Philharmonic – Viennese Whirl

Posted on May 3, 2024 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of the month (and wow, I can’t believe that it’s May already), so it’s time for our new challenge at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by a night out to see the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra last month (smile!).

I started this page by covering the background with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and some Salvaged Patina Distress Paint. Then I used a couple of Creative Expressions stencils to firstly remove some of the Distress paint using a baby wipe, then to lightly apply some Black Soot Distress Ink and finally to add some Pébéo Texture Paste. I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and I added some sheet music using a glue stick and then I splattered the page using black acrylic paint. When dry, I edged the sheet music pieces using a black Uni Pin marker. The instruments and wording were cut from the recycled programme from the concert.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. All you need to do is to 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!

We had a lovely evening at the Philharmonic – Viennese Whirl concert, the music was wonderful (smile!); they played Johann Strauss II Emperor Waltz, Berg Violin Concerto, Johann Strauss II Blue Danube, and Beethoven Symphony No.7 in A Major.

Johann Strauss II is one of my favourites; if you are interested, you can check out the links and listen to excerpts of the two Johann Strauss II pieces here, Emperor’s Waltz and Blue Danube.

Stay safe and well! x

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

Hello Happy

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of the month, so it’s time for our new challenge at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I had fun creating this springtime mixed media page as it seems that spring is on its way with all the daffodils and blossoms flowering at the moment.

I started this page by embossing the background using a Fragments stamp set by Tim Holtz, a VersaMark Watercolour stamp pad and some bronze embossing powder. Then I covered the page with Brushed Bronze Distress Paint and when dry, I applied some black metallic wax and Salvaged Patina Distress Paint to create some contrast. Next I arranged lots of ephemera and stickers by Simple Stories, Kaisercraft and Tim Holtz. Then to finish, I splattered the page with white and black acrylic paints and the Salvaged Patina Distress Paint.

These are the daffodils flowering in our garden at the moment, which I seem to think don’t normally appear until March. Do you think that spring flowers seems to flowering early this year?

Stay safe and well! x

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

Challenges

Four Seasons Challenge – Spring Season March 2024 Challenge

With Love

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of February and we are pleased to be back all refreshed after our annual break with our new challenge at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I fell in love with a beautiful tag, that my mum attached to one of my Christmas presents, so I recycled it on this mixed media page – I hope you like it too (smile).

I started by colouring my chipboard page with Salvaged Patina, Tumbled Glass Distress Paints adding patches of light using Brushed Pewter Distress Paint and stamping Moonlight White Brilliance Ink using an Etcetera stamp from Tim Holtz . Next I cut out lots of foliage, from Tim Holtz Kraft cardstock, using a Festive Bouquet Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz. I arranged the tag and foliage onto the page using glue tape. To finish, I added a chipboard snowflake, which I covered in Wow! sparkly embossing powder and then I cut it in half before adding the two pieces to the page.

As this page reminds me of winter festivities, I’m sharing this photo taken in Prague that we found whilst exploring. This square is in the old town, and the restaurant seating was so pretty with all the lights and winter foliage. There is even a beautiful Christmas tree; you’ll find lots of Christmas trees in Prague, just turn a corner and you’ll find another square with another tree on display (smile!).

Of course, we couldn’t resist taking a selfie of us with those twinkly Christmas tree lights in the background (double smile!).

Stay safe and well! x

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

Challenges

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Vicki Parson from stampedsmiles.com and her Keeping It Light challenge.

Mix It Up Challenge – MIUCB #69 Anything Goes + optional Mixed Media

Natural Vibes

Posted on November 3, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of November, so it’s time for a new challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by Nature; I hope you like it!

I created the faux woodgrain background using one of my favourite techniques using ink and gel medium. I used Ground Espresso and Vintage Photo Distress Ink, dragging the ink pads horizontally across the page and then applying some gel medium over the top using a paintbrush, ensuring the brush strokes were horizontal too. I did this a couple of times to build up the colour and effect, making sure that the gel medium was dry before adding the next layer. The images and wording were cut from a Forest Paper Pad by Stamperia, and I arranged them onto the page with some strips of green paper that were left over from the same pad.

We definitely felt natural vibes when we stayed at our hotel in Torbole, Italy earlier this year; this is a view from our hotel balcony towards the mountains – so beautiful!

Here’s another of the views (smile!). Torbole is at the north-end of Lake Garda and is surrounded by mountains; it was once an inexhaustible supply of firewood and game (hence the images on my page), but now it’s a protected area because of its rare flora, some of which are only native and restricted to the area.

Talking of flora, these pots of flowers outside our hotel were so pretty too (smile!).

I hope you are staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey which I’m pleased to be hosting this month and the challenge theme that I’ve chosen is Nature, with my Natural Vibes page.

Smallest Things

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of October, so it’s time for a new challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by family visiting in September.

I started by covering the page with white gesso, keeping my brush strokes vertically across the page. When dry, I applied a wash of Black Soot Distress Ink to create a distressed background with the gesso acting as a resist. Next I stamped some black Archival Ink using a fragments stamp set by Tim Holtz and then I splattered the page with black acrylic paint. I tore the flowered papers, edged them with a black Faber-Castell marker and I also die cut the script wording from the same papers. I arranged them all onto the page using a glue stick and matte gel medium. To finish, I added the “sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in our hearts” wording, which was from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet.

The papers I used for this page were gifted me earlier this year by the same family member (M) who gifted me this beautiful bouquet of flowers when they visited, which in turn …

… inspired the colours and flowers on my page – thank you so much M!

We had such a lovely week together and visited a number of places local to us. We laughed as we took what we called “a mini cruise” (literally 3.5 mins on a ferry) to visit Knott End – such fun!

We had a lovely lunch at The Bourne Arms pub, where I forgot to take a photo of my yummy Cannelloni but remembered to take one of my dessert which was a Knickerbocker Glory!

Stay safe and well! x

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

Challenges

MIUCB #67 Anything Goes + optional Make Your Own Background over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the background that I created and techniques that I used.

It’s a beautiful day

Posted on July 7, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of July, so it’s time for a new challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by our holiday to Lake Garda, Italy in May (smile!).

I started by applying some Ranger Texture Paste to the background using a Stamperia stencil. When dry, I painted watered-down Salvaged Patina, Tumbled Glass and Tattered Rose Distress Inks over the top; building up the layers of colour and blending them together. The postcard was from our holiday in Lake Garda, from Bar Roma in Riv (the bar is on the right-hand side and is located by a church and has lovely views of the surrounding mountains). To finish, I added some paper flowers which reminded me of jasmine which was in flower (and smelled divine) whilst we were there and a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “it’s a beautiful day”.

I hope you are staying safe and well!

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

Thank You Friend

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of May, so it’s time for a new challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by birthday cards and goodies from my dearest friends; the dotty paper was a recycled envelope from one of my birthday cards and the gorgeous butterfly was a napkin that was sent to me by my good friend, Tracey.

I started by ripping the dotty envelope into pieces and arranging them onto the page using a glue stick and some matte gel medium. Then I ripped the edges of napkin from around the beautiful butterfly image and applied the butterfly to the page. I arranged the ripped pieces of leftover napkin in-between the dotty paper and stuck them in place using matte gel medium. When dry, I used various colours of Kuretake watercolour paint to match and colour around the napkin pieces. Then I edged the papers and butterfly using a Uni Pin fine line marker smudging the ink with my finger. To finish, I added a Tim Holtz label sticker which reads “Thank You Friend”.

I received some beautiful cards and gifts last month for my birthday; this homemade card and crafting goodies were sent to me by my dear friend Tracey from New Beginnings …Creating in my Corner – thank you so much!

Stay safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Creative Artiste , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Aimeslee this month, who has chosen Flowers as her theme; so I’m joining in the fun with the flowers of the butterfly image on my page.

Triple B Challenge where everything is about Birds, Blooms and Butterflies so as their May Challenge; I’m joining them with all the blooms and butterflies that my main butterfly image is made up from.

LTSCB#161 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Thank You page.

Making them with you

Posted on April 7, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of April, so it’s time for a new challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by a recent trip with my hubby to Venice, Italy (smile!).

I started by using a large 12×12″ stencil (KSTDG02) by Stamperia to add Ranger Texture Paste using a palette knife and then I left it to dry overnight. Next I added washes of Sap Green, Ultramarine and Yellow Ochre Kuretake watercolour paint; I did this by applying water to the page, then adding the watercolour and letting the colours blend. Once dry, I added the Venice image which was recycled from an old calendar and the “The best thing about memories, is making them with you” wording which was from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet.

My page was inspired by the canals and bridges in Venice, so I thought I’d share some of them with you as well as some interesting facts. Following my last post, we are still exploring the Cannaregio district; I love this beautiful view of one of the canals with it’s wrought iron bridge, and aren’t those reflections amazing (smile!).

We were amazed to find canals and bridges around every corner; this bridge in Cannaregio is quite similar to the image on my journal page.

Me and hubby definitely made some lovely memories together in Venice; here we are having walked to the nearby San Polo dictrict.

Venice is such a beautiful place and is well known for its canals and bridges.

There are supposedly 177 canals and 417 bridges in Venice; although we haven’t counted them all ourselves (grin!).

Probably the most famous bridge is the Rialto which connects San Polo to San Marco district (which we will explore in my next post). The Rialto Bridge is over a 1000 years old and you can see it in the background of this selfie that we took one evening.

The Rialto Bridge spans the S-shaped Grand Canal, which you can see here taken from the bridge itself. This is the biggest canal in Venice and splits the city in two. Not surprisingly, the main form of transport in Venice is by boat. As you can see there are lots of different boats on the canal, including gondolas. I was surprised to find out that there are about 350 gondolas in Venice, which on average are 11 meters long and weigh around 600 kilos, and there are about 400 gondolieri.

I hope you enjoyed visiting Venice and looking around Cannaregio and San Polo, join me next time as we explore San Marco (smile!).

Stay safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Creative Artiste , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from blog Altered Book Lover and her Recycle, reuse, repurpose challenge with my recycled image from an old calendar.

MIUCB #64 – Anything Goes + optional Distressing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my distressed watercolour technique background.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their April Stencil Fun – Anything Goes with optional Pattern challenge the patterned Stamperia stencil that I used for my page.

Hello March

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of a new month, so it’s time for a new challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I would also like to send a warm welcome to the lovely Fiona from http://www.craftystamping.blogspot.com/ who has joined our Design Team; please be sure to visit her blog and show her some love!

My mixed media page is saying “Hello March” and celebrating the pretty crocus that flower this time of year!

I started by covering the background with a couple of cyclopaedia book pages and then covered them with some Villainous Potion Distress Paint applying it like watercolour. When dry, I applied some Yellow Ochre Kuretake Watercolour and I stamped some foliage and a circular filigree stamp using a Magnolia Grove stamp set by Kaisercraft, black Archival Ink and Dusty Concord Distress Archival Ink. Next I added some Pébéo white gesso over the top using a brayer and layered some more of the stamping over the top, to create a distressed grungy look. Then I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint. The crocus were fussy cut from an old garden flower book, edged with a black Faber-Castell marker and stuck in place using a glue stick. I stamped the “Hello March” wording using a Sophisticated Script stamp set by Concord & 9th and black Archival Ink, then to finish I highlighted the letters with a white Uniball gel pen.

Every year, there is a beautiful display of crocus’ at the church in Poulton-de-Fylde; which is a small town near to where we live.

These little crocus flowers look so amazing and it’s always such a beautiful sight as they cover the church yard in so much colour!

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.

Challenges

As well as Creative Artiste , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Valerie of Bastelmania and her Anything Goes challenge with my Hello March page.

MIUCB #64 – Anything Goes + optional Distressing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my distressed background crocus page.

Triple B Challenge where everything is about Birds, Blooms and Butterflies so as their March challenge blog was launched this month, I’m joining them with my spring blooms.

Hello Winter

Posted on December 2, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

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

Whilst tidying up, I found this adorable robin image that I had saved from an old calendar and just couldn’t resist creating a page with it straight away; I even abandoned another page that I was creating, oh and also the tidying up (grin!).

I started by covering the background using white acrylic and Speckled Egg Distress Paint. Then I die cut lots of holly and fir branches using a Holiday Greens Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some green coloured cardstock; I added more colour to them using a Dark Green Blend TriBlend Spectrum Noir marker. The cones were die cut using a Funky Festive Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some brown Kraft cardstock – Classic by Tim Holtz. The holly berries were die cut using an old Festive Holly set and the wording using a Sizzix Doodle Alphabet and Letters set; they were all cut from orange paper which I later coloured using Orange and Sunflower Spectrum Aqua markers. I fussy cut the robin and stuck him in place, then I die cut the snowflakes from the remaining calendar paper. All of the foliage and snowflake pieces were arranged onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium and to finish, I splattered the whole page using white acrylic paint.

I love robins and have quite a few beautiful metal robins in my garden; one Christmas my dearest friend in America bought us this pretty red robin sitting in a heart – isn’t it delightful (smile!).

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well, and wishing you a Happy December!

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

Challenges

As well as Creative Artiste , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey and the Snowy Winter challenge that I’m hosting this month as their are snowflakes on my wintery scene.

LTSCB #158 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Hello Winter page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #182 – Anything Goes challenge with my winter page.

December Anything Goes Winter Challenge over at The Four Seasons Challenge with my Hello Winter page.

Challenge #64 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my Winter page.