Yule Tide

It’s a new month which means we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for December which is Christmas Anything Goes.

This challenge is perfect as I love all things Christmas and I created this Yule Tide page to celebrate and wish you a Happy December and all the very best for the festive season!

I started by covering the page with Christmas Collage Paper from Tim Holtz and then I edged the page using Gold Ranger Embossing Powder. The snowflakes were die cut from some white cardstock using a Mini Paper Snowflakes Thinlits set from Tim Holtz and then covered in the Gold Ranger Embossing Powder.

To finish, I added some word stickers which were from a Tim Holtz Christmas Sticker Book and read “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night”, “Baby it’s cold outside” and “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” and also some images from a Tim Holtz Ephemera Pack which read “Special Delivery” and “December 25”; they were all edged with the Gold Ranger embossing powder before sticking them in place.

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

I hope you are inspired to join our Christmas Anything Goes challenge too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

This Yule Tide page had me yearning for this chocolate Yule Log that we buy every Christmas from a local bakery, it’s so yummy – not long to wait now (double grin!).

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

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

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link. You can also check out Country View Crafts as they sell many of the Tim Holtz and Ranger products that I used.

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

Yuletide Delights over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my Yule Tide page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #157 – Anything Goes challenge with my Christmas page.

Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my Yule Tide page.

Challenge #106 – Anything Christmas Goes over at The Holly & Ivy Christmas Challenge with my Christmas art journal page.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Sparkle Mode challenge with the gold embossing powder adding sparkle to my page.

It’s all about time

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is It’s all about time.

For this challenge I was inspired by the time I have spent this month celebrating my hubby’s birthday and also our wedding anniversary. I hope are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

The background was a wallpaper sample detailing a large clock face, roses and the words “Take time to love the little things”; it was stuck in place using a glue stick and then cut to size, and I collaged the remnants together to create the panel on the left-hand side of the page. I also added more detail to the rose images using a white Uniball gel pen so they stood out more. Next I stamped the two clock faces onto some design paper by American Crafts using black Archival Ink and a couple of stamp sets by Kaisercraft. I cut them out and arranged them onto the page with some silver roses and circles which were outline stickers and a quote from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet which reads “Love the time we spend together”. To finish, I fussy cut the two butterflies from the wallpaper sample and stuck them onto the page.

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

As T Stands for Tuesday and we’ve been out celebrating, I’m sharing our drinks and meal that we enjoyed for our wedding anniversary (time sure does fly, we celebrated 33 years of marriage this year!). My hubby had chicken with black pudding in a mustard sauce and I had a warm bacon and chicken salad; I couldn’t eat all mine so we had some for lunch the next day (grin!).

Cheers and Happy T Day!

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

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today with my page:

Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #154 – Anything Goes with my page.

Thinking of you over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

MIUCB#54 – Anything Goes + Paper Piecing challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog.

Love to Craft Challenge Blog and their LTCCB#63 – October Anything Goes challenge.

Everyday is a true blessing

I had so much fun creating this mixed media page and as using up leftovers is one of my crafting goals this year, I used some leftover paper that I had coloured using Kuretake watercolour to create my autumnal leaves for this page too (grin!).

Don’t forget that you still have until the end of this month to join our #76 Challenge – Anything Mixed Media Goes over at Creative Artiste; you just need to use three different mediums to join in the fun – I hope to see you there!

I started by covering the chipboard background with a layer of Pébéo white gesso and left it to dry, and then I applied a layer of black chalk paint over the top. When dry, I sanded the page in a vertical motion using a piece of sandpaper to expose some of the white gesso underneath to create a worn vintage chalkboard appearance. Next I created the leaves using some leftover paper that was coloured using Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Scarlet Kuretake watercolour paints; I die cut three sizes of the same leaf shape from a Fall Foliage Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and then I applied some Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the leaves to give them more of a grungy look. I stuck the “Everyday is a true blessing” wording in place, which was from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet, and then I arranged the leaves around it using Liquitex matte gel medium. I added dots of Pumpkin Ranger Liquid Pearls and to finish, I splattered the page with the white gesso and also the black chalk paint.

As we had frosts in April that affected the apple blossom, I feel very blessed for the crop of Braeburn apples that we picked this year from our apple trees in our garden. I used some of them to make this delicious cinnamon apple cake with maple frosting which goes perfectly with my cuppa for T Stands for Tuesday – wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

I hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Tracey from Hotchpotchcreations  who is hosting this month with her My favourite colour is October challenge with my autumn blessings page (15x15cm). Chalk it Up! challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog with the chalk paint background on my autumnal page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #153 – Anything Goes with my autumn blessings page. #144 Autumn Colours over at Sparkles Monthly Challenges with the autumn colours I used on this page. LTSCB #150 – Anything But A Card over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my autumnal mini art journal page. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Not A Card challenge with my autumnal mini chipboard art journal page. Challenge #6 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media autumnal page; this is a new challenge so I thought I’d join in the fun!

Autumn Blessings

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

I love autumn and I’m always thankful for the autumnal colours so my page features lots of colourful leaves and a fabulous saying that reads “May your blessings be as countless as the autumn leaves”.

I hope you like it and are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by stamping the wording onto the page using a Sophisticated Script stamp set by Concord & 9th and black Archival Ink; touching up the lettering in places using a black marker. Then I had a happy accident as I didn’t realise the black marker that I used was water-based, so when I added some Tea Dye Distress Ink using a wet paint brush it reactivated the black marker; I quickly changed my brush strokes so they were in a diagonal pattern away from the lettering and it resulted in this beautiful grungy look – I love how it turned out (grin!).

Next I selected lots of leftover papers that had been coloured with different acrylic paints, Distress Inks and Brushos. Then I die cut the different leaves from them using a Fall Foliage Thinlits set by Tim Holtz. I added more colour to the leaves using Crackling Campfire, Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber and Ground Espresso Distress Ink. Then I arranged them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium and to finish, I splattered the whole page using black DecoArt acrylic paint.

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

As T Stands for Tuesday and autumn is in the air, I’m sharing some homemade parkin which is a gingerbread cake traditionally made with oatmeal and black treacle, which originated in Northern England. I always make it this time of year as it’s one of my dad’s favourites, and today I’m enjoying a piece with my cuppa (hot water this time) – Happy T Day!

I hope that you’re all staying safe and well, and sending you autumn blessings!

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

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Wendy K from wendyscraftjournal.blogspot.com who is hosting this month with her Vintage challenge with my autumn blessings page. #144 Autumn Colours challenge over at Sparkle Monthly Challenges with the autumn colours on my art journal page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #152 – Anything Goes with my autumn art journal page. Challenge #5 Mixed Media Lovers, this challenge blog is for all mixed media lovers so I’m joining them with my mixed media autumnal page. LTSCB #149- Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my autumn blessings page.

Nature

Today I’m sharing a nature page, from my mini art journal, for this month’s The Leaves begin to Fall challenge over at Country View Challenges.

This page features some beautiful Stamperia papers including a collage of leaf images for the background, a pretty bird sitting amongst some oak leaves and the “Nature” wording.

I started by cutting lots of leaf images from a piece of Forest design paper by Stamperia and collaging them onto the page using gel medium. When dry, I edged the paper pieces using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger. Next I fussy cut the bird sitting on a branch, the three oak leaves and “Nature” wording; they were edged with the Dark Sepia marker and then stuck in place which finished the page.

I hope you are inspired to join our The Leaves begin to Fall challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

The autumnal design and oak leaves on my page were also inspired by recent visit to the Royal Oak in Garstang with our family.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a beer that we enjoyed …

… and some of our delicious food; this is chicken, bacon and leeks in a Lancashire cheese sauce – yum!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

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

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Wendy K from wendyscraftjournal.blogspot.com who is hosting this month with her Vintage challenge with my vintage autumnal page. #144 Autumn Colours challenge over at Sparkle Monthly Challenges with my autumnal coloured art journal page. Lots of Layers challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog with all the layers of paper I added to this nature page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #152 – Anything Goes with my nature art journal page. LTCCB #62- September Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my vintage page.

Vintage Collection

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Going round in Circles.

Today my page features a collection of vintage circles; I hope you like it and are inspired to join our challenge too, it would be lovely to see you there!

For the background, I dragged Speckled Egg and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink pads vertically down the page and then applied some Liquitex matte gel medium over the top; I did this a number of times to build up the colour letting the gel medium dry before applying more ink.

Next I die cut lots of different sized circles from two design papers from a DIY Shop American Crafts paper pad and edged them using Ground Espresso Distress Ink. Then I added layers of washi tapes and lots of Tim Holtz ephemera, salvage stickers and remnant rubs to the circles and I splattered them and the page using Ground Espresso and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.

Before sticking the circles in place using a glue stick, I added shadows underneath them using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger. To finish, I outlined each of the circles with a black fine line marker so they stood out more.

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

As T Stands for Tuesday, I thought I would continue the circle theme with my Hot Beef Barm (slices of beef in a barm cake which is a popular flattish bread roll from North West of England where I live) served with onion gravy and chips which went very nicely with a pint of Unicorn beer – Happy T Day everyone!

I hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Wendy K from wendyscraftjournal.blogspot.com who is hosting this month with her Vintage challenge with my vintage circles page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #151 – Anything Goes with my nature art journal page. Die-na-mite over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with all the circular die cuts and Tim Holtz Ephemera die cuts that I used to create this vintage page. LTSCB #149 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my vintage page.

Every heart sings a song

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

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

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

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well! x

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

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

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

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

The Singing Ringing Tree

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Make a Rainbow

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

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

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

Past Birthday Treats

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here we are having a wonderful time in Liverpool …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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