I love us

I feel very blessed to have married my soulmate and to have spent many happy and fulfilling years together so with Valentine’s fast approaching I created this page for my dear hubby to say “I love us” (grin!).

I started by adding some pieces of old dictionary pages using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium, then I coloured the background using some Cadmium Yellow Liquitex Acyclic paint and some Pébéo white gesso. When the paint was dry, I stencilled a lattice pattern using some Scattered Straw Distress Ink and a blending tool. Then I used the stencil to stamp the lattice pattern using Ground Espresso Distress Ink and also applied some DecoArt white acrylic paint with a sponge through the same stencil. I die cut some wildflowers from paper by Tim Holtz using a Tim Holtz thinlet set with my Big Shot machine and stuck them to the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. When the gel medium was dry I outlined them with a black Uni Pin Fine Line marker so they stood out more and then I stuck three pieces of pretty green lace vertically onto the page.

For the heart, I used a wooden heart tag which I covered in Emboss ink and Chunky Silver Stampendous Frantage embossing enamel. I used a heat gun to melt the embossing enamel to a smooth glossy finish and before the enamel had cooled fully, I imprinted it using a Serpentine Background stamp; being careful not to touch the enamel with my fingers as it gets super hot. I also covered the word “Love” which is a wooden embellishment with the same embossing enamel using the Emboss ink.

I tied a piece of green ribbon to the heart tag and arranged it with the “love” embellishment onto the page using Ranger Glossy Accents along with a vintage Tim Holtz Pocket card, a white doily and a metal decorative embellishment. To finish, I added two Tim Holtz Small Talk stickers which are outlined using a black Derwent marker; they say “I’m happiest when I’m with you” and “I love us”.

Me and my hubby are thankful for every day and always enjoy the time we have together, whether we are at home …

… making discoveries on our walks, like this pretty yellow sunflower that magically appeared on the beach front which is just around the corner from our house …

… or out and about like at this local beer festival (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:

I’m pleased to be able to join the lovely Rike from rike’s art and her The Colour Yellow challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my appropriately coloured art journal page.

As this page captures love and romance, I’m joining the Love is in the Air challenge over at Moo Mania & More.

I’m happy to join the Your Hearts Desire challenge over at A Vintage Journey as I was inspired to create this romantic Mixed Media Style page for my hubby which includes hearts.

I’m also pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my romantic art journal page.

Don’t forget that you still have plenty of time to join our Romance challenge at Try it on Tuesday 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:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Cadmium Yellow Medium)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Ground Espresso)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Tsukineko Emboss Embossing Stamp Pad (Clear)
• Stampendous Frantage Embossing Enamel (Chunky Silver)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Moroccan)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Wildflowers 661190)
• Art Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Serpentine Background T-2773)
• The Pocket Oxford Dictionary
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Paper Stash (Halloween #TH93712)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Dovecrafts Premium Paper Doilies (Painted Blooms DCDLS010)
• Docrafts Papermania Adhesive Lace Trim (Botanicals PMA358334)
• The Works (Chalkboard Tags, 5 Embellishments, Wooden Craft Words)
• Thin Satin Ribbon (Green)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic
• Stix2 double-sided tape