Collect Beautiful Moments

It’s the first of the month so it’s time for a new challenge at Country View Challenges which is Vintage, and is being hosted by the lovely Craftyfield.

As Vintage is one of my favourite styles, this challenge gave me the excuse to create this old-fashioned distressed page using Tim Holtz products.

All the flowers on this page were stencilled using a Floral Stencil by Tim Holtz; first I used it to apply some Vintage Photo Distress Ink over the chipboard page and then some white gesso which I left it to dry overnight. I painted around the edges of the flowers and foliage using Ground Espresso Distress Ink to make them stand out more. Then, to give the white flowers and foliage more of a Vintage look, I dragged an Antique Linen Distress Ink pad over the top and then I splattered the Vintage Photo ink over the whole page. I added the script text using black Archival Ink and an Etcetera stamp set by Tim Holtz and the “Collect beautiful moments” wording, which was a Metallic sticker by Tim Holtz. To finish, I splattered the page with as white and black DecoArt acrylic paints.

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

We are looking forward to seeing your makes and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the shop, Country View Crafts! Before you enter your project though, please read the rules.

The blossoms on my page remind me of the ones on the apple trees in our garden, it seems that everything is in full bloom all of a sudden (smile!).

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:

Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog and their Challenge #70 – Anything Goes with my vintage art journal page.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their June Stencil Fun – Anything Goes challenge, as I had fun using the stencilling all the flowers on this page.

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Simplicity

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is Keep It Simple.

I kept it simple with a stencil background, a beautiful Stamperia image and a word stamp.

The background was created by using a Rose Stamperia stencil like a stamp, rubbing a Saltwater Taffy Distress Ink pad onto the stencil and spritzing with water. Then I placed the stencil onto the page and pressed lightly to transfer the ink; this was repeated a couple of times to fill the page. The pretty image was from a Sir Vagabond in Japan paper pad by Stamperia and I simply stuck it in place using glue tape and then edged it with some black Glitterations border outline stickers. To finish, I used black Archival Ink and an old stamp to add the wording, which reads “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

I love the geisha girl image that I used on this page and the simple design seems very fitting to showcase it (smile!). My page reminded me of this beautiful cross-stitch that my mum created, I’m in awe of her talent and patience as she has created many of these cross stitch pictures. It is quite a contrast to my page as it is so very detailed; breathtakingly so!

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

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

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Aimeslee this month, who has chosen Flowers as her theme; so I’m joining in the fun with the stencilled roses and all the flowers contained in the image that I used on my page.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their May Stencil Fun – Anything Goes with optional Flowers challenge as I had fun using the stencil on this simply designed page.

Faith in every flower

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is Use A Stencil.

I had fun using four stencils to create this page, I hope you like it (smile!).

For my bright and cheery stencilled page, I started by covering the background with Mermaid Lagoon and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks. I blended some Seedless Grape Distress Ink along the edges of colours blending them together. I used the same three Distress Inks to stencil the dots, squares and crosses over the top. Next I applied some Ranger Texture Paste through a flower stencil and left it to dry. To finish, I added a sticker which reads “Faith in every flower”.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

Like my page, our flower bed is looking very bright and cheery with all the colourful flowers that are currently in bloom (smile!).

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

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

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Aimeslee this month, who has chosen Flowers as her theme; so I’m joining in the fun with the stenciled flowers on my page.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their May Stencil Fun – Anything Goes with optional Flowers challenge as I had fun using all the stencils to create this page.

Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog and their Challenge #69 – Anything Goes with my flowery art journal page.

Submarine

It’s time for a new challenge at Country View Challenges, the lovely Monica is hosting this month and has chosen Vehicles.

I created a mixed media journal page and my choice of vehicle today, is a Submarine (smile!).

To create this page, I started by covering the background with Tarnished Brass and Brushed Pewter Distress Paints and left them to dry. Next, I coloured some Ranger Texture Paste with both of the paints and then stencilled them using a Thick Stencil Lady Vagabond Lifestyle Compass stencil by Stamperia. When dry, I covered the rivets and the textured metal checker plate panels using Ranger Glossy Accents; if you look closely, you can see the glossy shine on the panels. The submarine wording and images were cut from papers from a Sea World pad by Stamperia. I edged them using Ground Espresso Distress Ink and a Deep Sepia Faber-Castell marker, then layered them together. To finish, I applied Ranger Glossy Accents to the “Sea” wording, all the rivets and the two port holes on the papers.

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

We are looking forward to seeing your makes and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the shop, Country View Crafts! Before you enter your project though, please read the rules.

When recently walking around Lytham Hall, we were greeted by this huge tank (septic) that is being installed; it reminded me of a submarine – smile!

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:

Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog and their Challenge #69 – Anything Goes with my submarine art journal page.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their May Stencil Fun – Anything Goes with optional Flowers challenge, as I had fun using the stencil and texture paste to create this page.

Making them with you

It’s the first Friday of April, so it’s time for a new challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by a recent trip with my hubby to Venice, Italy (smile!).

I started by using a large 12×12″ stencil (KSTDG02) by Stamperia to add Ranger Texture Paste using a palette knife and then I left it to dry overnight. Next I added washes of Sap Green, Ultramarine and Yellow Ochre Kuretake watercolour paint; I did this by applying water to the page, then adding the watercolour and letting the colours blend. Once dry, I added the Venice image which was recycled from an old calendar and the “The best thing about memories, is making them with you” wording which was from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet.

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

My page was inspired by the canals and bridges in Venice, so I thought I’d share some of them with you as well as some interesting facts. Following my last post, we are still exploring the Cannaregio district; I love this beautiful view of one of the canals with it’s wrought iron bridge, and aren’t those reflections amazing (smile!).

We were amazed to find canals and bridges around every corner; this bridge in Cannaregio is quite similar to the image on my journal page.

Me and hubby definitely made some lovely memories together in Venice; here we are having walked to the nearby San Polo dictrict.

Venice is such a beautiful place and is well known for its canals and bridges.

There are supposedly 177 canals and 417 bridges in Venice; although we haven’t counted them all ourselves (grin!).

Probably the most famous bridge is the Rialto which connects San Polo to San Marco district (which we will explore in my next post). The Rialto Bridge is over a 1000 years old and you can see it in the background of this selfie that we took one evening.

The Rialto Bridge spans the S-shaped Grand Canal, which you can see here taken from the bridge itself. This is the biggest canal in Venice and splits the city in two. Not surprisingly, the main form of transport in Venice is by boat. As you can see there are lots of different boats on the canal, including gondolas. I was surprised to find out that there are about 350 gondolas in Venice, which on average are 11 meters long and weigh around 600 kilos, and there are about 400 gondolieri.

I hope you enjoyed visiting Venice and looking around Cannaregio and San Polo, join me next time as we explore San Marco (smile!).

Stay safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Creative Artiste , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from blog Altered Book Lover and her Recycle, reuse, repurpose challenge with my recycled image from an old calendar.

MIUCB #64 – Anything Goes + optional Distressing over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my distressed watercolour technique background.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their April Stencil Fun – Anything Goes with optional Pattern challenge the patterned Stamperia stencil that I used for my page.

Sweet Wishes

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is Oh So Sweet!

I created a page for some very sweet animals who are having a fun, using a Woodland Celebrations Sizzix Thinlits set by Olivia Rose.

I started by stencilling the background using Mowed Lawn and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Inks to create the clouds and foreground, using a Slimline Sunburst stencil set by Marianne Designs. Then I die cut the bunting and the cute animals with their balloons using the Woodland Celebration Sizzix Thinlits set by Olivia Rose from different coloured Linen Textured cardstock. I layered all the pieces together and stuck them onto the page using a glue tape pen by Crafter’s Companion. The flowers were die cut from the same linen cardstock using a Flowers in Umbrella Sizzix Thinlits set by Olivia Rose. To finish, I added the “Sweet Wishes” wording which was die cut using a Creative Expressions die by Sue Wilson and layered onto a black die cut circle which I decorated with some of the bunting.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

Many apologies that I haven’t been visiting you and your blogs lately; life is rather hectic at the moment.

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

Challenges

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

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Valerie of Bastelmania and her Anything Goes challenge with my sweet art journal page.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their March Stencil Fun – Anything Goes (as long as you use a stencil) with optional Clean and Simple challenge the stencil I used to create this page.

LTSCB#160 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Sweet Wishes page.

In With The New

Over at Try it on Tuesday we are launching our first challenge of 2023, which is In With The New.

Please join us using a new product or a new technique or like me maybe you’re welcoming in the New Year too (smile!).

I started by covering the page with Silver Extreme Sheen Metallic DecoArt paint and then stenciling the starburst lines over the top using Black Soot Distress Ink through a Steampunk Mixed Media Stencil by Stamperia (new). The “Happy New Year” wording was die cut from some black glitter cardstock using an X-cut Folk Alphabet set. I used the same glitter cardstock for the black stars, which were die cut using a Snowy Stars Thinlits set by Tim Holtz. I added some silver glitter foam star stickers (new) and lots of circular black and silver outline stickers. To finish, I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a selection of Brewdog beers; my sister kindly gifted my hubby for Christmas a box of their “12 Beers of Christmas” which he was delighted with and we have been enjoying throughout the New Year – Happy T Day everyone!

Happy New Year and I hope that you’re staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

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

Stencil Fun Challenge and their January Stencil Fun – Anything Goes (as long as you use a stencil) with optional Winter challenge the Stamperia stencils that I used to create the starbursts on my page.

LTSCB#159 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Happy New Year page.

All Hearts Come Home for Christmas

Today I’m sharing a page that I created to remember family at Christmas including those who are no longer with us, as the wording says – All hearts come home for Christmas!

The brick background was created using a stencil and Ground Espresso, Brushed Corduroy and Rusty Hinge Distress Inks. Next I added the red door which was a recycled Christmas card and I arranged some leftover glitter paper across the bottom to create the snowy foreground. The snowflakes were die cut from the leftover glitter paper too, using a Paper Snowflakes Mini Thinlits set by Tim Holtz. To finish, I added the wall plaque which reads “All hearts come home for Christmas” from a Tim Holtz Christmas Sticker Book and I added some snow to the top using the glittery paper.

I was pleased to use all the recycled materials as part of the design and with the snowflakes on my page, I’m joining my Snowy Winter challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey.

My closest family members went for a Festive Afternoon Tea on a very cold and icy day. We went to The Villa, which is a gorgeous country home set in it’s own grounds near to where we live.

We went to celebrate and remember a very special loved one, my dear dad who passed away this time last year. He loved Christmas so the setting was perfect with all the beautiful Christmas decorations!

We had our family dog with us, so we sat in the cosy lounge/bar area.

Of course the Festive Afternoon Tea was amazing; this setting is for two people to share and we enjoyed pigs in blankets, salmon and leek tart, a selections of sandwiches and patisseries, mince pies and a mulled spiced fruit scone served with clotted cream and jam – delicious and so very filling (smile!). As T Stands for T Day, you’ll also find tea and coffee and although it’s not pictured we enjoyed some mulled wine too – Happy T Day wishes! .

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

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

Challenges

As well as Art Journal Journey, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:

Stencil Fun Challenge and their December Stencil Fun with optional Holidays with the brick stencil I used to create the background and the Christmas Holidays that are celebrated on this page.

Challenge #130 – Christmas Anything Goes over at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge with my Christmas page.

Snowy Winter at Art Journal Journey

I am so delighted to be guest hosting Art Journal Journey this month with my Snowy Winter theme.

As winter is here, we’re looking for snow and snowflakes on your pages; this could be linked to a winter scene or even Christmas as it’s now December.

For my page, I started by using a Stencil Template set by Inkylicious for the moon and a Stencil Mask by Marianne Designs for the trees, and painting Seedless Grape Distress Ink like watercolour onto the page. Then I coloured the moon using the Inkylicious Stencil using the same Seedless Grape Ink and then the trees using Pine Needles Distress Ink. Next I used a Cozy Winter Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz to die cut the snowflakes, adorable bear, branch and woodpecker from some white cardstock and different colours of Tim Holtz Kraft Cardstock – Classic. I die cut some pine needles to add to the branch using a Holiday Greens Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and then I layered everything together and stuck them onto the page. I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and to finish, I added the wording “a white Christmas appeared” which was from a Christmas Sticker Book by Tim Holtz.

I hope that you are inspired to join in the fun this month too! I’m really looking forward to visiting you and seeing all your wonderful Snowy Winter creations; please, don’t forget to take a look at the RULES.

Wishing you a very Happy December and Happy Journaling! Hugs Jo x

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

Challenges

As well as Art Journal Journey, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Challenge #64 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels Challenge Blog with my Snowy Winter Christmas page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #181 – Anything Goes challenge with my winter page.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their December Stencil Fun – Anything Goes as long as you use a stencil with the stencils that I used to create the background on my wintery page.

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #28 where Anything Christmas Goes with my winter Christmas page.

Sparkle & Shine

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Sparkle & Shine.

For my sparkly page, I mixed some gold metallic Liquitex Acrylic Ink with Ranger Texture Paste and then I used it to stencil the swirls. Next I applied some of the gold acrylic ink onto the page with some Salvaged Patina and Prize Ribbon Distress Paints spritzing them with water to blend them. When the page was dry, I splattered the page with the gold metallic ink and also some white acrylic paint. For the heart, I embossed a piece of silver metallic cardstock using an Engraved Embossing Folder by Tim Holtz and cut out a heart shape. Then I applied some black metallic wax to the embossed pattern on the heart along with some of the gold ink and both Distress Paints. I added the wording from a Metallic Sticker Book by Tim Holtz which read “Shine brightly”, “Light the way” and “Start each day with a grateful heart”.

To finish, I added a sparkly embellishment to the heart; it’s a pearl surrounded by tiny diamante gems which was kindly gifted to me by the lovely Tracey.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

As T Stands for Tuesday and last weekend we officially moved to winter with the clocks going back an hour, I’m sharing our winter mugs. There pictured with a couple of mince pies – I know it’s early to have these but we treated ourselves when we saw them in the shops. As you can see my hubby’s “G” winter mug is very sparkly too – Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

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

Paperbabe Stamps and their #179 – Anything Goes challenge with my sparkle and shine page.

Stencil Fun Challenge and their Anything Goes as long as you use a stencil with the stencil that I used to create the metallic swirls on my page.

Can You Handle The Pressure and their Anything Goes Embossing with a Twist of Pumpkins with the embossed heart on my page – thanks for the invite Darlene!