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.

Embossed Autumn Leaves

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Emboss It; this can be wet or dry embossing.

I had fun creating this autumnal page which features both wet and dry embossing techniques.

I started by covering the page with Driftwood DecoArt acrylic paint and when dry, I stamped a woodgrain stamp from BoBunny using some Moonlight White Brilliance Ink over the top. Next I used a Typewriter embossing folder by Tim Holtz and a leaf and swirls embossing folder to emboss some autumnal coloured masterboard that I had left over from a previous project; the masterboard was coloured by smooshing Rusty Hinge, Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks. I then dragged a Ground Espresso Distress Ink pad over the top of the embossed paper to highlight the embossed patterns. Next I fussy cut the letters and some of the leaves and swirls from one of the embossed papers, and I edged the rectangle of embossed paper using some Vintage Ivory embossing enamel by Stampendous. Then I arranged everything onto the page with two chipboard birds which were also covered using the same embossing enamel.

As we’re celebrating autumn and T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my green tea with a piece of homemade pumpkin roll filled with cream cheese frosting – Happy T Day everyone!

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

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

The lovely Neet from Hickydorums is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen Fur and/or Feathers so I’m joining her with the birds on my page.

MIUCB#61 – Anything Goes + Optional Smooshing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the embossing techniques and smooshed masterboard embossed pieces that I used to create this page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #176 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

Be Yourself Be Happy

It’s a new month so we are launching our August challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog which is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by pretty pink roses and showcases Stamperia images and papers (grin!).

I started by applying Liquitex Parchment acrylic and white acrylic paint to the background. When dry, I stamped a crackle design from BoBunny using Terracotta Memento Ink and a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink. All the papers and images were from Stamperia; I fussy cut the roses, trellis, butterfly and birds and then I arranged them with the arched window which was die cut using a Cathedral Window Sizzix Bigz Die by Tim Holtz. I even used the window cut outs, that were leftover, as fence panelling layering everything together using a glue stick. To finish, I added a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “Be Yourself Be Happy”.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our mixed media challenge; I hope you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see join you there!

The roses on my page reminded me of these beautiful roses that my sister kindly bought for my mum; we always had roses in our garden growing up and I remember the wall of our garage being totally covered with soft pink roses like these (smile!).

I hope 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

I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely  Chris from Pearshapedcrafting is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen When We Were Young so I’m joining her with my memories of roses from my childhood.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #173 – Anything Goes challenge with my pretty garden page.

LTCCB#156 – Anything Goes over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my mixed media art journal page.

MIUCB#60 – Anything Goes + optional Clean & Simple over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the techniques I used to create my garden scene.

To travel is to live

It’s time for our new challenge over at Country View Challenges which is being hosted by the lovely Craftyfield who has chosen Travel as our challenge theme this month.

For this challenge, I’m travelling in steampunk style with Sir Vagabond in Japan using Stamperia papers for this page; I love the way it turned out especially the 3-D sails which were fun to create (smile!).

Choosing one of the design pages from the “Sir Vagabond in Japan” 6×6″ paper pad, I used a craft knife to cut three edges of each of the sails so I could fold them to create the 3-D effect. As you can see, before I stuck the design page onto the chipboard page, I layered some of more of the sail designed paper onto the background; it was cut from the same Stamperia paper pad. I also added more detail to the ship by applying some Ranger Glossy Accents to the stained glass, metalwork and cogs.

Next I cut out some circles from the “Sir Vagabond in Japan” pad and also a “Sir Vagabond in Japan Backgrounds Selection” pad. They were layered together with some chipboard cogs which I had covered in Copper embossing powder. The travel proverbs read “To travel is to live”, “Wherever you go there you are” and “It is better to travel well than to arrive”.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges. I hope you’ll join us, it would be lovely to see you there and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the Country View Crafts shop! Before you enter, please read the rules!

Here are the gorgeous Stamperia paper pads that I used for my design; I’ve had them a while but they are so beautiful that I just couldn’t bring myself to use them – do you have that trouble too? (smile!).

Wishing you a happy July and I hope that you’re 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

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

Paperbabe Stamps and their #171 – Anything Goes challenge with my steampunk travel page.

Just Breathe

This year we have been spring cleaning and decluttering all the rooms in our house. So I’ve been left with sorting through some old magazines to select any images that I want to recycle on my art journal pages. This page was created using a couple of those images and some leftover bits and pieces sitting on my craft desk.

I started by painting the background with a thin layer of Burnt Sienna Liquitex Acrylic paint and left it to dry. Then I stamped some crackle texture over the top using a BoBunny stamp and some Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink. Next I arranged the magazine images onto the page with some leftover papers that were sitting on my craft desk; they were all edged using Ground Espresso Distress Ink and then stuck down using a glue stick and some Liquitex matte gel medium. To finish, I added some metal discs which were recycled from an old necklace and also the wording which was from a Finnabair sticker book and reads “The quieter you become, the more you hear” and “Just breathe”; I thought these words related perfectly to the way that I’ve been feeling as a result of decluttering our rooms.

So here’s the pile of leftovers that were sitting on my craft desk from previous projects and the recycled images from the magazine that inspired this page. As you can see I didn’t use everything shown; it seems my pile of leftovers never seems to get smaller, does that happen to you too? (grin!).

Like art journaling, it’s been very cathartic decluttering the house and although the rooms are tidy and organised, I still have this pile of magazines to sort through; this is about half of what I had originally (double grin!).

Hope 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.

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint (Burnt Sienna)
• BoBunny Clear Stamps (Rough It Up #12105155)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Leftovers paper pieces (Stamperia – Forest Papers, Sheet Music, American Crafts Paper – DIY Shop, The Works Paperstack – Vintage Experience, die cut flower – Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Wildflower Stems #3)
• Recycled magazine images
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ground Espresso)
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Recycled necklace
• Finnabair Sticker Sheets (Sentiments #964849)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month with the recycled metal discs from an old necklace that I used as part of my design. I’m so happy to join the Mostly Neutrals challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog with the neutral colours, images and papers that I used to create this page. I’m pleased to join the Anything But A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my art journal page. I’m happy to join Paperbabe Stamps and their #138 – Anything Goes challenge with my art journal page too. I’m also pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my Just Breathe art journal page too. I’m also joining in the fun over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog and their LTCCB#55 – February Anything Goes challenge with the recycled and leftovers designed art journal page.

Christmas Wishes

I created today’s art journal page to send you Christmas wishes – wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas filled with peace and love!

I started by covering the page with Pébéo white gesso and then I spread some clear glitter glue over the top using a palette knife. All the festive images were cut from old magazines and stuck in place using a glue stick.  I splattered white acrylic paint around the edges of the images and left it to dry.

The black circles were stamped onto some white tissue paper using a Snow Day stamp set from BoBunny, some black Archival Ink and black Papermania Embossing Powder; they were stuck down using a glue stick. I added some texture over the white background around the images by applying Ranger Texture Paste though a Sparkle stencil from Tim Holtz; I love the white on white effect that this created. When dry, I finished the page by adding the “Christmas Wishes” wording which was recycled from an old Christmas card.

One of our Christmas traditions is to treat ourselves to a Festive Feast sandwich from our local deli in town; it’s filled with stuffing, turkey, bacon, sausage, cranberry sauce and mayonnaise (grin!).

They make sandwiches to takeaway so we bought the sandwich home to enjoy with one of the beers from our homemade advent calendar. This Belgian IPA had a fruity finish and tasted of coriander and orange peel, and both the beer and the sandwich were very yummy (double grin!).

This past week, we’ve loved all of the beers that we have tried from our advent calendar so as T Stands for Tuesday, I thought I’d share some of the other beers with you and say a big hello to the T Gang – cheers and Happy T day!

This one is specially brewed for Aldi by Brewdog Brewery and there is an interesting story behind this beer. It started with Aldi supermarket selling a copy of Brewdog’s flagship beer, so Brewdog then made a beer called YALDI IPA and launched it on Twitter (Brewdog is in Scotland and “yaldi” is apparently slang for happiness). Aldi replied on Twitter to Brewdog saying “would have gone with ALD IPA, send us a crate and we’ll talk”. Apparently the customer enquiries went through the roof after their conversation on Twitter, so they got together and Aldi now sell this beer as a special edition; it’s marketed as their “own label IPA”.

Erika will be pleased that we have tried this Push Pineapple beer too; I was looking forward to trying this one myself and it didn’t disappoint! This is a Pineapple Milkshake IPA; it is called “milkshake” as it contains lactose which gives a creamier mouth feel and makes the beer sweeter as brewer’s yeast can’t ferment it. Lactose is traditionally used in stouts to give them a sweeter and creamer taste. This beer had a lovely pineapple flavoured finish too – so delicious (grin!).

Wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas!

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:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Glitter Glue (Clear)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Old magazines
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Mixed Media Stencil (Sparkle THS132)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Recycled white tissue paper
• BoBunny Stamp Set (Snow Day)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black)
• Recycled Christmas Card Topper
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape

Challenges I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, as they provide me with inspiration 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 Tracey over at Art Journal Journey and her Meaning of challenge this month as I created this page to send you happy Christmas wishes. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything Christmas challenge with my Christmas page. I’m also pleased to join the Celebrate challenge over at Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge Blog as I’m celebrating Christmas with this page. I’m happy to join the MIUCB #44 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Clean and Simple challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the techniques I used to create the clean and simple white on white background. I’m also joining Paperbabe Stamps and their #134 – Anything Goes challenge with my Christmas Wishes page. I’m also pleased to join the Merry Little Christmas Challenge and their MLCCB #28 – December Anything Christmas Goes with my Christmas page too.

You’re so beautiful

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

I love autumn, it seems a magical time of year to me with the beautiful colours of the leaves and the sunny days with a slight chill in the air. There’s nothing better than walking along with the crunch of leaves beneath your feet (grin!), so my page today celebrates autumn.

To start, I painted the page with Raw Sienna, Raw Umber and Deep Green Liquitex acrylic paint and then applied Pébéo white gesso over the top with a brayer.

I stamped lots of leaves over the top from a Falling Leaves stamp set from BoBunny using Rich Cocoa, Morocco and Cottage Ivy Memento Ink. Then I applied another layer of white gesso using the brayer and stamped more of the maple leaves using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink; this technique adds the illusion of depth to my page. I stamped a grid design over the background using black Archival Ink and a homemade stamp made from a wooden block and some plasterboard/drywall tape. Then I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

Next I added some die cut circles and the “you’re so beautiful” wording which are from Craft Sensations. They are arranged with some metallic copper leaves which are outline stickers from Stampendous. To finish, I added tiny copper circles and dots around the page which are from the same outline sticker set.

For more mixed media inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too; it would be lovely to see you there!

We always enjoy walking with our dearest friends and little Ellie who happens to love autumn too as she loves chasing leaves. Well she actually likes chewing them (grin!); you may remember this photo from a previous post.

Here is a picture of her looking all grown up after visiting Prestige Paws who are a fabulous local dog groomers; they kindly let me share this lovely photo that they took of her, thanks so much! Today’s page made me think of Ellie, not only does she love leaves but I always tell her “you’re so beautiful!” and here she’s looking particularly beautiful after her recent visit (double 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.

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, Deep Green Permanent)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• BoBunny Stamps (Falling Leaves #12105154)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa, Morocco, Cottage Ivy)
• Homemade stamp – wood block and plasterboard/drywall tape
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE)
• Stampendous Outline Stickers (2077 – copper leaves)

Challenges I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Creative Artiste, as I always 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 so pleased to be able join the #131 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as the autumnal design and colours. I’m happy to join the Home is Where the Heart is challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as like my page, my home is always decorated with autumnal foliage this time of year. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my autumnal art journal page. I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #139 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with autumnal page too. I’m also joining in the Thinking Of You challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page as it makes me think of little Ellie.

Summer

Our new challenge for the next two weeks over at Try it on Tuesday is Summertime.

I had fun using the hot colours of summer to create my seascape page capturing a summertime sunset. I hope you’re inspired to join our Summertime challenge too, it would be lovely to see you there (grin!).

The background is layers of paint and stamping; I started by applying Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Orange and Ultramarine Blue Liquitex acrylic paints to the page using a brayer. Then I used a texture stamp from BoBunny to transfer some of the wet paint around the page cleaning it immediately so the paint didn’t ruin the stamp. When the page was dry, I stamped the same texture BoBunny stamp and also two other texture stamps from an Urban Tapestry Tim Holtz stamp set using black Archival Ink. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso and the Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Orange acrylic paints again over the top using the brayer.

I created the horizon using a black Uni Pin marker pen and a ruler, blending the marker pen along the bottom edge using a wet paintbrush. Then I doodled some waves using a black Uni Pin maker and white Uniball gel pen. The seagulls and boats are drawn and cut from a dictionary page which detailed the word “sail”. I stuck them in place using a glue stick, outlined them using a black Sharpie marker and shaded them using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. To finish, I added the word “summer” which is a rub-on transfer and highlighted it using a white Uniball gel pen.

For more Summertime inspiration, there are some amazing creations from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday, so please pop over and take a look (grin!).

We are lucky enough to live right by the sea on the west coast and the sunsets are often spectacular, whether it’s simply yellow and orange …

… or maybe clouds of blues and pinks – so beautiful (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my cup of green tea with a custard tart. This is a pastry case filled with egg custard, sprinkled with nutmeg and baked – so very yummy (grin!). Wishing you all a Happy T Day!

I hope that you are 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 glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from her blog BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her When It’s Hot challenge this month with the hot pink that I added to hot sunset page.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their A Day At The Beach challenge my seascape art journal page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the #123 – Photo Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the colours that I included on my page.

I’m entering the Do What Makes You Happy challenge over at Country View Challenges too as walking along the beach and seeing the sunset always makes me happy.

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

• Liquitex Basics Artist Color (Cadmium Yellow Light Hue Cadmium Orange Hue, Ultramarine Blue )
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• BoBunny Stamps (Rough It Up #1205155)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Urban Tapestry CMS061)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Uni Pin Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Oxford Pocket Dictionary
• Pritt Stick
• Sharpie Permanent Marker Fine Point (Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Summer Sentiments #ROY-505)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)

Ceylon Tea

We bought some new Ceylon Tea recently so I thought I’d have some fun and create an art journal page with the packaging that was sitting on my craft desk (grin!).

I started by mixing some yellow, red and black acrylic paints to create a medium tea colour and then applied it to the page using an old gift card. I used a wet paintbrush to move the colour around to cover the page giving it a grungy look. On the lighter painted areas of the page, I stamped a crackle effect using a BoBunny stamp and Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Next I added some black flowers, oriental shapes and leaves which are rub-on transfers from Kaisercraft. I die cut the tea packaging using circular, square and flower shape doily die cuts and then I arranged them onto the page using double-sided foam tape and a glue stick. I stencilled a criss-cross lattice pattern using Ranger Texture Paste and then I splattered the page with white and also black acrylic paint. When dry, I coloured the criss-cross shapes with a white Faber-Castell Big Brush marker which finished the page. 

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m having a cup of Ceylon Tea today and joining the T Gang – Happy T Day everyone!

Ceylon tea is a popular type of black tea that is also known as Sri Lankan tea as it is produced on the island of Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon. This particular blend is rich amber in colour and has a zesty aroma with a fresh and bold flavour which makes it a refreshing and energising cuppa any time of the day. It’s suggested to have the following health benefits too:

• Weight loss by increasing your metabolism, which may help increase energy and help your body burn fat.
• Boosting your immune system being rich in antioxidants, which may increase white blood cells, boost the immune system, and help the body fight disease-causing viruses and harmful bacteria.
• Ceylon tea contains potassium which relaxes the tension in your blood vessels and arteries.
• Reducing blood glucose levels which may help prevent the spikes and drops that can be dangerous for people with diabetes.
• Skin elasticity as some of the antioxidants in Ceylon tea are linked to reducing collagen loss in the skin.

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

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Mia from Craftartista over at Art Journal Journey and her Flowers challenge this month with flowers I included on this page.

I’m pleased to join in the Tea Party challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Ceylon Tea art journal page.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their We’re All A Buzz challenge with my Ceylon Tea page as this tea energises you, giving you a buzz (grin!).

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Cadmium Red Medium Hue, Cadmium Yellow Medium)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• BoBunny Stamp (Rough It Up Item# 12105155)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Kaisercraft Rub-ons (Lush Collection – Black & White RB867)
• Tea box packaging
• The Works Cutting Dies (Circles 211766, Squares 211759, Circular Doily 251335)
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape
• Pritt Stick
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (White 101)

Tulips

It’s a new month so we are launching our May challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is:

Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I was inspired by the beautiful tulips in my garden and had fun playing around with mixed media to create this Tulip art journal page. I hope you’ll join in the fun too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by ripping and fussy cutting a tulip napkin and then I stuck the pieces into place using a glue stick. I painted around the napkin pieces with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and while the paint was still wet I added some Vivid Green Liquitex acrylic paint using a palette knife so it matched the napkin background. When the paint was dry, I stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink and also a crackle texture stamp from BoBunny using Pistachio Memento Ink over the painted areas.

Then I added some Ranger Texture Paste using a heart stencil that I created with a Falling Hearts Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and when dry, the hearts were coloured using Red Violet, Crimson and Magenta Spectrum Aqua markers. Next I added the “Tulips” wording using letter stickers from Kaisercraft and also a pretty blue butterfly from an Ephemera Pack by Tim Holtz.

To finish, I added some shadow to the tulips with a Charcoal grey Derwent Inktense pencil and then emphasised the tulip petals using a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen.

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

This year the tulips in our garden have been beautiful.

I love all the colours and structure that they have added to our flower border.

We plan to add more tulip bulbs every year; we planted these striped tulips a few years ago …

… and these gorgeous purple tulips are the ones that we planted in November last year (grin!).

Hoping that you all stay safe and keep well! x

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 Mia from Craftartista over at Art Journal Journey and her Flowers challenge this month with the Interlocking Circles on this page.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Not A Card challenge with my art journal page.

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

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at 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:

• Tulip Napkin
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Script CS752)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• BoBunny Stamp (Rough It Up 12105155)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Pistachio)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Falling Hearts 664415)
• Ranger Texture paste
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Red Violet, Crimson, Magenta)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Mix & Match – Alpha SS252)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Ephemera Pack (Field Notes #TH94051)
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Derwent Inktense Pencil (Charcoal Grey 2100)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)