Let nature be your calming breath

This month over at A Vintage Journey our challenge is Tag You’re It, which is being hosted by the lovely Amanda. Here’s what it’s all about:

“We would love to see what you create with, or on, hang tags. Your hang tags can be created from any material or be any size. We would just love to see that iconic hang shape front and centre in your design.  Just remember to create your project in one of our preferred styles: vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.

Creating tags for an art journal page is always fun, so, inspired by nature I designed these layered tags – I love the way they turned out (grin!).

For the main hang tag on my art journal page design, I cut out the largest tag from Kraft card stock from the Tag Collection Framelit set by Tim Holtz. Like all the tags, I coloured the inside panel of the tag using a white Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and edged it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool and a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. I also die cut the tag-hole reinforcement using the same Framelit set from butterfly/script design paper.

To embellish this tag I cut three panels from the same Kraft card stock and then layered papers over the top of them using a glue stick. The papers included: some embossed gold napkin; some dressmaking tissue paper which I had stamped using a Finnabair stamp and some black Archival ink; and some torn pieces of the butterfly/script design paper. I layered some Field Notes ephemera from Tim Holtz over the top and added some tiny leaves; the leaves were cut using some Funky Florals Thinlets by Tim Holtz from some recycled notepaper which I had coloured with Mowed lawn, Peeled Paint and Pine Needles Distress Ink. On the top and bottom panels I added the white wording “Live simple” and “Love this life” which are rub-on transfers from Tim Holtz. The three panels were stuck to the hang tag using double-sided tape.

I followed the same process to create the other tags layering them together with the ephemera and leaves – I love the pretty dragonfly! The letters creating the “Let nature be your calming breath” wording were cut from the same green paper that I used for the leaves using an Alphanumeric Labels Thinlet set by Tim Holtz and once glued in place they were outlined using a white gel pen and a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out more.

I mounted all the tags on my page which was covered with the same embossed gold napkin, dressmaking tissue paper (stamped using a Finnabair stamp and some black Archival ink) and butterfly/script design paper that I had used on the tags. Then to finish, I splattered the whole page with some Pébéo white gesso.

I hope you are inspired to join in the Tag You’re It challenge over at A Vintage Journey too, for more inspiration you’ll find some amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey, it would be lovely to see you there!

As you may know, my favourite colour is blue and this plant in particular from my garden reminded me of my page, it’s a Salvia nemorosa called “Blue Marvel” and the bees and insects love it!

My page also reminds me of a frequent visitor to our garden, a small blue butterfly called Common Blue which has proved difficult to photograph. So I was pleased when my dear friend who we walk with, shared this photo of a Large Blue which it is related to and this is one of the rarest blue butterflies in the UK.

I hope that you’re all keeping 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 join the lovely Alison AKA Craftytrog over at Art Journal Journey and her Pockets and Tags challenge this month with the nature inspired tags on this page.

I’m also pleased to join the Use Your Favourite Tool challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge as I wouldn’t be without my Tim Holtz Thinlets and Big Shot machine that I used to created my page.

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

• Kraft card stock
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (White 101, Cold Grey IV 233)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Pine Needles)
• Napkin
• Style Dressmaking Pattern Tissue Paper
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Gothic Book 966966)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Butterfly/Script Design Paper – local craft shop
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Ephemera Pack (Field Notes #TH94051)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Funky Florals #2 662701, Alphanumeric Label 664177)
• Recycled Notebook Paper
• Stix2 double sided-tape
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Pébéo White Gesso

Today is full of possibilities

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Words/Numbers.

I created a world of Words and Numbers for my steampunk birds using collage paper, stencils, stamps, stickers and quote chips; I hope you’re inspired to join us too, it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by covering the page with collage paper by Tim Holtz, this one is called Typeset and has lots of words and numbers on it. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso with my finger and left it to dry. I dragged a Tea Dye Stamp Pad over the top of the paper and spritzed the ink with water to disperse the colour. When dry I stencilled some Wheels using a Dina Wakley stencil and some Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Then I stamped some Steampunk images and some background texture from a couple of Docrafts stamp sets using Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Archival Distress Ink.

The crowns, butterflies, strips of numbers and banners are from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet; I created some shadows around their edges using a Black Faber-Castell marker and outlined them using a black Uni Pin marker.

The birds were created using a Feathered Friends Thinlet set from Tim Holtz; they are cut from linen textured cardstock that I had coloured using Tea Dye, Ground Espresso and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. Their hats were stamped, using the Steampunk stamp set from Docrafts and black Archival Ink, onto white cardstock which I had coloured using Mowed Lawn, Forest Moss and Twisted Citron Distress Inks. I coloured the goggles on the hats using metallic gold and silver Daler-Rowney pens and used Glossy Accents to depict the glass in the lenses. To finish, I added wording with a Quote Chip from Tim Holtz which reads “Today is full of possibilities”.

I hope that you are inspired to join us too, for more inspiration my Design Teamies have created some Words/Numbers creations for you over at Try it on Tuesday, so please pop over and take a look (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing some homebrewed beer that we’ve been bottling. As you can see we have capping machine which makes short work of capping 35 to 40 bottles (grin!). This particular beer is a wheat beer which is perfect for summer but we have both amber and dark beers too (even a Porter style one which I believe some of you would prefer) – cheers and Happy T Day!

Hoping 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.

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, 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 Summer Special – ANYTHING GOES in Steampunk and Industrial mixed media challenge over at SanDee & amelie’s Steampunk Challenges.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

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

• Tim Holtz idea-ology Collage Paper (Typeset #TH94046)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Dina Wakley Mixed Media Stencil (Wheels MDS45588)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Mowed Lawn, Forest Moss, Twisted Citron)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials Clear Stamps (Steampunk DCE907125, Steampunk Background DCE907128)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (The Looking Glass SS206)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pitt Pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Feathered Friends 664433)
• White cardstock
• Daler-Rowney Acrylic Paint Marker (Gold, Silver)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Quote Chips #TH93563)
• Stix2 Glue Dots

I do like to be beside the seaside

I’m so pleased and honoured to be Guest Designer over at Country View Challenges for their I do like to be beside the seaside challenge this month.

This challenge is very fitting as I live by the sea so I decided to transport this adorable bear in his homemade Hawaiian shirt to a seaside scene inspired by where I live (grin!).

I started by covering the foreground with Ranger Texture paste to create a sandy texture. When dry I coloured it with Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed and Tea Dye Distress Inks. Then I coloured the sky using Salty Ocean Distress Ink by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page. Whilst the ink was wet I also added some Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink onto an acrylic block and pressed the block lightly onto the sky background to create the cloud effect. The sun was created using Ranger Texture Paste by applying it through a Mosaic stencil from Tim Holtz. When the texture paste was dry, I coloured it with a Canary Winsor & Newton Promarker. For the sea, I drew a straight horizon using a ruler and then coloured the sea using the Salty Ocean Distress Ink; applying it like watercolour.

The sea foam was created by applying some Pébéo white gesso and then some Liquitex Glass Bead Texture Gel over the top. I used a Funky Floral Tim Holtz Thinlet set to create the grasses from some recycled note paper that I had coloured using Mowed Lawn and Pine Needles Distress Ink and a Soft Green Winsor & Newton Promarker.

I created the bear using the Theodore Thinlet set from Tim Holtz; he was cut out of some linen textured cardstock and coloured using Ground Espresso, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, a Black Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker for his nose, eyes and eyebrows and a Putty Winsor & Newton Promarker for his ears. I hand drew the shirt and then cut it out from some design paper, re-adjusting the arm so that he was holding the ice cream which is a sticker – such fun!

The wording is cut from black paper using an Alphanumeric Label Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and to finish, I added three seagulls which were die cut from white cardstock and coloured using Cold Grey and Black Faber-Castell markers.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from the Design Team over at Country View Challenges – I hope that you are inspired by this month’s I do like to live beside the seaside challenge too and are able to join in the fun!

I feel very blessed to live by the sea, here is the view overlooking the sand dunes …

… and this is our beautiful beach with the pier in the background.

As my hubby will tell you it’s essential to have an ice cream whilst at the seaside and here are a couple of our favourite flavours – Double Chocolate and Sticky Toffee Pudding (grin!).

I have really enjoyed spending time with you today and I’d like to say a special thank you to Country View Challenges for giving me the opportunity to design for them!

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

Challenges

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Art Journal challenge with my seaside art journal page.

I’m pleased to join the Summer challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my summer seaside page.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too.

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

• Ranger Texture Paste
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Tea Dye, Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon, Mowed Lawn, Pine Needles, Ground Espresso, Vintage Photo, Hickory Smoke)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Liquitex Glass Bead Texture Gel
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil (Mosaic THS084)
• Winsor & Newton Promarker (Canary Y367, Soft Green  G817, Putty 0618)
• Recycled paper
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Funky Florals #1 662700, Theodore 664410, Alphanumeric Label 664177)
• Pritt Stick
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Linen Textured Cardstock)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199, Cold Grey IV 233
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Travels CR0378/18R)
• Home Bargains Puffy Sticker Sheets (Sweet like … 14227)
• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper Pad
• White card stock
• Seagull Die Cut

Create Art/Be Brave Tag

Today over at A Vintage Journey it’s Tag Friday, there is no particular theme as it’s all about creating something you love, experimenting and having fun! I hope that you will join our tag challenge, it would be lovely to see you there!

Spending more time in my garden means that my art is being inspired by some of the beautiful flowers which are blooming at the moment, so today’s double-sided tag features purple poppies and rudbeckia.

The tag itself was made from a large Poster Card by Tim Holtz and I added some texture and colour to the edges of it by applying some Broken China Distress Embossing Glaze and then some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. As I planned to use Faber-Castell Gelatos on both tags, I applied some white gesso to the tag first; this enhanced the colours and made it easier to apply the Gelatos. When the gesso was dry, I scribbled Kiwi and Aqua Dolce Faber-Castell Gelatos over the top smudging the colour with my finger.

Next I removed some of the Gelato colours using a baby wipe through a Halftone stencil from Tim Holtz and I used the stencil again to add some Memento Inks; I used Cottage Ivy ink for the poppy background and Paris Dusk ink for the rudbeckia background.

I stamped a document stamp and a grunge stamp from two different Tim Holtz stamp sets using black Archival Ink and then some leaf stamps from Carabelle Studios using Cottage Ivy Memento Ink for the poppy tag and London Fog Memento Ink for the rudbeckia tag. To finish the backgrounds, I added some rub-on transfers from a Specimen Remnant Rubs set by Tim Holtz.

The flowers were stamped onto some Mixed Media paper using a Stamping Platform to ensure a clear crisp finish. The stamps are from a Flower Garden stamp set by Tim Holtz and are stamped using black Archival Ink. The foliage was coloured using Sap Green Kuretake watercolour paint and highlighted using Lime Green and Forest Green Winsor & Newton Promarkers.

I had fun painting the poppy using Colbalt Violet, Black and White Kuretake watercolour paints and I coloured the edges of the petals using Amethyst Winsor & Newton Promarker. I used Lime Green and Canary Promarkers to colour the centre of the flower and a white Uniball gel pen, a black Uni Pin marker and a Cool Grey Promarker for the stamens. The flower was stuck in place using a glue stick and some glue dots and I added the “Create Art” wording which was a Quote Chip from Tim Holtz that was edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

The rudbeckia flower was painted using Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Scarlet, Black, White and Burnt Umber Sienna Kuretake watercolour paints and a Canary Promarker. I used a black Uni Posca paint pen and a black Uni Pin marker to add the texture to the stamens. I added the “Be Brave” wording and edged both tags using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. To finish, I added an eyelet with my Crop-A-Dile machine to reinforce the hole as I’m using a book ring to secure all of my double-sided tags together as part of my Tag Journal (grin!).

For more Tag Friday inspiration, please pop over to A Vintage Journey where you’ll find some fabulous tags created by my fellow Creative Guides. I hope you are inspired to join us as I’m so looking forward to seeing your tag designs!

These purple poppies are a welcome addition to our flower bed and were totally unplanned; I think the birds must have brought them into the garden (grin!). They have been flowering non-stop since the beginning of July. I’m featuring them again as some of you had never seen them before so I thought I’d share some more information about them:

• This particular poppy is called Papaver Somniferum “Hungarian Blue” and is an heirloom variety with single flowers.
• They are gorgeous purple-violet shades with dark inner markings on each petal.
• They are easy to grow being ideal as a cut flower and the dried seed pods can also be used in flower arranging.
• They grow to a height of 90cm.

The rudbeckia has just started flowering and adds a happy vibrant yellow to our flower bed; this particular one is Rudbeckia Fulgida ”Goldsturm” and is also known as the Golden Cone Flower or Black Eyed Susan.

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

I’m pleased to join the Summer challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my summer flower tags.

I’m joining in the fun at Country View Challenges and their Do What Makes You Happy Challenge with my flower tags as although I always find making tags a bit daunting I always enjoy making them; they also make me smile when I look at them as they are always on display in my craft room.

I’m joining in the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this double-sided tag:     

• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Glaze (Broken China)
• Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Kiwi, Aqua Dolce)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil (Halftone THS144)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy, Paris Dusk, London Fog)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Stamp Set (Documented CMS226, Urban Tapestry CMS061, Flower Garden CMS215)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Carabelle Studios Art Stamp (Dans la nature, il y a … SA60175)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Specimen #TH94047)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media Paper
• Ranger Tonic Studios Stamping Platform
• Kuretake Gambai Watercolour Paints (Sap Green No.53, Colbalt Violet No.139, Black No.20, White No.10, Lemon Yellow No.40, Cadmium Scarlet No.31, Burnt Sienna No.46)
• Winsor & Newton Promarkers (Lime Green G178, Forest Green G356, Amethyst V626, Cool Grey 4 CG4, Canary Y367)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (Black)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Quote Chips #TH96563)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Black 199)
• American Crafts Crop-A-Dile (Hole Punch & Eyelet Setter, Standard Eyelets – Black)

Always in my heart

Remembering my dear friend with much happiness, it’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since she passed away.

I started by stencilling the Shabby Harlequin patterns from Creative Expressions, first using Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and then using a mixture of Bright Aqua Blue and white acrylic paint. Then I painted the white areas around the stencilling using the aqua mixed paint too. When dry, I stamped the butterflies from Craft Sensations and outline circles from Paperbabe Stamps using Elderberry Memento Ink and the solid dots from the same Paperbabe Stamps stamp set and black Archival Ink. I added some Pébéo white gesso with my finger to push over the stamping to push the images back and add more depth to the page. Then to finish the background I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

I used a piece of design paper for the tags which I created using a Tag Collection Framelit from Tim Holtz. I edged them with a black Sharpie marker pen and then added some pink satin ribbon and an enamel dot to each tag, as well as a pretty purple flower and the wording “hello sweet friend” and “fly away” which are all stickers.

From the same piece of design paper, I cut out the rectangle detailing two birds and the words “you are” stamping some additional wording so it reads “you are always in my heart”; as you can see the “heart” is represented by a pink heart sticker from Kaisercraft. It is edged with a black Sharpie marker, stuck in place using a glue stick and decorated with a pretty purple flower from the sticker set. To finish, I added the “love” sticker from the same set and then I edged the page using the black Sharpie marker pen.

Happy times with dear friends; “Loss leaves a heartache no one can heal, loves leaves a memory no one can steal”.

Hoping that you are 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.

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 from her blog BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her When It’s Hot challenge this month with the hot pink that I added to my page.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Early Birds challenge with the birds that I included on my art journal page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the #123 – Photo Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the colours that I included on my page.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their For A Child challenge with the design and style of my page.

Remembering my dear friend makes me happy, so I’m entering the Do What Makes You Happy challenge over at Country View Challenges too.

Don’t forget that you still have until next Tuesday to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Shabby Harlequin)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Bright Aqua Blue)
• Artist Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Docrafts Papermania Mini Clear Stamp (Everyday Assortment PMA907003 – Butterflies)
• Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (Birthday Wishes)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Elderberry)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Design Paper Paper Bundle from a local craft shop
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Sharpie Permanent Marker Fine Point (Black)
• Pink Satin Ribbon
• The Works (Pastel Enamel Dots)
• Poundland (Decorative Stickers)
• The Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (Fresh Verse PD-140)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Say Aloha SS281)
• Pritt Stick

Create your own sunshine

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Use Book Pages.

I had fun using some book pages to create the sun and flowers on this page; I hope that you are inspired to join us too, I can’t wait to see how you use your book pages!

For the background, I applied some Cerulean Blue and white acrylic paint using a paintbrush and left it to dry.

Then I used a book page from an old encyclopedia to create the sun; if you look closely you’ll see the page I chose was about the universe and details information about the sun. I drew around a circular tray to create the round body of the sun and then used a ruler to create the sun’s rays. They are cut out, coloured using Mustard Seed Distress Ink, stuck in place using a glue stick and outlined using a black Sharpie marker. The wording was created using some alphabet stickers which I outlined using a black Uni Pin marker.

For the flowers I used another page from the encyclopedia, this time about growth and I die cut the flower heads and leaves using a Tattered Floral Thinlets set from Tim Holtz. The flowers are coloured using Festive Berries and the leaves using Mowed Lawn Distress Inks which were applied using a blending tool. Next I doodled the stems using a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen and stuck the flower heads and leaves into place. For the centre of the flowers I used the cutouts from the centre of the lettering from the alphabet stickers. I outlined them all with a black marker so they stood out more and then to finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

For more inspiration you can see how my Design Teamies have been using book pages for their amazing creations too, so please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look (grin!).

Here we are enjoying the sunshine one evening along the seafront where we live, as T Stands for Tuesday you may have noticed the bottle of water on the wall in the background – Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping that you 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.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from her blog BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her When It’s Hot challenge this month my sunshine page.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Play With Paint challenge with the painted background on my art journal page.

I’m also entering the Do What Makes You Happy challenge over at Country View Challenges too as sunshine always makes me happy and sometimes you just have to create your own sunshine especially with all the stormy weather we’ve been having of late (grin!).

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Bright & Cheerful challenge with my happy sunshiny page.

I’m happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Cerulean Blue)
• Artist Discount Acylic Paint (White)
• Pears Cyclopaedia 2007-2008 Edition
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mustard Seed, Festive Berries, Mowed lawn)
• Pritt Stick
• Sharpie Permanent Marker Fine Point (Black)
• Aldi So Crafty (Alphabet Stickers – Multi-coloured)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm, 0.8mm)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Small Tattered Florals 661806)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)

Spread your wings

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

I was inspired by summer damselflies and had fun playing around with lots of mixed media to create this art journal page.

I started by applying Twisted Citron and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink to the page using a blending tool and then spritzed with water so that the inks blended and dispersed over the page. When dry I applied some of the Twisted Citron Ink through a Shedded stencil by Andy Skinner and also wiped a baby wipe through the stencil to remove some of the ink.

I stamped some Vintage Circles using a stamp set from Woodware Craft Collection with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink and also some fern leaves using a Tim Holtz stamp set and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. The black circles are stencilled using a Dutch Doobadoo stencil and Black Soot Distress Ink. I stamped the damselfly stamp which was free with a magazine using black Archival Ink so they look like they are flying around the page and then I splattered the page with Carbon Black Liquitex Ink. The wording “don’t forget to fly”, “with brave wings she flies” and “use your wings” are all Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz.

The central “Until you spread your wings you’ll never know how far you’ll fly!” wording was created using a couple of Kaisercraft Journal Cards which I cut to size, dyed with Twisted Citron and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink and embellished with a black metal dragonfly brad. Then I edged them with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and layered everything together with some pretty flowers and leaves which finished the page.

I hope that you are inspired to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge too! For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too – it would be lovely to see you there!

Here is the pretty blue damselfly that inspired this page. They are very similar to dragonflies but the easiest way tell them apart is when they are at rest like this one; damselflies fold their wings up and hold them together across the top of their backs whereas dragonflies hold their wings out perpendicular to their bodies when resting, like an airplane. This is a Common Blue Damselfly; it is fairly common throughout the UK and is seen from May through to September.

If you’re interested here are some more differences between damselflies and dragonflies (which made me think that the free stamp I used is a damselfly – grin!):

• Damselflies have much smaller eyes than dragonflies and their eyes always have a gap between them whereas dragonflies wrap around the head from the side to the front of the face.
• Damselflies have narrow bodies like twigs, whereas dragonflies have bulkier bodies giving it a shorter, thicker appearance.
• Both dragonflies and damselflies have two sets of wings, damselflies have wings that are the same size and shape and dragonflies have hind wings that are larger than the front set of wings.

Hoping that you are all staying safe and keep well! 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 join the lovely Erika from her blog BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her When It’s Hot challenge this month with my damselfly page as they appear when it’s hot.

I’m joining the Cattywampus challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the askew journal cards.

Art journaling always makes me happy as it helps me breathe and I love to capture memories on my pages, so I’m entering the Do What Makes You Happy challenge over at Country View Challenges too.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Bright & Cheerful challenge.

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon, Mowed lawn, Black Soot)
• DecoArt Andy Skinner Mixed Media Stencil (Shedded)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Vintage Circles FRS665)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Leaf Prints CMS273)
• Dutch Doobadoo Mask Art A5 (Geometric Tiles)
• Free Stamp with magazine – The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady (Dragonfly)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Liquitex Ink! (Carbon Black)
• Kaisercraft Captured Moments Journal Cards (Life’s Treasure CM108)
• Metal Brad (Dragonfly – Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pitt Pen (Black 199)
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• Little Birdie Flowers (Boutique Elements SKU213179)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)

Sewing Bee

I always enjoy watching The Great British Sewing Bee on the TV and now it’s finished it inspired my to create this vintage sewing page – such fun!

I started by covering the page with an old napkin using a glue stick and when dry I edged the page with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool. I added some vintage sewing designed gold outline stickers which included a pair of scissors, a thimble, needles and pins, cross-stitches, flower shapes, a cotton reel, a pin cushion and a sewing machine. The “Sewing Bee” wording was constructed using letter outline stickers too.

For the tags I covered a piece of white card with some dressmaking pattern tissue paper and some of the napkin that I used on the page background. Then I cut three different sizes of tag and some circular reinforcements using the Tim Holtz Tag Collection Framelits and my Big Shot machine. I applied some Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool to each of the die cut pieces and then collaged some sewing related Tim Holtz stickers onto the tags which I edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker so they stood out more. I added a circular reinforcement to each tag and threaded some cotton through them; the threads were leftover from some sewing that I’ve been doing. To finish, I added some outline stickers of cross-stitches, needles and pins and some the lace and silk flowers to the tags; they are stuck in place using double-sided foam tape.

If you haven’t seen or heard of The Great British Sewing Bee it’s a television programme on BBC1. It’s a spin off of The Great British Bake Off and is a reality show where amateur sewers compete to be named “Britain’s best home sewer”; they compete in a Pattern challenge, Alteration challenge and Made-to-measure challenge each week.

If you are interested you may be able to access the programmes here BBC programmes – The Great British Sewing Bee (this link may only be available to those of you who live in the UK).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m showing you my cuppa by my sewing machine, like everyone I’ve been making face masks (that’s where the leftover threads came from for my page); the material is recycled from one of my hubby’s old summer shirts (grin!).

Hope that you are 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.

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 Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with my Sewing Bee page.

I’m joining the Cattywampus challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the askew tags and stickers on this page.

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

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Sewing Bee art journal page.

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

• Napkin
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Sew Retro – Gold ANT810136, Flower Blossom –Gold ANT810143)
• Outline Stickers (Alphabet – Gold)
• White Cardstock
• Style Dressmaking Pattern Tissue Paper
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• The Works (Self-Adhesive Lace Trim)
• The Range (Crafting Flowers)
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape

Flourish

I was so happy to have won some new products from one of the challenges over at Paperbabe Stamps I created this pretty page to remind me of some huge purple poppies that are in our garden – see what you think!

I started by painting some Leaf Green and Watering Can Wendy Vicchi Blendable Dye Inks onto the page by applying the ink to a blending mat, spritzing with water and using a paintbrush. Next I applied some of the Leaf Green ink through a Herringbone stencil from Paperbabe Stamps and splattered the page with both the Leaf Green and Watering Can inks. The flowers are an Inkylicious Oriental Poppy stamp and were stamped onto a piece of mixed media paper with black Archival Ink using a stamping platform to get a clear and crisp image.

I coloured the petals using Seedless Grape Distress Ink, shading the colours by painting the ink onto the flowers. As they looked a bit pink I also applied some Lulu Lavender Memento Ink over the petals. For the stamens, I added more detail using a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen, then I coloured them using Lime Green, Canary, Amethyst and Cool Grey Winsor & Newton Promarkers. I fussy cut the flowers out, which took quite a bit of time and stuck them onto the page using a glue stick. The stars are from the Flourish & Grow Paperbabe Stamps and are stamped using Seedless Grape Distress Ink. I used the same stamp set for the wording using black Archival Ink, the words read “Flourish”, “love” and “Dream”. To finish I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

Here are my new Paperbabe Stamps goodies, I’m looking forward to using the other items soon (grin!).

These are the poppies that inspired the flowers on my page, I think the birds must have brought them into the garden – yay!

Hoping that you are 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.

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 Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with the herringbone pattern on this page which is often associated with fabrics.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Shoot For The Stars challenge with the stars that I added to my art journal page.

I’m also joining the Cattywampus challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my diagonal formed poppies and herringbone stenciling.

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

Of course I’m joining Paperbabe Stamps and their Anything Goes challenge too – thanks so much for the goodies!

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

• Ranger Wendy Vicchi Blendable Dye Inks (Leaf Green, Watering Can)
• Paperbabe Stamps Mixed Media Stencil (Herringbone)
• Inkylicious Bigz Flowers Stamp (Oriental Poppy)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Seedless Grape)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Lulu Lavender)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Winsor & Newton Promarkers (Lime Green G178, Canary Y367, Amethyst V626, Cool Grey 4 CG04)
• Pritt Stick
• Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (Flourish & Grow)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic Paint (Black)

Beautiful Self

Inspired by a beautiful notebook that my sister bought me, I created this fun Highland cow page as a reminder to ‘Just be your beautiful self’ (grin!).

I started by taking a page out of the notebook to use as part of the collage background. I dyed the page with inks, firstly Bluebird ink for the sky and then with Leaf Green, Fern Green and Prickly Pear ink for the grass; they are all Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Inks.

As the page was lined I ripped the paper diagonally, positioning the pieces so the lines ran from left-hand side up to the right-hand side diagonally across the page. I collaged them using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium along with some torn pieces of kitchen towel and baby wipes that were used to mop up blue and green inks and paints from previous art journal pages that I had created. When dry, I painted Ultramarine and Sap Green Kuretake watercolours to add more colour to the sky and grass. The highland cow is from an old magazine and layered some of the pieces of coloured paper, kitchen towel and baby wipes over the edges to blend it into the background. As you can see, I created my page background so that it matches and blends with the felt/fabric look of the highland cow image background.

For the foliage and daisies I used a Wildflower Stems #2 Thinlet set from Tim Holtz: cutting the tall grasses from brown tissue paper and layering them on top of the background using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium; I used white cardstock for the leafy foliage which I stamped using black Archival Ink and a Finnabair Stamp, coloured using the Leaf Green, Fern Green and Prickly Pear Wendy Vecchi Blendable Inks and Mowed lawn Distress Ink, and edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; and I used some linen textured cardstock for the daisies which were coloured using the Leaf Green and Prickly Pear inks and also watered down Watering Can Wendy Vecchi Blendable Ink for the petals. Once stuck into place using a Zig glue pen, I edged the leafy foliage and daisies using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker so they stood out more. Then I added a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “Just be your beautiful self” which finished the page.

Here’s the beautiful A4 notebook that inspired my page.

You may notice that I always list the materials I use for pages at the end of my posts and as you can see here I use this type of notebook to record these details, so this gift was perfect (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m also sharing my cuppa (of Ceylon Tea) which I often enjoy whilst crafting – wishing you all a very Happy T day!

Hoping that you 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.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with the faux felt/fabric background.

I’m pleased to join in the Summer Fields challenge over at Country View Challenges with my highland cow summery field art journal page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the #121 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page; the green and blue splits the page and images.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Sprays and Splashes challenge with the splashes of green ink on the die cut foliage.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our monthly Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog too!

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

• Notebook page
• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Make Art Blendable Dye Ink (Bluebird, Prickly Pear, Leaf green, Fern Green, Watering Can)
• Recycled kitchen towel and baby wipes used to mop up inks and paints
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine No:64, Sap Green No:53)
• Old magazine
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Recycled brown tissue paper
• White cardstock
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Old Receipt #966980)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mowed Lawn)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Black 199, Cold Grey IV 23)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)