Pumpkin Patch Halloween

It’s a new month so it’s time to launch a new challenge over at Country View Challenges which is Halloween or Harvest, which is being hosted by the lovely Miriam.

For this challenge, I’m had fun creating this Pumpkin Patch Halloween page using Sizzix Thinlits by Tim Holtz.

The chipboard page was covered with a square of mixed media paper using a glue stick, which was first stamped using a Doorway Finnabair stamp and black Archival Ink. Then I stencilled the large moon using white DecoArt acrylic paint and I coloured the night sky around it using Peacock Feathers, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot Distress Inks with a blending tool. I used the same Distress Inks to add some texture to the moon itself and I added the black foreground using black DecoArt acrylic paint.

The bats and pumpkins were die cut using a Pumpkin Patch Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from different coloured Kraft Stock Classic paper pad by Tim Holtz. To finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges. I hope you’ll join us, it would be lovely to see you there and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the Country View Crafts shop! Before you enter, please read the rules.

There seems to be some spooky goings on at Lytham Hall with pumpkin banners.

As well as this fabulous pottery pumpkin guarding the pumpkin patch.

Wishing you a Happy October and I hope that you’re staying safe and well! x

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

Challenge

As well as Country View Challenges , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Fairytales, Folklore & Fables – Tell Me A Story so I’m joining her with my Pumpkin Patch page as Jack-o’-lanterns are part of folklore tradition.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #177 – Anything Goes challenge with my Halloween page.

LTCCB#71 – Anything Goes over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my Pumpkin Patch page.

OCTOBER – Anything Halloween challenge over at Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge with my Pumpkin Patch Halloween page.

Love you to the moon and back

Today’s page is in memory of my dad who passed away just before Christmas last year; it would have been his birthday today.

The two cute dogs are from a birthday card that I bought and with his passing never got to give him; I loved the image so I used it to create a page to remember him by and to say “love you to the moon and back”.

I started by stamping the background using a Mini Dots stamp by Kaisercraft and black Archival Ink, then a couple of stamps from a Mister Fox stamp set by Kaisercraft using Peeled Paint and Faded Jeans Distress Archival Ink. Then I added the black and white striped washi tape to the bottom of the page to create the foreground; the washi tape was recycled from the napkin swap package that I received from Bleubeard & Elizabeth – thank you! Next I stuck the two adorable dogs in place, which were fussy cut from the birthday card and to finish, I added the “Love you to the moon and back” wording using letters from a Metallic Stickers Alpha Silver set by Tim Holtz.

Parkin was one of my dad’s favourites and one of his birthday treats (smile!). It’s a type of gingerbread cake that originated in northern England made with oatmeal and black treacle. This particular parkin recipe has been passed down through generations of my dad’s family and I enjoy making it, as well as eating it – it will always remind me of him!

Hoping that you all stay 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 be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Neet from Hickydorums is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen Fur and/or Feathers so I’m joining her with the dogs on my page.

LTSCB#157 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog as I created this page using a recycled birthday card and washi tape.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #176 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

Embossed Autumn Leaves

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Emboss It; this can be wet or dry embossing.

I had fun creating this autumnal page which features both wet and dry embossing techniques.

I started by covering the page with Driftwood DecoArt acrylic paint and when dry, I stamped a woodgrain stamp from BoBunny using some Moonlight White Brilliance Ink over the top. Next I used a Typewriter embossing folder by Tim Holtz and a leaf and swirls embossing folder to emboss some autumnal coloured masterboard that I had left over from a previous project; the masterboard was coloured by smooshing Rusty Hinge, Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks. I then dragged a Ground Espresso Distress Ink pad over the top of the embossed paper to highlight the embossed patterns. Next I fussy cut the letters and some of the leaves and swirls from one of the embossed papers, and I edged the rectangle of embossed paper using some Vintage Ivory embossing enamel by Stampendous. Then I arranged everything onto the page with two chipboard birds which were also covered using the same embossing enamel.

As we’re celebrating autumn and T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my green tea with a piece of homemade pumpkin roll filled with cream cheese frosting – Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Neet from Hickydorums is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen Fur and/or Feathers so I’m joining her with the birds on my page.

MIUCB#61 – Anything Goes + Optional Smooshing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the embossing techniques and smooshed masterboard embossed pieces that I used to create this page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #176 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

Look for the magic

Over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge, we are launching a new challenge today which is Mushrooms and other Fungi.

I had fun creating this art journal page of mushrooms and autumn leaves which was inspired by a red-capped mushroom that we saw on one of our walks around Lytham Hall.

I started by stencilling Vintage Photo Distress Ink onto the page using a stencil from Creative Expressions. Next I stuck the mushrooms in place which were washi tape stickers and for the foreground, I arranged some leftover papers and autumnal leaves; the leaves were either die cut or stamped and cut out from papers coloured with Brushos or Distress Inks. I used the Vintage Photo Distress Ink to colour the wording, which was a Sentiments sticker by Finnabair. To finish, I had fun highlighting the mushrooms with a white gel pen and then I splattered the page with both white and black DecoArt acrylic paint.

I hope you’ll join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenge too, for more inspiration please check out the amazing Mushrooms and other Fungi designs from my Sparkles Buddies in the Design Team too; we would love for you to join us so please be sure to check out the rules here.

This is the red-capped mushroom that we saw on our walk at Lytham Hall; it seems all we needed to do was “look for the magic” (smile!).

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.

Challenges

As well as Sparkles Monthly Challenge , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #176 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

LTCCB#71 – Anything Goes over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my mushroom page celebrating autumn.

Full of Wonder

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges with art journal page for this month’s Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness Challenge.

This autumnal journal page celebrates early autumn with a smooshed background of autumnal sunshine, and some ephemera of seasonal flowers and a pretty butterfly.

I started by creating a masterboard of smooshed Rusty Hinge, Mustard Seed and Orange Marmalade Distress Inks on some mixed media paper; I did this by stamping the ink pads onto an acrylic block, spritzing the block with water and pressing it onto the paper gradually building up the layers of colour. When dry, I cut out a panel for the background of my page, sticking it in place using a glue stick. Next I layered, onto the page, a Pocket Card with a pretty butterfly design, some yarrow and chrysanthemum flowers from an Ephemera pack and the wording which were from a Thoughts Label Sticker set; all of these were Tim Holtz products. To finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt paint.

I hope you are inspired to join our challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts.

I always think of chrysanthemums this time of year which remind me of the Fall displays in America. They seem to be a popular flower on sale in Garden Centres over here in the UK too – Happy Autumn everyone!

I hope that you’re staying safe and well!

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Neet from Hickydorums is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen Fur and/or Feathers so I’m joining her with the butterfly on my page as the wings near it’s body look so furry.

MIUCB#61 – Anything Goes + Optional Smooshing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my smooshed masterboard background for this page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #176 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

T Day ATCs and a Big Thank You

I had a lovely surprise in the post, some happy mail from Bleubeard and Elizabeth which contained the napkins from the napkin swap to celebrate T Stands for Tuesday 9^th Anniversary – thank you so much!

Although it wasn’t part of the napkin swap, I created an ATC for each of those taking part; so today I’m sharing how I made them (smile!).

Using some old playing cards as my base, I started by covering the front of 9 cards using some Pébéo white gesso with a brayer and left them to dry. Next I added some torn Dictionary page pieces over the top using Liquitex matte gel medium. When dry, I coloured them using washes of Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Kuretake Watercolour paint and then I stamped them using a Fragments stamp by Tim Holtz and black Archival Ink.

I used a couple of die cut sets to cut out the teacups and saucers, the flowers and little bird from some coloured papers. The teacups and saucers were stamped using the Fragments stamp and Moonlight White Brilliance Ink. Everything was arranged onto the ATCs using Liquitex matte gel medium along with various DoCrafts stickers to create the “T Day” wording and a number “9” which was die cut.

For the reverse of the ATC, I covered the back of the cards with black DecoArt Acrylic paint and I stamped the Fragments stamp using the Moonlight White Brilliance Ink. The wording was printed using a Dymo Letratag Label Maker and I stamped the “Handmade with love…” using black Archival Ink; everything was stuck in place with some of the die cut flowers.

As you may know Bleubeard and Elizabeth kindly sent some amazing postage stamps as part of the napkin swap which you can see here – thanks so much, they are so beautiful!
It looks like I may have the pink flowered international stamp that was mentioned on Bleubeard & Elizabeth’s blog post last week – yippee! Also the black and white washi tape was holding the ATCs together which I plan to recycle.

Of course all the napkins are fabulous and I received so many that I couldn’t fit them all in one photo (grin!).

I can’t wait to get creative with them on my art journal pages – thank you so much to everyone who sent napkins for the swap! Also a big thank you to E and Sharon for organising everything – you’re both stars!!!

I had such a lovely surprise when I found all these stunning ATCs amongst the napkins; from top left to right we have Sharon, Elle, Lisca, Bleubeard & Elizabeth, Chris and Mia). It was so kind and thoughtful of everyone – thanks so much!

All the teacups featured on this post allow me to join this week’s T Day – wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

I hope that you’re all staying safe and well! x

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #176 – Anything Goes challenge with my ATCs.

LTSCB#157 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my ATCs that I created from old playing cards.

Challenge #62 – Anything Goes at Ally’s Angels with my handmade ATCs.

MIUCB#61 – Anything Goes + Optional Smooshing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my smooshed watercolour background my ATCs.

Together

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Animals – Real or Imaginary.

Here’s my page which was inspired by and features some adorable giraffes.

For my smooshed background, I used a grid mini stencil from Creative Expressions like a stamp to add Weathered Wood Distress Ink to the page; covering the stencil with the ink, spritzing with water and then pressing the stencil onto the page. I added some Wild Honey Distress Ink to the page using the same technique but this time applying the ink pad to an acrylic block, then spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page. I added the photo images and wording which were Kaisercraft stickers and I used the same stickers to create create a platform for the giraffes to stand on. The giraffes were die cut from different colours of Kraft Stock Classic Paper from Tim Holtz using a Gertrude Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz; I used Liquitex matte gel medium to stick them together.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

I was inspired by these beautiful giraffes from Blackpool Zoo; we visited earlier this year and as they happen to be my favourite, we made a bee-line to see them as soon as we arrived (smile!).

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.

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Neet from Hickydorums is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen Fur and/or Feathers so I’m joining her with my adorable giraffe page.

MIUCB#61 – Anything Goes + Optional Smooshing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my stencil and acrylic block smooshing techniques that I used to create my background for this page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #175 – Anything Goes challenge with my Together page.

Time stood still

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Keep It Simple.

This challenge was really hard for me as keeping things simple isn’t something I normally achieve (smile!), so to keep it simple, my design centred on a sheet of cardstock from Kaisercraft with some pretty framed flowers.

I started by cutting the Kaisercraft sheet into three pieces and then arranging it onto the page. Before it was stuck in place with a glue stick, I coloured the background pale pink using some watered down Pickled Raspberry Distress Ink. Then I added the pink roses which were washi stickers and to finish, the wording which was a Kaisercraft sticker and reads “In these moments time stood still”.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the wonderful Keep It Simple creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

As T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my friend’s cappuccino for you coffee lovers and our pots of tea; I fell in love with the beautiful teacup and saucer with the elegant gold accents and pretty pink roses – Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

The lovely Chris from Pearshapedcrafting is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen When We Were Young so I’m joining her with the words that I included on my page which are very poignant for me as we have been sorting through boxes with my mum, the contents of which hold strong memories of my childhood and as such it seems ‘time stands still’ and everything around you seems to stop for a while as you remember (smile!).

Paperbabe Stamps and their #174 – Anything Goes challenge with my clean and simple page.

Make A Wish – Birthday Card

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges with another birthday card for this month’s Happy Birthday Challenge.

My feminine design was inspired by some pretty Sleeping Beauty Stamperia papers which I used to create this card.

I started by cutting a page of the Sleeping Beauty paper pad for a 6×6” blank card and stuck it in place using some double-sided tape. From the same paper pad, I cut the “Make a wish” birthday cake panel, edged it with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker and stuck it in place using double-sided foam tape. The “Happy Birthday” was die cut using a Female Occaions Sizzix Thinlits set from a couple of contrasting papers and I pieced them together onto the card using some double-sided tape. I coloured the “Happy Birthday” lettering using some Tarnished Brass Distress Paint and then I added some Ranger Glossy Accents over the top.

To finish, I added some drops of Glossy Accents onto the card and left it to dry to form clear 3-dimensional beads.

I hope you are inspired to join our Happy Birthday challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts.

If you’re interested, here are the other products that I used to create this page.

I hope that you’re staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #174 – Anything Goes challenge with my birthday card.

Ally’s Angels and their Challenge #61- Anything Goes with my pretty paper inspired card.

Lake District

When sorting through some boxes at my mums, we came across some old maps from our holidays when I was younger. I have so many fond memories of those holidays that I decided to create this Lake District page (smile!).

I started by stamping a Tiny Dots stamp from Kaisercraft onto the background using Picked Raspberry Distress Archival Ink and black Archival Ink. Next I stamped some ferns over the top, as they are native to the Lake District, using a Leaf Prints stamp from Tim Holtz and some Peeled Paint Distress Archival Ink. Then I applied some white acrylic paint over the top using a brayer to push the images and colours into the background. I ripped a Lake District map, keeping the corner image, “The Lake District” wording and die cutting the birds and branches from it using a Silhouette Birds and also a Small Tattered Florals Thinlits set by Tim Holtz. I edged all the paper pieces using a black Faber-Castell marker and then I stuck them in place using a glue stick. To finish, I added the wording which were from a Kaisercraft Sticker sheet; they read “Happy”, “When I look back I want to remember this moment” and “Beautiful”.

I have fond childhood memories of visiting Kendal, Bowness-on-Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere, Hawkshead, Keswick and Grange-over-Sands in the Lake District; I think this bird is adorable as he looks like he’s fell walking like we always used to on our holidays (grin!).

Here are the old maps from my childhood that inspired my page – don’t you just love the raven on the English Lakes front cover (smile!).

Hoping that you all stay 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 be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Chris from Pearshapedcrafting is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen When We Were Young so I’m joining her with my Lake District page which was inspired from happy times when I was young.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #174 – Anything Goes challenge with my Lake District page.

LTSCB#156 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with the old maps that I used to create this page.

MIUCB#60 – Anything Goes + optional Clean & Simple over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my simple design of stamping and map pieces on this page.