We really enjoyed learning all about baseball whilst in America and watching the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs on TV. On our return we continued to follow the games being played and were delighted when they won the World Series – Go Red Sox!
For the background I stamped with a Hessian stamp using Pistachio Memento Ink and a Sketchy stamp using Potter’s Clay Memento Ink; both the stamps are by Kaisercraft and I chose the colours to depict the grass and sand of the baseball field. Next I added some vintage baseball images and words which are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel. To depict the baseballs, I drew circles with baseball stitching using a black Uni Pin marker around some of the edges of the page. The stars are stencilled using Pébéo modelling paste and coloured using Red Cherry Faber-Castell Gelato. To finish, I added some Boston Red Sox images which are coloured using a red Uni Posca Paint Pen and stuck into place using a glue stick or double-sided foam tape.
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my Punkin Beer by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in its Boston Red Sox bottle cooler; while we stayed with our friends it became a tradition for me to always have this cooler as they won the first time I used it so I was told it bought the Red Sox good luck (grin!). This photo was taken while on the party boat on the lake and you can find more photos of our time on the boat here if you are interested. My sandwich is turkey salad – yum! Happy T Day!
My post is a little shorter this week as yesterday I started my month of guest designing over at Simon Says Stamp for their Monday Challenge. Thank you to everyone for their kind comments on yesterday’s post, your support is very much appreciated!
I’m so excited and honoured to be in the Designer Spotlight and this week’s Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is Make Your Own Background, it would be fabulous to see you there (grin!).
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal, who is hosting the Vintage or Modern challenge over at Art Journal Journey as this page captures happy memories and I’m sure that she will join me to celebrate their win of the World Series – Go Red Sox!
As I’m thankful that the Red Sox won the World Series, this page is also a reminder that there is still another week to join the Thankful challenge at Try it on Tuesday too!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Today my fun page celebrates the seasonal sweet treats and all things pumpkin at Dunkin’ Donuts – yum!
So you may be wondering why I’m so excited about Dunkin’ Donuts, well in the UK we don’t have these stores at all and as a country we don’t really celebrate all things pumpkin like in the US. So for me having a hot chocolate with pumpkin syrup and a pumpkin donut was such a special treat on my American holiday/vacation!
To start, I covered the page with a napkin, which I had collected from our visits to Dunkin’ Donuts, which is stuck in place using a glue stick. While it was drying I die cut two circles with a stitched edge from the brown paper bag our donuts were packaged in; the larger circle encompassing the Dunkin’ Donuts logo and slogan, and the second smaller circle just of plain paper. I stamped our drink order onto this smaller circle using black Archival Ink and an alphabet stamp set from Dovecraft. I used the same stamp set and ink to stamp the “with” onto some card to emphasis that we asked for the pumpkin syrup to be added to our drink. The letters are coloured with an orange and a pink Uni Posca paint pen; I alternated the colours to add more interest. The circles are arranged with images that remind me of our yummy treats, this included: some pretty doughnut stickers with some cool fun sayings reminding me of the doughnuts we sometimes had with our drinks; some autumn leaves and a pumpkin which are rub-on transfers as I wanted to emphasise that we visited in the fall when pumpkin treats are available; and finally the days of the week which are cut from a Tim Holtz idea-ology poster card and edged with a black Derwent Graphic marker and orange or pink Uni Posca paint pen, they remind me that we had a hot chocolate more or less everyday when we passed by a Dunkin’ Donuts. To finish, I added some pink and white Chevron washi tape to the top and bottom edge of the page which I bought in the US whilst on holiday.
Here’s our hot chocolate with pumpkin syrup and …
…who couldn’t resist a pumpkin donut or Boston Creme donut – yummy yum yum!
As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my drink and art journal page; wishing you all a Happy T Day!
This special treat was particularly welcome after our walks and on one of the colder mornings we walked along the Eastern Trail so it was very much appreciated (grin!).
The Eastern Trail is over six miles of flat, easy, and scenic terrain connecting Biddeford, Arundel, and Kennebunk. I thought you may wish to walk with us and see some of the beautiful foliage along the trail …
I hope you enjoyed walking some of the trail and seeing the autumnal foliage as much as we did – wishing you a great day!
Challenges
I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:
I’m pleased to join the lovely Linda from heARTfullyinspiredby Linda, who is hosting the Creature Comforts challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I find these sweet treats very comforting (grin!).
As this page is a happy memory of autumn treats, I’m also joining the Autumn challenge over at Moo Mania & More.
As the autumn leaves, acorns, pumpkins and hot chocolate reminds brings fall to mind to me, I’m also joining the Autumn Splendour challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my holiday/vacation inspired Art Journaling Style page.
I’m also pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps too.
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
Uni Posca Paint Pen (Orange, Pink)
Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
The Works (Cutting Dies – Stitched Circles)
Recycled Dunkin’ Donuts napkin and brown bag
Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Tricks’n’Treats #SCH688N)
Home Bargains (Sweet like … Puffy Sticker Sheets 14277)
As it was the Autumn Equinox last weekend it’s now officially autumn – yay! I really enjoyed summer but I love autumn too, so I found myself inspired by some critters depicted on some seasonal gifts that I had seen in our local shops.
I started by covering the page with Aquamarine Spectrum Aqua marker ink that I applied to an acrylic block, spritzed with water and pressed onto the page. I then divided the page into four quadrants and started to create a different background for each of my little critters, which are foam stickers. To create a home for the fox, I stamped lots of ferns from a Royal & Langnickel stamp set using Orange and Terracotta Spectrum Aqua markers and London Fog Memento Ink. The owl is sitting in some silver birch trees that I stamped using the same London Fog Memento Ink and I also outlined and doodled the bark detail onto the trees using a Uni Pin black marker. The golden leaves are stamped using a Gold Spectrum Aqua marker ink and a leaf stamp from Royal & Langnickel, and I outlined them and added more detail using the black Uni Pin marker. I used the same Royal & Langnickel stamp set to stamp the leaves for the hedgehog; this time I used the London Fog Memento Ink and three different colours of Spectrum Aqua markers which were Gold, Sepia and Crimson. Lastly for the squirrel, I used a stamp set by Craft Impressions to stamp lots of pine cones again using London Fog Memento Ink and also a Sepia Spectrum Aqua Marker and Sanguine and Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush Markers. Using the same stamp set I added a few pine branches using London Fog and Pistachio Memento Ink. Next I separated the quadrants using washi tape which I outlined using a Uni Pin marker, and then I added some star gems. The autumnal wording is cut from a magazine and stuck in place using a UHU Stic. To finish, I used some small gems to add a little sparkle choosing a different colour for each quadrant.
I just couldn’t resist creating my autumn critter page especially having seen these lovely glasses with beautiful animal designs on them and …
… these amazing sugar, tea, coffee and biscuit/cookie jars in a local store. I hope like me that you enjoyed your summer days and are looking forward to autumn too!
My drinking glasses and assortment of tea and coffee jars means that I am able to join in the fun over at T Stands for Tuesday – wishing you all a very Happy T Day!
Challenges
I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:
I’m pleased to be able to join the lovely Yvonne from Meggy’s way, who is hosting A World of Fantasy challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my autumn critter imaginary friends (grin!).
I’m also joining the Forever Autumn challenge over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog with my autumnal art journal page.
With my gems adding some bling and sparkle to my art journal page, I’m pleased to join Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Bling It On challenge.
Over at Paperbabe Stamps, their challenge is Stars so I’m pleased to join in the fun with the star gems that I added to my page.
I’m also pleased to join the September Link Party #43 – Anything Goes over at Cropstop Blog with my page as I included some products from companies that they carry in their store.
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Spectrum Aqua Artist’s marker (Aquamarine, Orange, Terracotta, Gold, Crimson, Sepia)
Tsukineko Memento Dye Ink (London Fog, Pistachio)
Faber-Castell Big Brush artist pen (Sanguine 188 B, Dark Sepia 175 B)
Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Pressed Leaves)
Craft Impressions clear stamp set (Winter Wonderland)
Old magazine
B&M Hobby World (Woodland Friends Foam Stickers 289338)
Quality Toys Group (Washi Tape 2544960)
The Range Adhesive Craft Gems (Assorted Shapes CR0869)
Hello everyone, I’m so excited to be over at Stamps & Stencils as Guest Designer for their It’s been a while… challenge this month. Sue is the host for this challenge and kindly provided the following brief:
Being creative often leads you in different directions and sometimes it isn’t until you start that you know where you are heading. For this challenge I thought that as we’ve not done it for a while it would be good to let your creative spirit wander and have a theme of Anything Goes. Your project must be mixed media and include stamping and/or stencilling but apart from that it’s up to you !
I am often inspired by things I see and do, so my art journal page is inspired by rainbow colours and sunshine to mark the end of summer. Here’s a sneak peek of the page I have created for this challenge, the full version can be found here at Stamps & Stencils along with my tutorial.
Thanks so much to the team at Stamps & Stencils for having me as Guest Designer this month. I hope that you are inspired by their It’s been a while… 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 this art journal page:
Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge is Inspired by a Song. You have two weeks to join in the fun and there is some amazing inspiration from the Design Team, so please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to take a look.
My art journal page is inspired by the song “Dream a little dream of me” and it depicts the first verse:
Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper “I love you”
Birds singing in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me
I started this page by adding the song title “Dream a little dream of me” by drawing some wavy lines with a pencil and adding the letters free hand. Then I drew over the letters with a black Uni Pin marker using a ruler for the straight edges, and when the ink was dry I rubbed off the pencil markings with an eraser. I then painted the page with Vivid Lime Green, Bright Aqua Green and Neutral Gray Liquitex acrylic paint, graduating the colour so the lime green was in the centre, then adding aqua green and then grey around the edges. Then I created a star burst effect in the centre of the page by applying Pébéo white gesso thinly using a sponge and a homemade template that I made out of card using a stamp from Sugarloaf Inc.
To depict the first line “Stars shining bright above you” I added lots of stars and sparkle. Firstly by removing some of the paint while it was still wet to create the white stars; I did this using a star stencil by Creative Stencils and baby wipe. I used the same stencil to apply the three Liquitex acrylic paints using a palette knife as they are all heavy body Liquitex paints which gave the stars a 3D effect. I also added lots of shiny dots and more stars with the stencil using silver Stickles.
I added the words “I love you” which are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel to depict the second line of the verse and outlined the letters with a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen.
For the third line, I stamped the sycamore leaves from a stamp set by Crafter’s Companion using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and then covered them with silver Papermania embossing powder. I shook and tapped any excess powder off the page and then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder to a glossy finish until it became smooth and dimensional. I also edged the page with the silver embossing powder by dragging the VersaMark Watermark stamp pad over the edges of the page and then repeating the process above. As the heat embossing “resists” the ink I smudged white Uniball gel pen ink with my finger over the embossed leaves to highlight the leaf veins and give the leaves more definition. Then I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush. For my singing birds, I used one of my favourite stamps from Creative Expressions and stamped one of the birds three times onto the page and also onto a piece of Sheet Music. I fussy cut the birds along with some music notes and stuck them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium so they look as though they are singing.
Next I cut some curvy strips of sheet music and stuck them above and under the “Dream a little dream of me” wording using Liquitex matte gel medium. When the gel medium was dry, I edged the wavy lines of sheet music with a black Uni Pin marker. I went over the song title wording with a black Derwent Graphik marker so it stood out more and I highlighted some of the lettering with a white Uni Ball gel pen to give a 3D effect. To finish the page I also used the white gel pen to outline all of the different elements which included: all of the stars to make them shine brightly; the embossed edging and sycamore leaves; the birds and music notes; and also the silver Stickle dots. Adding all this detail with the white gel pen took a long time to complete (grin!).
I had so much fun creating this page as I love this song! There have been many recordings of Dream a little dream of me by different artists and The Mamas & The Papas is my favourite.
Happy Serendipity! – One of my lovely friends at Drivers and Sundry has recently blogged about this song and Cass Elliott from The Mamas and The Papas too, so take a look at her post here.
I also like The Beautiful South version of this song too.
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my apple juice and ginger beer (mixed half and half) which I find very refreshing in this hot weather we are having (grin!). I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang too – 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 Bleubeard & Elizabeth at Altered Book Lover, who is hosting the Count your blessings challenge over at Art Journal Journey as so I’m always enjoy listening to music like art journaling it soothes my soul.
As I used sheet music on my page, I’m pleased to join Moo Mania and More and their Sheet Music challenge.
With the silver embossing I used on my page, I’m also joining the How can you resist? challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my Dream a little dream of me inspired Art Journaling and Mixed Media Style page.
As I made my own background for this art journal page with the acrylic paints, I’m pleased to join the Make your own background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday 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:
Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.3mm)
Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green, Bright Aqua Green, Neutral Gray)
Today I’m sharing the wedding card that I made for our dear friends who got married last Saturday – I hope you like it!
I started by creating a square card using white cardstock which has a glossy finish on one side, then I cut a square piece of Daler Rowney Mixed Media paper that was slightly smaller so it left a 5mm (3/16”) border when placed on top of the card. Next I stamped some tree branches from a Kaisercraft stamp set and also two lovebirds in a birdcage using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad. I covered them with white Stampendous embossing powder, shook off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper and also tapped the paper 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. Next I applied three different Distress Inks using a blending tool to give an ombré look, which emphasised the melted embossing powder beautifully. The ink colours I used were Chipped Sapphire at the top of the card, Salty Ocean in the middle and Peacock Feathers at the bottom; I blended the colours together so one colour merged with the next. I then flicked some water onto the paper using my fingers to re-activate the ink then dabbed with a piece of kitchen towel to leave a mottled effect – I love the dreamy look this created. I edged the paper with the Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink using a blending tool and stuck it onto the card using double-sided tape. To finish, I added the sentiment topper and lots of tiny pearls to the tree branches.
For their wedding present we gifted them some money towards their honeymoon, so I created a little card wallet using a card and envelope from the Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection which I stamped using black Archival Ink; the stamps I used for the outside were an alphabet stamp from Dovecraft, a scroll stamp from Penny Black and a heart stamp from Hallmark Cards.
For the inside I used the same scroll and heart stamps and some Destination and Travel stamps from Royal & Langnickel – such fun!
Challenges
I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today with my wedding card:
I’m pleased to join Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their Use inks anyway you want challenge as I enjoyed using my Distress Inks with the stamped white embossing to create this card.
As I created an ombré effect with my blue inks, I’m also pleased to in the fun over at Stamps and Stencils and their Ombré challenge.
With the sparkly look I created using the Distress Ink background, white embossing and pearls, I’m also pleased to join Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Add A Little Sparkle challenge.
Over at the That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog, their challenge is Close to Nature so I’m happy to join them with the pretty branches and bird detail on my card.
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 wedding card:
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers)
Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Magnolia Grove CS822)
Dovecraft Clear Stamps (Birdcage DCCS015)
White cardstock
Daler Rowney Mixed Media paper
Card Topper
Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
Our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday is Add a Quote, and this time we are looking for your creations to include a quote rather than a sentiment. You’ll also find lots of wonderful inspiration from my fellow Design Team over at Try it on Tuesday.
Today my art journal page was inspired by the quote “Time is the most valuable thing one can spend”; it’s by Theophrastus who was an ancient Greek philosopher and pupil of Aristotle.
The quote inspired my clock background which is created using a new Kaisercraft stamp called Tic Toc and Ground Espresso Distress Ink. Next I fussy cut three rulers from a design paper sheet by American Crafts and stuck them to the page using a UHU Stic; they are outlined and distressed, like all of the paper elements, using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker, a Baked Earth Derwent Inktense pencil, a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen. I added patches of the Baked Earth Derwent Inktense pencil to the edges and background of the page, applying water over the top using a paintbrush to blend the colour. I also added some drips of Antique Linen Distress Ink by stamping the pad on an acrylic block and spritzing with water so it dripped onto the page; I love the distressed look that resulted as the inks merged together. Then I edged the page with a Sanguine and Dark Sepia Big Brush Marker. The satchel/briefcase, pocket watch and pen are rub-on transfers from Royal & Langnickel which I defined with a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out from the background more. The “Dream” butterfly ticket, chair and two flower pictures are all stickers and the different metal frames are fussy cut from a die cut topper set and stuck in place using a UHU Stic.
I added a wooden die cut decoration which says “memories” and for the quote, I cut a piece of white card and added the wording which is a rub-on transfer. Then I distressed the white card using the Antique Linen Distress Ink and mounted it onto a frame which I had die cut from some recycled paper and edged with brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. It is stuck in place using double-sided tape and edged with black Glitterations border stickers. To finish, I splattered the page with white and also black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush.
As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing an unexpected treat that I had whilst having my hair cut and coloured last week, a yummy piece of chocolate cake lovingly made by my hairdresser served with a glass of cold water – it was so rich and delicious!
Wishing you all a Happy T Day!
I know some of the T Gang requested to see some photos of the flower beds in my garden that I have been sorting out and replanting this year – if you are interested you’ll find some photos on my previous post here (grin!) – enjoy!
Challenges
I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, 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 from Pearshapedcrafting, who is hosting the Arts for Art’s Sake challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I had fun creating the distressed look and using my new craft supplies.
With the distressed look and feel of my page I’m joining the Distress It! challenge over at The Artistic Stamper too.
I’m also joining the Get Sentimental challenge over at A Vintage Journey with my quote inspired page which I created in their Mixed Media and Vintage Styles.
I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Paperbabe Stamps and their Photo Inspiration challenge as I enjoyed incorporating the lovely colour palette for my design.
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ground Espresso, Antique Linen)
Derwent Inktense Pencil (Baked Earth 1800)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Sanguine 188 B, Dark Sepia 175 B)
Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.3mm, 0.8mm)
Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White, Black)
Kaisercraft clear stamp (Tic Toc CS796)
Spellbinders Die Cut System (Marvellous Squares 1122)
Brown Paper – recycled from an old notebook
White card – Docrafts Papermania Mini Cards & Stamp Set (Capsule Geometric Krafts PMA105308)
Royal & Langnickel Create A Collage Rub-on Transfers (Men’s Accessories #ROY-853)
DécoTime (3D Stickers 54742)
Craftime Colour Connection Stickers (Enchanted Brown ACO155E)
