe you can fly too! I love your journal spreads. You are so creative!
I would give anything to visit this restaurant – what a find!!!! Everything looks so delicious. Lucky you.
Sandy xx
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Lol … I think when you look at the song lyrics you can really do anything you dream of! Thanks so much for your lovely comments 🙂 . Have a great week! J 🙂
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love that type of cosy cafe great page too
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Thank you! Wishing you a great week and Happy T Day! J 🙂
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Another lovely journal page, Jo. I love the background and what you did to the fussy cut bird cages to make them look real. Very clever.
I was so surprised to see in the inside the Birdcage Restuarant because it looks like a children’s art room. What a darling place. It’s hard to see the names of the craft birdies and also hard to choose a favorite. I like the whole top row – especially the two on the left and the two on the right – lol. I wonder what you plan to use to make them. Please share! They look like paper mache eggs as the base but since they’re different sizes, I don’t know what they might be made from.
Happy T-Day! Hugs, Eileen
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Thanks very much Eileen! This page was fun to create and the birdcages turned out really neat, I didn’t even have to match the stencil pattern on the birdcages and background to get them to blend in 🙂 . They are paper mache birds with wire legs, you can source theses bired without the decoration on the internet, but your suggestion to make one from an egg shape is a good one – thanks! Happy T Day! J 🙂
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What a lovely journal page! I love the black on the faintly coloured back ground and the fussy cut birds and felt flowers.
The cafe is great. Lots to look at and very unique. Yes, those birdies are beautiful. Are they paper maché? I like Hector too, but I also like the one to the left of Hector (the orange one).
The cake looks to die for! And your sandwich looks very yummy. I loved the shelves with the colourful tea pots and all the different types of tea. Oh what to choose….
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
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Thanks so much Lisca! The cafe was fab and we had just missed the lunch time rush so the cafe was empty, well for a while anyway … lol. Yes I think the birds are paper maché, Hector was so sweet and Sheena is so cute to, she is decorated in orange segments 🙂 . The salted caramel cake was so delicious, apparently they don’t have it all the time though which is a good job really as I’d be there all the time … lol 🙂 . Wishing you a Happy T Day! J 🙂
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I always love your pages and explanations. The cafe looks do sunny, it just exudes warmth. I love that song too! Beautiful colors on your page.
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Thanks, that’s nice of you to say! I like reading how people create their pages too, it’s really interesting and I often find new ideas for techniques that way 🙂 . Wishing you happiness this T Day! J 🙂
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Hi, I love your art page and wow I really love the new shop you found too-I would definately enjoy stopping by there. the food looks delicious. I loved all those little birds so don’t know how I could choose-lol- will look forward to seeing the one you make.
thanks so much for dropping by-the sushi was a hit and allot of fun to make, and we had a good visit with the doctor this morning-thanks Happy T Day Kathy
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Thanks a lot Kathy! The cafe was a great place to sit, enjoy a cup of tea and some food 🙂 . I’m so pleased that you had a good visit with the doctors this morning, wishing your hubby well! Happy T Day! J 🙂
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The Blackbird cafe looks a wonderful place to visit and for sure the food looked delicious.
Your journal page with is fantastic background is a wow, the stencil background looks super for the images you added.
Happy T day.
Yvonne xx
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Thanks so very much Yvonne! We had a lovely time on our walk and discovering the cafe 🙂 . The stenciling was fun and having added the colours I found that black soot ink was needed to add contrast and dimension, I love learning new things when I’m art journaling 🙂 . Wishing you a Happy T Day! J 🙂
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Your page really captures the spirit of the cafe. What a charming happy cafe. I don’t know what I loved best. The birdies on the bird shaped shelf or the colorful chubby teapots. Your lunch looked amazing and the cakes looked to die for. Hard to choose just one. Happy T Day
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I’m glad that you think I captured the spirit of the cafe on my page, thank you! The shelf was pretty special and even more so with those pretty birdies 🙂 . I liked the colourful tea pots too, they made me smile all lined up waiting to be used :-). Wishing you a Happy T Day! J 🙂
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A beautiful journal page, the Blackbird tea and coffee house looks wonderful, I love the coloured teapots and little birds – I hope the salted caramel cake was as yummy as it looks.
xxx Hazel.
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Oh the salted caramel cake was so so yummy, better than it looks … lol 🙂 . Many thanks and have a great week! J 🙂
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What great place to have a coffee – you do find the most interesting places! Your page is so beautiful and ref;acts the mood so well! As for those cute birds …..I love the one top left – but can’t see the name! Apologies for my late visit! Chrisx
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Thanks so much Chris! I didn’t know you were back from Paris, I hope you had a wonderful time 🙂 . The little bird with no name reminds me of the lovely flower pages you often create 🙂 . Wishing you a great week! J 🙂
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I loooveee the colours here Jo, amazing page and spirit! Have a lovely weekend 🙂
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Thanks so much! This page makes me smile, I love the colours too and the sentiment is from one of my favourite songs which I’ll probably be singing all day now … lol! 🙂 . Have a lovely weekend too! J 😀
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