Tag Archives: Archival Ink

Frosty

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Our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks is Cold, Cold, Cold.

For this challenge, we are looking for snow, ice and winter scenes. I was inspired to create a Frosty snowman page using cold blues and adding lots of texture using ink drips, stamps, embossing enamel, modelling paste and snowflakes – I hope you like it!

I started by stamping the page with a Script Stamp from Kaisercraft and a Flight Collage stamp from Creative Expressions using black Archival Ink. Then I smooshed Salty Ocean and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink over the page by stamping the ink pads onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then pressing the block or dripping the ink onto the page; drying each application of ink with my heat gun before applying the next. Then I covered some of the stamped images with white gesso to push them into the background more and dragged a silver pigment ink pad over the page to add some shine. I applied some clusters of Chunky Silver Stampendous Embossing Enamel using a Versamark stamp pad, melting the enamel carefully with a heat gun. Next I applied some Pébéo modelling paste through a Wheels stencil by Dina Wakley and when it was dry I painted the wheels with white gesso so they stood out more. Then I layered some white and silver snowflakes and silver dots which are all stickers and to finish, I added a Frosty snowman topper using double-sided foam tape.

For more inspiration, please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from my Design Teamies!

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my forest fruit infused gin which is served with a mango fizzy drink and ice. In the background you’ll see some fabrics, the snowman one reminded me of my page, I plan to make napkins out of them (grin!).

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 be joining the Circles challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the stencilled wheels I added to this page.

I’m joining in the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my wintry 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:

  • Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Script CS752)
  • Creative Expressions (Flight Collage CMRN191K)
  • Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon)
  • Pébéo White Gesso
  • Pigment Ink (Silver)
  • Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Ink Pad)
  • Stampendous Deep Impression Embossing Enamel (Chunky Silver)
  • Ranger Dina Wakley Media Stencil (Wheels MDS45588)
  • Pébéo Modeling Paste
  • Home Bargains (Wall Stickers 16221 & 16216, Felt Stickers 38082)
  • Hunkydory Luxury Topper Set (Merry Christmas Mr. Snowman CUTE16-903)
  • X-Press It double-sided foam tape

Blessed

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This time of year I always think of my dear American friends who will be celebrating Thanksgiving the last Thursday of November.

I feel very blessed to have them as my friends so today’s page is a tribute to them and the beautiful autumnal garden flag that they gifted us. The flag influenced the background design, autumnal leaves and golden pears that I created on this page and the wording relates to my dearest friends (grin!).

For the white and grey background, I applied some Hickory Smoke Distress Ink using a mini stencil from TCW and I then layered a postage mark stamp from Kaisercraft and a leaf stamp from Tim Holtz using Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Ink. I coloured the stamped leaves using Fossilized Amber Distress Ink by applying the ink pad to a blending mat and picking up the ink with a paintbrush. The page is also splattered with the Fossilized Amber Distress Ink. Next I fussy cut the pears from a magazine, edged them with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck them in place using a UHU Stic. They are arranged on the page with some flowers, a butterfly, a clock and some wording which are all stickers from Kaisercraft; they are edged using Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and a blending tool before sticking them into place. The wording reads “blessed”, “moments”, “you & me” and “love”.

This is the garden flag that lead me to include a script and postage mark grey on white background, some autumnal leaves and golden pears as part of my page design. I see this flag everyday as it sits right outside my kitchen window which is a joy (grin!).

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 Rike from rike’s art and her Fruit and Veggies challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I included the golden pears on my page.

I’m happy to join the #203 – Circles challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the circular stickers and stamped postage marks on my page, the pears have a circular feel to them too (grin!).

I’m joining in the Thanks/Thanksgiving challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I’m giving thanks for my friends with my Blessed art journal page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday and the Autumn & Gratitude with my autumnal and grateful for friends inspired page.

I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my art journal page too.

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

  • The Crafter’s Workshop 6×6 Stencil (Mini Art is TCW261s)
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feathers)
  • Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Provincial CS243)
  • Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Falling Leaves CMS097)
  • Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Hickory Smoke)
  • Old Magazine
  • Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
  • Kaisercraft Sticker Book (Antiquities SK807)
  • UHU Stic

Love that smile

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As autumn is one of my favourite seasons I created this fun page with a happy moose standing in a big pile of leaves. I hope this makes you smile as much as me (grin!).

With my autumnal colours I also wanted to remind you that there is still another week to join us over at Try it on Tuesday for our Colours of Autumn challenge too, it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by stamping the page with leaves from a Falling Leaves stamp set from Tim Holtz using Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink and Potter’s Clay Memento Ink. Then I added a pretty pumpkin napkin which I received from my good friend Erika aka BioArtGal last year – thank you so much! I tore the napkin on the diagonal and also added small pieces of the napkin inbetween the stamped leaves; it’s stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I fussy cut the moose from a magazine and stuck him to the page using a UHU stic. Next I added lots of leaves which I die cut using a Fall Foliage thinlet set from Tim Holtz. They are cut from three different papers and edged using Fossilized Amber, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The “love that smile” wording is a sticker from Kaisercraft which is mounted onto the same three papers that I die cut the leaves from. To finish, I used a white gel pen to add two white dots to the moose’s eyes.

When my hubby saw this page he immediately thought of the tin moose that we have in our lounge, isn’t he a cutie (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday and it’s the season for everything pumpkin, here’s a piece of my homemade pumpkin roll with my friend’s coffee – Happy T day everyone!

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 Rike from rike’s art and her Fruit and Veggies challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I included lots of pumpkins on my page.

I’m pleased to join the Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as the foreground on my art journal page runs diagonally across the page, the “Paperbabe stamps” is represented by my “love that smile” wording and the flowers are represented by the smiley moose.

I’m joining the Autumn & Gratitude challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with my autumnal “Love that smile” page.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their #55 – Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page

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

  • Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Falling Leaves CMS097)
  • Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso)
  • Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rich Potter’s Clay)
  • Pumpkin Napkin – thank you Erika!
  • Old magazine
  • Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Fall Foliage 660955)
  • Paper Pack from local craft shop
  • Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CRO701/16PL1)
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fossilized Amber, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso)
  • Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
  • Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Havana Nights SS354)
  • Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
  • Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
  • UHU Stic
  • UHU Glue Pen
  • X-Press It double-sided tape

Colours of Autumn

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Our new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Colours of Autumn.

I love the autumn season, so created an art journal page using a new technique with clear embossing powder; my autumnal colours are Brushos but you could use the same technique with any autumnal coloured inks, paints, infusions etc; to find out how it all came together please see below.

I started by sprinkling Yellow, Lemon, Yellow Ochre, Orange, Terracotta, Rose Red, Scarlett, Sandstone, Dark Brown and Moss Green Brusho powders onto my page then spritzing with water and leaving it to dry. Once dry, I sprinkled water droplets onto the page and removed them using some kitchen towel to give a mottled effect. I stamped the “wishing you a beautiful autumn season” wording using a Sophisticated Script stamp set from Concord & 9th and black Archival Ink and highlighted the letters using a white Uniball gel pen.

Then for my new technique, I stamped the leaves, which are from a Tim Holtz stamp set, to surround the wording; they are stamped using Versamark Watermark Ink and then covered with clear embossing powder, which I heated with my heat gun. Because it’s clear and has been applied over a coloured background, it lets the colours show through and protects them while you add more colour to the area. I used a blending tool to add some Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink around the edge of the page and over the leaves so they stood out more. To finish I splattered the page with Ground Espresso Distress Ink and added some gems to add some sparkle.

I hope you will join in our Colours of Autumn fun too and for more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and check out the amazing creations from my Design Teamies!

Lately I have been reminiscing about our trip to Maine, America as we were staying with friends at their Lake House in October last year and …

… as Kathy from Hummingbird Woodland Studio recently posted about her lake house and making Biscuits and Gravy, she reminded me of a breakfast that we had at Biscuits & Company. It’s a very popular place to eat with the locals so we reserved a table one Sunday morning.

This place serves American biscuits which are more like a savoury scone here in the UK with a firm browned crust and a soft, crumbly interior.

I chose from the normal menu and had biscuits and sausage gravy, so yummy!

My hubby had biscuits with the vegan mushroom gravy. We also had an egg on top which was optional and if you prefer they also have a gluten free biscuit too (grin!).

My friend chose from the brunch menu and had Biscuits Benedict which tasted yummy, yes she was kind enough to let me try some (double grin!); this was Country-Style biscuits with over-easy eggs and a choice of classic ham with a hollandaise sauce or creamy kale with a white wine sauce, she also had a side order of home fries.

As T Stands for Tuesday you may have already noticed my green tea in the photos, but there was also coffee, orange juice or even water from this fabulous water fountain – Happy T Day everyone!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the so very grateful wishes on my page.

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Fall/Autumn Colors 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:

  • Colourcraft Brushos (Yellow, Lemon, Yellow Ochre, Orange, Terracotta, Rose Red, Scarlet, Sandstone, Dark Brown, Moss Green)
  • Concord and 9th Clear Stamp Set (Sophisticated Script)
  • Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
  • Uniball Gel Pen (White)
  • Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Ink)
  • Tsukineko Versamark Emboss (Watermark Pen)
  • Wow! Embossing Powder (Clear Gloss Ultra High)
  • Docrafts Papermania Heat Tool
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso)
  • Hobbycraft Gem Stones (Rose)

Art Journaling

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Hi everyone! I am so delighted to be in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. As this is my last week I want to say a big thank you to everyone for all your support!

This week the theme is Art Journaling.

I’m so very grateful to be able to share my love of art journaling and I’d like to thank Lols and the Simon Says Stamp Team for letting me join them this month! This journal page was inspired by my love of art journaling and some Monarch butterflies that we saw in America at about this time last year.

I started by smooshing the background using Peeled Paint, Peacock Feather and Twisted Citron Distress Ink by stamping the pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page. I did this a number of times drying the page with a heat gun between each application of ink. Next I stamped an Invoice stamp from Finnabair and a letter stamp from Tim Holtz using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink. Then I covered an Interlocking Circles mini stencil from Creative Expressions with Black Soot Distress Ink and pressed it firmly onto the page using a brayer. The leaves are from a Concord & 9th Sophisticated Script stamp set and are stamped using Peeled Paint Distress Ink. I then splattered the page using a white Uni Posca paint pen and also some Black Soot Distress Ink.  I used the Concord & 9th Sophisticated Script stamp set again to stamp the “so very grateful” wording using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink and added highlights to the letters using a white Uni Posca paint pen. My Monarch butterflies are depicted here using Tim Holtz Botanical Layers and I added white text rub-on transfers from Tim Holtz which read “seen”, “memories”, “remember” and “dream” which relate to the butterflies we saw. To finish, I added some Small Talk Stickers from Tim Holtz which read “go where your heart takes you”, “creativity takes courage” and “adventure awaits you”; I chose the wording as it relates to my art journaling journey.

We were lucky enough to see Monarch butterflies for the first time when we visited Maine, USA last October time.

We don’t have this butterfly here in the UK and I was surprised at how big they were and …

… how mesmerising they are when they fly, they look like they are gliding (grin!).

I enjoyed creating this art journal page for the Art Journaling challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp is generously giving away a $50 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! and one lucky participant will be randomly drawn to win this voucher. How amazing is that! Good Luck to 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 Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my so very grateful wishes.

I’m also joining the Die Cuts and Punches challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the die cut butterflies from Tim Holtz that I included on this page.

With my butterflies and inky background this also qualifies for our Inky Wings challenge over at A Vintage Journey where, it would be great to see you there!

Here is a list of materials over at Simon Says Stamp to create this art journal page:

Haunted House

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It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday which is Witches/Wizards/Halloween.

If like me, you don’t really like the scary side to Halloween then you may like to create something fun like my Haunted House art journal page.

I started by covering the page in white gesso and then painting Light Red and Raw Sienna watercolour paints using a paintbrush to form streaks of colour across the page. I also streaked some Black Soot Distress Ink to add some contrast and depth, and then I stamped a homemade grid stamp using black Archival Ink and splattered the whole page using black acrylic paint. The haunted house, cat’s face and bats are all rub-on transfers and the portraits are fussy cut from a leaflet; I thought that they were a fun way to depict the inside of my haunted mansion. Next I stamped the “Happy Halloween” wording using a Papermania alphabet stamp set and black Archival Ink. I coloured the bottom of the wording with a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then applied Ranger Glossy Accents over the top. I added some modelling paste through a Vintage Diamond stencil from Creative Expressions and when dry, I coloured the diamonds with Spiced Marmalade and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink and Sanguine and Black Faber-Castell Big Brush markers; they are also covered with Ranger Glossy Accents to give them a glossy finish. To mimic the wrought iron railing around the haunted house image, I added some decorative border tape around the edges of the page, distressing it so it looked worn and broken. To finish, I added lots of green gemstones and clear, orange and purple gel stickers for more Halloween sparkle.

You’ll find lots more inspiration from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over and take a look.

The leaflet that I used for this page from Lytham Hall which also has spooky goings on in the vegetable garden.

Even the potting shed looks spooky with the faux cobwebs, pumpkin bunting and black cat – such fun (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey as with my Hapy Halloween wishes to you.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their #54 – Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page which included paint, ink, rub-on transfers, paper, stickers and gems.

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
  • Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colours (Light Red, Raw Sienna)
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot, Spiced Marmalade, Seedless Preserves)
  • Homemade Grid Stamp (Wooden block and Plasterboard/Drywall Tape)
  • Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
  • DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
  • Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Sentiments (Haunted House  #ROY714N, Bats, Cats & Ghosts #EDW355)
  • Leaflet – Lytham Hall
  • Papermania Alphamania Clear Stamp Set (Leftovers Alphabet PMA9071102)
  • Ranger Glossy Accents
  • Pébéo Modeling Paste
  • Creative Expressions Mini Stencils (Vintage Diamonds)
  • Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Sanguine 188 B, Black 199)
  • Poundland (Decorative Border Tape 15118067)
  • Hobbycraft (Green Rhinestone Stickers 5971381004)
  • Habico Signature Collection Self-Adhesive Gemstones (Festive Assortment PP948)
  • Home Bargains (Mini Gel Stickers 30287)

Autumn/Fall

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Hi everyone! I am so delighted to be in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thanks so much for inviting me!

This week the theme is Autumn/Fall.

As it is the first Monday of the month, Simon Says Stamp are featuring Tim Holtz so I created this birthday card as I have lots of family birthdays this time of year.

For the centre piece of my card, I stamped a maple leaf using a Tim Holtz Maple Sketch stamp and black Archival Ink onto a piece of Ranger Kraft paper which I tore along the edges to give it more of a rustic look and then coloured using a Sanguine and Black Faber-Castell marker. I also added a piece of lace and bound some twine to the bottom of the Kraft panel and attached a button which I threaded using the same twine.

I used the Tim Holtz Maple Sketch stamp again to stamp the maple leaf onto some Watercolour card stock using my Tim Holtz stamping platform. This enabled me to stamp the watercolour card again after I had coloured the leaf using Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. I cut out the leaf, edged it with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck it over the top of the leaf that I stamped on the Kraft panel using double-sided foam tape so it stood out more. The card was completed by mounting the finished Kraft panel onto a 6x4inch card which I made from white cardstock, stamped with a repeating pattern of “Happy Birthday” using Rich Cocoa, Toffee Crunch and Potter’s Clay Memento Ink and then finely splattered with Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and Picked Raspberry Distress Ink.

Maple leaves always reminds me of fall in New England …

… so the colours on my card were inspired by this beautiful tree in Biddeford, Maine that we saw this time last year whilst on vacation to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.

It happens to be our 31st wedding anniversary tomorrow, so as T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing a photo of me and hubby enjoying some samplers of beer at Banded Brewery in Biddeford, Maine which we also visited whilst we were there – cheers and Happy T Day!

Which reminds me to wish Erika a very Happy Anniversary too!

I enjoyed creating this card with my Tim Holtz products for the Autumn/Fall challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp is generously giving away a $50 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! and one lucky participant will be randomly drawn to win this voucher. How amazing is that! Good Luck to everyone!

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

Here is a list of materials to make this card: