Winter Wonderland

At Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Winter Wonderland.

My winter wonderland page was created using a fun technique with acrylic paint and cling film which made the perfect background for the pretty deer, snowflakes and trees. I really enjoyed creating this page and I can’t wait to see your winter wonderland creations too!

For the background, I started by painting horizontal lines of Navy, Swedish Blue and Aqua Green Liquitex Acrylic paints onto the page. Then I placed scrunched up cling film (plastic food wrap) over the top, moved it around and left it to dry. When the paint was nearly dry I peeled the plastic wrap off and then applied some white paint to the same piece of cling film and placed it onto the page, over the other paints, scrunching it up and then I left it to dry overnight. When I peeled the cling film off the page it left some fabulous patterns which formed my winter wonderland.

The deer and snowflakes are stickers and I added lots of white dots in the sky using a white Uni Posca paint pen to create more snowfall which took a while (grin!).

I die cut the trees and star from some white cardstock using a couple of Thinlits sets from Tim Holtz and pressed them into a Versamark Watermark stamp pad. Then I covered them with Wow! embossing glitter and heated them using a heat gun until they turned glossy; they are stuck in place using a glue stick. Next I created the “winter wonderland” wording which is cut from white card, which I had covered in the Wow! embossing glitter, using an Alphanumeric Label Thinlits set from Tim Holtz. The letters were mounted onto some recycled navy cardstock which was cut to shape using a Tag Collection Framelits set from Tim Holtz; this finished the page.

I hope that you are inspired to join Winter Wonderland Challenge too! For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing our mugs of tea; as you may remember I shared my new robin mug a couple of weeks ago so I thought I’d share my hubby’s matching deer mug as my page has deer on it, although they aren’t wearing scarves (grin!) – wishing you a very Happy T day!

Hoping that you all stay 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 Artist Color Acrylic (Navy, Swedish Blue)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Bright Aqua Green)
• Cling film
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• White Cardstock
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Woodlands 660978, Snowy Stars 663117, Alphanumeric Label 664177)
• Wow! Embossing Glitter (Singing in the rain WS183R)
• Pritt Stick
• Home Bargains (Wall Stickers #16221 – deer & snowflakes)
• Recycled navy cardstock
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape

Challenges I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Try it on Tuesday, as I always enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today: I’m so happy to join the #132 – Frosty Feels or Cool Tones challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my winter wonderland scene. I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my wintery art journal page. I’m pleased to join MIUCB #43 – Anything Goes + Making Your Own Background over at the Mix It UP Challenge Blog with the fun cling film and paint technique that I used to create my background. I’m also pleased to join the Christmas challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my winter wonderland page too.

Thankful and Cosy this Autumn

I always count my blessing this time of year and having fallen in love with the wording “Let’s get cosy, autumn has arrived”, I was inspired to create this thankful art journal page – I hope you like it!

I started by creating lots of panels for the page which I edged with a Dark Sepia Big Brush marker and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. The panels included: some bark and tree-ring cardstock from Docrafts; some copper leaf images with the “Cosy Autumn” wording from Craft Sensations; a cinnamon stick and baking image from a Die Cut Book; and some brown strips of lace. The paper elements were stuck down using double-sided tape and the lace using Liquitex matte gel medium. When arranged, I stencilled the herringbone design using a mixed media stencil from Paperbabe Stamps with Brushed Corduroy and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink fading the stencil pattern where the birds were to be placed.

For the leaves I used a Fall Foliage Thinlits set from Tim Holtz, they are cut from some kitchen roll that I had used to mop up some excess Brushos with. I lined them up using a glue stick onto a piece of bark cardstock from Docrafts.

I added a pair of birds sitting on an autumn branch which I fussy cut from an old nature book; the birds are Long-Tailed Tits which we sometimes see on our woodland walks. Once stuck in place using a glue stick, I extended the branches using an ordinary pencil and a Bark Derwent Intense pencil. The yellow borders, “thank you” and “love” wording and also the lace doily shapes are all stickers from Kaisercraft. Then to finish, I added the pretty cream lace flowers.

The wording and page reminded me of my new slippers which are so warm and cosy (grin!).

I hope that you are staying thankful and cosy this autumn too, keep well and stay safe! 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:

• Docrafts Papermania Die Cut & Paper Pack (Festive Fauna)
• Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE)
• The Works Die Cut Book (Winter Feelings)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Frayed Burlap, Brushed Corduroy)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Brown lace
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Paperbabe Stamps Mixed Media Stencil (Herringbone)
• Recycled kitchen towel used to mop up Brushos
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Fall Foliage 660955)
• Pritt Stick
• Old Nature Book
• Derwent Inktense Pencil (Bark 2000)
• Staedler Pencil
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Golden Grove SS343, Bombay Sunset SS339)
• The Works (Lace Flower Stickers)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Wendy K over at Art Journal Journey and her Birds challenge this month with the birds that I included on this page. I’m so pleased to be able join the #131 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as my page is inspired by the panel of images, rows of leaves, bird, lace, knitted pieces, baked goods and autumnal colours. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my thankful autumnal art journal page. I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #139 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with thankful and cosy autumn page too. I’m also joining in the Thanks/Thanksgiving challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my thankful art journal page.

You’re so beautiful

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

I love autumn, it seems a magical time of year to me with the beautiful colours of the leaves and the sunny days with a slight chill in the air. There’s nothing better than walking along with the crunch of leaves beneath your feet (grin!), so my page today celebrates autumn.

To start, I painted the page with Raw Sienna, Raw Umber and Deep Green Liquitex acrylic paint and then applied Pébéo white gesso over the top with a brayer.

I stamped lots of leaves over the top from a Falling Leaves stamp set from BoBunny using Rich Cocoa, Morocco and Cottage Ivy Memento Ink. Then I applied another layer of white gesso using the brayer and stamped more of the maple leaves using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink; this technique adds the illusion of depth to my page. I stamped a grid design over the background using black Archival Ink and a homemade stamp made from a wooden block and some plasterboard/drywall tape. Then I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

Next I added some die cut circles and the “you’re so beautiful” wording which are from Craft Sensations. They are arranged with some metallic copper leaves which are outline stickers from Stampendous. To finish, I added tiny copper circles and dots around the page which are from the same outline sticker set.

For more mixed media inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too; it would be lovely to see you there!

We always enjoy walking with our dearest friends and little Ellie who happens to love autumn too as she loves chasing leaves. Well she actually likes chewing them (grin!); you may remember this photo from a previous post.

Here is a picture of her looking all grown up after visiting Prestige Paws who are a fabulous local dog groomers; they kindly let me share this lovely photo that they took of her, thanks so much! Today’s page made me think of Ellie, not only does she love leaves but I always tell her “you’re so beautiful!” and here she’s looking particularly beautiful after her recent visit (double grin!).

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:

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, Deep Green Permanent)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• BoBunny Stamps (Falling Leaves #12105154)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa, Morocco, Cottage Ivy)
• Homemade stamp – wood block and plasterboard/drywall tape
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE)
• Stampendous Outline Stickers (2077 – copper leaves)

Challenges I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Creative Artiste, as I always 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 so pleased to be able join the #131 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as the autumnal design and colours. I’m happy to join the Home is Where the Heart is challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as like my page, my home is always decorated with autumnal foliage this time of year. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But A Card challenge with my autumnal art journal page. I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #139 – Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with autumnal page too. I’m also joining in the Thinking Of You challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page as it makes me think of little Ellie.

Fun Starts Here

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

This challenge is all about embossing, whether its heat embossing, embossing paste, embossing folders or embossed papers just be sure to tell use what you have used (grin!).

I was still in Halloween mode when I created this page being influenced by the Mexican celebration “Día de Muertos” (which happens to be next Monday). I used lots of embossing powder to heat emboss the white flowers, black doilies and black lace.

I started by painting magenta and green Liquitex Basics acrylic paint over the page using a dry paintbrush technique to prevent the colours blending. When dry, I covered the paints with some Pébéo white gesso and also some black DecoArt acrylic paint; I used a brayer to apply both paints letting them dry between applications.

For the white embossed flowers, I used an Oriental Zen stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps and black Archival Ink to stamp the flower design over the magenta coloured areas. I then covered the ink with white Stampendous embossing powder and heated it with my heat gun until glossy. The black doilies were stamped using a Dovecraft stamp set and the black Archival Ink and covered with black Papermania embossing powder; they were stamped over the green areas of the page.

I used the same Dovecraft stamp set, black ink and embossing powder to add the lace detail to my skull which was die cut using a Halloween Hangouts Thinlit set from Tim Holtz from white card. I mounted it onto some glittery paper and stuck it in place using a glue stick. I also added some circles that were cut from the glitter paper using a Spellbinders die set and to finish, I added a Kaisercraft sticker that reads “Fun starts here”.

I hope that you are inspired to join us too, for more Embossed inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look at all the beautiful creations from my Design Teamies (grin!).

As it was my hubby’s birthday last week and T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a slice of the birthday cake that I made him and his cuppa! The cake is a Victoria sponge filled with homemade buttercream icing and cherry jam which I topped with a white and red feathered icing and his tea is Ceylon Orange Pekoe Tea – 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.

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Quinacridone Magenta, Hooker’s Green Hue Permanent)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• Paperbabe Stamps (Oriental Zen Stamp Set)
• Dovecraft Stamp Set (Lave & Doile DCCS009)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Stampendous! Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with a Linen Texture CR0240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Halloween Hangouts 663088)
• Glitter wallpaper sample
• Pritt Stick
• Spellbinders Nestabilities Decorative Elements Die Cut System (Stately Circles S4-388) – thank you Astrid!
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Bombay Sunset SS339)

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 Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the outlined embossed flowers and lines of lace adorning the skull on my page. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with my Mexican inspired Halloween page. I’m joining the Purple, Orange, Green! Eek! It’s Halloween! challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my “Día de Muertos” page. I’m also joining in the fun over at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge and their Halloween Jump Start challenge with my art journal page. I’m so pleased to be able to join in the Anything Goes over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Mexican “Día de Muertos” page – thanks so much Tracey, your beautiful ATCs reminded me of “Día de Muertos”, so inspirational! I’m also joining the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Distressing (ink or tool) with the dry painting technique that I used. I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Layer It Up challenge with layers of paint and embossing powders that I used for the background and layers of papers that I used for the skull.

Sweet Life

I love everything pumpkin so my hubby kindly bought me a beautiful glass pumpkin for our wedding anniversary, which inspired me to create this pumpkin page – I hope you like it!

I started by colouring the foreground of the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a brayer. Then I used up leftover torn pieces of collage papers, sheet music, stamped tissue paper, napkin and design papers to create the background. It was fun to collage all the different papers together using Liquitex matte gel medium and I really like the spooky pumpkin patch look that resulted. When dry I painted Pébéo white gesso in the centre of the page blending it outwards towards the edges of the page.

The pumpkin was hand drawn and then cut out to make templates for different segments of the pumpkin. I used these templates to cut out different orange, white and black patterned Pion Design papers. Then I layered them together onto the page to create the large pumpkin using matte gel medium and left it to dry. I outlined each segment using a black Uni Pin marker and then shaded the edges of each segments using either Mango or Earl Grey Faber-Castell Gelato. The stalk of the pumpkin was created from recycled brown string which I coloured using two green Liquitex acrylic paints. When dry I doubled the string over and tightly twisted it together applying matte gel medium to stick the strands together. I stuck it in place using glue dots twisting and looping the stalk. To finish, I added a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “The Sweet Life”.

Here’s the beautiful glass pumpkin that my hubby kindly gifted me, isn’t it amazing (grin!).

I 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.

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

• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• Leftover paper pieces (Tim Holtz Halloween Collage Paper, sheet music, dressmaking tissue paper stamped with a Gothic Book Finnabair stamp and black Archival Ink, napkin, design papers)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Pion Design Paper (Trick or Treat PD8102, Midnight Spell PD8103, October Garden PD8104)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Mango, Earl Grey)
• Recyled brown string
• Liquitex Basic Acrylic Colour (Light Green Permanent, Phthalocyanine Green)
• Stiz2 glue dots
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Bombay Sunset SS339)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the lined design paper on the pumpkin. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with the spooky pumpkin patch background. I’m joining the Purple, Orange, Green! Eek! It’s Halloween! challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my spooky vintage pumpkin page. I’m also pleased to join the Not A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my art journal page. I’m so pleased to be able to join in the Anything Goes over at Paperbabe Stamps with my pumpkin page. I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Layer It Up challenge with the collage background and pumpkin layers on my page. I’m also happy to join LTCCB #51 – October Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my pumpkin inspired art journal page too. Don’t forget that you still have a few days left to join in the Halloween fun over at Try it on Tuesday too!

Saying Hello to Autumn

I love this time of the year, so I created this page to say hello to autumn and join a few challenge blogs – I hope you like it!

I started by creating the grungy background using a Spritz and Speckles stamp set by Paperbabes Stamps and Toffee Crunch, Rich Cocoa and Potter’s Clay Memento Inks. Then I used the same inks to add the leaves using an Autumnal Treasures stamp set that was free with a magazine. Next I stuck the horizontal decorative strip across the page which is from some Graphic 45 Autumn Collective paper using double-sided tape and then edged it with black Glitterations border stickers so it stood out more.

The circle was die cut from Lemon linen textured cardstock and then coloured using Fossilized Amber and Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Like the background, it was stamped using the Spritz and Speckles stamp set and the leaf stamp and the Memento Inks. The little bird was from the Autumnal Treasures stamp set and was stamped using black Archival Ink; I used a stamping platform to get a clear and bold finish. The “Life began in a garden” wording was cut from the Graphic 45 paper and I edged both the wording and the circle using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place. To finish, I added some crystal gems to the page to add some sparkle.

Walks around Lytham Hall are always pretty this time of year with all the changing leaves and the colours on my page reminded me of these beautiful trees we saw there (grin!).

I 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.

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

• Paperbabes Stamps (Spritz & Speckles Stamp Set)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch, Rich Cocoa, Potter’s Clay)
• Creative Stamping Magazine Issue 161 (Autumn Treasures Stamp Set)
• Graphic 45 Seasons Collection (Autumn Collective #4501622)
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• Docrafts Papermaina Glitterations (Black Borders ANT8181015)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CR0241/GE)
• The Works (8 Cutting Dies)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fossilized Amber, Vintage Photo)
• Ranger Stamping Platform
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Crystal Stickers by Mark Richards (Cluster Combo Style #5454C)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the decorative strip that creates a line across my page. I’m so pleased to be able to join in the #129 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps which inspired the design of my page (grin!). I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #138 – Fall Back over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my autumnal page. I’m happy to join the Autumn Glory Challenge over at Stamping Sensations where the lovely Avril has just joined the Design Team with my stamped page – Many congratulations! I’m also joining in the fun at Stinkin’ Inkers Challenge Blog and their Shades of Fall challenge with all the fall colours on my page.

Free to Fly

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

I had fun creating this page from various mixed media including a recycled magazine page, white gesso, markers, stickers, rub-on transfers and paint; it was inspired by the butterflies that have been sunning themselves on the slate in our front garden – I hope you like it!

I started by tearing a blue page from a magazine into squares and collaging them onto the page using a Pritt Stick and some Liquitex matte gel medium. I intensified the white areas of the page by painting them with Pébéo white gesso allowing the gesso to smudge onto the blue paper squares too. When dry, I edged the squares with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger and then with a black Uni Pin marker.

Next I stuck the pretty 3D butterflies onto the page and added some numbers and words which are rub-on transfers from two Remnant Rub sets by Tim Holtz.

I added some border stickers to frame the “Free to Fly” wording and then to finish, I splattered the page with white acrylic paint.

All you need to do is use three different mediums on your projects to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge and for more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too; it would be lovely to see you there!

This is one of the beautiful butterflies that have been sunbathing on the slate in our garden. This butterfly is a Red Admiral which is widespread across the UK; it has a wingspan of about 2 inches (5 cm) and has distinctive black wings with red bands and white spots.  The Red Admiral butterfly is known to be unusually calm so it allowed me to get quite close to take this photo (grin!).

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 pleased to join the lovely Chris aka pearshapedchris the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the two lines of border stickers that I used to frame the title of my page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the 3D butterflies on this page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my Free to Fly art journal page.

I’m also joining the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Distressing (ink or tool) with the techniques I used to collage and distress the pieces of magazine on my journal page.

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

• Old magazine page
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Home Bargains You & Me Stickers (Beautiful Butterflies 22742)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Specimen #TH94047, Tiny Text #TH93695)
• Sandylion Sticker Designs Kelly Panacci (Stitches & Borders KSCB105)
• Artist Discount Acrylic Paint (White)

Shine like the whole universe is yours

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Autumn Colours.

I love the colours of autumn so I had fun creating this page and there’s not a leaf in sight – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the page with Pébéo white gesso and modelling paste using a paintbrush. When dry, I applied Peat Moss, Potting Soil, Orange Blossom and Buttercup Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Inks and Fired Brisk Distress Ink over the top and spritzed them with water letting the inks drip across the page and left it to dry. Then I splattered the page using gold Liquitex Ink.

Next I added some gold Ranger embossing powder over the inks using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and my heat gun.

The eagle picture was cut from an old book and edged using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and some of the gold embossing powder; it was stuck in place using double-sided tape. As the eagle symbolises courage and power, I added some Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz which read “Shine like the whole universe is yours”, “be Fearless” and “be brave with your life”. They were coloured using Yellow Ochre Kuretake watercolour paint to blend them into the background more. 

Next I added some gold Glitterations border stickers to the page and then applied some of the gold embossing powder to some Bozzy Bear wood chippies which I coloured using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; they were stuck down using Ranger Glossy Accents which finished the page.

For more inspiration, my fellow Design Teamies have been having fun with Autumn Colours over at Try it on Tuesday too, please pop over and take a look.

As T Stands for Tuesday and it’s autumn I’m sharing our homebrewed pumpkin beer – cheers and Happy T Day! This copper beer has to be my favourite beer, it has a lovely hint of pumpkin and pumpkin spice aroma; this one came at 5.78% abv (alcohol by volume). We discovered pumpkin beer when we visited Federal Jack’s in Kennebunkport, Maine. They serve it with an optional shot of spiced rum added, so we have tried it that way too; it’s so nice and warming on a cold autumn day, though I limit myself to only one as it’s quite potent (grin!).

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

Challenges

With all the texture on my page, I’m pleased to join the Texture challenge over at Art Journal Journey where I’m guest host this month; thank you to everyone who has joined in the fun, I have really enjoyed visiting your blogs and seeing your wonderful creations!

I’m happy to be able to join the Animal Antics over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the eagle on my art journal page.

With my autumnal coloured background, I’m pleased to join the Staying In The Background challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog .

I’m also pleased to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the wood chippy dimension on my page too.

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

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Pébéo Modelling Paste
• Ranger Wendy Vicchi Make Art Blendable Dye Inks (Peat Moss, Potting Soil, Orange Blossom, Buttercup)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fired Brick)
• Liquitex! Ink (Iridescent Bright Gold)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Tsukineko VersaMarker (Watermark Pen)
• Ranger Embossing Powder (Gold)
• Old book
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Yellow Ochre No.44)
• Docrafts Papermania Glitterations (Gold Borders ANT8181012)
• Boozybear Wooden Chipboard pieces
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Don’t worry, be happy

Today I’m sharing another texture inspired page to join the Texture challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey.

The quote “don’t worry, be happy” was used recently on a page by Valerie over at Bastelmania; it resonated with me as I have a sign in my kitchen saying exactly that – thanks so much for the inspiration!

For the grungy background, I started by collaging lots of scrap pieces of paper that were sitting on my craft desk (my scraps pile seems to be multiplying not decreasing – grin!). I used Liquitex matte gel medium to stick them in place and the scraps included some grey design paper, some Typeset collage paper from Tim Holtz and some test stamped papers from previous pages. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso to the page with my finger. With the Indian Summer we’ve been having here, I was in the mood for bright hot colours so I painted Rose Madder, Lemon Yellow and Cadmium Scarlett Kuretake watercolours over the top varying the shades by applying water to the page first and then applying the paint colour.

Next I applied some Black Soot Distress Ink and some Ranger Texture Paste through an Iso Fun mixed media stencil from Paperbabe Stamps. When dry I covered the paste with Pébéo white gesso so it stood out more. I stamped three text stamps from a Documented stamp set by Tim Holtz using black Archival Ink and then I splattered the whole page with white and black DecoArt acrylic paints. The quote was created using white foam letter stickers and to finish, I added some white Glitterations dots and smiley stars which are stickers too.

This sign always makes me happy and I see it everyday when I make a cuppa as it hangs on the wall above the kettle; it was bought many moons ago from a local store in town (grin!).

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

With my bright coloured background that I created for my page, I’m pleased to join the Staying In The Background challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog .

I’m happy to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the foam letter dimension on my page.

I’m also joining the Favourite Bright or Pastel (& why) challenge over at the As You Like It Challenge as the bright colours with reminded me of the lovely Indian Summer we had here this month. 

Don’t forget that you still have until next Tuesday to join our Use Your Scraps Challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too; it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Scraps of collage, design and stamped papers
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Rose Madder No.34, Lemon Yellow No.40, Cadmium Scarlett No.31)
• Paperbabes Stamps Mixed Media Stencil (Iso Fun)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Simply Creative Alphabet & Number Stickers (White Glitter SCSTK025)
• Docrafts Anita’s Glitterations (Dots – White ANT8181041)
• UPIKIT Stickers (216005 – Stars)

Robins all the time

My sister kindly bought me a beautiful rusty style robin garden decoration, as you may know I love robins and it really makes my day when I see them in our garden so this was the perfect gift. I wanted to capture it along with the words she wrote on the note that she gave me with this gift which reads “now you can have robins in your garden all the time” (grin!).

For the background I stamped the pink blossoms using black Archival Ink and a blossom stamp from Stampendous; they are painted using Twisted Citron Distress Ink for the leaves and a mixture of Fired Brick Distress Ink and White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray for the flowers with additional touches of Putty colour from a Winsor & Newton Promarker. I applied Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink using a blending tool through a doily stencil randomly around the flowers then I spritzed the stenciling with water to re-activate the ink to give a washed out effect.

For the robins, I drew around my robin garden decoration using a pencil onto some mixed media paper and then spread Ranger Texture Paste in-between the drawn lines using a palette knife to create the rust texture. Once dry, I gradually coloured the texture paste to build up the rust effect using quite a few layers of Sanguine and Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush markers and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. Next I cut the robins out of the mixed media paper and I applied some Orange Soda and Mango Faber-Castell Gelatos by scraping them over the raised areas of texture paste and smudging the colour with my finger which finished the rust effect wonderfully.

For the sign, I cut a piece of white cardstock to size and stuck the message that my sister had written on one side of the card. I coloured the other side using a Sanguine and Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and attached the four seasons stickers from Graphic 45 over the top. I then framed the front and the back edges with texture paste using a palette knife and I also used the texture paste to cover a brad too. When dry, I add a piece of cotton string to the sign and then coloured both the string and the texture paste using the Sanguine and Dark Sepia markers and then the Orange Soda and Mango Gelatos to create a rusty effect.

Next I attached the sign by the string to the page using the brad; this allows it to be turned over to reveal the message from my sister which reads “now you can have robins in your garden all the time!!”; which is why I chose to list all the seasons on the other side (grin!).

The robins look so pretty in my garden; I have placed them just outside my kitchen window so I can see them all the time and as you can see they are so beautifully rusty – perfect!

I hope 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.

Challenges

With rusty texture that I created, I’m pleased to join the Texture challenge over at Art Journal Journey that I’m hosting this month; thanks to everyone who has joined so far!

I’m so happy to join the Staying In The Background challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the pretty stamped and stenciled background that I created on this page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the rusty elements and signage dimension on my page.

I’m joining the Complimentary Colours challenge over at Country View Challenges with the blue background and rusty orange of the robins.

I’m also pleased to join the Animal Antics challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the robins and butterflies on this page.

I’m also joining the Favourite Stencil (and why) challenge over at the As You Like It Challenge with my stencilled background; I love the pretty doily pattern that this stencil creates as it looks so delicate, this stencil is also versatile as it can be joined together to create one whole doily or just used randomly as I did on this page.

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

• Stampendous! Stamps (Cling Blossom Spray CRP136)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Twisted Citron, Fired Brick, Blueprint Sketch, Rusty Hinge)
• Dylusions Ink Spray (White Linen)
• Winsor & Newton Promarker (Putty 0618)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Daler Rowney Mixed Media Paper
• Robin garden decoration
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Sanguine 188 B, Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Orange Soda, Mango)
• Pritt Stick
• White cardstock
• Graphic 45 Cardstock Stickers (Seasons Decorative Stickers 4501629)
• Message from gift
• Recycled string
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)