Enjoy the beauty of becoming

It’s a new month so we are launching our May challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our mixed media challenge; I hope you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see you there!

I had fun recycling some corrugated packaging and lace as part of my mixed media design, and as the page emerged I thought that the wording seemed very appropriate too (grin!).  

I started by ripping pieces of corrugated card which I recycled from some packaging and sticking them onto the page with some strips of lace using Liquitex matte gel medium.

Then I covered the whole page with Pébéo white gesso and left it to dry. Next I added some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and Bluebird Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Ink to the page; I did this by adding drops of ink from re-inker bottles and then spritzing with water, gradually building up the layers of colour. When dry, I applied Mowed Lawn Distress Ink and Prickly Pear Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Ink using the same technique but this time to the bottom part of the page. I left the page to dry overnight and then I stamped a Marble stamp from Kasiercraft over the whole page using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink. The flowers were from a Tim Holtz Botanical Layers pack and I used a Finnabair Sentiments sticker book for the wording which read “create”, “Enjoy the beauty of becoming” and “bloom”.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too.

The flowers on my page reminded me of these Bellis Perennis which are also known as English Daisies. They have pompom blooms that flower from February to May and are very popular as an alternative to traditional spring bedding plants.

They look so beautiful filling the flower beds in the gardens by the seafront where we live.

I hope that you’re 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.

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

• Recycled corrugated card packaging
• Recycled lace
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tumbled Glass, Mowed Lawn, Hickory Smoke)
• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Bendable Dye Inks (Bluebird, Prickly Pear)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Marble CS293)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Layers (Botanical #TH93554)
• Stix2 glue dots
• Finnabair Sticker Book (Sentiments #964849)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat this month and her Language theme with the wording I added to my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #143 – Anything Goes with my recycled page. LTSCB#57 – May Anything Goes over at the Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my mixed media recycled page. Feminine challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and also at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the lace and flower design. MIUCB#49 – Anything Goes + Layering over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the layering techniques that I used to create this page – recycled packaging and lace, gesso and inks with the stamping.

Parisian Café

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges where I’m sharing this mini art journal page for this month’s We will always have Paris challenge.

I had fun creating this grungy Parisian Café page using a new Andy Skinner stamp and some French Fancy Mixed Media Transfers that I’ve had in my craft stash for a while (grin!).

I started by covering the chipboard background with some white gesso and then I used some sandpaper to distress the surface by rubbing it horizontally across the page. I sprayed the page using White Linen Dylusions Spray and Pumice Stone Distress Oxide Spray and left it to dry. Next I stamped a Grunge Wallpaper stamp by Andy Skinner using a Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad and covered the ink with Broken China Distress Glaze which I melted using a heat gun. I edged the page using a black Faber-Castell marker and smudged the ink with my finger. The Eiffel Tower was fussy cut from some design paper and was stuck in place using a glue stick. I added some of the French Fancy Mixed Media transfers by Andy Skinner and then two oval glass embellishments of a butterfly and some roses, which finished the page.

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

This challenge reminded me of the Parisian Cafés that lined the streets of Paris and of course the Eiffel Tower – c’est magnifique!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Ranger Dylusions Ink Sprays – White Linen
• Ranger – Tim Holtz® – Distress® Oxide® Spray – Pumice Stone
• Creative Expressions – Rubber Stamp By Andy Skinner – Grunge Wallpaper
• VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad
• Tim Holtz® – Distress Embossing Glaze – Broken China
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Andy Skinner Mixed Media Transfers (French Fancy CEAST002)
• Docrafts Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Travel Memories)
• Pritt Stick
• Oval Glass Embellishments
• Stix2 glue dots

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat this month and her Language theme with the French language on my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #143 – Anything Goes with my Paris page. LTSCB#154 – Anything Goes over at the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my mini art journal page. Feminine challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and also at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my pretty Paris page.

Double-headed Tulips

As you may remember every year we plant tulips bulbs in our garden and last November we planted some double-headed tulips; they have the most amazing flowers and inspired this page (grin!).

I started by covering the background with a thin layer of Mowed Lawn and Forest Moss Distress Ink, which was painted onto the page like watercolour. Then I stencilled a Shabby Harlequin mini stencil from Creative Expressions using the Forest Moss Distress Ink. Next I covered the background using white gesso and when dry, I used the same stencil to add some Mowed Lawn Distress Ink; the layers of gesso and ink gave the background a lovely translucency. I used the Mowed Lawn ink again to stamp some grungy dots around the stencilled areas using a Spritz & Speckles stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps. The tulips were fussy cut from an old flower book and they were stuck in place using a glue stick. To finish, I added the wording “Bloom where you are planted” which was a sticker from Kaisercraft and lots of sparkly green dots which are gel stickers.

Here are the amazing double-headed tulips in our garden; the flowers are huge and look so bright with their red and yellow petals.

This double-headed tulip is a mixture of the two colours, so pretty!

In fact, all the spring flowers are looking beautiful in our garden (grin!).

A little bit of our garden made its way into my craft room, and as T Stands for Tuesday I’ve included my cup of Ceylon Tea too – Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mowed Lawn, Forest Moss)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Shabby Harlequin)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (Spritz & Speckles)
• Recycled images from a Garden Flower book
• Pritt Stick
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Full Bloom SS365)
• Home Bargains (Gel Stickers – green)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat this month and her Language theme with my tulips and wording on my page speaking to the language of flowers (grin!). Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #143 – Anything Goes with my spring flower page. MIUCB#49 – Anything Goes + Layering over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the layering techniques of the inks, stencilling, gesso and stamping that I used to create the background of this page. Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my tulip page too. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Feminine theme with my pretty flower page.

Inspired by Eileen

I’m so pleased to be able to join Art Journal Journey one last time this month, where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to be host. It’s heart breaking that she passed away last month shortly after her heart surgery; she is greatly missed and I’d like to say a big thank you to the AJJ team for allowing us to remember her throughout the month by joining this challenge.

I thought that it was fitting that my page was inspired by Eileen and her kindness, she was truly a lovely person!

Eileen and myself always enjoyed discussing products and techniques together, and she loved the Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint that I used on my pages so much so that she bought some for herself, so in her memory I used this paint to cover the background on my page. I also applied some white gesso to the background and when dry, I added some honeycomb patterns using a stencil from Creative Expressions and Antique Linen Distress Ink. Then I stamped the page using a Butterfly Post stamp from Stampendous and some Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink. The painted paper pieces and the hydrangea image were kindly gifted to me by Eileen as part of some happy T Day mail that she sent to me. The butterflies and wording were stickers from Kaisercraft and finished the page; the wording reads “The language of  friendship is not words but meanings” by Henry David Thoreau, “memories” and “blessed”.

Here are the goodies, including the ones I used on this page, that Eileen kindly sent to me. She was such an inspiration and I miss her support, encouragement, camaraderie and friendship very much!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Honeycomb)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen)
• Stampendous! Cling Mounted Rubber Stamp (Butterfly Post)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Happy Mail from Eileen – Painted paper pieces and hydrangea image
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)

Challenges As well as Art Journal Journey, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #142 – Anything Goes with my page. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and their Add A Quote challenge with the friendship quote by Henry David Thoreau that I added to my page. LTSCB#144 – Spring Forward over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog as the blues and yellows with the blossom remind me of spring. Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my memory page.

Eight Days A Week

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Inspired by a Song; please remember to let us know which song inspired your projects too.

My page was inspired by one of my hubby’s favourite Beatles songs, Eight days a week. I hope that you’ll join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

As this song is about love, the background of my page was covered in hearts. I did this using one of the very first stamps that I bought when I started art journaling, and the hearts were stamped using Lulu Lavender, Grape Jelly, Paris Dusk and Teal Zeal Memento Inks. I used a brayer to add some Pébéo white gesso over the top to push the colours back into the background more. “The Beatles” wording and image were recycled from a paper bag that I had in my craft stash; it was from when we visited The Beatles Story in Liverpool. The paper flowers were a gifted to me by my sister for Christmas and were arranged onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium; maybe you noticed that I included eight flowers on this page to match the song title. The wording “Eight days a week” and the “8” that I added to the centre of each of the flowers were cut from white cardstock using an Alphanumeric Bold Thinlits die set. I coloured the song title wording using a Navy Spectrum Aqua marker before sticking them into place which finished the page. 

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and find out which songs inspired the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).

We love Liverpool and have visited many times. Of course Liverpool is synonymous with The Beatles and there are lots of Beatles things to see and do around the city. This includes The Beatle Story, which is well worth a visit; it’s a permanent exhibition telling the story of the lives and times of The Beatles.

This is an iconic statue of the “Fab Four” located along the waterfront near the Liverbird Building and Mersey Ferry Terminal.   

As we always visit Rococo for lunch when we are in Liverpool and T Stands for Tuesday, I’m pleased to share our green tea from one of our visits. We also enjoyed a Club sandwich to share and a cake each; I had a Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffin whilst my hubby had a Malteser (malt ball) Slice – Happy T Day everyone!

If you’re interested, here’s The Beatles singing Eight Days A Week too.

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Lulu Lavender, Grape Jelly, Paris Dusk, Teal Zeal)
• Hobbycraft Clear Stamp (Heart Background)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Recycled paper bag – The Beatles Story
• Pritt Stick
• Paper Flowers
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Die Set (Alphanumeric Bold 665205)
• White Cardstock
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Pen (Navy)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are: Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – she is greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my page which was inspired by a song – Eight Days A Week. Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #142 – Anything Goes with my art journal page. LTCCB#57 – April Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my mixed media page.

The Singing Ringing Tree

As you may remember, I was surprised that I had never featured The Singing Ringing Tree before on one of my posts. We visited this sculpture a couple of years ago for my birthday, so it inspired this page – I hope you like it (grin!).

I started by adding the image of The Singing Ringing Tree, which was from an old magazine, using a glue stick; it was edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. I coloured the white areas of the page by stamping a Steampunk Background stamp and the “Explore, Discover, Journey” wording using Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Ink and adding some Hickory Smoke and Salty Ocean Distress Ink. The letters were die cut using Alphanumeric Bold Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and were cut from some silver corrugated cardstock. I covered the letters using Silver Grey lustre wax and black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to give it a grungy metallic appearance. Before sticking them in place I added some Pébéo white gesso over the stamped areas to push the colour back and then I stuck the letters down using Liquitex matte gel medium. I outlined the right-hand side of the letters using a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out more and then to finish, I added three metal music notes using Ranger Glossy Accents.

Reminded of our visit, I also found some of our photos to share with you (grin!). The singing ringing tree is located a little way from the road so we parked and then walked to the sculpture; Panopticon means “structure providing a comprehensive view”.

It was a short trek to The Singing Ringing Tree which is a wind powered sound sculpture resembling a tree and set in the landscape of the Pennine Hill range overlooking Burnley in Lancashire.

This 3-metre (10 ft) tall sculpture was designed by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu of Tonkin Liu and has amazing views across the Pennine Moors.

It comprises of galvanised steel pipes; some are structural and others are cut across their width to produce sound by harnessing the energy of the wind.

It was a windy day when we visited so we got to hear the haunting sounds of The Singing Ringing Tree, if you are interested to hear the sounds and see more of the view please check out this video.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a photo that you may remember of me with my cup of green tea and a Chorley cake which was actually bought the same day that we visited this sculpture – Happy T Day!

You can find out more about Chorley Cakes which are a sweet treat here in Lancashire on my previous post Use Your Scraps; the title of this post also reminded me to wish Elizabeth a very Happy bEARTHday for later this week!

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

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

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

• Old magazine image
• Pritt Stick
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Salty Ocean)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamps (Steampunk Background DCE907128)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Traveller MIN-CCS103)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Hickory Smoke)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Die Set (Alphanumeric Bold 665205)
• Wilkos (Corrugated Cardstock – Silver)
• Craf-T Products Lustre Rub-ons (Color Kit #4 – Silver Grey)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• The Works (Metal Musical Notes)
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are: Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – she is greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my page which was inspired by The Singing Ringing Tree. Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #142 – Anything Goes with my page. LTCCB#57 – April Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my Singing Ringing Tree mixed media page.

Make a Rainbow

Our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday for the next 2 weeks is Make a Rainbow.

For my art journal page, I created a rainbow coloured background of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet with matching die cut flowers. I hope that you are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

For the rainbow background, I painted Kuretake Watercolour paints in the vertical panels onto the page. I did this by applying water to the page first and then adding Red, Cadmium Scarlet, Lemon Yellow, Sap Green Light, Ultramarine, Indigo and Cobalt Violet watercolour paint over the top. Then I splattered the page using white and also black acrylic paint and when dry, I applied some Pébéo white gesso using a brayer to push back the bright rainbow colours into the background more. The different flowers were die cut using three sets of Wildflower Thinlits from Tim Holtz; they were cut from coloured papers and also white cardstock. I layered the coloured and white flower die cuts together so they were slightly off centre and then I arranged them onto the page using a Zig glue pen. The letters for the “rainbow” wording were created the same way using a Docrafts Alphabet die cut set which finished the page.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Make a Rainbow creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).

It’s always magical seeing rainbows and whilst creating this page it reminded me of this one; taken through my craft room window last year.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big welcome to the T Gang and sharing my cuppa with one of my yummy birthday cupcakes that I made (it’s a sponge cake filled with vanilla buttercream and jam then topped with the icing) – wishing you a very Happy T Day!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Red, Cadmium Scarlet, Lemon Yellow, Sap Green Light, Ultramarine, Indigo, Cobalt Violet)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Brayer (Small Roller)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Wildflowers #1 66190, Wildflower # 2 661808, Wildflower Stems #3 665221)
• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper Pad
• White Cardstock
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue Pen – Chisel Tip
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Cut Set (Folk Alphabet)

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are: Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – she is greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my pages this month which was inspired by rainbow wishes (grin!). MIUCB#48 – Anything Goes + optional No Stamping challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my rainbow page which contains no stamping. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and their Not a Card challenge with my rainbow art journal page.

Birds & Bees

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges where I’m sharing a mixed media page for this month’s The Birds and The Bees challenge.

 I created this spring scene using lots of new crafting goodies, including a Sizzix Floral Layers Thinlits for the blossom and a Pink Ink Designs Beehive Buzz stamp and die set for the bees. I also used my new Tim Holtz Typewriter Embossing Folder for the wording which was on my birthday list thanks to the lovely Tracey who used it on one of her journal covers – thank you for the inspiration!

Like the birds in my garden, the birds and bees on my page are enjoying spring with the blue skies and pretty blossoms.

I started by covering the background with Speckled Egg and Twisted Citron Distress Paint using a Brayer and then some white gesso. When dry, I added the birds and sheet music which were from some Aviary Collage Paper by Tim Holtz and were stuck in place using a glue stick.

Next I coloured some mixed media paper for the die cut flowers and leaves; for the blossoms I used Abandoned Coral Distress Ink Spray and White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray, for the stamens Fossilized Amber Distress Ink and for the leaves Mowed Lawn and Forest Moss Distress Ink. I cut them out using the Sizzix Floral Layers Thinlits set, layered the die cut pieces together, edged them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and arranged them onto the page using gel medium.

I stamped the bees onto the page and also onto some mixed media paper using black Archival Ink and the Beehive Buzz set from Pink Ink Designs. They were coloured using Fossilized Amber and Vintage Photo Distress Inks, die cut using the Beehive Buzz dies and then stuck in place using glue dots.

The wording was created using the Typewriter Embossing Folder from Tim Holtz. I embossed the letters onto some card and cut them out to make small panels. Then I coloured the card around each of the letters using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and stuck them in place using glue dots which finished the page.

I hope that you are enjoying The Birds and The Bees challenge over at Country View Challenges too; it would be lovely to see you there! Don’t forget that when you link to this challenge that Birds and/or Bees need to be the main focus of your design in order to have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts website (grin!).

With the sunny days we’ve been having it’s becoming very busy on the beachfront, so we have been mindful to walk more in land; this has allowed us to appreciate all the pretty spring blossoms in people’s gardens – Happy Spring everyone!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

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

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

• 664359 -Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 10PK – Floral Layers
• Pink Ink Designs – Stamp & Die Set – A Cut Above – Beehive Buzz
• 664760 – Sizzix Texture Fades Embossing Folder – Typewriter By Tim Holtz
• Ranger – Tim Holtz® -Distress Paint – Speckled Egg
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Paint Dabber – Twisted Citron
• Ranger Dylusions Ink Sprays – White Linen
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Fossilized Amber
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mowed Lawn
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Forest Moss
• 660200 Sizzix Big Shot Machine Only (White & Gray)
• Ranger Archival Ink Pad, Jet Black – 90mm X 62mm
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Spray (Abandoned Coral)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Collage Paper (Aviary #TH93706)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia )
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Pritt Stick
• Mixed Media Paper
• Stix2 glue dots
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are: Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – she is greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my page which was inspired by springtime birds and bees. LTSCB#144 – Spring Forward challenge over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my springtime page. Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #141 – Anything Goes with my birds and bees page. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and their Layer It challenge with the layers of colour, collage paper and die cuts on this page. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes challenge with my art journal page too.

Adventure

It’s a new month so we are launching our April challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, our monthly challenge theme, as always, is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My page today was inspired by one of our walks along the beach front and a sea view that reminded me of adventures (grin!).

For the background, I dragged Hickory Smoke and Black Soot Distress Ink pads over the textured mixed media paper and then I added some water using a paintbrush to activate some of the ink. Next I framed the page by painting some white gesso around the edges using my finger which gave a cloudy appearance. The postcard, world, rectangle and bird sitting on the world globe were all fussy cut from some Vintage Travels design paper and the three alphabet tiles were cut from a wallpaper sample; they were arranged onto the page using double-sided tape.

I added two chipboard pieces from BoozyBear which I covered with Versamark Watermark ink and some specks of white and then clear embossing powder; they were stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents. I added all the motivational wording which were from Sentiments Sticker Pad by Finnabair. To finish, I embellished the page with some metal and glass beads which were recycled from an old necklace.

You need to use three different mediums on your projects to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge and for more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. I hope you are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

Here’s the view that inspired my page; I captured this sea view whilst out walking as I loved the grey moody clouds and sunshine with the boat in the forefront, which seems to be waiting for new adventures (grin!).

Hope that you’re 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.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Black Soot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Creative Expressions Design Pad (Vintage Travels)
• Wallpaper sample
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Boozybear chipboard pieces
• Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Wow! Embossing Powder (White, Clear)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Finnabair Prima Marketing Art Daily Sticker Pad (Sentiments)

Challenges As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are: I’m so pleased to be able to join Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – she will be greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my page which was inspired by one of my walks along the seafront and new adventures. Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #141 – Anything Goes with my page. MIUCB #48 – Anything Goes + optional twist of No Stamping challenge over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the background, collage and EP techniques I used to create this page and there was no stamping too. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes challenge with my art journal page. LTCCB #144 – April Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my mixed media page.

Bee Extraordinary

It’s a new month which means we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for April which is The Birds and The Bees.

Please ensure that birds and/or bees are the main focus of your projects when you join this challenge which is being hosted this month by the lovely Sue.

This page was created in my mini art journal, so I started by covering the chipboard page with a coat of white gesso and then I stamped the beehive image using black Archival Ink and a Beehive Buzz stamp and die set from Pink Ink Designs. Next I added the hexagonal pattern to the background using Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo Distress Ink and an old hexagon stamp. Then I used an Interlocking Circles stencil from Creative Expressions as a stamp by covering it with Black Soot Distress Ink, spritzing it with water and then pressing the stencil onto the page. When dry, I used some black Archival Ink and the hexagon stamp again around the edges of the page to frame it. The beehive was coloured and shaded using a blue Tri-Blend marker and some Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo Distress Ink which I applied like watercolour.

I stamped the bees onto some mixed media paper and then I used the Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Salty Ocean Distress Inks again to colour them. They were die cut using the dies from the Beehive Buzz set and then stuck in place using glue dots.

I added three blue dome stickers and used the stamp and die set to create the “Bee Extraordinary” wording which finished the page.

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

This beehive page brought back memories of some colourful beehives that we saw whilst on holiday in Skiathos, Greece.

We saw them whilst out walking along a cliff top trail; they were overlooking the sea and had this beautiful view!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Pink Ink Designs – Stamp & Die Set – A Cut Above – Beehive Buzz
• Ranger Archival Ink Pad, Jet Black – 90mm X 62mm
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mustard Seed
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil – Interlocking Circles
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Black Soot
• Ranger Roller – Small Brayer 2 1/4
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Salty Ocean
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo)
• Docrafts Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Hexagon Clear Stamp
• Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend (True Blue Blend)
• Mixed Media Paper
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Dome Stickers

Challenges I’m so pleased to be able to join Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month. It’s so heart breaking that she won’t be joining us as she passed away last month shortly after her heart surgery – she will be greatly missed and I’m so pleased to be able to remember her throughout the month by joining AJJ! My page was inspired by bees and beehives, and I’m sure Eileen would have loved the positive wording “Bee Extraordinary” too!