Let the adventure begin

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which for the next two weeks is Small Things.

For my small things, I created a page in my mini art journal adding some small sticker pieces as part of my design.

I started by covering the chipboard page with Pébéo white gesso using a brayer and left it to dry. Then I added the daisies that were recycled from a brown paper shopping bag. The “Let the adventure begin” wording, green borders, postage stamps, butterflies and tile pieces were all stickers from Kaisercraft.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing small inspired creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies.

My page was also created with holidays in mind, as my hubby and I have just returned from our travels; hence the postage stamps saying “love” and “you & me”, and the two butterflies representing me and my hubby.

But where did we go? Do you recognise this town at all? My page has a white distressed background a bit like the white marble this area is known for. It also features a recycled bag from our travels and I’m hoping my design is stylish and has a nature vibe, like the area that inspired it.

More clues: we went to a crescent-shaped strip of Mediterranean coastline straddling between the south of France and Tuscany, defined by its rugged cliffs, turquoise coves, pastel seaside towns and every town seems to have a castle and a church (smile!).

Yes, we went to the Italian Riviera, which is synonymous with Italy’s Liguria region. I hope you’ll join us on on travels over my next blog posts, as my page says “Let the adventures begin”.

Hoping that you all stay safe and well! x

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

Life is so good

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which for the next two weeks is Rainbow Colours.

I took my inspiration from our travels again; this time from some beautifully coloured and patterned steps that we discovered in Mijas, Spain.

For my page, I coloured the background with Stormy Sky Distress Paint and some white acrylic paint. Then I used the same white paint to create the clouds. Next I selected design papers to represent the rainbow colours and used a compass protractor cutting tool to cut them out; using the tool meant that they fitted together perfectly to form my rainbow. To finish, I added the “Life is so good” wording which was a Kaisercraft sticker.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies.

My inspiration for my rainbow design were these colourful tiled steps that we saw when we visited Mijas, on the Costa del Sol, in Spain last year.

It was such a beautiful village with the typical Andalusian white-washed houses, located on a mountainside.

We enjoyed exploring the pretty meandering streets, shops and climbing up to the viewpoint which looked over the village and out to sea.

Hoping that you all stay safe and well! x

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

Challenges

I’m joining the lovely Valerie and her Geometric Forms challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my mathematical compass protractor cut rainbow (smile!).

You make me smile

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which for the next two weeks is Use A Stencil.

As well as having some stencilling fun, I couldn’t resist recycling and using some cute leftovers to create this sunshiny page (smile!).

I started the page by recycling a yellow napkin for the sky and a flowery piece of tissue paper for the foreground; sticking them in place using a glue stick. Next I stencilled the sun and sunrays using a Slimline Sunburst Marianne Design mask stencil and some Mustard Seed Distress Ink. The little fox and tree were cut from some old design papers and stuck in place using double sided tape. To finish, I added the wording which was a Kaisercraft sticker and reads “You make me smile”.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies.

Here’s something else that made me smile, this sunny crochet topper can be found on one of our local post boxes – isn’t it fab!

They often have different toppers on the post box and last year one of them was actually stolen, so now they have a policeman keeping watch to make sure it doesn’t happen again (smile!).

Challenges

I’m joining the lovely Chris and her On All Fours challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my cute fox – I hope you like it!

With Love

It’s the first Friday of February and we are pleased to be back all refreshed after our annual break with our new challenge at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I fell in love with a beautiful tag, that my mum attached to one of my Christmas presents, so I recycled it on this mixed media page – I hope you like it too (smile).

I started by colouring my chipboard page with Salvaged Patina, Tumbled Glass Distress Paints adding patches of light using Brushed Pewter Distress Paint and stamping Moonlight White Brilliance Ink using an Etcetera stamp from Tim Holtz . Next I cut out lots of foliage, from Tim Holtz Kraft cardstock, using a Festive Bouquet Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz. I arranged the tag and foliage onto the page using glue tape. To finish, I added a chipboard snowflake, which I covered in Wow! sparkly embossing powder and then I cut it in half before adding the two pieces to the page.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our mixed media challenge; I hope you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see you there!

As this page reminds me of winter festivities, I’m sharing this photo taken in Prague that we found whilst exploring. This square is in the old town, and the restaurant seating was so pretty with all the lights and winter foliage. There is even a beautiful Christmas tree; you’ll find lots of Christmas trees in Prague, just turn a corner and you’ll find another square with another tree on display (smile!).

Of course, we couldn’t resist taking a selfie of us with those twinkly Christmas tree lights in the background (double smile!).

Stay safe and well! x

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

Challenges

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Vicki Parson from stampedsmiles.com and her Keeping It Light challenge.

Mix It Up Challenge – MIUCB #69 Anything Goes + optional Mixed Media

Happy New Year 2024

Here’s wishing you a wonderful New Year!

To create this page, I started by covering the page with some recycled white tissue paper using Liquitex matte gel medium, and I scrunched the tissue paper as I applied it to the page to add some texture (because I wanted to emphasis it using a heat embossing technique). Next I coloured the whole page using Aqua Green and Cerulean Blue Liquitex acrylic paints and when the paint was dry, I heat embossed some Gold Ranger Embossing powder over the top, to emphasise the tissue paper texture, creating my wintery night sky. The gold moon was the seal from the top of a new pot of Liquitex matte gel medium which I recycled. To finish, I added the gold stars, houses and wording which were all outline stickers; it reads “Here’s wishing you a wonderful New Year”.

How about welcoming in the New Year with a cocktail of pineapple gin and cream soda; the pineapple gin was homemade by soaking pineapple fruit pieces in gin with some sugar for 4 weeks – so yummy!

We could also have these Piña Colada cocktails that we had one evening (well actually, more like every evening … ha, ha) at our hotel when we were on holiday in Spain (2023) and they were so delicious – cheers!

As were having pineapple gin and Piña Coladas, I’m happy to say hello and welcome to Bleubeard & Elizabeth and all the T Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday – Happy T Tuesday (smile!).

All the best for 2024, wishing you peace, good health and happiness! x

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 able to join the following challenges today:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Wendy K from Wendy’s Craft Journal; she has chosen Above Us Only Sky as her theme so I’m joining with my starry New Year sky.

Winter Snowman

So do you wanna build a snowman … well I had fun building mine for this fun seasonal page (smile!).

For the wintery sky, I covered my chipboard page using Villainous Poison Distress Paint which I blended with some white and black acrylic paint using horizontal brush strokes. Next I hand cut some white cardstock to form the foreground and die cut the tree using a Woodlands Sizzix Thinlits by Tim Holtz; they were edged with Seedless Grape and Black Soot Distress Ink before sticking them in place. Then I spattered the page with white acrylic paint. The snowman was die cut using a Mr. Frost Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some white and black linen textured the paper. I coloured the edges of the main body of the snowman with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink using a blending tool, the scarf and hat band using red and green TriBlend Spectrum Noir markers, his carrot nose using Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and the twig arms using Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The die cut pieces were layered together using Liquitex matte gel medium and I added a holly gemstone embellishment to the hat, then stuck him onto the page. To finish, I added the wording which was from a Tim Holtz Christmas Sticker Book and read “Far across the snow, on the frosty hills”.

Here’s one of my Christmas cupcakes; it’s a chocolate cupcake and the snowman was created using marshmallows, a Rolo chocolate, chocolate sprinkles, buttercream icing and some candied orange – super cute (smile!).

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well and are having a wonderful Christmastime! x

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 able to join the following challenges today:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Wendy K from Wendy’s Craft Journal; she has chosen Above Us Only Sky as her theme so I’m joining with my snowy winter sky.

Merry Christmas Trees

I really enjoy creating these mini art journal pages in my chipboard art journal, and I had lots of fun creating this page to wish you all a very Merry Christmas (smile!).

For the background, I applied some Salvaged Patina Distress Paint and a tiny amount of black DecoArt acrylic paint to dull the colour using a palette knife; leaving some of the chipboard showing through. When dry, I stencilled a Vintage Diamond design by Creative Expressions using Black Soot Distress Ink. Then I added the gold Christmas tree and gold and white stars outline stickers, and I splattered the page with white acrylic paint to a create snowy effect. To finish, I added the Merry Christmas tag which was recycled from a present and I embellished it with a turquoise brad and one of the little star stickers.

We recently enjoyed some drinks with our friends at a local café, and was surprised to find these little Christmas trees on the top of the cappuccino and hot chocolate (smile!). I’m so happy to joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth and the rest of the T Gang over at T Stands For Tuesday with my drinks today – I hope you are all keeping well, sending you Season’s Greetings!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well and wishing you a very Merry Christmas! x

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 able to join the following challenges today:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Wendy K from Wendy’s Craft Journal; she has chosen Above Us Only Sky as her theme so I’m joining with my starry snowy sky.

Dear Santa

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

This was such a fun page to create and I love the Santa image – doesn’t he look jolly (smile!).

I started by covering a chipboard page with the “Dear Santa” paper that was from a letter pack to Santa (it was in the sale and I thought it would look good on one of my pages). Then I distressed the edges of the page using Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker, and I stamped some snowflakes using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink. The jolly Santa was from a Tim Holtz Christmas Ephemera pack and the wording I put together from a Tim Holtz Christmas sticker pack; it reads “The children were nestled all snug in their beds, Off to the land of dreams. When, from far up the chimney, Santa Claus came. Happy smiles and twinkling eyes, This very merry night”. To finish, some gold star outline stickers added some sparkle.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

Here’s another very jolly Santa that you will find on my Christmas Tree, it’s an old fashioned design (made of metal) and was from a local shop – wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

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.

I’d send you a blizzard

Robins are my favourite bird, and are synonymous with winter which is just around the corner. So when my hubby kindly bought me a gift with robins and this wonderful quote, I knew I had to use both on my page – I hope you like it!

I started by creating a masterboard from mixed media paper by first stamping the robin image using black Archival Ink and black Ranger Embossing powder. Next, I stamped the pretty snowflakes using the Simon Says Stamp Frozen Fractals stamp set and Versamark Watermark ink which I covered with white Stampendous embossing powder. For each of the embossing powders, I shook and tapped any excess powder off the page and then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder until it became smooth and dimensional with a glossy finish. I positioned a circular template onto the page to depict the sun and then I painted the different elements using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolour paint set: for the sky background, I flooded the page with water first and then applied Ultramarine Pale, Ultramarine and Turquoise Blue colours using my paintbrush, gradually shading and blending the paints; for the robin image, I used Red, Lemon Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Black, Sap Green Light, Sap Green, Hooker’s Green and Viridian paints; and for the sun I removed the sun template and applied some watered-down Lemon Yellow paint. Then I ripped the masterboard into pieces and arranged them onto my chipboard page using a glue stick. To finish, I added the wording which was stamped onto white cardstock using black Archival Ink.

Here’s the pretty plaque that my hubby gifted me, it take pride of place on my dresser so I see it every day (smile!).

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

Challenges

Art Journal Journey which I’m pleased to be hosting this month and the challenge theme that I’ve chosen is Nature, with my wintery robin page.

MIUCB #68: Nov 1 – Dec 15 — Anything Goes + optional Stamping (rubber/clear – no digis)

Together

Here’s another page for our Nature challenge which I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey; this time celebrating a recent beach holiday to Menorca, Balearic Islands!

I started by creating a masterboard using mixed media paper and then smooshing together some Salty Ocean and Mustard Seed Distress Ink to create my ocean background; by pressing the ink pads onto an acrylic block, spritzing the ink with water and pressing the block onto a page flooded with water. When dry, I cut the masterboard to fit my page and stuck it in place using a glue stick. Next I die cut all the fish and bubbles from some Tim Holtz Kraft Cardstock – Basics and white linen-textured cardstock using Under the Sea #1 Sizzix Thinlits by Tim Holtz . I arranged them all onto the page with the wording which was a Kaisercraft sticker.

The colours and fish reminded me of our recent holiday to Menorca with the beautiful beach and sea; there were fish in the sea which often jumped out of the water which was fun to watch and rather surprising when you are swimming (smile!).

Together is definitely a beautiful place to be!

Thanks for joining me today and I hope you will join our Nature challenge at Art Journal Journey! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.