Make your own background … for Simon Says Stamp

Hi everyone! I am so delighted and honoured to be in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

This week the theme is Make Your Own Background.

As it is the first Monday of the month Simon Says Stamp are featuring Carabelle Studios Products, so I had fun using some of their products to create this art journal page and you’ll find the details of how I created this page below.

I had fun making my own background and to start I added some pieces of torn dictionary pages to add some interest. Then I spritzed the page with water and applied three Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints (paint colours were No.34, No.64 and No.139) using a paintbrush.

Next I applied some white gesso using my finger and then I used a Carabelle Studio stencil, called Sur Fond De Mosaïque, to add Picked Raspberry and also Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink using a blending tool. I added more of the same watercolour paints to further define the edges of the colours and to finish my background, I stamped a Carabelle Studio stamp, called Background Avec Des Lettres, using black Archival Ink.

For the flowers, I stamped the Carabelle Studio Fleurs Dalex Cling Stamp Set using black Archival Ink onto white cardstock.

I coloured them using Spectrum Aqua Markers which I blended with a wet paintbrush; the colours were Yellow, Gold, Sunflower, Bud Green and Leaf Green. Then I cut them out which took some time (grin!).

I also used the same white cardstock to create the Inspire wording, which I drew using some magazine letters as a template, cut out and coloured using the yellow shades of Spectrum Aqua Markers and a white Uni Posca Paint Pen creating an ombré effect.

The flowers, wording and “Channel your inner Picasso” are edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen and a black fine line marker, and then they are stuck into place using a Zig Glue Pen. To finish, I coloured the stamens of the flowers using a white Uni Posca Paint Pen and then outlined them with the black fine line marker.

I had such fun creating my page for this challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration check out the amazing creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge (grin!).

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a $50 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! and one lucky participant will be randomly drawn to win this voucher. How amazing is that! Good Luck to everyone!

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 over at Simon Says Stamp that were used to create this art journal page:

• Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi 18 Color Set
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad (Picked Raspberry)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Chipped Sapphire)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Carabelle Studio Fleurs Dalex Cling Stamp
• Crafter’s Companion Floral Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker
• Crafter’s Companion Primary Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker
• Faber-Castell Craft Stamper Big Brush Pen (Black)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Crafter’s Companion Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock
• Zig Chisel Tip Glue Pen
• Ranger Inkssentials MINI MISTER Spray Bottle Tool
• Docrafts 5 x 7 Clear Stamp Block Papermania
• Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy Cleaner
• Ranger Ink Blending Tool Applicator Foam

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Fall Colours

My art journal page today is inspired by our recent holiday/vacation to America where we stayed with friends at their lake house in Maine. We had the most amazing time and as you can imagine I have returned from my holiday with new crafting goodies and lots and lots of inspiration, so here’s my first page – I hope you like it.

For the background I applied a thin wash of Salty Ocean Distress Ink by stamping the ink pad directly onto an acrylic block, spritzing the ink with water and using a paint brush to apply it onto the page. Next I layered a beautiful Tree Poem stamp from Stampendous over the page using different colours of Distress Ink to depict the fall colours that we saw on our vacation; the Inks I used were Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Seedless Preserves and Vintage Photo. The “who”, “what”, “where” cards are created from a 3.25 x 5.25 inch card from a Tim Holtz idea-ology Pocket Cards set that I bought whilst on vacation; I cut it into three individual cards and rounded the corners with scissors so they all looked alike. I added the words to each of the cards using a Zig glue pen and the cards are stuck in place using double-sided tape. For “who” card, I added our friends and our first initials and the date we visited them; these are cut from a card from the same Tim Holtz card set and coloured using a Burgundy Spectrum Aqua Marker. For the other two cards I chose words from a tourist magazine that related to our visit, this included “Lakes” as we actually stayed at our friend’s Lake House, “Crafty Creations” to relate to crafting and craft beers, “Lobster Love” as Maine lobster is amazing, “In Nature” as we did lots of walking and hiking, “Go Coastal” as we visited some local beaches, “Mountains” where we went to see the magnificent fall colours and “After Dark” as we had fun in the evenings going out, meeting people or watching Baseball or American Football in the evening. For the “where”, as we stayed in Maine and their slogan is “The way life should be” I thought it would be fun to include this wording on the card as we so enjoyed living the lake life with our friends so much. These cards are arranged on the page with some dried and pressed leaves from our friends local area and also an American flag and red heart that Erika kindly gifted me when I met up with her on our visit. The small red and yellow maple leaf is very special as my friend picked it out and gave it to me; all the leaves are stuck in place using wood glue giving them a lovely shine and suppleness.

We stayed in Maine at our friends lake house, isn’t it spectacular!

We woke up to this spectacular view every morning …

… and watched the fall colours develop and change while we were there, which was amazing (grin!).

Here are the trees that inspired the background for my page – the fall colours on the lake looked so stunning, especially with those beautiful reflections!

I’m sure I’ll be creating more art journal pages of our trip as we made so many happy memories with our friends and that means I’ll also be sharing more photos from our holiday too (grin!).

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 Linda from heARTfullyinspiredby Linda, who is hosting the Creature Comforts challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the warm autumnal colours and the comfort of spending time and creating such happy memories with our dear friends.

Over at Moo Mania and More the theme is Autumn so I’m pleased to join their challenge with my Fall Colours page.

Inspired by my vacation, I’m also joining the Autumn Splendour challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my Art Journalling Style page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Plant-tastic challenge over at Country View Challenges with the autumnal trees and leaves on my page.

With my inky autumnal stamped page, I’m also joining the Inktober challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

I’m joining in the fun over at Stamps and Stencils and their Spooky Fun with an Autumnal Twist challenge with my mixed media autumnal page.

As the challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps is Anything Goes challenge, I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge too with my vacation inspired page.

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

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Seedless Preserves, Vintage Photo)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Burgundy)
• Stampendous Cling Rubber Stamp (Tree Poem CRR164)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Tourist Magazine
• American flag and red heart button from Erika – thank you!
• Zig Memory System Dual Action Glue Pen
• Evo-Stik Wood Adhesive
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Autumn Critters

As it was the Autumn Equinox last weekend it’s now officially autumn – yay! I really enjoyed summer but I love autumn too, so I found myself inspired by some critters depicted on some seasonal gifts that I had seen in our local shops.

I started by covering the page with Aquamarine Spectrum Aqua marker ink that I applied to an acrylic block, spritzed with water and pressed onto the page. I then divided the page into four quadrants and started to create a different background for each of my little critters, which are foam stickers. To create a home for the fox, I stamped lots of ferns from a Royal & Langnickel stamp set using Orange and Terracotta Spectrum Aqua markers and London Fog Memento Ink. The owl is sitting in some silver birch trees that I stamped using the same London Fog Memento Ink and I also outlined and doodled the bark detail onto the trees using a Uni Pin black marker. The golden leaves are stamped using a Gold Spectrum Aqua marker ink and a leaf stamp from Royal & Langnickel, and I outlined them and added more detail using the black Uni Pin marker. I used the same Royal & Langnickel stamp set to stamp the leaves for the hedgehog; this time I used the London Fog Memento Ink and three different colours of Spectrum Aqua markers which were Gold, Sepia and Crimson. Lastly for the squirrel, I used a stamp set by Craft Impressions to stamp lots of pine cones again using London Fog Memento Ink and also a Sepia Spectrum Aqua Marker and Sanguine and Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush Markers. Using the same stamp set I added a few pine branches using London Fog and Pistachio Memento Ink. Next I separated the quadrants using washi tape which I outlined using a Uni Pin marker, and then I added some star gems. The autumnal wording is cut from a magazine and stuck in place using a UHU Stic. To finish, I used some small gems to add a little sparkle choosing a different colour for each quadrant.

I just couldn’t resist creating my autumn critter page especially having seen these lovely glasses with beautiful animal designs on them and …

… these amazing sugar, tea, coffee and biscuit/cookie jars in a local store. I hope like me that you enjoyed your summer days and are looking forward to autumn too!

My drinking glasses and assortment of tea and coffee jars means that I am able to join in the fun over at T Stands for Tuesday – wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

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 be able to join the lovely Yvonne from Meggy’s way, who is hosting A World of Fantasy challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my autumn critter imaginary friends (grin!).

I’m also joining the Forever Autumn challenge over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog with my autumnal art journal page.

With my gems adding some bling and sparkle to my art journal page, I’m pleased to join Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Bling It On challenge.

Over at Paperbabe Stamps, their challenge is Stars so I’m pleased to join in the fun with the star gems that I added to my page.

I’m also pleased to join the September Link Party #43 – Anything Goes over at Cropstop Blog with my page as I included some products from companies that they carry in their store.

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

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

• Spectrum Aqua Artist’s marker (Aquamarine, Orange, Terracotta, Gold, Crimson, Sepia)
• Tsukineko Memento Dye Ink (London Fog, Pistachio)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush artist pen (Sanguine 188 B, Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Pressed Leaves)
• Craft Impressions clear stamp set (Winter Wonderland)
• Old magazine
• B&M Hobby World (Woodland Friends Foam Stickers 289338)
• Quality Toys Group (Washi Tape 2544960)
• The Range Adhesive Craft Gems (Assorted Shapes CR0869)
• UHU Stic

No Ball Games

This page is influenced by Street Art and childhood! You may recognise the “No ball games” images that I used as part of my design; they are from a Banksy artwork which can be found in Bristol. This image came from a magazine and I thought it would be fun to create a page using it as we had recently seen some amazing street art in Blackpool (grin!).

As this page links to childhood, it is also a reminder that there is still a week left to join our Childhood challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be great to see you there!

I started by spraying After Midnight Dylusions Spray Ink onto the page and pulling the ink with a metal tool out from the centre to create spikes of colour so the circles look like they are moving round. Next I picked up some of the Dylusions Spray using a blending tool and applied it along the edges of the page creating a border. I also splattered the page and drew some blue dots using a paintbrush with the spray, then I coloured the centre of the dots using a dark blue and a white Uni Posca paint pen. When the spray was dry, I added the green squares using a stencil from Creative Expressions and Vivid Lime Green Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic paint which I applied with a palette knife and then left to dry overnight. Next I stamped an alphabet stamp from Kaisercraft onto the page to link the blue areas that I had covered with the spray using black Archival Ink. I ripped the Banksy magazine image into pieces and stuck them onto some recycled white card using Liquitex matte gel medium; I did this because I wanted to frame the images so they stood out more from the background and also to prevent the Dylusions Spray Ink which reactivates when wet seeping into the image. When the gel medium was dry, I ripped the white card leaving a border around the image and stuck them onto the page using a UHU Stic, then I outlined them all using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and also a white Uni Posca paint pen which activated the Dylusions Spray Ink and turned light blue which I like. The green balls are created from the leftover green background from the Banksy magazine image; I stamped the circles using black Archival Ink and the spray bottle lid and then cut them out of the paper. I stamped some Titanium White Liquitex Ink onto the page using the spray bottle lid to create a border for the green circles which I stuck in place using a UHU Stic. To finish, I stamped black Archival Ink over the top of the green circles again to define the outline and added further detail using a white Uni Posca paint pen and a black Uni Pin marker.

No Ball Games – click here to see the original on the Banksy website

When I think of street art, Banksy always springs to mind, I love his pieces! Banksy is known for his controversial, and often politically themed, stencilled work and this particular one makes me smile as it challenges the status quo and could even encourage children to play ball games despite the sign. The signage was introduced in housing estates built after the war to discourage anti-social behaviour; however they are now often ignored and have been removed as they are not deemed appropriate in today’s society.

I’m sharing some more street art from Blackpool that can be found on the side of the Winter Gardens, you may remember me showing other art murals on a previous post that are displayed alongside these. I love these two particular images the first one is of the beautiful owl and ….

… then there is this amazing bear and girl, both of which inspired my page. Here are some more murals that can be found alongside them:

 

 

Did you notice the takeaway coffee cup on one of the photos? It’s on the last one just sticking out of the cardboard box (grin!), so as T Stands for Tuesday I’m joining the rest of the T Gang and wishing you all a Happy T day!

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Yvonne from Meggy’s way, who is hosting A World of Fantasy challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my No ball games street art page.

As this page includes circles, I’m also joining the Circles challenge over at Moo Mania & More.

With my circles and dots going round and round, I’m also joining the Going Round & Round challenge over at The Artistic Stamper 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:

• Ranger Dylusions Spray Ink (After Midnight)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green)
• Liquitex ink! (Titanium White)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White, Dark Blue)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Mini Squares CEMSSQUARE)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Alphabet CS887)
• Old Magazine
• Recycled white card
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic

Beatrix Potter

Our new challenge theme over at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks is Childhood, so I created a page to remember my favourite childhood stories and author, Beatrix Potter.

You’ll find some beautiful inspiration from the Design Team over at Try it on Tuesday too, I hope you will join us!

I started by experimenting with Colourcraft Brushos and making a spray using Dark Brown Brusho powder and water which I mixed in a spritzer bottle. I sprayed it over the page and left it to dry, it gave a lovely pinkish egg-shell colour, which I thought tied in nicely with the Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck. But then I remembered that duck eggs are white! (grin). Then I fussy cut a black and white picture of Beatrix Potter, a colour picture of Hill Top Farm in the Lake District where she lived, her illustration of “Cecily Parsley Makes Cowslip Wine” and some text from an old 2016 magazine article celebrating her 150^th Birthday. I also fussy cut a picture of peas and a picture of the Lake District from the same magazine and I cut The Tale of Peter Rabbit book and my favourite characters from a leaflet, this included: Peter Rabbit; Peter Rabbit being chased by Farmer McGregor; Peter Rabbit jumping into a watering can; Peter Rabbit running on all fours; Appley Dapply; Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle; The Tailor of Gloucester; Mr. Jeremy Fisher; and Jemima Puddle-Duck. I collaged all the fussy cut pieces onto the page using a UHU Stic and when the glue was dry I outlined some of the pieces using a black Uni Pin marker. To finish, I added two pieces of blue ribbon and then stuck a recycled blue button where the ribbons overlapped using Glossy Accents and a pretty blue polka dot flower.

From my page, have you guessed who my all time favourite character was – it was Peter Rabbit! As a child I loved the Beatrix Potter stories and still have many of her books in my craft room which I have been known to sit and read now and then with a cup of tea (grin!). In the front of these books you will see my egg cup from my childhood too, it features Peter Rabbit and I have fond memories of dipping my soldiers (thin strips of toast) into my runny egg yolk (double grin!).

We used to holiday in the Lake District every year when I was a child and I have many happy memories of visiting Hill Top Farm too so I was pleased to include this on my page.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my cup of green tea and a homemade Belgian Bun – Happy T Day!

This was the first time that we have made these buns and they tasted delicious. They are not to be confused with Chelsea Buns that I used to make when I was younger, as they have Lemon Curd filling rather than butter so have less fat content – yay!

Also if you are visiting from the T Gang and like Street Art then you may wish to check out my previous post here.

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Yvonne from Meggy’s way, who is hosting A World of Fantasy challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my Beatrix Potter page as she definitely created fantastical animals for her stories.

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

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Animal Magic so I’m pleased to join this challenge with Beatrix Potter’s magical animals that I included on my 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:

• Colourcraft Brusho (Dark Brown)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.3mm)
• Old Magazine
• Beatrix Potter Leaflet
• Blue Adhesive Ribbon
• Recycled blue button
• Wilko Stickers (Flower Embellishments)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• UHU Stic

Happy Days

Recently a good friend very kindly gave us a Food Dehydrator that she no longer uses so I thought I would create a page to remember this kindness and also the lovely apples we have been drying and eating – Happy Days!

I started by applying Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and white gesso using a sponge through a mosaic stencil from the Tim Holtz idea-ology collection. The round mosaic pattern reminded me of the trays in the dehydrator machine. Then I used some different stamps to add more detail to the background which included a blossom stamp from Stampendous using black Archival Ink, a foliage stamp from Kaisercraft using Shabby Shutters Distress Ink, and also a stitched flower stamp from Urban Stamps using Old Paper Distress Ink. Then I ripped three pieces of wallpaper; I really like the apple blossom design to remember the apples that we dried. They are edged, like all the paper pieces, using a Cold Grey Big Brush Faber-Castell marker and stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I added some pieces of spotted and flower design pink fabric washi tape to the wallpaper pieces to add some interest and colour. The apple is fussy cut from a magazine and is backed with recycled card; I layered it onto the page with a small piece of wallpaper and some worded stickers from Kaisercraft, which read “Happy Days” and “Grateful” as I am grateful for my friend’s kindness. They are stuck in place using a glue stick and outlined with a black Uni Pin marker, and I added a shadow at the base of the apple using Cold Grey and Black Faber-Castell Big Brush markers which I smudged with my finger. Next I used a stitched circle die set and my Big Shot machine to cut circles from a Kilner Jar label and stuck them to the page using a glue stick and also some double-sided foam tape; this is relevant as I bought a larger Kilner Jar, as the one pictured below was a bit too small, to store my dried apples in. Then to finish, I added some white Hessian flowers which matched the wallpaper design beautifully.

On our first attempt of using the dehydrator we made the most amazing dried apples; you need to slice them thinly and pop them into some water with lemon juice in to stop them going brown. We then used a tea towel to remove any excess water, placed them on the drying racks and sprinkled them with cinnamon and dried them in the dyhydrator.

After 8 hours of drying they were ready and we stored them in a Kilner Jar to eat as and when needed. They are very moreish and have an intense apple flavour – yum!

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 Bleubeard & Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover, who is hosting the Count your blessings challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I feel very blessed to have received such kindness and have such lovely treats to eat.

As this page is a happy memory of summer, I’m also joining the Summertime challenge over at Moo Mania & More.

I’m also joining the lovely Wen and her Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutral coloured page.

I’m pleased to join the Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps; I used the sketch to position my apple and sentiments (grin!).

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Back to School challenge with my apple inspired page; synonymous with an apple for the teacher or for me a snack in my school bag.

Happy Days is also a song, do you remember it? I use to love watching the TV show when I was growing up too (grin!). You still have time to join the Inspired by a song challenge at Try it on Tuesday 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:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Old Paper, Frayed Burlap)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil (Mosaic THS084)
• Stampendous! Cling Rubber Stamp (Blossom Spray CRP136)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Magnolia Grove CS822)
• Docrafts Papermania Urban Stamps Craft Collections (5×5” Pastels PMA907223)
• The Works Cutting Dies (Stitched Circles)
• Wallpaper sample
• Old Magazine
• Recycled card
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)
• Kilner Jar Label Insert
• The Works (Fabric Tape)
• Craft Corner (Jute Shapes U-83162)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick

Let your dreams take flight

Inspired by happy summer days in my garden I decided to create this page using my new art supplies and some of my favourite techniques.

I started by heat embossing the background with white embossing powder; I did this by stamping my new seed head stamp from Molly Brown using a VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad. I then covered them with white Stampendous embossing powder, shook off the excess onto a piece of scrap paper and tapped the page to ensure any stray powder was removed. Then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder by sweeping the gun over the stamped images until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional; don’t they look pretty! Then I used a blending tool to add Scattered Straw, Twisted Citron and Blueprint Sketch Distress Inks over the page. I used the same inks to add a honeycomb design using a stencil that I won over at That’s Crafty! to add more depth. As Distress Inks reactivate when water is added, I sprayed the page with water and removed some of the colour with a piece of kitchen towel. I then applied the Scattered Straw, Twisted Citron and Blueprint Sketch Distress Inks using one of my favourite techniques; applying the inks to an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page which created some lovely pools and drips of ink. Then I stamped the same seed head stamp using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and splattered white and black DecoArt acrylic paint over the page using a paintbrush.

Next I collaged the paper elements which are edged with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and stuck in place using double-sided tape. The paper elements included: some paper pieces which I cut from a Kaisercraft paper sheet; a flowery picture from an old magazine; a bird, butterfly and a postcard from a set of Vintage Die Cut Shapes. The two sentiments are from a sticker set by Kaisercraft and they are edged with the Frayed Burlap ink. I chose these sentiments because seed heads remind me dandelions and making wishes as a child, so I was thinking it is important to “Dare to dream” and when you make a wish with a dandelion seed head you “Let your dreams take flight”. To finish, I added some blue enamel dome stickers and a flowery metal embellishment which is secured using a brad.

As you know my favourite colour is blue and this plant in particular was on my shopping list this year (grin!). It’s a Salvia nemorosa called “Blue Marvel” and the bees and insects love it!

The butterflies seem to like this new addition to our garden too; it’s a Scabiosa which has the loveliest pale purple flowers. A frequent visitor, a small blue butterfly called Common Blue has proved difficult to photograph, so I was pleased to find a lovely die cut blue butterfly to add to my art journal page to remember its visits.

As T Stands for Tuesday and its summer, I’m sharing a couple of cooling milkshakes that me and my Sis had at a local café in St. Annes – one is chocolate (my choice – grin!) and the other is banana; they both are made with yummy vanilla icecream!

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 Chris from Pearshapedcrafting, who is hosting the Arts for Art’s Sake challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the heat embossing and Distress Ink techniques I used on this page.

Over at Moo Mania and More the theme is Your Favourite Colours which gave me the perfect excuse to use blue again, thank you!

I’m also joining in the fun over at the That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog and their A Summer’s Day Challenge with my summery art journal page – thanks so much for the fabulous stencils!

As this page reminds me of my garden with the summery colours, flowers, butterflies and birds, I’m also pleased to be able to join the In The Summer Garden challenge over at Country View Challenges.

I’m happy to also join Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my summery art journal page.

With birds and butterflies, this page is also perfect for the Things with Wings challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, where there is still another week to join in the fun – I hope to see you there!

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 Versamark (Watermark Ink Pad)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Twisted Citron, Blueprint Sketch, Hickory Smoke, Frayed Burlap)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White, Black)
• Molly Brown Rubberstamps (MB-0079E)
• That’s Crafty! Dinky Stamps (Reverse Honeycomb TC031)
• Kaisercraft Porcelain Rose Collection 12×12 Paper (Dearest P1163)
• Old Magazine
• Kaisercraft Sticker Set (Fly Free SS289)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Vintage Die Cut Shapes)
• Docrafts Papermania Stickers (Enamel Shapes – Denium Blue Domes PMA3560011)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Metal Decorations)
• Stix 2 Double-sided tape