Hope

Posted on July 16, 2021 by Let's Art Journal

This time of year I always find myself thinking of friends both past and present, so my page today is inspired by friendships and the hope that “may your heart be filled with joy”!

I started by painting the background with purple and white acrylic paint and when dry I added some white gesso over the top using a brayer. Then I sprayed some White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray over the page and left it to dry. Next I added the two flower stickers which were from a Romance of Flowers Stickeroos sheet by Penny Black and then I layered some of the remanents stickers from the same sheet with some border stickers from Kaisercraft. The wording was from another Kaisercraft sticker sheet and I added some gold foil butterflies and gold border outline stickers. To finish, I splattered some black DecoArt acrylic paint over the page.

The background colour of my page reminded me of our Streptocarpus which was gifted to us by a dear friend (thank you so much); this plant has been flowering since April and doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon (grin!)

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.

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

Liquitex Basics Acrylic (Dioxazine Purple)
Art Discount Acrylic (White)
Pébéo White Gesso
Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (White Linen)
Penny Black Stickeroos (Romance of Flowers 10-209)
Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Bombay Sunset SS339, Christmas Edition SS346)
Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Straight Line Borders Gold, Butterflies Gold)
DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)

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 Alison from Words & Pictures; she has chosen Summer Countryside as her theme so I’m joining in the fun with my page detailing the hazy purple of summer sunsets and the flowers and butterflies that could be found in the countryside.

Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #147 – Anything Goes with my hope art journal page.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Lazy Days of Summer challenge with the summery purple sunset colour, flowers and butterflies.

LTCCB #60 – July Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my summery page.

For the man in my life

Posted on June 8, 2021 by Let's Art Journal

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is For the man in my life.

I created this masculine page using a recycled magazine image and lots of leftover papers and stamped images. I hope that you like it and are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by adding the pocket watch image which was recycled from an old magazine. Then I collaged lots of leftover papers some of which had been stamped using black Archival Ink; they were all edged with some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink before sticking them in place using a glue stick. Next I stuck some silver border stickers alongside some of the papers to straighten their edges and match the silver of the pocket watch image. Then I added three small Victorian tags and some black brads. To finish, I added some wording which were Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful For the man in my life creations from my Design Teamies too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday and some of the T Gang have been asking about the beer that we brew, I thought I’d share one of my hubby’s favourite hobbies to wish you all a very Happy T Day!

My hubby tends to brew beer every couple of months and as well as trying out new beers we also have some old favourites, like this pumpkin beer served with sugar and pumpkin spice around the rim of the glass – so yummy!

We brew Pumpkin Beer every October and start by roasting the pumpkin in the oven to make the puree.

The grains (malted barley) are weighed.

Then the water is heated in a Brew Devil which is an all-in-one microbrewery and once at temperature the grains and pumpkin puree are added to the water where they release their sugars.

Once the natural sugars from the grains and pumpkin have been released into the wort (as it is now called) it is drained and then boiled with different hops and spices being added at different times. After the wort has finished boiling the cooler goes in.

When the wort is cool enough it is poured into the fermenting vessel and the yeast is added. Once fermented (around 2 weeks on our beer fridge which keeps it at a consistent temperature) the beer is bottled and left somewhere warm for 2 weeks to carbonate and then somewhere cool for 2 weeks to condition. It is then ready to drink!

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.

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

Old magazine
Pritt Stick
Leftover papers
Leftover stamped papers
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge)
The Works (Victorian Style Tag Stickers)
Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Silver Borders)
Tim Holtz idea-ology Sticker Book (Small Talk #TH93193)

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:

Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #145 – Anything Goes with my masculine page.

Love to Scrap Challenge Blog and their No Rulz 4! theme where their are no rules and you can create anything, so I’m joining in the fun my art journal page.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Masculine challenge with my masculine journal page.

MIUCB #50 – Anything Goes + Stamping challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog as I used collage techniques with stamped papers on my page.

Don’t worry, be happy

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Let's Art Journal

Today I’m sharing another texture inspired page to join the Texture challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey.

The quote “don’t worry, be happy” was used recently on a page by Valerie over at Bastelmania; it resonated with me as I have a sign in my kitchen saying exactly that – thanks so much for the inspiration!

For the grungy background, I started by collaging lots of scrap pieces of paper that were sitting on my craft desk (my scraps pile seems to be multiplying not decreasing – grin!). I used Liquitex matte gel medium to stick them in place and the scraps included some grey design paper, some Typeset collage paper from Tim Holtz and some test stamped papers from previous pages. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso to the page with my finger. With the Indian Summer we’ve been having here, I was in the mood for bright hot colours so I painted Rose Madder, Lemon Yellow and Cadmium Scarlett Kuretake watercolours over the top varying the shades by applying water to the page first and then applying the paint colour.

Next I applied some Black Soot Distress Ink and some Ranger Texture Paste through an Iso Fun mixed media stencil from Paperbabe Stamps. When dry I covered the paste with Pébéo white gesso so it stood out more. I stamped three text stamps from a Documented stamp set by Tim Holtz using black Archival Ink and then I splattered the whole page with white and black DecoArt acrylic paints. The quote was created using white foam letter stickers and to finish, I added some white Glitterations dots and smiley stars which are stickers too.

This sign always makes me happy and I see it everyday when I make a cuppa as it hangs on the wall above the kettle; it was bought many moons ago from a local store in town (grin!).

Hoping that you’re all staying safe and well! x

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

Challenges

With my bright coloured background that I created for my page, I’m pleased to join the Staying In The Background challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog .

I’m happy to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the foam letter dimension on my page.

I’m also joining the Favourite Bright or Pastel (& why) challenge over at the As You Like It Challenge as the bright colours with reminded me of the lovely Indian Summer we had here this month.

Don’t forget that you still have until next Tuesday to join our Use Your Scraps Challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too; it would be lovely to see you there!

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

Scraps of collage, design and stamped papers
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Rose Madder No.34, Lemon Yellow No.40, Cadmium Scarlett No.31)
Paperbabes Stamps Mixed Media Stencil (Iso Fun)
Ranger Texture Paste
Pébéo White Gesso
Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
Simply Creative Alphabet & Number Stickers (White Glitter SCSTK025)
Docrafts Anita’s Glitterations (Dots – White ANT8181041)
UPIKIT Stickers (216005 – Stars)

Sewing Bee

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Let's Art Journal

I always enjoy watching The Great British Sewing Bee on the TV and now it’s finished it inspired my to create this vintage sewing page – such fun!

I started by covering the page with an old napkin using a glue stick and when dry I edged the page with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool. I added some vintage sewing designed gold outline stickers which included a pair of scissors, a thimble, needles and pins, cross-stitches, flower shapes, a cotton reel, a pin cushion and a sewing machine. The “Sewing Bee” wording was constructed using letter outline stickers too.

For the tags I covered a piece of white card with some dressmaking pattern tissue paper and some of the napkin that I used on the page background. Then I cut three different sizes of tag and some circular reinforcements using the Tim Holtz Tag Collection Framelits and my Big Shot machine. I applied some Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool to each of the die cut pieces and then collaged some sewing related Tim Holtz stickers onto the tags which I edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker so they stood out more. I added a circular reinforcement to each tag and threaded some cotton through them; the threads were leftover from some sewing that I’ve been doing. To finish, I added some outline stickers of cross-stitches, needles and pins and some the lace and silk flowers to the tags; they are stuck in place using double-sided foam tape.

If you haven’t seen or heard of The Great British Sewing Bee it’s a television programme on BBC1. It’s a spin off of The Great British Bake Off and is a reality show where amateur sewers compete to be named “Britain’s best home sewer”; they compete in a Pattern challenge, Alteration challenge and Made-to-measure challenge each week.

If you are interested you may be able to access the programmes here BBC programmes – The Great British Sewing Bee (this link may only be available to those of you who live in the UK).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m showing you my cuppa by my sewing machine, like everyone I’ve been making face masks (that’s where the leftover threads came from for my page); the material is recycled from one of my hubby’s old summer shirts (grin!).

Hope that you are all staying 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 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 Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with my Sewing Bee page.

I’m joining the Cattywampus challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the askew tags and stickers on this page.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Sewing Bee art journal page.

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

Napkin
Pritt Stick
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Sew Retro – Gold ANT810136, Flower Blossom –Gold ANT810143)
Outline Stickers (Alphabet – Gold)
White Cardstock
Style Dressmaking Pattern Tissue Paper
Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
The Works (Self-Adhesive Lace Trim)
The Range (Crafting Flowers)
X-Press It! double-sided foam tape

Arundel Treasures

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Let's Art Journal

Today we are launching our March challenge over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is:

Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I hope you’ll join us, please check out the rules here.

My art journal page was inspired by Arundel which we visit every winter whilst staying with family. My grungy background showcases the golden crown fountain located at Arundel Castle as well as some beautiful postage stamps from my hubby’s childhood stamp collection that I thought matched the design beautifully (grin!).

To create my grungy background, I started by covering a Sea Green inky background with a thick layer of white gesso and then collaging some odd bits of paper that were on my craft desk to add texture. Then I applied some Pébéo modelling paste to the page and scored it using a small ice scraper to create the waves and lines of texture. Next I added some drywall tape and then I covered everything with another layer of white gesso. When dry, I rubbed on some Midnight Sparkle and Amber lustre wax with my finger to emphasise the textures that I’d created. I added some ripped pieces of black and white washi tape and some postage stamps that I had stamped using gold acrylic; they were leftover from another page. Then I applied lots of gold leaf using gold size to adhere it to the page; applying it so it gave a grungy look.

Next I stamped some Adornment shapes from Papermania onto some tissue paper using black Archival Ink and stuck them in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. When dry I framed each of them with a gold circle using Glitterations stickers. I fussy cut the image of the crown fountain from a leaflet about Arundel castle, mounted it onto some recycled card and stuck it to the page using double-sided tape.

To finish the page, I added two beautiful postage stamps which are from Hungary dated 1970 and picture Gold Artefacts; my hubby kindly gave me his childhood stamp collection to use for my art journaling (grin!).

I hope that you are inspired to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge too! For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too.

Here’s the crown fountain which is part of the gardens of Arundel Castle and as you can see from this video the crown revolves being supported by a jet of water; it was based on a 17th century classical design by English architect Inigo Jones.

As we visit Arundel during the winter months the castle and gardens aren’t open so I’ve never seen this magical fountain but we always admire the view of the castle whilst on our walk around Arundel.

We walk by the castle walls and then into woodland.

Then down by the river, as you can see we had lovely blue skies too.

Which leads us back to the castle again, as you can see the river water levels are really high from all the rain we’ve been having here. From the castle we head into the town to look around the pretty shops and have a spot of lunch (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 lovely Eileen from The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with the pop of green on my neutral background from the green postage stamp on this page.

I’m also happy to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page too.

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

Pébéo White Gesso
Leftover bits of paper
UHU Stic
Pébéo Modeling Paste
Drywall Tape
Craf-T Products Lustre Rub-ons (Set # – Midnight Sparkle, Amber)
Washi tape
Gold Leaf
Annie Sloane (Water Based Gold Size)
Leftover gold acrylic stamped postage stamps
Recycled white tissue paper
Papermania Hallmark Cards wood mounted stamp (Adornment – G PMA9062904)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Anita’s Glitterations (Gold Frame Circle ANT8181028)
Arundel Castle leaflet
Postage Stamps – Hungary Magyar Posta Gold Art 1970
Recycled card
X-press It! double-sided tape

One Spring Night

Posted on March 26, 2019 by Let's Art Journal

As I’m hosting Art Journal Journey this month I have created another springtime page for my Hello Springtime theme. I hope you are enjoying the theme so far, we have had so many amazing entries and there is just under a week left for you to join in the fun, I hope to see you there!

This page was created using a pretty greetings card of a hare sitting in the moonlight, and as it reminded me of a tea service that I had seen in a local shop I was also inspired to create an abstract design for this page.

I started by masking off three areas of the page with low tack masking tape and then I painted some pastel blue arylic paint which I blended with Swedish Blue Liquitex acrylic paint; I chose blue to match the dots on the tag and it was also one of the tea service colours. When the paint was dry I removed the masking tape and edged the blocks of colour using some gold outline border stickers. Then I added some gold flower tiles to the white area of the page and some gold flowers and circles to the blue areas, all of which are outline stickers. The hare moonlit image is fussy cut from the greetings card and the spring daffodil tag is from a wallpaper sample; they are both decorated with a piece of gold outline border sticker and are then stuck in place using double-sided tape which finished the page.

This is the tea service that I saw in one of our local shops; as you can see it influenced my abstract design with the blocks of soft pastel colours, little animals and pretty gold accents.

It must be fun to drink your tea or coffee and see the bunny rabbit at the bottom of the cup (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang with my drink related post and sending you all Happy T Day wishes!

Challenges

I’m joining in the Play With Paint challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I had fun creating the blocks of colour for this page using masking tape and paint.

As I included flowers on this page, it also serves as a reminder for our Say it with Flowers challenge that is running for another week over at Try it on Tuesday – I hope to see you there too!

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

Script Ready Mixed Acrylic Paint (Pastels – Blue)
Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Swedish Blue)
Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Straight Line Borders Gold ANT8101016)
Elizabeth Craft Designs Outline Stickers (Gold – 0157, 0442)
Recycled greetings card – National Trust Moonlit Wood by Caroline Gordon
Wallpaper sample
Stix2 double-sided tape

Double Cab Pick Up Truck

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Let's Art Journal

I’m still capturing happy memories on my art journal pages of our holiday last year when we visited our dearest friends in Maine. Having visited America a number of times, my favourite vehicle ever is a double cab pick up truck so you can imagine my delight to see my friends had one (grin!).

I started by recycling pages from a couple of truck advertising magazines by cutting them into tile shapes; as our friends truck was blue I selected blue truck images and blue happens to be my favourite colour too – Happy Serendipity! I also used some of the texture photographed on the pages to create the tiles too, like pressed metal images. Then I created some rectangular diagonally striped tiles using white card stock which I coloured using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and stencilled using Black Soot Distress Ink. From the magazine cover I die cut the wording using an X-Cut alphabet die set and my Big Shot machine. Then I mounted the wording onto pieces of the magazine cover using a Zig Memory Glue Pen and cut them into their tile shapes. I arranged all of the tiles onto the page using double-sided tape and included some black and white striped washi tape in the design. For the washi tape, I stamped an arrow design from a Hampton Art stamp set underneath using black Archival Ink. To finish the page, I edged all the tiles using silver straight line border outline stickers from Docrafts to mimic the chrome of the truck.

I was so excited to see the truck parked on the driveway when we arrived, I’ve always loved them! They are bigger and more popular in the US than in the UK, although they seem to be growing in popularity over here too.

I did actually manage to get in the truck without assistance, although being 5 foot tall it was a little bit of a challenge (grin!). The boys thought it would be great fun to put a bucket on the floor to help me get out (double grin!).

As you can see the back of the truck is very spacious!

I had so much fun exploring the truck and probably because I was so enthusiastic to go out in it, we used it quite a few times to run errands, such as Dunkin Donuts, into town, the sandwich shop and even to some walking trails and also a very interesting place, the local Transfer Station (or Recycling Centre) to dispose of the household rubbish (triple grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Alison/Craftytrog and her Geometric Shapes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the square and rectangular tiles collage on my page.

With the silver, greys and blues on this page, I’m happy to join the Cold and Frosty Colours challenge over at Moo Mania & More.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Clean and Simple challenge with my tile design page.

Recycling the advertising magazines was fun so I’m pleased to join the Recycle Something challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge too.

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

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

Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Black Soot)
Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Set (Folk Alphabet XCU503286)
Hampton Bella Blvd Cling Stamps (Sand & Surf ICO226)
Recycled Truck Advertising Magazines
White Card Stock
Michael’s (Washi Tape)
Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Straight Line Borders Silver ANT8101017)
Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
Stix2 double-sided tape

Amour

Posted on June 22, 2018 by Let's Art Journal

Today I have created an art journal page to celebrate love as I’m so looking forward to the wedding of some very dear friends next month. I used my favourite blue Brusho colours to create the dreamy background and thought that Paris would be the perfect city for Amour (grin!).

I started by sprinkling Turquoise and Ultra Marine Colourcraft Brusho powders onto the page and spritzed them with water. I love watching the colours burst to life as you add the water and as Brushos are made up of the different component coloured powders that create the main colour, purple can be seen on the page too from the Ultra Marine powder. Once dry, I stamped Eiffel Tower image onto the page and also onto some blue/grey spotted design paper using a stamp called “City of Love” by Penny Black and black Archival Ink which I used for all the stamping on my page. I used the same “City of Love” stamp to add the black swirls along the edges of the page, as well as the two hearts and the word “amour” over the background. Again I stamped these images onto the blue/grey paper, fussy cut them out and edged them using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Then I stamped a leaf tile stamp from Rubber Soul, two birds sitting on a branch from Dovecraft and the word “Paris” from 7 Gypsies stamp set by Hampton Art directly onto the page. Next I added some diamond-shaped border stickers by Kaisercraft and also silver outline stickers along the edges of the page; then I outlined them both with a black Uni Pin marker, which took quite a while as the outline stickers are quite an intricate design. I then added the stamped blue/grey paper images to the page sticking them in place using a UHU Stic. For the main Eiffel Tower image, I layered it over a white doily and it is stuck into place using double-sided tape. I then added the black round brads to the “amour” signs, lots of flowers which I had embellished with blue gems and also a glittery silver butterfly which finished the page.

Paris is such a lovely place to visit, here is the Eiffel Tower when we visited some years ago; it looks spectacular by day and by night (grin!).

The wrought ironwork is amazing, if you want to find out more about the Eiffel Tower please check out my previous post.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my love inspired page.

I enjoyed using all the different stamps to create my Amour page design, so I’m also pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Stamping Sensations.

I’m joining in the fun over at The Artistic Stamper and their Colour it Blue challenge as they have chosen my favourite colour as their theme this month.

With my vibrant Brusho coloured page, I’m also happy to join the Bright and Cheerful challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Amour art journal page.

I’m also very happy to join the lovely Design Team over at PaperBabe Stamps and their Anything Goes Challenge.

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 Crystals (Turquoise, Ultra Marine)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
Penny Black 2007 wood-mounted stamp (City of Love 3800K)
Rubber Soul wood-mounted stamp (Leaf Tile 276K)
Dovecraft Clear Stamp (DCCS014)
Hampton Art 7 Gypsies Vintage cling mounted rubber stamps (Birdsong ICO151)
Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Glory 154898)
Kaisercraft Sticker Set (Fly Free SS289)
Docraft Anita’s Outline Stickers (Timeless Borders ANT810117)
Dovecraft Premium Paper Doilies (Painted Blooms DCDLS010)
Brads (Round Black)
Poundland (Accessories Pack 60911, Gem Florettes 117128)
The Works (Wooden Craft Butterflies CR1292)
Ranger Glossy Accents
UHU Stic
The Range double-sided foam tape

Mum’s the Word

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Let's Art Journal

The new theme over at Try it on Tuesday is Mum’s the Word which means all things mother related, it maybe quotes for mothers, mother and child, animal families, Mother’s Day or something else related to mothers. Over at Try it on Tuesday you’ll find lots of wonderful inspiration from the Design Team.

This challenge runs for the next two weeks and I hope to see you there!

My art journal page today is inspired by my mum as it’s her birthday and Mother’s Day this month as well as the different ways you can say mother (a suggestion from one of my non-blogging best friends – thank you!). So I started by stamping some of different names you can call your mother using a VersaMark watermark stamp pad and an alphabet stamp set from Dovecraft. Then I covered the words with gold Papermania embossing powder and shook and tapped off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper, and also removed any stray powder using a paintbrush. Then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder by sweeping the gun over the stamped wording until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional. Next I stamped some pink doilies and blue swirls onto the page; I did this using Angel Pink Memento Ink with Doily stamps from Kaisercraft and also Dovecraft, as well as Summer Sky Memento Ink with a Serpentine Background stamp from Art Impressions. I applied Blossom and Teal Spectrum Aqua Markers to the background by scribbling the ink onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page. To mute the colours and wording I applied Pébéo white gesso over the top using a palette knife. I cut some pieces of pink doily and stuck them to the edges of the page using a UHU Stic. The teal leaves are cut from some design paper using Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Hotlz, they are edged with the Teal Spectrum Aqua marker and stuck in place using a Zig Memory System Glue Pen. The wreath and matching flowers are fussy cut from a magazine article about Mother’s Day. I mounted the wreath on a circle of card before sticking it to the page using double-sided foam tape. The matching flowers are mounted on top of some yellow and pink paper flowers and the “With love and cuddles” wording is a card topper from Kanban; they are all stuck in place using double-sided tape. To finish, I added some pretty gold tiles and the “Mum” wording which are outline stickers.

I hope you will join in the fun at Try it on Tuesday with your Mum’s the Word creations too!

As you may be aware, I regularly go to a local café with my mum so today I’m sharing my mum’s cappuccino …

…. and my green tea along with a toasted fruit bread to share (grin!). I’m pleased that these drinks cater for both the coffee and tea drinkers in the T Gang (grin!) over at T Stands for Tuesday – thanks for visiting and Happy T Day!

With the spring colours I used on my page, I’m pleased to join the lovely Rosie from Rosie’s Bastelwelt who is hosting the Spring challenge over at Art Journal Journey and also the Think of Spring challenge over at Moo Mania and More.

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:

Tsukeniko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad VM-001)
Docrafts Papermania Embossing Powder (Gold Shellac PMA4021007)
Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Angel Pink, Summer Sky)
Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Blossom, Teal)
Pébéo White Gesso
Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Doily CS297)
Dovecraft Curiosity Corner Clear Stamp (A5 Lace & Doile DCCS009)
Art Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Serpentine Background T-2773)
Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz (Garden Greens 661206)
Poundland Design Pad (Vintage Chic CRO701/PL4)
Dovecraft Collections Back to Basics III (Paper Blossoms DCBL005)
Dovecraft Paper Doilies (Floral Muse DCDLS005)
Kanban Paper Craft Toppers (Flower and Cupcakes 900858)
Magenta Style Outline Stickers (Gold 1227)
Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Modern Alphabet Gold ANT8101000)
UHU Stic
Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape
The Range double-sided foam tape

Pretty Snowdrops

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Let's Art Journal

The snowdrops flowering in our garden always make me think of spring so in order to remember one of the first flowers of the year and also the beautiful displays we have seen at Lytham Hall of late, I was inspired to create this snowdrop art journal page.

I started this page by covering it with squares of decoupage paper using Liquitex matte gel medium. Once dry I edged the squares with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and smudged it with my finger. Then I stamped some postage marks and text using black Archival Ink and covered the whole page with green paint that I had mixed from Liquitex Christmas Green acrylic paint with some black and white DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic paints. Once the paint was dry I rubbed and removed some of the paint using a baby wipe to give the page a worn look and then covered the whole page with PVA Glue to brighten the green colour and give it a glossy finish. Next I added some Pébéo white gesso with my finger and stencilled a doily image by Craft Sensations using a Bud Green Spectrum Aqua marker. I stamped a doily image using white DecoArt acrylic paint by applying the paint to the stamp using a brayer making sure that I washed the stamp immediately afterwards so the paint did not ruin the stamp by drying onto it. Then I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush. With the background complete, I added a white lace border on the left hand side of the page which is an outline sticker, a pretty circular bird sticker from Docrafts and some black button letters which spell out the word “Snowdrop”. I die cut some brown paper which I recycled from a notebook using a Spellbinders die set and my Big Shot die cutting machine and arranged them onto the page with: a white doily by Dovecraft which is stuck down using a UHU Stic; a snowdrop image that I fussy cut from an old book of garden flowers and stuck into place using a Zig Memory System glue pen; text from the same book about snowdrops which I mounted on white and black card using double-sided tape; and finally a “S” alphabet letter sticker again mounted on white and black card.

If you are interested, here’s a close up of the text I included on my page.

This is one of the small clumps of snowdrops in our back garden before the snow came this week (grin!).

We went to see the snowdrop displays again at Lytham Hall this year, which have now almost finished and although they didn’t seem to be as bountiful this year the displays were still very beautiful. Here I am on a cold sunny day last week amongst the pretty snowdrops. I’m well wrapped up against the cold, do you like my new winter hat with its two bobbles or pom poms (grin!).

You may remember the amazing displays of snowdrops at Lytham Hall that I posted last year, so if you would like to see more of these pretty snowdrops please take a look my post here.

I so enjoyed reading the different stories associated with how the snowdrop flower came to be that I thought I would share a couple of them with you:

Garden of Eden: When Eve was cast out of the Garden of Eden, continuous snow covered the earth leaving it cold and barren. The angel, who appeared to comfort Eve, caught a snowflake and breathed upon it. The snowflake fluttered to the earth and gave birth to the snowdrop which later came to symbolize hope and rebirth.
German Legend: With the creation of snow, God tasked it with visiting the flowers of the earth to gather colours. Seeing that the gentle snowdrop was a kind and generous soul, the snow agreed to allow the snowdrop to bloom first every spring in exchange for her colour. So white snowdrops can be seen flowering amongst the snow each spring.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Rosie from Rosie’s Bastelwelt who is hosting the Spring challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my snowdrop page!

Over at Moo Mania and More the theme is Think of Spring so I’m pleased to join this challenge too!

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their In My Garden challenge with this snowdrop art journal page.

I’m also joining the Use a stencil and Three Mediums challenge over at The Mixed Media Challenge as I used a doily stencil and at least three mediums which included Spectrum Aqua marker, acrylic paints and Memento Ink to create my page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my art journal page.

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

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