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)

Home Sweet Home

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is:

Home Sweet Home/Where you would like to live

At Try it on Tuesday we are also saying a big hello and welcome to the very talented Helen and Mia who have both joined our Design Team, please check out their amazing first creations over at our blog!

My Home Sweet Home page design was inspired all the birds that are around at the moment that are setting up new homes in readiness for spring – I hope you like it!

I started by smooshing Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink onto the background by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page. When dry, I stamped a Sheet Music stamp from Woodware Craft Collection and also the “Home Sweet Home” wording using a stamp set from Concord & 9^th and black Archival Ink. I added some more detail to the wording using a white Uniball gel pen and then I stencilled some Ranger Texture paste though a Carabelle Studio Art Template.

Using two different Tim Holtz thinlet sets I created the tree branches from brown paper that I coloured further using Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink. The branches are stuck in place using a Zig glue pen and shaded further using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The leaves were cut from green paper, which I coloured further using some Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron Distress Ink; they are cut using a Fall Foilage thinlets set from Tim Holtz and are also stamped with some tiny dots using a Kaisercraft stamp and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.

I created the birdhouse using some off-cuts of paper that were on my craft desk; drawing the birdhouse design and heart onto the paper and then cutting them out.

I added more detail using Winsor & Newton Promarkers; Henna and Canary to create the wooden panels and Ruby and Rose Pink for the heart and roof. I suspended the birdhouse from one of the branches using some white twine sticking the birdhouse in place using double-sided foam tape. The cute birds were stamped onto white linen paper using a Picket Fence stamp set and black Archival Ink and then coloured using Sky Blue, Cool Grey and Canary Winsor & Newton Promarkers. I also stamped the birds onto the page and the birdhouse roof using the black Archival Ink and then I stuck the coloured birds over the top using double-sided foam tape. To finish, I splattered the page with some black DecoArt acrylic paint.

My Design Teamies have created some amazing Home Sweet Home/Where would you like to live inspiration for you over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over and take a look.

The birds reminded me of the tea tray that we use everyday at home, as you can see it has lots of lovely garden birds on it that we find here in the UK.

Here’s our tray being put to good use; as T Stands for Tuesday it’s pictured holding our daily cuppa and homemade fruit cake that we are enjoying at the moment – 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 pleased to join the lovely Eileen from The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with the green leaves on this page.

I’m happy to be able to join the Use Some Green challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page too.

I’m also pleased join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.

I’m also joining the Stencil Fun challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I included stencilling on my art journal page.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, Vintage Photo, Grounsd Espresso, Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron)
• Woodware Crafts Collection (Sheet Music JG111)
• Concord & 9^th Stamp Set (Sophisticated Script 10056)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Carabelle Studio Art Template (Trame Tissues et Chiffres TE60034)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Studio Light Paper Pad (PPSL84)
• Crafter’s Companion Luxury Designer Paper Pad (Angelica & Adam Collection A&A-PAP6-M)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Funky Florals Large 664158, Fall Foliage 660955) 
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Tiny Dot CS360)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Paper off-cuts (Yellow, White coloured with red and pink Distress Inks)
• Winsor & Newton ProMarker (Henna 0225, Canary Y367, Ruby R455, Rose Pink M727, Sky Blue B137, Cool Grey 4 CG4)
• White Thread
• Picket Fence Studios Stamps (Chirp Chirp A130)
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)

Makes your soul sing

I was so pleased to see the robin in our garden this month that I created this art journal page to celebrate (grin!).

I started by painting the page with some white acrylic paint and when it was dry added some Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker by scribbling the ink onto a blending mat and then applying it to the page with a baby wipe. Next I tore some green heart designed paper and an old calendar page into strips, edged them with Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck them to the page using a UHU Stic. I die cut some foliage from recycled tissue paper using Tim Holtz Wildflower Stems thinlets, they are stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. The robin is fussy cut from an old calendar and the wording is stamped using a Paperbabes Stamp Set and the music notes using a Docrafts Stamp Set using black Archival Ink. I coloured the wording using a silver Derwent Rowney Paint Pen and a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker; it reads “Create what makes your heart dance and your soul sing”. Then I splattered the whole page using black DecoArt acrylic paint and added some wooden flowers using glue dots, which finished the page.

We haven’t seen our robin much this winter, so I was excited to see him sitting in the tree at the back of our garden; this is a European Robin not to be confused with an American Robin (grin!).

He also made his way to our bird feeder too (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 the paper and flowers that I used.

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

I’m happy to be able to join the Use Some Green challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page too.

I’m also pleased join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.

I’m also happy to join in the The Eyes Have It challenge over at Country View Challenges with my robin on my art journal page.

I’m also joining the Aquamarine challenge over at the Frilly & Funkie Challenge Blog with the blue/green coloured paper on my page.

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

• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B, Cold Grey IV 233)
• Studio Light Paper Pad (PPSL84)
• Old Calendar
• UHU Stic
• Recycled tissue paper
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Paperbabe Stamps (Fun Alphabet Outline Stamp Set)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Musicality DCE907112)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Daler Rowney Acrylic Paint Marker (Silver)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Melinera (Scatter Decorations – Wooden Flowers)

Birthday Celebration

This month we are celebrating our 6^th Birthday over at A Vintage Journey with our Birthday Celebration challenge, which is being hosted by the lovely Brenda. Your projects don’t have to be about birthdays, here’s what she has to say:

“Yes! Let’s celebrate our 6th Birthday … so it’s over to you to show us what you are celebrating in your art and craft work at the moment. Don’t forget to link us into your blog post and if it’s not really obvious share with us how your project relates to the challenge theme. Just remember to create your project in one of our preferred styles: vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.

I’m so excited about our Birthday Celebration this month; I do hope you’ll join us! I was enjoying the party atmosphere whilst I was art journaling using Tim Holtz products to create this Happy 6^th Birthday page.

I used lots of Tim Holtz products for this page so unless stated otherwise it’s from Tim Holtz; there’s a full list of materials at the end of this post for your reference.

I started by covering the page with Pébéo white gesso using a palette knife and left it to dry. Then I cut a piece of vintage script paper into sections and die cut a flower from the larger piece of paper using Wildflower Stems Thinlet set.

I also cut the flower from some Craft Sensations white linen cardstock and inserted it into the flower space in the vintage script paper. I arranged the pieces of paper onto the page with some Aviary Collage Paper using Liquitex gel medium. Then I outlined the papers with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and a black Uni Pin marker to make them stand out more. Next I added some Crowded Attic and Destinations Salvage Stickers again outlining them with a black Uni Pin marker.

To finish the page, I added the wording using Label Letter stickers and also a No:6 Countdown Brad.

Did you notice the six intentional “No:6”s that I added to this page to commemorate our 6^th Birthday? They are all revealed below (grin!).

I hope you are inspired to join in our Birthday Celebration over at A Vintage Journey too, for more inspiration you’ll find some amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey, it would be lovely to see you there!

1. Large No: 6 (LHS of flower)
2. Saftey pins x 6 (LHS of flower)
3. Needle packaging No:6 (top RHS)
4. Happy “6th” Birthday (wording)
5. Ruler No:6 (under wording)
6. Countdown Brad No:6 (bottom RHS)

All the “No:6”s are pictured here – did you get them all? You may have found lots of 6’s on the Sheet Music and other rulers too (double grin!).

As it’s a birthday celebration I thought I’d share this amazing birthday cake that I saw in a local bakery, doesn’t it look amazing and the Steampunk style is fabulous, just right for A Vintage Journey – Happy Birthday!

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 able to join the The Eyes Have It challenge over at Country View Challenges with the birds on this art journal page.

I’m joining in the Something Feminine challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the pretty birds and flowers on my page too.

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

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Halloween Paper Stash #TH93712, Aviary Collage Paper #TH93706, Crowded Attic Salvage Stickers #TH92898, Destinations Salvage Stickers #TH93005, Label Letters #TH93072, Countdown Brads #TH93631)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Linen Textured Cardstock)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm)

All you need is love

Today’s page was created by using one of my favourite inky techniques, some beautiful red hearts and a couple of cute bunnies, to wish you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day!

I started by smooshing Bluebird and Potting Soil Wendy Vicchi Make Art Inks from Ranger onto the page using one of my favourite techniques; applying the ink to an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then pressing the block and dripping the ink onto the page. I drew the large heart using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then I stamped some tiny dots and some marble crackle texture using two Kaisercraft stamps and black Archival Ink.

Next I stuck the red hearts in place using a Zig glue pen, they were die cut from some recycled red foil cardstock using Tim Holtz Falling Hearts Thinlets and my big shot machine. Then I splattered the page using black and also white DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush. When dry, I added some rub-on transfers which are all Remnant Rubs from Tim Holtz; the numbers and incomplete words are from the Special Delivery set and the wording “love you”, “XOXO” and “happy together” are from the Tiny Text set.

The cute bunnies are cut from linen textured paper using a Springtime Sidekick thinlet set by Tim Holtz; I coloured them with a black Faber- Castell marker and used the red foil cardstock for their bows and some white pom-poms for their tails. I shaded behind the tails with a black marker so they stood out more and sat them onto three different washi tapes which I layered together; I also layered these washi tapes on other areas of the page too. To finish, I added three Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz which read “together is the best place to be”, “all you need is love” and “I’m happiest when I’m with you”.

For Valentine’s Day hubby treated us both to these Strawberry Tarts, you may remember me saying these were a favourite of mine in my Paris blog earlier this month. He bought them from a local bakery and it was such a lovely surprise, I can’t wait to try them with my cuppa – Happy Valentine’s Day!

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

Challenges

With all the hearts on my page, I’m pleased to join the Hearts challenge over at Art Journal Journey that is being hosted by the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth this month.

I’m so happy to join in the Splatters, Splashes & Drips challenge over at Country View Challenges with the splashes and drips of ink and acrylic paint splatters on this page.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge their challenge is Crack It Up, so I’m joining them too with the marble crackle texture that I stamped on my art journal page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge this month over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog too; 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 Blendable Dye Ink (Bluebird, Potting Soil)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Tiny Dot CS360, Marble CS293)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Remnant Rubs Special Delivery #TH93188, Tiny Text #TH93695, Small Talk Stickers #TH93193)
• Recycled Red Foil Cardstock
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Falling Hearts 664415)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets Sidekick (Springtime 662711)
• Poundland (Pom Poms – White)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Washi Tapes (Docrafts Papermania – red with white dots, The Works – black with white dots, Crelando – turquoise with red and pink flowers)

Beer Festival 2020 – Sweet Treats

Last week we volunteered again at our local annual Beer Festival, serving behind the bar and of course trying all the different beers. So I decided to re-cycle some of the hand pump clips on my page to capture three of my favourite beers of the festival; they are all dark beers and coincidentally, also link to sweet treats (grin!).

To depict the dark beers I started by covering the page with a Black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker by scribbling it onto the back diagonally and then using a wet paintbrush to disperse the ink a little. When dry I added a tiny amount of Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then some white acrylic paint using my finger to blend them into the background. For the beers, I pulled the stickers off the front of the hand pump clips and stuck them onto the page; I created some shadows around them so they stood out more by applying and smudging the Black Faber-Castell marker with my finger before sticking them down. The wording is torn out from the beer festival programme, edged with the black marker and stuck down using a glue stick. As I loved these beers I surrounded them with some small white hearts which were cut from some recycled white card using a Falling Hearts Thinlets set from Tim Holtz, which finished the page.

The first of these sweet treat beers is Tonkoko and tasted of coconut and chocolate like a Bounty chocolate bar . It is an Imperial Milk Stout brewed by Brew York Brewery in York, North Yorkshire. It was so smooth and creamy with a vanilla and Tonka bean finish. This was strong at 7.5% ABV (alcohol by volume) but so very easy to drink – yummy!

This Cinder Toffee Stout was from the New Bristol Brewery in Bristol and it had yummy toasted honeycomb taste, just like Crunchie Bars had been liquidised and added to a stout ! It’s a great session beer at 4% ABV; needless to say it sold out very quickly.

As T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my Stay Puft from the Tiny Rebel Brewery which is in Newport, Gwent, Wales. It is a marshmellow Porter and has a 5.2% ABV; it has the classic roasty qualities of a proper dark ale, whilst the marshmallow gives it a smooth sweetness, both combining for a yummy S’mores like taste – Happy T day!

Me and my hubby so enjoyed serving behind the bar and chatting to the customers, and we tried many of the 100 beers at the festival too – such fun!

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 Hearts challenge over at Art Journal Journey that is being hosted by the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth this month with the hearts on my page.

I’m joining in the With Love challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge as this art journal page highlights the beers I loved at the beer festical.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Layers challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Beer Festival page too.

Don’t forget there is still another week to join in the Share the Love challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too!

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

• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199, Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Recycled Beer Hand pump signs from Festival
• Festival Programme
• White card recycled from packaging
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Falling Hearts 664415)
• Pritt Stick

Hello – Creative Artiste Design Team

I’m thrilled and honoured to be able to join the Design Team at Creative Artiste and I’d like to thank the team for inviting me to join them.

At Creative Artiste Challenge Blog the theme is always Anything Mixed Media Goes, so it’s really special to be part of this Design Team as I love using mixed media and always like to use various mediums on my art journal pages.

For this month’s #57 – Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge, I’m sharing an art journal page to just say “hello” to everyone (grin!).

I started by stamping a Solar & Lunar stamp from Finnabair and a Script Stamp from Kaisercraft over the background using black Archival Ink. Then I tore a wallpaper sample into some pieces, edged them with Antique Linen Distress Ink and collaged them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. I applied some Pébéo white gesso with my finger over the top to add some depth. When dry I coloured the edges of collaged pieces with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger and then I splattered the whole page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush.

Next I added the pretty pink peony flower using matte gel medium which I fussy cut from the wallpaper sample; I created some shadows around it so that it stood out more by applying and smudging some of the Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker with my finger before sticking it down.

The “hello” and butterflies were created using a Springtime Tim Holtz Thinlets Sidekick set and some linen textured paper. They were coloured using either a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker or Angel Pink and Rose Bud Memento Inks. The wings were heat embossed with Wow! Embossing Glitter and the body of the butterfly was covered with Ranger Glossy Accents.

I layered the “hello” pieces together and also added some antennae to the butterflies which I made using wire. To finish, I added some wording that I thought were appropriate to joining this new design team and to my mixed media art journaling which are all Tim Holtz Clipping Stickers; they read “my grateful heart”, “just a memory”, “dreams come true”, “all the world is bright”, “life is wonderful” and “good fortune”.

I had so much fun creating this page and thought you may like to see where I create my art, here’s where I sit in my craft room. I have to say, it’s not normally this tidy (grin!).

I hope you will join in the fun over at Creative Artiste this month; be sure to check out the Challenge Rules here.

For more inspiration, you’ll find a wonderful array of mixed media projects created by my fellow design team members over at Creative Artiste too. We would love to see you there!

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 Hearts challenge over at Art Journal Journey that is being hosted by the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth this month with the wording on my page – “my grateful heart”.

With the paint splatters on this page, I happy to join in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Splatters, Splashes and Drips challenge too.

I’m also pleased to join the Floral Frenzy challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the peony flower that I included on my page.

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

• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Solar & Lunar Item# 966977)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (script CS752)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Wallpaper sample
• Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Antique Linen)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets Sidekick (Springtime 662711)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Angel Pink, Rose Bud)
• Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• WOW! Embossing Glitter (Singing in the rain WS183R)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Silver Wire
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Clipping Stickers #TH93583)