Tag Archives: Gel Medium

It’s cold, let’s cuddle

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Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Oh So Cute.

These really cute owls were recycled from a Christmas card and with all the cold weather we’ve been having of late they are sat in a snowy wonderland. I thought the wording was cute too, it reads “It’s cold, let’s cuddle”.

I hope you’ll join us with your cute creations too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by colouring the background using Bluebird Wendy Vecchi Blendable Ink from Ranger. When dry, I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and left it to dry.

It’s one of my goals this year to recycle and use up any leftovers from previous pages, so I was pleased to recycle these cute owls which were fussy cut from the Christmas card and stuck into place using a glue stick. I arranged them with some white foliage die cuts that were leftover from last year’s Happy January page. The foliage was decorated using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker, a silver metallic pen, some Icicle Stickles from Ranger and also some Inkylicious Fluffy Puffy Stuff which added the lovely texture. The Fluffy Puffy Stuff was a fun product to use as it’s applied and then heated with a heat gun which turns it all puffy and 3-dimensional. The snowflakes were leftover too, having been previously die cut from different patterned papers and white cardstock; they were arranged onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium.

For more Oh So Cute inspiration, please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies (grin!).

So far this month, it’s been cold and we’ve had quite a few snow flurries; I was surprised one morning to find it snowing so I took this photo out of my craft room window – brrrr!

As T Stands for Tuesday and it’s cold outside, I’m sharing our hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, and also some yummy lebkuchen – Happy T Day everyone!

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:

  • Ranger Wendy Vecchi Blendable Ink (Bluebird)
  • Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
  • Recycled Christmas Card
  • Pritt Stick
  • Leftover foliage pieces – Sizzix Thinlits Tim Holtz Alterations (Garden Greens 661206, Holiday Greens 658759, Woodlands 660978), White cardstock, Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233), Script Metallic Pen (Silver), Ranger Stickles (Icicles), Inkylicious (Fluffy Puffy Stuff)
  • Stix2 glue dots
  • Leftover Snowflakes – Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Paper Snowflakes Mini 661599), Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (falling Snowflakes 1792e), The Works (Cutting Dies – Snowflake Garland), Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE), White Cardstock, Poundland Design Paper Pad (Purple Swirls)
  • Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Challenges

I’m pleased to join the Add Some Texture challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the snowy 3D texture on my page.

I’m joining LTCCB #55 – February Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my cute page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog and their LTSCB #145 – Love is … all about cuddling your partner when it’s cold as I’ve depicted here on this cute owl page.

To my Valentine

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As it’s Valentine’s Day this weekend, today’s page is To My Valentine – Happy Valentine’s Day!

I started by covering the page with some Picked Raspberry Distress Ink using a blending tool and then I sprayed some White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray over the top.

When dry, I splattered the Picked Raspberry and White Linen inks over the page making sure that I dried each of the inks with my heat gun to stop them blending into the background too much. Next I stamped a couple of Clearly In Love stamps from Penny Black over the background using Lilac Roses Memento Ink.

I used an Organic Thinlits die cut from Tim Holtz to cut some recycled gold paper, arranging them around the page using Liquitex matte gel medium; I used a new technique for this which involved applying the gel medium to the back of the die cut pieces, placing them and then dabbing them down onto the page using a piece of tissue paper which removed the excess gel medium beautifully. I added the cherub heart image and some small hearts that I had cut from the gold paper and some burgundy cardstock using a paper punch. Some pearl gems and a satin ribbon bow finished the page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our Falling in Love challenge over at Try it on Tuesday; it would be lovely to see you there!

Me and my hubby would usually be volunteering at our local Beer Festival this weekend which for obvious reasons has been cancelled this year. An online festival has been arranged instead so we’ll joining in the fun and drinking some of our own home-brewed beer. Here we are at last year’s festival – wishing you all a very Happy Valentine’s 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:

  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry)
  • Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (White Linen)
  • Penny Black Stamp Set (Clearly In Love 30-009)
  • Tsukineko Memento Ink (Lilac Roses)
  • Recycled gold paper
  • Tim Holtz Sissix Thinlits (Organic 664153)
  • Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
  • Cherub heart image and burgundy cardstock
  • X-Press It! double-sided tape
  • Heart Punch – thank you CJ!
  • Pearl Gem Stickers
  • Satin Ribbon
  • Stix2 glue dots
Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month with the gold die cut and punched pieces on my page.

I’m joining the LTSCB #142 – Love is … challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my love-themed art journal page.

With the pink, red and white colours, hearts and roses that I included on my paper-crafted art journal page, I’m also pleased to be able to join #181 – Photo Inspiration over at Time Out Challenges.

Hello Spring

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I’m thrilled to have joined the wonderfully talented Design Team over at Country View Challenges and today I’m pleased to share my second project for our First Signs of Spring challenge.

I would like to say a special thank you to Susan for the lovely introduction today over at Country View Challenges and also to the Design Team for their warm and friendly welcome (grin!).

I really enjoyed creating this mini art journal page with the little bunnies, pretty butterflies and colourful blossom. I used a Sizzix Bunny Scene Thinlits die set which is a great design for both journaling and cards and it was so easy to use.

For the background, I covered the chipboard page with two coats of white gesso and then two coats of Speckled Egg Distress Paint. I applied some white gesso over the top using a brayer and for the grass I painted Twisted Citron Distress Paint along the bottom of the page. When dry, I rubbed a baby wipe through a Waves stencil from Creative Expressions which removed some of the paint, leaving a lighter mark in the shape of the stencil. I splattered the page using white gesso and the two Distress Paints, and left it to dry. Then I applied Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink around the edges.

The Bunny Scene and butterflies were die cut from some white linen texture cardstock using the Sizzix Thinlits set and my Big Shot machine. I used one of my favourite techniques to create the wood effect on the tree using Distress Inks and gel medium; I dragged Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso stamp pads over the tree and then I painted gel medium over the top, keeping the ink and brush strokes flowing vertically up the tree trunk and along branches to mimic the wood grain.

For the bunnies, I masked their tails so that they stayed white and I coloured them using the Tea Dye and Vintage Photo inks. I used a black marker and white gel pen for their eyes.

For the blossom, leaves, grass and flowers I used the Bunny Scene Thinlit again; they were cut from some linen textured cardstock that I had coloured green, yellow, pink and purple using Distress Inks (see ink colours listed below). After cutting them out they were stuck in place, like all the elements on the page, using gel medium.

I used the same cardstock that I had coloured to create the triangles for the bunting and an Alphanumeric Label Thinlits set from Tim Holtz for the white cardstock letters. The bunting triangles were arranged over some waxed thread using glue dots. To finish, I added some pearl gems to the white butterflies and stuck them in place.

I hope that you are enjoying our First Signs of Spring challenge over at Country View Challenges too; it would be lovely to see you there, and if you do join us then you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts website too (grin!).

I also want to thank you for your lovely comments and wishes of congratulations last week when I joined the Country View Challenges Design Team with my first project. I’m so looking forward to sharing my creations with you, visiting your blogs and being inspired by your projects too!

I love this bunny scene and the butterflies reminded me of the ones in my craft room (grin!).

You can see the butterflies here as they fly above my craft desk; I was surprised how tidy it looks, my hubby will tell you that my craft room isn’t normally this tidy (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.

The chipboard mini art journal album, Bunny Scene Thinlits die set, Distress Paints and Creative Expressions Stencil that I used on this page were all Christmas presents – yay (grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be able to join the Groundhog Day over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as I used a technique that’s an old favourite of mine to create the tree wood grain and my Distress Inks are my preference when it come to adding colour, I use them again and again.

I’m joining LTCCB #55 – February Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my Happy Spring chipboard page.

I’m also joining MIUCB #46 – Anything Goes + Fancy Fold over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the fun stencilling and wood grain techniques that I used to create this page.

I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month, I’m being a bit cheeky and hoping the heavy metal rings holding my book pages together which are an integral part of my Happy Spring page (15x15cm in size) photo allows me to join in the fun.

So Delicate at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

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I’m so pleased and honoured to be Guest Designer over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog for their So Delicate challenge.

Jenny is hosting, here’s what she has to say about this challenge:
“Although it’s not always evident in my projects, I have a real passion for delicate laces, fragile flowers, fine stitching, intricate artwork and exquisite architecture. For this challenge create something delicate or a vintage/shabby chic project that features delicate things in it.”

I enjoyed using different techniques and mediums to create this delicate page starting with the delicately painted background. I covered the background with water first and then added Kuretake watercolours over the top using a paintbrush; the colours I used were Ultramarine Pale, Yellow Ochre, Sap Green and a mixture of Black and White.

The elegant lace flower heads were stamped using one of my favourite stamps from Carabelle Studio and black Archival Ink. The flower heads were coloured using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then I added lots of sparkle using some Silver Stickles from Ranger.

For the wording and butterflies, I coloured some white tissue paper using Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks. I did this by stamping the ink pads onto a blending mat, spritzing with water and pressing the tissue paper over the top. When dry, I die cut the letters for the wording using Alphanumeric Label Thinlits set and the butterflies using Springtime Sidekick Thinlits set from Tim Holtz.

I glued the wording onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium which was a bit fiddly as the letters were so fine; it reads “be still and listen, the earth is singing”. To finish, I arranged the butterflies around the page using some glue dots. I love how the tissue paper butterflies and wording look so fragile and delicate (grin!).

Thanks so much to The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog  for having me as Guest Designer! I hope that you are inspired by the So Delicate challenge too and are able to join in the fun (grin!).

There are so many delicate things to observe in nature and as I live by the sea, my watercolour background was inspired by this sea view with its pale colours and soft lighting; this was taken whilst walking along the beach near our house .

The lace flower heads, touches of green and pretty butterflies on my page were inspired by our garden. It reminded me of all the Painted Lady butterflies that visited last summer; here are a couple on the lavender (grin!).

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:

  • Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine Pale, Yellow Ochre, Sap Green, Black, White)
  • Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (Dans la nature, il y a … SA60175
  • Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
  • Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
  • Ranger Stickles (Silver)
  • Recycled white tissue paper
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Chipped Sapphire)
  • Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlit (Alphanumeric Label 664177)
  • Tim Holtz Sizzix Sidekick Thinlit (Springtime 662711)
  • Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
  • Stix2 glue dots
Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like it The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog , 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 Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge as I used one of my favourite flower stamp sets.

As I used my favourite Carabelle Studio stamp set to create the lace flowers on my page, I’m also pleased to be able to join Stamping Sensations and their Favourite Stamps challenge too.

I’m also joining the Beautiful Blooms challenge over at the Allsorts Challenge with the pretty sparkly flowers on my page.

I’m happy to join in the LTSCB #141 – Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my delicate nature page.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page too.

I’m joining the MIUCB #45 – Anything Goes + Bleaching challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my page too.

Frosty Winter

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As we live by the sea we don’t get many frosty mornings, but we have seen both frost and snow this month which inspired this frosty winter page.  

I started by recycling a piece of kitchen towel which I had used to mop up blue inks by tearing it into pieces and sticking them in place using some Liquitex matte gel medium; I used the wet gel medium to reactivate the inks which gave some of the white areas a slight bluish tinge. Next I arranged the pretty blue flower images and wording which were from a Paper Collection by Craft Sensations; the wording reads “A beautiful thing is never perfect”.

I continued the frosty theme by adding some glittery silver snowflakes, some Silver Ranger Stickles and also some round blue gems using Ranger Glossy Accents which finished the page.

As we walked along the promenade by the beach, we were surprised to still see a thick frost still lingering in the shadows behind the wall. The jagged edges inspired me to arrange the square corners of the images/wording diagonally across the page.

The flower and plant images that I included on my page were inspired by the frosty silhouette of the palm tree that we found on the slate in our front garden one morning – so amazing (grin!).

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:

  • Recycled kitchen towel that was used to mop up Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (After Midnight), Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Speckled Egg) , DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
  • Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
  • Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE)
  • Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
  • X-Press It! double-sided tape
  • Docrafts Create Christmas Glitterations (Snowflakes – Silver PMA818917)
  • Hobbycraft Decorative Embellishments (Blue Round Gems)
  • Ranger Glossy Accents
Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge this month as seeing the snow and frost is always one of my favourite things

I’m so pleased to join the Squares Challenge at Country View Challenges with the square of wording on my page.

I’m happy to join The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and their So Delicate challenge with the delicate wispy edges of the kitchen roll background and pretty snowflakes.

I’m also joining the Make Your Own Background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the frosty background I created.

I’m pleased to join the MITCB #45 – Anything Goes + Bleaching challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my frosty page too.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their We’re On A Roll challenge with the round blue gems on my page.

Don’t forget that you still have over a week to join our Winter Blues challenge at Try it on Tuesday too; it would be lovely to see you there!

Winter Blues

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Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Winter Blues, where we are asking you to use the colour blue.

This was the perfect challenge for me as blue happens to be my favourite colour (grin!). I hope you like my wintry blue journal page and are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by colouring the background using After Midnight Dylusions Spray Ink and Speckled Egg Distress Ink. When dry, I covered the page with Pébéo clear gesso; this stopped the inks reactivating and bleeding into the next layers of media that I added. Next I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and left it to dry. For the snowflakes, I die cut them using a Paper Snowflakes Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some blue and white mottled paper from Craft Sensations. They were arranged around the edges of the page using Liquitex matte gel medium.

The pretty winter scene of the hares was a recycled Christmas card and the quote was from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet. I thought the quote was perfect to combat those winter blues; it’s by Ralph Waldo Emerson and reads “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year”.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the amazing Winter Blues creations from my Design Teamies too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my new Assam Tea. This is a loose leaf tea and has a delicately rich and malty flavour – 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:

  • Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (After Midnight)
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Speckled Egg)
  • Pébéo Clear Gesso
  • Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
  • Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE)
  • Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Paper Snowflakes Mini 661599)
  • Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
  • Recycled Christmas Card
  • X-Press It! double-sided tape
  • Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Wandering Ivy SS352)
  • Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge this month as I blue is my favourite colour.

I’m so pleased to join the Squares Challenge at Country View Challenges with the square Christmas card on my page.

I’m happy to join The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and their Put A Good Word In challenge with the uplifting quote that I used on my page.

I’m also joining the Layer It Up challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the snowflakes, image and quote that I layered on my page.

I’m pleased to join the LTSCB #141 – Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my blue wintry page too.

Grateful Heart

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I had fun creating this journal page to join some of my favourite challenge blogs and the words I included resonated with me and seemed perfect for the New Year – “start each day with a grateful heart”.

On my craft desk, I always have a piece of paper that I use to test stamp images, inks and markers before using them on my pages, so for today’s page I recycled one of them. I ripped the paper into different shapes and stuck them randomly onto my page using a glue stick and Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I painted some Pébéo white gesso and Cadmium Yellow Acrylic paint around them using a paintbrush. When dry, I edged them with a Cold Grey and then a Black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger. Next I added some shadows and contrast around the paper pieces using a Gold Champagne Faber-Castell Gelato and also a Gold Daler-Rowney Acrylic marker; applying each of them and then smudging the colour with my finger. Then I splattered the whole page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

For the heart, I created a stencil by drawing a heart onto some paper and cutting it out. Then I stamped the square postage sheet design through it onto some white card, using a Woodware stamp and some black Archival Ink. I cut the heart out and added some colour using a Gold Champagne Faber-Castell Gelato. Before sticking it down, I outlined the heart shape on the page using a black marker so it stood out more.

To finish, I added the flowers and wording which were from a sticker sheet from Kaisercraft.

Here’s a canvas sign that I have in my craft room, I love the sentiments it contains and the top one “have a grateful heart” reminded me on my page (grin!).  I fell in love with this sign as soon as I saw it and the words are a wonderful reminder of how live life to the full!

Hope that you’re 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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

  • White paper – Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (SA60175), Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black), Concord & 9th Clear Stamps (Sophisticated Script), Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black)
  • Pritt Stick
  • Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
  • Pébéo White Gesso
  • Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Cadmium Yellow Deep Hue)
  • Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199)
  • Faber-Castell Gelatos (Gold Champagne)
  • Daler-Rowney Acrylic Paint Marker (Gold)
  • White paper and cardstock
  • Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Postage Sheets FRS076)
  • Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
  • Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Golden Grove SS343)
Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge this month as I created this page to join some of my favourite challenges including AJJ!

I’m so pleased to join the Squares Challenge at Country View Challenges with the postage stamp squares making up the heart on my page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join Paperbabe Stamps too and their #135 – Picture Inspiration challenge as the colours and design of my page were inspired by the ladies clothing.

I’m happy to join The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and their Put A Good Word In challenge with the positive quote I used on my page.

I’m also joining the Layer It Up challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the layers of papers, colours, heart and flowers on my page design.

I’m pleased to join the LTSCB #141 – Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Grateful Heart page too.

Don’t forget that there is still time to join our Uplifting or Positive Quote challenge over at Try it on Tuesday; it would be lovely to see you there!

Frosty Snowflakes

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I love winter so to wish you a Happy Christmas I created this frosty page, using a variety of techniques to build up layers of snowflakes – I hope you like it (grin!).

I started by stamping snowflakes onto the background using a Versamark Watermark stamp pad and then heating it with a heat gun to fix the Watermark ink onto the page. Then I used some Distress Ink re-inkers to apply drops of Speckled Egg and Peacock Feathers inks, spritzed them with water to disperse and blend the inks over the background and left it to dry.

I stamped my second layer of snowflakes using a Woodland Christmas stamp set and Peacock Feather Distress Ink, Teal Zeal and London Fog Memento Inks. Next I die cut some snowflakes from three different coloured tissue papers using a Paper Snowflakes Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and layered them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. I love how frosty this page looks with the different layers of snowflakes. Next I added lots of sequins from Simon Says Stamp and some glittery wooden stars; all of which are stuck down using Ranger Glossy Accents.  Then to finish, I added a silver sticker to wish you all “Happy Christmas”.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing some of our beers from our advent calendar – cheers and Happy T Day!

Here are some of the ones we’ve had so far; the Ruby Ale has been my favourite so far, probably because it is a classic British dark beer with a toffee malt and chocolate flavour which I prefer. We have had quite a few Craft Beer IPAs too; they tend to have a distinctive sharp citrus finish due to the big flavour American hops and so far my favourite has to be the Talking Head Extra Pale Ale, which had a lovely tropical mango flavour.

This Buckhorn Stateside IPA was also refreshing and had a smoother hoppy finish.

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 all the materials used to create this page:

  • Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
  • The Works Clear Stamps (CRO274/TW1)
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Speckled Egg, Peacock Feathers)
  • Clear Impressions (Woodland Christmas)
  • Tsukineko Memento Ink (Teal Zeal, London Fog)
  • Poundworld (Patch Paper DS9454)
  • Teal Blue Tissue Paper
  • Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Paper Snowflakes 661599)
  • Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
  • Simon Says Stamp (Winter Sequins Mix, Snowflake Sequins)
  • Ranger Glossy Accents
  • Wooden Glitter Stars
  • The Works (Christmas Embellishments)
Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, as they provide me with inspiration 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 Tracey over at Art Journal Journey and her Meaning of challenge this month as I created this page to wish you a Happy Christmas.

I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything Christmas challenge with my frosty Christmas page.

I’m also pleased to join the Let It Snow challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my snowflake design.

I’m happy to join the # 119 Non-Traditional Christmas Colours challenge over at Sparkles Christmas Challenge with the frosty colours that I used.

With my frosty colours and snowflakes, I’m also pleased to join the Ice Cold challenge over at Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.

I’m also joining Paperbabe Stamps and their #134 – Anything Goes challenge with my Frosty Christmas page.

As I used lots of different techniques to create all the frosty texture and snowflakes on this page, I’m also joining the MIUCB #44 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Clean and Simple challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog.

Don’t forget there is still another week to join our Christmas Sparkle challenge at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!

Let it Snow Polar Bear card

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It was fun creating this polar bear Christmas card and I used some of my favourite die cuts and techniques to create this snowy wonderland. It looked so cold that I dressed the polar bear in a red scarf to keep him warm (grin!).

I started by creating a master board for the background by applying a thick layer of Navy, Swedish Blue and white acrylic paints onto a piece of mixed media paper and then placing some scrunched up cling film (plastic food wrap) over the top. I moved the cling film around to disperse the paints and then I left it to dry. When I peeled the cling film off it left some wonderful patterns and texture which formed my snowy winter wonderland background. I used a Snowflake stencil from Ranger to stencil some snowflakes over the master board using Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink too.

Next I cut a panel from the master board to fit the greetings card. Then I cut some snowflakes from white tissue paper using a Tonic Studios die cut set and stuck them onto the card using Liquitex matte gel medium. I love how the tissue paper and gel medium made the snowflakes look transparent.

The polar bear was created using a Theodore Thinlits set from Tim Holtz which is one of my favourites. The pieces were cut from white card stock, white and cream linen textured card stock and black card stock, edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker and then layered together. His ears were coloured with a Putty Promarker and I created his scarf using a piece of red felt. To finish, I added some silver glitter stickers which reads “Let it snow”.

This card reminded me of this beautiful little polar bear Christmas decoration which also lights up and changes colour (grin!).

I hope that you’re all stay 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 all the materials used to create this card:

  • Daler-Rowney Mixed Media Paper
  • Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Navy, Swedish Blue)
  • Art Discount Acrylic (White)
  • Cling film
  • Ranger Dylusions by Dyan Reaveley Stencil (Snowflake – Large DYS63742)
  • Tsukineko Brilliance Ink (Platinum Planet)
  • White Tissue Paper
  • Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (Falling Snowflakes 1792e)
  • Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
  • Craft Sensations (Luxury Linen Textured Cardstock)
  • White Cardstock
  • Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Theodore 664410)
  • Winsor & Newton Promarker (Putty 0618)
  • Pritt Stick
  • Red Felt
  • Stix2 glue dots
  • Poundland (Christmas Glitter Stickers)
Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, as they provide me with inspiration 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 LTSCB #140 – Winter Wonderland challenge over at the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my polar bear walking in his snowy winter wonderland.

I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything Christmas challenge with my polar bear Christmas card.

I’m also pleased to join the Let It Snow challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my Let it Snow Christmas card.

I’m happy to join the # 119 Non-Traditional Christmas Colours challenge over at Sparkles Christmas Challenge with the blues, white and red colours that I used to create this polar bear card too.

As I used a couple of my favourite techniques to create the snowy background for this card, I’m also pleased to join the Favourite Technique challenge over at Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.

I’m also pleased to join the Merry Little Christmas Challenge and their MLCCB #28 – December Anything Christmas Goes with my fun polar bear Christmas card too.

I’m also joining Paperbabe Stamps and their #134 – Anything Goes challenge with my Christmas card.

Dashing through the snow

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Our new challenge for the next two weeks over at Try it on Tuesday is Christmas Sparkle.

For my page I used some glittery paper pieces that I had die cut snowflakes from; they were leftover from this year’s Christmas cards. I just couldn’t throw them away and with all the sparkle they seemed to fit this challenge perfectly (grin!).

For the background, I painted the page with Cadmium Red and Alizarin Crimson Liquitex acrylic paint. When dry, I stuck the remnant glitter die cut pieces onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium to form a frame around the edges of the page. Then I splattered the page using white acrylic paint and left it to dry.

The larger snowflakes were cut from the same glitter paper using a Mini Paper Snowflakes Thinlits set from Tim Holtz and the smaller snowflakes using a Christmas metal die.

To finish, I added the “Dashing through the snow” winter scene which was recycled from a Christmas card; it is stuck in place using double-sided tape.

For more inspiration check out the amazing Christmas Sparkle creations from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday. I hope that you are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

To celebrate the festive season, my hubby had the fabulous idea of creating our own beer advent calendar. As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing our selection of beers; we haven’t tried any of these before and we plan to share one can or bottle of beer each day with our meal to see if we like them. I’ll be sure to share which ones we have tried next week – cheers and Happy T Day!

I hope 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 all the materials used to create this art journal page:

  • Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic Paint (Cadmium Red Medium Hue)
  • Liquitex Basics Acrylic (Alizarin Crimson)
  • Die cut off cuts – Glitter wallpaper
  • Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
  • Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
  • Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Paper Snowflakes Mini 661599)
  • Deer metal die
  • Recycled Christmas Card
  • X-Press It! double-sided tape
Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as they provide me with inspiration 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 Tracey over at Art Journal Journey and her Meaning of challenge this month as I love art journaling and Christmastime.

I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything Christmas challenge with my Dashing through the snow art journal page.

I’m also happy to join the MIUCB #44 – Anything Goes + Clean and Simple over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the techniques I used to create my snowy page and this is a simple page design for me too (grin!).

I’m also pleased to join the Fun With Dies challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the die cut pieces I used to create this page.

I’m also pleased to join the Love To Scrap and their LTSCB #140 – Winter Wonderland with my dashing through the snow page.