I love us

I feel very blessed to have married my soulmate and to have spent many happy and fulfilling years together so with Valentine’s fast approaching I created this page for my dear hubby to say “I love us” (grin!).

I started by adding some pieces of old dictionary pages using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium, then I coloured the background using some Cadmium Yellow Liquitex Acyclic paint and some Pébéo white gesso. When the paint was dry, I stencilled a lattice pattern using some Scattered Straw Distress Ink and a blending tool. Then I used the stencil to stamp the lattice pattern using Ground Espresso Distress Ink and also applied some DecoArt white acrylic paint with a sponge through the same stencil. I die cut some wildflowers from paper by Tim Holtz using a Tim Holtz thinlet set with my Big Shot machine and stuck them to the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. When the gel medium was dry I outlined them with a black Uni Pin Fine Line marker so they stood out more and then I stuck three pieces of pretty green lace vertically onto the page.

For the heart, I used a wooden heart tag which I covered in Emboss ink and Chunky Silver Stampendous Frantage embossing enamel. I used a heat gun to melt the embossing enamel to a smooth glossy finish and before the enamel had cooled fully, I imprinted it using a Serpentine Background stamp; being careful not to touch the enamel with my fingers as it gets super hot. I also covered the word “Love” which is a wooden embellishment with the same embossing enamel using the Emboss ink.

I tied a piece of green ribbon to the heart tag and arranged it with the “love” embellishment onto the page using Ranger Glossy Accents along with a vintage Tim Holtz Pocket card, a white doily and a metal decorative embellishment. To finish, I added two Tim Holtz Small Talk stickers which are outlined using a black Derwent marker; they say “I’m happiest when I’m with you” and “I love us”.

Me and my hubby are thankful for every day and always enjoy the time we have together, whether we are at home …

… making discoveries on our walks, like this pretty yellow sunflower that magically appeared on the beach front which is just around the corner from our house …

… or out and about like at this local beer festival (grin!).

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 be able to join the lovely Rike from rike’s art and her The Colour Yellow challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my appropriately coloured art journal page.

As this page captures love and romance, I’m joining the Love is in the Air challenge over at Moo Mania & More.

I’m happy to join the Your Hearts Desire challenge over at A Vintage Journey as I was inspired to create this romantic Mixed Media Style page for my hubby which includes hearts.

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

Don’t forget that you still have plenty of time to join our Romance challenge at Try it on Tuesday too.

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:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Cadmium Yellow Medium)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Ground Espresso)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Tsukineko Emboss Embossing Stamp Pad (Clear)
• Stampendous Frantage Embossing Enamel (Chunky Silver)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Moroccan)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Wildflowers 661190)
• Art Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Serpentine Background T-2773)
• The Pocket Oxford Dictionary
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Paper Stash (Halloween #TH93712)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Dovecrafts Premium Paper Doilies (Painted Blooms DCDLS010)
• Docrafts Papermania Adhesive Lace Trim (Botanicals PMA358334)
• The Works (Chalkboard Tags, 5 Embellishments, Wooden Craft Words)
• Thin Satin Ribbon (Green)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic
• Stix2 double-sided tape

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Romance

Over at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks our challenge is Romance. With it being February and Valentine’s Day soon, I hope that you are in the mood for Romance too, it would be great to see you there!

My Design Teamies have created some amazing pieces to inspire you so please pop over to our blog and take a look. Today my page is a vintage gothic style, designed with romantic hearts and a wire garland of red roses (grin!).

I started by covering the page with scraps of teabag, brown tissue paper and also white tissue paper which I had stamped whilst designing previous pages using either black or red ink; I often find stamping some images on tissue paper helps me position them on my pages easier and decide on the design before I stamp them directly onto the page. Then I stamped some lovely lace filigree hearts by Penny Black using black Archival Ink and I added some pieces of red and also black washi tape both of which had a rose design on them, and also some pieces of black decorative lace border tape. Next I covered the page with Pébéo white gesso and once dry I applied some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink, as well as Dark Sepia and Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush markers around the edges of the page using my finger to blend out the colour. I scribbled some Iced Rosé, Iced Currant and Iced Chai Faber-Castell Gelatos over the edges of the page too and then smudged the colour using my finger again which I wet with a baby wipe. Then I added some more white gesso to tone down the colours to give a worn and distressed look and stamped a Script stamp by Kaisercraft using Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and also Black Archival Ink. The word “Romance” is die cut from some pretty textured paper from a Halloween paper pad by Tim Holtz using a Docrafts alphabet Die set and my Big Shot machine. I edged the wording with a Black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker so it stood out more from the background and then cut two strips off either side of the die cut paper and arranged them all on the left-hand side of the page using a glue stick.

I also cut out a heart shape from the Tim Holtz paper and I added some more lace filigree hearts using the Penny Black stamp and back Archival Ink and stuck the paper heart in place using a glue stick. The left-hand side of the paper columns and heart are edged using a black Derwent Inktense pencil and then I arranged some rose garland wire over the top using Ranger Glossy Accents to stick it in place. To finish, I threaded some of the wire through a metal key and added it to my page.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing this romantic Valentine’s dessert from Lytham Hall; it is so pretty with the white teacup which is filled with a chocolate cupcake and topped with pink icing and the dark chocolate wording! It almost looks too good to eat – Happy T day!

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:

As I included hearts as part of my design, I’m happy to join the Your Hearts Desire challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my romance inspired Vintage and Mixed Media Style page.

Over at The Artistic Stamper, their challenge is Heart It! so I’m pleased to join this challenge too with the stamped and paper hearts on my page.

As my page is black, white and red I’m also joining the Black & White Plus One challenge over at Country View Challenges.

I’m also joining in the Add Some Red challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the red roses that I added to my page.

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

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:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge)
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Iced Rosé, Iced Currant, Iced Chai)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B, Sanguine 188 B, Black 199)
• Derwent Inktense Pencil (Black 2200)
• Penny Black Stamp Set (Clearly In Love 30-009)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Set (Folk Alphabet XCU503286)
• Leftover pieces of stamped teabags and tissue paper
• Tim Holtz paper Stash (Halloween #TH93712)
• The Range (Rose Garland, Key Embellishments)
• Michael’s (Washi  Tape x 2)
• Poundland (Decorative Border Tape 77513)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Pritt Stick

Time Flies

Our new challenge for the next two weeks over at Try it on Tuesday is Time Flies.

I hope you will join in the fun and for more inspiration please take a look at the amazing creations of my fabulous Design Team teamies over at our blog. A special welcome to Erika who has joined our Design Team too!

For this challenge I had fun creating a steampunk style page using some wonderful chipboard pieces from Boozybear – I hope you like it!

I started by adding Antique Linen, Ground Espresso and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink to the page by applying the ink pads to a blending mat, spritzing with water and then pressing the mat onto the page. To tie into the Time Flies theme, I selected some stamps with months, days and dates on them from a Documented stamp set by Tim Holtz and stamped them over the background using black Versafine Ink. Then I added some numbers and texture using a stencil by Carabelle Studios and Black Soot Distress Ink. To tone the background colours down a bit, I added some Neutral Grey Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic using a palette knife and also stencilled Pébéo white gesso over the page using a sponge through an Abstract Grid stencil by That’s Crafty.

For the winged clock, I used chipboard pieces which included a Wind Up Gear, some cogs and gears, and also two steampunk wings from Boozybear that I won over at Sandee & Ameile’s challenge – thank you! I stuck the wings in place behind the clock face of the Wind Up Gear piece and layered some cogs over the top using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. When dry, I added some brads to the centre of a couple of the gears and then I painted the whole piece using Iridescent Bright Gold Liquitex Ink. Next I covered it with some VersaMark Watermark Ink and Aged Silver Embossing Enamel which I heated with my heat gun until it turned glossy and dimensional. I then added some Green Patina Perfect Pearls by Ranger, Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and black Versafine Ink to give it an aged look and heated it with my heat gun again so all the elements merged together.

I repeated the layers of the gold Liquitex Ink, Aged Silver Embossing Enamel, Green Patina Perfect Pearls, Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and black Versafine Ink until I achieved the finish that I was after.

I repeated the same process to create the numbers which are also chipboard pieces from Boozybear. Then I attached everything to the page using Ranger Glossy Accents. To finish, I used the glossy accents again to adhere some metal and glass beads so that they look like debris which has come away from the numbers as they fly out from the clock.

Last week after a walk along the green at Lytham with our friends, we stopped by a café called Chell’s of Lytham. As this cafe makes their own ice cream I couldn’t resist having a couple of scoops; the flavours I chose were Sticky Toffee Pudding and Double Chocolate – yummy!

As you can see there was iced water, as well as Earl Grey Tea and Hot Chocolate …

… and as T Stands for Tuesday, I also have a cappuccino to share with the coffee lovers amongst the T Gang – wishing you all a Happy T Day!

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 lovely Alison/Craftytrog and her Geometric Shapes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the Abstract Grid that I included on my page.

With the steampunk vibe created from the amazing Boozybear chipboard pieces, I am very pleased to be able to join Sandee & amilie’s Steampunk Challenge which is Anything Goes – Steampunk/Industrial – thanks so much for the wonderful Boozybear chippies!

I’m happy to join the Put Your Stamp On It challenge over at A Vintage Journey as I used a set of Tim Holtz stamps for my Steampunk Style inspired page.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday the challenge is Try Something NEW! so I’m pleased to join this challenge too as I used two new stencils and the Carabelle Studio one was bought at Simon Says Stamp.

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 Ink (Antique Linen, Ground Espresso, Rusty Hinge, Black Soot)
• Tsukineko Versafine Ink (Onyx Black)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Neutral Grey)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Liquitex Ink! (Iridescent Bright Gold)
• Stampendous! Frantage Embossing Enamel Kit (Aged Silver FREK02)
• Ranger Perfect Pearls (Green Patina)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stamper’s Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
• Carabelle Studio Art Template (Trame Tissus et Chiffres TE60034)
• That’s Crafty! 8x8ins Stencil (Abstract Grid – TC8023)
• Boozybear Chipboard Pieces (Wind Up Gear CP29, assorted gears and cogs, steampunk wings)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• The Brighton Bead Shop (Assorted Metal and Glass Beads)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Happy January

I love the snow so had the idea of creating an all white page with some fabulous new Tim Holtz Thinlets and this lovely black and white photo of a little girl in the snow – Happy January everyone!

I started by covering the background in snowfall, firstly by layering a snowflake stamp and a snow dot stamp by Sheena Douglas using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, London Fog Memento Ink and Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink. Then I stamped the circular snow stamps from BoBunny using Black Archival Ink by stamping the image on a piece of card first then onto the page to create a lighter image. With the background finished, I added the photo of the pretty little girl in the snow which is recycled from an old magazine and mounted onto a piece of card. As you may have noticed, the circular BoBunny stamps in the background have words on them which say “Frozen, Love, Snow, Sled, Winter” which seemed the perfect match for the little girl image.

I added the word “January” which is also recycled, this time from an old calendar. Then I decorated the page with some snowflakes from a Tonic Studios die set, a Spellbinders leaf swirl die and lots of Tim Holtz foliage and Tim Holtz tree thinlets, all of which are cut out of white card stock using my Big Shot machine. The Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets that I used to create the foliage included Garden Greens and also a new addition to my craft stash, the Holiday Greens Thinlet set (grin!).

The trees were also created using a new set of Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets called Woodlands (double grin!).

Some of the die cuts are coloured using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker and a silver metallic pen, and I also used some Inkylicious Fluffy Puffy Stuff to add some texture; simply added the Fluffy Puffy Stuff to the die cut and then comes the fun part, heat it with a heat gun which makes it puffy and 3-dimensional. To finish the die cuts, I also added some glitter using Icicle Stickles and then I arranged and layered them onto the page using some glue dots and a Zig Memory System glue pen.

This page captures the magic of a beautiful decoration that we had on display over Christmas, I think it looks so pretty with the snow and trees …

… whether it is lit up or not (grin!).

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:

The lovely Alison/Craftytrog is hosting her Geometric Shapes challenge over at Art Journal Journey so I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun with all the circular snow stamps that I used on my page.

As this page captures the snow and frost of January days, I’m joining the Cold and Frosty Colours challenge over at Moo Mania & More.

I’m also joining the lovely Wen and her Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutral Happy January art journal page.

Inspired to create this page by my love of snow, I’m happy to join the Put Your Stamp On It challenge over at A Vintage Journey as I used more than one stamp for the background of my Mixed Media Style page.

I’m pleased to join the “New” (Fresh Start) challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as my page was created to using new die cut sets.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge their challenge is Use Something New challenge so I’m pleased to join them as I used some new Tim Holtz products to create this page.

Don’t forget that you still have well over a week to join the Something Old … Something New challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too, 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.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (London Fog)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Ink (Platinum Planet)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Script Metallic Pen (Silver)
• Inkylicious (Fluffy Puffy Stuff)
• Stickles (Icicles)
• Sheena by Sheena Douglas Clear Stamp Set (Winter Woodland) – Creative Stamping Magazine Issue 62
• BoBunny Stamps (Snow Days Clear Stamps 13705563)
• Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (Falling Snowflakes 1792e)
• Spellbinders – Swirl Leaf Die
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Garden Greens 661206, Holiday Greens 658759, Woodlands 660978)
• White Card Stock
• Old Magazine – image
• Old Calender – wording
• Recycled white card
• Stix2 double-sided tape and mini glue dots
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)

Something Old … Something New

I’m so excited as it’s our first challenge of 2019 over at Try it on Tuesday and it’s Something Old … Something New. You could use something new on your creation, or something you haven’t used in a while, just be sure to add an explanation to your blog post about what you have chosen to use.

For more inspiration and to see what “somethings” the design team have used to inspire you, please pop over to Try it on Tuesday.

I created my art journal page using “something new”; two new products that I just couldn’t wait to use (grin!) which were a Documented stamp set from Tim Holtz and also a pack of Anthology Collectables die cuts from Kaisercraft.

I started by adding Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge and Old Paper Distress Ink to the page by applying the ink pads to a blending mat, spritzing with water and then pressing the mat onto the page. Next I added some of the Documented stamps from Tim Holtz using black Archival Ink and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink to the background, and then a Mini Specimens stencil from The Crafter’s Workshop using Vintage Photo and Black Soot Distress Ink. With the background complete, I arranged the Anthology Collectables die cuts from Kaisercraft onto the page; they are edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck in place using double-sided tape. I love this set of vintage images and inspirational sentiments; they seem perfect to start the New Year!

I had so much fun using these new products to create my page and I’m sure that I will be using them again very soon (grin!).

I love using sentiments on my pages and so I often take photos of those that I see when I’m out and about, so because T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing some drink related signs that I captured. This sign can be found at John F. Kennedy Airport – the coffee lovers in the T Gang will appreciate this one (grin!).

This is from a local store in Blackpool and made me smile when I saw it due to the song reference (double grin!).

I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

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 lovely Alison/Craftytrog and her Geometric Shapes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the circular and square-shaped Kaisercraft Collectables that I added to my page.

I’m also joining the lovely Wen and her Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutral coloured page.

Over at A Vintage Journey their challenge is Put Your Stamp On It so I’m pleased to join this challenge too as I used my set of Tim Holtz stamps on my Mixed Media and Vintage Style page.

I’m also joining in the fun “New” (Fresh Start) challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as my page was created using two products that are new to my craft stash.

I’m joining in the Use Something New challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge too with the new products that I used to create this 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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen, Hickory Smoke, Rusty Hinge, Old Paper, Vintage Photo, Black Soot)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
• The Crafter’s Workshop TCW Rebekah Meier Designs 6×6 Stencil (Mini Specimens TCW4545)
• Kaisercraft Collectables (Anthology C7938)
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Happy New Year 2019

Wishing you a very Happy New Year; may your year be filled with peace, love, and happiness!

To start my sparkly New Year page, I painted some gold metallic acrylic paint around the edges of the page and blended it into the centre with some Pébéo white gesso. I then layered the background by stamping some snowflakes with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink using a Woodware Collection stamp and then stencilling Festive Berries Distress Ink with a blending tool. The stencil is a Decorative Flowers stencil which I won over at That’s Crafty Challenge Blog – thank you! I stamped more snowflakes from a BoBunny stamp set using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker which I also used to edge the page and then I added another layer of white gesso using a palette knife. I used the same Decorative flower stencil to add some Pébéo modelling paste and once dry I painted some Titanium White Liquitex Ink over the top. I stencilled more Festive Berries ink and stamped snowflakes again, this time using Potter’s Clay Memento Ink to get a clearer image which finished the background. Next I die cut the wording from grey design paper using a Docrafts die set and my Big Shot machine.

I used the same grey paper to back some bell and star-shaped outline stickers and cut them out; they are stuck to the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. I suspended some of them from silver strands which are outline border stickers and also a red ribbon and bow which are recycled from an old Christmas card. I decorated the page with silver glittery stars and more silver outline stickers including some scrollwork, small stars and holly. To finish, I added more sparkle to the wording using silver Stickles and to the holly berries making them red to match the ribbon and bow using Christmas Red Stickles.

As T Stands for Tuesday, maybe you would like to celebrate the New Year with us by trying some of our homebrewed pumpkin beer. As you can see we have plenty for everyone – Cheers and Happy T Day!

Wishing you all the very best for 2019!

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 Alison/Craftytrog and her Geometric Shapes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with all the star shapes that I included on my page.

I’m happy to join the Star Light Star Bright challenge over at A Vintage Journey as I had fun adding all the sparkly stars; I was inspired by the New Year to create this Art Journalling style page.

I’m joining in the Party Time! challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as my page celebrates the New Year!

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Anything Goes so I’m pleased to also join this challenge.

As I included stamping on this page, I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at The Artistic Stamper – Happy New Year!

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes! challenge with my New Year’s page too.

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:

• Poundland Metallic Acrylic Paint (Gold)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Festive Berries, Rusty Hinge)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Potter’s Clay)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 233 B)
• Liquitex Ink! (Titanium White)
• That’s Crafty! 8x8in Stencil (Decorative Flower – TC8039)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Snowflakes FRS027)
• BoBunny Clear Stamps (Snow Day #13705563)
• Clear Impressions (Woodland Christmas) – free with magazine
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Set (Folk Alphabet XCU503284)
• Poundland Design Pad (Purple Paradise CRO701/PL3)
• Crelando Relief Sticker Set (IAN289011)
• Silver Border Outline Stickers (© DD6572)
• The Works (Christmas Glitter Stickers)
• Ranger Stickles (Silver, Christmas Red)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Christmas Robin – Card

As you are probably aware I love robins, especially at Christmas, so today I created a Robin Christmas card using a Tim Holtz stamp and a pretty wintry background that was leftover from a previous project.

The leftover background was previously created using mixed media paper which I stamped with snowflakes using Simon Says Stamp Frozen Fractals stamp set and VersaMark Watermark ink and then covered with white Stampendous embossing powder. I shook and tapped off any excess powder and used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder until it became smooth and dimensional with a glossy finish. Next I used Milled Lavender, Chipped Sapphire and Salty Ocean Distress Ink to colour the background by spritzing the panel with water then applying the inks. Then I created my robin by stamping the bird on a branch stamp from Tim Holtz Urban Tapestry stamp set using Brushed Corduroy and Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I coloured the bird using Poppy Red and Charcoal Grey Derwent Inktense pencils and also added more details to the feathers, eye and beak using a black Derwent Graphik marker, white Uniball gel pen and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The foliage is stamped using the Urban Tapestry stamp set and the same brown inks too. I die cut the berry branches using Tim Holtz Sizzix Garden Greens Thinlets and my Big Shot machine from white card stock and also a brown design paper. They are layered together slightly off centre making the white card stock look like a coating of snow, then I added Christmas Red Stickles to the berries to give them a glittery finish. I also die cut the “Merry Christmas” wording from the white card stock and brown design paper again as well as some blue vellum. I layered the three pieces together slightly off centre so the white card stock was on the bottom, the blue vellum was in the middle then the brown paper was on the top using a Zig Memory glue pen. To finish, I edged the panel with the Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker, then I stuck the berry branches and wording in place using mini glue dots and the Zig glue pen.

I have a number of robin Christmas decorations around the house too, some of which you may be able to see in this photo of me and my hubby – we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

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 so happy to be able to join Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their Winter challenge with my wintry Christmas Robin stamped card.

As the challenge over at Country View Challenges is Christmas, I’m pleased to join them too as my Christmas robin fits this theme.

With all the stamping, the red glittery Stickles and shiny white embossing, I’m also joining the Winter Sparkle challenge over at Stamping Sensations.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Christmas Challenge over at The Artistic Stamper with my stamped Christmas Robin.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Anything Goes so I’m also joining this challenge.

I’m pleased to join in the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps too.

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:

• Simon Says Stamp Clear Stamp Set (Frozen Fractals SSS101694)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Cling Rubber Stamps (Urban Tapestry CMS061)
• Tsukineko VersaMark Watermark Ink Pad
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Milled Lavender, Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo)
• Derwent Inktense Pencils (Poppy Red, Charcoal Grey)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Faber-Castell Craft Stamper Big Brush Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Garden Greens 661206)
• Dovecraft Cutting Dies (Merry Christmas DCDIE052X16)
• White Card Stock
• Simon Says Stamp (Blue Vellum)
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CR0701/16PL1)
• Ranger Stickles (Christmas Red)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Stix2 mini glue dots