Here with you

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d create a page with my hubby in mind. We have been married for many years (it will be 32 years this year) so I created a romantic vintage page.

I also used some of my new Wendy Vecchi Make Art Blendable Dye inks from Ranger; they were fun to use and I love the colours and coverage – see what you think.  

I started by adding some ripped book pages to the page using a glue stick and then I stamped an Finnabair and a Woodware Craft stamp to add some script and sheet  music using black Archival Ink. Next I applied some Pébéo white gesso using a brayer and when dry applied some Potting Soil, Acorn and Watering Can Wendy Vecchi Make Art inks which I watered down on an acrylic block before painting them onto the page with a paintbrush. I also applied some more of the Acorn ink through a Moroccan stencil using a blending tool.

The roses are fussy cut from a wallpaper sample and like all the paper elements, I created some shadows around them so they stood out more by applying and smudging some Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker with my finger before sticking them down using Liquitex matte gel medium. The roses are arranged on the page with some Kaisercraft Stickers; this included some bird and foliage images, some white, green and grey hearts and also some wording which reads “here with you”, “there are so many beautiful reasons to be happy” and “joy is contagious”. To finish, I splattered the page with black and white DecoArt acrylic paint.

There are so many reasons to be happy when I’m with my hubby, we always have fun together and for that I am very thankful (grin!).

Over at Try it on Tuesday we have a Design Team call out, so if you are interested in joining our friendly group and have a current blog, just add DT to your challenge entry to our current or next theme over at Try it on Tuesday. We accept projects using any mediums, materials, style etc. it is your choice what you make, as long as it is based on the challenge theme.

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 Something New challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey as I used my new Wendy Vecchi Make Art Inks on this page.

As this page was created with my hubby in mind, I’m pleased to join the Love challenge over at Country View Challenges.

With the Moroccan stencil that I added to this page, I’m also happy to join the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Use a Stencil challenge too.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my vintage page too.

With the worn and weather look that I created on my art journal page, I also wanted to remind you that there is still time to join the We’re all getting older challenge this month over at A Vintage Journey, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Old book pages
• Pritt Stick
• Prima Marketing Finnibair Clear Stamp (Old Receipt Item#966980)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Sheet Music JGS111)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Brayer (Small)
• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Ink (Potting Soil, Acorn, Watering Can)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Morrocan)
• Wallpaper sample
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Everlasting SS376, High Tea SS336)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)

Warm Winter Wishes

I tried a new technique on my art journal page for the Something New challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey.

The new technique was for the background and involved watercolour paints and sea salt crystals; I have to say it was a fun and easy technique to do (grin!).

I flooded the page with water and added Indigo, Ultramarine, Turquoise Blue, Cobalt Violet and White Kuretake watercolour paints, graduating the colours down the page to white at the bottom. Then while the paint was still wet I sprinkled coarse sea salt crystals over the top and left it to dry.

When dry I brushed the salt crystals off the page and a beautiful mottled effect was left where the crystals had reacted with the paint.

Next I fussy cut the owl sitting on a bench from an old Christmas card and arranged him onto the page so it looked like the bench was disappearing under a bank of snow. The snowflakes were die cut using my new Thinlet Set by Tim Holtz from white linen textured paper and some glittery blue/purple coloured papers. I added some wording from a sticker book by Tim Holtz which reads “a wondrous sight”, “the wintry landscape” and “covered with snow”. I die cut two labels from the blue/purple and also from white linen paper using a Tim Holtz tag die set. Then I cut the white paper label slightly smaller, stamped “warm winter wishes” using Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink and an alphabet stamp set and layered the two labels together before sticking them in place, which finished the page.

Whilst on a winter walk around Glasson Dock we saw a strange shape in a tree and took some pictures, to our surprise when we looked through our camera lens there was this Little Owl sat there looking at us. My hubby took this picture before he flew away – isn’t he adorable (grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m joining in the Something New challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the new technique and Snowflake Thinlet set that I used on this page.

I’m so happy to join the #109 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps; the “paperbabe stamps” is represented by the “a wondrous sight” wording and the “flower” by the “owl” image, also the snow bank divides the page into two. 

I’m also pleased to join the Snowflakes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with all the snowflakes that I added to my page.

Don’t forget that you still have over a week to join our What a cutie/Make someone smile challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Indigo No.67, Ultramarine No.64, Turquoise Blue No.62, Cobalt Violet No. 139, White No.10)
• Course Sea Salt Crystals
• Old Christmas Card
• Pritt Stick
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz (Paper Snowflakes, Mini 661599)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture – White CRO240/GE)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Paper Pad)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Sizzix Framelits Tim Holtz (Tag Collection 658784)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Ground Espresso)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• X-Press double-sided tape

Paris

Today I chose to travel back to Paris whilst Art Journaling for the new challenge that is being hosted by the lovely Alison over at A Vintage Journey which is:

We’re all getting older.

It has nothing to do with your age, it’s all about making things look older; here’s what the challenge is about:

“Time for weathering and distressing, or some ageing and antiquing. Make a project using techniques for making the new look old, whether that’s paper projects, altered art or mixed media. Just remember to ensure that you create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.

I created a worn and distressed Art Journal page of Paris making the collaged papers look old.

To start, I ripped pieces of book pages about France which came from an old encyclopaedia and also pieces from a sample of Paris themed wallpaper. Then I collaged them onto the page using matte gel medium.

Once dry, I distressed the collage papers by staining them using Ground Espresso and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks. I did this by stamping the ink pads onto an acrylic block, spritzing with some water and pressing/dripping the ink onto the page and also by painting diluted ink along the edges of each of the collaged papers. To add to the worn grungy look, I also lightly sprinkled the page with some Dark Brown Brusho powder, spritzed it with water to activate the colour and dried it with my heat gun. Next I added some white gesso using a baby wipe and when dry, I edged the collaged pieces using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger.

I stamped a series of Paris related stamps using black Archival ink; the stamps included some little round “T” postage mark stamps from Prima Marketing and also a birdcage, bee, “Paris”, filigree branch and two crowns by Graphic 45 from Hampton Art. I then splattered the whole page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush.

I die cut some flower shapes and a round disc from dark brown and blue patterned papers using some Spellbinders dies and my Big Shot machine. Then I used two rectangular pieces of the same patterned papers which I distressed using scissors, the Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and the Dark Sepia Big Brush marker. I cut out an oval picture of the Eiffel Tower from the wallpaper sample and backed it with white card. Then I layered them all onto the page using double-sided tape and added some pearl gem stickers along the edge of the patterned paper.

To finish, I added a butterfly sticker from Tim Holtz and some pretty pale blue silk roses which are stuck in place using Glossy Accents.

If you want to join in the fun why not create a weathered, distressed or age effect too and share it with us at A Vintage Journey, it would be lovely to see you there!

For more Inspiration, please pop over to see the amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey too.

It seems like many years have passed since we visited Paris, so I guess I must be getting older but hopefully not as worn and distressed as my page (grin!).

This is one of the yummy patisseries that we went to – can you guess which cake I chose from the lovely display here?

My favourite is always the strawberry tarts, they are so delicious and I only had one, I promise … well I only had one everyday for the week we were there (double grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join Art Journal Journey where I’m hosting the Something New challenge this month as I took “new” papers and distressed them to make them look old. Also smooshing the Distress Inks directly onto the neutral collaged papers to make them look old was “new” to me and I’m so glad it worked; it was so much fun making them worn and grungy (grin!).

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

• Paris wallpaper sample
• Book pages from old encyclopaedia
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy, Ground Espresso)
• Colourcraft Brusho (Dark Brown)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Hampton Art 7 Gypsies (Birdsong ICO151)
• Prima Marketing Clear Stamps (Rossi Belle 587499)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Spellbinders Die Cut – Unknown
• The Works Paperstack (Vintage Experience CRO239/TW6)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• The Works (Craft Flowers)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Poundworld (Pearl Embellishments)

Something New at Art Journal Journey

I am so delighted to be hosting Art Journal Journey this month and the challenge that I have chosen is:

Something New

It’s a new year, so we would like you to create an art journal page with something “new” in mind. This could include a new product or technique, or be inspired by a new job, home or hobby, new beginnings, adventure or outlook, or even a Happy New Year!

I created a page with a fresh colour palette to depict something new. I started by covering the page with stamped images from a Steampunk background stamp by Docrafts and a new stamp set from Creative Sensations using black Archival Ink; I used this ink for all the stamping on this page. Then I applied Acqua Dolce, Guava and Kiwi Faber-Castell Gelatos by scribbling them onto the paper and then smudging the colour with my finger which I wet using a baby wipe.

To add some depth to the page, I applied some white gesso with my finger and also through a star stencil, and when dry I stamped some images from a Provincial and a Stargazer stamp set, both from Kaisercraft. I also splattered the page with Titanium White and Carbon Black Liquitex Ink using a paintbrush.

Next I chose five art journal cards from Kaisercraft and stamped them with the “Something New” challenge title using a Concord & 9^th stamp set and also listed some ways that you could interpret the challenge using a Dovecraft stamp set. They are stuck in place using double-sided tape and to finish I added some gold glittery stars, which were also new to my craft stash.

I chose this challenge with it being a new year and also because I normally have new crafting goodies as part of my Christmas gifts. This year didn’t disappoint as I have received some great additions to my craft stash and I plan to use some of them to join our Something New challenge.

Maybe you could use some new products as well on your pages, it could be a present or be something sitting in its packaging still waiting to be used – yes this happens to me too (grin!).

I’m looking forward to trying out a couple of new techniques on my pages for this challenge too, so watch this space.

I also thought that some of you might be setting new goals, choosing a new word for the year or even starting a new hobby so these would be perfect for this challenge too.

There are so many options, I hope that you are inspired by this month’s Something New challenge too and will join in the fun here at Art Journal Journey – I can’t wait to visit you and see your creations (grin!).  

Wishing you all the best for 2020!

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:

• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Background Stamp (Steampunk Background DCE907128)
• Craft Sensations Clear Stamps (CRO274/19A)
• Ranger Arcival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Acqua Dolce, Guava, Kiwi)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Star Stencil
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Provincial CS243, Stargazer CS327)
• Liquitex Inks! (Titanium White, Carbon Black)
• Kaisercraft Captured Moments 3×4” Journal Cards (Life’s Treasures CM108)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Concord & 9^th Stamp Set (Sophisticated Script 10056)
• Dovecraft Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCV0050)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• The Works Make & Create (Christmas Glitter Stickers – Gold Stars)

Wishing you a magical Christmas

I created this page for all my blog friends to wish you all a magical Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I started by stamping the “We wish you a Merry Christmas” sheet music, the number 25 and the angels from a stamp set by Kaisercraft using Black Archival Ink. Then I applied some watered down Forest Moss and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink using a paint brush making light criss-cross strokes to add some texture whilst allowing some of the white paper to show through. Next I added a pretty foliage napkin which was gifted to me for my art journaling by a dear friend that we walk with every week – thank you! It is stuck in place using a glue stick and then the edges are ripped by painting a line of water along the piece of napkin where I wanted it to be torn, and then tearing it along the wet strip; the tear followed the water-soaked line like magic (grin!). The edges of napkin are stuck down using Liquitex matte gel medium. To finish, I recycled an old Christmas card to die cut the snowflakes and also to add the wording “Wishing you a magical Christmas”.

Me and my hubby always start our Christmas celebrations by visiting our local pub for a pint. Our pub doesn’t serve food but they are happy for you to take your own in with you to enjoy with your drink, so we always stop at the local deli for a Festive sandwich, which was so yummy!

Here’s our Festive sandwich (the deli kindly cut and wrapped it so we could have half each) with a pint of Mulled Stout from the Big Clock Brewery in Accrington, Lancashire; it’s a very dark beer, 4.5% ABV and tasted very Christmassy with the mulled spices – delicious!

The “re-order line” wording on the glass made me smile, well it would be rude not too so we did have another Mulled Stout (grin!). As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my pint with the T Gang – wishing you all a Happy T Day and also a magical Christmastime! Happy Holidays!

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 Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words and numbers on this page.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Moo Mania & More too.

I’m joining in the Party Time challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as my page is celebrating Christmas – wishing you a magical time!

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

• Kaisercraft clear stamp (December 25th CS790)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Forest Moss, Mowed Lawn)
• Napkin
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Recycled Christmas Card
• The Works (Metal Cutting Die)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• X-Press It double-sided foam tape

Christmas Reindeer

I love all things Christmas so I have another Christmas page which this time is inspired by the new reindeer street mural that was recently created by the wonderful artist Banksy. This time, he is highlighting the homeless at Christmastime.

For the background I stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using London Fog Memento Ink and a wreath stamp using Black Archival Ink onto the page, and then I covered the page using Vintage Photo and Peeled Paint Distress Ink with a blending tool. Then I used a star stencil to remove some of the Distress Ink with a baby wipe and used the star stencil again to stencil the stars (in a Banksy style) using Black Soot Distress Ink, using a white Uniball gel pen to highlight some of the edge. Next I splattered the page with white gesso, black acrylic paint and Aged Mahogany Distress Ink.

The reindeer and snowflakes are glitter stickers which add some lovely texture and sparkle; it’s hard to see this on the photos. To finish, I added some white snowflake gems, red enamel dots and a fabric “Merry Christmas” tag.

Just a reminder that there is still another week to join our Christmas is coming challenge over at Try it on Tuesday; it would be lovely to see you there.

View this post on Instagram

. God bless Birmingham. In the 20 minutes we filmed Ryan on this bench passers-by gave him a hot drink, two chocolate bars and a lighter – without him ever asking for anything.

A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Dec 9, 2019 at 5:15am PST

If you haven’t yet seen it, here’s the Banksy street mural which recently appeared in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter over the weekend. It was reported that it was later vandalised with two red noses being added which then resulted in it being covered with Perspex to protect it.

When I think of street art, Banksy always springs to mind and you may remember me featuring his work on my blog before, I love his pieces! Banksy is an anonymous England-based street artist who has been active since the 1990s. His street art style is a distinctive stenciling technique and often his works are controversial having a political and social message combined with satirical dark humour.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my drink of ginger beer at a café in Lytham after a walk with our friends – wishing you a very Happy T Day!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words on this page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with the stencilled stars that I included on this page.

I’m pleased to join the Winter challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my reindeer page.

I’m joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Moo Mania & More too.

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

• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Wreath clear stamp
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (London Fog)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany, Black Soot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Star Stencil
• B&M (Glitter Snow Window Stickers)
• Habico Signature Collection (Snowflakes PP1100)
• Dovecraft Premium (Festive Wonder Glitter Enamel Dots DCDOTO36X18)
• Docrafts Create Christmas (Stitched Ribbon Tags PMA157921)
• X-Press It double-sided tape

Christmas is coming

For the next two weeks our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Christmas is coming.

My art journal page features traditional Christmas red and green colours and Christmas trees; I love all things Christmas so I can’t wait to see your Christmas creations (grin!). 

For the background, I stamped a Lattice stamp using Aged Mahogany Distress Ink over the whole page and then spritzed the page with water. When dry I added pieces of green polka dot washi tape to create the Christmas tree, added some red gemstones and then the numbers and trunk which are stickers from Kaisercraft. Next I die cut the letters to create the “Christmas is coming” wording out of white card; they are coloured using a green pen, stuck in place using Zig glue pen and more detail was added using a white Uniball gel pen. I used another sticker set to add the snowflake discs and create the tags, layering them together with the trees and stars and adding a bow of red and white twine. I also added some wording from a Tim Holtz Christmas sticker book which reads “the best tree”, “the magic tree”, “Christmas time has come at last” and “25^th of December”. To finish, I added some green and white glittery snowflakes and also some red gems to the tags and snowflake discs.

There’s some amazing inspiration from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over to take a look.

The numbered tree that I’ve created on this page could be used to count down the days until Christmas. I’m not sure where this year has gone now that December is here and oh my, there are only 15 days left until Christmas!

Another way this page could be used is as a calendar marking off the dates until Christmas Day is here. I think my friends have the best idea though, with the reward of a chocolate each day from this fabulous advent calendar! I may just have to get one of these next year – looks so yummy (grin!).

I noticed this advent calendar when we were visiting little Ellie, doesn’t she look adorable after her recent visit for her trim at the doggie parlour (double grin!).

Oh, and not forgetting hot chocolate for T Stands for Tuesday . This time of year we often enjoy a cup with a scrummy Lebkuchen which are only on sale at Christmastime. These ones are dipped in dark chocolate – delicious! I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang – Happy T day!

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

Challenges

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

I’m pleased to join the lovely Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words on this page.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Traditional Christmas challenge with the traditional red and green Christmas colours on my page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with the stars on the tags and the snowflakes star shapes I included on this page.

I’m also joining in the Stars challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the stars on the tags and the snowflakes star shapes I included on this page too.

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

• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Lattice CS120)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Aged Mahogany)
• Poundland (3 Washi Tapes)
• Eleganza Craft Stickers (Gems Red No:16)
• Hero Arts Gemstones (Red & Green CH120)
• Docrafts Papermania Adhesive  Stones (Red PMA351607)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Turtle Doves SS149)
• Docrafts X-Cut Alphabet Die Set (Centurion XCU503083)
• Recycled white card
• Pentel Sign Pen (Green)
• Zig Memory 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Dovecraft Collections Christmas Basics (A5 Glitter Stickers DCSTK018X16)
• Red & white twine
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Christmas Sticker Book #TH93999)
• Poundland (Christmas Craft Pack)