You make my heart smile

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Let's Art Journal

As it’s February, here’s the art journal page that I created to wish my hubby a Happy Valentine’s Day this year (grin!).

I started by covering the chipboard page with white tissue paper that I had been previously used to mop up some black acrylic paint; it was stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium building up the layers of tissue paper to create texture for my grungy background. Next I stuck some leftover circle outline stickers onto the background and then I applied gold metallic acrylic paint over the whole page. The hearts were die cut from red cardstock using a Sizzix Bigz Heartfelt die by Tim Holtz. Once in place I added more colour to the hearts and edged them using Derwent Inktense pencils. I stamped the hearts using an Etcetera Tim Holtz stamp and gold metallic paint applying it to the stamp using a brayer. Then I used the same stamp set to add more text to hearts and to the background using black Archival Ink. The page was splattered using black acrylic paint and to finish, I added the “You make my heart smile” wording which was from a Metallic Sticker Book by Tim Holtz.

I love this photo of me and my hubby who always makes my heart smile!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover is hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey and her challenge is What’s Your Style, so I’m joining in the fun with my grungy styled Valentine’s page.

Art Journal at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my Valentine’s art journal page.

For The Love of Mixed Media challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as my mixed media page was created for my hubby who makes my heart smile and I love very dearly.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #162 – Anything Goes challenge with my heart page.

Something Big-Something Small over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge with the large and small Valentine’s hearts on this page.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my Valentine’s page.

Don’t forget that you still have another week to join us at Try it on Tuesday for our Add Some Texture challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

Angel Wings

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Let's Art Journal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well! x

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

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

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

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as they provide me with inspiration and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge this month as I used my favourite Christmas quote on this page.

I’m joining in the fun over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and their Put A Good Word In challenge with the happy quote I used on my vintage angel wings page.

I’m happy to be able to join the MIUCB#45 – Anything Goes + Bleaching challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my Angel Wings page and bleached effect border.

I’m pleased to be able to join Paperbabe Stamps too and their #135 – Picture Inspiration challenge with the colours and abstract patterns (inspired from those on the dresses) that I used on my art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join the MLCCB#30 – Anything Christmas Goes challenge over at Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog with my Angel Wings art journal page that was inspired by a Christmas decoration and a well known Christmas quote from the film “It’s a wonderful life”.

I’m also joining Challenge #85 – Anything Christmas Goes over at The Holly & Ivy Christmas Challenge blog with my Christmas quote and vintage angel wings design.

Thankful and Cosy this Autumn

Posted on November 12, 2020 by Let's Art Journal

I always count my blessing this time of year and having fallen in love with the wording “Let’s get cosy, autumn has arrived”, I was inspired to create this thankful art journal page – I hope you like it!

I started by creating lots of panels for the page which I edged with a Dark Sepia Big Brush marker and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. The panels included: some bark and tree-ring cardstock from Docrafts; some copper leaf images with the “Cosy Autumn” wording from Craft Sensations; a cinnamon stick and baking image from a Die Cut Book; and some brown strips of lace. The paper elements were stuck down using double-sided tape and the lace using Liquitex matte gel medium. When arranged, I stencilled the herringbone design using a mixed media stencil from Paperbabe Stamps with Brushed Corduroy and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink fading the stencil pattern where the birds were to be placed.

For the leaves I used a Fall Foliage Thinlits set from Tim Holtz, they are cut from some kitchen roll that I had used to mop up some excess Brushos with. I lined them up using a glue stick onto a piece of bark cardstock from Docrafts.

I added a pair of birds sitting on an autumn branch which I fussy cut from an old nature book; the birds are Long-Tailed Tits which we sometimes see on our woodland walks. Once stuck in place using a glue stick, I extended the branches using an ordinary pencil and a Bark Derwent Intense pencil. The yellow borders, “thank you” and “love” wording and also the lace doily shapes are all stickers from Kaisercraft. Then to finish, I added the pretty cream lace flowers.

The wording and page reminded me of my new slippers which are so warm and cosy (grin!).

I hope that you are staying thankful and cosy this autumn too, keep well and stay safe! 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 all the materials used to create this art journal page:

Docrafts Papermania Die Cut & Paper Pack (Festive Fauna)
Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE)
The Works Die Cut Book (Winter Feelings)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Frayed Burlap, Brushed Corduroy)
X-Press It! double-sided tape
Brown lace
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Paperbabe Stamps Mixed Media Stencil (Herringbone)
Recycled kitchen towel used to mop up Brushos
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Fall Foliage 660955)
Pritt Stick
Old Nature Book
Derwent Inktense Pencil (Bark 2000)
Staedler Pencil
Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Golden Grove SS343, Bombay Sunset SS339)
The Works (Lace Flower Stickers)

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Wendy K over at Art Journal Journey and her Birds challenge this month with the birds that I included on this page.

I’m so pleased to be able join the #131 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as my page is inspired by the panel of images, rows of leaves, bird, lace, knitted pieces, baked goods and autumnal colours.

I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my thankful autumnal art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #139 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with thankful and cosy autumn page too.

I’m also joining in the Thanks/Thanksgiving challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my thankful art journal page.

Never Apart

Posted on September 4, 2020 by Let's Art Journal

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!

Tulips

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Let's Art Journal

It’s a new month so we are launching our May challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is:

Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I was inspired by the beautiful tulips in my garden and had fun playing around with mixed media to create this Tulip art journal page. I hope you’ll join in the fun too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by ripping and fussy cutting a tulip napkin and then I stuck the pieces into place using a glue stick. I painted around the napkin pieces with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and while the paint was still wet I added some Vivid Green Liquitex acrylic paint using a palette knife so it matched the napkin background. When the paint was dry, I stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink and also a crackle texture stamp from BoBunny using Pistachio Memento Ink over the painted areas.

Then I added some Ranger Texture Paste using a heart stencil that I created with a Falling Hearts Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and when dry, the hearts were coloured using Red Violet, Crimson and Magenta Spectrum Aqua markers. Next I added the “Tulips” wording using letter stickers from Kaisercraft and also a pretty blue butterfly from an Ephemera Pack by Tim Holtz.

To finish, I added some shadow to the tulips with a Charcoal grey Derwent Inktense pencil and then emphasised the tulip petals using a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen.

I hope that you are inspired 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.

This year the tulips in our garden have been beautiful.

I love all the colours and structure that they have added to our flower border.

We plan to add more tulip bulbs every year; we planted these striped tulips a few years ago …

… and these gorgeous purple tulips are the ones that we planted in November last year (grin!).

Hoping that you all stay safe and keep 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 Mia from Craftartista over at Art Journal Journey and her Flowers challenge this month with the Interlocking Circles on this page.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Not A Card challenge with my art journal page.

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

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

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

Tulip Napkin
Pritt Stick
Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green)
Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Script CS752)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
BoBunny Stamp (Rough It Up 12105155)
Tsukineko Memento Ink (Pistachio)
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Falling Hearts 664415)
Ranger Texture paste
Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Red Violet, Crimson, Magenta)
Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Mix & Match – Alpha SS252)
Tim Holtz idea-ology Ephemera Pack (Field Notes #TH94051)
Stix2 Glue Dots
Derwent Inktense Pencil (Charcoal Grey 2100)
Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm)
Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)

Bluebells

Posted on April 17, 2020 by Let's Art Journal

As the flower border in our garden is looking so lovely with all the beautiful flowers that are in bloom, I’ve been inspired to create some flower art journal pages; this one celebrates bluebells and is the first of the flower pages that I will be sharing with you – I hope you like it!

I started by stencilling Brushed Corduroy and Ground Espresso Distress Ink using a blending tool through a mixed media stencil from Paperbabe Stamps. Then I added some water to the page and removed it with a piece of kitchen towel which also removed some of the stencilled ink. Next I cut the bluebell stems and foliage from some green design papers and stuck them in place using a glue stick. I added some more colour to them using an Apple Green and Field Green Inktense pencil. The bluebell flower heads are die cut, using a Funky Flower Thinlet from Tim Holtz, from recycled paper that was the closest match to the actual bluebell flower colour. I stuck them in place using a Zig glue pen and then coloured the veins of the flowers using a Bright Blue Inktense pencil. I added more detail to the flowers and foliage using a white Uniball pen and a black Uni Pin marker. To finish, I added a yellow butterfly which is a Botanical die cut from Tim Holtz and the wording “bluebells” which are Kaisercraft stickers.

You may remember that we have been working to improve the flower borders in our garden over the last couple of years.

As you can see the bluebells are looking particularly pretty this year and we even have small group of white bells (centre of photo) hence why I added one to my page (grin!).

Stay safe and keep well! x

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

Challenges

I’m happy to join the lovely Valerie from Bastelmania over at Art Journal Journey and her Geometric Shapes challenge this month with my geometric stencilled background.

I’m also happy to join in the Animal Magic challenge over at Country View Challenges with the butterfly on my page.

Don’t forget that you still have over a week to join our Have fun with stencils challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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