Happy Valentine’s Day

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing my “Happy Valentine’s Day” journal page for this month’s Be Sentimental challenge.

For the background, I covered the chipboard page with Lumberjack Plaid and Saltwater Taffy Distress Paints and left them to dry overnight. Using Kraft Cardstock – Classic papers from Tim Holtz, I die cut the prancing deer using a Delightful Deer Sizzix Thinlits set by Lisa Jones, the hearts using a Heartfelt Sizzix Bigz Die by Tim Holtz and the sentiment using an All Occasions Sizzix Thinlits set by Olivia Rose; they were all stuck in place using matte gel medium. To finish, I splattered the page with white DecoArt acrylic paint and added the white ceramic hearts.

I hope you are inspired to join our Be Sentimental challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts.

The deer on this page were created using this Delightful Deer Sizzix Thinlits set by Lisa Jones and I was amazed to find not only the two prancing deer shown on the packaging but a third deer too; I can’t wait to use this adorable deer – perfect (smile!).

Stay safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Erika at her BioArtGal blog and she has chosen Seeing Red as her challenge which my page definitely is.

Challenge #67 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my Happy Valentine’s Day page.

MIUCB #63 – Anything Goes + optional no stamping over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my page which was created with no stamping.

Double D Challenges and their Hearts challenge with all the hearts on this Valentine’s page.

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Love and Devotion

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is All You Need is Love.

I started by covering the page with Pébéo white gesso as, when dry, it’s a wonderful base medium for the Faber-Castell Gelatos that were used to colour this page, making them easier to smudge and blend. I used Watermelon and Coconut Gelatos which I scribbled over the background and smudged with my finger and a little water. Next I added the fragments of gold tissue paper that I had previously die cut; they were leftover from another journal page. The love and devotion heart image was fussy cut from an old magazine and once stuck in place, I surrounded it with some blue and cream pearl gemstone clusters which finished the page.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

I’m sharing this romantic Valentine’s dessert served in a pretty white teacup from Lytham Hall café. It’s a chocolate cupcake topped with pink icing, silver sprinkles and dark chocolate! It almost looks too good to eat!

Stay safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

MIUCB #63 – Anything Goes + optional no stamping over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my romantic page which was created with no stamping.

Double D Challenges and their Hearts challenge with the Love and Devotion Heart hearts page.

More Than Words challenge and their Love Letters challenge with my Love and Devotion page.

Mischievous Cats’ Happy New Year Party

Hi everyone and a very Happy New Year to you all! 

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges celebrating the New Year for our Time Challenge; this page was created using Tim Holtz products, as these Mischievous Cats wanted to wish you a Happy New Year too!

I started by cutting some Tim Holtz Pocket Cards, that had different clock face and wallpaper designs on them, into pieces and then I covered the page with them by collaging them together using matte gel medium. Next I applied some white gesso to the edges of the card pieces to fill any gaps and I also applied it to create a frame around the page itself. I added the clock hands so each clock was striking midnight to signify the New Year; like the cats and letters, they were die cut from Black Kraft Cardstock – Classic by Tim Holtz. I arranged four of the Mischievous Cats Thinlits onto the page adding a measuring tape, for each of them to sit on, which were from a Numbers Remnant Rub-on Set by Tim Holtz. Next I die cut the wording using an Alphanumeric Tiny Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and then I added them to the green glitter bunting triangles which I created using Adhesive Deco Sheets 12pcs – Christmas by Tim Holtz. They were arranged onto the page with some black cotton which I wound around the Mischievous Cats tails and paws, and to finish I added some tiny green gemstones for the cats eyes – Happy New Year everyone!

For more inspiration, please see the amazing Time creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I look forward to seeing what you make and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the Country View Crafts shop! Before you enter, please read the rules!

With it being New Years Day today, me and my hubby are wishing you all the very best for 2023 too! x

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

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

MIUCB #63 – Anything Goes + optional no stamping over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my Mischievous Cats’ Happy New Year Party page which was created with no stamping.

A Christmas Song

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges with my second page for our Christmas Anything Goes challenge this month.

I love robins especially at Christmastime and had lots of fun creating this page using some of my favourite crafting goodies by Tim Holtz.

I started by covering the chipboard page using Twisted Citron and Rustic Wilderness Distress Paint and when dry, I applied some white gesso over the top using a brayer. Then I stamped some fir tree branches over the page using Pine Needles and Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink and a Sketch Greenery stamp set; all by Tim Holtz. The page was splattered using white DecoArt acrylic paint and left to dry. The papers are from a Tim Holtz Worn Wallpaper Christmas set; I tore them into pieces before sticking them in place using a glue stick. The snowflakes were die cut from the same paper using a Paper Snowflakes Mini Thinlits set by Tim Holtz. For my robins I cut three different birds using a Silhouette Birds Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some brown and red Kraft Cardstock – Classic by Tim Holtz and once stuck together added some glitter to their red breasts using Red Stickles and a tiny black gemstone for their eyes. To finish, I added the wording from a Tim Holtz Christmas Sticker book which reads “A Christmas Song” and “Message of Love”.

I hope you are inspired to join our Christmas Anything Goes challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

As you may have seen from a previous post, I always visit our local garden centre for their Christmas evening with my family and this year there was free face painting. I know what you’re thinking this is for kids, but as no one was waiting I asked the lady if she would paint my face and she said yes so of course I couldn’t resist – can you guess what I asked for?

Yes I love robins so much that that’s what I asked for; well maybe it looks like a cross between a robin and a cardinal, but who cares, as you can see it really made me smile – wishing you a Merry Christmas and all the very best for the New Year! x

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

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey which I’m having fun hosting this month; I chose the challenge theme Snowy Winter so like me all you need to do is add snowflakes and/or snow on your pages. I hope to see you there!

December Anything Goes Winter Challenge over at The Four Seasons Challenge as robins and poinsettias always remind me of winter and Christmastime.

Challenge #65 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my a Christmas Song page.

Mischievous Cats

Today I’m sharing my fourth page using a napkin from the napkin swap over at T Stands for Tuesday. I used a pretty scalloped edge napkin full of autumnal colours and I decided to pair it with some Mischievous cats from Tim Holtz; I hope you like it (smile!).

I started by cutting the round napkin into quarters and tearing some of the napkin to create individual flowers, and then I collaged all the napkin pieces onto the page using a glue stick. The pretty cats were cut from some black Kraft cardstock – Classic by Tim Holtz using my new Mischievous Cats Sizzix Thinlits set, also by Tim Holtz. I layered them together and added them to the page with a sticker by Kaisercraft that reads “being together is the best gift of all”. To finish, I added some green, gold and blue gemstones to the cats for their eyes – aren’t they adorable!

Creating pages using the napkins from the T Day napkin swap is so much fun! If you’re interested you can find them here:

1. Bee Wellington Boots – Bee napkin from Erika
2. Time for Tea – Alice napkin from Lisca
3. Autumn Greetings – Autumnal napkin from Chris
4. Mischievous Cats – Scalloped napkin which I believe was from Elle (I thought you may like the cats, smile!) – this post

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my Bad Kitty beer that I had at our local beer festival which was held in October this year instead of February. Me and my hubby always volunteer at this festival and we had lots of fun meeting people, serving and chatting to customers and of course trying all the beers.

Bad Kitty is from Brass Castle Brewery in Yorkshire; it’s a Vanilla Porter with a 5.5% ABV described as a “chewy chocolate-vanilla dream of a porter” and was very yummy! I thought it was the “purr-fect” accompaniment to my page this T Day as I know Bleubeard and Elizabeth like Porters and the brewery says “Bad Kitty earned its name from the antics of the two original brewhouse cats, who delighted in mischievously supervising proceedings”.

Cheers and Happy T Day! x

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

The lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from https://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/ who is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Collage Fodder, Food & Drink or Both so I’m joining her with my napkin collaged page (smile!).

Paperbabe Stamps and their #180 – Anything Goes challenge with my fun page.

LTSCB#158 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Mischievous Cats page.

November Anything Goes Fall Challenge over at The Four Seasons Challenge with my autumnal coloured page.

Sparkle & Shine

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Sparkle & Shine.

For my sparkly page, I mixed some gold metallic Liquitex Acrylic Ink with Ranger Texture Paste and then I used it to stencil the swirls. Next I applied some of the gold acrylic ink onto the page with some Salvaged Patina and Prize Ribbon Distress Paints spritzing them with water to blend them. When the page was dry, I splattered the page with the gold metallic ink and also some white acrylic paint. For the heart, I embossed a piece of silver metallic cardstock using an Engraved Embossing Folder by Tim Holtz and cut out a heart shape. Then I applied some black metallic wax to the embossed pattern on the heart along with some of the gold ink and both Distress Paints. I added the wording from a Metallic Sticker Book by Tim Holtz which read “Shine brightly”, “Light the way” and “Start each day with a grateful heart”.

To finish, I added a sparkly embellishment to the heart; it’s a pearl surrounded by tiny diamante gems which was kindly gifted to me by the lovely Tracey.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

As T Stands for Tuesday and last weekend we officially moved to winter with the clocks going back an hour, I’m sharing our winter mugs. There pictured with a couple of mince pies – I know it’s early to have these but we treated ourselves when we saw them in the shops. As you can see my hubby’s “G” winter mug is very sparkly too – Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #179 – Anything Goes challenge with my sparkle and shine page.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their Anything Goes as long as you use a stencil with the stencil that I used to create the metallic swirls on my page.

Can You Handle The Pressure and their Anything Goes Embossing with a Twist of Pumpkins with the embossed heart on my page – thanks for the invite Darlene!

I put a spell on you

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing another Halloween page for this month’s Halloween or Harvest challenge.

This mixed media page was fun to make as I used a mishmash of different products including Distress Paints, a Visible Image stamp set, Tim Holtz Metallic letter stickers and DecoArt acrylic paint.

I started by covering the page with Halloween colours using a couple of layers of Crackling Campfire and Twisted Citron Distress Paints. When dry, I stamped the spell book, raven and border onto the page using black Archival Ink and a Visible Image stamp set. Next I added the wording using letters from an Alpha Silver Metallic Sticker set by Tim Holtz. To finish, I added a few black gemstones and I splattered the page using the two Distress Paints and some white and black DecoArt acrylic paint.

I hope you are inspired to join our Halloween or Harvest challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts.

“I put a spell on you” is a song from 1956 and has been covered by many artists; I remember this version by Nina Simone.

It was also performed in the 1993 Disney film Comedy “Hocus Pocus” by the Sanderson Sisters with different lyrics – which seemed more appropriate from Halloween (smile).

I hope that you’re staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Fairytales, Folklore & Fables – Tell Me A Story so I’m joining her with my Halloween page as spells are part of folklore and fairy tales.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #179 – Anything Goes challenge with my Halloween page.

Spooky Halloween

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

For my page, I recycled a magazine page with a beautiful spooky image of “Día de los Muertos” or “Day of the Dead“.

I started by stencilling large circles onto the page using the white acrylic paint. When dry, I coloured between the circles using Villainous Potion Distress Paint. Then I applied some more white acrylic paint to the circles mixing in some of the Distress Paint to add texture and depth. Then I splattered the page using the same Distress Paint.

Next I added the image, circles and wording which were all recycled from a magazine page; I loved the spooky makeup and rich colours. The image and circles were die cut and then layered together with the wording using a glue stick. To finish, I added some sparkly pink gemstones.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the wonderful texture creations from our Guest Designers and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

As T Stands for Tuesday and with the cooler autumn temperatures, I’m sharing my yummy hot chocolate and saying a big hello to the T Gang – wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

I’ve had such fun creating pages using the napkins from the T Day napkin swap this year, as you may know I’ve created two pages so far and if you’re interested you can find them here:

1. Bee Wellington Boots
2. Time for Tea
3. Autumn Greetings – to be posted next week

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

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Fairytales, Folklore & Fables – Tell Me A Story so I’m joining her with my”Día de los Muertos” or “Day of the Dead” page.

I’m also joining a new challenge blog that’s just started this month called Stencil Fun Challenge which is Anything Goes as long as you use a stencil (with optional Halloween Colours); I used a circle stencil to create the background for my Halloween page – Happy Stencilling!

OCTOBER – Anything Halloween challenge over at Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge with my Spooky Halloween page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #178 – Anything Goes challenge with my spooky page.

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My Heart

It’s a new month so it’s time to launch a new challenge over at Country View Challenges which is Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness.

The lovely Debs is hosting and says that the title for her challenge is inspired by John Keats ode to Autumn, in particular the first stanza, “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”. So think of the colours, ripened fruit, late flowers, watery sunshine, swelling nuts and gourds, anything you associate with early Autumn.

My page captures autumnal leaves as we’ve noticed on our woodland walks that the leaves are falling early this year, with layers of leaves already forming on the woodland floor.

I started by covering the chipboard page using white gesso and when dry I rubbed some of the gesso off using a baby wipe to give a distressed look. Then I used a Falling Leaves stamp set by Tim Holtz to layer leaves around the edges of the page using quite a few different colours of Memento Ink; the colours included London Fog, Pistachio, Toffee Crunch, Rich Cocoa, Love Letter, Dandelion and Potters Clay Memento Inks. The wording was a sticker which I edged using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker. To finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint and added two sparkly Gumdrop Heart gems.

I created this page with my hubby in mind as he loves autumn and this season brings both birthday and wedding anniversary celebrations – “when I follow my heart it leads to you” (smile).

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges. I hope you’ll join us, it would be lovely to see you there and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the Country View Crafts shop! Before you enter, please read the rules!

Wishing you a Happy September and I hope that you’re staying safe and well! x

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #175 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

LTCCB#70 – Anything Goes over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my autumn love page.

Magic is everywhere

It’s time for a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday which for the next two weeks is Make It Magical.

For my magical page, I started by covering the background with Prize Ribbon and Villainous Poison Distress Paints. Then I fussy cut the wizard image, which was recycled from an old book, and stuck it in place. I applied some Pébéo white gesso to continue the bright glow from the wizard image across the bottom right-hand side of the page. Then I splattered the page with the gesso too. I used Moonlight White Brilliance Ink by Ranger to stamp all the stars using a Lavinia stamp, the “Magic is everywhere” wording using stamps by Paperbabe Stamps and the constellation stamps which were from Kaisercraft. To finish, I added lots of tiny gemstones to highlight the stamping on the page.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the wonderful creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

We enjoyed a magical time with our friends this weekend, and I made these egg, bacon and cheese breakfast sandwiches one morning – they are very yummy (smile!). As it’s the 9th Anniversary at T Stands for Tuesday, I’m pleased to share them and my cuppa with my T Gang friends – wishing you a very Happy Anniversary T Day!

The breakfast sandwiches were fun to make; if you’re interested here’s a video showing you how to make them – enjoy!

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

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

MIUCB #60 Anything Goes + Optional Clean & Simple over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different techniques that I used to create my mixed media magical page. Paperbabe Stamps and their #171 – Anything Goes challenge with my Magic is Everywhere page.