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)
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 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!
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)
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.
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 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.
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 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!
My sister kindly bought me a beautiful rusty style robin garden decoration, as you may know I love robins and it really makes my day when I see them in our garden so this was the perfect gift. I wanted to capture it along with the words she wrote on the note that she gave me with this gift which reads “now you can have robins in your garden all the time” (grin!).
For the background I stamped the pink blossoms using black Archival Ink and a blossom stamp from Stampendous; they are painted using Twisted Citron Distress Ink for the leaves and a mixture of Fired Brick Distress Ink and White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray for the flowers with additional touches of Putty colour from a Winsor & Newton Promarker. I applied Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink using a blending tool through a doily stencil randomly around the flowers then I spritzed the stenciling with water to re-activate the ink to give a washed out effect.
For the robins, I drew around my robin garden decoration using a pencil onto some mixed media paper and then spread Ranger Texture Paste in-between the drawn lines using a palette knife to create the rust texture. Once dry, I gradually coloured the texture paste to build up the rust effect using quite a few layers of Sanguine and Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush markers and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. Next I cut the robins out of the mixed media paper and I applied some Orange Soda and Mango Faber-Castell Gelatos by scraping them over the raised areas of texture paste and smudging the colour with my finger which finished the rust effect wonderfully.
For the sign, I cut a piece of white cardstock to size and stuck the message that my sister had written on one side of the card. I coloured the other side using a Sanguine and Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and attached the four seasons stickers from Graphic 45 over the top. I then framed the front and the back edges with texture paste using a palette knife and I also used the texture paste to cover a brad too. When dry, I add a piece of cotton string to the sign and then coloured both the string and the texture paste using the Sanguine and Dark Sepia markers and then the Orange Soda and Mango Gelatos to create a rusty effect.
Next I attached the sign by the string to the page using the brad; this allows it to be turned over to reveal the message from my sister which reads “now you can have robins in your garden all the time!!”; which is why I chose to list all the seasons on the other side (grin!).
The robins look so pretty in my garden; I have placed them just outside my kitchen window so I can see them all the time and as you can see they are so beautifully rusty – perfect!
I hope 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.
Challenges
With rusty texture that I created, I’m pleased to join the Texture challenge over at Art Journal Journey that I’m hosting this month; thanks to everyone who has joined so far!
I’m so happy to join the Staying In The Background challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the pretty stamped and stenciled background that I created on this page.
I’m also happy to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the rusty elements and signage dimension on my page.
I’m joining the Complimentary Colours challenge over at Country View Challenges with the blue background and rusty orange of the robins.
I’m also joining the Favourite Stencil (and why) challenge over at the As You Like It Challenge with my stencilled background; I love the pretty doily pattern that this stencil creates as it looks so delicate, this stencil is also versatile as it can be joined together to create one whole doily or just used randomly as I did on this page.
Here is a list of all the scrap materials used to create this art journal page:
I had fun creating some texture on my art journal page using stamping, doodles, buttons, paints and decorative tape so I’m joining the Texture challenge that I’m guest hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey; it would be lovely to see you there!
I started by covering the page with Swedish Blue Liquitex and white acrylic paints using a baby wipe. When dry I stamped London Fog Memento Ink using a 4-point star background stamp and a Serpentine background stamp from Art Impressions. I also stamped black Archival Ink using a Script stamp from Kaisercraft and a homemade grid stamp which I created by sticking drywall/plasterboard tape onto a block of wood. I then stamped the edges of the page with circles using tubes/lids on my craft desk and some white acrylic paint. The two lovebirds on the branch are stamped using Onyx Black Versafine Ink.
I had fun doodling the lines cascading down the page and the large heart using a white Uniball gel pen and black Uni Pin marker and then used lots of recycled buttons to add further texture using Ranger Glossy Accents to stick them in place. The cream, blue and lilac hearts were cut from some adhesive-backed papers using a couple of paper punches; the hearts were stuck in place, outlined and I also doodled around them. I added some black Decorative Border Tape to the edges of the page and emphasised the pattern and texture by applying some Coconut Faber-Castell Gelato. Next I applied some Coconut, Fig and Metallic Blueberry Faber-Castell Gelatos to the background scribbling them vertically onto the page and then smudging the colours with my finger.
I stamped another layer of the white paint circles over the top and then I splattered the page with both black and white acrylic paint. To finish, I added three Tim Holtz stickers which read “follow your heart”, “be in love with your life” and “start each day with a grateful heart”.
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a cup on green tea in a pretty mug that matches my page with its blue colour, heart design and gingham texture (grin!). Wishing you all a very Happy T day!
I hope that you are 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 joining in the Oodles Of Doodles challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge it was fun adding lots of doodles as part of my design.
I am so delighted to be hosting Art Journal Journey this month and the challenge theme that I have chosen for this month is Texture.
We would like you to have fun creating texture on your pages. As you can see from the different panels on my page there are lots of possibilities to create texture. This could be by adding texture paste, crackle paste, high density mediums like gesso, paints or embossing powder. You could also use embossing folders, layers of papers, die cuts, fabrics or chipboard pieces too. The choice is yours!
I couldn’t just choose one texture so I decided to create my page using 21 different texture panels to inspire you and as I started creating the panels they turned into little scenes, I hope you like them (grin!).
If you’re interested, here’s close up pictures and full details of how the panels that make up my page were created. There’s also a list of all materials I used at the end of this post too.
1. Foil For my first panel, I stamped a dragonfly using black Archival Ink onto some coloured foil, which is recycled from an Easter egg wrapper. I stuck it onto the panel using a glue stick and to create the worn textured look I added some black Archival Ink to emphasis the creases and then I rubbed the foil back to its base silver colour with a baby wipe. To finish I added the glittery flower.
2. Teabags & staples Using staples I attached a used teabag to the panel and then I stuck three teacups on the top which were die cut from some design paper.
3. Glass beads I coloured the panel with some Summer Sky Memento Ink and then applied Liquitex Glass Beads Texture Gel over the top with a palette knife. Whilst the medium was still wet I pressed some pretty blue glass beads into the texture gel. When dry I added the little orange fish which is a brad.
4. Dried leaves I used matte gel medium to layer together a yellow skeleton leaf, a dried beech leaf and a die cut flower, which was cut from some linen textured paper using a Wildflower Tim Holtz Thinlet.
5. Fabric, threads and lace The panel was covered with some self-adhesive fabric and layered with a piece of frayed muslin, some Hessian/burlap and some threads which I topped with a lace flower.
6. Corrugated card I added a piece of corrugated card, which was recycled from some packaging, using matte gel medium then applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top. When dry, I emphasised the corrugations using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The postage stamp is from Graphic 45 and was distressed using the Dark Sepia marker, Tea Dye Distress Ink and black acrylic paint.
7. Elastic bands I applied some matte gel medium to the panel and sprinkled on some Orthodontic elastic bands that CJ kindly set to me (grin!). When dry I covered them with white gesso and highlighted the circles using a Dark Sepia marker. Then I edged the panel using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and coloured some of the circle centres using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. To finish, I added three little hearts that were in my craft stash; they were created using the Falling Hearts Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and glossy white cardstock.
8. Crackle I covered the panel with white gesso and when it was dry I applied Earl Grey, Caramel and Coconut Faber-Castell Gelatos smudging the colours with my finger. To create the crackle I used a BoBunny stamp and some Toffee Crisp and Rich Cocoa Momento inks and Black Archival ink.
All the letters for the “texture” wording were created using an X-Cut die set; they were cut from both black and white paper and then layered together onto a panel of textured design paper.
9. Glitter I cut some different coloured glitter sheets into squares and then stuck them onto the panel using a glue stick.
10. Cork I simply stuck a piece of cork designed paper onto the panel.
11. Paint Splatter To add more texture I used some high density Liquitex paint, splattering Vivid Lime Green, Cold Grey and Bright Aqua Green onto the panel and leaving it to dry.
12. Wood This is one of my favourite techniques; I applied Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy and Ground Espresso Distress Ink pads vertically down the panel and used a paint brush to add some matte gel medium over the top keeping the brush strokes in a vertical direction. I repeated the process a couple of times making sure each layer dried before adding the next.
13. Texture paste I applied some Ranger Texture Paste to the panel using a Vintage Diamond stencil. When dry I coloured the panel using Salty Ocean and Cracked Pistachio Distress Inks, then emphasised the texture paste using some Midnight Sparkle lustre wax.
14. Napkin I simply covered the panel with a gold embossed napkin using a glue stick.
15. Wooden chipboard pieces and rust effect I started by sticking the cogs in place using matte gel medium. When dry I added layers of different shades of rust and brown acrylic paints which I had created by mixing Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow and black acrylic paints. When dry I added more detail using Dark Sepia and a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Then I added some patina by lightly stippling some Bright Aqua Green acrylic paint over the top.
16. Paper layers I covered the panel with leftover paper pieces and edged them using a black Uni Pin marker. The flower is a paper sticker and the foliage was cut using a Funky Floral Thinlet from Tim Holtz and coloured using two green Winsor & Newton Promarkers.
17. Doily and gems I added lots of texture to the panel using layers of doily which I edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia marker. They are stuck in place using double-sided tape and then embellished with some textured gemstones to add some shimmer and shine.
18. Embossing Folder, thread and buttons I used an embossing folder to add a flower design to a piece of Kraft cardstock and then coloured the raised embossed design using a white Uniball gel pen and Aqua Green Promarker. Then I wound some wax thread around the panel and attached a big button.
19. Drywall/Plasterboard Tape I added some drywall/plasterboard tape to the panel and coloured it using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray. I splattered the panel with black DecoArt acrylic paint and added some washi tape to create the foreground. Then I added the mushrooms which are from the Field Notes Ephemera Set from Tim Holtz.
20. Embossing enamel and die cut trellis The panel background was coloured using Tea Dye and Antique Linen Distress Ink and Dandelion and Pistachio Memento Ink. The trellis was die cut from white cardstock covered in black Archival Ink and Chunky Silver Stampendous embossing enamel. I added two little birds which were stamped using black Archival Ink, coloured with Promarkers and fussy cut out.
21. Tissue Paper For the final panel, I crumpled some white tissue paper and then added it to the panel using matte gel medium. When dry, I coloured it with Lemon, Cadmium Yellow, Cerulean Blue, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna watercolour paint. The flower was cut from some Kanban cardstock using a Wildflower Tim Holtz Thinlet.
Once the panels were complete I stuck them onto the page using double-sided tape; I coloured the background with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to outline the panels before sticking them in place.
Do you have a favourite panel? It’s hard for me to choose, maybe number 3 with the beads and little fish, number 6 as I love the corrugated card, number 15 with cogs and rust or number 20 as you know I adore robins (grin!).
I hope that you are inspired to join us at Art Journal Journey this month too! We are really looking forward to visiting you and seeing all the Texture that you create on your pages (grin!).
Hoping 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
I’m joining the It’s A Wrap challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the Easter Egg wrapping, corrugated packaging and tissue paper wrap I used to create my panels.
I’m happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.
I had a lovely surprise in the post, some happy mail from Bleubeard and Elizabeth celebrating T Stands for Tuesday’s 7th Anniversary – thank you so much for the amazing ATC and fabulous goodies!
I created this page with some of the goodies that Bleubeard and Elizabeth sent me; creating a tag with the Fiesta napkin and reusing the envelope that everything came in to make a pocket. Those little donkey piñatas caught my eye so I used them as part of my fun design too (grin!).
I kept the background simple, using two stencils from Creative Expressions I added a floral design using Love Letter Memento Ink and a trellis design using Black Soot Distress Ink applying them with a blending tool.
For the pocket, I folded the envelope so the postage stamp and marks were showing. Then I cut it into a triangular shape and coloured it using a Lemon Faber-Castell Gelato. To hold the pocket together I used some red and white flowered washi tape and then attached it to my page using double-sided tape. At the moment it is holding all the goodies that Bleubeard and Elizabeth kindly sent to me and I’m sure it won’t stay so full for long as I’ll be using them over time as part of my page designs (grin!).
For the tag, I cut some white card stock using the largest Tag Collection Framelit by Tim Holtz and my Big Shot machine and then I covered the tag with the Fiesta napkin using a thin layer of Liquitex matte gel medium. When dry, I coloured the right-hand side using Lemon Faber-Castell Gelato and then covered it in washi tape to match the envelope pocket. Using the Tag Collection Framelit set I cut out the tag hole reinforcement from white card which was also coloured with the Lemon Faber-Castell Gelato and covered with the washi tape. With the reinforcement glued in place, I tied some pretty recycled ribbon to the tag. The Fiesta wording and donkey piñatas were mounted onto some white card stock using the gel medium and when they were dry, I fussy cut them out and edged them with a black marker. I layered them all together using double-sided tapes and then to finish I stamped the “thank you” wording using black Archival Ink.
As you may know Bleubeard and Elizabeth kindly sent this beautiful ATC and some goodies to those of us in the T Gang at T Stands for Tuesday, which is so kind and thoughtful – thanks so much!
Of course I just adore the ATC and it makes a lovely addition to my craft room having pride of place so I see it everyday whilst I’m crafting (grin!).
As T Stands for Tuesday and I’m celebrating with a T Day Fiesta, I thought a margarita would fit the bill – cheers and Happy T day!
Hoping 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
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 Alison AKA Craftytrog over at Art Journal Journey and her Pockets and Tags challenge this month pocket and tag I created for this page.
I’m also happy to be able to join the #125 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as the tag with images, Fiesta wording and little piñata donkey that I included on my page.
I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Use Your Favourite Tool challenge too; many of you will know that I love nothing better than fussy cutting so with just my scissors I’m a happy bunny (grin!).
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Daisy Wheels, Ornamental )
Tsukineko Memento Ink (Love Letter)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
Gift from Bleubeard and Elizabeth – thanks so much!
Recycled envelope and postage stamp
Faber-Castell Gelatos (Lemon)
Michael’s Washi Tape
Recycled white card stock
Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
Fiesta napkin
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Recycled ribbon
Stix2 double-sided tape
X-Press It! double-sided foam tape
Sharpie Permanent Marker Fine Point (Black)
Crafter’s Companion Signature Collection by Sara Davies (Butterfly Lullaby S-BL-ST-JUS)
It’s a new month so we are launching our August challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.
Today’s mixed media art journal page was inspired by happy summer sunflowers and the beautiful quote by John Lubbock “Like the sun colours flowers, art colours life” which resonated with me. I hope you like it and that you are inspired to join us over at Creative Artiste; it would be lovely to see you there!
I started by applying Snowcone, Boysenberry, Bubble Gum and Lime Faber-Castell Gelatos, scribbling them onto the page and then smudging the colours with my finger which I had wet with water. Then I used a baby wipe to remove some of the Gelato colours through two different sizes of honeycomb stencils which gave the page depth and contrast. I used the smaller of the two Honeycomb stencils to add Rose Bud and Paris Dusk Memento Inks using a blending tool. Next I stamped an abstract numbers stamp from Kaisercraft and a Solar & Lunar stamp from Finnabair using black Archival Ink and then I stencilled Ranger Texture Paste through a Reversed Honeycomb stencil from That’s Crafty.
I had fun creating the large sunflower, drawing the petals and cutting them out of some design paper. The petals were coloured using Lemon and Limencello Faber-Castell Gelatos and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker which I also used to edge the petals. The centre of the sunflower was die cut from some glossy brown card stock to which I then applied Ranger Texture Paste through the Reversed Honeycomb stencil. To finish, I added the quote which I created using an alphabet X-Cut die set with some yellow paper. Like the sunflower, the letters were highlighted using Limencello Faber-Castell gelato and edged using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.
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.
We have sunflowers in our garden this year which have flowered beautifully …
… and as you can see the bees love them (grin!).
Hoping 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.
I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Use Your Favourite Tool challenge too as I used lots of stencils which is one of my favourite tools to use on my mixed media pages.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Today over at A Vintage Journey it’s Tag Friday, there is no particular theme as it’s all about creating something you love, experimenting and having fun! I hope that you will join our tag challenge, it would be lovely to see you there!
Spending more time in my garden means that my art is being inspired by some of the beautiful flowers which are blooming at the moment, so today’s double-sided tag features purple poppies and rudbeckia.
The tag itself was made from a large Poster Card by Tim Holtz and I added some texture and colour to the edges of it by applying some Broken China Distress Embossing Glaze and then some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. As I planned to use Faber-Castell Gelatos on both tags, I applied some white gesso to the tag first; this enhanced the colours and made it easier to apply the Gelatos. When the gesso was dry, I scribbled Kiwi and Aqua Dolce Faber-Castell Gelatos over the top smudging the colour with my finger.
Next I removed some of the Gelato colours using a baby wipe through a Halftone stencil from Tim Holtz and I used the stencil again to add some Memento Inks; I used Cottage Ivy ink for the poppy background and Paris Dusk ink for the rudbeckia background.
I stamped a document stamp and a grunge stamp from two different Tim Holtz stamp sets using black Archival Ink and then some leaf stamps from Carabelle Studios using Cottage Ivy Memento Ink for the poppy tag and London Fog Memento Ink for the rudbeckia tag. To finish the backgrounds, I added some rub-on transfers from a Specimen Remnant Rubs set by Tim Holtz.
The flowers were stamped onto some Mixed Media paper using a Stamping Platform to ensure a clear crisp finish. The stamps are from a Flower Garden stamp set by Tim Holtz and are stamped using black Archival Ink. The foliage was coloured using Sap Green Kuretake watercolour paint and highlighted using Lime Green and Forest Green Winsor & Newton Promarkers.
I had fun painting the poppy using Colbalt Violet, Black and White Kuretake watercolour paints and I coloured the edges of the petals using Amethyst Winsor & Newton Promarker. I used Lime Green and Canary Promarkers to colour the centre of the flower and a white Uniball gel pen, a black Uni Pin marker and a Cool Grey Promarker for the stamens. The flower was stuck in place using a glue stick and some glue dots and I added the “Create Art” wording which was a Quote Chip from Tim Holtz that was edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.
The rudbeckia flower was painted using Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Scarlet, Black, White and Burnt Umber Sienna Kuretake watercolour paints and a Canary Promarker. I used a black Uni Posca paint pen and a black Uni Pin marker to add the texture to the stamens. I added the “Be Brave” wording and edged both tags using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. To finish, I added an eyelet with my Crop-A-Dile machine to reinforce the hole as I’m using a book ring to secure all of my double-sided tags together as part of my Tag Journal (grin!).
For more Tag Friday inspiration, please pop over to A Vintage Journey where you’ll find some fabulous tags created by my fellow Creative Guides. I hope you are inspired to join us as I’m so looking forward to seeing your tag designs!
These purple poppies are a welcome addition to our flower bed and were totally unplanned; I think the birds must have brought them into the garden (grin!). They have been flowering non-stop since the beginning of July. I’m featuring them again as some of you had never seen them before so I thought I’d share some more information about them:
This particular poppy is called Papaver Somniferum “Hungarian Blue” and is an heirloom variety with single flowers.
They are gorgeous purple-violet shades with dark inner markings on each petal.
They are easy to grow being ideal as a cut flower and the dried seed pods can also be used in flower arranging.
They grow to a height of 90cm.
The rudbeckia has just started flowering and adds a happy vibrant yellow to our flower bed; this particular one is Rudbeckia Fulgida ”Goldsturm” and is also known as the Golden Cone Flower or Black Eyed Susan.
I hope that you are 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 join the Summer challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my summer flower tags.
I’m joining in the fun at Country View Challenges and their Do What Makes You Happy Challenge with my flower tags as although I always find making tags a bit daunting I always enjoy making them; they also make me smile when I look at them as they are always on display in my craft room.
