Wish you were here

Our challenge for the next two weeks over at Try it on Tuesday is Wish you were here. Where will you take us? Maybe you would like to travel far away or even stay at home, the choice is yours!

For my art journal page, I decided to go to Venice and if you pop over to Try it on Tuesday you’ll find some more wonderful Wish you were here creations by my Design Teamies to inspire you too!

I had found one of the plastic bags from Venice had degraded into lots of pieces when I unpacked some holiday ornaments over Christmastime, so I decided to keep the pieces in my craft stash to use in my art journaling.

Being from Venice, I thought that they would be perfect for my “Venice wish you were here” inspired page, so I layered the bag pieces to form the background using Liquitex Matte gel medium. When the gel medium was dry, I flooded the page with watered-down Cracked Pistachio, Peeled Paint and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink and left them to dry; I love the amazing texture that resulted.

Then I splattered the page with the both the Peeled Paint and Chipped Sapphire inks using a paint brush and added some diamond shapes using a stencil from Creative Expressions; first using the Peeled Paint ink again and then using some Black Soot Distress Ink. Using black Archival Ink I stamped the decorative shield design from Kaisercraft onto the page and also the “wish you were here” wording from Hampton Arts onto tissue paper; the wording is stuck onto the page using matte gel medium. Next I cut out a picture of Venice from a free travel advertising magazine, backed it with white paper, stuck it onto the page using double-sided tape and edged it with some black Glitterations border stickers.

I stuck a postage stamp to cover some writing on the magazine picture using double-sided foam tape; the postage stamp is from Romania showing a painting of Venice by N. Darascu, circa 1972.

Then I added three pieces of white and black striped ribbon to the page along with a postage stamp from Italy showing Coin of Syracuse, circa 1955; both of the postage stamps were kindly given to me to use for my art journaling by my hubby as part of his childhood Stamp Collection (grin!). To finish, I added some pretty diamante pieces using Ranger Glossy Accents to add some elegance and sparkle.

We have been to Venice a couple of times which is located in North Eastern Italy and is a series of islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges.

Of course Venice is well known for its Gondolas which we have been lucky enough to travel in.

We are always amazed by the beauty of the architecture along the Grand Canal and the only way to travel is by boat which appeals to me as I love being on the water (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our Aperol Spritz which is a very popular drink in Italy along with some traditional cuisine from Venice. Aperol Spritz is an aperitif cocktail consisting of prosecco, Aperol and soda water; it originated in Italy and is now available worldwide. Our drinks are pictured with some cicchetti which are small snacks or side dishes that originated and are typically served in traditional “bàcari” (cicchetti bars) in Venice. Cheers and Happy T Day!

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 Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations and her Anything with Eyes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the ladies eyes on the Italian postage stamp that I included on my page.

I’m also happy to join in the Layers of Texture challenge over at Country View Challenges the background texture that I created from recycling the pieces of bag.

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

I’m also pleased to be able to join Creative Artiste and their Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge with all the mixed media I used to create this page.

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

• Recycled pieces of plastic bag (degraded) from Venice
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Cracked Pistachio, Peeled Paint, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencils (Vintage Diamonds)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Decorative Accents CS852)
• Hampton Art Bella Blvd cling mounted rubber stamps (Sand & Surf ICO226)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Recycled white tissue paper
• Recycled travel advertising magazine
• Docrafts Papermania Glitterations (Black Borders ANT8181015)
• Postage stamps from hubby’s childhood collection (Posta Romana – Romania showing a painting of Venice by N. Darascu, circa, Itali – Italy showing Coin of Syracuse circa 1955)
• Home bargains Always & Forever Collection (Decorative Diamante Chain 26254)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Advertisements

Remember

I’ve been wanting to join a couple of blog challenges, so I created this art journal page which turned out to be quite cathartic in the end; with my friend passing, this journal pages serves to capture wording to prompt me to look at things differently – I hope you like it!

I also wanted to thank you all for your kind thoughts and comments regarding my dear friend, it is very much appreciated!

To start, I covered the page in Snow Cone, Lime and Boysenberry Faber-Castell Gelatos by scribbling the gelatos onto the page and smudging the colour with my finger which I wet with water. Once dry, I stencilled dots by removing the gelato colour through the stencil using a baby wipe and also added a flower design by applying white pigment ink through the stencil. Then I stamped some chevrons and arrows from a Kaisercraft stamp set using black Archival Ink. The feathers are wall stickers which I edged with black Faber-Castell marker and stuck to the page. I then splattered the whole page with black acrylic paint. Next I stuck a silver dreamcatcher and three silver arrows onto the page and embellished them with green gems. I added some Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz which prompts me to “remember” the good times, to “just breathe”, to “be brave”, to “stay strong” and to “love you”; the top and bottom edge are outlined with a black marker pen. I also arranged some clear teardrop gemstones in lines down the page and to finish, I embellished the feathers with a silver disc from an old necklace.

I thought the T Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday, may like this cute otter that was etched onto a glass containing my pint of Otter Ale (grin) – cheers and Happy T Day!

Challenges

I’m happy to join in the Blue and Green challenge over at Country View Challenges with my page as they are my favourite colours.

I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps too.

With the splatters of paint and splodges from the stencilling, my page also serves as a reminder that you still have another week to join our Splatters and Splodges challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, 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:

• Faber-Castell Gelato (Snow Cone, Lime, Boysenberry)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• That’s Crafty! 8x8ins Stencil (Decorative Flower – TC8039)
• Docrafts Artiste Pigment Ink (White)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Mister Fox CS173)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Main Street Wall Creations Jumbo Stickers (Watercolor Feathers SKU261499)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Docrafts Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• The Range (Dreamcatchers Stickers CR1237)
• B&M Craft Pack (Turquoise)
• Graham & Brown (Adhesive Jewels)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Handwriting Pen (Black)
• Old necklace
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Celebrate Friendship

Today my page celebrates one of my best friends who sadly passed away last weekend after battling cancer; it’s heart breaking, she was only in her forties and it seems so unfair that she left this world so early. She was a shining light of love, kindness, enthusiasm and positively, which I hoped to have captured on my page!

My friend loved colour so I painted the background using my Kuretake watercolour paint set to create a rainbow effect; by wetting the paper with water and then applying Lemon Yellow, Orange, Cadmium Scarlet, Red, Rose Madder, Colbalt Violet, Turquoise Blue, Ultramarine, Viridian, Sap Green Light and Yellow Ochre paint in stripes vertically on the page letting the paint blend together where they joined. When the paint was dry I used two Carabelle Studios Art Stamps to stamp the letters and also some thistle heads using black Versafine Ink. To finish, I added some appropriate wording which are Kaisercraft stickers; they read “love you”, “forever and always” and “The language of friendship is not in words but meanings by Henry David Thoreau” the latter being mounted onto some pink design paper.

It’s been an emotional week and my garden has helped by keeping me busy, here are my “pretties” (mesembryanthemums) that I grew from seed; I love their multi-coloured flowers which seem appropriate as they only open when the sun is shining!

I would also like to apologise to my blog friends for my lack of visits this past week, I look forward to catching up with you again soon. Thank you, Jo x

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all bright and colourful today.

I’m joining in the Make Your Own Background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my watercolour background art journal page.

There is still a few more days to join the Colours of the Rainbow Challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too!

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

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Lemon Yellow, Orange, Cadmium Scarlet, Red, Rose Madder, Colbalt Violet, Turquoise Blue, Ultramarine, Viridian, Sap Green Light, Yellow Ochre)
• Tsukineko Versafine Ink (Onyx Black)
• Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (Background avec des Lettres SA60233, Dans la nature, il ya … SA60175)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Book (Antiquities SK807)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Bright Colours CRO730/R)
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Happy 6th Anniversary

This page celebrates T Stands for Tuesday’s 6^th Anniversary, where our wonderful hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth ask us to share a drink related post each week. It’s so much fun meeting up with the T Gang each Tuesday, thanks so much to everyone for making it such a friendly and happy place!

My page was also created to join in our Colours of the Rainbow challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too where you still have until next Tuesday to join in the fun, it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by covering the page with Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain and then stencilling multi-coloured teacups using Distress Ink and a handmade stencil that the lovely Eileen aka The Artful Crafter sent me last year – the design and detail of the teacup is amazing, thank you so much dear friend! The Distress Inks that I used were Festive Berries, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves and Fired Brick. Next I used some Kaisercraft paper and stickers to add: some stripes of colourful patterned paper which I outlined with a black marker pen; die cut teacups using a die from Crafter’s Companion and my Big Shot machine, they are outlined with a black Faber-Castell marker and held in place with some little brads and I also numbered them 1-6, using Tim Holtz Label Letters, to depict each year of T stands for Tuesday 6^th Anniversary; the wording which reads “friends are the sunshine of life” as I am very blessed to have made such wonderful friends and also “These are T Days” which I cut to make the word “T Day” as it originally said “These are the days”. The black teapot, teacups and saucers are outline stickers which I coloured black using a Sharpie marker. To finish, I added some white hearts so they looked like steam floating up from the teacups; they are outline stickers which I outlined with a black marker pen so they stood out more.

My homemade raspberry gin is just the thing to celebrate the 6^th Anniversary at T Stands for Tuesday; our friends told us about making it, all you need to do is soak raspberries (or any fruit of you choice) with some sugar and gin in a Kilner Jar and place it in a dark place for 4 weeks (grin!). It tastes amazing, so delicious! I serve it with either fizzy lime/lemon or fizzy mango drink – yum! Wishing you all a Happy 6th Anniversary this T Day!

Challenges 

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all celebrating T Day’s 6^th Anniversary (grin!).

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Add A Number challenge with the numbers that I added to the teacups.

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 Stain (Cracked Pistachio)
• Teacup Stencil handmade by the lovely Eileen aka The Artful Crafter; you can see all the goodies that she sent me here – thanks very much, so kind!
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Festive Berries, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick)
• Kaisercraft Design Paper (Fiesta! Collection – Siesta P1859, Fly Free Collection – Confidante P1896)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)
• Handwriting Pen (Black)
• Crafter’s Companion Die Set (Vintage Tea Party – Toppling Teacups S-VTP-MD-TOPT)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Label Letters #TH93072)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Alice in Wonderland ANT810116)
• Craftime Designer Vinyls (B/W Boy & Girl PBDV02)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Be the brightest colour

For the next two weeks, our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Colours of the Rainbow.

I had fun creating this colourful page as not only did I use a new set of acrylic paints, but the paint colours and stencils that I used were chosen by my hubby. As you can see he likes bold and bright contrasting colours and he chose birds, leaves, mosaic and brickwork stencils.

I started by adding the Cerulean Blue, Yellow Oxide, Primary Red and Light Green acrylic paints, that my hubby had chosen, using a dry brush technique where a clean dry brush is used to spread each of the colours; I did this so that the colours would not blend together as some of the colours chosen are on opposite sides of the colour wheel so if blended together they would produce a brown or grey so I didn’t want them to blend by adding water. Then I applied the same paints again using a sponge through the four stencils that my hubby had chosen: Cerulean Blue through a birds stencil; Yellow Oxide through a mosaic stencil; Primary Red through a brick stencil and finally Light Green through a leaf stencil. Next I stamped some postage marks from Prima Marketing and some numbers from Inkidinkado using black Archival Ink. To add some depth and contrast I applied some white acrylic paint to the page with my finger and when dry, I stamped more of the postage marks and numbers over the top. The flowers are stamped onto a dictionary page using some Hampton Art stamps sets and black Archival Ink, fussy cut and stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. I added the stems to the flowers using a Hampton Art Border stamp set and the black Archival Ink again. The wording is from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet finishes the page and reads “Be the brightest colour in the box”; I thought it linked well to my new set of paints.

There are some amazing creations from my Design Teamies too, please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to check them out. We would love to see your rainbow colour creations of the next two weeks, it would be lovely to see you there!

Here’s my new paint set, there are 36 colours to use so I’m sure I’ll be using them again soon (grin!).

As T Stands for T Day, I’m sharing these colourful teapots from the Blackbird Café which you may remember from a previous post – Happy T day!

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 Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all colourful with my new set of paints.

I’m pleased to be able to join Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their #51 Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge with all the mixed media I used to create this art journal page.

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Colour (Cerulean Blue, Yellow Oxide, Primary Red, Light Green)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil (Mosaic #THS084)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Take a leaf)
• Prima Marketing Clear Stamps (Rossi Belle #587499)
• Inkadinkado Cling Stamps (Typographic 65-32008)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Hampton Art Bella Blvd cling mounted rubber stamps (Sand & Surf ICO226)
• Hampton Art Doodlebug Designs Inc. cling mounted rubber stamps (Thankful ICO162, Borders ICO160)
• Dictionary pages
• Kaisercraft Sticker Set (Fiesta! SS284)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Fly Free

I had fun creating this happy page using colours that remind me of some of the flowers in my garden and the bright summer days we have been having of late – I hope you like it!

I started by painting Deep Violet, Bright Aqua Green, Primary Yellow and white acrylic paints onto the page using my finger, blending the colour together where they joined. When the paint was dry, I used a Tim Holtz stencil to add the flowers, using Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. Next I stamped some Tiny Dots, stripes and chevrons, all from some Kaisercraft stamp sets, using black Archival Ink. The bird is fussy cut from Kaisercraft design paper and is teamed with some pink flowers and wording, which reads “Let your dreams take flight” from a Kaisercraft Sticker Set. I outlined the wording sticker with a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen, and then to finish I added some small white star embellishments using Ranger Glossy Accents.

This amazing pink geranium influenced my colour choice for this page, it’s a joy to see it every day from our kitchen window (grin!).

Being summer, it must be “Pimms O’clock” somewhere, especially as T stands for Tuesday – Cheers and Happy T Day!

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

Challenges

I’m joining the #194 Animals challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the pretty bird that I included on my page.

I’m happy to join the Spots and/or Stripes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the dots and stripes I stamped onto the background of my page.

I’m also joining the Stars and Stripes Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the stars and stripes on my page.

I’m also happy to be joining the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

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

• Liquitex Acrylic Paints (Deep Violet, Bright Aqua Green, Primary Yellow)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil (Floral TH5077)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Tiny Dot CS360, Mister Fox CS173)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Kaisercraft Fly Free Collection Paper (Sister P1897)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fly Free SS289)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• White star embellishments
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Pritt Stick

Believe in yourself

I was so inspired by Astrid’s Tissue Paper challenge over at A Vintage Journey that I created another page; there is still another week to join in the fun, it would be lovely to see you there!

This time I collaged tissue paper to create the background and distressed it, then added a beautiful butterfly and some motivational wording; I hope you like the shabby chic style that resulted.

The background is made of pieces of tissue Patch Paper collaged together using a glue stick and matte gel medium. Once dry I applied some white gesso over the top using a palette knife and then created a worn look by adding: some Coconut and Caramel Faber-Castell Gelatos smudging the colour with my finger; Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker which again I smudged using my finger; and finally some Frayed Burlap Distress Ink which I applied using a blending tool. Then I stamped a Tiny Dot stamp from Kaisercraft using the Frayed Burlap ink and also some black Archival Ink. For the butterfly, I chose a large pre-cut butterfly and heat embossed the edges of its wings and also its body using Versamark ink and black embossing powder. It is attached to the page using double-sided tape in the centre and also double-sided foam tape for the wings. The words are Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz and read “you are capable of becoming more than you realise”, “believe in yourself” and “with brave wings she flies”. They are all outlined using a black marker and using the same marker I drew two antennae on the butterfly which finished the page.

This page seemed to create itself and I think I was channelling butterflies as our friend that we walk with every week went on a Butterfly Tour last week, around the UK, looking for rare butterflies. When she was telling us about the Large Blue it reminded me of my page and as she is an exceptional photographer she kindly shared her photos with me which I’m pleased to be able to share with you too. This is a Large Blue which became extinct in 1979 and is being reintroduced to some areas of the UK.

Here’s some more of her amazing photos, this one is a Painted Lady …

… this is a Heath Fritillary …

… then there is a Marbled White …

… and finally a Brown Argus – I so enjoyed looking at the photos as I haven’t seen many of these butterflies before, so thanks very much K (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 lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my “Believe in yourself” page.

I’m joining in the It’s a Bugs Life challenge over at Country View Challenges with my butterfly art journal page.

I’m happy to join the Spots and/or Stripes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the dots I added to the background of my page.

I’m also joining 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:

• Poundworld (Patch Paper DS9454)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Coconut, Caramel)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Frayed Burlap)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Tiny Dot CS360)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.08mm)
• Tsukineko Versafine Ink (Onyx Black)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black PMA4021006)
• The Works (Make your own 3D Butterflies)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Pritt SticK
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape