For the Boys

Still inspired by the masculine theme, I created this art journal page to remind you that you still have one week left to join in with our For the Boys challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, it would be lovely to see you there!

This time, I got creative with Tim Holtz inks, stamps and stickers as well as a Steampunk stamp set, some design paper and some Victorian style tags.

I started by using Tim Holtz Distress Inks to create the background; firstly by smooshing diluted Mowed Lawn ink that I had applied to an acrylic block, spritzed with water and then pressed onto the page. After drying this ink with a heat gun I then applied Shabby Shutters ink the same way and then I used both the Mowed Lawn and Shabby Shutters inks again to add A lot of Splats stamp from Gummpiapan. Using a blending tool I applied Hickory Smoke Distress Ink through a Past Times stencil by Viva Decor to give a lovely depth to the background, I also used the same stencil over the background to remove some of the Distress Inks using a baby wipe. Then I applied some Black Soot Distress Ink using a stencil by Craft Sensations and a blending tool. Next I layered all the different paper elements onto the page which I edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool and outlined with a black Uni Pin marker once stuck in place. They included: a large map, ruler pieces, a butterfly, a button, some numbered and small alphabet pieces which are  Crowded Attic Salvage Stickers by Tim Holtz; three Victorian style tags; a globe with a bird perched on the top, suitcase and luggage labels which I fussy cut from design paper by Craft Sensations; a pocket watch and compass which I stamped using a Steampunk stamp set from Docrafts and black Archival Ink onto design paper and fussy cut out, they are stuck to the page using a UHU Stic; a vintage car from a Tim Holtz stamp which I stamped using black Archival Ink and fussy cut out; and finally some round button letters to add the “For the Boys” wording. I added some brown metal brads to the tags, luggage labels and signage. Then to finish, I used a paintbrush to splatter black and white DecoArt acrylic paints over the whole page.

Today I’m sharing a trip to the fish and chip shop in Great Eccleston.

The food is so delicious, here’s my order of steak and kidney pudding with gravy (of course – grin!), chips and mushy peas.

We visited with my family and my portion of food was so huge that I’m sharing my chips so here you can see just my dad’s fish and mushy peas – yum!

There are plenty of drinks on show in my photos for T Stands for Tuesday but in case you were wondering what I was drinking, it was Dandelion and Burdock. This is a fizzy/soft drink which is popular in the North of England and I haven’t had it since I was a child so couldn’t remember what it tasted like. I really enjoyed it and if you have never tried it either then it’s a bit like coca cola with an earthy botanical kick to it (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my masculine inspired page.

As my art journal page features maps, luggage and a vintage car I’m very happy to be able to join Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Transport It challenge.

I added wording to my page as the challenge over at Country View Challenges is Written Word (add some text in some form), so I’m pleased to join them too.

This is my final page for A Vintage Journey and their Stencil It challenge, I’ve really enjoyed using my different stencils to join their theme this month and I had them in mind when I used all my different Tim Holtz products to create this Vintage and Mixed Media style page 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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mowed Lawn, Shabby Shutters, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot, Vintage Photo)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Gummpiapan Stamps (A lot of Splats 11050106)
• Viva Decor  Universal Stencil (Past Times 9002 703 00)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Tim Holtz {Components} Collection Stamper Anonymous (COM013 CAR)
• The Works Design Pad (Classic Vintage CRO707/TW7)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Soft Colours CRO730/R)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• The Works (Victorian Style Embellishments)
• Home Bargains (Love Letters 22738)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• UHU Stic

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Mr. Finch

I’m really enjoyed creating the masculine page that I posted on Tuesday so I thought I would continue with the masculine theme and create a page with the additional inspiration of the goldfinches that we have seen a number of times this year, both in our garden and on our walks. So here’s my fun steampunk page which showcases the fabulous Mr. Finch (grin!).

I started by covering the page with Peeled Paint and Antique Linen Distress Ink using a blending tool and then spritzing the page with water to give a soft covering of colour. While the background was still wet I used a stamp from BoBunny to add the crackle texture mainly around the edges of the page using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink; the wet page blended the inks so the stamp looks smudged in places which I love. Then I used a stencil from Craft Sensations to add the numbers using Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and a blending tool. The black wheels are also stencilled using a Dina Wakley stencil from Ranger and I varied the depth of the Black Soot Distress Ink that I applied to give more of a distressed look and to add some dimension. I then splattered the page with the Black Soot Distress Ink using a paintbrush. The fountain pen and pocket watch are rub-on transfers by Royal and Langnickel and I also applied some leftover black letters from a Letraset transfer set to use them up. Next I fussy cut the roses from some design paper and stuck them in place, like all of the paper elements, using Liquitex matte gel medium.

For my steampunk Mr. Finch, I used a bird stamp from Stampendous, a Steampunk stamp set by Docrafts and black Archival Ink. I started by stamping the bird onto thick paper and fussy cutting it out, and then I distressed this image by covering it with some watered down white gesso using a baby wipe. Once dry I stamped the cog images over his breast and head and also a feather image over his back and wings to add more texture. I also stamped his steampunk style top hat and his wheels onto another piece of design paper; his wheels are from the Penny Farthing stamp which I stamped twice and then fussy cut out. I added three strips of music washi tape horizontally on the page and then I layered his wheels, body and hat together so Mr. Finch is rolling along one of these strips.

Inspired by seeing the goldfinches, I painted his cog design and added detail to his feathers using Iridescent Gold Liquitex Ink. As goldfinches also have red feathers on their heads that look like a mask, I also thought it would be fun to paint the goggles on his top hat with a Poppy Red Derwent Inktense pencil. I used a black Derwent marker, white gel pen and also the gold Liquitex Ink and red Inktense pencil to add further colour and detail to the design including his mask, hat, wheels and cogs. For his eye I added a black gem and coloured some of it white using a Uniball gel pen. Next I die cut three small labels using my Big Shot machine and stamped “Explore” using black Archival Ink. Once stuck in place, I coloured the edges using the red Inktense pencil and gold Liquitex Ink and then outlined them using a black Derwent marker and a white Uniball gel pen to frame the words, and then I embellished them with some round black brads. To finish, I splattered black and white DecoArt acrylic paint and also gold Liquitex Ink using a paintbrush over the page.

Here is one of the goldfinches that we saw on one of our walks along by the sand dunes, isn’t he magnificent!

If you are interested here are some facts about this bird:

• There are just three species of goldfinches in the world – our European goldfinch, the widespread American goldfinch and Lawrence’s goldfinch which is found in the southwest USA.
• The European goldfinch is a highly coloured finch with a bright red face and yellow wing patch.
• They are very sociable birds, often seen in large groups and have a delightful liquid twittering song and call. The collective name for goldfinches is a charm and is derived from the old English c’irm which describes the birds’ twittering song.
• The shape of their beak allows them to extract seeds from thistles and teasels.

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 Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey I took inspiration from seeing the goldfinches to create steampunk page.

With the focal image of Mr. Finch being created using different stamps, I’m happy to be able to join Stamping Sensations and their Anything Goes challenge.

I’m so pleased to join the lovely Maura who is on the design team and is co-hosting over at SanDee & amelie’s Steampunk Challenges this month for their Anything Goes – Steampunk/Industrial challenge.

Over at A Vintage Journey this month the challenge is Stencil It so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my goldfinch inspired page fits their challenge focus with its Steampunk and Mixed Media Style.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with stamped wording I added to this page.

I’m joining in the fun at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Anything But A Card challenge with Mr. Finch art journal page.

I’m also joining the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge and their June Challenge: Anything Goes!: (stamping MUST be included) with my unique, one of a kind Mr. Finch.

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 (Peeled Paint, Antique Linen, Hickory Smoke, Frayed Burlap, Black Soot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Liquitex Inks! (Iridescent Bright Gold)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Derwent Inktense Pencil (Poppy Red 0400)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Ranger Dina Wakley Media Stencil (Wheels MDS45588)
• BoBunny Stamp (Rough it up 12105155)
• Stampendous Cling Rubber Stamps (Jumbo Songbird CRS5029)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Spellbinders Nestabilities Card Creator (A-2 Fancy Ribbon Threader S5-135)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Journey MIN- CCS104)
• American Crafts (DIY Shop)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Soft Colours CRO730/R, Authentic Vintage CRO730/R)
• Royal & Langnickel Create-A-Collage Rub-on Transfers (Men’s Accessories #ROY-853)
• Letraset Transfers (Helvetica Bold Condensed 5mm DCO251)
• Hobbycraft (Assorted Black & White Decorative Tape 5971481007)
• Poundland (Design Gems 175751)
• Brads (Round Black)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Great Opportunities

Over at Try it On Tuesday we have a masculine theme for the next two weeks called For the Boys. Maybe your creations could be for a baby boy, boys, teenagers, adults, sons, dads or grandfathers, if you need more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from our Design Team.

I created a masculine page with an industrial look using some inks, stamps, stencils, design paper, stickers and recycled magazine images.

I started by building up layers of colour using Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Hickory Smoke Distress Inks. I did this by applying the ink pads to an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page then drying each colour with a heat gun before applying the next. I stamped some cogs from a Steampunk stamp set from Docrafts using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink and then a ruler and also a bingo card stamp from Tim Holtz using black Archival Ink. Then I stenciled some Geometric Tile squares around the edge of the page using a Dutch Doobadoo mask and black Archival Ink.  Next I fussy cut the lightbulbs, clocks and metal semicircle door from a couple of old magazines and, like all of the paper elements, edged them with black Faber-Castell marker and stuck them in place using a UHU Stic. The world map pieces are cut from a sheet of design paper by Kaisercraft and the “402” is a Salvage Sticker by Tim Holtz which I embellished with two brown brads. To finish, I added the wording using double-sided foam tape which reads “each day holds the possibility for great opportunities”.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing a recent visit to Dahlia’s Kitchen which is a restaurant nearby, it’s attached to a garden centre so it was fun morning out (grin!).

As it was a hot sunny day we sat outside on their new patio near this beautiful water feature made from recycled metal, it looks a bit industrial like my page although I’m not sure what it is – any ideas?

I went with my sister who had a strawberry milkshake, I had my usual pot of green tea and we shared a huge piece of ginger and lemon cake which was delicious – 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 be able to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my masculine inspired page.

I’m also pleased to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with the inspirational wording I added to my page.

As I enjoyed stenciling the black square design around the edge of this page, I’m also joining the lovely Astrid who is hosting A Vintage Journey this month where the challenge is Stencil It. My masculine inspired page fits their challenge focus with it’s Industrial and Mixed Media Style.

I’m also happy to join in the fun over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Anything But A Card challenge with my 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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Hickory Smoke)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.3mm)
• Dutch Doobadoo Dutch Mask Art A5 (Geometric Tiles)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk DCE907125)
• Tim Holtz {Components} Collection (COM013 CAR)
• Old Magazines
• Kaisercraft Timeless Collection 12×12 Design Paper (Postmarks P853)
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (Fresh Verse PD-140)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• UHU Stic
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Doodled Flowers

This page has been painted on the cardboard cover of my finished art journal book. I wanted to get creative with some new paints and just doodle a little; to be honest it started as a fun experiment as I don’t usually paint or doodle that much (grin!). I liked the way my page turned out so I thought I’d share it with you today.

I started by applying a dark grey acrylic paint onto the thick cardboard cover; I had intended to make a dark purple paint for another project but I added way too much dark blue so rather than waste this paint I covered this page with it. I also had some orange paint left over from the same project which I splattered using a paintbrush over the top. Next I doodled some large flower shapes using a white Uniball gel pen and coloured them using Vivid Lime Green, Neutral Gray and Bright Aqua Green Liquitex acrylic paints. It’s the first time I have used these paints which were a gift and as they are “heavy body” paints the flowers painted have a lovely 3D look which I love! I also added some of the different paint colours along the edges of the flower petals and in centre of the flowers. Then I used up any excess paint on the background of the page to break up the dark grey so that hints of these colours can be seen throughout the background. Next I used my brayer to apply white DecoArt acrylic paint to a diamond background stamp from Art Impressions and stamped it around the flowers. I also used the brayer to add white acrylic paint along the edge of the page too. I then cleaned the brayer and stamp and used them again to apply the Vivid Lime Green Liquitex acrylic paint onto the flower petals. When the paint was dry I doodled on the flowers with a black Derwent Graphik marker, defining the flower petals and stamens and I used the white gel pen to touch up the flower outlines and also a white Uni Posca paint pen to colour the stamens in the centre. To finish, I added three stickers by Kaisercraft which reminded of the happy time I had creating this page, which read “Smile”, “Create happiness” and “Live in the moment”.

Talking of flowers, these pretty Delphinium could be found flowering in our garden this time last year, unfortunately they did not survive our unusually cold snowy winter. Luckily I have some photos to remember how beautiful they were which makes me smile!

Of course you may remember these flowers from a previous post, they are my one of my favourite flowers called Mesembryanthemum which is a really hard one to pronounce, so I just refer to them as “pretties”; you may also know then as Livingston Daisies. I buy them every year and this year we have a big pot of them on our patio, so I’m really looking forward to seeing them flower as I’m sat relaxing in the garden (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Gill from gibbyfrogettcraftations who is hosting the Inspired by … challenge over at Art Journal Journey as my inspiration for this page was to have some fun experimenting with new paints and doodling.

I’m pleased to be able to join Paperbabe Stamps and their Doodles challenge: thanks I had so much fun doodling to join your challenge (grin!).

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their All Things Bright and Beautiful challenge with my colourful flower art journal page, where the lovely Chris is in the Designer Spotlight this month and created an amazing little book of flowers to inspire us for this particular challenge.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Written Word (add some text in some form) challenge over at Country View Challenges with the happy wording I added to my page.

I’m also joining the Colour it Blue challenge over at The Artistic Stamper with my painted blue flowers.

As I created my Doodled Flowers on my art journal cover, I’m also pleased to join the lovely Lulu over at Stamps and Stencils and their Do judge a book by its cover! 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:

• Leftover acrylic paint from previous project (Dark Grey, Orange)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green, Neutral Gray 5, Bright Aqua Green)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Derwent Graphik Line marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Art Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Diamond Background T-3335)
• Ranger Brayer
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fly Free SS289)

Destination Morecambe

I decided to travel to Morecambe for the new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday which is Destinations; you may choose to travel to far away places, maybe somewhere in Europe, Africa or America or like me, stay closer to home – the choice is yours!

My fellow Design Team members have chosen some fabulous Destinations too, make sure you check them out over at Try it on Tuesday. Our challenge runs for the next two weeks and it would be great to see you there (grin!).

I started by covering the page in a light wash of Tea Dye Distress Ink by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block and applying it to the page with a wet paintbrush. Then I added Tea Dye, Hickory Smoke and Salty Ocean Distress Ink using a blending tool and a Mosaic stencil by Tim Holtz to cover the whole page. The nautical style of the mosaic pattern and colours remind me of the promenade and jetty at Morecambe. Next I fussy cut a number of sea birds from an old British Nature book that are native to Morecambe and are paid tribute to in the many sculptures and statues along the promenade walk; they included a cormorant, curlew, lesser black-backed gull, little gull and a turnstone. There is also the famous Eric Morecambe statue along the beachfront too so I cut a picture of it from a free booklet and also some of his well-known comic sayings from a greaseproof food display paper kindly provided by the Midland Hotel which is situated right on the seafront. I cut out “Morecambe” from the free booklet and backed it with white card recycled from some packaging. The seahorse is cut from the hotels advertising leaflet and can be found high on the roof line above the doors as you enter the hotel. I arranged all the elements and stuck them to the page using a UHU Stic. Then I used the Mosaic stencil again to add some modelling paste to different areas of the page and once dry I coloured the modelling using Iced Chai and Earl Grey Faber-Castell Gelatos. To finish, I added a circular silver outline sticker around the picture of Eric Morecambe and also to the background to add some interest.

Morecambe is a seaside town on Morecambe Bay in Lancashire and we went there recently as one of my birthday treats. We had a wonderful time walking along the seafront promenade and seeing all the amazing statues and sculptures along the way. Here is my hubby striking the famous pose with the Eric Morecambe statue (grin!).

You may remember Eric Morecambe from the famous comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, he was one of the most popular British entertainers and you may recall me featuring him before on this post where you can find out more about him.

His statue looks over these amazing green gulls …

… and if you walk just a little further you will find this metal artwork of a family of coots called Coot Parade.

Then you come to the stone jetty and the Rock Islands topped with these stunning cormorants – aren’t they spectacular!

On the jetty itself, it’s fun to walk out and you will find tongue twisters, a compass, hopscotch and word search all incorporated into the pavement.

We enjoyed watching the fishing boats from the jetty.

The jetty is opposite the majestic Art Deco Midland Hotel, which overlooks the seafront. On the far left of this photo…

… you’ll find the hotel’s Rotunda Bar.

I love Art Deco and this is the front of the hotel and if you look closely you can see the seahorses on the very top.

This is the inside of the Rotunda Bar where we went for lunch (grin!), which was recommended by Chris who often visits here on her blogs – it was a great choice thank you!

I had the most amazing burger – yum! It’s called a Midland Burger and consists of two beef patties, crispy bacon, lettuce, red onion and tomato on a brioche bun with a deep-fried pickle. It was served with fries and coleslaw and as you can see is presented on one of the papers I used for this page; the waiter kindly got me a clean one for my art journal. As we had water with ice and lemon too, I’m joining the T Gang at T Stands for Tuesday and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

We looked at the amazing cormorants on Rock Islands once more …

… and then we headed to the Bird Fence along the seafront where you will find lots of different seabirds native to Morecambe Bay including curlew, dunlin, knot and turnstones. Morecambe Bay is a RSPB reserve with sand flats and salt marshes that attract thousands of birds and is considered the second most important estuary in the UK.

Along the stone jetty and shoreline you also find these amazing Bird Bollards depicting cormorants too.

We had such a lovely day and I hope you enjoyed visiting Morecambe with me!

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:

Over at Art Journal Journey I’m hosting the Flora and Fauna theme, as I included just Fauna this time with the seabirds and seahorses, I’m pleased to link to this challenge. We are half way through the month already so there is still plenty of time to join in the fun and I’d like to say a big thank you to all of you who have joined this theme so far!

I’m pleased to join Country View Challenges and their Be Humorous challenge with the funnies provided by Eric Morecambe that I included on my art journal page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their For the Boys challenge with my art journal page being a tribute to Eric Morecambe.

As I had fun using my new Tim Holtz stencil to create my mosaic background, I’m also very happy to be joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Stencil It 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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tea Dye, Hickory Smoke, Salty Ocean)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Iced Chai and Earl Grey)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous Stencil (Mosaic Layering Stencil THS084)
• The Illustrated Book of Nature
• Morecambe Visitor Guide & Map
• Food presentation paper from the Midland Hotel
• Information leaflet from the Midland Hotel
• White card – recycled
• Starform Outline Stickers (Silver Circle Borders 1144)
• UHU Stic

Captured Moments

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new theme for the next two weeks is Stencil, Die Cuts or Both. I decided to have some fun and use both of these to create my Captured Moments art journal page!

I hope you will join in the fun too and for further inspiration why not check out the wonderful creations of my fellow Design Team over at Try it on Tuesday!

To start I lightly rubbed an ink pad of Hickory Smoke Distress Ink vertically down the page and spritzed it with water to give a washed out effect. For my stencils I chose a fleur-de-lis design which I applied using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and a blending tool and also a Shabby Diamond stencil using Shabby Shutters Distress Ink, again using a blending tool. I also stamped a Script stamp by Kaisercraft using Ground Espresso Distress Ink. I left quite a lot of white space in my background to showcase some lovely fabric and papers that I added next. So with the background complete, I added a strip of fabric to the page using a UHU glue pen. Then I selected a Spellbinders die cut set and used my Big Shot machine to cut out some circular shapes from the same fabric which I had backed with card, and I also die cut some dark brown, pink dotted and grey-brown patterned papers. I edged all the paper pieces with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and arranged them on the page using a UHU Stic and then I layered the fabric die cut pieces on top. I added some pearl embellishments and a circular image of a pretty lady which is a sticker from Graphic 45. To finish, I added two lace butterflies which are stuck in place using a UHU glue pen, some pearls and a “Captured Moments” die cut using double-sided foam tape.

This page reminds me of a beautiful chandelier glass lamp that we saw at our local auction room Gerrards, and I think the pretty lady on my art journal page may have owned one like this. I was very tempted to purchase it myself but in the end refrained as pink really doesn’t match any of the rooms in our house.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m also sharing this array of pretty china teacups which were also for sale at the auction rooms. As I write this post I’m thinking that I shouldn’t go to the auction rooms so often, it’s far too tempting, don’t you think (grin!). Wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

If you are looking for my post featuring the Flora and Fauna challenge over at Art Journal Journey that I am hosting this month, please click here.

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:

As I included the flower designs and lace butterflies on my page I’m pleased to join Art Journal Journey where I’m hosting the Flora and Fauna challenge this month; it would be great to see you there!

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Time Out challenge with my Captured Moments art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join the Anything Goes 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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Shabby Shutters, Ground Espresso)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia B 175)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Spellbinders Die Cutting Set (Unknown)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Fabric Roll)
• Poundland Design Pad (Urban Style CR0701/16PL2, Pretty Pastels CR0701/PL1)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Design Block)
• The Works M&C Boutique (4 Crochet Butterflies)
• Poundworld (Pearl Embellishments U-80929)
• Home Bargains Sticker Mania (Gel Stone Stickers 74749)
• UHU Stic
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Nature’s Beauty

Our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Nature’s Beauty and the Design Team have some amazing inspiration for you, whether it is flowers, plants, animals or scenes of nature.

My art journal page today is a scene capturing the peacefulness and serenity of dragonflies over water, which for me, encapsulates nature’s beauty.

I started by painting diluted Shabby Shutters and Salty Ocean Distress Ink onto the background by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block and applying it to the page with a paintbrush to create a watercolour effect. Then I used a Distressed Dots stencil from That Special Touch of Mica Masks by Creative Expressions to apply Mowed Lawn and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks using a blending tool. I stamped some foliage using an Eco Green stamp set made from recycled rubber and a Tan Spectrum Aqua Marker. Then I added some Pébéo modelling paste using the Distressed Dot stencil to add more dimension and when the paste was dry, coloured it with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint. I fussy cut the grasses, leaves and iris from a wallpaper sample and stuck them onto the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. To add more detail and definition I doodled outlines on them with a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen, then added some shadows using a Slate Spectrum Aqua Marker. The dragonflies are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel and I positioned them so that one is sitting on a leaf and the other is flying off into the distance. I stamped some bees from a Graphic 45 stamp set by Hampton Art using black Archival Ink and coloured them using a yellow Spectrum Aqua marker. To finish, I added two stickers with the words “peaceful” and “serenity” which I thought captured the scene; they are edged with the Tan Spectrum Aqua marker and stuck in place using double-sided tape.

As it is T for Tuesday, I’m sharing the enjoyable time that we had at the local Pavilion Café in Ashton Gardens with our friends. Ashton Gardens is a municipal park which was established in 1874, it is situated in the centre of St. Anne’s on the Sea and is a lovely place to explore with its various display gardens including the most beautiful Rose Garden. The café building is a replica of the former bowling club pavilion known as the Ashton Institute.

This café always has a yummy array of cakes to choose from …

… and there is lovely art displayed on the walls which you can buy if you want to.

As T Stands for Tuesday, maybe you would like a green tea, hot chocolate or glass of water (of course they had coffee too, sorry I forgot to take a photo of our friends selection which included a cappuccino which I know you may prefer – grin!). As well as our drinks we enjoyed a bacon butty and a slice of salted caramel cake – yum! 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 Alison/Craftytrog, who is hosting the Recycle and Collage challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the recycled rubber art stamp set and wallpaper that I collaged to create this page!

With the stamped bees that I included on my nature page, I’m pleased to join The Birds & the Bees challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

As I used and altered the wallpaper for my page, I’m pleased to join the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Pimp it up! (reuse or alter something) challenge.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Add Some Texture challenge with all the texture I created with the Distress Inks, stencils, modelling paste and wallpaper.

With the circles that I stencilled onto my page, I’m also pleased to join the Going Round in Circles challenge over at That’s Crafty 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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Shabby Shutters, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Chipped Sapphire)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Tan, Slate, Yellow)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Eco Green Crafts Recycled Rubber Stamps (Petal Party #04309)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Distressed Dots)
• Hampton Art 7 Gypsies Cling Mounted Rubber Stamps (Birdsong ICO151))
• Wallpaper sample – recycled
• Royal & Langnickel Tip of the Brush (Insect Collection #TIP1484 Rub-on)
• Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (PD-140)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium