Beer & Ale

I created another masculine page for our It’s a Man’s World challenge over at Try it on Tuesday where there is still another week to join in the fun, it would be lovely to see you there!

This time my page celebrates Beer & Ale using some vintage images from old magazines and a background that I had created sometime ago to experiment whilst trying out a new technique using Brushos – such fun!

For the background, I stamped a Steampunk Background stamp from Docrafts onto the page using a Versamark Watermark stamp pad and then I sprinkled Sandstone, Dark Brown, Terracotta and Yellow Ochre Colourcraft Brusho Powders over the top and used a paintbrush to brush the powder over the stamp images so that it clung to the Watermark Ink. Then I then spritzed the page with water a few times and watched the Brusho colours burst to life; if you want the stamping to be more defined spritz lightly with water – such a fun technique! Next I fussy cut some vintage brewery and beer images from some old magazines, stuck them in place using a glue stick and outlined them with a black Uni Pin Marker. The “2/11” plaque, letters for the “beer” and “ale” wording and large button are all Salvage Stickers from Tim Holtz. Next I added the cogs and gears which are wooden chipboard pieces from Boozybear using Ranger Glossy Accents and to finish, the words “collect beautiful moments” which are Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz.

As you probably know by now, me and hubby like our beer and I thought Bleubeard and Elizabeth over at T Stands for Tuesday may like the story of how this beer came to be called Old Tom. It’s brewed at Robinsons Brewery in Stockport, Cheshire and it’s almost as old as the brewery itself. It’s a dangerous 8.5% ABV, that’s why I only have a taster in my glass (grin!). This beer was born in 1899, when Tom, the old brewery cat, was sketched into immortality by the head brewer. It is rich and warming, and has a distinctive deep port wine finish, with bitter hops balanced by the heady aromas of dark fruit – cheers and Happy T Day!

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 the lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words “collect beautiful moments”.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, their theme is Transport It, so I’m pleased to join in the fun as you can see in the images that the beers on my page are being transported by men, locomotives, horse and carts.

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

• Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Colourcraft Brusho Colours (Sandstone, Dark Brown, Terracotta, Yellow Ochre)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk Background DCE907128)
• Old Magazines
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH93898)
• Boozybear Chipboard Pieces (Cogs andGears)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk # TH93193)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Pritt Stick

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Man’s World

Time for a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday and for the next two weeks our challenge is It’s a Man’s World. So be masculine, it could be something for Father’s Day or for a male birthday.

As I always find it hard to get started on masculine designs, I ended up getting all my appropriate crafting goodies out for inspiration and once I got started I really enjoyed creating this page; it all came together quickly and I love the grungy vintage look and I hope you do too!

I started by ripping some decoupage paper into large pieces and sticking it to the page using a glue stick. Then I stencilled the metal plate effect using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and a Dinky Stencil from That’s Crafty! I splattered the page with water to smudge the Hickory Smoke ink using a piece of kitchen towel giving it a grungy look. Next I smooshed and splattered some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink over the page and I edged the pieces of decoupage paper using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. To finish the background, I added three rub-on transfers from Royal & Langnickel which I outlined using a black Uni Pin marker so the edges looked worn and then I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint. Next I layered all the different paper elements together having edged them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool and also a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before I stuck them onto the page. They included: letters creating the “mans world” wording, some numbered tiles and shields which are Crowded Attic Salvage Stickers by Tim Holtz; some pieces of a book page which I distressed with scissors along the edge; a vintage car stamp from Tim Holtz which I stamped onto some American Crafts paper and also some recycled Kraft paper using black Archival Ink and then fussy cut out; a clock which was stamped using a Kaisercraft stamp and black Archival Ink onto the same American Crafts paper then cut out; a clock which I fussy cut from an old magazine; two Victorian style brown tags; two wooden effect tags from Docrafts that read “Brilliant” and “The World’s Greatest”, and I emphasised their design using a black Uni Pin marker; a ruler which I cut into two pieces and finally two round discs, which read “in these moments time stood still” and “A lifetime of memories” all of which are fussy cut from a Kaisercraft paper sheet. To finish, I added some brown metal brads to all of the tags and splattered black DecoArt acrylic paint over everything.

For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our pie and a pint that we enjoyed whilst sitting in the sunshine at a local pub. We only had one day of sunshine last week and I’m now wishing for more with all the grey cloudy and rainy days we have had of late, although I’m sure the flowers in my garden are grateful (grin!). If you are wondering, our pie is meat and potato which is much loved in the North of England, you probably won’t find this pie in the South of England. It’s served hot and goes very nicely with a pint of beer too – cheers and Happy T day!

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 the lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies  and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Masculine challenge with my Man’s World page.

I’m pleased join in the fun over at Creative Artiste and their June #50 – Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge with my mixed media art journal page (which included decoupage paper, ink, markers, stickers, etc).

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

• Trimcraft Santora London (Decoupage Papers SBDEC043)
• That’s Crafty! Dinky Stencil (Metal Grid Background – TC041)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B, Black 199)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Create-A-Collage (Men’s Accessories #ROY-853)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Book page
• Tim Holtz {Components} Collection Stamper Anonymous (COM013 CAR)
• American Crafts Papers (DIY Store 366665)
• Recycled Kraft Notepaper
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Vintage- Believe CS832)
• Old Magazine
• The Works (Victorian Style Embellishments)
• Docrafts A5 Die-Cut Toppers & Sentiments (Mr. Smith’s Workshop PMA157261)
• Kaisercraft Glossy Paper Story Book Collection (Trinkets PS445)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• Pritt Stick

Live simple …

June means that summer is here and as we have been having a few grey days of late, I created this brightly coloured page inspired by some motivational wording which I hope brings a smile to your face too (grin!).

With the chevrons and stamped shapes, my page is also a reminder that you have another week to join our Make a Mark challenge at Try it on Tuesday, it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by collaging the whole page with colourful design papers using Liquitex matte gel medium and then I covered the papers with some Pébéo white gesso using a palette knife. When dry, I coloured the edges of the papers with corresponding coloured Faber-Castell gelatos which included Red Cherry, Watermelon, Snow Cone and Coconut, smudging the colours with my finger which I wet with a baby wipe. Using black Archival Ink, I stamped: some hearts using a Heart Background stamp; Circles using a Worn Rings Gummiapan stamp, a recycled cardboard tube and also a plastic tube; and some geometric mini patterned dots and a hexagon pattern stamp from Docrafts. I highlighted and added more detail to these stamped images using a white Uni Posca paint pen; yes I did colour all those little hexagons white (grin!). Then I added the multi-coloured chevrons which are stickers from Kaisercraft; I outlined them with the white Uni Posca paint pen and also a black Uni Pin marker to make them stand out more. I cut out a panel from a Kaisercraft paper sheet, it reads “Live simple, dream big, laugh lots, be amazing, give love” which I thought was a great philosophy to live by. The panel was stuck in place using double-sided tape and I framed it using black Glitterations border stickers. To finish, I added strips of the black Glitterations border stickers to the right-hand side edges of the chevrons so they were more defined.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my cup of cinnamon orange tea and some homemade French toast. It definitely feels like summer as strawberries are in season here and we’ve been having them on either American pancakes or French toast along with some golden syrup – so yummy! Wishing you a very Happy T Day!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies  and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the motivational words that I included on my page. Thanks for the inspiration Halle!

I’m joining the Things with wings challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the butterflies on my page.

I’m also happy to join in the It’s a bugs life challenge over at Country View Challenges as I included butterflies on my page.

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

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

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

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

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Red Cherry, Watermelon, Snow Cone, Coconut)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Hobbycraft A6 Clear Stamp (Heart Background 50351HC)
• Gummiapan Stamps (Worn Rings 2 11050601)
• Recycled cardboard and plastic tubes
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Geometric Kraft (Mini Cards & Stamp Set PMA105306, Gift Tags and Stamp Set PMA105307)
• The Works Design Pad (Happy Spring CRO707/TW26)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)
• Kaisercraft Paper Fly Free Collection (Confidante P1896)
• Docrafts Papermania Glitterations (Black Borders ANT8181015)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Birthday Wishes

As it’s our 10^th birthday at Try it on Tuesday and I always enjoy a lovely cocktail when it’s my birthday, I thought we could raise a glass at the Let’s Party challenge too!

You are invited to join our party which lasts for another week so have fun, be colourful and share the art that you like to create with us. To celebrate we also have our 10^th birthday party logo that you can display on your blog too.

I started with a purple background from a previous project that had gone wrong so I covered it with white gesso and when it was dry I scribbled on some Passion Fruit and Coconut Faber-Castell gelatos over the top and smudged them with my finger which I had wet with water. As gelatos reactivate when wet and I wanted to keep the next layers of colour crisp, I covered the page with Pébéo transparent gesso to fix the gelato colour in place. Next I added three pieces of sheet music using Liquitex matte gel medium and applied some DecoArt white acrylic paint over the page using a brayer. I stencilled some Vivid Lime Green Liquitex acylic paint through an Art Mask from Carabelle Studio and left it to dry. Then I applied some Red Cherry Faber-Castell gelato along the edges of the page and also to define the edges of the sheet music pieces; smudging it with my finger again. Next I cut the tag from some Kaisercraft paper using a Tim Holtz Framelits die and my Big Shot machine, and edged it with Red Cherry and Lime Faber-Castell gelatos. I tied a piece of lime green ribbon to the tag and stuck to the page using a glue stick. I created the large chevron shape on the left-hand side of the page from three pieces of washi tape and added the flowers, circular wording and circles which are stickers from Kaisercraft; some are fussy cut and edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. I also edged the page with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and splattered the whole page with black DecoArt acrylic paint. The cocktail image is recycled from an old birthday card; it is fussy cut and stuck in place using a glue stick. I stamped the words “happy”, “birthday wishes” and “sparkle” using a stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps and black Archival Ink. To finish, I added three mini butterflies and also some tiny red gemstones to add more sparkle.

My friend sent me this card as we always celebrate my birthday with a cocktail and she knows that a cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a cosmo happens to be one of my favourites (grin!).

If you are interested it’s made with ½oz Fresh lime juice, 1oz Cranberry juice, ½oz Cointreau, 1½oz Vodka. Place all the ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake well and strain into a large cocktail glass – yum (double grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m joining the T Gang and wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

Challenges 

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from the blog BioArtGal  and her In the Sky/In the Air challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the butterflies flying up my page – maybe wou’d like to join me for a cocktail Erica (grin!).

I’m joining in the Happy Hour challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my birthday cocktail page – cheers!

I’m pleased to join the Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #93 – Sketch as the sketch inspired my page design.

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 Gesso (White, Transparent)
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Passion Fruit, Coconut, Red Cherry, Lime)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White, Black)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Carabelle Studio Art Mask (Sur Fond de Mosaique MA60049)
• Sizzix Framelits Tim Holtz Alterations (Tag Collection 658784)
• Paperbabe Stamps (Birthday Wishes Stamp Set)
• Sheet Music
• Kaisercraft Paper Fiesta! Collection (Siesta P1859)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284, Say Aloha SS281)
• Recycled Birthday Card
• Michael’ Washi Tape
• Ribbon (Lime Green)
• Docrafts Papermania (Adhesive Stones – Red PMA351607)
• Poundland (Mini Glitter Embellishments 59409)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick

The Apple Store

After an enjoyable hike to the top of Nicky Nook, in the Forest of Bowland, we stopped by The Apple Store Café to regain our strength. We had such a wonderful day I decided to capture it in my journal.

The background was inspired by some ironwork I had seen in the village and café. To replicate the look I used a doile stamp with Memento Ink and a fretwork stencil with Distress Ink, along with a diluted Spectrum Aqua Marker which I applied using an acrylic block. The advertising leaflet from the Apple Store had a vintage image of apples sat on a table and made a wonderful addition to the page. I added the map from our hike and highlighted areas to show the loop we walked and where the café is situated. As the café is set in a restored glass house I used some potted plant stickers which I fussy cut and added black doodle lines to blend them into the page. I just love, love, love this page; it has really captured the mood and magic of our wonderful day! I’m so pleased to be able to link my page to this month’s Maps theme over at Art Journal Journey.

Scorton is a really picturesque old style village and the starting point for our hike.

We passed through some of the most beautiful countryside and farmland, woodlands, across streams and alongside lakes on our way to the summit.

From the summit of Nicky Nook there are spectacular views over Lancashire’s coastal plain including the Fylde Coast (where we live), Morecombe Bay and the Lakeland fells. It was so worth the visit!

The Apple Store Café is situated in the grounds of Wyresdale Park, it is very charming and full of character with its mismatched crockery, old wooden tables and chairs and metal lattice pathways which is part of the original Victorian glass house flooring.

We had a pot of green tea and the biggest prawn sandwich imaginable accompanied by side order of chips. As you can see the sandwich was so big it obscured the tea so I’ve added a separate picture so I can join the T-Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday, wishing you all a Happy T Day! We had such a fabulous day! We will definitely be exploring this area again and visiting the café very soon!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

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

• Memento Dye Ink (London Fog)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Markers (Terracotta, Charcoal, Lime)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Dutch Doobadoo stencil (DDBO Dutch Mask Art A5 Vintage)
• Dovecraft Curiosity Corner clear stamps (A5 Lace and Doile DCCS009)
• Penny Black 2007 Stickeroos (Painted Vases #10-191)
• Map and leaflet
• The Range glue pen and glue stick

Queen’s Official Birthday

It was the Queen’s official 90^th birthday on Saturday and this page was inspired by our day of celebrations. Me and my hubby celebrated by watching Trooping The Colour, and in the afternoon we attended a concert to commemorate this very special occasion at our local RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute) Lifeboat house which featured the Fylde Concert Orchestra.

Most of the materials used were recycled and adhered to the page using glue stick and gel matte medium. The lines of soldiers are made from images from paper chains which represents Trooping The Colour. Film and music note washi tape reflect the music and televised coverage of the day. All British coins and stamps have the Queen’s head on them so I used the coin images from a free leaflet from a utilities company and postage stamps that were collected by my hubby when he was a youngster. The beautiful picture of the Queen was saved from a magazine and features the newly-crowned Queen on 13th June 1953. I covered the magazine wording around the picture with red paper, postage stamps and torn coin images. I finished the page by using the first verse of our national anthem “God Save the Queen”, taken from the song sheet at the concert. This page came together so quickly and was very easy to do, I think the most difficult bit was lining up those little soldiers in straight lines. The style and look is so clean, I think it’s stunning!

The orchestra were wonderful and played a variety of light classical and popular music including In a Persian Market (which reminded me of that Morecombe and Wise sketch), Teddy Bear’s Picnic, the Pink Panther theme tune, and of course God Save the Queen. It was lovely to join in the local festivities with friends and acquaintances, we had a great time!

As today is T Stands For Tuesday, I thought I’d also share our celebratory drinks. A big hello to all at the T Gang! We ended the day with a glass or two of beer, I’m lucky that my hubby brews his own beer! From left to right – Wheat beer 4.5% (Belgian Hoegaarden style), Pumpkin ale 5.25%, Dark old ale 6.3% (Theakstons Old Peculiar clone) & a traditional Best Bitter 4.2% (Youngs Special recipe).

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

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

• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artists pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Aldi paper chains
• The Works (3 Washi Tapes)
• Postage stamps
• Magazine and leaflet
• Liquitex Gel Matte Medium
• The Range glue stick

Drink Your Greens

Today I find myself taking part in a new challenge over at Altered Book Lover, thanks so much to Patty for recommending the “T Stands for Tuesday” challenge-blog. This page is a bit like East meets West, taking on an oriental feel with green tea from china, my new glass teapot direct from Japan and then the more English tradition of afternoon tea. It’s called “Drink your Greens” as green tea is good for you…right! We won’t mention the cake though…tee hee!

This page started with my collection of various items, such as a tea cup template, the teapot instructions (written entirely in Japanese!), the green tea packaging and various oriental themed stickers and papers. I started with the teapot instructions, layering different pieces horizontally and vertically on the page. For the rest of the background, I noticed one of the sticker sets has an almost rice paper quality and the most lovely red border and diamond background, so I used that. I think it looks fab so have added a diamond stamp or stencil to my wish list. From the same sticker set I also used the bamboo and red flower borders and squares. The tea cup was cut out from oriental card stock, I love the graduated shading effect that goes down the cup towards the saucer. The little red and white oval sticker was stuck to the actual teapot, I think it’s a quality mark.

Gunpowder green tea is my favourite blend so I used the lid from the box along with the little yellow sticker which sealed it. To match the pagoda on the yellow tea sticker, I added a pagoda outline stickers which I was given free when I bought other items in a local craft shop. Using a Spectrum Aqua marker I created some shading around the pagoda and other areas. Finally, I added the black oriental card circles, words cut from a magazine and the cupcake. I love how this page turned out and it’s one of my favourites!

So as “T stands for Tuesday”,  my hubby and I are having a lovely cup of green tea and as the page indicates, we have cake too. In fact, we always have homemade cake with our tea. I love baking and today’s cake is a Lemon and Blueberry cupcake … scrummy!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

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

• Spectrum Aqua Artist’s marker (Slate)
• Faber- Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Sharpie Fine Point permanent marker (Black)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Penny Black 2006 Stickeroos (Butterfly Party #10-18)
• Hunkydory Luxury Topper Collection (Eastern Promise EAST104)
• Dovecraft glitter stickers (Cakes – Cupcake Bakery DCST047)
• Inspirations (Japanese outline stickers Black 2295)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• The Range double-sided foam tape
• Hario Glass teapot instructions and sticker
• Shuanglong Ting special gunpowder green tea box
• Magazine