Pumpkin Magic

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

For this challenge, I created an art journal page full of fun and spooky pumpkin magic; I hope you’ll join us too, it would be lovely to see you there!

For my grungy background, I started by covering the page with leftover pieces of Halloween papers by Tim Holtz using Liquitex matte gel medium. Next I added some pieces of washi tape and then I stencilled a diamond pattern using a Vintage Diamond mini stencil by Creative Expressions and some Black Soot Distress Ink. I applied some white gesso using a brayer and when dry, I used a baby wipe to smear some Carbon Black Liquitex Acrylic Ink over the top. I also used the Carbon Black ink to add drips down the page and left it to dry.

As some of my leftover papers were die cut, I noticed that one of them spelled out “Halloween” so I coloured the letters using a Gold Spectrum Aqua marker. The pumpkins were cut using a Halloween Hangouts Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some leftover paper that had been coloured using acrylic paint. I added more detail and shading to the pumpkins using the Gold Spectrum Aqua marker and I used some gold glitter to add sparkle to the eye and mouth cutouts. The letters for the quote were cut from the same leftover paper as the pumpkins, using an Alphanumeric Labels Thinlits set by Tim Holtz; the quote reads “There is magic in the night when the pumpkins glow by moonlight”.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful spooky and fun Halloween creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).

This page reminded me of the Halloween pumpkin tealight that we bought in America many moons ago; it looks so wonderful when it’s all aglow – Happy Halloween!

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

As well as Try it on Tuesday, 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 Halloween page.

October Anything Halloween challenge over at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge with my fun and spooky Pumpkin Magic page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #153 – Anything Goes with my Halloween page.

LTSCB #150 – Anything But A Card over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my Pumpkin Magic page.

Fall Colors Mood Board over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the orange and black colours and pumpkins that I included on my page.

Challenge #6 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media Halloween page; this is a new challenge so I thought I’d join in the fun!

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!

Be still and listen

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

My mixed media page was inspired by the sunny Indian Summer we’ve been having of late, so I’ve transported us back to a summer walk along the Lancashire canal and the lovely yellow Iris that we saw flowering there (grin!).

I started by ripping and collaging some sheet music and design papers from Kaisercraft and American Crafts onto the page using a glue stick. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso and Salvaged Patina Distress Paint over the top. When dry, I added lots of small pieces of design paper, which I had leftover in my craft stash, using Liquitex matte gel medium to stick them in place. The fern foliage and yellow Iris flowers were washi tape stickers and I cut the pretty butterfly image from some Kaisercraft design paper. To finish, I added the wording which were Finnabair stickers that I edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker; they read “Be still. Listen.”, “Just breathe” and “Be led by your dreams”.

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 join you there!

We always enjoy this walk along the canal and seeing the different boats, plants and wildlife along the way.

Here’s a view of one of the bridges where we saw the pretty yellow Iris flowering along the waters edge; it’s such a beautiful and peaceful place to walk (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: Touchy Feely challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the texture I created using the leftover paper pieces which I layered together on this page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #153 – Anything Goes with my summer walk art journal page. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my Indian Summer inspired page.

Nature

Today I’m sharing a nature page, from my mini art journal, for this month’s The Leaves begin to Fall challenge over at Country View Challenges.

This page features some beautiful Stamperia papers including a collage of leaf images for the background, a pretty bird sitting amongst some oak leaves and the “Nature” wording.

I started by cutting lots of leaf images from a piece of Forest design paper by Stamperia and collaging them onto the page using gel medium. When dry, I edged the paper pieces using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger. Next I fussy cut the bird sitting on a branch, the three oak leaves and “Nature” wording; they were edged with the Dark Sepia marker and then stuck in place which finished the page.

I hope you are inspired to join our The Leaves begin to Fall challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

The autumnal design and oak leaves on my page were also inspired by recent visit to the Royal Oak in Garstang with our family.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a beer that we enjoyed …

… and some of our delicious food; this is chicken, bacon and leeks in a Lancashire cheese sauce – yum!

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.

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 As well as Country View 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 autumnal page. #144 Autumn Colours challenge over at Sparkle Monthly Challenges with my autumnal coloured art journal page. Lots of Layers challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog with all the layers of paper I added to this nature page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #152 – Anything Goes with my nature art journal page. LTCCB #62- September Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my vintage page.

Vintage Collection

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Going round in Circles.

Today my page features a collection of vintage circles; I hope you like it and are inspired to join our challenge too, it would be lovely to see you there!

For the background, I dragged Speckled Egg and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink pads vertically down the page and then applied some Liquitex matte gel medium over the top; I did this a number of times to build up the colour letting the gel medium dry before applying more ink.

Next I die cut lots of different sized circles from two design papers from a DIY Shop American Crafts paper pad and edged them using Ground Espresso Distress Ink. Then I added layers of washi tapes and lots of Tim Holtz ephemera, salvage stickers and remnant rubs to the circles and I splattered them and the page using Ground Espresso and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.

Before sticking the circles in place using a glue stick, I added shadows underneath them using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger. To finish, I outlined each of the circles with a black fine line marker so they stood out more.

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

As T Stands for Tuesday, I thought I would continue the circle theme with my Hot Beef Barm (slices of beef in a barm cake which is a popular flattish bread roll from North West of England where I live) served with onion gravy and chips which went very nicely with a pint of Unicorn beer – Happy T Day everyone!

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’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 As well as Try it on Tuesday, 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 circles page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #151 – Anything Goes with my nature art journal page. Die-na-mite over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with all the circular die cuts and Tim Holtz Ephemera die cuts that I used to create this vintage page. LTSCB #149 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my vintage page.

Leaves begin to fall

It’s a new month which means we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for September which is Leaves Begin to Fall.

Please ensure that leaves are the main focus of your creation (no token leaf please) when you join this challenge which is being hosted this month by the lovely Jane.

I was inspired by happy memories of our travels to New England to see the Fall colours and used lots of Tim Holtz products to create this art journal page.

I started by covering the background of the page with torn pieces of three different designed Worn Wallpaper Scraps by Tim Holtz using Liquitex matt gel medium. Then I die cut the autumn leaves and letters from some linen textured cardstock using Skeleton Leaves and Alphanumeric Bold thinlits sets by Tim Holtz. They were coloured using Fossilized Amber, Crackling Campfire, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Inks and then arranged onto the page using matte gel medium. To finish, I added the New England Trail image which was a Layers Card by Tim Holtz.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges. I hope you are inspired to join our Leaves Begin to Fall challenge too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

We have visited New England a number of times over the years to see the spectacular Fall colours; this photo was taken in the White Mountain National Forest.

This was taken on one of the walking trails in Maine.

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.

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. You can also check out Country View Crafts as they sell many of the Tim Holtz products I used too.

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; thank you to Erika for inviting me to join in the fun with my old fashioned Vintage retro feel page that was created with lots Tim Holtz products. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #150 – Anything Goes with my autumnal art journal page. De-stress with distressing over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my distressed worn wallpaper scraps background and skeleton leaves. Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page.

Summer Blooms

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Summer Blooms.

For this challenge I added lots of flowers and created the quote from some Graphic 45 stickers so it reads “Summer when the earth laughs in flowers”; I hope you’re inspired to us too, I can’t wait to see your summer flower creations!

I started by covering the page with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and when it was dry, I applied some some watered-down ink from a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and some Buttercream Faber-Castell gelato over the top, smudging the colours with my finger. Then I stamped the tiny flowers over the background using a Magenta stamp and Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. All of the postage stamps and summer wording were taken from either a Graphic 45 Season’s Collection sticker sheet or a Summer Collection 12×12 design paper. The large flowers were Washi tape stickers and to finish, I added three purple gemstone embellishments to add some sparkle.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the amazing Summer Blooms creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies; it would be lovely to see you there (grin!).

There are so many summer blooms to see at Lytham Hall on our walks, whether it’s the beautiful flowers on display in the Garden Hub plant centre which surrounds some of the outside café area.

Or in the flower borders which you can just see here; I’m sharing the water flask that I take on my walks to join in the fun over at T Stands for Tuesday and say a big hello and welcome to the T Gang – Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping 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 As well as Try it on Tuesday, 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 different typed wording on my 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! Triple the Heat challenge over at The Funky Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with shabby chic page that includes three lots of yellow sunflowers, three lots of washi tape stickers and border wording, three stickers of wording making up the main quote “Summer when the earth laughs in flowers” and three gemstone embellishments. MIUCB #52 – Anything Goes + Mixed Media over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my mixed media summer page. LTCCB #61 – August Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my summer blooms 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.

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.

Use a Stencil (or two)

It’s a new month which means we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for July which is Use a Stencil (or two).

Please ensure that the stencils are a main focus of your projects when you join this challenge, which is being hosted this month by the lovely Monica.

For this month’s challenge, I created this mini art journal page using a Stamperia stencil and papers.

I stared by covering the chipboard page with a thin layer of white gesso and then I used a Wallpaper & Compass stencil by Stamperia to add Ranger Texture Paste. The texture paste was coloured using Driftwood DecoArt paint and also using a mixture of some Blue Glamour Dust Acrylic paint from DecoArt and some Mowed Lawn ink from a reinker bottle to create a sparkly patina colour before applying them using a palette knife. When dry edged the page using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger. The deer image and wording were cut out of some Forest Stamperia papers and stuck in place over some strands of thread that I had leftover from some sewing. To finish, I added three pretty silver embellishments which were recycled from a necklace; they were stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents.

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

I hope you are inspired to join our Use a Stencil (or two) challenge too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use at Country View Crafts (grin!).

This page reminded me of these beautiful metal sculptures that we saw when we visited Portland, Maine. They are part of the “Glimpse” installation by Wendy Klemperer who is a New York artist and created these life-like woodland creatures from steel and repurposed nails.

Like on my page, the deer are surrounded by silver birch trees too – perfect (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:

• Stamperia – 15 X 20cm Thick Stencil – Sir Vagabond Wallpaper And Compass
• Ranger – Texture Paste – 3 Pack
• DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint 2oz – Driftwood
• DecoArt – Glamour Dust Glitter Paint – Sapphire Blue – 2oz
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mowed Lawn
• Stamperia – Cristina Radovan – Forest 12×12 Inch Paper Pack
• Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents 59ml (2 Fl Oz)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia)
• Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
• Leftover cotton threads
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Recycled necklace

Challenges As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: MIUCB #51 – Anything Goes + Aperture (any shaped opening) over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #147 – Anything Goes with my mini art journal page. Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page too.