Use your wings and shine

I’m a bit behind on crafting this month but I wanted to join Art Journal Journey and Wendy‘s fabulous Doors and/or Arches challenge again before the end of the month – so this is only my second entry for this challenge, I’m not sure where July has gone (eek!).

This is also my second post of the day, so as you may be looking for my Make It Feminine inspiration for Try it on Tuesday – please find it here.

I started by covering this chipboard page with Pébéo white gesso (it’s a great medium for the Gelatos that I’m using next) and left it to dry. Then I applied some Lemon, Mango and Lime Faber-Castell Gelatos by scribbling them onto the page and using a wet finger to disperse the colour. I also used a wet wipe to distress and remove some of the Gelatos colour allowing the white to show through. Next I stamped the page using black Archival Ink and an Architecture stamp and a Fragments stamp; both stamp sets were from Tim Holtz. The bird was die cut from some Simple Stories cardstock using a Sizzix die and to finish, I added the wording which were Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz.

To celebrate the 9th Anniversary of T Stands for Tuesday, I shared a breakfast sandwich and some of you were asking if it was a bacon butty. This isn’t what we know in the UK as a bacon butty (although it does contain bacon); this sandwich is something a bit more special and it isn’t typically English either just something I saw on the internet.

A bacon butty is a fairly plain sandwich with bacon in it; usually the bacon is “back” bacon rather than “streaky” bacon as shown here.

The bacon is often served on two slices of white or brown bread along with red or brown sauce. The “butty” part of it is a Northern term here in the UK for a “sandwich”.

Of course, being “up North”, we also have a bacon “barm” or “bap” too which is a type of “bread roll” and a whole other story (smile!) – wishing you all a Happy T Day!

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

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Wendy from wendyscraftjournal is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen Doors and/or Arches so I’m joining her with the arches that I stamped on my page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #172 – Anything Goes challenge with my brightly coloured page.

MIUCB#60 – Anything Goes + optional Clean & Simple over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my simply created page using Faber-Castell Gelatos colouring techniques.

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You are my happy

It’s a new month so we are launching our July challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog which is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by some pretty mosaic paper that my sister kindly gifted me; it reminded me of summer holidays in Greece (smile!).

I covered the whole page with a piece of mosaic paper using a glue stick and then I applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top and left it to dry. Next I added some Snow Cone Faber-Castell gelato using a wet finger to smudge the colour over the gesso and paper to give it a washed out look. Then I used a Mosaic Stencil by Tim Holtz to apply some Ranger Crackle Paste to the page using a palette knife. When dry I added the blue flowers which were washi tape stickers, some shiny green gel dome stickers, the “You are my happy” sticker from Kaisercraft and the little white butterflies which were die cut and embellished with some green striped washi tape down the centre.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our mixed media challenge; I hope you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see join you there!

This journal page made me think of our holidays to Skiathos, which is one of the Greek islands. This was the view of the town as we approached it by water taxi which picked us up at our hotel.

We always enjoy walking and exploring, so we walked up to the top where the church was and this was the view looking back down towards the port.

We had such a wonderful time exploring the island, it was such a beautiful place; maybe one day we will return (smile!).

I 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.

Challenges

As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #171 – Anything Goes challenge with my summery page.

Be forever happy

It’s a new month so we are launching our September challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, this is a monthly challenge and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I created a mixed media page using lots of leftovers from previous art journal pages; I hope you like it!

I started by covering the background of the page with the letters using one of stencils from a #16 mini stencil set by Tim Holtz and some leftover Iced Coffee Faber-Castell Gelato which was applied with a baby wipe.

Next I edged 4 Poster Cards from Tim Holtz, like I did all the paper elements on this page, using a black Faber-Castell marker and arranged them onto the page using double-sided tape. Then I added lots of leftover bits and pieces; this included a piece of mixed media paper which had been coloured using green Distress Inks, some flowers and foliage that had been die cut using Tim Holtz Thinlits and coloured using Distress Inks, some ribbon, some torn paper, some tissue paper and note paper that had been stamped using Finnabair stamps and black Archival Ink, a ruler from a Kaisercraft Journal Card and some die cut pieces of trellis that had been covered with Aged Silver Stampendous Embossing Enamel.

They were arranged onto the page using a glue stick or double-sided tape, and I layered together a doily, a recycled butterfly gift tag and some leftover die cut letters and wording to read “Be forever happy”. I added some sparkly gems to the centre of the yellow flowers and a green wooden bird and then to finish, I coloured the “Aug” and “Sept” wording on the Poster Card using Tri-Blend Spectrum Noir markers.

As you can see I used lots of different mediums to create this page but all you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects 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. I hope you are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

This page was inspired by our walks at Lytham Hall that we enjoyed over the summer (grin!).

There are lots of woodland walks so we were able to stay cool in the shade and out of the summer heat. I’m now looking forward to seeing the leaves change to their colours over the coming months with the autumn on its way.

Our walks also take us by these flower borders in the walled gardens which always look so beautiful (grin!).

I 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.

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

Challenges As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #151 – Anything Goes with my nature art journal page. De-stress with distressing over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my distressed grungy stencilled background, Distress Inks, and also the torn papers, trellis and ribbon. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Glimmer and Sparkle challenge with the glimmer and sparkle of the yellow flowers with their glittery gem centres. LTSCB #149 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my leftovers page. Mixed Media Lovers and their Challenge #5 Mixed Media Lovers as I used lots of mixed media to create this nature page; this is a new challenge blog so why not join in the fun too!

Own your story

I really enjoy creating these mini pages in my chipboard art journal, and I had so much fun making these typewriter keys using some new Distress products and the Typewriter 3D Texture Fades from Tim Holtz (grin!).

For the background, I covered the page with my new Salvaged Patina Distress Paint and a tiny amount of black DecoArt acrylic paint to dull the colour. When dry, I dragged a Black Soot Distressl Ink pad vertically down the page and then applied some Liquitex matte gel medium over the top using a paint brush to create a woodgrain effect.

For the typewriter letters, I started by covering a piece of mixed media paper with the Salvaged Patina Distress Paint and my new Crackling Campfire Distress Ink and left it to dry. Then I dry embossed the paper using the Typewriter 3D Texture Fades by Tim Holtz. To highlight the texture, I dragged a black archival ink pad over the top of the letters to colour them and applied some Iced Coffee metallic Faber-Castell gelato smudging the colour with my finger. Then I splattered some Tarnished Brass Distress Paint over the top which finished the worn grungy look. They were cut out, edged with a black Faber-Castell big brush marker and then stuck into place using either double-sided or double-sided foam tape.

To finish, I added the typewriter which was stamped using a stamping platform, a stamp set from Craft Sensations and some black Archival Ink; it was stamped onto some of the mixed media paper that I had coloured with the Salvaged Patina Distress Paint and Crackling Campfire Distress Ink. I fussy cut it out and added the wording “own your story” which was a rub-on transfer from a Tiny Text Remnant Rubs set by Tim Holtz.

As T Stands for Tuesday and to link the the story theme of my page, I’m sharing these fabulous teapots that we saw whilst out walking; they were in a charity store window and feature Robin Hood, Dick Turpin and Shakespeare – 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.

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

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Neet from Hickydorums; she has chosen Type as her theme so I’m joining with my typewriter page (this mini art journal page measures 15x15cm). Dry Emboss challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I used Tim Holtz 3D Texture Fades to dry emboss the typewriter letters for my page. LTSCB #148 – Old School over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my old school typewriter as they are generally not used nowadays with computers etc (grin!). Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #150 – Anything Goes with my typewriter art journal page. Mixed Media Lovers Challenge Blog and their Challenge #4 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media page; this is a new blog so why not join in the fun too! MIUCB #52 – Anything Goes + Mixed Media over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different materials and techniques that I used to create the background and typewriter letters for this fun mixed media page.

Summer Blooms

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Summer Blooms.

For this challenge I added lots of flowers and created the quote from some Graphic 45 stickers so it reads “Summer when the earth laughs in flowers”; I hope you’re inspired to us too, I can’t wait to see your summer flower creations!

I started by covering the page with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and when it was dry, I applied some some watered-down ink from a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and some Buttercream Faber-Castell gelato over the top, smudging the colours with my finger. Then I stamped the tiny flowers over the background using a Magenta stamp and Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. All of the postage stamps and summer wording were taken from either a Graphic 45 Season’s Collection sticker sheet or a Summer Collection 12×12 design paper. The large flowers were Washi tape stickers and to finish, I added three purple gemstone embellishments to add some sparkle.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the amazing Summer Blooms creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies; it would be lovely to see you there (grin!).

There are so many summer blooms to see at Lytham Hall on our walks, whether it’s the beautiful flowers on display in the Garden Hub plant centre which surrounds some of the outside café area.

Or in the flower borders which you can just see here; I’m sharing the water flask that I take on my walks to join in the fun over at T Stands for Tuesday and say a big hello and welcome to the T Gang – Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Neet from Hickydorums; she has chosen Type as her theme so I’m joining with the different typed wording on my page. Mixed Media Lovers Challenge Blog and their Challenge #4 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media page; this is a new blog so why not join in the fun too! Triple the Heat challenge over at The Funky Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with shabby chic page that includes three lots of yellow sunflowers, three lots of washi tape stickers and border wording, three stickers of wording making up the main quote “Summer when the earth laughs in flowers” and three gemstone embellishments. MIUCB #52 – Anything Goes + Mixed Media over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my mixed media summer page. LTCCB #61 – August Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my summer blooms page.

T Day – 8th Anniversary

Today’s page celebrates the 8th Anniversary of T Stands for Tuesday, where our wonderful hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth ask us to share a drink related post each week.

I always have fun meeting up with the T Gang each Tuesday, thanks so much to our hosts and everyone for making it such a friendly and happy place – Happy T Day!

I started by covering the background with white gesso and leaving it to dry. Then I added Passion Fruit Faber-Castell Gelato to the page in small horizontal lines and used a baby wipe to smudge the colour over the page. I repeated the same technique using Red Cherry Faber-Castell Gelato and then I painted some white acrylic paint over the top.

For the tags, I created a masterboard using some mixed media paper which I coloured with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink. Then I stamped and stencilled the number 8 over it using lots of different stamp sets and stencils. The tags were die cut using Tim Holtz Tag Collection Framelits and layered onto the page with the flowers and wording. All the white cardstock was recycled from an old anniversary card along with the fussy cut champagne flutes and “anniversary” wording; they were edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place. The rest of the silver wording was die cut, using an Alphanumeric Label Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and the number 8 using a X-Cut die set, from some recycled card packaging. All the flowers were die cut using a Small Tattered Florals Thinlits set from Tim Holtz from the recycled white card, some red and pink linen textured cardstock and some of the masterboard that I created; they were layered together using gel medium and finished with gemstone centres.

I thought a glass of this ice cold pink prosecco, that you may remember from my birthday, fits the bill for our celebration and would be perfect served in the champagne glasses on my page – cheers and Happy 8th Anniversary this 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 all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Passion Fruit, Red Cherry)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media Paper
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Aged Mahogany)
• Number 8 Stamps – Papermania (Alphamania PMA9071102), Docrafts Creative Essentials A5 stamp set (Folk Alphabet, Script Alphabet, Alpha Trad), Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Grunge Alphabet CMC008, Documented CMS226), Kaisercraft (Provincial CS243), Craft Sensations (Clear Stamps CR0274/19A1)
• Number 8 Stencils – Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892, 2 Piece Stencil Set – letters and numbers)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Recycled Anniversary Card
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Cold Grey)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Pritt Stick
• Recycled silver metallic packaging
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Textured Finish)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Alphanumeric Label 664177, Small Tattered Florals 661806)
• Docrafts X-Cut Die Set (Folk Alphabet)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Docrafts Papermania (Adhesive Stones – Red)
• Hobbycraft (Rose Gem Stones)
• Mark Richards (Silver Metal Style #1981)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #148 – Anything Goes with my journal page. LTSCB #147 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my celebration page. MIUCB #51 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Aperture challenge at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the different techniques I used to create this page too.

Grateful Heart

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 & 9^th 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!

Angel Wings

Happy memories spring to mind when I see a certain Christmas decoration as it reminds me of my sister saying the happy quote that’s on my page – I hope it makes you smile!

Don’t forget that you still have another week to join our Uplifting or Positive Quote challenge at Try it on Tuesday too!

I started by colouring the background using Antique Linen Distress Ink through an Iso Fun stencil from Paperbabe Stamps. The wording was stamped using black Archival Ink and a fabulous alphabet stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps.

I drew the angel wings onto a book page and fussy cut them out. Before sticking them onto the page, I created some shadows around their edges so that they stood out more, by applying some Iced Chai Faber-Castell Gelato with a paintbrush. Next I created lots of feather shaped pieces to layer over the wings; they are cut from some Sheet Music and edged using Mustard and Willow Inktense pencils and also a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and black Uni Pin marker. I arranged them over the wings using double-sided tape and added some pieces of lace between the layers to add more texture.

Then I stencilled a border around the edge of the page using the Iso Fun stencil again and some Vintage Photo Distress Ink; I splattered some water over the top and left it a few minutes before mopping it up with a piece of kitchen towel which gave a lovely bleached effect. To finish the page and add some sparkle, I added the metallic copper gems.

Here’s the Christmas decoration that inspired my page, both me and my sister bought one of these whilst out shopping; when she saw them my sister said “every time a bell rings an angel gets her wings” so I always smile when I see it and remember her words.

Some of you were asking about the angels that I included on my post last week. They are acrylic LED figurines, one has a harp and the other a violin; I’ll try and remember to take a better photo of them next Christmas so you can see the detail. Their lights are battery operated and rotate through a series of colours – so very pretty!

As I’m showing these angels with my poinsettia cocktail again, I’m joining the T Party over at T Stands for Tuesday – Happy T day everyone!

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:

• Paperbabe Stamps Mixed Media Stencil (Iso Fun)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo)
• Paperbabes Stamps Stamp Set (Fun Alphabet Outline)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Iced Chai)
• Book Pages – text and sheet music
• Pritt Stick
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Derwent Inktense Pencils (Mustard 1700, Willow 1900)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• The Range (Crafting Lace CR0546)
• Docrafts Adhesive Dome Borders (Forever Friends Opulent FFS35111)

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 Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge this month as I used my favourite Christmas quote on this page. I’m joining in the fun over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and their Put A Good Word In challenge with the happy quote I used on my vintage angel wings page. I’m happy to be able to join the MIUCB#45 – Anything Goes + Bleaching challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my Angel Wings page and bleached effect border. I’m pleased to be able to join Paperbabe Stamps too and their #135 – Picture Inspiration challenge with the colours and abstract patterns (inspired from those on the dresses) that I used on my art journal page. I’m also pleased to join the MLCCB#30 – Anything Christmas Goes challenge over at Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog with my Angel Wings art journal page that was inspired by a Christmas decoration and a well known Christmas quote from the film “It’s a wonderful life”. I’m also joining Challenge #85 – Anything Christmas Goes over at The Holly & Ivy Christmas Challenge blog with my Christmas quote and vintage angel wings design.

Tis the season to be … fluffy

As you probably know by now I love robins so I just couldn’t resist using this beautiful robin image, it reminded me of the fun saying “tis the season to be …fluffy”.

I coloured the page using an Earl Grey Faber-Castell Gelato to match the grey background of the robin image. The Gelato was scribbled onto the background and smudged with my finger which I had wet with a little water. The robin image was fussy cut from an old magazine that a dear friend gifted me for art journaling. Once stuck in place using a glue stick, I trimmed the image to fit the page. I arranged some of the trimmed pieces of leaves around the edges of page creating my wintry scene. For the wording I used some silver glitter stickers and then to finish, I splattered the page with both white and metallic silver acrylic paints.

As T Stands for Tuesday and to wish you all a Happy T Day, I’m sharing another fluffy robin that is on my winter mug.

If you’re wondering why robins sometimes look fluffy, it’s because on chilly days they puff out their feathers to keep warm. This puffing fluffs out their down feathers, giving some insulation to help the robin maintain its body temperature. So when winter’s here – “tis the season to be …fluffy (grin!).

Over Christmas we’ve also been enjoying this chocolate Yule Log from a local bakery, it was so very yummy! Not too sweet and covered in a thick layer of chocolate, and if you look closely…

…there’s even a little robin on the top (double grin!).

I hope you’ve had a safe and happy Christmas. Wishing you all the very best for 2021!

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:

• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Earl Grey)
• Old magazine
• Pritt Stick
• The Range (Alphabet Stickers – Silver Glitter)
• Poundland Metallic Acrylic (Silver)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)

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 celebrate the winter season and fluffy robins. I’m joining the Celebrate challenge over at Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge Blog as I’m celebrating the winter season with my fluffy robin page. I’m pleased to be able to join the fun LTSCB #140 – Winter Wonderland challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my fluffy robin sitting in his winter wonderland. I’m also pleased to join the Sparkle and Shine challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too with all the sparkle from the glitter letters and silver metallic paint on my page. I’m also joining Paperbabe Stamps and their #134 – Anything Goes challenge with my “tis the season to be … fluffy” robin page. I’m happy to join the MIUCB #44 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Clean and Simple challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the techniques for my simply constructed page too.

Sweet Life

I love everything pumpkin so my hubby kindly bought me a beautiful glass pumpkin for our wedding anniversary, which inspired me to create this pumpkin page – I hope you like it!

I started by colouring the foreground of the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a brayer. Then I used up leftover torn pieces of collage papers, sheet music, stamped tissue paper, napkin and design papers to create the background. It was fun to collage all the different papers together using Liquitex matte gel medium and I really like the spooky pumpkin patch look that resulted. When dry I painted Pébéo white gesso in the centre of the page blending it outwards towards the edges of the page.

The pumpkin was hand drawn and then cut out to make templates for different segments of the pumpkin. I used these templates to cut out different orange, white and black patterned Pion Design papers. Then I layered them together onto the page to create the large pumpkin using matte gel medium and left it to dry. I outlined each segment using a black Uni Pin marker and then shaded the edges of each segments using either Mango or Earl Grey Faber-Castell Gelato. The stalk of the pumpkin was created from recycled brown string which I coloured using two green Liquitex acrylic paints. When dry I doubled the string over and tightly twisted it together applying matte gel medium to stick the strands together. I stuck it in place using glue dots twisting and looping the stalk. To finish, I added a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “The Sweet Life”.

Here’s the beautiful glass pumpkin that my hubby kindly gifted me, isn’t it amazing (grin!).

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

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

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

• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• Leftover paper pieces (Tim Holtz Halloween Collage Paper, sheet music, dressmaking tissue paper stamped with a Gothic Book Finnabair stamp and black Archival Ink, napkin, design papers)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Pion Design Paper (Trick or Treat PD8102, Midnight Spell PD8103, October Garden PD8104)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Mango, Earl Grey)
• Recyled brown string
• Liquitex Basic Acrylic Colour (Light Green Permanent, Phthalocyanine Green)
• Stiz2 glue dots
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Bombay Sunset SS339)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the lined design paper on the pumpkin. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with the spooky pumpkin patch background. I’m joining the Purple, Orange, Green! Eek! It’s Halloween! challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my spooky vintage pumpkin page. I’m also pleased to join the Not A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my art journal page. I’m so pleased to be able to join in the Anything Goes over at Paperbabe Stamps with my pumpkin page. I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Layer It Up challenge with the collage background and pumpkin layers on my page. I’m also happy to join LTCCB #51 – October Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my pumpkin inspired art journal page too. Don’t forget that you still have a few days left to join in the Halloween fun over at Try it on Tuesday too!