All Good Wishes for Christmas

We have been visiting with family across the UK to celebrate Christmas the last few days, so I thought I would create a Christmas page to wish you all the best for the holiday season!

I started by stamping the page with a Collage Number stamp from Gummiapan using Versamark Watermark ink which I dried using a heat gun; I find drying this ink with the heat gun achieves better watermark images than leaving it to dry naturally. Then I applied Paris Dusk and Teal Zeal Memento Inks using a blending tool to gradually build up the colours. The blue colours were a bit bright so I toned them down by dragging a Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink pad over the page giving it a lovely shimmer and frosty appearance. Then I stamped some snowflakes over the background using the Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink and also the Paris Dusk Memento Ink again. The pine branches are stamped using Pistachio and Cottage Ivy Memento Inks and the pine cones using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink and I also splattered the page with white DecoArt acrylic paint. Next I used my Big Shot machine to die cut: some snowflakes by Tonic Studios out of white card stock; some green holly leaves using white cardstock which I coloured using the Cottage Ivy Memento Ink and Twisted Citron Distress Ink; some holly berries from white card stock which I coloured using Love Letter Memento Ink; and finally some berry branches from white card stock and brown design paper using Tim Holtz Garden Greens Thinlets. The white snowflakes are stuck in place using a Zig Memory glue pen and I added some silver snowflake relief stickers to the background too. I arranged the other die cuts with a recycled Christmas card, which I saved from last year as I loved the vintage design, and also a pretty white and silver snowflake sticker. To finish, I added some Christmas Red Stickles from Ranger to the holly berries to give them some glittery sparkle.

We found some lovely Christmas displays at our local garden centre this year, I love this one with the pretty snowflake lights and ceiling, and of course the owls!

This vintage style flower display looks very festive with the poinsettias and jewel colours.

It seems that upside-down trees are all the rage this year too (grin!).

We went to this local garden centre on our way to Garstang where we went to the Royal Oak for lunch. We sat in one of the little rooms off the bar which contained this beautiful stained glass window, isn’t it amazing! The drinks that are included in the window design means that I can join the T Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday too – Happy T Day!

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:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth who blog at Altered Book Lover are hosting My Favorite Season, or ‘Tis the Season challenge over at Art Journal Journey, so I’m pleased to join them with Christmas page!

I’m joining the Christmas Challenge over at The Artistic Stamper as I included stamping on my Christmas Wishes page.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the Christmas challenge fun over at Country View Challenges with my festive page.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Christmas challenge with my Christmassy art journal page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Anything Goes so I’m happy to be able to join this challenge with my Christmas page.

I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps too.

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:

• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Paris Dusk, Teal Zeal, Pistachio, Cottage Ivy, Rich Cocoa, Love Letter)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Pigment Ink (Platinum Planet)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Twisted Citron)
• Woodland Christmas Stamp Set from Clear Impressions
• Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (Falling Snowflakes 1792e)
• Cut & Create Festive Collection (5×5 Dies Holly)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Garden Greens 661206)
• White card stock
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CR0701/16PL1)
• Recycled Christmas card
• Crelando Relief Stickers (IAN289011)
• The Works (Christmas Embellishments)
• Ranger Stickles (Christmas Red)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Stix2 double-sided tape and mini glue dots
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Advertisements

Guess Who’s Coming? …. Santa

As Santa is on his way, over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Guess Who’s Coming? …. Santa, where you will find some amazing creations from my Design Team teamies to inspire you!

We would like to see a Santa somewhere on your creations, so here’s my Santa related art journal page – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the page with some Santa decoupage paper using a glue stick. Then I used some green card from a topper set which I cut into a rectangle and some strips, they are all edged with gold border outline stickers. I stuck them in place using double-sided tape along with a framed Santa image from the same topper set and an envelope addressed to Santa. Next I embellished the page with some gold relief stickers; this included Santa’s sleigh filled with gifts, snowflakes and stars and also some holly and candy canes which I added to the background. To finish, I added three 3D stickers of a candy cane, some holly and a little robin.

This pretty shop is in Lytham and is full of interesting items for the garden; it always has lovely displays that cascade onto the street front. It’s where our friends bought the metal Mushrooms for our garden, you can see them here.

It reminded me of my page with all the Santa memorabilia (grin!).

We always enjoy meeting up with our friends for a walk and a drink so whilst walking in Lytham we went to a café called Zest.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m joining the T Gang with my hubby’s hot chocolate – yum!  Happy T Day everyone!

Sorry I haven’t been around the last week or so, my Dad has had heart surgery and I’ve been busy visiting him and helping my mum whilst he has been in hospital. I’m pleased to say he is home now and doing ok – yay!

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:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth who blog at Altered Book Lover are hosting My Favorite Season, or ‘Tis the Season challenge over at Art Journal Journey, so I’m pleased to join them with my festive Santa page!

I’m pleased to be able to join the Christmas challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Santa page.

With all the pretty gold stars I added to my page I’m joining in the fun over at A Vintage Journey and their Star Light Star Bright challenge; I was inspired by Santa and used a Mixed Media style.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Warm Winter Wishes challenge with my Santa art journal page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Anything Goes so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my festive page.

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

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

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

• First Edition Paper Deco Mache Decoupage Paper (FEDEC282X17)
• Hunkydory Crafts Christmas Past Luxury Card and Topper Collection (He’s Checking His List PAST903)
• Pound Stretcher (Letter to Santa Pack 2-98195)
• White card stock
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Straight Line Borders Gold ANT8101016)
• Crelando Relief Stickers (Gold IAN289011)
• Docrafts Papermania 3D Stickers (A Christmas Wish PMA801901)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Merry Moose Winter Wonderland

Our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks is Winter Wonderland, where you will find some amazing creations from my Design Team teamies!

For my art journal page, I had so much fun creating a winter wonderland for my Merry Moose. I fell in love with this Merry Moose die set from Tim Holtz as soon as I saw it and finally succumbed to purchasing it last week, so I just couldn’t wait to use it and it didn’t disappoint – I love it (grin!).

To start, I stamped the pretty snowflakes using the Simon Says Stamp Frozen Fractals stamp set and Versamark Watermark ink which I covered with white Stampendous embossing powder. I shook and tapped any excess powder off the page and then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder until it became smooth and dimensional with a glossy finish. Next I positioned a circular stencil onto the page to depict the sun and also a hand cut paper template to mask out the foreground. Then I painted the sky background using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour paint set; I did this by wetting the page with water first and then applying Ultramarine Pale, Ultramarine and Turquoise Blue colours using my paintbrush, gradually shading and blending the paints so that they were lighter around the sun. When dry, I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and then I defined the edge of the foreground more using Paris Dusk and Danube Blue Memento Inks and a blending tool. I removed the foreground mask and also added another line of snow using a mask and the same inks. I added some colour to the snowflakes in the foreground by painting them with the Ultramarine and Turquoise Blue watercolours too. For the sun I applied a light wash of Lemon Yellow watercolour paint and when dry, I covered it with some Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink to add some shine. The wording is stamped using the blue Memento Inks again and overlaid with the Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink and I added a little of the Turquoise Blue watercolour paint to the letters so that it colour matched the background more.

The trees are die cut using the Merry Moose Thinlets by Tim Holtz from Sizzix and my Big Shot Machine. I used some brown wood effect paper from Tim Holtz and also some blue glittery paper for the dripping snow dies; they are stuck to the page using a Zig Memory glue pen. Next I added a puffy snow effect using Inkylicious Fluffy Puffy Stuff which you apply and then heat with a heat gun to make it 3-dimensional; it was so much fun seeing the snow come to life (grin!). I also die cut some snowflakes out of the same blue glitter paper and embellished them with the Fluffy Puffy Stuff too and then stuck them to the page. I really need to use the fluffy puffy stuff again, just so I can write fluffy puffy some more (double grin!).

To finish, I added the Merry Moose which is die cut three times, once out of cream linen finish card stock and then twice out of white card stock; I layered them together so the linen finish was on the top. I masked off his antlers and then coloured him using Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Inks blending the colours with a blending tool. Then I removed the masking tape and coloured the antlers with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I stuck him in place and then decided that he needed a scarf to keep him warm, so I used the harness die cut from the Thinlet set and fashioned one together using the blue glitter paper and white card stock which I coloured with the Paris Dusk Memento Ink. It was fiddly to make but I think it completes his look beautifully, don’t you (grin!).

We have been lucky enough to see moose several times in the wild on our travels to America and so I love everything moose! We have a few moose items around the house from our travels too including these beautiful mugs which we were purchased at Booth Bay in Maine. Today they are filled with hot chocolate that has Pumpkin Spice syrup in it and topped with whipped cream – yum! As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a very happy T Day!

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 lovely Erika from BioArtGal, who is hosting the Vintage or Modern challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my modern Christmas page!

I’m also joining in the fun over at Moo Mania & More and their Tic, Tac, Toe theme (Designer Paper – Glistening Season from Tim Holtz Paper Stash, Die-Cut – Merry Moose, Circles – on the scarf and the sun).

I’m also pleased to join A Vintage Journey and their Paper Stash challenge this month as I was inspired by my new Tim Holtz Merry Moose Thinlets so used the linen and glitter papers that have been in my craft stash for a while as well as the Tim Holtz Paper Stash pad to create my Mixed Media style page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Winter Wonderland so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my Merry Moose Winter Wonderland page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Baby It’s Cold Outside challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with as it must be cold with my Merry Moose wearing his scarf (grin!).

With the embossing powder that I used for my pretty stamped snowflakes, I’m also joining Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their Resist It challenge too.

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

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

• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Stampendous Embossing Powder Basics (Detail White Opaque DP100)
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine Pale, Ultramarine, Turquoise Blue, Lemon Yellow)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Paris Dusk, Danube Blue)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Pigment Ink (Platinum Planet)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Antique Linen)
• Faber-Castell Craft Stamper Big Brush Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Derwent Graphic Marker (black 0.05mm)
• Inkylicious (Fluffy Puffy Stuff)
• Simon Says Stamp Clear Stamp Set (Frozen Fractals SSS101694)
• Inkylicious Stencil (Sun & Moons)
• Winter Wonderland Stamp Set (free with Craft Stampers magazine No:62)
• Tim Holtz Alterations Sizzix Thinlets (Merry Moose 663103)
• Dovecraft Cutting Dies (Merry Christmas DCDIE052X16)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Paper Stash (Halloween #TH93712)
• Blue Glitter Paper
• Cream Linen Card Stock
• White Card Stock
• Zig Memory System Chisel Tip Glue Pen
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• Ranger Heat Gun
• Sizzix Big Shot

Good Wishes for Christmas

I’m so delighted to be guest designing over at Swedish House Crafts today!

With the Christmas season almost upon us, I created an art journal page inspired by the Glistening Season Pion Design papers, a Gummiapan stamp, some of my favourite colours of Tsukineko Inks and also some pretty Swedish House Crafts Fabric Flowers – I hope you like it!

If you would like to see how this page came together, the full process is detailed below.

To start I tried out a new technique which was great fun; I stamped the Reed Plant stamp from Gummiapan onto the background of the page using Versamark Watermark ink which I dried using a heat gun (I found drying the ink with a heat gun achieved better watermark images). Then I applied Paris Dusk and Teal Zeal Memento Inks using a blending tool, gradually building up the colour which made the reed images that I had stamped appear (grin!).

Next I stamped the Gummiapan stamp over the page again using the Paris Dusk and Teal Zeal Memento Inks. As I wanted more of a grungy vintage look, I dragged Rich Cocoa Memento ink pad over the edges of the page, then I applied the same ink to a blending mat, spritzed with water and pressed the mat onto the page. I also flicked some of this watered down ink using a paintbrush onto the page, along with some splatters of Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint.

With my background complete, I cut out some of the tags and images from the Glistening Seasons Pion Design paper and used scissors and Rich Cocoa and Toffee Crunch Memento Ink to distress the edges. Then I arranged these papers onto the page with some pieces of doily and die cut foliage using double-sided tape; for the foliage I used the reverse side of the Pion Design paper which was a lovely silver-grey colour and also some dark green paper from my craft stash.

I used the reverse side of the Pion Design paper again to create my snowflakes along with some blue vellum that was left over from a previous project using a die cut and my Big Shot machine. I also created a wreath and little fir-tree twigs from the remnants of the holly die cuts which was fun and a bit fiddly (grin!).

To finish the page, I added the snowflakes, wreath and twigs to the page along with some little blue gems, a bow, the blue Swedish House Crafts Fabric Flowers and three hearts which were cut from the Pion Design paper.

I’d like to thank Swedish House Crafts for having me as part of their Guest Design Team – Happy Crafting!

The Glistening Season paper design, that I used on my page, reminded me of some Christmas displays at a Garden Centre that we visit every year with family, isn’t this winter scene beautiful!

These little gnomes were really cute too …

… and not forgetting Santa Claus (grin!).

It’s hard to believe that there are only five weeks left until Christmas, but before I get carried away with thinking about Christmas … I just wanted to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are celebrating today!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal, who is hosting the Vintage or Modern challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my vintage Christmas page!

I’m joining in the fun over at Moo Mania & More and their Tic, Tac, Toe theme (Designer Paper – Glistening Season from Pion Design, Die-Cut – foliage and snowflakes, Circles – snowflakes and gems).

I’m also pleased to join A Vintage Journey and this month’s Paper Stash challenge as I was inspired by the pretty Glistening Season Pion Design papers to create my Vintage style page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Winter Wonderland so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my wintry Christmas page.

I’m also joining the lovely Wen and her Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutral Christmas focal papers (I hope you don’t mind the pop of colour from my blue wintry background).

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Baby It’s Cold Outside challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my frosty snowy art journal page.

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:

• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Paris Dusk, Team Zeal, Rich Cocoa)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Gummiapan Stamps (Reed Plant
• Foliage Dies – Spellbinders (unknown), Cut & Create (Holly, Wreath)
• Snowflake Dies – Dovecraft (Merry Christmas DCDIE052X16)
• Pion Design Glistening Season Collection (Tags – PD6612)
• Doily
• Dark green paper
• Blue Vellum
• Swedish House Crafts (Fabric Flower Spots)
• Blue round gems
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Stix2 double-sided tape and mini glue dots
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Winter to Spring

I started this page sometime ago; it’s been sitting on my craft table these past three weeks waiting patiently for me, which is quite ironic given the quote I had chosen to use (grin!).

You may remember we had snow and storms during February/March despite the fact that spring should be just around the corner, which inspired my design.

I started by covering half of the page with a piece of paper depicting snowflakes from a design pad and the other half with a piece of magazine cover depicting cherry blossom, they are stuck into place using a UHU Stic. Then I stamped a star border from Dovecraft and also the “Winter” and “Spring” wording using an alphabet stamp set from Hampton Art and VersaMark Watermark stamp pad which I covered with Stampendous white embossing powder. I shook off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper and also tapped the page to make sure any stray powder was removed. Then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional. Next I added some silver stars to the edges and centre of the page which are outline stickers. For the central image I used the VersaMark ink and white embossing powder again to add blossoms and snowflakes to the opposite sides of a piece of mixed media paper. Then I coloured the paper using Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean Distress Inks with a blending tool. I used my Big Shot to die cut a panel and some round shapes from this paper and also a smaller panel from an American Crafts design pad. I edged them all using the Distress Inks and a blending tool and also a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stamped an Art Deco lady in the centre of the smaller panel using black Archival Ink to represent Mother Nature. I also stamped the quote onto the leftover mixed media paper and cut the words out; they are edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck to the page using a UHU Gluepen. The quote is by Ralph Waldo Emerson and reads “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience”. To finish, I added some silver snowflakes, pink paper blossoms and clear jewel stickers to add some sparkle.

As you can see we didn’t get much snow during the storms. We live right by the sea and I think because of our location, being in a flat part of the country and surrounded on three sides by hills and mountains (Lake District, Pennines and Welsh Mountains) we miss out on the snow as it falls in those places before it gets to us. We found that Storm Emma was the worst thing with very high winds which increased the chill factor – brrrr!

With the cold weather of late and having been unwell with the flu, I have found myself wishing for warmer weather so let’s hope Spring is here soon!

Also I really appreciate all your kindness and get well wishes for my dad who is much better now, thank 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 Rosie from Rosie’s Bastelwelt who is hosting the Spring challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

With the focal images being stamped I’m also happy to be able to join Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their Springtime challenge.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Allsorts Challenge Blog and their Bring on the Bling challenge with my sparkly and blingy art journal page.

With all the pink blossoms on my art journal page, I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Floral Frenzy challenge.

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:

• Tsukeniko VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Dovecraft Studio G Designer Clears Stamps (DCRS86)
• Hampton Art Mini Wood Peg Rubber Stamps (Alphabet Set #1037)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Stampendous Cling Rubber Stamps (Blossom Spray CRP136)
• BoBunny Stamps (Snow Day 13705563)
• Craft Sensations Clear Stamps (CR0274/16PL4)
• Spellbinders Nestabilities (Labels Thirty S5-157, Unknown)
• Old Magazine
• Poundland Design Pad (Pure Frozen CR0701/16PL4)
• Crelando Relief Stickers (12 Sheets IAN289011)
• The Works (Mini Paper Flower Embellishments)
• The Works (Jewel Stickers)
• The Works (Christmas Embellishments)
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers)
• UHU Stic
• UHU Gluepen
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Melt It! – Four Seasons

I’m so excited and honoured to be a Pinworthy Guest Designer over at A Vintage Journey and my seasonal heart decorations are inspired by their challenge – Melt It! Julia is the host for this challenge and kindly provided the following brief:

This month we’re asking everyone to MELT IT! Get out the UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel), beeswax, encaustic wax, embossing powders or good old wax crayons and a heat tool and get melting to create something in a vintage; shabby; mixed media; art journaling; industrial, timeworn or steampunk style.

So today I’m sharing how I created a heart decoration for each of the four seasons and as I love creating my art journal pages and projects using mixed media, I chose to create these decorations in the Mixed Media Style for A Vintage Journey. I had so much fun melting both embossing powder for the backgrounds and also embossing enamels for the birds on my Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter decorations (grin!).

These decorations are wonderful additions to the seasonal window displays that I create throughout the year, which you may be aware of from my previous post.

I started by stamping the heart tags with different stamps using Emboss ink, the stamps included: a rose design from a Penny Black stamp set for spring; flowers and swirls from the same Penny Black stamp set and also a flower design from Hampton Art for summer; some leaves from Royal & Langnickel for autumn and finally snowflakes from BoBunny for winter. I covered each of them with white Stampendous embossing powder, shook off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper and also tapped the heart to make sure any stray powder was removed. Then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder by sweeping the gun over the stamped images, taking care not to direct the heat in one area for too long until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional. I repeated the same process to decorate the back of the heart too, making sure I suspended the heart when heating the embossing powder to ensure the reverse side did not stick to my craft mat. Next I applied two different Memento Inks for each of the hearts using a blending tool, which emphasised the melted embossing powder beautifully. The ink colours I used were Pistachio and Angel Pink for spring, Lilac Posies and Dandelion for summer, Morocco and Toffee Crunch for autumn and Summer Sky and London Fog for winter.

The branches and foliage for spring, autumn and winter are die cut using Garden Greens Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz from different design papers with my new Big Shot machine. They are coloured using Spectrum Aqua markers which I applied like watercolour by scribbling the marker onto an acrylic block and picking up the ink with a wet paintbrush; the colours I used were Bud Green and Moss for spring, Chestnut and Sepia for autumn and Chocolate for winter. I used some tiny maple leaves that I had in my craft stash to decorate the autumn branch which I coloured using Crimson, Orange and Gold Spectrum Aqua Markers. All of these paper elements are stuck to the heart using a Zig Memory System glue pen. For summer, I used some sunflower border stickers by Docrafts Papermania.

For the birds, I used some wooden bird shapes which I covered in Emboss ink and Stampendous Frantage embossing enamel; this enamel was a Christmas present so this is the first time I had used it and I love it, it’s such an amazing medium to use (grin!). I shook off the excess enamel pieces and then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing enamel until it melted to a smooth glossy finish. Be careful not to touch the melted embossing enamel until cooled as it gets very hot when heated. For spring I used Aged Hunter, for summer Aged Silver, for autumn Aged Marine and winter Aged Scarlet. The birds are stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents.

Next I embellished the spring branches with some pretty flower beads to represent spring blossoms using Glossy Accents and the winter berries using Christmas Red Stickles from Ranger. The wording is stamped onto thick paper using a Dovecraft alphabet stamp set and different Memento Inks; Rich Cocoa for spring, Cottage Ivy for summer, Elderberry for autumn and Blue Danube for winter. They are stuck down using the Zig Memory System glue pen. To finish, I added a piece of white paper twine and also threaded some flower, metal and bevelled glass beads on a piece of thread and tied them with some ribbons around the twine.

I really enjoyed joining A Vintage Journey to Melt It! and create my Four Seasons heart decorations. I hope you are inspired by this month’s challenge too and are able to join in the fun!

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 these decorations:

• Tsukeniko Emboss Embossing Ink Pad (Clear)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch, Angel Pink, Rich Cocoa, Lilac Posies, Dandelion, Cottage Ivy, Morocco, Toffee Crunch, Elderberry, Summer Sky, London Fog, Danube Blue)
• Stampendous Frantage Embossing Enamel Holiday Kit (Aged Hunter, Aged Silver, Aged Marine, Aged Scarlet)
• Spectrum Aqua Markers (Bud Green, Moss, Crimson, Orange, Gold, Chestnut, Sepia, Chocolate)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Penny Black Stamp Set (Clearly in Love 30-009)
• Hampton Art Studio G Clear Stamps (Series 11 VS4911)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Pressed Leaves MIN-CCS102)
• BoBunny Stamps (Snow Day 13705563)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Garden Greens 661206)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Crafter’s Companion Luxury Designer Paper Pad (Angelica & Adam Collection A&A-PAP6-M)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Design Block)
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CR0701/16PL1)
• Wilko (5 Heart Gift Tags)
• Craft for Occasions (C2026 – wooden bird and bunnies)
• Docrafts Papermania Signature 3D Floral Borders (Sunflower Burst PMA8011000)
• The Brighton Bead Shop (Assorted beads – flower, glass, metal, bevelled)
• Thick black thread
• Recycled ribbons from Christmas Crackers
• Satin ribbon (Green, Pink, Tan, Blue)
• Ranger Stickles (Christmas Red)
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (The Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• UHU Glue Pen

Valentine’s

To celebrate Valentine’s Day tomorrow I created this art journal page and I used my winter window display as inspiration too as it looks so pretty with the red hearts and white snowflakes (double grin!).

Over at Try it on Tuesday, our current theme is Love is in the Air (think Hearts, Valentine’s Day, Love etc) and there is still another week to join in the fun, so it would be great to see you there!

I started by covering the page in a thin layer of Pébéo white gesso in preparation for the Faber-Castell Gelatos that I added next. Once dry, I graduated the Gelato colours using Iced Currant around the edges of the page then Iced Rosé then Metallic Icing in the centre using a sponge to blend them. Next I stamped some bars of music and a scroll border from Penny Black and also an “I Love You!” stamp by Hampton Art using black Archival Ink. I stamped my favourite circle and heart design from Sugarloaf Inc. using a VersaMark watermark stamp pad and covered it with white Stampendous embossing powder making sure any excess powder was removed using a paintbrush. Once the excess powder was safely returned to its container, I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder. I swept the gun over the stamped images, taking care not to direct the heat in one area for too long until the embossing powder melted to a glossy finish and became smooth and dimensional. Then I used some silver metallic rub-on transfers from Royal & Langnickel to add the “Forever & Ever” and “Love” wording and also some hugs and kisses. For my snowflakes I used a trio snowflake die from Tonic Studios and some recycled white card. They are stuck to the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium and I finished them using some pretty glitter and silver snowflakes and also some sparkly jewel stickers. For the small hearts, I used a paper punch from Tonic Studios and some recycled red card and stuck them in place using the matte gel medium again. The cupid heart and postcard are from a card making kit by Docrafts and are stuck in place using double-sided tape. I also added an “I Love You” sticker to the postcard which is by Graphic 45. The chalkboard heart is a tag and I tied a red piece of leather into a bow and added our initials which are foam sticker letters. I coloured the letters using red Stickles in the centre and then edged them with silver Stickles using a very steady hand (grin!). I added three red hearts, to the focal images, which are punched from the same red card using another paper punch from Tonic Studios and also some more sparkly jewel embellishments to the background which finished the page.

I love our Valentine’s window display this year; it looks extra special with the lovely winter decorations that I made and the beautiful “G” and “J” initial decorations that were bought for us for Christmas.

The red hearts and white of the decorations and snowflakes look lovely together and the snowflakes seem even more relevant as we have snow forecast for this week too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m also sharing his and hers hot chocolates – normal  hot chocolate for hubby and white hot chocolate for me (grin!) – Happy T day!

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 in the fun over at Moo Mania and More and their Valentine’s challenge.

As I included red on my page, I’m also joining the Roses are Red (use the colour Red) challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

I’m pleased to be able to join Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their It Must Be Love challenge with my Valentine’s inspired art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join the Photo Inspiration challenge over at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge.

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:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Iced Currant, Iced Rosé, Metallic Icing)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Script Metallic Pen (Silver)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Sugarloaf Inc. Anita’s wood-mounted stamp (26645)
• Penny Black Stamp Set (Clearly in Love 30-009)
• Hampton Art Studio G clear stamps (VS4911)
• Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (Falling Snowflakes 17920)
• Red and white card (recycled Christmas cards)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Kisses and Hugs Silver #ROY790SV)
• Docrafts Papermania 6×6” Decoupage Card Kit (Victorian Valentine PMA169102)
• Graphic 45 Cardstock Stickers (Place in Time 4500617)
• Tonic Studios Paper Punch Accent (Hearts Sider 830E, Classic Heart Sider 858E)
• The Works (Chalkboard Heart Tags, Christmas Embellishments, Jewel Stickers)
• Trimcraft Alphabet & Number Stickers (Glitter – Gold SCSTK013)
• Ranger Stickles (Christmas Red, Silver)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Docrafts Stick It! double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape