Philharmonic – Viennese Whirl

Posted on May 3, 2024 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of the month (and wow, I can’t believe that it’s May already), so it’s time for our new challenge at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by a night out to see the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra last month (smile!).

I started this page by covering the background with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and some Salvaged Patina Distress Paint. Then I used a couple of Creative Expressions stencils to firstly remove some of the Distress paint using a baby wipe, then to lightly apply some Black Soot Distress Ink and finally to add some Pébéo Texture Paste. I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and I added some sheet music using a glue stick and then I splattered the page using black acrylic paint. When dry, I edged the sheet music pieces using a black Uni Pin marker. The instruments and wording were cut from the recycled programme from the concert.

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

We had a lovely evening at the Philharmonic – Viennese Whirl concert, the music was wonderful (smile!); they played Johann Strauss II Emperor Waltz, Berg Violin Concerto, Johann Strauss II Blue Danube, and Beethoven Symphony No.7 in A Major.

Johann Strauss II is one of my favourites; if you are interested, you can check out the links and listen to excerpts of the two Johann Strauss II pieces here, Emperor’s Waltz and Blue Danube.

Stay safe and well! x

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

Sisters

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Let's Art Journal

This page was inspired by my sister; we go to Aqua Aerobics every week together where you’ll find us singing along to the songs and giggling (a lot – smile!).

Purple is my sister’s favourite colour, so I started by painting a purple wash around the edges of the page; gradually pulling the colour into the centre so that the purple faded out in the centre. Then to make the centre brighter, I added some white acrylic paint blending it with the purple using a baby wipe. Next I used a stencil, around the edges of the page, to add some Ranger Texture paste which I had coloured using DecoArt Glamour Dust Purple Passion Glitter Paint, and then I left it to dry. The wording was a Kaisercraft sticker and reads “Giggles, secrets, sometimes tears, sisters and friends, through the years”. I added some little hearts that were cut from the sticker cardstock using a heart shaped punch. Finally I arranged the paper flowers and assorted gems, which my sister gifted me one Christmas (thank you!).

There’s still another week to join our Inspired By A Song challenge over at Try it on Tuesday; me and my sister always enjoy singing and “Sisters” is a favourite of ours.

Of course, the Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye lip-synced version is fab and so much fun (smile!); both are from the same film, White Christmas.

As part of my birthday present this year, my sister kindly treated me to some Purple Moose beers; here we have Elderflower Ale (Pale Ale), Chocolate Moose (Chocolate and Vanilla Porter), High Hops (Tropical IPA), Antlered IPA (India Pale Ale) and Navigator (Red IPA).

My gift included this amazing glass, if you look closely it has lots of little white mooses all over it – yay! As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my glass and beers with the T Gang – cheers and Happy T Day!

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Life is so good

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Let's Art Journal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hoping that you all stay safe and well! x

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

Challenges

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

Hello Happy

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of the month, so it’s time for our new challenge at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I had fun creating this springtime mixed media page as it seems that spring is on its way with all the daffodils and blossoms flowering at the moment.

I started this page by embossing the background using a Fragments stamp set by Tim Holtz, a VersaMark Watercolour stamp pad and some bronze embossing powder. Then I covered the page with Brushed Bronze Distress Paint and when dry, I applied some black metallic wax and Salvaged Patina Distress Paint to create some contrast. Next I arranged lots of ephemera and stickers by Simple Stories, Kaisercraft and Tim Holtz. Then to finish, I splattered the page with white and black acrylic paints and the Salvaged Patina Distress Paint.

These are the daffodils flowering in our garden at the moment, which I seem to think don’t normally appear until March. Do you think that spring flowers seems to flowering early this year?

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

Four Seasons Challenge – Spring Season March 2024 Challenge

Alpine Punch

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Let's Art Journal

It’s time for a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday, which for the next two weeks is Add Some Text.

As you can see, I used lots of text on my page; recycling a menu and book pages for the background and also some tea packaging.

I started by covering the page with text; I collaged torn pieces of Dictionary and cyclopaedia pages and also Andělský Pivovar menu, which was from my previous post (as the tea shop, that we bought the tea from, was located in the same area of Prague).

The papers were stuck in place using a glue stick and Liquitex matte gel medium. Once dry, I added some colour using an Iced Chai Faber-Castell Gelato and edged the paper pieces using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker; smudging the colours onto the page with my finger. Next I backed the red snowflake tea packaging onto cardstock and cut out the labels. I also used the packaging to die cut a teacup, hearts, and snowflakes using three different Sizzix Thinlits sets; the Thinlits were Tea Time by Olivia Rose, Falling Hearts by Tim Holtz and Cosy Winter by Tim Holtz. I arranged them onto the page with some winter foliage, to match the wreath on the packaging, which was also die cut; from linen textured cardstock using Funky Festive Thinlits by Tim Holtz. I arranged everything onto the page using a glue tape pen and I painted some steam rising from the cup, using a sponge to apply white acrylic paint, before sticking the hearts and snowflakes in place, so they stand out more.

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

When we visited the Anděl district of Prague, we purchased a Christmas blended tea. The tea is called Alpský Punč, which means Alpine Punch and is a blend of black tea, raisins, apples, cinnamon, raisins, orange blossom, walnut leaves and cloves. As T Stands for T Day, I’m pleased to join Bleubeard and Elizabeth with my tea inspired page and photos – Happy T Day!

I hope you are staying safe and well.

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Erika from BioArtGal; she has chosen It’s On The Calendar as her theme so I’m joining with my Alpine Punch tea page.

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

Happy New Year 2024

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

Here’s wishing you a wonderful New Year!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:

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

Winter Snowman

Posted on December 28, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

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

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

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

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

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

Challenges

Merry Christmas Trees

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

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

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

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

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

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:

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

Once upon a Christmas time

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

It’s Creative Artiste’s #100th Challenge! so we are celebrating with a special challenge theme of Anything Mixed Media Goes with the option of Christmas and if you enter, you even have a chance to win this prize (which will go to our winner).

I always love to recycle items on my pages, so this beautiful gift card wallet was perfect for my special mixed media page celebrating 100 challenges at Creative Artiste.

I created a wintery scene to match the gift card wallet by adding some watered-down beige paint over the top three-quarters of the page and then applying some white gesso over the bottom quarter of the page. Next I secondary stamped grey trees and foliage, in the background, using a couple of free stamps and some black Archival Ink. The fir trees were stamped multiple times using different green inks, which included Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness and Pine Needles Distress Ink; I love the way the white gesso acted as a resist, with the ink, to give a snowy effect. The little robins were stamped and coloured with Spectrum Tri-Blend markers, fussy cut out and stuck in place. I added the “joy to the world” wording, which was a Kaisercraft sticker and then to finish, I splattered the whole page with some heavy density white acrylic paint.

Of course, there was a reason why I used the gift card wallet as part of my design and that was to store a card that I created recording that – Once Upon a Christmas Time Creative Artiste reached 100 challenges (smile!).

I hope you are staying safe and well!

Thanks so much 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 join the following challenges:

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

Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog – MLCCB #53 Anything Christmas Goes

Take a chance

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

I love to recycle and use up leftovers from previous projects on my pages, so here’s such a page to inspire you to join our Nature challenge over at Art Journal Journey, which I’m happy to be hosting this month. I hope you’ll join us there!

For my grungy background, I recycled some paper kitchen towel which I’d used to mop up Distress Inks; they were layered onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. Next I added the two butterflies and lots of die cut foliage and flowers that were in my craft stash; as far as I remember, the butterflies were stamped using a Paperbabes Stamp set using black Archival Ink onto some ink stained tissue paper, and the flowers and foliage were die cut using a Wildflower Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from yellow and brown tissue paper, and also from some black/white cardstock that was recycled from some cookie packaging. I added the wording “Take a chance don’t ever look back” which was a Kaisercraft sticker. Then to finish, I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint.