Stars shine

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing this art journal page as inspiration for this month’s Seeing Stars challenge.

I started by covering the page with white gesso and then added a layer of Bronze Distress Paint. When dry, I used a baby wipe to remove some of the Distress Paint giving the background a grungy distressed look. Next I used an AALL & Create Sparkles stamp set to stamp the starbursts using Elderberry Memento Ink and the Bronze Distress Paint. To finish the background, I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint. The owl panel and wording were cut from a Cosmos Stamperia paper pad and I die cut the stars from the paper using a Snowy Stars Thinlits set by Tim Holtz.

I hope you are inspired to join our Seeing Stars 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.

The owl on my page reminded me of the one we saw on a walk at Glasson Dock; it was such a surprise to see this Little Owl sitting in the tree looking right at us – we were so lucky that day (smile!).

I hope that you’re 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 join Paperbabe Stamps and their #170 – Anything Goes challenge with my starry page.

Things with Wings

Over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge, we are launching a new challenge today which is Things with Wings.

So today I’m sharing the birthday card, that I made for my mum this year, featuring a huge Thinlits butterfly from Tim Holtz (smile!).

I started by creating a masterboard from watercolour paper smooshing it using Salty Ocean and Peacock Feather Distress Inks. When dry, I cut a panel from the masterboard and stuck it onto a 6×6” card using double-sided tape. Next I added some white rub-on transfers from a Remnant Rubs set by Tim Holtz and used some outline stickers to add some silver dots and a silver border around the panel. The large butterfly was die cut from white cardstock using a Perspective Butterfly Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and to finish, I added the “On Your Birthday” wording which was from a topper set.

I hope you’ll join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenge too, for more inspiration please check out the amazing Things with Wings 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.

This is the gate that greets you at my mum’s house and as you can see it features many “things with wings” (smile!).

I hope that you’re 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:

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 3-D butterfly card.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #169 – Anything Goes challenge with my butterfly card.

Happy Platinum Jubilee!

As many of you will be aware we have been celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee here in the UK, so to commemorate this amazing achievement I created this Happy Platinum Jubilee page!

I started by covering the page with Prize Ribbon Distress Paint and when dry I stamped the two crown images over the page using Moonlight White Archival Brilliance Ink. Next I cut the bunting triangles from some red, white and blue paper and arranged them onto the page with some Airmail twine by Tim Holtz using Ranger Glossy Accents. The balloons were die cut from the same papers and secured with a twine bow, and I added the small soldier image and the wording using white foam stickers.

The postage stamps were from my hubby’s childhood stamp collection, which he kindly gifted to me for my art journaling, and celebrate Queen Elizabeth through the years dating from 1952 to present date.

We had a wonderful time celebrating the Platinum Jubilee; we attended the local music festival with live bands, the carnival in the park, watched the local parade, enjoyed food at the fish and chip shop and deli, and spent time with family and friends – perfect!

Of course everyday we also went to our favourite local micro bar, The Pier Inn; they had so many special Jubilee beers as well as a live band. Here are the beers that were available on the first day, we had so much fun trying them all (smile!).

This was our favourite beer which is aptly called Jubilee Ale, it’s by Holts Brewery and is a golden beer with a yummy pineapple taste – very refreshing and so good!

As T Stands for T Day, I’m pleased to share our beers with the T Gang and wish you all a very Happy T Day! Bleubeard & Elizabeth, like me I think you would have enjoyed the Swan Black as it was a yummy dark beer and tasted of chocolate and coffee – cheers!

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:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #169 – Anything Goes challenge with my Jubilee page.

LTCCB#155 Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my page recycling old postage stamps.

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.

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.

50 & Fabulous Birthday Card

Today we are launching a new challenge over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge, which is Use Animal Print.

I created this card for a dear friend of mine who is definitely 50 & Fabulous (smile!).

I started by creating a panel from some recycled wrapping paper which had a pink leopard skin design. Then I stuck it to a card, that I made from a piece of A4 white card stock, and framed it using some sparkly silver zebra striped washi tape and black Glitterations border stickers.

Next I die cut the different paper elements from either black cardstock, the pink wrapping paper or some cardstock that I had covered in the silver sparkly washi tape; I used an X-Cut Folk Alphabet set for the numbers and letters, a stitched circle die for the circles and a tropical flower and foliage die set for the flower and leaves. I embellished the circles with a circular silver outline sticker and the leaves with some of the black Glitterations border stickers before layering all the die cut pieces together using Liquitex matte gel medium.

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

With animal print in mind, I thought I’d also share these pretty Snake Head Fritillary flowers pictured here in my garden; their Latin name is Fritillaria meleagris and meleagris means “spotted like a guineafowl“, the name “snake’s head” may refer to snakelike appearance of the nodding flower heads when in bud. We planted them in our garden border last year after rescuing them from the poorly plant section of a garden centre, and with this being their first year flowering we were delighted to see so many flowers (grin!).

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 #165 – Anything Goes challenge with my sparkly animal print card.

Spring is in the Air

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing my second page as inspiration for this month’s Spring is Coming challenge.

I started by painting the page using Sapphire Blue Glitter Dust DecoArt paint and when dry I applied some Rustic Wilderness and Twisted Citron Distress Paint to the foreground and to create the tree shapes. Next I used a Tall Pines Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and white cardstock to create the trees and then I painted them using the Distress Paints; they were stuck in place using matte gel medium and I added some highlights using a white gel pen. Next I doodled all the pretty spring flowers using purple, white and yellow Uni Posca paint pens which took quite bit of time as there were so many layers of colour and lots of flowers (smile!). The adorable deer family was die cut from some leftover cardstock which was coloured using Vintage Photo and Tea Dye Distress Inks using Darling Deer Thinlits set by Tim Holtz; their white dots were added using a white gel pen and some clear Ranger embossing powder. The wording “Spring is in the air” was recycled and finished the page.

I hope you are inspired to join our Spring is Coming 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.

This deer is a rusty metal stake in my garden, isn’t he spectacular – we were kindly gifted it last Christmas (smile!).

I hope that you’re 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:

The lovely  Alison the Craftytrog is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and has chosen Play it again Sam and she is asking for pages inspired by your favourite movie or song.
As I love musicals the deer on my page reminded me of the lyric “Do, a deer, a female deer” which you may remember is from the song “Do-Re-Mi” from the Sound of Music. I used to sing this all the time when I was younger and can even still remember all words (grin!) – can you? (If not check out the video below).

Easter/Spring challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my spring page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #164 – Anything Goes challenge with my spring page.

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

With Love

It’s time for our new challenge this month over at Country View Challenges which is being hosted by the lovely Corrie whose theme is Spring is Coming.

With all the spring flowers starting to grow in my garden it looks like spring is on its way, so with this month’s challenge in mind I created this page “with love” full of spring coloured flowers.

I started by covering the chipboard background using a couple of stamps; the first was from the Etcetera stamp set from Tim Holtz using Moonshine White Brilliance Ink and the second was a Carabelle Studio stamp using black Archival Ink. Then I die cut all the flowers and foliage using a Floral Tropics Sizzix Thinlits set from some Tim Holtz Kraft cardstock and some leftover pieces of linen textured cardstock. I arranged them around a circular die cut piece of white cardstock which I had stuck one of the flowers onto and also the wording “With love” which was created from a Sizzix die set that my sister kindly gifted me (grin!).

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

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!

It feels like Spring is on its way with all the spring flowers and greenery in our garden – wishing you a Happy April and Spring!

Stay 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 #164 – Anything Goes challenge with my spring page.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes theme with my spring coloured flowers page.

Mothering Sunday

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing my second page as inspiration for this month’s Mother’s Day challenge.

I started by stamping the chipboard page using an Architecture stamp set by Tim Holtz and Moonlight White Brilliance ink. Then I die cut the flowers from white cardstock using a Brushstroke Flowers #3 Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and I coloured them with Distress Inks; the petals with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, the stamens with Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Rusty Hinge ink and the leaves with Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn ink. I arranged them on the left-hand side of the page and then I applied Ranger Glossy Accents over the centres of the flowers. To finish, I added the white wording which were Tiny Text Rub-ons by Tim Holtz.

I hope you are inspired to join our Mother’s Day 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 love the pretty flowers and stamped arched windows I created as part of the page design, it reminded me of church and Mothering Sunday – if you didn’t know in the UK we celebrate Mother’s Day on the fourth Sunday of Lent which is also known as Mothering Sunday.

Mother’s Day maybe on a different date depending on where you live: this year in UK and Ireland it’s on Sunday 27th March; in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand it’s Sunday 8th May; France it’s Sunday 29th May; Spain it’s Sunday 1st May.

If you are interested here are some interesting facts about Mother’s Day in the UK:

• Mothering Sunday in the UK has a religious origin.
• It does not fall on the same date each year due to its connection to Lent.
• England was the first country to dedicate a day to Mothers.
• It’s often celebrated with Simnel Cake or Mothering Cake which dates back to the 18th Century.

I hope that you are staying safe and well, and for those of you celebrating – Happy Mother’s Day wishes!

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:

The lovely Valerie of Bastelmania is hosting Art Journal Journey and has chosen Spring with my spring Mothering Sunday page.

Rather Blustery Day challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as keeping things clean and not smudging the stamping is often difficult for me hence why a lot of my pages are grungy in design (grin!); for this page I stamped the image and left it to dry overnight – yay, it worked!

Paperbabe Stamps and their #163 – Anything Goes challenge with my Mother’s Day page.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Add Some Green challenge with the green leaves on my page.

Bit O’Green challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the green foliage on my page.