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

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Live simple …

June means that summer is here and as we have been having a few grey days of late, I created this brightly coloured page inspired by some motivational wording which I hope brings a smile to your face too (grin!).

With the chevrons and stamped shapes, my page is also a reminder that you have another week to join our Make a Mark challenge at Try it on Tuesday, it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by collaging the whole page with colourful design papers using Liquitex matte gel medium and then I covered the papers with some Pébéo white gesso using a palette knife. When dry, I coloured the edges of the papers with corresponding coloured Faber-Castell gelatos which included Red Cherry, Watermelon, Snow Cone and Coconut, smudging the colours with my finger which I wet with a baby wipe. Using black Archival Ink, I stamped: some hearts using a Heart Background stamp; Circles using a Worn Rings Gummiapan stamp, a recycled cardboard tube and also a plastic tube; and some geometric mini patterned dots and a hexagon pattern stamp from Docrafts. I highlighted and added more detail to these stamped images using a white Uni Posca paint pen; yes I did colour all those little hexagons white (grin!). Then I added the multi-coloured chevrons which are stickers from Kaisercraft; I outlined them with the white Uni Posca paint pen and also a black Uni Pin marker to make them stand out more. I cut out a panel from a Kaisercraft paper sheet, it reads “Live simple, dream big, laugh lots, be amazing, give love” which I thought was a great philosophy to live by. The panel was stuck in place using double-sided tape and I framed it using black Glitterations border stickers. To finish, I added strips of the black Glitterations border stickers to the right-hand side edges of the chevrons so they were more defined.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my cup of cinnamon orange tea and some homemade French toast. It definitely feels like summer as strawberries are in season here and we’ve been having them on either American pancakes or French toast along with some golden syrup – so yummy! Wishing you a very Happy T Day!

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 motivational words that I included on my page. Thanks for the inspiration Halle!

I’m joining the Things with wings challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the butterflies on my page.

I’m also happy to join in the It’s a bugs life challenge over at Country View Challenges as I included butterflies on my page.

I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my summery 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
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Red Cherry, Watermelon, Snow Cone, Coconut)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Hobbycraft A6 Clear Stamp (Heart Background 50351HC)
• Gummiapan Stamps (Worn Rings 2 11050601)
• Recycled cardboard and plastic tubes
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Geometric Kraft (Mini Cards & Stamp Set PMA105306, Gift Tags and Stamp Set PMA105307)
• The Works Design Pad (Happy Spring CRO707/TW26)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)
• Kaisercraft Paper Fly Free Collection (Confidante P1896)
• Docrafts Papermania Glitterations (Black Borders ANT8181015)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 double-sided tape

New Tag Journal – Tag Friday at A Vintage Journey

I’m thrilled and honoured to be part of the Creative Guide team at A Vintage Journey and I’d like to thank the wonderful team for having me.

Today at A Vintage Journey it is Tag Friday, which takes place only when there is a fifth Friday in the month. I had so much fun joining in this challenge as Tag Friday is all about creating something you love so there is no particular theme, it’s time to play, experiment and have fun – it would be great to see you there!

As some of you will be aware, I love art journaling, so I thought I would start a “Tag Journal” which will be made up of double-sided tags. Here’s my first one which I designed to capture my new adventure at A Vintage Journey; both sides are vintage shabby in style, on one side is the front cover of my new Tag Journal which reminds me to embrace the journey and on the other is a tribute to the support and kindness shown by my fellow Creative Guides who have been so welcoming and helpful – thank you!

To start, I used a large Tim Holtz Poster Card to create the tag by cutting off two of the corners to make a tag shape and punching a hole using my new Crop-A-Dile machine, which is so cool to use (grin!). I painted transparent gesso over both sides of the tag to make it stronger and give a good foundation for the inks and acrylic paints that I planned to apply. When dry, I applied Forest Moss and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks, to one side of the tag, by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the tag. The flowers and leaves are fussy cut from design paper and are stuck on top of some white acrylic paint to make them stand out more. I also added Gold Shellac embossing power to edge the tag and splattered the tag with white and black acrylic paint to create a grungy look.

The dragonfly is stamped onto tissue paper with the Gold Shellac embossing power and is stuck in place, like all of the elements, using matte gel medium; I was careful not to apply any of the gel medium over the embossing powder so it didn’t loose its shine. When dry I outlined the dragonfly with a black fine line marker.

The smaller “Tag Journal” tags were created using: a recycled clothing tag which I covered with white paper to conceal the designer name and edged with the Gold Shellac embossing powder; some green card which I splattered with the Pine Needles and Peacock Feathers Distress Ink, stamped with the words “Tag Journal” using black Archival Ink and then punched using my Crop-A-Dile machine; some pretty metal and gemstone embellishments recycled from an old necklace; and a piece of white thread which attached everything together. The thread was secured using a “figure of eight” knot as it looks more decorative, and a turquoise brad which I covered in the embossing powder; you’ll notice I wasn’t careful in how I applied the embossing powder as I wanted a grungy look.

To finish, I added a piece of lace to the bottom of the tag and a Small Talk sticker from Tim Holtz which I edged with a Cold Grey Big Brush marker, it reads “embrace the journey”; I thought these words were prefect for my new creative journey here at A Vintage Journey.

On the other side of the tag, I started by adding some white acrylic paint along the edges and when dry I covered the paint with Tea Dye Distress Ink using a blending tool and also the Cold Grey marker smudging the ink with my finger. Next I prepared the different elements to stick onto the tag, this included: a piece of design paper to add a pocket at the bottom of the tag which I reinforced with a piece of thin white card and edged along the top opening with the Tea Dye ink and Cold marker; a ripped piece of the same paper which is also edged with the Tea Dye ink and Cold Grey marker; a piece of striped paper edged with the Cold Grey marker; and flowers which I stamped onto tissue paper using black Archival Ink.

After stamping some postage marks using black Archival Ink over the background, I layered all of the elements onto the tag using matte gel medium. I covered up the back of the brad with a postage stamp from my hubby’s childhood collection (he kindly gave me his stamp collection to use in my artwork) and then I edged the tag using the Cold Grey marker and a black Uni Pin marker. I also selected a pretty vintage designed card from Tim Holtz to sit in the tag pocket.

As a tribute to the warm welcome, support and kindness shown by the Creative Guides at A Vintage Journey I included the words “together is the best place to be” and made the card that sits in the tag pocket reversible. On the reverse of the card, I added A Vintage Journey Creative Guide badge which I printed, stuck in place and distressed using the Tea Dye ink and the Cold Grey marker again. Then I added a thin piece of lace along the bottom edge so it blended into the lace that I had attached to the other side.

To finish, I added an eyelet with my Crop-A-Dile machine which reinforced the hole as I’m using a book ring to secure all of my Tag Journal tags together when they are finished. Like today, I plan to share my double-sided tag designs with you on Tag Fridays along with the process and materials that I used.

I had so much fun creating my first tag for Tag Friday and for more inspiration, please pop over to A Vintage Journey where you’ll find some amazing tags created by my fellow Creative Guides. I hope you are inspired to join us as I’m so looking forward to seeing your tags and being inspired by your designs too!

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

Challenges

I’m joining the Things with Wings challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the dragonfly that I included on my tag.

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my double-sided tag.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps too.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this double-sided tag:

• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Pébéo Transparent Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Forest Moss, Peacock Feathers, Tea Dye)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Gold Shellac)
• Ranger Heat Gun
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Authentic Vintage CRO730/R, Vintage Romance 154897)
• Prima Marketing Inc. Clear Stamps (Rossi Belle 587499)
• Eco Green Crafts Recycled Rubber Stamps (Petal Party #04309)
• Recycled white tissue paper
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Recycled clothing tag, white paper and green card
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Recycled metal embellishments from old necklace
• White thread
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• The Works (Lace Trim)
• Recycled( white cardstock, paper, tissue paper_
• UK Postage Stamp – 1956 Green Watermark 165 St Edwards Crown (E2R)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Layers (Botanical #TH93554)
• A Vintage Journey Badge – computer printed
• We R Memory Keepers Tools (Crop-A-Dile Hole Punch and Eyelet Setter, Standard Eyelets)
• Woodware Craft Collection (Metallic Book Rings – 38mm Silver)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic

Make a wish

With the garden blooming with colour and happiness, I created a bright coloured flowery art journal page which was also inspired by a few of my favourite challenge blogs – I hope you like it!

I started this page by collaging pieces of flowery decoupage paper onto the background using Liquitex matte gel medium and then I applied some Pébéo white gesso. When it was dry I used a couple of stencils to add dots over the white gesso using Abandoned Coral and Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink. Next I stamped the flower images from Magenta using black Archival Ink and coloured them using red, orange, pink, purple, yellow, light and dark green Uni Posca paint pens. I added more detail to the flowers using a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen and then added some sparkle using Ranger Stickles. The fairy is a wooden shape which is coloured black using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and covered with some glitter glue; it is stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents. I doodled lots of small dots using the white, pink, yellow and green Uni Posca paint pen and outlined them using a black Uni Pin maker. The “make a wish” wording, which I thought the fairy may be asking, is a sticker from Kaisercraft and I outlined it using a black Uni Pin pen so it stood out more. To finish, I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint.

The flowers are starting to bloom in our garden, here’s what our flower beds look like at the moment.

They have changed so much over the last few months as we head towards summer (grin!).

Challenges

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

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika N, also known as BioArtGal, who is hosting the In the Sky/In the Air challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the fairy flying between the flowers on my page.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Use Stencils! challenge as I used a couple of  dot stencils on my art journal page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Bright Colors Moodboard challenge with the bright colours and purple flowers on my page.

There are a few more days left to join our 10^th Birthday Party at Try it on Tuesday, so grab our badge and join in the fun, be colourful and share your art that you love to create with us.

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
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Abandoned Coral, Cracked Pistachio)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (Red, Orange, Pink, Purple, Yellow, Light Green, Dark Green)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Stencil (Dots)
• Magenta Self-Cling Stamp (Delicate Daisies C40296-0)
• DecoTime (Patch Paper DS9454)
• The Works (Fairy Shapes)
• Ranger Stickles (Icicle)
• Hobbycraft (Light Green Glitter Glue)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Secret Garden SS283)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Birthday Wishes

As it’s our 10^th birthday at Try it on Tuesday and I always enjoy a lovely cocktail when it’s my birthday, I thought we could raise a glass at the Let’s Party challenge too!

You are invited to join our party which lasts for another week so have fun, be colourful and share the art that you like to create with us. To celebrate we also have our 10^th birthday party logo that you can display on your blog too.

I started with a purple background from a previous project that had gone wrong so I covered it with white gesso and when it was dry I scribbled on some Passion Fruit and Coconut Faber-Castell gelatos over the top and smudged them with my finger which I had wet with water. As gelatos reactivate when wet and I wanted to keep the next layers of colour crisp, I covered the page with Pébéo transparent gesso to fix the gelato colour in place. Next I added three pieces of sheet music using Liquitex matte gel medium and applied some DecoArt white acrylic paint over the page using a brayer. I stencilled some Vivid Lime Green Liquitex acylic paint through an Art Mask from Carabelle Studio and left it to dry. Then I applied some Red Cherry Faber-Castell gelato along the edges of the page and also to define the edges of the sheet music pieces; smudging it with my finger again. Next I cut the tag from some Kaisercraft paper using a Tim Holtz Framelits die and my Big Shot machine, and edged it with Red Cherry and Lime Faber-Castell gelatos. I tied a piece of lime green ribbon to the tag and stuck to the page using a glue stick. I created the large chevron shape on the left-hand side of the page from three pieces of washi tape and added the flowers, circular wording and circles which are stickers from Kaisercraft; some are fussy cut and edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. I also edged the page with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and splattered the whole page with black DecoArt acrylic paint. The cocktail image is recycled from an old birthday card; it is fussy cut and stuck in place using a glue stick. I stamped the words “happy”, “birthday wishes” and “sparkle” using a stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps and black Archival Ink. To finish, I added three mini butterflies and also some tiny red gemstones to add more sparkle.

My friend sent me this card as we always celebrate my birthday with a cocktail and she knows that a cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a cosmo happens to be one of my favourites (grin!).

If you are interested it’s made with ½oz Fresh lime juice, 1oz Cranberry juice, ½oz Cointreau, 1½oz Vodka. Place all the ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake well and strain into a large cocktail glass – yum (double grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m joining the T Gang and wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

Challenges 

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from the blog BioArtGal  and her In the Sky/In the Air challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the butterflies flying up my page – maybe wou’d like to join me for a cocktail Erica (grin!).

I’m joining in the Happy Hour challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my birthday cocktail page – cheers!

I’m pleased to join the Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #93 – Sketch as the sketch inspired my page design.

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 Gesso (White, Transparent)
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Passion Fruit, Coconut, Red Cherry, Lime)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White, Black)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Carabelle Studio Art Mask (Sur Fond de Mosaique MA60049)
• Sizzix Framelits Tim Holtz Alterations (Tag Collection 658784)
• Paperbabe Stamps (Birthday Wishes Stamp Set)
• Sheet Music
• Kaisercraft Paper Fiesta! Collection (Siesta P1859)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284, Say Aloha SS281)
• Recycled Birthday Card
• Michael’ Washi Tape
• Ribbon (Lime Green)
• Docrafts Papermania (Adhesive Stones – Red PMA351607)
• Poundland (Mini Glitter Embellishments 59409)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick

Everything has beauty

I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend; here in the UK we have a four-day holiday for Easter and we have had some glorious weather, so we’ve been spending time visiting with friends, in the garden and out on our tandem (grin!).

As part of our ongoing garden project, this week we started landscaping the back beds of our garden so my page today reflects nature and earthy colour tones as I took inspiration from all the dirt we have been shovelling (grin!) along with the brick wall colours that we have been exposing and the birds that we have seen in our garden too – I hope you like it!

For my grungy background, I started by covering the page with Chestnut, Boulder, Dessert, Fawn and Topaz Spectrum Aqua markers by scribbling each of the inks onto a blending mat, spritzing with water and pressing the mat onto the page. Then I stencilled a Vintage Diamond stencil from Creative Expressions and Black Soot Distress Ink and added some pieces of decoupage paper using Liquitex matte gel medium. I used a palette knife to add some Pébéo white gesso over the page and once dry, I edged the decoupage pieces using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger. Then I stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft and also a grid patterned homemade stamp using black Archival Ink. I splattered the page with the Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker ink by scribbling it onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and dripping it onto the page. Then I used black Archival Ink to stamp the bird on the branch which is part of the Urban Tapestries stamp set from Tim Holtz and also the flowers in the foreground which is from a Carabelle Studio stamp set. To finish, I added two Small talk stickers from Tim Holtz and edged them using a black Uni Pin marker; they read “live gently on the earth” and “everything has beauty”.

I had a cuppa with friends at Bijou of Lytham last week, it’s a pretty place and I had a wonderful time catching up with some friends – here’s my pot of drinking green tea …

… and my friend’s hot chocolate with all the works (marshmallows and cream) – as T Stands for Tuesday I’m wishing the T Gang a very Happy T Day!

Challenges

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

I’m pleased to join the lovely Wendy from Wendy’s Art and Craft Journal  and her Having Fun challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I had fun using all the different mediums to create this page.

I’m happy to join the Neutral Zone challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my grungy Mixed Media Style page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and their Creative Artiste’s #48th Challenge  – Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge with the different mixed media (markers, inks, decoupage paper, gesso) I used to create my art journal 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:

• Spectrum Aqua Markers (Chestnut, Boulder, Dessert, Fawn, Topaz)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencils (Vintage Diamond CEMSDIAM)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Homemade Wood Mounted Stamp – plasterboard tape
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous (Urban Tapestry CMS061)
• Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (SA60175 Dans la nature, il y a …)
• Trimcraft (Decoupage papers SCDEC025)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Wild and Free

With the warmer weather of late we have been having fun in the garden. We have weeded our flower beds and added a mulch of bark and have been watching the spring flowers grow and new foliage shoot up. So I created this happy page to celebrate, using some soft spring colours as well as some fun techniques and the wording “all good things are wild and free” (grin!).

I started by stamping the page with a dot stamp from Woodware Craft Collection using Rose Bud Memento Ink and a flower stamp by Hampton Arts using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. Then I covered the page with pastel shades of pink, turquoise and orange acrylic paint and also Pébéo white gesso; they are all applied using a brayer to build up layers of colour. Once dry I added the large flower sticker and some leftover letters and frame stickers from Little Yellow Bicycle.

The wording “all good things are wild and free by Henry David Thoreau” and “Just be” which included a sweet little bird are from the same sticker set; the little bird with the flower in his beak reminded me of some Goldfinches that come into our garden to take pieces of a silver leaved plant called Cineraria, not sure why they want it, but it’s fun to watch them (grin!). Then I outlined all of these stickers using a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen so they stood out more and had fun doodling all the dots using black, white and pink Uni Posca paint pens. To continue the spring theme I added more little birds, flowers and as we are making lots of new discoveries this year in our garden I also added the “Discoveries” wording which are all fabric stickers from Little Yellow Bicycle.

As you may remember we replanted our flower beds last year and here’s what they look like at the moment. The apple trees are sprouting and should be in bloom soon, the bluebells are out in force and the bark mulch looks great – I love it!

We discovered that we had crocus in our garden and along with daffodils they have finished flowering but we do have some tulips starting to bloom that we planted in October last year. This beautiful pink frilly variety reminded me of my page (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Wendy from Wendy’s Art and Craft Journal  and her Having Fun challenge over at Art Journal Journey as my page represents having fun gardening.

I’m joining the Polka Dots challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the polka dot stickers and dots on this page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Easter and/or Spring challenge over at Country View Challenges with my spring pastel coloured page.

Over at The Artistic Stamper, their challenge is New Growth, so I’m also joining this challenge too with my springtime flower page.

I’m also pleased to join the Spring Flowers! challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with happy spring flower inspired page.

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

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

• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rose Bud, Rich Cocoa)
• Script Ready Made Paint (Pastels)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Uni Posca Paint Pens (Black, White, Pink)
• Hampton Art Bella Blvd cling mounted rubber stamps (Sand & Surf ICO226)
• Woodware Craft Collections Francoise Collection Stamp Set (Flower Style FRSWS003)
• Home Bargains (Room Décor Embellishment Art 01194)
• Little Yellow Bicycle (Cardstock Stickers Fresh Verse PD-140, Fabric Favourites PD-220)