Dream a little dream of me

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge is Inspired by a Song. You have two weeks to join in the fun and there is some amazing inspiration from the Design Team, so please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to take a look.

My art journal page is inspired by the song “Dream a little dream of me” and it depicts the first verse:

Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper “I love you”
Birds singing in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me

I started this page by adding the song title “Dream a little dream of me” by drawing some wavy lines with a pencil and adding the letters free hand. Then I drew over the letters with a black Uni Pin marker using a ruler for the straight edges, and when the ink was dry I rubbed off the pencil markings with an eraser. I then painted the page with Vivid Lime Green, Bright Aqua Green and Neutral Gray Liquitex acrylic paint, graduating the colour so the lime green was in the centre, then adding aqua green and then grey around the edges. Then I created a star burst effect in the centre of the page by applying Pébéo white gesso thinly using a sponge and a homemade template that I made out of card using a stamp from Sugarloaf Inc.

To depict the first line “Stars shining bright above you” I added lots of stars and sparkle. Firstly by removing some of the paint while it was still wet to create the white stars; I did this using a star stencil by Creative Stencils and baby wipe. I used the same stencil to apply the three Liquitex acrylic paints using a palette knife as they are all heavy body Liquitex paints which gave the stars a 3D effect. I also added lots of shiny dots and more stars with the stencil using silver Stickles.

I added the words “I love you” which are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel to depict the second line of the verse and outlined the letters with a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen.

For the third line, I stamped the sycamore leaves from a stamp set by Crafter’s Companion using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and then covered them with silver Papermania embossing powder. I shook and tapped any excess powder off the page and then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder to a glossy finish until it became smooth and dimensional. I also edged the page with the silver embossing powder by dragging the VersaMark Watermark stamp pad over the edges of the page and then repeating the process above. As the heat embossing “resists” the ink I smudged white Uniball gel pen ink with my finger over the embossed leaves to highlight the leaf veins and give the leaves more definition. Then I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush. For my singing birds, I used one of my favourite stamps from Creative Expressions and stamped one of the birds three times onto the page and also onto a piece of Sheet Music. I fussy cut the birds along with some music notes and stuck them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium so they look as though they are singing.

Next I cut some curvy strips of sheet music and stuck them above and under the “Dream a little dream of me” wording using Liquitex matte gel medium. When the gel medium was dry, I edged the wavy lines of sheet music with a black Uni Pin marker. I went over the song title wording with a black Derwent Graphik marker so it stood out more and I highlighted some of the lettering with a white Uni Ball gel pen to give a 3D effect. To finish the page I also used the white gel pen to outline all of the different elements which included: all of the stars to make them shine brightly; the embossed edging and sycamore leaves; the birds and music notes; and also the silver Stickle dots. Adding all this detail with the white gel pen took a long time to complete (grin!).

I had so much fun creating this page as I love this song! There have been many recordings of Dream a little dream of me by different artists and The Mamas & The Papas is my favourite.

Happy Serendipity! – One of my lovely friends at Drivers and Sundry has recently blogged about this song and Cass Elliott from The Mamas and The Papas too, so take a look at her post here.

I also like The Beautiful South version of this song too.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my apple juice and ginger beer (mixed half and half) which I find very refreshing in this hot weather we are having (grin!). I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang too – 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 Bleubeard & Elizabeth at Altered Book Lover, who is hosting the Count your blessings challenge over at Art Journal Journey as so I’m always enjoy listening to music like art journaling it soothes my soul.

As I used sheet music on my page, I’m pleased to join Moo Mania and More and their Sheet Music challenge.

With the silver embossing I used on my page, I’m also joining the How can you resist? challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my Dream a little dream of me inspired Art Journaling and Mixed Media Style page.

As I made my own background for this art journal page with the acrylic paints, I’m pleased to join the Make your own background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday 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:

• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.3mm)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green, Bright Aqua Green, Neutral Gray)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Silver)
• Ranger Stickles (Silver)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Sugarloaf Inc. Anita’s wood mounted stamp
• Creative Stencils Craft Essentials (Stars MAOB0004)
• Crafter’s Companion Signature Collection by Sara Davies (Autumn Morning Rustling Leaves S-AUT-ST-RUS)
• Craft Sensations Clear Stamps (CRO274/16R1)
• Bosworth Violin Studies – Sheet Music
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (kisses & Hugs Silver #ROY790SV)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

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Let your dreams take flight

Inspired by happy summer days in my garden I decided to create this page using my new art supplies and some of my favourite techniques.

I started by heat embossing the background with white embossing powder; I did this by stamping my new seed head stamp from Molly Brown using a VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad. I then covered them with white Stampendous embossing powder, shook off the excess onto a piece of scrap paper and tapped the page to ensure any stray powder was removed. Then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder by sweeping the gun over the stamped images until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional; don’t they look pretty! Then I used a blending tool to add Scattered Straw, Twisted Citron and Blueprint Sketch Distress Inks over the page. I used the same inks to add a honeycomb design using a stencil that I won over at That’s Crafty! to add more depth. As Distress Inks reactivate when water is added, I sprayed the page with water and removed some of the colour with a piece of kitchen towel. I then applied the Scattered Straw, Twisted Citron and Blueprint Sketch Distress Inks using one of my favourite techniques; applying the inks to an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page which created some lovely pools and drips of ink. Then I stamped the same seed head stamp using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and splattered white and black DecoArt acrylic paint over the page using a paintbrush.

Next I collaged the paper elements which are edged with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and stuck in place using double-sided tape. The paper elements included: some paper pieces which I cut from a Kaisercraft paper sheet; a flowery picture from an old magazine; a bird, butterfly and a postcard from a set of Vintage Die Cut Shapes. The two sentiments are from a sticker set by Kaisercraft and they are edged with the Frayed Burlap ink. I chose these sentiments because seed heads remind me dandelions and making wishes as a child, so I was thinking it is important to “Dare to dream” and when you make a wish with a dandelion seed head you “Let your dreams take flight”. To finish, I added some blue enamel dome stickers and a flowery metal embellishment which is secured using a brad.

As you know my favourite colour is blue and this plant in particular was on my shopping list this year (grin!). It’s a Salvia nemorosa called “Blue Marvel” and the bees and insects love it!

The butterflies seem to like this new addition to our garden too; it’s a Scabiosa which has the loveliest pale purple flowers. A frequent visitor, a small blue butterfly called Common Blue has proved difficult to photograph, so I was pleased to find a lovely die cut blue butterfly to add to my art journal page to remember its visits.

As T Stands for Tuesday and its summer, I’m sharing a couple of cooling milkshakes that me and my Sis had at a local café in St. Annes – one is chocolate (my choice – grin!) and the other is banana; they both are made with yummy vanilla icecream!

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 Chris from Pearshapedcrafting, who is hosting the Arts for Art’s Sake challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the heat embossing and Distress Ink techniques I used on this page.

Over at Moo Mania and More the theme is Your Favourite Colours which gave me the perfect excuse to use blue again, thank you!

I’m also joining in the fun over at the That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog and their A Summer’s Day Challenge with my summery art journal page – thanks so much for the fabulous stencils!

As this page reminds me of my garden with the summery colours, flowers, butterflies and birds, I’m also pleased to be able to join the In The Summer Garden challenge over at Country View Challenges.

I’m happy to also join Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my summery art journal page.

With birds and butterflies, this page is also perfect for the Things with Wings challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, where there is still another week to join in the fun – I hope 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:

• Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Ink Pad)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Twisted Citron, Blueprint Sketch, Hickory Smoke, Frayed Burlap)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White, Black)
• Molly Brown Rubberstamps (MB-0079E)
• That’s Crafty! Dinky Stamps (Reverse Honeycomb TC031)
• Kaisercraft Porcelain Rose Collection 12×12 Paper (Dearest P1163)
• Old Magazine
• Kaisercraft Sticker Set (Fly Free SS289)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Vintage Die Cut Shapes)
• Docrafts Papermania Stickers (Enamel Shapes – Denium Blue Domes PMA3560011)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Metal Decorations)
• Stix 2 Double-sided tape

Hope is a waking dream

I was inspired to create this page for the “Poetry in Motion” theme that I’m hosting at Art Journal Journey using my favourite colours, some pretty dream catchers and a wonderful quote by Aristotle:

“Hope is a waking dream”

I started by stencilling feather shapes using a grey Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker and London Fog Memento Ink with a blending tool. Then I added large splatters of pastel blue and green acrylic paints and also small splatters of black acrylic paint using a paint brush, letting each colour dry before applying the next. The silver feathers, small dots and diamond-shaped border are stickers by The Range and they are arranged on the background with strands of plasterboard/drywall tape that were left over from a previous project. To make the tags, I used three different sized tags by Docrafts Papermania and Poundland which I covered in layers of white, pastel blue and green acrylic paints using a brayer. Next I sprinkled the tags with a small amount of Ultramarine Colourcraft Brusho Crystal powder and spritzed it with water and just watched the magic as the colours burst into life. Then I added fine splatters of black acrylic paint to the tags using a paintbrush. Once the tags had fully dried, I used the same set of stickers by The Range to add the silver dream catcher and star images and I also added some sparkly hearts from Home Bargains and pale green paper flowers from Poundland using Ranger Glossy Accents. I outlined the holes of the tags using a silver metallic pen and then used double-sided foam tape to stick them to the page. The leaf is from The Handmade Paper Company and is dyed using the pastel green acrylic paint, I then placed it behind the small tag in the middle of the page using Glossy Accents. I made the sentiment using paper from a Design Pad by Craft Sensations and rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel, it is edged with a black Sharpie marker and stuck to the page using double-sided foam tape. Next I added a couple of larger pale green paper flowers using Glossy Accents which tied everything together and finished the page.

I’m also pleased to join the “Blues and Greens” theme over at Country View Challenge.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a glass of water that I had at the hairdressers last week, it was served in the most amazing glass so I quickly took a picture to share with the T Gang – Happy T day! I think it looks a bit like a totem pole carving, what about you?

I’ve been overwhelmed with the participation and support shown for my theme over at Art Journal Journey, thank you! There are still a few days left to join in the fun by creating a page inspired by a poem, saying or quote. I hope 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:

• Aldi Script (Ready Mixed Paint – Pastels)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Colourcraft Brusho Colours (Ultra Marine)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (London Fog)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Script Metallic Pen (Silver)
• Brayer Ranger (Small 2¼ inches)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Tags (Elements- Wood PMA 174318)
• Poundland (Die Cut Tags 117106)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Glory 154878)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Sentiments (Positive Quotes #ROY-554 Rub-on)
• The Handmade Paper Company (Nature’s Touch Art)
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Poundland (Gem Florettes 117128)
• 151 Adhesives Plasterboard & Drywall Tape
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• The Range double-sided foam tape

The Possibilities are Endless

I hope you’re all enjoying this month’s theme “Poetry in Motion” over at Art Journal Journey.  Today I have created a steampunk page using leftover materials from previous projects to depict “Dream, hope, believe … and the possibilities are endless”.

I started by applying the inks onto the page, which were leftover from a 21^st birthday card that I had made; this involved dripping the remaining diluted blue Distress Ink from an acrylic block onto the page and letting it dry, then applying the leftover black Distress Ink that was on my blending tool using a Viva Décor stencil that I had also used for the card. As you can see, I moved the stencil around the page to produce a lovely shaded effect as the leftover ink was gradually used up. I then added leftover letters from a set of rub-on transfers by Letraset to give a grunge look to the page. Next I stamped three frames, some postal marks and texture stamps by The Works and a key image by Royal & Langnickel using black Archival Ink. To start my sentiment I added the words “dream; hope; believe” which are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel. I stamped the rest of the sentiment onto a piece of white tissue paper using black Archival Ink and stuck it onto the tag using a UHU Stic. The tag was also leftover from a previous project; I had stamped a Kaisercraft Script stamp using black Archival Ink over the whole tag, edged it with Tea Dye Distress Ink, drawn a stitched look border using a black Uni Pin marker and tied on some paper twine which I distressed using the same Tea Dye ink. I also stamped the texture and key stamps onto the tag so it matched the page background. I outlined the edges of the tissue paper and the letters on the tag with a white Uniball gel pen and stuck it to the page using double-sided foam tape. Then I used the Royal & Langnickel rub-on transfers again to add the “dream; hope; believe” definitions around the sides of the page. To finish, I sourced three postage stamps from my hubby’s childhood stamp collection that tied into the steampunk feel. They are all from Great Britain and I placed them inside the stamped frames using double-sided foam tape.

Here’s the 21^st Birthday card that I made for one of my godsons, like my page it has a steampunk feel to it. I find like many of my projects that I had some bits and pieces left over, so I was inspired to create a page from leftovers to demonstrate that the possibilities are endless!

I hope you also think that the possibilities are endless for this month’s theme “Poetry in Motion” over at Art Journal Journey. I’m so looking forward to visiting you and seeing your creations. 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 (Black Soot, Peacock Feathers, Tea Dye)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• The Works clear stamps (CRO274/TW3)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Journey MIN-CCS104)
• Viva Décor Universal Stencil (Past Times 9002 703 00)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Dovecraft lower case alphabet stamp set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• White tissue paper
• Hobbycraft (Kraft Medium Luggage Tag 5776581000)
• Letraset Transfer (Helvetica Bold Condensed 5mm RDC0251)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on sentiments (Motivate Sentiments #ROY510 RUB-ON)
• Postage stamps (Great Britain 1972, 1975)
• Wilko (10m Paper Twine 0314169)
• UHU Stic
• The Range Double-sided foam tape

Dream

I had so much fun creating this page for the “Letters or Numbers or Both” theme over at Try it on Tuesday and the “Circles” theme over at Art Journal Journey. I chose the word “dream”, the grunge design and some of the colours from a sign that adorns my craft room wall.

This grunge look took sometime to create and it started with a mop up background of Red Cherry and Passion Fruit gelatos which I covered in a thin layer of white gesso to tone down the colours a little. I stencilled the clock and some numbers using two stencils by Craft Sensations and black Versafine Ink with a blending tool; I wasn’t very careful in applying the ink and didn’t mind the splodges of ink that formed around the edge of the stencil as it added to the grunge look. I applied black Papermania embossing powder over the top of the ink and then shook the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper tapping the page against the table to make sure I’ve removed any stray powder. Once the excess powder was safely returned to its container, I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder. I swept the gun over the images, taking care not to direct the heat in one area for too long until the embossing powder changed to a glossy finish becoming smooth and dimensional. Next I scribbled a Coconut Faber-Catell Gelato onto the page and I dipped my finger into some water and rubbed the gelato to smudge the colour. I removed the gelato that had gone over the embossed images straight away with a piece of kitchen towel returning them to a glossy finish. I added some small leftover pieces of torn black and white polka dot washi tape to the page and then I applied Pébéo modelling paste through a Shabby Harlequin stencil by Creative Expressions.

Once the paste had dried I used Dark Sepia, Sanguine and Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush markers to add more colour to the modelling paste and the background; I did this by scribbling each marker onto an acrylic block, spritzing the block with water and then pressing and dragging it across the page. I then painted some white gesso onto the page using my finger. I applied a Snow Cone blue gelato to the pieces of washi tape and to the top of the modelling paste which highlighted the texture and shape wonderfully. Then I used the Dark Sepia marker to outline the stencilled shapes.

I drew the larger circles and shaded them using the blue gelato and edged them with white and black Uni Posca paint pens. I used the blue gelato again to add the smaller circles using a Dutch Doobadoo mask and when it had dried I added some detail to the edges using the Uni Posca paint pens.  I used black Versafine ink to stencil cog shapes using a Viva Décor stencil and also stamp a circular postage mark using a stamp from The Works. Then I stamped a Kaisercraft Script stamp using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. To add more depth of colour to the clock, cogs, circles and background around the modelling paste, I used Gold, Fawn, Desert and Chestnut Spectrum Aqua Markers by applying the ink to an acrylic block and using a wet paintbrush to pick up the ink and apply it to the page.

To finish, I added some circular and small cog shaped sequins using Glossy Accents, some 3D butterfly stickers from The Range and the letter buttons from Home Bargains to add the word “dream”.

Here’s the sign that is on the wall of my craft room, I love the sentiments it contains and to me it’s a wonderful reminder of how to live and enjoy life to the full! As you can see the design is a bit worn and grungy just like my page (grin!).

I often listen to music while I’m crafting and when I created this page a particular song by Elvis, called “If I Can Dream”, caught my imagination. Here’s a link to Elvis singing this song as part of his famous 1968 Black Leather Comeback Show – I love the lyrics:

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
• Tsukineko Versafine Ink (Onyx Black)
• Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Coconut, Snow Cone)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B, Sanguine 188 B, Cold Grey IV 233)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Gold, Fawn, Desert, Chestnut)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White, Black)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black PMA4021006)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste (High Density)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Script CS752)
• The Works (Clear Stamps CR0274/TW3)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencils (Shabby Harlequin CEMSHARL)
• Duth Doobadoo Mask Art A5 (Geometric Tiles)
• Viva Décor Universal Stencil (Past Times 900270300)
• Poundland (Washi Tape)
• The Range (Craft Stickers ST5256)
• Home bargains Love Letters (Self Adhesive Letters 22738)
• Poundland (Assorted Sequins)
• Ranger Glossy Accents