Moments that take our breath away

I was inspired to create an aircraft themed page to remember this year’s Blackpool Air Show which was spectacular! I went for a vintage theme and added a saying that I thought was very fitting: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away”.

I’m also linking my page to Art Journal Journey where I’m hosting this month’s theme “Poetry in Motion”, here you are invited to create a page inspired by a poem, saying or quote.

I started by adding patches of Blueprint Sketch and Hickory Smoke Distress Inks to the page using a blending tool. Then I used some stencils by Craft Sensations to add layers of clouds using Tea Dye and the Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink and a moustache design using Black Soot Distress Ink. As I went for a vintage feel I chose the moustache design which reminds me of flyers from the olden days who use to say ‘chocs away’ (grin!). I used black Archival Ink to stamp a plane image by Royal & Langnickel and some swirls by Dovecraft to depict a plane’s smoke trail. I cut some information from an old encyclopaedia about aircraft and stuck it to the top left-hand corner of the page using a UHU Stic. Next I layered different elements onto the page using a UHU Stic and double-sided tape to stick them in place, this included: an image of an old-fashioned gentleman to match the vintage theme, and two clocks and a compass which I fussy cut from a Kanban topper set; a large wood effect tag by Docrafts Papermania that I tied with string; a recycled tag which I added the saying onto using rub-on transfers by Kaisercraft; a ticket which I made using the same rub-on transfer set on white card, fussy cut out and edged with Tea Dye Distress Ink, its words remind me of the air show; a Victorian tag of a plane by The Works which I stuck to white card, edged with the Tea Dye Ink and tied with string; a map of the world which is a sticker from Poundworld; a tag that is die cut from map paper by The Works; and a wonderful plane postage stamp from my hubby’s childhood collection. The postage stamp is from Great Britain and was issued in 1969 to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the first non-stop Atlantic flight by Alcock and Brown in July 1919. Incidentally, Alcock went to school in St. Annes and there is a blue plaque to commemorate this at the school. To finish, I added some brown brads which I opened and stuck to the page using glossy accents leaving the fastener parts showing, giving the appearance of aircraft propellers.

The air show was amazing and my hubby captured some fantastic shots with his super new zoom lens so I thought I’d share the highlights with you. There was a mixture of aircraft, some old and some new and this includes both planes and helicopters.

This is the only remaining flying Lancaster in the UK, (and one of only two flying in the world) so we were very privileged to see it.

It was interesting to see and compare the old Lancaster with the latest Typhoon (Eurofighter) fighter-bomber which was doing all sorts of fabulous manoeuvres including handbrake turns, barrel rolls and flying upside down. This plane is so noisy it makes your tummy rumble (grin!).

This helicopter is an American Huey (Bell HU-1) and this one has been restored. It’s now locally owned and we often see it flying over our house.

There were lots of acrobatics at Blackpool Airshow again and this is the Trig Team, they fly vintage aircraft that were built in the 1940’s.

We also saw the Breitling Wingwalkers who are the world’s only aerobatic formation wingwalking team, this is a close-up of one of the planes. I’m not sure I’d like to stand on top of a plane while it’s flying let alone do synchronised wing-walking (grin!).

Of course you could always loop the loop instead (grin again!).

Then the grand finale was The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, who are one of the world’s premier aerobatic display teams. They never fail to please and here they are flying over the Blackpool Tower – amazing!

They are excellent to watch as they fly close together in perfect formation.

And they perform the most breathtaking stunts! Hope you enjoyed visiting the air show with me too; we had such a wonderful time (double 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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Blueprint Sketch, Hickory Smoke, Tea Dye, Black Soot)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Sharpie Fine Point Permanent Marker (Black)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Dovecraft Designer Clear Stamp (DCR588)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Traveler MIN-CCS103)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Dorling Kindersley Illustrated Family Encyclopedia
• Kanban Paper Craft Toppers (Timeless Moments PCT1882)
• White card
• Recycled tag from clothing
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Tags (Elements – Wood PMA174318)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Vintage Die Cut Shapes)
• Poundworld DécoTime (3D Stickers 54742)
• The Works (Victorian Style Embellishments CR0454)
• Kaisercraft Rub-on transfers Up, Up & Away Collection (Black & White RB869)
• Postage Stamp – Great Britain 1969
• Craft Sensations (Brads CR0550/A)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• UHU Stic
• X-Press It double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape