All Good Wishes for Christmas

We have been visiting with family across the UK to celebrate Christmas the last few days, so I thought I would create a Christmas page to wish you all the best for the holiday season!

I started by stamping the page with a Collage Number stamp from Gummiapan using Versamark Watermark ink which I dried using a heat gun; I find drying this ink with the heat gun achieves better watermark images than leaving it to dry naturally. Then I applied Paris Dusk and Teal Zeal Memento Inks using a blending tool to gradually build up the colours. The blue colours were a bit bright so I toned them down by dragging a Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink pad over the page giving it a lovely shimmer and frosty appearance. Then I stamped some snowflakes over the background using the Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink and also the Paris Dusk Memento Ink again. The pine branches are stamped using Pistachio and Cottage Ivy Memento Inks and the pine cones using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink and I also splattered the page with white DecoArt acrylic paint. Next I used my Big Shot machine to die cut: some snowflakes by Tonic Studios out of white card stock; some green holly leaves using white cardstock which I coloured using the Cottage Ivy Memento Ink and Twisted Citron Distress Ink; some holly berries from white card stock which I coloured using Love Letter Memento Ink; and finally some berry branches from white card stock and brown design paper using Tim Holtz Garden Greens Thinlets. The white snowflakes are stuck in place using a Zig Memory glue pen and I added some silver snowflake relief stickers to the background too. I arranged the other die cuts with a recycled Christmas card, which I saved from last year as I loved the vintage design, and also a pretty white and silver snowflake sticker. To finish, I added some Christmas Red Stickles from Ranger to the holly berries to give them some glittery sparkle.

We found some lovely Christmas displays at our local garden centre this year, I love this one with the pretty snowflake lights and ceiling, and of course the owls!

This vintage style flower display looks very festive with the poinsettias and jewel colours.

It seems that upside-down trees are all the rage this year too (grin!).

We went to this local garden centre on our way to Garstang where we went to the Royal Oak for lunch. We sat in one of the little rooms off the bar which contained this beautiful stained glass window, isn’t it amazing! The drinks that are included in the window design means that I can join the T Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday too – Happy T Day!

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:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth who blog at Altered Book Lover are hosting My Favorite Season, or ‘Tis the Season challenge over at Art Journal Journey, so I’m pleased to join them with Christmas page!

I’m joining the Christmas Challenge over at The Artistic Stamper as I included stamping on my Christmas Wishes page.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the Christmas challenge fun over at Country View Challenges with my festive page.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Christmas challenge with my Christmassy art journal page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Anything Goes so I’m happy to be able to join this challenge with my Christmas page.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps 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:

• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Paris Dusk, Teal Zeal, Pistachio, Cottage Ivy, Rich Cocoa, Love Letter)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Pigment Ink (Platinum Planet)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Twisted Citron)
• Woodland Christmas Stamp Set from Clear Impressions
• Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (Falling Snowflakes 1792e)
• Cut & Create Festive Collection (5×5 Dies Holly)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Garden Greens 661206)
• White card stock
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CR0701/16PL1)
• Recycled Christmas card
• Crelando Relief Stickers (IAN289011)
• The Works (Christmas Embellishments)
• Ranger Stickles (Christmas Red)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Stix2 double-sided tape and mini glue dots
• The Range double-sided foam tape

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Guess Who’s Coming? …. Santa

As Santa is on his way, over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Guess Who’s Coming? …. Santa, where you will find some amazing creations from my Design Team teamies to inspire you!

We would like to see a Santa somewhere on your creations, so here’s my Santa related art journal page – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the page with some Santa decoupage paper using a glue stick. Then I used some green card from a topper set which I cut into a rectangle and some strips, they are all edged with gold border outline stickers. I stuck them in place using double-sided tape along with a framed Santa image from the same topper set and an envelope addressed to Santa. Next I embellished the page with some gold relief stickers; this included Santa’s sleigh filled with gifts, snowflakes and stars and also some holly and candy canes which I added to the background. To finish, I added three 3D stickers of a candy cane, some holly and a little robin.

This pretty shop is in Lytham and is full of interesting items for the garden; it always has lovely displays that cascade onto the street front. It’s where our friends bought the metal Mushrooms for our garden, you can see them here.

It reminded me of my page with all the Santa memorabilia (grin!).

We always enjoy meeting up with our friends for a walk and a drink so whilst walking in Lytham we went to a café called Zest.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m joining the T Gang with my hubby’s hot chocolate – yum!  Happy T Day everyone!

Sorry I haven’t been around the last week or so, my Dad has had heart surgery and I’ve been busy visiting him and helping my mum whilst he has been in hospital. I’m pleased to say he is home now and doing ok – yay!

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:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth who blog at Altered Book Lover are hosting My Favorite Season, or ‘Tis the Season challenge over at Art Journal Journey, so I’m pleased to join them with my festive Santa page!

I’m pleased to be able to join the Christmas challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Santa page.

With all the pretty gold stars I added to my page I’m joining in the fun over at A Vintage Journey and their Star Light Star Bright challenge; I was inspired by Santa and used a Mixed Media style.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Warm Winter Wishes challenge with my Santa art journal page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Anything Goes so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my festive page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps 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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• First Edition Paper Deco Mache Decoupage Paper (FEDEC282X17)
• Hunkydory Crafts Christmas Past Luxury Card and Topper Collection (He’s Checking His List PAST903)
• Pound Stretcher (Letter to Santa Pack 2-98195)
• White card stock
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Straight Line Borders Gold ANT8101016)
• Crelando Relief Stickers (Gold IAN289011)
• Docrafts Papermania 3D Stickers (A Christmas Wish PMA801901)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Merry Moose Winter Wonderland

Our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks is Winter Wonderland, where you will find some amazing creations from my Design Team teamies!

For my art journal page, I had so much fun creating a winter wonderland for my Merry Moose. I fell in love with this Merry Moose die set from Tim Holtz as soon as I saw it and finally succumbed to purchasing it last week, so I just couldn’t wait to use it and it didn’t disappoint – I love it (grin!).

To start, 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. 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. Next I positioned a circular stencil onto the page to depict the sun and also a hand cut paper template to mask out the foreground. Then I painted the sky background using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour paint set; I did this by wetting the page with water first and then applying Ultramarine Pale, Ultramarine and Turquoise Blue colours using my paintbrush, gradually shading and blending the paints so that they were lighter around the sun. When dry, I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and then I defined the edge of the foreground more using Paris Dusk and Danube Blue Memento Inks and a blending tool. I removed the foreground mask and also added another line of snow using a mask and the same inks. I added some colour to the snowflakes in the foreground by painting them with the Ultramarine and Turquoise Blue watercolours too. For the sun I applied a light wash of Lemon Yellow watercolour paint and when dry, I covered it with some Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink to add some shine. The wording is stamped using the blue Memento Inks again and overlaid with the Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink and I added a little of the Turquoise Blue watercolour paint to the letters so that it colour matched the background more.

The trees are die cut using the Merry Moose Thinlets by Tim Holtz from Sizzix and my Big Shot Machine. I used some brown wood effect paper from Tim Holtz and also some blue glittery paper for the dripping snow dies; they are stuck to the page using a Zig Memory glue pen. Next I added a puffy snow effect using Inkylicious Fluffy Puffy Stuff which you apply and then heat with a heat gun to make it 3-dimensional; it was so much fun seeing the snow come to life (grin!). I also die cut some snowflakes out of the same blue glitter paper and embellished them with the Fluffy Puffy Stuff too and then stuck them to the page. I really need to use the fluffy puffy stuff again, just so I can write fluffy puffy some more (double grin!).

To finish, I added the Merry Moose which is die cut three times, once out of cream linen finish card stock and then twice out of white card stock; I layered them together so the linen finish was on the top. I masked off his antlers and then coloured him using Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Inks blending the colours with a blending tool. Then I removed the masking tape and coloured the antlers with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I stuck him in place and then decided that he needed a scarf to keep him warm, so I used the harness die cut from the Thinlet set and fashioned one together using the blue glitter paper and white card stock which I coloured with the Paris Dusk Memento Ink. It was fiddly to make but I think it completes his look beautifully, don’t you (grin!).

We have been lucky enough to see moose several times in the wild on our travels to America and so I love everything moose! We have a few moose items around the house from our travels too including these beautiful mugs which we were purchased at Booth Bay in Maine. Today they are filled with hot chocolate that has Pumpkin Spice syrup in it and topped with whipped cream – yum! As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a very happy T Day!

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 Erika from BioArtGal, who is hosting the Vintage or Modern challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my modern Christmas page!

I’m also joining in the fun over at Moo Mania & More and their Tic, Tac, Toe theme (Designer Paper – Glistening Season from Tim Holtz Paper Stash, Die-Cut – Merry Moose, Circles – on the scarf and the sun).

I’m also pleased to join A Vintage Journey and their Paper Stash challenge this month as I was inspired by my new Tim Holtz Merry Moose Thinlets so used the linen and glitter papers that have been in my craft stash for a while as well as the Tim Holtz Paper Stash pad to create my Mixed Media style page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Winter Wonderland so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my Merry Moose Winter Wonderland page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Baby It’s Cold Outside challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with as it must be cold with my Merry Moose wearing his scarf (grin!).

With the embossing powder that I used for my pretty stamped snowflakes, I’m also joining Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their Resist It 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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Stampendous Embossing Powder Basics (Detail White Opaque DP100)
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine Pale, Ultramarine, Turquoise Blue, Lemon Yellow)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Paris Dusk, Danube Blue)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Pigment Ink (Platinum Planet)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Antique Linen)
• Faber-Castell Craft Stamper Big Brush Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Derwent Graphic Marker (black 0.05mm)
• Inkylicious (Fluffy Puffy Stuff)
• Simon Says Stamp Clear Stamp Set (Frozen Fractals SSS101694)
• Inkylicious Stencil (Sun & Moons)
• Winter Wonderland Stamp Set (free with Craft Stampers magazine No:62)
• Tim Holtz Alterations Sizzix Thinlets (Merry Moose 663103)
• Dovecraft Cutting Dies (Merry Christmas DCDIE052X16)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Paper Stash (Halloween #TH93712)
• Blue Glitter Paper
• Cream Linen Card Stock
• White Card Stock
• Zig Memory System Chisel Tip Glue Pen
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• Ranger Heat Gun
• Sizzix Big Shot

Gift It … for Simon Says Stamp

Hi everyone!

I’m really enjoying my time in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

This week the theme is Gift It.

I’ve made packs of note cards for my friends, but you could also make a gift tag, gift bag or even wrapping paper etc.

I created two packs of note cards; these gift sets consist of a pink or blue wallet containing two note card designs with matching envelopes.  If you are interested to find out how I made everything, the details are below.

For the note cards, I started by cutting a panel out of white cardstock slightly smaller than 6×4 inch to fit my blank cards using my Fiskars paper trimmer. Then for the first design I stamped the circles from the Altenew Halftone Circles Stamp Set using Picked Raspberry, Mermaid Lagoon and Mustard Seed Distress Ink onto the panels. The sentiment is from the same stamp set and stamped using black Ranger Archival Ink.

Next I die cut a flower from white card stock using Tim Holtz Sizzix Garden Greens Thinlets and my Big Shot machine, then I stuck the flower in place using a Zig glue pen. When the glue was dry, I outlined the flower with a black fine line marker to make it stand out more.

For the second note card design I followed the same process but I used Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks for the circle stamping, one of the other sentiments from the same stamp set and also a different flower thinlet.

To finish, I edged the panels using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then I stuck each panel onto a blank card that I also made from the white card stock, using double-sided tape.

As these note cards are a gift I also created a wallet to present them in. The wallets are made from either Simon Says Stamp Cornflower Blue or Cotton Candy card stock which I scored to create fold lines on my Fiskars paper trimmer using a scoring tool.

I adorned them using the same stamp set and inks and die cuts but rather than repeating the card design, I created the die cut flowers out of white cardstock stamped using the circle stamps and Distress Inks, stuck them to the front of the wallet and outlined them so they stood out more. I then I stamped the sentiment using the black Archival Ink.

I inserted the card into the wallets with the matching envelopes – I hope my friends like them (grin!).

As I included bursts of colour as part of my gift set design, I’m also pleased to join Stamps and Stencils and their Remember, Remember 5th November challenge too.

I enjoyed making these gift sets and I hope that you will be inspired to join the Gift It challenge too! For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp are 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!

As this is my last week in the Designer Spotlight this month with Simon Says  Stamp, I’d like to thank everyone for all your kind comments and support throughout the month and also say a special thank you to Simon Says Stamp for giving me the opportunity to design for them; I’ve had the most wonderful time!

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

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

• Crafter’s Companion Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock
• Fiskars Paper Trimmer
• Altenew Halftone Circles Clear Stamp Set
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad Mini Kit 1 (Picked Raspberry, Mermaid Lagoon, Mustard Seed)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad Mini Kit 2 (Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Garden Greens Thinlets
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Zig Chisel Tip Glue Pen
• Faber-Castell Fineline Artist Pens
• Faber-Castell Craft Stamper Big Brush Pen (Black)
• Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100# Cornflower Blue
• Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100# Cotton Candy
• Docrafts Clear Stamp Block Papermania
• Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy Cleaner

Good Wishes for Christmas

I’m so delighted to be guest designing over at Swedish House Crafts today!

With the Christmas season almost upon us, I created an art journal page inspired by the Glistening Season Pion Design papers, a Gummiapan stamp, some of my favourite colours of Tsukineko Inks and also some pretty Swedish House Crafts Fabric Flowers – I hope you like it!

If you would like to see how this page came together, the full process is detailed below.

To start I tried out a new technique which was great fun; I stamped the Reed Plant stamp from Gummiapan onto the background of the page using Versamark Watermark ink which I dried using a heat gun (I found drying the ink with a heat gun achieved better watermark images). Then I applied Paris Dusk and Teal Zeal Memento Inks using a blending tool, gradually building up the colour which made the reed images that I had stamped appear (grin!).

Next I stamped the Gummiapan stamp over the page again using the Paris Dusk and Teal Zeal Memento Inks. As I wanted more of a grungy vintage look, I dragged Rich Cocoa Memento ink pad over the edges of the page, then I applied the same ink to a blending mat, spritzed with water and pressed the mat onto the page. I also flicked some of this watered down ink using a paintbrush onto the page, along with some splatters of Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint.

With my background complete, I cut out some of the tags and images from the Glistening Seasons Pion Design paper and used scissors and Rich Cocoa and Toffee Crunch Memento Ink to distress the edges. Then I arranged these papers onto the page with some pieces of doily and die cut foliage using double-sided tape; for the foliage I used the reverse side of the Pion Design paper which was a lovely silver-grey colour and also some dark green paper from my craft stash.

I used the reverse side of the Pion Design paper again to create my snowflakes along with some blue vellum that was left over from a previous project using a die cut and my Big Shot machine. I also created a wreath and little fir-tree twigs from the remnants of the holly die cuts which was fun and a bit fiddly (grin!).

To finish the page, I added the snowflakes, wreath and twigs to the page along with some little blue gems, a bow, the blue Swedish House Crafts Fabric Flowers and three hearts which were cut from the Pion Design paper.

I’d like to thank Swedish House Crafts for having me as part of their Guest Design Team – Happy Crafting!

The Glistening Season paper design, that I used on my page, reminded me of some Christmas displays at a Garden Centre that we visit every year with family, isn’t this winter scene beautiful!

These little gnomes were really cute too …

… and not forgetting Santa Claus (grin!).

It’s hard to believe that there are only five weeks left until Christmas, but before I get carried away with thinking about Christmas … I just wanted to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are celebrating today!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal, who is hosting the Vintage or Modern challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my vintage Christmas page!

I’m joining in the fun over at Moo Mania & More and their Tic, Tac, Toe theme (Designer Paper – Glistening Season from Pion Design, Die-Cut – foliage and snowflakes, Circles – snowflakes and gems).

I’m also pleased to join A Vintage Journey and this month’s Paper Stash challenge as I was inspired by the pretty Glistening Season Pion Design papers to create my Vintage style page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Winter Wonderland so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my wintry Christmas page.

I’m also joining the lovely Wen and her Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutral Christmas focal papers (I hope you don’t mind the pop of colour from my blue wintry background).

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Baby It’s Cold Outside challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my frosty snowy art journal page.

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:

• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Paris Dusk, Team Zeal, Rich Cocoa)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Gummiapan Stamps (Reed Plant
• Foliage Dies – Spellbinders (unknown), Cut & Create (Holly, Wreath)
• Snowflake Dies – Dovecraft (Merry Christmas DCDIE052X16)
• Pion Design Glistening Season Collection (Tags – PD6612)
• Doily
• Dark green paper
• Blue Vellum
• Swedish House Crafts (Fabric Flower Spots)
• Blue round gems
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Stix2 double-sided tape and mini glue dots
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Let It Snow … for Simon Says Stamp

Hi everyone! It’s lovely to be in the Designer Spotlight over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this month. Thank you for all your kind comments and support last week!

This week the theme is Let It Snow.

I was inspired by Simon Says Stamp (SSS) Frozen Fractals and Tim Holtz Urban Tapestry stamp sets to create a mixed media panel that could be made into a card or in this case used as the centre piece for my art journal page.

To create the panel, I started by cutting a piece of mixed media paper to A5 size, and then I stamped the pretty white snowflakes using the SSS Frozen Fractals stamp set, Versamark Watermark ink and white Stampendous embossing powder. I coloured it using Milled Lavender, Chipped Sapphire and Salty Ocean Distress Ink by spritzing the panel with water then applying the inks. The bird and foliage are from the Urban Tapestry stamp set and they are stamped using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink and a brown Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

Next I created the die cut ivy and berries using Tim Holtz Sizzix Garden Greens Thinlets, white cardstock and two different blue shades of vellum.

The ivy is coloured using Moss, Leaf Green, Bud Green and Chocolate Spectrum Aqua Markers and detailed using a black fine line marker. I layered the coloured ivy leaves and vellum berries over the white die cut pieces, so they were slightly off centre making the white cardstock look like a coating of snow.

To continue the snowy theme, I doodled snow onto the branch and foliage using a white Uniball gel pen. To finish the panel, I embellished it with SSS Frozen Fractals sequins and added some Icicle Stickles to add some sparkle to both the centre of the sequins and the die cut berries.

As I wanted to use the panel as the centre piece for my art journal page, I also created a wood effect background. Firstly I applied a thin wash of Ground Espresso Distress Ink to the page using a paintbrush and then I used the same ink to stamp snowflakes using the SSS Frozen Fractals stamp set again. I also used a blending tool to stencil the Ground Espresso ink using a Mini Specimen Template by The Crafter’s Workshop. Then I sprinkled Dark Brown and Sandstone Brusho powders onto the page and applied glossy gel medium over the top using a paintbrush, making sure I dragged the paintbrush vertically down the page to create the wood grain effect.

I mounted the panel onto the page using double-sided tape and added the wording, some more die cut berries, SSS Frozen Fractals Sequins and Icicle Stickles, which finished the page.

This page reminds me of Christmas a few years ago and the lovely woodland walk that we went on with my family; as you can see I was very happy to see the snow!

What could be better than a steaming cup of hot chocolate to warm you up after a walk in the snow – I’m wishing the T Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday a very Happy T Day !

I enjoyed creating my art journal page for the Let it Snow 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 are 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 Art Journal Journey and the lovely Erika for her Vintage or Modern challenge this month with my Let it snow page.

I’m also joining Moo Mania & More and their Tic, Tac, Toe theme (Designer Paper – vellum, Die-Cut – foliage, Circles – sequins and stencilling).

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

• Simon Says Stamp Frozen Fractals Clears Stamp Set
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Urban Tapestry Cling Rubber Stamps
• Docrafts Clear Stamp Block Papermania
• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Stampendous Embossing Powder Basics (White)
• Ranger Heat Gun
• Ranger Inkssentials MINI MISTER Spray Bottle Tool
• Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad (Milled Lavender)
• Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad (Chipped Sapphire)
• Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad (Salty Ocean)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa)
• Faber-Castell Craft Stamper Big Brush Pen (Nougat)
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Garden Greens Thinlets
• Crafter’s Companion Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock
• Crafter’s Companion Floral Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker
• Zig Chisel Tip Glue Pen
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Simon Says Stamp Frozen Fractals Sequins
• Ranger Inkessentials Glossy Accents
• Ranger Stickles (Icicle)
• Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad (Ground Espresso)
• The Crafter’s Workshop Mini Specimens 6 x 6 Template
• Ranger Ink Blending Tool Applicator Foam
• Ranger Multi Medium Gloss
• Fiskars Paper Trimmer
• Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy Cleaner

Friends and Family

Its time for a new challenge over at Try it On Tuesday and our theme for the next two weeks, is Friends and Family.

You’ll find some beautiful inspiration from my Design Team teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too. My art journal page today celebrate Friends, Family and Life – I hope you like it!

I started by stencilling the background of leaves using a Falling Leaves stencil from Newton’s Nook and six different colours of Distress Ink. I blended and shaded the colours so that the Vintage Photo and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink were around the edges of the page, then as I worked towards the centre I added Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and finally finished with Mustard Seed Distress Ink in the centre of the page. I also positioned the stencil so that the larger leaves were around the outside of the page and the smaller leaves were in the centre. Then I stamped a maple leaf stamp and oak leaf stamp from Tim Holtz Autumn Blueprints stamp set onto the page using black Archival Ink. I coloured the leaves and also the leaf names using the Seedless Preserve, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed Distress Ink with a paintbrush. Then I shaded under the bottom edge of each leaf using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to give them a shadow so they had a 3D look. Next I added some Tim Holtz Small Talk stickers which read “let life surprise you”, “live your life” and “life is good”. I drew boxes and arrows around them to match the blueprint design of the leaves using a black Derwent Graphik marker. The large sentiment which reads “Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful” is a Pocket Card from Tim Holtz and is stuck to the page using double-sided  foam tape. I also added the words “Thankful”, “Friends” and “Family” using Tim Holtz Letter Labels and used the Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to add a shadow under them which finished the page.

The bands and shades of colour on my page reminds me of the beautiful mat that our forever friend’s bought us for our wedding anniversary present; it travelled back from America with us and now sits in my hallway at the bottom of the stairs. It is such a happy reminder of the time we spent with them (grin!).

On our wedding anniversary we also had an amazing Maine lobster dinner at their house too, which was so delicious!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and sharing our drinks, red wine, iced water or a beer which as you can see is served in my special Red Sox Beer cooler (grin!) – Happy T day!

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 Erika from BioArtGal, who is hosting the Vintage or Modern challenge over at Art Journal Journey as this page celebrates happy memories with friends and family!

As I incorporate squares into the design of this page with the frames of colour from the stencilled background, stamped Autumn BluePrint leaf images and also the sentiments, I’m pleased to join the Square It challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Thanks/Thanksgiving challenge with my art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join the November Link Party #45 – Anything Goes over at Cropstop Blog with my page of fall leaves too.

Don’t forget that over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge the theme is Thanks/Thanksgiving this week, it would be lovely to see you there!

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 (Vintage Photo, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Newton’s Nook Designs Purr-fect Stencil (Falling Leaves NN1709T01)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stamper’s Anonymous (Autumn Blueprint CMS133)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193, Label Letters #TH93072)
• The Range double-sided foam tape