Everyday is a true blessing

I had so much fun creating this mixed media page and as using up leftovers is one of my crafting goals this year, I used some leftover paper that I had coloured using Kuretake watercolour to create my autumnal leaves for this page too (grin!).

Don’t forget that you still have until the end of this month to join our #76 Challenge – Anything Mixed Media Goes over at Creative Artiste; you just need to use three different mediums to join in the fun – I hope to see you there!

I started by covering the chipboard background with a layer of Pébéo white gesso and left it to dry, and then I applied a layer of black chalk paint over the top. When dry, I sanded the page in a vertical motion using a piece of sandpaper to expose some of the white gesso underneath to create a worn vintage chalkboard appearance. Next I created the leaves using some leftover paper that was coloured using Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Scarlet Kuretake watercolour paints; I die cut three sizes of the same leaf shape from a Fall Foliage Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and then I applied some Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the leaves to give them more of a grungy look. I stuck the “Everyday is a true blessing” wording in place, which was from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet, and then I arranged the leaves around it using Liquitex matte gel medium. I added dots of Pumpkin Ranger Liquid Pearls and to finish, I splattered the page with the white gesso and also the black chalk paint.

As we had frosts in April that affected the apple blossom, I feel very blessed for the crop of Braeburn apples that we picked this year from our apple trees in our garden. I used some of them to make this delicious cinnamon apple cake with maple frosting which goes perfectly with my cuppa for T Stands for Tuesday – wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

I hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Tracey from Hotchpotchcreations  who is hosting this month with her My favourite colour is October challenge with my autumn blessings page (15x15cm). Chalk it Up! challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog with the chalk paint background on my autumnal page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #153 – Anything Goes with my autumn blessings page. #144 Autumn Colours over at Sparkles Monthly Challenges with the autumn colours I used on this page. LTSCB #150 – Anything But A Card over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my autumnal mini art journal page. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Not A Card challenge with my autumnal mini chipboard art journal page. Challenge #6 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media autumnal page; this is a new challenge so I thought I’d join in the fun!

A very wonderful place

As you may remember one of my goals this year is to recycle and use up leftovers in my craft stash, so I created this vintage page using some recycled items; I hope you like it (grin!).

I started by covering the chipboard page with Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink using a blending tool. Then I added lots of postage marks and text using a Craft Sensations stamp set and Black Soot Distress Archival Ink. I splattered the page using some Black Soot Distress Ink and edged it with a black Faber-Castell marker. Then I added a piece of die cut lace cardstock, which was recycled from a wedding invitation, to the right hand side of the page. The pretty postage stamp, featuring two wrens, was also recycled from my hubby’s childhood stamp collection. It was mounted onto a piece of black cardstock, also recycled from the wedding invitation, and then framed using two pieces of lace border which were outline stickers. I added the wording which were from a Clippings sticker set by Tim Holtz and to finish, I splattered some black and white acrylic paint over the page.

My hubby very kindly gifted me his childhood postage stamp collection for my art journaling. Many of the postage stamps are displayed in a large book but some, like this wren stamp, were part of a collection and still mounted on their original book pages. This Wild Birds stamp was a special issue from Hungary being published between 1973-1974.

Here’s it’s original page with the other stamps that formed part of the collection and wow, as you can see at the time they only cost 10p. It’s so interesting that they list the prices for this collection for other countries too, as you can see under the postage stamps on the bottom of the page (grin!).

Hoping that you’re all stay safe and well! x

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

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Wendy K from wendyscraftjournal.blogspot.com who is hosting this month with her Vintage challenge with my vintage style page. Stitch It challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog with all the faux lace on my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #152 – Anything Goes with my vintage page. LTSCB #149 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my vintage mini art journal page which includes stamping. MIUCB #53 – Anything Goes + Monochrome over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my distress techniques that I used to create my vintage page.

Own your story

I really enjoy creating these mini pages in my chipboard art journal, and I had so much fun making these typewriter keys using some new Distress products and the Typewriter 3D Texture Fades from Tim Holtz (grin!).

For the background, I covered the page with my new Salvaged Patina Distress Paint and a tiny amount of black DecoArt acrylic paint to dull the colour. When dry, I dragged a Black Soot Distressl Ink pad vertically down the page and then applied some Liquitex matte gel medium over the top using a paint brush to create a woodgrain effect.

For the typewriter letters, I started by covering a piece of mixed media paper with the Salvaged Patina Distress Paint and my new Crackling Campfire Distress Ink and left it to dry. Then I dry embossed the paper using the Typewriter 3D Texture Fades by Tim Holtz. To highlight the texture, I dragged a black archival ink pad over the top of the letters to colour them and applied some Iced Coffee metallic Faber-Castell gelato smudging the colour with my finger. Then I splattered some Tarnished Brass Distress Paint over the top which finished the worn grungy look. They were cut out, edged with a black Faber-Castell big brush marker and then stuck into place using either double-sided or double-sided foam tape.

To finish, I added the typewriter which was stamped using a stamping platform, a stamp set from Craft Sensations and some black Archival Ink; it was stamped onto some of the mixed media paper that I had coloured with the Salvaged Patina Distress Paint and Crackling Campfire Distress Ink. I fussy cut it out and added the wording “own your story” which was a rub-on transfer from a Tiny Text Remnant Rubs set by Tim Holtz.

As T Stands for Tuesday and to link the the story theme of my page, I’m sharing these fabulous teapots that we saw whilst out walking; they were in a charity store window and feature Robin Hood, Dick Turpin and Shakespeare – Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping that you are 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.

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Neet from Hickydorums; she has chosen Type as her theme so I’m joining with my typewriter page (this mini art journal page measures 15x15cm). Dry Emboss challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I used Tim Holtz 3D Texture Fades to dry emboss the typewriter letters for my page. LTSCB #148 – Old School over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my old school typewriter as they are generally not used nowadays with computers etc (grin!). Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #150 – Anything Goes with my typewriter art journal page. Mixed Media Lovers Challenge Blog and their Challenge #4 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media page; this is a new blog so why not join in the fun too! MIUCB #52 – Anything Goes + Mixed Media over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different materials and techniques that I used to create the background and typewriter letters for this fun mixed media page.

Memories filled with cheer

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

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

I started by colouring the edge of the page with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and smudging the ink with my finger. Then I added the design paper to the top left-hand corner; I ripped and distressed the edges of the paper using a pair of scissors before sticking it in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. I also tore and distressed the edges of the sheet music, and I used a new technique by using water to dampen the top left-hand corner of the sheet music so that the paper could be manipulated more easily in order to fold it back before applying some matte gel medium to hold it in place. Next I applied some Brushed Corduroy and Tea Dye Distress Inks, that I had diluted with water, to give the music sheet more of a worn and vintage look. The vintage images were Washi tape stickers which I adhered to some white cardstock and then cut out; they were stuck in place using the matte gel medium. I added a dark brown brad to the tag image and then I stuck the paper flowers and leaves, which were by Little Birdie, in place using glue dots. To finish, I added the Kaisercraft sticker wording which reads “memories filled with cheer”.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too.

The sheet music on this page was gifted me by my sister and brings back so many happy memories of her playing either her piano or violin when I was young – they definately were “memories filled with cheer!” (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.

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

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 Neet from Hickydorums; she has chosen Type as her theme so I’m joining with the typed wording on the tag and quote that I added to my page. LTSCB #148 – Old School over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my vintage designed page. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Summertime Blues challenge with the blue design paper, images and flowers on my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #150 – Anything Goes with my vintage page. The Birthday Celebration! challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I’m sure they have many “memories filled with cheer” as they celebrate their 11th Birthday – thanks for all the challenge fun over the years and wishing you all a very Happy Birthday! MIUCB #52 – Anything Goes + Mixed Media over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the mixed media and techniques that I used to create this vintage page. Mixed Media Lovers and their Challenge #4 Mixed Media Lovers; this is a new blog challenge blog that’s just starting up so I’m so pleased to be able to join them.

T Day – 8th Anniversary

Today’s page celebrates the 8th Anniversary of T Stands for Tuesday, where our wonderful hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth ask us to share a drink related post each week.

I always have fun meeting up with the T Gang each Tuesday, thanks so much to our hosts and everyone for making it such a friendly and happy place – Happy T Day!

I started by covering the background with white gesso and leaving it to dry. Then I added Passion Fruit Faber-Castell Gelato to the page in small horizontal lines and used a baby wipe to smudge the colour over the page. I repeated the same technique using Red Cherry Faber-Castell Gelato and then I painted some white acrylic paint over the top.

For the tags, I created a masterboard using some mixed media paper which I coloured with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink. Then I stamped and stencilled the number 8 over it using lots of different stamp sets and stencils. The tags were die cut using Tim Holtz Tag Collection Framelits and layered onto the page with the flowers and wording. All the white cardstock was recycled from an old anniversary card along with the fussy cut champagne flutes and “anniversary” wording; they were edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place. The rest of the silver wording was die cut, using an Alphanumeric Label Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and the number 8 using a X-Cut die set, from some recycled card packaging. All the flowers were die cut using a Small Tattered Florals Thinlits set from Tim Holtz from the recycled white card, some red and pink linen textured cardstock and some of the masterboard that I created; they were layered together using gel medium and finished with gemstone centres.

I thought a glass of this ice cold pink prosecco, that you may remember from my birthday, fits the bill for our celebration and would be perfect served in the champagne glasses on my page – cheers and Happy 8th Anniversary this T Day!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Passion Fruit, Red Cherry)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media Paper
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Aged Mahogany)
• Number 8 Stamps – Papermania (Alphamania PMA9071102), Docrafts Creative Essentials A5 stamp set (Folk Alphabet, Script Alphabet, Alpha Trad), Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Grunge Alphabet CMC008, Documented CMS226), Kaisercraft (Provincial CS243), Craft Sensations (Clear Stamps CR0274/19A1)
• Number 8 Stencils – Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892, 2 Piece Stencil Set – letters and numbers)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Recycled Anniversary Card
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Cold Grey)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Pritt Stick
• Recycled silver metallic packaging
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Textured Finish)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Alphanumeric Label 664177, Small Tattered Florals 661806)
• Docrafts X-Cut Die Set (Folk Alphabet)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Docrafts Papermania (Adhesive Stones – Red)
• Hobbycraft (Rose Gem Stones)
• Mark Richards (Silver Metal Style #1981)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #148 – Anything Goes with my journal page. LTSCB #147 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my celebration page. MIUCB #51 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Aperture challenge at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the different techniques I used to create this page too.

Travel and Adventure

Our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday for the next 2 weeks is Travel and Adventure.

I also want to welcome the wonderfully talented Tammy from My Craft Central who has joined our design team; she is such an inspirational artist and I’m so happy that she has joined us.

For my travel and adventure page, I’m sailing the high seas using some beautiful papers from Stamperia. I hope that you are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by using one of my favourite techniques which involved smooshing some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink onto the centre of the page; I used a re-inker for this so I placed some ink onto an acrylic block, spritzed it with water and then pressed the block onto the page. When dry, I ripped a piece of Stamperia design paper in half and stuck it to the left and right-hand sides of the page using a glue stick.

For the tags and additional images, I used some more of the Stamperia papers and also some vintage stickers that have been in my craft stash for a while. I layered the paper pieces and stickers together and secured the ship tag and the anchor using some brown brads before sticking them in place using double-sided foam tape.

To finish, I added the wording which are Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz; they read “no journey is to great if you find what you seek”, “adventure is worthwhile” and “travel the world over to find the beautiful”.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies to see where their Travel & Adventure has taken them (grin!).

This page reminded me this fabulous T-shirt which we bought for my hubby whilst holidaying in New England, it’s from the Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland, Maine.

When we travel, we always enjoy looking at and trying the different local beers and here is my hubby checking out the different varieties at a supermarket in Maine; as you can see from the overhead signage Shipyard make a pumpkin ale which is where we got the idea of home-brewing our own pumpkin beer – my favourite (grin!).

As life on the high seas is thirsty work, I’m also joining T Stands for Tuesday with all these beers and saying a big welcome to the T Gang – cheers and Happy T Day!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tumbled Glass, Tea Dye)
• Stamperia 8×8 Inch Paper Pack (Around the World)
• Pritt Stick
• Vintage Stickers
• Craft Sensations (Brads)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Sticker Book (Small Talk #TH93193)

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #147 – Anything Goes with my mini art journal page. LTcCB #60 – Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my travel and adventure page. Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page too.

100 Challenges at Country View Challenges

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges where I’m sharing this mini art journal page to celebrate 100 Challenges.

As this month marks our 100th Challenge and we couldn’t let that go by without a celebration we are offering two prizes, the first will be for your projects that fit the theme of 100 taking inspiration from one of the Design Team makes, such as a colour scheme, technique, design idea, stamp or die motif and of course, 100 (or One Hundred) must be included on the project. The second prize will be picked from one of the comments left on the Country View Challenges and Design Team blog posts – don’t forget, you can enter as many times as you like.

I hope you feel the love with the 100 hearts that I had fun adding to this page (grin!).

I started by covering the chipboard background with some Driftwood DecoArt acrylic paint. Then I die cut 99 small hearts using the Falling Hearts Thinlits set from Tim Holtz from grey paper and then white, pink and red cardstock; they were arranged onto the page using matte gel medium. The large red heart was die cut using a Love Birds Shadow Box Sizzix Thinlits set and takes the total of hearts on the page to 100. For the black and white wording, I used rub-on transfers from a Tiny Text Remnant Rubs set from Tim Holtz. To finish the page, I added the silver glitter “100” to the large heart and some small dots to the background which were all from the same sticker set.

I hope that you are enjoying our 100 Challenges over at Country View Challenges too; it would be lovely to see you there!

All the red hearts and love reminded me of these beautiful tulips that my sister bought me for my birthday, aren’t they gorgeous (grin!).

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

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

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

• DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint 2oz – Driftwood
• 660200 Sizzix Big Shot Machine Only (White & Gray)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Falling Hearts 664415)
• 663619 – Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 20PK – Love Birds Shadow Box – By Courtney Chilson
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Tiny Text #TH93695)
• Docrafts Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
• Craft Sensations (Travel Memories Design Paper Pad – grey, Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture – red and pink)
• Recycled white cardstock
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Crafty Things (Eva Letter Stickers)

Challenges As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #145 – Anything Goes with my countryside page. with my art journal page. Love to Scrap Challenge Blog and their No Rulz 4! theme where their are no rules and you can create anything, so I’m joining in the fun my my mini art journal page. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Mixed Media challenge with my mixed media journal page.

Invisible crown

“Always wear your invisible crown” is such a powerful message; to me it means to maintain self confidence, believe in yourself and be aware of your own self worth. I also like the idea of wearing an invisible crown (grin!) … a symbolic meaning of strength, courage, and respect.

I included this wording on today’s grungy page with some other related positive affirmations – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the page with strips of decoupage papers using a glue stick and Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso and Bright Aqua Green Liquitex acrylic paint over the top using a brayer. When dry, I stencilled some Picked Raspberry Distress Ink onto the page using a Shabby Harlequin stencil from Creative Expressions. I used black Archival Ink to stamp the birds and keys using a Craft Sensations stamp set and the birdcages, crowns and “always wear your invisible crown” wording using a Kaisercraft stamp set. Then I splattered the whole page with black DecoArt and white acrylic paint. The words, filigree diamond shapes and pink flowers were stickers from Kaisercraft which I edged using a black Faber-Castell marker before sticking them in place. To finish, I added a black oval frame to emphasis the central stamped wording.

With summer on its way, I’ve been making raspberry gin again and as T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my gin (and Sprite) with the T Gang and wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

If you are interested, here’s the recipe:

• 400 g (14oz) Raspberries – or any fruit of your choice, maybe pineapple, blueberry, peach, strawberry, rhubarb
• 300g (10oz) Granulated Sugar – you can vary this depending on your taste
• 750 mll (25 US fl oz) Gin – a cheap brand such as supermarket own brand as these are not too flavoured

Add them all to a Kilner Jar (or similar). You need to ensure the sugar dissolves so make sure you shake the jar throughout the first day, it dissolves pretty quickly. Then put it in a dark place for 4 weeks, I tend to shake the jar every other day to muddle the fruit. It’s tempting to eat the fruit afterwards, perhaps on ice-cream, however, I tried it and it was far too potent! So I ended up forcing it through a sieve to add more flavour to the gin. One last tip – don’t be tempted to do half a recipe like I did as when you start drinking it you’ll find it goes pretty fast (grin!).

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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• Poundworld (Patch Paper DS9454)
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Bright Aqua Green)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Shabby Harlequin)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Craft Sensations Clear Stamps (CRO274/19A)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Oh So Lovely CS2111)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Arcylic (Black)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fly Free SS289)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• The Works (Frame Stickers)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat this month and her Language theme with the empowering meaning behind the quote I added to my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #144 – Anything Goes with my art journal page. LTSCB#145 – Anything Goes over at the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my empowering Invisible Crown page. Stecnil It challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the stencilling on my page. Don’t forget that you still have another week to join our Make it Feminine challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too!

Feminine

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Make it Feminine.

I created this feminine page using a gorgeous Shabby Chic paper from Studio Light, some lace and pearls. I hope that you like it and are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

For the background, I stamped a delicate Floral Icons stamp from Docrafts using Brushed Corduroy and Ground Espresso Distress Ink. Then I cut the Shabby Chic paper and also some Vintage design papers to create the different paper pieces; I edged them with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and arranged them onto the page using a glue stick. The wording was a sticker from Kaisercraft and reads “You make life beautiful”. To finish, I added some pretty lace flowers and pearl strips.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Make it Feminine creations from my Design Teamies too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday and I recently celebrated 5 years of blogging, I’m sharing this photo collage of some of the tea that I’ve enjoyed and posted over the years; it features pretty feminine tea sets to tie in with my page – Happy T Day!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Floral Icons DCE907123)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy, Ground Espresso)
• Studio Light 12×12 Paper (Shabby Chic SCRAPSC03)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Romance 154897)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Full Bloom SS365)
• Lace – recycled
• Stix2 glue dots
• Poundland (Pearl Embellishments)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat this month and her Language theme with the wording I added to my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #143 – Anything Goes with my feminine page. LTSCB#145 – Anything Goes over at the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my pretty feminine page. Feminine challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my Feminine page.

Parisian Café

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges where I’m sharing this mini art journal page for this month’s We will always have Paris challenge.

I had fun creating this grungy Parisian Café page using a new Andy Skinner stamp and some French Fancy Mixed Media Transfers that I’ve had in my craft stash for a while (grin!).

I started by covering the chipboard background with some white gesso and then I used some sandpaper to distress the surface by rubbing it horizontally across the page. I sprayed the page using White Linen Dylusions Spray and Pumice Stone Distress Oxide Spray and left it to dry. Next I stamped a Grunge Wallpaper stamp by Andy Skinner using a Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad and covered the ink with Broken China Distress Glaze which I melted using a heat gun. I edged the page using a black Faber-Castell marker and smudged the ink with my finger. The Eiffel Tower was fussy cut from some design paper and was stuck in place using a glue stick. I added some of the French Fancy Mixed Media transfers by Andy Skinner and then two oval glass embellishments of a butterfly and some roses, which finished the page.

I hope that you are enjoying our We always have Paris challenge over at Country View Challenges too; it would be lovely to see you there, and if you do join us then you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts website too (grin!).

This challenge reminded me of the Parisian Cafés that lined the streets of Paris and of course the Eiffel Tower – c’est magnifique!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Ranger Dylusions Ink Sprays – White Linen
• Ranger – Tim Holtz® – Distress® Oxide® Spray – Pumice Stone
• Creative Expressions – Rubber Stamp By Andy Skinner – Grunge Wallpaper
• VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad
• Tim Holtz® – Distress Embossing Glaze – Broken China
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Andy Skinner Mixed Media Transfers (French Fancy CEAST002)
• Docrafts Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Travel Memories)
• Pritt Stick
• Oval Glass Embellishments
• Stix2 glue dots

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat this month and her Language theme with the French language on my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #143 – Anything Goes with my Paris page. LTSCB#154 – Anything Goes over at the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my mini art journal page. Feminine challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and also at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my pretty Paris page.