I've got nothing to do today but smile

My page today is in memory of my dearest friend who passed away last year, it would have been her 50^th birthday this month. She was well known for her smile so I created it with this in mind using the quote “I’ve got nothing to do today but smile”.

I started by smooshing the background using Peeled Paint, Peacock Feather, Twisted Citron and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block and also dripping the ink onto the page. I did this a number of times drying the page with a heat gun between each application of ink. I stamped an Invoice stamp from Finnabair and a letter stamp from Tim Holtz using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink over the background. Then I stencilled some Peeled Paint and Peacock Feather Distress Ink through a Mini Specimens Template by The Crafter’s Workshop. I outlined some of the stencilling with a black Uni Pin marker and then splattered the page using a white Uni Posca paint pen and also some Black Soot Distress Ink. Next I stencilled some Ranger Texture Paste through a tape measure design Tim Holtz Stencil and when dry, coloured it further with a white Uni Posca paint pen. I added some white text rub-on transfers from Tim Holtz which read “Create Art”, “Shine brightly” and “explore”, a large white butterfly and some daisy flowers which are all Botanical Layers from Tim Holtz. To finish, I added two green hearts and the wording “I’ve got nothing to do today but smile” which are all Kaisercraft stickers.

Our days were full of smiles when all the girlies (and their boys) got together, here we are having happy times when we met up in Chester. What happy memories we made over the years – she will always be in my heart (grin!).

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 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 Hearts challenge over at Art Journal Journey that is being hosted by the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth this month with the hearts I added and sentiment behind this page.

I’m pleased to join in the Splatters, Splashes & Drips challenge over at Country View Challenges with my inky background.

I’m pleased to be able to join the #113 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page too; inspired by the sketch design with the central butterfly and splatters that I included.

I’m joining in the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page too.

Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog their theme is # 32 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Stenciling, I used two different stencils on this page so I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge too.

Don’t forget that you still have until next Tuesday to join our Go Green or Recycle Something over at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Peeled Paint, Peacock Feather, Twisted Citron, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot)
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp 4 (Invoice 966980)
• Tim Holtz Stamp Set (Documented CMS226)
• Distress Archival Ink (Black Soot)
• The Crafter’s Workshop (Mini Specimens Template TCW454S)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Tim Holtz Mini Stencil (Set #16 THMST016)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Text Remnant Rubs #TH93695, Botanical Layers #TH93554)
• Stix2 glue dots
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fly Free SS289, High Tea SS336)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• Uniball Gel Pen (White)

Makes me dream

A visit to the Blackbird Café had me thinking of stars, so I created this page from recycled used inky baby wipes and a fabulous quote from Vincent Van Gogh that reads “I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream”.

I started by collaging pieces of baby wipe that I had used to mop up some After Midnight Dylusions Ink Spray and Black Archival Ink using some gel medium. When dry I also applied some of the Dylusions Ink Spray using a paintbrush to water it down to any areas of the page that I hadn’t collaged and then stencilled some dots using a Creative Expressions Distressed Dots Mask. I splattered the page with some Pébéo white gesso, black DecoArt acrylic paint and a silver Daler Rowney paint marker. Next I fussy cut some images from a sheet of Stargazer Collection paper from Kaisercraft, edged them with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck them in place. I framed the quote using silver outline stickers and then I added some glittery silver stars which finished the page.

You may remember the Blackbird Café from previous posts, it’s such a lovely place and we normally go there with our dearest friends and chat over a cuppa (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my cup of hot chocolate in a beautiful blue mug and it was served with a yummy white chocolate star – Happy T Day!

Of course we couldn’t visit this café without having a bacon butty too – so delicious (double grin!).

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 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 so happy to join in the Splatters, Splashes & Drips challenge over at Country View Challenges with all the splatters, splashes and drips on this page.

I’m joining in the Add A Sentiment challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page.

Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog their theme is # 34 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Stenciling so I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge with my mixed media stenciled page.

As I recycled some used baby wipes this is also a reminder that you still have another week to join our Go Green or Recycle Something challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Used baby wipes stained with Ranger After Midnight Dylusions Ink Spray and Jet Black Archival Ink
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Distressed Dots)
• Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (After Midnight)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Daler Rowney Acrylic Paint Markers (Silver)
• Kaisercraft Stargazer Collection 12×12 Paper (Galaxy P2538)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape
• Design Objectives Outline Stickers (Silver Borders 123551)
• Craft Sensations (Foam Glitter Stickers Silver CRO243/18GE)

Recycle Something

It’s time for a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday and for the next two weeks we are asking you to Go Green or Recycle Something.

My art journal page was created from lots of recycled items – I hope you like it!

For the paper elements I recycled some sheet music, the patterned paper from the inside of an envelope, brown paper from the outside of some corrugated packaging, some brown package strapping and a strip of Kraft card. The leaf is from a Sweet Chestnut tree and believe it or not, there is only one (huge) leaf cut into pieces; I collected it from Lytham Hall in Autumn last year, dried it and then covered it with wood glue to preserve it and stop it from breaking up into bits. The flowers are dried gypsophila (also called Baby’s Breathe) which I saved and pressed from some cut flowers that were gifted me.

I layered and collaged them all onto my page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium and added some weight over the top so the flower stalks made contact with the background and then left the gel medium to dry. Then I splattered the page with black acrylic paint and added some white gesso with my finger. The letters for the “recycle” wording were cut from an old calendar and I stuck them to a recycled navy blue tag, cut them out and arranged them onto the page. All the paper elements are outlined with a black Derwent Inktense pencil and a black marker pen. To finish the page, I added two little buttons and a metal snap button clasp using Ranger Glossy Accents.

My Design Teamies have created some amazing Go Green or Recycle Something inspiration for you over at Try it on Tuesday too, please pop over and take a look (grin!).

I had fun playing around with these recycled materials to create this page, I love how it depicts nature and it reminds me of our walks around Lytham Hall, including this view over one of the lakes. This photo was taken last year in autumn when I collected the leaf.

We often go walking around this lake with our friends and little Ellie who loves leaves, mainly chasing and eating them (grin!). We so enjoyed looking after her last week for our friends – she’s so adorable (double grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and sharing my cuppa with a yummy Salted Caramel Doughnut – wishing you all a 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 so happy to join in the Splatters, Splashes & Drips challenge over at Country View Challenges with the acrylic paint splatters on my page.

I’m also pleased to join in the #112 – Layers challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the layers of papers, leaves and dried flowers that I used.

I’m also joining in the Two Or More Patterned Papers challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the sheet music and patterned envelope paper that I recycled on my page.

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

• Recycled sheet music
• Inside of a used envelope
• Recycled corrugated packaging and brown package strapping
• Leftover strip of Kraft card
• Sweet Chestnut leaf
• Dried gypsophila also called Baby’s Breathe
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Old calendar
• Recycled navy clothing tag
• Derwent Inktense Pencil (Ink Black)
• Handwriting marker pen (Black)
• Two old buttons and metal snap button clasp
• Ranger Glossy Accents

All you need is love

Today’s page was created by using one of my favourite inky techniques, some beautiful red hearts and a couple of cute bunnies, to wish you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day!

I started by smooshing Bluebird and Potting Soil Wendy Vicchi Make Art Inks from Ranger onto the page using one of my favourite techniques; applying the ink to an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then pressing the block and dripping the ink onto the page. I drew the large heart using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then I stamped some tiny dots and some marble crackle texture using two Kaisercraft stamps and black Archival Ink.

Next I stuck the red hearts in place using a Zig glue pen, they were die cut from some recycled red foil cardstock using Tim Holtz Falling Hearts Thinlets and my big shot machine. Then I splattered the page using black and also white DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush. When dry, I added some rub-on transfers which are all Remnant Rubs from Tim Holtz; the numbers and incomplete words are from the Special Delivery set and the wording “love you”, “XOXO” and “happy together” are from the Tiny Text set.

The cute bunnies are cut from linen textured paper using a Springtime Sidekick thinlet set by Tim Holtz; I coloured them with a black Faber- Castell marker and used the red foil cardstock for their bows and some white pom-poms for their tails. I shaded behind the tails with a black marker so they stood out more and sat them onto three different washi tapes which I layered together; I also layered these washi tapes on other areas of the page too. To finish, I added three Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz which read “together is the best place to be”, “all you need is love” and “I’m happiest when I’m with you”.

For Valentine’s Day hubby treated us both to these Strawberry Tarts, you may remember me saying these were a favourite of mine in my Paris blog earlier this month. He bought them from a local bakery and it was such a lovely surprise, I can’t wait to try them with my cuppa – Happy Valentine’s Day!

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

Challenges

With all the hearts on my page, I’m pleased to join the Hearts challenge over at Art Journal Journey that is being hosted by the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth this month.

I’m so happy to join in the Splatters, Splashes & Drips challenge over at Country View Challenges with the splashes and drips of ink and acrylic paint splatters on this page.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge their challenge is Crack It Up, so I’m joining them too with the marble crackle texture that I stamped on my art journal page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge this month over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog too; it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Ink (Bluebird, Potting Soil)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Tiny Dot CS360, Marble CS293)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Remnant Rubs Special Delivery #TH93188, Tiny Text #TH93695, Small Talk Stickers #TH93193)
• Recycled Red Foil Cardstock
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Falling Hearts 664415)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets Sidekick (Springtime 662711)
• Poundland (Pom Poms – White)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Washi Tapes (Docrafts Papermania – red with white dots, The Works – black with white dots, Crelando – turquoise with red and pink flowers)

Beer Festival 2020 – Sweet Treats

Last week we volunteered again at our local annual Beer Festival, serving behind the bar and of course trying all the different beers. So I decided to re-cycle some of the hand pump clips on my page to capture three of my favourite beers of the festival; they are all dark beers and coincidentally, also link to sweet treats (grin!).

To depict the dark beers I started by covering the page with a Black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker by scribbling it onto the back diagonally and then using a wet paintbrush to disperse the ink a little. When dry I added a tiny amount of Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then some white acrylic paint using my finger to blend them into the background. For the beers, I pulled the stickers off the front of the hand pump clips and stuck them onto the page; I created some shadows around them so they stood out more by applying and smudging the Black Faber-Castell marker with my finger before sticking them down. The wording is torn out from the beer festival programme, edged with the black marker and stuck down using a glue stick. As I loved these beers I surrounded them with some small white hearts which were cut from some recycled white card using a Falling Hearts Thinlets set from Tim Holtz, which finished the page.

The first of these sweet treat beers is Tonkoko and tasted of coconut and chocolate like a Bounty chocolate bar . It is an Imperial Milk Stout brewed by Brew York Brewery in York, North Yorkshire. It was so smooth and creamy with a vanilla and Tonka bean finish. This was strong at 7.5% ABV (alcohol by volume) but so very easy to drink – yummy!

This Cinder Toffee Stout was from the New Bristol Brewery in Bristol and it had yummy toasted honeycomb taste, just like Crunchie Bars had been liquidised and added to a stout ! It’s a great session beer at 4% ABV; needless to say it sold out very quickly.

As T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my Stay Puft from the Tiny Rebel Brewery which is in Newport, Gwent, Wales. It is a marshmellow Porter and has a 5.2% ABV; it has the classic roasty qualities of a proper dark ale, whilst the marshmallow gives it a smooth sweetness, both combining for a yummy S’mores like taste – Happy T day!

Me and my hubby so enjoyed serving behind the bar and chatting to the customers, and we tried many of the 100 beers at the festival too – such fun!

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 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 Hearts challenge over at Art Journal Journey that is being hosted by the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth this month with the hearts on my page.

I’m joining in the With Love challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge as this art journal page highlights the beers I loved at the beer festical.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Layers challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Beer Festival page too.

Don’t forget there is still another week to join in the Share the Love challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too!

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

• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199, Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Recycled Beer Hand pump signs from Festival
• Festival Programme
• White card recycled from packaging
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Falling Hearts 664415)
• Pritt Stick

Hello – Creative Artiste Design Team

I’m thrilled and honoured to be able to join the Design Team at Creative Artiste and I’d like to thank the team for inviting me to join them.

At Creative Artiste Challenge Blog the theme is always Anything Mixed Media Goes, so it’s really special to be part of this Design Team as I love using mixed media and always like to use various mediums on my art journal pages.

For this month’s #57 – Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge, I’m sharing an art journal page to just say “hello” to everyone (grin!).

I started by stamping a Solar & Lunar stamp from Finnabair and a Script Stamp from Kaisercraft over the background using black Archival Ink. Then I tore a wallpaper sample into some pieces, edged them with Antique Linen Distress Ink and collaged them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. I applied some Pébéo white gesso with my finger over the top to add some depth. When dry I coloured the edges of collaged pieces with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger and then I splattered the whole page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush.

Next I added the pretty pink peony flower using matte gel medium which I fussy cut from the wallpaper sample; I created some shadows around it so that it stood out more by applying and smudging some of the Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker with my finger before sticking it down.

The “hello” and butterflies were created using a Springtime Tim Holtz Thinlets Sidekick set and some linen textured paper. They were coloured using either a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker or Angel Pink and Rose Bud Memento Inks. The wings were heat embossed with Wow! Embossing Glitter and the body of the butterfly was covered with Ranger Glossy Accents.

I layered the “hello” pieces together and also added some antennae to the butterflies which I made using wire. To finish, I added some wording that I thought were appropriate to joining this new design team and to my mixed media art journaling which are all Tim Holtz Clipping Stickers; they read “my grateful heart”, “just a memory”, “dreams come true”, “all the world is bright”, “life is wonderful” and “good fortune”.

I had so much fun creating this page and thought you may like to see where I create my art, here’s where I sit in my craft room. I have to say, it’s not normally this tidy (grin!).

I hope you will join in the fun over at Creative Artiste this month; be sure to check out the Challenge Rules here.

For more inspiration, you’ll find a wonderful array of mixed media projects created by my fellow design team members over at Creative Artiste too. We would love to see you there!

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 Hearts challenge over at Art Journal Journey that is being hosted by the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth this month with the wording on my page – “my grateful heart”.

With the paint splatters on this page, I happy to join in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Splatters, Splashes and Drips challenge too.

I’m also pleased to join the Floral Frenzy challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the peony flower that I included on my page.

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

• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Solar & Lunar Item# 966977)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (script CS752)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Wallpaper sample
• Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Antique Linen)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets Sidekick (Springtime 662711)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Angel Pink, Rose Bud)
• Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• WOW! Embossing Glitter (Singing in the rain WS183R)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Silver Wire
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Clipping Stickers #TH93583)

Against the Grain

Our new challenge this month over at A Vintage Journey is Against the Grain, which is being hosted by the lovely Sara Emily. Here’s what it’s all about:

“Most of us love the look of wood and there are a lot of art/craft products out there that help us achieve beautiful wood grain, including stamps, stencils, embossing folders, paper and mixed media products. We would love to see how you add a touch of wood texture or appearance to your vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk projects”.

I experimented with a fun technique using Distress Ink and gel medium to create a wooden plank background for my art journal page. This provided the perfect backdrop for my “metal” hearts, pretty flowers and quotes.

For the background I dragged three different Distress Ink stamp pads from right to left horizontally across my page, as you can see the mixed media paper I use is textured which helped create the wood grain effect. Then I applied some gel medium over the top using a paintbrush making sure my brush strokes were continuous and in one direction to create the wood grain finish; the ink colours used were Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso. To build up the wood grain, I repeated this process four times in total ensuring that the gel medium was dry before adding the next layer …

… on applying the ink for the second layer I also divided the page into wood panels using the Ground Espresso Distress Ink and a black marker smudging the inks with my finger …

… and before I applied the fourth and final layer of ink and gel medium, I rubbed the page hard with a baby wipe which removed some of the gel medium and ink to give an aged and worn look; the mixed media paper I used was 250gsm so it can take this type of treatment.

For the heart I drew and cut a heart from some silver recycled packaging and then ran it through an Elegant Embossing Folder from Tim Holtz. I applied some black acrylic paint over the top to emphasis the embossed parts of the image and when dry I wiped the access paint off with my finger which gave it a tarnished look. The heart is also edged with a black Sharpie permanent marker.

I arranged my “metal” heart onto the page with some pretty die cut flowers which are Tim Holtz Botanical Layers and also some Sparkle Little Birdie Flowers; everything is stuck into place using glue dots. The tiny silver hearts are cut from the same silver packaging using a Falling Hearts Thinlet set by Tim Holtz. To finish, I added three Tim Holtz Small Talk stickers that read “have an open heart”, “no beauty shines brighter than that of a good heart” and “follow your heart”.

I hope you are inspired to join in the Against the Grain fun over at A Vintage Journey, and for more inspiration you’ll find some amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey too, it would be lovely to see you there!

My page reminds me of springtime and it seems that spring is on it’s way with all the beautiful flowers that are flowering already, here’s a springtime Camellia that flowers just around the corner from us – isn’t it gorgeous (grin!).

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 Hearts challenge over at Art Journal Journey that is being hosted by the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth this month with the hearts and wording on my page.

I’m also pleased to join the Floral Frenzy challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the pretty flowers that I included on my page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Layers challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page too.

I’m joining in the With Love challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page too.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• Recycled silver packaging
• Tim Holtz Sizzix 3D Texture Fades A6 Embossing Folder (Elegant 664172)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic paint (Black)
• Sharpie Permanent Fine Point Marker (Black)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Botancial Layers #TH93554, Small Talk Stickers #TH93193)  
• Little Birdie (Sparkle Little Birdie Flowers SKU213726)
• Stix2 glue dots
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Falling Hearts 664415)
• Ranger Glossy Accents