Wild and Free

With the warmer weather of late we have been having fun in the garden. We have weeded our flower beds and added a mulch of bark and have been watching the spring flowers grow and new foliage shoot up. So I created this happy page to celebrate, using some soft spring colours as well as some fun techniques and the wording “all good things are wild and free” (grin!).

I started by stamping the page with a dot stamp from Woodware Craft Collection using Rose Bud Memento Ink and a flower stamp by Hampton Arts using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. Then I covered the page with pastel shades of pink, turquoise and orange acrylic paint and also Pébéo white gesso; they are all applied using a brayer to build up layers of colour. Once dry I added the large flower sticker and some leftover letters and frame stickers from Little Yellow Bicycle.

The wording “all good things are wild and free by Henry David Thoreau” and “Just be” which included a sweet little bird are from the same sticker set; the little bird with the flower in his beak reminded me of some Goldfinches that come into our garden to take pieces of a silver leaved plant called Cineraria, not sure why they want it, but it’s fun to watch them (grin!). Then I outlined all of these stickers using a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen so they stood out more and had fun doodling all the dots using black, white and pink Uni Posca paint pens. To continue the spring theme I added more little birds, flowers and as we are making lots of new discoveries this year in our garden I also added the “Discoveries” wording which are all fabric stickers from Little Yellow Bicycle.

As you may remember we replanted our flower beds last year and here’s what they look like at the moment. The apple trees are sprouting and should be in bloom soon, the bluebells are out in force and the bark mulch looks great – I love it!

We discovered that we had crocus in our garden and along with daffodils they have finished flowering but we do have some tulips starting to bloom that we planted in October last year. This beautiful pink frilly variety reminded me of my page (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Wendy from Wendy’s Art and Craft Journal  and her Having Fun challenge over at Art Journal Journey as my page represents having fun gardening.

I’m joining the Polka Dots challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the polka dot stickers and dots on this page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Easter and/or Spring challenge over at Country View Challenges with my spring pastel coloured page.

Over at The Artistic Stamper, their challenge is New Growth, so I’m also joining this challenge too with my springtime flower page.

I’m also pleased to join the Spring Flowers! challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with happy spring flower inspired page.

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:

• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rose Bud, Rich Cocoa)
• Script Ready Made Paint (Pastels)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Uni Posca Paint Pens (Black, White, Pink)
• Hampton Art Bella Blvd cling mounted rubber stamps (Sand & Surf ICO226)
• Woodware Craft Collections Francoise Collection Stamp Set (Flower Style FRSWS003)
• Home Bargains (Room Décor Embellishment Art 01194)
• Little Yellow Bicycle (Cardstock Stickers Fresh Verse PD-140, Fabric Favourites PD-220)

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Creative Discoveries

I always enjoy getting creative and my journal pages are often inspired by things I see and do, so today I used my imagination to create a page to celebrate Creative Discoveries.

I started by painting Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink and Aquamarine Spectrum Aqua marker to the page by applying the inks to an acrylic block, spritzing with water and using a paintbrush. I also scribbled the Aquamarine Spectrum Aqua marker onto the acrylic block, added a little water and then used a dry paintbrush to drag the ink over the page, which created a lovely marbling effect. I repeated this process using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker too. Next I stamped the black flowers and dots from a Woodware Craft Collection stamp set using black Archival Ink so they flowed in lines over the page. Then I used a Distressed Dots stencil from Creative Expressions to apply Pébéo modelling paste mixed with Pébéo white gesso. When the paste had dried, I added some stickers of a flower, a pear and some sparkly dots, along with various embellishments by Little Yellow Bicycle, this included; two fabric banners; three pink flower dots which have either “Free”, “Yourself” or “Beautiful” written in the centre; two different sentiments which read “Hello, World” and “You can find me here” which I thought were relevant to my art journaling; some letter stickers which I used to make the word “creative” which I mounted onto some card and stuck to the page using double-sided foam tape; and a fabric “Discoveries”.

When we visit Blackpool we always make new discoveries, like this lovely street art near one of my favourite art shops.

There are quite a few other art installations in this area including this amazing panel which is just around the corner at Winter Gardens and it can be found alongside these:

 

 

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Yvonne from Meggy’s way, who is hosting A World of Fantasy challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my imaginative page of Creative Discoveries.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my Creative Discoveries art journal page.

My lovely friend Bleubeard and Elizabeth suggested that I join Sami over at Colourfulworld with my street art, so I’m also pleased to join the Monday Mural fun 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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Cracked Pistachio)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Aquamarine)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Woodware Craft Collection Wood Set (Flower Style FRSWS003)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Distressed Dots)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Soft Sweetness 154897)
• Recycled white card
• Home Bargains (Room Décor Embellishments)
• Little Yellow Bicycle (Fabric Favourites PD-220, Cardstock Stickers PD-140)
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Great Opportunities

Over at Try it On Tuesday we have a masculine theme for the next two weeks called For the Boys. Maybe your creations could be for a baby boy, boys, teenagers, adults, sons, dads or grandfathers, if you need more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from our Design Team.

I created a masculine page with an industrial look using some inks, stamps, stencils, design paper, stickers and recycled magazine images.

I started by building up layers of colour using Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Hickory Smoke Distress Inks. I did this by applying the ink pads to an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page then drying each colour with a heat gun before applying the next. I stamped some cogs from a Steampunk stamp set from Docrafts using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink and then a ruler and also a bingo card stamp from Tim Holtz using black Archival Ink. Then I stenciled some Geometric Tile squares around the edge of the page using a Dutch Doobadoo mask and black Archival Ink.  Next I fussy cut the lightbulbs, clocks and metal semicircle door from a couple of old magazines and, like all of the paper elements, edged them with black Faber-Castell marker and stuck them in place using a UHU Stic. The world map pieces are cut from a sheet of design paper by Kaisercraft and the “402” is a Salvage Sticker by Tim Holtz which I embellished with two brown brads. To finish, I added the wording using double-sided foam tape which reads “each day holds the possibility for great opportunities”.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing a recent visit to Dahlia’s Kitchen which is a restaurant nearby, it’s attached to a garden centre so it was fun morning out (grin!).

As it was a hot sunny day we sat outside on their new patio near this beautiful water feature made from recycled metal, it looks a bit industrial like my page although I’m not sure what it is – any ideas?

I went with my sister who had a strawberry milkshake, I had my usual pot of green tea and we shared a huge piece of ginger and lemon cake which was delicious – Happy T Day!

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 be able to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my masculine inspired page.

I’m also pleased to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with the inspirational wording I added to my page.

As I enjoyed stenciling the black square design around the edge of this page, I’m also joining the lovely Astrid who is hosting A Vintage Journey this month where the challenge is Stencil It. My masculine inspired page fits their challenge focus with it’s Industrial and Mixed Media Style.

I’m also happy to join in the fun over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Anything But A Card challenge with my art journal page.

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 (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Hickory Smoke)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.3mm)
• Dutch Doobadoo Dutch Mask Art A5 (Geometric Tiles)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Tim Holtz {Components} Collection (COM013 CAR)
• Old Magazines
• Kaisercraft Timeless Collection 12×12 Design Paper (Postmarks P853)
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (Fresh Verse PD-140)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• UHU Stic
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Hummingbird and Orchids

Inspired by the beautiful hummingbirds that have been featured by some of my blog-friends recently, I created this hummingbird and pretty orchid page for the Flora and Fauna challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month.

I’ve been overwhelmed with the participation and support shown for my theme over at Art Journal Journey, thank you! There is still time to join in the fun this month and I hope to see you there!

I started by painting the page with Liquitex Acrylic paints; the colours I used were Christmas Green, Cadmium Yellow and Parchment. Once the paint had dried, I added some gold acrylic paint and splattered the page with black and white acrylic paints using a paintbrush. Then I covered the page with some Pébéo white gesso using a baby wipe and also my finger to tone down the colours so the images I added next stood out more. The orchids are fussy cut from a napkin and stuck to the page using Liquitex matte gel medium, once the gel medium had dried I outlined and doodled on them using a black UniPin marker and a white Uniball gel pen to add more definition and detail; this took quite a while as there are so many of them (grin!). The hummingbird and pink flower buds are rub-on transfers from Royal & Langnickel which I layered around and onto the orchids. I added a cardstock sticker which says “Fly Free” and I finished the page by adding some pretty green sequin flowers, using Glossy Accents, to add some sparkle.

Over at Moo Mania and More the theme is Even More Flowers! so I’m pleased to join this challenge too, with the pretty orchids that I included on my page.

We visited a garden centre recently and I was mesmerised by these pretty orchids which are similar to the ones on my page, aren’t they stunning!

We often visit the café at this garden centre and here we are having my favourite – a pot of green tea with a bacon butty/sandwich (grin!). So I’m joining the T Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

We have some lovely garden centres in our area which have the most beautiful displays – I love this majestic looking stag and large turquoise pottery urn surrounded by all the delicate hydrangeas!

I’m glad this huge snail isn’t real as it would swallow up my garden in one bite (grin!).

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 (Christmas Green, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Parchment)
• Colvin & Co Artist’s Acrylic (White)
• Poundland Metallic Paint (Gold)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• The New York Botanical Gardens Napkin
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Sentiments (TIP1642G)
• Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (Fresh Verse PD-140)
• Poundland (Assorted Sequins)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Nature’s Beauty

Our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Nature’s Beauty and the Design Team have some amazing inspiration for you, whether it is flowers, plants, animals or scenes of nature.

My art journal page today is a scene capturing the peacefulness and serenity of dragonflies over water, which for me, encapsulates nature’s beauty.

I started by painting diluted Shabby Shutters and Salty Ocean Distress Ink onto the background by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block and applying it to the page with a paintbrush to create a watercolour effect. Then I used a Distressed Dots stencil from That Special Touch of Mica Masks by Creative Expressions to apply Mowed Lawn and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks using a blending tool. I stamped some foliage using an Eco Green stamp set made from recycled rubber and a Tan Spectrum Aqua Marker. Then I added some Pébéo modelling paste using the Distressed Dot stencil to add more dimension and when the paste was dry, coloured it with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint. I fussy cut the grasses, leaves and iris from a wallpaper sample and stuck them onto the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. To add more detail and definition I doodled outlines on them with a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen, then added some shadows using a Slate Spectrum Aqua Marker. The dragonflies are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel and I positioned them so that one is sitting on a leaf and the other is flying off into the distance. I stamped some bees from a Graphic 45 stamp set by Hampton Art using black Archival Ink and coloured them using a yellow Spectrum Aqua marker. To finish, I added two stickers with the words “peaceful” and “serenity” which I thought captured the scene; they are edged with the Tan Spectrum Aqua marker and stuck in place using double-sided tape.

As it is T for Tuesday, I’m sharing the enjoyable time that we had at the local Pavilion Café in Ashton Gardens with our friends. Ashton Gardens is a municipal park which was established in 1874, it is situated in the centre of St. Anne’s on the Sea and is a lovely place to explore with its various display gardens including the most beautiful Rose Garden. The café building is a replica of the former bowling club pavilion known as the Ashton Institute.

This café always has a yummy array of cakes to choose from …

… and there is lovely art displayed on the walls which you can buy if you want to.

As T Stands for Tuesday, maybe you would like a green tea, hot chocolate or glass of water (of course they had coffee too, sorry I forgot to take a photo of our friends selection which included a cappuccino which I know you may prefer – grin!). As well as our drinks we enjoyed a bacon butty and a slice of salted caramel cake – yum! Wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

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/Craftytrog, who is hosting the Recycle and Collage challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the recycled rubber art stamp set and wallpaper that I collaged to create this page!

With the stamped bees that I included on my nature page, I’m pleased to join The Birds & the Bees challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

As I used and altered the wallpaper for my page, I’m pleased to join the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Pimp it up! (reuse or alter something) challenge.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Add Some Texture challenge with all the texture I created with the Distress Inks, stencils, modelling paste and wallpaper.

With the circles that I stencilled onto my page, I’m also pleased to join the Going Round in Circles challenge over at That’s Crafty 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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Shabby Shutters, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Chipped Sapphire)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Tan, Slate, Yellow)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Eco Green Crafts Recycled Rubber Stamps (Petal Party #04309)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Distressed Dots)
• Hampton Art 7 Gypsies Cling Mounted Rubber Stamps (Birdsong ICO151))
• Wallpaper sample – recycled
• Royal & Langnickel Tip of the Brush (Insect Collection #TIP1484 Rub-on)
• Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (PD-140)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Hot Air Balloons

I came across these lovely Hot Air Balloon images at my local craft shop, and they inspired my page. You’ll notice there is map detail on the balloon image background, and as this month’s theme over at Art Journal Journey is Maps, I’m so glad to be able to link to that challenge. My husband pointed out to me that the British flags on the balloon designs are all upside down. This is a fairly common mistake to make with the Union Jack.

I started off the background by drawing curves using a plate as a template with a Uni Pin fine line marker, then splattering and smooshing diluted Distress Ink onto the page. I filled in the curves that I had created with an Alphabet stamp from Kaisercraft and Archival Ink, it took a bit of time to complete this as I had to mask the curves out to make sure the stamp stayed between the curve lines. It was great fun though and I love how it turned out. I have wanted to use the star tissue paper for a while now, it came from a birthday present, so I tore off pieces and saw them melt into the page when I used Patty’s top tip of using a glue stick to stick them down – thanks Patty! I fussy cut some of the balloon and compass images and stuck them to the page using the glue stick, then gave them a bold black outline using my Uni Pin marker so they stood out more. To finish I added a couple of sentiments and outlined them.

It’s a funny coincidence that I have just bought this lovely glass balloon while we were exploring a nearby village shop. I saw it and just fell in love with it!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Peeled Paint, Sooty Black, Tea Dye)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artists pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm and 0.8mm)
• Script metallic pen (Gold)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Alphabet
• Kanban Paper craft toppers (Timeless Moments PCT1882)
• Little Yellow Bicycle card stock stickers (PD-140)
• Star tissue paper
• The Range glue stick