Snapdragons (antirrhinums) are one of my all time favourite summer flowers and as they are in full bloom in my garden I thought I would create a page. With my love for this flower I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun with Bluebeard and Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover with her “Summertime Love” theme over at Art Journal Journey.
I started with Potter’s Clay and Rich Cocoa Memento Ink which I applied to an acrylic block, spritzed with water and painted onto the page using a paintbrush. Then I stippled the same inks through a brick design stencil and also a wood grain stencil; these designs remind me of the area in our garden where the snapdragons are flowering. Next I tore up a page, that contained information about plant biology, from a Pear’s Cyclopaedia and layered the paper pieces onto my page using a UHU Stic. Once the glue had dried, I applied Butter Cream, Watermelon and Earl Grey Faber-Castell Gelatos and edged the papers with a black Sharpie Marker, smudging all the colours with my finger. I splattered the background with black acrylic paint using a paint brush and once dry I covered the whole page with white gesso. While the gesso was drying, I used a baby wipe to remove it from the papers and some of the brick and wood grain designs allowing the writing and colours to show through. The snapdragons are from a wallpaper sample which I fussy cut and stuck to the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. Once the gel medium had dried I outlined them with a Derwent Graphik marker and added shadows using Desert and Slate Spectrum Aqua Markers. To show my love for these flowers, I used some pretty pink heart brads. I pushed them through the page and then covered the back of each brad with a piece of masking tape to prevent any damage to the next journal page. I drew a very faint green circle around each heart using a Moss Spectrum Aqua Marker and then I added splatters of the Moss and also a Chocolate Aqua marker using a paintbrush; I did this by scribbling the Aqua markers onto an acrylic block and spritzing the block with water to dilute the ink. The “snapdragon” wording is made up from some leftover Cardstock Stickers by Little Yellow Bicycle that I had in my craft stash, and as I didn’t have the full complement of letters to spell out the word, I also made some of the letters using card and Uni Posca paint pens. The antirrhinum definition is cut from my old school dictionary, it is stuck to the page using a UHU Stic and outlined with a Charcoal Grey Derwent Inktense pencil and a black Uni Posca paint pen. Next I edged a pink “Love this” sign by The Works using a black Sharpie marker and stuck it to the page using double-sided foam tape. To finish, I added some gold flower outline stickers, green pearls and green lace trim.
Here are the lovely snapdragons in our garden! These flowers are also known as “dragon flowers” and their Latin name antirrhinum means resembling an animal’s snout.
They bring back the most wonderful childhood memories of when I used to play with these flowers and make the dragon open and close its mouth by gently squeezing either side of the flower head– well in actual fact I still do this, it is such fun (grin!)
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
- DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
- Memento Ink (Potter’s Clay, Rich Cocoa)
- Faber-Castell Gelatos (Butter Cream, Watermelon, Earl Grey)
- Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Desert, Slate, Chocolate, Moss)
- Uni Posca Paint Pens (White, Black, Brown, Pink)
- Derwent Inktense Pencils (Charcoal Grey 2100)
- Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
- Sharpie Fine Point Permanent Marker (Black)
- Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
- The Pocket Oxford Dictionary
- Pear’s Cyclopaedia 2007-2008 Edition
- Wallpaper sample
- The Works M&C Boutique (Vintage Die Cut Shapes)
- Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (Fresh Verse PD-140)
- Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Flower Blossom – Gold ANT810143)
- Trimcraft Simply Creative (Adhesive Pearls SCDOT056)
- Docrafts Papermania Botanicals (Adhesive Lace Trim PMA358334)
- Brads (Hearts – Pink BRHEP1)
- Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
- UHU Stic
- The Range double-sided foam tape
WONDERFUL flowers and a WONDERFUL page ! Amazing Jo!
I’m so grateful for your continued support of our Art Journal Journey Challenge!
I wish you a very happy weekend!
oxo Susi
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Thank you dear Susi! I hope you have a fun weekend planned, enjoy! J 😊
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stunning page! I love snapdragons too…♥!
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Many thanks! Snapdragons make me smile 😊. Wishing you a Happy Friday and Weekend! J 😊
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What a beautiful page, and stunning blooms! Have a great weekend Jo! Alison xx
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Thanks so much Alison! Wishing you a great weekend too, enjoy! J 😊
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Thanks Jo! I changed my blog address to craftytrog.blogspot.co.uk
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Thank you, that works great and I have it saved too 😀. Enjoy your weekend! J 😊
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Great! Just wondering Jo. Do you do Facebook or Instagram? X
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Thanks! Sorry I don’t really do Facebook or Instagram, if you want to contact me via my WordPress contact page I’d be more than happy to exchange email addresses with you instead 😀. Hope you are having a great weekend! J 😊
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Okey dokey 🙂
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Great, if you send me your email address via the “contact me” page on my wordpress blog, link below: https://letsartjournal.wordpress.com/contact/
Then it will come directly to my email account and won’t be published anywhere, then I’ll reply via email so you have mine too 😀 . J x
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Gorgeous page. I love the snapdragons. They certainly say summer! happy weekend Jo. Hugs-Erika
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Thanks a lot! They are such beautiful plants and it’s lovely to see them in full bloom now that summer is here 😀. Wishing you a Happy Weekend too! J 😊
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Its a gorgeous page Jo, the snapdragons look beautiful, it must have taken ages to cut those out.
I can relate to your childhood memory, my cousin and i used to do the same in our grandparents garden and pretend they were talking to each other,
Have a good weekend.
Yvonne xx
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So funny …glad you have fond memories of them too …Lol 😀. Thanks so much and have a good weekend too! J ☺
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Your page is lovely and the snapdragons so colourful! You used wall paper! (I can’t imagine having snapdragon wall paper though, however much I like the flowers) And fussy cut them. Wow! That’s a lot of work.
The photo of the (real) snapdragons is beautiful. It’s so nice to have childhood memories of them too.
Have a really good weekend,
Hugs,
Lisca
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Thanks so much Lisca! I love snapdragons, they always look so colourful and cheery to me 😀. The snapdragon images were part of a collage on the wallpaper, I think it would be quite busy to do a whole room in it though, maybe just an accent wall and of ourselves it’s perfect for journalling … lol 😉 . Wishing you a wonderful weekend too! J 😊
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Where do I begin, dear Jo? Perhaps I should start with the Snapdragon letters. When I don’t have enough letters, I use a different alpha set. But YOU created letters that matched. I would be hard pressed to tell which letters you had to create, and that in itself is a real gem.
My next door neighbor gave me some snapdragons. I planted them in my flower bed, but they need far more sun than I had at the time. Although the tree from my neighbor’s front yard is now gone, I still don’t think I have enough sun for them. I think they are SO beautiful, and you chose such a wonderful summertime flower to spotlight.
Finally, I was very impressed with the flowers. You are SO good at fussy cutting. You also reminded me I have wallpaper samples I haven’t even thought about for at least a year. I may have to check through them to see if there is something I can use this month.
Thanks for sharing this lovely, lovely page with us at Art Journal Journey. It’s a true gem, and I mean that in all sincerity.
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Thanks so much, you are too kind 😀. I thought this would fit your theme well and I hope you find some inspiration in your wallpaper stash for this month’s theme too! Happy Weekend! J 😊
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Beautiful page. I love snap dragons here, and you don’t get to see them too much these days, they don’t seem to be fashionable any more. But I saw some yesterday at the botanical gardens here at the University. Have a fun weekend, hugs, Valerie
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Glad you got to see some snapdragons too, they are such a lovely flower 😀. Thank you and wishing you a fun weekend too! J 😊
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Your snap dragons look spectacular, – both in your garden and on your page! Beautifully designed and excecuted spread, gorgeous work!!
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Thank you! Have a great weekend! J 😊
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A beautiful page Jo, the snapdragons look spectacular , must have taken ages to fussy cut these but worth the effort. Your post brought back memories of playing with the heads too.
Lovely pictureof the ones growing in your garden.
Have a great weekend.
Avril xx
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I quite like fussy cutting and with some good music time flies when you are having fun … lol 😁. Thanks very much and have a great weekend too! J 😊
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Such a lovely page.The stacked arrangement of the block letters reminds me of the tall snapdragons. The snapdragons in your garden are just gorgeous. Such beautiful gradation of color. Have a great weekend!
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Thanks for your lovely comments and being so observant with regard to how I placed the wording 😀. The snapdragons in our garden are called Bronze and they are such a beautiful colour against the brick work. Enjoy your weekend! J 😊
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I LOOOOVEEEE this page Jo! probably my fave of yours. Love the flowers and how they pop pff the page, amazing! tfs.
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Thanks so much for stopping by and your nice comments 😀. Enjoy your weekend! J 😊
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Beautiful page. I love snapdragons too. So colorful! Happy weekend.
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Thank you and wishing you a Happy Weekend too! J 😊
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Oh yes, I also love Snapdragons! Your page is beautiful – the red color is so fabulous! I too played that game with the flowers 🙂 In German the name is “Löwenmäulchen” (Lion mouthy:))
Great surprise that I am not the only one who makes jokes with that bloom. My grandmother told me as child, because of this opening the name of the flower originated.
Happy Sunday! Rike x
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I like the name, it seems really appropriate as you could make them roar and they look like they have a lion’s mane 😀. Thanks so much, I really enjoyed finding out about Lion Mouthy and thanks for sharing your lovely memories 😁. Wishing you a Happy Sunday too! J 😊
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🙂 they’re such a happy flowers and the ones in your garden are such a beautiful colour Jo.
I use to do the squeezing thing too, I wonder if children still do things like that ( what was the buttercup under the chin thing – was it to show if you liked butter or something – oh that’s right and your chin glowed because of the reflection)
I digress, sorry… Love your page – that wall paper sample was just perfect. The soft background with the brickwork is lovely and the colours. Love all the details that I see when I zoom in.
Hope you’ve had a lovely weekend and weather nice ( wasn’t it carnival weekend?) or have you been getting rain lately? we desperately need it as still too hot and humid and water butts empty.
Have a great new week… Gill xx
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Thanks so much Gill! I remember the buttercup under your chin, I think it was meant to show if you liked butter … lol 😀. I bet you use to make daisy chains too 😉. The weather stayed nice for the weekend and the carnival was fantastic. We only had rain overnight, which was perfect! It’s turned rainy this morning and I believe it’s heading your way, we have sunshine again now 😀. Have a great new week too! J 😊
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Your page is beautiful! I love snapdragons, too! You have created a lovely background. I love the picture of the snapdragons cut from wallpaper and the fun letter cardstock stickers. The pearls and lace add a lovely touch to the page. The snapdragons in your garden are beautiful!
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Thanks very much! I love colour of the snapdragons in our garden, they look so vibrant against the brick wall 😀. Wishing you a great start to the week! J 😊
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I have never had snapdragons, but I have fond memories of them from the Raggedy Ann and Andy books I used to read to the kids when they were little. They are such fun and beautiful flowers 🙂
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Thank you! It’s nice to recall such wonderful memories, thanks for sharing them with me and making me smile 😀. Happy new week! J 😊
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