Gift It … for Simon Says Stamp

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Let's Art Journal

Hi everyone!

I’m really enjoying my time in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

This week the theme is Gift It.

I’ve made packs of note cards for my friends, but you could also make a gift tag, gift bag or even wrapping paper etc.

I created two packs of note cards; these gift sets consist of a pink or blue wallet containing two note card designs with matching envelopes. If you are interested to find out how I made everything, the details are below.

For the note cards, I started by cutting a panel out of white cardstock slightly smaller than 6×4 inch to fit my blank cards using my Fiskars paper trimmer. Then for the first design I stamped the circles from the Altenew Halftone Circles Stamp Set using Picked Raspberry, Mermaid Lagoon and Mustard Seed Distress Ink onto the panels. The sentiment is from the same stamp set and stamped using black Ranger Archival Ink.

Next I die cut a flower from white card stock using Tim Holtz Sizzix Garden Greens Thinlets and my Big Shot machine, then I stuck the flower in place using a Zig glue pen. When the glue was dry, I outlined the flower with a black fine line marker to make it stand out more.

For the second note card design I followed the same process but I used Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks for the circle stamping, one of the other sentiments from the same stamp set and also a different flower thinlet.

To finish, I edged the panels using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then I stuck each panel onto a blank card that I also made from the white card stock, using double-sided tape.

As these note cards are a gift I also created a wallet to present them in. The wallets are made from either Simon Says Stamp Cornflower Blue or Cotton Candy card stock which I scored to create fold lines on my Fiskars paper trimmer using a scoring tool.

I adorned them using the same stamp set and inks and die cuts but rather than repeating the card design, I created the die cut flowers out of white cardstock stamped using the circle stamps and Distress Inks, stuck them to the front of the wallet and outlined them so they stood out more. I then I stamped the sentiment using the black Archival Ink.

I inserted the card into the wallets with the matching envelopes – I hope my friends like them (grin!).

As I included bursts of colour as part of my gift set design, I’m also pleased to join Stamps and Stencils and their Remember, Remember 5th November challenge too.

I enjoyed making these gift sets and I hope that you will be inspired to join the Gift It challenge too! For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a $50 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! and one lucky participant will be randomly drawn to win this voucher. How amazing is that! Good Luck to everyone!

As this is my last week in the Designer Spotlight this month with Simon Says Stamp, I’d like to thank everyone for all your kind comments and support throughout the month and also say a special thank you to Simon Says Stamp for giving me the opportunity to design for them; I’ve had the most wonderful time!

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

Here is a list of the materials over at Simon Says Stamp that were used to create this art journal page:

Let It Snow … for Simon Says Stamp

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Let's Art Journal

Hi everyone! It’s lovely to be in the Designer Spotlight over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this month. Thank you for all your kind comments and support last week!

This week the theme is Let It Snow.

I was inspired by Simon Says Stamp (SSS) Frozen Fractals and Tim Holtz Urban Tapestry stamp sets to create a mixed media panel that could be made into a card or in this case used as the centre piece for my art journal page.

To create the panel, I started by cutting a piece of mixed media paper to A5 size, and then I stamped the pretty white snowflakes using the SSS Frozen Fractals stamp set, Versamark Watermark ink and white Stampendous embossing powder. I coloured it using Milled Lavender, Chipped Sapphire and Salty Ocean Distress Ink by spritzing the panel with water then applying the inks. The bird and foliage are from the Urban Tapestry stamp set and they are stamped using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink and a brown Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

Next I created the die cut ivy and berries using Tim Holtz Sizzix Garden Greens Thinlets, white cardstock and two different blue shades of vellum.

The ivy is coloured using Moss, Leaf Green, Bud Green and Chocolate Spectrum Aqua Markers and detailed using a black fine line marker. I layered the coloured ivy leaves and vellum berries over the white die cut pieces, so they were slightly off centre making the white cardstock look like a coating of snow.

To continue the snowy theme, I doodled snow onto the branch and foliage using a white Uniball gel pen. To finish the panel, I embellished it with SSS Frozen Fractals sequins and added some Icicle Stickles to add some sparkle to both the centre of the sequins and the die cut berries.

As I wanted to use the panel as the centre piece for my art journal page, I also created a wood effect background. Firstly I applied a thin wash of Ground Espresso Distress Ink to the page using a paintbrush and then I used the same ink to stamp snowflakes using the SSS Frozen Fractals stamp set again. I also used a blending tool to stencil the Ground Espresso ink using a Mini Specimen Template by The Crafter’s Workshop. Then I sprinkled Dark Brown and Sandstone Brusho powders onto the page and applied glossy gel medium over the top using a paintbrush, making sure I dragged the paintbrush vertically down the page to create the wood grain effect.

I mounted the panel onto the page using double-sided tape and added the wording, some more die cut berries, SSS Frozen Fractals Sequins and Icicle Stickles, which finished the page.

This page reminds me of Christmas a few years ago and the lovely woodland walk that we went on with my family; as you can see I was very happy to see the snow!

What could be better than a steaming cup of hot chocolate to warm you up after a walk in the snow – I’m wishing the T Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday a very Happy T Day !

I enjoyed creating my art journal page for the Let it Snow challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

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 Art Journal Journey and the lovely Erika for her Vintage or Modern challenge this month with my Let it snow page.

I’m also joining Moo Mania & More and their Tic, Tac, Toe theme (Designer Paper – vellum, Die-Cut – foliage, Circles – sequins and stencilling).

Here is a list of the materials over at Simon Says Stamp that were used to create this art journal page:

Friends and Family

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Let's Art Journal

Its time for a new challenge over at Try it On Tuesday and our theme for the next two weeks, is Friends and Family.

You’ll find some beautiful inspiration from my Design Team teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too. My art journal page today celebrate Friends, Family and Life – I hope you like it!

I started by stencilling the background of leaves using a Falling Leaves stencil from Newton’s Nook and six different colours of Distress Ink. I blended and shaded the colours so that the Vintage Photo and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink were around the edges of the page, then as I worked towards the centre I added Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and finally finished with Mustard Seed Distress Ink in the centre of the page. I also positioned the stencil so that the larger leaves were around the outside of the page and the smaller leaves were in the centre. Then I stamped a maple leaf stamp and oak leaf stamp from Tim Holtz Autumn Blueprints stamp set onto the page using black Archival Ink. I coloured the leaves and also the leaf names using the Seedless Preserve, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed Distress Ink with a paintbrush. Then I shaded under the bottom edge of each leaf using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to give them a shadow so they had a 3D look. Next I added some Tim Holtz Small Talk stickers which read “let life surprise you”, “live your life” and “life is good”. I drew boxes and arrows around them to match the blueprint design of the leaves using a black Derwent Graphik marker. The large sentiment which reads “Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful” is a Pocket Card from Tim Holtz and is stuck to the page using double-sided foam tape. I also added the words “Thankful”, “Friends” and “Family” using Tim Holtz Letter Labels and used the Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to add a shadow under them which finished the page.

The bands and shades of colour on my page reminds me of the beautiful mat that our forever friend’s bought us for our wedding anniversary present; it travelled back from America with us and now sits in my hallway at the bottom of the stairs. It is such a happy reminder of the time we spent with them (grin!).

On our wedding anniversary we also had an amazing Maine lobster dinner at their house too, which was so delicious!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and sharing our drinks, red wine, iced water or a beer which as you can see is served in my special Red Sox Beer cooler (grin!) – 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 Erika from BioArtGal, who is hosting the Vintage or Modern challenge over at Art Journal Journey as this page celebrates happy memories with friends and family!

As I incorporate squares into the design of this page with the frames of colour from the stencilled background, stamped Autumn BluePrint leaf images and also the sentiments, I’m pleased to join the Square It challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Thanks/Thanksgiving challenge with my art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join the November Link Party #45 – Anything Goes over at Cropstop Blog with my page of fall leaves too.

Don’t forget that over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge the theme is Thanks/Thanksgiving this week, 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 (Vintage Photo, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
Newton’s Nook Designs Purr-fect Stencil (Falling Leaves NN1709T01)
Tim Holtz Collection Stamper’s Anonymous (Autumn Blueprint CMS133)
Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193, Label Letters #TH93072)
The Range double-sided foam tape

Thanks/Thanksgiving … for Simon Says Stamp

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Let's Art Journal

Hi everyone!

I am enjoying being in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thanks so much for all your kind comments and support last week!

This week the theme is Thanks/Thanksgiving.

My art journal page was inspired by my recent holiday/vacation to America. We went to Maine to stay with our dearest friends so I included the spectacular fall colours that we saw and also the words “count your blessings” as this holiday gave me so much to be thankful for (grin!).

I started by creating a page of fall colour using Tim Holtz Leaf Prints stamp set and eleven different colours of Memento Ink.

It was fun stamping and layering all the leaves and it’s a lovely reminder of the fall colours that we saw on our holiday too. I also covered the maple leaves that I had stamped using the Love Letter and Potter’s Clay Memento Inks with Ranger Glossy Accents to add some lovely shine.

For the bunting, I cut some rectangles of Simon Says Stamp Cream Card stock and Tim Holtz paper.

I created the bottom of the bunting by drawing and then cutting a V shape, then I layered them together with some letters die cut from Authentique paper and stuck them together using a Zig Glue Pen.

They are arranged and stuck in place with glue dots over a piece of Tim Holtz idea-ology paper string which I stuck to the page using the Glossy Accents. Then to finish, I added a couple of gumdrop gems.

I always count my blessings especially this time of year; I have so much to be thankful for (grin!) and I’m wishing those of you who celebrate a Happy Thanksgiving!

I thought you may like to see some of the fall colours from my holiday that inspired my page when we stayed with our friends.

Here’s one of the beautiful views of the fall trees and the rusty ferns that we saw whilst walking in the woodland around the lake house where we stayed …

… and of course I had to included this photo of the fall colours around the lake – I don’t think I will ever tire of their amazing reflections (grin!).

I enjoyed creating my art journal page for the Thanks/Thanksgiving challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday 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 the materials over at Simon Says Stamp that were used to create this art journal page:

Make your own background … for Simon Says Stamp

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Let's Art Journal

Hi everyone! I am so delighted and honoured to be in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

This week the theme is Make Your Own Background.

As it is the first Monday of the month Simon Says Stamp are featuring Carabelle Studios Products, so I had fun using some of their products to create this art journal page and you’ll find the details of how I created this page below.

I had fun making my own background and to start I added some pieces of torn dictionary pages to add some interest. Then I spritzed the page with water and applied three Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints (paint colours were No.34, No.64 and No.139) using a paintbrush.

Next I applied some white gesso using my finger and then I used a Carabelle Studio stencil, called Sur Fond De Mosaïque, to add Picked Raspberry and also Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink using a blending tool. I added more of the same watercolour paints to further define the edges of the colours and to finish my background, I stamped a Carabelle Studio stamp, called Background Avec Des Lettres, using black Archival Ink.

For the flowers, I stamped the Carabelle Studio Fleurs Dalex Cling Stamp Set using black Archival Ink onto white cardstock.

I coloured them using Spectrum Aqua Markers which I blended with a wet paintbrush; the colours were Yellow, Gold, Sunflower, Bud Green and Leaf Green. Then I cut them out which took some time (grin!).

I also used the same white cardstock to create the Inspire wording, which I drew using some magazine letters as a template, cut out and coloured using the yellow shades of Spectrum Aqua Markers and a white Uni Posca Paint Pen creating an ombré effect.

The flowers, wording and “Channel your inner Picasso” are edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen and a black fine line marker, and then they are stuck into place using a Zig Glue Pen. To finish, I coloured the stamens of the flowers using a white Uni Posca Paint Pen and then outlined them with the black fine line marker.

I had such fun creating my page for this challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration check out the amazing creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge (grin!).

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

Here is a list of the materials over at Simon Says Stamp that were used to create this art journal page:

Thankful

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Let's Art Journal

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday and our theme for the next two weeks is Thankful.

This could be a thank you card, harvest festival, Thanksgiving or anything that you are thankful for. For more inspiration please take a look at the amazing creations from my Design Team teamies over at Try it on Tuesday.

I’m so thankful to have spent time with our forever friends in Maine and this page was inspired by the beautiful autumnal displays, flowers and birds that I saw in my friend’s garden/yard celebrating Fall and giving thanks to the season – I hope you like it!

To create the background, I stamped most of the stamps from the Bella Rossi stamp set by Prima Marketing onto the page using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, a script stamp by Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink and a leaf stamp from Crafter’s Companion using Antique Linen, Old Paper and Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I splattered the page with Morocco Memento Ink, by stamping the pad directly onto an acrylic block and using a wet paintbrush to flick the ink onto the page. To dull down the Vintage Photo leaves that I had stamped I covered them with white gesso using a wet wipe blending the colour across the page so it gave it an aged look. I used some washi tape that I had bought on my holiday, for the letters; it had the word “thankful” repeated on it so I cut and placed the individual letters onto the page, which finished the background. Next I cut out two pumpkins from some pumpkin beer packaging that I brought home with me and stuck them in place using a glue stick. They are arranged and layered with some square autumnal images which I cut from a sheet of Autumn design paper by Graphic 45 and also some autumnal leaves and pretty birds which are from a decoupage set by Docrafts. All the pieces are edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck in place using either double-sided tape or double-sided foam tape. To finish, I curled the leaves to give more of a 3-D look.

Here is the beautiful Fall welcome that greeted us at my friend’s house (grin!).

There were two pumpkins so I used two on my page.

Their garden/yard is filled with wonderful ornaments, flowers and happiness; this area housed bird feeders and bird boxes and could be seen from the kitchen window …

…which meant we saw some amazing birds; this included black-capped chickadees like the one above, tufted titmouse, yellow-bellied sapsuckers and white-breasted nuthatches. So of course I added birds to my page (grin!).

The yellow flowers and fall colours in their garden were also spectacular so these are included on my page too – Happy Autumn!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing the fridge full of beer including the pumpkin beer which was in the box that the pumpkins on my page were cut from. You can find them on the middle shelf and this particular pumpkin beer is from Smuttynose Brewery. We were most impressed that they had a beer fridge and as you can see we had quite a selection of beers to chose from – cheers and 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 Linda from heARTfullyinspiredby Linda, who is hosting the Creature Comforts challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the warm autumnal colours that I used to create this page.

Over at Moo Mania and More the theme is Autumn so I’m pleased to join their challenge with my Fall celebration page.

Inspired by my freind’s garden and fall displays, I’m also joining the Autumn Splendour challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my Art Journalling and Mixed Media Style page.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Take Flight challenge with the birds on my art journal page, one of which has taken flight (grin!).

I’m pleased to be able to join the Plant-tastic challenge over at Country View Challenges with the autumnal flowers and leaves on my page.

The challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday is Give Thanks! so I’m joining them too with my Thankful art journal page.

Over at Stamps and Stencils their challenge is Spooky Fun with an Autumnal Twist so I’m happy to join them with my autumnal 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 (Hickory Smoke, Antique Linen, Old Paper, Vintage Photo)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Tsukineko Memento Ink (Morroco)
Pébéo White Gesso
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
Prima Marketing clear stamps (Bella Rossi #587499)
Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
Crafter’s Companion Clear Stamps Autumn Morning Signature Collection by Sara Davies (Rustling Leaves S-AUT-ST-RUS)
Washi Tape
Recycled Packaging from a box of Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale
Graphic 45 Paper 12×12 sheet (Autumn Collective #4501622)
Docrafts Anita’s Foiled Decoupage (Autumn Birds ANT169593)
Pritt Stick
Stix2 double-sided tape
The Range double-sided foam tape

Fall Colours

Posted on October 19, 2018 by Let's Art Journal

My art journal page today is inspired by our recent holiday/vacation to America where we stayed with friends at their lake house in Maine. We had the most amazing time and as you can imagine I have returned from my holiday with new crafting goodies and lots and lots of inspiration, so here’s my first page – I hope you like it.

For the background I applied a thin wash of Salty Ocean Distress Ink by stamping the ink pad directly onto an acrylic block, spritzing the ink with water and using a paint brush to apply it onto the page. Next I layered a beautiful Tree Poem stamp from Stampendous over the page using different colours of Distress Ink to depict the fall colours that we saw on our vacation; the Inks I used were Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Seedless Preserves and Vintage Photo. The “who”, “what”, “where” cards are created from a 3.25 x 5.25 inch card from a Tim Holtz idea-ology Pocket Cards set that I bought whilst on vacation; I cut it into three individual cards and rounded the corners with scissors so they all looked alike. I added the words to each of the cards using a Zig glue pen and the cards are stuck in place using double-sided tape. For “who” card, I added our friends and our first initials and the date we visited them; these are cut from a card from the same Tim Holtz card set and coloured using a Burgundy Spectrum Aqua Marker. For the other two cards I chose words from a tourist magazine that related to our visit, this included “Lakes” as we actually stayed at our friend’s Lake House, “Crafty Creations” to relate to crafting and craft beers, “Lobster Love” as Maine lobster is amazing, “In Nature” as we did lots of walking and hiking, “Go Coastal” as we visited some local beaches, “Mountains” where we went to see the magnificent fall colours and “After Dark” as we had fun in the evenings going out, meeting people or watching Baseball or American Football in the evening. For the “where”, as we stayed in Maine and their slogan is “The way life should be” I thought it would be fun to include this wording on the card as we so enjoyed living the lake life with our friends so much. These cards are arranged on the page with some dried and pressed leaves from our friends local area and also an American flag and red heart that Erika kindly gifted me when I met up with her on our visit. The small red and yellow maple leaf is very special as my friend picked it out and gave it to me; all the leaves are stuck in place using wood glue giving them a lovely shine and suppleness.

We stayed in Maine at our friends lake house, isn’t it spectacular!

We woke up to this spectacular view every morning …

… and watched the fall colours develop and change while we were there, which was amazing (grin!).

Here are the trees that inspired the background for my page – the fall colours on the lake looked so stunning, especially with those beautiful reflections!

I’m sure I’ll be creating more art journal pages of our trip as we made so many happy memories with our friends and that means I’ll also be sharing more photos from our holiday 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:

Over at Moo Mania and More the theme is Autumn so I’m pleased to join their challenge with my Fall Colours page.

Inspired by my vacation, I’m also joining the Autumn Splendour challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my Art Journalling Style page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Plant-tastic challenge over at Country View Challenges with the autumnal trees and leaves on my page.

With my inky autumnal stamped page, I’m also joining the Inktober challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

I’m joining in the fun over at Stamps and Stencils and their Spooky Fun with an Autumnal Twist challenge with my mixed media autumnal page.

As the challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps is Anything Goes challenge, I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge too with my vacation inspired 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 (Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Seedless Preserves, Vintage Photo)
Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Burgundy)
Stampendous Cling Rubber Stamp (Tree Poem CRR164)
Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
Tourist Magazine
American flag and red heart button from Erika – thank you!
Zig Memory System Dual Action Glue Pen
Evo-Stik Wood Adhesive
Stix2 double-sided tape

Let's Art Journal

Expressing life through endless creativity in words and pictures

Tag Archives: Distress Ink

Gift It … for Simon Says Stamp

Let It Snow … for Simon Says Stamp

Friends and Family

Thanks/Thanksgiving … for Simon Says Stamp

Make your own background … for Simon Says Stamp

Thankful

Fall Colours