Inspired by Eileen

I’m so pleased to be able to join Art Journal Journey one last time this month, where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to be host. It’s heart breaking that she passed away last month shortly after her heart surgery; she is greatly missed and I’d like to say a big thank you to the AJJ team for allowing us to remember her throughout the month by joining this challenge.

I thought that it was fitting that my page was inspired by Eileen and her kindness, she was truly a lovely person!

Eileen and myself always enjoyed discussing products and techniques together, and she loved the Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint that I used on my pages so much so that she bought some for herself, so in her memory I used this paint to cover the background on my page. I also applied some white gesso to the background and when dry, I added some honeycomb patterns using a stencil from Creative Expressions and Antique Linen Distress Ink. Then I stamped the page using a Butterfly Post stamp from Stampendous and some Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink. The painted paper pieces and the hydrangea image were kindly gifted to me by Eileen as part of some happy T Day mail that she sent to me. The butterflies and wording were stickers from Kaisercraft and finished the page; the wording reads “The language of  friendship is not words but meanings” by Henry David Thoreau, “memories” and “blessed”.

Here are the goodies, including the ones I used on this page, that Eileen kindly sent to me. She was such an inspiration and I miss her support, encouragement, camaraderie and friendship very much!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Honeycomb)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen)
• Stampendous! Cling Mounted Rubber Stamp (Butterfly Post)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Happy Mail from Eileen – Painted paper pieces and hydrangea image
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)

Challenges As well as Art Journal Journey, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #142 – Anything Goes with my page. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and their Add A Quote challenge with the friendship quote by Henry David Thoreau that I added to my page. LTSCB#144 – Spring Forward over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog as the blues and yellows with the blossom remind me of spring. Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my memory page.

T Stands for Tuesday – Goodbye dear Friend

As some of you will have noticed, this week I published my T Day post on Sunday instead of Tuesday, but with the recent sad news over at T Stands for Tuesday about Eileen, I wanted to pay a special tribute to her with this post.

My heart broke when I read the news, Eileen was such a generous person and a talented artist. She was so inspirational and we often compared notes, products and techniques when it came to our art. I will miss her support, encouragement, camaraderie and friendship very much!

I have so many happy memories as we have exchanged Christmas cards over the years and like many of you, I received one of her amazing ATCs to celebrate T Stands for Tuesday 5^th Birthday Anniversary. It was sent with some amazing crafting goodies too, which was so kind.

She loved writing poems and verses too which she included here – yet another of her many talents! It reads:
Every Tuesday we gather for tea,
Bleubeard, Elizabeth, the whole gang and me.
Sharing our lives, our talents and tips
With tea cups, and glasses pressed to our lips.
Across the oceans, across the miles,
We gather to bring each other some smiles.

When I created this page using her homemade teacup stencil the following year, here’s what she had to say:
“OMGoodness, Jo! I was delighted to see that you used my teacup stencil to make your background paper. It’s beautiful and certainly fits the rainbow theme. Thank you for the shout out. Happy T-day and Happy 6th to us! Eileen xx”.

In fact her ATC still takes pride of place in my craft room and has been shared a few times in photos on my blog which she always commented about:
“ …Aww, you gave my #5 ATC card pride of place too. I’m touched. Have a Lovely Sunday. Stay safe and well. Eileen xx”

I have so many happy memories of her and our friendship that we forged here in Blogland; she will be very much missed and will always be in my heart!

Hoping that you all stay safe and well! x

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

Love and hugs, Jo x

Never Apart

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

At Creative Artiste we are also saying a big hello and welcome to the very talented Tracey who has joined our Design Team, she is such an inspiration – please check out her amazing first creation over at our blog!

I had fun playing around with mixed media to create this art journal page which was inspired by one of my dearest friend’s in America.

Nan sent me some more happy mail recently and as I love art journaling so much, I created this page inspired by our friendship and card that she sent – thanks so much and I hope you like it!

For the background I applied Ranger Texture Paste through a Vintage Diamond mini stencil from Creative Expressions. When dry, I splattered the page with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

To create the flowers, I used my stamping platform to stamp some mixed media paper using a Flower Garden stamp by Tim Holtz and black Archival Ink. Then I coloured the flowers using Derwent Inktense pencils; I used a Fuchsia pencil for the petals and Sun Yellow, Tangerine, Mustard and Willow for the stamens. Then I cut the flowers out and arranged them onto the page with some flower stems which I die cut using a Wildflower Stems Thinlet set from Tim Holtz; they are cut from some recycled note paper which I coloured using Mowed Lawn and Peeled Paint Distress Ink. As me and Nan are like two peas in a pod, I thought the wording was very appropriate, it’s a Kaisercraft sticker and reads “We are never apart, maybe in distance, but never in heart”. To finish, I added some little hearts that I punched from a piece of pink cardstock that Nan kindly sent me (grin!).

I hope that you are inspired to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge too! For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too.

Here’s the beautiful card and envelope that Nan kindly sent. Nan painted the pretty pink flowers as she had seen them around her neighbourhood, so I included similar flowers on my page. Like Nan, I used my intense pencils to colour my flowers, although I stamped them as my drawing skills are not as awesome as Nans (grin!). As you can see there were some crafting goodies included too – thanks so much, so thoughtful!

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 pleased to join in the Texture challenge that I’m guest hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey with all the texture that I created on my art journal page; I hope you’ll join in the fun too, it would be lovely to see you there (grin!).

I’m also joining in the Stamp It! fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the stamped flowers that I included on my page.

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

• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Vintage Diamond)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tumbled Glass, Mowed lawn, Peeled Paint)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media Paper
• Tim Holtz Stamping Platform
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Stamp Set (Flower Garden CMS215)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Derwent Inktense Pencils (Fuchsia 0700, Sun Yellow 0200, Tangerine 0300, Mustard 1700, Willow 1900)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Pritt Stick
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Wildflower SS335)
• Sizzix Adhesive Backed Cardstock (Pink) – thank you Nan!
• Heart Paper Punch – thank you CJ!

Summer Fun

I received another lovely surprise in the post, a gorgeous summer vibe card from my dear friend Nan. She knows how much I love the beach and ice cream so her card is perfect – thanks so much!

My page was inspired by Nan’s fabulous card design with the pastel-shade colours, the beach and summer vibe, the words/text, and of course the ice cream (grin!).

I coloured the background using Spectrum Aqua markers by scribbling the marker onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then pressing the block or dripping the ink onto the page. I mopped up wet ink with a piece of kitchen towel so the colours merged into each other; the Spectrum Aqua colours I applied were Yellow, Sea Green, Topaz, Aquamarine, Orange, Crimson, Purple and Gold. My hubby says it looks like melted ice cream (grin!).

When dry I added lots of words related to summer which are rub-on transfers. I stamped the beach huts onto some mixed media paper using black Archival Ink and then coloured them with Uni Posca paint pens; the colours I used were Violet, Pink, Yellow, Light Blue, Red, Orange and Light Green. I fussy cut them out and stuck them to the page using a glue stick. The little tags were cut from white linen textured card stock using Tag Collection Framelits from Tim Holtz and edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

I added some little hearts to the tags which were cut from some different colours of Sizzix adhesive backed cardstock that was kindly sent to me by Nan, using a heart punch kindly gifted by CJ – thank you both! To finish, I added some black brads to the tags and then some ice-lolly/popsicle stickers.

With Nan’s amazing writing and adornments, my hubby instantly knew who the card was from when he saw the envelope on the door mat; he was all smiles when he told me something had arrived in the post (grin!). On opening it he noticed the ice cream van straight away, not surprising as he loves ice cream so much (double grin!). It’s so kind and thoughtful of Nan and very much appreciated – thanks very much!

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 pleased to join the lovely Alison AKA Craftytrog over at Art Journal Journey and her Pockets and Tags challenge this month; the hearts on my tiny tags were inspired by Alison’s journal pages – thank you!

I’m joining in the fun I do like to be beside the seaside challenge over at Country View Challenges with my summer beach vibe page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the #126 – Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.

I’m also joining 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:

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Markers (Yellow, Sea Green, Topaz, Aquamarine, Orange, Crimson, Purple, Gold)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Summer Sentiments #ROY-505)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media Paper
• Hobbycraft Clear Stamp (Beach Huts 50254HC)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Posca Paint Pens (Violet, Pink, Yellow, Light Blue, Red, Orange, Light Green)
• Pritt Stick
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Linen Textured Cardstock CR0240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pen (Black 199)
• Heart punch – thanks CJ!
• Sizzix adhesive backed cardstock – thanks Nan!
• Home Bargains (Puffy Sticker Sheets – Sweet Like … 14227)

Just Perfect

I recently won one of the challenges over at Paperbabe Stamps so I was very excited to use the new stamp set that I chose as my prize – thanks so much!

The Paperbabes Stamp Set was “just perfect” for decorating the recycled tags on my page which I found when I was tidying my craft room; the tags were from clothing as well as towels and pottery.

I started by adding lots of the tags to the page using a glue stick and then covered them with several layers of Pébéo white gesso, letting each layer of gesso dry before adding the next.

Then I edged the tags with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker, smudging the ink with my finger. I added some washi tape to some of the tags and splattered the page then coloured the tags using Cerulean Blue Winsor & Newton watercolour paint. When the paint was dry I edged the tags and washi tape using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Using black Archival Ink, I stamped the tags using a Spritz & Speckles stamp set, also from Paperbabe Stamps and then using a Gothic Book stamp from Finnabair. I stamped the tags using a Floral Icons stamp from Docrafts and Teal Zeal Memento Ink and then I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint. To finish, I added three copper butterflies and also a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “Just Perfect”.   

The washi tape and watercolours that I used for this page were part of the fabulous goodies that I received from CJ over at CJ & Ink – thanks very much!

Here’s the Spritz & Speckles stamp set that I won from Paperbabe Stamps too, I’m sure I’ll use this one a lot as it adds such lovely textures and grungy effects – thanks so much!

Hoping that you all stay 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 pleased to join the lovely Alison AKA Craftytrog over at Art Journal Journey and her Pockets and Tags challenge this month with all the tags on my page.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Grunge It Up challenge with my grungy art journal page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the #126 – Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our Tag You’re It challenge this month over at A Vintage Journey too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Recycled tags from clothing, towels and pottery
• Pritt Stick
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199)
• Winsor & Newton Watercolour Paint Set (Cerulean Blue)
• Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (Spritz & Speckles)
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Gothic Book 966966)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Floral Icons DCE907123)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Team Zeal)
• The Range (Craft Butterflies Stickers CRO420)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Pen & Ink SS360)

Love to Create

Our new challenge for the next two weeks over at Try it on Tuesday is Splash & Splatter.

I had so much fun splashing and splattering inks to create this page which compliments some beautiful postage stamps and paper that I received from CJ as a result of winning her prize draw, thank you so much for all the fabulous goodies – it’s very kind and much appreciated (grin!).

I started making the splashes and splatters of ink using Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and Cracked Pistachio Distress Inks and Rose Bud and Bahama Blue Memento Inks. I did this by applying the ink pad to an acrylic block, holding the block over the page and then spritzing the ink with water until it dripped from the block, splashing and splattering onto the page; I applied the Distress Inks first and when dry I added the Memento Inks drying each of the inks using a heat gun before adding the next one. The wording was cut from some black paper and some pretty aqua green paper that CJ kindly sent to me, using Shadow Script Thinlet set from Tim Holtz; you may be aware that this particular Thinlet set doesn’t contain the word “to” so I cut it out from the word “story”.  

As part of my design I choose to use some beautiful birds and flowers postage stamps from CJ. I made some tags using recycled clothes packaging which I coloured using the two Memento Inks and some leftover off-cuts of the pretty aqua green paper.

The tags were edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and splattered with black DecoArt acrylic paint. After mounting the postage stamps onto some white card to give them more stability, I stuck them onto the tags using double-sided tape and then used the same tape to stick the tags in place which finished the page.

For more inspiration, my fellow Design Teamies have also been having fun with our Splash and Splatter challenge, so please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see their wonderful creations!

As you may remember, CJ kindly had a prize draw to share some of her goodies with us and kindly agreed to send some goodies to someone outside the US too. I was so thrilled to have won and received this gift box, full of amazing goodies! Even the lovely tissue paper is something I’ll be using for my pages too (grin!).

Here’s what the box contained as you can see it was jam packed – thank you so very much!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my water flask that I take with me whilst out walking, this was a recent visit to Lytham Hall as you can see the flower beds are full of gorgeous colour (grin!). Wishing you a very Happy T Day!

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

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 Alison AKA Craftytrog over at Art Journal Journey and her Pockets and Tags challenge this month with the tags that I created for this page.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their  Midsummer Blues challenge with the blue splashes of ink and pretty blue bird on my page.

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

• Tim Holtz idea-ology Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rose Bud, Bahama Blue)
• Ranger Mini Spritzer
• Gift from CJ – thank you so much!
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Shadow Script #1 662684)
• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper Pad (Black)
• Recycled packaging from socks
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pitt Pen (Black 199)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• White card stock
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape

T Day Fiesta

I had a lovely surprise in the post, some happy mail from Bleubeard and Elizabeth celebrating T Stands for Tuesday’s 7^th 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 joining the Stencilmania challenge fun over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the two stencils that I used for the page background.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Summer Memories challenge with my T Day Fiesta art journal 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)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)

Spring in the Garden

With the sunny days we have been having of late, I have found myself pottering around in the garden. Weeding my flowerbeds, planting seeds and preparing everything for summer, so I created this page to celebrate using some pretty crafting goodies that my dear friends Nan and Eileen sent me – thanks so much!

I applied Begonia, Blossom and Peach Spectrum Aqua markers to the background, by scribbling the individual colour onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page.  Then I covered the edges and middle of the page with some Apricot Liquitex acrylic paint using a baby wipe. Next I added the large “spring” wording which is a rub-on transfer by Royal & Langnickel and created a blue border to the page using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker, a Navy Spectrum Aqua marker and a black Uni Pin marker. To create the tags, I stuck some pretty spring stickers from my friend Nan onto some pink tags which I recycled from some lingerie and also onto some flowery tags by Docrafts. They are edged with the Navy Spectrum Aqua marker and stuck in place using double-sided sticky tape over some white thread. I embellished them with the different coloured pastel enamel dots and three wooden craft flowers. The bird boxes and blue bird are from the same rub-on transfer set and to finish I added the three pieces of washi tape, around the edges of the page, which were gifted me by my friend Eileen.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the Hello Springtime challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey with my spring in the garden page – I hope to see you there!

I’m joining in the Play with Paint challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I had fun applying paint to my page using a baby wipe.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my spring page too.

As I included flowers on this page, it also serves as a reminder for our Say it with Flowers challenge over at Try it on Tuesday where you have until next Tuesday to join in the fun!

I feel blessed to have received such kindness and gifts from both Nan and Eileen:

Here’s the happy mail that I received to welcome spring from the lovely Nan, thank you so much I really enjoyed using the beautiful stickers to create this page – perfect!

Here’s the happy mail that I received to celebrate T Stands for Tuesday 5^th Birthday from the lovely Eileen along with some wonderful crafting goodies too – thank you so much!

Their cards and ATC have pride of place in my craft room – thank you from the bottom of my heart (grin!). It was so wonderful to think of you as I was creating this page too and I hope that you like it as much as me!

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:

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Begonia, Blossom, Peach, Navy)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Peach)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Recycled Pink Tags
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Tags (Elements Wood PMA174318)
• White thread
• Spring Stickers – thank you Nan!
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Spring is Coming #SUG666)
• The Works (Pastel Enamel Dots, Craft Flowers)
• Washi Tape – thank you Eileen!
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Give Thanks

I was so excited to receive some happy mail from the lovely Nan! Every element was so detailed from the envelope which had the most stunning handwriting in orange and yellow ink and pretty autumnal leaves, to the beautiful hand painted sunflower card with honeycomb embossing, to the wonderful goodies I found inside (grin!).

So I created a “Give Thanks” page to recognise this kindness and incorporate some of the lovely Peanuts Thanksgiving stickers that Nan kindly gifted to me – I hope you like it!

I started with a neutral background of Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint which I applied using a baby wipe. Next I used two of That Touch of Mica Masks from Creative Expressions; firstly a honeycomb design to match the embossing that Nan had created on the card and secondly a leaf design to match the pretty leaves I found on the envelope. I applied Morocco and Dandelion Memento Ink through the honeycomb stencil using a sponge; these colours were inspired by the orange and yellow inks that Nan had used.

Then I stamped a hexagonal geometric shape using Rich Cocoa and Toffee Crunch Memento Ink through the leaf stencil onto the page, and outlined the edge of the leaf designs with a Sepia Spectrum Aqua marker. Before I removed this stencil I coloured the rest of the stencil design with the residue ink, that was left on the stencil from the stamping, using a sponge. Next I stamped “Give Thanks” onto the page using an alphabet stamp by Papermania and black Archival Ink, and then I darkened the letters using a black Derwent Graphik Marker so they stood out more.  To create the octagonal shapes, I created a template and used it to draw and cut out octagons from different papers; this included papers from the Into the Woods paper pad by Craft Asylum, a paper pack from my local craft shop and a piece of grid paper from my hubby’s old postage stamp album. I stuck one “Peanuts” sticker onto each of the octagons and then I edged them with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck them to the page using double-sided foam tape. To finish, I added some sparkly green Bling Stickers and edged the page with the black Big Brush marker.

I was so delighted to receive this happy mail and here you can see the front of the envelope with the most stunning handwriting in orange ink surrounded by pretty autumnal leaves with a round moon postage stamp and the beautiful sunflower hand painted card (grin!).

Even the back of the envelope was a work of art with the cute bear and flowers. One of my favourite sentiments “Hello Sunshine!” was also kindly included; the sunshiny yellow ink is perfect and Nan’s handwriting always looks so amazing. I also found some wonderful goodies inside (double grin!).

The card now has pride of place in my craft room! I’m in awe of the sunflower that Nan painted; it looks so professional and is so detailed. Sunflowers always seem such happy flowers and happen to be a favourite of mine – it makes me smile every time I see it (triple grin!). Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness dearest Nan!

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:

As receiving this happy mail warms my heart, I’m pleased to join Chris from Pearshapedcrafting who is hosting the “101 Ways to Stay Warm” challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

I really enjoyed using these different techniques with the stencils and love the layers of colour and designs that resulted, so I’m also joining the “Stencils” challenge over at the Country View Challenges.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge too and their “Thanks/Thanksgiving” Challenge with my “Give Thanks” journal page.

I always enjoy using stamps on my pages and it was fun to add texture to the leaves by stamping through the stencil, so I’m pleased to join the “November Challenge: Anything Goes!: (stamping MUST be included)” at the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge.

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

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

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Morocco, Dandelion, Rich Cocoa, Toffee Crunch)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Sepia)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Honeycomb, Take a Leaf)
• Docrafts Papermania Clear Stamp Set (Capsule – Geometric Mono)
• Papermania Alphamania A-Z Clear Stamps (Leftovers Alphabet PMA9071102)
• Craft Asylum 6×6 Paper Pad (Into the Woods 480326)
• Paper pack from local craft shop
• Grid postage stamp album paper
• Peanuts Thanksgiving stickers – a gift from the lovely Nan!
• Poundland (Bling Stickers 2561793)
• The Range double-sided foam tape