Beautiful Self

Inspired by a beautiful notebook that my sister bought me, I created this fun Highland cow page as a reminder to ‘Just be your beautiful self’ (grin!).

I started by taking a page out of the notebook to use as part of the collage background. I dyed the page with inks, firstly Bluebird ink for the sky and then with Leaf Green, Fern Green and Prickly Pear ink for the grass; they are all Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Inks.

As the page was lined I ripped the paper diagonally, positioning the pieces so the lines ran from left-hand side up to the right-hand side diagonally across the page. I collaged them using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium along with some torn pieces of kitchen towel and baby wipes that were used to mop up blue and green inks and paints from previous art journal pages that I had created. When dry, I painted Ultramarine and Sap Green Kuretake watercolours to add more colour to the sky and grass. The highland cow is from an old magazine and layered some of the pieces of coloured paper, kitchen towel and baby wipes over the edges to blend it into the background. As you can see, I created my page background so that it matches and blends with the felt/fabric look of the highland cow image background.

For the foliage and daisies I used a Wildflower Stems #2 Thinlet set from Tim Holtz: cutting the tall grasses from brown tissue paper and layering them on top of the background using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium; I used white cardstock for the leafy foliage which I stamped using black Archival Ink and a Finnabair Stamp, coloured using the Leaf Green, Fern Green and Prickly Pear Wendy Vecchi Blendable Inks and Mowed lawn Distress Ink, and edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; and I used some linen textured cardstock for the daisies which were coloured using the Leaf Green and Prickly Pear inks and also watered down Watering Can Wendy Vecchi Blendable Ink for the petals. Once stuck into place using a Zig glue pen, I edged the leafy foliage and daisies using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker so they stood out more. Then I added a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “Just be your beautiful self” which finished the page.

Here’s the beautiful A4 notebook that inspired my page.

You may notice that I always list the materials I use for pages at the end of my posts and as you can see here I use this type of notebook to record these details, so this gift was perfect (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m also sharing my cuppa (of Ceylon Tea) which I often enjoy whilst crafting – wishing you all a very Happy T day!

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.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with the faux felt/fabric background.

I’m pleased to join in the Summer Fields challenge over at Country View Challenges with my highland cow summery field art journal page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the #121 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page; the green and blue splits the page and images.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Sprays and Splashes challenge with the splashes of green ink on the die cut foliage.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our monthly Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog too!

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

• Notebook page
• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Make Art Blendable Dye Ink (Bluebird, Prickly Pear, Leaf green, Fern Green, Watering Can)
• Recycled kitchen towel and baby wipes used to mop up inks and paints
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine No:64, Sap Green No:53)
• Old magazine
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Recycled brown tissue paper
• White cardstock
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Old Receipt #966980)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mowed Lawn)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Black 199, Cold Grey IV 23)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)

Time …

Experimenting with new products is always fun but what happens when things don’t work as expected, well you make do and improvise which is what I did for this page (grin) – I hope you like it!

The background started with some leftover Seedless Grape Distress Ink that I stamped using a Clock stamp from Kaisercraft. I added some Burnt Umber Liquitex Acrylic paint which I coated with a layer of Docrafts Crackle Medium and then some Parchment Liquitex Acrylic paint but the crackle didn’t appear. I repeated the layers again thicker this time but still no crackle effect (having doing a bit of research, apparently this brand is not easy to use) so I decided to rub the layers with a baby wipe to remove some of paints which left a distressed painted wood effect instead which I really like (grin!).

Then I stamped the clocks using a Tic Toc stamp from Kaisercraft and Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink. Next I added the lace and large flower border which are stickers from Kaisercraft; I created some shadows around the top edge of the flowers, so that they stood out more, by applying and smudging some of the Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker with my finger before sticking them down. The vase of flowers was from a Botanicals Layers set from Tim Holtz and the wording was from Kaisercraft and reads “Time has a wonderful way of reminding us what’s important”. To finish, I added some tiny flowers to the wording and the bottom of the vase which are from the same sticker sheet from Kaisercraft.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my cup of tea and a yummy homemade carrot cupcake topped with cream cheese frosting and saying a big hello to the T Gang – Happy T Day everyone!

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.

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 Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with my Time art journal page page and also the faux lace that I included.

I’m happy to be able to join the Quote challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with quote I added to my page too.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Make Your Own Background challenge with the background that I created for my art journal page.

I’m also joining the Tickled Pink challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my pink feminine vintage 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:

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic (Burnt Umber)
• Docrafts Artiste (Crackle Medium)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Tic Toc CS796)
• Distress Archival Ink (Ground Espresso)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Cherry Tree Lane SS329)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Unbirthday Tea Party

I thought I’d have some fun creating an Alice in Wonderland page to celebrate our three hundred and sixty four unbirthdays – a very merry unbirthday to you!

I started by ripping an Alice in Wonderland Paper Tissue into pieces and then sticking the different characters and flowers onto the page using a glue stick and some Liquitex matte gel medium. When dry, I added the club, spade, heart and diamond playing card images using a stamp set from Studio G and black Archival Ink. Next I added the wording which reads “A very merry unbirthday … with another cup of tea” and is taken from the song in the Disney animation of “Alice in Wonderland”. The letters are from Docrafts and once arranged I covered them with some Liquitex matte gel medium to hold them securely in place. To finish, I added some gold glitter enamel dots.

This song always makes me smile, here are some of the lyrics too:

A very merry unbirthday To me … To who? … To me … Oh you! A very merry unbirthday to you Who me? … Yes, you! … Oh, me! Let’s all congratulate us with another cup of tea A very merry unbirthday to you!

As we are having an unbirthday tea party today, I baked a Victoria Sponge and filled it with homemade Bramble Jelly and lightly whipped cream to celebrate – yum (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m also sharing my post with the T Gang (did you notice the Mad Hatter on my page is holding a teacup) and wishing you all a Very Merry Unbirthday T Day; don’t forget to help yourself to a slice of cake (double grin!).

Hoping that you all stay 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 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 pleased to join in the Tea Party challenge over at Country View Challenges with Unbirthday Tea Party page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my unbirthday 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:

• Caspari Paper Pocket Tissues (Alice in wonderland in a winter garden)
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Studio G Clear Stamps (VS4911 Series 11)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Docrafts A4 Ultimate Die-Cut & paper Pack (Folk Christmas PMA160933)
• Dovecraft Premium (Festive Wonder Glitter Enamel Dots DCDOT036X18)

Tulips

It’s a new month so we are launching our May challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is:

Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I was inspired by the beautiful tulips in my garden and had fun playing around with mixed media to create this Tulip art journal page. I hope you’ll join in the fun too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by ripping and fussy cutting a tulip napkin and then I stuck the pieces into place using a glue stick. I painted around the napkin pieces with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and while the paint was still wet I added some Vivid Green Liquitex acrylic paint using a palette knife so it matched the napkin background. When the paint was dry, I stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink and also a crackle texture stamp from BoBunny using Pistachio Memento Ink over the painted areas.

Then I added some Ranger Texture Paste using a heart stencil that I created with a Falling Hearts Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and when dry, the hearts were coloured using Red Violet, Crimson and Magenta Spectrum Aqua markers. Next I added the “Tulips” wording using letter stickers from Kaisercraft and also a pretty blue butterfly from an Ephemera Pack by Tim Holtz.

To finish, I added some shadow to the tulips with a Charcoal grey Derwent Inktense pencil and then emphasised the tulip petals using a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen.

I hope that you are inspired to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge! For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too.

This year the tulips in our garden have been beautiful.

I love all the colours and structure that they have added to our flower border.

We plan to add more tulip bulbs every year; we planted these striped tulips a few years ago …

… and these gorgeous purple tulips are the ones that we planted in November last year (grin!).

Hoping that you all 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 pleased to join the lovely Mia from Craftartista over at Art Journal Journey and her Flowers challenge this month with the Interlocking Circles on this page.

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

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

• Tulip Napkin
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Script CS752)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• BoBunny Stamp (Rough It Up 12105155)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Pistachio)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Falling Hearts 664415)
• Ranger Texture paste
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Red Violet, Crimson, Magenta)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Mix & Match – Alpha SS252)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Ephemera Pack (Field Notes #TH94051)
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Derwent Inktense Pencil (Charcoal Grey 2100)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)

Joy and Beauty

It’s a new month so we are launching our April challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is:

Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I had fun playing around with mixed media to create this springtime birthday art journal page. I hope you’ll join in the fun too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I arranged the paper pieces onto the page and then applied some Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Inks around them. Then I stuck the papers in place using a glue stick and some Liquitex matte gel medium; the papers included some Aviary Collage Paper from Tim Holtz and some old Sheet Music that my sister gave me for my birthday last year, which is quite apt as it happens to be my birthday today (grin!).

I then added some Ranger Texture Paste over the Distress Inks through a new Kaisercraft leaf stencil; the Distress Inks seeped into the texture paste which gave a lovely effect (my hubby says they look like fossils). I added some flowers which are from a Botanical Layers set and also some wording which are Small Talk stickers; both are from Tim Holtz. The wording reads “everything has beauty”, “look on the bright side” and “find joy in the ordinary”.

I hope that you are inspired to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge too! For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too.

Here’s the beautiful Sheet Music which my sister gifted me last year, I remember her playing music on both the piano and violin when we were both children – such happy memories!

Due to everything going on at the moment I’m home with my hubby this year for my birthday so I decided to make myself a birthday cake (something I don’t normally do as my mum usually makes one for me). This is a homemade Victoria sponge, with butter cream and cherry jam topped with white and pink feathered icing; I can’t wait to try a piece later with my cuppa  – yum (grin!).

Hoping that you all stay 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 pleased to join in the Animal Magic challenge over at Country View Challenges with art journal page.

I’m joining in the Spring Mood Board challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the spring blooms and images on this page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Birthdays challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my springtime birthday celebration page too.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Happy Birthday! challenge too – Happy Birthday!

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Collage paper – Aviary #TH93706, Layers – Botanicals #TH93554, Stickers – Small Talk #TH93193)
• UHU Stic
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Kaisercraft 6×6″ Designer Template (Tropical Leaves IT433)
• Ranger Texture paste
• Stix2 Glue Dots

Beauty is everywhere

I can’t believe that I was lucky enough to win the Paperbabe Stamps Layers challenge and I got to choose one of their fabulous stamp sets as my prize! I created this page to celebrate using the stamp set and I’m sure that it’ll be used again and again (grin!).

I started by colouring the background using Prickly Pear, Fern Green and Leaf Green Wendy Vecchi Make Art Inks by adding ink to a blending mat, spritzing with water and pressing the mat onto the page. I used a Snowy Stars thinlet set from Tim Holtz to create a stencil and used it to apply Ranger Texture Paste to the page. I coloured around the stencilled texture paste with some more of the Fern Green and Leaf Green Wendy Vecchi Inks to define the circles more and when dry I coloured the texture paste with a white Uni Posca paint pen, so that it stood out more. Then I splattered the page using white and also black acrylic paint and applied some White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray with a Carabelle Studio Art Template. I repeated the “Beauty is everywhere” wording and also the three stars over the page using my new Paperbabes Stamps Flourish & Grow stamp set and black Archival Ink. Then I added some highlights to the wording using a white Uniball gel pen. To finish, I added a bright pink flower which I fussy cut from a wallpaper sample, stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium and then edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to add some shadows.

I have to say that with all the fabulous new releases over at Paperbabe Stamps shop it was really difficult to chose my prize. Thank you so much for this amazing stamp set!

I also love the Balancing greetings card that Kim kindly sent to me too, it was such a lovely surprise and it now takes pride of place in my craft room (double grin!).

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 from The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with my green background.

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

I’m also joining in the fun again at Paperbabe Stamps, their challenge is #115 ~ Picture Inspiration as I was inspired by the pretty single stemmed flowers – thanks so much!

Don’t forget that you still have a couple of days left to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Make Art Blendable Dye Ink (Prickly Pear, Fern Green, Leag Green)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Snowy Stars 663117)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Carabelle Studio Art Template (Trame Tissues et Chiffres TE60034)
• Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (White Linen)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Paperbabes Stamps (Flourish & Grow Stamp Set)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Wallpaper sample
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Cold Grey IV 233)

Hope anchors the soul

The agapanthus has just started shooting in our garden so when I came across this inspirational quote “Hope anchors the soul” whilst crafting, I was inspired to create this page. It seemed very poignant with the difficulties the world is facing at the moment – wishing you all well and hoping that you stay safe and healthy!

I started by covering the page with various stamps using black Archival Ink; the stamps included a Parisian Beau Collage stamp from Crafter’s Companion and a Provincial and also a 75 Cents stamp set from Kaisercraft. Next I applied Acqua Dolce, Earl Grey and Caramel Faber-Castell Gelatos by scribbling them onto the page and using my wet finger to spread the colour vertically down the page. Then I stencilled an Ornamental stencil from Creative Expressions using Vintage Linen Distress Ink. The agapanthus flowers are napkin which I stuck down using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium (this was a mistake as it got far too wet, I should have used a UHU Stic and then the gel medium around the edges). When dry I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint. The wording “Hope anchors the soul” is a sticker from Kaisercraft which I coloured along the edges with some Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and an Amethyst Winsor & Newton Promarker. It’s stuck in place along with a purple flower and some die cut foliage; I used a Garden Greens Thinlet for the foliage which was cut from some white card that I had coloured using Twisted Citron Distress Ink and Cottage Ivy Memento Ink. To finish, I added lots of clear diamante gems to add some sparkle.

As this page has Parisian references, I’m sharing these strawberry tarts that my hubby bought me for Valentine’s this year which always remind me of our travels to Paris; you may remember them from my post last month.

I thought you may like to see what the tart looks like inside; it’s a short crust pastry case filled with crème pâtissière (vanilla pastry cream) with glazed strawberries on the top, so delicious! As T Stands for Tuesday I’m also sharing my cuppa and 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 pleased to join the lovely Eileen from The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with the predominant green foliage on my page.

Don’t forget that you still have until next Tuesday to join our Home Sweet Home/Where you would like to live challenge (for this page I incorporated the two with the agapanthus from our garden/and who wouldn’t want to live in Paris) 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:

• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Crafter’s Companion Parisian Collection Clear Acrylic A6 Stamp (Beau Collage)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Provincial CS243, 75 Cents CS864)
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Acqua Dolce, Earl Grey, Caramel)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Ornamental)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen, Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron)
• Napkin
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Book (Antiquities SK807)
• Winsor & Newton Promarker (Amethyst V626)
• Poundland (Flower  – Accessories Pack 60911)
• White cardstock
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Garden Greens 661206)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• The Works (Jewel Stickers)

Makes your soul sing

I was so pleased to see the robin in our garden this month that I created this art journal page to celebrate (grin!).

I started by painting the page with some white acrylic paint and when it was dry added some Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker by scribbling the ink onto a blending mat and then applying it to the page with a baby wipe. Next I tore some green heart designed paper and an old calendar page into strips, edged them with Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck them to the page using a UHU Stic. I die cut some foliage from recycled tissue paper using Tim Holtz Wildflower Stems thinlets, they are stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. The robin is fussy cut from an old calendar and the wording is stamped using a Paperbabes Stamp Set and the music notes using a Docrafts Stamp Set using black Archival Ink. I coloured the wording using a silver Derwent Rowney Paint Pen and a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker; it reads “Create what makes your heart dance and your soul sing”. Then I splattered the whole page using black DecoArt acrylic paint and added some wooden flowers using glue dots, which finished the page.

We haven’t seen our robin much this winter, so I was excited to see him sitting in the tree at the back of our garden; this is a European Robin not to be confused with an American Robin (grin!).

He also made his way to our bird feeder too (grin!)

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 from The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with the paper and flowers that I used.

I’m joining in the Bit O’Green challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the green that I added to my art journal page.

I’m happy to be able to join the Use Some Green challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page too.

I’m also pleased join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.

I’m also happy to join in the The Eyes Have It challenge over at Country View Challenges with my robin on my art journal page.

I’m also joining the Aquamarine challenge over at the Frilly & Funkie Challenge Blog with the blue/green coloured paper on my page.

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

• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B, Cold Grey IV 233)
• Studio Light Paper Pad (PPSL84)
• Old Calendar
• UHU Stic
• Recycled tissue paper
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Paperbabe Stamps (Fun Alphabet Outline Stamp Set)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Musicality DCE907112)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Daler Rowney Acrylic Paint Marker (Silver)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Melinera (Scatter Decorations – Wooden Flowers)

Birthday Celebration

This month we are celebrating our 6^th Birthday over at A Vintage Journey with our Birthday Celebration challenge, which is being hosted by the lovely Brenda. Your projects don’t have to be about birthdays, here’s what she has to say:

“Yes! Let’s celebrate our 6th Birthday … so it’s over to you to show us what you are celebrating in your art and craft work at the moment. Don’t forget to link us into your blog post and if it’s not really obvious share with us how your project relates to the challenge theme. Just remember to create your project in one of our preferred styles: vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.

I’m so excited about our Birthday Celebration this month; I do hope you’ll join us! I was enjoying the party atmosphere whilst I was art journaling using Tim Holtz products to create this Happy 6^th Birthday page.

I used lots of Tim Holtz products for this page so unless stated otherwise it’s from Tim Holtz; there’s a full list of materials at the end of this post for your reference.

I started by covering the page with Pébéo white gesso using a palette knife and left it to dry. Then I cut a piece of vintage script paper into sections and die cut a flower from the larger piece of paper using Wildflower Stems Thinlet set.

I also cut the flower from some Craft Sensations white linen cardstock and inserted it into the flower space in the vintage script paper. I arranged the pieces of paper onto the page with some Aviary Collage Paper using Liquitex gel medium. Then I outlined the papers with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and a black Uni Pin marker to make them stand out more. Next I added some Crowded Attic and Destinations Salvage Stickers again outlining them with a black Uni Pin marker.

To finish the page, I added the wording using Label Letter stickers and also a No:6 Countdown Brad.

Did you notice the six intentional “No:6”s that I added to this page to commemorate our 6^th Birthday? They are all revealed below (grin!).

I hope you are inspired to join in our Birthday Celebration over at A Vintage Journey too, for more inspiration you’ll find some amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey, it would be lovely to see you there!

1. Large No: 6 (LHS of flower)
2. Saftey pins x 6 (LHS of flower)
3. Needle packaging No:6 (top RHS)
4. Happy “6th” Birthday (wording)
5. Ruler No:6 (under wording)
6. Countdown Brad No:6 (bottom RHS)

All the “No:6”s are pictured here – did you get them all? You may have found lots of 6’s on the Sheet Music and other rulers too (double grin!).

As it’s a birthday celebration I thought I’d share this amazing birthday cake that I saw in a local bakery, doesn’t it look amazing and the Steampunk style is fabulous, just right for A Vintage Journey – Happy Birthday!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be able to join the The Eyes Have It challenge over at Country View Challenges with the birds on this art journal page.

I’m joining in the Something Feminine challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the pretty birds and flowers on my page too.

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

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Halloween Paper Stash #TH93712, Aviary Collage Paper #TH93706, Crowded Attic Salvage Stickers #TH92898, Destinations Salvage Stickers #TH93005, Label Letters #TH93072, Countdown Brads #TH93631)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Linen Textured Cardstock)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm)

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)