Let nature be your calming breath

This month over at A Vintage Journey our challenge is Tag You’re It, which is being hosted by the lovely Amanda. Here’s what it’s all about:

“We would love to see what you create with, or on, hang tags. Your hang tags can be created from any material or be any size. We would just love to see that iconic hang shape front and centre in your design.  Just remember to create your project in one of our preferred styles: vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.

Creating tags for an art journal page is always fun, so, inspired by nature I designed these layered tags – I love the way they turned out (grin!).

For the main hang tag on my art journal page design, I cut out the largest tag from Kraft card stock from the Tag Collection Framelit set by Tim Holtz. Like all the tags, I coloured the inside panel of the tag using a white Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and edged it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool and a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. I also die cut the tag-hole reinforcement using the same Framelit set from butterfly/script design paper.

To embellish this tag I cut three panels from the same Kraft card stock and then layered papers over the top of them using a glue stick. The papers included: some embossed gold napkin; some dressmaking tissue paper which I had stamped using a Finnabair stamp and some black Archival ink; and some torn pieces of the butterfly/script design paper. I layered some Field Notes ephemera from Tim Holtz over the top and added some tiny leaves; the leaves were cut using some Funky Florals Thinlets by Tim Holtz from some recycled notepaper which I had coloured with Mowed lawn, Peeled Paint and Pine Needles Distress Ink. On the top and bottom panels I added the white wording “Live simple” and “Love this life” which are rub-on transfers from Tim Holtz. The three panels were stuck to the hang tag using double-sided tape.

I followed the same process to create the other tags layering them together with the ephemera and leaves – I love the pretty dragonfly! The letters creating the “Let nature be your calming breath” wording were cut from the same green paper that I used for the leaves using an Alphanumeric Labels Thinlet set by Tim Holtz and once glued in place they were outlined using a white gel pen and a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out more.

I mounted all the tags on my page which was covered with the same embossed gold napkin, dressmaking tissue paper (stamped using a Finnabair stamp and some black Archival ink) and butterfly/script design paper that I had used on the tags. Then to finish, I splattered the whole page with some Pébéo white gesso.

I hope you are inspired to join in the Tag You’re It challenge 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!

As you may know, my favourite colour is blue and this plant in particular from my garden reminded me of my page, it’s a Salvia nemorosa called “Blue Marvel” and the bees and insects love it!

My page also reminds me of a frequent visitor to our garden, a small blue butterfly called Common Blue which has proved difficult to photograph. So I was pleased when my dear friend who we walk with, shared this photo of a Large Blue which it is related to and this is one of the rarest blue butterflies in the UK.

I hope that you’re all keeping 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 the lovely Alison AKA Craftytrog over at Art Journal Journey and her Pockets and Tags challenge this month with the nature inspired tags on this page.

I’m also pleased to join the Use Your Favourite Tool challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge as I wouldn’t be without my Tim Holtz Thinlets and Big Shot machine that I used to created my page.

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

• Kraft card stock
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (White 101, Cold Grey IV 233)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Pine Needles)
• Napkin
• Style Dressmaking Pattern Tissue Paper
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Gothic Book 966966)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Butterfly/Script Design Paper – local craft shop
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Ephemera Pack (Field Notes #TH94051)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Funky Florals #2 662701, Alphanumeric Label 664177)
• Recycled Notebook Paper
• Stix2 double sided-tape
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Pébéo White Gesso

Today is full of possibilities

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Words/Numbers.

I created a world of Words and Numbers for my steampunk birds using collage paper, stencils, stamps, stickers and quote chips; I hope you’re inspired to join us too, it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by covering the page with collage paper by Tim Holtz, this one is called Typeset and has lots of words and numbers on it. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso with my finger and left it to dry. I dragged a Tea Dye Stamp Pad over the top of the paper and spritzed the ink with water to disperse the colour. When dry I stencilled some Wheels using a Dina Wakley stencil and some Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Then I stamped some Steampunk images and some background texture from a couple of Docrafts stamp sets using Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Archival Distress Ink.

The crowns, butterflies, strips of numbers and banners are from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet; I created some shadows around their edges using a Black Faber-Castell marker and outlined them using a black Uni Pin marker.

The birds were created using a Feathered Friends Thinlet set from Tim Holtz; they are cut from linen textured cardstock that I had coloured using Tea Dye, Ground Espresso and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. Their hats were stamped, using the Steampunk stamp set from Docrafts and black Archival Ink, onto white cardstock which I had coloured using Mowed Lawn, Forest Moss and Twisted Citron Distress Inks. I coloured the goggles on the hats using metallic gold and silver Daler-Rowney pens and used Glossy Accents to depict the glass in the lenses. To finish, I added wording with a Quote Chip from Tim Holtz which reads “Today is full of possibilities”.

I hope that you are inspired to join us too, for more inspiration my Design Teamies have created some Words/Numbers creations for you over at Try it on Tuesday, so please pop over and take a look (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing some homebrewed beer that we’ve been bottling. As you can see we have capping machine which makes short work of capping 35 to 40 bottles (grin!). This particular beer is a wheat beer which is perfect for summer but we have both amber and dark beers too (even a Porter style one which I believe some of you would prefer) – cheers and Happy T Day!

Hoping 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

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 Summer Special – ANYTHING GOES in Steampunk and Industrial mixed media challenge over at SanDee & amelie’s Steampunk Challenges.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

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

• Tim Holtz idea-ology Collage Paper (Typeset #TH94046)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Dina Wakley Mixed Media Stencil (Wheels MDS45588)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Mowed Lawn, Forest Moss, Twisted Citron)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials Clear Stamps (Steampunk DCE907125, Steampunk Background DCE907128)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (The Looking Glass SS206)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pitt Pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Feathered Friends 664433)
• White cardstock
• Daler-Rowney Acrylic Paint Marker (Gold, Silver)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Quote Chips #TH93563)
• Stix2 Glue Dots

I do like to be beside the seaside

I’m so pleased and honoured to be Guest Designer over at Country View Challenges for their I do like to be beside the seaside challenge this month.

This challenge is very fitting as I live by the sea so I decided to transport this adorable bear in his homemade Hawaiian shirt to a seaside scene inspired by where I live (grin!).

I started by covering the foreground with Ranger Texture paste to create a sandy texture. When dry I coloured it with Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed and Tea Dye Distress Inks. Then I coloured the sky using Salty Ocean Distress Ink by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page. Whilst the ink was wet I also added some Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink onto an acrylic block and pressed the block lightly onto the sky background to create the cloud effect. The sun was created using Ranger Texture Paste by applying it through a Mosaic stencil from Tim Holtz. When the texture paste was dry, I coloured it with a Canary Winsor & Newton Promarker. For the sea, I drew a straight horizon using a ruler and then coloured the sea using the Salty Ocean Distress Ink; applying it like watercolour.

The sea foam was created by applying some Pébéo white gesso and then some Liquitex Glass Bead Texture Gel over the top. I used a Funky Floral Tim Holtz Thinlet set to create the grasses from some recycled note paper that I had coloured using Mowed Lawn and Pine Needles Distress Ink and a Soft Green Winsor & Newton Promarker.

I created the bear using the Theodore Thinlet set from Tim Holtz; he was cut out of some linen textured cardstock and coloured using Ground Espresso, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, a Black Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker for his nose, eyes and eyebrows and a Putty Winsor & Newton Promarker for his ears. I hand drew the shirt and then cut it out from some design paper, re-adjusting the arm so that he was holding the ice cream which is a sticker – such fun!

The wording is cut from black paper using an Alphanumeric Label Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and to finish, I added three seagulls which were die cut from white cardstock and coloured using Cold Grey and Black Faber-Castell markers.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from the Design Team over at Country View Challenges – I hope that you are inspired by this month’s I do like to live beside the seaside challenge too and are able to join in the fun!

I feel very blessed to live by the sea, here is the view overlooking the sand dunes …

… and this is our beautiful beach with the pier in the background.

As my hubby will tell you it’s essential to have an ice cream whilst at the seaside and here are a couple of our favourite flavours – Double Chocolate and Sticky Toffee Pudding (grin!).

I have really enjoyed spending time with you today and I’d like to say a special thank you to Country View Challenges for giving me the opportunity to design for them!

Thanks so much! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Challenges

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Art Journal challenge with my seaside art journal page.

I’m pleased to join the Summer challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my summer seaside page.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too.

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

• Ranger Texture Paste
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Tea Dye, Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon, Mowed Lawn, Pine Needles, Ground Espresso, Vintage Photo, Hickory Smoke)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Liquitex Glass Bead Texture Gel
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil (Mosaic THS084)
• Winsor & Newton Promarker (Canary Y367, Soft Green  G817, Putty 0618)
• Recycled paper
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Funky Florals #1 662700, Theodore 664410, Alphanumeric Label 664177)
• Pritt Stick
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Linen Textured Cardstock)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199, Cold Grey IV 233
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Travels CR0378/18R)
• Home Bargains Puffy Sticker Sheets (Sweet like … 14227)
• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper Pad
• White card stock
• Seagull Die Cut

Always in my heart

Remembering my dear friend with much happiness, it’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since she passed away.

I started by stencilling the Shabby Harlequin patterns from Creative Expressions, first using Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and then using a mixture of Bright Aqua Blue and white acrylic paint. Then I painted the white areas around the stencilling using the aqua mixed paint too. When dry, I stamped the butterflies from Craft Sensations and outline circles from Paperbabe Stamps using Elderberry Memento Ink and the solid dots from the same Paperbabe Stamps stamp set and black Archival Ink. I added some Pébéo white gesso with my finger to push over the stamping to push the images back and add more depth to the page. Then to finish the background I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

I used a piece of design paper for the tags which I created using a Tag Collection Framelit from Tim Holtz. I edged them with a black Sharpie marker pen and then added some pink satin ribbon and an enamel dot to each tag, as well as a pretty purple flower and the wording “hello sweet friend” and “fly away” which are all stickers.

From the same piece of design paper, I cut out the rectangle detailing two birds and the words “you are” stamping some additional wording so it reads “you are always in my heart”; as you can see the “heart” is represented by a pink heart sticker from Kaisercraft. It is edged with a black Sharpie marker, stuck in place using a glue stick and decorated with a pretty purple flower from the sticker set. To finish, I added the “love” sticker from the same set and then I edged the page using the black Sharpie marker pen.

Happy times with dear friends; “Loss leaves a heartache no one can heal, loves leaves a memory no one can steal”.

Hoping that you are 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

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 Erika from her blog BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her When It’s Hot challenge this month with the hot pink that I added to my page.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Early Birds challenge with the birds that I included on my art journal page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the #123 – Photo Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the colours that I included on my page.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their For A Child challenge with the design and style of my page.

Remembering my dear friend makes me happy, so I’m entering the Do What Makes You Happy challenge over at Country View Challenges too.

Don’t forget that you still have until next Tuesday to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes 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:

• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Shabby Harlequin)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Bright Aqua Blue)
• Artist Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Docrafts Papermania Mini Clear Stamp (Everyday Assortment PMA907003 – Butterflies)
• Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (Birthday Wishes)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Elderberry)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Design Paper Paper Bundle from a local craft shop
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Sharpie Permanent Marker Fine Point (Black)
• Pink Satin Ribbon
• The Works (Pastel Enamel Dots)
• Poundland (Decorative Stickers)
• The Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (Fresh Verse PD-140)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Say Aloha SS281)
• Pritt Stick

Happy Wishes

This page send happy wishes your way to celebrate T Stands for Tuesday’s 7^th Anniversary, where our wonderful hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth ask us to share a drink related post each week. It’s so much fun meeting up with the T Gang each Tuesday, thanks so much to everyone for making it such a friendly and happy place – Happy T Day!

I started by painting a mixture of Cadmium Yellow and white acrylic paint onto the page. Then I stamped a Tiny Dot stamp from Kaisercraft using Dandelion and Angel Pink Memento Inks and black Archival Ink. I also dragged the Angel Pink Memento ink pad page over the page to add some more colour to the background. Next, as Bleubeard and Elizabeth love to recycle things, I cut some pink dotty strips and also fussy cut the teacup and little dog from an old birthday card. They are stuck in place using a glue stick and edged with a black Uni Pin marker, as was everything on this page.

I added some strips of pink hearts and the “there is no place I’d rather be” and “friends” wording which are from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet. The “7 today” is cut from the same birthday card using a Sizzix Thinlets and the pink flowers and fabric yellow hearts are from a couple of sticker sets. I added some dots around the edges of the page through a stencil using Ranger Texture Paste and when dry I painted them using white acrylic paint. To finish, I splattered the page with black and also white acrylic paint.

To celebrate the 7^th Anniversary at T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing this photo can you see my mug of green tea in the background. The pink and white dot heart on the mug and this very special little lady called Ellie reminded me of my page; needless to say this photo was taken when we were looking after her for our friends earlier this year before Lockdown. We have just started walking with our dear friends and little Ellie again as the restrictions are easing here in the UK – yay!

Here she is as a puppy, such a cutie! She has grown so much in the last year and I can’t believe that she turned one last month – Happy Birthday (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from her blog BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her When It’s Hot challenge this month as my July T Day celebration page.

I’m also entering the Do What Makes You Happy challenge over at Country View Challenges too as this page celebrate joining the T Gang for a cuppa which always makes me happy (grin!).

I’m happy to be able to join the #123 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the yellow and pink summer colours and teacup on my page.

I hope that you all are staying safe and well!

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:

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Cadmium Yellow Light Hue)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Tiny Dot CS360)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Dandelion, Angel Pink)
• Recycled Birthday Card
• Pritt Stick
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Sizzix Thinlets (Brush Numbers 661726)
• Wilko (A5 Stickers)
• Poundland (Decorative Stickers)
• Stencil (Dots)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)

Create your own sunshine

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Use Book Pages.

I had fun using some book pages to create the sun and flowers on this page; I hope that you are inspired to join us too, I can’t wait to see how you use your book pages!

For the background, I applied some Cerulean Blue and white acrylic paint using a paintbrush and left it to dry.

Then I used a book page from an old encyclopedia to create the sun; if you look closely you’ll see the page I chose was about the universe and details information about the sun. I drew around a circular tray to create the round body of the sun and then used a ruler to create the sun’s rays. They are cut out, coloured using Mustard Seed Distress Ink, stuck in place using a glue stick and outlined using a black Sharpie marker. The wording was created using some alphabet stickers which I outlined using a black Uni Pin marker.

For the flowers I used another page from the encyclopedia, this time about growth and I die cut the flower heads and leaves using a Tattered Floral Thinlets set from Tim Holtz. The flowers are coloured using Festive Berries and the leaves using Mowed Lawn Distress Inks which were applied using a blending tool. Next I doodled the stems using a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen and stuck the flower heads and leaves into place. For the centre of the flowers I used the cutouts from the centre of the lettering from the alphabet stickers. I outlined them all with a black marker so they stood out more and then to finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

For more inspiration you can see how my Design Teamies have been using book pages for their amazing creations too, so please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look (grin!).

Here we are enjoying the sunshine one evening along the seafront where we live, as T Stands for Tuesday you may have noticed the bottle of water on the wall in the background – Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping that you 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

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from her blog BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her When It’s Hot challenge this month my sunshine page.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Play With Paint challenge with the painted background on my art journal page.

I’m also entering the Do What Makes You Happy challenge over at Country View Challenges too as sunshine always makes me happy and sometimes you just have to create your own sunshine especially with all the stormy weather we’ve been having of late (grin!).

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Bright & Cheerful challenge with my happy sunshiny page.

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

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Cerulean Blue)
• Artist Discount Acylic Paint (White)
• Pears Cyclopaedia 2007-2008 Edition
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mustard Seed, Festive Berries, Mowed lawn)
• Pritt Stick
• Sharpie Permanent Marker Fine Point (Black)
• Aldi So Crafty (Alphabet Stickers – Multi-coloured)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm, 0.8mm)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Small Tattered Florals 661806)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)

Sewing Bee

I always enjoy watching The Great British Sewing Bee on the TV and now it’s finished it inspired my to create this vintage sewing page – such fun!

I started by covering the page with an old napkin using a glue stick and when dry I edged the page with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool. I added some vintage sewing designed gold outline stickers which included a pair of scissors, a thimble, needles and pins, cross-stitches, flower shapes, a cotton reel, a pin cushion and a sewing machine. The “Sewing Bee” wording was constructed using letter outline stickers too.

For the tags I covered a piece of white card with some dressmaking pattern tissue paper and some of the napkin that I used on the page background. Then I cut three different sizes of tag and some circular reinforcements using the Tim Holtz Tag Collection Framelits and my Big Shot machine. I applied some Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool to each of the die cut pieces and then collaged some sewing related Tim Holtz stickers onto the tags which I edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker so they stood out more. I added a circular reinforcement to each tag and threaded some cotton through them; the threads were leftover from some sewing that I’ve been doing. To finish, I added some outline stickers of cross-stitches, needles and pins and some the lace and silk flowers to the tags; they are stuck in place using double-sided foam tape.

If you haven’t seen or heard of The Great British Sewing Bee it’s a television programme on BBC1. It’s a spin off of The Great British Bake Off and is a reality show where amateur sewers compete to be named “Britain’s best home sewer”; they compete in a Pattern challenge, Alteration challenge and Made-to-measure challenge each week.

If you are interested you may be able to access the programmes here BBC programmes – The Great British Sewing Bee (this link may only be available to those of you who live in the UK).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m showing you my cuppa by my sewing machine, like everyone I’ve been making face masks (that’s where the leftover threads came from for my page); the material is recycled from one of my hubby’s old summer shirts (grin!).

Hope that you are 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

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 Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with my Sewing Bee page.

I’m joining the Cattywampus challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the askew tags and stickers on this page.

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

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

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

• Napkin
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Sew Retro – Gold ANT810136, Flower Blossom –Gold ANT810143)
• Outline Stickers (Alphabet – Gold)
• White Cardstock
• Style Dressmaking Pattern Tissue Paper
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• The Works (Self-Adhesive Lace Trim)
• The Range (Crafting Flowers)
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape

Mountain Scene

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Create a Scene.

There are many options for this challenge so I decided to create a summer mountain scene. As I was creating the scene I knew I had to use my favourite Merry Moose Thinlet set – such fun (grin!).

Everything on this page is coloured using Kuretake Watercolour paints even the die cut Thinlets. To start I painted the gorgeous purple mountains using Colbalt Violet and a little Ultramarine watercolour paint. When dry, I painted the meadow foreground using Sap Green and Hooker’s Green paint, layering the colours to add texture. I also transferred some of the wet green paint using a piece of kitchen towel to blend the colours together at the base of the mountains.

The trees are from the Merry Moose Thinlet set by Tim Holtz and were cut from linen textured cardstock like all of the die cut Thinlets on this page. I coloured the cardstock using a mixture of Burnt Sienna and Black paint for the trunks and added some more detail with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The tree foliage was a mixture of Sap Green and Hooker’s Green. I cut out a circle of linen cardstock for the sun and coloured it using Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Scarlet paints, when dry I painted Lemon Yellow over the top and edged it first with a Cold Grey and then a White Faber-Castell marker. The sky was painted using Ultramarine Pale paint and I gradually built up the clouds by letting each paint layer dry before adding the next to ensure the clouds got darker as I added each layer.

For the shrubs at the base of the trees, I used a Funky Florals Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and coloured them first using Sap Green allowing it to dry and then adding dots of Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Scarlet paints. The moose was from the same Merry Moose Thinlet set and I coloured him using Burnt Sienna and Black paint, I also used Yellow Ochre for his antlers. To finish, I added three Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz, they read “life was meant to be a great adventure”, “live everyday with intention” and “always take the scenic route”; they are edged with a Unipin pen.

I hope that you are inspired to join us too, for more inspiration my Design Teamies have created some amazing scenes for you over at Try it on Tuesday, so please pop over and take a look (grin!).

The mountains on this page reminded me of the purple mountains that you find in Wales, this is due to the purple slate that is found and was mined in the area. Of course the only moose that you’ll find there is the Purple Moose Brewery in Porthmadog in North Wales. As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our moose pint glasses that we often use at home to serve our home brewed beer in. They are a lovely reminder of the Purple Moose Brewery that we have visited on a few occasions, these were mementos from their Brewery Tour that we took on my birthday some years ago – Happy T day everyone!

Hoping that you are 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

I’m also happy to be able to join the #121 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page design; the bottom panel is depicted by the green foreground and the logo by the moose.

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Summer Fun challenge with my summer mountain scene.

With my moose walking through a summery meadow at the base of the mountains, I’m pleased to join in the Summer Fields challenge over at Country View Challenges too.

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

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Colbalt Violet No:139, Ultramarine No:64, Sap Green No:53, Hooker’s Green No:52, Burnt Sienna No:46, Black No:20, Cadmium Scarlet No:31, Yellow Ochre No:44, Lemon Yellow No:40, Ultramarine Pale No:61 )
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Merry Moose 663103, Funky Florals #1 662700)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Zig Memory 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• UniPin Fine Line Marker Pen (Black 0.05mm)

Beautiful Self

Inspired by a beautiful notebook that my sister bought me, I created this fun Highland cow page as a reminder to ‘Just be your beautiful self’ (grin!).

I started by taking a page out of the notebook to use as part of the collage background. I dyed the page with inks, firstly Bluebird ink for the sky and then with Leaf Green, Fern Green and Prickly Pear ink for the grass; they are all Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Inks.

As the page was lined I ripped the paper diagonally, positioning the pieces so the lines ran from left-hand side up to the right-hand side diagonally across the page. I collaged them using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium along with some torn pieces of kitchen towel and baby wipes that were used to mop up blue and green inks and paints from previous art journal pages that I had created. When dry, I painted Ultramarine and Sap Green Kuretake watercolours to add more colour to the sky and grass. The highland cow is from an old magazine and layered some of the pieces of coloured paper, kitchen towel and baby wipes over the edges to blend it into the background. As you can see, I created my page background so that it matches and blends with the felt/fabric look of the highland cow image background.

For the foliage and daisies I used a Wildflower Stems #2 Thinlet set from Tim Holtz: cutting the tall grasses from brown tissue paper and layering them on top of the background using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium; I used white cardstock for the leafy foliage which I stamped using black Archival Ink and a Finnabair Stamp, coloured using the Leaf Green, Fern Green and Prickly Pear Wendy Vecchi Blendable Inks and Mowed lawn Distress Ink, and edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; and I used some linen textured cardstock for the daisies which were coloured using the Leaf Green and Prickly Pear inks and also watered down Watering Can Wendy Vecchi Blendable Ink for the petals. Once stuck into place using a Zig glue pen, I edged the leafy foliage and daisies using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker so they stood out more. Then I added a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “Just be your beautiful self” which finished the page.

Here’s the beautiful A4 notebook that inspired my page.

You may notice that I always list the materials I use for pages at the end of my posts and as you can see here I use this type of notebook to record these details, so this gift was perfect (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m also sharing my cuppa (of Ceylon Tea) which I often enjoy whilst crafting – wishing you all a very Happy T day!

Hoping that you 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

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with the faux felt/fabric background.

I’m pleased to join in the Summer Fields challenge over at Country View Challenges with my highland cow summery field art journal page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the #121 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page; the green and blue splits the page and images.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Sprays and Splashes challenge with the splashes of green ink on the die cut foliage.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our monthly Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog too!

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

• Notebook page
• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Make Art Blendable Dye Ink (Bluebird, Prickly Pear, Leaf green, Fern Green, Watering Can)
• Recycled kitchen towel and baby wipes used to mop up inks and paints
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine No:64, Sap Green No:53)
• Old magazine
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Recycled brown tissue paper
• White cardstock
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Old Receipt #966980)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mowed Lawn)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Black 199, Cold Grey IV 23)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)

Wonderful Life

Outside our kitchen window we always have one of our seasonal garden flags displayed that our dear friends gifted us. I’ve been meaning to create an art journal page based on our summer flag for a while now, so over the weekend I got creative and this is the page that resulted – I hope you like it (grin!).

I started by applying Salty Ocean and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink using a blending tool through a doily stencil to create the circular pattern; the stencil only detailed one quarter of the doily so I stencilled it four times joining the pattern together to create a whole circle. I ensured that the blending tool was wet when applying this ink to give a washed out effect and I also graduated the ink from dark blue to light blue from the left-hand side to the right-hand side of the page to give a hombre effect. To further emphasis the hombre effect, I applied more of the Salty Ocean ink on the left-hand side of the page using a blending tool and also by stamping the ink pad directly to an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page.

When dry, I added strips of a dotty lime green washi tape and some torn pieces of a dark green striped washi tape. The pretty flowers that I stuck over the washi tape are cut from a strip of stickers from Kaisercraft. Next I stamped the background with a Music Sheet stamp from Woodware Craft Collection using Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink and also splattered the page with some Ground Espresso Distress Ink.

I created the bird using my new Feathered Friends Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and some linen textured cardstock that I had coloured using Ground Espresso, Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, Hickory Smoke and Salty Ocean Distress Ink. The quotes are from the same Kaisercraft sticker sheet and were edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; they read “Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful”, “Happy” and “Love this life” which finished the page.

This is our summer garden flag that inspired my page design; it is such a bright and happy design and makes me smile when I see it everyday (grin!).

Hoping that you are 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

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with the faux doily background and pieces of washi tape which represent my fabric garden flag.

I’m pleased to join in the Summer Fields challenge over at Country View Challenges with my summery art journal page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their It’s A Man Thing challenge with the blue, green and brown masculine colours on this page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our monthly Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste 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 (Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire, Ground Espresso, Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, Hickory Smoke)
• The Works The Craft Place (Spotted Paper Tapes)
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Patterned Craft Tape (Spots & Stripes Festive PMA462302)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Secret Garden SS283)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Music Sheet JGS111)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Ground Espresso)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Feathered Friends 664433)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Pritt Stick
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)