Violet Butterfly

Yellow and violet are colours that are prevalent in my garden at the moment with all the pretty spring flowers that are in bloom. So with a number of challenges in mind, I created this journal page using a yellow and violet colour combination, some recycled materials and a lovely new Postcard Butterfly stamp that I just couldn’t wait to use (grin!).

I started by recycling some book pages which I ripped and stuck to my page using Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I used a yellow pastel coloured acrylic paint which I diluted further with white gesso and painted over the whole page varying the shade of the colour. Next I mixed some pastel purple acrylic paint with white gesso and stamped it onto the page using some recycled bubble wrap; to do this I wrapped the bubble wrap around an acrylic block which gave a stronger and cleaner stamped finish as I dipped it in the paint and applied it to the page. Next I added some leftover pieces of butterfly decoupage paper using Liquitex matte gel medium and when the gel medium was dry I outlined all the collaged pieces with a black Derwent marker. Then I stamped some Ground Espresso Distress Ink using corrugated cardboard from some packaging in a criss cross pattern and covered the whole page with splatters of white and black DecoArt acrylic paint. I stamped a Butterfly Postcard stamp from Stampendous using black Archival Ink onto a piece of yellow and white paper and also the butterfly image from the same stamp onto some purple paper that I recycled from an old notebook. I fussy cut the images out and along with some yellow leaves, a piece of recycled beige card from some packaging and a spotted purple card leftover from card making, I edged them with the Ground Espresso Distress Ink and a blending tool then stuck them onto the page using glue dots, double-sided tape and foam tape. To add some shine to the purple butterfly wings I covered the black dots with Glossy Accents. Then I added some purple flowers and metal vintage embellishments which I accessorised with some tiny yellow and violet pearls, which finished the page.

We have quite a few yellow flowers in our garden including daffodils and forsythia as well as purple crocus and hyacinths, and both of these colours can be found in these pretty pansies that are in our planters which we can see from our kitchen window.

This variety has quite big flowers, aren’t the colours of this yellow one amazing!

If you are interested, here are some fun facts about pansies:

• The pansy is a member of theViola family.
• Their name comes from the French word, pensée, which means thought or remembrance.
• Pansies are one of the oldest cultivated flowers and are also one of the most popular plants in our gardens.
• In the language of flowers, the pansy represents thoughts of lovers and in the 19th century this flower was used in love potions.
• Pansies are edible and their petals have a mint flavour; they are often added to salads and desserts.
• The flower is used as a natural dye.

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, who is hosting the Recycle and Collage challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I used stamps recycled from packaging and recycled book pages, packaging and leftovers to create this page!

With the stamped butterfly as my focal image and butterflies being part of the animal kingdom, I’m also happy to be able to join Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their Animals challenge.

With the stamping I used to create this art journal page, I’m also joining in the fun at the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge and their April Challenge: Anything Goes!: (stamping MUST be included).

I’m also joining the Color Wheel! challenge over at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge as I used a complimentary pair of colours, which are opposite each other on the colour wheel, yellow and violet to create my mixed media art journal page.

I was also inspired by Corrie’s use of book pages on her Design Team creation over at Country View Challenges so I’m also joining their Pimp It Up! (reuse or alter something) challenge.

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
• Aldi Script Ready Mixed Paint (Pastels – yellow, purple)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ground Espresso)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Stamps made from bubble wrap and corrugated cardboard recycled from packaging
• Stampendous Cling Rubber Stamps (Butterfly Post CRP147)
• First Edition Deco Maché Decoupage papers (Vintage Butterfly FEDEC112)
• Paper Bundle from local craft shop (Yellow and white circles)
• Recycled purple memo paper
• Recycled beige card from packaging
• Leftover purple dot card from card making
• The Handmade Paper Company (Nature’s Touch of Art)
• Wilko (Flower Embellishments) leftover pieces
• Poundworld DécoTime (Vintage Stickers 54748)
• Trimcraft (Adhesive Pearls SCDOT056)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Wilko (Sticky Dots)
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

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Nature’s Beauty

Our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Nature’s Beauty and the Design Team have some amazing inspiration for you, whether it is flowers, plants, animals or scenes of nature.

My art journal page today is a scene capturing the peacefulness and serenity of dragonflies over water, which for me, encapsulates nature’s beauty.

I started by painting diluted Shabby Shutters and Salty Ocean Distress Ink onto the background by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block and applying it to the page with a paintbrush to create a watercolour effect. Then I used a Distressed Dots stencil from That Special Touch of Mica Masks by Creative Expressions to apply Mowed Lawn and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks using a blending tool. I stamped some foliage using an Eco Green stamp set made from recycled rubber and a Tan Spectrum Aqua Marker. Then I added some Pébéo modelling paste using the Distressed Dot stencil to add more dimension and when the paste was dry, coloured it with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint. I fussy cut the grasses, leaves and iris from a wallpaper sample and stuck them onto the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. To add more detail and definition I doodled outlines on them with a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen, then added some shadows using a Slate Spectrum Aqua Marker. The dragonflies are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel and I positioned them so that one is sitting on a leaf and the other is flying off into the distance. I stamped some bees from a Graphic 45 stamp set by Hampton Art using black Archival Ink and coloured them using a yellow Spectrum Aqua marker. To finish, I added two stickers with the words “peaceful” and “serenity” which I thought captured the scene; they are edged with the Tan Spectrum Aqua marker and stuck in place using double-sided tape.

As it is T for Tuesday, I’m sharing the enjoyable time that we had at the local Pavilion Café in Ashton Gardens with our friends. Ashton Gardens is a municipal park which was established in 1874, it is situated in the centre of St. Anne’s on the Sea and is a lovely place to explore with its various display gardens including the most beautiful Rose Garden. The café building is a replica of the former bowling club pavilion known as the Ashton Institute.

This café always has a yummy array of cakes to choose from …

… and there is lovely art displayed on the walls which you can buy if you want to.

As T Stands for Tuesday, maybe you would like a green tea, hot chocolate or glass of water (of course they had coffee too, sorry I forgot to take a photo of our friends selection which included a cappuccino which I know you may prefer – grin!). As well as our drinks we enjoyed a bacon butty and a slice of salted caramel cake – yum! Wishing you all a very 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, who is hosting the Recycle and Collage challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the recycled rubber art stamp set and wallpaper that I collaged to create this page!

With the stamped bees that I included on my nature page, I’m pleased to join The Birds & the Bees challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

As I used and altered the wallpaper for my page, I’m pleased to join the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Pimp it up! (reuse or alter something) challenge.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Add Some Texture challenge with all the texture I created with the Distress Inks, stencils, modelling paste and wallpaper.

With the circles that I stencilled onto my page, I’m also pleased to join the Going Round in Circles challenge over at That’s Crafty Challenge.

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 (Shabby Shutters, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Chipped Sapphire)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Tan, Slate, Yellow)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Eco Green Crafts Recycled Rubber Stamps (Petal Party #04309)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Distressed Dots)
• Hampton Art 7 Gypsies Cling Mounted Rubber Stamps (Birdsong ICO151))
• Wallpaper sample – recycled
• Royal & Langnickel Tip of the Brush (Insect Collection #TIP1484 Rub-on)
• Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (PD-140)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Capture the Magic

I wanted to create an art journal page to remember my birthday which was last week, I had the most amazing time and thought I would recycle an old birthday card which I have treasured for a while.

To continue the recycled theme, I started by gluing some red netting from a bag of oranges to the page; this was quite difficult to do as the glues I had just didn’t want to hold the stretchy net in place. So I secured it as best I could and then used my heat gun to dry the glue, which happily melted the netting and looked really cool (grin!). Then to ensure the netting would stay in place I covered the whole page with white tissue paper using Liquitex matte gel medium, building up the layers of tissue paper to ensure all the netting was covered; I love all the background texture that the netting and tissue paper created. When the gel medium was dry, I scribbled Watermelon, Guava, Butter Cream, and Caramel Faber-Castell Gelatos onto the page and smudged them with my finger; they blended beautifully on top of the gel medium. I also added some Metallic Icing Faber-Castell Gelato to add contrast, some Abandoned Coral Distress Ink by applying the ink, spritzing with water and letting it run over and down the page and then I splattered the whole page with DecoArt black acrylic paint using a paintbrush. Next I recycled a cardboard tube to stamp circles of Pébéo white gesso and also black Soot Distress Ink onto the page. All the butterflies and flowers are from a birthday card and I fussy cut them out, edged them with Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and arranged them onto the page using glue dots and double-sided tape. To finish, I added the wording “Capture the Magic” using Tim Holtz Label Letters which I mounted onto some of the cream recycled birthday card before sticking them to the page with glue dots; for me this page definitely captures the magic of my birthday!

My birthday celebrations started with lunch at our favourite restaurant Coco’s Soul Food, you may remember it from previous posts (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’ll start by sharing some fizzy drinks that we selected while waiting for our food order, the choice is Passion Fruit, Lychee or Guava – Happy T Day!

You may be surprised to see that I didn’t have my usual Tropical Mango Chicken Salad but Jerk Chicken Enchiladas – so yummy! My hubby had the same and the portion was so big that there was enough for lunch the next day too (grin!).

Then we went on a lovely walk along the River Ribble and back through Avenham Park which was built in the 1860s and is Victorian in style. The day was sunny with some April showers and as the afternoon brought with it happy blue skies we had fun time exploring!

There were great views across the river …

… and of Silver Birch trees …

… and pretty blossoms!

I thought this photo of pretty blossoms would be perfect to enter into the Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot which is hosted by the lovely Wen.

There were quite a few old Victorian bridges on the walk too.

Walking back through the park, there was a Japanese Garden which was a beautiful setting for this old house in the background.

Along the railings that enclosed the garden were over 2000 aluminium eggs decorated by local schools for Easter – amazing!

There was also a wonderful display of daffodils and a waterfall which was a surprising discovery!

As well as pretty pink blossoms which remind me of the colours and flowers on my page.

I’m sure that I will be sharing more birthday treats with you again soon and thank you so much for all the lovely birthday wishes on my blog last week, it really made my day!

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, who is hosting the Recycle and Collage challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the recycled materials that I collaged onto this page including the netting, tissue paper and one of my favourite birthday cards.

As I reused and altered materials to create this page, I’m pleased to join the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Pimp It Up! (reuse or alter something) challenge.

As I created this page to capture the magic of my birthday celebrations, I’m also pleased to be able to join the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Happy Birthday! challenge – wishing you a Happy 9th Birthday too!

With the circles I added to my page, I’m pleased to join a new challenge blog today over at That’s Crafty Challenge and their Going Round in Circles challenge.

This page fits nicely with the Recycle Something challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too where you still have another week to join in the fun, it would be great 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:

• Faber-Castell Gelato (Watermelon, Guava, Butter Cream, Caramel, Metallic Icing)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Abandoned Coral, Black Soot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Dark Sepia B 175)
• Stamp – recycled circular cardboard tube
• Recycled birthday card
• White tissue paper – recycled from gift packaging
• Red netting – recycled from a bag of oranges
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology (Label Letters #TH93072)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Wilko (Sticky Dots)
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Hello Spring!

With sunny days and warmer temperatures, it feels more like spring! My garden definitely looks more spring-like too with the beautiful daffodils and birdsong. So today I’m capturing those happy spring memories on my art journal page.

To start, I applied Mustard Seed Distress Ink concentrating the colour around the edges of the page; I did this by stamping the ink pad to an acrylic block and picking up the ink using a paint brush. Then I sprinkled some Leaf Green Colourfast Brusho powder onto the page and spritzed with water and watched the colours magically explode into life; I did this a few times until the intensity of colour I wanted was achieved. While the background was still wet, I used a stencil to apply Hickory Smoke Distress Ink using a blending tool and I stamped a daffodil tile stamp by Papermania using the Mustard Seed Distress Ink and also black Archival Ink, and also a small Flower & Dot stamp from Magenta using Teal Zeal Memento Ink; I really like the way the inks blended with the other background colours. I added a border of thin washi tape around the edge of the page and also around the wording “Hello Spring!” which I recycled from some junk mail. The pretty birds and daffodils are from a decoupage set which I fussy cut and stuck to the page using double-sided foam tape. The eggs are from an incomplete set of outline stickers from a charity shop (thrift store), which I stuck onto some textured recycled card and stuck to the page using a UHU Stic. To finish, I added some yellow bows which I made using recycled ribbon from a birthday gift.

Here are some of the beautiful daffodils flowering in our garden to welcome spring!

My pottery lamb stopped by to check them out too (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 join the lovely Alison/Craftytrog, who is hosting the Recycle and Collage challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the recycled junk mail, textured card and ribbon that I collaged onto this page!

With the stamping and pretty birds on my page, I’m pleased to join The Birds & the Bees challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Trio of Something challenge with my pretty trio of decoupage bird images (if you look closely you will see the bird sitting on the flowerpot repeated three times on my page) and also my trio of eggs.

I’m also joining the Allsorts Challenge Blog and their New Beginnings challenge as my art journal page depicts the change in seasons, to welcome spring.

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 (Mustard Seed, Hickory Smoke)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Colourcraft Brusho Colour (Leaf Green)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Teal Zeal)
• Papermania wood mounted stamp (39454)
• Magenta wood mounted rubber stamp (Flowers & Dots 23111D)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Recycled junk mail magazine
• Hunkydory Spring is in the Air Designer Decoupage (Garden Birds and Bunny Meadow)
• Recycled textured card
• Outline Stickers (PP570)
• Yellow Ribbon – recycled from present
• The Works (Washi Tape Set)
• Wilko (Sticky Dots)
• UHU Stic
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Happy Easter

As it is Easter this weekend I was inspired to create an art journal page to wish all of you who celebrate – a very Happy Easter!

I started by applying diluted Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink to the page by stamping the pad onto an acrylic block and picking the ink up with a wet paintbrush. Then I sprinkled on some Leaf Green Colourfast Brusho powder and spritzed it with water to watch the colours burst onto the page. I used a stencil by Dutch Doobadoo Masks to add a dot design using Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and a circle design using Mustard Seed Distress Ink. I also added Picked Raspberry Distress Ink using a star stencil from Creative Stencils and then stamped a Script stamp by Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink. Next I edged the page with the Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and a blending tool and splattered the whole page with white and black DecoArt acrylic paint. The eggs and flowers are made from felt and are stuck to the page using a UHU glue pen and glue dots. I drew lines on the page for the stems and then covered them with either strips of black gems or black border Glitterations stickers. I also added some little black flower stickers and the words “smile” and “fun” which are stickers from Sandylion Sticker Designs and stamped some leaves from Hampton Art using black Archival Ink. To finish, I fussy cut a “Happy Easter” banner which I recycled from an advertising leaflet, backed it with white card, edged it with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck it to the page using double-sided tape.

Continuing the Easter theme, here are some of the little chicks and eggs that are adorning my seasonal window (grin!)

There are about 24 chicks adorning the branches – aren’t they cute!

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:

Over at Moo Mania and More the theme is Happy Easter so I’m pleased to join in the fun and wish you all a Happy Easter!

I’m pleased to be able to join the lovely Rosie from Rosie’s Bastelwelt who is hosting the Spring challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my colourful springtime Easter page.

I enjoyed using stamping and stencilling to create this page so I’m also happy to join the Stencils & Masks challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

I’m also joining the Use a stencil and Three Mediums challenge over at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge as I used stencils and at least three mediums which included Distress Inks, Brushos and Acrylic paints to create my Happy Easter page.

I’m also joining the Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday challenge as I used a fun inking technique layering the different Distress Inks using stencils and a blending tool to create my colourful Easter art journal 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 (Spiced Marmalade, Peacock Feathers, Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry)
• Colourcraft Brusho Colours (Leaf Green)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White, Black)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Dutch Doobadoo Dutch Mask Art A5 (Geometric Tiles)
• Creative Stencils Craft Essentials (MAOB0004 – Stars)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Script CS752)
• Hampton Art Bella Blvd cling mounted rubber stamps (Surf & Turf ICO226
• Advertising leaflet
• White card
• Poundland (Design Gems 175751)
• Docrafts Papermania Glitterations Stickers (Black Border ANT8181015)
• Sandylion Sticker Designs Kelly Panacci (Stitches & Borders KSCB102)
• Aldi (Easter Collection Bonnet Accessories 25099751)
• Home Bargains (Decorative Sticks 38352)
• Wilko (Sticky Dots)
• UHU Glue Pen
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Spring

To celebrate spring and the lovely sunshine and warmer temperatures we are having this weekend I created this Spring page.

I started by covering the page with a white and green flower design decoupage paper using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. Then I applied some Bud Green and Moss Spectrum Aqua Marker by scribbling them onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page. Next I used a honeycomb stencil to create lots of depth by layering different coloured Distress Inks and gesso; firstly I used the stencil to add Mowed Lawn and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink using a blending tool, then some Pébéo high density white gesso using a sponge and also a palette knife, and when the gesso had dried I added some Twisted Citron Distress Ink using a blending tool. I hand drew the letters onto some pink/peach design paper, fussy cut them out, coloured them with Blossom, Begonia and Jasmine Spectrum Aqua Markers and applied some white gesso with my finger to mute the colours a little. I created a tree by using a tree stamp onto some brown patterned paper using black Archival Ink, cutting it out and colouring it with Boulder and Desert Spectrum Aqua Markers. It is stuck into place, like the letters, using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium and they are all outlined with a black Derwent Graphik marker once the gel medium was dry. I also die cut some leaves using Garden Greens Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz and my Big Shot machine. They are coloured with the Bud Green and Moss Spectrum Aqua Markers and stuck in place using a Zig Memory System glue pen along with some tiny sequin flowers to add some bling; they are stuck in place using Glossy Accents. For the larger blossoms I stamped the flowers onto some of the pink/peach design paper. They are coloured with the Blossom, Begonia and Jasmine Spectrum Aqua Markers, cut out and stuck onto the page using a UHU Stic. I also applied some white gesso to mute the colour a little and added details with a black Derwent Graphik marker. I stuck some of the blossoms to the letters too, along with some of the green die cut leaves and the little sequin flowers. The birds are stamped onto tissue paper so I could reverse one of the images and then stuck onto some of the pink/peach design paper. They are coloured with Desert and Chestnut Spectrum Aqua Markers and stuck to the page using a UHU Stic. To finish, I added some of the sequin flowers to the background to add more sparkle.

We often go to Cumbria or the Lake District this time of year (for my birthday which is the first week of April – grin!)  and this page reminded me of a tree that we saw in Bowness-on-Windermere in Cumbria last year, isn’t it beautiful!

It sits in parkland on the top of a hill overlooking the lake; this is the view from the bench.

Bowness-on-Windermere is a small town situated on Windermere Lake, it is very popular with tourists and such a lovely place to visit; I have very fond memories of staying here when I was a child on family holidays too.

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 Rosie from Rosie’s Bastelwelt who is hosting the Spring challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

With stamped trees, flowers and birds I’m pleased to join Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their Springtime challenge.

I enjoyed creating this page to join the Stencils & Masks challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

With all the pink/peach sequin flowers and stamped blossoms on my art journal page, I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Floral Frenzy challenge.

I’m also joining the Use a stencil and Three Mediums challenge over at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge as I used a honeycomb stencil and at least three mediums which included Spectrum Aqua marker, white gesso and Distress Inks to create my page.

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

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

• Spectrum Aqua Artist’s Marker (Bud Green, Moss, Boulder, Desert, Chestnut, Blossom, Begonia, Jasmine)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mowed Lawn, Hickory Smoke, Twisted Citron)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Craft Sensations (Clear Stamps 154884)
• Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz (Garden Greens 661206)
• Art Impressions bird wood-mounted rubber stamp (B-2414)
• VivaGade Decoupage Paper (London 25584)
• Poundland Design Paper (Pretty Pastels CRO701/PL1)
• Crafter’s Companion Luxury Designer Paper Pad (Angelica & Adam Collection A&A-PAP6-M)
• Poundland (Assorted Sequins)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic

Winter to Spring

I started this page sometime ago; it’s been sitting on my craft table these past three weeks waiting patiently for me, which is quite ironic given the quote I had chosen to use (grin!).

You may remember we had snow and storms during February/March despite the fact that spring should be just around the corner, which inspired my design.

I started by covering half of the page with a piece of paper depicting snowflakes from a design pad and the other half with a piece of magazine cover depicting cherry blossom, they are stuck into place using a UHU Stic. Then I stamped a star border from Dovecraft and also the “Winter” and “Spring” wording using an alphabet stamp set from Hampton Art and VersaMark Watermark stamp pad which I covered with Stampendous white embossing powder. I shook off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper and also tapped the page to make sure any stray powder was removed. Then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional. Next I added some silver stars to the edges and centre of the page which are outline stickers. For the central image I used the VersaMark ink and white embossing powder again to add blossoms and snowflakes to the opposite sides of a piece of mixed media paper. Then I coloured the paper using Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean Distress Inks with a blending tool. I used my Big Shot to die cut a panel and some round shapes from this paper and also a smaller panel from an American Crafts design pad. I edged them all using the Distress Inks and a blending tool and also a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stamped an Art Deco lady in the centre of the smaller panel using black Archival Ink to represent Mother Nature. I also stamped the quote onto the leftover mixed media paper and cut the words out; they are edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck to the page using a UHU Gluepen. The quote is by Ralph Waldo Emerson and reads “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience”. To finish, I added some silver snowflakes, pink paper blossoms and clear jewel stickers to add some sparkle.

As you can see we didn’t get much snow during the storms. We live right by the sea and I think because of our location, being in a flat part of the country and surrounded on three sides by hills and mountains (Lake District, Pennines and Welsh Mountains) we miss out on the snow as it falls in those places before it gets to us. We found that Storm Emma was the worst thing with very high winds which increased the chill factor – brrrr!

With the cold weather of late and having been unwell with the flu, I have found myself wishing for warmer weather so let’s hope Spring is here soon!

Also I really appreciate all your kindness and get well wishes for my dad who is much better now, thank 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 Rosie from Rosie’s Bastelwelt who is hosting the Spring challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

With the focal images being stamped I’m also happy to be able to join Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their Springtime challenge.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Allsorts Challenge Blog and their Bring on the Bling challenge with my sparkly and blingy art journal page.

With all the pink blossoms on my art journal page, I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Floral Frenzy challenge.

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:

• Tsukeniko VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Dovecraft Studio G Designer Clears Stamps (DCRS86)
• Hampton Art Mini Wood Peg Rubber Stamps (Alphabet Set #1037)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Stampendous Cling Rubber Stamps (Blossom Spray CRP136)
• BoBunny Stamps (Snow Day 13705563)
• Craft Sensations Clear Stamps (CR0274/16PL4)
• Spellbinders Nestabilities (Labels Thirty S5-157, Unknown)
• Old Magazine
• Poundland Design Pad (Pure Frozen CR0701/16PL4)
• Crelando Relief Stickers (12 Sheets IAN289011)
• The Works (Mini Paper Flower Embellishments)
• The Works (Jewel Stickers)
• The Works (Christmas Embellishments)
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers)
• UHU Stic
• UHU Gluepen
• The Range double-sided foam tape