It’s a new month so it’s time to launch our June challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog which is Anything Mixed Media Goes.
My mixed media page was inspired by summer days with a sunny golden sky for the bright red flowers and butterflies to bask in – Happy June everyone!
I started by covering the background with Cadmium Yellow Deep Hue Liquitex acrylic paint and then I stamped five different stamps to pattern the background using Memento Inks and Archival Ink. This included three stamps from Kaisercraft using Love Letter and Toffee Crisp Memento Inks, a starburst stamp using Dandelion Memento Ink and a Woodware Craft Collection stamp using black Archival Ink. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top using a brayer and I splattered the whole page using the yellow and also black acrylic paint. The two flowers were washi tape stickers and the wording was from a Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet. To finish, I added the red ephemera butterflies.
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 you there!
We’ve seen lots of red poppies recently and we discovered these on one of our walks (smile!).
Stay 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 Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
Paperbabe Stamps and their #169 – Anything Goes challenge with my summer page.
I created this page to remember one of my birthday celebrations, so today we are going to the Common Bar in Blackpool which serves South American Street Food such as tacos and burritos.
I started by covering the page with some decoupage paper with a palm leaf and bird design, sticking it in place using a glue stick. Next I stencilled the bricks over the top using Rusty Hinge, Brushed Corduroy and Vintage Photo Distress Inks and then I applied some Pébéo white gesso using a brayer. I added the tropical foliage and flowers to the bottom and left-hand side of the page and the “Happy Birthday” wording, which were all stickers by Kaisercraft. To finish, I used some colourful letters to create the “Common Bar” wording and surrounded them with tile border stickers which were from the same Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet.
Here’s a video showing what the Common Bar looks like inside; we were seated upstairs in a window seat overlooking the street.
We had the most wonderful time and enjoyed these Plain Nachos (I think they are called “plain” as they have the basic toppings).
We also had three types of Tacos (Pork Carnitas, Shredded Chicken Tinga and Chipotle Mushroom) with a side order of corn – all of which were delicious (smile!). Here’s their food menu if you’re interested.
Our drinks were super fun too; I had a Havana Nights Cocktail and my hubby had a Pump Up The Jam beer by Tiny Rebel, yes it did taste like a jam doughnut (double grin!) – Happy T Day for those over at T Stands for Tuesday and here’s their drinks menu too.
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the lovely Matilde from http://craftowanie.blogspot.com/ who is hosting this month at Art Journal Journey and her Birds challenge with the two birds on the decoupage paper that I used on this page (did you spot them both, here’s one of them blowing kisses your way – smile!).
I’ve been having fun using stencils on my pages and this was inspired by our Use A Stencil challenge over at Try it on Tuesday; there is still another week to join in the fun too!
We have lots of bluebells flowering in our garden this year, so I created this page by recycling some magazine images and sheet music. Bluebells always make me smile as they remind me of my Grandad Westy because he used to sing a song called “Bluebells are bluebells” at family get togethers.
I started by covering the page with Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks and when dry, applying some Pébéo white gesso over the top using a brayer. Next I tore some sheet music paper and added it to the page using a glue stick and I applied some more white gesso over them too. Then I used a Docrafts stamp to add some more music notes using Grape Jelly Memento Ink. The bluebell images and wording were cut from some magazine pages and to finish, I added some purple foam glittery hearts.
Here’s the pretty bluebells flowering in my garden; the fun song that my Grandad Westy used to sing went “Bluebells are bluebells, Bluebells are blue, Bluebells are bluebells when bluebells are blue” (smile!).
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
I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
The lovely Alison the Craftytrog is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen Play it again Sam where you’re page need to be inspired by a song or movie; so I’m joining her with my Bluebells Are Bluebells song page.
As it’s February, here’s the art journal page that I created to wish my hubby a Happy Valentine’s Day this year (grin!).
I started by covering the chipboard page with white tissue paper that I had been previously used to mop up some black acrylic paint; it was stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium building up the layers of tissue paper to create texture for my grungy background. Next I stuck some leftover circle outline stickers onto the background and then I applied gold metallic acrylic paint over the whole page. The hearts were die cut from red cardstock using a Sizzix Bigz Heartfelt die by Tim Holtz. Once in place I added more colour to the hearts and edged them using Derwent Inktense pencils. I stamped the hearts using an Etcetera Tim Holtz stamp and gold metallic paint applying it to the stamp using a brayer. Then I used the same stamp set to add more text to hearts and to the background using black Archival Ink. The page was splattered using black acrylic paint and to finish, I added the “You make my heart smile” wording which was from a Metallic Sticker Book by Tim Holtz.
I love this photo of me and my hubby who always makes my heart smile!
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:
For The Love of Mixed Media challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as my mixed media page was created for my hubby who makes my heart smile and I love very dearly.
Paperbabe Stamps and their #162 – Anything Goes challenge with my heart page.
Something Big-Something Small over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge with the large and small Valentine’s hearts on this page.
Don’t forget that you still have another week to join us at Try it on Tuesday for our Add Some Texture challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!
Our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday for the next 2 weeks is Make a Rainbow.
For my art journal page, I created a rainbow coloured background of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet with matching die cut flowers. I hope that you are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!
For the rainbow background, I painted Kuretake Watercolour paints in the vertical panels onto the page. I did this by applying water to the page first and then adding Red, Cadmium Scarlet, Lemon Yellow, Sap Green Light, Ultramarine, Indigo and Cobalt Violet watercolour paint over the top. Then I splattered the page using white and also black acrylic paint and when dry, I applied some Pébéo white gesso using a brayer to push back the bright rainbow colours into the background more. The different flowers were die cut using three sets of Wildflower Thinlits from Tim Holtz; they were cut from coloured papers and also white cardstock. I layered the coloured and white flower die cuts together so they were slightly off centre and then I arranged them onto the page using a Zig glue pen. The letters for the “rainbow” wording were created the same way using a Docrafts Alphabet die cut set which finished the page.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Make a Rainbow creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).
It’s always magical seeing rainbows and whilst creating this page it reminded me of this one; taken through my craft room window last year.
As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big welcome to the T Gang and sharing my cuppa with one of my yummy birthday cupcakes that I made (it’s a sponge cake filled with vanilla buttercream and jam then topped with the icing) – wishing you a very Happy T Day!
Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of the materials that were used to create this art journal page:
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Red, Cadmium Scarlet, Lemon Yellow, Sap Green Light, Ultramarine, Indigo, Cobalt Violet)
As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are:
Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – she is greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my pages this month which was inspired by rainbow wishes (grin!).
MIUCB#48 – Anything Goes + optional No Stamping challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my rainbow page which contains no stamping.
It’s a new month which means we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for April which is The Birds and The Bees.
Please ensure that birds and/or bees are the main focus of your projects when you join this challenge which is being hosted this month by the lovely Sue.
This page was created in my mini art journal, so I started by covering the chipboard page with a coat of white gesso and then I stamped the beehive image using black Archival Ink and a Beehive Buzz stamp and die set from Pink Ink Designs. Next I added the hexagonal pattern to the background using Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo Distress Ink and an old hexagon stamp. Then I used an Interlocking Circles stencil from Creative Expressions as a stamp by covering it with Black Soot Distress Ink, spritzing it with water and then pressing the stencil onto the page. When dry, I used some black Archival Ink and the hexagon stamp again around the edges of the page to frame it. The beehive was coloured and shaded using a blue Tri-Blend marker and some Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo Distress Ink which I applied like watercolour.
I stamped the bees onto some mixed media paper and then I used the Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Salty Ocean Distress Inks again to colour them. They were die cut using the dies from the Beehive Buzz set and then stuck in place using glue dots.
I added three blue dome stickers and used the stamp and die set to create the “Bee Extraordinary” wording which finished the page.
I hope that you will join The Birds and The Bees challenge over at Country View Challenges too; it would be lovely to see you there, and if you do join us then you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts website too (grin!).
This beehive page brought back memories of some colourful beehives that we saw whilst on holiday in Skiathos, Greece.
We saw them whilst out walking along a cliff top trail; they were overlooking the sea and had this beautiful view!
Hoping 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.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this mini art journal page:
Docrafts Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
Pébéo White Gesso
Hexagon Clear Stamp
Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend (True Blue Blend)
Mixed Media Paper
Stix2 Glue Dots
Dome Stickers
Challenges
I’m so pleased to be able to join Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month. It’s so heart breaking that she won’t be joining us as she passed away last month shortly after her heart surgery – she will be greatly missed and I’m so pleased to be able to remember her throughout the month by joining AJJ! My page was inspired by bees and beehives, and I’m sure Eileen would have loved the positive wording “Bee Extraordinary” too!
I’m thrilled to have joined the wonderfully talented Design Team over at Country View Challenges and today I’m pleased to share my second project for our First Signs of Spring challenge.
I would like to say a special thank you to Susan for the lovely introduction today over at Country View Challenges and also to the Design Team for their warm and friendly welcome (grin!).
I really enjoyed creating this mini art journal page with the little bunnies, pretty butterflies and colourful blossom. I used a Sizzix Bunny Scene Thinlits die set which is a great design for both journaling and cards and it was so easy to use.
For the background, I covered the chipboard page with two coats of white gesso and then two coats of Speckled Egg Distress Paint. I applied some white gesso over the top using a brayer and for the grass I painted Twisted Citron Distress Paint along the bottom of the page. When dry, I rubbed a baby wipe through a Waves stencil from Creative Expressions which removed some of the paint, leaving a lighter mark in the shape of the stencil. I splattered the page using white gesso and the two Distress Paints, and left it to dry. Then I applied Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink around the edges.
The Bunny Scene and butterflies were die cut from some white linen texture cardstock using the Sizzix Thinlits set and my Big Shot machine. I used one of my favourite techniques to create the wood effect on the tree using Distress Inks and gel medium; I dragged Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso stamp pads over the tree and then I painted gel medium over the top, keeping the ink and brush strokes flowing vertically up the tree trunk and along branches to mimic the wood grain.
For the bunnies, I masked their tails so that they stayed white and I coloured them using the Tea Dye and Vintage Photo inks. I used a black marker and white gel pen for their eyes.
For the blossom, leaves, grass and flowers I used the Bunny Scene Thinlit again; they were cut from some linen textured cardstock that I had coloured green, yellow, pink and purple using Distress Inks (see ink colours listed below). After cutting them out they were stuck in place, like all the elements on the page, using gel medium.
I used the same cardstock that I had coloured to create the triangles for the bunting and an Alphanumeric Label Thinlits set from Tim Holtz for the white cardstock letters. The bunting triangles were arranged over some waxed thread using glue dots. To finish, I added some pearl gems to the white butterflies and stuck them in place.
I hope that you are enjoying our First Signs of Spring challenge over at Country View Challenges too; it would be lovely to see you there, and if you do join us then you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts website too (grin!).
I also want to thank you for your lovely comments and wishes of congratulations last week when I joined the Country View Challenges Design Team with my first project. I’m so looking forward to sharing my creations with you, visiting your blogs and being inspired by your projects too!
I love this bunny scene and the butterflies reminded me of the ones in my craft room (grin!).
You can see the butterflies here as they fly above my craft desk; I was surprised how tidy it looks, my hubby will tell you that my craft room isn’t normally this tidy (double grin!).
Hoping 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.
The chipboard mini art journal album, Bunny Scene Thinlits die set, Distress Paints and Creative Expressions Stencil that I used on this page were all Christmas presents – yay (grin!).
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this mini art journal page:
Docrafts Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
Pébéo White Gesso
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Picked Raspberry)
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Alphanumeric Labels 664177)
Trimits (Waxed Thread CB923)
Simply Creative (Pearl Gemstones)
Stix2 glue dots
Challenges
I’m pleased to be able to join the Groundhog Day over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as I used a technique that’s an old favourite of mine to create the tree wood grain and my Distress Inks are my preference when it come to adding colour, I use them again and again.
I’m joining LTCCB #55 – February Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my Happy Spring chipboard page.
I’m also joining MIUCB #46 – Anything Goes + Fancy Fold over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the fun stencilling and wood grain techniques that I used to create this page.
I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month, I’m being a bit cheeky and hoping the heavy metal rings holding my book pages together which are an integral part of my Happy Spring page (15x15cm in size) photo allows me to join in the fun.
I’m so excited and honoured to have joined the wonderfully talented Design Team over at Country View Challenges . It’s such an inspirational blog and being part of this team is a dream come true – thanks so much for your warm and friendly welcome!
At Country View Challenges our challenge for February is First Signs of Spring, which is being hosted this month by the lovely Miriam.
I love celebrating the different seasons and creating this blossom and birdsong art journal page was so uplifting (grin!).
When I thought of birdsong, I knew that I had to use these beautiful images from my new Forest Paper Pad by Stamperia; this included the forest panel on the left hand side of the page, the pretty bird tag and the square nest image. They were cut out and edged with a Dark Sepia marker and/or some Black Soot Distress Ink. To make them look more Spring-like, I added additional colours by painting Distress Inks over parts of the images; it’s important not to add too much water when doing this otherwise you could ruin the image. I used Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron ink to add more vibrancy to the green areas of the forest panel and to the bird’s feathers, and also to add green leaves to the bare trees and colour the leaves on the nest image. I painted some Mustard Seed ink to add more vibrancy to the yellow feathers of the bird and also to add some colour to the nest. Then finally I painted the eggs using Speckled Egg ink and left them all to dry.
For the background, I coloured the page with splashes and drips of Hickory Smoke, Mowed Lawn and Forest Moss Distress Ink. I did this by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page.
Then I brayered some white gesso over the top to push the colours into the background more and then splattered the page with white acrylic paint. I stencilled dots vertically down the page using a Halftone Layering Stencil from Tim Holtz and Ranger Crackle Paste; this is the first time I have used this paste and it was so easy to apply with a palette knife – I love the results (grin!).
Next I stuck the Stamperia paper pieces in place using double-sided tape. Then I created the blossoms and leaves using Tim Holtz Thinlits and some white linen card stock which I had coloured using Distress Inks. The blossoms were coloured with Mustard Seed and Fossilised Amber ink and die cut using a Tattered Florals Thinlit set. The leaves using Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron and Forest Moss Distress Ink and cut using a Garden Greens Thinlits set. After shaping the flower petals and adding a gold pearl to the centre of each flower, I arranged them onto the page using glue dots. To finish, I added the “blossom” and “birdsong” wording which was created from some Field Notes Ephemera by Tim Holtz, an alphabet stamp set and black Archival Ink.
For more inspiration you’ll find some amazing First Signs of Spring creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.
I hope you are inspired to join us too, and if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use at Country View Crafts (grin!).
The birds in our garden have been very active of late. We’ve even seen the Great Tits that are on my page, but we have noticed that this pair of Coal Tits visit our bird feeders more frequently.
This made me smile, can you think of a good caption for this photo? Maybe the bird is saying “Hello, is anyone there?” or “It’s really dark in here” (grin!).
Hoping 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.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175B)
Stix2 double-sided tape and glue dots
Creative Expressions (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Textured Finish)
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Garden Greens 661206, Mini Tattered Floral 661806)
Pearl Gemstones
Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the #136 – Patterns challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the stencilled lines of dots that are on my page.
I’m joining MIUCB #46 – Anything Goes + Fancy Fold over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different techniques I used, including the fun way that I coloured the paper images so they became more Spring-like.
I also pleased to be able to join in the fun at Love to Craft Challenge Blog and enter my spring blossom and birdsong page in their LTCCB #55 – February Anything Goes challenge.
As it’s November I created a page to celebrate everything autumn which includes Thanksgiving next week; this month always reminds me of all the things we have to be grateful for!
I started by covering the background with a collage of scrap paper pieces which included dictionary pages, tissue paper, sheet music, diary pages and napkin; they were stuck down using a glue stick and then covered with Liquitex matte gel medium. Next I applied Red Oxide, Crimson and Yellow Liquitex acrylic paint over the top blending the colours together to create a bright autumnal orange colour. Then I used a brayer to apply some Pébéo white gesso and when dry I added some rub-on transfers from a Specimen Remnant Rubs set by Tim Holtz. I used the brayer again to add some more white gesso over the top which pushed them into the background. I love the way these techniques give so much depth and interest to the background (grin!).
Next I used lots of different stamp sets with black Archival Ink which I used for all the stamping on this page. Firstly I stamped a Script stamp over the background and then a foliage stamp to create the branches and leaves, both of which are from Kaisercraft. The bird sitting on the branch was stamped from a Craft Sensations stamp set and I used the Kaisercraft foliage stamp again to add the leaves to the branch so it blended in to the scene.
I used two alphabet stamp sets to create the wording; the “Hello November” was stamped using a Sophisticated Script stamp set from Concord & 9th and the rest of the wording was stamped using a Docrafts stamp set and reads “Thank you for reminding us we have so much to be grateful for!”. To finish, I splattered the page with black and also white acrylic paint.
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing this morning’s cup of Cinnamon Orange tea, it’s pictured by my autumnal window display which is bright and cheery and inspired the colours of my page (grin) – Happy T Day everyone!
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:
Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Script CS752, Magnolia Grove CS822)
Pébéo White Gesso
Ranger Mini Brayer
Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Specimen #TH94047)
Craft Sensations Clear Stamp (CR0274/16R1)
Concord & 9th Stamp Set (Sophisticated Script 10056)
Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Alphas Trad DCE907116)
DecoArt Acrylic Paint (Black)
Art Discount Acrylic (White)
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the lovely Wendy K over at Art Journal Journey and her Birds challenge this month with the bird stamping that I included on this page.
I’m happy to join the Celebrate challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my brightly coloured page I created to celebrate November and Thanksgiving.
I’m joining the fun over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Making Your Own Background with the techniques I used to create the background for this page.
I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my art journal page.
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)
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 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.
Let's Art Journal 