With love

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which for the next two weeks is Sparkle All The Way.

I love the embossed sparkle of the flowers on this page; it was created using a flower stamp from Paperbabes Stamp and some black Archival Ink which I covered with Cosmic Shimmer Brilliant Sparkle Embossing Powder – Black Mirage. As this was a single flower stamp, I made a template and stamped it multiple times on the page layering the flowers together.

When heated with a heat gun, the sparkle is amazing (smile!). Next I coloured the background with Kuretake watercolour paints by adding water with a paintbrush and then the paint creating a cloudy effect. The flowers were also coloured using Cadmium Scarlet and Lemon Yellow Kuretake paints, using the same technique of applying the water then the paint. The wording was a sticker from Kaisercraft and to finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

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

I love autumn, so the sparkly flowers on my page were coloured in autumn splendour like this year’s autumnal and Halloween window display. It’s so beautiful and it seems to have grown over the years – yay!

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – Anything Goes

Seeing Stars

It’s time for our new challenge this month over at Country View Challenges which is being hosted by the lovely Sue whose theme is Seeing Stars; we would like to see stars as the main focus of your projects please.

For my page I used some lovely AALL & Create stamps to create this starry page.

I started by covering the chipboard page with black DecoArt acrylic paint and left it to dry, then I added some white acrylic paint over the top allowing the black paint to show through a little. Next I stamped the stars using Peeled Paint, Barn Door and Fossilized Amber Ranger Distress Archival Inks and then I covered them in complimentary WOW! embossing powders. I used the same stamp set to add the numbers using black Archival Ink and also splattered the page with the Inks and some of the black acrylic paint. To finish, I added the wording “Shine like the stars” and “Shine brightly” which were from a Metallic Sticker Book by Tim Holtz.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

Here’s the stamp set, ink pads, embossing powders and sticker book that I used to create my page; the shimmer and shine looks amazing close up (smile!).

I hope you’ll join us, it would be lovely to see you there and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the Country View Crafts shop! Before you enter, please read the rules!

Wishing you a happy June and I hope that you’re staying safe and well! x

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

Challenges

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

Paperbabe Stamps and their #168 – Anything Goes challenge with my freesia page.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes theme with my starry page.

For the man in your life

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is For the Man in your life.

My page showcases a tag with a wonderful quote from Alan Turing which reads “Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of, who do things no one can imagine”.

I started by covering the background with some Hickory Smoke and Tea Dye Distress Ink and then I applied Liquitex matte gel medium to reactivate the ink so I could drag the colours horizontally across the page. When dry, I stamped the grid pattern over the top using black Archival Ink and a homemade stamp, and then I added lots of Remnant Rubs by Tim Holtz. Next I cut a large cog of design paper, which was from Kaisercraft, into pieces and added them around the page, this included creating a pocket for the tag.

The tag was die cut, using a Tag Collection Framelits set by Tim Holtz, from the remains of the cog paper. The quote was printed using a Dymo label printer and when stuck in place, I edged and coloured the tag using Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I added some of the Remnant Rubs and to Finish, I added a eyelet using a We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile punch and eyelet setter.

My page is a tribute to Alan Turing, founder of computer science and cryptographer, whose work was key to breaking the wartime Enigma codes.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing a pint of Strongarm beer brewed by Lion Brewery (perfect for Henry!) that we had at a local Micro Bar, it’s a North East Ruby Red Ale and tasted out of this world – Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

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

Paperbabe Stamps and their #168 – Anything Goes challenge with my butterfly page.

Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page.

Birds and blossom

This page was inspired by all the bird activity in our garden and the beautiful apple blossom on our apple trees (smile!).

I started by covering the page with some Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and White Linen Dylusions Spray. Next I added some Pébéo texture paste through a Lace Tim Holtz stencil and when dry I removed some of it using a craft knife to create a grungy worn lace look. The dots were added using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and a Dot Fade stencil by Tim Holtz. I stamped the birds and sentiment onto some recycled white tissue paper using a couple of Stampendous stamps and black Archival Ink.

The stamped images were stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium and I arranged them onto the page with some Dogwood blossom rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel.

We’ve had lots of blossom on our apple trees so hopefully we’ll get lots of fruit this year 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

I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Matilde from http://craftowanie.blogspot.com/ is hosting this month at Art Journal Journey and her Birds challenge with the birds on my page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #168 – Anything Goes challenge with my bird and blossom page.

Stamping Sensations and their Anything stamped with option of Floral and Fauna challenge as I included stamped birds and sentiment along with the pretty blossoms on my page.

Not A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my art journal page.

We Love Stamping and their For a Lady (or Girl) challenge with my pink blossom and bird page.

Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my pretty blossom and bird art journal page.

Special Christmas Delivery

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing a card as inspiration for this month’s Cats and/or Dogs challenge. As I featured cats on my first project, my design this time includes this cute dog who already seems to be in the Christmas spirit (smile!).

This was a simple card design; for the background I started ripped a panel of design paper and I applied some Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the torn edges before sticking it onto a blank white 6×4” card using a glue stick. The Special Delivery wording and the cute dog, sending Merry Christmas wishes, was from a Tim Holtz Christmas Snippets Ephemera set and the rest of the sentiments were from a Christmas Sticker Book also by Tim Holtz; they were all edged with the Vintage Photo Distress Ink before sticking them in place.

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

I made quite a few Christmas cards for family and friends using this technique; here are some of my favourites (smile!).

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

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

Paperbabe Stamps and their #168 – Anything Goes challenge with my Christmas card.

Sparkles Christmas Challenge and their #136 – Christmas Sentiments challenge with the Tim Holtz Christmas sentiments that I added to my card.

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and their Anything Christmas Goes challenge with my cute dog Christmas card.

MLCCB #44 Anything Christmas Goes over at Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog with my Christmas card.

Layer It Up challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my layered papercraft card.

Butterflies

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Butterflies.

I had so much fun creating this butterfly page using the huge Perspective Butterfly Thinlits Die by Tim Holtz – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the page using Mustard Seed and Scattered Straw Distress Inks and then I stencilled a Herringbone stencil by Paperbabe Stamps using Black Soot Distress Ink. Next I added the script and numbers to the background using an Etcetera Stamp Set by Tim Holtz and black Archival Ink, and then I applied some white acrylic paint through a hexagon stencil by Creative Expressions. The butterflies were die cut from some white cardstock using the Perspective Butterfly Thinlits Die from Tim Holtz. I coloured them using the Mustard Seed Distress Ink and Villainous Potion Distress Paint and when dry, they were stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. To finish, I added the wording “Be gentle with yourself” which was from a Sentiments Sticker Book by Finnabair.

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

My friend very kindly gifted me this delicious Ginger, Turmeric and Lemon Tea which I’m sharing today as T Stands for Tuesday – Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

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

Paperbabe Stamps and their #167 – Anything Goes challenge with my butterfly page.

MIUCB #59 Anything Goes + Optional 3-D Project over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different techniques that I used to create this mixed media page

Texture challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the texture that I created using the stencils in the background and Distress Inks and Paints on my butterflies.

Not A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my colourful butterfly art journal page.

Floral Frenzy at Sparkles Monthly Challenge

Over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge, we are launching a new challenge today which is Floral Frenzy.

I had fun creating this page full of flowers using lots of different papers (smile!).

I started by applying a thin coat of Pébéo white gesso to the chipboard page and then I created a panel using some watercolour paper by smooshing some Peeled Paint, Twisted Citron and Rustic Wilderness Distress Inks onto it. When dry, I tore the edges of the paper panel and stuck it to the page using a glue stick.

Next I created the large flowers; I stamped the flowers onto three different pink design papers using a Flower Garden stamp set from Tim Holtz and black Archival Ink. Then I fussy cut them out and cut out some of the petals and stuck them together to create a single flower of patchwork petals. I also cut some smaller flowers from the pink papers using a Small Tattered Florals Thinlits set from Tim Holtz. Then I arranged them onto the page with some leaves that were die cut from two different green design papers using Wildflowers Stems #1 Thinlits set by Tim Holtz; everything was stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. When dry, I coloured the centre of each of the flowers using a Yellow Promarker pen. To finish, I added the wording “so happy together” which was a Kaisercraft sticker.

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

Like on my page, there’s a floral frenzy going on in my garden at the moment – I love this time of year as all the plants are flowering so beautifully (smile!). This is a glimpse at some the flowers in our garden at the moment – top left is Aquilegia or Ladies Bonnet, top right is Armeria Maritima or Thrift and bottom left is Tulip.

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

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

Paperbabe Stamps and their #167 – Anything Goes challenge with my floral page.

Stamping Sensations and their Anything stamped with option of Floral and Fauna challenge as I included stamped flowers on my page.

Alcohol challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the Promarker alcohol ink pens that I used as part of my design.

We Love Stamping and their For a Lady (or Girl) challenge with all the pretty stamped flowers on my page.

Not A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my mini art journal page of flowers.

Flamingos

This page was inspired by the beautiful flamingos that we saw whilst visiting Blackpool Zoo (smile!).

I started by covering the page with Speckled Egg, Twisted Citron and Rustic Wilderness Distress Paints. When dry, I used the same Speckled Egg paint to stencil and also stamp a Waves mini stencil by Creative Expressions. Then I stencilled some Ranger Texture paste using a Carabelle Studio Art Mask and left it to dry. The flamingos were fussy cut from a topper sheet from Hunkydory and to finish, I added the wording “wild & free” which was a sticker by Little Yellow Bicycle.

Here are the gorgeous brightly coloured flamingos that we saw wading around in their lake. They are Caribbean flamingos and fly in flocks of several thousand in the wild; they fly in formation like migrating geese and make a similar honking sound.

They can live up to 40 years and are omnivorous in the wild, but, in captivity are fed on flamingo pellets which determine their colour and also small insects.

Challenges

I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Matilde from http://craftowanie.blogspot.com/ is hosting this month at Art Journal Journey and her challenge is Birds so my flamingo art journal page is perfect (smile!).

Paperbabe Stamps and their #167 – Anything Goes challenge with my flamingo page.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Not A Card theme with my art journal page.

MIUCB #59 Anything Goes + Optional 3-D over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different techniques that I used to create my flamingo page.

Using stencils on my page reminds me that you still have a few days left to join our Use A Stencil challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too; it would be lovely to see you there!

Take time to smell the flowers

It’s a new month so we are launching our June challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by the outdoors and the spring tulips that are flowering at the moment (grin!).

I started by covering the whole page with some Pébéo white gesso and I added some washes of Scattered Straw and Tattered Rose Distress Ink over the page. Next I added pieces of book pages from a Pears Cyclopaedia using a glue stick and then I stencilled the Reverse Honeycomb design by That’s Crafty using Ranger Texture Paste. I splattered the page with Peeled Paint, Tattered Rose and Vintage Photo Distress Inks and when dry, I coloured the stencilled texture paste using black Archival Ink and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The flower images and words were cut from a Romantic Garden House paper pad by Stamperia that my sister kindly bought me for my birthday; they were edged using the Vintage Photo Distress Ink before sticking them into place. To finish, I added three wooden button pink flowers which I had laced some cream wax thread through.

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!

As you may remember we plant tulips bulbs every year and these Purple Dream Lily Flower Tulips are new to our garden. They have been flowering for over a month now and the flowers are huge; they are very impactful and look amazing (smile!).

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

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

Challenges

As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #167 – Anything Goes challenge with my flower page.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Feminine theme with my pretty flower art journal page.

Sunday in the Park challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog with my outdoor page as we see tulips flowering in the park near us this time of year too.

MIUCB #59 Anything Goes over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different techniques that I used to create this page.

Do small things with great love

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Use a Stencil.

I had fun using three different stencils on this page for both the background and main flower images.

I started by covering the page with Colbalt Blue, Cadmium Yellow Dark Hue and Bright Aqua Green Liquitex acrylic paints and left it to dry. I didn’t like the yellow so I covered it with the Colbalt Blue and Aqua Green paints, if you look closely you’ll just see some of the yellow peeking through. Next I used a Fun ISO stencil from Paperbabes Stamps and a Carabelle Studio Mask to stencil and stamp the patterns over the top using the blue and green paints again. When dry I added the white flowers using white acrylic paint and a Jofy PaperArsty Flower Stencil and Mask set. To finish, I added the wording which was cut from a Kaisercraft 12×12 paper sheet.

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

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a yummy beer from Brewdog Brewery called Hazy Jane which is an IPA with a 5% ABV and is described as “This is a full-tilt fruit machine of an IPA packs all the flavour but less of the alcohol. Notes of pineapple, mango, stone-fruit, and a hint of tangerine to mix it up. Brewed with oats and wheat and left unfiltered for a smooth juicy hit” – Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

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

Paperbabe Stamps and their #166 – Anything Goes challenge with my stencilled page.

A Study in Contrasts over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the contrast between the bright white flowers and blue/green background.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes theme with my art journal page.

MIUCB #59 Anything Goes + optional 3-D project over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the stencilling techniques that I used to create this page.