Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Embossed.
This challenge is all about embossing, whether its heat embossing, embossing paste, embossing folders or embossed papers just be sure to tell use what you have used (grin!).
I was still in Halloween mode when I created this page being influenced by the Mexican celebration “Día de Muertos” (which happens to be next Monday). I used lots of embossing powder to heat emboss the white flowers, black doilies and black lace.
I started by painting magenta and green Liquitex Basics acrylic paint over the page using a dry paintbrush technique to prevent the colours blending. When dry, I covered the paints with some Pébéo white gesso and also some black DecoArt acrylic paint; I used a brayer to apply both paints letting them dry between applications.
For the white embossed flowers, I used an Oriental Zen stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps and black Archival Ink to stamp the flower design over the magenta coloured areas. I then covered the ink with white Stampendous embossing powder and heated it with my heat gun until glossy. The black doilies were stamped using a Dovecraft stamp set and the black Archival Ink and covered with black Papermania embossing powder; they were stamped over the green areas of the page.
I used the same Dovecraft stamp set, black ink and embossing powder to add the lace detail to my skull which was die cut using a Halloween Hangouts Thinlit set from Tim Holtz from white card. I mounted it onto some glittery paper and stuck it in place using a glue stick. I also added some circles that were cut from the glitter paper using a Spellbinders die set and to finish, I added a Kaisercraft sticker that reads “Fun starts here”.
I hope that you are inspired to join us too, for more Embossed inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look at all the beautiful creations from my Design Teamies (grin!).
As it was my hubby’s birthday last week and T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a slice of the birthday cake that I made him and his cuppa! The cake is a Victoria sponge filled with homemade buttercream icing and cherry jam which I topped with a white and red feathered icing and his tea is Ceylon Orange Pekoe Tea – Happy T Day everyone!
Hoping that you 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:
Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Quinacridone Magenta, Hooker’s Green Hue Permanent)
Pébéo White Gesso
DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
Ranger Mini Brayer
Paperbabe Stamps (Oriental Zen Stamp Set)
Dovecraft Stamp Set (Lave & Doile DCCS009)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Stampendous! Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
Papermania Embossing Powder (Black)
Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with a Linen Texture CR0240/GE)
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Halloween Hangouts 663088)
Glitter wallpaper sample
Pritt Stick
Spellbinders Nestabilities Decorative Elements Die Cut System (Stately Circles S4-388) – thank you Astrid!
Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Bombay Sunset SS339)
Challenges
I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:
I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the outlined embossed flowers and lines of lace adorning the skull on my page.
I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with my Mexican inspired Halloween page.
I’m also joining in the fun over at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challengeand their Halloween Jump Start challenge with my art journal page.
I’m so pleased to be able to join in the Anything Goes over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Mexican “Día de Muertos” page – thanks so much Tracey, your beautiful ATCs reminded me of “Día de Muertos”, so inspirational!
I’m also joining the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Distressing (ink or tool) with the dry painting technique that I used.
I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Layer It Up challenge with layers of paint and embossing powders that I used for the background and layers of papers that I used for the skull.
The new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Autumn Colours.
I love the colours of autumn so I had fun creating this page and there’s not a leaf in sight – I hope you like it!
I started by covering the page with Pébéo white gesso and modelling paste using a paintbrush. When dry, I applied Peat Moss, Potting Soil, Orange Blossom and Buttercup Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Inks and Fired Brisk Distress Ink over the top and spritzed them with water letting the inks drip across the page and left it to dry. Then I splattered the page using gold Liquitex Ink.
Next I added some gold Ranger embossing powder over the inks using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and my heat gun.
The eagle picture was cut from an old book and edged using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and some of the gold embossing powder; it was stuck in place using double-sided tape. As the eagle symbolises courage and power, I added some Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz which read “Shine like the whole universe is yours”, “be Fearless” and “be brave with your life”. They were coloured using Yellow Ochre Kuretake watercolour paint to blend them into the background more.
Next I added some gold Glitterations border stickers to the page and then applied some of the gold embossing powder to some Bozzy Bear wood chippies which I coloured using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; they were stuck down using Ranger Glossy Accents which finished the page.
For more inspiration, my fellow Design Teamies have been having fun with Autumn Colours over at Try it on Tuesday too, please pop over and take a look.
As T Stands for Tuesday and it’s autumn I’m sharing our homebrewed pumpkin beer – cheers and Happy T Day! This copper beer has to be my favourite beer, it has a lovely hint of pumpkin and pumpkin spice aroma; this one came at 5.78% abv (alcohol by volume). We discovered pumpkin beer when we visited Federal Jack’s in Kennebunkport, Maine. They serve it with an optional shot of spiced rum added, so we have tried it that way too; it’s so nice and warming on a cold autumn day, though I limit myself to only one as it’s quite potent (grin!).
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
With all the texture on my page, I’m pleased to join the Texture challenge over at Art Journal Journey where I’m guest host this month; thank you to everyone who has joined in the fun, I have really enjoyed visiting your blogs and seeing your wonderful creations!
I am so delighted to be hosting Art Journal Journey this month and the challenge theme that I have chosen for this month is Texture.
We would like you to have fun creating texture on your pages. As you can see from the different panels on my page there are lots of possibilities to create texture. This could be by adding texture paste, crackle paste, high density mediums like gesso, paints or embossing powder. You could also use embossing folders, layers of papers, die cuts, fabrics or chipboard pieces too. The choice is yours!
I couldn’t just choose one texture so I decided to create my page using 21 different texture panels to inspire you and as I started creating the panels they turned into little scenes, I hope you like them (grin!).
If you’re interested, here’s close up pictures and full details of how the panels that make up my page were created. There’s also a list of all materials I used at the end of this post too.
1. Foil For my first panel, I stamped a dragonfly using black Archival Ink onto some coloured foil, which is recycled from an Easter egg wrapper. I stuck it onto the panel using a glue stick and to create the worn textured look I added some black Archival Ink to emphasis the creases and then I rubbed the foil back to its base silver colour with a baby wipe. To finish I added the glittery flower.
2. Teabags & staples Using staples I attached a used teabag to the panel and then I stuck three teacups on the top which were die cut from some design paper.
3. Glass beads I coloured the panel with some Summer Sky Memento Ink and then applied Liquitex Glass Beads Texture Gel over the top with a palette knife. Whilst the medium was still wet I pressed some pretty blue glass beads into the texture gel. When dry I added the little orange fish which is a brad.
4. Dried leaves I used matte gel medium to layer together a yellow skeleton leaf, a dried beech leaf and a die cut flower, which was cut from some linen textured paper using a Wildflower Tim Holtz Thinlet.
5. Fabric, threads and lace The panel was covered with some self-adhesive fabric and layered with a piece of frayed muslin, some Hessian/burlap and some threads which I topped with a lace flower.
6. Corrugated card I added a piece of corrugated card, which was recycled from some packaging, using matte gel medium then applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top. When dry, I emphasised the corrugations using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The postage stamp is from Graphic 45 and was distressed using the Dark Sepia marker, Tea Dye Distress Ink and black acrylic paint.
7. Elastic bands I applied some matte gel medium to the panel and sprinkled on some Orthodontic elastic bands that CJ kindly set to me (grin!). When dry I covered them with white gesso and highlighted the circles using a Dark Sepia marker. Then I edged the panel using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and coloured some of the circle centres using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. To finish, I added three little hearts that were in my craft stash; they were created using the Falling Hearts Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and glossy white cardstock.
8. Crackle I covered the panel with white gesso and when it was dry I applied Earl Grey, Caramel and Coconut Faber-Castell Gelatos smudging the colours with my finger. To create the crackle I used a BoBunny stamp and some Toffee Crisp and Rich Cocoa Momento inks and Black Archival ink.
All the letters for the “texture” wording were created using an X-Cut die set; they were cut from both black and white paper and then layered together onto a panel of textured design paper.
9. Glitter I cut some different coloured glitter sheets into squares and then stuck them onto the panel using a glue stick.
10. Cork I simply stuck a piece of cork designed paper onto the panel.
11. Paint Splatter To add more texture I used some high density Liquitex paint, splattering Vivid Lime Green, Cold Grey and Bright Aqua Green onto the panel and leaving it to dry.
12. Wood This is one of my favourite techniques; I applied Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy and Ground Espresso Distress Ink pads vertically down the panel and used a paint brush to add some matte gel medium over the top keeping the brush strokes in a vertical direction. I repeated the process a couple of times making sure each layer dried before adding the next.
13. Texture paste I applied some Ranger Texture Paste to the panel using a Vintage Diamond stencil. When dry I coloured the panel using Salty Ocean and Cracked Pistachio Distress Inks, then emphasised the texture paste using some Midnight Sparkle lustre wax.
14. Napkin I simply covered the panel with a gold embossed napkin using a glue stick.
15. Wooden chipboard pieces and rust effect I started by sticking the cogs in place using matte gel medium. When dry I added layers of different shades of rust and brown acrylic paints which I had created by mixing Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow and black acrylic paints. When dry I added more detail using Dark Sepia and a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Then I added some patina by lightly stippling some Bright Aqua Green acrylic paint over the top.
16. Paper layers I covered the panel with leftover paper pieces and edged them using a black Uni Pin marker. The flower is a paper sticker and the foliage was cut using a Funky Floral Thinlet from Tim Holtz and coloured using two green Winsor & Newton Promarkers.
17. Doily and gems I added lots of texture to the panel using layers of doily which I edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia marker. They are stuck in place using double-sided tape and then embellished with some textured gemstones to add some shimmer and shine.
18. Embossing Folder, thread and buttons I used an embossing folder to add a flower design to a piece of Kraft cardstock and then coloured the raised embossed design using a white Uniball gel pen and Aqua Green Promarker. Then I wound some wax thread around the panel and attached a big button.
19. Drywall/Plasterboard Tape I added some drywall/plasterboard tape to the panel and coloured it using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray. I splattered the panel with black DecoArt acrylic paint and added some washi tape to create the foreground. Then I added the mushrooms which are from the Field Notes Ephemera Set from Tim Holtz.
20. Embossing enamel and die cut trellis The panel background was coloured using Tea Dye and Antique Linen Distress Ink and Dandelion and Pistachio Memento Ink. The trellis was die cut from white cardstock covered in black Archival Ink and Chunky Silver Stampendous embossing enamel. I added two little birds which were stamped using black Archival Ink, coloured with Promarkers and fussy cut out.
21. Tissue Paper For the final panel, I crumpled some white tissue paper and then added it to the panel using matte gel medium. When dry, I coloured it with Lemon, Cadmium Yellow, Cerulean Blue, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna watercolour paint. The flower was cut from some Kanban cardstock using a Wildflower Tim Holtz Thinlet.
Once the panels were complete I stuck them onto the page using double-sided tape; I coloured the background with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to outline the panels before sticking them in place.
Do you have a favourite panel? It’s hard for me to choose, maybe number 3 with the beads and little fish, number 6 as I love the corrugated card, number 15 with cogs and rust or number 20 as you know I adore robins (grin!).
I hope that you are inspired to join us at Art Journal Journey this month too! We are really looking forward to visiting you and seeing all the Texture that you create on your pages (grin!).
Hoping that you’re 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.
Challenges
I’m joining the It’s A Wrap challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the Easter Egg wrapping, corrugated packaging and tissue paper wrap I used to create my panels.
I’m happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.
Today I’m joining the Something New challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey with a new technique using a hot glue gun that I’ve wanted to try for a while. Here’s the journal page that I created, what do you think?
Whilst the glue gun was heating up, I doodled an abstract heart design onto the page using a pencil.
Once the glue gun was heated to temperature, I applied the hot glue over the pencil marks and also added some dots of glue and then I left the glue to cool and dry.
I then applied Aged Ivory Stampendous embossing enamel powder over the top of the glue by carefully heating the surface of the glue up again with my heat gun (it takes seconds) and then covering it with the embossing enamel powder; it’s important that you don’t heat the glue too much as it will flatten and loose its 3D shape. I left the glue to dry and harden again before I carefully heated it again using the heat gun to melt the embossing enamel. Next I painted the page using Kuretake watercolour paints; using Red for the hearts and for the rest of the page using Rose Madder and Colbalt Violet coloured paints.
When dry, I coloured the embossed hot glue with a glittery gold lustre polish (which was new to my craft stash) using a paintbrush. The words are rub-on transfers from Tim Holtz and read “Love”, “Love you to the moon & back”, “always & forever” and “better together”. To finish, I splattered the page using some black DecoArt acrylic paint.
As Valentine’s is approaching, my winter window display, like my page, gets a smattering of red hearts which provides a lovely contrast to the white decorations (grin!).
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a pint of Lancaster Red beer which we enjoyed at one of our favourite pubs – cheers and wishing you all much love this T day!
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the Love challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Love art journal page.
I’m joining in the All Loved Up challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as with my love and hearts designed art journal page.
Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog their theme is # 33 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Paper Piecing, so I’m pleased to be able to join this 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:
Bostik Hot Glue Pen & Glue
Stampendous Embossing Enamel (Aged Ivory)
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Red No. 32, Rose Madder No. 34, Rose Madder Deep No. 36, Colbalt Violet No. 139)
Our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks is Cold, Cold, Cold.
For this challenge, we are looking for snow, ice and winter scenes. I was inspired to create a Frosty snowman page using cold blues and adding lots of texture using ink drips, stamps, embossing enamel, modelling paste and snowflakes – I hope you like it!
I started by stamping the page with a Script Stamp from Kaisercraft and a Flight Collage stamp from Creative Expressions using black Archival Ink. Then I smooshed Salty Ocean and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink over the page by stamping the ink pads onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then pressing the block or dripping the ink onto the page; drying each application of ink with my heat gun before applying the next. Then I covered some of the stamped images with white gesso to push them into the background more and dragged a silver pigment ink pad over the page to add some shine. I applied some clusters of Chunky Silver Stampendous Embossing Enamel using a Versamark stamp pad, melting the enamel carefully with a heat gun. Next I applied some Pébéo modelling paste through a Wheels stencil by Dina Wakley and when it was dry I painted the wheels with white gesso so they stood out more. Then I layered some white and silver snowflakes and silver dots which are all stickers and to finish, I added a Frosty snowman topper using double-sided foam tape.
For more inspiration, please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from my Design Teamies!
As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my forest fruit infused gin which is served with a mango fizzy drink and ice. In the background you’ll see some fabrics, the snowman one reminded me of my page, I plan to make napkins out of them (grin!).
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 be joining the Circles challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the stencilled wheels I added to this page.
I’m joining in the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my wintry art 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:
Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Script CS752)
Creative Expressions (Flight Collage CMRN191K)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon)
Pébéo White Gesso
Pigment Ink (Silver)
Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Ink Pad)
Stampendous Deep Impression Embossing Enamel (Chunky Silver)
Ranger Dina Wakley Media Stencil (Wheels MDS45588)
Pébéo Modeling Paste
Home Bargains (Wall Stickers 16221 & 16216, Felt Stickers 38082)
Hunkydory Luxury Topper Set (Merry Christmas Mr. Snowman CUTE16-903)
Our new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Colours of Autumn.
I love the autumn season, so created an art journal page using a new technique with clear embossing powder; my autumnal colours are Brushos but you could use the same technique with any autumnal coloured inks, paints, infusions etc; to find out how it all came together please see below.
I started by sprinkling Yellow, Lemon, Yellow Ochre, Orange, Terracotta, Rose Red, Scarlett, Sandstone, Dark Brown and Moss Green Brusho powders onto my page then spritzing with water and leaving it to dry. Once dry, I sprinkled water droplets onto the page and removed them using some kitchen towel to give a mottled effect. I stamped the “wishing you a beautiful autumn season” wording using a Sophisticated Script stamp set from Concord & 9th and black Archival Ink and highlighted the letters using a white Uniball gel pen.
Then for my new technique, I stamped the leaves, which are from a Tim Holtz stamp set, to surround the wording; they are stamped using Versamark Watermark Ink and then covered with clear embossing powder, which I heated with my heat gun. Because it’s clear and has been applied over a coloured background, it lets the colours show through and protects them while you add more colour to the area. I used a blending tool to add some Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink around the edge of the page and over the leaves so they stood out more. To finish I splattered the page with Ground Espresso Distress Ink and added some gems to add some sparkle.
I hope you will join in our Colours of Autumn fun too and for more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and check out the amazing creations from my Design Teamies!
Lately I have been reminiscing about our trip to Maine, America as we were staying with friends at their Lake House in October last year and …
This place serves American biscuits which are more like a savoury scone here in the UK with a firm browned crust and a soft, crumbly interior.
I chose from the normal menu and had biscuits and sausage gravy, so yummy!
My hubby had biscuits with the vegan mushroom gravy. We also had an egg on top which was optional and if you prefer they also have a gluten free biscuit too (grin!).
My friend chose from the brunch menu and had Biscuits Benedict which tasted yummy, yes she was kind enough to let me try some (double grin!); this was Country-Style biscuits with over-easy eggs and a choice of classic ham with a hollandaise sauce or creamy kale with a white wine sauce, she also had a side order of home fries.
As T Stands for Tuesday you may have already noticed my green tea in the photos, but there was also coffee, orange juice or even water from this fabulous water fountain – Happy T Day everyone!
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the so very grateful wishes on my page.
I was lucky enough to receive a box of Black Magic chocolates for a good deed that a member of my family requested – they were very yummy! So I thought I would recycle the packaging to create my Black Magic Halloween page – I hope you like it!
I started by using a Sun and Moon circle template from Inkylicious to mask off the moon and then painted the sky background with orange and black Kuretake watercolour paints. Then I removed the template and used the Sun and Moon stencil from the same Inkylicious set to add the moon detail using Vintage Linen and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and a white Uni Posca paint pen. I stamped the sky with a Gothic Book stamp from Finnabair using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink and then I splattered the page with the orange and black watercolour paints. Next I recycled the inner packaging from my Black Magic chocolates by ripping the black paper into pieces and arranging them on the bottom and down the left-hand side of the page. I also die cut the flowers and ivy from the same black paper using Wildflower Stems and Garden Greens Thinlets from Tim Holtz and my Big Shot machine; they are stuck in place using a Zig Memory glue pen. I stamped some cobwebs from Molly Blooms using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink. Then I used some of the cardboard packaging for the “Black Magic” wording fussy cutting it out, black heat embossing it and sticking it in place using Ranger Glossy Accents. Then to finish, I splattered the page using the white Uni Posca paint pen.
Here’s my box of Black Magic chocolates, help yourselves – you have a choice of Coffee Crescent, Pure Black Magic, Midnight Truffle, Raspberry Heaven, Hazelnut Swirl, Dreamy Fudge, Almond Crunch, Orange Sensation and Caramel Heart. To make them last I treated myself to one a day and they were delicious (grin!).
This page reminded me of a song by Little Mix, I enjoy watching the video – it’s such a fun story line!
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my happy black magic dreams.
I’m also joining the Die Cuts and Punches challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the die cut flowers and ivy that I included on this page.
I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Fall/Autumnal Colors challenge with the orange colours on my page.
I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page which included paint, inks, recycled packaging and embossing powder.
Don’t forget that you can also join in the fun over at Try it on Tuesday for our Witches, Wizards, Halloween 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:
Inkylicious Template & Stencil Set (Sun and Moon)
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Orange, Black)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Hickory Smoke)
Inkylicious Ink Dusters
Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
Prima Marketing Finnabair 2 Clear Stamp (Gothic Book 966966)
Hi everyone! I am so delighted to be in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thanks so much for all your kind wishes last week!
This week the theme is Spooky.
For this challenge I created a spooky art Journal page full of magic and mystery, maybe there’s a magic potion in one of those bottles – what are you going to wish for? (grin!).
I started by stencilling texture paste using a Mini Specimens template from The Crafter’s Workshop and when dry, I painted the page using Indigo and Black Kuretake watercolour paints. Then I applied Aged Silver Stampendous embossing enamel to the texture paste using a Versamark watermark pad. I used a Versamark watermark pen and Shabby White Stampendous embossing enamel for finer details. I also coloured some of the texture paste using a black Sharpie pen then I splattered the page using the black watercolour paint and also White Linen Dylusions Spray. I added some bats and cobwebs that I stamped onto tissue paper which finished the background.
For the tags, I die cut five tags using Sizzix Framelits and my Big Shot machine. They are cut from Pocket Cards from Tim Holtz, edged with black Versamark ink and then stamped using a Gothic Book Finnabair stamp and an Urban Tapestry Tim Holtz stamp set using the black Versafine ink and covered with black Stampendous embossing powder.
Next I added the pretty bottles which are from a Kaisercraft Sticker Book and decorated with some black ribbon and the metal “31” and “13” which are Countdown brads from Tim Holtz. The tags are finished with some eyelets and recycled black satin ribbon, and layered in place with some blue flowers which are fussy cut from a Botanicals Layers card. To finish, I added the “objet trouvé”, “finders keepers” and “make a wish” wording which are Quote Chips from Tim Holtz.
This spooky window can be found at the Moose and Moonshine restaurant in Liverpool and I think the witch may be making us a magic potion.
This restaurant is part of the Moose Coffee chain and they make the best hot chocolate with a shot of pumpkin spice syrup in it – yum! I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang over at T Stands for T Day – Happy T Day!
I enjoyed creating this art journal page for the Spooky challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.
Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp is generously giving away a $50 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! and one lucky participant will be randomly drawn to win this voucher. How amazing is that! Good Luck to everyone!
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 Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the spooky dreams and wishes on my page.
I’m also joining the Die Cuts and Punches challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the die cut tags that I included on this page.
Our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey being hosted by Amanda is Precious Metal who has kindly provided the following description:
“For this challenge we would like to see some kind of precious metal feature in your project. Think gold, silver, brass, copper, aluminium, steel….. It could be in the form of embellishments, cardstock, paint, gilding wax, foil, gold leaf or rub ons. Just remember to ensure that you create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.”
For Amanda’s wonderful Precious Metal challenge I created an art journal page using copper and silver embossing powders. I had lots of fun heat embossing them onto stencilled modelling paste, stamped letters, chipboard pieces and a die cut butterfly – I hope you like it!
I started by stencilling modelling paste using a Specimens stencil and then covered it with copper and silver embossing powder, heating it with a heat gun until it became glossy and 3D. To create more of a grungy look I lightly dragged a Watermark stamp pad over the page and then I covered it using the copper and silver embossing powders heating the powder with my heat gun again. Then to colour the background I applied Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain and also Forest Moss and Twisted Citron Distress Ink which I diluted with water by stamping the ink pad on a blending mat, applying water and applying it to the page using a paint brush.
Next I applied some rub-on transfers to the page so that the images were broken to look like thoughts swirling around the page; they are Special Delivery transfers from Tim Holtz. I stamped some letters from a Tim Holtz stamp set onto tissue paper using black Archival Ink and heat embossed it with copper embossing powder. I cut the letters out and stuck them onto the page using gel medium and then splattered the page using black and white acrylic paint.
I used the copper and silver embossing powder again to edge the wording “Thoughts and Theories” which is a Chip Quote from Tim Holtz, to cover some wooden circular chipboard pieces and also to add silver to a die cut butterfly from the Tim Holtz Botanical collection.
The chipboard pieces are stuck to the page using Ranger Glossy Accents and to finish I stuck the butterfly in place using double-sided tape to stick down the centre and then double-sided foam tape to elevate its wings.
My art journal page reminds me of one of the signs that hangs in my craft room. There are lots of similarities to my page with the green colour palette, circular swirls, similar meaning of the words and pretty copper bell; it’s also made of metal and is very precious to me as I bought it for my craft room when we visited our dear friends in Maine, America last year (grin!).
For more inspiration, please pop over to see the amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey too, it would be lovely to see you there!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
I was so inspired by Astrid’s Tissue Paper challenge over at A Vintage Journey that I created another page; there is still another week to join in the fun, it would be lovely to see you there!
This time I collaged tissue paper to create the background and distressed it, then added a beautiful butterfly and some motivational wording; I hope you like the shabby chic style that resulted.
The background is made of pieces of tissue Patch Paper collaged together using a glue stick and matte gel medium. Once dry I applied some white gesso over the top using a palette knife and then created a worn look by adding: some Coconut and Caramel Faber-Castell Gelatos smudging the colour with my finger; Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker which again I smudged using my finger; and finally some Frayed Burlap Distress Ink which I applied using a blending tool. Then I stamped a Tiny Dot stamp from Kaisercraft using the Frayed Burlap ink and also some black Archival Ink. For the butterfly, I chose a large pre-cut butterfly and heat embossed the edges of its wings and also its body using Versamark ink and black embossing powder. It is attached to the page using double-sided tape in the centre and also double-sided foam tape for the wings. The words are Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz and read “you are capable of becoming more than you realise”, “believe in yourself” and “with brave wings she flies”. They are all outlined using a black marker and using the same marker I drew two antennae on the butterfly which finished the page.
This page seemed to create itself and I think I was channelling butterflies as our friend that we walk with every week went on a Butterfly Tour last week, around the UK, looking for rare butterflies. When she was telling us about the Large Blue it reminded me of my page and as she is an exceptional photographer she kindly shared her photos with me which I’m pleased to be able to share with you too. This is a Large Blue which became extinct in 1979 and is being reintroduced to some areas of the UK.
Here’s some more of her amazing photos, this one is a Painted Lady …
