Be the brightest colour

For the next two weeks, our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Colours of the Rainbow.

I had fun creating this colourful page as not only did I use a new set of acrylic paints, but the paint colours and stencils that I used were chosen by my hubby. As you can see he likes bold and bright contrasting colours and he chose birds, leaves, mosaic and brickwork stencils.

I started by adding the Cerulean Blue, Yellow Oxide, Primary Red and Light Green acrylic paints, that my hubby had chosen, using a dry brush technique where a clean dry brush is used to spread each of the colours; I did this so that the colours would not blend together as some of the colours chosen are on opposite sides of the colour wheel so if blended together they would produce a brown or grey so I didn’t want them to blend by adding water. Then I applied the same paints again using a sponge through the four stencils that my hubby had chosen: Cerulean Blue through a birds stencil; Yellow Oxide through a mosaic stencil; Primary Red through a brick stencil and finally Light Green through a leaf stencil. Next I stamped some postage marks from Prima Marketing and some numbers from Inkidinkado using black Archival Ink. To add some depth and contrast I applied some white acrylic paint to the page with my finger and when dry, I stamped more of the postage marks and numbers over the top. The flowers are stamped onto a dictionary page using some Hampton Art stamps sets and black Archival Ink, fussy cut and stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. I added the stems to the flowers using a Hampton Art Border stamp set and the black Archival Ink again. The wording is from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet finishes the page and reads “Be the brightest colour in the box”; I thought it linked well to my new set of paints.

There are some amazing creations from my Design Teamies too, please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to check them out. We would love to see your rainbow colour creations of the next two weeks, it would be lovely to see you there!

Here’s my new paint set, there are 36 colours to use so I’m sure I’ll be using them again soon (grin!).

As T Stands for T Day, I’m sharing these colourful teapots from the Blackbird Café which you may remember from a previous post – Happy T day!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all colourful with my new set of paints.

I’m pleased to be able to join Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their #51 Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge with all the mixed media I used to create this art journal page.

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Colour (Cerulean Blue, Yellow Oxide, Primary Red, Light Green)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil (Mosaic #THS084)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Take a leaf)
• Prima Marketing Clear Stamps (Rossi Belle #587499)
• Inkadinkado Cling Stamps (Typographic 65-32008)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Hampton Art Bella Blvd cling mounted rubber stamps (Sand & Surf ICO226)
• Hampton Art Doodlebug Designs Inc. cling mounted rubber stamps (Thankful ICO162, Borders ICO160)
• Dictionary pages
• Kaisercraft Sticker Set (Fiesta! SS284)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

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Precious Metal at A Vintage Journey

Our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey being hosted by Amanda is Precious Metal who has kindly provided the following description:

“For this challenge we would like to see some kind of precious metal feature in your project. Think gold, silver, brass, copper, aluminium, steel….. It could be in the form of embellishments, cardstock, paint, gilding wax, foil, gold leaf or rub ons. Just remember to ensure that you create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.”

For Amanda’s wonderful Precious Metal challenge I created an art journal page using copper and silver embossing powders. I had lots of fun heat embossing them onto stencilled modelling paste, stamped letters, chipboard pieces and a die cut butterfly – I hope you like it!

I started by stencilling modelling paste using a Specimens stencil and then covered it with copper and silver embossing powder, heating it with a heat gun until it became glossy and 3D. To create more of a grungy look I lightly dragged a Watermark stamp pad over the page and then I covered it using the copper and silver embossing powders heating the powder with my heat gun again. Then to colour the background I applied Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain and also Forest Moss and Twisted Citron Distress Ink which I diluted with water by stamping the ink pad on a blending mat, applying water and applying it to the page using a paint brush.

Next I applied some rub-on transfers to the page so that the images were broken to look like thoughts swirling around the page; they are Special Delivery transfers from Tim Holtz. I stamped some letters from a Tim Holtz stamp set onto tissue paper using black Archival Ink and heat embossed it with copper embossing powder. I cut the letters out and stuck them onto the page using gel medium and then splattered the page using black and white acrylic paint.

I used the copper and silver embossing powder again to edge the wording “Thoughts and Theories” which is a Chip Quote from Tim Holtz, to cover some wooden circular chipboard pieces and also to add silver to a die cut butterfly from the Tim Holtz Botanical collection.

The chipboard pieces are stuck to the page using Ranger Glossy Accents and to finish I stuck the butterfly in place using double-sided tape to stick down the centre and then double-sided foam tape to elevate its wings.

My art journal page reminds me of one of the signs that hangs in my craft room. There are lots of similarities to my page with the green colour palette, circular swirls, similar meaning of the words and pretty copper bell; it’s also made of metal and is very precious to me as I bought it for my craft room when we visited our dear friends in Maine, America last year (grin!).

For more inspiration, please pop over to see the amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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 Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all art journaling.

I’m joining in the Make Your Own Background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge too.

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

• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• TCW 6×6” Stencil (Mini Specimens TCW4545)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Copper, Silver)
• Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Cracked Pistachio)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Forest Moss, Twisted Citron)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Special Delivery #TH93188)
• Leftover Letraset Rub-ons
• White Tissue Paper
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Boozybear Chipboard pieces
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Quote Chips #TH93563)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Layers (Botancial #TH93554)
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Fly Free

I had fun creating this happy page using colours that remind me of some of the flowers in my garden and the bright summer days we have been having of late – I hope you like it!

I started by painting Deep Violet, Bright Aqua Green, Primary Yellow and white acrylic paints onto the page using my finger, blending the colour together where they joined. When the paint was dry, I used a Tim Holtz stencil to add the flowers, using Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. Next I stamped some Tiny Dots, stripes and chevrons, all from some Kaisercraft stamp sets, using black Archival Ink. The bird is fussy cut from Kaisercraft design paper and is teamed with some pink flowers and wording, which reads “Let your dreams take flight” from a Kaisercraft Sticker Set. I outlined the wording sticker with a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen, and then to finish I added some small white star embellishments using Ranger Glossy Accents.

This amazing pink geranium influenced my colour choice for this page, it’s a joy to see it every day from our kitchen window (grin!).

Being summer, it must be “Pimms O’clock” somewhere, especially as T stands for Tuesday – Cheers and Happy T Day!

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

Challenges

I’m joining the #194 Animals challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the pretty bird that I included on my page.

I’m happy to join the Spots and/or Stripes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the dots and stripes I stamped onto the background of my page.

I’m also joining the Stars and Stripes Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the stars and stripes on my page.

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

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

• Liquitex Acrylic Paints (Deep Violet, Bright Aqua Green, Primary Yellow)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil (Floral TH5077)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Tiny Dot CS360, Mister Fox CS173)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Kaisercraft Fly Free Collection Paper (Sister P1897)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fly Free SS289)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• White star embellishments
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Pritt Stick

Believe in yourself

I was so inspired by Astrid’s Tissue Paper challenge over at A Vintage Journey that I created another page; there is still another week to join in the fun, it would be lovely to see you there!

This time I collaged tissue paper to create the background and distressed it, then added a beautiful butterfly and some motivational wording; I hope you like the shabby chic style that resulted.

The background is made of pieces of tissue Patch Paper collaged together using a glue stick and matte gel medium. Once dry I applied some white gesso over the top using a palette knife and then created a worn look by adding: some Coconut and Caramel Faber-Castell Gelatos smudging the colour with my finger; Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker which again I smudged using my finger; and finally some Frayed Burlap Distress Ink which I applied using a blending tool. Then I stamped a Tiny Dot stamp from Kaisercraft using the Frayed Burlap ink and also some black Archival Ink. For the butterfly, I chose a large pre-cut butterfly and heat embossed the edges of its wings and also its body using Versamark ink and black embossing powder. It is attached to the page using double-sided tape in the centre and also double-sided foam tape for the wings. The words are Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz and read “you are capable of becoming more than you realise”, “believe in yourself” and “with brave wings she flies”. They are all outlined using a black marker and using the same marker I drew two antennae on the butterfly which finished the page.

This page seemed to create itself and I think I was channelling butterflies as our friend that we walk with every week went on a Butterfly Tour last week, around the UK, looking for rare butterflies. When she was telling us about the Large Blue it reminded me of my page and as she is an exceptional photographer she kindly shared her photos with me which I’m pleased to be able to share with you too. This is a Large Blue which became extinct in 1979 and is being reintroduced to some areas of the UK.

Here’s some more of her amazing photos, this one is a Painted Lady …

… this is a Heath Fritillary …

… then there is a Marbled White …

… and finally a Brown Argus – I so enjoyed looking at the photos as I haven’t seen many of these butterflies before, so thanks very much K (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 Halle of Halle’s Hobbies and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my “Believe in yourself” page.

I’m joining in the It’s a Bugs Life challenge over at Country View Challenges with my butterfly art journal page.

I’m happy to join the Spots and/or Stripes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the dots I added to the background of my page.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

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

• Poundworld (Patch Paper DS9454)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Coconut, Caramel)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Frayed Burlap)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Tiny Dot CS360)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.08mm)
• Tsukineko Versafine Ink (Onyx Black)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black PMA4021006)
• The Works (Make your own 3D Butterflies)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Pritt SticK
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Material Girl

At Try it on Tuesday we have a new challenge theme every two weeks and we would love for you to join us. Today we are launching our Material Girl challenge where you are asked to create all things feminine, maybe using fabrics, lace or like me faux stitching and dressmaking images.

There are some beautiful inspirational creations from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday so please pop over and take a look, and you’ll also find a full set of guidelines on how to join in the fun too (grin!).

I started by painting the background with watered down Scattered Straw Distress Ink and once dry stamping it with a set of Urban Arts stamps using black Archival Ink, the stamps included: lace stitched flowers; a dressmaking heart pin; a safety pin; a tape measure; and a tiny flower motif. Next I cut strips of a pretty floral design paper and some button embossed card. I arranged them on the left-hand side of the page using a glue stick and then I edged them with some zig-zag stitched stickers. I used the same floral paper to stamp the tape measures and fussy cut them out. They are stuck over the tape measure images that I stamped on the background. I then added an oval image of a mannequin which was a topper from the same set as the floral paper; the outside oval is stuck down using a glue stick and the central piece using double-sided foam tape. I attached a piece of satin ribbon to the tag which is a sticker and reads “Happy girls are the prettiest”. To finish, I added some yellow pearl gemstones to the flower motifs on the background and to the bow on the mannequin.

We have been having some hot sunny days of late so as T Stands for Tuesday I thought we could cool down by drinking a pineapple frappe or a chocolate milkshake – Happy T Day everyone!

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 Halle of Halle’s Hobbies and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey as being happy is a wonderful way to live although I’m not sure you’ll be the prettiest as a result (grin!).

I’m happy to join the Spots and/or Stripes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the spots from the embossed buttons and gems and the stripes of design paper and measuring tapes.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw)
• Docrafts Papermania Urban Stamps (Craft Coollection – Pastels PMA907223)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Create & Craft Paper Craft Topper & Background Paper (Birthday Celebrations)
• Button Embossed Cardstock (Lavender, Yellow)
• Sandylion Sticker Designs Kelly Panacci Scrapbook Collection (Stitches & Borders KSCB102)
• Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (Fresh Verse PD-140)
• Satin Ribbon
• Trimcraft (Adhesive Pearls SCDOT056)
• Pritt Stick
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Man’s World

Time for a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday and for the next two weeks our challenge is It’s a Man’s World. So be masculine, it could be something for Father’s Day or for a male birthday.

As I always find it hard to get started on masculine designs, I ended up getting all my appropriate crafting goodies out for inspiration and once I got started I really enjoyed creating this page; it all came together quickly and I love the grungy vintage look and I hope you do too!

I started by ripping some decoupage paper into large pieces and sticking it to the page using a glue stick. Then I stencilled the metal plate effect using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and a Dinky Stencil from That’s Crafty! I splattered the page with water to smudge the Hickory Smoke ink using a piece of kitchen towel giving it a grungy look. Next I smooshed and splattered some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink over the page and I edged the pieces of decoupage paper using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. To finish the background, I added three rub-on transfers from Royal & Langnickel which I outlined using a black Uni Pin marker so the edges looked worn and then I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint. Next I layered all the different paper elements together having edged them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool and also a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before I stuck them onto the page. They included: letters creating the “mans world” wording, some numbered tiles and shields which are Crowded Attic Salvage Stickers by Tim Holtz; some pieces of a book page which I distressed with scissors along the edge; a vintage car stamp from Tim Holtz which I stamped onto some American Crafts paper and also some recycled Kraft paper using black Archival Ink and then fussy cut out; a clock which was stamped using a Kaisercraft stamp and black Archival Ink onto the same American Crafts paper then cut out; a clock which I fussy cut from an old magazine; two Victorian style brown tags; two wooden effect tags from Docrafts that read “Brilliant” and “The World’s Greatest”, and I emphasised their design using a black Uni Pin marker; a ruler which I cut into two pieces and finally two round discs, which read “in these moments time stood still” and “A lifetime of memories” all of which are fussy cut from a Kaisercraft paper sheet. To finish, I added some brown metal brads to all of the tags and splattered black DecoArt acrylic paint over everything.

For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our pie and a pint that we enjoyed whilst sitting in the sunshine at a local pub. We only had one day of sunshine last week and I’m now wishing for more with all the grey cloudy and rainy days we have had of late, although I’m sure the flowers in my garden are grateful (grin!). If you are wondering, our pie is meat and potato which is much loved in the North of England, you probably won’t find this pie in the South of England. It’s served hot and goes very nicely with a pint of beer too – cheers and Happy T day!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies  and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Masculine challenge with my Man’s World page.

I’m pleased join in the fun over at Creative Artiste and their June #50 – Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge with my mixed media art journal page (which included decoupage paper, ink, markers, stickers, etc).

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

• Trimcraft Santora London (Decoupage Papers SBDEC043)
• That’s Crafty! Dinky Stencil (Metal Grid Background – TC041)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B, Black 199)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Create-A-Collage (Men’s Accessories #ROY-853)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Book page
• Tim Holtz {Components} Collection Stamper Anonymous (COM013 CAR)
• American Crafts Papers (DIY Store 366665)
• Recycled Kraft Notepaper
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Vintage- Believe CS832)
• Old Magazine
• The Works (Victorian Style Embellishments)
• Docrafts A5 Die-Cut Toppers & Sentiments (Mr. Smith’s Workshop PMA157261)
• Kaisercraft Glossy Paper Story Book Collection (Trinkets PS445)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• Pritt Stick

Guest Designer at Creative Artiste

Hello everyone, I’m so excited to be Guest Designer at Creative Artiste for their June #50 Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge this month.

I am often inspired by things I see and do, so my art journal page today is inspired by the quote “never lose your sense of wonder”. I had so much fun using lots of Mixed Media to create my page, I hope you like it!

I started by cutting papers into squares and rectangles and collaging them onto the page to make a grid pattern. Then I used a ruler to outline them with a black Uni Pin marker. I used a dot and also a cross stencil to add some modelling paste and when dry, I covered it with some Pébéo white gesso.

Then I applied some black embossing powder using a Versamark watermark stamp pad over the modelling paste and heated it using my heat gun; I really like the grungy crackle effect that resulted. Next I coloured areas of the page with Acqua Dolce, Strawberry and Coconut Faber-Castell gelatos using my finger to smudge the colours and also some white acrylic paint. I stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink and also applied some Celebration Pink DecoArt Glamour Dust through a Flourish stencil from That’s Crafty. When dry, I stamped a scroll and also an ornate circle stamp from Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink and splattered the whole page with white and also black acrylic paint.

I added three pink roses which I edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; they are stuck down using double-sided foam tape and then decorated with Icicle Stickles to add some sparkle. To finish, I added the words “never lose your sense of wonder” which is from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet and outlined with a black Uni Pin marker.

I’d like to thank Creative Artiste for having me as Guest Designer this month! I love everything mixed media so had fun creating this page, I hope that you will join in their Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge too – Happy Crafting!

This quote always makes me remember the amazing flowers that have appeared on the palm trees in our garden, aren’t they magical! My hubby says they look like Christmas trees and the bees love them, so much so that when you walk passed the whole flower is buzzing (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies  and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the quote that I included on my 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:

• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black)
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Acqua Dolce, Strawberry, Coconut)
• Art Discount Arcylic (White)
• DecoArt Glamour Dust (Celebration Pink)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil 154892)
• That’s Crafty! 8x8ins Stencil (Flourish TC8024)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752, Magnolia Grove CS822)
• The Works Design Pad (Vintage Love CRO707/TW25)
• K & Company Die Cut Cardstock (Floral by Susan Winget)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Secret Garden SS283)
• Ranger Stickles (Icicle)
• Ranger Heat Gun
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• The Range double-sided foam tape