Winter to Spring

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

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

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

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

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

Also I really appreciate all your kindness and get well wishes for my dad who is much better now, thank you!

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Rosie from Rosie’s Bastelwelt who is hosting the Spring challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Mum’s the Word

The new theme over at Try it on Tuesday is Mum’s the Word which means all things mother related, it maybe quotes for mothers, mother and child, animal families, Mother’s Day or something else related to mothers. Over at Try it on Tuesday  you’ll find lots of wonderful inspiration from the Design Team.

This challenge runs for the next two weeks and I hope to see you there!

My art journal page today is inspired by my mum as it’s her birthday and Mother’s Day this month as well as the different ways you can say mother (a suggestion from one of my non-blogging best friends – thank you!). So I started by stamping some of different names you can call your mother using a VersaMark watermark stamp pad and an alphabet stamp set from Dovecraft. Then I covered the words with gold Papermania embossing powder and shook and tapped off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper, and also removed any stray powder using a paintbrush. Then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder by sweeping the gun over the stamped wording until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional. Next I stamped some pink doilies and blue swirls onto the page; I did this using Angel Pink Memento Ink with Doily stamps from Kaisercraft and also Dovecraft, as well as Summer Sky Memento Ink with a Serpentine Background stamp from Art Impressions. I applied Blossom and Teal Spectrum Aqua Markers to the background by scribbling the ink onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page. To mute the colours and wording I applied Pébéo white gesso over the top using a palette knife. I cut some pieces of pink doily and stuck them to the edges of the page using a UHU Stic. The teal leaves are cut from some design paper using Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Hotlz, they are edged with the Teal Spectrum Aqua marker and stuck in place using a Zig Memory System Glue Pen. The wreath and matching flowers are fussy cut from a magazine article about Mother’s Day. I mounted the wreath on a circle of card before sticking it to the page using double-sided foam tape. The matching flowers are mounted on top of some yellow and pink paper flowers and the “With love and cuddles” wording is a card topper from Kanban; they are all stuck in place using double-sided tape. To finish, I added some pretty gold tiles and the “Mum” wording which are outline stickers.

I hope you will join in the fun at Try it on Tuesday with your Mum’s the Word creations too!

As you may be aware, I regularly go to a local café with my mum so today I’m sharing my mum’s cappuccino …

…. and my green tea along with a toasted fruit bread to share (grin!). I’m pleased that these drinks cater for both the coffee and tea drinkers in the T Gang (grin!) over at T Stands for Tuesday – thanks for visiting and Happy T Day!

With the spring colours I used on my page, I’m pleased to join the lovely Rosie from Rosie’s Bastelwelt who is hosting the Spring challenge over at Art Journal Journey and also the Think of Spring challenge over at Moo Mania and More.

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

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

• Tsukeniko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad VM-001)
• Docrafts Papermania Embossing Powder (Gold Shellac PMA4021007)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Angel Pink, Summer Sky)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Blossom, Teal)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Doily CS297)
• Dovecraft Curiosity Corner Clear Stamp (A5 Lace & Doile DCCS009)
• Art Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Serpentine Background T-2773)
• Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz (Garden Greens 661206)
• Poundland Design Pad (Vintage Chic CRO701/PL4)
• Dovecraft Collections Back to Basics III (Paper Blossoms DCBL005)
• Dovecraft Paper Doilies (Floral Muse DCDLS005)
• Kanban Paper Craft Toppers (Flower and Cupcakes 900858)
• Magenta Style Outline Stickers (Gold 1227)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Modern Alphabet Gold ANT8101000)
• UHU Stic
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Melt It! – Four Seasons

I’m so excited and honoured to be a Pinworthy Guest Designer over at A Vintage Journey and my seasonal heart decorations are inspired by their challenge – Melt It! Julia is the host for this challenge and kindly provided the following brief:

This month we’re asking everyone to MELT IT! Get out the UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel), beeswax, encaustic wax, embossing powders or good old wax crayons and a heat tool and get melting to create something in a vintage; shabby; mixed media; art journaling; industrial, timeworn or steampunk style.

So today I’m sharing how I created a heart decoration for each of the four seasons and as I love creating my art journal pages and projects using mixed media, I chose to create these decorations in the Mixed Media Style for A Vintage Journey. I had so much fun melting both embossing powder for the backgrounds and also embossing enamels for the birds on my Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter decorations (grin!).

These decorations are wonderful additions to the seasonal window displays that I create throughout the year, which you may be aware of from my previous post.

I started by stamping the heart tags with different stamps using Emboss ink, the stamps included: a rose design from a Penny Black stamp set for spring; flowers and swirls from the same Penny Black stamp set and also a flower design from Hampton Art for summer; some leaves from Royal & Langnickel for autumn and finally snowflakes from BoBunny for winter. I covered each of them with white Stampendous embossing powder, shook off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper and also tapped the heart to make sure any stray powder was removed. Then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder by sweeping the gun over the stamped images, taking care not to direct the heat in one area for too long until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional. I repeated the same process to decorate the back of the heart too, making sure I suspended the heart when heating the embossing powder to ensure the reverse side did not stick to my craft mat. Next I applied two different Memento Inks for each of the hearts using a blending tool, which emphasised the melted embossing powder beautifully. The ink colours I used were Pistachio and Angel Pink for spring, Lilac Posies and Dandelion for summer, Morocco and Toffee Crunch for autumn and Summer Sky and London Fog for winter.

The branches and foliage for spring, autumn and winter are die cut using Garden Greens Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz from different design papers with my new Big Shot machine. They are coloured using Spectrum Aqua markers which I applied like watercolour by scribbling the marker onto an acrylic block and picking up the ink with a wet paintbrush; the colours I used were Bud Green and Moss for spring, Chestnut and Sepia for autumn and Chocolate for winter. I used some tiny maple leaves that I had in my craft stash to decorate the autumn branch which I coloured using Crimson, Orange and Gold Spectrum Aqua Markers. All of these paper elements are stuck to the heart using a Zig Memory System glue pen. For summer, I used some sunflower border stickers by Docrafts Papermania.

For the birds, I used some wooden bird shapes which I covered in Emboss ink and Stampendous Frantage embossing enamel; this enamel was a Christmas present so this is the first time I had used it and I love it, it’s such an amazing medium to use (grin!). I shook off the excess enamel pieces and then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing enamel until it melted to a smooth glossy finish. Be careful not to touch the melted embossing enamel until cooled as it gets very hot when heated. For spring I used Aged Hunter, for summer Aged Silver, for autumn Aged Marine and winter Aged Scarlet. The birds are stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents.

Next I embellished the spring branches with some pretty flower beads to represent spring blossoms using Glossy Accents and the winter berries using Christmas Red Stickles from Ranger. The wording is stamped onto thick paper using a Dovecraft alphabet stamp set and different Memento Inks; Rich Cocoa for spring, Cottage Ivy for summer, Elderberry for autumn and Blue Danube for winter. They are stuck down using the Zig Memory System glue pen. To finish, I added a piece of white paper twine and also threaded some flower, metal and bevelled glass beads on a piece of thread and tied them with some ribbons around the twine.

I really enjoyed joining A Vintage Journey to Melt It! and create my Four Seasons heart decorations. I hope you are inspired by this month’s challenge too and are able to join in the fun!

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 these decorations:

• Tsukeniko Emboss Embossing Ink Pad (Clear)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch, Angel Pink, Rich Cocoa, Lilac Posies, Dandelion, Cottage Ivy, Morocco, Toffee Crunch, Elderberry, Summer Sky, London Fog, Danube Blue)
• Stampendous Frantage Embossing Enamel Holiday Kit (Aged Hunter, Aged Silver, Aged Marine, Aged Scarlet)
• Spectrum Aqua Markers (Bud Green, Moss, Crimson, Orange, Gold, Chestnut, Sepia, Chocolate)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Penny Black Stamp Set (Clearly in Love 30-009)
• Hampton Art Studio G Clear Stamps (Series 11 VS4911)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Pressed Leaves MIN-CCS102)
• BoBunny Stamps (Snow Day 13705563)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Garden Greens 661206)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Crafter’s Companion Luxury Designer Paper Pad (Angelica & Adam Collection A&A-PAP6-M)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Design Block)
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CR0701/16PL1)
• Wilko (5 Heart Gift Tags)
• Craft for Occasions (C2026 – wooden bird and bunnies)
• Docrafts Papermania Signature 3D Floral Borders (Sunflower Burst PMA8011000)
• The Brighton Bead Shop (Assorted beads – flower, glass, metal, bevelled)
• Thick black thread
• Recycled ribbons from Christmas Crackers
• Satin ribbon (Green, Pink, Tan, Blue)
• Ranger Stickles (Christmas Red)
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (The Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• UHU Glue Pen

Valentine’s

To celebrate Valentine’s Day tomorrow I created this art journal page and I used my winter window display as inspiration too as it looks so pretty with the red hearts and white snowflakes (double grin!).

Over at Try it on Tuesday, our current theme is Love is in the Air (think Hearts, Valentine’s Day, Love etc) and there is still another week to join in the fun, so it would be great to see you there!

I started by covering the page in a thin layer of Pébéo white gesso in preparation for the Faber-Castell Gelatos that I added next. Once dry, I graduated the Gelato colours using Iced Currant around the edges of the page then Iced Rosé then Metallic Icing in the centre using a sponge to blend them. Next I stamped some bars of music and a scroll border from Penny Black and also an “I Love You!” stamp by Hampton Art using black Archival Ink. I stamped my favourite circle and heart design from Sugarloaf Inc. using a VersaMark watermark stamp pad and covered it with white Stampendous embossing powder making sure any excess powder was removed using a paintbrush. 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 stamped images, taking care not to direct the heat in one area for too long until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional. Then I used some silver metallic rub-on transfers from Royal & Langnickel to add the “Forever & Ever” and “Love” wording and also some hugs and kisses. For my snowflakes I used a trio snowflake die from Tonic Studios and some recycled white card. They are stuck to the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium and I finished them using some pretty glitter and silver snowflakes and also some sparkly jewel stickers. For the small hearts, I used a paper punch from Tonic Studios and some recycled red card and stuck them in place using the matte gel medium again. The cupid heart and postcard are from a card making kit by Docrafts and are stuck in place using double-sided tape. I also added an “I Love You” sticker to the postcard which is by Graphic 45. The chalkboard heart is a tag and I tied a red piece of leather into a bow and added our initials which are foam sticker letters. I coloured the letters using red Stickles in the centre and then edged them with silver Stickles using a very steady hand (grin!). I added three red hearts, to the focal images, which are punched from the same red card using another paper punch from Tonic Studios and also some more sparkly jewel embellishments to the background which finished the page.

I love our Valentine’s window display this year; it looks extra special with the lovely winter decorations that I made and the beautiful “G” and “J” initial decorations that were bought for us for Christmas.

The red hearts and white of the decorations and snowflakes look lovely together and the snowflakes seem even more relevant as we have snow forecast for this week too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m also sharing his and hers hot chocolates – normal  hot chocolate for hubby and white hot chocolate for me (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 in the fun over at Moo Mania and More and their Valentine’s challenge.

As I included red on my page, I’m also joining the Roses are Red (use the colour Red) challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

I’m pleased to be able to join Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their It Must Be Love challenge with my Valentine’s inspired art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join the Photo Inspiration challenge over at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge.

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

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

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Iced Currant, Iced Rosé, Metallic Icing)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Script Metallic Pen (Silver)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Sugarloaf Inc. Anita’s wood-mounted stamp (26645)
• Penny Black Stamp Set (Clearly in Love 30-009)
• Hampton Art Studio G clear stamps (VS4911)
• Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (Falling Snowflakes 17920)
• Red and white card (recycled Christmas cards)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Kisses and Hugs Silver #ROY790SV)
• Docrafts Papermania 6×6” Decoupage Card Kit (Victorian Valentine PMA169102)
• Graphic 45 Cardstock Stickers (Place in Time 4500617)
• Tonic Studios Paper Punch Accent (Hearts Sider 830E, Classic Heart Sider 858E)
• The Works (Chalkboard Heart Tags, Christmas Embellishments, Jewel Stickers)
• Trimcraft Alphabet & Number Stickers (Glitter – Gold SCSTK013)
• Ranger Stickles (Christmas Red, Silver)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Falling Snowflakes

With the sleet and snow we had last weekend, which is rare as we live by the sea, I was inspired to create this journal page to remember the falling snowflakes that we saw!

I started by stamping a Script stamp from Kaisercraft and a Serpentine Background stamp from Art Impressions onto the page using black Archival Ink. Then I covered the page with a small amount of sea green and blue acrylic paints and also some white gesso using my finger. While the gesso was drying, I chose three decoupage papers which I folded a number of times to make them thicker so I could die cut them using my Big Shot and a trio of snowflake dies from Tonic Studios. They were quite fiddly to separate as the decoupage paper is so thin and delicate; it was well worth it though as I love the way they look layered on the page using Liquitex Matter Gel Medium to stick them down. Next I added some red border rub-on transfers from Docrafts Papermania and then I stamped the quote onto white tissue paper using the black Archival Ink. The quote is stuck onto the page using a UHU Stic and is by Aristotle, it reads:

“To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold”.

The pretty Winter Time lady is a sticker from Graphic 45 which I thought matched the quote perfectly. For the birds, I stamped a Winter Woodland stamp onto white tissue paper twice using black Archival Ink and then I covered them with black Papermania embossing powder. As you can see I reversed one of the images, which you can do when using tissue paper as the ink goes straight through to the other side; you need to act quickly though when covering it with the embossing powder. I shook off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper although I wasn’t to worried about stray powder or coverage as I wanted to depict snowfall obscuring the visibility of the branch and birds by using the stray powder. I heated the stamped images with a heat gun, taking care not to direct the heat in one area for too long as the embossing powder melts very quickly on tissue paper. Next I ripped around the edges of the embossed images and stuck them down using a UHU Stic. I also sprinkled a little of the black embossing powder directly onto the page to enhance the snowfall effect. To finish, I applied some white DecoArt acrylic paint along the tree branches using a paintbrush, then to the snowflakes using my finger and finally to the whole page by using the paintbrush again to add white paint splatters.

 Although we had sleet and snow, it was too wet for it to settle. The temperatures have been colder though so I’ve taken my Prague hat out of storage to keep me warm on our walks. This is the first UK winter I have been able to wear it, as normally it’s just not cold enough (grin!).

Here’s my hat on one snowy evening in Prague a few years ago (double grin!).

Both these snowy photos were taken in winter time in The Old Town Square where you find the most amazing Christmas Markets. The imposing church in the background is called the Týn Church or Church of Our Lady before Týn, which is a gothic church dating back to 14th century, isn’t it beautiful (grin!).

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to be able to join the lovely Erika N, also known as BioArtGal, who is hosting the New Year, New Adventures challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my snowy adventure!

As I layered lots of die cut snowflakes on top of stamps and paint, then layered the quote and bird images that I stamped onto tissue paper I’m so happy to join the Layer It Up challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything Goes challenge.

I enjoyed using all the different stamps to create my page so I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

As I used some new crafting goodies (snowflakes dies, Rub-On Transfers and Graphic 45 Stickers) and techniques (die cutting decoupage paper) to create my Falling Snowflake page, I’m also joining the Ring in the New challenge over at the Mixed Media Monthly 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:

• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Swedish Blue, Christmas Green)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black PMA4021006)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Art Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Serpentine Background T-2773)
• Winter Woodland Stamp Set – free with Craft Beautiful Magazine (Dec 2017)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (Falling Snowflakes 1792e)
• Poundworld DécoTime (Patch Paper DS9454)
• White tissue paper
• Docrafts Papermania Rub-on Borders (First Noel PMA822103)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic

Vintage Christmas

Tidings of Comfort and Joy!

I hope you’re having a wonderful Christmastime and wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

Today’s page is inspired by Christmastime and all things vintage! I started by covering the page with a music sheet from a book of Christmas carols that I picked up in a charity shop (thrift store); you may know the carol and I liked that the title referenced both Christmas and the New Year. I ripped the page into three pieces and stuck them down along with some gold, gold star and gold holly tissue papers using a UHU Stic. When the glue had dried I added Toffee Crunch and Rich Cocoa Memento Inks to the edge of the page and papers using a blending tool. Next I stamped a snowflake design from the Woodware Craft Collection using Emboss ink, then I covered it with white Stampendous embossing powder and shook off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper. I also tapped the page to make sure any stray powder was removed and then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder. I swept the gun over the stamped 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. The gold trees are relief stickers by Crelando and the vintage images are cut using serrated scissors from an old magazine and a 12×12” paper sheet of Tags from the Glistening Season collection from Pion Designs; they are edged with the Toffee Crunch ink and arranged on the page using double-sided tape and some fabric washi tape. The “December 25” sign is a Victorian Christmas 3D sticker from Docrafts Papermania which I stuck down with a glass candy cane decoration. The candy cane is from an incomplete set of wine charms purchased at a charity shop; wine charms are small ornaments that you attach to a wine glass at a party so you know which glass is yours. I also tied some white paper twine to a round wooden tree tag and added it to the page. The white ribbon is recycled from a Christmas cracker and I tied it into a bow. To finish, I added lots of glittery gold snowflakes which are stickers.

I’d also like to thank the Allsorts Challenge Blog for my early Christmas present of the Pion Design paper and the Toffee Crunch Memento Ink that I used to create this page. I won them over at their challenge from Swedish House Crafts, along with some other goodies too (grin!).

I love Christmas music and play it at every opportunity this time of year (grin!), so I was really pleased to find a book of carols in my local charity shop. The carol I used for my page is “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”, if you are interested:

• This carol is also known as “Tidings of Comfort and Joy”.
• It is a traditional English Christmas carol which is thought to date back to the 16^th Century. It was first published by William Sandys in 1833.
• This carol is referred to in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, 1843:  “… at the first sound of ‘God bless you, merry gentlemen! May nothing you dismay!’, Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost.”
• There have been many covers of this carol including Bing Crosby in 1947,  Nat King Cole in 1960, Nancy Sinatra in 1991, Mariah Carey in 1994, Glee in 2010 and many more. Each of the names is a link to their version of the carol – now I’m wondering which one you would choose to listen too?

I received a lovely surprise from my hubby, look what was waiting for me at elevenses with my cup of green tea – a yummy gingerbread Christmas Tree (grin!). As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a very Christmassy T Day!

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with so much inspiration for my pages and it’s a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people too. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Sheila from Orange Esmeralda who is hosting the “Let’s Celebrate” challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my Vintage Christmas celebration!

I’m joining the Christmas” fun over at Country View Challenges where the theme is “Christmas with optional Reds, Greens and Rust”.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge the theme is “Party!” so I’m pleased to join them with my Vintage Christmas party!

I’m pleased to join the “Winter Wonderland” challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my vintage style page inspired by Christmastime, snow, carols and vintage wintry scenes.

I’m also joining the “Believe” challenge over at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge with my vintage Christmas page as my design and colour palette was influenced by their inspirational photo – Merry Christmas!

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

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

• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch, Rich Cocoa)
• Emboss Embossing Ink Pad (Clear)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Snowflakes FRS027)
• Tissue Paper (Gold, Gold Star, Gold Holly)
• The Oxford Book of Carols
• Pion Design Glistening Season 12×12” sheet (Tags – PD6612)
• Old Magazine
• Poundland (Fabric Tape 156456-GE16)
• The Works (Pack of 9 Wooden Tags)
• Docrafts Papermania Victorian Christmas (3D Christmas Stickers PMA805801)
• Wilko (Paper Twine)
• Re-cycled ribbon (White)
• Crelando Relief Stickers Christmas designs (12 Sheets IAN289011)
• The Pier (Wine Charms PLU2010838)
• Christmas-Craft (Glitter Embellishments Gold XCR0037)
• Fun Cut Scissors – serrated
• UHU Stic
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape

Let It Snow

I love Christmas and I find that December gives me the perfect excuse to create as many Christmassy journal pages as I can (grin!). I hope you like my latest creation.

I started by stamping snowflakes over the page using Dovecraft embossing ink which I covered with white Stampendous embossing powder. I shook the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper and tapped the page against the table to make sure I had removed any stray powder. Once the excess powder was safely returned to its container, I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder, sweeping 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 applied Chipped Sapphire, Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio Distress Inks using a blending tool starting at the top of the page with the darkest colour of Chipped Sapphire, and finishing with the lighter colour of Cracked Pistachio, at the bottom. As the white snowflakes were on a white page, it was fun seeing them stand out as I added more layers of the Distress Inks to intensify the colours. Then I used a wood mounted snowflake stamp which I wet with a baby wipe and pressed onto the page so that it reactivated the Distress Ink. On removing the stamp I used some kitchen paper to absorb the wet ink leaving a pretty snowflake impression on the page. I added some shiny silver snowflakes to the centre of each impression which are from a Relief Sticker Set by Crelando and also some large 3D silver snowflakes which are wall stickers. Then I used some outline stickers to add the silver stars and dots for some extra detail and shine. The snowman is fussy cut from an old Christmas card and stuck to the page using a UHU Stic. To create the ground I used the negative image surround from the outline stickers, ripping it to fit the page. To finish, I added the “Let It Snow” wording which is a foam sticker from a Christmas craft pack and some white dots using a Uni Posca paint pen.

Living by the sea, we don’t usually have much snow, although snow is forecast for this weekend (grin!). This had me reminiscing about some heavy snowfall (for the UK) that we had for about a week when we lived in the South of England.  I found these pictures to share with you.

Our garden was like a winter wonderland with all the snow …

… and the snow-covered trees looked so beautiful too!

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Sheila from Orange Esmeralda who is hosting the “Let’s Celebrate” challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my snowy celebration.

Over at Try it on Tuesday they have a “Twinkle, Twinkle” challenge where you are asked to include stars, sparkles, glitter and shiny things.

I’m also pleased to join Moo Mania & More for their “Get the heat on – (Heat Embossing)” challenge as I included the heat embossed snowflakes on my page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the “Winter Wonderland” challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my “Mixed Media” style page. I was inspired by the description provided to their Creative Guides of “Let’s see some snow, snowmen …” so I included both of these in my design.

The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is “Icy Inspiration” so I drew inspiration from the dark blue colour, snowman and snowy pictures on the mood board provided to create my journal page.

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

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Chipped Sapphire, Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio)
• Dovecraft Premium Embossing Stamp Pad (Clear)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque DP100)
• Uni Posca Paint Pens (White)
• Clear Impressions clear stamp set (Woodland Christmas)
• Practical Publishing Embossing Folder & Stamp Set (Winter Wonderland)
• Papercraft 4 You Mary Hughes wood mounted rubber stamp (Snowflake)
• Crelando Relief Sticker Set (12 Sheets – Christmas)
• Home Bargains (Wall Stickers 16216)
• Poundland (Christmas Gift Pack 171319-MC16)
• Outline Stickers (Time Silver 90493S)
• UHU Stic