Oriental Fish – Birthday Card

Following all your lovely feedback last week, I have another card to share with you that I created using the stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps that I won recently.

This card was gratefully received by a member of my family who keeps goldfish in her garden pond, I hope you like it too!

I started by cutting some white cardstock to make a square-shaped card when folded and also a square of textured paper that is slightly smaller than the card. The paper is recycled from an old birthday card and I smooshed it with some blue Distress Inks to create a water effect; I did this by applying Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean ink onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the paper. When dry, I stuck it to the card using double-sided tape and added gold cherry blossom outline stickers diagonally across the card and also some gold border outline stickers around the edge to frame it. Next I stamped the beautiful fish from Paperbabe Stamps onto plain white card using Spiced Marmalade and Festive Berries Distress Ink and fussy cut them out; I stamped it by applying the Spiced Marmalade ink to the whole stamp and then I added the Festive Berries ink around the outside of the stamp. They are stuck in place using a UHU Stic and I added the bubbles and splash marks from the same stamp set using the blue inks. To finish, I added some glittery Icicle Sparkles by Ranger to the bubbles and a pretty “For you…” heart-shaped topper that I had in my craft stash.

If you are interested you can see the previous card that I made here.

This card reminds me of the fish we use to have in our old house, here is Popeye and his friends in the pond enjoying the sunshine; we called one of the fish Popeye as he had a funny shaped lip which reminded us of the cartoon character Popeye – “toot, toot!” (grin!).

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

Blue is my favourite colour and I love the Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean Distress Ink colours that I used to create this card, so I’m joining the lovely DT over at Moo Mania & More where there challenge is Your Favourite Colors.

Over at The Artistic Stamper, the challenge is Colour it Blue so I’m pleased to join in the fun with my blue water effect card too.

I’m also pleased to join the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where their theme is Anything Goes with my Oriental Fish birthday card.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my card that I created using their fabulous stamps!

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 card:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries)
• Paperbabe Stamps (Oriental Zen Stamp Set)
• Cardstock (White 200 GSM)
• Textured paper – recycled birthday card
• Francoise Collection Outline Stickers (Gold 2238)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Straight Line Borders – Gold)
• Heart-shaped Topper
• Ranger Stickles (Icicle)
• UHU Stic
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape

Give Your Dreams Wings

For the next two weeks over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge is Things with Wings, I hope you are inspired by our new theme and will join us! You’ll find some amazing inspiration created by my Design Team teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too (grin!).

There are so many possibilities for our new theme so today I have created a mixed media page using different techniques to highlight some of my favourite things with wings!

I started this page by stamping a pretty floral stamp from Docrafts and two butterfly stamps, one from Crafter’s Companion and the other from Graphic 45 by Hampton Art, using a VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad. I covered them with white Stampendous embossing powder, shook off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper and also tapped the page to ensure any stray powder was removed. Then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder by sweeping the gun over the stamped images, taking care not to direct the heat in one area for too long until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional. Next I added Lavender, Strawberry and Elderberry Faber-Castell Gelatos smudging the colours with my finger which I had wet with water. To tone down the Lavender colour I added Coconut Faber-Castell Gelato over the top blending the colours with my finger. I applied Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool mainly around the edges of the page to give a worn vintage look and then I stamped a Dragonfly from Eco Green Crafts and some other floral images from the same Docrafts stamp set using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. The small butterflies flowing up the page and wording “Give your dreams wings” are from a Kaisercraft sticker set; they are all edged with the Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool, then stuck to the page and covered with a layer of Liquitex matte gel medium. The butterfly, bird, flowers and branches are fussy cut from a wallpaper sample; I coloured the flowers and branches using the Vintage Photo Distress Ink and stuck them all in place using the Liquitex matte gel medium again. I also added a blue circular disc depicting a flower and a postage stamp depicting butterflies from a Graphic 45 sticker set. I outlined and added more details to the wallpaper images and stickers using a black Uni Pin marker and then to finish, I splattered the background with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

Visiting Lytham Hall is always fun and after a walk around the grounds with our dear friends, we usually head to the café for a cuppa (grin!). As T stands for Tuesday here’s my green tea and my friend’s Earl Grey tea.

As you may know from my previous posts, the cafe at Lytham Hall use mismatched china; isn’t this saucer beautiful!

After our cuppa we headed to the Vegetable Gardens which provides the café with some fresh produce. It’s a lovely place to wander around and admire all the different fruit and veg that is growing.

I smiled when I saw this happy couple; it seems that even the scarecrows are joining us at T Stands for Tuesday with their cuppa (grin!) – Happy T Day!

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey as my inspiration for this page was things with wings.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with the “Give your dreams wings” quote that I added to my page.

Over at PaperBabe Stamps their challenge is Anything Goes so I’m pleased to be able to join them too.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Bright and Cheerful challenge with my cheery art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join a new challenge today, the June Link Party #40 over at Cropstop Blog with my art journal page as I included a few products from companies that they carry in their store.

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:

• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Lavender, Strawberry, Elderberry, Coconut)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Hampton Art Graphic 45 cling mounted rubber stamps (Tropical Travelogue ICO135)
• Crafter’s Companion Signature Collection by Sara Davies stamp set (Just for You – Butterfly Lullaby S-BL-ST-JUS)
• Docrafts Creativity Essential A5 clear stamp set (Floral Icons DCE907123)
• Eco Green Crafts Recycled Rubber Art Stamps (Petal Party #04309)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Set (Fly Free SS289)
• Wallpaper sample
• Graphic 45 Cardstock Sticker Set (Seasons Decorative Stickers 450629)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Amour

Today I have created an art journal page to celebrate love as I’m so looking forward to the wedding of some very dear friends next month. I used my favourite blue Brusho colours to create the dreamy background and thought that Paris would be the perfect city for Amour (grin!).

I started by sprinkling Turquoise and Ultra Marine Colourcraft Brusho powders onto the page and spritzed them with water. I love watching the colours burst to life as you add the water and as Brushos are made up of the different component coloured powders that create the main colour, purple can be seen on the page too from the Ultra Marine powder. Once dry, I stamped Eiffel Tower image onto the page and also onto some blue/grey spotted design paper using a stamp called “City of Love” by Penny Black and black Archival Ink which I used for all the stamping on my page. I used the same “City of Love” stamp to add the black swirls along the edges of the page, as well as the two hearts and the word “amour” over the background. Again I stamped these images onto the blue/grey paper, fussy cut them out and edged them using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Then I stamped a leaf tile stamp from Rubber Soul, two birds sitting on a branch from Dovecraft and the word “Paris” from 7 Gypsies stamp set by Hampton Art directly onto the page. Next I added some diamond-shaped border stickers by Kaisercraft and also silver outline stickers along the edges of the page; then I outlined them both with a black Uni Pin marker, which took quite a while as the outline stickers are quite an intricate design. I then added the stamped blue/grey paper images to the page sticking them in place using a UHU Stic. For the main Eiffel Tower image, I layered it over a white doily and it is stuck into place using double-sided tape. I then added the black round brads to the “amour” signs, lots of flowers which I had embellished with blue gems and also a glittery silver butterfly which finished the page.

Paris is such a lovely place to visit, here is the Eiffel Tower when we visited some years ago; it looks spectacular by day and by night (grin!).

The wrought ironwork is amazing, if you want to find out more about the Eiffel Tower please check out my previous post.

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my love inspired page.

I enjoyed using all the different stamps to create my Amour page design, so I’m also pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Stamping Sensations.

I’m joining in the fun over at The Artistic Stamper and their Colour it Blue challenge as they have chosen my favourite colour as their theme this month.

With my vibrant Brusho coloured page, I’m also happy to join the Bright and Cheerful challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Amour art journal page.

I’m also very happy to join the lovely Design Team over at PaperBabe Stamps and their Anything Goes Challenge.

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 Colours Crystals (Turquoise, Ultra Marine)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Penny Black 2007 wood-mounted stamp (City of Love 3800K)
• Rubber Soul wood-mounted stamp (Leaf Tile 276K)
• Dovecraft Clear Stamp (DCCS014)
• Hampton Art 7 Gypsies Vintage cling mounted rubber stamps (Birdsong ICO151)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Glory 154898)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Set (Fly Free SS289)
• Docraft Anita’s Outline Stickers (Timeless Borders ANT810117)
• Dovecraft Premium Paper Doilies (Painted Blooms DCDLS010)
• Brads (Round Black)
• Poundland (Accessories Pack 60911, Gem Florettes 117128)
• The Works (Wooden Craft Butterflies CR1292)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• UHU Stic
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Oriental Fish – Card

I often make cards for family and friends but I don’t tend to share them on my blog, but I was so excited to get creative with my fabulous new stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps that I thought I’d share this one with you today to see what you thought.

I was lucky enough to win a voucher on one of the Paperbabe Stamps challenges to spend in their shop so I chose their Oriental Zen Stamp Set – thanks so much!

I started by cutting some white card to make a square shape when folded, then on the front of the card I stamped the concentric circles stamp from the stamp set using Spiced Marmalade and Festive Berries Distress Ink; applying the Spiced Marmalade ink to the stamp first then adding patches of Festive Berries Ink and stamping them onto the card. I then cut a semi-circle of textured paper which I recycled from an old birthday card using my circle cutter. Then I smooshed it with some blue Distress Inks to create a water effect by applying Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean ink to an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the paper. I also edged the semi-circle with these two blue inks using a blending tool. I added some gold cherry blossom outline stickers to the card and then layered the blue semi-circle over the top using double-sided tape. Next I stamped the beautiful fish which is from the same stamp set using the Spiced Marmalade and Festive Berries Distress Ink onto plain white card and fussy cut them out. They are stuck in place using a UHU Stic and I added the bubbles and splash marks from the same stamp set using the blue inks. To finish, I added some glittery Icicle Sparkles by Ranger to the bubbles and a “Love” topper from an Eastern Promise set that I had in my craft stash.

Here’s all the materials including the stamp set that I chose from Paperbabe Stamps and I have to say I love it (grin!). I’m sure I’ll be using it again very soon as I need to make quite a few birthday cards this month. I also wanted to say a big “Thank you” to Kim from Paperbabe Stamps and I hope that you and the Design Team like the card that I made!

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

As I created this card using lots of stamping I’m very pleased to be able to join Stamping Sensations and their Anything Goes challenge.

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where their theme is Bright and Cheerful with my bright and cheerful coloured card.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge and their June Challenge: Anything Goes!: (stamping MUST be included).

I’m also joining the Sketch … challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as I used their sketch, which I rotated to the left, as a template for my card design – I hope you like it!

I’m also pleased to join the Cropstop Blog and their June Link Party #40, thanks for the invite Esther!

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 (Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean)
• Paperbabe Stamps (Oriental Zen Stamp Set)
• Cardstock (White 200 GSM)
• Textured paper – recycled birthday card
• Francoise Collection Outline Stickers (Gold 2238)
• Hunkydory Luxury Topper Collection (Eastern Promise EAST104)
• Ranger Stickles (Icicle)
• UHU Stic
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape

For the Boys

Still inspired by the masculine theme, I created this art journal page to remind you that you still have one week left to join in with our For the Boys challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, it would be lovely to see you there!

This time, I got creative with Tim Holtz inks, stamps and stickers as well as a Steampunk stamp set, some design paper and some Victorian style tags.

I started by using Tim Holtz Distress Inks to create the background; firstly by smooshing diluted Mowed Lawn ink that I had applied to an acrylic block, spritzed with water and then pressed onto the page. After drying this ink with a heat gun I then applied Shabby Shutters ink the same way and then I used both the Mowed Lawn and Shabby Shutters inks again to add A lot of Splats stamp from Gummpiapan. Using a blending tool I applied Hickory Smoke Distress Ink through a Past Times stencil by Viva Decor to give a lovely depth to the background, I also used the same stencil over the background to remove some of the Distress Inks using a baby wipe. Then I applied some Black Soot Distress Ink using a stencil by Craft Sensations and a blending tool. Next I layered all the different paper elements onto the page which I edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool and outlined with a black Uni Pin marker once stuck in place. They included: a large map, ruler pieces, a butterfly, a button, some numbered and small alphabet pieces which are  Crowded Attic Salvage Stickers by Tim Holtz; three Victorian style tags; a globe with a bird perched on the top, suitcase and luggage labels which I fussy cut from design paper by Craft Sensations; a pocket watch and compass which I stamped using a Steampunk stamp set from Docrafts and black Archival Ink onto design paper and fussy cut out, they are stuck to the page using a UHU Stic; a vintage car from a Tim Holtz stamp which I stamped using black Archival Ink and fussy cut out; and finally some round button letters to add the “For the Boys” wording. I added some brown metal brads to the tags, luggage labels and signage. Then to finish, I used a paintbrush to splatter black and white DecoArt acrylic paints over the whole page.

Today I’m sharing a trip to the fish and chip shop in Great Eccleston.

The food is so delicious, here’s my order of steak and kidney pudding with gravy (of course – grin!), chips and mushy peas.

We visited with my family and my portion of food was so huge that I’m sharing my chips so here you can see just my dad’s fish and mushy peas – yum!

There are plenty of drinks on show in my photos for T Stands for Tuesday but in case you were wondering what I was drinking, it was Dandelion and Burdock. This is a fizzy/soft drink which is popular in the North of England and I haven’t had it since I was a child so couldn’t remember what it tasted like. I really enjoyed it and if you have never tried it either then it’s a bit like coca cola with an earthy botanical kick to it (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my masculine inspired page.

As my art journal page features maps, luggage and a vintage car I’m very happy to be able to join Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Transport It challenge.

I added wording to my page as the challenge over at Country View Challenges is Written Word (add some text in some form), so I’m pleased to join them too.

This is my final page for A Vintage Journey and their Stencil It challenge, I’ve really enjoyed using my different stencils to join their theme this month and I had them in mind when I used all my different Tim Holtz products to create this Vintage and Mixed Media style page too.

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 (Mowed Lawn, Shabby Shutters, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot, Vintage Photo)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Gummpiapan Stamps (A lot of Splats 11050106)
• Viva Decor  Universal Stencil (Past Times 9002 703 00)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Tim Holtz {Components} Collection Stamper Anonymous (COM013 CAR)
• The Works Design Pad (Classic Vintage CRO707/TW7)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Soft Colours CRO730/R)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• The Works (Victorian Style Embellishments)
• Home Bargains (Love Letters 22738)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• UHU Stic

Mr. Finch

I’m really enjoyed creating the masculine page that I posted on Tuesday so I thought I would continue with the masculine theme and create a page with the additional inspiration of the goldfinches that we have seen a number of times this year, both in our garden and on our walks. So here’s my fun steampunk page which showcases the fabulous Mr. Finch (grin!).

I started by covering the page with Peeled Paint and Antique Linen Distress Ink using a blending tool and then spritzing the page with water to give a soft covering of colour. While the background was still wet I used a stamp from BoBunny to add the crackle texture mainly around the edges of the page using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink; the wet page blended the inks so the stamp looks smudged in places which I love. Then I used a stencil from Craft Sensations to add the numbers using Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and a blending tool. The black wheels are also stencilled using a Dina Wakley stencil from Ranger and I varied the depth of the Black Soot Distress Ink that I applied to give more of a distressed look and to add some dimension. I then splattered the page with the Black Soot Distress Ink using a paintbrush. The fountain pen and pocket watch are rub-on transfers by Royal and Langnickel and I also applied some leftover black letters from a Letraset transfer set to use them up. Next I fussy cut the roses from some design paper and stuck them in place, like all of the paper elements, using Liquitex matte gel medium.

For my steampunk Mr. Finch, I used a bird stamp from Stampendous, a Steampunk stamp set by Docrafts and black Archival Ink. I started by stamping the bird onto thick paper and fussy cutting it out, and then I distressed this image by covering it with some watered down white gesso using a baby wipe. Once dry I stamped the cog images over his breast and head and also a feather image over his back and wings to add more texture. I also stamped his steampunk style top hat and his wheels onto another piece of design paper; his wheels are from the Penny Farthing stamp which I stamped twice and then fussy cut out. I added three strips of music washi tape horizontally on the page and then I layered his wheels, body and hat together so Mr. Finch is rolling along one of these strips.

Inspired by seeing the goldfinches, I painted his cog design and added detail to his feathers using Iridescent Gold Liquitex Ink. As goldfinches also have red feathers on their heads that look like a mask, I also thought it would be fun to paint the goggles on his top hat with a Poppy Red Derwent Inktense pencil. I used a black Derwent marker, white gel pen and also the gold Liquitex Ink and red Inktense pencil to add further colour and detail to the design including his mask, hat, wheels and cogs. For his eye I added a black gem and coloured some of it white using a Uniball gel pen. Next I die cut three small labels using my Big Shot machine and stamped “Explore” using black Archival Ink. Once stuck in place, I coloured the edges using the red Inktense pencil and gold Liquitex Ink and then outlined them using a black Derwent marker and a white Uniball gel pen to frame the words, and then I embellished them with some round black brads. To finish, I splattered black and white DecoArt acrylic paint and also gold Liquitex Ink using a paintbrush over the page.

Here is one of the goldfinches that we saw on one of our walks along by the sand dunes, isn’t he magnificent!

If you are interested here are some facts about this bird:

• There are just three species of goldfinches in the world – our European goldfinch, the widespread American goldfinch and Lawrence’s goldfinch which is found in the southwest USA.
• The European goldfinch is a highly coloured finch with a bright red face and yellow wing patch.
• They are very sociable birds, often seen in large groups and have a delightful liquid twittering song and call. The collective name for goldfinches is a charm and is derived from the old English c’irm which describes the birds’ twittering song.
• The shape of their beak allows them to extract seeds from thistles and teasels.

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey I took inspiration from seeing the goldfinches to create steampunk page.

With the focal image of Mr. Finch being created using different stamps, I’m happy to be able to join Stamping Sensations and their Anything Goes challenge.

I’m so pleased to join the lovely Maura who is on the design team and is co-hosting over at SanDee & amelie’s Steampunk Challenges this month for their Anything Goes – Steampunk/Industrial challenge.

Over at A Vintage Journey this month the challenge is Stencil It so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my goldfinch inspired page fits their challenge focus with its Steampunk and Mixed Media Style.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with stamped wording I added to this page.

I’m joining in the fun at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Anything But A Card challenge with Mr. Finch art journal page.

I’m also joining the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge and their June Challenge: Anything Goes!: (stamping MUST be included) with my unique, one of a kind Mr. Finch.

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 (Peeled Paint, Antique Linen, Hickory Smoke, Frayed Burlap, Black Soot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Liquitex Inks! (Iridescent Bright Gold)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Derwent Inktense Pencil (Poppy Red 0400)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Ranger Dina Wakley Media Stencil (Wheels MDS45588)
• BoBunny Stamp (Rough it up 12105155)
• Stampendous Cling Rubber Stamps (Jumbo Songbird CRS5029)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Spellbinders Nestabilities Card Creator (A-2 Fancy Ribbon Threader S5-135)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Journey MIN- CCS104)
• American Crafts (DIY Shop)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Soft Colours CRO730/R, Authentic Vintage CRO730/R)
• Royal & Langnickel Create-A-Collage Rub-on Transfers (Men’s Accessories #ROY-853)
• Letraset Transfers (Helvetica Bold Condensed 5mm DCO251)
• Hobbycraft (Assorted Black & White Decorative Tape 5971481007)
• Poundland (Design Gems 175751)
• Brads (Round Black)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Great Opportunities

Over at Try it On Tuesday we have a masculine theme for the next two weeks called For the Boys. Maybe your creations could be for a baby boy, boys, teenagers, adults, sons, dads or grandfathers, if you need more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from our Design Team.

I created a masculine page with an industrial look using some inks, stamps, stencils, design paper, stickers and recycled magazine images.

I started by building up layers of colour using Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Hickory Smoke Distress Inks. I did this by applying the ink pads to an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page then drying each colour with a heat gun before applying the next. I stamped some cogs from a Steampunk stamp set from Docrafts using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink and then a ruler and also a bingo card stamp from Tim Holtz using black Archival Ink. Then I stenciled some Geometric Tile squares around the edge of the page using a Dutch Doobadoo mask and black Archival Ink.  Next I fussy cut the lightbulbs, clocks and metal semicircle door from a couple of old magazines and, like all of the paper elements, edged them with black Faber-Castell marker and stuck them in place using a UHU Stic. The world map pieces are cut from a sheet of design paper by Kaisercraft and the “402” is a Salvage Sticker by Tim Holtz which I embellished with two brown brads. To finish, I added the wording using double-sided foam tape which reads “each day holds the possibility for great opportunities”.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing a recent visit to Dahlia’s Kitchen which is a restaurant nearby, it’s attached to a garden centre so it was fun morning out (grin!).

As it was a hot sunny day we sat outside on their new patio near this beautiful water feature made from recycled metal, it looks a bit industrial like my page although I’m not sure what it is – any ideas?

I went with my sister who had a strawberry milkshake, I had my usual pot of green tea and we shared a huge piece of ginger and lemon cake which was delicious – Happy T Day!

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to be able to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my masculine inspired page.

I’m also pleased to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with the inspirational wording I added to my page.

As I enjoyed stenciling the black square design around the edge of this page, I’m also joining the lovely Astrid who is hosting A Vintage Journey this month where the challenge is Stencil It. My masculine inspired page fits their challenge focus with it’s Industrial and Mixed Media Style.

I’m also happy to join in the fun over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Anything But A Card challenge with my art journal page.

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 (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Hickory Smoke)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.3mm)
• Dutch Doobadoo Dutch Mask Art A5 (Geometric Tiles)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Tim Holtz {Components} Collection (COM013 CAR)
• Old Magazines
• Kaisercraft Timeless Collection 12×12 Design Paper (Postmarks P853)
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (Fresh Verse PD-140)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• UHU Stic
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Doodled Flowers

This page has been painted on the cardboard cover of my finished art journal book. I wanted to get creative with some new paints and just doodle a little; to be honest it started as a fun experiment as I don’t usually paint or doodle that much (grin!). I liked the way my page turned out so I thought I’d share it with you today.

I started by applying a dark grey acrylic paint onto the thick cardboard cover; I had intended to make a dark purple paint for another project but I added way too much dark blue so rather than waste this paint I covered this page with it. I also had some orange paint left over from the same project which I splattered using a paintbrush over the top. Next I doodled some large flower shapes using a white Uniball gel pen and coloured them using Vivid Lime Green, Neutral Gray and Bright Aqua Green Liquitex acrylic paints. It’s the first time I have used these paints which were a gift and as they are “heavy body” paints the flowers painted have a lovely 3D look which I love! I also added some of the different paint colours along the edges of the flower petals and in centre of the flowers. Then I used up any excess paint on the background of the page to break up the dark grey so that hints of these colours can be seen throughout the background. Next I used my brayer to apply white DecoArt acrylic paint to a diamond background stamp from Art Impressions and stamped it around the flowers. I also used the brayer to add white acrylic paint along the edge of the page too. I then cleaned the brayer and stamp and used them again to apply the Vivid Lime Green Liquitex acrylic paint onto the flower petals. When the paint was dry I doodled on the flowers with a black Derwent Graphik marker, defining the flower petals and stamens and I used the white gel pen to touch up the flower outlines and also a white Uni Posca paint pen to colour the stamens in the centre. To finish, I added three stickers by Kaisercraft which reminded of the happy time I had creating this page, which read “Smile”, “Create happiness” and “Live in the moment”.

Talking of flowers, these pretty Delphinium could be found flowering in our garden this time last year, unfortunately they did not survive our unusually cold snowy winter. Luckily I have some photos to remember how beautiful they were which makes me smile!

Of course you may remember these flowers from a previous post, they are my one of my favourite flowers called Mesembryanthemum which is a really hard one to pronounce, so I just refer to them as “pretties”; you may also know then as Livingston Daisies. I buy them every year and this year we have a big pot of them on our patio, so I’m really looking forward to seeing them flower as I’m sat relaxing in the garden (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey as my inspiration for this page was to have some fun experimenting with new paints and doodling.

I’m pleased to be able to join Paperbabe Stamps and their Doodles challenge: thanks I had so much fun doodling to join your challenge (grin!).

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their All Things Bright and Beautiful challenge with my colourful flower art journal page, where the lovely Chris is in the Designer Spotlight this month and created an amazing little book of flowers to inspire us for this particular challenge.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with the happy wording I added to my page.

I’m also joining the Colour it Blue challenge over at The Artistic Stamper with my painted blue flowers.

As I created my Doodled Flowers on my art journal cover, I’m also pleased to join the lovely Lulu over at Stamps and Stencils and their Do judge a book by its cover! challenge.

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:

• Leftover acrylic paint from previous project (Dark Grey, Orange)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green, Neutral Gray 5, Bright Aqua Green)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Derwent Graphik Line marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Art Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Diamond Background T-3335)
• Ranger Brayer
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fly Free SS289)

Peacock Butterfly

This page is inspired by the beautiful Peacock butterfly that we saw whilst walking along the Lancaster canal.

I started by painting the page with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint varying the tone of colour across the page by adding some Pébéo white gesso. When dry I stamped a pretty blossoms stamp from Stampendous over the page using black Archival Ink. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso over the stamped blossoms and re-stamped them layering the image over the top to give the page more depth. I also stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using the black Archival Ink again. Next I fussy cut some squares, rectangles and faux embroidered shapes from some design paper, edged them with a Black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and arranged them on the page using a UHU Stic with: a white doily; a postcard; cards depicting a Peacock Butterfly on the front and information about the butterfly on the back; and a lace flower. The letters for the “Peacock Butterfly” wording are fussy cut from some design paper and stuck in place using the UHU Stic too. I added lots of mini decorative pearls to the centre of the blossoms which finished the page.

This Peacock butterfly was sitting on a thistle by the canal and I always marvel at its patterned wings and beautiful iridescent colours.  If you are interested here are some fun facts about this butterfly:

• Peacock butterflies are found in British Isles, Europe and temperate Asia as far east as Japan and are not the same genus as the “American Peacock butterfly”.
• This butterfly is one of the larger species of butterflies with the males being smaller than the females. However males and females have the same wing patterns, so other than size they look exactly the same.
• Peacock butterflies are easily to recognize by the beautiful purple eyespots on the hind wings and this specific colouration of their wings provides protection against predators by confusing or even scaring them away.
• The edges of its wings are dark and look like dead leaves and the underside of its wings are a dull brown which ensures excellent camouflage when butterfly rests on the bark of the trees.
• The Peacock butterfly is strong flyer and it can travel long distances. It has a nomadic instinct so instead of having a permanent home, it travels all the time.
• The Peacock butterfly has a long lifespan, living for around 11 months.

By far my favourite fact is, that when viewed up-side down, the pattern of the Peacock’s wings resembles the face of an owl (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our drink of ice-cold water that we always take on our walks – Happy T Day!

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my Peacock Butterfly inspired page.

I’m pleased to join the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Written Word (add text in some form) challenge, which on this page includes the “Peacock Butterfly” wording that I created from the fussy cut letters and also the text from the Script stamp, postcard and Collectors Cards.

With it being the first Tuesday of the month, I’m pleased to join the Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutrals page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge their challenge is A Stitch in Time so I’m happy to join them with the faux stitched embroidery and pretty crocheted lace flower that I used as part of my design for this art journal page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge.

I’m also pleased to join the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge and their June Challenge: Anything Goes!: (stamping MUST be included).

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 (Parchment)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Stampendous cling rubber stamp (Blossom Spray CRP136)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Travel Memories 154898)
• The Works Design Pad (Classic Vintage CRO707/TW7)
• Dovecraft Premium Paper Doilies (Painted Blooms DCDLS010)
• Collectors Card (Butterflies & Roses)
• The Works (Lace Flower Stickers)
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• UHU Stic
• The Range double-sided foam tape