Thank you for your part in my journey

I recently won some goodies at Paperbabe Stamps so I thought I would create this page to celebrate. I used some of the stencils, stamps and even the packaging that I received from taking part in their challenges – thank you so much!

I started by painting the background with pink, blue and orange DecoArt Glamour Dust glitter paints. When the paint was dry, I used a blending tool to add Black Soot, Mermaid Lagoon and Picked Raspberry Distress Ink through a mixed media stencil from Paperbabe Stamps. Next I stamped some butterflies, hearts and bubbles from a couple of stamp sets from Paperbabe Stamps, so that they flowed vertically down the page, using black Archival Ink. Then I splattered the page with white DecoArt acrylic paint and dried it with my heat gun. I added a couple of circular stickers and business cards which I layered on top of some round shapes that were die cut from some pink polka dot patterned paper. The stickers and business cards were included as part of the packaging from Paperbabe Stamps; I love the wording “I thank you for your part in my Journey” and the images of the beautiful faces which are examples of what you can create using some of the Paperbabe Stamps templates and stamps.

Here are the goodies that I won recently, I used the Iso Fun stencil for this page and I’m also looking forward to using the alphabet stamp set soon – yay! I’d like to say a big thank you to Kim from Paperbabe Stamps for the goodies and also thanks to all of her design team for their inspiration!

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika aka BioArtGal and her Polka-Dots, Stripes, Plaids and Patterns challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my patterned background and polka-dot paper.

I’m pleased to be able to join Challenge #101 – Sketch over at Paperbabe Stamps with my art journal page; the layers of die cut circles and business card represent the circle and the sentiment the logo. Thanks so much for all the wonderful crafting goodies!

I’m also joining the Use a Stamp challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my page.

I’m joining in the Stamp It challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with all the stamps that I used on my page.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at the Creative Artiste Challenge and their Challenge #53 – Anything Mixed Media Goes as I included paints, inks, stickers and papers on my page.

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:

• DecoArt Glamour Dust Glitter Paint (Celebration Pink, Sapphire Blue, Tiger Orange)
• Paperbabe Stamps Mixed Media Stencils (Iso Fun)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot, Mermaid Lagoon, Picked Raspberry)
• Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (Butterfly Pieridae, Birthday Wishes)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Paper Block, Cutting Dies)
• Spellbinders Die Set
• Stickers recycled from Packaging – Paperbabe Stamps
• Business Cards recycled from Packaging – Paperbabe Stamps
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• Pritt Stick

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Untie the ribbons

Our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey is Box It Up, which is being hosted by Julia. Here’s what it is all about:

“This month our theme is boxes! Perhaps you will make a trunk or suitcase, some kind of package to hold a gift, or maybe make a card or journal page showing presents. Just remember to ensure that you create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.

I thought this motivational quote suited Julia’s challenge perfectly, so I included it on my art journal page along with the gift box which I had fun creating for this page too (grin!).

To create the background I completely covered the page with some yellow Liquitex acrylic paint and once the paint was dry added pieces of script and sheet music Collage Papers from Tim Holtz and some tape measure design decoupage paper from Viva Gade using Liquitex matte gel medium. I added a little more of the yellow paints over the top of the tissue paper to intensify the colour and also applied some white gesso around the edges of the page using my finger. Then I diluted Dark Sepia, Sanguine and Cold Grey Faber-Castell markers by scribbling them onto a blending mat and spritzing with water and applied them with my finger over the white gesso which gave the page a lovely translucent glow. Then I added some Gold Champagne Faber-Castell Gelato and Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to the edge of the page smudging them with my finger.

I created the gift box from some spotty paper and drew the lines onto it using the Dark Sepia Big Brush marker, shaded it using Caramel Faber-Castell Gelato and added shadows using the Cold Grey Big Brush marker. Next I used a star stencil to apply modelling paste with a palette knife and left it to dry; the stars were then painted using a white Uni Posca paint pen and Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint. The words are letter stickers from Docrafts which I covered with matte gel medium to hold them securely in place. I did the same with the flowers which are stickers from Kaisercraft. Finally, I added some strips of red organza ribbon to the box using double-sided tape and finished it with a bow.

I enjoy collecting positive and motivational quotes for my art journal pages and had fun creating this page with the gift box and ribbon to depict the words I added; it was based on the quote “Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons” by Ruth Ann Schabacker.

For more inspiration, please pop over to see the amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey too, it would be lovely to see you there!

I also have quite a few motivational quotes displayed around my home too, here’s one that greets me every morning, it hangs on the mirror in my bedroom …

… and this one hangs in my craft room (grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika aka BioArtGal and her Polka-Dots, Stripes, Plaids and Patterns challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my polka-dot gift box.

I’m also joining Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #101 – Sketch; I flipped the sketch to the left so the circle is represented by the gift box on my page and the logo by the sentiment I used.

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

• Liquitex Acrylic Color (Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Oxide, Parchment)
• Tim Holtz Collage Papers (Halloween #TH93727, Botanicals #TH93705)
• Viva Gade Decoupage Paper (Helsinki 25586)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush marker (Dark Sepia 175 B, Cold Grey IV 233, Sanguine 188 B)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Gold Champagne, Caramel)
• Star Stencil
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CRO701/16PL1)
• Docrafts Papermania A4 Ultimate Die-Cut & Paper Pack (Folk Christmas PMA160933)
• Kaisercrfat Sticker Sheet (The Looking Glass SS206)
• Recycled Red Organza Ribbon
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape

In my garden there is …

Our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks is In my garden there is …

I created a page full of flowers, insects and happy sentiments which remind me of my garden so far this year and over at Try it on Tuesday there is more inspiration to be found in the amazing creations from my Design Teamies! We hope that you will join us too!

I started by creating blocks of papers to collage on the background of my page using matte gel medium; they were free with a magazine which featured stamps and papers from “The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady”. They have a lovely cottage garden look and feel, with pretty flower, foliage, bird, bee and butterfly designs, which I thought depicted my garden beautifully. Once the gel medium was dry, I scribbled Coconut and Kiwi Faber-Castell Gelatos along the edges of the papers and smudged the colour with my finger. Then I used a foxglove stamp, which was also free with the magazine, using black Archival Ink and then coloured them using Red Violet, Blossom, Sunflower and Bud Green Spectrum Aqua markers. I fussy cut an oval image of a bird in its nest as we have had so many young birds visiting our garden this year and added some Graphic 45 stickers which read “Love”, “Smile”, “Dream” and “Bloom where you are planted”; they are all outlined with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Then to finish, I added a pretty yellow 3D butterfly.

We have had many flowers blooming in our garden and the foxgloves looked particularly beautiful earlier this year!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a pot of tea that we had with our friends in the gardens at Lytham Hall – Happy T day!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill  from gibbyfrogettcraftations  and her Anything with Eyes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the birds and insects I included on my page; sorry I haven’t joined your fabulous theme as much as I would have liked too this month!

I’m also joining the Butterflies challenge over at Moo Mania & More with all the butterflies on my page.

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:

• The Country Dairy of an Edwardian Lady design Papers and Stamps – free with Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Coconut, Kiwi)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Red Violet, Blossom, Sunflower, Bud Green)
• Graphic 45 Cardstock Stickers (Seasons Decorative Stickers 4501629)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Home Bargains You & Me … (Beautiful Butterflies)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick

A Cup of Tea at A Vintage Journey

Today sees the start of a new challenge over at A Vintage Journey and I had lots of fun art journaling for Jennie’s fabulous A Cup of Tea for your Art challenge.

Here’s what we would like you to do this month:
Pour yourself an extra cup of tea and use it in your project. In your cup you could dye lace, ribbon, wood, paper and flowers, or use it to create splashes or cup rings on your project. And don’t just limit yourself to “ordinary tea” – there is green tea, yellow tea, black tea, herbal teas and fruit teas – whatever you’ve got in your cup! Just remember to ensure that you create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.

Inspired by Jennie’s fabulous challenge and some wording on a sign at a local tea shop, I had fun using a cup of Hot Cinnamon Spice tea for my art journaling this month.

I applied the tea using both the teabag …

… and the teacup to create a tea-stained background; drying each layer of tea using my heat gun.

When dry, I stamped a frame and flowers using Urban Tapestry stamps from Tim Holtz and Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink.

Next I die cut some teacups and the “Everything stops for tea” wording from some Tim Holtz design paper choosing colours that reminded me of the Hot Cinnamon Spice tea. They are all outlined with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck in place using a Zig glue pen.

I arranged the string and label from the teabag so it came out of the single cup. Then to finish, I added some flower and pearl gems around the edge of the page adding some Pumpkin Liquid Pearls to the centre of each flower to add a pop of colour.

You can see how this beautiful tin inspired my page. I always enjoy a cup of Hot Cinnamon Spice tea for breakfast, it’s a wonderful pick me up!

Here’s the sign that inspired the wording on my journal page too (double grin!).

For more inspiration, please pop over to see what my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey created with their cups of tea, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my tea stained art journal page.

I’m happy to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

I’m also joining the Tim Holtz challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday as I used lots of Tim Holtz products to create this page.

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

• A cup of Hot Cinnamon Spice tea and teabag
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Urban Tapestry CMS061)
• Crafter’s Companion Vintage Tea Party (Toppling Teacups S-VTP-MD-TOPT)
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Set (Folk Alphabet XCU503286)
• Tim Holtz Paper Stash (Halloween #TH93712)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Poundland (Design Gems)
• Ranger Liquid Pearls (Pumpkin)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Pritt Stick

Celebrate Friendship

Today my page celebrates one of my best friends who sadly passed away last weekend after battling cancer; it’s heart breaking, she was only in her forties and it seems so unfair that she left this world so early. She was a shining light of love, kindness, enthusiasm and positively, which I hoped to have captured on my page!

My friend loved colour so I painted the background using my Kuretake watercolour paint set to create a rainbow effect; by wetting the paper with water and then applying Lemon Yellow, Orange, Cadmium Scarlet, Red, Rose Madder, Colbalt Violet, Turquoise Blue, Ultramarine, Viridian, Sap Green Light and Yellow Ochre paint in stripes vertically on the page letting the paint blend together where they joined. When the paint was dry I used two Carabelle Studios Art Stamps to stamp the letters and also some thistle heads using black Versafine Ink. To finish, I added some appropriate wording which are Kaisercraft stickers; they read “love you”, “forever and always” and “The language of friendship is not in words but meanings by Henry David Thoreau” the latter being mounted onto some pink design paper.

It’s been an emotional week and my garden has helped by keeping me busy, here are my “pretties” (mesembryanthemums) that I grew from seed; I love their multi-coloured flowers which seem appropriate as they only open when the sun is shining!

I would also like to apologise to my blog friends for my lack of visits this past week, I look forward to catching up with you again soon. Thank you, Jo x

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all bright and colourful today.

I’m joining in the Make Your Own Background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my watercolour background art journal page.

There is still a few more days to join the Colours of the Rainbow Challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too!

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

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Lemon Yellow, Orange, Cadmium Scarlet, Red, Rose Madder, Colbalt Violet, Turquoise Blue, Ultramarine, Viridian, Sap Green Light, Yellow Ochre)
• Tsukineko Versafine Ink (Onyx Black)
• Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (Background avec des Lettres SA60233, Dans la nature, il ya … SA60175)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Book (Antiquities SK807)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Bright Colours CRO730/R)
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Happy 6th Anniversary

This page celebrates T Stands for Tuesday’s 6^th Anniversary, where our wonderful hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth ask us to share a drink related post each week. It’s so much fun meeting up with the T Gang each Tuesday, thanks so much to everyone for making it such a friendly and happy place!

My page was also created to join in our Colours of the Rainbow challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too where you still have until next Tuesday to join in the fun, it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by covering the page with Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain and then stencilling multi-coloured teacups using Distress Ink and a handmade stencil that the lovely Eileen aka The Artful Crafter sent me last year – the design and detail of the teacup is amazing, thank you so much dear friend! The Distress Inks that I used were Festive Berries, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves and Fired Brick. Next I used some Kaisercraft paper and stickers to add: some stripes of colourful patterned paper which I outlined with a black marker pen; die cut teacups using a die from Crafter’s Companion and my Big Shot machine, they are outlined with a black Faber-Castell marker and held in place with some little brads and I also numbered them 1-6, using Tim Holtz Label Letters, to depict each year of T stands for Tuesday 6^th Anniversary; the wording which reads “friends are the sunshine of life” as I am very blessed to have made such wonderful friends and also “These are T Days” which I cut to make the word “T Day” as it originally said “These are the days”. The black teapot, teacups and saucers are outline stickers which I coloured black using a Sharpie marker. To finish, I added some white hearts so they looked like steam floating up from the teacups; they are outline stickers which I outlined with a black marker pen so they stood out more.

My homemade raspberry gin is just the thing to celebrate the 6^th Anniversary at T Stands for Tuesday; our friends told us about making it, all you need to do is soak raspberries (or any fruit of you choice) with some sugar and gin in a Kilner Jar and place it in a dark place for 4 weeks (grin!). It tastes amazing, so delicious! I serve it with either fizzy lime/lemon or fizzy mango drink – yum! Wishing you all a Happy 6th Anniversary this T Day!

Challenges 

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all celebrating T Day’s 6^th Anniversary (grin!).

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Add A Number challenge with the numbers that I added to the teacups.

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

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Cracked Pistachio)
• Teacup Stencil handmade by the lovely Eileen aka The Artful Crafter; you can see all the goodies that she sent me here – thanks very much, so kind!
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Festive Berries, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick)
• Kaisercraft Design Paper (Fiesta! Collection – Siesta P1859, Fly Free Collection – Confidante P1896)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)
• Handwriting Pen (Black)
• Crafter’s Companion Die Set (Vintage Tea Party – Toppling Teacups S-VTP-MD-TOPT)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Label Letters #TH93072)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Alice in Wonderland ANT810116)
• Craftime Designer Vinyls (B/W Boy & Girl PBDV02)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Sun, Sand, Surf

We love living by the sea and feel very blessed that our house is only 2-3 minutes walk from the beach, so today’s page is inspired by the Sun, Sand and Surf (grin!).

I started by adding Pébéo modelling paste using a Fossil stencil and then to represent the colours of the sun, sand and sea, I applied Yellow, Fawn and Aquamarine Spectrum Aqua Markers by scribbling them onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block or dripping the ink onto the page. Then I fussy cut the compass, anchor and lighthouse from some design paper and glued them in place, like all of the paper elements, using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. Once dry I outlined them using black Derwent Graphik markers to add more definition and make them stand out from the background more. Next I die cut the letters using a Docrafts die set and my Big Shot machine using design paper by American Crafts and I outlined them using the same Derwent Graphik markers again. I also used the American Crafts Design Paper to frame the postage stamp which I choose as it matched the page colours beautifully; it’s from my hubby’s childhood postage stamp collection that he kindly gifted to me for my art journaling (grin!). I stamped some little bubbles from a stamp set by Paperbabe Stamps using Teal Zeal Memento Ink. To finish, I added some compass stickers and two strips of blue ribbon to the top and bottom of the page.

We often walk or take a tandem ride along the beach front; even in the height of summer on our particular beach, as you can see in the background, there is plenty of space for everyone (the tide often goes out 3km / 1.8miles) …

… and even when the tide is in the views are still stunning, I always pinch myself as I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful place (grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all going to the beach.

I’m joining the Summer Holidays challenge over at Moo Mania & More my beach art journal page.

I’m joining in the Life On The Ocean Waves challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my Sun, Sand, Surf page.

I’m pleased to be able to join Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their #51 Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge with all the mixed media I used to create this art journal page.

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

• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• That’s Crafty! Dinky Stencil (Fossil)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Yellow, Fawn, Aquamarine)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Travels CRO378/18R)
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Set (Folk Alphabet XCU03286)
• American Crafts Papers (DIY Shop 366665)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm & 0.1mm)
• Postage Stamp (St. Vincent 1975) from Hubby’s childhood collection
• Paperbabe Stamps stamp set (Oriental Zen)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Teal Zeal)
• Poundland Fun Stickers (Sailor SKU136785)
• Poundworld (Adhesive Ribbon U-80933)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• The Range double-sided foam tape