Happy New Year 2020

We are so pleased to launch our first challenge of 2020 over at Try it on Tuesday:

Such a cutie/ Make someone smile

So I couldn’t resist using my favourite Merry Moose Tim Holtz thinlet set as the moose is such a cutie and always makes me smile especially with his antlers decorated with New Years bunting – wishing you all a Happy New Year!

To start, I coloured the background using Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain and when dry I stencilled the stars using the same Distress Stain too. I fussy cut a star constellation design in a semi-circle shape from an American Crafts paper pad and stuck it to the bottom of the page using a glue stick.

Next I die cut the moose using the Tim Holtz thinlet set and my Big Shot machine from some linen textured paper. I coloured the moose Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink and his antlers using Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I edged the moose with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck him in place using a Zig Memory System glue pen. For the bunting, I stamped a bunting image onto some coloured design paper using black Archival Ink and fussy cut them out. Then I arranged some black wax cotton around the moose antlers and stuck the bunting triangles onto it.

I also stamped the bunting onto the top of the page and onto some more of the coloured design paper; again I cut the bunting triangles out of the paper and stuck them on top of the stamped bunting images. I added the gold glittery letters to create the wording “Happy New Year” and “2020” and also three clusters of stickers from Tim Holtz which I thought were appropriate for the New Year; they read “Artist – Life is full of beauty”, “Exploring – The first step in the journey” and “Wishing – peace, happiness and love”. Then to finish, I added lots of glittery flowers and dots which are Glitterations stickers.

For more inspiration please pop over to see the amazing cutie creations from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday, they are sure to make you smile!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m toasting in the New Year with a cocktail of pineapple gin and cream soda – Happy T Day! The pineapple gin was homemade by soaking pineapple fruit pieces in gin with some sugar for 4 weeks – so yummy!

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 Something New challenge over at Art Journal Journey that I’m hosting this month with my New Year page.

I’m joining the Triangles challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the triangular bunting on my page – so sorry that this is your last challenge at Moo Mania, I will miss you very much!

I’m also happy to join in the Love challenge over at Country View Challenges as I love the Merry Moose thinlet set that I used on this page and as my page says I’m wishing that 2020 is filled with peace, happiness and love.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Something New challenge with my New Year page too.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Cracked Pistachio)
• Creative Stencils Craft Essentials (Stars MAOB0004)
• American Crafts Paper Pad (DIY Shop 366665)
• Pritt Stick
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Wilko Metallic Glitter Tape (Gold)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz (Merry Moose 663103)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy, Ground Espresso, Antique Linen)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Black wax cotton thread
• Paperstash from local craft shop
• Hobbycraft Clear Stamp (Bunting SO300HC)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Trimcraft Alphabet & Number Stickers (Gold Glitter SCSTK013)
• Docrafts Papermania Glitterations (Gold Flowers ANT8181020)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Clippings Stickers #TH93583)

Winter Sparrows

We have been enjoying the antics of the cheeky House Sparrows that have been visiting the bird feeder in our garden so I created a page to remind me of them.

I used my new snowflake thinlet set by Tim Holtz and some images from a Winter Collective paper by Graphic 45 (also new to my craft stash) to create this page, so I’m pleased to join the Something New challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey. I’d like to thank all of you for your lovely comments and wonderful creations so far, I hope you are having fun getting creative with this theme (grin!).

I stencilled the brickwork background using Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress Ink adding some Peeled Paint Distress Ink so they looked like the brick walls of my garden. Next I die cut some snowflakes using my new thinlets set by Tim Holtz and Big Shot machine. They are cut from some recycled Kraft paper and are stuck in place using a glue stick.

Then I layered together some images and borders that I cut from the Winter Collective paper by Graphic 45 which are stuck in place using double-sided tape; the sparrows reminded me of the ones in our garden. I added some red glittery gems to add some sparkle which finished the page.

Here are the house sparrows visiting the feeder in our garden, they are such fun to watch as there are about 9 or 10 of them and only 4 perches on our feeder so they all fly to the feeder at once and then push each other off the perches to get to the seed (grin!).

In the end, they all seem to get there fair share of seed. We are pleased to see them in such numbers in our garden as House Sparrows in the UK have declined over the years and they are one of the highest conservation priorities.

We loved seeing them and these shared the love by creating a heart shape as they fed on the feeder (double grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m happy to join in the Love challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Winter Sparrows art journal page as we love them visiting our garden.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Something New challenge too as I used new products to create this page.

I’m also pleased to join the Snowflakes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with all the snowflakes that I included on my page too.

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

• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint)
• Recycled Kraft Paper
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz (Paper Snowflakes, Mini 661599)
• Pritt Stick
• Graphic 45 12”x12” Paper Seasons Collection (Winter Collective #4501616)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Multicraft (Gemstone Embellishments – Glam SEO19C)

Christmas Pudding Tea

Over Christmas we have been enjoying some Christmas Pudding loose leaf tea, so I couldn’t resist creating a page using the packaging and a beautiful Christmas Pudding card that I received from a dear friend a couple of years ago.

For the background I smooshed some Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks onto the page by stamping the ink pads onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the paper. Then I stamped the page with holly leaves using Cottage Ivy and Pistachio Memento Ink and added some leftover pieces of green polka dot washi tape. Next I die cut the snowflakes from some recycled white card, covered them with Versamark ink and some glittery Wow! embossing powder; heating them with my heat gun until the powder turned glossy. I arranged them around the edges of the page and added the large Christmas pudding which was an old Christmas card.

I also added the Christmas pudding tea packaging, some die cut holly leaves and berries and also pieces of tartan which are from a Tim Holtz Christmas sticker book. To finish, I added some baubles suspended by strands of silver which are all stickers.

Here’s the lovely shop that we bought the tea from in Arundel which you may remember me featuring in a post last year called The Tea & Biscuit Club.

Their Christmas Pudding tea is a Christmas spiced black tea with a zesty fruit infusion creating a very festive aromatic blend – it tastes yummy!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m pleased to share this tea related post with the T Gang! Happy T Day and I hope you all had a lovely Christmastime.

Wishing you a New Year filled with peace, love and happiness!

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 Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the wording on my page.

I’m happy to join in the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with all the stars on the baubles.

I’m also joining in the Party Time challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my T-Party page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join in the fun at Paperbabe Stamps and their #109 – Sketch challenge; I flipped the sketch so the “Paperbabe Stamps” is represented by the “Christmas Pudding” wording and the flower is represented by the other tea packaging and holly leaves.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Festive Berries)
• Washi Tape
• Docrafts Clear Stamp (Christmas Selection)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy, Pistachio)
• White card – recycled
• Tonic Studios Die Set (Falling Snowflake Trio 1792e )
• Wow! Glitter Embossing Powder (Singing in the rain)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Christmas Pudding Card – recycled
• Pritt Stick
• Christmas Pudding Tea Packaging – recycled
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• White paper – recycled
• The Range (5×5 Dies Holly)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Christmas Sticker Book #TH93999)
• Stickers (Silver Borders, Baubles)

Wishing you a magical Christmas

I created this page for all my blog friends to wish you all a magical Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I started by stamping the “We wish you a Merry Christmas” sheet music, the number 25 and the angels from a stamp set by Kaisercraft using Black Archival Ink. Then I applied some watered down Forest Moss and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink using a paint brush making light criss-cross strokes to add some texture whilst allowing some of the white paper to show through. Next I added a pretty foliage napkin which was gifted to me for my art journaling by a dear friend that we walk with every week – thank you! It is stuck in place using a glue stick and then the edges are ripped by painting a line of water along the piece of napkin where I wanted it to be torn, and then tearing it along the wet strip; the tear followed the water-soaked line like magic (grin!). The edges of napkin are stuck down using Liquitex matte gel medium. To finish, I recycled an old Christmas card to die cut the snowflakes and also to add the wording “Wishing you a magical Christmas”.

Me and my hubby always start our Christmas celebrations by visiting our local pub for a pint. Our pub doesn’t serve food but they are happy for you to take your own in with you to enjoy with your drink, so we always stop at the local deli for a Festive sandwich, which was so yummy!

Here’s our Festive sandwich (the deli kindly cut and wrapped it so we could have half each) with a pint of Mulled Stout from the Big Clock Brewery in Accrington, Lancashire; it’s a very dark beer, 4.5% ABV and tasted very Christmassy with the mulled spices – delicious!

The “re-order line” wording on the glass made me smile, well it would be rude not too so we did have another Mulled Stout (grin!). As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my pint with the T Gang – wishing you all a Happy T Day and also a magical Christmastime! Happy Holidays!

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 Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words and numbers on this page.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Moo Mania & More too.

I’m joining in the Party Time challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as my page is celebrating Christmas – wishing you a magical time!

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

• Kaisercraft clear stamp (December 25th CS790)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Forest Moss, Mowed Lawn)
• Napkin
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Recycled Christmas Card
• The Works (Metal Cutting Die)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• X-Press It double-sided foam tape

Christmas Reindeer

I love all things Christmas so I have another Christmas page which this time is inspired by the new reindeer street mural that was recently created by the wonderful artist Banksy. This time, he is highlighting the homeless at Christmastime.

For the background I stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using London Fog Memento Ink and a wreath stamp using Black Archival Ink onto the page, and then I covered the page using Vintage Photo and Peeled Paint Distress Ink with a blending tool. Then I used a star stencil to remove some of the Distress Ink with a baby wipe and used the star stencil again to stencil the stars (in a Banksy style) using Black Soot Distress Ink, using a white Uniball gel pen to highlight some of the edge. Next I splattered the page with white gesso, black acrylic paint and Aged Mahogany Distress Ink.

The reindeer and snowflakes are glitter stickers which add some lovely texture and sparkle; it’s hard to see this on the photos. To finish, I added some white snowflake gems, red enamel dots and a fabric “Merry Christmas” tag.

Just a reminder that there is still another week to join our Christmas is coming challenge over at Try it on Tuesday; it would be lovely to see you there.

View this post on Instagram

. God bless Birmingham. In the 20 minutes we filmed Ryan on this bench passers-by gave him a hot drink, two chocolate bars and a lighter – without him ever asking for anything.

A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Dec 9, 2019 at 5:15am PST

If you haven’t yet seen it, here’s the Banksy street mural which recently appeared in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter over the weekend. It was reported that it was later vandalised with two red noses being added which then resulted in it being covered with Perspex to protect it.

When I think of street art, Banksy always springs to mind and you may remember me featuring his work on my blog before, I love his pieces! Banksy is an anonymous England-based street artist who has been active since the 1990s. His street art style is a distinctive stenciling technique and often his works are controversial having a political and social message combined with satirical dark humour.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my drink of ginger beer at a café in Lytham after a walk with our friends – wishing you a very Happy T Day!

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 Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words on this page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with the stencilled stars that I included on this page.

I’m pleased to join the Winter challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my reindeer page.

I’m joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Moo Mania & More too.

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

• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Wreath clear stamp
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (London Fog)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany, Black Soot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Star Stencil
• B&M (Glitter Snow Window Stickers)
• Habico Signature Collection (Snowflakes PP1100)
• Dovecraft Premium (Festive Wonder Glitter Enamel Dots DCDOTO36X18)
• Docrafts Create Christmas (Stitched Ribbon Tags PMA157921)
• X-Press It double-sided tape

Around the Christmas Tree

As it’s the season for putting up Christmas trees and decorations I created this page to celebrate, I hope you like it!

Don’t forget that you still have until 2^nd Jan 2020 to join us over at A Vintage Journey for our Holly Jolly Christmas challenge too. This art journal page fits the challenge perfectly, it would be lovely to see you there (grin!).

To start I coloured the background with three shades of green Liquitex acrylic paint, firstly painting them on the page and then once dry applying them again to the page using a palette knife to create layers of colour. I splattered the page with some white and black acrylic paint and created a stencil using Tim Holtz Holiday Green Thinlets to add green fir tree branches to the background using Shabby Shutters and Forest Moss Distress Ink. I used the same Thinlet set to create the white branches from some recycled white card and arranged them on the page with some white bauble stickers. Next I used a Snowy Star Thinlets set from Tim Holtz to create the white stars which are stuck in place using a Zig glue pen. To finish, I added some Tim Holtz stickers which read “sparkly decorations”, “around the Christmas tree” and “the sparkly Christmas tree”. 

Here is me and hubby in front of one of our Christmas trees, this one is in the front room window and has a red, white and gold theme of flowers and foliage (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 Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the wording I added to this page.

I’m happy to join the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with all the white stars I added to my art journal page too.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Stars with the white stars on this page.

I’m also pleased to join the Winter challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Christmasy art journal page.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Moo Mania & More too.

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Phthalocyanine Green, Deep Green Permanent, Light Green Permanent)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White, Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Shabby Shutters, Forest Moss)
• Recycled white card
• Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlets (Holiday Greens 658759, Snowy Stars 663117)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Home Bargains Noel (Wall Stickers 16221)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Christmas Sticker Book #TH93999)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Cold Grey IV 233)

Christmas is coming

For the next two weeks our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Christmas is coming.

My art journal page features traditional Christmas red and green colours and Christmas trees; I love all things Christmas so I can’t wait to see your Christmas creations (grin!). 

For the background, I stamped a Lattice stamp using Aged Mahogany Distress Ink over the whole page and then spritzed the page with water. When dry I added pieces of green polka dot washi tape to create the Christmas tree, added some red gemstones and then the numbers and trunk which are stickers from Kaisercraft. Next I die cut the letters to create the “Christmas is coming” wording out of white card; they are coloured using a green pen, stuck in place using Zig glue pen and more detail was added using a white Uniball gel pen. I used another sticker set to add the snowflake discs and create the tags, layering them together with the trees and stars and adding a bow of red and white twine. I also added some wording from a Tim Holtz Christmas sticker book which reads “the best tree”, “the magic tree”, “Christmas time has come at last” and “25^th of December”. To finish, I added some green and white glittery snowflakes and also some red gems to the tags and snowflake discs.

There’s some amazing inspiration from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over to take a look.

The numbered tree that I’ve created on this page could be used to count down the days until Christmas. I’m not sure where this year has gone now that December is here and oh my, there are only 15 days left until Christmas!

Another way this page could be used is as a calendar marking off the dates until Christmas Day is here. I think my friends have the best idea though, with the reward of a chocolate each day from this fabulous advent calendar! I may just have to get one of these next year – looks so yummy (grin!).

I noticed this advent calendar when we were visiting little Ellie, doesn’t she look adorable after her recent visit for her trim at the doggie parlour (double grin!).

Oh, and not forgetting hot chocolate for T Stands for Tuesday . This time of year we often enjoy a cup with a scrummy Lebkuchen which are only on sale at Christmastime. These ones are dipped in dark chocolate – delicious! I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang – Happy T day!

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

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as 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 Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words on this page.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Traditional Christmas challenge with the traditional red and green Christmas colours on my page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with the stars on the tags and the snowflakes star shapes I included on this page.

I’m also joining in the Stars challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the stars on the tags and the snowflakes star shapes I included on this page too.

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

• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Lattice CS120)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Aged Mahogany)
• Poundland (3 Washi Tapes)
• Eleganza Craft Stickers (Gems Red No:16)
• Hero Arts Gemstones (Red & Green CH120)
• Docrafts Papermania Adhesive  Stones (Red PMA351607)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Turtle Doves SS149)
• Docrafts X-Cut Alphabet Die Set (Centurion XCU503083)
• Recycled white card
• Pentel Sign Pen (Green)
• Zig Memory 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Dovecraft Collections Christmas Basics (A5 Glitter Stickers DCSTK018X16)
• Red & white twine
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Christmas Sticker Book #TH93999)
• Poundland (Christmas Craft Pack)