Saying Hello to Autumn

I love this time of the year, so I created this page to say hello to autumn and join a few challenge blogs – I hope you like it!

I started by creating the grungy background using a Spritz and Speckles stamp set by Paperbabes Stamps and Toffee Crunch, Rich Cocoa and Potter’s Clay Memento Inks. Then I used the same inks to add the leaves using an Autumnal Treasures stamp set that was free with a magazine. Next I stuck the horizontal decorative strip across the page which is from some Graphic 45 Autumn Collective paper using double-sided tape and then edged it with black Glitterations border stickers so it stood out more.

The circle was die cut from Lemon linen textured cardstock and then coloured using Fossilized Amber and Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Like the background, it was stamped using the Spritz and Speckles stamp set and the leaf stamp and the Memento Inks. The little bird was from the Autumnal Treasures stamp set and was stamped using black Archival Ink; I used a stamping platform to get a clear and bold finish. The “Life began in a garden” wording was cut from the Graphic 45 paper and I edged both the wording and the circle using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place. To finish, I added some crystal gems to the page to add some sparkle.

Walks around Lytham Hall are always pretty this time of year with all the changing leaves and the colours on my page reminded me of these beautiful trees we saw there (grin!).

I 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 all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Paperbabes Stamps (Spritz & Speckles Stamp Set)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch, Rich Cocoa, Potter’s Clay)
• Creative Stamping Magazine Issue 161 (Autumn Treasures Stamp Set)
• Graphic 45 Seasons Collection (Autumn Collective #4501622)
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• Docrafts Papermaina Glitterations (Black Borders ANT8181015)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CR0241/GE)
• The Works (8 Cutting Dies)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fossilized Amber, Vintage Photo)
• Ranger Stamping Platform
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Crystal Stickers by Mark Richards (Cluster Combo Style #5454C)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the decorative strip that creates a line across my page. I’m so pleased to be able to join in the #129 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps which inspired the design of my page (grin!). I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #138 – Fall Back over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my autumnal page. I’m happy to join the Autumn Glory Challenge over at Stamping Sensations where the lovely Avril has just joined the Design Team with my stamped page – Many congratulations! I’m also joining in the fun at Stinkin’ Inkers Challenge Blog and their Shades of Fall challenge with all the fall colours on my page.

Fall into Autumn

Hello Everyone, I’m so pleased and honoured to be Guest Designer today for the Fall Foilage challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog.

Jennie is hosting this challenge which is described as “According to most search engines the Fall season has officially begun so we should be starting to see the emergence of all those beautiful Autumnal colours, unless Mother Nature throws us a curve ball! Let’s celebrate them anyway by creating a vintage or shabby chic project in traditional Fall shades that includes some form of foliage”.

This Fall Foliage challenge was perfect as I love the leaves and colours of autumn so my page was inspired by our woodland walks that we enjoy this time of year. As I also wanted to combine both the American and UK names for this season, I added the saying “Fall into Autumn”.

The woodland background was created using some fun techniques with Colourcraft Brusho powders; the colours I used were Yellow, Sandstone, Orange, Brilliant Red, Moss Green and Dark Brown. First I sprinkled the Brusho powders over the left-hand side and bottom of the page, spritzed them with water and then watched the magic as the colours exploded on the page. I used a piece of kitchen paper towel to mop up any excess colour and then I applied more of the Brushos until I achieved the finish I was after. Next I splattered the page with the Brushos that I had diluted with water and then using Liquitex matte gel medium I stuck the coloured kitchen towel (which I had just used to mop up the excess colour) over the top. As you can see the kitchen towel also had some black acrylic paint on it and it added the most gorgeous texture for my woodland setting.

The fungi images were from a Field Notes Ephemera Pack from Tim Holtz; I stuck them to the page with glue dots and then covered their bases with small pieces of the coloured kitchen towel so they blended into the foreground. Then I added some twiggy brown grasses which were die cut using a Funky Florals Thinlit set by Tim Holtz from some cardstock that I coloured with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

The branches and leaves were cut from different autumnal coloured design papers using a Fall Foliage Thinlit set by Tim Holtz. I edged some of the leaves using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then arranged them onto the page so it looked like the leaves were falling from the tree branches to the woodland floor. To finish, I added the “Fall into Autumn” wording which was die cut from the same design papers as the leaves using a Docrafts alphabet die set.

I love the yellows, browns and coppers colours of the autumnal leaves …

… and this time of year we see lots of fungi on our woodland walks so I thought I’d capture them on my page (grin!).

Both me and my hubby love this time of year and it happens to be our 32^nd wedding anniversary today. We are normally on holiday but as you probably guessed we are happily staying at home this year instead, so I’m sharing a photo of us when we travelled to Maine in America that was taken on our anniversary a few years ago – wishing you a very happy anniversary my darling hubby, love you (grin!).

Thanks so much to The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog  for having me as Guest Designer! I hope that you are inspired by the Fall Foilage challenge too and are able to join in the fun!

Stay safe and keep well! x

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

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like it The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog , 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 so pleased to join the LTSCB #138 – Fall Back over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Fall into Autumn art journal page too.

I’m happy to join in the fun over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the Brusho techniques I used.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge their challenge is Dry Embossing, so I’m pleased to join them with the embossed linen textured cardstock that I used on this page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Make It Sparkle challenge with the sparkle from the metallic cardstock I used for the yellow leaves on my art journal page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join the Autumn Colours challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too; it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Colourcraft Brusho Colours (Yellow, Sandstone, Orange, Brilliant Red, Moss Green, Dark Brown)
• Kitchen Paper Towel used to mop up Brushos
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CR0701/16PL1)
• Metallic Linen Embossed Textured Cardstock – Paper Bundle
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Fall Foliage 660995)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Ephemera Set – Field Notes #TH94051)
• Stix 2 glue dots
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Set (Folk Alphabet XCU503286)

Free to Fly

It’s a new month so we are launching our October challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I had fun creating this page from various mixed media including a recycled magazine page, white gesso, markers, stickers, rub-on transfers and paint; it was inspired by the butterflies that have been sunning themselves on the slate in our front garden – I hope you like it!

I started by tearing a blue page from a magazine into squares and collaging them onto the page using a Pritt Stick and some Liquitex matte gel medium. I intensified the white areas of the page by painting them with Pébéo white gesso allowing the gesso to smudge onto the blue paper squares too. When dry, I edged the squares with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger and then with a black Uni Pin marker.

Next I stuck the pretty 3D butterflies onto the page and added some numbers and words which are rub-on transfers from two Remnant Rub sets by Tim Holtz.

I added some border stickers to frame the “Free to Fly” wording and then to finish, I splattered the page with white acrylic paint.

All you need to do is use three different mediums on your projects to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge and for more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too; it would be lovely to see you there!

This is one of the beautiful butterflies that have been sunbathing on the slate in our garden. This butterfly is a Red Admiral which is widespread across the UK; it has a wingspan of about 2 inches (5 cm) and has distinctive black wings with red bands and white spots.  The Red Admiral butterfly is known to be unusually calm so it allowed me to get quite close to take this photo (grin!).

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

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka pearshapedchris the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the two lines of border stickers that I used to frame the title of my page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the 3D butterflies on this page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my Free to Fly art journal page.

I’m also joining the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Distressing (ink or tool) with the techniques I used to collage and distress the pieces of magazine on my journal page.

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

• Old magazine page
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Home Bargains You & Me Stickers (Beautiful Butterflies 22742)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Specimen #TH94047, Tiny Text #TH93695)
• Sandylion Sticker Designs Kelly Panacci (Stitches & Borders KSCB105)
• Artist Discount Acrylic Paint (White)

Banana Cream Daisy

Today I’m sharing another page inspired by the flowers in my garden, this time a pretty daisy called Banana Cream – such fun (grin!).

I’m pleased to join the Texture challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey with all the texture I added to this page using stamping, inks, paint splatters, stencilled texture paste, linen textured paper, rub-on transfers and gems. Thank you for your lovely comments and wonderful creations so far, I hope you are having as much fun creating texture on your pages as I am!

I started by covering the background using Leaf Green Wendy Vecchi Bendable Dye Ink, Peeled Paint and Forest Moss Distress Inks; stamping the ink pads onto a blending mat, spritzing with water and pressing the mat onto the page. Once dry, I stamped some foliage using a Leaf Prints Tim Holtz stamp set and Peeled Paint and Forest Moss Distress Inks. Next I applied some Scattered Straw Distress Ink using a blending tool and some Pébéo white gesso with my finger which added more texture and depth to the page, and then I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint and the white gesso.

The daisy flowers are rub-on transfers which I applied to some card and cut out; they are all edged with a Cool Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then stuck to the page using a glue stick with some cream linen textured card. The cream linen card was decorated with the rub-on transfers and edged with Scattered Straw Distress Ink and Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to give it a worn look and add more texture. Then I stencilled some Ranger Texture Paste that I coloured with Cadmium Yellow and white gesso through a Reversed Honeycomb stencil. To finish, I added the “Daisy” wording using letter stickers from Kaisercraft and some orange gemstones to add some sparkle.

These are the Banana Cream daisies in my garden; they are a Shasta daisy and have a lovely creamy yellow colour.

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

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

Challenges

I’m joining in the Use Your Favourite Stamps challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as the Tim Holtz foilage stamp set that I used is one of my favourites, especially the fern design.

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

• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Make Art Blendable Dye Ink (Leaf Green)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Leaf Prints CMS273)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• White cardstock
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (White Flowers #ROY-668)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pitt Pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture)
• Pritt Stick
• That’s Crafty! Dinky Stencil (Reversed Honeycomb)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Cadmium Yellow Light Hue)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Mix & Match – Alpha SS252)

Let nature be your calming breath

This month over at A Vintage Journey our challenge is Tag You’re It, which is being hosted by the lovely Amanda. Here’s what it’s all about:

“We would love to see what you create with, or on, hang tags. Your hang tags can be created from any material or be any size. We would just love to see that iconic hang shape front and centre in your design.  Just remember to create your project in one of our preferred styles: vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.

Creating tags for an art journal page is always fun, so, inspired by nature I designed these layered tags – I love the way they turned out (grin!).

For the main hang tag on my art journal page design, I cut out the largest tag from Kraft card stock from the Tag Collection Framelit set by Tim Holtz. Like all the tags, I coloured the inside panel of the tag using a white Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and edged it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool and a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. I also die cut the tag-hole reinforcement using the same Framelit set from butterfly/script design paper.

To embellish this tag I cut three panels from the same Kraft card stock and then layered papers over the top of them using a glue stick. The papers included: some embossed gold napkin; some dressmaking tissue paper which I had stamped using a Finnabair stamp and some black Archival ink; and some torn pieces of the butterfly/script design paper. I layered some Field Notes ephemera from Tim Holtz over the top and added some tiny leaves; the leaves were cut using some Funky Florals Thinlets by Tim Holtz from some recycled notepaper which I had coloured with Mowed lawn, Peeled Paint and Pine Needles Distress Ink. On the top and bottom panels I added the white wording “Live simple” and “Love this life” which are rub-on transfers from Tim Holtz. The three panels were stuck to the hang tag using double-sided tape.

I followed the same process to create the other tags layering them together with the ephemera and leaves – I love the pretty dragonfly! The letters creating the “Let nature be your calming breath” wording were cut from the same green paper that I used for the leaves using an Alphanumeric Labels Thinlet set by Tim Holtz and once glued in place they were outlined using a white gel pen and a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out more.

I mounted all the tags on my page which was covered with the same embossed gold napkin, dressmaking tissue paper (stamped using a Finnabair stamp and some black Archival ink) and butterfly/script design paper that I had used on the tags. Then to finish, I splattered the whole page with some Pébéo white gesso.

I hope you are inspired to join in the Tag You’re It challenge over at A Vintage Journey too, for more inspiration you’ll find some amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey, it would be lovely to see you there!

As you may know, my favourite colour is blue and this plant in particular from my garden reminded me of my page, it’s a Salvia nemorosa called “Blue Marvel” and the bees and insects love it!

My page also reminds me of a frequent visitor to our garden, a small blue butterfly called Common Blue which has proved difficult to photograph. So I was pleased when my dear friend who we walk with, shared this photo of a Large Blue which it is related to and this is one of the rarest blue butterflies in the UK.

I hope that you’re all keeping safe and well!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Alison AKA Craftytrog over at Art Journal Journey and her Pockets and Tags challenge this month with the nature inspired tags on this page.

I’m also pleased to join the Use Your Favourite Tool challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge as I wouldn’t be without my Tim Holtz Thinlets and Big Shot machine that I used to created my page.

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

• Kraft card stock
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (White 101, Cold Grey IV 233)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Pine Needles)
• Napkin
• Style Dressmaking Pattern Tissue Paper
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Gothic Book 966966)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Butterfly/Script Design Paper – local craft shop
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Ephemera Pack (Field Notes #TH94051)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Funky Florals #2 662701, Alphanumeric Label 664177)
• Recycled Notebook Paper
• Stix2 double sided-tape
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Pébéo White Gesso

Adventure Awaits

This month over at A Vintage Journey our challenge is Rustic Charm, which is being hosted by the lovely Astrid. Here’s what it’s all about:

“Rustic describes a design that is natural, rough, aged and casual. We would love to see you create a project using these elements: think nature inspired textures and simple and earthy colours. Just remember to create your project in one of our preferred styles: vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or Steampunk”.

I had so much fun creating this rustic art journal page for this challenge. I thoroughly enjoyed making the wood effect background and this happy bear from my new Tim Holtz Theodore thinlet set really makes me smile!

I started by covering the page with blobs of Burnt Umber, Raw Umber and Burnt Sienna Liquitex acrylic paints and then I used an old gift card to spread the paint over the page in a criss-cross pattern. Any white spaces were lightly coloured with the same paint and a wet paintbrush, then the page was left it to dry.

Next I stencilled some tree trunks using some Ranger Texture Paste and a Pronty Mask Stencil.

When dry, I painted around the stencilled areas of the background with some Parchment Liquitex Acrylic.

Then I scraped the paint horizontally across the page very harshly using the gift card; I did this a number of times until I achieved the worn wood effect I was after. The mixed media paper I use is 250gsm so it can take this type of treatment.

The branches, leaves and flowers were die cut from some linen textured cardstock using a Tattered Florals Thinlet set from Tim Holtz; the branches were coloured using Ground Espresso Distress Ink, the leaves using Mowed Lawn, Shabby Shutters and Forest Moss Distress Ink, and the flowers using a mixture of Fired Brick Distress Ink and White Linen Distress Spray. They are edged, like all of the elements on this page, using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and stuck down using a Zig glue pen.

The signpost was made from some wooden panels that I cut out from some Tim Holtz paper and some wording from a Tiny Text rub-on transfers from Tim Holtz which reads “wander”, “adventure awaits” and “discover”. I added some grey tartan (plaid) paper from the same paper pad to define the ground under the signpost and the bear.

To finish, I created the bear using the Theodore thinlet set and some linen textured cardstock colouring him using Ground Espresso, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, a Black Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker and a Putty Winsor & Newton Promarker – such fun!

I hope you are inspired to join in the Rustic Charm challenge over at A Vintage Journey too, for more inspiration you’ll find some amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey, it would be lovely to see you there!

This page reminded me of a bear that we saw on our travels to Stratford-upon- Avon some years ago when our friends from America came to stay with us.

This bear can also be found on this beer glass and always brings back such happy memories of our time when we were in Stratford together – such fun!

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, like A Vintage Journey, 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 faux tartan/plaid that I included on this page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the Quote challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my “adventure awaits”wording.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Make Your Own Background challenge with the wood effect background that I created for this page.

I’m also pleased to join the Masculine challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page too too.

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna)
• Pronty Mask Stencil (Tree Trunk)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Small Tattered Florals 661806)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Linen Textured Cardstock)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ground Espresso, Mowed Lawn, Shabby Shutters, Forest Moss, Fired Brick, Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, Hickory Smoke)
• Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain (White Linen)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Halloween Paper Stash #TH937120, Tiny Text Remnant Rubs #TH93695)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Theodore 664410)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• Winsor & Newton Promarker (Putty 0618)

Heuchera

At Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Cut It Out.

Like me, you could use die cuts that you make and colour yourself or pre-made die cuts and stickers or you could simply fussy cut something out, the choice is yours!

My page today was inspired by some beautiful heuchera flowers that are flowering in my garden at the moment (grin!).

I started covering the page with Botancial Collage Paper from Tim Holtz using a glue stick and then I covered it with white gesso to push the images back. When dry, I applied some Earl Grey, Caramel, Kiwi and Lime Faber-Castell Gelatos over the top, by scribbling them onto the page and smudging the colour with a wet finger. I then toned down the colours and added some darker shading by applying some Iced Coffee and Iced Chai Faber-Castell Gelatos to the page. Next I added some Ranger Texture Paste through a brick design stencil from Craft Sensations and left it to dry. The brick design is coloured using Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and the Iced Coffee Faber-Castell Gelato. I stencilled a trellis pattern using Black Soot Distress Ink and a Moroccan stencil from Creative Expressions, then I used a baby wipe to remove some of the colour allowing white patches of the collage paper to show through which added depth and contrast to the background. The page is also splattered with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and then black and also white acrylic paint.

I used a Wildflower #2 Tim Holtz thinlet set to die cut the flowers from some linen textured cardstock and coloured the flower petals by painting on some Abandoned Coral Distress Spray Stain using a paintbrush. The leaves and stems are coloured using Olive Green and Forest Green Winsor & Newton Promarkers and they are stuck to the page using a Zig Memory glue pen. To finish, I added a pretty die cut butterfly from a Field Notes Ephemera Pack by Tim Holtz and the “Heuchera” wording which are letter stickers from Kaisercraft.

My Design Teamies have been busy fussy cutting and die cutting to create some amazing Cut It Out inspiration for you over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over and take a look.

Here are the heuchera flowers that are in bloom in our flower bed, they are so delicate with tiny flower heads.

They look very striking with their coral colour especially when they catch the sunlight!

These plants come in all sorts of leaf and flowers colours, to find out more about them check out this Heuchera link.

You may already be aware that I have been completing a series of flower art journal pages inspired by my garden. If you are interested you can see the other pages here:

• Bluebells
• Tulips
• Welsh Poppy

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing a new batch of Raspberry Gin that we made, it tastes so fruity and is ideal for drinking whist sitting in the garden on a hot sunny day – Happy T Day!

You can find the Raspberry Gin recipe here and I think Halle asked about the amount of sugar added – this is just for taste so you can add as much or as little as you like (grin!).

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, 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 Mia from Craftartista over at Art Journal Journey and her Flowers challenge this month with my Heuchera flowered page.

I’m so happy to be able to join the #119 – Picture Inpiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the pretty flowers on my page. Thanks so much for my win too, how exciting!

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

• Tim Holtz idea-ology Collage Paper (Botanical #TH93705)
• Pritt Stick
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Earl grey, Caramel, Kiwi, Lime, Iced Coffee, Iced Chai)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge, Black Soot)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch Of Mica Mask (Moroccan)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflowers #2 661808)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain (Abandoned Coral)
• Winsor & Newton Promarker (Olive Greeb Y724, Forest Green G356)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Ephemera Pack (Field Notes #TH94051)
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Mix & Match – Alpha SS252)

Home is the place to bee

When I was sorting through some old photos on my phone, I saw one of a jug/pitcher with the wording “Home is the place to bee”. It seemed to be very appropriate given that we have to stay at home at the moment – I hope that you are keeping safe and well at home too!

I started by applying Scattered Straw and Tea Dye Distress Ink to the page by dragging the ink pads lightly over the paper and then using a wet paintbrush to disperse the colour. When dry I used a Reversed Honeycomb stencil from That’s Crafty to add the honeycomb design; first applying Tea Dye Distress Ink, then Ranger Texture Paste and then Black Soot Distress Ink making sure that each product had dried between applications. Then I stamped the wording using a Sophisticated Script stamp set from Concord & 9^th and black Archival Ink. The larger honeycombs are cut from a doodle book and coloured with Saffron, Sandstone, Honeycomb and Canary Winsor & Newton Promarkers and then stuck in place using a glue stick.

I stamped the bees which are from a Dovecraft stamp set directly onto the page and also onto some white cardstock using black Archival Ink. Then I coloured the cardstock bees with Canary and Black Promarkers, fussy cut them out and stuck them over the bees I had stamped onto the page. To finish, I added some wooden yellow and white flowers.

Here’s the jug that inspired my page, it was taken in a local store whilst Christmas shopping last year, if you look closely on the top right-hand side of the photo you will see a glass with bees on it which I bought for my sister; she loves bees! As this photo has mugs and glasses too, I’m also sharing it with the T Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday – Happy T Day everyone!

Stay safe and keep well! x

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

Challenges

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

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

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

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Tea Dye, Black Soot)
• That’s Crafty Dinky Stencil (Reverse Honeycomb Background TC031)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Concord & 9^th Stamp Set (sophisticated Script 10056)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Animal Kingdom Suduko and Doodle Book
• Winsor & Newton Promarkers (Saffron 0739, Sandstone 0928, Honeycomb 0547, Canary Y367, Black XB)
• Pritt Stick
• Dovecrafts Premium Clear Stamps (Bee Happy DCSTP129)
• The Works (Wooden Flower Embellishments)
• Stix 2 Glue Dots

Bluebells

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

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

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

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

Stay safe and keep well! x

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

Challenges

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

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

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

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

• Paperbabe Stamps Mixed Media Stencil (ISO Fun)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy, Ground Espresso)
• B&M Craft Goody Bag (Turquoise 321451)
• Studio Light Paper Pad (PPSL84)
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Funky Florals #2 662701)
• Recycled Mixed Media Pad Cover
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CR0240/GE)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Inktense Derwent Pencils (Bright Blue 1000, Apple Green 1400, Field Green 1500)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Layers (Botanical #TH93554)
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Mix & Match – Alpha SS252)

See the Magic

Time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday so for the next two weeks we are asking you to Have fun with stencils. 

I had lots of fun with stencils to create this art journal page, can you see the magic (grin!).

I started by applying Ranger Texture Paste using a Tim Holtz Floral stencil around the right-hand side, top and left-hand side of the page and left it to dry. Then I applied some Bright Aqua Green, Magenta and Cadmium Yellow Liquitex acrylic paints over the whole page including the texture paste. Next I painted some white gesso to lighten the centre of the page so it looked like the sun is streaming through the flowers and foliage. Then I applied some of the Magenta paint using a brayer over the stencilled texture paste which gave a lovely effect highlighting different areas of the flowers with colour. I used the brayer again to apply some of the Magenta paint to some flower stamps from Gummiapan and Carabelle Studios, stamping them in the foreground; I made sure that I cleaned the stamps immediately so the paint didn’t dry on them. Then I splattered the page with some black DecoArt acrylic paint.

Next I stamped some tiny stars and the wording “See the magic” using a Paperbabes Stamps stamp set and black Archival Ink. I edged the page with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stamped a grid design from Sheena using the black Archival Ink. Then I added more detail to the flowers by painting them using the Magenta and black acrylic paints and adding highlights using a white Uniball gel pen which finished the page.

For more inspiration check out the amazing creations from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday who had fun with stencils too!

Some of you were asking if I had candles on the birthday cake that I made, as you can see I did – well just one candle (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing a piece of my birthday cake with my cuppa today! It was so yummy, if you missed it in my previous post it’s a homemade Victoria sponge cake filled with butter cream and cherry jam and topped with pink and white royal icing in a feathered design (double grin!) – Happy T day!

Stay 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, 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 happy to join the lovely Valerie from Bastelmania over at Art Journal Journey and her Geometric Shapes challenge this month with the grid stamp I used on this page.

As birthdays are magical, I’m pleased to be able to join the Birthdays challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my See the Magic page too.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Spring Moodboard challenge with the colours and flowers that I included on this page.

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

• Tim Holtz Layering Stencils (Floral THS077)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Liquitex Artist Basics Acrylic (Bright Aqua Green, Quinacridone Magenta, Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger (Mini Brayer)
• Gummiapan Stamps (Large Rubbeckia 15030501)
• Carabelle Studios Art Stamp (SA60175 Dans la Nature, il y a …)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Paperbabe Stamps (Flourish &  Grow Stamp Set)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pitt Pen (Black 199)
• Sheena Douglas Create A Flower Rubber Stamp (Funky Textures 2 SD-CAFS-FT2)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)