Merry Christmas

It’s a new month which means we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for December which is Christmas Anything Goes.

This challenge is perfect as I love all things Christmas and as I love all things Tim Holtz too, this page features lots of his products. Wishing you a Happy December and all the very best for the festive season!

I started by covering the page with white gesso using a brayer and then I stenciled some snowflakes using a Mini Layered Christmas Stencil Set #50 by Tim Holtz and Ranger Crackle Texture Paste. When dry I added the festive foliage which was die cut from different colours of Kraft Cardstock-Classic by Tim Holtz using a Funky Festive Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz; they were layered together using matte gel medium. To finish, I added the wording which was die cut from the black Kraft Cardstock-Classic using an Alphanumeric Script Thinlits set by Tim Holtz.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I hope you are inspired to join our Christmas Anything Goes challenge too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

I’ve already been decorating for Christmas and here’s one of my Christmas wreaths; this ones on my back door and was hung with a pretty metal robin decoration (smile!).

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well – Happy December! x

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

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey and the Snowy Winter challenge that I’m hosting this month as their are lots of stencilled snowflakes on my page.

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #28 where Anything Christmas Goes with my Merry Christmas page.

LTCCB #71 – Anything Goes over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my Christmas page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #181 – Anything Goes challenge with my festive Christmas page.

MLCCB #47 – Anything Christmas Goes over at the Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog with my Merry Christmas page.

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Merry Moose Wonderland

I’m so delighted to be hosting this month’s challenge over at Sparkles Monthly Challenges choosing #158 – Die Cuts and/or Punches as my theme.

I love nothing better than using die cuts for my papercraft projects and I used quite a few die cuts for this page including one of my favourites – the Merry Moose Sizzix Thinlits by Tim Holtz.

It looks like Merry Moose is looking forward to Christmas this year while walking through a winter wonderland; I hope you’ll join in the fun too, it would be lovely to see you there (smile!).

I started by covering the chipboard page with a layer of Speckled Egg Distress Paint and left it to dry. Then I used lots of Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits to create the scene; this included a Branched Birch Thinlits Set which was cut from some white linen cardstock, a Woodlands Thinlits set for the fir trees cut from some green foil corrugated cardstock, a Merry Moose Thinlits set from some cream linen cardstock and a Winter Wardrobe Thinlits set for his bow from white linen cardstock. I layered the trees together using double-sided tape and I cut out the snowy foreground from some of the white linen cardstock. The Merry Moose was coloured using Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso and Antique Linen Distress Ink and his bow using a Dark Red Blend TriBlend Spectrum Noir marker. The two little robins, flying across the page, were stamped using a Picket Fence Studios stamp set and black Archival Ink; they were coloured using a Earth Brown Blend and the Dark Red Blend TriBlend Spectrum Noir markers and then fussy cut out. To finish, I added the “walking in a winter wonderland” wording which was a die cut sticker from a Christmas Sticker Book by Tim Holtz.

I hope you’ll join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenges, and for more inspiration please check out the amazing Die Cuts and/or Punches projects from my Sparkles Buddies in the Design Team too; we would love for you to join us so please be sure to check out the rules here.

Here are all the Thinlits sets I used to create my Merry Moose Wonderland page.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a couple of pints of Dark Side of the Moose beer; it’s from Purple Moose brewery in Porthmadog, Wales and we enjoyed it last week at one of our local pubs – Cheers and Happy T Day everyone!

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

Challenges

As well as Sparkles Monthly Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #180 – Anything Goes challenge with my Merry Moose page.

MLCCB #47 – Anything Christmas Goes over at Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog with my Merry Moose Wonderland page.

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #27 where Anything Christmas Goes with my Christmas Merry Moose page.

Winter Village

Today I’m sharing a page that I created with two beautiful stamps, one of the Winter Village scene and the other of Santa’s sleigh, that I won over at Stamped Smiles. I was so thrilled to win and receive this special gift, especially as Vicki kindly sent them to me all the way from America – thank you so much!

I started by using an Airbrush Pen Set to spray purple, green, magenta and black felt tip pens onto a piece of mixed media paper. When fully dry, I ripped the mixed media paper into pieces and collaged the darker pieces onto the top of a chipboard page using a glue stick; creating the night sky. I coloured the white torn edges of the paper using the Airbrush Pen Set and then covered them with some Black Mirage Cosmic Shimmer Brilliant Sparkle Embossing Powder. I collaged the lighter coloured paper pieces to create the foreground stamping the houses and trees over the top using the Winter Village stamp, VersaMark Watermark ink pad and some Detailed White Stampendous embossing powder.

I stamped Santa’s sleigh using the VersaMark Ink Pad and the white Stampendous embossing powder. To finish, I added a small dot of Red Ranger Stickles to Rudolph the reindeer which gave him a very shiny nose (smile!).

Here are the stamps that Vicki kindly sent me along with a very pretty card; the Winter Village stamp is gorgeous and goes so beautifully with the surprise Santa’s sleigh stamp – thanks so much! They were both such fun to use and I’m sure I’ll be using them again soon.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

The lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from https://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/ who is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Collage Fodder, Food & Drink or Both so I’m joining her with my collaged page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #180 – Anything Goes challenge with my Winter Village page.

MIUCB #61 – Anything Goes + Optional Open Technique over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my Christmassy page using a collage technique.

Merry Little Christmas Challenge and their MLCCB #47 – Anything Christmas Goes challenge with my Winter Village Santa page.

I put a spell on you

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing another Halloween page for this month’s Halloween or Harvest challenge.

This mixed media page was fun to make as I used a mishmash of different products including Distress Paints, a Visible Image stamp set, Tim Holtz Metallic letter stickers and DecoArt acrylic paint.

I started by covering the page with Halloween colours using a couple of layers of Crackling Campfire and Twisted Citron Distress Paints. When dry, I stamped the spell book, raven and border onto the page using black Archival Ink and a Visible Image stamp set. Next I added the wording using letters from an Alpha Silver Metallic Sticker set by Tim Holtz. To finish, I added a few black gemstones and I splattered the page using the two Distress Paints and some white and black DecoArt acrylic paint.

I hope you are inspired to join our Halloween or Harvest challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts.

“I put a spell on you” is a song from 1956 and has been covered by many artists; I remember this version by Nina Simone.

It was also performed in the 1993 Disney film Comedy “Hocus Pocus” by the Sanderson Sisters with different lyrics – which seemed more appropriate from Halloween (smile).

I hope that you’re staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Fairytales, Folklore & Fables – Tell Me A Story so I’m joining her with my Halloween page as spells are part of folklore and fairy tales.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #179 – Anything Goes challenge with my Halloween page.

Pumpkin Patch Halloween

It’s a new month so it’s time to launch a new challenge over at Country View Challenges which is Halloween or Harvest, which is being hosted by the lovely Miriam.

For this challenge, I’m had fun creating this Pumpkin Patch Halloween page using Sizzix Thinlits by Tim Holtz.

The chipboard page was covered with a square of mixed media paper using a glue stick, which was first stamped using a Doorway Finnabair stamp and black Archival Ink. Then I stencilled the large moon using white DecoArt acrylic paint and I coloured the night sky around it using Peacock Feathers, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot Distress Inks with a blending tool. I used the same Distress Inks to add some texture to the moon itself and I added the black foreground using black DecoArt acrylic paint.

The bats and pumpkins were die cut using a Pumpkin Patch Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from different coloured Kraft Stock Classic paper pad by Tim Holtz. To finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges. I hope you’ll join us, it would be lovely to see you there and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the Country View Crafts shop! Before you enter, please read the rules.

There seems to be some spooky goings on at Lytham Hall with pumpkin banners.

As well as this fabulous pottery pumpkin guarding the pumpkin patch.

Wishing you a Happy October and I hope that you’re staying safe and well! x

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

Challenge

As well as Country View Challenges , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Fairytales, Folklore & Fables – Tell Me A Story so I’m joining her with my Pumpkin Patch page as Jack-o’-lanterns are part of folklore tradition.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #177 – Anything Goes challenge with my Halloween page.

LTCCB#71 – Anything Goes over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my Pumpkin Patch page.

OCTOBER – Anything Halloween challenge over at Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge with my Pumpkin Patch Halloween page.

Look for the magic

Over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge, we are launching a new challenge today which is Mushrooms and other Fungi.

I had fun creating this art journal page of mushrooms and autumn leaves which was inspired by a red-capped mushroom that we saw on one of our walks around Lytham Hall.

I started by stencilling Vintage Photo Distress Ink onto the page using a stencil from Creative Expressions. Next I stuck the mushrooms in place which were washi tape stickers and for the foreground, I arranged some leftover papers and autumnal leaves; the leaves were either die cut or stamped and cut out from papers coloured with Brushos or Distress Inks. I used the Vintage Photo Distress Ink to colour the wording, which was a Sentiments sticker by Finnabair. To finish, I had fun highlighting the mushrooms with a white gel pen and then I splattered the page with both white and black DecoArt acrylic paint.

I hope you’ll join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenge too, for more inspiration please check out the amazing Mushrooms and other Fungi designs from my Sparkles Buddies in the Design Team too; we would love for you to join us so please be sure to check out the rules here.

This is the red-capped mushroom that we saw on our walk at Lytham Hall; it seems all we needed to do was “look for the magic” (smile!).

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Sparkles Monthly Challenge , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #176 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

LTCCB#71 – Anything Goes over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my mushroom page celebrating autumn.

Full of Wonder

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges with art journal page for this month’s Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness Challenge.

This autumnal journal page celebrates early autumn with a smooshed background of autumnal sunshine, and some ephemera of seasonal flowers and a pretty butterfly.

I started by creating a masterboard of smooshed Rusty Hinge, Mustard Seed and Orange Marmalade Distress Inks on some mixed media paper; I did this by stamping the ink pads onto an acrylic block, spritzing the block with water and pressing it onto the paper gradually building up the layers of colour. When dry, I cut out a panel for the background of my page, sticking it in place using a glue stick. Next I layered, onto the page, a Pocket Card with a pretty butterfly design, some yarrow and chrysanthemum flowers from an Ephemera pack and the wording which were from a Thoughts Label Sticker set; all of these were Tim Holtz products. To finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt paint.

I hope you are inspired to join our challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts.

I always think of chrysanthemums this time of year which remind me of the Fall displays in America. They seem to be a popular flower on sale in Garden Centres over here in the UK too – Happy Autumn everyone!

I hope that you’re staying safe and well!

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Neet from Hickydorums is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen Fur and/or Feathers so I’m joining her with the butterfly on my page as the wings near it’s body look so furry.

MIUCB#61 – Anything Goes + Optional Smooshing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my smooshed masterboard background for this page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #176 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

My Heart

It’s a new month so it’s time to launch a new challenge over at Country View Challenges which is Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness.

The lovely Debs is hosting and says that the title for her challenge is inspired by John Keats ode to Autumn, in particular the first stanza, “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”. So think of the colours, ripened fruit, late flowers, watery sunshine, swelling nuts and gourds, anything you associate with early Autumn.

My page captures autumnal leaves as we’ve noticed on our woodland walks that the leaves are falling early this year, with layers of leaves already forming on the woodland floor.

I started by covering the chipboard page using white gesso and when dry I rubbed some of the gesso off using a baby wipe to give a distressed look. Then I used a Falling Leaves stamp set by Tim Holtz to layer leaves around the edges of the page using quite a few different colours of Memento Ink; the colours included London Fog, Pistachio, Toffee Crunch, Rich Cocoa, Love Letter, Dandelion and Potters Clay Memento Inks. The wording was a sticker which I edged using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker. To finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint and added two sparkly Gumdrop Heart gems.

I created this page with my hubby in mind as he loves autumn and this season brings both birthday and wedding anniversary celebrations – “when I follow my heart it leads to you” (smile).

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges. I hope you’ll join us, it would be lovely to see you there and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the Country View Crafts shop! Before you enter, please read the rules!

Wishing you a Happy September and I hope that you’re staying safe and well! x

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #175 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

LTCCB#70 – Anything Goes over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my autumn love page.

Life’s a beach

Over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge, we are launching a new challenge today which is At The Beach.

“Life’s a beach” for me as I’m lucky enough to live right by the beach with my hubby in the North West of England; we love living here and feel very blessed. So I’m sharing this beautiful beach view with some beach related postage stamps (smile!).

I started by covering the page with a piece of Stamperia paper showing a beautiful beach view; it was from an “Around the World” paper pad. Next I cut some letters to size which were salvage stickers by Tim Holtz, edged them all with a black Faber-Castell marker and stuck them in place to read “Life’s a beach”.

To finish, I added the Australian postage stamps, featuring a Lobster Crab, Banded Coral Shrimp and Anemone Fish, which were from my hubby’s childhood collection that he kindly gifted me for art journaling (smile!).

I hope you’ll join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenge too, for more inspiration please check out the amazing At The Beach designs from my Sparkles Buddies in the Design Team too; we would love for you to join us so please be sure to check out the rules here.

Our beach is quite extensive with miles of beautiful beach, some of which is pictured here with the pier in the background. We love living here and I think that I was drawn back this part of the world as I was born here on the Fylde coast; locally I’m called a “Sandgrown’un” which literally means someone born by the seaside (grin!).

You’ll also find sand dunes along the beach front too.

As well as a promenade and these beach huts which have a lovely outlook overlooking the beach and can be rented for the day.

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Sparkles Monthly Challenge , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Chris from Pearshapedcrafting is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen When We Were Young so I’m joining her with my Life’s A Beach page as I was born and lived near the beach growing up and also some of my hubby’s childhood postage stamps are featured on my page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #174 – Anything Goes challenge with my Life’s A Beach page.

LTCCB#69 – Anything Goes over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my papercraft art journal page.

Ally’s Angels and their Challenge #61- Anything Goes; I’m happy to join this challenge with my beach page, thanks Leslie for the invite at your sister challenges (smile!).

Use your wings and shine

I’m a bit behind on crafting this month but I wanted to join Art Journal Journey and Wendy‘s fabulous Doors and/or Arches challenge again before the end of the month – so this is only my second entry for this challenge, I’m not sure where July has gone (eek!).

This is also my second post of the day, so as you may be looking for my Make It Feminine inspiration for Try it on Tuesday – please find it here.

I started by covering this chipboard page with Pébéo white gesso (it’s a great medium for the Gelatos that I’m using next) and left it to dry. Then I applied some Lemon, Mango and Lime Faber-Castell Gelatos by scribbling them onto the page and using a wet finger to disperse the colour. I also used a wet wipe to distress and remove some of the Gelatos colour allowing the white to show through. Next I stamped the page using black Archival Ink and an Architecture stamp and a Fragments stamp; both stamp sets were from Tim Holtz. The bird was die cut from some Simple Stories cardstock using a Sizzix die and to finish, I added the wording which were Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz.

To celebrate the 9th Anniversary of T Stands for Tuesday, I shared a breakfast sandwich and some of you were asking if it was a bacon butty. This isn’t what we know in the UK as a bacon butty (although it does contain bacon); this sandwich is something a bit more special and it isn’t typically English either just something I saw on the internet.

A bacon butty is a fairly plain sandwich with bacon in it; usually the bacon is “back” bacon rather than “streaky” bacon as shown here.

The bacon is often served on two slices of white or brown bread along with red or brown sauce. The “butty” part of it is a Northern term here in the UK for a “sandwich”.

Of course, being “up North”, we also have a bacon “barm” or “bap” too which is a type of “bread roll” and a whole other story (smile!) – wishing you all a Happy T Day!

I hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Wendy from wendyscraftjournal is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen Doors and/or Arches so I’m joining her with the arches that I stamped on my page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #172 – Anything Goes challenge with my brightly coloured page.

MIUCB#60 – Anything Goes + optional Clean & Simple over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my simply created page using Faber-Castell Gelatos colouring techniques.