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.

Merry Christmas Trees

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

I really enjoy creating these mini art journal pages in my chipboard art journal, and I had lots of fun creating this page to wish you all a very Merry Christmas (smile!).

For the background, I applied some Salvaged Patina Distress Paint and a tiny amount of black DecoArt acrylic paint to dull the colour using a palette knife; leaving some of the chipboard showing through. When dry, I stencilled a Vintage Diamond design by Creative Expressions using Black Soot Distress Ink. Then I added the gold Christmas tree and gold and white stars outline stickers, and I splattered the page with white acrylic paint to a create snowy effect. To finish, I added the Merry Christmas tag which was recycled from a present and I embellished it with a turquoise brad and one of the little star stickers.

We recently enjoyed some drinks with our friends at a local café, and was surprised to find these little Christmas trees on the top of the cappuccino and hot chocolate (smile!). I’m so happy to joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth and the rest of the T Gang over at T Stands For Tuesday with my drinks today – I hope you are all keeping well, sending you Season’s Greetings!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well and wishing you a very Merry Christmas! x

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

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 Wendy K from Wendy’s Craft Journal; she has chosen Above Us Only Sky as her theme so I’m joining with my starry snowy sky.

Sweet Wishes

Posted on June 15, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

Over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge, we are launching a new challenge today which is No Stamping.

For my papercraft inspiration, I created an art journal page of die cut flowers – I hope you like it!

For this page, I used different colours of Linen Textured Cardstock from my craft stash including Tim Holtz Kraft Cardstock – Basics. The background is a piece of cream cardstock and I die cut all the flowers, foliage and wording from some pink, yellow and green cardstock using a Floral Tropics Sizzix Thinlits set by Sophie Guilar and a Creative Expressions Mini Stacked Sweet Wishes Craft Die. I layered them together and arranged them on the background using Liquitex matte gel medium.

I hope you’ll join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenge too, for more inspiration please check out the amazing papercraft projects from my Sparkles Buddies in the Design Team too; we would love for you to join us. Please be sure to check out the rules here.

Stay safe and well!

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

Every Moment

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first Friday of June, 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 some gorgeous Paper Pads that were gifted to me by a very dear family member (smile!).

My mixed media page started with a background that had gone wrong (does that happen to you?), so I covered it with Pébéo white gesso. When dry I applied black DecoArt acrylic paint over the top and then, I used a Moroccan Stencil from Creative Expressions and a baby wipe to remove some of the black paint; the gesso acted as a resist making it easier to remove the paint. I also rubbed areas of the page with the baby wipe to remove the black paint too, giving it a worn distressed look. Next I used an Etcetera stamp set by Tim Holtz and Moonlight White Brilliance Ink to add the text. The flowers, “Live, Laugh, Love” wording and butterflies were fussy cut from pages of the paper pad and stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. To finish, I added a Kaisercraft sticker and outlined it with a white Uniball gel pen; the sticker reads “Every moment spent with you is special”.

These are the paper pads which were gifted to me; they were found in a charity shop and are full of beautiful flowers and images – thanks so much for thinking of me!

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:

MIUCB#65 – Anything Goes + optional Embossing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my mixed media art journal page.

Triple B Challenge where everything is about Birds, Blooms and Butterflies so as their June Challenge; I’m joining them with the pretty blooms and butterflies on my page.

Faith in every flower

Posted on May 2, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is Use A Stencil.

I had fun using four stencils to create this page, I hope you like it (smile!).

For my bright and cheery stencilled page, I started by covering the background with Mermaid Lagoon and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks. I blended some Seedless Grape Distress Ink along the edges of colours blending them together. I used the same three Distress Inks to stencil the dots, squares and crosses over the top. Next I applied some Ranger Texture Paste through a flower stencil and left it to dry. To finish, I added a sticker which reads “Faith in every flower”.

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

Like my page, our flower bed is looking very bright and cheery with all the colourful flowers that are currently in bloom (smile!).

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to join 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 stenciled flowers on my page.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their May Stencil Fun – Anything Goes with optional Flowers challenge as I had fun using all the stencils to create this page.

Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog and their Challenge #69 – Anything Goes with my flowery art journal page.

Sweet Wishes

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is Oh So Sweet!

I created a page for some very sweet animals who are having a fun, using a Woodland Celebrations Sizzix Thinlits set by Olivia Rose.

I started by stencilling the background using Mowed Lawn and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Inks to create the clouds and foreground, using a Slimline Sunburst stencil set by Marianne Designs. Then I die cut the bunting and the cute animals with their balloons using the Woodland Celebration Sizzix Thinlits set by Olivia Rose from different coloured Linen Textured cardstock. I layered all the pieces together and stuck them onto the page using a glue tape pen by Crafter’s Companion. The flowers were die cut from the same linen cardstock using a Flowers in Umbrella Sizzix Thinlits set by Olivia Rose. To finish, I added the “Sweet Wishes” wording which was die cut using a Creative Expressions die by Sue Wilson and layered onto a black die cut circle which I decorated with some of the bunting.

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

Many apologies that I haven’t been visiting you and your blogs lately; life is rather hectic at the moment.

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

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

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

Stencil Fun Challenge and their March Stencil Fun – Anything Goes (as long as you use a stencil) with optional Clean and Simple challenge the stencil I used to create this page.

LTSCB#160 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Sweet Wishes page.

Birthday Boy

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Let's Art Journal

It’s the first of the month so it’s time for a new challenge at Country View Challenges which is Birthday Card for a Man.

The lovely Corrie is hosting and as it’s her birthday month chose this challenge – Happy Birthday Corrie!

For my card, I covered the background using a Wordies Sentiments Sheet – Birthdays by Creative Expressions, cutting a piece of the sheet to fit the card. Next I embellished the card and also covered any female sentiments with some plaid Christmas Fabric Tape by Tim Holtz. I finished by adding the fun walrus, which was created using an Under The Sea #2 Sizzix Thinlits set and Kraft Cardstock – Classic, both by Tim Holtz.

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

We are looking forward to seeing your makes and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the shop, Country View Crafts! Before you enter your project though, please read the rules!

I love the fun walrus on his card! If you didn’t know, walruses are rare here in the UK, there have been somewhere around 27 sightings in the last 130 years. However we’ve had sightings of walrus on our UK shores in 2021, 2022 and also recently in 2023; a walrus was seen and photographed earlier this week in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland.

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

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Challenge #67 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my birthday card.

Tags Only at Country View Challenges

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

I’m so delighted that it’s my turn to host the challenge over at Country View Challenges this month which is Tags Only.

I chose this theme as I don’t create tags very often and who doesn’t love a tag, they are such fun to make! As the Tags Only title suggests we only want to see tags for this challenge, so no including them on cards, pages or other projects please.

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

For my first tag, I used an MDF tag by Creative Expressions which I covered with Speckled Egg and Salvaged Patina Distress Paint. When dry, I added some letters to the background using a Tim Holtz Mini Layered Stencil Set #16 and some Speckled Egg Distress Ink. Then I stamped some grungy dots using a Urban Tapestry stamp set for Tim Holtz and some Faded Jeans Distress Archival Ink. Next I stamped numbers and circles using black Archival Ink and a #489 AALL & Create stamp set and I splattered the tag with white DecoArt acrylic paint. Gladys the flamingo was die cut using a Sizzix Time Holtz Thinlits set from different colours of Tim Holtz Kraft Cardstock – Classic. Once stuck in place I added the label sticker by Tim Holtz which reads “You Do You”. To finish, I tied some black paper twine and ribbons to the tag.

I had so much fun using the Gladys Flamingo Sizzix Thinlits set from Tim Holtz to create this MDF tag and here’s the crafting goodies from Country View Crafts that I used (grin!).

For more inspiration please see the amazing tags from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

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

Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #179 – Anything Goes with my tag.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their Anything Goes as long as you use a stencil as I used a letter stencil by Tim Holtz on my tag.

LTCCB#71 – Anything Goes over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my Gladys Flamingo tag.

Time for Tea

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

As it’s time for tea at T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a page that I created using one of the napkins that I kindly received as part of the napkin swap – Happy T Day everyone!

I started by covering the page with Speckled Egg Distress paint and some white acrylic paint; mixing the paints on the page using a paintbrush. I ripped the pieces of a pretty Alice napkin and when the page was dry, I stuck them in place using a glue stick. Next I stencilled some Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink through a Vintage Diamond mini stencil by Creative Expressions. Then I added some black stamping using a Black Soot Distress Archival Ink; the stamps were a Tiny Dots stamp and a Script stamp from Kaisercraft and club and spade shaped stamp. To finish, I cut out and added various images from an Alice Stamperia paper pad.

As strawberry tarts feature on my page and happen to be one of my favourites, I’m sharing this one from our local bakery. It’s a shortcrust pastry base filled with a creamy custard and topped with glazed strawberries and it goes perfectly with my cup of green tea – yum!

Maybe you could join in the tea party too (smile!).

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

I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Fairytales, Folklore & Fables – Tell Me A Story so I’m joining her with my page which tells the story of Alice and her Adventures in Wonderland where she meets the Cheshire Cat, White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter and joins the tea party.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #178 – Anything Goes challenge with my Time for Tea page.

Challenge #63 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels with my Alice page.

LTSCB#157 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog as I created my Time for Tea page using pieces of napkin.

I’m also joining a new challenge blog that’s just started this month called Stencil Fun Challenge which is Anything Goes as long as you use a stencil (with optional Halloween Colours), so as I had fun using the Vintage Diamond stencil on my page – Happy Stencilling!

Look for the magic

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

Over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge, we are launching a new challenge today which is Mushrooms and other Fungi.

I had fun creating this art journal page of mushrooms and autumn leaves which was inspired by a red-capped mushroom that we saw on one of our walks around Lytham Hall.

I started by stencilling Vintage Photo Distress Ink onto the page using a stencil from Creative Expressions. Next I stuck the mushrooms in place which were washi tape stickers and for the foreground, I arranged some leftover papers and autumnal leaves; the leaves were either die cut or stamped and cut out from papers coloured with Brushos or Distress Inks. I used the Vintage Photo Distress Ink to colour the wording, which was a Sentiments sticker by Finnabair. To finish, I had fun highlighting the mushrooms with a white gel pen and then I splattered the page with both white and black DecoArt acrylic paint.

I hope you’ll join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenge too, for more inspiration please check out the amazing Mushrooms and other Fungi designs from my Sparkles Buddies in the Design Team too; we would love for you to join us so please be sure to check out the rules here.