Let’s Party at Try it on Tuesday

We are having a special celebration at Try it on Tuesday as it’s our 10^th Birthday, so why not join us for our Let’s Party challenge. We would like you to have fun, be colourful and share the art that you like to create with us.

You are invited to join our party which lasts for the next two weeks and to celebrate, we also have our 10^th birthday party logo that you can display on your blog too. Our Design Team can’t wait for you to join us so please pop over to our blog and check out the Let’s Party creations.

To commemorate our birthday, I created a colourful art journal page inspired by the colours from our 10th Birthday Party Logo and a fabulous balloon stamp that I found just for this occasion – happy birthday celebrations everyone!

I started by collaging some leftover pieces of Collage Paper from Tim Holtz using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. Then I covered the page with Lemon, Mango and Lavender Faber-Castell Gelatos by scribbling the colours onto the page and smudging them with my finger which I wet with water. The black stars are stencilled using Black Soot Distress Ink. Next I stamped the “happy”, “birthday” and “th” wording which are from a Paperbabes Stamp set, the “10” using a Papermania stamp set and the “Let’s Party” balloons onto white card using black Archival Ink; for this I used my Tim Holtz Stamp Platform which ensured that I achieved a nice dark and crisp stamped image. I fussy cut them all out and stuck them in place using a Zig Memory System glue pen along with some flower, butterflies and word stickers from Kaisercraft; the words I chose were “fun” and “memories” as we always have fun at Try it on Tuesday and we make such happy memories together. I die cut some stars from white card using Snowy Star thinlets from Tim Holtz and my Big Shot machine, and I stuck them in place using the Zig glue pen. To finish, I also stuck some white dots onto the page which were saved from a previous project when I was die cutting white card using the same thinlet set; I love the crisp 3D effect.

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from the blog BioArtGal  and her In the Sky/In the Air challenge over at Art Journal Journey as you find balloons and butterflies in the air.

As it’s a birthday party what could be better than jelly and ice cream, this is still one of my favourites so I couldn’t resist having a “Blackpool Special” at Notarianni Ice Cream parlour; this is tangerine jelly with two scoops of vanilla ice cream topped with tangerine syrup – delicious! Blackpool Football Club are know as The Tangerines because they play in a tangerine coloured strip and the manager of Notarianni’s is a massive fan, hence the sundae as a tribute.

To continue the birthday theme what could be better than sharing a pint at our local pub and as T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing this pint of Apricot Fool beer which is brewed by Tiny Rebel, a brewery in Newport, South Wales. This beer is a light blonde beer tasting of apricots, it was so refreshing and was very easy to drink (grin!) – cheers and Happy T Day!

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:

• Faber-Castell Gelato (Lemon, Mango, Lavender)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
• Star Stencil
• Paperbabe Stamps (Birthday Wishes Stamp Set)
• Papermania Alphamania A-Z Clear Stamps (Leftover Alphabet PMA9071102)
• Love to Craft Stamp Set (Let’s Celebrate LCST001)
• Tim Holtz Stamp Platform
• Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlets (Snowy Stars 663117)
• Tim Holtz Collage Paper (Botanicals #TH93705, Halloween #TH93727)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284, Fly Free SS289)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)

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Joy

As my weekend and week so far has been filled with joy, I created this art journal page to celebrate – I hope you like it!

Also I’m so excited that my Guest Designer post has been posted today over at Country View Challenges so if you are looking for my Opposites inspired page you can find it on my blog here, thank you!

I started by adding Turquoise and Gold Spectrum aqua marker to the background by scribbling the marker onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the paper. Then I stamped a Joy Background stamp from Great Impressions using a Slate Spectrum aqua marker over the whole page. Next I stamped the large blue flowers using a foam flower stamp and Bahama Blue Memento Ink and some heart outlines using Angel Pink Memento Ink and Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. The flamingos and flowers, which are from Hampton Art, are stamped onto some bright pink and white dots paper which was recycled from a paper bag that my birthday present came in. I fussy cut them and stuck them in place using the matte gel medium; for some of the flowers I reversed the paper bag to give a lighter contrasting tone. I also used the paper bag to punch out pink dots and hearts; they are all stuck into place using Liquitex matte gel medium. I added the pink, yellow and blue foam spotted flowers and some rub-on transfer flowers from Royal & Langnickel. Then used a black Uni Pin marker to add more detail to the dots, hearts and flowers. I added some pieces of pink and white washi tape and the pink glittery hearts, and then to finish I splattered the page with a pink Uni Posca paint pen and black DecoArt acrylic paint.

As it was a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK we’ve been having fun with friends, walking, enjoying birthday treats and touring Lancashire. As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing some beer that we had this weekend. Firstly, here we are visiting Cross Bay Brewing Company Brew House in Morecambe, where they have both Real and Craft Ales on offer.

This beer is their Two-Four beer which is a brown ale made with maple and pecans – delicious!

We also visited The Three Mariners which is located by the river in Lancaster.

Here I had Honey Ale by Fat Cat Brewery in Norwich, I thought Bleubeard and Elizabeth might like the cat on this hand pump clip (grin!) …

… and it tasted very yummy too! Cheers and wishing you a 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:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from the blog BioArtGal  and her In the Sky/In the Air challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my blue sky and sunshine coloured page, it feels like ” joy is in the air” .

I’m joining the One Word challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my “Joy” art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Happy Birthday challenge as my art journal page captures birthday joy – wishing you a Happy 10^th Birthday!

I’m pleased to join the Flowers/Garden challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with all the flowers that I included on my art journal page too.

I’m happy to join Creative Artiste Challenge Blog and their their Creative Artiste’s #49th Challenge: Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page (which included markers, ink, washi tape, stickers, paper etc).

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:

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Aquamarine, Gold, Slate)
• Memento Ink (Bahama Blue, Angel Pink)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (Pink)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Hampton Art Graphic 45 cling mounted rubber stamps (Tropical Travelogue ICO134)
• Hallmark Cards Clear Stamps
• Blue Foam Flower Stamp
• Recycled Paper Bag (pink with white dots)
• Tonic Studios Paper Punch Accent (Hearts Slider 830E)
• Wilko Paper Punch
• Wilko Foam Stickers (Flower Embellishments)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Fab Flowers #ROY1400)
• Michael’s (Washi Tape)
• The Works (Glitter Heart Stickers)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)

Wild and Free

With the warmer weather of late we have been having fun in the garden. We have weeded our flower beds and added a mulch of bark and have been watching the spring flowers grow and new foliage shoot up. So I created this happy page to celebrate, using some soft spring colours as well as some fun techniques and the wording “all good things are wild and free” (grin!).

I started by stamping the page with a dot stamp from Woodware Craft Collection using Rose Bud Memento Ink and a flower stamp by Hampton Arts using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. Then I covered the page with pastel shades of pink, turquoise and orange acrylic paint and also Pébéo white gesso; they are all applied using a brayer to build up layers of colour. Once dry I added the large flower sticker and some leftover letters and frame stickers from Little Yellow Bicycle.

The wording “all good things are wild and free by Henry David Thoreau” and “Just be” which included a sweet little bird are from the same sticker set; the little bird with the flower in his beak reminded me of some Goldfinches that come into our garden to take pieces of a silver leaved plant called Cineraria, not sure why they want it, but it’s fun to watch them (grin!). Then I outlined all of these stickers using a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen so they stood out more and had fun doodling all the dots using black, white and pink Uni Posca paint pens. To continue the spring theme I added more little birds, flowers and as we are making lots of new discoveries this year in our garden I also added the “Discoveries” wording which are all fabric stickers from Little Yellow Bicycle.

As you may remember we replanted our flower beds last year and here’s what they look like at the moment. The apple trees are sprouting and should be in bloom soon, the bluebells are out in force and the bark mulch looks great – I love it!

We discovered that we had crocus in our garden and along with daffodils they have finished flowering but we do have some tulips starting to bloom that we planted in October last year. This beautiful pink frilly variety reminded me of my page (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Wendy from Wendy’s Art and Craft Journal  and her Having Fun challenge over at Art Journal Journey as my page represents having fun gardening.

I’m joining the Polka Dots challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the polka dot stickers and dots on this page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Easter and/or Spring challenge over at Country View Challenges with my spring pastel coloured page.

Over at The Artistic Stamper, their challenge is New Growth, so I’m also joining this challenge too with my springtime flower page.

I’m also pleased to join the Spring Flowers! challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with happy spring flower inspired 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 Memento Ink (Rose Bud, Rich Cocoa)
• Script Ready Made Paint (Pastels)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Uni Posca Paint Pens (Black, White, Pink)
• Hampton Art Bella Blvd cling mounted rubber stamps (Sand & Surf ICO226)
• Woodware Craft Collections Francoise Collection Stamp Set (Flower Style FRSWS003)
• Home Bargains (Room Décor Embellishment Art 01194)
• Little Yellow Bicycle (Cardstock Stickers Fresh Verse PD-140, Fabric Favourites PD-220)

Embrace beautiful chaos

Our new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Use a stencil or two and you’ll find some amazing creations from my Design Teamies over at our blog to inspire you (grin!).

I hope that you’ll join us for this challenge by using one or more stencils to create your artwork; I must admit that I had loads of fun creating this page using four different stencils – see what you think!

To start with, I tore a book page into three pieces and stuck them to the page using a glue stick. I then painted the page with Vivid Lime Green, Bright Aqua Green and Neutral Gray Liquitex acrylic paint and left it to dry. Next I used a Tim Holtz stencil to add the Bright Aqua Green acrylic paint using a sponge and then some butterflies and circles using a Mini Specimens stencil from The Crafter’s Workshop and Black Soot Distress Ink. The white dots are Pébéo modelling paste which I applied using a craft knife through a dot stencil. When the modelling paste was dry, I added the three large flowers using a mask by Carabelle Studio and Black Soot ink blending the black ink around the edges of the flower into the background. The “embrace beautiful chaos” wording, which I thought was perfect to summarise the look and feel of this page, is a Small Talk Sticker from Tim Holtz and I outlined it using a black Uni Pin Marker. I also applied some rub-on transfers to the page so the images were broken up and depicted the “embrace beautiful chaos” wording more; they are Special Delivery Remnant Rubs from Tim Holtz. To finish, I added three different coloured gems to each of the centre of the flowers.

Last week I had an early birthday treat and spent a wonderful day in Garstang visiting the local garden centre and looking around the town’s market stalls. We also had lunch and a few pints at my favourite pub and then walked along the canal and river – perfect (grin!). I thought this picture was fun, it was taken at the garden centre and shows the amazing wall on the way out of the food hall, I think it ties nicely into my page with the beautiful and chaotic way items have been embedded into it (grin!).

My favourite of course was the teapot! As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a 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 Wendy from Wendy’s Art and Craft Journal  and her Having Fun challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I always have fun creating art journal pages and this one was especially fun using all the different stencil techniques.

Over at Moo Mania & More their challenge is Colourful so I’m happy to join them to with the bright colours that I used to create this page.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes 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 all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green, Bright Aqua Green, Neutral Gray)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Dot Stencil – unknown
• Tim Holtz Collection Layering Mini Stencil (Set 16 THMST016)
• The Crafter’s Workshop TCW Rebekah Meier Designs 6×6 Stencil (Mini Specimens TCW4545)
• Carabelle Studio Art Mask (2 Flowers)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Special Delivery #TH93188)
• B&M Crafting Goody Bag (Turquoise 321451)

Spring in the Garden

With the sunny days we have been having of late, I have found myself pottering around in the garden. Weeding my flowerbeds, planting seeds and preparing everything for summer, so I created this page to celebrate using some pretty crafting goodies that my dear friends Nan and Eileen sent me – thanks so much!

I applied Begonia, Blossom and Peach Spectrum Aqua markers to the background, by scribbling the individual colour onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page.  Then I covered the edges and middle of the page with some Apricot Liquitex acrylic paint using a baby wipe. Next I added the large “spring” wording which is a rub-on transfer by Royal & Langnickel and created a blue border to the page using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker, a Navy Spectrum Aqua marker and a black Uni Pin marker. To create the tags, I stuck some pretty spring stickers from my friend Nan onto some pink tags which I recycled from some lingerie and also onto some flowery tags by Docrafts. They are edged with the Navy Spectrum Aqua marker and stuck in place using double-sided sticky tape over some white thread. I embellished them with the different coloured pastel enamel dots and three wooden craft flowers. The bird boxes and blue bird are from the same rub-on transfer set and to finish I added the three pieces of washi tape, around the edges of the page, which were gifted me by my friend Eileen.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the Hello Springtime challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey with my spring in the garden page – I hope to see you there!

I’m joining in the Play with Paint challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I had fun applying paint to my page using a baby wipe.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my spring page too.

As I included flowers on this page, it also serves as a reminder for our Say it with Flowers challenge over at Try it on Tuesday where you have until next Tuesday to join in the fun!

I feel blessed to have received such kindness and gifts from both Nan and Eileen:

Here’s the happy mail that I received to welcome spring from the lovely Nan, thank you so much I really enjoyed using the beautiful stickers to create this page – perfect!

Here’s the happy mail that I received to celebrate T Stands for Tuesday 5^th Birthday from the lovely Eileen along with some wonderful crafting goodies too – thank you so much!

Their cards and ATC have pride of place in my craft room – thank you from the bottom of my heart (grin!). It was so wonderful to think of you as I was creating this page too and I hope that you like it as much as me!

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:

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Begonia, Blossom, Peach, Navy)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Peach)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Recycled Pink Tags
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Tags (Elements Wood PMA174318)
• White thread
• Spring Stickers – thank you Nan!
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Spring is Coming #SUG666)
• The Works (Pastel Enamel Dots, Craft Flowers)
• Washi Tape – thank you Eileen!
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Spring Greetings – Art Journal Cover

I always find that I have a huge selection of scraps leftover from creating art journal pages, which for some reason I just can’t seem to throw away (grin!). I usually try to use them up on my art journal covers and as I often use the same materials that can be found in the journal, the covers then also remind me of the pages that are inside (double grin!).

As my journal holds some of the springtime pages that I created for my Hello Springtime theme over at Art Journal Journey that I am hosting, I gave the cover a springtime feel too – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the background with a book page that I recycled from a part-work magazine, using as I did to stick all the paper elements, Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I used some washi tape, with a tape measure design on it, over the seam where two pieces of the book pages joined together. Next I stuck some lattice die cut pieces, remnants of a recycled brown bag, leftover pieces of teabag and also scrap pieces of wallpaper to the page. I added the robin, branches and leaves which are ripped pieces of tissue and then the scene started looking more like springtime, so I coloured the leaves using a Bud Green Spectrum Aqua Marker. The flowers are cobbled-together using leftover pieces of hydrangea flowers from a wallpaper sample and rub-on transfers of violets by Royal & Langnickel, along with some stamped hydrangea flowers using Elderberry Memento Ink. They are loosely coloured with watered down Purple and Navy Spectrum Aqua Markers so the flowers blended together. I also stamped the “My Art Journal” wording using the Elderberry Memento Ink and added more colour to the lettering using the Purple and Navy Spectrum aqua markers again. The “spring greetings” banner, “grow” tag and “plant a garden” banner are Graphic 45 Cardstock Stickers and I used the tape measure washi tape to bind and finish the edges of the page.

As you probably know by now, I love robins and this page reminded me of a robin we saw on a springtime walk last year. I think he had stopped by to say “hello”, isn’t he adorable (grin!).

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Art Journal Journey, 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 also joining the Close to Nature challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my springtime art journal cover.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Create a Scene 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 all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Elderberry)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Purple, Navy, Bud Green)
• Craft Sensations (Clear Stamps 154884)
• Clarity Stamp (Word Chain STA-WO-10048-XX)
• Leftover papers – lattice die cuts, recycled brown bag, teabag paper, wallpaper sample, tissue
• Recycled book page from part-work magazine
• Graphic 45 Cardstock Stickers (Place in Time 4500617, Seasons 4501629)
• Michael’s (Washi Tape)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Camellia

On a walk last week to the beach with our friends, we noticed a beautiful camellia flowering in one of the gardens we passed which made me think of springtime; so inspired by our walk with friends and the camellia that we saw I created this page!

I started by adding three pieces of ripped sheet music to the page using a glue stick and then I covered the background with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and Pébéo white gesso. When dry, I added some camellia stickers and framed them using some brown pieces of the same sticker sheet, a sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and a black Uni Pin marker. Then I stamped some new letter and number stamps from Inkadinkado using black Archival Ink over the page; my hubby kindly bought these stamps for me as a surprise so I just couldn’t wait to use them, aren’t they lovely! Next I added the wording which I chose to relate to our walk with our friends and the camellia that we saw: “Embrace the Journey” which is from Small Talk sticker set by Tim Holtz; “Enjoy every day” taken from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet; “Springtime”, “Harmony” and “Gentle” which are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel. Then I stuck three metal embellishments and to finish, I splattered the whole page with watered-down Cottage Green Memento Ink, black and also white DecoArt Crafter’s acrylic paint.

Here’s the pretty white camellia that we saw on our walk. If you are interested here are some facts about camellias:

• Camellia is an evergreen plant that belongs to the family Theaceae, the tea family.
• Camellia flowers can be white, cream, pink, red, purple, yellow or variegated, and bloom in autumn, winter and spring.
• The oldest living camellia was planted in 1347 and can be found in China’s Panlong Monastery.
• Camellia sinensis called ‘tea plant’ is used to make tea, usually from young leaves which can be made into green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea etc. The flowers are small and non-descript not like the ornamental ones on my page.
• Sacramento, California is nicknamed the Camellia City.
• The Camellia is Alabama’s state flower.
• Camellia represents adoration, devotion and loveliness.

As camellias belong to the tea family and we always stop for a cuppa when we walk with our friends, I’m sharing my green tea and wishing the T gang, over at T Stands for Tuesday, a very Happy T Day!

Challenges

I’m pleased to link my art journal page to the Hello Springtime challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey as my Camellia page reminds me of springtime. I hope you are inspired by this theme too, it would be lovely to see you there!

I’m pleased to join in the Letters and/or Number challenge over at Country View Challenges with the letter and numbers that I added to my page using the lovely new stamp set that my hubby kindly bought me (yay!).

I’m also joining the Close to Nature challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my Camellia art journal page.

As I was inspired by our walk with our friends, I’m happy to join the Celebrate the Journey challenge over at A Vintage Journey my Art Journaling Style page too – wishing everyone at A Vintage Journey a Happy 5^th Birthday!

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 (Parchment)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Sanguine 188 B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Inkadinkado Stamping Gear (Typographic 65-32008)
• Sheet Music
• Penny Black 2006 Stickeroos (In Bloom 10-208, Petals & Poetry 10-207)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Sticker Set (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Say Aloha SS281)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Sentiments (Spring #ROY-506)
• Poundworld (Vintage Stickers)
• The Works (Metal Embellishments)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 mini glue dots