Sewing Bee

I always enjoy watching The Great British Sewing Bee on the TV and now it’s finished it inspired my to create this vintage sewing page – such fun!

I started by covering the page with an old napkin using a glue stick and when dry I edged the page with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool. I added some vintage sewing designed gold outline stickers which included a pair of scissors, a thimble, needles and pins, cross-stitches, flower shapes, a cotton reel, a pin cushion and a sewing machine. The “Sewing Bee” wording was constructed using letter outline stickers too.

For the tags I covered a piece of white card with some dressmaking pattern tissue paper and some of the napkin that I used on the page background. Then I cut three different sizes of tag and some circular reinforcements using the Tim Holtz Tag Collection Framelits and my Big Shot machine. I applied some Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool to each of the die cut pieces and then collaged some sewing related Tim Holtz stickers onto the tags which I edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker so they stood out more. I added a circular reinforcement to each tag and threaded some cotton through them; the threads were leftover from some sewing that I’ve been doing. To finish, I added some outline stickers of cross-stitches, needles and pins and some the lace and silk flowers to the tags; they are stuck in place using double-sided foam tape.

If you haven’t seen or heard of The Great British Sewing Bee it’s a television programme on BBC1. It’s a spin off of The Great British Bake Off and is a reality show where amateur sewers compete to be named “Britain’s best home sewer”; they compete in a Pattern challenge, Alteration challenge and Made-to-measure challenge each week.

If you are interested you may be able to access the programmes here BBC programmes – The Great British Sewing Bee (this link may only be available to those of you who live in the UK).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m showing you my cuppa by my sewing machine, like everyone I’ve been making face masks (that’s where the leftover threads came from for my page); the material is recycled from one of my hubby’s old summer shirts (grin!).

Hope that you are all staying safe and well! x

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

Challenges

I’m 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 from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with my Sewing Bee page.

I’m joining the Cattywampus challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the askew tags and stickers on this page.

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

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Sewing Bee art journal page.

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

• Napkin
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Sew Retro – Gold ANT810136, Flower Blossom –Gold ANT810143)
• Outline Stickers (Alphabet – Gold)
• White Cardstock
• Style Dressmaking Pattern Tissue Paper
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• The Works (Self-Adhesive Lace Trim)
• The Range (Crafting Flowers)
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape

Makes me dream

A visit to the Blackbird Café had me thinking of stars, so I created this page from recycled used inky baby wipes and a fabulous quote from Vincent Van Gogh that reads “I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream”.

I started by collaging pieces of baby wipe that I had used to mop up some After Midnight Dylusions Ink Spray and Black Archival Ink using some gel medium. When dry I also applied some of the Dylusions Ink Spray using a paintbrush to water it down to any areas of the page that I hadn’t collaged and then stencilled some dots using a Creative Expressions Distressed Dots Mask. I splattered the page with some Pébéo white gesso, black DecoArt acrylic paint and a silver Daler Rowney paint marker. Next I fussy cut some images from a sheet of Stargazer Collection paper from Kaisercraft, edged them with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck them in place. I framed the quote using silver outline stickers and then I added some glittery silver stars which finished the page.

You may remember the Blackbird Café from previous posts, it’s such a lovely place and we normally go there with our dearest friends and chat over a cuppa (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my cup of hot chocolate in a beautiful blue mug and it was served with a yummy white chocolate star – Happy T Day!

Of course we couldn’t visit this café without having a bacon butty too – so delicious (double 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 so happy to join in the Splatters, Splashes & Drips challenge over at Country View Challenges with all the splatters, splashes and drips on this page.

I’m joining in the Add A Sentiment challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page.

Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog their theme is # 34 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Stenciling so I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge with my mixed media stenciled page.

As I recycled some used baby wipes this is also a reminder that you still have another week to join our Go Green or Recycle Something 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:

• Used baby wipes stained with Ranger After Midnight Dylusions Ink Spray and Jet Black Archival Ink
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Distressed Dots)
• Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (After Midnight)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Daler Rowney Acrylic Paint Markers (Silver)
• Kaisercraft Stargazer Collection 12×12 Paper (Galaxy P2538)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape
• Design Objectives Outline Stickers (Silver Borders 123551)
• Craft Sensations (Foam Glitter Stickers Silver CRO243/18GE)

Untie the ribbons

Our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey is Box It Up, which is being hosted by Julia. Here’s what it is all about:

“This month our theme is boxes! Perhaps you will make a trunk or suitcase, some kind of package to hold a gift, or maybe make a card or journal page showing presents. Just remember to ensure that you create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.

I thought this motivational quote suited Julia’s challenge perfectly, so I included it on my art journal page along with the gift box which I had fun creating for this page too (grin!).

To create the background I completely covered the page with some yellow Liquitex acrylic paint and once the paint was dry added pieces of script and sheet music Collage Papers from Tim Holtz and some tape measure design decoupage paper from Viva Gade using Liquitex matte gel medium. I added a little more of the yellow paints over the top of the tissue paper to intensify the colour and also applied some white gesso around the edges of the page using my finger. Then I diluted Dark Sepia, Sanguine and Cold Grey Faber-Castell markers by scribbling them onto a blending mat and spritzing with water and applied them with my finger over the white gesso which gave the page a lovely translucent glow. Then I added some Gold Champagne Faber-Castell Gelato and Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to the edge of the page smudging them with my finger.

I created the gift box from some spotty paper and drew the lines onto it using the Dark Sepia Big Brush marker, shaded it using Caramel Faber-Castell Gelato and added shadows using the Cold Grey Big Brush marker. Next I used a star stencil to apply modelling paste with a palette knife and left it to dry; the stars were then painted using a white Uni Posca paint pen and Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint. The words are letter stickers from Docrafts which I covered with matte gel medium to hold them securely in place. I did the same with the flowers which are stickers from Kaisercraft. Finally, I added some strips of red organza ribbon to the box using double-sided tape and finished it with a bow.

I enjoy collecting positive and motivational quotes for my art journal pages and had fun creating this page with the gift box and ribbon to depict the words I added; it was based on the quote “Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons” by Ruth Ann Schabacker.

For more inspiration, please pop over to see the amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey too, it would be lovely to see you there!

I also have quite a few motivational quotes displayed around my home too, here’s one that greets me every morning, it hangs on the mirror in my bedroom …

… and this one hangs in my craft room (grin!).

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 Erika aka BioArtGal and her Polka-Dots, Stripes, Plaids and Patterns challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my polka-dot gift box.

I’m also joining Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #101 – Sketch; I flipped the sketch to the left so the circle is represented by the gift box on my page and the logo by the sentiment I used.

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

• Liquitex Acrylic Color (Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Oxide, Parchment)
• Tim Holtz Collage Papers (Halloween #TH93727, Botanicals #TH93705)
• Viva Gade Decoupage Paper (Helsinki 25586)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush marker (Dark Sepia 175 B, Cold Grey IV 233, Sanguine 188 B)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Gold Champagne, Caramel)
• Star Stencil
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CRO701/16PL1)
• Docrafts Papermania A4 Ultimate Die-Cut & Paper Pack (Folk Christmas PMA160933)
• Kaisercrfat Sticker Sheet (The Looking Glass SS206)
• Recycled Red Organza Ribbon
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Boys & Girls

We would love you to join our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks – Boys and Girls/Children.

I had fun creating a journal page with dictionary pages from my school days, primary coloured paints, some boys and girls’ vinyl stickers and the word “happy” – I hope you like it!

I started by randomly adding pieces of dictionary pages leftover from previous projects onto the background using Liquitex matte gel medium. Once dry, I added some stripes of yellow, red and blue watercolour paint. Then I used a baby wipe and a trellis stencil to pick up and move the paint around the page and left it to dry. I stamped “Happy” and also some flowers using black Archival Ink, separating the page into sections so I could add the white vinyl stickers of the boys and girls. I outlined each of the stickers, which took some time, with a black marker pen and added detail to the stamping using a white Uni Posca paint pen. To finish, I added the border using the white pen and a black Sharpie permanent marker.

For more inspiration please pop over to our blog and check out the amazing creations from my Design Teamies!

Quite often it’s the small things that make me happy, like this bacon butty which I was treated to last week when I was out with my mum and it was so yummy (grin!). As T Stands for Tuesday my photo also includes my mum’s cappuccino – Happy T Day everyone!

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 Erika aka BioArtGal and her Polka-Dots, Stripes, Plaids and Patterns challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the trellis pattern on my page.

I’m joining the Numbers and/or Letters challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my page.

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

• Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colours (Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue, Ultramarine)
• Rowney Georgian Water Colour (Crimson)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencils (Ornate Trellis CEMSTRELLIS)
• Art Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Happy)
• Great Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Flower Sketch Board F327)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Craftime Designer Vinyls (Boy & Girl B/W PBDV02)
• Handwriting Marker Pen (Black)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Sharpie Permanent Marker Pen (Black)

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

Happy 6th Anniversary

This page celebrates T Stands for Tuesday’s 6^th Anniversary, where our wonderful hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth ask us to share a drink related post each week. It’s so much fun meeting up with the T Gang each Tuesday, thanks so much to everyone for making it such a friendly and happy place!

My page was also created to join in our Colours of the Rainbow challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too where you still have until next Tuesday to join in the fun, it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by covering the page with Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain and then stencilling multi-coloured teacups using Distress Ink and a handmade stencil that the lovely Eileen aka The Artful Crafter sent me last year – the design and detail of the teacup is amazing, thank you so much dear friend! The Distress Inks that I used were Festive Berries, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves and Fired Brick. Next I used some Kaisercraft paper and stickers to add: some stripes of colourful patterned paper which I outlined with a black marker pen; die cut teacups using a die from Crafter’s Companion and my Big Shot machine, they are outlined with a black Faber-Castell marker and held in place with some little brads and I also numbered them 1-6, using Tim Holtz Label Letters, to depict each year of T stands for Tuesday 6^th Anniversary; the wording which reads “friends are the sunshine of life” as I am very blessed to have made such wonderful friends and also “These are T Days” which I cut to make the word “T Day” as it originally said “These are the days”. The black teapot, teacups and saucers are outline stickers which I coloured black using a Sharpie marker. To finish, I added some white hearts so they looked like steam floating up from the teacups; they are outline stickers which I outlined with a black marker pen so they stood out more.

My homemade raspberry gin is just the thing to celebrate the 6^th Anniversary at T Stands for Tuesday; our friends told us about making it, all you need to do is soak raspberries (or any fruit of you choice) with some sugar and gin in a Kilner Jar and place it in a dark place for 4 weeks (grin!). It tastes amazing, so delicious! I serve it with either fizzy lime/lemon or fizzy mango drink – yum! Wishing you all a Happy 6th Anniversary this T Day!

Challenges 

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all celebrating T Day’s 6^th Anniversary (grin!).

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Add A Number challenge with the numbers that I added to the teacups.

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 Stain (Cracked Pistachio)
• Teacup Stencil handmade by the lovely Eileen aka The Artful Crafter; you can see all the goodies that she sent me here – thanks very much, so kind!
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Festive Berries, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick)
• Kaisercraft Design Paper (Fiesta! Collection – Siesta P1859, Fly Free Collection – Confidante P1896)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)
• Handwriting Pen (Black)
• Crafter’s Companion Die Set (Vintage Tea Party – Toppling Teacups S-VTP-MD-TOPT)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Label Letters #TH93072)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Alice in Wonderland ANT810116)
• Craftime Designer Vinyls (B/W Boy & Girl PBDV02)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Guest Designer at Creative Artiste

Hello everyone, I’m so excited to be Guest Designer at Creative Artiste for their June #50 Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge this month.

I am often inspired by things I see and do, so my art journal page today is inspired by the quote “never lose your sense of wonder”. I had so much fun using lots of Mixed Media to create my page, I hope you like it!

I started by cutting papers into squares and rectangles and collaging them onto the page to make a grid pattern. Then I used a ruler to outline them with a black Uni Pin marker. I used a dot and also a cross stencil to add some modelling paste and when dry, I covered it with some Pébéo white gesso.

Then I applied some black embossing powder using a Versamark watermark stamp pad over the modelling paste and heated it using my heat gun; I really like the grungy crackle effect that resulted. Next I coloured areas of the page with Acqua Dolce, Strawberry and Coconut Faber-Castell gelatos using my finger to smudge the colours and also some white acrylic paint. I stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink and also applied some Celebration Pink DecoArt Glamour Dust through a Flourish stencil from That’s Crafty. When dry, I stamped a scroll and also an ornate circle stamp from Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink and splattered the whole page with white and also black acrylic paint.

I added three pink roses which I edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; they are stuck down using double-sided foam tape and then decorated with Icicle Stickles to add some sparkle. To finish, I added the words “never lose your sense of wonder” which is from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet and outlined with a black Uni Pin marker.

I’d like to thank Creative Artiste for having me as Guest Designer this month! I love everything mixed media so had fun creating this page, I hope that you will join in their Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge too – Happy Crafting!

This quote always makes me remember the amazing flowers that have appeared on the palm trees in our garden, aren’t they magical! My hubby says they look like Christmas trees and the bees love them, so much so that when you walk passed the whole flower is buzzing (grin!).

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 quote 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:

• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black)
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Acqua Dolce, Strawberry, Coconut)
• Art Discount Arcylic (White)
• DecoArt Glamour Dust (Celebration Pink)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil 154892)
• That’s Crafty! 8x8ins Stencil (Flourish TC8024)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752, Magnolia Grove CS822)
• The Works Design Pad (Vintage Love CRO707/TW25)
• K & Company Die Cut Cardstock (Floral by Susan Winget)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Secret Garden SS283)
• Ranger Stickles (Icicle)
• Ranger Heat Gun
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• The Range double-sided foam tape

One Spring Night

As I’m hosting Art Journal Journey this month I have created another springtime page for my Hello Springtime theme. I hope you are enjoying the theme so far, we have had so many amazing entries and there is just under a week left for you to join in the fun, I hope to see you there!

This page was created using a pretty greetings card of a hare sitting in the moonlight, and as it reminded me of a tea service that I had seen in a local shop I was also inspired to create an abstract design for this page.

I started by masking off three areas of the page with low tack masking tape and then I painted some pastel blue arylic paint  which I blended with Swedish Blue Liquitex acrylic paint; I chose blue to match the dots on the tag and it was also one of the tea service colours. When the paint was dry I removed the masking tape and edged the blocks of colour using some gold outline border stickers. Then I added some gold flower tiles to the white area of the page and some gold flowers and circles to the blue areas, all of which are outline stickers. The hare moonlit image is fussy cut from the greetings card and the spring daffodil tag is from a wallpaper sample; they are both decorated with a piece of gold outline border sticker and are then stuck in place using double-sided tape which finished the page.

This is the tea service that I saw in one of our local shops; as you can see it influenced my abstract design with the blocks of soft pastel colours, little animals and pretty gold accents.

It must be fun to drink your tea or coffee and see the bunny rabbit at the bottom of the cup (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang with my drink related post and sending you all Happy T Day wishes!

Challenges

I’m joining in the Play With Paint challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I had fun creating the blocks of colour for this page using masking tape and paint.

As I included flowers on this page, it also serves as a reminder for our Say it with Flowers challenge that is running for another week over at Try it on Tuesday – I hope to see you there too!

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

• Script Ready Mixed Acrylic Paint (Pastels – Blue)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Swedish Blue)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Straight Line Borders Gold ANT8101016)
• Elizabeth Craft Designs Outline Stickers (Gold – 0157, 0442)
• Recycled greetings card – National Trust Moonlit Wood by Caroline Gordon
• Wallpaper sample
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Change

Our new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Inspired by a Word – please note on your blog post which word you used for your inspiration.

Please check out the creations and words that my Design Teamies chose over at Try it on Tuesday too; we hope to see you there!

This time I got my hubby to choose a word for me which was “Change”, so I created a page based on the changing winter to spring seasons (grin!).

I started by stamping a letter stamp from Carabelle Studios using black Archival Ink onto the page, concentrating the letters at the bottom of the page to depict the ground. Then I covered the page with thin layers of Windsor & Newton watercolour paints using a baby wipe; I coloured the left-hand winter side of the page with Payne’s Gray and the right-hand spring side with Ultramarine watercolour paint. Then I covered the Payne’s Gray with Platinum Planet brilliance Ink which gave it a lovely shine of frosty grey and the Ultramarine with a wash of Salty Ocean Distress Ink so it was a sunshiny blue. For the foreground I added some white DecoArt acrylic paint to my winter scene and some watered down Cottage Ivy and Dandelion Memento Ink to the spring scene. Next I stamped the two trees from Docrafts Build a tree stamp set using black Archival Ink which gave an outline of the tree shapes.

For the winter tree I stamped lots of snowflakes from three different stamp sets using Bahama Blue, Summer Sky, Paris Dusk, Danube Blue and Teal Zeal Memento Ink. I coloured the tree trunk and branches using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker. Then I die cut some snowflakes from glitter paper and arranged them onto the tree with some silver snowflake relief stickers and some clear and blue gems. To finish the tree I stamped a festive ornament and tiny star from one of the branches using black Archival Ink decorating it with a blue gem.

For the spring tree I stamped the leaves and flowers using the same Tree stamp set from Docrafts using: Cottage Green and Dandelion Memento Ink for the leaves which I blended together on a blending mat before applying to the stamp; Rose Bud Memento Ink for the flowers. I coloured the tree trunk and branches using the Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and then I added a couple of pink flower paper embellishments and some pink gems. To finish the tree, I stamped a bird house using black Archival Ink and decorated it with a blue gem.

Next I die cut the “Change” letters from some recycled black packaging paper using a Folk Alphabet die set from Docrafts and my Big Shot machine. They are stuck down the centre of the page using a Zig Memory System glue pen. To finish, I stamped the Carabelle Studio letter stamp using black Archival Ink over the bottom of the tree trunks so they blended in more, and added two Kaisercraft stickers with the words to describe the change in the seasons as it was a “Happy” Winter and I “Love” Spring (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday and with the change in the seasons I changed my drink choice when I was out and about with my mum recently; so instead of drinking my normal hot chocolate (pictured on the left), I enjoyed a chocolate frappe (pictured on the right) – yum! Wishing you all a Happy T day!

Challenges

I’m pleased to link my art journal page to the Hello Springtime challenge that I am hosting over at Art Journal Journey as it depicts the change of the seasons from winter to spring. I hope you are inspired to say hello to springtime too, it would be lovely to see you there!

I’m pleased to be able to join the Letters and/or Number challenge over at Country View Challenges with the letter background that I created and die cut lettering.

As I used snowflakes to represent winter and sunny blue skies to represent Spring I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Whatever The Weather 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:

• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colours (Payne’s Gray, Aquamarine)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Pigment Ink (Platinum Planet)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Salty Ocean)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Bahama Blue, Summer Sky, Paris Dusk, Danube Blue, Teal Zeal, Cottage Ivy, Dandelion, Rose Bud)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (Background – avec des letters SA60233)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials Clear Stamps (Build a tree DCE907130)
• Free with magazine Embossing Folder & Stamp Set (Winter Wonderland)
• Sheena Douglass Stamp Set (Winter Woodland) – free with Creative Stamping magazine Issue 62
• The Works (Clear Stamps CRO274K/TW1)
• Kars Clear Stamps (Christmas Hanger 180009/2024)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Cutting Dies, Mini Paper Flower Embellishment)
• Docrafts XCut A5 Dies Set (Folk Alphabet XCU503286)
• Recycled black packaging paper
• Poundland (Glitter Sheets 116432)
• Crelando Relief Sticker Set (IAN289011)
• B&M Craft Goody Bag (Turquoise 321451)
• Hobbycraft (Rose Gem Stones 5666091006)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Secret Garden SS283)
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)

Sweet Winter Season

It’s been very cold and frosty this week, we even had a light sprinkling of snow, so I thought I’d create a page to capture the pretty frozen landscape.

I started by covering the centre of the page with Pébéo white gesso and then I added some Silver Metallic acrylic paint around the edges, gradually blending the gesso and acrylic into each other where they met. Next I arranged some images, wording, flowers and leaves from a Sweet Winter Season decoupage book and die cut some branches using Garden Greens Thinlets by Tim Holtz from some pink and brown paper using my Big Shot machine. They are all layered and arranged onto the page using double-sided tape or a Zig glue pen. I also die cut some snowflakes from grey/pink paper using two different die sets and stuck them onto the background along with silver snowflake relief stickers. I used some of the smaller snowflake relief stickers to decorate a few of the decoupage pieces, then to finish I added some tiny clear gemstones to add a bit of extra sparkle.

With it being so cold out, our bird feeder has been working overtime. We have had an array of birds visiting including a pair of Coal Tits; they have a distinctive grey back, black cap, and white patch at the back of their neck with beautiful creamy peachy coloured breast-feathers.

Coal Tits look similar to this Chickadee that we saw in the US when we visited last year. I have included a squirrel on my page but luckily we don’t have them raiding our bird feeder, unlike our friends in America who get chipmunks as well as red and grey squirrels on their feeders.

This little guy with his pretty grey and brown feathers is a Dunnock and reminds me of the little bird on my page; we see him in our garden on a daily basis feeding underneath our bird feeders.

Of course I wanted to also show you our resident Robin, although this isn’t the best of photos he still looks so sweet (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my wintry art journal page.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes 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:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Poundland Metallic Acrylic Paint (Silver)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush marker (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Garden Greens 661206)
• Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (falling Snowflakes 1792e)
• The Works Cutting Dies (Snowflake Garland)
• The Works 3D Decoupage Book (Sweet Winter Season)
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CRO701/16PL1)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Endless Love CRO206/A)
• Crelando Relief Stickers (IAN289011)
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Stix2 double-sided tape