Happy New Year 2019

Wishing you a very Happy New Year; may your year be filled with peace, love, and happiness!

To start my sparkly New Year page, I painted some gold metallic acrylic paint around the edges of the page and blended it into the centre with some Pébéo white gesso. I then layered the background by stamping some snowflakes with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink using a Woodware Collection stamp and then stencilling Festive Berries Distress Ink with a blending tool. The stencil is a Decorative Flowers stencil which I won over at That’s Crafty Challenge Blog – thank you! I stamped more snowflakes from a BoBunny stamp set using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker which I also used to edge the page and then I added another layer of white gesso using a palette knife. I used the same Decorative flower stencil to add some Pébéo modelling paste and once dry I painted some Titanium White Liquitex Ink over the top. I stencilled more Festive Berries ink and stamped snowflakes again, this time using Potter’s Clay Memento Ink to get a clearer image which finished the background. Next I die cut the wording from grey design paper using a Docrafts die set and my Big Shot machine.

I used the same grey paper to back some bell and star-shaped outline stickers and cut them out; they are stuck to the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. I suspended some of them from silver strands which are outline border stickers and also a red ribbon and bow which are recycled from an old Christmas card. I decorated the page with silver glittery stars and more silver outline stickers including some scrollwork, small stars and holly. To finish, I added more sparkle to the wording using silver Stickles and to the holly berries making them red to match the ribbon and bow using Christmas Red Stickles.

As T Stands for Tuesday, maybe you would like to celebrate the New Year with us by trying some of our homebrewed pumpkin beer. As you can see we have plenty for everyone – Cheers and Happy T Day!

Wishing you all the very best for 2019!

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 Alison/Craftytrog and her Geometric Shapes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with all the star shapes that I included on my page.

I’m happy to join the Star Light Star Bright challenge over at A Vintage Journey as I had fun adding all the sparkly stars; I was inspired by the New Year to create this Art Journalling style page.

I’m joining in the Party Time! challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as my page celebrates the New Year!

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Anything Goes so I’m pleased to also join this challenge.

As I included stamping on this page, I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at The Artistic Stamper – Happy New Year!

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes! challenge with my New Year’s page 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:

• Poundland Metallic Acrylic Paint (Gold)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Festive Berries, Rusty Hinge)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Potter’s Clay)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 233 B)
• Liquitex Ink! (Titanium White)
• That’s Crafty! 8x8in Stencil (Decorative Flower – TC8039)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Snowflakes FRS027)
• BoBunny Clear Stamps (Snow Day #13705563)
• Clear Impressions (Woodland Christmas) – free with magazine
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Set (Folk Alphabet XCU503284)
• Poundland Design Pad (Purple Paradise CRO701/PL3)
• Crelando Relief Sticker Set (IAN289011)
• Silver Border Outline Stickers (© DD6572)
• The Works (Christmas Glitter Stickers)
• Ranger Stickles (Silver, Christmas Red)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 double-sided tape

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‘Tis the Season to Sparkle

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! We had a lovely time and I was delighted to be able to spend some time in my craft room again now that my Dad is recovering well at home after his recent heart surgery.

I enjoyed creating this page which was inspired by a number of my favourite challenge blogs to capture ‘Tis the Season to Sparkle!

The background started with some Paris Dusk Memento ink that was leftover on my blending mat; it’s applied to the page using a blending brush and also by watering the ink down and then applying it using a paintbrush. As I wanted to use the white sticker sheet surrounding some outline sticker designs that I had used recently, I added pieces of this to the background too.  Next I used up some leftover snowflakes that I had die cut from decoupage paper using a Tonic Studios die set; they are stuck in place using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. I applied Salty Ocean and Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink using a stencil to add stars to the background, and then I splattered the page with gold metallic and white DecoArt acrylic paint. The collage pieces are from a 3D decoupage book set which I layered together after edging them all with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker; they are stuck into place using either double-sided tape, double-sided foam tap or glue dots. The glittery paper and ‘Tis the Season to Sparkle star is a recycled Christmas card from last year; I cut star shapes out of the glittery card and used them to back some of the stars throughout the page. To finish, I edged the page with some Scattered Straw Distress Ink.

I love the sentiment ‘Tis the Season to Sparkle and the stars and sparkle remind me of the Christmas cake that I made this year; I imprinted stars on the icing and decorated it pretty pine trees which are also made from icing and covered in edible sparkle (grin!).

Challenges

Bleubeard and Elizabeth who blog at Altered Book Lover are hosting My Favorite Season, or ‘Tis the Season challenge over at Art Journal Journey, so I’m pleased to join them with my ‘Tis the Season to Sparkle page. Sorry I haven’t joined in the fun as much this month, life just got in the way but when I saw the sentiment I thought it would be the perfect fit for your challenge (grin!).

I’m so happy to be able to join the Star Light Star Bright challenge over at A Vintage Journey; I was inspired to create my starry art journal page to capture the sparkle of the winter season in a Shabby Chic style.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Christmas challenge over at Country View Challenges as the Christmas season is definitely the time to sparkle.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Party Time! challenge as my page celebrates the season.

Tis’ the season to sparkle relates to the Christmas season so I’m also pleased to join Stamps and Stencils and their It’s got to be Christmas! challenge.

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 (Paris Dusk)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio, Scattered Straw)
• Poundland Metallic Acrylic Paint (Gold)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Cold Grey 233)
• Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (Falling Snowflakes 1792e)
• Star Stencil
• Poundworld DécoTime (Patch Paper DS9454)
• The Works (3D Decoupage Book)
• Recycled Christmas Card
• Crelando Relief Stickers (IAN289011)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 double-sided tape and mini glue dots
• The Range double-sided foam tape

All Good Wishes for Christmas

We have been visiting with family across the UK to celebrate Christmas the last few days, so I thought I would create a Christmas page to wish you all the best for the holiday season!

I started by stamping the page with a Collage Number stamp from Gummiapan using Versamark Watermark ink which I dried using a heat gun; I find drying this ink with the heat gun achieves better watermark images than leaving it to dry naturally. Then I applied Paris Dusk and Teal Zeal Memento Inks using a blending tool to gradually build up the colours. The blue colours were a bit bright so I toned them down by dragging a Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink pad over the page giving it a lovely shimmer and frosty appearance. Then I stamped some snowflakes over the background using the Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink and also the Paris Dusk Memento Ink again. The pine branches are stamped using Pistachio and Cottage Ivy Memento Inks and the pine cones using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink and I also splattered the page with white DecoArt acrylic paint. Next I used my Big Shot machine to die cut: some snowflakes by Tonic Studios out of white card stock; some green holly leaves using white cardstock which I coloured using the Cottage Ivy Memento Ink and Twisted Citron Distress Ink; some holly berries from white card stock which I coloured using Love Letter Memento Ink; and finally some berry branches from white card stock and brown design paper using Tim Holtz Garden Greens Thinlets. The white snowflakes are stuck in place using a Zig Memory glue pen and I added some silver snowflake relief stickers to the background too. I arranged the other die cuts with a recycled Christmas card, which I saved from last year as I loved the vintage design, and also a pretty white and silver snowflake sticker. To finish, I added some Christmas Red Stickles from Ranger to the holly berries to give them some glittery sparkle.

We found some lovely Christmas displays at our local garden centre this year, I love this one with the pretty snowflake lights and ceiling, and of course the owls!

This vintage style flower display looks very festive with the poinsettias and jewel colours.

It seems that upside-down trees are all the rage this year too (grin!).

We went to this local garden centre on our way to Garstang where we went to the Royal Oak for lunch. We sat in one of the little rooms off the bar which contained this beautiful stained glass window, isn’t it amazing! The drinks that are included in the window design means that I can join the T Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday too – 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:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth who blog at Altered Book Lover are hosting My Favorite Season, or ‘Tis the Season challenge over at Art Journal Journey, so I’m pleased to join them with Christmas page!

I’m joining the Christmas Challenge over at The Artistic Stamper as I included stamping on my Christmas Wishes page.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the Christmas challenge fun over at Country View Challenges with my festive page.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Christmas challenge with my Christmassy art journal page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Anything Goes so I’m happy to be able to join this challenge with my Christmas page.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps 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 Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Paris Dusk, Teal Zeal, Pistachio, Cottage Ivy, Rich Cocoa, Love Letter)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Pigment Ink (Platinum Planet)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Twisted Citron)
• Woodland Christmas Stamp Set from Clear Impressions
• Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (Falling Snowflakes 1792e)
• Cut & Create Festive Collection (5×5 Dies Holly)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Garden Greens 661206)
• White card stock
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CR0701/16PL1)
• Recycled Christmas card
• Crelando Relief Stickers (IAN289011)
• The Works (Christmas Embellishments)
• Ranger Stickles (Christmas Red)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Stix2 double-sided tape and mini glue dots
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Guess Who’s Coming? …. Santa

As Santa is on his way, over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Guess Who’s Coming? …. Santa, where you will find some amazing creations from my Design Team teamies to inspire you!

We would like to see a Santa somewhere on your creations, so here’s my Santa related art journal page – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the page with some Santa decoupage paper using a glue stick. Then I used some green card from a topper set which I cut into a rectangle and some strips, they are all edged with gold border outline stickers. I stuck them in place using double-sided tape along with a framed Santa image from the same topper set and an envelope addressed to Santa. Next I embellished the page with some gold relief stickers; this included Santa’s sleigh filled with gifts, snowflakes and stars and also some holly and candy canes which I added to the background. To finish, I added three 3D stickers of a candy cane, some holly and a little robin.

This pretty shop is in Lytham and is full of interesting items for the garden; it always has lovely displays that cascade onto the street front. It’s where our friends bought the metal Mushrooms for our garden, you can see them here.

It reminded me of my page with all the Santa memorabilia (grin!).

We always enjoy meeting up with our friends for a walk and a drink so whilst walking in Lytham we went to a café called Zest.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m joining the T Gang with my hubby’s hot chocolate – yum!  Happy T Day everyone!

Sorry I haven’t been around the last week or so, my Dad has had heart surgery and I’ve been busy visiting him and helping my mum whilst he has been in hospital. I’m pleased to say he is home now and doing ok – yay!

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:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth who blog at Altered Book Lover are hosting My Favorite Season, or ‘Tis the Season challenge over at Art Journal Journey, so I’m pleased to join them with my festive Santa page!

I’m pleased to be able to join the Christmas challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Santa page.

With all the pretty gold stars I added to my page I’m joining in the fun over at A Vintage Journey and their Star Light Star Bright challenge; I was inspired by Santa and used a Mixed Media style.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Warm Winter Wishes challenge with my Santa art journal page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Anything Goes so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my festive page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps 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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• First Edition Paper Deco Mache Decoupage Paper (FEDEC282X17)
• Hunkydory Crafts Christmas Past Luxury Card and Topper Collection (He’s Checking His List PAST903)
• Pound Stretcher (Letter to Santa Pack 2-98195)
• White card stock
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Straight Line Borders Gold ANT8101016)
• Crelando Relief Stickers (Gold IAN289011)
• Docrafts Papermania 3D Stickers (A Christmas Wish PMA801901)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Treasure Map

I enjoyed practicing and experimenting with different techniques and mediums to create this page. As I created this page, it reminded me of the kites at the St. Annes Kite Festival and I was also transported back to my childhood and into the fantasy world of pirates and looking for buried treasure (grin!).

I started by drawing a faint outline of the map using a pencil and then applied some Tea Dye Distress Ink using a blending tool which I then dabbed with a baby wipe to create an old worn look to the map. I then added an outline so the map had a defined edge using a black Uni Pin marker to create a border around the edge of my page. I coloured the border using Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker by applying the ink to an acrylic block and painting the inks using a paintbrush. Next I outlined the land with Baked Earth and Willow Derwent Intense pencils by applying the pencil directly to the page and using a wet paintbrush to blend the colours. I also added small dots of Chocolate Spectrum Aqua marker around the edges of the land too. The mountains are drawn using the same Chocolate Spectrum Aqua marker and shaded using a Tan Spectrum Aqua marker. I stamped the pirates ship sitting in Pirates Cove using black Archival Ink and coloured it using Derwent Intense Pencils, I had fun stamping the wording “Yo ho yo ho …” too. In fact I spent quite a bit of time stamping all the wording on this map using individual wooden mounted letter stamps from Dovecraft and black Archival Ink; making up the different names and places was great fun too! I embellished the different places with a crab, starfish and tropical flowers which are rub-on transfers and also a sandcastle, some sea shells, tropical flowers and a treasure chest which are stickers. I made some of the elements from card toppers too, like the sea monster and mermaid tail and the gold in the treasure chest is made from gold outline stickers and pearl gems. All the pirate flags are stamped using black Archival Ink and the palm tree is hand drawn, fussy cut and coloured with Derwent Inktense pencils. The map trail that joins the different places together and big black “X” are also hand drawn using a black Uni Pin marker. Next I painted the sea by concentrating the colour along the shore line and adding the waves using Salty Ocean Distress Ink; I did this by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and using a paintbrush to apply it to the page. Then I stamped a compass by Graphic 45 from Hampton Art using black Archival Ink on the top of the page.  The banner is also a stamp by 7 Gypsies from Hampton Art and is stamped using black Archival Ink onto the page and also onto a piece of white paper. I coloured both of the banners with the Baked Earth and Willow Derwent Intense pencils and stamped “Treasure Map” in the centre of the one I stamped onto the paper using the letter stamps and black Archival Ink. I then cut out the central section of the banner with the wording on it from the paper and stuck it over the one that I had stamped onto the page. To finish, I outlined the banner with a black Uni Pin marker.

We enjoyed the St. Annes Kite Festival last weekend, it started with night kite flying and fireworks on Friday night.

Many of the kites reminded me of my page including this crab …

… these fish bobbing along …

… this parrot who I can just imagine saying “pieces of eight” …

… and of course the many sea monsters (grin!).

New to the festival this year was a land yachting demonstration which was great fun to watch too!

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 Yvonne from Meggy’s way, who is hosting A World of Fantasy challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my dreams of buried treasure.

I’m pleased to join the Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as I used the rock/pebble colours and you can find beaches and seashores as part of my art journal page design.

As “B” stands for “buried treasure” and “beach”, I’m pleased to join the I spy with my little eye something beginning with “B” challenge over at Stamping Sensations.

As my treasure map goes round and round, I’m also joining the Going Round & Round challenge over at The Artistic Stamper too.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Stamps and Stencils and their It’s been a while … Anything Goes challenge.

As my page links to childhood, I’m reminding you that your still have time to join our Childhood 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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy, Salty Ocean)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Derwent Inktense Pencils (Baked Earth 1800. Willow 1900, Poppy Red 400, Field Green 1500)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Chocolate, Tan)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm, 0.5mm, 0.8mm)
• Home Bargains (Mini Stamps & Ink – Pirates)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set upper and lower case (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Hampton Art Graphic 45 cling mounted rubber stamps (Tropical Travelogue ICO135)
• Hampton Art 7 Gypsies Vintage cling mounted rubber stamps (Birdsong ICO151)
• Craft Planet Metallic Waterfall Stickers (Beach PO#9622)
• Eco Craft Go Create (Hunk of Junk Pirate Island)
• Hunkydory Luxury Toppers (Eastern Promise)
• Magenta Style Outline Stickers (Daisy Gold 93326G)
• Home Bargains Sticker Mania (Gel Stone Stickers 74748)
• UHU Stic

You are my …

We attended our friend’s wedding this weekend and what an amazing time we had! The venue was perfect and the bride and groom looked stunning and it was wonderful to spend time with some of my dearest friends too. So I created a page to celebrate this magical day with one of my favourite quotes by E. E Cummings which reads

“You are my sun, my moon and all of my stars”.

Don’t forget that there is still another week to join the Add a Quote challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, it would be lovely to see you there!

I chose a blue and white colour palette to match the wedding invitation that we received; stamping Chipped Sapphire and Salty Ocean Distress ink pads onto the CD, spritzing with water and pressing the CD onto the page to leave an imprint. I did this several times to build up the intensity of the colour until I was happy. Next I used a star stencil to apply the two Distress Inks, again using a blending tool and then covered them with a thin layer of white gesso to dull the colour and push the star design into the background. I used black Archival Ink and the Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink to add a planet and star constellation stamp from a stamp set called Stargazer by Kaisercraft, layering the images to add more depth and interest. Then I drew around the CD using a black Uni Pin marker outlining the CD imprints and added a sun stamp from the same stamp set using the Chipped Sapphire ink again. Next I added some silver circles and stars which are outline stickers and outlined them all using a black Uni Pin marker, which took quite a while (grin!). The quote by E.E. Cummings is also from the same Stargazer stamp set and is stamped onto some blue design paper using black Archival Ink. I cut it out and edged it with one of the silver outline stickers and stuck it in place using double-sided foam tape. To finish, I added some clear jewel gems in varying sizes to the silver circle and stars to add a little sparkle.

The venue was so pretty with the old barn buildings and pretty gardens! I even cried a tear at the ceremony as it was so beautiful with the vows they had prepared especially for each other and with the fabulous violinists playing romantic music and also the personalised readings – it was truly amazing!

You could tell the bride had planned the wedding well, as there were so many thoughtful details that we discovered throughout the day including sweets “Take a little, eat a lot, enjoy these treats, we tied the knot” …

… flip flops “Here’s a little treat for your dancing feet” and blankets “To have and to hold incase you are cold”.

We decided to enjoy the day and company rather than take too many photos, but as T Stands for Tuesday is celebrating its 5th Anniversary here’s a fun photo of someone’s red wine (grin!). There was quite a drink selection on offer – iced water, gin and elderflower tonic (my choice – yum!), beers (hubby’s choice – yum!), champagne and a selection of white, rosé and red wines. We were also served tea and coffee if you would prefer –  Happy 5th Anniversary T Day wishes!

Maybe you will join me in a little dance around the fountain too (grin!) …

… and in case you are wondering here is my sun, my moon and all of my stars; we had such a wonderful time!

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 as I had fun using my new Kaisercraft stamp set and also experimenting by using the CD as a stamp.

Inspired by my dearest friends, I’m also joining the Get Sentimental challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my Art Journaling and Mixed Media Style page.

I’m also pleased to join Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their Use inks anyway you want challenge as I used inks and stamping to create this art journal page.

With the silver accents and sparkly gems, I’m also pleased to join Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Add A Little Sparkle challenge.

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 (Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• CD – old
• Creative Stencils Craft Essentials (Stars MAOB0004)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Stargazer CS327)
• Poundland Design Pad (Pure Frozen CRO701/16P4)
• Starform Outline Stickers (Silver Circles 1144)
• Crelando Relief Sticker Set (12 Sheets IAN289011)
• The Works (Jewel Stickers)
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Oriental Fish – Birthday Card

Following all your lovely feedback last week, I have another card to share with you that I created using the stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps that I won recently.

This card was gratefully received by a member of my family who keeps goldfish in her garden pond, I hope you like it too!

I started by cutting some white cardstock to make a square-shaped card when folded and also a square of textured paper that is slightly smaller than the card. The paper is recycled from an old birthday card and I smooshed it with some blue Distress Inks to create a water effect; I did this by applying Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean ink onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the paper. When dry, I stuck it to the card using double-sided tape and added gold cherry blossom outline stickers diagonally across the card and also some gold border outline stickers around the edge to frame it. Next I stamped the beautiful fish from Paperbabe Stamps onto plain white card using Spiced Marmalade and Festive Berries Distress Ink and fussy cut them out; I stamped it by applying the Spiced Marmalade ink to the whole stamp and then I added the Festive Berries ink around the outside of the stamp. They are stuck in place using a UHU Stic and I added the bubbles and splash marks from the same stamp set using the blue inks. To finish, I added some glittery Icicle Sparkles by Ranger to the bubbles and a pretty “For you…” heart-shaped topper that I had in my craft stash.

If you are interested you can see the previous card that I made here.

This card reminds me of the fish we use to have in our old house, here is Popeye and his friends in the pond enjoying the sunshine; we called one of the fish Popeye as he had a funny shaped lip which reminded us of the cartoon character Popeye – “toot, toot!” (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:

Blue is my favourite colour and I love the Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean Distress Ink colours that I used to create this card, so I’m joining the lovely DT over at Moo Mania & More where there challenge is Your Favourite Colors.

Over at The Artistic Stamper, the challenge is Colour it Blue so I’m pleased to join in the fun with my blue water effect card too.

I’m also pleased to join the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where their theme is Anything Goes with my Oriental Fish birthday card.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my card that I created using their fabulous stamps!

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 card:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries)
• Paperbabe Stamps (Oriental Zen Stamp Set)
• Cardstock (White 200 GSM)
• Textured paper – recycled birthday card
• Francoise Collection Outline Stickers (Gold 2238)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Straight Line Borders – Gold)
• Heart-shaped Topper
• Ranger Stickles (Icicle)
• UHU Stic
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape