Friends touch your heart

Catching up with friends is always fun and I’ve been finding myself spending a lot more time chatting to friends since the lockdown.

I’m very grateful for all my friends including those here in Blogland, so with this in mind I created this page – stay safe and keep well everyone!

I started by using a button embossing folder and my Sizzix Bigshot to add buttons to some white cardstock. Then I used my new set of Faber-Castell Soft Pastels to add the Violet and Rose Carmine colours; I did this by rubbing each pastel lightly across the top of the embossed surface, rubbing lightly with my finger and then spritzing lightly with water. When dry I cut the button cardstock and also some flowery design paper from Create & Craft into squares, then I stuck them both onto the page using a glue stick to create a patchwork background. Next I added a pretty card topper which is from the same Create & Craft set and the wording which is a sticker from Kaisercraft; it reads “A friend reaches for your hand and touches your heart”. To finish, I added some flowers and leaves from Little Birdie using Ranger Glossy Accents.

Here is my new box of pastels and you may have noticed that they are sat on the white cardstock that I embossed with the buttons before it was coloured (grin!). I can’t wait to use them again so if you have any suggestions for techniques using soft pastels please let me know in the comments below – thanks!

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 Mia from Craftartista over at Art Journal Journey and her Flowers challenge this month with the flowers on my page.

I’m joining the Sew Sweet challenge over at the Frilly & Funkie Challenge Blog with the button embossed cardstock, patchwork background and dress.

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my tulip page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste, it would be lovely to see you there! Creative Artiste Challenge Blog.

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

• White Cardstock
• Darice Embossing Essentials (Buttons Assorted Embossing Folder)
• Faber-Castell Mini Soft Pastels (12 82 24 – Violet 138, Rose Carmine 124)
• Create & Craft (Birthday Celebrations Background Paper and Topper)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 Double-Sided Tape
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Cherry Tree Lane SS329)
• Little Birdie Flowers (SKU 213719)
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Throw kindness around like confetti

Our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday is Black and White plus One Extra Colour.

I used black, white and red to create this feminine vintage page featuring love and peace as well as a beautiful saying – “Throw kindness around like confetti”.

I started this page with by using up ink (that was leftover from my previous card making tutorial) on an Interlocking Circles stencil from Creative Expressions; using the stencil like a stamp which already had some Black Soot Distress Ink left on it. I spritzed the stencil with water and then pressed it onto the page firmly using a brayer. Then I used a baby wipe to clean the remaining ink off the stencil which added more layers of the ink to the page. The words “Peace” and “Love”, the ticket, ornate frames, postage mark, bees, text and flowers are stamped onto white tissue paper using black Archival Ink; these were all leftover from previous projects as I often stamp images onto tissue paper before using it on a page to see if they suit the design and also to decide where to place them. I then used the Interlocking Circles stencil again to add more Black Soot Distress Ink using a blending tool. Then I die cut some hearts from some recycled red foil cardstock using Falling Hearts Thinlets from Tim Holtz and arranged them on the page like confetti to depict the “Throw kindness around like confetti” wording which is a Small talk sticker from Tim Holtz.

As it was Easter this month we have been enjoying Hot Cross Buns so as T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my cuppa with a Hot Cross Bun filled with Lancashire cheese which is a white crumbly cheese produced locally – yum! Happy T Day everyone!

Stay safe and keep well! x

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

Challenges

I’m happy to join the lovely Valerie from Bastelmania over at Art Journal Journey and her Geometric Shapes challenge this month with the Interlocking Circles on this page.

I’m also joining the Mother’s Love challenge being hosted by the lovely Sara Emily over at the Frilly & Funkie Challenge Blog with the feminine vintage style, hearts and “Love” wording.

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Flower Power challenge too with the flowers on my page.

I’m also joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Not A Card challenge with my art journal page.

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

• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Interlocking Circles)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• White Tissue Paper stamped: Hampton Art 7 Gypsies (Birdsong ICO151); Crafter’s Companion Vintage Floral Collection (Floral Sentiments VF-ST-FSENT);  Eco Green Crafts Recycled Rubber Art Stamps (Petal Party #40309); Docrafts Papermania Urban Stamps (All Aboard – Tags PMA907178); Docrafts A5 Clear Stamps (Alpha Trad DCE907116)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Falling Hearts 664415)
• Recycled Foil Cardstock (Red)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)

Loving Life

I always find that I have a huge selection of tissue paper and paper leftover from creating other art journal pages, which I have either coloured or stamped. So in an attempt to tidy up a little (it hasn’t helped much – grin!), I decided to use some of them to create today’s page. I was also inspired by some challenge blogs too and as such, I hope you like the resulting page as much as I do!

I selected a black, white and yellow colour scheme for this page and collaged leftover pieces of white paper and tissue paper that had been stamped, whilst creating other pages, using black Archival Ink. Like all the collaged pieces they are stuck on the page using a glue stick. These stamped images included: grass and fern fronds from a Carabelle Studio stamp set; postage marks and bees from Hampton Art; postage marks from The Works; Vintage Circles from Woodware Craft Collection; blossoms from Stampendous; “kindness” wording from Docrafts; “discover” wording from Royal & Langnickel; script from Kaisercraft; and also a dragonfly from Eco Green Crafts. I arranged them on the page with some paper coloured with Yellow Colourcraft Brusho powders which were remnants of another journal page. Once the collage was complete, I covered the page with a layer of Liquitex Matte Gel Medium which allowed me to outline all the paper pieces using a black Uni Pin marker smudging the ink with my finger.

I added a pretty “yellow wagtail” bird that I fussy cut from my old nature book; he is stood on some torn pieces of black and white washi tape. I then added more pieces of the washi tape to the page background as well.

Next I stuck a yellow skeleton leaf onto the page along with a small glittery yellow flower which I embellished with a black gemstone in the centre. The yellow and white wording is from a Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet and they read “loving life” and “our story starts here”; they are both edged with a black Uni Pin marker and I stamped some small hearts onto them using black Archival Ink. I also stamped the hearts onto two small squares of leftover yellow sticker to make two small heart embellishments for my page. The black and white “love” wording is created using circular button letter stickers and the “love with all your heart” and “and so the adventure begins” wording are from a Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker set; they are all outlined using the black Uni Pin marker. To finish, I splattered the page with black, white and yellow acrylic paint.

My page reminds me to love life and appreciate the simple things like the pretty yellow flowers that we have in our garden at the moment. You may remember that we replanted our flower beds last year and as such we added these miniature daffodils which seem to be a bit early flowering (grin!) – aren’t they adorable!

We were also surprised to see these pretty crocus in our flower bed too, we didn’t even know they there (double grin!)

Challenges

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

I’m pleased to be able to join the lovely Rike from rike’s art and her The Colour Yellow challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the yellow I added.

I’m joining the Love is in the Air challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my Loving Life page.

Over at Country View Challenges their challenge is Black & White Plus One, so I’m happy to join this challenge to with my black, white and yellow page.

As I used black, white and yellow to create this page, I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Black, White + One Other Colour challenge.

Over at The Artistic Stamper, their challenge is Heart It!, so I’m pleased to join this challenge with all the stamped elements, love and hearts.

As the lovely Tracey is Guest Designing over at Frilly and Funkie, I’m also happy to be join the Frilly and Funkie Challenge which is Let Me Count The Ways, as I used three stamped Vintage Circles and three colours (black, white and yellow) on my 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:

• Leftover tissue paper and papers stamped using various stamp sets and Jet Black Ranger Archival Ink
• Leftover white paper coloured with Yellow Colourcraft Brusho Colour
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Cadmium Yellow Medium)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White, Black)
• Hallmark Cards Stamp Set  (Unknown – Heart)
• Old book – The Illustrated Book of Nature
• Michael’s (Washi Tape)
• Nature’s Touch of Art (Skeleton Leaves Yellow)
• Poundland (Accessories Pack 60911, Design Gems 175751)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS738)
• Home Bargains (Love Letters 22738)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Sticker Set (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick
• Ranger Glossy Accents