I am so delighted to be guest hosting Art Journal Journey this month with my Snowy Winter theme.
As winter is here, we’re looking for snow and snowflakes on your pages; this could be linked to a winter scene or even Christmas as it’s now December.
For my page, I started by using a Stencil Template set by Inkylicious for the moon and a Stencil Mask by Marianne Designs for the trees, and painting Seedless Grape Distress Ink like watercolour onto the page. Then I coloured the moon using the Inkylicious Stencil using the same Seedless Grape Ink and then the trees using Pine Needles Distress Ink. Next I used a Cozy Winter Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz to die cut the snowflakes, adorable bear, branch and woodpecker from some white cardstock and different colours of Tim Holtz Kraft Cardstock – Classic. I die cut some pine needles to add to the branch using a Holiday Greens Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and then I layered everything together and stuck them onto the page. I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and to finish, I added the wording “a white Christmas appeared” which was from a Christmas Sticker Book by Tim Holtz.
I hope that you are inspired to join in the fun this month too! I’m really looking forward to visiting you and seeing all your wonderful Snowy Winter creations; please, don’t forget to take a look at the RULES.
Wishing you a very Happy December and Happy Journaling! Hugs Jo x
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
As well as Art Journal Journey, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
Paperbabe Stamps and their #181 – Anything Goes challenge with my winter page.
Stencil Fun Challenge and their December Stencil Fun – Anything Goes as long as you use a stencil with the stencils that I used to create the background on my wintery page.
It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday which for the next 2 weeks is Winter Wonderland.
As some of you will know I can never resist using my Merry Moose Thinlits set this time of year, so today here he is walking through a winter wonderland at sunset (grin!).
I positioned a circular template from an Inkylicious template and stencil set to mask out the sun and then I painted some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to mark out the sky and foreground. For the snowy foreground, I added some Ranger Texture Paste using s palette knife and when dry, I painted some Prize Ribbon Distress Ink and Pébéo white gesso over the top. Then I splattered the whole page using the white gesso, which when dry acted as a resist when I added the next layers of colour, forming the snowfall. To create the sunset, I gradually built up the layers of colour by painting the sky with some Abandoned Coral Distress Stain to form the clouds and I reflected some of this colour onto the snowy foreground too. The sun was painted using Mustard Seed Distress Ink and the same Abandoned Coral Distress Stain, and to add a bit of snowy sparkle I also added some Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink over the sun and clouds. I used a Tall Pines Thinlits set to cut the trees from some white cardstock and then I covered them with some Ranger Texture Paste and coloured them using some of the Distress Inks/Stain and white gesso. The “Winter Wonderland” wording was stamped onto some tissue paper using a free stamp set from a magazine and black Archival Ink; it was stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium.
The moose was die cut using the Merry Moose Thinlets from some Classic Kraft Paper, both by Tim Holtz. He was edged using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker, and I added a piece of ribbon for a scarf before sticking him in place. To finish, I splattered the whole page with white acrylic paint.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Winter Wonderland creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).
Over the years, I have created tags, journal pages and even Christmas cards using this Merry Moose Thinlits set, here’s some that have a winter wonderland feel about them; they all hold such happy memories of dear friends and my time on Design Teams! I hope you are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!
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.
For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.
Challenges
As well as Try it on Tuesday , I’m pleased to join the following challenges today:
Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Oh So Cute.
These really cute owls were recycled from a Christmas card and with all the cold weather we’ve been having of late they are sat in a snowy wonderland. I thought the wording was cute too, it reads “It’s cold, let’s cuddle”.
I hope you’ll join us with your cute creations too; it would be lovely to see you there!
I started by colouring the background using Bluebird Wendy Vecchi Blendable Ink from Ranger. When dry, I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and left it to dry.
It’s one of my goals this year to recycle and use up any leftovers from previous pages, so I was pleased to recycle these cute owls which were fussy cut from the Christmas card and stuck into place using a glue stick. I arranged them with some white foliage die cuts that were leftover from last year’s Happy January page. The foliage was decorated using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker, a silver metallic pen, some Icicle Stickles from Ranger and also some Inkylicious Fluffy Puffy Stuff which added the lovely texture. The Fluffy Puffy Stuff was a fun product to use as it’s applied and then heated with a heat gun which turns it all puffy and 3-dimensional. The snowflakes were leftover too, having been previously die cut from different patterned papers and white cardstock; they were arranged onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium.
For more Oh So Cute inspiration, please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies (grin!).
So far this month, it’s been cold and we’ve had quite a few snow flurries; I was surprised one morning to find it snowing so I took this photo out of my craft room window – brrrr!
As T Stands for Tuesday and it’s cold outside, I’m sharing our hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, and also some yummy lebkuchen – 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.
Here is a list of the materials that were used to create this art journal page:
Ranger Wendy Vecchi Blendable Ink (Bluebird)
Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
Recycled Christmas Card
Pritt Stick
Leftover foliage pieces – Sizzix Thinlits Tim Holtz Alterations (Garden Greens 661206, Holiday Greens 658759, Woodlands 660978), White cardstock, Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233), Script Metallic Pen (Silver), Ranger Stickles (Icicles), Inkylicious (Fluffy Puffy Stuff)
Stix2 glue dots
Leftover Snowflakes – Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Paper Snowflakes Mini 661599), Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (falling Snowflakes 1792e), The Works (Cutting Dies – Snowflake Garland), Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE), White Cardstock, Poundland Design Paper Pad (Purple Swirls)
I’m also joining in the fun over at the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog and their LTSCB #145 – Love is … all about cuddling your partner when it’s cold as I’ve depicted here on this cute owl page.
Over at Try it on Tuesday our first challenge of 2021 is Add an Uplifting or Positive Quote.
Adding a positive quote to my page was such a lovely way to start the year; I hope that you are inspired to join us too, and I can’t wait to see the quotes that you add!
I started by colouring circles for the background using Scattered Straw, Antique Linen, Fossilised Amber, Spiced Marmalade and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks through a Sun and Moon stencil from Inkylicious. I also used an Iso Fun stencil from Paperbabe Stamps to add some patterned detail to some of the circles using the same inks. The wording was stamped using black Archival Ink and my favourite Script stamp set from Concord & 9th. I added some highlights to the letters using a white Uniball gel pen; it reads “all things are possible if you believe”.
For the pretty fairy, I stamped a Frost Fairy stamp from Paperbabe Stamps that I won – thanks so much! I stamped the fairy using black Archival Ink and then I had fun colouring her with my new Spectrum Noir TriBlend markers; the dress was coloured using Ice Grey Blend and Dark Red Blend, her hair using Pink Violet Blend, skin using Fair Skin Blend, lips using Pale Pink Blend, eyes using Alpine Green Blend and her wings were highlighted using True Blue Blend. I also added more detail using a black Uni Pin fine line marker and white Uniball gel pen, then I fussy cut the fairy out and coloured the two starbursts using Fossilised Amber Distress Ink.
I was really pleased with how she turned out and thought she would be perfect for the quote I’d chosen; she was stuck onto the page using a glue stick. To finish, I stamped some starbursts onto the background from the same Frost Fairy stamp set using black Archival Ink.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the uplifting and positive quotes my Design Teamies have added to their amazing creations (grin!).
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our New Year’s drinks which are Poinsettia cocktails; they are made with 1 part Cointreau (orange liqueur), 3 parts prosecco and 3 parts cranberry juice. Happy T Day – cheers!
Hope that you’re all staying safe and well! Wishing you all the very best for 2021 – Happy New Year! 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:
Concord & 9th Stamp Set (Sophisticated Script 10056)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (Frost Fairy)
Spectrum Noir TriBlend Markers (Ice Grey Blend, Dark Red Blend, Pink Violet Blend, Fair Skin Blend, Pale Pink Blend, Alpine Green Blend, True Blue Blend)
Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
Pritt Stick
Challenges
I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, 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 script stamp set from Concord & 9th for the quote on this page.
I’m pleased to be able to join Paperbabe Stamps too and their #134 – Anything Goes challenge with my art journal page – thank you for the crafting goodies (grin!).
I’m also pleased to join the Use a New/Unused Product challenge over at Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge Blog as I used my new Frost Fairy stamp and Spectrum Noir TriBlend markers for this page.
I’m so happy to join the LTSCB #141 – Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Believe art journal page too.
I can never resist using my favourite Merry Moose Thinlits set at Christmastime; this time he’s on a Christmas card so I can share some “Christmoose” joy with my friends (grin!).
To start, I cut a panel of mixed media paper to fit my greetings card and positioned a circular template from an Inkylicious template and stencil set to mask out the moon. Then I stamped the pretty snowflakes using a Frozen Fractals stamp set from Simon Says Stamp; they were stamped using Versamark Watermark ink and then covered in white Stampendous embossing powder. Next I positioned a hand cut paper template to mask out the foreground. and then I painted the panel using a mixture of Ultramarine Pale, Ultramarine and Turquoise Blue colours Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour paints. When dry, I removed both of the templates and added some colour to the snowflakes in the foreground using the watercolour paints again. I coloured the moon with some Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink and added some texture using a white gel pen and also by stamping some grey dots using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and an Urban Tapestry stamp from Tim Holtz. Then I splattered the whole panel with white acrylic paint.
The tree and moose were die cut using the Merry Moose Thinlets by Tim Holtz and my Big Shot Machine. The tree was cut from some paper that I had used to mop up brown inks and the snow was cut from some white linen textured cardstock. For the Merry Moose, I used some linen card stock which I coloured using Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Inks. His antlers were coloured using Antique Linen Distress Ink and I edged all the pieces with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell maker. His harness was die cut from some blue glitter paper and white cardstock which I had coloured with the Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. To finish, I added the “Merry Christmas” wording which was from a Christmas sticker book from Tim Holtz; it’s edged using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker before sticking it in place.
I love moose and there are quite a few moose on our Holiday Tree which is decorated with ornaments that we purchased whilst on holiday/vacation. We always enjoy looking at this tree and reminiscing of times gone by; all the decorations hold such happy memories (grin!).
As you can see, these ornaments are from Maine; the wording on this one makes me smile – Merry Christmoose everyone (double grin!).
Stay safe and keep 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 card:
Simon Says Stamp Clear Stamp Set (Frozen Fractals SSS101694)
Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
Stampendous Embossing Powder Basics (Detail White Opaque DP100)
Inkylicious Stencil and Template Set (Sun & Moons)
Recycled paper
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine Pale, Ultramarine, Turquoise Blue)
Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Stamp Set (Urban Tapestry CMS061)
Tim Holtz Alterations Sizzix Thinlets (Merry Moose 663103)
Recycled paper used to mop up brown inks
Craft Sensations (Luxury Card Stock with Linen Texture)
Poundland (Glitter Paper Sheets)
Zig Memory System Chisel Tip Glue Pen
Tim Holtz idea-ology Sticker Book (Christmas #TH93999)
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 joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything Christmas challenge with my Christmoose card.
I’m happy to join the # 119 Non-Traditional Christmas Colours challenge over at Sparkles Christmas Challenge with the colours that I used on this card.
I’m also joining Paperbabe Stamps and their #134 – Anything Goes challenge with my Christmoose card.
I’m also pleased to join in the LTSCB #140 – Winter Wonderland challenge over at the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my Merry Moose walking in his winter wonderland card.
I’m so happy to join in the fun over at the Rudolph Days Challenge where Anything Goes, as long as it’s Christmas with my Merry Moose Christmas card too.
Don’t forget there is still another week to join our Christmas Sparkle challenge at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!
To join in the fun over at the 25 Days of Christmas Tags I made a tag and then decided to create an art journal page using the tag, as its colours matched my brand new Winter Holidays TriBlend Spectrum Noir marker set perfectly – I hope you like it!
I’d also like to say a special thank you to lovely Tracey from Hotchpotchcreations for her insight into alcohol markers which helped me decide on these TriBlend markers that I used for the first time on this page – such fun!
For the tag, I started by cutting a piece of Kraft cardstock using the largest tag design from the Framelits Tag Collection from Tim Holtz. I covered it with white gesso and when dry, I edged the tag using Ground Espresso Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Then I splattered it with white gesso to give a snowy effect and added grungy dots using a Spritz & Speckles stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps and some Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink. The “love, peace, joy” wording were stickers from Kaisercraft and the large snowflakes were cut out of two green-blue glitter papers and some corrugated silver cardstock using a Tonic Studios die cut set. They are layered together with some pretty pearl snowflake gems from Habico and to finish I tied a piece of recycled brown ribbon to the tag.
For my journal page, I started by stamping the bird onto the page using a Winter Woodland stamp set and some black Archival Ink. Then I coloured the bird and branch image using the TriBlend Spectrum Noir markers; the colours I used were Green Turquoise Blend, Gold Yellow Blend, Earth Brown Blend and Alpine Green Blend. I created a template to cover the bird and branches so I could stamp the background with the “joy” wording using Hickory Smoke and Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink. Then I applied some white gesso to the stamped wording to push it into the background more. I created some 3D snow on the branches using some Fluffy Puffy Stuff from Inkylicious which is always fun to use as you heat it using a heat gun so it became fluffy and puffy (grin!). I stuck the tag in place and then I cut some little snowflakes from the glitter paper using a Thinlits set from Tim Holtz and layered them together with some of the pearl snowflake gems which finished the page.
I treated myself to these TriBlend pens recently after some discussions with Tracey and they are great to use although I still have a lot to master when applying and blending them. As this was new to me I started off small, creating this snowy bird scene which was a great learning experience. I’m looking forward to using them again soon – thanks again Tracey for all your help and insight, you’re a star!
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.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Kraft cardstock
Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
Pébéo White Gesso
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ground Espresso)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
Spectrum Noir TriBlend (Green Turquoise Blend, Gold Yellow Blend, Earth Brown Blend, Alpine Green Blend)
Great Impressions Wood-mounted Stamp (Joy Background J87)
Inkylicious (Fluffy Puffy Stuff)
X-Press It! double-sided tape
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Paper Snowflakes 661599)
Challenges
I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, as I always enjoy taking part, 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 Wendy K over at Art Journal Journey and her Birds challenge this month with the bird that I included on this page.
I’m so happy to be able to join the #132 – Frosty Feels or Cool Tones challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my frosty snowflake scene.
I’m pleased to join the Merry Little Christmas Challenge and their MLCCB #28 – November Anything Christmas Goes with my Christmas season page.
I’m also joining in the fun at Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge and their Happy Holidays challenge with my Love, Peace, Joy tag and page.
I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my tag and page.
I’m also joining the Challenge # 118 – Gold or Silver or Glitter over at Sparkles Christmas Challenge with the silver and glitter papers that I used.
I’m also pleased to join Challenge #83 – Anything Christmas Goes over at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge with my Love, Peace, Joy art journal page.
I was so happy to have won some new products from one of the challenges over at Paperbabe Stamps I created this pretty page to remind me of some huge purple poppies that are in our garden – see what you think!
I started by painting some Leaf Green and Watering Can Wendy Vicchi Blendable Dye Inks onto the page by applying the ink to a blending mat, spritzing with water and using a paintbrush. Next I applied some of the Leaf Green ink through a Herringbone stencil from Paperbabe Stamps and splattered the page with both the Leaf Green and Watering Can inks. The flowers are an Inkylicious Oriental Poppy stamp and were stamped onto a piece of mixed media paper with black Archival Ink using a stamping platform to get a clear and crisp image.
I coloured the petals using Seedless Grape Distress Ink, shading the colours by painting the ink onto the flowers. As they looked a bit pink I also applied some Lulu Lavender Memento Ink over the petals. For the stamens, I added more detail using a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen, then I coloured them using Lime Green, Canary, Amethyst and Cool Grey Winsor & Newton Promarkers. I fussy cut the flowers out, which took quite a bit of time and stuck them onto the page using a glue stick. The stars are from the Flourish & Grow Paperbabe Stamps and are stamped using Seedless Grape Distress Ink. I used the same stamp set for the wording using black Archival Ink, the words read “Flourish”, “love” and “Dream”. To finish I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.
Here are my new Paperbabe Stamps goodies, I’m looking forward to using the other items soon (grin!).
These are the poppies that inspired the flowers on my page, I think the birds must have brought them into the garden – yay!
Hoping that you are 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 Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with the herringbone pattern on this page which is often associated with fabrics.
I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Shoot For The Stars challenge with the stars that I added to my art journal page.
Today at A Vintage Journey is Tag Friday, which only takes place when there is a fifth Friday in the month; it’s all about creating something you love so there is no particular theme, it’s time to play, experiment and have fun – it would be great to see you there!
This Merry Moose is one of my favourite Thinlets from Tim
Holtz so I couldn’t resist using it to create this double-sided Mixed Media tag
showing the same scene in autumn and in winter.
To start, I used a large Poster Card by Tim Holtz to create the tag by cutting off two of the corners to make a tag shape and punching a hole using my Crop-A-Dile machine. I covered both sides of the tag with some white gesso as the card had blue flowers on one side and beige postcards on the other and I wanted to tone them down a little. I then used Scattered Straw Distress Ink to colour around the edges of the beige side which I chose for autumn and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink on the blue side of the tag which seemed perfect for winter. I stamped some snowflakes using two blue Memento Inks onto the blue side of the tag and then the tree trunks on both sides of the tag using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink.
For the autumn scene: I coloured the stamped tree trunk using Dark Sepia and black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and a black Uni Pin pen; stencilled the sun and coloured it using a Sun Yellow Inktense pencil; and coloured the foreground using Forest Moss Distress Ink and a Leaf Green Inktense pencil.
For the winter scene: I coloured the tree using a Cold Grey and black Faber-Castell marker and a black Uni Pin pen; used white gesso to colour the foreground and also to stencil the moon, once dry I added some texture to the moon using Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink, a Tim Holtz stamp with Black Soot Distress Ink, a white Faber-Castell marker and also a white Uni Posca paint pen. Then I used Inkylicious Fluffy Puffy Stuff and a heat gun to create the snow.
The Merry Moose, leaves, stars and wording are all Thinlets from Tim Holtz which I die cut from some linen textured paper coloured using Distress Inks: the moose was coloured using Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso ink; the antlers using Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo ink; the leaves using Scattered Straw and Rusty Hinge ink; the stars using Scattered Straw and Mustard Seed ink; and the wording using Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge and Chipped Sapphire ink.
To make them stand out from the background more, the autumn die cuts are edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and …
… the winter ones with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker and they are all stuck into place using a Zig Memory glue pen.
To finish, I added an eyelet with my Crop-A-Dile machine which reinforced the hole as I’m using a book ring to secure all of my double-sided tags together when they are finished to create a Tag Journal.
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!
I have been lucky enough to see moose a number of times in the wild whilst
holidaying in America,
although I have never seen any in Maine.
I’m told you are more likely to see them further North in the state and we did
stop to look for them at this quiet spot to no avail, maybe next time (grin!).
Thanks for joining me today! If you
have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the #107 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as my autumn tag encompasses the picture colours and my winter tag matches the stars too.
I’m joining the Use your scraps challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the paper scraps I used for some of the die cut pieces.
Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog their theme is Anything Goes + optional twist of Watercoloring, so I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge too.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this double-sided
tag:
I was lucky enough to receive a box of Black Magic chocolates for a good deed that a member of my family requested – they were very yummy! So I thought I would recycle the packaging to create my Black Magic Halloween page – I hope you like it!
I started by using a Sun and Moon circle template from Inkylicious to mask off the moon and then painted the sky background with orange and black Kuretake watercolour paints. Then I removed the template and used the Sun and Moon stencil from the same Inkylicious set to add the moon detail using Vintage Linen and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and a white Uni Posca paint pen. I stamped the sky with a Gothic Book stamp from Finnabair using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink and then I splattered the page with the orange and black watercolour paints. Next I recycled the inner packaging from my Black Magic chocolates by ripping the black paper into pieces and arranging them on the bottom and down the left-hand side of the page. I also die cut the flowers and ivy from the same black paper using Wildflower Stems and Garden Greens Thinlets from Tim Holtz and my Big Shot machine; they are stuck in place using a Zig Memory glue pen. I stamped some cobwebs from Molly Blooms using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink. Then I used some of the cardboard packaging for the “Black Magic” wording fussy cutting it out, black heat embossing it and sticking it in place using Ranger Glossy Accents. Then to finish, I splattered the page using the white Uni Posca paint pen.
Here’s my box of Black Magic chocolates, help yourselves – you have a choice of Coffee Crescent, Pure Black Magic, Midnight Truffle, Raspberry Heaven, Hazelnut Swirl, Dreamy Fudge, Almond Crunch, Orange Sensation and Caramel Heart. To make them last I treated myself to one a day and they were delicious (grin!).
This page reminded me of a song by Little Mix, I enjoy watching the video – it’s such a fun story line!
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my happy black magic dreams.
I’m also joining the Die Cuts and Punches challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the die cut flowers and ivy that I included on this page.
I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Fall/Autumnal Colors challenge with the orange colours on my page.
I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page which included paint, inks, recycled packaging and embossing powder.
Don’t forget that you can also join in the fun over at Try it on Tuesday for our Witches, Wizards, Halloween challenge too
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Inkylicious Template & Stencil Set (Sun and Moon)
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Orange, Black)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Hickory Smoke)
Inkylicious Ink Dusters
Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
Prima Marketing Finnabair 2 Clear Stamp (Gothic Book 966966)
I love the snow so had the idea of creating an all white page with some fabulous new Tim Holtz Thinlets and this lovely black and white photo of a little girl in the snow – Happy January everyone!
I started by covering the background in snowfall, firstly by layering a snowflake stamp and a snow dot stamp by Sheena Douglas using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, London Fog Memento Ink and Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink. Then I stamped the circular snow stamps from BoBunny using Black Archival Ink by stamping the image on a piece of card first then onto the page to create a lighter image. With the background finished, I added the photo of the pretty little girl in the snow which is recycled from an old magazine and mounted onto a piece of card. As you may have noticed, the circular BoBunny stamps in the background have words on them which say “Frozen, Love, Snow, Sled, Winter” which seemed the perfect match for the little girl image.
I added the word “January” which is also recycled, this time from an old calendar. Then I decorated the page with some snowflakes from a Tonic Studios die set, a Spellbinders leaf swirl die and lots of Tim Holtz foliage and Tim Holtz tree thinlets, all of which are cut out of white card stock using my Big Shot machine. The Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets that I used to create the foliage included Garden Greens and also a new addition to my craft stash, the Holiday Greens Thinlet set (grin!).
The trees were also created using a new set of Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets called Woodlands (double grin!).
Some of the die cuts are coloured using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker and a silver metallic pen, and I also used some Inkylicious Fluffy Puffy Stuff to add some texture; simply added the Fluffy Puffy Stuff to the die cut and then comes the fun part, heat it with a heat gun which makes it puffy and 3-dimensional. To finish the die cuts, I also added some glitter using Icicle Stickles and then I arranged and layered them onto the page using some glue dots and a Zig Memory System glue pen.
This page captures the magic of a beautiful decoration that we had on display over Christmas, I think it looks so pretty with the snow and trees …
… whether it is lit up or not (grin!).
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:
The lovely Alison/Craftytrog is hosting her Geometric Shapes challenge over at Art Journal Journey so I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun with all the circular snow stamps that I used on my page.
As this page captures the snow and frost of January days, I’m joining the Cold and Frosty Colours challenge over at Moo Mania & More.
I’m also joining the lovely Wen and her Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutral Happy January art journal page.
Inspired to create this page by my love of snow, I’m happy to join the Put Your Stamp On It challenge over at A Vintage Journey as I used more than one stamp for the background of my Mixed Media Style page.
I’m pleased to join the “New” (Fresh Start) challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as my page was created to using new die cut sets.
Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge their challenge is Use Something New challenge so I’m pleased to join them as I used some new Tim Holtz products to create this page.
Don’t forget that you still have well over a week to join the Something Old … Something New challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!
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:
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke)
Tsukineko Memento Ink (London Fog)
Tsukineko Brilliance Ink (Platinum Planet)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
Script Metallic Pen (Silver)
Inkylicious (Fluffy Puffy Stuff)
Stickles (Icicles)
Sheena by Sheena Douglas Clear Stamp Set (Winter Woodland) – Creative Stamping Magazine Issue 62
BoBunny Stamps (Snow Days Clear Stamps 13705563)
Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (Falling Snowflakes 1792e)
Let's Art Journal 