30th Wedding Anniversary

As it’s our 30^th Wedding Anniversary or Pearl Wedding Anniversary, I thought I’d celebrate by creating another page, this time using pearls and also cream and peach colour tones to reflect the colour scheme at our wedding.

Thank you to everyone who left Happy Anniversary wishes on my previous post, that’s so kind of you (grin!).

I started by stamping the butterflies using a layering stamp set by Paperbabe Stamps called Butterfly Pieridae. Firstly, I stamped the butterfly wings with the background stamp using Peach Spectrum Aqua Marker and also Scattered Straw Distress Ink; I masked some of the wings that I stamped to create the different butterfly positions. Then I stamped three separate stamps to define the butterfly using Black Archival Ink this included the wing detail, the butterfly’s body and also the antennae. Next I stamped some hearts from the same Paperbabe stamp set using the Peach Spectrum Aqua Marker and the Scattered Straw Distress Ink again. Then I applied Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint through a Flourish Stencil from That’s Crafty using a sponge over the background. When dry, I added some torn pieces of Dictionary page using a glue stick; the words I chose were “wedding”, “marriage” and “anniversary”, and I outlined them using a black Derwent Graphik marker so they stood out more. I also cut some hearts from the dictionary pages using a paper punch; they are edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck down using a glue stick. The central heart is created using a doily, some gold glitter stickers, pearl gems, pearl roses and two pearl hearts; each of which were individually placed to build up the design, it is stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents. Then I added the gold glitter flowers and wording using the same stickers that I had used on the doily heart. To finish, I added some cream coloured felt swirls and embellished them with the pearl gems and roses.

It doesn’t seem like yesterday that we got married and the years seem to have flown by, well they do say “time flies when you’re having fun” and we certainly have had lots of fun over the years. So as T Stands for Tuesday we are toasting our anniversary with a glass of champagne – cheers and Happy T Day!

Sending Happy 30^th Anniversary wishes to Erika and her hubby too!

I’m pleased to join the lovely Linda, who is hosting Creature Comforts challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my Happy Anniversary page.

I’m also joining the lovely Wen and her Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutral coloured wedding anniversary page.

I’m also pleased to join the September Link Party #44 – Anything Goes over at Cropstop Blogwith my page as I included some products from companies that they carry in their store.

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:

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Peach)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• Paperbabe Stamps (Butterfly Pieridae Stamp Set)
• That’s Crafty! 8x8ins Stencil (Flourish TC8024)
• The Oxford Pocket Dictionary
• Woodware Craft Collection Paper Doily (Heart JL961)
• Self-Adhesive Felt Border (Scrolls FE196)
• The Range (Adhesive Pearls LCDOT002, Alphabet & Number Stickers Glitter SCSTK013)
• Home Bargains (Special Occasion – Mini Decorative Stickers 22740, Sweet Hearts 22809, Sticker Mania – Gel Stone Stickers 74749)
• Poundworld (Pearl Embellishments 137920-A)
• Craft Sensations (Ivory Deco Flowers CR0736-GE)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Pritt Stick

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Black, white and one other colour

Our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday is Black, white and one other colour. To inspire you further please see the fabulous Design Team creations over at our blog.

It was quite a dilemma choosing the one other colour for my art journal page (grin!), in the end I decided on Abandoned Coral in the form of both a Distress Spray and Distress Stain. I’m really looking forward to seeing which one other colour you choose too!

I started by covering the page with white gesso and when dry I applied Pébéo modelling paste with a palette knife, over the top using a Floral stencil by Tim Holtz. Next I used a Rossi Belle stamp set to stamp some images onto the background using black Archival Ink and rubbed the images with a baby wipe which removed some of the ink giving a distressed look. Then I sprayed Abandoned Coral Distress Spray over the flowers that I had stencilled and left it to dry. Once dry I layered some more white gesso over the background and then applied some Abandoned Coral Distress Stain, repeating the layers until I reached the look I was after; I let the white gesso and Distress Stain dry between each application so they didn’t blend together and become a muddy mess. Next I added some black DecoArt acrylic paint, firstly through a stencil from Creative Expressions using a sponge and then by adding black splatters using a paintbrush. I used some bubble wrap and a cardboard tube to stamp white DecoArt acrylic paint onto the page and then splattered the page with the white paint too. The flowers are cut from black and white numbered card from Kanban using the Wildflower Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz and my Big Shot machine. They are edged with black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. To finish, I added three Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz and outlined them with a black Derwent Graphik marker; I thought the wording was appropriate for this page considering my colour palette was limited to black, white and one other colour, they read “out of limitations comes creativity”, “be fearless” and “creativity take courage”.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my pot of green tea at a café in town called Elbourne’s Tea Emporium. I thought it matched the black white and one colour scheme with the red wrapper of the biscuit and heart hanging from the teapot, the white tea service and the black table. In case you are wondering, the little red heart is attached to the tea infuser as they use loose leaf tea. In the photo, you can also see a cup of Earl Grey tea, a glass of cloudy lemonade and a glass of ice water too but the cappuccino is hiding behind the plant (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 Linda, who is hosting Creature Comforts challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the soothing warmth of colour that I included on my art journal page.

Over at Country View Challenges their challenge is Plant-tastic so I’m pleased to join them with the flowers on my art journal page.

I’m pleased to join their Back To Nature challenge over at A Vintage Journey, as I was inspired by my limited colour palette to create this floral Mixed Media style page.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, their challenge is Anything Goes so I’m pleased to join this challenge too.

I’m also joining the anything goes theme called It’s been a while… over at Stamps & Stencils 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:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Pébéo Modelling Paste
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Spray (Abandoned Coral)
• Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Abandoned Coral)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.1 mm)
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil (Floral THS077)
• Prima Marketing Clear Stamps (Rossi Belle 587499)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Moroccan)
• Recycled cardboard tube – stamp
• Recycled bubble wrap – stamp
• Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz Alterations (Wildflowers 661190)
• Kanban (Mackenzie Numbers Black Background Card CRD1763)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

It’s been a while …for Stamps & Stencils

Hello everyone, I’m so excited to be over at Stamps & Stencils as Guest Designer for their It’s been a while… challenge this month. Sue is the host for this challenge and kindly provided the following brief:

Being creative often leads you in different directions and sometimes it isn’t until you start that you know where you are heading. For this challenge I thought that as we’ve not done it for a while it would be good to let your creative spirit wander and have a theme of Anything Goes. Your project must be mixed media and include stamping and/or stencilling but apart from that it’s up to you !

I am often inspired by things I see and do, so my art journal page is inspired by rainbow colours and sunshine to mark the end of summer. Here’s a sneak peek of the page I have created for this challenge, the full version can be found here at Stamps & Stencils along with my tutorial.

Thanks so much to the team at Stamps & Stencils for having me as Guest Designer this month. I hope that you are inspired by their It’s been a while… challenge too and are able to join in the fun!

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:

• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Boysenberry, Snow Cone, Lemon, Watermelon, Guava, Buttercream, Earl Grey)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Acrylic Paint (Black, White)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Finnabair Clear Stamp (Sponge #961909)
• Gummpanian Stamps (Collage Numbers 14030103, Worn Rings 2 11050601)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Ranger Dina Wakley Media Stencil (Wheels MDS45588)
• Hampton Art Graphic 45 cling mounted rubber stamps (Tropical Travelogue ICO135)
• Royal & Langnickel rub-on transfers (Motivate Sentiments #ROY510)
• Homemade decoupage paper (white tissue paper stamped using a Sheet Music stamp from Woodware Craft Collection and black Archival Ink)
• Book pages – Pear’s Cyclopedia 2007-2008 Edition
• Hobbycraft Decorative Tapes (Assorted Black & White 5971481007)
• The Works (3 Washi Tapes)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Journey, Destination and Adventure

This week we have had family staying over, so we have been on journeys, travelled to destinations and had a few adventures along the way too (grin!). So I created this page to remember their visit and capture our time together; the background depicts the ripples of the water at high tide on our walks, the car reminds me of our outing to a local car show, the natural colours and pretty flower serves as a reminder of all the nature we saw on our walks as we walked their dog three times a day, and then the maps, clocks, compass and postage stamps to remember our days out and adventures exploring new places.

I started by applying Pébéo white gesso with a brayer and then I added dots of black DecoArt acrylic paint and also Bright Aqua Green Heavy Body Liquitex paint over the top and used the brayer to create the wonderful texture. When the paint was dry, I stencilled a large clock on the right-hand side of the page using black Archival Ink and a blending tool. I stamped some Vintage Circles from Woodware Craft Collection using black Archival Ink and then I applied Rusty Hinge and Ground Espresso Distress Ink through a stencil by Andy Skinner using a blending tool. The white circles are stamped using a cardboard tube and white DecoArt acrylic paint, I used the Andy Skinner stencil and Distress Inks again to pattern the inside of the circles and defined the edges more using a white Uniball gel pen and a black Uni Pin marker. Next I added three pieces of washi tape horizontally across the page and then stamped lots of different images using black Archival Ink onto some paper from American Crafts. The stamped images included: some postage stamps, lace and a clock from Kaisercraft; a car stamp from Tim Holtz which I cut up to produce the car, bingo sheet, map and ruler; a patterned circle from Kaisercraft; a compass by Graphic 45 from Hampton Art; a hand pointing the way from a Steampunk stamp set from Docrafts; and some numbers from a Collage Number stamp from Gummpanian Stamps. I fussy cut all the stamped pieces out, edged them with Rusty Hinge and Ground Espresso Distress Ink and then a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. They are stuck to the page using a glue stick and Liquitex matte gel medium. Once the glue was dry, I edged them with a black Uni Pin marker and added white detail to both the images and stamping in the background using a Uniball gel pen. Next I cut a wildflower out of white cardstock using a die cut by Tim Holtz from Sizzix and my big shot machine, stuck it in place and outlined it using a black Uni Pin marker. I added two Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz idea-ology collection which read “the journey is the destination” and also “and so the adventure begins”, again they are outlined using a black Uni Pin marker. To finish, I added some Pébéo white gesso using a palette knife through a Vintage Diamond stencil from Creative Expressions.

Last Sunday we went to a Vintage Car Show with our visitors. It is a local show and was held on the green by the beach just round the corner from our house. We saw some beautiful cars including this one which is an Austin and looks a bit like the one on my page (grin!).

There were so many different cars there and we liked this one which was originally from Canada.

Or maybe this is more to your liking, it’s a Wolseley and I’m not sure my hubby would fit in it (grin!).

Some cars are Vintage now, even though I remember them whilst growing up … does that mean I’m getting old (double grin!). VW Beetles for example and we often see this gold one driving around town and look at the kettle and mugs, just right for T Stands for Tuesday!

Then we have local car clubs like this Land Rover Club which I thought Yvonne from Meggy’s way may like (triple grin!).

It turned into quite the adventure as we also saw the high tide which we don’t see that often and some kitesurfers right next to the beach.

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 lovely Yvonne from Meggy’s way, who is hosting A World of Fantasy challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my Journey, Destination and Adventure art journal page.

As this page includes circles, I’m also joining the Circles challenge over at Moo Mania & More.

As I included circles on this page, I’m also joining the Going Round & Round challenge over at The Artistic Stamper too.

I used 3 different stencils on this art journal page, so I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and there Use More Than One Stencil challenge.

Over at Country View Challenges their challenge is Planes, Trains & Automobiles so I’m pleased to join them with the car and journey art journal page.

With the quote and all the stamping I used to create this page I’m also joining Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their Quote Away challenge.

As I used quite a few Tim Holtz products to create this page I thought of A Vintage Journey, so I’m pleased to join their Back To Nature challenge this month as I was inspired by the nature we saw on our walks so included the natural colours and pretty flower on my Art Journaling and Vintage style 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:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Bright Aqua Green)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge, Ground Espresso)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.1mm, 0.8mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• DecoArt Andy Skinner Mixed Media Stencils (Shedded ANDY08)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Vintage Circles FRS665)
• Cardboard tube – stamp
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Magnolia Grove CS822, Provincial CS243)
• Tim Holtz Components Collection (COM013CAR)
• Hampton Art Graphic 45 cling mounted rubber stamps (Tropical Travelogue ICO135)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Gummpanian Stamp (Collage Numbers 14030103)
• Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz (Wildflowers 661190)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Vintage Diamond CEMSDIAM)
• American Crafts Papers (DIY Store 366665)
• White Cardstock
• Poundland (Washi Tapes 156456-GE16)
• The Works (3 Washi Tapes)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick

Creativity and Imagination

I enjoyed using my creativity and imagination to create this industrial looking page and pretty steampunk butterflies. I also had fun raiding my hubby’s tool supplies for the metal pins and washers for this page (grin!). I hope that you like it too!

To create an industrial look, I started by applying modelling paste using a Metal Grid and also a Clock background stencil from That’s Crafty! When the paste was dry, I covered the entire page in Neutral Gray Liquitex acrylic paint. I painted some Iridescent Bright Silver Liquitex Ink over and around the stencilled modeling paste and then I applied some Midnight Sparkle and Silver Grey metallic wax lustres over the top which emphasised the texture and detail of the metal grid and clocks. I also splattered the page with the same silver Liquitex ink and a copper spray to give a grungy look. Once dry, I stencilled roses onto the page using Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and a blending tool positioning them in between the metal grids and clocks. I stamped some cogs/gears using black Archival Ink and a Docrafts Steampunk stamp set and then I splattered the whole page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

To create my steampunk butterflies I used a wonderful butterfly stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps that I recently won over at the Paperbabe Stamp Challenge. This stamp set allows you to layer all the different butterfly parts so it looks more detailed and realistic, you can even create different butterfly poses to produce flight and movement. As this is my first time using these stamps, I kept it simple and started by stamping the larger wing background layer stamp using Rusty Hinge Distress Ink onto white cardstock. Then I stamped the same cog/gear stamp, that I used on my page, over the top using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and covered them with copper Papermania embossing powder. I removed any excess powder and used my heat gun to melt it until it turned glossy. Then I stamped the detailed wing layer stamp from the same Paperbabe Stamp set using the VersaMark ink lining up the stamps so that they fit together, covered the wings with silver Papermania embossing powder and melted it with my heat gun. I cut the butterfly out of the cardstock, edged them with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and outlined the cog/gear detail using a black Derwent Graphik marker so they stood out more. I used a metal split pin, from my hubby’s tool supplies (grin!) to create the butterfly body by simply sliding the paper butterfly into the pin and then I stuck them to the page using Glossy Accents.

The “Creativity” and “Imagination” wording is created using Tim Holtz idea-ology Label Letter stickers which are edged with a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. To finish, I added some copper gems, some metal split lock washers, nuts, and internal tooth lock washers using Glossy Accents to stick them all in place. These metal pieces are from my hubby’s tool kit supplies and I did ask before I used them and I think they add a lovely industrial and steampunk feel to my page (grin!).

I have had a few questions about my art journal pages recently – how I photograph them, do I scan them and what I do with them, do I bind them into a book or journal?

My pages are always photographed outside in the garden in natural light and although I crop the photos to show just the actual page for my blog posts, my pages are actually all contained in a spiral bound pad. Once the journal is complete I make decorative covers on the front and back of the book. I like to look through the pages to remember what I’ve been up to and I also have a book stand in my craft room where a different page is displayed everyday from one of my Art Journals; it’s lovely to look at the page and recall the memories associated with it!

If you want to see and find out more about my art journal books then check out my post here.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m joining the T Gang and sharing a recent visit to Dahlia’s Kitchen where we had ice cream milkshakes, I have chocolate or banana milkshakes to choose from – yum! Of course they have other beverages if you would prefer – Happy T Day!

Do you remember this water feature? Well, as promised, I found out what it is…it is an old commercial potato peeling machine that has been mounted on stilts (grin!). Doesn’t it look fabulous up-cycled!

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 lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover, who is hosting the Count your blessings challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I feel very blessed to be able to use my creativity and imagination when creating my art journal pages.

I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps too – thank you for the beautiful stamps!

Over at Stamps and Stencils, their challenge is Industrial/Grungy and I had fun using both stamps and stencils on this page to join their theme.

Using embossing powders to create my butterflies, I’m also joining the How can you resist? challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my Industrial inspired and styled Mixed Media page.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at The Artistic Stamper with my Creativity and Imagination art journal page.

I’m pleased to join SanDee & amelie’s Steampunk Challenges for their AnythingGoes – Steampunk/Industrial challenge as I had fun creating this industrial 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:

• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Neutral Gray)
• Liquitex Ink! (Iridescent Bright Silver)
• Craf-T Products Luster Rub-ons Kit #4 (Midnight Sparkle, Silver Grey)
• Michelle Marsden Crafts Scrumptious Precious Metal Spritzer (Copper)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Copper, Silver)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199, Sanguine 188 B)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• That’s Crafty! Dinky Stencils (Metal Grid Background TC041, Clock Background TC048)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Paperbabe Stamps (Butterfly Pieridae Stamp Set)
• White cardstock
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Label Letters #TH93072)
• Metal split pins, split lock washers, nuts, internal tooth lock washers
• Docrafts Forever Friends Adhesive Dome Borders (Opulent FFS351111)
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Take a Ride

Today we are starting a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday called Take a Ride. It’s up to you how you wish to travel, maybe by plane, boat, train, car, fantasy machine or like me in a vintage hot air balloon.

There are more fabulous inspirations from the Design Team over at Try it on Tuesday too, we hope to see you there!

I started by adding a used baby wipe which had lemon and violet paint on it to the background, some purple vintage hot air balloons torn from some decoupage paper and lots of bits which I had saved from die cutting papers and card and couldn’t bear to throw away (grin!); they are all stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. When the gel medium had dried I wet the page with water using a spray bottle and sprinkled Lemon and Purple Colourcraft Brushos over the top watching the colours burst to life as the powders were activated by the water. I added a few layers of Brusho powders until the colour intensity was to my liking and left it to dry. Next I sprinkled water over the page with my fingers and blotted the page dry which removed the Brusho colour where the water droplets had landed. I then cut another set of the purple vintage hot air balloons from the decoupage paper and stuck them over the top of the ones on the page, matching the designs; I did this because some of the Brusho colours had bled into the original images. Once the glue had dried, I outlined the balloons using some Derwent Graphik markers.

Next I applied some Titanium White Liquitex ink to the top of the page tilting the page so it ran downwards depicting paths etched into the sky. I also splattered the page with some black DecoArt acrylic paint and the same white ink drying it with my heat gun so the Brusho colour didn’t seep into it. I used a rub-on transfer set from Kaisercraft to add more hot air balloons and the inspirational quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson which reads “Don’t follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”. To finish, I outlined all the die cut bits and white splatters with a Derwent Graphik fine line marker.

There are lots of different textures on this page, it looks so amazing close up!

I’m pleased to join the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover, who is hosting the Count your blessings challenge over at Art Journal Journey as it’s a joy to be able to travel; this page reminds me of the time we saw a sky full of hot air balloons, whilst on holiday in America, at the Alburquerque Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico (grin!).

As my vintage hot air balloons and fantastical sky reminds me of steampunk, I’m pleased to join SanDee & amelie’s Steampunk Challenges for their Anything Goes – Steampunk/Industrial challenge.

I’m also joining the Summertime challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my summery coloured page.

Over at Paperbabe Stamps their challenge is Anything Goes so I’m pleased to join in the fun with my vintage hot air balloon page.

I thought the T Gang, over at T Stands for Tuesday, may like this arrangement of the everlasting sweet peas from our garden; they are arranged in my old fashioned teapot which I picked up for 50p at our local carnival weekend. It didn’t have a lid but it’s perfect for these pretty sweet peas (grin!) – Happy T Day!

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:

• Colourcraft Brusho Colours (Lemon, Purple)
• Liquitex Ink! (Titanium White)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.03mm & 0.8mm)
• Recycled Baby Wipe – used to mop up paints
• Recycled die cut bits – paper and card
• Docrafts Deco Sheets Papier Patch (Vintage Air Balloons PMAT69328)
• Kaisercraft Rub Ons Up, Up & Away Collection (Black & White RB869)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Happy Days

Recently a good friend very kindly gave us a Food Dehydrator that she no longer uses so I thought I would create a page to remember this kindness and also the lovely apples we have been drying and eating – Happy Days!

I started by applying Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and white gesso using a sponge through a mosaic stencil from the Tim Holtz idea-ology collection. The round mosaic pattern reminded me of the trays in the dehydrator machine. Then I used some different stamps to add more detail to the background which included a blossom stamp from Stampendous using black Archival Ink, a foliage stamp from Kaisercraft using Shabby Shutters Distress Ink, and also a stitched flower stamp from Urban Stamps using Old Paper Distress Ink. Then I ripped three pieces of wallpaper; I really like the apple blossom design to remember the apples that we dried. They are edged, like all the paper pieces, using a Cold Grey Big Brush Faber-Castell marker and stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I added some pieces of spotted and flower design pink fabric washi tape to the wallpaper pieces to add some interest and colour. The apple is fussy cut from a magazine and is backed with recycled card; I layered it onto the page with a small piece of wallpaper and some worded stickers from Kaisercraft, which read “Happy Days” and “Grateful” as I am grateful for my friend’s kindness. They are stuck in place using a glue stick and outlined with a black Uni Pin marker, and I added a shadow at the base of the apple using Cold Grey and Black Faber-Castell Big Brush markers which I smudged with my finger. Next I used a stitched circle die set and my Big Shot machine to cut circles from a Kilner Jar label and stuck them to the page using a glue stick and also some double-sided foam tape; this is relevant as I bought a larger Kilner Jar, as the one pictured below was a bit too small, to store my dried apples in. Then to finish, I added some white Hessian flowers which matched the wallpaper design beautifully.

On our first attempt of using the dehydrator we made the most amazing dried apples; you need to slice them thinly and pop them into some water with lemon juice in to stop them going brown. We then used a tea towel to remove any excess water, placed them on the drying racks and sprinkled them with cinnamon and dried them in the dyhydrator.

After 8 hours of drying they were ready and we stored them in a Kilner Jar to eat as and when needed. They are very moreish and have an intense apple flavour – yum!

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 lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover, who is hosting the Count your blessings challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I feel very blessed to have received such kindness and have such lovely treats to eat.

As this page is a happy memory of summer, I’m also joining the Summertime challenge over at Moo Mania & More.

I’m also joining the lovely Wen and her Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutral coloured page.

I’m pleased to join the Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps; I used the sketch to position my apple and sentiments (grin!).

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Back to School challenge with my apple inspired page; synonymous with an apple for the teacher or for me a snack in my school bag.

Happy Days is also a song, do you remember it? I use to love watching the TV show when I was growing up too (grin!). You still have time to join the Inspired by a song challenge at Try it on Tuesday 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:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Old Paper, Frayed Burlap)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil (Mosaic THS084)
• Stampendous! Cling Rubber Stamp (Blossom Spray CRP136)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Magnolia Grove CS822)
• Docrafts Papermania Urban Stamps Craft Collections (5×5” Pastels PMA907223)
• The Works Cutting Dies (Stitched Circles)
• Wallpaper sample
• Old Magazine
• Recycled card
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)
• Kilner Jar Label Insert
• The Works (Fabric Tape)
• Craft Corner (Jute Shapes U-83162)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick