Wish you were here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Challenges

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Beer & Ale

I created another masculine page for our It’s a Man’s World challenge over at Try it on Tuesday where there is still another week to join in the fun, it would be lovely to see you there!

This time my page celebrates Beer & Ale using some vintage images from old magazines and a background that I had created sometime ago to experiment whilst trying out a new technique using Brushos – such fun!

For the background, I stamped a Steampunk Background stamp from Docrafts onto the page using a Versamark Watermark stamp pad and then I sprinkled Sandstone, Dark Brown, Terracotta and Yellow Ochre Colourcraft Brusho Powders over the top and used a paintbrush to brush the powder over the stamp images so that it clung to the Watermark Ink. Then I then spritzed the page with water a few times and watched the Brusho colours burst to life; if you want the stamping to be more defined spritz lightly with water – such a fun technique! Next I fussy cut some vintage brewery and beer images from some old magazines, stuck them in place using a glue stick and outlined them with a black Uni Pin Marker. The “2/11” plaque, letters for the “beer” and “ale” wording and large button are all Salvage Stickers from Tim Holtz. Next I added the cogs and gears which are wooden chipboard pieces from Boozybear using Ranger Glossy Accents and to finish, the words “collect beautiful moments” which are Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz.

As you probably know by now, me and hubby like our beer and I thought Bleubeard and Elizabeth over at T Stands for Tuesday may like the story of how this beer came to be called Old Tom. It’s brewed at Robinsons Brewery in Stockport, Cheshire and it’s almost as old as the brewery itself. It’s a dangerous 8.5% ABV, that’s why I only have a taster in my glass (grin!). This beer was born in 1899, when Tom, the old brewery cat, was sketched into immortality by the head brewer. It is rich and warming, and has a distinctive deep port wine finish, with bitter hops balanced by the heady aromas of dark fruit – cheers and Happy T Day!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words “collect beautiful moments”.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, their theme is Transport It, so I’m pleased to join in the fun as you can see in the images that the beers on my page are being transported by men, locomotives, horse and carts.

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

• Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Colourcraft Brusho Colours (Sandstone, Dark Brown, Terracotta, Yellow Ochre)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk Background DCE907128)
• Old Magazines
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH93898)
• Boozybear Chipboard Pieces (Cogs andGears)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk # TH93193)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Pritt Stick

Lytham St. Annes

Loving the happy colours of some vintage images of Lytham St. Annes that I found in a magazine, I was inspired to create this happy page to celebrate where we live and sunshiny weather which I have been wishing for of late (grin!).

I started by blending some white and blue Liquitex acrylic paints to cover the background of the page; varying the colours and also adding some Peach Liquitex acrylic paint to produce an aged and worn look. Next I added some blue and white striped washi tape vertically and horizontally onto the page, then lots of rub-on transfers and stickers to build up the design; they include some vintage black and white rub-on transfers, some beach designed stickers and rub-on transfers and also some 3D fabric flower and heart stickers. I used a black Uni Pin marker to outline some of them so they stood out more. To finish, I cut out the Majestic Hotel and Lytham St. Annes images from a local advertising magazine, mounted them onto some black paper and stuck them to the page using double-sided tape or foam tape.

We feel very blessed to live by the sea and there is nothing better than walking along the beach. One of our favourite regular walks is with our very good friend, where we start at Fairhaven Lake …

…. and walk alongside the dunes towards the beach which you can just about see in the distance …

… along the beach passing the beach huts …

…. and past the pier and then back along the promenade returning to Fairhaven Lake. It’s about 4.25 miles and we always see lots along the way whether it’s winter birds or the summer tourists (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 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 of Halle’s Hobbies and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey as the words say Lytham St. Annes is the perfect resort especially when you live here (grin!).

I’m happy to join the #193 Here Comes The Sun challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my sunshiny page.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Vacation challenge with my Lytham St. Annes art journal page.

I’m also joining the Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday Summer Vibes! Challenge as this page reminds me of summer.

Don’t forget that you still have over a week to join the It’s a Man’s World 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:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Swedish Blue, Navy, Apricot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.5mm)
• The Works (Washi Tape Set)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Create-A-Collage (Travel Collage #ROY-871)
• Craft Planet Metallic Waterfall Sticker Set (Beach PO#9622)
• Wilko (Let’s Create A5 Stickers)
• Old Magazine
• Coloured Paper (Black)
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Man’s World

Time for a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday and for the next two weeks our challenge is It’s a Man’s World. So be masculine, it could be something for Father’s Day or for a male birthday.

As I always find it hard to get started on masculine designs, I ended up getting all my appropriate crafting goodies out for inspiration and once I got started I really enjoyed creating this page; it all came together quickly and I love the grungy vintage look and I hope you do too!

I started by ripping some decoupage paper into large pieces and sticking it to the page using a glue stick. Then I stencilled the metal plate effect using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and a Dinky Stencil from That’s Crafty! I splattered the page with water to smudge the Hickory Smoke ink using a piece of kitchen towel giving it a grungy look. Next I smooshed and splattered some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink over the page and I edged the pieces of decoupage paper using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. To finish the background, I added three rub-on transfers from Royal & Langnickel which I outlined using a black Uni Pin marker so the edges looked worn and then I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint. Next I layered all the different paper elements together having edged them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool and also a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before I stuck them onto the page. They included: letters creating the “mans world” wording, some numbered tiles and shields which are Crowded Attic Salvage Stickers by Tim Holtz; some pieces of a book page which I distressed with scissors along the edge; a vintage car stamp from Tim Holtz which I stamped onto some American Crafts paper and also some recycled Kraft paper using black Archival Ink and then fussy cut out; a clock which was stamped using a Kaisercraft stamp and black Archival Ink onto the same American Crafts paper then cut out; a clock which I fussy cut from an old magazine; two Victorian style brown tags; two wooden effect tags from Docrafts that read “Brilliant” and “The World’s Greatest”, and I emphasised their design using a black Uni Pin marker; a ruler which I cut into two pieces and finally two round discs, which read “in these moments time stood still” and “A lifetime of memories” all of which are fussy cut from a Kaisercraft paper sheet. To finish, I added some brown metal brads to all of the tags and splattered black DecoArt acrylic paint over everything.

For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our pie and a pint that we enjoyed whilst sitting in the sunshine at a local pub. We only had one day of sunshine last week and I’m now wishing for more with all the grey cloudy and rainy days we have had of late, although I’m sure the flowers in my garden are grateful (grin!). If you are wondering, our pie is meat and potato which is much loved in the North of England, you probably won’t find this pie in the South of England. It’s served hot and goes very nicely with a pint of beer too – cheers and Happy T day!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies  and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Masculine challenge with my Man’s World page.

I’m pleased join in the fun over at Creative Artiste and their June #50 – Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge with my mixed media art journal page (which included decoupage paper, ink, markers, stickers, etc).

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

• Trimcraft Santora London (Decoupage Papers SBDEC043)
• That’s Crafty! Dinky Stencil (Metal Grid Background – TC041)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B, Black 199)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Create-A-Collage (Men’s Accessories #ROY-853)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Book page
• Tim Holtz {Components} Collection Stamper Anonymous (COM013 CAR)
• American Crafts Papers (DIY Store 366665)
• Recycled Kraft Notepaper
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Vintage- Believe CS832)
• Old Magazine
• The Works (Victorian Style Embellishments)
• Docrafts A5 Die-Cut Toppers & Sentiments (Mr. Smith’s Workshop PMA157261)
• Kaisercraft Glossy Paper Story Book Collection (Trinkets PS445)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• Pritt Stick

Hello Spring

As spring is officially here, I was inspired to create this page using a mainly green colour palette to say Hello Spring – I hope you like it!

I started by die cutting a lattice pattern out of some pretty vintage floral paper using a Spellbinders die and my Big Shot machine; I stuck the die cut lattice and resulting tile pieces onto the page using a Pritt Stick and covered them with Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I added some Peeled Paint Distress Ink by stamping the ink pad onto a blending matt, adding water and applying it to the page using a paintbrush; I let the ink run down the page and pool around the die cut pieces. Once the ink was dry, I emphasised the die cut lattice and tiles by shading around them with a Bud Green and Moss Spectrum Aqua Marker, a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and also a black Uni Pin marker, smudging the colours with my finger. I stamped a texture stamp from BoBunny using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker over the background which reminded me of woven willow fencing. Next I die cut some leaves out of green paper using Garden Green thinlets by Tim Holtz and coloured them using Mowed lawn Distress Ink and Cottage Ivy Memento Ink; they are stuck to the page using a Zig Memory System glue pen. I added the pink mini paper flower embellishments using Ranger Glossy Accents and added some mini pearl gemstones to their centres. The wording is cut from a magazine and is mounted on a recycled piece of card. I doodled along the leaf die cut edges and also framed the wording using a black Uni Pin marker and splattered the whole page with Peeled Paint Distress Ink, then black and also white DecoArt acrylic paint. To finish, I added lots of tiny butterfly stickers.

The colours of the pretty flowers on this page remind me of these roses which are adorning my kitchen table at the moment; the shades of pink and cream colours are so beautiful!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the Hello Springtime challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey with my Hello Spring page. I hope you are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

Over at The Artistic Stamper, their challenge is Colour It Green, so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my green spring page.

I’m joining in the Miniature/Tiny Things challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the tiny butterflies I added to my page.

I’m also happy to join in the fun over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their theme Anything + optional twist of inked background with my inked background Hello Spring page.

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

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy)
• Spectrum Aqua Markers (Bud Green, Moss)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.05mm)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Spellbinders Die – unknown
• BoBunny Stamp (Rough It Up 12105155)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Garden Greens 661206)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Design Block 25 x 25cm, Mini Paper Flower Embellishments)
• Crafter’s Companion Designer Paper Pad (Angelica & Adam Collection A&A-PAP6-M)
• Old Magazine
• Recycled white card
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Fancy Sticker Sheet (Flowers & Butterflies 28965)
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Ranger Glossy Accents

The Journey

My springtime page today features a white hydrangea, pretty butterflies and a quote which reads “The Journey is never truly over it just changed course”. I find that this quote applies not only to life but also to my art journaling as I often start with one idea for a particular page which then changes course as I create it (grin!), do you find this happens to you too?

For the background, I started by collaging pieces of dictionary pages, dressmaking pattern tissue paper and some homemade decoupage paper to the page using matt gel medium; I wanted a grungy look, so I let the tissue papers crease as I applied them to the page.

I had fun making the decoupage papers and for the one I used on this page, I stamped recycled brown tissue paper using a Script stamp from Kaisercraft and black Archival Ink (pictured at the bottom of the photo).

Once the gel medium had dried, I blended Parchment, Cadmium Yellow, Navy and Green Liquitex acrylic paints to create different shades of green and then stippled and splattered them onto the page using a paintbrush to build up the background colour. When the paint way dry, I added Peeled Paint and Black Soot Distress Ink to emphasise the grunge look using a baby wipe and then I added some Pébéo white gesso using a paint brush. When the page was dry, I applied Peacock Feathers Distress Ink with a baby wipe over the white gesso giving it a blue tinge. Next I stencilled splatters using Black Soot Distress Ink and a blending tool through a textured template from The Crafter’s Workshop. I used the same template to add splatters of Ranger Texture Paste and when dry covered the paste using DecoArt white acrylic paint so it stood out more. The letters are cut from an old magazine and stuck to the page using the matte gel medium; they are outlined using a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen. I stuck the pretty die cut hydrangea in place and added the butterflies which are rub-on transfers; I thought the butterflies went well with the “The Journey is never truly over it just changed course” quote that I selected for the page. To finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

This page reminds me of a pretty hydrangea that we saw at a local garden centre, this is a tree variety and has the most beautiful snowy lime flowers – I love it (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to link my art journal page to the Hello Springtime challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey with my springtime page – I hope to see you there!

I’m joining the Close to Nature challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my springtime page of butterflies and flowers.

I’m also pleased to join the Embrace The Journey challenge over at A Vintage Journey as the quote that I used applies to my creative journey which inspired my Mixed Media Style page – Happy 5^th Birthday!

Over at The Artistic Stamper, their challenge is Colour It Green, so I’m pleased to join this challenge too with my green and grungy springtime page.

I’m also joining the Letters and/or Numbers challenge over at Country View Challenges with the recycled magazine letters that I used for the quote and those that can be found on the background.

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:

• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Navy, Christmas Green)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Peeled Paint, Black Soot, Peacock Feathers)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Script CS752)
• The Crafter’s Workshop Ronda Palazzari Designs (Texturized 12×12 Template)
• The Pocket Oxford Dictionary
• Style Dressmaking Pattern
• Brown Tissue Paper
• Old Magazine
• K & Company Susan Winget (Floral Die-Cut Cardstock)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (LAN1236G)
• Winsor & Newton Matt Gel Medium

Spring Greetings – Art Journal Cover

I always find that I have a huge selection of scraps leftover from creating art journal pages, which for some reason I just can’t seem to throw away (grin!). I usually try to use them up on my art journal covers and as I often use the same materials that can be found in the journal, the covers then also remind me of the pages that are inside (double grin!).

As my journal holds some of the springtime pages that I created for my Hello Springtime theme over at Art Journal Journey that I am hosting, I gave the cover a springtime feel too – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the background with a book page that I recycled from a part-work magazine, using as I did to stick all the paper elements, Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I used some washi tape, with a tape measure design on it, over the seam where two pieces of the book pages joined together. Next I stuck some lattice die cut pieces, remnants of a recycled brown bag, leftover pieces of teabag and also scrap pieces of wallpaper to the page. I added the robin, branches and leaves which are ripped pieces of tissue and then the scene started looking more like springtime, so I coloured the leaves using a Bud Green Spectrum Aqua Marker. The flowers are cobbled-together using leftover pieces of hydrangea flowers from a wallpaper sample and rub-on transfers of violets by Royal & Langnickel, along with some stamped hydrangea flowers using Elderberry Memento Ink. They are loosely coloured with watered down Purple and Navy Spectrum Aqua Markers so the flowers blended together. I also stamped the “My Art Journal” wording using the Elderberry Memento Ink and added more colour to the lettering using the Purple and Navy Spectrum aqua markers again. The “spring greetings” banner, “grow” tag and “plant a garden” banner are Graphic 45 Cardstock Stickers and I used the tape measure washi tape to bind and finish the edges of the page.

As you probably know by now, I love robins and this page reminded me of a robin we saw on a springtime walk last year. I think he had stopped by to say “hello”, isn’t he adorable (grin!).

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Art Journal 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 also joining the Close to Nature challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my springtime art journal cover.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Create a Scene challenge too.

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

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

• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Elderberry)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Purple, Navy, Bud Green)
• Craft Sensations (Clear Stamps 154884)
• Clarity Stamp (Word Chain STA-WO-10048-XX)
• Leftover papers – lattice die cuts, recycled brown bag, teabag paper, wallpaper sample, tissue
• Recycled book page from part-work magazine
• Graphic 45 Cardstock Stickers (Place in Time 4500617, Seasons 4501629)
• Michael’s (Washi Tape)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium