It’s the first Friday of the month (and wow, I can’t believe that it’s May already), so it’s time for our new challenge at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.
My mixed media page was inspired by a night out to see the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra last month (smile!).
I started this page by covering the background with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and some Salvaged Patina Distress Paint. Then I used a couple of Creative Expressions stencils to firstly remove some of the Distress paint using a baby wipe, then to lightly apply some Black Soot Distress Ink and finally to add some Pébéo Texture Paste. I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and I added some sheet music using a glue stick and then I splattered the page using black acrylic paint. When dry, I edged the sheet music pieces using a black Uni Pin marker. The instruments and wording were cut from the recycled programme from the concert.
For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our mixed media challenge; I hope you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see you there!
We had a lovely evening at the Philharmonic – Viennese Whirl concert, the music was wonderful (smile!); they played Johann Strauss II Emperor Waltz, Berg Violin Concerto, Johann Strauss II Blue Danube, and Beethoven Symphony No.7 in A Major.
Johann Strauss II is one of my favourites; if you are interested, you can check out the links and listen to excerpts of the two Johann Strauss II pieces here, Emperor’s Waltz and Blue Danube.
Stay safe and well! x
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
For today’s page, we are travelling back to Prague to look at the most beautiful chandelier in St. Nicholas church.
I started by covering the page with pieces of music sheet and old dictionary pages, then I applied some white gesso using a brayer and left it to dry. I stamped the script text using black Archival Ink and an Etcetera stamp set by Tim Holtz. Next, I stencilled the stars using Faded Jeans Distress Archival Ink and I also applied some of the ink around the edges of the page. Then, I used an ornate baroque style stencil to apply some Ranger Texture Paste , which I mixed with Iridescent Bright Gold Liquitex Acrylic Ink before applying it to the page. I also coloured some of the background using this gold paste by applying it with my finger. When dry, I used a Daler-Rowney gold metallic acrylic paint marker and black UniPin fine line marker to add some contrast to the stencilled gold paste. I added the metallic word stickers by Tim Holtz, which read “Enjoy today”, “Collect beautiful moments”, “Light the way” and “Find joy in the ordinary.” I splattered the page using the Gold Liquitex Acrylic Ink, and then to finish, I added the chandelier image, highlighting the candles using the gold metallic marker.
St. Nicholas Church is a late-Gothic and Baroque church located in Prague’s Old Town it was built between 1732-1737.
It has the most magnificent chandelier of antique crystals, which is 4.5m in diameter and weighs 1.5 tons.
This is one of the views from the front steps of St. Nicholas church; the Old Town Square where you’ll find an amazing Christmas market and buildings of various architectural styles. The Gothic church in the centre is Church of Our Lady before Týn and is a well-known landmark.
We headed to the Christmas market after visiting St. Nicholas church, where we enjoyed a cinnamon crepe and a hot chocolate – yum! As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m saying a big hello and welcome to the T Gang and wishing you all a very Happy T Day!
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.
It’s a new month so we are launching our first challenge of the year today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.
Happy New Year everyone! For my mixed media page I used lots of leftovers that I had in my craft stash – yay!
I started by collaging leftover papers onto the page using a glue stick; this included torn pieces of recycled sheet music, leftover pieces of Aviary Collage Paper by Tim Holtz, some bits and pieces of plaid and ruler design papers. When the papers were stuck in place, I covered the edges of the papers with some Liquitex matte gel medium and left it to dry; this allowed me to smudge the black Faber-Castell marker ink that I added around the edges, more easily, with my finger. Next I applied some Earl Grey, Coconut and Caramel Faber-Castell Gelatos by applying them to the page and then smudging the colour with my finger. I added two hearts and the “love” wording which were also leftover. To finish, I splattered the page using both white and black DecoArt acrylic paint.
For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our mixed media challenge; I hope you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see join you there!
Recently, there have been some beautiful cloud formations and colours in the evenings; the sunset pinks, creamy yellows and greys all look so pretty together (smile!). I thought Bleubeard & Elizabeth might like the view of the silhouette palm trees in our back garden too.
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 Creative Artiste , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
MIUCB #63 – Anything Goes + optional no stamping over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my Love page which was created with no stamping.
Double D Challenges and their Hearts challenge with the two hearts I added to this page.
We have lots of bluebells flowering in our garden this year, so I created this page by recycling some magazine images and sheet music. Bluebells always make me smile as they remind me of my Grandad Westy because he used to sing a song called “Bluebells are bluebells” at family get togethers.
I started by covering the page with Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks and when dry, applying some Pébéo white gesso over the top using a brayer. Next I tore some sheet music paper and added it to the page using a glue stick and I applied some more white gesso over them too. Then I used a Docrafts stamp to add some more music notes using Grape Jelly Memento Ink. The bluebell images and wording were cut from some magazine pages and to finish, I added some purple foam glittery hearts.
Here’s the pretty bluebells flowering in my garden; the fun song that my Grandad Westy used to sing went “Bluebells are bluebells, Bluebells are blue, Bluebells are bluebells when bluebells are blue” (smile!).
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.
Challenges
I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
The lovely Alison the Craftytrog is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen Play it again Sam where you’re page need to be inspired by a song or movie; so I’m joining her with my Bluebells Are Bluebells song page.
It’s a new month so we are launching our August challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.
All you need to do is use three different mediums on your projects to join our mixed media challenge; I hope you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see you there!
I started by colouring the edge of the page with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and smudging the ink with my finger. Then I added the design paper to the top left-hand corner; I ripped and distressed the edges of the paper using a pair of scissors before sticking it in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. I also tore and distressed the edges of the sheet music, and I used a new technique by using water to dampen the top left-hand corner of the sheet music so that the paper could be manipulated more easily in order to fold it back before applying some matte gel medium to hold it in place. Next I applied some Brushed Corduroy and Tea Dye Distress Inks, that I had diluted with water, to give the music sheet more of a worn and vintage look. The vintage images were Washi tape stickers which I adhered to some white cardstock and then cut out; they were stuck in place using the matte gel medium. I added a dark brown brad to the tag image and then I stuck the paper flowers and leaves, which were by Little Birdie, in place using glue dots. To finish, I added the Kaisercraft sticker wording which reads “memories filled with cheer”.
For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too.
The sheet music on this page was gifted me by my sister and brings back so many happy memories of her playing either her piano or violin when I was young – they definately were “memories filled with cheer!” (grin!).
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.
For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.
Challenges
As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:
Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Neet from Hickydorums; she has chosen Type as her theme so I’m joining with the typed wording on the tag and quote that I added to my page.
Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #150 – Anything Goes with my vintage page.
The Birthday Celebration! challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I’m sure they have many “memories filled with cheer” as they celebrate their 11th Birthday – thanks for all the challenge fun over the years and wishing you all a very Happy Birthday!
MIUCB #52 – Anything Goes + Mixed Media over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the mixed media and techniques that I used to create this vintage page.
Mixed Media Lovers and their Challenge #4 Mixed Media Lovers; this is a new blog challenge blog that’s just starting up so I’m so pleased to be able to join them.
As you may remember, I was surprised that I had never featured The Singing Ringing Tree before on one of my posts. We visited this sculpture a couple of years ago for my birthday, so it inspired this page – I hope you like it (grin!).
I started by adding the image of The Singing Ringing Tree, which was from an old magazine, using a glue stick; it was edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. I coloured the white areas of the page by stamping a Steampunk Background stamp and the “Explore, Discover, Journey” wording using Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Ink and adding some Hickory Smoke and Salty Ocean Distress Ink. The letters were die cut using Alphanumeric Bold Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and were cut from some silver corrugated cardstock. I covered the letters using Silver Grey lustre wax and black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to give it a grungy metallic appearance. Before sticking them in place I added some Pébéo white gesso over the stamped areas to push the colour back and then I stuck the letters down using Liquitex matte gel medium. I outlined the right-hand side of the letters using a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out more and then to finish, I added three metal music notes using Ranger Glossy Accents.
Reminded of our visit, I also found some of our photos to share with you (grin!). The singing ringing tree is located a little way from the road so we parked and then walked to the sculpture; Panopticon means “structure providing a comprehensive view”.
It was a short trek to The Singing Ringing Tree which is a wind powered sound sculpture resembling a tree and set in the landscape of the Pennine Hill range overlooking Burnley in Lancashire.
This 3-metre (10 ft) tall sculpture was designed by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu of Tonkin Liu and has amazing views across the Pennine Moors.
It comprises of galvanised steel pipes; some are structural and others are cut across their width to produce sound by harnessing the energy of the wind.
It was a windy day when we visited so we got to hear the haunting sounds of The Singing Ringing Tree, if you are interested to hear the sounds and see more of the view please check out this video.
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a photo that you may remember of me with my cup of green tea and a Chorley cake which was actually bought the same day that we visited this sculpture – Happy T Day!
You can find out more about Chorley Cakes which are a sweet treat here in Lancashire on my previous post Use Your Scraps; the title of this post also reminded me to wish Elizabeth a very Happy bEARTHday for later this week!
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.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Old magazine image
Pritt Stick
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Salty Ocean)
I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are:
Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – she is greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my page which was inspired by The Singing Ringing Tree.
Inspired by the warm, sunny days we’ve been enjoying lately, I created this sunshiny page to say “Oh, what a beautiful day!”
This page was created in my mini chipboard art journal using some leftovers, recycling and lots of washi tapes which I don’t seem to use that often.
I started by covering the background with pieces of blue and green washi tapes to create the blue sunshiny sky and green grassy foreground. When it was completely covered, I applied a thin layer of Liquitex matte gel medium to hold all the washi tapes in place and left it to dry.
To mute the background colours, I applied some white gesso over the top using a brayer and when dry, I differentiated between the sky and foreground using a black Faber-Castell marker which I smudged with my finger. Next I drew and cut the flower pieces from some sheet music and stuck them into place, like all the paper elements, using Liquitex matte gel medium. The centre of the flower was created using a couple of beads which were recycled from an old necklace and stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents. The hearts were leftovers; they were created using a Falling Hearts Thinlits set from Tim Holtz and some cardstock that was coloured using Fired Brick and Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. The wording was a sticker from Kaisercraft and all the paper elements were outlined using a black Uni Pin marker. To finish, I stamped the circles using some recycled cardboard tubes and white DecoArt acrylic paint.
I’m really enjoying creating these smaller journal pages and I love that these chipboard pages are made from recycled paper too. The chipboard makes the pages very sturdy so they stand up beautifully making them easy to display. As T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my drink of cranberry juice mixed with water that I enjoyed whilst crafting – Happy T Day everyone!
Hoping that you’re all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of the materials that were used to create this art journal page:
Docrafts Papermania Bare Basics Chipboard Album (Square 15x15cm)
Assorted blue and green washi tapes
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Pébéo white gesso
Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
Sheet Music
Recycled old necklace
Ranger Glossy Accents
Leftover hearts (Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Set – Falling Hearts 664415, White cardstock, Distress Ink – Fired Brick, Picked Raspberry)
Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Golden Grove SS343)
Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic Paint (White)
Recycled cardboard tubes
Challenges
I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today, they are:
The lovely Sheila’s Single Flower challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the single flower that I created for my mini page (15x15cm).
Paperbabe StampsChallenge #140 – Anything Goes with my mini art journal page.
This year we have been spring cleaning and decluttering all the rooms in our house. So I’ve been left with sorting through some old magazines to select any images that I want to recycle on my art journal pages. This page was created using a couple of those images and some leftover bits and pieces sitting on my craft desk.
I started by painting the background with a thin layer of Burnt Sienna Liquitex Acrylic paint and left it to dry. Then I stamped some crackle texture over the top using a BoBunny stamp and some Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink. Next I arranged the magazine images onto the page with some leftover papers that were sitting on my craft desk; they were all edged using Ground Espresso Distress Ink and then stuck down using a glue stick and some Liquitex matte gel medium. To finish, I added some metal discs which were recycled from an old necklace and also the wording which was from a Finnabair sticker book and reads “The quieter you become, the more you hear” and “Just breathe”; I thought these words related perfectly to the way that I’ve been feeling as a result of decluttering our rooms.
So here’s the pile of leftovers that were sitting on my craft desk from previous projects and the recycled images from the magazine that inspired this page. As you can see I didn’t use everything shown; it seems my pile of leftovers never seems to get smaller, does that happen to you too? (grin!).
Like art journaling, it’s been very cathartic decluttering the house and although the rooms are tidy and organised, I still have this pile of magazines to sort through; this is about half of what I had originally (double grin!).
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.
Here is a list of the materials that were used to create this art journal page:
Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint (Burnt Sienna)
BoBunny Clear Stamps (Rough It Up #12105155)
Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo)
Leftovers paper pieces (Stamperia – Forest Papers, Sheet Music, American Crafts Paper – DIY Shop, The Works Paperstack – Vintage Experience, die cut flower – Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Wildflower Stems #3)
Recycled magazine images
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ground Espresso)
Pritt Stick
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Recycled necklace
Finnabair Sticker Sheets (Sentiments #964849)
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month with the recycled metal discs from an old necklace that I used as part of my design.
I’m so happy to join the Mostly Neutrals challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog with the neutral colours, images and papers that I used to create this page.
I’m also joining in the fun over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog and their LTCCB#55 – February Anything Goes challenge with the recycled and leftovers designed art journal page.
Do you have things in your craft stash that you haven’t used because they’re too precious?
This year, one of my goals is to use these items on my pages. So here’s my first one which features some papers from a Vintage Design Pad that I’ve had for a while now; I wanted to showcase them so decided on this square grid design (grin!).
I started by tearing the vintage papers, some recycled Kraft book pages and sheet music into squares and sticking them onto the page in a grid design using a glue stick. I drew lines around them using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger. Next I applied some Pébéo white gesso using a brayer over the papers and left it to dry. Then I added the delicate silk flowers over the squares and some vintage lace along the bottom of the page.
For the wording I used a Small Talk sticker from Tim Holtz; it reads “it’s always the small pieces that make the big picture” which seemed to fit the square grid design perfectly.
The squares reminded me of this local building, which was built in 1878, with it’s magnificent lion that seems to be roaring – I thought Iris may like this (grin!).
As T Stands for Tuesday and to continue the square theme, I’m sharing my mug of tea with a shortbread jam square; it’s a tray bake of raspberry jam sandwiched between two layers of shortbread – Happy T Day wishes!
Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of the materials that were used to create this art journal page:
The Works Design Paper (Classic Vintage CRO707/TW7)
Kraft notebook pages – recycled
Sheet Music
Pritt Stick
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
Pébéo White Gesso
The Range (Lace Flower Stickers, Crafting Lace)
X-Press It! double-sided tape
Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge this month as this page was created to showcase some of my favourite vintage papers.
I’m so pleased to join the Squares Challenge at Country View Challenges with my vintage square design.
I’m pleased to join in the fun over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and their So Delicate challenge with the delicate flowers and lace on this vintage page.
I’m joining the #136 – Patterns challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my square grid patterned page.
I’m also joining the Make Your Own Background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the vintage paper background that I created.
I’m happy to join in the LTSCB #141 – Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my vintage page too.
As it’s November I created a page to celebrate everything autumn which includes Thanksgiving next week; this month always reminds me of all the things we have to be grateful for!
I started by covering the background with a collage of scrap paper pieces which included dictionary pages, tissue paper, sheet music, diary pages and napkin; they were stuck down using a glue stick and then covered with Liquitex matte gel medium. Next I applied Red Oxide, Crimson and Yellow Liquitex acrylic paint over the top blending the colours together to create a bright autumnal orange colour. Then I used a brayer to apply some Pébéo white gesso and when dry I added some rub-on transfers from a Specimen Remnant Rubs set by Tim Holtz. I used the brayer again to add some more white gesso over the top which pushed them into the background. I love the way these techniques give so much depth and interest to the background (grin!).
Next I used lots of different stamp sets with black Archival Ink which I used for all the stamping on this page. Firstly I stamped a Script stamp over the background and then a foliage stamp to create the branches and leaves, both of which are from Kaisercraft. The bird sitting on the branch was stamped from a Craft Sensations stamp set and I used the Kaisercraft foliage stamp again to add the leaves to the branch so it blended in to the scene.
I used two alphabet stamp sets to create the wording; the “Hello November” was stamped using a Sophisticated Script stamp set from Concord & 9th and the rest of the wording was stamped using a Docrafts stamp set and reads “Thank you for reminding us we have so much to be grateful for!”. To finish, I splattered the page with black and also white acrylic paint.
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing this morning’s cup of Cinnamon Orange tea, it’s pictured by my autumnal window display which is bright and cheery and inspired the colours of my page (grin) – Happy T Day everyone!
Hoping that you’re all staying safe and well! x
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Script CS752, Magnolia Grove CS822)
Pébéo White Gesso
Ranger Mini Brayer
Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Specimen #TH94047)
Craft Sensations Clear Stamp (CR0274/16R1)
Concord & 9th Stamp Set (Sophisticated Script 10056)
Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Alphas Trad DCE907116)
DecoArt Acrylic Paint (Black)
Art Discount Acrylic (White)
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the lovely Wendy K over at Art Journal Journey and her Birds challenge this month with the bird stamping that I included on this page.
I’m happy to join the Celebrate challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my brightly coloured page I created to celebrate November and Thanksgiving.
I’m joining the fun over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Making Your Own Background with the techniques I used to create the background for this page.
I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my art journal page.
Let's Art Journal 