Thank you – Hello Springtime at AJJ

As it’s the end of the month, I’m sharing the last page for the Hello Springtime challenge over at Art Journal Journey which I’ve been hosting this March, so thanks very much to everyone who joined in the fun!

I appreciate all your kind comments and support throughout the month and thoroughly enjoyed visiting your blogs and seeing all your wonderful Hello Springtime artwork so I created this page to remember you all and to say thank you!

I used my garden as inspiration for this page as it is coming to life now springtime’s here, so I decided to create a garden wall with pretty flowers to showcase all the names of the people who joined the Hello Springtime challenge this month at Art Journal Journey (AJJ).

I started by covering the page with a thick layer of Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and sponging a mixture of Christmas Green and Swedish Blue Liquitex acrylic paint over the top. Once the paint was dry, I stencilled a brick design using a mixture of red, yellow and black acrylic paint to create the brown colour and when dry I loosely outlined the bricks with a black Uni Pin marker to give them more definition. Then I used a texture stamp from Tim Holtz using Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink to give a grungy look to the areas not covered with the brick design. For the foliage, I stamped Cottage Ivy Memento Ink using a stamp from Kaisercraft. Then I used my Dymo LetraTag label machine to create all the names of the people who joined the challenge this month which took some time as I cut each of them out and then stuck them in place along the brickwork. For the “thank you”, I stamped the banner and thank you using a couple of Hampton Art stamp sets using black Archival Ink onto some card by Docrafts. I fussy cut the banner out and gave it more of a worn look using Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and a blending tool. I cut the AJJ logo out, and stuck it and the thank you banner in place using double-sided tape. I also added the “March 2019” and “Hello Springtime” labels that I created using my Dymo machine and then to finish, the sparkly flower embellishments using Ranger Glossy Accents.

I’d also like to that Gerrina who entered my challenge after I photographed my page. I have now added Gerrina’s name to my page too (grin!).

I had so much fun creating all my pages for this challenge and I hope you did too!

I’d like to say a special thanks to Susi and Bleubeard & Elizabeth for asking me to be a guest host, they provided such valuable support and encouragement, thanks so much!

I have also been overwhelmed with everyone’s participation and lovely comments; it has been such a pleasurable experience – thank you all! Jo x

Tomorrow is a new month and brings a new challenge at Art Journal Journey and I can’t wait to see what the new theme is and say hello to our new host – 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:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment, Christmas Green, Swedish Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Magnolia Grove CS822)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous (Urban Tapestry CMS061)
• Hampton Art cling mounted rubber stamps (7 Gypsies Vintage – Birdsong ICO151, Doodlebug Design Inc – Thankful ICO162)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Dymo LetraTag Label Maker and White paper Labels
• Art Journal Journey logo – computer printed
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Tags (Elements Wood PMA174318)
• The Range (Craft Embellishments CRO824)
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• Ranger Glossy Accents

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Spring Greetings – Art Journal Cover

I always find that I have a huge selection of scraps leftover from creating art journal pages, which for some reason I just can’t seem to throw away (grin!). I usually try to use them up on my art journal covers and as I often use the same materials that can be found in the journal, the covers then also remind me of the pages that are inside (double grin!).

As my journal holds some of the springtime pages that I created for my Hello Springtime theme over at Art Journal Journey that I am hosting, I gave the cover a springtime feel too – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the background with a book page that I recycled from a part-work magazine, using as I did to stick all the paper elements, Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I used some washi tape, with a tape measure design on it, over the seam where two pieces of the book pages joined together. Next I stuck some lattice die cut pieces, remnants of a recycled brown bag, leftover pieces of teabag and also scrap pieces of wallpaper to the page. I added the robin, branches and leaves which are ripped pieces of tissue and then the scene started looking more like springtime, so I coloured the leaves using a Bud Green Spectrum Aqua Marker. The flowers are cobbled-together using leftover pieces of hydrangea flowers from a wallpaper sample and rub-on transfers of violets by Royal & Langnickel, along with some stamped hydrangea flowers using Elderberry Memento Ink. They are loosely coloured with watered down Purple and Navy Spectrum Aqua Markers so the flowers blended together. I also stamped the “My Art Journal” wording using the Elderberry Memento Ink and added more colour to the lettering using the Purple and Navy Spectrum aqua markers again. The “spring greetings” banner, “grow” tag and “plant a garden” banner are Graphic 45 Cardstock Stickers and I used the tape measure washi tape to bind and finish the edges of the page.

As you probably know by now, I love robins and this page reminded me of a robin we saw on a springtime walk last year. I think he had stopped by to say “hello”, isn’t he adorable (grin!).

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Art Journal Journey, 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 also joining the Close to Nature challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my springtime art journal cover.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Create a Scene 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:

• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Elderberry)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Purple, Navy, Bud Green)
• Craft Sensations (Clear Stamps 154884)
• Clarity Stamp (Word Chain STA-WO-10048-XX)
• Leftover papers – lattice die cuts, recycled brown bag, teabag paper, wallpaper sample, tissue
• Recycled book page from part-work magazine
• Graphic 45 Cardstock Stickers (Place in Time 4500617, Seasons 4501629)
• Michael’s (Washi Tape)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Dark Side of the Moose

Today’s art journal page pays homage to one of my favourite beers at the Beer Festival earlier this month, which is called Dark Side of the Moose. It’s brewed by Purple Moose Brewery in Wales which I have visited a number of times – such fun!

To start, I positioned some circular templates by Inkylicious onto the page to depict the moons and painted the sky background using some watered down Elderberry Memento Ink using a paintbrush. I left the templates in place so I could also add a heart and circle design stamp by Sugarloaf Inc. using Grape Jelly Memento Ink; to shade around the moons I used the ink that remained on the template after stamping, wiping the ink in a circular motion around the edges whilst the template was still on the page. Then I used the corresponding circular stencils from the Inkylicious template and stencil set to colour the moons; first with Scattered Straw and Mustard Seed Distress Ink and then by adding a Tim Holtz texture stamp using the Elderberry Memento Ink again. The Purple Moose sticker is taken from the hand pump clip which came with the beer from the brewery; the writing surrounding the moose details the name of the beer in both English and Welsh. The moose and trees are die cut using the Merry Moose Thinlets by Tim Holtz from Sizzix and my Big Shot Machine. I used some purple paper for my moose which I shaded with the Elderberry ink and then some brown paper for the trees which I edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. They are stuck to the page, like all the paper elements, using a Zig Memory glue pen and I used some ripped pieces of red dot washi tape for the ground beneath them. To finish, the hearts were created using the same red dot washi tape which I stuck to white paper and then cut using a Tonic Studios paper punch.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and sharing my Dark Side of the Moose beer. This is delicious dark ale with a ABV (Alcohol by Volume) of 4.6%, it has a deep malt flavour and a fruity bitterness, and is brewed by Purple Moose Brewery in Porthmadog, Gwynedd, Wales – wishing you all a very happy T Day!

Challenges

I’m pleased to be able to join the lovely Rike from rike’s art and her The Colour Yellow challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the yellow moons I added to my art journal page.

Over at The Artistic Stamper, their challenge is Heart It!, so I’m pleased to join this challenge with all the stamped and paper punched hearts that I added to my page.

I’m also pleased to join A Vintage Journey and their Heart’s Desire challenge as I was inspired by my love of beer and used stamped and paper punched hearts to create my Art Journaling style 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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Elderberry, Grape Jelly)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed)
• Faber-Castell Craft Stamper Big Brush Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B, Black 199)
• Inkylicious Stencil (Sun & Moons)
• Sugarloaf Inc. Anita’s Wood Mounted Stamp (48721)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous (Urban Tapestry CMS061)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Merry Moose 663103)
• Tonic Studios Paper Punch Accent (Hearts Sider 830E)
• Pump clip – Purple Moose
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Bright Colours CRO730/R)
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CRO701/16PL1)
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection (Spots & Stripes festive PMA462302)
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (Dual Action Chisel Tip Glue Pen)
• Sizzix Big Shot

Cherish Little Moments

We’ve been having some beautiful sunny days here of late and mild temperatures too, which have reminded me of summertime, I have even sseen my first butterfly on the drive in our front garden. So to celebrate I created this sunshiny yellow page with a butterfly – I hope you like it!

I started by using some stamped white paper which was leftover from other projects. It was stamped using black Archival Ink and the stamps included: a Music Sheet and a Vintage Circles stamp set from Woodware Craft Collection; a Cherish, a Script and also a Doily stamp set from Kaisercraft. The white paper also had some stencilling on it as I had used it to mop up some leftover Black Soot Distress Ink when I was cleaning a stencil using a baby wipe. I ripped the paper into pieces and stuck them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium along with three yellow paper flowers. Between the gaps of the papers and flowers I painted a base colour of Lemon Yellow Kuretake watercolour paint and then I dripped water onto the painted areas and added Black watercolour paint to create a marbling effect, highlighting areas with Yellow Ochre and more of the Lemon Yellow paint.

Once dry, I outlined the yellow flowers using a black Uni Pin marker and stuck some black seed beads into the centre of the flowers using Ranger Glossy Accents. The yellow border strips and wording are from Kaisercraft Sticker Sets and are outlined with a black Uni Pin marker. To finish, I added a black and white 3D butterfly sticker.

This page reminds me of the beautiful rudbeckia …

… that were flowering in our newly planted flower bed at the end of summer last year (grin!).

I added the 3D butterfly to my page as I was so surprised to find a Red Admiral butterfly sitting on our front drive last week, I know we have been having warmer temperatures but it is still February, isn’t it (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 be able to join the lovely Rike from rike’s art and her The Colour Yellow challenge over at Art Journal Journey with all the yellow that I added to my page.

Over at Country View Challenges their challenge is Black, White and One Other, so I’m happy to join this challenge to with my black, white and yellow 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:

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Lemon Yellow, Black, Yellow Ochre)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Music Sheet JGS111, Vintage Circles FRS665)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Vintage – Cherish CS831, Script CS752, Doily CS297)
• Viva Décor Universal Stencil (Past Times 900270300)
• White paper
• Craft Sensations (Paper Flowers CRO344/R)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Say Aloha SS281, Fiesta! SS284)
• Seed Beads (Black)
• Home Bargains Self-Adhesive Stickers (Beautiful Butterflies 22742)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Creativity

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, so for the next two weeks our challenge is Powder your …

 We are asking that you use powders on your creations; these could be Embossing, Mica, Infusions, Perfect Pearls, Brusho, paint powder or even just images of powders. Please remember to note on your post what ‘powder’ you have used.

There are some amazing creations from my Design Teamies too, please pop over to our blog to check them out. I can’t wait to see how you use powders on your creations too!

I had so much fun using both Brusho and embossing powders to create all the elements on my industrial style art journal page.

I started by using a new technique for the background by stamping a steampunk stamp from Docrafts onto my page using a Versamark Watermark stamp pad. Then I sprinkled Sandstone, Dark Brown, Terracotta and Yellow Ochre Colourcraft Brusho Powders onto the page and used a soft paintbrush to lightly brush the powder over the stamping so the Watermark ink was covered with the Brusho powders.

I then spritzed the page lightly with water a few times and watched the background colours burst to life until the stamping was defined but not totally lost by adding too much water – such a fun technique!

The light bulbs and cogs/gears are Boozybear chipboard pieces which I covered using the Versamark Watermark ink and then some Gold Shellac and Black Papermania embossing powder. I heated the pieces with my heat gun until the embossing powder melted and became glossy and dimensional. For the light bulb backgrounds, I added some Yellow and Yellow Ochre Brusho Powders to a sheet of white paper and spritzed with water. When dry I drew around the light bulbs shapes and cut these shapes out of the paper.

I stuck the yellow backgrounds behind each of the embossed light bulbs using a Zig Memory System glue pen and stuck them and the cogs onto the page using glossy accents. The panel of words is a Tim Holtz Pocket card which I edged using the Versamark ink and embossing powders; it reads “Creativity is seeing things everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has ever thought”. I also covered three metal brads with the Gold Shellac and Black embossing powders and added them to the panel to give it more of an industrial look, which finished the page.

As T Stands for Tuesday and to continue the industrial look of my page I’m sharing a photo of me and hubby at the Banded Brewing Tap Room in Biddeford, Maine when we were on holiday last year – Happy T Day!

We had the “Flight of 4 Tasters” and the beers we tried were Oktoberfest, Veridian, Wheat ‘N’ Potatoes and Greenwarden – cheers!

Challenges 

I’m pleased to be able to join the lovely Rike from rike’s art and her The Colour Yellow challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my yellow lightbulbs.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, their theme is Things with Wheels, so I’m pleased to join in the fun with the cogs and gears, that make wheels go round, which I added to my page.

I’m also joining in the Anything Goes – Steampunk/Industrial fun over at Sandee & amilie’s Steampunk Challenge with my industrial style 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:

• Tsukineko Versamerk (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Colourcraft Brusho Colours (Sandstone, Dark Brown, Terracotta, Yellow Ochre, Yellow)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk Background DCE907128)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Gold Shellac, Black)
• Boozybear Chipboard Pieces (Light Bulbs, Cogs & Gears)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Sweet Winter Season

It’s been very cold and frosty this week, we even had a light sprinkling of snow, so I thought I’d create a page to capture the pretty frozen landscape.

I started by covering the centre of the page with Pébéo white gesso and then I added some Silver Metallic acrylic paint around the edges, gradually blending the gesso and acrylic into each other where they met. Next I arranged some images, wording, flowers and leaves from a Sweet Winter Season decoupage book and die cut some branches using Garden Greens Thinlets by Tim Holtz from some pink and brown paper using my Big Shot machine. They are all layered and arranged onto the page using double-sided tape or a Zig glue pen. I also die cut some snowflakes from grey/pink paper using two different die sets and stuck them onto the background along with silver snowflake relief stickers. I used some of the smaller snowflake relief stickers to decorate a few of the decoupage pieces, then to finish I added some tiny clear gemstones to add a bit of extra sparkle.

With it being so cold out, our bird feeder has been working overtime. We have had an array of birds visiting including a pair of Coal Tits; they have a distinctive grey back, black cap, and white patch at the back of their neck with beautiful creamy peachy coloured breast-feathers.

Coal Tits look similar to this Chickadee that we saw in the US when we visited last year. I have included a squirrel on my page but luckily we don’t have them raiding our bird feeder, unlike our friends in America who get chipmunks as well as red and grey squirrels on their feeders.

This little guy with his pretty grey and brown feathers is a Dunnock and reminds me of the little bird on my page; we see him in our garden on a daily basis feeding underneath our bird feeders.

Of course I wanted to also show you our resident Robin, although this isn’t the best of photos he still looks so sweet (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my wintry art journal page.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes 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:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Poundland Metallic Acrylic Paint (Silver)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush marker (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Garden Greens 661206)
• Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (falling Snowflakes 1792e)
• The Works Cutting Dies (Snowflake Garland)
• The Works 3D Decoupage Book (Sweet Winter Season)
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CRO701/16PL1)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Endless Love CRO206/A)
• Crelando Relief Stickers (IAN289011)
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Time Flies

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

I hope you will join in the fun and for more inspiration please take a look at the amazing creations of my fabulous Design Team teamies over at our blog. A special welcome to Erika who has joined our Design Team too!

For this challenge I had fun creating a steampunk style page using some wonderful chipboard pieces from Boozybear – I hope you like it!

I started by adding Antique Linen, Ground Espresso and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink to the page by applying the ink pads to a blending mat, spritzing with water and then pressing the mat onto the page. To tie into the Time Flies theme, I selected some stamps with months, days and dates on them from a Documented stamp set by Tim Holtz and stamped them over the background using black Versafine Ink. Then I added some numbers and texture using a stencil by Carabelle Studios and Black Soot Distress Ink. To tone the background colours down a bit, I added some Neutral Grey Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic using a palette knife and also stencilled Pébéo white gesso over the page using a sponge through an Abstract Grid stencil by That’s Crafty.

For the winged clock, I used chipboard pieces which included a Wind Up Gear, some cogs and gears, and also two steampunk wings from Boozybear that I won over at Sandee & Ameile’s challenge – thank you! I stuck the wings in place behind the clock face of the Wind Up Gear piece and layered some cogs over the top using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. When dry, I added some brads to the centre of a couple of the gears and then I painted the whole piece using Iridescent Bright Gold Liquitex Ink. Next I covered it with some VersaMark Watermark Ink and Aged Silver Embossing Enamel which I heated with my heat gun until it turned glossy and dimensional. I then added some Green Patina Perfect Pearls by Ranger, Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and black Versafine Ink to give it an aged look and heated it with my heat gun again so all the elements merged together.

I repeated the layers of the gold Liquitex Ink, Aged Silver Embossing Enamel, Green Patina Perfect Pearls, Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and black Versafine Ink until I achieved the finish that I was after.

I repeated the same process to create the numbers which are also chipboard pieces from Boozybear. Then I attached everything to the page using Ranger Glossy Accents. To finish, I used the glossy accents again to adhere some metal and glass beads so that they look like debris which has come away from the numbers as they fly out from the clock.

Last week after a walk along the green at Lytham with our friends, we stopped by a café called Chell’s of Lytham. As this cafe makes their own ice cream I couldn’t resist having a couple of scoops; the flavours I chose were Sticky Toffee Pudding and Double Chocolate – yummy!

As you can see there was iced water, as well as Earl Grey Tea and Hot Chocolate …

… and as T Stands for Tuesday, I also have a cappuccino to share with the coffee lovers amongst the T Gang – wishing you all a 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 Alison/Craftytrog and her Geometric Shapes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the Abstract Grid that I included on my page.

With the steampunk vibe created from the amazing Boozybear chipboard pieces, I am very pleased to be able to join Sandee & amilie’s Steampunk Challenge which is Anything Goes – Steampunk/Industrial – thanks so much for the wonderful Boozybear chippies!

I’m happy to join the Put Your Stamp On It challenge over at A Vintage Journey as I used a set of Tim Holtz stamps for my Steampunk Style inspired page.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday the challenge is Try Something NEW! so I’m pleased to join this challenge too as I used two new stencils and the Carabelle Studio one was bought at Simon Says Stamp.

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 (Antique Linen, Ground Espresso, Rusty Hinge, Black Soot)
• Tsukineko Versafine Ink (Onyx Black)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Neutral Grey)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Liquitex Ink! (Iridescent Bright Gold)
• Stampendous! Frantage Embossing Enamel Kit (Aged Silver FREK02)
• Ranger Perfect Pearls (Green Patina)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stamper’s Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
• Carabelle Studio Art Template (Trame Tissus et Chiffres TE60034)
• That’s Crafty! 8x8ins Stencil (Abstract Grid – TC8023)
• Boozybear Chipboard Pieces (Wind Up Gear CP29, assorted gears and cogs, steampunk wings)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• The Brighton Bead Shop (Assorted Metal and Glass Beads)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium