Doodled Flowers

This page has been painted on the cardboard cover of my finished art journal book. I wanted to get creative with some new paints and just doodle a little; to be honest it started as a fun experiment as I don’t usually paint or doodle that much (grin!). I liked the way my page turned out so I thought I’d share it with you today.

I started by applying a dark grey acrylic paint onto the thick cardboard cover; I had intended to make a dark purple paint for another project but I added way too much dark blue so rather than waste this paint I covered this page with it. I also had some orange paint left over from the same project which I splattered using a paintbrush over the top. Next I doodled some large flower shapes using a white Uniball gel pen and coloured them using Vivid Lime Green, Neutral Gray and Bright Aqua Green Liquitex acrylic paints. It’s the first time I have used these paints which were a gift and as they are “heavy body” paints the flowers painted have a lovely 3D look which I love! I also added some of the different paint colours along the edges of the flower petals and in centre of the flowers. Then I used up any excess paint on the background of the page to break up the dark grey so that hints of these colours can be seen throughout the background. Next I used my brayer to apply white DecoArt acrylic paint to a diamond background stamp from Art Impressions and stamped it around the flowers. I also used the brayer to add white acrylic paint along the edge of the page too. I then cleaned the brayer and stamp and used them again to apply the Vivid Lime Green Liquitex acrylic paint onto the flower petals. When the paint was dry I doodled on the flowers with a black Derwent Graphik marker, defining the flower petals and stamens and I used the white gel pen to touch up the flower outlines and also a white Uni Posca paint pen to colour the stamens in the centre. To finish, I added three stickers by Kaisercraft which reminded of the happy time I had creating this page, which read “Smile”, “Create happiness” and “Live in the moment”.

Talking of flowers, these pretty Delphinium could be found flowering in our garden this time last year, unfortunately they did not survive our unusually cold snowy winter. Luckily I have some photos to remember how beautiful they were which makes me smile!

Of course you may remember these flowers from a previous post, they are my one of my favourite flowers called Mesembryanthemum which is a really hard one to pronounce, so I just refer to them as “pretties”; you may also know then as Livingston Daisies. I buy them every year and this year we have a big pot of them on our patio, so I’m really looking forward to seeing them flower as I’m sat relaxing in the garden (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey as my inspiration for this page was to have some fun experimenting with new paints and doodling.

I’m pleased to be able to join Paperbabe Stamps and their Doodles challenge: thanks I had so much fun doodling to join your challenge (grin!).

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their All Things Bright and Beautiful challenge with my colourful flower art journal page, where the lovely Chris is in the Designer Spotlight this month and created an amazing little book of flowers to inspire us for this particular 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 the happy wording I added to my page.

I’m also joining the Colour it Blue challenge over at The Artistic Stamper with my painted blue flowers.

As I created my Doodled Flowers on my art journal cover, I’m also pleased to join the lovely Lulu over at Stamps and Stencils and their Do judge a book by its cover! 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:

• Leftover acrylic paint from previous project (Dark Grey, Orange)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green, Neutral Gray 5, Bright Aqua Green)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Derwent Graphik Line marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Art Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Diamond Background T-3335)
• Ranger Brayer
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fly Free SS289)

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Find Inspiration in Nature

My art journal pages are often inspired by nature which is why I chose the Flora and Fauna theme for this month over at Art Journal Journey. I had so much fun creating the background and steampunk vibe flowers for this page – I hope you like it too!

Taking inspiration from the beautiful red sunsets we see in nature, I started by covering the page in a mixture of Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red and Apricot Liquitex acrylic paint, varying the blending slightly to give different shades of colour. I added some torn book pages using Liquitex matte gel medium and some washi tapes, and then I applied a thin layer of the same acrylic paints over the top using my finger to achieve a translucent look. When dry, I applied some white DecoArt acrylic paint using a brayer and also a circular Worn Rings stamp from Gummiapan, making sure I washed the stamp as soon as I had finished so the paint didn’t dry and ruin it. I then splattered the whole page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush. The flowers are fussy cut from an old flower book that I found in a charity shop (thrift store) and arranged on the page with three stamps from the Vintage Circles Woodware Craft Selection Stamp Set using black Archival Ink. I used Liquitex matte gel medium to stick the flowers in place and once it was dry I outlined them with a black Derwent Graphik marker so that the stamping was incorporated into the flower design.

Both the fussy cutting and outlining took some time to complete and it really made a difference to the flowers as you can see on this before and after photo. The bees and wording which reads “Find inspiration in nature” are both Royal & Langnickel rub-on transfers and I added more detail to the bumblebees using a Derwent Graphik marker. To finish, I stamped some circles of white DecoArt acrylic paint using a bottle cap and added some more splatters of black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush.

Everytime we visit Garstang we see these beautiful metal flowers and the yellow ones reminded me those on my page today – aren’t they stunning!

I like that they stay in bloom all year round for us to enjoy, no matter what the weather … grin!

Challenges

I’m joining Art Journal Journey and the Flora and Fauna theme with my flowers and bees; there is just one more week to join in the fun (grin!). I’ve really enjoyed seeing all your fabulous creations that you have linked to this theme so far, thank you!

I’m pleased to join Moo Mania and More for their Even More Flowers challenge with my flowery page.

I’m joining Fashionable Stamping Challenges where the theme is Floral, which has been chosen by the lovely Avril, with my Vintage styled flowers, .

I really like the Vintage look of my new Woodware Stamp Set that I used on this page against the mixed media background which also included stamping, so I’m also pleased to join the Backgrounds challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

Stamping Sensations challenge is Close to Nature so I’m very happy to be able to join them with my “Find inspiration in Nature” page.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Use More Than One Stamp challenge as I used more than one stamp to create this art journal page.

My page reminds me of a classical music piece called “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikoli Rimsky-Korsakov and I can just imagine my bees flying around my page to this music exploring the Steampunk Style world of flowers that I created, so I’m also joining A Vintage Journey for their Words and Music challenge.

With the stamping I used to create this art journal page, I’m also pleased to join the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge and their May Challenge: Anything Goes!: (stamping MUST be included).

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 Artist Color Acrylic (Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Apricot)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White, Black)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm, 0.5mm)
• Gummiapan Stamp (Worn Rings 2 11050601)
• Woodware Craft Collection Magic Singles (Vintage Circles FRS665)
• The Oxford Book of Garden Flowers
• Quality Toys Group (Washi Tape 2544960)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (TIP1642G, Motivate Sentiments #ROY510, )
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Hot Chocolate is like …

Hot chocolate is top on my list of warming drinks this time of year and with it getting colder I thought I would create a winter themed page with a warming mug of hot chocolate and a lovely quote I recently found.

I started by covering the page with a piece of tissue paper with circles on it which had been in my craft stash for a while; the circles were stamped using an old cardboard tube with some leftover blue/green acrylic paint from another project. I stuck the tissue paper to the page using a UHU Stic. Next I stamped hearts into the centre of each circle and also a circle and heart design stamp onto the background using black Archival Ink, both stamps are from Sugarloaf Inc. I added Milled Lavender, Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean Distress Inks and left the page to dry. Then I covered the whole page with a thin layer of white gesso using a baby wipe. Next I used four different stencils and blue inks to add layers of patterns; this included a stencil called Moroccan from the That Special Touch of Mica range by Creative Expressions using Salty Ocean Distress Ink, a Heart Cluster mini stencil from Creative Expressions using Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink, a cross stencil from Craft Sensations using Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink and a Swoosh stencil from Creative Expressions using Summer Sky Memento Ink. The snowflakes are stamps from a Winter Woodland stamp set that was free with a magazine, they are stamped using the same Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire inks. I also used the snowflake stamps again to stamp white acrylic paint which I applied to the stamps using a brayer. With the background completed I added the quote using some black Label Letter stickers by Tim Holtz and edged them using a Poppy Red Derwent Inktense pencil and a black Uni Pin marker. The quote pays homage to how I feel about hot chocolate it reads:

Hot chocolate is like a hug from the inside.

Then I selected some glittery red paper from a Designer Paper Pack and punched out some snowflakes using a Woodware paper punch. I also punched some black paper snowflakes too which I offset under the red snowflakes to provide a shadow. They are stuck to the page using a UHU Stic. Next I drew a mug on the same red paper, cut it out and edged it using the same red Derwent Inktense pencil and a wet paintbrush.  Before I stuck the mug to the page using double-sided tape, I drew around where it was to be placed on the page and used an Ink Black Derwent Inktense pencil to create a shadow under it so it stood out more. I embellished the mug using a black snowflake, a white glitter foam snowflake and three red gemstones. To finish, I added two smaller red foam glitter snowflakes and some red gemstones to the background and then I edged the page with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

It’s been sunny here of late but very cold too, so when out walking with our friends we have been going to a local café on the beachfront and having a hot chocolate! As T Stands for Tuesday I’m pleased to join the T Gang and wish you all a Happy T Day!

As you can see we enjoyed a toasted teacake with our hot chocolate too (grin!). For those of you not familiar with toasted teacakes, here are some facts you may find interesting:

• Teacakes are a sweetened yeasted bread type roll which usually have dried fruit in, and it is usually split, toasted, buttered, and served with tea.
• Teacakes originated in the North of England and are very popular in Lancashire where I live.
• Teacakes have regional differences for example in East Lancashire, certain areas of Yorkshire and Cumbria a teacake is plain unless you ask for a “currant teacake” and this plain teacake is a specialty of the area and is still split and served toasted with butter and also sometimes jam (jelly).
• Sometimes the plain teacakes are confused with English Muffins however they are not the same thing. An English Muffin here in the UK is the same as in the US and is usually a breakfast item often served as Eggs Benedict or with smoked salmon.
• We often have toasted teacakes with a cuppa mid morning for elevenses.

Here’s the pretty view from the Waters Edge café over the beach – beautiful!

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:

Hot chocolate and the quote I used ties in nicely with the  “101 Ways To Keep Warm” challenge over at Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Chris.

I was inspired to use the four different stencils to create this page after seeing the design teams artwork over at Country View Challenges which they had created for their “Stencils” challenge.

As I used stamps and the hot chocolate quote, I’m also pleased to join a new challenge today over at The Artistic Stamper where this month’s creative challenge is “Use a Quote”.

It makes me happy to be able to join the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their “Food and/or Drink” challenge with my hot chocolate inspired page.

With my colourful blue and red page I’m pleased to join the lovely design team over at Try it on Tuesday and their “Colourful” Challenge and I’m also just have enough time to join in the fun over at Moo Mania & More and their “Put A Stencil On It” 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 Distress Ink (Milled Lavender, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Summer Sky)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Derwent Inktense Pencils (Poppy Red 0400, Ink Black 2200)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.3mm)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Sugarloaf Inc. Anita’s wood mounted stamps (Heart Tile 26631, Hearts & Circles 26645)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Moroccan, Swoosh)
• Craft Expressions Mini Stencils (Heart Clusters CEMSHEART)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Winter Woodland Clear Stamp Set – free with Craft Beautiful Dec 2017 magazine
• White tissue paper – stamped with circles
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Label Letters #TH93072)
• The Works Designer Paper Pack (The Night Before Christmas HCPAP003X15)
• Leon (X-Large Coloured Paper Pad)
• Woodware Craft Collection Paper Punch (Large Snowflake SL120118)
• Poundland (Christmas Craft Pack)
• Docrafts Papermania Eleganza Adhesive Stones (3mm Red PMA351607)
• UHU Stic
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Hope is a waking dream

I was inspired to create this page for the “Poetry in Motion” theme that I’m hosting at Art Journal Journey using my favourite colours, some pretty dream catchers and a wonderful quote by Aristotle:

“Hope is a waking dream”

I started by stencilling feather shapes using a grey Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker and London Fog Memento Ink with a blending tool. Then I added large splatters of pastel blue and green acrylic paints and also small splatters of black acrylic paint using a paint brush, letting each colour dry before applying the next. The silver feathers, small dots and diamond-shaped border are stickers by The Range and they are arranged on the background with strands of plasterboard/drywall tape that were left over from a previous project. To make the tags, I used three different sized tags by Docrafts Papermania and Poundland which I covered in layers of white, pastel blue and green acrylic paints using a brayer. Next I sprinkled the tags with a small amount of Ultramarine Colourcraft Brusho Crystal powder and spritzed it with water and just watched the magic as the colours burst into life. Then I added fine splatters of black acrylic paint to the tags using a paintbrush. Once the tags had fully dried, I used the same set of stickers by The Range to add the silver dream catcher and star images and I also added some sparkly hearts from Home Bargains and pale green paper flowers from Poundland using Ranger Glossy Accents. I outlined the holes of the tags using a silver metallic pen and then used double-sided foam tape to stick them to the page. The leaf is from The Handmade Paper Company and is dyed using the pastel green acrylic paint, I then placed it behind the small tag in the middle of the page using Glossy Accents. I made the sentiment using paper from a Design Pad by Craft Sensations and rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel, it is edged with a black Sharpie marker and stuck to the page using double-sided foam tape. Next I added a couple of larger pale green paper flowers using Glossy Accents which tied everything together and finished the page.

I’m also pleased to join the “Blues and Greens” theme over at Country View Challenge.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a glass of water that I had at the hairdressers last week, it was served in the most amazing glass so I quickly took a picture to share with the T Gang – Happy T day! I think it looks a bit like a totem pole carving, what about you?

I’ve been overwhelmed with the participation and support shown for my theme over at Art Journal Journey, thank you! There are still a few days left to join in the fun by creating a page inspired by a poem, saying or quote. I hope to see you there!

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:

• Aldi Script (Ready Mixed Paint – Pastels)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Colourcraft Brusho Colours (Ultra Marine)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (London Fog)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Script Metallic Pen (Silver)
• Brayer Ranger (Small 2¼ inches)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Tags (Elements- Wood PMA 174318)
• Poundland (Die Cut Tags 117106)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Glory 154878)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Sentiments (Positive Quotes #ROY-554 Rub-on)
• The Handmade Paper Company (Nature’s Touch Art)
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Poundland (Gem Florettes 117128)
• 151 Adhesives Plasterboard & Drywall Tape
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Always bring your own sunshine

Seeing sunflowers in people’s gardens reminded me of a lovely surprise we saw whilst walking along our local beach last October. A single sunflower was actually growing and flowering right on the beach front. To capture this happy memory I created “Always bring your own sunshine”.

As I included one of my favourite quotes I’m pleased to join the “Poetry in Motion” challenge over at Art Journal Journey too.

To start I used a small brayer to layer yellow, blue, parchment and white acrylic paint onto the page; I didn’t let each colour dry completely before applying the next so that the colours would blend a little. I stamped a diamond design by Art Impressions and also a heart/circle design by Sugarloaf Inc. using black Archival Ink. Then I used the brayer again to add white gesso over the top to tone them down and produce a layered effect. Next I added fine splatters of the black acrylic paint using a paintbrush. I stencilled a clock face by Craft Sensations using Black Soot Distress Ink with a blending tool, this depicts turning back the time, as I am remembering seeing the sunflower in October last year. I also stencilled some cogs by Viva Décor using the same Black Soot ink in the right-hand corner around the clock face and on the top left of the page. The sunflowers are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel, and I used a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen to add extra detail. I then added white acrylic paint splatters over the sunflowers and the rest of the page. I had some dried gesso that had formed on the top of the paint tube so I stuck these on with a UHU Stic to continue the grunge feel. I added a pretty fabric tag and then I stamped the wording around the edge of the clock using black Archival Ink. To finish, I went over the wording with a black Uni Pin pen to make it stand out more. I really like the beach colours and urban street art feel of this piece.

I thought you might like to see the solitary sunflower on our beach, here it is – we couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw it shining at the edge of the sand dunes, I’m not sure how it got there, birds maybe (grin!).

We first discovered this little sunflower when we were volunteering at Beach Care for Love My Beach, you can see my hubby to the left of the picture. We join this group every week to keep our local beach and bathing waters clean. It’s a great way to actively help the environment, care for sea life, meet people and just give something back to the community; we always have so much fun too!

The next day we were walking with one of our friends and went back for another look, she kindly took this picture of us. It reminds me of summer days and you never know maybe we will see another sunflower on our beach and if not, as the saying goes you can “Always bring your own sunshine!”

“Poetry in Motion”

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
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Swedish Blue, Parchment, Cadmium yellow Medium)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm & 0.5mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Art Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Diamond Background T-3335)
• Sugarloaf Inc. Anita’s wood mounted rubber stamp (26645)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCV0050)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Viva Décor Universal Stencil (Past Times 900270300)
• Ranger Brayer (Small 2 ¼ inch)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (REC1683)
• The Works (Canvas Floral Tags)
• UHU Stic