Every heart sings a song

I created this shabby chic vintage page in my mini art journal to join a few of my favourite challenges and, with the birds that I included, to also remind you that there is still another week to join our Feathered Friends challenge over at Try it on Tuesday.

For the background, I cut a piece of Kraft Card and ran it through a Tim Holtz Botanicals embossing folder. Then I stuck it onto the page with a panel of wildflower design paper using Liquitex matte gel medium. I applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top of the papers using my finger paying attention to highlight the embossed texture. When dry, I edged the page with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger. Then I added a piece of lace using double-sided tape between the two panels. I used a Garden Greens Thinlits set from Tim Holtz to die cut the foliage from some leftover mixed media paper that I had coloured with Mowed Lawn, Peeled Painted and Pine Needles Distress Inks. They were arranged onto the page with some white flowers and birds which were fussy cut from Kaisercraft stickers. To finish, I added the beautiful quote by “Plato” which was a Kaisercraft sticker that I cut to fit the page and edged with a Dark Sepia Big Brush Faber-Castell marker; it reads “Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back”.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my cuppa with a home-made Skinny Lemon and Blueberry cupcake; they are a very yummy summer treat – wishing you all a Happy T Day!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well! x

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

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

• Docrafts Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
• Kraft Cardstock
• Sizzix 3D Texture Fades A6 Tim Holtz Alterations (Botanicals 662716)
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia)
• Dovecraft Creative Ribbon Sweet Paris (Lace DCCR24)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Garden Greens 661206)
• Leftover mixed media paper coloured green with Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Pine Needles Distress Inks
• Home Bargains Special Occasions (Mini White Flowers)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheets (Cherry Tree Lane SS329, Pen & Ink SS360)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Alison from Words & Pictures; she has chosen Summer Countryside as her theme so I’m joining with my mini art journal page design with the summer botanicals, wildflowers, foliage and birds. Funkie and Frilly challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog with my design the embossed background, flowers and lace that I used on this shabby chic vintage page. Out With The Old And In With The New challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge; the old being the embossing folder, thinlits set, leftover coloured papers and flowers, and the new being the wildflower paper, birds, and lace. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #148 – Anything Goes with my pretty mini art journal page. LTSCB #147 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my botanical page.

T Day – 8th Anniversary

Today’s page celebrates the 8th Anniversary of T Stands for Tuesday, where our wonderful hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth ask us to share a drink related post each week.

I always have fun meeting up with the T Gang each Tuesday, thanks so much to our hosts and everyone for making it such a friendly and happy place – Happy T Day!

I started by covering the background with white gesso and leaving it to dry. Then I added Passion Fruit Faber-Castell Gelato to the page in small horizontal lines and used a baby wipe to smudge the colour over the page. I repeated the same technique using Red Cherry Faber-Castell Gelato and then I painted some white acrylic paint over the top.

For the tags, I created a masterboard using some mixed media paper which I coloured with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink. Then I stamped and stencilled the number 8 over it using lots of different stamp sets and stencils. The tags were die cut using Tim Holtz Tag Collection Framelits and layered onto the page with the flowers and wording. All the white cardstock was recycled from an old anniversary card along with the fussy cut champagne flutes and “anniversary” wording; they were edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place. The rest of the silver wording was die cut, using an Alphanumeric Label Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and the number 8 using a X-Cut die set, from some recycled card packaging. All the flowers were die cut using a Small Tattered Florals Thinlits set from Tim Holtz from the recycled white card, some red and pink linen textured cardstock and some of the masterboard that I created; they were layered together using gel medium and finished with gemstone centres.

I thought a glass of this ice cold pink prosecco, that you may remember from my birthday, fits the bill for our celebration and would be perfect served in the champagne glasses on my page – cheers and Happy 8th Anniversary this T Day!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Passion Fruit, Red Cherry)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media Paper
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Aged Mahogany)
• Number 8 Stamps – Papermania (Alphamania PMA9071102), Docrafts Creative Essentials A5 stamp set (Folk Alphabet, Script Alphabet, Alpha Trad), Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Grunge Alphabet CMC008, Documented CMS226), Kaisercraft (Provincial CS243), Craft Sensations (Clear Stamps CR0274/19A1)
• Number 8 Stencils – Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892, 2 Piece Stencil Set – letters and numbers)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Recycled Anniversary Card
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Cold Grey)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Pritt Stick
• Recycled silver metallic packaging
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Textured Finish)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Alphanumeric Label 664177, Small Tattered Florals 661806)
• Docrafts X-Cut Die Set (Folk Alphabet)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Docrafts Papermania (Adhesive Stones – Red)
• Hobbycraft (Rose Gem Stones)
• Mark Richards (Silver Metal Style #1981)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #148 – Anything Goes with my journal page. LTSCB #147 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my celebration page. MIUCB #51 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Aperture challenge at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the different techniques I used to create this page too.

Here comes Summer

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Here comes Summer.

I created a page full of summer sunshine – I hope you’re inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by stencilling the sunbursts over the page using a stencil from Marianne Designs and some Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber and Scattered Straw Distress Inks. Next I painted some Salty Ocean Distress Ink in-between each of the sun rays to create blue skies and then I splattered the page with the same blue ink and also some Mustard Seed Distress Ink. I added the black wording to the background using some rub-on transfers and to finish, I layered together some black and yellow paper to frame the beach notecard which reads “Seagulls on the ocean breeze, sandpipers and shimmering seas … the best of days are made of these”.

As you may remember I’m trying to use up leftovers on my pages this year and I’ve been meaning to use this notecard on a page for a while now, it was leftover from a pack that I used to notify people of our change of address when we moved here, by the sea, many years ago (grin!).

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Here comes Summer creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, today I’m sharing my hubby’s summer mug that reminded me of my page and also the beach where we live – wishing you a Happy T Day!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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 that were used to create this art journal page:

• Marianne Designs Craft Stencil A4 (Slimline Sunburst PS8080)
• Tim Holtz Distress (Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, Scattered Straw, Salty Ocean)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Summer Sentiments)
• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper Pad
• Cape Shore Notecard
• X-Press It! double-sided tape

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #146 – Anything Goes with my summer art journal page. Love to Scrap Challenge Blog and their No Rulz 4! theme where their are no rules and you can create anything, so I’m joining in the summer sunshine page. LTCCB #59 – June Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my fun summer page too.

Wonkey Donkey

Last weeks beer brewing post and the donkeys that are now back on the beach inspired this fun beer page (grin!).

As I’m still in recycling mode, I created this page using an old Beer Festival Programme, a poster and a fun Wonky Donkey hand pump clip; this was a lovely reminder of the local Beer Festival that we normally volunteer at every year, but of course, for obvious reasons, it didn’t taken place this year.

To start, I pulled the Wonky Donkey sticker off the front of the hand pump clip and arranged it onto the page with the other collaged pieces which were torn from the beer festival programme. The beer glasses and festival wording were cut from a poster and I coloured the middle pint of beer with a black marker to darken it as I always enjoy darker beers. The collage pieces were all edged with the Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then stuck in place using a glue stick.

As T Stands for T Day I’m joining Bluebeard and Elizabeth and the rest of the T Gang with my art journal page – cheers and wishing you all a very Happy T day!

On one of our walks we captured the donkeys on the beach; donkey rides for the children are a traditional feature of seaside resorts here in the UK. The donkeys tend to have their names on their harnesses, so let me introduce you to Rambo, Teddy and Bobby (grin!).

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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:

• Wonky Donkey Beer Hand Pump Clip
• Fleetwood Beer Festival 2020 Programme
• Beer Festival Poster
• Faber-Castell Big Brush artist pen (Black 199, Cold Grey IV 233)
• UHU Stic

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #146 – Anything Goes with my fun art journal page. Love to Scrap Challenge Blog and their No Rulz 4! theme where their are no rules and you can create anything, so I’m joining in the beer art journal page. Don’t forget that there is still another week to join our For the man in my life challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too!

Happy 100th at Country View Challenges

There’s a special celebration at Country View Challenges this month to commemorate our 100 Challenge.

This month marks our 100th Challenge and we couldn’t let that go by without a celebration so we are offering two prizes, the first will be for your projects that fit the theme of 100 taking inspiration from one of the DT makes, such as a colour scheme, technique, design idea, stamp or die motif and of course, 100 (or One Hundred) must be included on the project. The second prize will be picked from one of the comments left on the CVC and DT blog posts – don’t forget, you can enter as many times as you like so make sure it is a comment that makes our DT happy to make them count

I’m celebrating our Happy 100^th challenge with this countryside scene which was created using lots of Tim Holtz products.

I started by using one of my favourite techniques, by stamping Salty Ocean and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink pads onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then pressing the block onto the page.

While the page was drying, I used the Flower Field Thinlits die from Tim Holtz to cut out my flower meadow foreground and then coloured the flowers using a blending tool to apply Seedless Grape, Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed Distress Ink; all the die cuts were cut from mixed media paper and stuck in place using matte gel medium. Then I coloured the foliage with Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn and Forest Moss Distress Ink, sprayed some water over the top and pressed some kitchen towel over it to remove the water and some of the ink which added a lovely texture. The little butterflies were created using a Bunny Scene Thinlits set and coloured using Abandoned Coral Distress Ink, a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen.

The leaves and branches were created using Small Tattered Floral Thinlits set from Tim Holtz; the branches were coloured using Brushed Corduroy and Vintage Photo Distress Ink and the leaves using the Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn and Forest Moss inks again. For the Happy 100^th banner, I used the colours of the Distress Inks that I used for the flowers to create the squares and then die cut the white letters using the Alphanumeric Bold Thinlits set from Tim Holtz. The banner was arranged over some wax thread and stuck in place using double-sided foam tape and to finish, I added some bows made from was thread.

For more inspiration please see the amazing 100 Challenge creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I hope you are inspired to join our celebration too, i

Remember you must take inspiration from one of the DT makes, such as a colour scheme, technique, design idea, stamp or die motif for your make to be in with the chance to win and, of course, include “100” (or One hundred in any language) for a chance to win a £20 voucher to the Country View Crafts shop. This month there is also a special prize for a commenter on todays’ CVC and DT blog posts. So Hop to it (grin!).

With the change in restrictions, we had a fabulous day at my sister’s over the weekend sitting in the sunshine, catching up, listening to music, and enjoying a BBQ and a few drinks. It was so lovely to be able to spend time with her and finally see her beautiful garden. To celebrate and as T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my fruity drink of gin and tonic with lemon and blueberries which was so very yummy – cheers and Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

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:

• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Salty Ocean
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mermaid Lagoon
• Tim Holtz® Distress – Sprayer 4 Oz
• 660200 Sizzix Big Shot Machine Only (White & Gray)
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Seedless Preserves
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Festive Berries
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mustard Seed
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Twisted Citron
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mowed Lawn
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Forest Moss
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Brushed Corduroy
• 663320 – Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 3PK – Bunny Scene By Olivia Rose
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Abandoned Coral
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Flower Field 665369, Small Tattered Floral 661806, Alphanumeric Bold 665205)
• Mixed Media Paper
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Wax thread
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape

Challenges As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and the lovely Mia from Craftartista who is hosting this month with her Butterfly Challenge, as I included lots of tiny butterflies on my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #145 – Anything Goes with my countryside page. Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page. Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my celebration page.

Flutterbies

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Butterflies.

My “Flutterbies” page features lots of butterflies which were stamped using a stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps and coloured using Spectrum Aqua markers; I hope you’re inspired to us too, I can’t wait to see your butterfly creations!

I started by stamping the butterfly wings onto the page using black Archival Ink and a Butterfly Peiredae stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps masking some of the butterfly wings to create the different layers. Then I coloured the smaller butterflies using a Scarlet Spectrum Aqua marker and the larger butterflies using Yellow and Sunflower Spectrum Aqua markers; first by applying the ink using a paintbrush and then using the marker to intensify the colour. I used the black Archival Ink and the Paperbabe Stamps stamp set again to add the body and antenna to each of the butterflies. Then I splattered the page with the Scarlet and Yellow Spectrum Aqua markers and also some black DecoArt acrylic paint. Next I coloured some white cardstock using the Yellow and Sunflower Aqua markers and die cut the letters for the “Flutterbies” wording using an X-Cut die set from Docrafts. The letters were edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place using a glue stick, which finished the page.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look at the amazing butterfly creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies; it would be lovely to see you there (grin!).

The colours on my page were inspired by the summer wreath which I made; if you look closely you can see a pink feather butterfly attached at the top (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our homemade milkshakes – there is either banana or peach to chose from and they are both very yummy – Happy T Day!

Hoping that you’re all staying safe and well!

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 that were used to create this art journal page:

• Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (Butterfly Peiredae)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Pen (Scarlet, Yellow, Sunflower)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Cut Set (Folk Alphabet)
• White cardstock
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• Pritt Stick

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat this month and her Language theme as “Flutterbies” is used by children as an alternative word for butterflies. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #144 – Anything Goes with my butterfly art journal page stamped using the Butterfly Peiredae stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps. LTSCB#145 – Anything Goes over at the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my butterfly page. Frame It challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the thin black frame that I added to my page. MIUCB#49 Anything Goes + Layering over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the layered butterflies that I stamped on this page. Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my butterfly page.

Feminine

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Make it Feminine.

I created this feminine page using a gorgeous Shabby Chic paper from Studio Light, some lace and pearls. I hope that you like it and are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

For the background, I stamped a delicate Floral Icons stamp from Docrafts using Brushed Corduroy and Ground Espresso Distress Ink. Then I cut the Shabby Chic paper and also some Vintage design papers to create the different paper pieces; I edged them with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and arranged them onto the page using a glue stick. The wording was a sticker from Kaisercraft and reads “You make life beautiful”. To finish, I added some pretty lace flowers and pearl strips.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Make it Feminine creations from my Design Teamies too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday and I recently celebrated 5 years of blogging, I’m sharing this photo collage of some of the tea that I’ve enjoyed and posted over the years; it features pretty feminine tea sets to tie in with my page – Happy T Day!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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 that were used to create this art journal page:

• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Floral Icons DCE907123)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy, Ground Espresso)
• Studio Light 12×12 Paper (Shabby Chic SCRAPSC03)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Romance 154897)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Full Bloom SS365)
• Lace – recycled
• Stix2 glue dots
• Poundland (Pearl Embellishments)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat this month and her Language theme with the wording I added to my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #143 – Anything Goes with my feminine page. LTSCB#145 – Anything Goes over at the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my pretty feminine page. Feminine challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my Feminine page.

The Singing Ringing Tree

As you may remember, I was surprised that I had never featured The Singing Ringing Tree before on one of my posts. We visited this sculpture a couple of years ago for my birthday, so it inspired this page – I hope you like it (grin!).

I started by adding the image of The Singing Ringing Tree, which was from an old magazine, using a glue stick; it was edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. I coloured the white areas of the page by stamping a Steampunk Background stamp and the “Explore, Discover, Journey” wording using Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Ink and adding some Hickory Smoke and Salty Ocean Distress Ink. The letters were die cut using Alphanumeric Bold Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and were cut from some silver corrugated cardstock. I covered the letters using Silver Grey lustre wax and black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to give it a grungy metallic appearance. Before sticking them in place I added some Pébéo white gesso over the stamped areas to push the colour back and then I stuck the letters down using Liquitex matte gel medium. I outlined the right-hand side of the letters using a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out more and then to finish, I added three metal music notes using Ranger Glossy Accents.

Reminded of our visit, I also found some of our photos to share with you (grin!). The singing ringing tree is located a little way from the road so we parked and then walked to the sculpture; Panopticon means “structure providing a comprehensive view”.

It was a short trek to The Singing Ringing Tree which is a wind powered sound sculpture resembling a tree and set in the landscape of the Pennine Hill range overlooking Burnley in Lancashire.

This 3-metre (10 ft) tall sculpture was designed by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu of Tonkin Liu and has amazing views across the Pennine Moors.

It comprises of galvanised steel pipes; some are structural and others are cut across their width to produce sound by harnessing the energy of the wind.

It was a windy day when we visited so we got to hear the haunting sounds of The Singing Ringing Tree, if you are interested to hear the sounds and see more of the view please check out this video.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a photo that you may remember of me with my cup of green tea and a Chorley cake which was actually bought the same day that we visited this sculpture – Happy T Day!

You can find out more about Chorley Cakes which are a sweet treat here in Lancashire on my previous post Use Your Scraps; the title of this post also reminded me to wish Elizabeth a very Happy bEARTHday for later this week!

I hope that you’re staying safe and well. x

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:

• Old magazine image
• Pritt Stick
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Salty Ocean)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamps (Steampunk Background DCE907128)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Traveller MIN-CCS103)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Hickory Smoke)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Die Set (Alphanumeric Bold 665205)
• Wilkos (Corrugated Cardstock – Silver)
• Craf-T Products Lustre Rub-ons (Color Kit #4 – Silver Grey)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• The Works (Metal Musical Notes)
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are: Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – she is greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my page which was inspired by The Singing Ringing Tree. Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #142 – Anything Goes with my page. LTCCB#57 – April Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my Singing Ringing Tree mixed media page.

Make a Rainbow

Our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday for the next 2 weeks is Make a Rainbow.

For my art journal page, I created a rainbow coloured background of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet with matching die cut flowers. I hope that you are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

For the rainbow background, I painted Kuretake Watercolour paints in the vertical panels onto the page. I did this by applying water to the page first and then adding Red, Cadmium Scarlet, Lemon Yellow, Sap Green Light, Ultramarine, Indigo and Cobalt Violet watercolour paint over the top. Then I splattered the page using white and also black acrylic paint and when dry, I applied some Pébéo white gesso using a brayer to push back the bright rainbow colours into the background more. The different flowers were die cut using three sets of Wildflower Thinlits from Tim Holtz; they were cut from coloured papers and also white cardstock. I layered the coloured and white flower die cuts together so they were slightly off centre and then I arranged them onto the page using a Zig glue pen. The letters for the “rainbow” wording were created the same way using a Docrafts Alphabet die cut set which finished the page.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Make a Rainbow creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).

It’s always magical seeing rainbows and whilst creating this page it reminded me of this one; taken through my craft room window last year.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big welcome to the T Gang and sharing my cuppa with one of my yummy birthday cupcakes that I made (it’s a sponge cake filled with vanilla buttercream and jam then topped with the icing) – wishing you a very Happy T Day!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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 that were used to create this art journal page:

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Red, Cadmium Scarlet, Lemon Yellow, Sap Green Light, Ultramarine, Indigo, Cobalt Violet)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Brayer (Small Roller)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Wildflowers #1 66190, Wildflower # 2 661808, Wildflower Stems #3 665221)
• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper Pad
• White Cardstock
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue Pen – Chisel Tip
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Cut Set (Folk Alphabet)

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are: Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – she is greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my pages this month which was inspired by rainbow wishes (grin!). MIUCB#48 – Anything Goes + optional No Stamping challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my rainbow page which contains no stamping. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and their Not a Card challenge with my rainbow art journal page.

Past Birthday Treats

As it was my birthday over Easter weekend and we can’t celebrate like we normally do, I decided to relive memories of past birthdays by creating this page.

You may recognise some of them from previous posts; I had so much fun looking back and remembering these birthday treats (grin!)

As my birthday is in April which is known for April showers and spring blossom, I chose a colour scheme of grey, blue and pink and created my background to look like a mixture of light and dark clouds. I did this by covering the background with Kingfisher, Peacock Blue, Charcoal and Blossom Spectrum Aqua markers; I gradually built up the layers of colour by scribbling the Aqua markers onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then pressing the block onto the page. Using black Archival Ink, I stamped the circles using a Docrafts stamp set and then the wording using some alphabet stamp sets from Dovecraft. I coloured the stamped leaves, buttons and hearts using the same Spectrum Aqua Markers blending them like watercolour. The butterfly and wording were recycled from an old birthday card, it reads:

“Wishes as bright as butterfly’s wings for laughter and sunshine and wonderful things,
Wishes for quiet and calm, peaceful hours for memories as sweet as meadow flowers,
These are the wishes, wished just for you … for happiness today and all the year through”.

To finish, I added some embellishments relevant to each of the birthday treats:

• As we usually go to the cinema for my birthday, I included the film “Beauty and the Beast” and added a glittery heart.
• We always enjoy walking somewhere local and Cockerham Sands was particularly memorable; as it’s by the sea I added the fish and starfish beads.
• A meal with our dearest friends is a must, so The Gurkha restaurant which specialises in Nepalese and other Asian cuisine was added along with a pretty flower made from oriental fabric.
• Notarianni is an ice cream parlour that we always enjoy visiting so this was accompanied by sticker of an ice cream.
• We often have a fun time exploring different places, so I added Liverpool which is a great destination for a “Happy Birthday!”
• A trip to a local café such as The Blackbird Café with its pretty birdcage décor which I captured by adding the glass embellishment.
• I added a tree to depict our visit to a sculpture called The Singing Ringing Tree. I was surprised that I have never featured the Singing Ringing Tree on one of my posts before which we visited a couple of years ago, so I’ll be creating a page and sharing this with you later this month  (stay tuned – grin!).
• Of course I couldn’t create a page without Coco’s Soul Food and for this I added a tropical wooden flower.

As some of you will know we normally have a week of birthday celebrations and I had fun looking back at previous birthday photos; these beautiful views were taken at Cockerham Sands.

Here we are having a wonderful time in Liverpool …

… and of course some of the lovely food we have enjoyed too; from left to right there’s Notarianni Ice cream Parlour, The Blackbird Café and Coco’s Soul Food.

I still very much enjoyed my birthday this year as we’ve had some beautiful sunny days, which meant we could still enjoy catching up with our dear friends over a takeaway and some bubbly in their garden (grin!). Of course we spent time with little Ellie too which is always a delight – yay!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing this yummy pink prosecco which was a lovely surprise from my dear friends, thank you so much – cheers and Happy T Day everyone!

I hope that you’re staying safe and well. x

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 Marker (Kingfisher, Peacock Blue, Charcoal, Blossom)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Docrafts Papermania 4×4 Clear Stamp (Bellissima Christmas PMA907942)
• Dovecraft Upper and Lower Case Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Recycled Birthday Card
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape
• The Works (Hearts, Sea Life Beads, Glass Embellishments, Craft Flowers)
• Twilleys of Stamford Crafties (Chinese Flowers Cerise 2912/160)
• Wilko Foam Stickers
• Craft for Occasions (Happy Birthday C2090)
• Poundland (3D Glitter Embellishments – Tree)
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are: Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – she will be greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my page which was inspired by past birthdays. Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #141 – Anything Goes with my birthday page. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and their Layer It challenge with the layers of colour and recycled birthday card on this page. LTSCB#144 – Spring Forward challenge over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my spring birthday page. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes challenge with my art journal page. LTCCB #57 – April Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my mixed media page.