Pumpkin Patch Halloween

Posted on October 1, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

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.

Bee Wellington Boots

Posted on September 27, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

My page today was inspired by some beautiful wellies (Wellington rain boots) that were a surprise present from my mum.

My page design includes a napkin that I received as part of the napkin swap over at T Stand for Tuesday, I think this napkin was from Erika as it has busy bees on it.

If you are interested, I’ve also recycled the washi tape that came as part of the napkin swap, see my page Love you to the moon and back.

I started by creating a hexagon template from some card using a compass; I used this template to draw and then cut out hexagons of the napkin and also some blue paper that was recycled from a book cover. I arranged them onto the page using a glue stick and edged them all using some gold border outline stickers. Next I die cut the honeycomb from some leftover gold cardstock using a Bee Hive Sizzix Thinlits set by Olivia Rose. They were arranged onto the page with some white rub-on transfers for the wording and also some white flower stickers which I also added to decorate the napkins. To finish, I added two bees which were stamped and die cut using a Beehive Buzz Pink Ink Designs set, and were coloured using Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend markers.

Here are the pretty wellies that my mum kindly bought me; the colours, bees and honeycomb inspired my page design.

Wellies is a term that we use in the UK for Wellington boots which are also known as rain boots or gumboots in other parts of the world:

Wellington boots, or “Wellies” are named after Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington who wore and popularised them here in the UK.
Wellington’s boots were made of leather, but in 1856, the Scotland-based North British Rubber Company (now known as Hunter Boots) began manufacturing rubber Wellington rain boots. Being made from rubber enhanced the boots by giving them more flexible movement and making them 100% waterproof.
The nickname “gumboots” is a nod to the natural rubber that rain boots are made from. Natural rubber, which is obtained from trees, is called “gum rubber” hence the name gumboots.

As T Stands for Tuesday and keeping with the bee theme, here’s my apple juice and ginger beer in a glass that we purchased when we visited Maine Mead Works in America which has their bee logo on it – Happy T Day everyone!

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 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 yet more busy fuzzy bees … ha,ha!

LTSCB#157 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog as I created this page using a scraps of book page and gold cardstock as well as a napkin.

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

Love you to the moon and back

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

Today’s page is in memory of my dad who passed away just before Christmas last year; it would have been his birthday today.

The two cute dogs are from a birthday card that I bought and with his passing never got to give him; I loved the image so I used it to create a page to remember him by and to say “love you to the moon and back”.

I started by stamping the background using a Mini Dots stamp by Kaisercraft and black Archival Ink, then a couple of stamps from a Mister Fox stamp set by Kaisercraft using Peeled Paint and Faded Jeans Distress Archival Ink. Then I added the black and white striped washi tape to the bottom of the page to create the foreground; the washi tape was recycled from the napkin swap package that I received from Bleubeard & Elizabeth – thank you! Next I stuck the two adorable dogs in place, which were fussy cut from the birthday card and to finish, I added the “Love you to the moon and back” wording using letters from a Metallic Stickers Alpha Silver set by Tim Holtz.

Parkin was one of my dad’s favourites and one of his birthday treats (smile!). It’s a type of gingerbread cake that originated in northern England made with oatmeal and black treacle. This particular parkin recipe has been passed down through generations of my dad’s family and I enjoy making it, as well as eating it – it will always remind me of him!

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 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 dogs on my page.

LTSCB#157 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog as I created this page using a recycled birthday card and washi tape.

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

Embossed Autumn Leaves

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Emboss It; this can be wet or dry embossing.

I had fun creating this autumnal page which features both wet and dry embossing techniques.

I started by covering the page with Driftwood DecoArt acrylic paint and when dry, I stamped a woodgrain stamp from BoBunny using some Moonlight White Brilliance Ink over the top. Next I used a Typewriter embossing folder by Tim Holtz and a leaf and swirls embossing folder to emboss some autumnal coloured masterboard that I had left over from a previous project; the masterboard was coloured by smooshing Rusty Hinge, Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks. I then dragged a Ground Espresso Distress Ink pad over the top of the embossed paper to highlight the embossed patterns. Next I fussy cut the letters and some of the leaves and swirls from one of the embossed papers, and I edged the rectangle of embossed paper using some Vintage Ivory embossing enamel by Stampendous. Then I arranged everything onto the page with two chipboard birds which were also covered using the same embossing enamel.

As we’re celebrating autumn and T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my green tea with a piece of homemade pumpkin roll filled with cream cheese frosting – Happy T Day everyone!

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

As well as Try it on Tuesday, 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 birds on my page.

MIUCB#61 – Anything Goes + Optional Smooshing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the embossing techniques and smooshed masterboard embossed pieces that I used to create this page.

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

Full of Wonder

Posted on September 13, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

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.

Together

Posted on September 6, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Animals – Real or Imaginary.

Here’s my page which was inspired by and features some adorable giraffes.

For my smooshed background, I used a grid mini stencil from Creative Expressions like a stamp to add Weathered Wood Distress Ink to the page; covering the stencil with the ink, spritzing with water and then pressing the stencil onto the page. I added some Wild Honey Distress Ink to the page using the same technique but this time applying the ink pad to an acrylic block, then spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page. I added the photo images and wording which were Kaisercraft stickers and I used the same stickers to create create a platform for the giraffes to stand on. The giraffes were die cut from different colours of Kraft Stock Classic Paper from Tim Holtz using a Gertrude Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz; I used Liquitex matte gel medium to stick them together.

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

I was inspired by these beautiful giraffes from Blackpool Zoo; we visited earlier this year and as they happen to be my favourite, we made a bee-line to see them as soon as we arrived (smile!).

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

As well as Try it on Tuesday, 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 my adorable giraffe page.

MIUCB#61 – Anything Goes + Optional Smooshing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my stencil and acrylic block smooshing techniques that I used to create my background for this page.

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

Cute as a bug

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

It’s a new month so we are launching our September challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by a pretty Sunflower napkin that I just had to buy whilst out shopping.

I started by cutting panels from the napkin and sticking them onto the page using a glue stick. Then I added some colour between the napkin pieces using watered down Jasmine and Spice Spectrum Aqua Markers. Next I stamped a hexagon design from Docrafts over the top using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink. To finish, I edged the napkin pieces with black Glitterations border stickers and I added the cardstock stickers of a bee, flower and the wording “Cute as a bug”.

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 join you there!

The sunflowers reminded me of September as we always have family holidaying with us this time of year who kindly gift us flowers which are often sunflowers; here’s the beautiful bouquet from last year (smile!).

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

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

Challenges

As well as Creative Artiste , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Neet from Hickydorums is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Fur and/or Feathers; bees can be furry so I’m joining in the fun with my page (smile!).

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

LTSCB#157– Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my sunflower napkin inspired page.

My Heart

Posted on September 1, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

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).

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.

Time stood still

Posted on August 23, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Keep It Simple.

This challenge was really hard for me as keeping things simple isn’t something I normally achieve (smile!), so to keep it simple, my design centred on a sheet of cardstock from Kaisercraft with some pretty framed flowers.

I started by cutting the Kaisercraft sheet into three pieces and then arranging it onto the page. Before it was stuck in place with a glue stick, I coloured the background pale pink using some watered down Pickled Raspberry Distress Ink. Then I added the pink roses which were washi stickers and to finish, the wording which was a Kaisercraft sticker and reads “In these moments time stood still”.

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

As T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my friend’s cappuccino for you coffee lovers and our pots of tea; I fell in love with the beautiful teacup and saucer with the elegant gold accents and pretty pink roses – Happy T Day everyone!

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

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to join 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 the words that I included on my page which are very poignant for me as we have been sorting through boxes with my mum, the contents of which hold strong memories of my childhood and as such it seems ‘time stands still’ and everything around you seems to stop for a while as you remember (smile!).

Paperbabe Stamps and their #174 – Anything Goes challenge with my clean and simple page.

Make A Wish – Birthday Card

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges with another birthday card for this month’s Happy Birthday Challenge.

My feminine design was inspired by some pretty Sleeping Beauty Stamperia papers which I used to create this card.

I started by cutting a page of the Sleeping Beauty paper pad for a 6×6” blank card and stuck it in place using some double-sided tape. From the same paper pad, I cut the “Make a wish” birthday cake panel, edged it with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker and stuck it in place using double-sided foam tape. The “Happy Birthday” was die cut using a Female Occaions Sizzix Thinlits set from a couple of contrasting papers and I pieced them together onto the card using some double-sided tape. I coloured the “Happy Birthday” lettering using some Tarnished Brass Distress Paint and then I added some Ranger Glossy Accents over the top.

To finish, I added some drops of Glossy Accents onto the card and left it to dry to form clear 3-dimensional beads.

I hope you are inspired to join our Happy Birthday 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.