With love

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which for the next two weeks is Sparkle All The Way.

I love the embossed sparkle of the flowers on this page; it was created using a flower stamp from Paperbabes Stamp and some black Archival Ink which I covered with Cosmic Shimmer Brilliant Sparkle Embossing Powder – Black Mirage. As this was a single flower stamp, I made a template and stamped it multiple times on the page layering the flowers together.

When heated with a heat gun, the sparkle is amazing (smile!). Next I coloured the background with Kuretake watercolour paints by adding water with a paintbrush and then the paint creating a cloudy effect. The flowers were also coloured using Cadmium Scarlet and Lemon Yellow Kuretake paints, using the same technique of applying the water then the paint. The wording was a sticker from Kaisercraft and to finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

I love autumn, so the sparkly flowers on my page were coloured in autumn splendour like this year’s autumnal and Halloween window display. It’s so beautiful and it seems to have grown over the years – yay!

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – Anything Goes

Winter Village

Today I’m sharing a page that I created with two beautiful stamps, one of the Winter Village scene and the other of Santa’s sleigh, that I won over at Stamped Smiles. I was so thrilled to win and receive this special gift, especially as Vicki kindly sent them to me all the way from America – thank you so much!

I started by using an Airbrush Pen Set to spray purple, green, magenta and black felt tip pens onto a piece of mixed media paper. When fully dry, I ripped the mixed media paper into pieces and collaged the darker pieces onto the top of a chipboard page using a glue stick; creating the night sky. I coloured the white torn edges of the paper using the Airbrush Pen Set and then covered them with some Black Mirage Cosmic Shimmer Brilliant Sparkle Embossing Powder. I collaged the lighter coloured paper pieces to create the foreground stamping the houses and trees over the top using the Winter Village stamp, VersaMark Watermark ink pad and some Detailed White Stampendous embossing powder.

I stamped Santa’s sleigh using the VersaMark Ink Pad and the white Stampendous embossing powder. To finish, I added a small dot of Red Ranger Stickles to Rudolph the reindeer which gave him a very shiny nose (smile!).

Here are the stamps that Vicki kindly sent me along with a very pretty card; the Winter Village stamp is gorgeous and goes so beautifully with the surprise Santa’s sleigh stamp – thanks so much! They were both such fun to use and I’m sure I’ll be using them again soon.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

The lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from https://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/ who is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Collage Fodder, Food & Drink or Both so I’m joining her with my collaged page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #180 – Anything Goes challenge with my Winter Village page.

MIUCB #61 – Anything Goes + Optional Open Technique over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my Christmassy page using a collage technique.

Merry Little Christmas Challenge and their MLCCB #47 – Anything Christmas Goes challenge with my Winter Village Santa page.

A Year to Sparkle & Shine

Happy New Year everyone!

I’m so delighted that it’s my turn to host the challenge over at Country View Challenges this month, so to welcome 2022 I have chosen the theme of A Year to Sparkle and Shine.

We would like to see LOTS of sparkle and shine on your projects, no “token” gems or sequins please; you really need to go sprinkle that sparkle! This means that you can use lots of different sparkly and shiny products (like metallics, sparkly embossing powders, glitters, lustres, foil, glazes, mirror cardstock, mica sprays or paints etc) as part of your designs.

For my very sparkly art journal page, I started by covering the background with Silver DecoArt Extreme Sheen Metallic Paint and then sprinkled some Black Sparkle Cosmic Shimmer embossing powder over the top and heated it with a heat gun. Then I added some rub-on transfers from a Numbers pack from Tim Holtz and the wording which were Metallic Alpha Stickers by Tim Holtz. To finish, I added Crystal Twinkle Stars from Creative Expressions.

Here’s all the crafting goodies from Country View Crafts that I used to create this page (grin!).

For more inspiration please see the amazing sparkly and shiny creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I look forward to visiting you and seeing what you make and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the shop! Before you enter your project though, please read the rules! 

Stay safe and well!

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

Be happy, be you

It’s a new month so we are launching our July challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, this is a monthly challenge and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I always love to use mixed media to create my art journal pages and this month’s celebrates summer.

I started by sticking the orchid flower napkin pieces onto the page using a glue stick. Then I coloured the remaining white areas of the page using some Gold, Light Green and Hooker’s Green Liquitex acrylic paint. When dry, I used a Flutter stamp from Kaisercraft to add the trellis pattern using Cottage Ivy and Pistachio Memento Inks and also black Archival Ink. I outlined and defined the flowers using a black fine line marker and I added the two dragonflies which were rub on transfers. I applied some Glistening Gold Lustre Polish by Cosmic Shimmer around the edges of the napkin which added some lovely texture and sparkle. Finally, I splattered the page with some black and also some white acrylic paint using a paintbrush. Then I added the wording which are stickers from Kaisercraft; they read “be happy”, “be you” and “celebrate the little things”.

All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects 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. I hope you are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

This page reminded me of these amazing orchids that we saw hanging in a garden centre some time ago; so beautiful (grin!).

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.

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

• Orchid Napkin
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Basic Acrylic Color (Gold, Light Green, Hooker’s Green Hue Permanent)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Flutter CS853)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cotage Ivy, Pistachio)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-On Transfers (ROY1643G)
• Cosmic Shimmer Lustre Polish (Glistening Gold)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Say Aloha SS281)

Challenges As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Alison from Words & Pictures; she has chosen Summer Countryside as her theme so I’m joining with my summer inspired page and the green and gold colours and pretty dragonflies that you find in the countryside. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #147 – Anything Goes with my mini art journal page. LTSCB #147 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my summer inspired mixed media page which includes stamping. Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page too.