Mere colours …

As I shared a Halloween page to launch our Autumnal Colours and/or Halloween challenge over at Country View Challenges this month, my second creation is an autumnal art journal page featuring a beautiful quote by Oscar Wilde.

For the background I stuck a piece of kitchen towel onto the page which had been stained with Crackling Campfire, Rusty Hinge, Fossilized Amber, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso and Peeled Paint Distress Inks. It was stuck down using Liquitex matte gel medium. When dry, I stamped some fern images over the top using a Leaf Prints Tim Holtz stamp set and Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink. Then I used the fern stamp again to add the gold ferns using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and some Gold Ranger embossing powder. I edged the page using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and I stamped the quote using an old alphabet stamp set and some black Archival Ink. To finish, I used a white gel pen to make the letters stand out more; the quote is by Oscar Wilde and reads “Mere colour … can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways”.

I hope you are inspired to join our Autumnal Colours and/or Halloween challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

At this time of year, I always find myself thinking for our dearest friends in Maine (America) and the holidays we’ve enjoyed with them. The autumnal colours and ferns remind me of our woodland walks around their lake property.

Like the quote says, the autumnal colours speak to my soul – so breathtaking (grin!).

A few years ago, we even celebrated our wedding anniversary whilst we were there (double grin!). It seems like yesterday that me and my hubby got married but this year we find ourselves celebrating 33 years of marriage – sending my hubby all my love on our Anniversary and always! x

I hope that you are all staying safe and well!

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

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link. You can also check out Country View Crafts as they sell many of the Ranger and Tim Holtz products I used too.

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Tracey from Hotchpotchcreations  who is hosting this month with her My favourite colour is October challenge with my autumnal coloured October page (15x15cm). Fall Gratitude challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog as I’m being thankful and paying homage to the autumn season with my quote and fall colours. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #153 – Anything Goes with my autumnal page. LTSCB #150 – Anything But A Card over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my autumnal mini art journal page celebrating autumn. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Not A Card challenge with my autumnal mini chipboard art journal page. Challenge #6 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media autumnal page; this is a new challenge so I thought I’d join in the fun!

Everyday is a true blessing

I had so much fun creating this mixed media page and as using up leftovers is one of my crafting goals this year, I used some leftover paper that I had coloured using Kuretake watercolour to create my autumnal leaves for this page too (grin!).

Don’t forget that you still have until the end of this month to join our #76 Challenge – Anything Mixed Media Goes over at Creative Artiste; you just need to use three different mediums to join in the fun – I hope to see you there!

I started by covering the chipboard background with a layer of Pébéo white gesso and left it to dry, and then I applied a layer of black chalk paint over the top. When dry, I sanded the page in a vertical motion using a piece of sandpaper to expose some of the white gesso underneath to create a worn vintage chalkboard appearance. Next I created the leaves using some leftover paper that was coloured using Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Scarlet Kuretake watercolour paints; I die cut three sizes of the same leaf shape from a Fall Foliage Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and then I applied some Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the leaves to give them more of a grungy look. I stuck the “Everyday is a true blessing” wording in place, which was from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet, and then I arranged the leaves around it using Liquitex matte gel medium. I added dots of Pumpkin Ranger Liquid Pearls and to finish, I splattered the page with the white gesso and also the black chalk paint.

As we had frosts in April that affected the apple blossom, I feel very blessed for the crop of Braeburn apples that we picked this year from our apple trees in our garden. I used some of them to make this delicious cinnamon apple cake with maple frosting which goes perfectly with my cuppa for T Stands for Tuesday – wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

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.

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Tracey from Hotchpotchcreations  who is hosting this month with her My favourite colour is October challenge with my autumn blessings page (15x15cm). Chalk it Up! challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog with the chalk paint background on my autumnal page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #153 – Anything Goes with my autumn blessings page. #144 Autumn Colours over at Sparkles Monthly Challenges with the autumn colours I used on this page. LTSCB #150 – Anything But A Card over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my autumnal mini art journal page. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Not A Card challenge with my autumnal mini chipboard art journal page. Challenge #6 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media autumnal page; this is a new challenge so I thought I’d join in the fun!

Nature

Today I’m sharing a nature page, from my mini art journal, for this month’s The Leaves begin to Fall challenge over at Country View Challenges.

This page features some beautiful Stamperia papers including a collage of leaf images for the background, a pretty bird sitting amongst some oak leaves and the “Nature” wording.

I started by cutting lots of leaf images from a piece of Forest design paper by Stamperia and collaging them onto the page using gel medium. When dry, I edged the paper pieces using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger. Next I fussy cut the bird sitting on a branch, the three oak leaves and “Nature” wording; they were edged with the Dark Sepia marker and then stuck in place which finished the page.

I hope you are inspired to join our The Leaves begin to Fall challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

The autumnal design and oak leaves on my page were also inspired by recent visit to the Royal Oak in Garstang with our family.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a beer that we enjoyed …

… and some of our delicious food; this is chicken, bacon and leeks in a Lancashire cheese sauce – yum!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

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

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Wendy K from wendyscraftjournal.blogspot.com who is hosting this month with her Vintage challenge with my vintage autumnal page. #144 Autumn Colours challenge over at Sparkle Monthly Challenges with my autumnal coloured art journal page. Lots of Layers challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog with all the layers of paper I added to this nature page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #152 – Anything Goes with my nature art journal page. LTCCB #62- September Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my vintage page.

Book pages

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Use Book Pages.

I have some old books in my craft stash that I use for my art journaling and I used quite a few different books to create this page, in fact the only items that aren’t book pages are the sparkly butterflies (grin!).

I started by collaging the background with lots of different torn book pages from an old dictionary from my school days, a Pears Cyclopaedia, an old David Copperfield novel and an old novel with Kraft paper pages. They are stuck down using a glue stick and some Liquitex matte gel medium, and I applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top using a brayer and left it to dry.

Next I fussy cut the gladioli image from an old garden flower book and stuck it in place using a glue stick.

Then I die cut some pages of an old poetry book to create the red border (using a Spellbinders set) and the “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? …” sonnet by William Shakespeare; I layered them together and stuck them onto the page using double-sided tape.

To finish, I added some pretty butterflies to add some sparkle.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and see how our Guest Designer and Design Teamies used book pages on their wonderful creations too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

I always look for books for my art journaling in charity shops and here are two books that I bought back in 2013 with every intention of using them on my pages, but they are so beautiful and precious that instead they remain on my bookshelf and I find myself reading them often. As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my “With a cup of tea” book with the T Gang today and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

My page was also inspired by these beautiful gladioli that are flowering in our garden too (grin!).

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Neet from Hickydorums; she has chosen Type as her theme so I’m joining with my type on the book pages I used on this page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #150 – Anything Goes with my typewriter art journal page. De-stress with distressing over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my distressed book pages which I achieved by tearing them and covering them with white gesso. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Glimmer and Sparkle challenge with the glimmer and sparkle of the butterflies on my page. Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page.

Use a Stencil (or two)

It’s a new month which means we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for July which is Use a Stencil (or two).

Please ensure that the stencils are a main focus of your projects when you join this challenge, which is being hosted this month by the lovely Monica.

For this month’s challenge, I created this mini art journal page using a Stamperia stencil and papers.

I stared by covering the chipboard page with a thin layer of white gesso and then I used a Wallpaper & Compass stencil by Stamperia to add Ranger Texture Paste. The texture paste was coloured using Driftwood DecoArt paint and also using a mixture of some Blue Glamour Dust Acrylic paint from DecoArt and some Mowed Lawn ink from a reinker bottle to create a sparkly patina colour before applying them using a palette knife. When dry edged the page using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger. The deer image and wording were cut out of some Forest Stamperia papers and stuck in place over some strands of thread that I had leftover from some sewing. To finish, I added three pretty silver embellishments which were recycled from a necklace; they were stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I hope you are inspired to join our Use a Stencil (or two) challenge too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use at Country View Crafts (grin!).

This page reminded me of these beautiful metal sculptures that we saw when we visited Portland, Maine. They are part of the “Glimpse” installation by Wendy Klemperer who is a New York artist and created these life-like woodland creatures from steel and repurposed nails.

Like on my page, the deer are surrounded by silver birch trees too – perfect (grin!).

Hoping that you are 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 mini art journal page:

• Stamperia – 15 X 20cm Thick Stencil – Sir Vagabond Wallpaper And Compass
• Ranger – Texture Paste – 3 Pack
• DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint 2oz – Driftwood
• DecoArt – Glamour Dust Glitter Paint – Sapphire Blue – 2oz
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mowed Lawn
• Stamperia – Cristina Radovan – Forest 12×12 Inch Paper Pack
• Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents 59ml (2 Fl Oz)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia)
• Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
• Leftover cotton threads
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Recycled necklace

Challenges As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: MIUCB #51 – Anything Goes + Aperture (any shaped opening) over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #147 – Anything Goes with my mini art journal page. Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page too.

Field Notes

Today’s page celebrates nature and the woodland walks we have been enjoying this summer with our friends; as it’s been so hot we have been walking earlier in the morning so little Ellie, their dog, doesn’t get too hot (grin!).

I started by sticking a piece of Botanical wallpaper over the background using a glue stick and then applying some rub-on transfers around the page which were from a Field Notes Remnant Rubs set by Tim Holtz. I shaded under the tag on the right-hand side of the page using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker so it looked 3D and stood out more. Then I added two ephemera butterflies and some specimen labels, and finally the “Field Notes” chipboard wording which were all from Tim Holtz.

As T Stands for Tuesday, today I’m sharing a recipe for a Blueberry Gin Collins that is perfect for summer; we discovered this drink whilst visiting our friends at their lake house in Maine some years ago. Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Wallpaper sample
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Remnant Rubs Field Notes #TH94047, Ephemera Pack – Field Notes #TH94051, Chipboard Quote Chips – Word & Phrases #TH93563)
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Mia from Craftartista this month and her Butterflies theme with all the butterflies on my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #147 – Anything Goes with my nature art journal page. Dont’ forget that there is still another week to join our Here comes Summer challenge at Try it on Tuesday too; it would be great to see you there!

Moon River Silhouettes

It’s a new month which means we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for March which is Silhouettes.

We would like to see silhouettes as the main focus of your projects for this challenge, which this month is being hosted by the lovely Rachel.

I had so much fun playing around with Tim Holtz products to create my silhouettes page; I hope you like it!

The moon provided a beautiful backdrop silhouetting the trees and the Darling Deer family by the river; it reminded me of my Grandad’s favourite song “Moon River” (grin!).

I started this page by placing and marking out the scene in pencil. This allowed me to apply white gesso to the whole page, ensuring I used horizontal brushstrokes across the sky and the river section which created the texture of clouds in the night sky and the water effect. The gesso acted as a resist and also made it easier to apply and blend the Distress Inks that were used to colour this page.

I used a circle of paper for the moon template and once in place I blended Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks across the sky, keeping the lightest colour around the moon so it looked like it was glowing. I mirrored the colours over the water section and then I removed a circle of ink using a baby wipe to create the moon’s reflection; the gesso retained some of the ink colour to give the watery look and feel. For the land, I applied Forest Moss Distress Ink using a blending tool and then some Ground Espresso Distress Ink to edges of the riverbank. I also added some texture along the riverbabk using an Urban Arts stamp from Tim Holtz and the Ground Espresso ink. The same stamp was used to add the texture to the moon too, this time using Hickory Smoke and Black Soot Distress Ink. I used a black fine line marker to add some grass to the land, the horizon and some ripples across the water which I also detailed using a white gel pen.

The silhouette deer, trees and shrubs were cut from some recycled black card using Tim Holtz Thinlits die sets; the deer family using a Darling Deer Thinlits set, the trees using a Woodlands set and the shrubs using a Funky Florals #1 set. The wording was created using a Doodle Alphabet & Numbers Sizzix Thinlits set and all the silhouettes were stuck in place using matte gel medium.

For more inspiration please see the wonderful Silhouettes creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I hope you are inspired to join us too, if you do, you’ll also have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

This page reminded me of my Grandad, his favourite song was Moon River by Andy Williams.

I bought this lamp to remember my Grandad by, the year he passed away. I call it my Moon River lamp and every night when I turn it on, I’m reminded of him and I normally find myself singing the song too (grin!).

Hoping that you are 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:

• 664968 – Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 4PK – Darling Deer By Tim Holtz
• 659765 Sizzix Big Shot Starter Kit (White & Gray)
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Peacock Feathers
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mermaid Lagoon
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Forest Moss
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Black Soot
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Chipped Sapphire, Ground Espresso, Hickory Smoke)
• Sizzix Thinlits Die Set (Woodlands 660978 by Tim Holtz, Funky Florals #1 662700 by Tim Holtz, Doodle Alphabet & Numbers 663408 by Sophie Guilar)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Urban Tapestry CMS061)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Recycled black card packaging
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Challenges I’m pleased to join the Anything But A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my art journal page. I’m happy to join Paperbabe Stamps and their #138 – Anything Goes challenge with my silhouettes journal page too. I’m also pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my Just Breathe art journal page.

Hello Spring

I’m thrilled to have joined the wonderfully talented Design Team over at Country View Challenges and today I’m pleased to share my second project for our First Signs of Spring challenge.

I would like to say a special thank you to Susan for the lovely introduction today over at Country View Challenges and also to the Design Team for their warm and friendly welcome (grin!).

I really enjoyed creating this mini art journal page with the little bunnies, pretty butterflies and colourful blossom. I used a Sizzix Bunny Scene Thinlits die set which is a great design for both journaling and cards and it was so easy to use.

For the background, I covered the chipboard page with two coats of white gesso and then two coats of Speckled Egg Distress Paint. I applied some white gesso over the top using a brayer and for the grass I painted Twisted Citron Distress Paint along the bottom of the page. When dry, I rubbed a baby wipe through a Waves stencil from Creative Expressions which removed some of the paint, leaving a lighter mark in the shape of the stencil. I splattered the page using white gesso and the two Distress Paints, and left it to dry. Then I applied Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink around the edges.

The Bunny Scene and butterflies were die cut from some white linen texture cardstock using the Sizzix Thinlits set and my Big Shot machine. I used one of my favourite techniques to create the wood effect on the tree using Distress Inks and gel medium; I dragged Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso stamp pads over the tree and then I painted gel medium over the top, keeping the ink and brush strokes flowing vertically up the tree trunk and along branches to mimic the wood grain.

For the bunnies, I masked their tails so that they stayed white and I coloured them using the Tea Dye and Vintage Photo inks. I used a black marker and white gel pen for their eyes.

For the blossom, leaves, grass and flowers I used the Bunny Scene Thinlit again; they were cut from some linen textured cardstock that I had coloured green, yellow, pink and purple using Distress Inks (see ink colours listed below). After cutting them out they were stuck in place, like all the elements on the page, using gel medium.

I used the same cardstock that I had coloured to create the triangles for the bunting and an Alphanumeric Label Thinlits set from Tim Holtz for the white cardstock letters. The bunting triangles were arranged over some waxed thread using glue dots. To finish, I added some pearl gems to the white butterflies and stuck them in place.

I hope that you are enjoying our First Signs of Spring challenge over at Country View Challenges too; it would be lovely to see you there, and if you do join us then you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts website too (grin!).

I also want to thank you for your lovely comments and wishes of congratulations last week when I joined the Country View Challenges Design Team with my first project. I’m so looking forward to sharing my creations with you, visiting your blogs and being inspired by your projects too!

I love this bunny scene and the butterflies reminded me of the ones in my craft room (grin!).

You can see the butterflies here as they fly above my craft desk; I was surprised how tidy it looks, my hubby will tell you that my craft room isn’t normally this tidy (double grin!).

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

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

The chipboard mini art journal album, Bunny Scene Thinlits die set, Distress Paints and Creative Expressions Stencil that I used on this page were all Christmas presents – yay (grin!).

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

• 663320 – Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 3PK – Bunny Scene By Olivia Rose
• Ranger – Tim Holtz® -Distress Paint – Speckled Egg
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Paint Dabber – Twisted Citron
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil – Waves
• Ranger , Tim Holtz® Distress Archival Mini Ink Pad Kit #3
• 659765 Sizzix Big Shot Starter Kit (White & Gray)
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Tea Dye
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mowed Lawn
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Forest Moss
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Twisted Citron
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mustard Seed
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Fossilized Amber
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Seedless Preserves
• Ranger – Tim Holtz® – Distress Ink Pad – Speckled Egg
• Ranger Roller – Small Brayer 2 1/4
• Docrafts Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Picked Raspberry)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Alphanumeric Labels 664177)
• Trimits (Waxed Thread CB923)
• Simply Creative (Pearl Gemstones)
• Stix2 glue dots

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the Groundhog Day over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as I used a technique that’s an old favourite of mine to create the tree wood grain and my Distress Inks are my preference when it come to adding colour, I use them again and again. I’m joining LTCCB #55 – February Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my Happy Spring chipboard page. I’m also joining MIUCB #46 – Anything Goes + Fancy Fold over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the fun stencilling and wood grain techniques that I used to create this page. I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month, I’m being a bit cheeky and hoping the heavy metal rings holding my book pages together which are an integral part of my Happy Spring page (15x15cm in size) photo allows me to join in the fun.

First Signs of Spring at Country View Challenges

I’m so excited and honoured to have joined the wonderfully talented Design Team over at Country View Challenges . It’s such an inspirational blog and being part of this team is a dream come true – thanks so much for your warm and friendly welcome!

At Country View Challenges our challenge for February is First Signs of Spring, which is being hosted this month by the lovely Miriam.

I love celebrating the different seasons and creating this blossom and birdsong art journal page was so uplifting (grin!).

When I thought of birdsong, I knew that I had to use these beautiful images from my new Forest Paper Pad by Stamperia; this included the forest panel on the left hand side of the page, the pretty bird tag and the square nest image. They were cut out and edged with a Dark Sepia marker and/or some Black Soot Distress Ink. To make them look more Spring-like, I added additional colours by painting Distress Inks over parts of the images; it’s important not to add too much water when doing this otherwise you could ruin the image. I used Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron ink to add more vibrancy to the green areas of the forest panel and to the bird’s feathers, and also to add green leaves to the bare trees and colour the leaves on the nest image. I painted some Mustard Seed ink to add more vibrancy to the yellow feathers of the bird and also to add some colour to the nest. Then finally I painted the eggs using Speckled Egg ink and left them all to dry.

For the background, I coloured the page with splashes and drips of Hickory Smoke, Mowed Lawn and Forest Moss Distress Ink. I did this by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page.

Then I brayered some white gesso over the top to push the colours into the background more and then splattered the page with white acrylic paint. I stencilled dots vertically down the page using a Halftone Layering Stencil from Tim Holtz and Ranger Crackle Paste; this is the first time I have used this paste and it was so easy to apply with a palette knife – I love the results (grin!).  

Next I stuck the Stamperia paper pieces in place using double-sided tape. Then I created the blossoms and leaves using Tim Holtz Thinlits and some white linen card stock which I had coloured using Distress Inks. The blossoms were coloured with Mustard Seed and Fossilised Amber ink and die cut using a Tattered Florals Thinlit set. The leaves using Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron and Forest Moss Distress Ink and cut using a Garden Greens Thinlits set. After shaping the flower petals and adding a gold pearl to the centre of each flower, I arranged them onto the page using glue dots. To finish, I added the “blossom” and “birdsong” wording which was created from some Field Notes Ephemera by Tim Holtz, an alphabet stamp set and black Archival Ink.

For more inspiration you’ll find some amazing First Signs of Spring creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I hope you are inspired to join us too, and if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use at Country View Crafts (grin!).

The birds in our garden have been very active of late. We’ve even seen the Great Tits that are on my page, but we have noticed that this pair of Coal Tits visit our bird feeders more frequently.

This made me smile, can you think of a good caption for this photo? Maybe the bird is saying “Hello, is anyone there?” or “It’s really dark in here” (grin!).

Hoping that you are 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:

• Stamperia – Cristina Radovan – Forest 12×12 Inch Paper Pack
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mowed Lawn
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Forest Moss
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Black Soot
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Twisted Citron
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mustard Seed
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Fossilized Amber
• Ranger – Tim Holtz® – Distress Ink Pad – Speckled Egg
• Ranger Roller – Small Brayer 2 1/4
• THS144 Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencil – Halftone
• Ranger Texture Paste Opaque Crackle 3.9 Fl Oz (116 Ml)
• 659765 Sizzix Big Shot Starter Kit (White & Gray)
• TH94051 Tim Holtz® Idea-Ology™ – Ephemera Field Notes
• Ranger Archival Ink Pad, Jet Black – 90mm X 62mm
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175B)
• Stix2 double-sided tape and glue dots
• Creative Expressions (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Textured Finish)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Garden Greens  661206, Mini Tattered Floral 661806)
• Pearl Gemstones
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the #136 – Patterns challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the stencilled lines of dots that are on my page. I’m joining MIUCB #46 – Anything Goes + Fancy Fold over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different techniques I used, including the fun way that I coloured the paper images so they became more Spring-like. I’m also happy to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page too. I also pleased to be able to join in the fun at Love to Craft Challenge Blog and enter my spring blossom and birdsong page in their LTCCB #55 – February Anything Goes challenge.

So Delicate at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

I’m so pleased and honoured to be Guest Designer over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog for their So Delicate challenge.

Jenny is hosting, here’s what she has to say about this challenge:
“Although it’s not always evident in my projects, I have a real passion for delicate laces, fragile flowers, fine stitching, intricate artwork and exquisite architecture. For this challenge create something delicate or a vintage/shabby chic project that features delicate things in it.”

I enjoyed using different techniques and mediums to create this delicate page starting with the delicately painted background. I covered the background with water first and then added Kuretake watercolours over the top using a paintbrush; the colours I used were Ultramarine Pale, Yellow Ochre, Sap Green and a mixture of Black and White.

The elegant lace flower heads were stamped using one of my favourite stamps from Carabelle Studio and black Archival Ink. The flower heads were coloured using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then I added lots of sparkle using some Silver Stickles from Ranger.

For the wording and butterflies, I coloured some white tissue paper using Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks. I did this by stamping the ink pads onto a blending mat, spritzing with water and pressing the tissue paper over the top. When dry, I die cut the letters for the wording using Alphanumeric Label Thinlits set and the butterflies using Springtime Sidekick Thinlits set from Tim Holtz.

I glued the wording onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium which was a bit fiddly as the letters were so fine; it reads “be still and listen, the earth is singing”. To finish, I arranged the butterflies around the page using some glue dots. I love how the tissue paper butterflies and wording look so fragile and delicate (grin!).

Thanks so much to The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog  for having me as Guest Designer! I hope that you are inspired by the So Delicate challenge too and are able to join in the fun (grin!).

There are so many delicate things to observe in nature and as I live by the sea, my watercolour background was inspired by this sea view with its pale colours and soft lighting; this was taken whilst walking along the beach near our house .

The lace flower heads, touches of green and pretty butterflies on my page were inspired by our garden. It reminded me of all the Painted Lady butterflies that visited last summer; here are a couple on the lavender (grin!).

I hope that you’re staying safe and well! x

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

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

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine Pale, Yellow Ochre, Sap Green, Black, White)
• Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (Dans la nature, il y a … SA60175
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Ranger Stickles (Silver)
• Recycled white tissue paper
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Chipped Sapphire)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlit (Alphanumeric Label 664177)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Sidekick Thinlit (Springtime 662711)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 glue dots

Challenges I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like it The Funkie Junkie Boutique 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 pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge as I used one of my favourite flower stamp sets. As I used my favourite Carabelle Studio stamp set to create the lace flowers on my page, I’m also pleased to be able to join Stamping Sensations and their Favourite Stamps challenge too. I’m also joining the Beautiful Blooms challenge over at the Allsorts Challenge with the pretty sparkly flowers on my page. I’m happy to join in the LTSCB #141 – Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my delicate nature page. I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page too. I’m joining the MIUCB #45 – Anything Goes + Bleaching challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my page too.