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