30th Wedding Anniversary

As it’s our 30^th Wedding Anniversary or Pearl Wedding Anniversary, I thought I’d celebrate by creating another page, this time using pearls and also cream and peach colour tones to reflect the colour scheme at our wedding.

Thank you to everyone who left Happy Anniversary wishes on my previous post, that’s so kind of you (grin!).

I started by stamping the butterflies using a layering stamp set by Paperbabe Stamps called Butterfly Pieridae. Firstly, I stamped the butterfly wings with the background stamp using Peach Spectrum Aqua Marker and also Scattered Straw Distress Ink; I masked some of the wings that I stamped to create the different butterfly positions. Then I stamped three separate stamps to define the butterfly using Black Archival Ink this included the wing detail, the butterfly’s body and also the antennae. Next I stamped some hearts from the same Paperbabe stamp set using the Peach Spectrum Aqua Marker and the Scattered Straw Distress Ink again. Then I applied Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint through a Flourish Stencil from That’s Crafty using a sponge over the background. When dry, I added some torn pieces of Dictionary page using a glue stick; the words I chose were “wedding”, “marriage” and “anniversary”, and I outlined them using a black Derwent Graphik marker so they stood out more. I also cut some hearts from the dictionary pages using a paper punch; they are edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck down using a glue stick. The central heart is created using a doily, some gold glitter stickers, pearl gems, pearl roses and two pearl hearts; each of which were individually placed to build up the design, it is stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents. Then I added the gold glitter flowers and wording using the same stickers that I had used on the doily heart. To finish, I added some cream coloured felt swirls and embellished them with the pearl gems and roses.

It doesn’t seem like yesterday that we got married and the years seem to have flown by, well they do say “time flies when you’re having fun” and we certainly have had lots of fun over the years. So as T Stands for Tuesday we are toasting our anniversary with a glass of champagne – cheers and Happy T Day!

Sending Happy 30^th Anniversary wishes to Erika and her hubby too!

I’m pleased to join the lovely Linda, who is hosting Creature Comforts challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my Happy Anniversary page.

I’m also joining the lovely Wen and her Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutral coloured wedding anniversary page.

I’m also pleased to join the September Link Party #44 – Anything Goes over at Cropstop Blogwith my page as I included some products from companies that they carry in their store.

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:

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Peach)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• Paperbabe Stamps (Butterfly Pieridae Stamp Set)
• That’s Crafty! 8x8ins Stencil (Flourish TC8024)
• The Oxford Pocket Dictionary
• Woodware Craft Collection Paper Doily (Heart JL961)
• Self-Adhesive Felt Border (Scrolls FE196)
• The Range (Adhesive Pearls LCDOT002, Alphabet & Number Stickers Glitter SCSTK013)
• Home Bargains (Special Occasion – Mini Decorative Stickers 22740, Sweet Hearts 22809, Sticker Mania – Gel Stone Stickers 74749)
• Poundworld (Pearl Embellishments 137920-A)
• Craft Sensations (Ivory Deco Flowers CR0736-GE)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Pritt Stick

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It’s been a while …for Stamps & Stencils

Hello everyone, I’m so excited to be over at Stamps & Stencils as Guest Designer for their It’s been a while… challenge this month. Sue is the host for this challenge and kindly provided the following brief:

Being creative often leads you in different directions and sometimes it isn’t until you start that you know where you are heading. For this challenge I thought that as we’ve not done it for a while it would be good to let your creative spirit wander and have a theme of Anything Goes. Your project must be mixed media and include stamping and/or stencilling but apart from that it’s up to you !

I am often inspired by things I see and do, so my art journal page is inspired by rainbow colours and sunshine to mark the end of summer. Here’s a sneak peek of the page I have created for this challenge, the full version can be found here at Stamps & Stencils along with my tutorial.

Thanks so much to the team at Stamps & Stencils for having me as Guest Designer this month. I hope that you are inspired by their It’s been a while… challenge too and are able to join in the fun!

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 Gelatos (Boysenberry, Snow Cone, Lemon, Watermelon, Guava, Buttercream, Earl Grey)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Acrylic Paint (Black, White)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Finnabair Clear Stamp (Sponge #961909)
• Gummpanian Stamps (Collage Numbers 14030103, Worn Rings 2 11050601)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Ranger Dina Wakley Media Stencil (Wheels MDS45588)
• Hampton Art Graphic 45 cling mounted rubber stamps (Tropical Travelogue ICO135)
• Royal & Langnickel rub-on transfers (Motivate Sentiments #ROY510)
• Homemade decoupage paper (white tissue paper stamped using a Sheet Music stamp from Woodware Craft Collection and black Archival Ink)
• Book pages – Pear’s Cyclopedia 2007-2008 Edition
• Hobbycraft Decorative Tapes (Assorted Black & White 5971481007)
• The Works (3 Washi Tapes)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Creativity and Imagination

I enjoyed using my creativity and imagination to create this industrial looking page and pretty steampunk butterflies. I also had fun raiding my hubby’s tool supplies for the metal pins and washers for this page (grin!). I hope that you like it too!

To create an industrial look, I started by applying modelling paste using a Metal Grid and also a Clock background stencil from That’s Crafty! When the paste was dry, I covered the entire page in Neutral Gray Liquitex acrylic paint. I painted some Iridescent Bright Silver Liquitex Ink over and around the stencilled modeling paste and then I applied some Midnight Sparkle and Silver Grey metallic wax lustres over the top which emphasised the texture and detail of the metal grid and clocks. I also splattered the page with the same silver Liquitex ink and a copper spray to give a grungy look. Once dry, I stencilled roses onto the page using Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and a blending tool positioning them in between the metal grids and clocks. I stamped some cogs/gears using black Archival Ink and a Docrafts Steampunk stamp set and then I splattered the whole page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

To create my steampunk butterflies I used a wonderful butterfly stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps that I recently won over at the Paperbabe Stamp Challenge. This stamp set allows you to layer all the different butterfly parts so it looks more detailed and realistic, you can even create different butterfly poses to produce flight and movement. As this is my first time using these stamps, I kept it simple and started by stamping the larger wing background layer stamp using Rusty Hinge Distress Ink onto white cardstock. Then I stamped the same cog/gear stamp, that I used on my page, over the top using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and covered them with copper Papermania embossing powder. I removed any excess powder and used my heat gun to melt it until it turned glossy. Then I stamped the detailed wing layer stamp from the same Paperbabe Stamp set using the VersaMark ink lining up the stamps so that they fit together, covered the wings with silver Papermania embossing powder and melted it with my heat gun. I cut the butterfly out of the cardstock, edged them with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and outlined the cog/gear detail using a black Derwent Graphik marker so they stood out more. I used a metal split pin, from my hubby’s tool supplies (grin!) to create the butterfly body by simply sliding the paper butterfly into the pin and then I stuck them to the page using Glossy Accents.

The “Creativity” and “Imagination” wording is created using Tim Holtz idea-ology Label Letter stickers which are edged with a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. To finish, I added some copper gems, some metal split lock washers, nuts, and internal tooth lock washers using Glossy Accents to stick them all in place. These metal pieces are from my hubby’s tool kit supplies and I did ask before I used them and I think they add a lovely industrial and steampunk feel to my page (grin!).

I have had a few questions about my art journal pages recently – how I photograph them, do I scan them and what I do with them, do I bind them into a book or journal?

My pages are always photographed outside in the garden in natural light and although I crop the photos to show just the actual page for my blog posts, my pages are actually all contained in a spiral bound pad. Once the journal is complete I make decorative covers on the front and back of the book. I like to look through the pages to remember what I’ve been up to and I also have a book stand in my craft room where a different page is displayed everyday from one of my Art Journals; it’s lovely to look at the page and recall the memories associated with it!

If you want to see and find out more about my art journal books then check out my post here.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m joining the T Gang and sharing a recent visit to Dahlia’s Kitchen where we had ice cream milkshakes, I have chocolate or banana milkshakes to choose from – yum! Of course they have other beverages if you would prefer – Happy T Day!

Do you remember this water feature? Well, as promised, I found out what it is…it is an old commercial potato peeling machine that has been mounted on stilts (grin!). Doesn’t it look fabulous up-cycled!

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 Bleubeard & Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover, who is hosting the Count your blessings challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I feel very blessed to be able to use my creativity and imagination when creating my art journal pages.

I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps too – thank you for the beautiful stamps!

Over at Stamps and Stencils, their challenge is Industrial/Grungy and I had fun using both stamps and stencils on this page to join their theme.

Using embossing powders to create my butterflies, I’m also joining the How can you resist? challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my Industrial inspired and styled Mixed Media page.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at The Artistic Stamper with my Creativity and Imagination art journal page.

I’m pleased to join SanDee & amelie’s Steampunk Challenges for their AnythingGoes – Steampunk/Industrial challenge as I had fun creating this industrial 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:

• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Neutral Gray)
• Liquitex Ink! (Iridescent Bright Silver)
• Craf-T Products Luster Rub-ons Kit #4 (Midnight Sparkle, Silver Grey)
• Michelle Marsden Crafts Scrumptious Precious Metal Spritzer (Copper)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Copper, Silver)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199, Sanguine 188 B)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• That’s Crafty! Dinky Stencils (Metal Grid Background TC041, Clock Background TC048)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Paperbabe Stamps (Butterfly Pieridae Stamp Set)
• White cardstock
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Label Letters #TH93072)
• Metal split pins, split lock washers, nuts, internal tooth lock washers
• Docrafts Forever Friends Adhesive Dome Borders (Opulent FFS351111)
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Just for you – Card

Excited to use my new Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour paint set again, I created some cards using my favourite stamps and embossing powders (grin!).

I started by cutting a panel of mixed media paper to fit a white 6×4” card which I made from white cardstock. I embossed white doily shapes and black butterflies onto the panel by first stamping a Doily by Kaisercraft using VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad and applying white Stampendous embossing powder over the top. Then I shook the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper and tapped the tag against the table to make sure I’ve removed any stray powder. Once the excess powder was safely returned to its container, I used a craft heat gun to melt the embossing powder until the embossing powder melted into a glossy finish. I repeated the same process for the butterflies using a stamp designed by Graphic 45 Hampton Art using the VersaMark Watermark stamp pad again and this time I used black Papermania embossing powder. I added a filigree leaf stamp by Crafter’s Companion using Cottage Ivy Memento Ink and also a Script stamp by Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink. Next I painted the watercolour to the background by first wetting the paper and then adding Sap Green Light, Viridian and Lemon Yellow watercolour paint with a paintbrush and once dry I painted the filigree leaves with the same colours. I also added some Yellow Ochre watercolour paint to the centre of the card to break up the white space, then when the card was dry I splattered it with black DecoArt acylic paint. The “Just for you” is from the same stamp set from Crafter’s Companion and is stamped using black Archival Ink. I edged the paper panel with black Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker and stuck it on the 6×4” card using double-sided tape. Then to finish, I added silver glitter details to the butterfly wings using Ranger Stickles and also some glittery heart decorations using Glossy Accents.

Just discovered this gladioli in our garden this morning, isn’t it beautiful! I may just use this colour combination on one of these cards as I created several panels of the same design for painting later (grin!).

Here’s my new Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour paint set, the box is lovely!

You may remember this set of watercolours from a previous post; I’ve been so impressed with them so far, the colours are amazing!

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 Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my watercolour card.

Over at A Vintage Journey the challenge is How can you resist? so as I used embossing powders with my new watercolour paints, I’m pleased to join challenge this challenge too with my Mixed Media Style card.

Using my favourite Kaisercraft Doily stamp on my card means I’m also able to join in the fun over at Stamping Sensations and their Use your ‘current’ favourite stamp challenge.

With all the stamping and the butterflies on my card, I’m also happy to join Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their It’s A Bugs Life challenge.

As butterflies are part of the animal kingdom, I’m pleased to join the Animal Magic challenge over at That’s Crafty! too.

I’m also pleased to join the August Link Party #42 – Anything Goes over at Cropstop Blog with my card as I included some products from companies that they carry in their store.

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 card:

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Sap Green Light, Viridian, Lemon Yellow, Yellow Ochre)
• Tsukineko VeraMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black PMA4021006)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Doily CS297, Script CS752)
• Hampton Art Graphic 45 cling mounted rubber stamps (Tropical Travelogue ICO134)
• Crafter’s Companion Signature Collection by Sara Davies stamp set (Just for You – Butterfly Lullaby S-BL-ST-JUS)
• Daler Rowney Mixed Media paper
• White Cardstock
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Ranger Stickles (Silver)
• Stix2 double-sided tape

St. Thomas

With the Jazz & Blues Festival held in Blackpool last month and also the Inspired by a song theme over at Try it on Tuesday, I have found myself reminiscing about some of my favourite songs of late.

When it comes to music, I have quite an eclectic taste and always listen to music whilst crafting so I created a page which reminds me of a song called St. Thomas; it is an instrumental piece of music and has a Caribbean tropical vibe which influenced my page.

I started by covering the page in Raw Sienna Rowney Georgian Water Colour paint using a baby wipe and once dry, I stencilled leaves using Tea Dye Distress Ink and also a trellis pattern using Vintage Photo Distress Ink; I was thinking of sand on tropical shores when I chose this colour palette. Then I covered the page with some Pébéo white gesso using my finger to give a sun-bleached look. Next I applied some sheet music washi tape to the page which depicts the instrumental music and also some colourful polka dot paper washi tape to depict the happiness of the music and tropical vibe. I grouped different colours of washi tape together which were orange, purple and pink and also yellow, green and blue; they are layered on top of each other and then finished with a piece of the sheet music washi tape on the very top. I outlined them using a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball pen to make them stand out more from the background. The tropical flowers are fussy cut from a wallpaper sample and stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium; once dry I added more detail using the black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball pen and also threaded some bright pink stamens, which I threaded through the page securing them on the back with tape, to give their centres a 3D look. I added some pink metallic stickers with tropical leaves, palm trees and flamingos on them and outlined them with the black marker, white gel pen and then an orange, purple or dark green Uni Posca paint pen. I stamped two butterflies using a Graphic 45 stamp set by Hampton Art and black Archival Ink and then I added some white cardboard letters to spell out the title of the song which I decorated with dots using orange, purple, pink, yellow, light green and light blue Uni Posca paint pens to match the colourful washi tapes I had used.

I love the St. Thomas music, this is the Jazz version and although you may not recognise the name, when you hear the music you will probably know the song (grin!).

I have to say I love this steel drum (or steel pan) version more, it fills me with happiness when I hear it and makes me want to dance (grin!). I particularly like this version by Joseph Peck and play it on loop all the time! I have to say a big shout out and THANK YOU to my lovely friend Bleubeard & Elizabeth who introduced me to this fabulous musician and often mentions him on her blog. I love steel drum/steel pan, so quickly fell in love with his amazing music too (double grin!).

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 Bleubeard & Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover, who is hosting the Count your blessings challenge over at Art Journal Journey. My page celebrates music and it is a blessing to have blog friends like Bleubeard & Elizabeth who kindly introduced me to this amazing musician!

What could be better than tropical shores on a summer day so I’m joining in the fun over at Moo Mania and More and their theme is Summertime challenge too.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Tape It Up challenge with the sheet music and colourful paper washi tapes that I used on my art journal page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Sun, Sea and Sand challenge over at Country View Challenges with my tropical vibe art journal page.

Don’t forget there is well cover a week to join our Inspired by a song challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

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

• Rowney Georgian Water Colour (Raw Sienna)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tea Dye, Vintage Photo)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm & 0.5mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (Orange, Purple, Dark Green, Pink, Yellow, Light Green, Light Blue)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 77106)
• Dutch Doobadoo Dutch Mask Art A5 (Vintage)
• Hampton Art Graphic 45 cling mounted rubber stamps (Tropical Travelogue ICO135)
• Wallpaper sample
• Hobbycraft Decorative Tape (Assorted Black & White 5971471007)
• The Works The Craft Place (Spotted Paper Tapes)
• Craft Sensations (Paper Flowers CRO344/R)
• The Range (Craft Stickers CR1243)
• Hobbycraft (Alphabet Cardboard Stickers)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Masking tape

Agapanthus

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge which runs for the next two weeks is Use Book Paper, so we would like to see some book, newspaper or magazine print papers of some sort on your creations.

My Design Team teamies have created some amazing inspirational pieces for you too, please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look. I decided to use book pages to create the background for my Agapanthus art journal page – I hope you like it!

I selected some Flora and Fauna pages from a Pear’s Encyclopaedia, cut them into rectangles and collaged them onto the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. Then I stamped some faux stitching around the edges of each collage piece using black Archival Ink and some new stamps by Urban Stamps which the bargain price of £1 each set at a local craft store. I also stamped a small stitched flower and a frame from the same stamp sets using the black ink again. Then I covered some of the page with a thin coating of white gesso using my finger to add a bit of depth. The agapanthus flowers are from a napkin which I separated into a single napkin layer, fussy cut and stuck in place using the Liquitex Matte Gel Medium; I love the way the napkin has melted into the background so that the text and stamping shows through. Next I created the butterflies with another new stamp set, this time from Kaisercraft, by stamping them onto Daler Rowney Mixed Media Paper using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad, covering them with black Papermania embossing powder, shaking off the excess and also tapping the paper to make sure any stray powder was removed. I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder by sweeping the gun over the stamped images, until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional. I also covered some antennas, for the butterflies, that I made from wire with the black embossing powder following the same process whilst making sure I did not touch them until they were cooled as using the heat gun meant the metal wire got very hot. The butterflies are coloured using Sherbet Lemon, Sun Yellow, Tangerine, Poppy Red, Fuchsia, Violet and Antique White Derwent Inktense pencils; I picked the colour off the tip of the pencils with a wet paintbrush and then applied the colour to the butterfly wings. To finish, I stamped the sentiment from the same Kaisercraft stamp set, using black Archival Ink, into one of the frames, it reads “You are the reason I smile” and arranged the butterflies with the antennas so that their wings were folded upwards to add dimension to the page; they are stuck in place using glue dots.

As you probably know, we have been sorting out and replanting our flower beds – you can see some photos of our beds here. We have also been visiting local garden centres – Barton Grange has the best displays.

These glass agapanthus inspired my page; they can be found outside the garden centre, aren’t they amazing!

I love the blue agapanthus and bought some for our garden, I planted them into some pots so they are easier to over winter.

The water feature is beautiful too, don’t you think? …

… and inside we saw these pretty butterflies, which made me smile! So of course butterflies and the wording also feature on my page too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, we popped into Light Ash Farm on the way home for my favourite cup of green tea and a huge piece of Lemon and Poppy Seed cake (yum!) – Happy T Day!

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 Chris from Pearshapedcrafting, who is hosting the Arts for Art’s Sake challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I had fun using my new stamp sets to create this page.

Over at Moo Mania and More the theme is Butterflies so I’m pleased to join their challenge too.

Being inspired by agapanthus and butterflies which make me smile, I’m also joining the Get Sentimental challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my Art Journaling and Mixed Media Style page.

Over at Paperbabe Stamps and their challenge is It Flies so I’m happy to join them with the butterflies that I created for my page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the In The Summer Garden challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Agapanthus 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:

• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black PMA4021006)
• Derwent Inktense Pencils (Sherbet Lemon 0100, Sun Yellow 0200, Tangerine 0300, Poppy Red 0400, Fuchsia 0700, Violet 0800, Antique White 2300)
• Docrafts Papermania Urban Stamp (Craft Collections – Pastels PMA907222 and PMA907223)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Ma Cherié CS241)
• Pear’s Cyclopaedia 2007-2008 Edition
• Caspari Napkin (Royal Horticultural Society – Agapanthus)
• Thin metal wire
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix 2 Mini Craft Dots

Friendship

I’m so excited to be seeing some of my dearest friends this month so this page is inspired by spending happy summer days with friends!

I started by applying Begonia, Jasmine and Aquamarine Spectrum Aqua Markers to create a summery coloured background; I did this by scribbling them onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water, pressing the block and dripping the ink onto the page and then spritzing the page with some more water. I love the way the colours blended to give a dreamy look. Thinking of summer roses and sunshine, next I stencilled a rose image using Old Paper Distress Ink with a blending tool and then I stamped a pretty circular stamp from Kaisercraft using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. I added some flower stickers to the top and bottom edge of the page which are from a Secret Garden sticker set by Kaisercraft. The pretty lady is from a card topper set by Create & Craft, which is die cut into two pieces making a frame and a central panel; I stuck the frame onto the page using double-sided tape and the central panel using double-sided foam tape to add some dimension. Then I added some of the Kaisercraft flower stickers again around the sides of the frame. The sentiments and butterflies are also by Kaisercraft from a sticker set called Fly Free. I outlined the sentiments with a white Uniball gel pen and they read “A beautiful friendship”, “Good friends are like stars”, “Friends are the sunshine of life” and “Friendship”. To finish, I added some tiny pearls to the bow on the lady’s dress and also to the flower stickers.

I chose this pretty lady image for my page as this year I have also made some Birthday cards for my friends using this topper; mounting the images onto some card, adding some pearl embellishments and stamping the “Birthday Wishes” sentiment.

Roses also feature on my page as they remind me of summer and when my friends come to stay; they always bring roses with them – I love these ones, they are such a beautiful colour!

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 Chris from Pearshapedcrafting, who is hosting the Arts for Art’s Sake challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I had fun using my Spectrum Aqua Markers (I haven’t used them in a while) and new Kaisercraft goodies.

Inspired by my dearest friends, I’m also joining the Get Sentimental challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my Mixed Media and Art Journaling Style page.

With the butterflies I added to my page I’m also joining in the fun at Moo Mania and More for their theme Butterflies.

As there is nothing better than spending time with friends on a summer’s day, so I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Summer Fun! challenge with my summery art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join the July Link Party #41 over at Cropstop Blog with my art journal page as I included some products from companies that they carry in their store.

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:

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Begonia, Jasmine, Aquamarine)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Old Paper)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Magnolia Grove CS822)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Set (Secret Garden SS283, Fly Free SS289)
• Create & Craft (Birthday Celebrations Paper Craft Topper)
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Stix 2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape