Hello November

As it’s November I created a page to celebrate everything autumn which includes Thanksgiving next week; this month always reminds me of all the things we have to be grateful for!

I started by covering the background with a collage of scrap paper pieces which included dictionary pages, tissue paper, sheet music, diary pages and napkin; they were stuck down using a glue stick and then covered with Liquitex matte gel medium. Next I applied Red Oxide, Crimson and Yellow Liquitex acrylic paint over the top blending the colours together to create a bright autumnal orange colour. Then I used a brayer to apply some Pébéo white gesso and when dry I added some rub-on transfers from a Specimen Remnant Rubs set by Tim Holtz. I used the brayer again to add some more white gesso over the top which pushed them into the background. I love the way these techniques give so much depth and interest to the background (grin!).

Next I used lots of different stamp sets with black Archival Ink which I used for all the stamping on this page. Firstly I stamped a Script stamp over the background and then a foliage stamp to create the branches and leaves, both of which are from Kaisercraft. The bird sitting on the branch was stamped from a Craft Sensations stamp set and I used the Kaisercraft foliage stamp again to add the leaves to the branch so it blended in to the scene.

I used two alphabet stamp sets to create the wording; the “Hello November” was stamped using a Sophisticated Script stamp set from Concord & 9^th and the rest of the wording was stamped using a Docrafts stamp set and reads “Thank you for reminding us we have so much to be grateful for!”.  To finish, I splattered the page with black and also white acrylic paint.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing this morning’s cup of Cinnamon Orange tea, it’s pictured by my autumnal window display which is bright and cheery and inspired the colours of my page (grin) – Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping 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:

• Scrap paper pieces (Dictionary pages, tissue paper, sheet music, diary pages, napkin)
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Colour (Red Oxide, Naphthol Crimson, Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Script CS752, Magnolia Grove CS822)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Specimen #TH94047)
• Craft Sensations Clear Stamp (CR0274/16R1)
• Concord & 9^th Stamp Set (Sophisticated Script 10056)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Alphas Trad DCE907116)
• DecoArt Acrylic Paint (Black)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Wendy K over at Art Journal Journey and her Birds challenge this month with the bird stamping that I included on this page. I’m happy to join the Celebrate challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my brightly coloured page I created to celebrate November and Thanksgiving. I’m joining the fun over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Making Your Own Background with the techniques I used to create the background for this page. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my art journal page. I’m also joining in the Thanks/Thanksgiving challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page. I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #139 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with page too.

Celebrate the season

At Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Traditional Christmas Colours.

I loved this challenge as it gave me the opportunity to create my first Christmas page of the year; the traditional Christmas colours I used included the “red” of winter berries, the “green” of evergreen plants, the “white” of snow and the warm glow of “gold” (grin!).

I started by covering the page with some gold holly tissue paper using a glue stick and then I applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top using a baby wipe.

When dry I stamped some fir tree branches using an Inkadinkado stamp set, firstly using Pistachio Memento Ink to provide some shadows and depth to the branches and secondly using some Peeled Paint Distress Ink to intensify the colours.

Next I selected lots of gold foil and cardstock images from a Classic Christmas Die Cut Book which are arranged and layered together onto the page using double-sided tape and double-sided foam tape.

Here you can see some of the gold foil pieces sparkling more clearly.

I hope that you are inspired to join our Traditional Christmas Colours Challenge too and for more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday; it would be lovely to see you there!

As my page celebrates the season with traditional Christmas colours and T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my Cinnamon Orange tea in a new robin mug that was bought for me as a Christmas present last year along with some mini shortbread – yum! Wishing you a very Happy T day!

Hoping 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 all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Holly tissue paper
• Pritt Stick
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Inkadinkado Stamping Gear Stamp Set(Branches 65-32007)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Pistachio)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Peeled Paint)
• The Works (Classic Christmas  Die Cut Book)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape and foam tape

Challenges I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as I always 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 Merry Little Christmas Challenge and their MLCCB #28 – November Anything Christmas Goes with my Celebrate The Season page. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my art journal page. I’m joining the Rudolph Days Challenge, where Anything Goes, as long as it’s Christmas, with my Christmas page. I’m also happy to join Challenge #83 – Anything Christmas Goes over at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge with my traditional Christmas art journal page. I’m also joining the Challenge # 118 – Gold or Silver or Glitter over at Sparkles Christmas Challenge with the gold I added to my page. I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #139 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my winter season page too.

You’re so beautiful

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

I love autumn, it seems a magical time of year to me with the beautiful colours of the leaves and the sunny days with a slight chill in the air. There’s nothing better than walking along with the crunch of leaves beneath your feet (grin!), so my page today celebrates autumn.

To start, I painted the page with Raw Sienna, Raw Umber and Deep Green Liquitex acrylic paint and then applied Pébéo white gesso over the top with a brayer.

I stamped lots of leaves over the top from a Falling Leaves stamp set from BoBunny using Rich Cocoa, Morocco and Cottage Ivy Memento Ink. Then I applied another layer of white gesso using the brayer and stamped more of the maple leaves using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink; this technique adds the illusion of depth to my page. I stamped a grid design over the background using black Archival Ink and a homemade stamp made from a wooden block and some plasterboard/drywall tape. Then I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

Next I added some die cut circles and the “you’re so beautiful” wording which are from Craft Sensations. They are arranged with some metallic copper leaves which are outline stickers from Stampendous. To finish, I added tiny copper circles and dots around the page which are from the same outline sticker set.

For more mixed media inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too; it would be lovely to see you there!

We always enjoy walking with our dearest friends and little Ellie who happens to love autumn too as she loves chasing leaves. Well she actually likes chewing them (grin!); you may remember this photo from a previous post.

Here is a picture of her looking all grown up after visiting Prestige Paws who are a fabulous local dog groomers; they kindly let me share this lovely photo that they took of her, thanks so much! Today’s page made me think of Ellie, not only does she love leaves but I always tell her “you’re so beautiful!” and here she’s looking particularly beautiful after her recent visit (double grin!).

Hoping 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:

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, Deep Green Permanent)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• BoBunny Stamps (Falling Leaves #12105154)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa, Morocco, Cottage Ivy)
• Homemade stamp – wood block and plasterboard/drywall tape
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE)
• Stampendous Outline Stickers (2077 – copper leaves)

Challenges I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Creative Artiste, as I always enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today: I’m so pleased to be able join the #131 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as the autumnal design and colours. I’m happy to join the Home is Where the Heart is challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as like my page, my home is always decorated with autumnal foliage this time of year. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my autumnal art journal page. I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #139 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with autumnal page too. I’m also joining in the Thinking Of You challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page as it makes me think of little Ellie.

Love Hearts

As last month signified our wedding anniversary and my hubby’s birthday, this page was inspired by love!

I really like the worn grungy look and feel to this page and I embossed the tiny hearts on a large red heart to depict how our love has grown over the years (grin!).

I started by covering the page with pieces of decoupage paper by VivaGade, old sheet music and Botanical collage paper by Tim Holtz using Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I alternated layers of Pébéo white gesso using a brayer and some Distress Inks to create the grungy look, allowing each layer to dry before applying the next; the Distress Inks I used were Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso and they were applied by stamping the ink onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and either pressing the block or dripping the ink onto the page.

For the hearts I used some red foil cardstock cutting the smaller hearts using a Falling Hearts Thinlit set from Tim Holtz. I also got creative and used the Thinlit to emboss the large heart with lots of tiny hearts. Before sticking the hearts in place I marked where the large heart was to be placed and then painted black DecoArt acrylic around the edges dragging the paint outwards. I did the same with white acrylic paint and then splattered the page with both the black and white acrylic paints flicking the brush so the splatters emanated outwards from the heart. When dry, I stuck the hearts in place and added two black brads to the large heart. The “love” wording was created from the red foil and some white cardstock using a Shadow Script Thinlits set from Tim Holtz which finished the page.

Don’t forget that you still have another week to join our Embossed challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, it would be lovely to see you there!

For our wedding anniversary we ordered some delicious food from a new local takeaway called Elvin’s Street Food. The food is influenced by traditional Middle Eastern recipes that have been passed through generations of the owner’s family and they have an extensive vegan menu too. The owners pride themselves on using local produce from across Lancashire and being eco-friendly using easy to recycle packaging for their meals.

I had the “Sweet Kickin’ Chicken & Butterbeans”; this is spiced-infused chicken breast pieces and butterbeans slow-cooked for a rich and creamy texture, sweetened with homemade apple sauce. It’s served with rice, flatbread, salad, fresh mango and pomegranate salsa and yoghurt dip, and I also had a side order of fries – so yummy!

My hubby had “Lebanese-Style Yoghurt Chicken”; this is grilled chicken breast pieces marinated in yoghurt and Lebanese spices. It’s served with the same extras and he had the same side order of fries!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m also sharing the amazing mango lassi that I had to drink – this yoghurt based mango concoction was so delicious! Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping that you 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:

• Viva Gade Decoupage Paper (Paris)
• Old sheet music
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Collage Paper (Botanical #TH93705)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso)
• Foiled hearts bunting
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Falling Hearts 664415, Shadow Script #1 662684)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199, White 101)
• Brads (Round Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Artist Discount Acylic Paint (White)
• Stix2 glue dots
• Recycled white cardstock
• Pritt Stick

Challenges I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as I always 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 happy to join the Home is Where the Heart is challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my vintage page as my home is always filled with love. I’m pleased to join the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their MIUCB #43 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Making Your Own Background with techniques I used to create the worn grungy background for this page. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my art journal page. I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too. I’m also joining Sandee & amelie’s Steampunk Challenge and their Winter Special 2020 challenge of Anything Goes – Steampunk/Industrial with my romantic hearts and worn grungy industrial background.

Peek a Boo!

Today I’m celebrating autumn and Halloween over at A Vintage Journey with a double-sided tag featuring the Arthur Thinlits from Tim Holtz, as you can see my ghostly owl is having fun playing Peek a Boo!

I used some Tim Holtz Poster Card to create my double-sided tag and added a metal eyelet to reinforce the hole using a Crop-A-Dile punch. My plan was to create the owl peeking out of the hollow of the tree and then appearing to say “boo!” so both sides of the tag were created in the same way except for the owl of course (grin!).

First I applied some white gesso to the backgrounds and then to form the hollow of the tree for my owl to hide in I stuck an oval piece of Tim Holtz Halloween Collage Paper onto the tag using matte gel medium. I coloured the collage paper black using a Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then edged it with Ranger Texture paste to give it a 3D look. When Dry, I coloured the texture paste with Dark Sepia and Black Faber-Castell markers and defined the inside edges of the hollow using a white UniBall gel pen to add depth. Next I created a wood effect using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and matte gel medium by dragging the ink pad vertically over the background and then applying matte gel medium vertically over the top. When dry, I added more detail to the woodgrain using the Dark Sepia and Sanguine Big Brush markers and a black Uni Pin marker smudging the inks with my finger.

Next I die cut some ivy leaves from black paper using a Garden Greens Thinlits set from Tim Holtz. They are stuck in place using matte gel medium and when dry I edged the leaves with the white gel pen to give them more definition; I like the spooky look.

The autumnal leaves were created using another Tim Holtz Thinlits set called Fall Foliage; they were cut from some white paper that I coloured using Yellow, Sandstone, Orange, Brilliant Red, Moss Green and Dark Brown Colourcraft Brushos.

For the owls and branches, I used the Arthur Thinlits die set; cutting the owl pieces from different coloured papers, edging them with some Black Soot Distress Ink using a blending tool and then piecing them altogether. For the “Peek A …” owl, I cut out the eyes and stuck them in place and edged them with some collage paper so they looked like the owl was peeking out of the hollow.

As you can see the naughty owl jumped out of the hollow onto the branch to say “Boo!”. Once the owl was pieced together, I coloured the small feather detail using the white gel pen or a pencil. To finish, I added the wording which I die cut from orange paper using a Sizzix Thinlit alphabet die set.

Please pop over to A Vintage Journey where you’ll find some fabulous tags created by my fellow Creative Guides too and don’t forget there is still another week to join our Numbers challenge too.

I recently bought these cute owls from the supermarket when I was food shopping, I thought that they’d make a lovely addition to my autumnal and winter displays – aren’t they adorable!

Of course, I based the design of the ghostly white owl that is on my tag on this one although he is more cute than grumpy (grin!).

I hope that you are 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 double-sided tag:     

• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Collage Paper (Halloween #TH93727)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199, Dark Sepia 175 B, Sanguine 233 B)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper (Black, Orange, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Beige)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Garden Green 661206, Fall Foilage 660955, Arthur 664730)
• Recycled white paper
• Colourcraft Brusho Colours (Yellow, Sandstone, Orange, Brilliant Red, Moss Green, Dark Brown)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CR0240/GE)
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Recycled grey and lined paper from old diary
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Spectrum Aqua Marker (Topaz)
• Pritt Stick
• Sizzix Thinlits Die Set by Sophie Guilar (Doodle Alphabet & Numbers #663408)
• American Crafts We R Memory Keepers (Crop-A-Dile and Standard Eyelets 41582-4)

Challenges I’m so pleased to join in the fun over at Tag Tuesday and their All Hallow’s Eve challenge with my ghostly owl tag – Boo! I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with my Peek-a-Boo owl tags. I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #138 – Fall Back over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Halloween tag. I’m so pleased to be able to join in the Anything Goes over at Paperbabe Stamps with my fun double-sided tag. I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my tag too.

Fun Starts Here

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Embossed.

This challenge is all about embossing, whether its heat embossing, embossing paste, embossing folders or embossed papers just be sure to tell use what you have used (grin!).

I was still in Halloween mode when I created this page being influenced by the Mexican celebration “Día de Muertos” (which happens to be next Monday). I used lots of embossing powder to heat emboss the white flowers, black doilies and black lace.

I started by painting magenta and green Liquitex Basics acrylic paint over the page using a dry paintbrush technique to prevent the colours blending. When dry, I covered the paints with some Pébéo white gesso and also some black DecoArt acrylic paint; I used a brayer to apply both paints letting them dry between applications.

For the white embossed flowers, I used an Oriental Zen stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps and black Archival Ink to stamp the flower design over the magenta coloured areas. I then covered the ink with white Stampendous embossing powder and heated it with my heat gun until glossy. The black doilies were stamped using a Dovecraft stamp set and the black Archival Ink and covered with black Papermania embossing powder; they were stamped over the green areas of the page.

I used the same Dovecraft stamp set, black ink and embossing powder to add the lace detail to my skull which was die cut using a Halloween Hangouts Thinlit set from Tim Holtz from white card. I mounted it onto some glittery paper and stuck it in place using a glue stick. I also added some circles that were cut from the glitter paper using a Spellbinders die set and to finish, I added a Kaisercraft sticker that reads “Fun starts here”.

I hope that you are inspired to join us too, for more Embossed inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look at all the beautiful creations from my Design Teamies (grin!).

As it was my hubby’s birthday last week and T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a slice of the birthday cake that I made him and his cuppa! The cake is a Victoria sponge filled with homemade buttercream icing and cherry jam which I topped with a white and red feathered icing and his tea is Ceylon Orange Pekoe Tea – Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping that you 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:

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Quinacridone Magenta, Hooker’s Green Hue Permanent)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• Paperbabe Stamps (Oriental Zen Stamp Set)
• Dovecraft Stamp Set (Lave & Doile DCCS009)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Stampendous! Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with a Linen Texture CR0240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Halloween Hangouts 663088)
• Glitter wallpaper sample
• Pritt Stick
• Spellbinders Nestabilities Decorative Elements Die Cut System (Stately Circles S4-388) – thank you Astrid!
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Bombay Sunset SS339)

Challenges I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today: I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the outlined embossed flowers and lines of lace adorning the skull on my page. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with my Mexican inspired Halloween page. I’m joining the Purple, Orange, Green! Eek! It’s Halloween! challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my “Día de Muertos” page. I’m also joining in the fun over at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge and their Halloween Jump Start challenge with my art journal page. I’m so pleased to be able to join in the Anything Goes over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Mexican “Día de Muertos” page – thanks so much Tracey, your beautiful ATCs reminded me of “Día de Muertos”, so inspirational! I’m also joining the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Distressing (ink or tool) with the dry painting technique that I used. I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Layer It Up challenge with layers of paint and embossing powders that I used for the background and layers of papers that I used for the skull.

Sweet Life

I love everything pumpkin so my hubby kindly bought me a beautiful glass pumpkin for our wedding anniversary, which inspired me to create this pumpkin page – I hope you like it!

I started by colouring the foreground of the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a brayer. Then I used up leftover torn pieces of collage papers, sheet music, stamped tissue paper, napkin and design papers to create the background. It was fun to collage all the different papers together using Liquitex matte gel medium and I really like the spooky pumpkin patch look that resulted. When dry I painted Pébéo white gesso in the centre of the page blending it outwards towards the edges of the page.

The pumpkin was hand drawn and then cut out to make templates for different segments of the pumpkin. I used these templates to cut out different orange, white and black patterned Pion Design papers. Then I layered them together onto the page to create the large pumpkin using matte gel medium and left it to dry. I outlined each segment using a black Uni Pin marker and then shaded the edges of each segments using either Mango or Earl Grey Faber-Castell Gelato. The stalk of the pumpkin was created from recycled brown string which I coloured using two green Liquitex acrylic paints. When dry I doubled the string over and tightly twisted it together applying matte gel medium to stick the strands together. I stuck it in place using glue dots twisting and looping the stalk. To finish, I added a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “The Sweet Life”.

Here’s the beautiful glass pumpkin that my hubby kindly gifted me, isn’t it amazing (grin!).

I 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 all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• Leftover paper pieces (Tim Holtz Halloween Collage Paper, sheet music, dressmaking tissue paper stamped with a Gothic Book Finnabair stamp and black Archival Ink, napkin, design papers)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Pion Design Paper (Trick or Treat PD8102, Midnight Spell PD8103, October Garden PD8104)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Mango, Earl Grey)
• Recyled brown string
• Liquitex Basic Acrylic Colour (Light Green Permanent, Phthalocyanine Green)
• Stiz2 glue dots
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Bombay Sunset SS339)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the lined design paper on the pumpkin. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with the spooky pumpkin patch background. I’m joining the Purple, Orange, Green! Eek! It’s Halloween! challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my spooky vintage pumpkin page. I’m also pleased to join the Not A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my art journal page. I’m so pleased to be able to join in the Anything Goes over at Paperbabe Stamps with my pumpkin page. I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Layer It Up challenge with the collage background and pumpkin layers on my page. I’m also happy to join LTCCB #51 – October Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my pumpkin inspired art journal page too. Don’t forget that you still have a few days left to join in the Halloween fun over at Try it on Tuesday too!

Tis the Witching Hour

Here’s another Halloween page, this time in a vintage style to celebrate the Witching Hour with steampunk clocks, recycled chains, bats and I thought I’d never say this but a spider too – eek!

I started by colouring the background of the page with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and Pébéo white gesso using a baby wipe. When dry, I tore a piece of Pion Design paper called Midnight Spell that details clocks, lace and cobwebs and stuck it to the page using a glue stick. Then I added stamping and collage layers to blend the paper into the background; firstly by stamping a Gothic Book stamp from Finnabair over the page using black Archival Ink. Then using the same Gothic Book stamp and ink I stamped some tissue paper from an old dressmaking pattern, and ripped and stuck pieces of it onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I applied some more white gesso and layered more of the stamped tissue paper over the top. Next I stamped the pretty foliage over the page which was from a Floral Silhouette stamp set by Penny Black and some cobwebs around the edges of the page using a stamp by Molly Browns; both were stamped using black Archival Ink.

I used the black Archival Ink to create the “Tis the Witching Hour” wording using an alphabet stamp set by Hampton Arts and also to add the bats which were from an Autumnal Treasures stamp set that was free from a magazine.

The clock was made from wooden chipboard pieces from Boozybear which I covered with white gesso and then coloured with the black Archival Ink and a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

I backed the cogs and face with some recycled cream card that I die cut into circles and then I painted them with some watered down black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The clock pieces were stuck together using Ranger Glossy Accents making sure that the hands on the clock showed midnight (the Witching Hour!) and I added some highlights using a silver Daler-Rowney paint pen.

The clock is arranged on the page with some pieces of chain and pendants from an old necklace that I had coloured with the white gesso and then some black DecoArt acrylic paint. To finish, I suspended a spider from the top of the page; it was stamped using the Autumnal Treasures stamp set and black Archival Ink and I drew a line using a black Uni Pin for the little spider to dangle from (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my hubby’s Hobgoblin beer which is brewed by Wychwood Brewery in Oxfordshire.

I thought of this beer as the Wychwood logo, (which is hard to see, but it’s etched onto the neck of the bottle), includes a witch flying on a broomstick which is perfect for my page too (grin!).

I 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 all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Pion Design Paper (Midnight Spell PD8103)
• Prima Marketing Finnaibar Clear Stamps (Gothic Book #966966)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Style Dressmaking Pattern tissue paper
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Penny Black Clear Stamp Set (Floral Silhouette 30-563)
• Molly Blooms Rubber Stamps (Cobweb MB-0065D)
• Boozybear wooden chipboard pieces (Clock Face)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Recycled Cream Cardstock
• The Works (Cutting Dies – Circles)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Daler-Rowney Acrylic Paint Markers (Silver)
• Recycled necklace – chains and pendants
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Hampton Art (Alphabet Stamp Set WM1037)
• Creative Stamping Issue 61 (Autumn Treasures Stamp Set)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the lines of chain and cobwebs on my page. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with my Tis the witching hour art journal page. I’m joining the Purple, Orange, Green! Eek! It’s Halloween! challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my vintage witching hour page. I’m pleased to join the Not A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my art journal page. I’m also joining in the fun over at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge and their Halloween Jump Start challenge which is their very first challenge – thank you Dar for inviting me to join in the fun, I hope you like my witching hour page! I’m so pleased to be able to join in the Anything Goes over at Paperbabe Stamps with my witching hour page too. I’m also pleased to join Sandee & aimlee’s Steampunk Challenge and their Anything Goes -Steampunk/Industrial challenge with my vintage steampunk Halloween page. I’m also joining the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Distressing (ink or tool) with the stamping and layering background techniques and the techniques I used to create the Steampunk clock. Don’t forget that you still have another week to join in the Halloween fun over at Try it on Tuesday too!

Free to Fly

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

I had fun creating this page from various mixed media including a recycled magazine page, white gesso, markers, stickers, rub-on transfers and paint; it was inspired by the butterflies that have been sunning themselves on the slate in our front garden – I hope you like it!

I started by tearing a blue page from a magazine into squares and collaging them onto the page using a Pritt Stick and some Liquitex matte gel medium. I intensified the white areas of the page by painting them with Pébéo white gesso allowing the gesso to smudge onto the blue paper squares too. When dry, I edged the squares with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger and then with a black Uni Pin marker.

Next I stuck the pretty 3D butterflies onto the page and added some numbers and words which are rub-on transfers from two Remnant Rub sets by Tim Holtz.

I added some border stickers to frame the “Free to Fly” wording and then to finish, I splattered the page with white acrylic paint.

All you need to do is 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; it would be lovely to see you there!

This is one of the beautiful butterflies that have been sunbathing on the slate in our garden. This butterfly is a Red Admiral which is widespread across the UK; it has a wingspan of about 2 inches (5 cm) and has distinctive black wings with red bands and white spots.  The Red Admiral butterfly is known to be unusually calm so it allowed me to get quite close to take this photo (grin!).

Hoping 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.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka pearshapedchris the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the two lines of border stickers that I used to frame the title of my page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the 3D butterflies on this page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my Free to Fly art journal page.

I’m also joining the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Distressing (ink or tool) with the techniques I used to collage and distress the pieces of magazine on my journal page.

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

• Old magazine page
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Home Bargains You & Me Stickers (Beautiful Butterflies 22742)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Specimen #TH94047, Tiny Text #TH93695)
• Sandylion Sticker Designs Kelly Panacci (Stitches & Borders KSCB105)
• Artist Discount Acrylic Paint (White)

Shine like the whole universe is yours

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Autumn Colours.

I love the colours of autumn so I had fun creating this page and there’s not a leaf in sight – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the page with Pébéo white gesso and modelling paste using a paintbrush. When dry, I applied Peat Moss, Potting Soil, Orange Blossom and Buttercup Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Inks and Fired Brisk Distress Ink over the top and spritzed them with water letting the inks drip across the page and left it to dry. Then I splattered the page using gold Liquitex Ink.

Next I added some gold Ranger embossing powder over the inks using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and my heat gun.

The eagle picture was cut from an old book and edged using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and some of the gold embossing powder; it was stuck in place using double-sided tape. As the eagle symbolises courage and power, I added some Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz which read “Shine like the whole universe is yours”, “be Fearless” and “be brave with your life”. They were coloured using Yellow Ochre Kuretake watercolour paint to blend them into the background more. 

Next I added some gold Glitterations border stickers to the page and then applied some of the gold embossing powder to some Bozzy Bear wood chippies which I coloured using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; they were stuck down using Ranger Glossy Accents which finished the page.

For more inspiration, my fellow Design Teamies have been having fun with Autumn Colours over at Try it on Tuesday too, please pop over and take a look.

As T Stands for Tuesday and it’s autumn I’m sharing our homebrewed pumpkin beer – cheers and Happy T Day! This copper beer has to be my favourite beer, it has a lovely hint of pumpkin and pumpkin spice aroma; this one came at 5.78% abv (alcohol by volume). We discovered pumpkin beer when we visited Federal Jack’s in Kennebunkport, Maine. They serve it with an optional shot of spiced rum added, so we have tried it that way too; it’s so nice and warming on a cold autumn day, though I limit myself to only one as it’s quite potent (grin!).

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

Challenges

With all the texture on my page, I’m pleased to join the Texture challenge over at Art Journal Journey where I’m guest host this month; thank you to everyone who has joined in the fun, I have really enjoyed visiting your blogs and seeing your wonderful creations!

I’m happy to be able to join the Animal Antics over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the eagle on my art journal page.

With my autumnal coloured background, I’m pleased to join the Staying In The Background challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog .

I’m also pleased to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the wood chippy dimension on my page too.

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

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Pébéo Modelling Paste
• Ranger Wendy Vicchi Make Art Blendable Dye Inks (Peat Moss, Potting Soil, Orange Blossom, Buttercup)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fired Brick)
• Liquitex! Ink (Iridescent Bright Gold)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Tsukineko VersaMarker (Watermark Pen)
• Ranger Embossing Powder (Gold)
• Old book
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Yellow Ochre No.44)
• Docrafts Papermania Glitterations (Gold Borders ANT8181012)
• Boozybear Wooden Chipboard pieces
• Ranger Glossy Accents