Fred and Ginger

This page was inspired by my friend’s silver necklace which originally belonged to her mother; she calls it “Fred & Ginge”. I thought the outline of the dancers would be perfect as a centre piece for my journal page and it would be a lovely tribute to these iconic dance partners.

As my friend’s necklace is silver, I started by applying silver metallic acrylic paint to the page with a brayer and leaving it to dry. I then added black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker ink by applying it to an acrylic block, spritzing it with water and pressing it on. Next I stamped a Script stamp by Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink. For the roses I used a stencil by Craft Sensations and Liquitex red acrylic paint which I applied using a baby wipe. To shade the rose petals and add texture I then added some Black Soot Distress Ink to the roses using a blending tool and I stippled more red paint over the top using a paint brush. I removed the stencil and added further detail to the rose outlines using a black Uni Pin marker and a white gel pen. I also applied the same Black Soot ink using a blending tool to the grey areas of the page, where there were no roses, to darken the background and emphasis the metallic paint. I flicked some water over this ink and blotted it with a piece of kitchen towel to create light coloured splatters. Then I used a Shabby Harlequin stencil by Creative Expressions and the Black Soot ink as well as a Musicality stamp by Docrafts and black Archival Ink to add more detail to the background. I took a photo of my friend’s necklace, and printed a large image to use as a template to draw around onto music paper, which I cut out, edged with the black Big Brush marker and stuck to the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. Once the medium had dried I outlined the silhouettes using a black Uni Pin marker to add some shadow.  I added three silver music notes using silver brads and lots of different sized crystals to add a touch of glamour. The larger crystals were linked together on a wire thread so I cut them individually, created swirls with the wire, stuck them to the page using Glossy Accents and placed a smaller crystal on the end of the wire to give a neat finish.

I’m happy to be able to join Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations again who is hosting the “Elegance & Grunge” challenge over at Art Journal Journey and the  “Dancer” theme over at Moo-Mania & More – Challenge.

I have always loved musicals and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were both incredible dancers who had natural style and grace. If you are interested, here are some fun facts:

• Between 1933 and 1949, Astaire and Rogers appeared in 10 films together.
• Their first screen pairing occurred in 1933 in the musical film “Flying Down to Rio”.
• “The Barkleys of Broadway” (1949) was their only film shot in Technicolor; it was their last film and was shot after a 10 year hiatus.
• The pair had an on-screen chemistry so magical that Rogers became Astaire’s most famous dance partner.
• Their films followed a set formula where Astaire specified how many minutes could elapse between the beginning of the film and its first musical number, as well as how many minutes of comedy, romance, and drama there should be between dance numbers.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I think cocktails would be an appropriate drink for this famous duo and when “stepping out with my baby” for my birthday we enjoyed a few cocktails with our friends! Maybe you would like an Apple Caipirinha or Cosmopolitan or a bottle of Italian beer or a glass of Prosecco. I’m inviting the T Gang to join us and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

Or a Mint Julep (to make this cocktail muddle 2 parts Bourbon whiskey, 12 mint leaves and ½ dash Gomme syrup with crushed ice and top with soda) or a Citrus Rum Cooler (1½ parts Havana Club Rum, ¼ part Cointreau/orange liqueur and 4 parts orange juice shaken with ice and poured into a glass).

Or even a Big Easy (1½ parts Southern Comfort, ¼ Cointreau/orange liqueur and 2 parts orange juice shaken with ice, strained into a glass over ice and topped up with Ginger Beer). Of course if you prefer soft drinks, tea and coffee are available too. By the way all these cocktails were actually half price so we got to try a few different ones between us – cheers!

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:

• Poundland Metallic Paint (Silver)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Cadmium Red Medium Hue/Red Lacquer)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.3mm & 0.5mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Docrafts Papermania Creative Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Musicality DCE907112)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Shabby Harlequin CEMSHARL)
• Music of All Nations Sheet Music
• The Works (Musical Note Charms)
• The Works (Jewel Stickers)
• Home Bargains Special Occasions (Decorative Chain 26253, Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Small silver brads
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Hotel Majestic

Today’s page reflects back on a time when the Hotel Majestic was one of the finest treasures in St. Anne’s on the Sea. Alas it has been demolished now, so I created a page in its memory!

To cover the background I collaged torn sewing pattern pieces onto the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. Once they had dried I applied black and gold Spectrum Aqua Marker ink by scribbling the marker onto an acrylic block, spritzing the block with water and pressing and dripping the ink over the page. I like the way the gold colour is more concentrated at the edges of the collaged paper emphasising the layers.  Next I stamped various stamps by Hampton Art using black Archival Ink; these included a palm tree, crowns, art deco borders and a postage mark which tie into the era and décor of the Hotel Majestic. The Majestic was also known for its music and grandeur so I added some washi tape music notes and black decorative tape, then I used gold size to adhere the gold leaf. I found an old picture of the Majestic in a local magazine and added a gold border, the hotel name and the dates that it stood in our town; which are all outline stickers. I used photo corners and double-sided foam tape to adhere it to the page. To finish I added gold chain and “style” outline stickers to the background and some gold sequins which are stuck down using Glossy Accents.

I really like the vintage art deco look of this page and I’m very pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations again who is hosting the “Elegance & Grunge” challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

The Majestic Hotel was originally called the Imperial Hydro which opened in 1910, you can still see the initials IH on the two brick archways which are the only parts remaining of the hotel. It was renamed the Majestic in 1920 and many stars appearing in Blackpool shows stayed there over the years.

I love this old photo of the Hotel Majestic, it looks such a grand and stunning building! If you look closely you can see the archways on the right hand side of the hotel, they look quite small in comparison to the building itself. The hotel was built between the pier and the town Square, it had 200 bedrooms, tennis courts and was the height of luxury. Here’s an interesting link on YouTube that shows the old brochure of the Hotel Majestic with photos and descriptions of the facilities and interior.

The hotel closed down in 1972 as the costs of modernising it made it unsustainable. Sadly, it was demolished in 1975 and replaced with these five storey flats. What a shame as it must have been an amazing place to stay during its heyday.

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

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

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Gold, Black)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Hampton Art Cling Mounted Rubber Stamps (Graphic 45 – Tropical Travelogue ICO134 & ICO135, 7 Gypsies – Birdsong ICO151)
• Style Sewing Pattern
• Local Magazine
• Gold Leaf
• Hobbycraft Outline Stickers (Gold Harmony 934031001)
• Magenta Style Outline Stickers (Daisy Gold)
• Dovecraft Peel-off Stickers (Alphas Caps Gold DCPO-05)
• Poundland Decorative Border Tape (Black)
• Poundland Assorted Sequins
• Annie Sloan Water Based Gold Size
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Robin

Whilst walking along the Lancashire Coastal Way at Cockerham Sands we were lucky enough to see robins along the hedgerows. As my friends and family will tell you, I love robins and so seeing them gave me a great excuse to create this page.

The background is covered with a script decoupage paper and is stuck down using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. Next I ripped pieces of a blue decoupage paper and stuck them to the page, and then I layered another piece of the same blue paper on the top to give more depth and dimension. Next I added ripped pieces of a music note design paper by Craft Sensations and edged them with a grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker, sticking them down with a UHU Stic. The music washi tape reminds me of the robin’s song that we heard on our walk and also matches the quote I used for my page. Next I used a stencil to create the leaves; I did this by using the same music note design paper, stamping a circular geometric shape using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink through the stencil onto it and outlining the edge of the leaf design with a Chocolate Spectrum Aqua marker. Then I removed the stencil, fussy cut the leaves and stuck them to the page using a UHU Stic. Once the glue had dried, I outlined them with a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen. The beautiful quote is a rub-on transfer by Royal & Langnickel. To finish the background I added splatters of black acrylic paint. The spade handle is fussy cut from a calendar and I coloured it with Spectrum Aqua markers and added more detail with the black Uni Pin marker. The stem of flowers is a chipboard embellishment which I stuck to the page using a UHU Stic.

To make the robin, I cut a robin shape from a piece of card and collaged leftover pieces of paper over the top to create the feather design, keeping the paper pieces in place using matte gel medium. I stuck the papers so they overhung the edges of the card and when the glue had dried I cut around the bird shape to give a clean finish. I used Spectrum Aqua Markers to add detail to the feathers and colour the robin’s legs. I then edged the robin with the grey Big Brush marker and coloured the eye using a black 3D Pearl Effect by Dovecraft and then Glossy Accents by Ranger. I also added a white dot to the top of the eye with the white gel pen. I love the way this robin turned out and this is a great way to use up all those little bits of papers you have leftover. Although it’s a bit fiddly arranging the papers, I think the result is beautiful.

I’m also pleased to join Gill who is hosting the “Elegance and Grunge” theme over at Art Journal Journey.

We walked along part of the Lancashire Coastal Way towards Cockerham Sands, which is close to Cockersand Abbey.

We saw this robin on our walk, he was sitting on a post and looking at us over his shoulder.

He lives in a beautiful spot at Cockerham Sands overlooking the estuary of the River Lune leading to Glasson Dock.

On the beach front there are quite a few farms and we saw this anchor sitting in one of their gardens.

Doesn’t this rusty buoy look fabulous looking out at that wonderful view!

Here’s a close up especially for Elizabeth as I know she loves all things rusty.

Talking of Elizabeth, as T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing the green tea we had after our walk and saying a big hello to the T Gang!

We went to the Lantern O’er Lune café again and if you’re good you can have something from the Naughty Board (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:

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Crimson, Burgundy, Spice, Fawn, Chocolate, Charcoal, Slate)
• Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm & 0.5mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Docrafts Papermania Mini Cards & Stamp Set (Capsule Geometric Krafts PMA105308)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Design papers – leftovers
• White card
• Trimcraft (Decoupage papers SCDEC064)
• Poundworld (Patch Paper DS9454)
• RSPB Calender – old
• Hobbycraft Decorative Tape (Assorted Black & White 5971471007)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Sentiments (Spring #ROY506 Rub-on)
• Craft Sensations (Chipboard Embellishments 154887)
• Dovecraft 3D Pearl Effects (Brights – Black)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic

Beauty and the Beast

With my Birthday fast approaching, my hubby took me to the cinema to see the new live action Beauty and the Beast film as an early present. I loved the film and have been singing the songs ever since, so I created this page.

To represent the song lyrics and story, I stamped a Script stamp by Kaisercraft over the page using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink fading the image as it reached the bottom left hand corner by using secondary stamping. I then covered the whole page with a thin layer of white gesso to push the stamped image into the background. Choosing colours to depict the constant snowfall and candle glow from the castle scenes in the film, I diluted ink from a grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker by scribbling it onto an acrylic block and spritzing it with water, I then pressed and dragged the block horizontally across the page. I repeated the same technique using Paris Dusk and Pottery Clay Memento Inks. Next I stencilled more diluted Pottery Clay ink with a blending tool using a Swoosh mask by Creative Expressions. I stamped tree branches and cogs on the top of the page using Docraft clear stamp sets and the Rich Cocoa ink, these link to the castle grounds and also to Cogsworth who is one of the enchanted characters. The cutlery, chains and other images are paper cut from a Vintage Classic Design Pad by The Works and I stuck them to the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. I added some sparkly swirls, dots and flowers using gold Glitterations outline stickers. Using the same stickers, I outlined a picture which I cut from the Cinema booklet and my cinema ticket which I coloured using Spectrum Aqua markers and stuck them to the page using a UHU Stic.  To finish I fussy cut a rose that I had stamped on some of the same Vintage paper using Burgundy and Moss Spectrum Aqua markers and coloured the image further by pulling some of the colour from the stamp outline using a wet paintbrush. All of these elements remind me of the cutlery, china and rose in the film.

As we were out at the cinema, I’m pleased to be able to join Yvonne from Meggy’s Way’s theme “Out and About” over at Art Journal Journey.

Our local cinema is independently run and not part of a chain. It is situated on the beach front and has 4 screens. It’s quite small, but with only 6 rows of seats, it has a great atmosphere, we really enjoyed the film. At less than half the price of a multi-plex screening, there is plenty left for popcorn!

To tie in with the film, my hubby surprised me with these lovely roses too! He knows how much I love the story; we have seen the animated film many times and we’ve even been to see the Broadway Musical when it came to London, which was amazing! My favourite song has to be “Little Town”, it’s the opening number in the film and I’m always singing the lines that Belle sings about her book:

“Oh, isn’t this amazing?
It’s my favourite part because — you’ll see
Here’s where she meets Prince Charming
But she won’t discover that it’s him
‘Til chapter three!”

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:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa. Paris Dusk, Potters Clay)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Desert, Slate, Burgandy, Moss)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Swoosh)
• Docrafts A6 clear stamp set (Build a Tree DCE907130)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Unknown wood mounted rubber stamp (Rose)
• The Works Design Pad (Classic Vintage CRO707/TW7)
• Docrafts Papermania Giltterations (Gold Flowers ANT8181020)
• Anita’s Giltterations (Frame Circle – Gold ANT8181028)
• UHU Stic

Winter Gardens

We love to go to Blackpool Winter Gardens, we have been there a number of times to see shows, to find out about the history of the building on the Heritage Tour and just recently we attended the open day where you have access to all areas and can take your time exploring all the amazing venues.

Firstly, I coloured the background by painting alternating concentric circles of diluted Navy and Marine Spectrum Aqua Marker ink, this represents the beautiful glass domed ceiling and the blue accent colours that you see in the Floral Hall when you enter the Winter Gardens. Next I stamped a sheet music stamp by Woodcraft using Paris Dusk Memento Ink and a script design by Kaisercraft using the same Navy Aqua marker, this depicts the entertainment facilities, as well as the music being played on the famous Wurlitzer organs while we were there. I then stamped a palm tree from the Tropical Travelogue set by Hampton Art and scroll work stamp by Craft Sensations using London Fog Memento Ink. I used these same two stamp sets to add the chandeliers and art deco border using black Archival Ink as there are lots of chandeliers and art deco designs throughout the different areas of the Winter Gardens. To produce a watermark effect (fainter impression) I secondary stamped a series of images on the background from the Steampunk set by Docrafts using black Archival Ink, these images tie into the Victorian era when Winter Gardens was built and opened. I used a trellis design stencil to apply white gesso, Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink and modelling paste as we saw lots of beautiful ironwork and plaster work throughout the building. With the background finished, I embellished the page with bronze art deco style outline stickers and tickets which are rub-on transfers; the words “Explore”, “Discover” and “Adventure” on them describe our time whilst we were there. The old images of Winter Gardens are from a leaflet; I cut them out with serrated scissors and stuck them to the page using double-sided foam tape.  I think they capture the magnificence of the Winter Gardens venues and finish the page beautifully.

As we are “Out and About” in Blackpool exploring Winter Gardens, I’m very pleased to be able to join Yvonne from Meggy’s Way over at Art Journal Journey.

Winter Gardens is an entertainment facility located in Blackpool town centre and contains ballrooms, theatres, large themed rooms and spaces in a variety of styles. It is a magnificent building that opened on 1878 and has changed and expanded over the years. It is now undergoing further refurbishment to restore and uncover its original features. There is a wide range of decoration including Victorian ironwork, Art Deco styling and the most amazing plaster work. As you enter the building you are greeted by this beautiful domed ceiling.

Then you enter the Floral Hall with its beautiful palm trees, tiling, blue accents, yellow columns and lights. This is where you have access to all the other venues including the Empress Ballroom, the Pavilion Theatre, the Galleon Bar, The Baronial Hall, the Spanish Hall, Horseshoe, Olympia and the Opera House.

There are a number of venues designed by Andrew Mazzei who was a well known Hollywood film and set designer. In the 1930s he worked on the plaster work and decorations for the Baronial Hall, the Floral Hall, the Galleon Bar, the Olympia Hall, and the Spanish Hall. The photo above is the Spanish Hall designed in the art deco style with a three-dimensional frieze surrounding it which depicts the Andalusian Hills and Villages; it is very atmospheric.

The Galleon Bar was also designed by Andrew Mazzei and it’s my hubby’s favourite! It is a very creative recreation of an old Galleon Ship from the Spanish Armada, complete with oak beams which are all actually plaster work!  It really does look like real wood, doesn’t it!

While we were exploring the different venues at Winter Gardens, music was being played on the Wurlitzer organs located in both the Opera House and the Empress Ballroom.

The magnificent Empress Ballroom is my favourite venue. It was built in 1896 and has a spectacular barrel-vaulted ceiling, pristine parquet flooring, ornate balconies and the most amazing sparkling chandeliers! I can just imagine the olden days and the excitement of arriving in a horse and carriage to find yourself in such a spectacular venue, the stunning dresses, the dashing gentlemen and the stories that filled the ballroom; I guess I’m just an old romantic at heart!

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:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Navy, Marine)
• Memento Ink (Paris Dusk, London Fog)
• Tim Hotlz Distress Ink (Chipped Sapphire)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste High Density
• Woodware Clear Magic Singles stamp (Sheet Music JGS111)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Craft Sensations Clear Stamps (CRO274/16R2)
• Docrafts A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Hampton Art Graphic 45 cling mounted rubber stamps (Tropical Travelogue ICO134)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Moroccan)
• Kaisercraft Rub Ons Up, Up and Away collection (Colour Rubons RB870)
• Unknown – Bronze Outline Stickers
• Winter Gardens Trust Leaflet
• Fun Cut Scissors
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Music at High Tide

We always have fun when we walk along the South Promenade in Blackpool, and the last couple of times we have been lucky to have been there when the tide has been coming in. This is because we get to listen to the Hide Tide Organ, which is a sculpture that has pipes running through the centre and down to the shoreline, so when the tide comes in it makes the most amazing sounds. You can imagine my joy on hearing it so I had to capture this in my journal.

I mixed blue, green, apricot, yellow and parchment acrylic paints to produce the background colours that represent the sea, sky and golden sand, and then applied them to the page with a baby wipe. I kept the paint strokes angled towards the right of the page so it looked like the tide was moving into the shoreline. Next I added strips of music note washi tape to represent the musical sound the tidal organ makes and merged them into the background using paint. Then I splattered white acrylic paint over the page, I did this by applying the paint to an acrylic block adding a little water and flicking the paint from the block with a paintbrush. This represents sea foam and I concentrated my splatters on the left of the page fading out to the right. The seaweed leaves are fussy cut from paper by Kaisercraft from their Rock Pool Collection, they are stuck to the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. I painted two wave-shaped paper borders blue and then added wavy detail with a white Uniball gel pen; they were easy to stick to the page as they are self-adhesive. To make my tidal organ sculpture I created a rust effect on a piece of card. Firstly, I stippled modelling paste onto the card to give a rough textured foundation and let it dry thoroughly. I then mixed yellow, red and black acrylic paints to produce brown and orange rusty hues, and then I stippled these colours along with black acrylic over the top of the modelling paste trying not to overwork the colours to avoid them blending together; the idea was to create texture and for it to look patchy like rust. Once the paint had dried I used a template which I had drawn to cut out my sculpture, then I coloured the cut edges with a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt marker and I stuck it to the page using a UHU Stic. I stamped the words in an undulating pattern using a Docrafts Alphas Folk alphabet set and black Archival Ink. To finish I added a couple of seagulls, which are cut from white paper and stuck down using a UHU Stic; we often see a seagull perched on the top of the sculpture.

I’m so pleased to be able to join Yvonne from Meggy’s way who is hosting this month’s challenge “Out and About” over at Art Journal Journey.

The High Tide Organ is a sculpture which is 15 metres (49 ft 3 in) tall and is described as a “musical manifestation of the sea”; it is one of a few examples of a tidal organ.

“The sculpture was designed by the artists Liam Curtin and John Gooding, and was constructed in concrete, steel, zinc and copper sheet. The harnessing of wave energy, and the sculpting of the concrete and metals is said to produce a unique interpretation of Blackpool’s natural and man-made environments. The instrument is played by the sea at high tide through eight pipes which are attached to the sea wall. These are connected under the promenade to 18 organ pipes within the sculpture. The swell of seawater at high tide pushes air up the sea-wall pipes and causes the organ pipes to sound. The best time to hear the High Tide Organ is two to three hours before or after high tide. On very calm days the organ is silent for part of its cycle. The pitches of the pipes are based on the harmonic series in B flat” (Wikipedia). It makes quite an eerie sound, as you can hear for yourself on this link.

Being by the sea, you would expect this metal structure to rust and it has a lovely texture to it as a result.

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 (Swedush Blue, Christmas Green, Ivory Black, Apricot, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Medium Hue/Lacquer Red)
• Colvin & Co Artist’s Acrylic (White Titanium)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Sanguine 188 B)
• Docrafts A5 clear stamp set (Alpha Folk DCE907115)
• Kaisercraft Rock Pool Collection paper (Seaweed P834)
• Hobbycraft Paper Borders (White 5895891000)
• Hobbycraft Decorative Tape (Assorted Black & White 5971481007)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste High Density
• Cardboard
• White paper
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic

Fleetwood Beer Festival 2017

Every February we volunteer at the Fleetwood Beer Festival, we really enjoyed our three days serving beers from the bars and we met some lovely people too. This journal page is all about the amazing beers that we tasted. It was very difficult to choose our favourites this year, because there were so many that we really enjoyed.

I started by painting broken stripes of Liquitex acrylic paint vertically down the page. Next I added small splatters of diluted Spectrum Aqua markers by scribbling the ink on an acrylic block, spritzing it with water and then flicking the ink onto the page with a paintbrush.  I chose Gold, Amber and Black coloured markers to represent the different shades of beer we tried. I stamped a faint grid design around the edges of the page, to add some texture, using a homemade stamp and black Archival Ink. I stencilled embossing ink using a distressed dot mask by Creative Expressions and then I covered the ink with a white embossing powder and used my heat gun to fix it to the page. This depicts the froth or “head” that forms on the top of the beer when you pour it. I collaged beer related images and words from magazines and our tasting notes using a UHU Stic to stick them to the page and outlined them using a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out more from the background.

I really like this information about glasses; we tend to drink from tankards/mugs when we are working behind the bar at the festival, as they help keep the beer cooler.

The snippets from our own tasting notes show our five favourite beers of the festival.

At the festival there were over 125 real ales, ciders, perries and world beers. We worked on the bar serving the cask real ale, some of which were on hand pumps. We tasted many beers and added our comments to the tasting notes so we could recommend beers to others; there was something for everybody whether your taste preference is fruity, coffee, chocolate, hoppy, citrus, floral, ginger, honey, treacle and we even had some that were a little like lager.

I just managed to get a photo of the beer and Subway Club sandwich we had in one of our breaks. My beer preference tends to be the darker coloured beer and I have to say the Spilt Milk (spelt wrong in the tasting notes) really did taste like chocolate milk. My hubby tends to like the paler beers and amber bitters and was not disappointed as they had one of our old favourites by Harvey’s brewey in Sussex. As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

By the end of the festival many of our favourite beers had sold out, I’m not sure if it was because we were recommending them or because we were drinking them – we didn’t drink all the Harvey’s Old Ale,  honest (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 (Parchment)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Gold, Amber, Black)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Dovecraft Premium Embossing Stamp Pad (Clear)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque DP100 50727)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Distressed Dots)
• Homemade wooden stamp block with Plasterboard/Drywall Tape
• Beer magazines and booklets
• Fleetwood Beer Festival 2017 Programme
• UHU Stic