Birthday Boy

It’s the first of the month so it’s time for a new challenge at Country View Challenges which is Birthday Card for a Man.

The lovely Corrie is hosting and as it’s her birthday month chose this challenge – Happy Birthday Corrie!

For my card, I covered the background using a Wordies Sentiments Sheet – Birthdays by Creative Expressions, cutting a piece of the sheet to fit the card. Next I embellished the card and also covered any female sentiments with some plaid Christmas Fabric Tape by Tim Holtz. I finished by adding the fun walrus, which was created using an Under The Sea #2 Sizzix Thinlits set and Kraft Cardstock – Classic, both by Tim Holtz.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

We are looking forward to seeing your makes and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the shop, Country View Crafts! Before you enter your project though, please read the rules!

I love the fun walrus on his card! If you didn’t know, walruses are rare here in the UK, there have been somewhere around 27 sightings in the last 130 years. However we’ve had sightings of walrus on our UK shores in 2021, 2022 and also recently in 2023; a walrus was seen and photographed earlier this week in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland.

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

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Challenge #67 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my birthday card.

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Be Calm, Be Strong

Over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge, we are launching a new challenge today which is Men Only.

This journal page was created using Sir Vagabond in Japan papers and Backgrounds papers by Stamperia. I started by cutting a piece of blue paper, from the Sir Vagabond in Japan – Backgrounds paper pad, to fit the page. Then I layered some leftover Japanese written plaque paper pieces and the Japanese warrior over the top; he was fussy cut from the Sir Vagabond in Japan pad. The circular dragon was a topper from Hunkydory Crafts and the words “Be Calm, Be Strong” were from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet. To finish, I added the pretty gold flowers which were outline stickers.

I hope you’ll join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenge too, for more inspiration please check out the amazing papercraft projects from my Sparkles Buddies in the Design Team too; we would love for you to join us. Please be sure to check out the rules here.

I always find it hard to create masculine pages, but I had so much fun using these Stamperia papers to create this page and I love how it turned out; I hope you like it too!

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.

Challenges

As well as Sparkles Monthly Challenge , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Erika at her BioArtGal blog and she has chosen Seeing Red as her challenge; my Japanese warrior is wearing red.

Challenge #67 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my papercraft page.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing my “Happy Valentine’s Day” journal page for this month’s Be Sentimental challenge.

For the background, I covered the chipboard page with Lumberjack Plaid and Saltwater Taffy Distress Paints and left them to dry overnight. Using Kraft Cardstock – Classic papers from Tim Holtz, I die cut the prancing deer using a Delightful Deer Sizzix Thinlits set by Lisa Jones, the hearts using a Heartfelt Sizzix Bigz Die by Tim Holtz and the sentiment using an All Occasions Sizzix Thinlits set by Olivia Rose; they were all stuck in place using matte gel medium. To finish, I splattered the page with white DecoArt acrylic paint and added the white ceramic hearts.

I hope you are inspired to join our Be Sentimental challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts.

The deer on this page were created using this Delightful Deer Sizzix Thinlits set by Lisa Jones and I was amazed to find not only the two prancing deer shown on the packaging but a third deer too; I can’t wait to use this adorable deer – perfect (smile!).

Stay 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 Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Erika at her BioArtGal blog and she has chosen Seeing Red as her challenge which my page definitely is.

Challenge #67 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my Happy Valentine’s Day page.

MIUCB #63 – Anything Goes + optional no stamping over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my page which was created with no stamping.

Double D Challenges and their Hearts challenge with all the hearts on this Valentine’s page.

Enjoy Today

It’s the first of the month so it’s time for a new challenge at Country View Challenges which is Be Sentimental.

The lovely Jane is hosting and she would like to see your crafting makes which include a sentiment and/or some inspiring words.

I started by covering the page with Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint and when dry I stamped a couple of Fragment stamps from a Stamper Anonymous stamp set by Tim Holtz using Moonlight White Brilliance Ink by Archival and Peeled Paint Distress Archival Ink. Next I added the torn pieces of paper and the pretty flowers which were from an Idea-ology Worn Wallpaper Scraps set and then to finish, I added the wording and frames from an Idea-ology Metallic Sticker Book by Tim Holtz.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

We are looking forward to seeing your makes and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the shop, Country View Crafts! Before you enter your project though, please read the rules!

The flowers on my page reminded me on the Wild Prickly Roses (Rosa Acicularis) which can be found on one of our beach walks; they smell divine in the summer when in bloom and form rose hips later in the year which stay on the plant throughout the winter.

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

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Challenge #66 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my Enjoy Today page.

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Erika at her BioArtGal blog who invited me to join her Seeing Red challenge after seeing the flowers on my page; I’m so happy to join you with the touches of burgundy red on the flowers.

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

Today I’m sharing another page over at Art Journal Journey for the challenge theme Snowy Winter; like me all you need to do is add snowflakes or include snow to your page.

I started by covering the chipboard page with a used baby wipe that was stained blue using mop-up inks from previous projects; like all the paper elements it was stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. The blue snowflakes were created from blue tissue paper using a Paper Snowflakes Mini Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz; they melted into the background beautifully. The deer was cut from some white cardstock using a Reindeer Bigz Die by Tim Holtz; it and was coloured using Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy and Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Pitt Pen. When stuck in place I added his nose which was a red mini pom-pom. I added some glittery foam snowflake stickers and some white glittery stars which were created using a Snowy Stars Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and covered in Clear Sparkle Embossing Powder Glitter by Wow!. To finish, I added the “up in the clear sky” wording which was from a Tim Holtz Christmas Sticker Book.

I hope that you are inspired to join in the fun this month too! I’m really looking forward to visiting you and seeing all your wonderful Snowy Winter creations (smile!).

As T Stands for Tuesday and to continue the Rudolph theme, I thought I’d share this fun mug that we saw whilst out shopping – Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping that you’re all staying safe and sending you best wishes this holiday season! Hugs Jo x

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

Challenges

As well as Art Journal Journey, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Challenge #65 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my Rudolph Reindeer page.

Christmas Reindeer

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays!

I am so delighted to be hosting Art Journal Journey this month and the challenge theme that I have chosen is Snowy Winter; like me all you need to do is add snowflakes or snow to your page.

For my Christmas Reindeer page, I started by stamping lots of snowflakes onto some cream paper by Docrafts using Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink and I arranged it so it covered the right-hand side and left-hand side of the page. For the reindeer panel, I tore the edges of a piece of the Docrafts paper and used a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and some Vintage Photo Distress Ink to colour the edges. I stuck this paper onto a piece of white cardstock and adhered the reindeer and sleigh ephemera along with some gold snowflake outline stickers, a gold “Merry Christmas” foam sticker and the “dashing through the snow” and “let it snow” wording which were from a Christmas Sticker Book by Tim Holtz. Then to finish, I stuck the panel onto the page framing it with two gold filigree border outline stickers.

I hope that you are inspired to join in the fun this month too! I’m really looking forward to visiting you and seeing all your wonderful Snowy Winter creations (smile!).

This reindeer reminds me of Sven from the animated feature film Frozen, who is very lovable (smile!). If you haven’t seen the film here are some of Sven’s best moments from Frozen and Frozen II.

Hoping that you’re all staying safe and well this Christmastime – enjoy! Hugs Jo x

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

Challenges

As well as Art Journal Journey, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #30 and their Christmas Anything Goes Challenge as my gold and neutral page matches their photo inspiration and celebrates Christmas.

December Anything Goes Winter Challenge over at The Four Seasons Challenge with my winter reindeer page.

Challenge #65 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my reindeer page.

A Christmas Song

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges with my second page for our Christmas Anything Goes challenge this month.

I love robins especially at Christmastime and had lots of fun creating this page using some of my favourite crafting goodies by Tim Holtz.

I started by covering the chipboard page using Twisted Citron and Rustic Wilderness Distress Paint and when dry, I applied some white gesso over the top using a brayer. Then I stamped some fir tree branches over the page using Pine Needles and Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink and a Sketch Greenery stamp set; all by Tim Holtz. The page was splattered using white DecoArt acrylic paint and left to dry. The papers are from a Tim Holtz Worn Wallpaper Christmas set; I tore them into pieces before sticking them in place using a glue stick. The snowflakes were die cut from the same paper using a Paper Snowflakes Mini Thinlits set by Tim Holtz. For my robins I cut three different birds using a Silhouette Birds Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some brown and red Kraft Cardstock – Classic by Tim Holtz and once stuck together added some glitter to their red breasts using Red Stickles and a tiny black gemstone for their eyes. To finish, I added the wording from a Tim Holtz Christmas Sticker book which reads “A Christmas Song” and “Message of Love”.

I hope you are inspired to join our Christmas Anything Goes challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

As you may have seen from a previous post, I always visit our local garden centre for their Christmas evening with my family and this year there was free face painting. I know what you’re thinking this is for kids, but as no one was waiting I asked the lady if she would paint my face and she said yes so of course I couldn’t resist – can you guess what I asked for?

Yes I love robins so much that that’s what I asked for; well maybe it looks like a cross between a robin and a cardinal, but who cares, as you can see it really made me smile – wishing you a Merry Christmas and all the very best for the New Year! x

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

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey which I’m having fun hosting this month; I chose the challenge theme Snowy Winter so like me all you need to do is add snowflakes and/or snow on your pages. I hope to see you there!

December Anything Goes Winter Challenge over at The Four Seasons Challenge as robins and poinsettias always remind me of winter and Christmastime.

Challenge #65 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my a Christmas Song page.

Hello Winter

It’s a new month so we are launching our December challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

Whilst tidying up, I found this adorable robin image that I had saved from an old calendar and just couldn’t resist creating a page with it straight away; I even abandoned another page that I was creating, oh and also the tidying up (grin!).

I started by covering the background using white acrylic and Speckled Egg Distress Paint. Then I die cut lots of holly and fir branches using a Holiday Greens Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some green coloured cardstock; I added more colour to them using a Dark Green Blend TriBlend Spectrum Noir marker. The cones were die cut using a Funky Festive Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some brown Kraft cardstock – Classic by Tim Holtz. The holly berries were die cut using an old Festive Holly set and the wording using a Sizzix Doodle Alphabet and Letters set; they were all cut from orange paper which I later coloured using Orange and Sunflower Spectrum Aqua markers. I fussy cut the robin and stuck him in place, then I die cut the snowflakes from the remaining calendar paper. All of the foliage and snowflake pieces were arranged onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium and to finish, I splattered the whole page using white acrylic paint.

I love robins and have quite a few beautiful metal robins in my garden; one Christmas my dearest friend in America bought us this pretty red robin sitting in a heart – isn’t it delightful (smile!).

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well, and wishing you a Happy December!

Thanks 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 be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey and the Snowy Winter challenge that I’m hosting this month as their are snowflakes on my wintery scene.

LTSCB #158 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Hello Winter page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #182 – Anything Goes challenge with my winter page.

December Anything Goes Winter Challenge over at The Four Seasons Challenge with my Hello Winter page.

Challenge #64 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my Winter page.

Snowy Winter at Art Journal Journey

I am so delighted to be guest hosting Art Journal Journey this month with my Snowy Winter theme.

As winter is here, we’re looking for snow and snowflakes on your pages; this could be linked to a winter scene or even Christmas as it’s now December.

For my page, I started by using a Stencil Template set by Inkylicious for the moon and a Stencil Mask by Marianne Designs for the trees, and painting Seedless Grape Distress Ink like watercolour onto the page. Then I coloured the moon using the Inkylicious Stencil using the same Seedless Grape Ink and then the trees using Pine Needles Distress Ink. Next I used a Cozy Winter Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz to die cut the snowflakes, adorable bear, branch and woodpecker from some white cardstock and different colours of Tim Holtz Kraft Cardstock – Classic. I die cut some pine needles to add to the branch using a Holiday Greens Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and then I layered everything together and stuck them onto the page. I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and to finish, I added the wording “a white Christmas appeared” which was from a Christmas Sticker Book by Tim Holtz.

I hope that you are inspired to join in the fun this month too! I’m really looking forward to visiting you and seeing all your wonderful Snowy Winter creations; please, don’t forget to take a look at the RULES.

Wishing you a very Happy December and Happy Journaling! Hugs Jo x

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

Challenges

As well as Art Journal Journey, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Challenge #64 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my Snowy Winter Christmas page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #181 – Anything Goes challenge with my winter page.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their December Stencil Fun – Anything Goes as long as you use a stencil with the stencils that I used to create the background on my wintery page.

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #28 where Anything Christmas Goes with my winter Christmas page.

Autumn Greetings

I’m having so much fun creating pages using the beautiful napkins that I received as part of the napkin swap over at T Stands for Tuesday. So today I’m sharing my third page, this time I used an autumnal mushroom designed napkin to send you all Autumn Greetings!

I started by painting the edge of the page with Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre Kuretake watercolours. When dry, I stamped a crackle design by BoBunny, over the top of the watercolours, using black Archival Ink. Then I stencilled the ivy using Black Soot Distress Ink; the stencil template was created using an ivy die cut from a Garden Greens Thinlits by Tim Holtz. Next I carefully tore the napkin, around the autumnal mushroom image, and stuck it in place using a glue stick. To finish, I stamped the “Autumn Greetings” wording using Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink.

It was my hubby’s birthday last week which happened to coincide with a Beer Festival at one of our local pubs. With my autumnal page and as T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing one this “All the leaves are brown” ale – it’s by Brewster’s Brewery and is a California Common Style beer at 4.8% ABV made with British malt and hops; it’s amber coloured, zesty and fruity.

We also both had a BBQ Fried Buttermilk Chicken Burger topped with maple-cured bacon and cheese, and served with BBQ sauce, onion rings and chips – so yummy!

Cheers and Happy T Day!

Creating pages using the napkins from the T Day napkin swap is so much fun! If you’re interested you can find them here:

1. Bee Wellington Boots – Bee napkin from Erika
2. Time for Tea – Alice napkin from Lisca
3. Autumn Greeting – Autumnal napkin from Chris – this post
4. Mischievous Cats – to be posted in November

Hope that you’re all 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 joining the following challenges:

The lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Fairytales, Folklore & Fables – Tell Me A Story so I’m joining her with my autumnal page as mushrooms have a long history in Magic and Folklore; in the UK it is often thought fairies live in them (smile!).

Paperbabe Stamps and their #179 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

Challenge #63 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels with my Autumn Greetings page.

Stencil Fun Challenge which is Anything Goes as long as you use a stencil (with optional Halloween Colours); with the stencil which was created from a Tim Holtz die set that I used on my page.