Christmas is coming

For the next two weeks our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Christmas is coming.

My art journal page features traditional Christmas red and green colours and Christmas trees; I love all things Christmas so I can’t wait to see your Christmas creations (grin!). 

For the background, I stamped a Lattice stamp using Aged Mahogany Distress Ink over the whole page and then spritzed the page with water. When dry I added pieces of green polka dot washi tape to create the Christmas tree, added some red gemstones and then the numbers and trunk which are stickers from Kaisercraft. Next I die cut the letters to create the “Christmas is coming” wording out of white card; they are coloured using a green pen, stuck in place using Zig glue pen and more detail was added using a white Uniball gel pen. I used another sticker set to add the snowflake discs and create the tags, layering them together with the trees and stars and adding a bow of red and white twine. I also added some wording from a Tim Holtz Christmas sticker book which reads “the best tree”, “the magic tree”, “Christmas time has come at last” and “25^th of December”. To finish, I added some green and white glittery snowflakes and also some red gems to the tags and snowflake discs.

There’s some amazing inspiration from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over to take a look.

The numbered tree that I’ve created on this page could be used to count down the days until Christmas. I’m not sure where this year has gone now that December is here and oh my, there are only 15 days left until Christmas!

Another way this page could be used is as a calendar marking off the dates until Christmas Day is here. I think my friends have the best idea though, with the reward of a chocolate each day from this fabulous advent calendar! I may just have to get one of these next year – looks so yummy (grin!).

I noticed this advent calendar when we were visiting little Ellie, doesn’t she look adorable after her recent visit for her trim at the doggie parlour (double grin!).

Oh, and not forgetting hot chocolate for T Stands for Tuesday . This time of year we often enjoy a cup with a scrummy Lebkuchen which are only on sale at Christmastime. These ones are dipped in dark chocolate – delicious! I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang – 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 glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as 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 Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words on this page.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Traditional Christmas challenge with the traditional red and green Christmas colours on my page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with the stars on the tags and the snowflakes star shapes I included on this page.

I’m also joining in the Stars challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the stars on the tags and the snowflakes star shapes I included on this page too.

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

• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Lattice CS120)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Aged Mahogany)
• Poundland (3 Washi Tapes)
• Eleganza Craft Stickers (Gems Red No:16)
• Hero Arts Gemstones (Red & Green CH120)
• Docrafts Papermania Adhesive  Stones (Red PMA351607)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Turtle Doves SS149)
• Docrafts X-Cut Alphabet Die Set (Centurion XCU503083)
• Recycled white card
• Pentel Sign Pen (Green)
• Zig Memory 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Dovecraft Collections Christmas Basics (A5 Glitter Stickers DCSTK018X16)
• Red & white twine
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Christmas Sticker Book #TH93999)
• Poundland (Christmas Craft Pack)

Holly Jolly Christmas

Our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey is Holly Jolly Christmas, which is being hosted by Sandy. Here’s what it is all about:

“This month Anything Goes as long as it says Christmas and is in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.”

I love all things Christmas so I had great fun Art Journaling this Holly Jolly Christmas page using lots of Tim Holtz products.

I started by covering the page with Botanicals Collage paper from Tim Holtz using matte gel medium and left it to dry. Then I coloured the centre of the page using Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink with a blending tool. I painted white gesso around the edges pulling the gesso into the centre of the page using a dry paintbrush so the gesso didn’t mix with the Distress Ink. I then added some splatters of white gesso, black acrylic paint and Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Next I die cut some holly using a Holiday Greens Thinlet set by Tim Holtz and my Big Shot machine; they are die cut from some scrap white paper which I coloured using Mowed Lawn, Pine Needles and Forest Moss Distress Ink, edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker and stuck in place using a Zig glue pen. The berries were also die cut from some scrap paper which were coloured with Festive Berries Distress Ink.

I layered the sheet music and tartan strips together which are from a Christmas Sticker Book from Tim Holtz and edged them using a black marker smudging it to give a worn look. The Santa Claus, “25” and “Special Delivery” signage are from the Tim Holtz Christmas Sticker Book too. I also added the wording “have a holly jolly Christmas”, “A visit from Santa Claus” and “was a jolly happy soul” which were again from the Tim Holtz sticker book; once stuck in place they were edged with a black marker. 

If you create a Christmas art journal page then why not share it with us at A Vintage Journey, it would be lovely to see you there (grin!). For more Inspiration, please pop over to see the amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey too.

Whilst creating this page I was listening to the fabulous Michael Bublé crooning the song “Holly Jolly Christmas” (grin!). This is a song that you can’t help but sing along to – wishing you a Holly Jolly Christmas!

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, like A Vintage Journey, 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 Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words and numbers on this page.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Traditional Christmas challenge with my Holly Jolly Christmas art journal page with the Santa Claus and holly.

I’m pleased to be able to join the #108 – Winter challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Holly Jolly Christmas page too.

I’m also happy to join Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their #56 – Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed-media art journal page as I used collage paper, inks, gesso, paper, stickers and markers to create it.

Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog their theme is # 32 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Veggie Stamping, so I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge too.

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

• Tim Holtz Collage Paper (Botanicals #TH93705)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Rusty Hinge, Mowed Lawn, Pine Needles, Forest Moss, Festive Berries)
• Recycled white paper
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Holiday Greens 658759)
• The Range (5×5 Dies Holly)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Christmas Sticker Book #TH93999)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)

Autumn/Winter Tag

Today at A Vintage Journey is Tag Friday, which only takes place when there is a fifth Friday in the month; it’s all about creating something you love so there is no particular theme, it’s time to play, experiment and have fun – it would be great to see you there!

This Merry Moose is one of my favourite Thinlets from Tim Holtz so I couldn’t resist using it to create this double-sided Mixed Media tag showing the same scene in autumn and in winter.

To start, I used a large Poster Card by Tim Holtz to create the tag by cutting off two of the corners to make a tag shape and punching a hole using my Crop-A-Dile machine. I covered both sides of the tag with some white gesso as the card had blue flowers on one side and beige postcards on the other and I wanted to tone them down a little. I then used Scattered Straw Distress Ink to colour around the edges of the beige side which I chose for autumn and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink on the blue side of the tag which seemed perfect for winter. I stamped some snowflakes using two blue Memento Inks onto the blue side of the tag and then the tree trunks on both sides of the tag using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink.

For the autumn scene: I coloured the stamped tree trunk using Dark Sepia and black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and a black Uni Pin pen; stencilled the sun and coloured it using a Sun Yellow Inktense pencil; and coloured the foreground using Forest Moss Distress Ink and a Leaf Green Inktense pencil.

For the winter scene: I coloured the tree using a Cold Grey and black Faber-Castell marker and a black Uni Pin pen; used white gesso to colour the foreground and also to stencil the moon, once dry I added some texture to the moon using Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink, a Tim Holtz stamp with Black Soot Distress Ink, a white Faber-Castell marker and also a white Uni Posca paint pen. Then I used Inkylicious Fluffy Puffy Stuff and a heat gun to create the snow.

The Merry Moose, leaves, stars and wording are all Thinlets from Tim Holtz which I die cut from some linen textured paper coloured using Distress Inks: the moose was coloured using Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso ink; the antlers using Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo ink; the leaves using Scattered Straw and Rusty Hinge ink; the stars using Scattered Straw and Mustard Seed ink; and the wording using Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge and Chipped Sapphire ink.

To make them stand out from the background more, the autumn die cuts are edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and …

… the winter ones with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker and they are all stuck into place using a Zig Memory glue pen.

To finish, I added an eyelet with my Crop-A-Dile machine which reinforced the hole as I’m using a book ring to secure all of my double-sided tags together when they are finished to create a Tag Journal.

For more Tag Friday inspiration, please pop over to A Vintage Journey where you’ll find some fabulous tags created by my fellow Creative Guides. I hope you are inspired to join us as I’m so looking forward to seeing your tag designs!

I have been lucky enough to see moose a number of times in the wild whilst holidaying in America, although I have never seen any in Maine. I’m told you are more likely to see them further North in the state and we did stop to look for them at this quiet spot to no avail, maybe next time (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 #107 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as my autumn tag encompasses the picture colours and my winter tag matches the stars too.

I’m joining the Use your scraps challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the paper scraps I used for some of the die cut pieces.

I’m also happy to be joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too.

Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog their theme is Anything Goes + optional twist of Watercoloring, so I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge too.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this double-sided tag:     

• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Chipped Sapphire, Forest Moss, Black Soot, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Rusty Hinge, Mustard Seed)
• Stamp Set (Winter Wonderland – snowflakes, Winter Woodland – tree)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Bahama Blue, Danube Blue, Toffee Crunch)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B, Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199, White 101)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.3mm)
• Inkylicious Template and Stencil (Sun and Moons)
• Derwent Inktense Pencils (Sun Yellow 0200, Leaf Green 1600)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Ink (Platinum Planet)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous (Urban Tapestry CMS061)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Inkylicious (Fluffy Puffy Stuff)
• Craft Sensations Luxury Cardstock Linen Texture (White)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz (Merry Moose 663103, Garden Greens 661206, Snowy Stars 663117, Alphanumeric Label 664177)
• Scraps of metallic yellow Linen Texture Paper and blue Glitter paper
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• American Crafts We r Memory Keepers (Crop-A-Dile and Standard Eyelets 41582-4)

12 Days of Christmas

Our new theme for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Inspired by a Song/Christmas Carol.

My page was inspired by the song ‘12 Days of Christmas’. I’m so excited to find out which song you have chosen to inspire your creations, please be sure to let us know.

I started by dividing the page into 12 equal sections; each sections is coloured and then stamped with a Sheet Music stamp using a different colour of Distress Ink; in numerical order the colours were Shabby Shutters, Festive Berries, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves, Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Abandoned Coral, Picked Raspberry, Twisted Citron and Fired Brick. They are all edged using a Postage Stamp border stamp and black Archival Ink and then splattered with white gesso and black acrylic paint. I added the numbers which are die cut from black paper and stuck into place, like all of the paper elements, using a Zig Memory glue pen. Then I created a scene to depict each line of the song using some white mixed media paper to either stamp with black Archival Ink or die cut the different elements. The main characters are from a 12 Days of Christmas stamp set by Urban Stamps and for:

1. A partridge in a pear tree – I fussy cut the partridge and three pears that I had stamped and arranged them on the page with a die cut branch from a Garden Greens Thinlet set by Tim Holtz which I edged using a black marker pen.
2. Turtle Doves – I surrounded the dove with some hearts that were created using a paper punch.
3. French Hens – The foreground was created using a circle die cut which I stamped with some French wording and the three snowflakes are die cut too.
4. Calling Birds – The berry branch was from the Tim Holtz Garden Greens Thinlet set and the music notes were hand drawn and cut out.
5. Gold Rings – I suspended the five gold rings using thin strips of paper and added some bows that were stamped from the 12 Days of Christmas stamp set and they were very fiddly to cut out (grin!).
6. Geese a Laying – I stamped and cut out some extra eggs.
7. Swans a Swimming – I added some extra waves and a circle die cut to depict the sun.
8. Maids a Milking – The flowers were die cut using a Funky Florals Thinlet set from Tim Holtz.
9. Ladies Dancing – I created the dance floor and little flowers using another Urban Arts stamp set.
10. Lords a Leaping – The foreground and the snow fall were created using die cuts.
11. Pipers Piping – I used the Sheet Music stamp again to depict the Piper’s music.
12. Drummers Drumming – The tiered podium is created using a square die cut set and the stars are from the 12 Days of Christmas stamp set.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from my Design Teamies.

Do you know the song 12 Days of Christmas? It’s an English Christmas carol which has a simple verse structure that is modified with the progressive addition of Christmas gifts, so that each verse is longer than the verse before. It starts:

On the first day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
A Partridge in a Pear Tree

On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

… etc, etc

And ends:

On the twelfth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
12 Drummers Drumming
11 Pipers Piping
10 Lords a Leaping
9 Ladies Dancing
8 Maids a Milking
7 Swans a Swimming
6 Geese a Laying
5 Gold Rings
4 Calling Birds
3 French Hens
2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Our local garden centre had a Christmas evening that I went along to with my sister and mum, we had a wonderful time and we all bought some Christmas gifts for family and friends.

The Christmas displays were so pretty and they even had live music which I really enjoyed (grin!).

They also treated us to a free mince pie and some mulled wine, so as T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing this treat with you too – Happy T Day!

Sending Happy Thanksgiving wishes to those of you who celebrate this week too!

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 lovely Rike from rike’s art and her Fruit and Veggies challenge over at Art Journal Journey with ny pear tree.

I’m also happy to join in the Hand Stamped challenge hosted by the lovely Craftyfield over at Country View Challenges as I used six different stamp sets for this page including the main characters for each of the 12 scenes being hand stamped and fussy cut out.

As I included stars on my page, I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Starry Starry Night challenge too.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Shabby Shutters, Festive Berries, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves, Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Abandoned Coral, Picked Raspberry, Twisted Citron, Fired Brick)
• Woodware Clear Magic Singles (Sheet Music JGS111)
• Docrafts Papermania Mini Clear Stamps (Letters to Santa PMA907917)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper (Black)
• Sizzix Thinlets Debi Patter (Brush Numbers 661726)
• White mixed media paper
• Docrafts Papermania Urban Stamps (12 Days of Christmas – Icons PMA907909, Craft Collection – Pastels PMA907223)
• Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlets (Garden Greens 661206, Funky Floral #1 662700)
• Sharpie Permanent marker (Black)
• Tonic Studios Paper Punch Accent (Hearts Sider 830E)
• The Works (Cutting Dies – Stitched Circles, Stitched Squares)
• Crafter’s Companion Parisian Collection Clear Stamp (Beau Collage S-PAR-ST-BCOL)
• Poppy Stamps Craft Dies (Small Blooming Poinsettia Style No: 902)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Craft Sensations (Clear Stamps CR0274/16R1)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Glue Dual Action Pen)

Be Thankful

I have plenty to be thankful for including the wonderful life with my hubby and my dearest friends; so as its Thanksgiving next week I had fun creating this autumnal thankful page.

I’m sending Happy Thanksgiving wishes to those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving next week, have a wonderful time!

To start, I painted the page with Hooker’s Green, Yellow Oxide and Raw Umber Liquitex acrylic paint and then applied Pébéo white gesso over the top with a brayer. When dry, I stamped some leaves by Tim Holtz using Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso and Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Ink and a grid design by Sheena Douglass using Potter’s Clay, Cottage Green and Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. I also stamped some grungy dots using black Archival Ink and both of the above Distress Archival Inks and then I splattered the page with white gesso. Next I recycled some thanksgiving magazine images of a dinner service portraying a turkey, duck, pheasant and partridge; they are fussy cut, edged with a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck to the page using a UHU Stic. They are arranged with some pretty acrylic daisy flowers and autumnal coloured leaves which I die cut using Tim Holtz thinlets. The leaves are cut from some textured metallic papers, edged using Ground Espresso Distress Ink and a blending tool, and stuck into place using glue dots. To finish, I added the “Be Thankful” wording which is a piece of washi tape which I stuck onto some white card and stuck into place using double-sided tape.

The autumn leaves seemed to have been and gone quickly this year; when we walked around Lytham Hall with our friends this week we found that most of the trees had lost their leaves so there was a thick coating of leaves along the pathways. There were really only these Beech trees which still retained their beautiful autumnal leaves.

Of course, little Ellie was in her element chasing leaves and picking up sticks, although I think this stick may have been a little big for her. As you can see her coat has got quite long so she’s off for a trim at the doggie stylists this week (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 Peace & Tranquility challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my reflective Be Thankful page.

I’m joining in the Recycle challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I recycled magazine Thanksgiving images on this page.

I’m also pleased to join Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday and the Autumn & Gratitude theme with Be Thankful autumnal designed page.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog for their Anything Goes + Watercoloring with my autumnal mixed media art journal page.

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

• Liquitex Basic Acrylic Color (Hooker’s Green, Yellow Oxide, Raw Umber)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Falling Leaves CMS097)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Hickory Smoke)
• Sheena by Sheena Douglass Create a Flower Rubber Stamps (Funky Textures 2)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Potter’s Clay, Cottage Ivy, Rich Cocoa)
• Creative Stamping Magazine Issue #61 (Autumnal Treasures)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Recycled images from Old Magazine
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Sanguine 188 B)
• UHU Stic
• Crafty Things (Acrylic Daisy Stickers)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Fall Foilage 660955)
• Paper Bundle from local Craft Shop
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ground Espresso)
• Stix2 glue dots
• Washi tape
• Recycled white cardstock
• X-Press It! double-sided tape

Let it snow

My page design today was inspired by my new winter hat which is so pretty, it is navy blue in colour and has butterflies and sparkly gems on it (grin!).

This is also a reminder that you still have another week to join our Cold, Cold, Cold challenge at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by smooshing Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink onto the page by stamping the ink pad onto a blending mat, spritzing with water and pressing the mat onto the page. Then I used a blending tool to add the same Distress Ink around the edges of the page to darken the colour. Next I stamped a Hessian texture stamp from Kaisercraft, as it reminded me of the woven texture of my hat, using Paris Dusk Memento Ink. I also stamped some dots from Hampton Arts, as they looked like the sparkly lines of gems on my hat, using the same Memento Ink and also some Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink. I added the silver snowflakes which are stickers from Docrafts and then I splattered the page with silver Liquitex Ink and the Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. I added the embroidery butterfly and lots of clear gems to the lines of stamped dots to represent the sparkle on my hat. I’m all set for winter now as I have my new hat so I finished the page by adding the “Let it snow” wording which is from a set of silver glittery letter stickers.

Here’s my new hat, I just fell in love with it as soon as I saw it! What could be better than the navy blue colour, sparkle, pretty butterflies and a big fat pom-pom on the top (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing the love and my hot chocolate which like my hat is guaranteed to keep you warm on cold winter days, and this one has a shot of gingerbread syrup in it – so yummy! Wishing you all a very 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 pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps .with my wintry art journal page.

I’m joining the Peace & Tranquility challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my winter butterfly page.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog for their Anything Goes + optional twist of Watercolouring with my wintry art journal page.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Chipped Sapphire)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Texture – Hessian CS253)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Paris Dusk)
• Hampton Art Doodlebug Designs (Thankful ICO162)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Ink (Platinum Planet)
• Liquitex Ink! (Iridescent Bright Silver)
• Docrafts Glitterations Create Christmas (Snowflakes Silver)
• The Range (Fabric Butterflies)
• Stix2 glue dots
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• The Range (Alphabet Stickers PO205184)

Every Leaf

I love autumn and I find there’s nothing better then walking on crunchy leaves, so today’s page is inspired by sunny autumnal days and one of my favourite quotes by Emily Brontë:

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree”.

The background was started sometime ago. I had some green and brown Distress Inks leftover whilst creating another page which I didn’t want to waste, so I smooshed it onto a blank page and used some stamps to move the colour around. I covered it with some white acrylic paint and then to create the layers of leaves, I started by stencilling some large leaves using a Sheena Douglass stencil and Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink. The smaller leaves are stamped using Potter’s Clay, Rich Cocoa and Toffee Crunch Memento Inks and I also added some stamped splatters using black Archival Ink. To enhance the grungy look I also splattered the page with white and black acrylic paint. Then I added some more white acrylic paint and when dry I repeated the stencilling and stamping of the leaves again and I also used a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to colour the areas where the white acrylic paint covered the large leaves so they stood out more.

I used a stitched edge circle die and my Big Shot machine to cut out the circles from mixed media paper and coloured them using Fossilized Amber and Rusty Hinge Distress Inks with a blending tool. Then I used my Tim Holtz stamping platform to stamp the acorn, quote, leaves, bird, hedgehog and berries using black Archival Ink and then stuck them to the page using a UHU Stic. I also added some yellow and white enamel dots which finished the page.

There is someone else who like leaves, especially chasing them although little Ellie also sometimes eats them too (grin!). Ellie is our friend’s dog, she is a cavapoo and still a puppy, isn’t she super sweet (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 also happy to join in the Hand Stamped challenge hosted by the lovely Craftyfield over at Country View Challenges with my autumnal stamped art journal page.

I’m pleased to join the lovely Rike from rike’s art and her Fruit and Veggies challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the acorn on my page.

I’m also happy to join the Peace & Tranquility challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my peaceful autumnal page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday and the Autumn & Gratitude with my autumnal page.

I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my art journal page too.

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

• Background – leftover Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo Distress Ink
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Sheena Douglass Create a Flower Stencil (Just leaf It!)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Fossilized Amber)
• Creative Stamping Magazine Issue 61 (Autumnal Treasures)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Potter’s Clay, Rich Cocoa, Toffee Crunch)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Mixed Media Paper
• The Works (Cutting Dies, Pastel Enamel Dots)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Sanguine 188 B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• UHU Stic