Beatrix Potter

Our new challenge theme over at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks is Childhood, so I created a page to remember my favourite childhood stories and author, Beatrix Potter.

You’ll find some beautiful inspiration from the Design Team over at Try it on Tuesday too, I hope you will join us!

I started by experimenting with Colourcraft Brushos and making a spray using Dark Brown Brusho powder and water which I mixed in a spritzer bottle. I sprayed it over the page and left it to dry, it gave a lovely pinkish egg-shell colour, which I thought tied in nicely with the Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck. But then I remembered that duck eggs are white! (grin). Then I fussy cut a black and white picture of Beatrix Potter, a colour picture of Hill Top Farm in the Lake District where she lived, her illustration of “Cecily Parsley Makes Cowslip Wine” and some text from an old 2016 magazine article celebrating her 150^th Birthday. I also fussy cut a picture of peas and a picture of the Lake District from the same magazine and I cut The Tale of Peter Rabbit book and my favourite characters from a leaflet, this included: Peter Rabbit; Peter Rabbit being chased by Farmer McGregor; Peter Rabbit jumping into a watering can; Peter Rabbit running on all fours; Appley Dapply; Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle; The Tailor of Gloucester; Mr. Jeremy Fisher; and Jemima Puddle-Duck. I collaged all the fussy cut pieces onto the page using a UHU Stic and when the glue was dry I outlined some of the pieces using a black Uni Pin marker. To finish, I added two pieces of blue ribbon and then stuck a recycled blue button where the ribbons overlapped using Glossy Accents and a pretty blue polka dot flower.

From my page, have you guessed who my all time favourite character was – it was Peter Rabbit! As a child I loved the Beatrix Potter stories and still have many of her books in my craft room which I have been known to sit and read now and then with a cup of tea (grin!). In the front of these books you will see my egg cup from my childhood too, it features Peter Rabbit and I have fond memories of dipping my soldiers (thin strips of toast) into my runny egg yolk (double grin!).

We used to holiday in the Lake District every year when I was a child and I have many happy memories of visiting Hill Top Farm too so I was pleased to include this on my page.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my cup of green tea and a homemade Belgian Bun – Happy T Day!

This was the first time that we have made these buns and they tasted delicious. They are not to be confused with Chelsea Buns that I used to make when I was younger, as they have Lemon Curd filling rather than butter so have less fat content – yay!

Also if you are visiting from the T Gang and like Street Art then you may wish to check out my previous post here.

Challenges

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

I’m pleased to join the lovely Yvonne from Meggy’s way, who is hosting A World of Fantasy challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my Beatrix Potter page as she definitely created fantastical animals for her stories.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my art journal page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Animal Magic so I’m pleased to join this challenge with Beatrix Potter’s magical animals 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:

• Colourcraft Brusho (Dark Brown)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.3mm)
• Old Magazine
• Beatrix Potter Leaflet
• Blue Adhesive Ribbon
• Recycled blue button
• Wilko Stickers (Flower Embellishments)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• UHU Stic

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Mr. and Mrs.

Having recently attended my friend’s wedding, I kept some of the table stationary and decorations as I wanted to create a journal page to keep them safe and remember the wonderful time that we had.

The question was how to include the menu, name cards and gift envelopes on my page so I could take them out and look at them in the future … then I remembered a tutorial about making Junk Journal corner pockets that my dear friend Astrid from Astrid’s Artistic Efforts published the other day and viola my problem was solved – here’s my page (grin!).

The background is stamped using three different stamps from Docrafts and three different inks, this included: a rose flower stamp using Dandelion Memento Ink as yellow roses featured in the brides bouquet, grooms lapel and table centrepieces; a rose garland stamp using Summer Sky Memento Ink as the wedding stationary was blue and white; and a music stamp using black Archival Ink as the music at the wedding was amazing with the violinists and also the band in the evening. Then continuing the yellow rose theme, I fussy cut one from an old garden book and stuck it to the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. When the gel medium was dry, I outlined the stem and leaves with a black Uni Pin marker. The lace, which reminds me of the bride’s dress, is fussy cut from some design paper and has a bleached out wood grain background which looks like the old wooden beams of the barn where the wedding was held.

For the corner pocket I used white cardstock and followed Astrid’s tutorial which you can find here; I have to say it worked like a dream – thanks so much! As you can see, I embellished the outer flap of the corner pocket using a Spellbinders die cut to add a pattern and inserted a piece of the wood grain design paper. The die was kindly gifted to me by Astrid too, thank you! I also added a piece of the fussy cut lace and then along the bottom edge I stamped yellow roses from the Docrafts stamp set using the Dandelion Memento Ink again. I finished the corner pocket with a piece of blue satin ribbon which I recycled from a birthday card. I used glue to stick the pocket in place and then added some tiny clear gems to add some sparkle and also the wooden Mr. & Mrs. and heart decorations that were on our table. To finish, I inserted the wedding menu, place markers and gift envelopes into the pocket for safe keeping (grin!).

The flowers were so beautiful at the wedding; this was our table centre piece!

As you can see the pretty yellow roses also featured on the wedding cake which looked and tasted amazing too!

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 Chris from Pearshapedcrafting, who is hosting the Arts for Art’s Sake challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I tried a new technique to create the corner pocket for my journal page using Astrid’s tutorial .

Over at Moo Mania & More the theme is Sheet Music so I’m pleased to join their challenge too with my music sheet stamped background.

With all the flowers that I included on my page, I’m joining in the fun over the Allsorts Challenge Blog and their Flowers all over challenge.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my Mr. and Mrs. 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:

• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Dandelion, Summer Sky)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Musicality DCE907112, Floral Icons DCE907123)
• Spellbinders Die Cut Systems Samantha Walker (Botanical & Accents)
• The Oxford Book of Garden Flowers
• Design paper bundle from local Craft Shop
• White cardstock
• Wedding Stationary – menu, name cards, gift envelopes
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Blue satin ribbon – recycled from a birthday card
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic

Tropical Flowers

Today I have created a tropical flower page which showcases some beautiful African postage stamps from Gabon – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the whole page with a tropical butterfly postal decoupage paper using Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I tore some Gabon postage stamp information which was included with the postage stamps, edged it with black Faber-Castell marker and stuck it to the left-hand side and right-hand side edges of the page. Next I applied Spice and Moss Spectrum Aqua markers by scribbling them on an acrylic block and painting them onto the page with a paintbrush like watercolour and then I stencilled a trellis pattern from Dutch Doobadoo Mask using black Archival Ink and a blending tool. I also used the same black ink to stamp some butterflies from Hampton Art positioning them so they flowed vertically up the page. Then I layered some Pébéo modelling paste onto the page using a Moroccan stencil from Craft Sensations and when the paste was dry I coloured the edges with a Midnight Sparkle metallic lustre wax. I also added a thin layer of white gesso to soften the black and give a worn and grungy look.

Next I applied more colour using Topaz and Fawn Spectrum Aqua markers, by scribbling them on an acrylic block, holding the block over the page and spritzing with water so droplets of ink pooled onto the page, creating some rusty stains to continue the grunge look. When dry I splattered black and also white DecoArt acylic paint over the whole page using a paintbrush. To make the tags, I used some design paper which I cut into a tag shape and punched a whole in the top of each of one. They are edged with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink using a blending tool and also a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. I chose different bits of travel and tropical designed paper that were left over from other journal pages and edged them with the black Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger. They are layered onto the tags along with some light pink coloured mesh ribbon. I kept the pink colour on two of the tags and I also coloured some of this pink ribbon using the Moss Spectrum Aqua marker on one of the tags and then Spice Spectrum Aqua marker for the other two. The ribbon is stuck onto the tag using a Zig Memory System glue pen and the papers are stuck down using a UHU Stic. I stuck a Gabon postage stamp featuring wild tropical flowers onto each tag using double-sided foam tape and also numbered the tags using outline stickers which I had coloured black using a Sharpie marker. I tied a piece of black paper twine to each of the tags and then stuck them in place using double-sided foam tape which finished the page.

To continue the African tropical flower theme, here is a beautiful Calla lily (Zantedeschia) which is brightening our dining room table with its beautiful white dotted leaves and colourful flowers (grin!).

If you are interested here are some fun facts about this lily:

• They are also known as the pig lily, trumpet lily or arum lily.
• The name calla lily is derived from a Greek word meaning beauty.
• Because the calla lily blossoms in late spring, they have come to represent rebirth and youth.
• Although an outdoor plant by nature, this plant can also be kept as an indoor plant too.

Challenges

With the flora of the tropical flowers and fauna of the butterflies, I’m joining the Flora and Fauna challenge over at Art Journal Journey where I’m hosting this month. I hope you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see you there!

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Moo Mania and More and their Flowers theme with my Tropical Flowers art journal page.

I’m joining Valerie and the rest of the DT again over at Mixed Media World and their theme is Anything Goes…optional Pink.

I’m also pleased to join the Rust theme over at Mixed Media Monthly Challenge with the rusty stains that I added to my page.

As I used stencils on my page, I’m also reminding you of our Stencil, Die Cuts or Both theme over at Try it on Tuesday which runs until next Monday evening.

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:

• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Craf-T Products Luster Rub-ons (Midnight Sparkle)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Spice, Moss, Topaz, Fawn)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Sharpie Permanent Marker (Black)
• Hampton Art Graphic 45 cling mounted rubber stamps (Tropical Travelogue ICO134)
• Dutch Doobadoo Mask Art A5 (Vintage)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Moroccan)
• First Edition Deco Maché Decoupage Papers (FEDEC196)
• The Works 12×12 Paper Stack (Vintage Experience CRO239/TW6)
• Design papers – leftovers
• Postage stamps from hubby’s childhood stamp collection (Gabon 1961 set of 5 stamps featuring Wild Tropical Flowers)
• Mesh ribbon recycled from flower bouquet
• Outline Stickers (Time Silver 904935)
• Wilko (Paper Twine)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Hello Spring!

With sunny days and warmer temperatures, it feels more like spring! My garden definitely looks more spring-like too with the beautiful daffodils and birdsong. So today I’m capturing those happy spring memories on my art journal page.

To start, I applied Mustard Seed Distress Ink concentrating the colour around the edges of the page; I did this by stamping the ink pad to an acrylic block and picking up the ink using a paint brush. Then I sprinkled some Leaf Green Colourfast Brusho powder onto the page and spritzed with water and watched the colours magically explode into life; I did this a few times until the intensity of colour I wanted was achieved. While the background was still wet, I used a stencil to apply Hickory Smoke Distress Ink using a blending tool and I stamped a daffodil tile stamp by Papermania using the Mustard Seed Distress Ink and also black Archival Ink, and also a small Flower & Dot stamp from Magenta using Teal Zeal Memento Ink; I really like the way the inks blended with the other background colours. I added a border of thin washi tape around the edge of the page and also around the wording “Hello Spring!” which I recycled from some junk mail. The pretty birds and daffodils are from a decoupage set which I fussy cut and stuck to the page using double-sided foam tape. The eggs are from an incomplete set of outline stickers from a charity shop (thrift store), which I stuck onto some textured recycled card and stuck to the page using a UHU Stic. To finish, I added some yellow bows which I made using recycled ribbon from a birthday gift.

Here are some of the beautiful daffodils flowering in our garden to welcome spring!

My pottery lamb stopped by to check them out too (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 Alison/Craftytrog, who is hosting the Recycle and Collage challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the recycled junk mail, textured card and ribbon that I collaged onto this page!

With the stamping and pretty birds on my page, I’m pleased to join The Birds & the Bees challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Trio of Something challenge with my pretty trio of decoupage bird images (if you look closely you will see the bird sitting on the flowerpot repeated three times on my page) and also my trio of eggs.

I’m also joining the Allsorts Challenge Blog and their New Beginnings challenge as my art journal page depicts the change in seasons, to welcome spring.

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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mustard Seed, Hickory Smoke)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Colourcraft Brusho Colour (Leaf Green)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Teal Zeal)
• Papermania wood mounted stamp (39454)
• Magenta wood mounted rubber stamp (Flowers & Dots 23111D)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Recycled junk mail magazine
• Hunkydory Spring is in the Air Designer Decoupage (Garden Birds and Bunny Meadow)
• Recycled textured card
• Outline Stickers (PP570)
• Yellow Ribbon – recycled from present
• The Works (Washi Tape Set)
• Wilko (Sticky Dots)
• UHU Stic
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Vintage

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it On Tuesday and our theme for the next two weeks is Vintage.

Thanks to those of you who joined us for the Love is in the Air challenge and I hope you will be inspired by our Vintage challenge too, it would be great to see you there!

For my art journal page, I started by covering the page in pieces of napkin using Liquitex matte gel medium and then applying Pébéo white gesso using a palette knife.  Once dry, I aged the page to tie into the Vintage theme by using Dark Sepia, Sanguine and Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. I did this by applying the markers directly to the edges of the page and smudging them with my finger and I also scribbling the marker onto an acrylic block and dragging the block over the surface of the page so it highlighted the gesso texture and creases of napkin. Next I used a cutting die and my Big Shot to create tile shapes, which are stuck to the page using Liquitex matte gel medium and when they were all in place I covered them all with a layer of matte gel medium too. I coloured the edges of the tiles using Willow and Ink Black Derwent Inktense pencils and highlighted some of the gaps between the tiles using a white Derwent Inktense pencil. Then I covered some of the tiles with white gesso and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to give them more of an aged look. The pretty purple violet flowers are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel which I layered over the top of one another to build up the design and intensity of colour. I added the butterfly 3D sticker and then splattered black DecoArt acrylic paint over the whole page using a paintbrush. The ivy is die cut using Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz and coloured using Leaf Green, Moss and Sepia Spectrum Aqua markers and a black Derwent Graphik fine line marker. They are stuck to the page using a Zig Memory System glue pen. I added the letter button stickers and applied white gesso and then matte gel medium over their edges so they looked more in keeping with the Vintage style. I also used the Willow and Ink Black Derwent Inktense pencils around them giving a worn look. For the doily, I coloured the edges using Tea Dye Distress Ink and a blending tool, and also the Dark Sepia Big Brush marker. I tied a bow in the middle of a piece of purple satin ribbon and then threaded each end of the ribbon around the central circle of a doily and stuck the doily in place using double-sided foam tape. I cut some thick purple paper using a Spellbinders die and stuck a butterfly image on top, which I had edged with the Tea Dye ink and Dark Sepia marker, using double-sided tape. To finish, I added one of the violet flowers, from the rub-on transfer set, to a vintage metal embellishment and stuck it in place using Ranger Glossy Accents.

I hope you will join in the fun over at Try it on Tuesday where you will find fabulous Vintage creations from the Design Team too!

Another rainy day meant another lovely walk around Lytham Hall with our friends. This time I had a piece of lemon and poppy cake with my pot of green tea and I was amazed how the vintage china and pretty purple flowers on my cake matched my Vintage page – Happy Serendipity (grin!). As I’m sharing my drink I’m saying a big hello and welcome to the T Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday and wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

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 Rike from rike’s art, who is hosting the Animals A-Z challenge over at Art Journal Journey as B is for Butterfly on today’s page!

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Add a Die Cut challenge with the vintage tiles, square frame and ivy leaf dies that I used on my art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything but Cute challenge.

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:

• Dunelm Napkin (Grace 30220549)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175, Sanguine 188, Cold Grey IV 233)
• Derwent Inktense Pencils (Willow 1900, Ink Black 2200, Antique White 2300)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Leaf Green, Moss, Sepia)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip Pen (White)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tea Dye)
• Spellbinders Nestabilities Card Creator Die Cut Systems (Pearl Effects S5-194, Unknown)
• Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz (garden Greens 661206)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Design Block)
• American Crafts Papers (DIY Shop 366665)
• Poundland Design Pad (Purple Paradise CRO701/PL3)
• Docrafts Papermania 8×8” Labels (Botanicals PMA157234)
• Dovecraft Premium Paper Doilies (Painted Blooms DCDLS010)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (KPE1229G)
• Home Bargains (Love Letters 22738, Beautiful Butterflies 22742)
• Recycled Satin Ribbon (Purple)
• Poundworld (Vintage Stickers)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Melt It! – Four Seasons

I’m so excited and honoured to be a Pinworthy Guest Designer over at A Vintage Journey and my seasonal heart decorations are inspired by their challenge – Melt It! Julia is the host for this challenge and kindly provided the following brief:

This month we’re asking everyone to MELT IT! Get out the UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel), beeswax, encaustic wax, embossing powders or good old wax crayons and a heat tool and get melting to create something in a vintage; shabby; mixed media; art journaling; industrial, timeworn or steampunk style.

So today I’m sharing how I created a heart decoration for each of the four seasons and as I love creating my art journal pages and projects using mixed media, I chose to create these decorations in the Mixed Media Style for A Vintage Journey. I had so much fun melting both embossing powder for the backgrounds and also embossing enamels for the birds on my Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter decorations (grin!).

These decorations are wonderful additions to the seasonal window displays that I create throughout the year, which you may be aware of from my previous post.

I started by stamping the heart tags with different stamps using Emboss ink, the stamps included: a rose design from a Penny Black stamp set for spring; flowers and swirls from the same Penny Black stamp set and also a flower design from Hampton Art for summer; some leaves from Royal & Langnickel for autumn and finally snowflakes from BoBunny for winter. I covered each of them with white Stampendous embossing powder, shook off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper and also tapped the heart to make sure any stray powder was removed. Then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder by sweeping the gun over the stamped images, taking care not to direct the heat in one area for too long until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional. I repeated the same process to decorate the back of the heart too, making sure I suspended the heart when heating the embossing powder to ensure the reverse side did not stick to my craft mat. Next I applied two different Memento Inks for each of the hearts using a blending tool, which emphasised the melted embossing powder beautifully. The ink colours I used were Pistachio and Angel Pink for spring, Lilac Posies and Dandelion for summer, Morocco and Toffee Crunch for autumn and Summer Sky and London Fog for winter.

The branches and foliage for spring, autumn and winter are die cut using Garden Greens Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz from different design papers with my new Big Shot machine. They are coloured using Spectrum Aqua markers which I applied like watercolour by scribbling the marker onto an acrylic block and picking up the ink with a wet paintbrush; the colours I used were Bud Green and Moss for spring, Chestnut and Sepia for autumn and Chocolate for winter. I used some tiny maple leaves that I had in my craft stash to decorate the autumn branch which I coloured using Crimson, Orange and Gold Spectrum Aqua Markers. All of these paper elements are stuck to the heart using a Zig Memory System glue pen. For summer, I used some sunflower border stickers by Docrafts Papermania.

For the birds, I used some wooden bird shapes which I covered in Emboss ink and Stampendous Frantage embossing enamel; this enamel was a Christmas present so this is the first time I had used it and I love it, it’s such an amazing medium to use (grin!). I shook off the excess enamel pieces and then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing enamel until it melted to a smooth glossy finish. Be careful not to touch the melted embossing enamel until cooled as it gets very hot when heated. For spring I used Aged Hunter, for summer Aged Silver, for autumn Aged Marine and winter Aged Scarlet. The birds are stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents.

Next I embellished the spring branches with some pretty flower beads to represent spring blossoms using Glossy Accents and the winter berries using Christmas Red Stickles from Ranger. The wording is stamped onto thick paper using a Dovecraft alphabet stamp set and different Memento Inks; Rich Cocoa for spring, Cottage Ivy for summer, Elderberry for autumn and Blue Danube for winter. They are stuck down using the Zig Memory System glue pen. To finish, I added a piece of white paper twine and also threaded some flower, metal and bevelled glass beads on a piece of thread and tied them with some ribbons around the twine.

I really enjoyed joining A Vintage Journey to Melt It! and create my Four Seasons heart decorations. I hope you are inspired by this month’s challenge too and are able to join in the fun!

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 these decorations:

• Tsukeniko Emboss Embossing Ink Pad (Clear)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch, Angel Pink, Rich Cocoa, Lilac Posies, Dandelion, Cottage Ivy, Morocco, Toffee Crunch, Elderberry, Summer Sky, London Fog, Danube Blue)
• Stampendous Frantage Embossing Enamel Holiday Kit (Aged Hunter, Aged Silver, Aged Marine, Aged Scarlet)
• Spectrum Aqua Markers (Bud Green, Moss, Crimson, Orange, Gold, Chestnut, Sepia, Chocolate)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Penny Black Stamp Set (Clearly in Love 30-009)
• Hampton Art Studio G Clear Stamps (Series 11 VS4911)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Pressed Leaves MIN-CCS102)
• BoBunny Stamps (Snow Day 13705563)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Garden Greens 661206)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Crafter’s Companion Luxury Designer Paper Pad (Angelica & Adam Collection A&A-PAP6-M)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Design Block)
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CR0701/16PL1)
• Wilko (5 Heart Gift Tags)
• Craft for Occasions (C2026 – wooden bird and bunnies)
• Docrafts Papermania Signature 3D Floral Borders (Sunflower Burst PMA8011000)
• The Brighton Bead Shop (Assorted beads – flower, glass, metal, bevelled)
• Thick black thread
• Recycled ribbons from Christmas Crackers
• Satin ribbon (Green, Pink, Tan, Blue)
• Ranger Stickles (Christmas Red)
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (The Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• UHU Glue Pen

Vintage Christmas

Tidings of Comfort and Joy!

I hope you’re having a wonderful Christmastime and wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

Today’s page is inspired by Christmastime and all things vintage! I started by covering the page with a music sheet from a book of Christmas carols that I picked up in a charity shop (thrift store); you may know the carol and I liked that the title referenced both Christmas and the New Year. I ripped the page into three pieces and stuck them down along with some gold, gold star and gold holly tissue papers using a UHU Stic. When the glue had dried I added Toffee Crunch and Rich Cocoa Memento Inks to the edge of the page and papers using a blending tool. Next I stamped a snowflake design from the Woodware Craft Collection using Emboss ink, then I covered it with white Stampendous embossing powder and shook off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper. I also tapped the page to make sure any stray powder was removed and then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder. I swept the gun over the stamped images, taking care not to direct the heat in one area for too long until the embossing powder changed to a glossy finish becoming smooth and dimensional. The gold trees are relief stickers by Crelando and the vintage images are cut using serrated scissors from an old magazine and a 12×12” paper sheet of Tags from the Glistening Season collection from Pion Designs; they are edged with the Toffee Crunch ink and arranged on the page using double-sided tape and some fabric washi tape. The “December 25” sign is a Victorian Christmas 3D sticker from Docrafts Papermania which I stuck down with a glass candy cane decoration. The candy cane is from an incomplete set of wine charms purchased at a charity shop; wine charms are small ornaments that you attach to a wine glass at a party so you know which glass is yours. I also tied some white paper twine to a round wooden tree tag and added it to the page. The white ribbon is recycled from a Christmas cracker and I tied it into a bow. To finish, I added lots of glittery gold snowflakes which are stickers.

I’d also like to thank the Allsorts Challenge Blog for my early Christmas present of the Pion Design paper and the Toffee Crunch Memento Ink that I used to create this page. I won them over at their challenge from Swedish House Crafts, along with some other goodies too (grin!).

I love Christmas music and play it at every opportunity this time of year (grin!), so I was really pleased to find a book of carols in my local charity shop. The carol I used for my page is “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”, if you are interested:

• This carol is also known as “Tidings of Comfort and Joy”.
• It is a traditional English Christmas carol which is thought to date back to the 16^th Century. It was first published by William Sandys in 1833.
• This carol is referred to in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, 1843:  “… at the first sound of ‘God bless you, merry gentlemen! May nothing you dismay!’, Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost.”
• There have been many covers of this carol including Bing Crosby in 1947,  Nat King Cole in 1960, Nancy Sinatra in 1991, Mariah Carey in 1994, Glee in 2010 and many more. Each of the names is a link to their version of the carol – now I’m wondering which one you would choose to listen too?

I received a lovely surprise from my hubby, look what was waiting for me at elevenses with my cup of green tea – a yummy gingerbread Christmas Tree (grin!). As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a very Christmassy T Day!

Challenges

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

I’m pleased to join the lovely Sheila from Orange Esmeralda who is hosting the “Let’s Celebrate” challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my Vintage Christmas celebration!

I’m joining the Christmas” fun over at Country View Challenges where the theme is “Christmas with optional Reds, Greens and Rust”.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge the theme is “Party!” so I’m pleased to join them with my Vintage Christmas party!

I’m pleased to join the “Winter Wonderland” challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my vintage style page inspired by Christmastime, snow, carols and vintage wintry scenes.

I’m also joining the “Believe” challenge over at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge with my vintage Christmas page as my design and colour palette was influenced by their inspirational photo – Merry Christmas!

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:

• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch, Rich Cocoa)
• Emboss Embossing Ink Pad (Clear)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Snowflakes FRS027)
• Tissue Paper (Gold, Gold Star, Gold Holly)
• The Oxford Book of Carols
• Pion Design Glistening Season 12×12” sheet (Tags – PD6612)
• Old Magazine
• Poundland (Fabric Tape 156456-GE16)
• The Works (Pack of 9 Wooden Tags)
• Docrafts Papermania Victorian Christmas (3D Christmas Stickers PMA805801)
• Wilko (Paper Twine)
• Re-cycled ribbon (White)
• Crelando Relief Stickers Christmas designs (12 Sheets IAN289011)
• The Pier (Wine Charms PLU2010838)
• Christmas-Craft (Glitter Embellishments Gold XCR0037)
• Fun Cut Scissors – serrated
• UHU Stic
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape