Love with all your heart

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing my second art journal page for this month’s Hearts and Flowers challenge.

I started by covering the chipboard background using Botanicals Collage Paper by Tim Holtz and Liquitex matte gel medium. When dry, I coloured the flowers using some colourful Spectrum Noir markers and a white gel pen and then I added some shadows and edged the page using a Ground Espresso Distress Ink. Next I stuck the three sparky Gumdrop Hearts by Tim Holtz onto the page and I added the wording “Love with all your heart” which was from a Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker book. To finish, I added some Ranger Glossy Accents to the flowers which highlighted the colours beautifully.

I hope you are inspired to join our Hearts and Flowers challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts.

This glass heart hangs in my dining room and was gifted me by a very dear friend as a house warming present many years ago; it reminds me of my page.

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link. You can also check out the Tim Holtz products that I used over at Country View Crafts too.

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover over at Art Journal Journey and her What’s Your Style challenge this month with my romantic style page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #160 – Anything Goes challenge with my hearts and flowers page.

Love Is In The Air challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my love inspired page.

Funkie Frilly Valentines over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog with my vintage valentine page of frilly flower petals and glittery hearts.

Always & Forever

It’s time for our new challenge this month over at Country View Challenges which is Hearts and Flowers.

Jane is our host for this month and she would like to see BOTH hearts and flowers on your creations. We look forward to seeing what you make and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the Country View Crafts shop! Before you enter, please read the rules!

I started by painting the background with Brushed Sage Distress Ink which I had watered down like watercolour. Then I added Rustic Wilderness and Twisted Citron Distress Ink using a blending tool through a Heart Cluster Mini Stencil by Creative Expressions. I added the stamping using a Fragments stamp set by Tim Holtz and black Archival Ink. Next I die cut the poinsettias and foliage using a Festive Bouquet Thinlits set from Kraft Paper, both by Tim Holtz, and added more colour and detail using Spectrum Noir markers. The tiny red hearts were created using a Falling Hearts Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and arranged vertically so they cascaded down the page. To finish, I added the wording from a Metallic Sticker Book by Tim Holtz which read “Always & Forever” …”In my heart” and “Love you” … “XOXO”.

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

Here’s a couple of the products from Country View Crafts that I used to create this page. I love the poinsettia Thinlits from this Festive Bouquet set; they turned out so beautifully.

I often have a cuppa whilst crafting so I included my cup of tea to join the T Gang today over at T Stands For Tuesday too – Happy T Day everyone!

Stay safe and well! x

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

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #160 – Anything Goes challenge with my hearts and flower page.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes Challenge with my Always and Forever art journal page.

How long is forever?

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Add A Quote; we are not looking for a one or two word greeting.

I created an art journal page inspired by a quote from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Alice asks “How long is forever?” and the White Rabbit replies “Sometimes just one second”.

For the background, I started by stamping the clocks using a Provincial stamp set by Kaisercraft and Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink and also a Steampunk stamp set from Docrafts and Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink. Next I added some cogs and wheels through a stencil by Paperbabe Stamps using Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Then I used the corresponding template from the same Paperbabe Stamps Stencil set to apply Scattered Straw Distress Ink. I sprayed some water over the top and used a kitchen towel to mop it up which gave the background more of a blurry/grungy look. I used a Fragments stamp set from Tim Holtz to add the pretty wallpaper detail, over the Scattered Straw Distress Ink, using Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Ink. I then coloured the clock faces by painting them, like watercolour, with some Hickory Smoke Distress Ink.

The little girl was a Maryleedee in Wonderland stamp from Paperbabe Stamps which Kim kindly sent me as one of my prizes for winning her challenge over at the Paperbabe Stamps blog. She was coloured using Spectrum Noir markers, fussy cut and then stuck in place.

For the quote, I used a Bellissima Alphas stamp set by Docrafts which I stamped on some recycled playing cards; I applied Pébéo white gesso to the playing cards and when dry, the words were stamped over the top using black Archival Ink. I cut the words into tiles and edged them with some Ground Espresso Distress Ink and then I coloured the letters using Spectrum Noir markers before arranging them onto the page.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see all the quotes my Design Teamies used on their wonderful creations too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

My page reminded me of Alices, where we used to go for afternoon tea (grin!). Unfortunately this café closed before the lockdown which is such a shame as it was an amazing place.

There was so much thought and detail with regards to design – there were stairs on the ceiling and chairs as lights, upside down electric plug sockets, beautifully decorated furniture and even the door fittings were back to front!

There afternoon tea was served on mismatched china and consisted of a delicious selection of sandwiches, crisps (chips) and salad, scones with jam, cream and strawberries as well as a selection of cakes and a big pot of tea – yum! As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m reminiscing about Alices and our afternoon tea with the T Gang and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

Hope 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.

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey and the lovely Erika from BioArtGal who is hosting this month with her Let’s Face It challenge as Marydeelee in Wonderland is on my page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #159 – Anything Goes challenge with my Wonderland page – thanks so much for the stamp!

Love To Scrap Challenge Blog and their LTSCB #153 – Anything Goes challenge with my Alice page.

Out with the Old, in with the New over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the new Marydeelee stamp and old clock stamps and recycled playing cards that I used as part of my design.

Anything Stamping Goes with the option of Wings challenge over at We Love Stamping all the stamping on my art journal page.

Autumn Blessings

I feel very blessed to have won one of the challenges over at Paperbabe Stamps and I choose some Maryleedee stamps from the Paperbabe Stamps shop as my prize, which are just perfect for colouring (grin!).

Today I’m featuring this super cute Maryleedee as part of my windy autumn scene.

I started by covering the background with some leftover Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and then I used Burnt Sienna, Black, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Scarlett and Hooker’s Green Kuretake watercolour paints to paint the autumn trees and green foreground. The leaves were die cut using a Fall Foliage Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some leftover mixed media paper that had been coloured using Tea Dye Distress Ink. I added more colour to the leaves using the Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Scarlett watercolour paints and then I arranged them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium, making them swirl in the wind. I also used the paper that I had die cut the leaves from to stencil Rusty Hinge Distress Ink onto the tree foliage. The wording “Autumn Blessings” was created using some letters from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet.

I stamped the Paperbabe Stamps Marydeelee stamp onto a piece of mixed media paper using black Archival Ink. She was coloured using TriBlend Spectrum Noir marker pens; the colours were Gold Brown Blend for her hair, Alpine Green Blend for her eyes, Fair Skin Blend for her face, arms and legs, Dark Red Blend for her lips and boots, True Blue Blend for her dress and Gold Yellow Blend for the bow. To finish, I cut her out, stuck her in place and added a bit more detail to her dress using a white gel pen.

The Maryleedee stamp was so much fun to use and colour; I love the way she turned out! Aren’t her boots fabulous; my hubby often calls me cute as I tend to hold my feet like that too (grin!).

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today with my page:

Art Journal Journey and lovely Chris from http://pearshapedcrafting.blogspot.com/ who is hosting this month with her All Kinds of Weather challenge with my windy autumnal page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #156 – Anything Goes with my Maryleedee page – thanks so much for the stamps!

Trees challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the painted autumnal trees that I added to this page.

Make Your Own Background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the autumnal background I created using inks and watercolour for this page.

LTSCB #151 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my Autumn Blessings page.

Look for the magic

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Make it Magical.

For this challenge, I sprinkled some fairy dust so this pretty fairy could sit on the moon amongst the stars; I hope are inspired to join our challenge too, it would be lovely to see you there!

For my fairy dust background I used an Airbrush Pen Set to spray purple, green, dark green, magenta and yellow felt tip pens onto the page. Next I stamped the stars using a Christmas Time Tim Holtz stamp set and Lilac Roses, Elderberry and Dandelion Memento Inks. I fussy cut the fairy image and then coloured the moon using Yellow and Sunflower Spectrum Aqua markers, and the fairy using Earth Brown and Golden Brown Spectrum Noir TriBlend markers for her hair and Ice Blue and Turquoise Green TriBlend markers for her wings. The “Look for the magic” wording was from a Sentiments Word Sticker Pad by Finnabair and it was edged with the Ice Blue and Turquoise Green TriBlend markers. To finish, I added a pearl gemstone to the centre of each of the stamped stars.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Make it Magical creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too.

Using the airbrush set was so much fun; you simply fit one of the felt tip pens into the slot and then press the button to spray the colour. It was a surprise present from my hubby and very easy to use (grin!).

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

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today with my page:

Art Journal Journey and lovely Chris from http://pearshapedcrafting.blogspot.com/ who is hosting this month with her All Kinds of Weather challenge with my clear starry night page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #155 – Anything Goes with my magical page.

LTSCB #151 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my fairy page.

Mr Frost Tags

It’s a new month so we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for November which is Christmas Gifting (anything but a card).

This challenge is being hosted this month by the lovely Miriam who says “this could be a handmade gift or even packaging for a Christmas gift – no cards this month”.

I can’t believe that Christmas is nearly here so it was nice to get a head start making these fun Snowman Tags for this years Christmas presents.

I started by die cutting the snowman using a Mr. Frost Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some white and black linen textured the paper. I also die cut the main body of the snowman, hat and scarf again from some cardstock to back the tag and provide more strength.

I coloured the edges of the main body of the snowman with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink using a blending tool, the scarf and hat band using red and green TriBlend Spectrum Noir markers, his carrot nose using Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and the twig arms using Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The die cut pieces were layered together using Liquitex matte gel medium and I added a holly gemstone embellishment to the hat.

I used a We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile Hole Punch & Eyelet Setter to punch a hole in the hat and threaded through a piece of black paper twine. The wording on the back of the tags was stamped using a Sketch Greenery stamp set from Tim Holtz and black Archival Ink.

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

I hope you are inspired to join our Christmas Gifting (anything but a card) challenge too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

I love how these tags turned out and can’t wait to add them to Christmas Presents this year. Here’s how they are currently displayed in my craft room; it looks like they will make wonderful Christmas tree decorations too (grin!).

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

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

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Country View Crafts also sell both the Mr. Frost Sizzix Thinlits Set by Tim Holtz and the Sketch Greenery stamp set by Tim Holtz that I used to create these tags.

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and their Challenge #104 – Anything Christmas Goes with my Christmas tags.

Any Holiday Occasion over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my snowman Christmas tags.

Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #155 – Anything Goes with my festive tags.

MLCCB #40 – Anything Christmas Goes over at Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog with my Mr. Frost Christmas tags.

Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog with my Mr. Frost tags.

Be forever happy

It’s a new month so we are launching our September challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, this is a monthly challenge and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I created a mixed media page using lots of leftovers from previous art journal pages; I hope you like it!

I started by covering the background of the page with the letters using one of stencils from a #16 mini stencil set by Tim Holtz and some leftover Iced Coffee Faber-Castell Gelato which was applied with a baby wipe.

Next I edged 4 Poster Cards from Tim Holtz, like I did all the paper elements on this page, using a black Faber-Castell marker and arranged them onto the page using double-sided tape. Then I added lots of leftover bits and pieces; this included a piece of mixed media paper which had been coloured using green Distress Inks, some flowers and foliage that had been die cut using Tim Holtz Thinlits and coloured using Distress Inks, some ribbon, some torn paper, some tissue paper and note paper that had been stamped using Finnabair stamps and black Archival Ink, a ruler from a Kaisercraft Journal Card and some die cut pieces of trellis that had been covered with Aged Silver Stampendous Embossing Enamel.

They were arranged onto the page using a glue stick or double-sided tape, and I layered together a doily, a recycled butterfly gift tag and some leftover die cut letters and wording to read “Be forever happy”. I added some sparkly gems to the centre of the yellow flowers and a green wooden bird and then to finish, I coloured the “Aug” and “Sept” wording on the Poster Card using Tri-Blend Spectrum Noir markers.

As you can see I used lots of different mediums to create this page but all you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. I hope you are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

This page was inspired by our walks at Lytham Hall that we enjoyed over the summer (grin!).

There are lots of woodland walks so we were able to stay cool in the shade and out of the summer heat. I’m now looking forward to seeing the leaves change to their colours over the coming months with the autumn on its way.

Our walks also take us by these flower borders in the walled gardens which always look so beautiful (grin!).

I hope 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.

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #151 – Anything Goes with my nature art journal page. De-stress with distressing over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my distressed grungy stencilled background, Distress Inks, and also the torn papers, trellis and ribbon. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Glimmer and Sparkle challenge with the glimmer and sparkle of the yellow flowers with their glittery gem centres. LTSCB #149 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my leftovers page. Mixed Media Lovers and their Challenge #5 Mixed Media Lovers as I used lots of mixed media to create this nature page; this is a new challenge blog so why not join in the fun too!

Soar

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Feathered Friends.

For this challenge, I had fun using my new Scribbly Birds in Flight stamp set by Dina Wakley. My three birds are soaring high in the sky looking down on the lush green countryside filled with pretty flowers.

To start, I stamped the three birds in flight using a stamp set by Dina Wakley and black Archival Ink. Then I painted the sky around the birds using Ultramarine Pale watercolour paints; I also used these Kuretake Watercolours to colour everything on my page except the birds. When dry, I painted the mountains and the countryside foreground using Sap Green, Dark Sap Green, Hooker’s Green and Burnt Sienna paint, blending and layering the colours together. The flowers were created using a Flower Field Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and were die cut from some mixed media paper. I coloured them using the Sap Green Light, Dark Sap and Hooker’s Green paint and when they had dried, I painted the flowers using Cadmium Scarlet, Lemon Yellow, Rose Madder, Colbalt Violet, Red, Ultramarine paint; they were stuck into place using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium.

For the birds, I wanted to try a new technique using clear gesso and marker pens so I covered the birds with a layer of clear gesso and left it to dry. This allowed me to smudge and blend the marker inks by applying the marker colour over the gesso and then smudging it with my finger; the markers were Tri-Blend Spectrum Noir and the colours were Burnt Orange Blend, Gold Brown Blend, Earth Brown Blend and Gold Yellow Blend. I finished the birds by adding eyes and more feather detail with a black Uni Pin Fine Line marker and a white Uniball gel pen. To finish, I added the quote which I stamped onto a Pocket Card by Tim Holtz using an alphabet stamp set from Dovecraft and Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink. Once stamped, I cut out the wording to fit the page design and stuck them in place using double-sided tape. The quote I used is by William Blake and reads “No bird soars to high, if it soars with his own wings”.

I hope that you are inspired to join our Feathered Friends challenge too, for more amazing inspiration from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies please pop over to Try it on Tuesday.

This page was inspired by the English countryside and reminded me of our walks in the Forest Of Bowland, which is an “area of outstanding natural beauty” located near to the Lake District.

On this particular walk, we passed through beautiful countryside and farmland, woodlands and lakes making our way to a summit called Nicky Nook.

From the summit there are spectacular views across Lancashire; our house is located somewhere on the left-hand side of this picture faraway in the distance by the sea (grin!).

As T Stands for T Day I’m sharing our refreshing iced water that we always enjoy on our walks – Happy T Day everyone!

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.

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

• Dina Wakley Media Cling Rubber Stamps (Scribbly Birds In Flight MDR47636)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine Pale No:61, Sap Green Light No:51, Sap Green No:53, Hooker’s Green No:52, Burnt Sienna No:46, Cadmium Scarlet No:31, Lemon Yellow No:40, Rose Madder No:34, Cobalt Violet No:139, Red No:32, Ultramarine No:64)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Dies (Flower Field 665369)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media Paper
• Pébéo Clear Gesso
• Tri-Blend Spectrum Noir Markers (Burnt Orange Blend, Gold Brown Blend, Earth Borwn Blend, Gold Yellow Blend)
• UniPin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Ground Espresso)
• X-Press It! Double-sided tape

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Alison from Words & Pictures; she has chosen Summer Countryside as her theme so I’m joining her with my summery countryside page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #149 – Anything Goes with my summery art journal page. LTCCB #60 – July Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my birds in flight summer page.

Peregrine Falcon

It’s a new month so we are launching our June challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by the Peregrine Falcon that lives locally to us (grin!).

I started by tearing some feather designed paper into pieces and sticking them onto the page using a glue stuck. Then I coloured the rest of the page using Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress Inks and applied some Pébéo white gesso over the page using a brayer. When dry, I stencilled a Distressed Sequins stencil from Tando Creative using the Distress Inks again.

The Peregrine Falcon image and other paper pieces were cut from a Stamperia Paper Pad and edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place using double-sided tape.

I also used the Stamperia paper to create the wording which was embossed using a Typewriter embossing folder by Tim Holtz. I cut the letters out to create small tiles and then I coloured the letters using a Brown Grey Tri-Blend Spectrum Noir marker before sticking them in place.

To finish, I added the grungy metal embellishment which was stuck in place using glue dots.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste. To join our mixed media challenge all you need to do is use three different mediums on your projects; I hope that you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see you there!

We were lucky to see the Peregrine Falcon flying around near to where we live.

Peregrine falcons are fascinating birds, if your interested here are some facts about them:

• Peregrine falcons are the fastest creatures on the planet, reaching speeds of over 321 kph (200 mph) as they dive to catch their prey from a great height in a movement called a ‘stoop’.
• Tower blocks, bridges and cathedrals offer the perfect urban alternative to nesting on cliff tops, and pigeons and starlings provide a reliable source of food which we have in abundance here.
• Their nostrils guide shock waves of air to stop the high pressure damaging their lungs while they dive. A natural design so that inspired the design of the first jet engines!
• They have excellent binocular vision which is eight times better than that of a human so they are able to see prey from more than 3 km away.

I hope 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.

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

• The Works (Paper Pad Sheets with Glitter)
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• Tando Creative Stencil (Distressed Sequins)
• Stamperia Double Faced Sheets (Forest)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175B)
• X-Press It! Double-sided tape
• Tim Holtz Sizzix 3-D Texture Fades (Typewriter 664760)
• Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend marker (Brown Grey Blend BG9)
• The Works (Metal Embellishments)
• Stix2 glue dots

Challenges As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #145 – Anything Goes with my Peregrine Falcon page. Masculine challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my falcon art journal page. Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge and their I’m Feeling Like Royalty challenge with my page as the Peregrine Falcon was considered a bird of royalty back when falconry was practiced in ancient times.

Bee Extraordinary

It’s a new month which means we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for April which is The Birds and The Bees.

Please ensure that birds and/or bees are the main focus of your projects when you join this challenge which is being hosted this month by the lovely Sue.

This page was created in my mini art journal, so I started by covering the chipboard page with a coat of white gesso and then I stamped the beehive image using black Archival Ink and a Beehive Buzz stamp and die set from Pink Ink Designs. Next I added the hexagonal pattern to the background using Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo Distress Ink and an old hexagon stamp. Then I used an Interlocking Circles stencil from Creative Expressions as a stamp by covering it with Black Soot Distress Ink, spritzing it with water and then pressing the stencil onto the page. When dry, I used some black Archival Ink and the hexagon stamp again around the edges of the page to frame it. The beehive was coloured and shaded using a blue Tri-Blend marker and some Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo Distress Ink which I applied like watercolour.

I stamped the bees onto some mixed media paper and then I used the Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Salty Ocean Distress Inks again to colour them. They were die cut using the dies from the Beehive Buzz set and then stuck in place using glue dots.

I added three blue dome stickers and used the stamp and die set to create the “Bee Extraordinary” wording which finished the page.

I hope that you will join The Birds and The Bees challenge over at Country View Challenges too; it would be lovely to see you there, and if you do join us then you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts website too (grin!).

This beehive page brought back memories of some colourful beehives that we saw whilst on holiday in Skiathos, Greece.

We saw them whilst out walking along a cliff top trail; they were overlooking the sea and had this beautiful view!

Hoping that you are all 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 mini art journal page:

• Pink Ink Designs – Stamp & Die Set – A Cut Above – Beehive Buzz
• Ranger Archival Ink Pad, Jet Black – 90mm X 62mm
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mustard Seed
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil – Interlocking Circles
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Black Soot
• Ranger Roller – Small Brayer 2 1/4
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Salty Ocean
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo)
• Docrafts Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Hexagon Clear Stamp
• Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend (True Blue Blend)
• Mixed Media Paper
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Dome Stickers

Challenges I’m so pleased to be able to join Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month. It’s so heart breaking that she won’t be joining us as she passed away last month shortly after her heart surgery – she will be greatly missed and I’m so pleased to be able to remember her throughout the month by joining AJJ! My page was inspired by bees and beehives, and I’m sure Eileen would have loved the positive wording “Bee Extraordinary” too!