Heuchera

At Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Cut It Out.

Like me, you could use die cuts that you make and colour yourself or pre-made die cuts and stickers or you could simply fussy cut something out, the choice is yours!

My page today was inspired by some beautiful heuchera flowers that are flowering in my garden at the moment (grin!).

I started covering the page with Botancial Collage Paper from Tim Holtz using a glue stick and then I covered it with white gesso to push the images back. When dry, I applied some Earl Grey, Caramel, Kiwi and Lime Faber-Castell Gelatos over the top, by scribbling them onto the page and smudging the colour with a wet finger. I then toned down the colours and added some darker shading by applying some Iced Coffee and Iced Chai Faber-Castell Gelatos to the page. Next I added some Ranger Texture Paste through a brick design stencil from Craft Sensations and left it to dry. The brick design is coloured using Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and the Iced Coffee Faber-Castell Gelato. I stencilled a trellis pattern using Black Soot Distress Ink and a Moroccan stencil from Creative Expressions, then I used a baby wipe to remove some of the colour allowing white patches of the collage paper to show through which added depth and contrast to the background. The page is also splattered with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and then black and also white acrylic paint.

I used a Wildflower #2 Tim Holtz thinlet set to die cut the flowers from some linen textured cardstock and coloured the flower petals by painting on some Abandoned Coral Distress Spray Stain using a paintbrush. The leaves and stems are coloured using Olive Green and Forest Green Winsor & Newton Promarkers and they are stuck to the page using a Zig Memory glue pen. To finish, I added a pretty die cut butterfly from a Field Notes Ephemera Pack by Tim Holtz and the “Heuchera” wording which are letter stickers from Kaisercraft.

My Design Teamies have been busy fussy cutting and die cutting to create some amazing Cut It Out inspiration for you over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over and take a look.

Here are the heuchera flowers that are in bloom in our flower bed, they are so delicate with tiny flower heads.

They look very striking with their coral colour especially when they catch the sunlight!

These plants come in all sorts of leaf and flowers colours, to find out more about them check out this Heuchera link.

You may already be aware that I have been completing a series of flower art journal pages inspired by my garden. If you are interested you can see the other pages here:

• Bluebells
• Tulips
• Welsh Poppy

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing a new batch of Raspberry Gin that we made, it tastes so fruity and is ideal for drinking whist sitting in the garden on a hot sunny day – Happy T Day!

You can find the Raspberry Gin recipe here and I think Halle asked about the amount of sugar added – this is just for taste so you can add as much or as little as you like (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, like Try it on Tuesday, as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Mia from Craftartista over at Art Journal Journey and her Flowers challenge this month with my Heuchera flowered page.

I’m so happy to be able to join the #119 – Picture Inpiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the pretty flowers on my page. Thanks so much for my win too, how exciting!

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

• Tim Holtz idea-ology Collage Paper (Botanical #TH93705)
• Pritt Stick
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Earl grey, Caramel, Kiwi, Lime, Iced Coffee, Iced Chai)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge, Black Soot)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch Of Mica Mask (Moroccan)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflowers #2 661808)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain (Abandoned Coral)
• Winsor & Newton Promarker (Olive Greeb Y724, Forest Green G356)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Ephemera Pack (Field Notes #TH94051)
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Mix & Match – Alpha SS252)

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)

Love Letters

We have a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday:

Share the Love

I’m sharing the love with my “Love Letters” art journal page, which I created in a vintage style with postage stamps, pretty roses and tiny hearts (grin!).

I started by covering the page with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and Pébéo white gesso using a palette knife. When dry, I added some Caramel, Coconut, Kiwi and Metallic Mint Faber-Castell Gelatos by scribbling them onto the page and smudging the colour with my finger which I wet using a baby wipe. I stamped some crackle texture around the edges of the page using a Bobunny stamp and black Archival Ink and then I applied some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink around the edges of the page. The rose and postal images are stickers by Penny Black which I edged with a black Derwent Inktense pencil. I added lots of postage marks using rub-on transfers from Tim Holtz and also using some postage mark stamps and black Archival Ink. I added some red hearts which were on my craft desk leftover from another project; they were cut using Tim Holtz Falling Hearts Thinlets from linen textured cardstock which I coloured with Fired Brick Distress Ink. To finish, I added the “Love Letters” wording which are Label Stickers from Tim Holtz.

For more inspiration my Design Teamies are also sharing the love over at Try it on Tuesday with their wonderful creations, please pop over and take a look!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my cup of green tea that I enjoyed whilst catching up with a dear friend at the Blackbird Café. The rose teacup reminded me of my page and it came with a little gingerbread man, so cute and very yummy (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 Hearts challenge over at Art Journal Journey that is being hosted by the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth this month.

I’m also pleased to join the Floral Frenzy challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with all the roses of my page too.

I happy to join in the fun over at Paperbabe Stamps and their #111 – Picture Inspiration challenge with the colour palette that I chose for this page.

I’m joining in the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too.

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

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Caramel, Coconut, Kiwi, Metallic Mint)
• BoBunny Stamp Set (Rough it up 12105155)
• Ranger Achival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Rusty Hinge, Fired Brick)
• Penny Black Stickeroos (Vintage Roses #10-142)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Remnant Rubs Special Delivery #TH93188, Label Stickers #TH93072)
• Derwent Inktense Ink Pencils (Ink Black 2200)
• The Works Clear Stamps (CRO274/TW3) – Postage Marks
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Falling Hearts 664415)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)

Wander-Found-Noted

Today’s page sees me creating rust again, this time building up the layers of colour and using a new technique with texture paste and a piece of plastic bag from some packaging.

I started by applying some Neutral Gray and Bright Aqua Green Heavy Body Liquitex paints quite thickly to the page with a paintbrush. Then when dry I added some Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool concentrating the ink colours where I hadn’t painted any colour.

Next I applied some Ranger Texture Paste to the page by placing some of the paste onto a piece of plastic bag then pressing it onto the page, crinkling the bag and lifting it off the page; I then transferred the paste around the page using the same technique to create the raised texture. When dry I added more of the Rusty Hinge Distress Ink over the top of the texture paste using a blending tool and used a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Then I applied some Iced Chai and Iced Coffee Metallic Faber-Castell gelatos to emphasis the texture more; smudging the colour with my finger. I repeated all the layers of Rusty Hinge, Sanguine, Iced Chai and Iced Coffee colours until I got the look I wanted.

To add to the rusty vintage feel, I added two moth stickers, some word stickers and some quote chips all of which are from Tim Holtz; they read “Wander – To Dreamland – All the beautiful stars of the sky”, “Found – A fortunate find – And let it fly away” and “Noted – The most beautiful thing – Till morning light”.

Living by the beach as we do, we have quite a few metal sculptures which are worn and weathered creating beautiful rusty artworks. This one is called Desire and can be found along Blackpool South promenade and casts a shadow of a heart at certain times of the day, it represents beach holiday romances.

This one is the High Tide Organ which is played by the sea at high tide through pipes attached to the sea wall, such fun (grin!).

Challenges

I’m joining the Something New challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey as I used a new technique to create the rusty background and also my new Ranger Texture Paste (grin!).

I’m joining in the Rust It Up challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my rusty background, thanks for the inspiration!

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

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 Heavy Body Acrylic (Neutral Gray 5, Vivid Aqua Green)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Recycled plastic bag
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Sanguine 188 B)
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Iced Chai, Iced Coffee)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Salvage Stickers Crowded Attic #TH2898, Clipping Stickers #TH93583, Quote Chips #TH93563)
• UHU Glue Pen

Something New at Art Journal Journey

I am so delighted to be hosting Art Journal Journey this month and the challenge that I have chosen is:

Something New

It’s a new year, so we would like you to create an art journal page with something “new” in mind. This could include a new product or technique, or be inspired by a new job, home or hobby, new beginnings, adventure or outlook, or even a Happy New Year!

I created a page with a fresh colour palette to depict something new. I started by covering the page with stamped images from a Steampunk background stamp by Docrafts and a new stamp set from Creative Sensations using black Archival Ink; I used this ink for all the stamping on this page. Then I applied Acqua Dolce, Guava and Kiwi Faber-Castell Gelatos by scribbling them onto the paper and then smudging the colour with my finger which I wet using a baby wipe.

To add some depth to the page, I applied some white gesso with my finger and also through a star stencil, and when dry I stamped some images from a Provincial and a Stargazer stamp set, both from Kaisercraft. I also splattered the page with Titanium White and Carbon Black Liquitex Ink using a paintbrush.

Next I chose five art journal cards from Kaisercraft and stamped them with the “Something New” challenge title using a Concord & 9^th stamp set and also listed some ways that you could interpret the challenge using a Dovecraft stamp set. They are stuck in place using double-sided tape and to finish I added some gold glittery stars, which were also new to my craft stash.

I chose this challenge with it being a new year and also because I normally have new crafting goodies as part of my Christmas gifts. This year didn’t disappoint as I have received some great additions to my craft stash and I plan to use some of them to join our Something New challenge.

Maybe you could use some new products as well on your pages, it could be a present or be something sitting in its packaging still waiting to be used – yes this happens to me too (grin!).

I’m looking forward to trying out a couple of new techniques on my pages for this challenge too, so watch this space.

I also thought that some of you might be setting new goals, choosing a new word for the year or even starting a new hobby so these would be perfect for this challenge too.

There are so many options, I hope that you are inspired by this month’s Something New challenge too and will join in the fun here at Art Journal Journey – I can’t wait to visit you and see your creations (grin!).  

Wishing you all the best for 2020!

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:

• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Background Stamp (Steampunk Background DCE907128)
• Craft Sensations Clear Stamps (CRO274/19A)
• Ranger Arcival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Acqua Dolce, Guava, Kiwi)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Star Stencil
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Provincial CS243, Stargazer CS327)
• Liquitex Inks! (Titanium White, Carbon Black)
• Kaisercraft Captured Moments 3×4” Journal Cards (Life’s Treasures CM108)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Concord & 9^th Stamp Set (Sophisticated Script 10056)
• Dovecraft Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCV0050)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• The Works Make & Create (Christmas Glitter Stickers – Gold Stars)

Shall we dance?

I created this page to remember the amazing time that we had at the cinema watching the live André Rieu concert from Maastricht which was a belated birthday present from my hubby (grin!).

I started by covering the background with The Blue Danube sheet music by Johann Strauss II as he happens to be my favourite classical composer and this was one of the pieces of music that was played during the concert. I stamped around the edges of the page using some of the floral Musicality stamps from Docrafts and black Archival Ink. Then I applied some Gold Champagne Faber-Castell Gelato and black Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker, smudging the colours with my finger. Next I fussy cut André Rieu, the title and the list of music from the programme that we were given and stuck them onto the page. I also stamped “Kings of Disco” and added it to the list of music as they were the surprise guest act for the concert finale which was amazing too. I added a striped border of stickers to the title “André Rieu Shall we dance?”, two gold glitter corners to the list of music and some gold swirls and dots to the background which are Glitterations stickers. The red roses and flowers are rub-on transfers and to finish the page, I chose three Small talk stickers from Tim Holtz which read “the music of my heart”, “Professor of Music” and “being enchanted”; they are edged with the black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

The André Rieu Maastricht 2019 concert was shown across cinemas in the UK and we went to The Flower Bowl to watch it in comfort on our very own sofa. The music and atmosphere was magical, we forgot we were at the cinema as it felt like we were transported there (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday and I thought this gold coffee set would match my page nicely, I’m sharing this beautiful set which was on sale at our local auction rooms. For cat lovers and those who prefer tea there is also this pretty tea pot too – Happy T Day!

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 Erika aka BioArtGal and her Polka-Dots, Stripes, Plaids and Patterns challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my striped sheet music background.

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

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

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

• Sheet Music – The Blue Danube
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Musicality DCE907112) DCE907115)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Gold Champagne)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Concert Programme
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set upper & lower case (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Docrafts Papermania Glitterations (Gold Flowers ANT8181020, Gold Frame Circles ANT8181020)
• Poundworld Rub-on Transfers (Vintage)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Clipping Stickers #TH93583)
• Penny Black Stickeroos (Vintage Roses #10-142)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick

Untie the ribbons

Our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey is Box It Up, which is being hosted by Julia. Here’s what it is all about:

“This month our theme is boxes! Perhaps you will make a trunk or suitcase, some kind of package to hold a gift, or maybe make a card or journal page showing presents. Just remember to ensure that you create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.

I thought this motivational quote suited Julia’s challenge perfectly, so I included it on my art journal page along with the gift box which I had fun creating for this page too (grin!).

To create the background I completely covered the page with some yellow Liquitex acrylic paint and once the paint was dry added pieces of script and sheet music Collage Papers from Tim Holtz and some tape measure design decoupage paper from Viva Gade using Liquitex matte gel medium. I added a little more of the yellow paints over the top of the tissue paper to intensify the colour and also applied some white gesso around the edges of the page using my finger. Then I diluted Dark Sepia, Sanguine and Cold Grey Faber-Castell markers by scribbling them onto a blending mat and spritzing with water and applied them with my finger over the white gesso which gave the page a lovely translucent glow. Then I added some Gold Champagne Faber-Castell Gelato and Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to the edge of the page smudging them with my finger.

I created the gift box from some spotty paper and drew the lines onto it using the Dark Sepia Big Brush marker, shaded it using Caramel Faber-Castell Gelato and added shadows using the Cold Grey Big Brush marker. Next I used a star stencil to apply modelling paste with a palette knife and left it to dry; the stars were then painted using a white Uni Posca paint pen and Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint. The words are letter stickers from Docrafts which I covered with matte gel medium to hold them securely in place. I did the same with the flowers which are stickers from Kaisercraft. Finally, I added some strips of red organza ribbon to the box using double-sided tape and finished it with a bow.

I enjoy collecting positive and motivational quotes for my art journal pages and had fun creating this page with the gift box and ribbon to depict the words I added; it was based on the quote “Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons” by Ruth Ann Schabacker.

For more inspiration, please pop over to see the amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey too, it would be lovely to see you there!

I also have quite a few motivational quotes displayed around my home too, here’s one that greets me every morning, it hangs on the mirror in my bedroom …

… and this one hangs in my craft room (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 Erika aka BioArtGal and her Polka-Dots, Stripes, Plaids and Patterns challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my polka-dot gift box.

I’m also joining Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #101 – Sketch; I flipped the sketch to the left so the circle is represented by the gift box on my page and the logo by the sentiment I used.

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

• Liquitex Acrylic Color (Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Oxide, Parchment)
• Tim Holtz Collage Papers (Halloween #TH93727, Botanicals #TH93705)
• Viva Gade Decoupage Paper (Helsinki 25586)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush marker (Dark Sepia 175 B, Cold Grey IV 233, Sanguine 188 B)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Gold Champagne, Caramel)
• Star Stencil
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CRO701/16PL1)
• Docrafts Papermania A4 Ultimate Die-Cut & Paper Pack (Folk Christmas PMA160933)
• Kaisercrfat Sticker Sheet (The Looking Glass SS206)
• Recycled Red Organza Ribbon
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape