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

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Dream a little dream of me

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge is Inspired by a Song. You have two weeks to join in the fun and there is some amazing inspiration from the Design Team, so please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to take a look.

My art journal page is inspired by the song “Dream a little dream of me” and it depicts the first verse:

Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper “I love you”
Birds singing in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me

I started this page by adding the song title “Dream a little dream of me” by drawing some wavy lines with a pencil and adding the letters free hand. Then I drew over the letters with a black Uni Pin marker using a ruler for the straight edges, and when the ink was dry I rubbed off the pencil markings with an eraser. I then painted the page with Vivid Lime Green, Bright Aqua Green and Neutral Gray Liquitex acrylic paint, graduating the colour so the lime green was in the centre, then adding aqua green and then grey around the edges. Then I created a star burst effect in the centre of the page by applying Pébéo white gesso thinly using a sponge and a homemade template that I made out of card using a stamp from Sugarloaf Inc.

To depict the first line “Stars shining bright above you” I added lots of stars and sparkle. Firstly by removing some of the paint while it was still wet to create the white stars; I did this using a star stencil by Creative Stencils and baby wipe. I used the same stencil to apply the three Liquitex acrylic paints using a palette knife as they are all heavy body Liquitex paints which gave the stars a 3D effect. I also added lots of shiny dots and more stars with the stencil using silver Stickles.

I added the words “I love you” which are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel to depict the second line of the verse and outlined the letters with a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen.

For the third line, I stamped the sycamore leaves from a stamp set by Crafter’s Companion using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and then covered them with silver Papermania embossing powder. I shook and tapped any excess powder off the page and then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder to a glossy finish until it became smooth and dimensional. I also edged the page with the silver embossing powder by dragging the VersaMark Watermark stamp pad over the edges of the page and then repeating the process above. As the heat embossing “resists” the ink I smudged white Uniball gel pen ink with my finger over the embossed leaves to highlight the leaf veins and give the leaves more definition. Then I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush. For my singing birds, I used one of my favourite stamps from Creative Expressions and stamped one of the birds three times onto the page and also onto a piece of Sheet Music. I fussy cut the birds along with some music notes and stuck them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium so they look as though they are singing.

Next I cut some curvy strips of sheet music and stuck them above and under the “Dream a little dream of me” wording using Liquitex matte gel medium. When the gel medium was dry, I edged the wavy lines of sheet music with a black Uni Pin marker. I went over the song title wording with a black Derwent Graphik marker so it stood out more and I highlighted some of the lettering with a white Uni Ball gel pen to give a 3D effect. To finish the page I also used the white gel pen to outline all of the different elements which included: all of the stars to make them shine brightly; the embossed edging and sycamore leaves; the birds and music notes; and also the silver Stickle dots. Adding all this detail with the white gel pen took a long time to complete (grin!).

I had so much fun creating this page as I love this song! There have been many recordings of Dream a little dream of me by different artists and The Mamas & The Papas is my favourite.

Happy Serendipity! – One of my lovely friends at Drivers and Sundry has recently blogged about this song and Cass Elliott from The Mamas and The Papas too, so take a look at her post here.

I also like The Beautiful South version of this song too.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my apple juice and ginger beer (mixed half and half) which I find very refreshing in this hot weather we are having (grin!). I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang too – 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 Bleubeard & Elizabeth at Altered Book Lover, who is hosting the Count your blessings challenge over at Art Journal Journey as so I’m always enjoy listening to music like art journaling it soothes my soul.

As I used sheet music on my page, I’m pleased to join Moo Mania and More and their Sheet Music challenge.

With the silver embossing I used on my page, I’m also joining the How can you resist? challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my Dream a little dream of me inspired Art Journaling and Mixed Media Style page.

As I made my own background for this art journal page with the acrylic paints, I’m pleased to join the Make your own background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

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

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

• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.3mm)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green, Bright Aqua Green, Neutral Gray)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Silver)
• Ranger Stickles (Silver)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Sugarloaf Inc. Anita’s wood mounted stamp
• Creative Stencils Craft Essentials (Stars MAOB0004)
• Crafter’s Companion Signature Collection by Sara Davies (Autumn Morning Rustling Leaves S-AUT-ST-RUS)
• Craft Sensations Clear Stamps (CRO274/16R1)
• Bosworth Violin Studies – Sheet Music
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (kisses & Hugs Silver #ROY790SV)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

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

Amour

Today I have created an art journal page to celebrate love as I’m so looking forward to the wedding of some very dear friends next month. I used my favourite blue Brusho colours to create the dreamy background and thought that Paris would be the perfect city for Amour (grin!).

I started by sprinkling Turquoise and Ultra Marine Colourcraft Brusho powders onto the page and spritzed them with water. I love watching the colours burst to life as you add the water and as Brushos are made up of the different component coloured powders that create the main colour, purple can be seen on the page too from the Ultra Marine powder. Once dry, I stamped Eiffel Tower image onto the page and also onto some blue/grey spotted design paper using a stamp called “City of Love” by Penny Black and black Archival Ink which I used for all the stamping on my page. I used the same “City of Love” stamp to add the black swirls along the edges of the page, as well as the two hearts and the word “amour” over the background. Again I stamped these images onto the blue/grey paper, fussy cut them out and edged them using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Then I stamped a leaf tile stamp from Rubber Soul, two birds sitting on a branch from Dovecraft and the word “Paris” from 7 Gypsies stamp set by Hampton Art directly onto the page. Next I added some diamond-shaped border stickers by Kaisercraft and also silver outline stickers along the edges of the page; then I outlined them both with a black Uni Pin marker, which took quite a while as the outline stickers are quite an intricate design. I then added the stamped blue/grey paper images to the page sticking them in place using a UHU Stic. For the main Eiffel Tower image, I layered it over a white doily and it is stuck into place using double-sided tape. I then added the black round brads to the “amour” signs, lots of flowers which I had embellished with blue gems and also a glittery silver butterfly which finished the page.

Paris is such a lovely place to visit, here is the Eiffel Tower when we visited some years ago; it looks spectacular by day and by night (grin!).

The wrought ironwork is amazing, if you want to find out more about the Eiffel Tower please check out my previous post.

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 Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my love inspired page.

I enjoyed using all the different stamps to create my Amour page design, so I’m also pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Stamping Sensations.

I’m joining in the fun over at The Artistic Stamper and their Colour it Blue challenge as they have chosen my favourite colour as their theme this month.

With my vibrant Brusho coloured page, I’m also happy to join the Bright and Cheerful challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Amour art journal page.

I’m also very happy to join the lovely Design Team over at PaperBabe Stamps and their Anything Goes Challenge.

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

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

• Colourcraft Brusho Colours Crystals (Turquoise, Ultra Marine)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Penny Black 2007 wood-mounted stamp (City of Love 3800K)
• Rubber Soul wood-mounted stamp (Leaf Tile 276K)
• Dovecraft Clear Stamp (DCCS014)
• Hampton Art 7 Gypsies Vintage cling mounted rubber stamps (Birdsong ICO151)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Glory 154898)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Set (Fly Free SS289)
• Docraft Anita’s Outline Stickers (Timeless Borders ANT810117)
• Dovecraft Premium Paper Doilies (Painted Blooms DCDLS010)
• Brads (Round Black)
• Poundland (Accessories Pack 60911, Gem Florettes 117128)
• The Works (Wooden Craft Butterflies CR1292)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• UHU Stic
• The Range double-sided foam tape

For the Boys

Still inspired by the masculine theme, I created this art journal page to remind you that you still have one week left to join in with our For the Boys challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, it would be lovely to see you there!

This time, I got creative with Tim Holtz inks, stamps and stickers as well as a Steampunk stamp set, some design paper and some Victorian style tags.

I started by using Tim Holtz Distress Inks to create the background; firstly by smooshing diluted Mowed Lawn ink that I had applied to an acrylic block, spritzed with water and then pressed onto the page. After drying this ink with a heat gun I then applied Shabby Shutters ink the same way and then I used both the Mowed Lawn and Shabby Shutters inks again to add A lot of Splats stamp from Gummpiapan. Using a blending tool I applied Hickory Smoke Distress Ink through a Past Times stencil by Viva Decor to give a lovely depth to the background, I also used the same stencil over the background to remove some of the Distress Inks using a baby wipe. Then I applied some Black Soot Distress Ink using a stencil by Craft Sensations and a blending tool. Next I layered all the different paper elements onto the page which I edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool and outlined with a black Uni Pin marker once stuck in place. They included: a large map, ruler pieces, a butterfly, a button, some numbered and small alphabet pieces which are  Crowded Attic Salvage Stickers by Tim Holtz; three Victorian style tags; a globe with a bird perched on the top, suitcase and luggage labels which I fussy cut from design paper by Craft Sensations; a pocket watch and compass which I stamped using a Steampunk stamp set from Docrafts and black Archival Ink onto design paper and fussy cut out, they are stuck to the page using a UHU Stic; a vintage car from a Tim Holtz stamp which I stamped using black Archival Ink and fussy cut out; and finally some round button letters to add the “For the Boys” wording. I added some brown metal brads to the tags, luggage labels and signage. Then to finish, I used a paintbrush to splatter black and white DecoArt acrylic paints over the whole page.

Today I’m sharing a trip to the fish and chip shop in Great Eccleston.

The food is so delicious, here’s my order of steak and kidney pudding with gravy (of course – grin!), chips and mushy peas.

We visited with my family and my portion of food was so huge that I’m sharing my chips so here you can see just my dad’s fish and mushy peas – yum!

There are plenty of drinks on show in my photos for T Stands for Tuesday but in case you were wondering what I was drinking, it was Dandelion and Burdock. This is a fizzy/soft drink which is popular in the North of England and I haven’t had it since I was a child so couldn’t remember what it tasted like. I really enjoyed it and if you have never tried it either then it’s a bit like coca cola with an earthy botanical kick to it (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my masculine inspired page.

As my art journal page features maps, luggage and a vintage car I’m very happy to be able to join Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Transport It challenge.

I added wording to my page as the challenge over at Country View Challenges is Written Word (add some text in some form), so I’m pleased to join them too.

This is my final page for A Vintage Journey and their Stencil It challenge, I’ve really enjoyed using my different stencils to join their theme this month and I had them in mind when I used all my different Tim Holtz products to create this Vintage and Mixed Media style page too.

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

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mowed Lawn, Shabby Shutters, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot, Vintage Photo)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Gummpiapan Stamps (A lot of Splats 11050106)
• Viva Decor  Universal Stencil (Past Times 9002 703 00)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Tim Holtz {Components} Collection Stamper Anonymous (COM013 CAR)
• The Works Design Pad (Classic Vintage CRO707/TW7)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Soft Colours CRO730/R)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• The Works (Victorian Style Embellishments)
• Home Bargains (Love Letters 22738)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• UHU Stic

Mr. Finch

I’m really enjoyed creating the masculine page that I posted on Tuesday so I thought I would continue with the masculine theme and create a page with the additional inspiration of the goldfinches that we have seen a number of times this year, both in our garden and on our walks. So here’s my fun steampunk page which showcases the fabulous Mr. Finch (grin!).

I started by covering the page with Peeled Paint and Antique Linen Distress Ink using a blending tool and then spritzing the page with water to give a soft covering of colour. While the background was still wet I used a stamp from BoBunny to add the crackle texture mainly around the edges of the page using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink; the wet page blended the inks so the stamp looks smudged in places which I love. Then I used a stencil from Craft Sensations to add the numbers using Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and a blending tool. The black wheels are also stencilled using a Dina Wakley stencil from Ranger and I varied the depth of the Black Soot Distress Ink that I applied to give more of a distressed look and to add some dimension. I then splattered the page with the Black Soot Distress Ink using a paintbrush. The fountain pen and pocket watch are rub-on transfers by Royal and Langnickel and I also applied some leftover black letters from a Letraset transfer set to use them up. Next I fussy cut the roses from some design paper and stuck them in place, like all of the paper elements, using Liquitex matte gel medium.

For my steampunk Mr. Finch, I used a bird stamp from Stampendous, a Steampunk stamp set by Docrafts and black Archival Ink. I started by stamping the bird onto thick paper and fussy cutting it out, and then I distressed this image by covering it with some watered down white gesso using a baby wipe. Once dry I stamped the cog images over his breast and head and also a feather image over his back and wings to add more texture. I also stamped his steampunk style top hat and his wheels onto another piece of design paper; his wheels are from the Penny Farthing stamp which I stamped twice and then fussy cut out. I added three strips of music washi tape horizontally on the page and then I layered his wheels, body and hat together so Mr. Finch is rolling along one of these strips.

Inspired by seeing the goldfinches, I painted his cog design and added detail to his feathers using Iridescent Gold Liquitex Ink. As goldfinches also have red feathers on their heads that look like a mask, I also thought it would be fun to paint the goggles on his top hat with a Poppy Red Derwent Inktense pencil. I used a black Derwent marker, white gel pen and also the gold Liquitex Ink and red Inktense pencil to add further colour and detail to the design including his mask, hat, wheels and cogs. For his eye I added a black gem and coloured some of it white using a Uniball gel pen. Next I die cut three small labels using my Big Shot machine and stamped “Explore” using black Archival Ink. Once stuck in place, I coloured the edges using the red Inktense pencil and gold Liquitex Ink and then outlined them using a black Derwent marker and a white Uniball gel pen to frame the words, and then I embellished them with some round black brads. To finish, I splattered black and white DecoArt acrylic paint and also gold Liquitex Ink using a paintbrush over the page.

Here is one of the goldfinches that we saw on one of our walks along by the sand dunes, isn’t he magnificent!

If you are interested here are some facts about this bird:

• There are just three species of goldfinches in the world – our European goldfinch, the widespread American goldfinch and Lawrence’s goldfinch which is found in the southwest USA.
• The European goldfinch is a highly coloured finch with a bright red face and yellow wing patch.
• They are very sociable birds, often seen in large groups and have a delightful liquid twittering song and call. The collective name for goldfinches is a charm and is derived from the old English c’irm which describes the birds’ twittering song.
• The shape of their beak allows them to extract seeds from thistles and teasels.

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 Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey I took inspiration from seeing the goldfinches to create steampunk page.

With the focal image of Mr. Finch being created using different stamps, I’m happy to be able to join Stamping Sensations and their Anything Goes challenge.

I’m so pleased to join the lovely Maura who is on the design team and is co-hosting over at SanDee & amelie’s Steampunk Challenges this month for their Anything Goes – Steampunk/Industrial challenge.

Over at A Vintage Journey this month the challenge is Stencil It so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my goldfinch inspired page fits their challenge focus with its Steampunk and Mixed Media Style.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with stamped wording I added to this page.

I’m joining in the fun at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Anything But A Card challenge with Mr. Finch art journal page.

I’m also joining the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge and their June Challenge: Anything Goes!: (stamping MUST be included) with my unique, one of a kind Mr. Finch.

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 (Peeled Paint, Antique Linen, Hickory Smoke, Frayed Burlap, Black Soot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Liquitex Inks! (Iridescent Bright Gold)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Derwent Inktense Pencil (Poppy Red 0400)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Ranger Dina Wakley Media Stencil (Wheels MDS45588)
• BoBunny Stamp (Rough it up 12105155)
• Stampendous Cling Rubber Stamps (Jumbo Songbird CRS5029)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Spellbinders Nestabilities Card Creator (A-2 Fancy Ribbon Threader S5-135)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Journey MIN- CCS104)
• American Crafts (DIY Shop)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Soft Colours CRO730/R, Authentic Vintage CRO730/R)
• Royal & Langnickel Create-A-Collage Rub-on Transfers (Men’s Accessories #ROY-853)
• Letraset Transfers (Helvetica Bold Condensed 5mm DCO251)
• Hobbycraft (Assorted Black & White Decorative Tape 5971481007)
• Poundland (Design Gems 175751)
• Brads (Round Black)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Peacock Butterfly

This page is inspired by the beautiful Peacock butterfly that we saw whilst walking along the Lancaster canal.

I started by painting the page with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint varying the tone of colour across the page by adding some Pébéo white gesso. When dry I stamped a pretty blossoms stamp from Stampendous over the page using black Archival Ink. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso over the stamped blossoms and re-stamped them layering the image over the top to give the page more depth. I also stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using the black Archival Ink again. Next I fussy cut some squares, rectangles and faux embroidered shapes from some design paper, edged them with a Black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and arranged them on the page using a UHU Stic with: a white doily; a postcard; cards depicting a Peacock Butterfly on the front and information about the butterfly on the back; and a lace flower. The letters for the “Peacock Butterfly” wording are fussy cut from some design paper and stuck in place using the UHU Stic too. I added lots of mini decorative pearls to the centre of the blossoms which finished the page.

This Peacock butterfly was sitting on a thistle by the canal and I always marvel at its patterned wings and beautiful iridescent colours.  If you are interested here are some fun facts about this butterfly:

• Peacock butterflies are found in British Isles, Europe and temperate Asia as far east as Japan and are not the same genus as the “American Peacock butterfly”.
• This butterfly is one of the larger species of butterflies with the males being smaller than the females. However males and females have the same wing patterns, so other than size they look exactly the same.
• Peacock butterflies are easily to recognize by the beautiful purple eyespots on the hind wings and this specific colouration of their wings provides protection against predators by confusing or even scaring them away.
• The edges of its wings are dark and look like dead leaves and the underside of its wings are a dull brown which ensures excellent camouflage when butterfly rests on the bark of the trees.
• The Peacock butterfly is strong flyer and it can travel long distances. It has a nomadic instinct so instead of having a permanent home, it travels all the time.
• The Peacock butterfly has a long lifespan, living for around 11 months.

By far my favourite fact is, that when viewed up-side down, the pattern of the Peacock’s wings resembles the face of an owl (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our drink of ice-cold water that we always take on our walks – Happy T Day!

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 Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my Peacock Butterfly inspired page.

I’m pleased to join the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Written Word (add text in some form) challenge, which on this page includes the “Peacock Butterfly” wording that I created from the fussy cut letters and also the text from the Script stamp, postcard and Collectors Cards.

With it being the first Tuesday of the month, I’m pleased to join the Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutrals page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge their challenge is A Stitch in Time so I’m happy to join them with the faux stitched embroidery and pretty crocheted lace flower that I used as part of my design for this art journal page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge.

I’m also pleased to join the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge and their June Challenge: Anything Goes!: (stamping MUST be included).

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

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

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Stampendous cling rubber stamp (Blossom Spray CRP136)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Travel Memories 154898)
• The Works Design Pad (Classic Vintage CRO707/TW7)
• Dovecraft Premium Paper Doilies (Painted Blooms DCDLS010)
• Collectors Card (Butterflies & Roses)
• The Works (Lace Flower Stickers)
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• UHU Stic
• The Range double-sided foam tape