Monthly Archives: October 2019

Colours of Autumn

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Our new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Colours of Autumn.

I love the autumn season, so created an art journal page using a new technique with clear embossing powder; my autumnal colours are Brushos but you could use the same technique with any autumnal coloured inks, paints, infusions etc; to find out how it all came together please see below.

I started by sprinkling Yellow, Lemon, Yellow Ochre, Orange, Terracotta, Rose Red, Scarlett, Sandstone, Dark Brown and Moss Green Brusho powders onto my page then spritzing with water and leaving it to dry. Once dry, I sprinkled water droplets onto the page and removed them using some kitchen towel to give a mottled effect. I stamped the “wishing you a beautiful autumn season” wording using a Sophisticated Script stamp set from Concord & 9th and black Archival Ink and highlighted the letters using a white Uniball gel pen.

Then for my new technique, I stamped the leaves, which are from a Tim Holtz stamp set, to surround the wording; they are stamped using Versamark Watermark Ink and then covered with clear embossing powder, which I heated with my heat gun. Because it’s clear and has been applied over a coloured background, it lets the colours show through and protects them while you add more colour to the area. I used a blending tool to add some Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink around the edge of the page and over the leaves so they stood out more. To finish I splattered the page with Ground Espresso Distress Ink and added some gems to add some sparkle.

I hope you will join in our Colours of Autumn fun too and for more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and check out the amazing creations from my Design Teamies!

Lately I have been reminiscing about our trip to Maine, America as we were staying with friends at their Lake House in October last year and …

… as Kathy from Hummingbird Woodland Studio recently posted about her lake house and making Biscuits and Gravy, she reminded me of a breakfast that we had at Biscuits & Company. It’s a very popular place to eat with the locals so we reserved a table one Sunday morning.

This place serves American biscuits which are more like a savoury scone here in the UK with a firm browned crust and a soft, crumbly interior.

I chose from the normal menu and had biscuits and sausage gravy, so yummy!

My hubby had biscuits with the vegan mushroom gravy. We also had an egg on top which was optional and if you prefer they also have a gluten free biscuit too (grin!).

My friend chose from the brunch menu and had Biscuits Benedict which tasted yummy, yes she was kind enough to let me try some (double grin!); this was Country-Style biscuits with over-easy eggs and a choice of classic ham with a hollandaise sauce or creamy kale with a white wine sauce, she also had a side order of home fries.

As T Stands for Tuesday you may have already noticed my green tea in the photos, but there was also coffee, orange juice or even water from this fabulous water fountain – Happy T Day everyone!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the so very grateful wishes on my page.

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Fall/Autumn Colors challenge 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:

  • Colourcraft Brushos (Yellow, Lemon, Yellow Ochre, Orange, Terracotta, Rose Red, Scarlet, Sandstone, Dark Brown, Moss Green)
  • Concord and 9th Clear Stamp Set (Sophisticated Script)
  • Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
  • Uniball Gel Pen (White)
  • Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Falling Leaves CMS097)
  • Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Ink)
  • Tsukineko Versamark Emboss (Watermark Pen)
  • Wow! Embossing Powder (Clear Gloss Ultra High)
  • Docrafts Papermania Heat Tool
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso)
  • Hobbycraft Gem Stones (Rose)

Art Journaling

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Hi everyone! I am so delighted to be in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. As this is my last week I want to say a big thank you to everyone for all your support!

This week the theme is Art Journaling.

I’m so very grateful to be able to share my love of art journaling and I’d like to thank Lols and the Simon Says Stamp Team for letting me join them this month! This journal page was inspired by my love of art journaling and some Monarch butterflies that we saw in America at about this time last year.

I started by smooshing the background using Peeled Paint, Peacock Feather and Twisted Citron Distress Ink by stamping the pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page. I did this a number of times drying the page with a heat gun between each application of ink. Next I stamped an Invoice stamp from Finnabair and a letter stamp from Tim Holtz using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink. Then I covered an Interlocking Circles mini stencil from Creative Expressions with Black Soot Distress Ink and pressed it firmly onto the page using a brayer. The leaves are from a Concord & 9th Sophisticated Script stamp set and are stamped using Peeled Paint Distress Ink. I then splattered the page using a white Uni Posca paint pen and also some Black Soot Distress Ink.  I used the Concord & 9th Sophisticated Script stamp set again to stamp the “so very grateful” wording using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink and added highlights to the letters using a white Uni Posca paint pen. My Monarch butterflies are depicted here using Tim Holtz Botanical Layers and I added white text rub-on transfers from Tim Holtz which read “seen”, “memories”, “remember” and “dream” which relate to the butterflies we saw. To finish, I added some Small Talk Stickers from Tim Holtz which read “go where your heart takes you”, “creativity takes courage” and “adventure awaits you”; I chose the wording as it relates to my art journaling journey.

We were lucky enough to see Monarch butterflies for the first time when we visited Maine, USA last October time.

We don’t have this butterfly here in the UK and I was surprised at how big they were and …

… how mesmerising they are when they fly, they look like they are gliding (grin!).

I enjoyed creating this art journal page for the Art Journaling challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp is generously giving away a $50 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! and one lucky participant will be randomly drawn to win this voucher. How amazing is that! Good Luck to everyone!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my so very grateful wishes.

I’m also joining the Die Cuts and Punches challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the die cut butterflies from Tim Holtz that I included on this page.

With my butterflies and inky background this also qualifies for our Inky Wings challenge over at A Vintage Journey where, it would be great to see you there!

Here is a list of materials over at Simon Says Stamp to create this art journal page:

Black Magic

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I was lucky enough to receive a box of Black Magic chocolates for a good deed that a member of my family requested – they were very yummy! So I thought I would recycle the packaging to create my Black Magic Halloween page – I hope you like it!

I started by using a Sun and Moon circle template from Inkylicious to mask off the moon and then painted the sky background with orange and black Kuretake watercolour paints. Then I removed the template and used the Sun and Moon stencil from the same Inkylicious set to add the moon detail using Vintage Linen and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and a white Uni Posca paint pen. I stamped the sky with a Gothic Book stamp from Finnabair using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink and then I splattered the page with the orange and black watercolour paints. Next I recycled the inner packaging from my Black Magic chocolates by ripping the black paper into pieces and arranging them on the bottom and down the left-hand side of the page. I also die cut the flowers and ivy from the same black paper using Wildflower Stems and Garden Greens Thinlets from Tim Holtz and my Big Shot machine; they are stuck in place using a Zig Memory glue pen. I stamped some cobwebs from Molly Blooms using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink. Then I used some of the cardboard packaging for the “Black Magic” wording fussy cutting it out, black heat embossing it and sticking it in place using Ranger Glossy Accents. Then to finish, I splattered the page using the white Uni Posca paint pen.

Here’s my box of Black Magic chocolates, help yourselves – you have a choice of Coffee Crescent, Pure Black Magic, Midnight Truffle, Raspberry Heaven, Hazelnut Swirl, Dreamy Fudge, Almond Crunch, Orange Sensation and Caramel Heart. To make them last I treated myself to one a day and they were delicious (grin!).

This page reminded me of a song by Little Mix, I enjoy watching the video – it’s such a fun story line!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my happy black magic dreams.

I’m also joining the Die Cuts and Punches challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the die cut flowers and ivy that I included on this page.

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Fall/Autumnal Colors challenge with the orange colours on my page.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page which included paint, inks, recycled packaging and embossing powder.

Don’t forget that you can also join in the fun over at Try it on Tuesday for our Witches, Wizards, Halloween challenge 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:

  • Inkylicious Template & Stencil Set (Sun and Moon)
  • Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Orange, Black)
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Hickory Smoke)
  • Inkylicious Ink Dusters
  • Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair 2 Clear Stamp (Gothic Book 966966)
  • Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Black Soot)
  • Recycled Black Packaging
  • Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Wildflower Stems 2 664164, Garden Greens 661206)
  • Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
  • Molly Blooms Rubber Stamp (MB-0065D)
  • Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink
  • Stampendous Embossing Powder (Black)
  • Ranger Glossy Accents

Spooky

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Hi everyone! I am so delighted to be in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thanks so much for all your kind wishes last week!

This week the theme is Spooky.

For this challenge I created a spooky art Journal page full of magic and mystery, maybe there’s a magic potion in one of those bottles – what are you going to wish for? (grin!).

I started by stencilling texture paste using a Mini Specimens template from The Crafter’s Workshop and when dry, I painted the page using Indigo and Black Kuretake watercolour paints. Then I applied Aged Silver Stampendous embossing enamel to the texture paste using a Versamark watermark pad. I used a Versamark watermark pen and Shabby White Stampendous embossing enamel for finer details. I also coloured some of the texture paste using a black Sharpie pen then I splattered the page using the black watercolour paint and also White Linen Dylusions Spray. I added some bats and cobwebs that I stamped onto tissue paper which finished the background.

For the tags, I die cut five tags using Sizzix Framelits and my Big Shot machine. They are cut from Pocket Cards from Tim Holtz, edged with black Versamark ink and then stamped using a Gothic Book Finnabair stamp and an Urban Tapestry Tim Holtz stamp set using the black Versafine ink and covered with black Stampendous embossing powder.

Next I added the pretty bottles which are from a Kaisercraft Sticker Book and decorated with some black ribbon and the metal “31” and “13” which are Countdown brads from Tim Holtz. The tags are finished with some eyelets and recycled black satin ribbon, and layered in place with some blue flowers which are fussy cut from a Botanicals Layers card. To finish, I added the “objet trouvé”, “finders keepers” and “make a wish” wording which are Quote Chips from Tim Holtz.

This spooky window can be found at the Moose and Moonshine restaurant in Liverpool and I think the witch may be making us a magic potion.

 This restaurant is part of the Moose Coffee chain and they make the best hot chocolate with a shot of pumpkin spice syrup in it – yum! I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang over at T Stands for T Day – Happy T Day!

I enjoyed creating this art journal page for the Spooky challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp is generously giving away a $50 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! and one lucky participant will be randomly drawn to win this voucher. How amazing is that! Good Luck to everyone!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the spooky dreams and wishes on my page.

I’m also joining the Die Cuts and Punches challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the die cut tags that I included on this page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my spooky page as their theme is Halloween.

Don’t forget that you can also join in the fun over at Try it on Tuesday for our Witches, Wizards, Halloween challenge too.

Here is a list of materials over at Simon Says Stamp to create this spooky art journal page:

Haunted House

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It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday which is Witches/Wizards/Halloween.

If like me, you don’t really like the scary side to Halloween then you may like to create something fun like my Haunted House art journal page.

I started by covering the page in white gesso and then painting Light Red and Raw Sienna watercolour paints using a paintbrush to form streaks of colour across the page. I also streaked some Black Soot Distress Ink to add some contrast and depth, and then I stamped a homemade grid stamp using black Archival Ink and splattered the whole page using black acrylic paint. The haunted house, cat’s face and bats are all rub-on transfers and the portraits are fussy cut from a leaflet; I thought that they were a fun way to depict the inside of my haunted mansion. Next I stamped the “Happy Halloween” wording using a Papermania alphabet stamp set and black Archival Ink. I coloured the bottom of the wording with a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then applied Ranger Glossy Accents over the top. I added some modelling paste through a Vintage Diamond stencil from Creative Expressions and when dry, I coloured the diamonds with Spiced Marmalade and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink and Sanguine and Black Faber-Castell Big Brush markers; they are also covered with Ranger Glossy Accents to give them a glossy finish. To mimic the wrought iron railing around the haunted house image, I added some decorative border tape around the edges of the page, distressing it so it looked worn and broken. To finish, I added lots of green gemstones and clear, orange and purple gel stickers for more Halloween sparkle.

You’ll find lots more inspiration from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over and take a look.

The leaflet that I used for this page from Lytham Hall which also has spooky goings on in the vegetable garden.

Even the potting shed looks spooky with the faux cobwebs, pumpkin bunting and black cat – such fun (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey as with my Hapy Halloween wishes to you.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their #54 – Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page which included paint, ink, rub-on transfers, paper, stickers and gems.

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
  • Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colours (Light Red, Raw Sienna)
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot, Spiced Marmalade, Seedless Preserves)
  • Homemade Grid Stamp (Wooden block and Plasterboard/Drywall Tape)
  • Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
  • DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
  • Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Sentiments (Haunted House  #ROY714N, Bats, Cats & Ghosts #EDW355)
  • Leaflet – Lytham Hall
  • Papermania Alphamania Clear Stamp Set (Leftovers Alphabet PMA9071102)
  • Ranger Glossy Accents
  • Pébéo Modeling Paste
  • Creative Expressions Mini Stencils (Vintage Diamonds)
  • Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Sanguine 188 B, Black 199)
  • Poundland (Decorative Border Tape 15118067)
  • Hobbycraft (Green Rhinestone Stickers 5971381004)
  • Habico Signature Collection Self-Adhesive Gemstones (Festive Assortment PP948)
  • Home Bargains (Mini Gel Stickers 30287)

All Things Pink

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Hi everyone! I am so delighted to be in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thanks so much for all your support and lovely comments last week!

This week the theme is All Things Pink (Breast Cancer Awareness).

For this challenge I created an art Journal page in tribute to my auntie who has recently recovered from Breast Cancer – I hope you like it!

For the background I covered the page with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink using a blending tool and then sprayed White Linen Dylusions Spray over the top and left it to dry.  Next I used a Tim Holtz Mini Stencil to add the numbers using the Picked Raspberry ink again and then using the same ink and also Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Ink I stamped some Halftone Circles from Altenew. For the flowers, I used my Tim Holtz Stamping Platform to stamp flowers and stems from the Tim Holtz Flower Garden Stamp Set using Hickory Smoke ink onto some watercolour cardstock; stamping the image a few times to achieve a clear precise image. Then I coloured them with Picked Raspberry ink using a watercolour style technique gradually building up the pink shading using a paintbrush. They are fussy cut and stuck in place using a glue stick. The wording is from an Antiquities Sticker Book from Kaisercraft and is mounted onto some of the white watercolour paper before sticking them to the page; they read “Life is beautiful with you”, “Love”, “Faith” and “Hope”. To finish I added some little butterflies which I made using some white paper butterfly wings, recycled pink satin ribbon that I twisted so it looked like the Breast Cancer logo, and finally a small pink gem stone; everything is stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents.

I’m pleased to say that my auntie is doing well after being treated with breast cancer, luckily it was diagnosed early; she came to stay recently and we had lots of fun, she particularly enjoyed watching the sunsets.

It seems that pink seems to be prevalent of late as when I went to the hairdressers recently I was treated to a few glasses of this Summer Fruit drink, it was so refreshing! At my hairdressers they usually offer coffee, a range of teas and soft drinks to their clients and sometimes cake too (grin!). As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m pleased to share this drink with the T Gang – Happy T Day!

I enjoyed creating this art journal page for the All Things Pink (Breast Cancer Awareness) challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp is generously giving away a $50 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! and one lucky participant will be randomly drawn to win this voucher. How amazing is that! Good Luck to everyone!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the dreams and wishes on my page.

I’m also joining the Count Your Blessings challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my art journal page.

Here is a list of materials over at Simon Says Stamp to create this art journal page:

My One & Only

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As you may be aware it was our wedding anniversary this week so I thought I’d create a page to celebrate; my design was influenced by my hubby who loves bright colours and I chose some romantic wording too.

Inspired by the lovely Design Team at Country View Challenges I also wanted to try out a new technique to create a Bokeh effect on my page too, I love the results – what do you think?

To create my bokeh background, I covered the page with Seedless Preserves, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed and Fired Brick Distress Ink using a blending tool and dried the page thoroughly with my heat gun. Then I applied the circles using a Sun & Moon stencil and white pigment ink, slightly overlapping some of the circles as I went. For the flowers, I stamped a large Halftone Circle stamp onto some white cardstock using Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves, Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink. Then I used a Wildflower Thinlet from Tim Holtz to cut out the flowers using my Big Shot machine and stuck them onto the page using a Zig glue pen. The wording are stickers from Kaisercraft which I backed with some of the white card and then stuck to the page using double-sided tape, they read “my one & only”, “you will forever be my always” and “always in my heart”. I used a paper punch to create some hearts out of black paper and stuck them in place. Then I added some pink and orange sequins using Ranger Glossy Accents which finished the page.

Here I am with “my one and only” celebrating our anniversary at Notarianni Ice Cream parlour where we treated ourselves to a sundae; these are tangerine jelly with two scoops of vanilla ice cream topped with tangerine syrup – so yummy!

Thank you for all your Happy Anniversary wishes earlier in the week (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 join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my anniversary dreams and wishes.

I’m so happy to join in the Bokeh challenge over at Country View Challenges, thanks so much for the inspiration, it was a fun technique and I love the results; I will definitely be using it again to create some cards (grin!)

I’m also joining the Count Your Blessings challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my anniversary page.

I’m pleased to join the Celebrate! challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday as my page celebrates our wedding anniversary 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 (Seedless Preserves, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Fired Brick, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn)
  • Docrafts Artiste Pigment Ink (White)
  • Inkylicious Stencil and Template Set (Sun & Moon)
  • White Cardstock
  • Altenew Clear Stamp Set (Halftone Circles)
  • Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Wildflowers 661190)
  • Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
  • Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Everlasting SS376)
  • X-Press It double-sided tape
  • Leon (X-large Colour Paper Pad)
  • Tonic Studios Paper Punch (Classic Heart 858E)
  • Poundland (Assorted Sequins)
  • Ranger Glossy Accents

Autumn/Fall

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Hi everyone! I am so delighted to be in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thanks so much for inviting me!

This week the theme is Autumn/Fall.

As it is the first Monday of the month, Simon Says Stamp are featuring Tim Holtz so I created this birthday card as I have lots of family birthdays this time of year.

For the centre piece of my card, I stamped a maple leaf using a Tim Holtz Maple Sketch stamp and black Archival Ink onto a piece of Ranger Kraft paper which I tore along the edges to give it more of a rustic look and then coloured using a Sanguine and Black Faber-Castell marker. I also added a piece of lace and bound some twine to the bottom of the Kraft panel and attached a button which I threaded using the same twine.

I used the Tim Holtz Maple Sketch stamp again to stamp the maple leaf onto some Watercolour card stock using my Tim Holtz stamping platform. This enabled me to stamp the watercolour card again after I had coloured the leaf using Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. I cut out the leaf, edged it with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck it over the top of the leaf that I stamped on the Kraft panel using double-sided foam tape so it stood out more. The card was completed by mounting the finished Kraft panel onto a 6x4inch card which I made from white cardstock, stamped with a repeating pattern of “Happy Birthday” using Rich Cocoa, Toffee Crunch and Potter’s Clay Memento Ink and then finely splattered with Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and Picked Raspberry Distress Ink.

Maple leaves always reminds me of fall in New England …

… so the colours on my card were inspired by this beautiful tree in Biddeford, Maine that we saw this time last year whilst on vacation to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.

It happens to be our 31st wedding anniversary tomorrow, so as T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing a photo of me and hubby enjoying some samplers of beer at Banded Brewery in Biddeford, Maine which we also visited whilst we were there – cheers and Happy T Day!

Which reminds me to wish Erika a very Happy Anniversary too!

I enjoyed creating this card with my Tim Holtz products for the Autumn/Fall challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp is generously giving away a $50 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! and one lucky participant will be randomly drawn to win this voucher. How amazing is that! Good Luck to everyone!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of materials to make this card:

Dare to be different

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Our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey this month is hosted by Annie who has chosen the fantastic theme Inky Wings and here’s the challenge description that Annie kindly provided:

“Make any project you like as long as ink and wings are included in some way. This includes backgrounds, stamped images, art journals, and portions of your project coloured with ink. Any kind of ink is welcome, so let’s get creative within our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.

If, like me you want to have fun art journaling with wings and lots of different inks, then why not join our challenge too; it would be great to see you there (grin!).

I started by painting Blueprint Sketch and Twisted Citron Distress Ink onto the background and stamping some Kaisercraft lattice, barcode and tiny dots stamps using black Archival Ink. Then I splattered the page with Carbon Black Liquitex Ink and had fun dripping Black Soot Distress Ink vertically down the page. I added some lacy Halloween collage paper from Tim Holtz using Liquitex matte gel medium, crunching the paper up at the edges to add texture. It is edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and also some more of the Black Carbon Liquitex Ink which I spritzed with water so it looked misty. I then stamped more of the tiny dots using black Archival Ink over the edges of the collage paper. I drew a butterfly and outlined it with the black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker then added some drips to the ends of its wings using the Black Carbon Liquitex Ink. For the antennae I used Liquid Pearls and when everything was dry, I painted the butterfly with a thick layer of white gesso. Next I chose some contrasting colours for my butterfly to match the words I used on this page; it is coloured using Spiced Marmalade and Fired Brick Distress Inks and Tangerine and Poppy Red Derwent Inktense pencils. I added more detail to the butterfly wings using a black Derwent marker and a white Uni Posca Paint Pen and then covered it with Ranger Glossy Accents so the colours stood out more. Then I splattered the whole page with some Titanium White Liquitex Ink and to finish, I added the wording which reads “Dare to be Different” which I created using an alphabet die set and my Big Shot machine.

For more inspiration, please pop over to see what my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey created for our Inky Wings challenge, it would be lovely to see you there!

With it being October I seemed to be channelling Halloween hence the dark and moody design, whilst also thinking about this Common Blue butterfly that I saw in our garden; it was amongst a lot of Painted Lady butterflies so it seemed the words “dare to be different” were appropriate (grin!). This one is the female of the species and has the pretty orange dots along the edges of its wings unlike the male which is coloured all blue. These butterflies like grassland habitats such as the coastal dunes where we live.

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my “dare to be different” wishes.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Blueprint Sketch, Twisted Citron, Black Soot, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick)
  • Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Flutter CS853, Mister Fox CS173, Tiny Dots CS360)
  • Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
  • Liquitex Ink! (Carbon Black, Titanium White)
  • Tim Holtz Idea-ology Collage Paper (Halloween #TH93712)
  • Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
  • Ranger Liquid Pearls (Ivy Green)
  • Pébéo White Gesso
  • Derwent Inktense Pencils (Tangerine 0300, Poppy Red 0400)
  • Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)
  • Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
  • White Cardstock
  • Docrafts X-Cut Alphabet Die Set (Centurion XCU503083)
  • Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
  • Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)

Seek

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Our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks is Animal Magic.

Enjoy this theme and have fun, all we ask is that there is an animal somewhere on your project. If you want to see which animals my Design Teamies have chosen please feel free to pop over to our blog.

When I saw this cheeky squirrel in a magazine, I thought he looked inquisitive so wanted to use him on my page; I like the way that he seems to be looking out at us, do you think he is trying to tell us something (grin!).

I started by painting the page with Kuretake watercolour paints, for the sky I used Ultramarine Pale and for the foreground I used Burnt Sienna. Next I stamped the trees using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink and then painted the foreground with some white DecoArt acrylic paint to look like snow. I stamped foliage and berries using Pistachio, Toffee Crunch and Potter’s Clay Memento Ink and then I splattered the whole page with some of the white acrylic paint to give a snowy appearance. The squirrel is fussy cut from an old magazine and once he was stuck in place I drew his whiskers with a black Derwent Graphik marker. To finish, I added the wording “adventure awaits you”, “wander”, “go where your heart takes you”, “embrace the journey” and “make it count” which are rub-on transfers and the word “seek” which is a quote chip; all of which are from the Tim Holtz idea-ology collection.

The squirrel on my page is a red squirrel also called a Eurasian red squirrel which has a darker coat in wintertime, hence the winter theme of my page. If you are interested here are some fun facts:

  • You will only find flourishing populations of red squirrels in the Lake District and the Highlands in Scotland. They very shy and timid, not at all like American Red Squirrels.
  • Red squirrels are largely vegetarian although they find acorns indigestible. They like to build larders of cones to provide food through the winter. Some larders have been found holding as many as 2,000 cones.
  • Beatrix Potter’s Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, first published in 1903, did much to popularise the red squirrel; she was inspired by the squirrels that she watched in Lake District.

My red squirrel reminded me of the Scottish shortbread, can you see the red squirrel on this pretty tin (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my cuppa and shortbread with the T Gang and 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.

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 join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with all the inspirational wording on my page.

I’m joining the Autumn Glory challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my wintry page with pops of autumnal colour.

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

I’m also so happy to join #103 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the pops of autumnal colours on my page which match the picture inspiration too.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

  • Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine Pale, Burnt Sienna)
  • Creative Stamping Magazine (Autumnal Treasures from Issue 61, Winter Wonderland from Issue 62)
  • Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa, Pistachio, Toffee Crunch, Potter’s Clay)
  • DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
  • Old magazine
  • Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
  • Tim Holtz idea-ology (Remnant Rubs – Special Delivery #TH93188, Quote Chips #TH93563)
  • UHU Stic
  • Stix2 double-sided tape