Beauty is everywhere

I can’t believe that I was lucky enough to win the Paperbabe Stamps Layers challenge and I got to choose one of their fabulous stamp sets as my prize! I created this page to celebrate using the stamp set and I’m sure that it’ll be used again and again (grin!).

I started by colouring the background using Prickly Pear, Fern Green and Leaf Green Wendy Vecchi Make Art Inks by adding ink to a blending mat, spritzing with water and pressing the mat onto the page. I used a Snowy Stars thinlet set from Tim Holtz to create a stencil and used it to apply Ranger Texture Paste to the page. I coloured around the stencilled texture paste with some more of the Fern Green and Leaf Green Wendy Vecchi Inks to define the circles more and when dry I coloured the texture paste with a white Uni Posca paint pen, so that it stood out more. Then I splattered the page using white and also black acrylic paint and applied some White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray with a Carabelle Studio Art Template. I repeated the “Beauty is everywhere” wording and also the three stars over the page using my new Paperbabes Stamps Flourish & Grow stamp set and black Archival Ink. Then I added some highlights to the wording using a white Uniball gel pen. To finish, I added a bright pink flower which I fussy cut from a wallpaper sample, stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium and then edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to add some shadows.

I have to say that with all the fabulous new releases over at Paperbabe Stamps shop it was really difficult to chose my prize. Thank you so much for this amazing stamp set!

I also love the Balancing greetings card that Kim kindly sent to me too, it was such a lovely surprise and it now takes pride of place in my craft room (double grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen from The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with my green background.

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

I’m also joining in the fun again at Paperbabe Stamps, their challenge is #115 ~ Picture Inspiration as I was inspired by the pretty single stemmed flowers – thanks so much!

Don’t forget that you still have a couple of days left to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste, it would be lovely to see you there!

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Make Art Blendable Dye Ink (Prickly Pear, Fern Green, Leag Green)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Snowy Stars 663117)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Carabelle Studio Art Template (Trame Tissues et Chiffres TE60034)
• Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (White Linen)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Paperbabes Stamps (Flourish & Grow Stamp Set)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Wallpaper sample
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Cold Grey IV 233)

Our friendship is like a cup of tea …

This page is inspired by some new green tea from the Tea & Biscuit Club in Arundel; the tea we chose was Spanish Orange Green Tea (grin!).

I started by covering the page with Metallic Mint, Iced Coffee and Gold Champagne Faber-Castell Gelatos by scribbling them onto the page and blending the colour with a wet finger. Then I sprayed some White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray through a Tim Holtz Stencil and left it to dry. Next I die cut the trellis from some gold paper recycled from a bar of chocolate and stuck them along with some of the cut outs onto the page using a Zig glue pen. Then I used a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker to add a shadow along edges of the trellis and cut outs to give a 3D effect; I love the way it looks as though the trellis is standing out from the page. I added the wording which is a Kaisercraft sticker edged with the Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker; it reads “Our friendship is like a cup of tea, a special blend of you and me”. To finish, I added a pretty Chinese tea image, with flowers which look a little like orange blossom, which is from a Kanban topper set using glue dots to stick it in place.

You may remember Arundel from my last post, if you want to see the castle and our walk, please see my Arundel Treasures post. This is The Tea & Biscuit Club shop we always visit to buy our tea; they have quite an array of loose leaf tea, which they create and blend on the premises.

We chose Spanish Orange Green Tea which is light green tea with rosehip, hibiscus, orange peel, calendula and sunflower petals, giving a vanilla aroma and a soft fruity taste. It’s very refreshing and as T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my tea with the T gang and wishing you all a very Happy T day!

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

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 Eileen from The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with green tea page.

I’m joining in the Something Feminine challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my friendship art journal page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page too.

I’m also joining in the A Bit’O Green challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my green tea art journal page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste, it would be lovely to see you there!

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Faber-Castell Gelato (Metallic Mint, Iced Coffee, Gold Champagne)
• Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (White Linen)
• Tim Holtz Layering Mini Stencil (Set 16 THMST016)
• Gold Recycled Paper
• The Works (Cutting Dies – Trellis)
• Zig Memeory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (High Tea SS336)
• Kanban Paper Craft Toppers (Flowers & Cupcakes 900858)
• Stix2 Glue Dots

Chococo

When we visited our family for the Christmas holidays we went on a chocolate adventure to Chococo, which is a chocolate shop and café. We had such a wonderful time that I created this page to remember it by.

I covered the background with a striped piece of Kaisercraft paper; the bold colours reminded me of the Chococo logo and store. I edged the page with a thin brown washi tape and then cut up a leaflet that I’d picked up there; this included the Chococo logo, gingerbread caramel chocolate and two chocolate lollies with birds on them. They are arranged on the page with some die cut brown hearts, a circular hot chocolate image and some wording which reads “cozy” and “even when it’s cold outside our memories keep us warm”. The wording “sweet” is from Kaisercraft and “an armful of candy boxes” is from Tim Holtz, both of which are stickers. To finish the page, I added three wooden glittery snowflakes as we visited in winter.

Chococo is located in Horsham, West Sussex and celebrates all things chocolate.

They have a chocolate counter with lots of yummy treats and …

… also a café specialising in hot chocolate.

I couldn’t resist having one of their Gingerbread Caramel Hot Chocolates with all the works (whipped cream, marshmallows and chocolate shavings), it was so delicious and was accompanied by one of their award winning gingerbread caramel chocolates – yum yum!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my drink related post with the T Gang and wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

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

Challenges

As this was a new café for us to visit, I’m joining the Something New challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey, it would be great to see you there (grin!).

I’m also happy to join in the Love challenge over at Country View Challenges with my art journal page, who doesn’t love chocolate (double grin!).

I’m also pleased to join the Snowflake challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with the glittery wooden snowflakes that I included on my page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page too.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Kaisercraft 12×12 Paper Save the Date Collection (Invite P949)
• Washi Tape
• Chococo leaflet – recycled
• The Works Die Cut Book (Winter Feelings)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Havana Nights SS354)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Sticker Book (Christmas #TH93999)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• The Craftblog Christmas Village Collection (Glittered Wooden Shapes)
• Stix2 glue dots

Warm Winter Wishes

I tried a new technique on my art journal page for the Something New challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey.

The new technique was for the background and involved watercolour paints and sea salt crystals; I have to say it was a fun and easy technique to do (grin!).

I flooded the page with water and added Indigo, Ultramarine, Turquoise Blue, Cobalt Violet and White Kuretake watercolour paints, graduating the colours down the page to white at the bottom. Then while the paint was still wet I sprinkled coarse sea salt crystals over the top and left it to dry.

When dry I brushed the salt crystals off the page and a beautiful mottled effect was left where the crystals had reacted with the paint.

Next I fussy cut the owl sitting on a bench from an old Christmas card and arranged him onto the page so it looked like the bench was disappearing under a bank of snow. The snowflakes were die cut using my new Thinlet Set by Tim Holtz from white linen textured paper and some glittery blue/purple coloured papers. I added some wording from a sticker book by Tim Holtz which reads “a wondrous sight”, “the wintry landscape” and “covered with snow”. I die cut two labels from the blue/purple and also from white linen paper using a Tim Holtz tag die set. Then I cut the white paper label slightly smaller, stamped “warm winter wishes” using Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink and an alphabet stamp set and layered the two labels together before sticking them in place, which finished the page.

Whilst on a winter walk around Glasson Dock we saw a strange shape in a tree and took some pictures, to our surprise when we looked through our camera lens there was this Little Owl sat there looking at us. My hubby took this picture before he flew away – isn’t he adorable (grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m joining in the Something New challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the new technique and Snowflake Thinlet set that I used on this page.

I’m so happy to join the #109 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps; the “paperbabe stamps” is represented by the “a wondrous sight” wording and the “flower” by the “owl” image, also the snow bank divides the page into two. 

I’m also pleased to join the Snowflakes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with all the snowflakes that I added to my page.

Don’t forget that you still have over a week to join our What a cutie/Make someone smile challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Indigo No.67, Ultramarine No.64, Turquoise Blue No.62, Cobalt Violet No. 139, White No.10)
• Course Sea Salt Crystals
• Old Christmas Card
• Pritt Stick
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz (Paper Snowflakes, Mini 661599)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture – White CRO240/GE)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Paper Pad)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Sizzix Framelits Tim Holtz (Tag Collection 658784)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Ground Espresso)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• X-Press double-sided tape

Winter Sparrows

We have been enjoying the antics of the cheeky House Sparrows that have been visiting the bird feeder in our garden so I created a page to remind me of them.

I used my new snowflake thinlet set by Tim Holtz and some images from a Winter Collective paper by Graphic 45 (also new to my craft stash) to create this page, so I’m pleased to join the Something New challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey. I’d like to thank all of you for your lovely comments and wonderful creations so far, I hope you are having fun getting creative with this theme (grin!).

I stencilled the brickwork background using Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress Ink adding some Peeled Paint Distress Ink so they looked like the brick walls of my garden. Next I die cut some snowflakes using my new thinlets set by Tim Holtz and Big Shot machine. They are cut from some recycled Kraft paper and are stuck in place using a glue stick.

Then I layered together some images and borders that I cut from the Winter Collective paper by Graphic 45 which are stuck in place using double-sided tape; the sparrows reminded me of the ones in our garden. I added some red glittery gems to add some sparkle which finished the page.

Here are the house sparrows visiting the feeder in our garden, they are such fun to watch as there are about 9 or 10 of them and only 4 perches on our feeder so they all fly to the feeder at once and then push each other off the perches to get to the seed (grin!).

In the end, they all seem to get there fair share of seed. We are pleased to see them in such numbers in our garden as House Sparrows in the UK have declined over the years and they are one of the highest conservation priorities.

We loved seeing them and these shared the love by creating a heart shape as they fed on the feeder (double grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m happy to join in the Love challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Winter Sparrows art journal page as we love them visiting our garden.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Something New challenge too as I used new products to create this page.

I’m also pleased to join the Snowflakes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with all the snowflakes that I included on my page too.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint)
• Recycled Kraft Paper
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz (Paper Snowflakes, Mini 661599)
• Pritt Stick
• Graphic 45 12”x12” Paper Seasons Collection (Winter Collective #4501616)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Multicraft (Gemstone Embellishments – Glam SEO19C)

Be Thankful

I have plenty to be thankful for including the wonderful life with my hubby and my dearest friends; so as its Thanksgiving next week I had fun creating this autumnal thankful page.

I’m sending Happy Thanksgiving wishes to those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving next week, have a wonderful time!

To start, I painted the page with Hooker’s Green, Yellow Oxide and Raw Umber Liquitex acrylic paint and then applied Pébéo white gesso over the top with a brayer. When dry, I stamped some leaves by Tim Holtz using Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso and Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Ink and a grid design by Sheena Douglass using Potter’s Clay, Cottage Green and Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. I also stamped some grungy dots using black Archival Ink and both of the above Distress Archival Inks and then I splattered the page with white gesso. Next I recycled some thanksgiving magazine images of a dinner service portraying a turkey, duck, pheasant and partridge; they are fussy cut, edged with a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck to the page using a UHU Stic. They are arranged with some pretty acrylic daisy flowers and autumnal coloured leaves which I die cut using Tim Holtz thinlets. The leaves are cut from some textured metallic papers, edged using Ground Espresso Distress Ink and a blending tool, and stuck into place using glue dots. To finish, I added the “Be Thankful” wording which is a piece of washi tape which I stuck onto some white card and stuck into place using double-sided tape.

The autumn leaves seemed to have been and gone quickly this year; when we walked around Lytham Hall with our friends this week we found that most of the trees had lost their leaves so there was a thick coating of leaves along the pathways. There were really only these Beech trees which still retained their beautiful autumnal leaves.

Of course, little Ellie was in her element chasing leaves and picking up sticks, although I think this stick may have been a little big for her. As you can see her coat has got quite long so she’s off for a trim at the doggie stylists this week (grin!).

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

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 Peace & Tranquility challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my reflective Be Thankful page.

I’m joining in the Recycle challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I recycled magazine Thanksgiving images on this page.

I’m also pleased to join Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday and the Autumn & Gratitude theme with Be Thankful autumnal designed page.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog for their Anything Goes + Watercoloring with my autumnal mixed media art journal page.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Liquitex Basic Acrylic Color (Hooker’s Green, Yellow Oxide, Raw Umber)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Falling Leaves CMS097)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Hickory Smoke)
• Sheena by Sheena Douglass Create a Flower Rubber Stamps (Funky Textures 2)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Potter’s Clay, Cottage Ivy, Rich Cocoa)
• Creative Stamping Magazine Issue #61 (Autumnal Treasures)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Recycled images from Old Magazine
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Sanguine 188 B)
• UHU Stic
• Crafty Things (Acrylic Daisy Stickers)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Fall Foilage 660955)
• Paper Bundle from local Craft Shop
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ground Espresso)
• Stix2 glue dots
• Washi tape
• Recycled white cardstock
• X-Press It! double-sided tape

Every Leaf

I love autumn and I find there’s nothing better then walking on crunchy leaves, so today’s page is inspired by sunny autumnal days and one of my favourite quotes by Emily Brontë:

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree”.

The background was started sometime ago. I had some green and brown Distress Inks leftover whilst creating another page which I didn’t want to waste, so I smooshed it onto a blank page and used some stamps to move the colour around. I covered it with some white acrylic paint and then to create the layers of leaves, I started by stencilling some large leaves using a Sheena Douglass stencil and Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink. The smaller leaves are stamped using Potter’s Clay, Rich Cocoa and Toffee Crunch Memento Inks and I also added some stamped splatters using black Archival Ink. To enhance the grungy look I also splattered the page with white and black acrylic paint. Then I added some more white acrylic paint and when dry I repeated the stencilling and stamping of the leaves again and I also used a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to colour the areas where the white acrylic paint covered the large leaves so they stood out more.

I used a stitched edge circle die and my Big Shot machine to cut out the circles from mixed media paper and coloured them using Fossilized Amber and Rusty Hinge Distress Inks with a blending tool. Then I used my Tim Holtz stamping platform to stamp the acorn, quote, leaves, bird, hedgehog and berries using black Archival Ink and then stuck them to the page using a UHU Stic. I also added some yellow and white enamel dots which finished the page.

There is someone else who like leaves, especially chasing them although little Ellie also sometimes eats them too (grin!). Ellie is our friend’s dog, she is a cavapoo and still a puppy, isn’t she super sweet (double grin!).

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

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 also happy to join in the Hand Stamped challenge hosted by the lovely Craftyfield over at Country View Challenges with my autumnal stamped art journal page.

I’m pleased to join the lovely Rike from rike’s art and her Fruit and Veggies challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the acorn on my page.

I’m also happy to join the Peace & Tranquility challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my peaceful autumnal page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday and the Autumn & Gratitude with my autumnal page.

I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my art journal page too.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Background – leftover Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo Distress Ink
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Sheena Douglass Create a Flower Stencil (Just leaf It!)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Fossilized Amber)
• Creative Stamping Magazine Issue 61 (Autumnal Treasures)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Potter’s Clay, Rich Cocoa, Toffee Crunch)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Mixed Media Paper
• The Works (Cutting Dies, Pastel Enamel Dots)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Sanguine 188 B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• UHU Stic