Makes me dream

A visit to the Blackbird Café had me thinking of stars, so I created this page from recycled used inky baby wipes and a fabulous quote from Vincent Van Gogh that reads “I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream”.

I started by collaging pieces of baby wipe that I had used to mop up some After Midnight Dylusions Ink Spray and Black Archival Ink using some gel medium. When dry I also applied some of the Dylusions Ink Spray using a paintbrush to water it down to any areas of the page that I hadn’t collaged and then stencilled some dots using a Creative Expressions Distressed Dots Mask. I splattered the page with some Pébéo white gesso, black DecoArt acrylic paint and a silver Daler Rowney paint marker. Next I fussy cut some images from a sheet of Stargazer Collection paper from Kaisercraft, edged them with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck them in place. I framed the quote using silver outline stickers and then I added some glittery silver stars which finished the page.

You may remember the Blackbird Café from previous posts, it’s such a lovely place and we normally go there with our dearest friends and chat over a cuppa (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my cup of hot chocolate in a beautiful blue mug and it was served with a yummy white chocolate star – Happy T Day!

Of course we couldn’t visit this café without having a bacon butty too – so delicious (double grin!).

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from 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 so happy to join in the Splatters, Splashes & Drips challenge over at Country View Challenges with all the splatters, splashes and drips on this page.

I’m joining in the Add A Sentiment challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page.

Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog their theme is # 34 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Stenciling so I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge with my mixed media stenciled page.

As I recycled some used baby wipes this is also a reminder that you still have another week to join our Go Green or Recycle Something challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Used baby wipes stained with Ranger After Midnight Dylusions Ink Spray and Jet Black Archival Ink
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Distressed Dots)
• Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (After Midnight)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Daler Rowney Acrylic Paint Markers (Silver)
• Kaisercraft Stargazer Collection 12×12 Paper (Galaxy P2538)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape
• Design Objectives Outline Stickers (Silver Borders 123551)
• Craft Sensations (Foam Glitter Stickers Silver CRO243/18GE)

Recycle Something

It’s time for a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday and for the next two weeks we are asking you to Go Green or Recycle Something.

My art journal page was created from lots of recycled items – I hope you like it!

For the paper elements I recycled some sheet music, the patterned paper from the inside of an envelope, brown paper from the outside of some corrugated packaging, some brown package strapping and a strip of Kraft card. The leaf is from a Sweet Chestnut tree and believe it or not, there is only one (huge) leaf cut into pieces; I collected it from Lytham Hall in Autumn last year, dried it and then covered it with wood glue to preserve it and stop it from breaking up into bits. The flowers are dried gypsophila (also called Baby’s Breathe) which I saved and pressed from some cut flowers that were gifted me.

I layered and collaged them all onto my page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium and added some weight over the top so the flower stalks made contact with the background and then left the gel medium to dry. Then I splattered the page with black acrylic paint and added some white gesso with my finger. The letters for the “recycle” wording were cut from an old calendar and I stuck them to a recycled navy blue tag, cut them out and arranged them onto the page. All the paper elements are outlined with a black Derwent Inktense pencil and a black marker pen. To finish the page, I added two little buttons and a metal snap button clasp using Ranger Glossy Accents.

My Design Teamies have created some amazing Go Green or Recycle Something inspiration for you over at Try it on Tuesday too, please pop over and take a look (grin!).

I had fun playing around with these recycled materials to create this page, I love how it depicts nature and it reminds me of our walks around Lytham Hall, including this view over one of the lakes. This photo was taken last year in autumn when I collected the leaf.

We often go walking around this lake with our friends and little Ellie who loves leaves, mainly chasing and eating them (grin!). We so enjoyed looking after her last week for our friends – she’s so adorable (double grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and sharing my cuppa with a yummy Salted Caramel Doughnut – wishing you all a Happy T day!

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

Challenges

I’m so happy to join in the Splatters, Splashes & Drips challenge over at Country View Challenges with the acrylic paint splatters on my page.

I’m also pleased to join in the #112 – Layers challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the layers of papers, leaves and dried flowers that I used.

I’m also joining in the Two Or More Patterned Papers challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the sheet music and patterned envelope paper that I recycled on my page.

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

• Recycled sheet music
• Inside of a used envelope
• Recycled corrugated packaging and brown package strapping
• Leftover strip of Kraft card
• Sweet Chestnut leaf
• Dried gypsophila also called Baby’s Breathe
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Old calendar
• Recycled navy clothing tag
• Derwent Inktense Pencil (Ink Black)
• Handwriting marker pen (Black)
• Two old buttons and metal snap button clasp
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Wishing you a magical Christmas

I created this page for all my blog friends to wish you all a magical Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I started by stamping the “We wish you a Merry Christmas” sheet music, the number 25 and the angels from a stamp set by Kaisercraft using Black Archival Ink. Then I applied some watered down Forest Moss and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink using a paint brush making light criss-cross strokes to add some texture whilst allowing some of the white paper to show through. Next I added a pretty foliage napkin which was gifted to me for my art journaling by a dear friend that we walk with every week – thank you! It is stuck in place using a glue stick and then the edges are ripped by painting a line of water along the piece of napkin where I wanted it to be torn, and then tearing it along the wet strip; the tear followed the water-soaked line like magic (grin!). The edges of napkin are stuck down using Liquitex matte gel medium. To finish, I recycled an old Christmas card to die cut the snowflakes and also to add the wording “Wishing you a magical Christmas”.

Me and my hubby always start our Christmas celebrations by visiting our local pub for a pint. Our pub doesn’t serve food but they are happy for you to take your own in with you to enjoy with your drink, so we always stop at the local deli for a Festive sandwich, which was so yummy!

Here’s our Festive sandwich (the deli kindly cut and wrapped it so we could have half each) with a pint of Mulled Stout from the Big Clock Brewery in Accrington, Lancashire; it’s a very dark beer, 4.5% ABV and tasted very Christmassy with the mulled spices – delicious!

The “re-order line” wording on the glass made me smile, well it would be rude not too so we did have another Mulled Stout (grin!). As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my pint with the T Gang – wishing you all a Happy T Day and also a magical Christmastime! Happy Holidays!

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 Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words and numbers on this 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.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Moo Mania & More too.

I’m joining in the Party Time challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as my page is celebrating Christmas – wishing you a magical time!

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

• Kaisercraft clear stamp (December 25th CS790)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Forest Moss, Mowed Lawn)
• Napkin
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Recycled Christmas Card
• The Works (Metal Cutting Die)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• X-Press It double-sided foam tape

Christmas Reindeer

I love all things Christmas so I have another Christmas page which this time is inspired by the new reindeer street mural that was recently created by the wonderful artist Banksy. This time, he is highlighting the homeless at Christmastime.

For the background I stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using London Fog Memento Ink and a wreath stamp using Black Archival Ink onto the page, and then I covered the page using Vintage Photo and Peeled Paint Distress Ink with a blending tool. Then I used a star stencil to remove some of the Distress Ink with a baby wipe and used the star stencil again to stencil the stars (in a Banksy style) using Black Soot Distress Ink, using a white Uniball gel pen to highlight some of the edge. Next I splattered the page with white gesso, black acrylic paint and Aged Mahogany Distress Ink.

The reindeer and snowflakes are glitter stickers which add some lovely texture and sparkle; it’s hard to see this on the photos. To finish, I added some white snowflake gems, red enamel dots and a fabric “Merry Christmas” tag.

Just a reminder that there is still another week to join our Christmas is coming challenge over at Try it on Tuesday; it would be lovely to see you there.

View this post on Instagram

. God bless Birmingham. In the 20 minutes we filmed Ryan on this bench passers-by gave him a hot drink, two chocolate bars and a lighter – without him ever asking for anything.

A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Dec 9, 2019 at 5:15am PST

If you haven’t yet seen it, here’s the Banksy street mural which recently appeared in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter over the weekend. It was reported that it was later vandalised with two red noses being added which then resulted in it being covered with Perspex to protect it.

When I think of street art, Banksy always springs to mind and you may remember me featuring his work on my blog before, I love his pieces! Banksy is an anonymous England-based street artist who has been active since the 1990s. His street art style is a distinctive stenciling technique and often his works are controversial having a political and social message combined with satirical dark humour.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my drink of ginger beer at a café in Lytham after a walk with our friends – wishing you a very Happy T Day!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words on this page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with the stencilled stars that I included on this page.

I’m pleased to join the Winter challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my reindeer page.

I’m joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Moo Mania & More too.

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

• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Wreath clear stamp
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (London Fog)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany, Black Soot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Star Stencil
• B&M (Glitter Snow Window Stickers)
• Habico Signature Collection (Snowflakes PP1100)
• Dovecraft Premium (Festive Wonder Glitter Enamel Dots DCDOTO36X18)
• Docrafts Create Christmas (Stitched Ribbon Tags PMA157921)
• X-Press It double-sided tape

Christmas is coming

For the next two weeks our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Christmas is coming.

My art journal page features traditional Christmas red and green colours and Christmas trees; I love all things Christmas so I can’t wait to see your Christmas creations (grin!). 

For the background, I stamped a Lattice stamp using Aged Mahogany Distress Ink over the whole page and then spritzed the page with water. When dry I added pieces of green polka dot washi tape to create the Christmas tree, added some red gemstones and then the numbers and trunk which are stickers from Kaisercraft. Next I die cut the letters to create the “Christmas is coming” wording out of white card; they are coloured using a green pen, stuck in place using Zig glue pen and more detail was added using a white Uniball gel pen. I used another sticker set to add the snowflake discs and create the tags, layering them together with the trees and stars and adding a bow of red and white twine. I also added some wording from a Tim Holtz Christmas sticker book which reads “the best tree”, “the magic tree”, “Christmas time has come at last” and “25^th of December”. To finish, I added some green and white glittery snowflakes and also some red gems to the tags and snowflake discs.

There’s some amazing inspiration from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over to take a look.

The numbered tree that I’ve created on this page could be used to count down the days until Christmas. I’m not sure where this year has gone now that December is here and oh my, there are only 15 days left until Christmas!

Another way this page could be used is as a calendar marking off the dates until Christmas Day is here. I think my friends have the best idea though, with the reward of a chocolate each day from this fabulous advent calendar! I may just have to get one of these next year – looks so yummy (grin!).

I noticed this advent calendar when we were visiting little Ellie, doesn’t she look adorable after her recent visit for her trim at the doggie parlour (double grin!).

Oh, and not forgetting hot chocolate for T Stands for Tuesday . This time of year we often enjoy a cup with a scrummy Lebkuchen which are only on sale at Christmastime. These ones are dipped in dark chocolate – delicious! I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang – Happy T day!

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

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as 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 Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words on this page.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Traditional Christmas challenge with the traditional red and green Christmas colours on my page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with the stars on the tags and the snowflakes star shapes I included on this page.

I’m also joining in the Stars challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the stars on the tags and the snowflakes star shapes I included on this page too.

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

• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Lattice CS120)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Aged Mahogany)
• Poundland (3 Washi Tapes)
• Eleganza Craft Stickers (Gems Red No:16)
• Hero Arts Gemstones (Red & Green CH120)
• Docrafts Papermania Adhesive  Stones (Red PMA351607)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Turtle Doves SS149)
• Docrafts X-Cut Alphabet Die Set (Centurion XCU503083)
• Recycled white card
• Pentel Sign Pen (Green)
• Zig Memory 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Dovecraft Collections Christmas Basics (A5 Glitter Stickers DCSTK018X16)
• Red & white twine
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Christmas Sticker Book #TH93999)
• Poundland (Christmas Craft Pack)

Magical Reindeer

My page today features a magical reindeer and was inspired by some Christmas shopping at a fabulous shop specialising in wool and haberdashery; there are photos later!

For the background I stuck a piece of wood effect design paper onto the page using a UHU Stic. Then I added some ripped pieces of holly tissue paper over the top using Liquitex matte gel medium and stuck some glittery snowflake stickers to the page. Next I arranged an A6 card, stars, leaves, gem flowers and foliage which are all from a Die Cut Book with some gold swirl foliage and gold stars which I die cut using my Big Shot machine. I added the wording “It’s the most wonderful time of year” which is from the same decoupage book and also the magical reindeer image which I cut from an old book; it’s stuck in place using double-sided foam tape. To finish, I added some small blue gemstones using Ranger Glossy Accents to add a little more sparkle.

Mrs. Johnsons Emporium is located in Blackpool in this grand building and they stock a large range of wool and haberdashery.

The owners are enthusiastic about knitting and created this amazing reindeer to decorate the shop and …

… also this colourful elephant – aren’t they both amazing!

They have an extensive range of wool and haberdashery to choose from, with lots of finished examples to show how the pattern and wool turn out. I was very tempted although I do not knit or crochet (grin!). As there website says, it really is a haven of gorgeousness for those who knit, crochet, sew and craft!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our deer mugs filled with tea and a yummy custard slice – Happy T day (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 join the lovely Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the wording I added to this page.

I’m happy to join in the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with all the gold stars I added to my art journal page too.

I’m joining in the Let’s Sparkle challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the glittery snowflakes, gold accents and gemstones on my page.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

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

• Docrafts A4 Ultimate Die Cut & Paper Pack (Festive Fauna PMA160949)
• Holly Tissue Paper
• Home Bargains (Wall Stickers 16221)
• The Works Die Cut Book Foil (Royal Christmas)
• Gold Paper
• Spellbinders (Unknown – Leaf Swirl)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Snowy Stars 663117)
• Hobbycraft Decorative Embellishments (Round Gems Blue 5665381001)
• UHU Stic
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 Mini Glue Dots and double-sided tape
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Blessed

This time of year I always think of my dear American friends who will be celebrating Thanksgiving the last Thursday of November.

I feel very blessed to have them as my friends so today’s page is a tribute to them and the beautiful autumnal garden flag that they gifted us. The flag influenced the background design, autumnal leaves and golden pears that I created on this page and the wording relates to my dearest friends (grin!).

For the white and grey background, I applied some Hickory Smoke Distress Ink using a mini stencil from TCW and I then layered a postage mark stamp from Kaisercraft and a leaf stamp from Tim Holtz using Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Ink. I coloured the stamped leaves using Fossilized Amber Distress Ink by applying the ink pad to a blending mat and picking up the ink with a paintbrush. The page is also splattered with the Fossilized Amber Distress Ink. Next I fussy cut the pears from a magazine, edged them with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck them in place using a UHU Stic. They are arranged on the page with some flowers, a butterfly, a clock and some wording which are all stickers from Kaisercraft; they are edged using Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and a blending tool before sticking them into place. The wording reads “blessed”, “moments”, “you & me” and “love”.

This is the garden flag that lead me to include a script and postage mark grey on white background, some autumnal leaves and golden pears as part of my page design. I see this flag everyday as it sits right outside my kitchen window which is a joy (grin!).

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from 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 Rike from rike’s art and her Fruit and Veggies challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I included the golden pears on my page.

I’m happy to join the #203 – Circles challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the circular stickers and stamped postage marks on my page, the pears have a circular feel to them too (grin!).

I’m joining in the Thanks/Thanksgiving challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I’m giving thanks for my friends with my Blessed art journal page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday and the Autumn & Gratitude with my autumnal and grateful for friends inspired page.

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

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

• The Crafter’s Workshop 6×6 Stencil (Mini Art is TCW261s)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feathers)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Provincial CS243)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Falling Leaves CMS097)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Hickory Smoke)
• Old Magazine
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Book (Antiquities SK807)
• UHU Stic