Happy Wishes

This page send happy wishes your way to celebrate T Stands for Tuesday’s 7^th Anniversary, where our wonderful hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth ask us to share a drink related post each week. It’s so much fun meeting up with the T Gang each Tuesday, thanks so much to everyone for making it such a friendly and happy place – Happy T Day!

I started by painting a mixture of Cadmium Yellow and white acrylic paint onto the page. Then I stamped a Tiny Dot stamp from Kaisercraft using Dandelion and Angel Pink Memento Inks and black Archival Ink. I also dragged the Angel Pink Memento ink pad page over the page to add some more colour to the background. Next, as Bleubeard and Elizabeth love to recycle things, I cut some pink dotty strips and also fussy cut the teacup and little dog from an old birthday card. They are stuck in place using a glue stick and edged with a black Uni Pin marker, as was everything on this page.

I added some strips of pink hearts and the “there is no place I’d rather be” and “friends” wording which are from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet. The “7 today” is cut from the same birthday card using a Sizzix Thinlets and the pink flowers and fabric yellow hearts are from a couple of sticker sets. I added some dots around the edges of the page through a stencil using Ranger Texture Paste and when dry I painted them using white acrylic paint. To finish, I splattered the page with black and also white acrylic paint.

To celebrate the 7^th Anniversary at T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing this photo can you see my mug of green tea in the background. The pink and white dot heart on the mug and this very special little lady called Ellie reminded me of my page; needless to say this photo was taken when we were looking after her for our friends earlier this year before Lockdown. We have just started walking with our dear friends and little Ellie again as the restrictions are easing here in the UK – yay!

Here she is as a puppy, such a cutie! She has grown so much in the last year and I can’t believe that she turned one last month – Happy Birthday (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from her blog BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her When It’s Hot challenge this month as my July T Day celebration page.

I’m also entering the Do What Makes You Happy challenge over at Country View Challenges too as this page celebrate joining the T Gang for a cuppa which always makes me happy (grin!).

I’m happy to be able to join the #123 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the yellow and pink summer colours and teacup on my page.

I hope that you all are 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:

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Cadmium Yellow Light Hue)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Tiny Dot CS360)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Dandelion, Angel Pink)
• Recycled Birthday Card
• Pritt Stick
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Sizzix Thinlets (Brush Numbers 661726)
• Wilko (A5 Stickers)
• Poundland (Decorative Stickers)
• Stencil (Dots)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)

Create your own sunshine

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

I had fun using some book pages to create the sun and flowers on this page; I hope that you are inspired to join us too, I can’t wait to see how you use your book pages!

For the background, I applied some Cerulean Blue and white acrylic paint using a paintbrush and left it to dry.

Then I used a book page from an old encyclopedia to create the sun; if you look closely you’ll see the page I chose was about the universe and details information about the sun. I drew around a circular tray to create the round body of the sun and then used a ruler to create the sun’s rays. They are cut out, coloured using Mustard Seed Distress Ink, stuck in place using a glue stick and outlined using a black Sharpie marker. The wording was created using some alphabet stickers which I outlined using a black Uni Pin marker.

For the flowers I used another page from the encyclopedia, this time about growth and I die cut the flower heads and leaves using a Tattered Floral Thinlets set from Tim Holtz. The flowers are coloured using Festive Berries and the leaves using Mowed Lawn Distress Inks which were applied using a blending tool. Next I doodled the stems using a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen and stuck the flower heads and leaves into place. For the centre of the flowers I used the cutouts from the centre of the lettering from the alphabet stickers. I outlined them all with a black marker so they stood out more and then to finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

For more inspiration you can see how my Design Teamies have been using book pages for their amazing creations too, so please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look (grin!).

Here we are enjoying the sunshine one evening along the seafront where we live, as T Stands for Tuesday you may have noticed the bottle of water on the wall in the background – 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.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from her blog BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her When It’s Hot challenge this month my sunshine page.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Play With Paint challenge with the painted background on my art journal page.

I’m also entering the Do What Makes You Happy challenge over at Country View Challenges too as sunshine always makes me happy and sometimes you just have to create your own sunshine especially with all the stormy weather we’ve been having of late (grin!).

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Bright & Cheerful challenge with my happy sunshiny page.

I’m happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Cerulean Blue)
• Artist Discount Acylic Paint (White)
• Pears Cyclopaedia 2007-2008 Edition
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mustard Seed, Festive Berries, Mowed lawn)
• Pritt Stick
• Sharpie Permanent Marker Fine Point (Black)
• Aldi So Crafty (Alphabet Stickers – Multi-coloured)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm, 0.8mm)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Small Tattered Florals 661806)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)

Spread your wings

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

I was inspired by summer damselflies and had fun playing around with lots of mixed media to create this art journal page.

I started by applying Twisted Citron and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink to the page using a blending tool and then spritzed with water so that the inks blended and dispersed over the page. When dry I applied some of the Twisted Citron Ink through a Shedded stencil by Andy Skinner and also wiped a baby wipe through the stencil to remove some of the ink.

I stamped some Vintage Circles using a stamp set from Woodware Craft Collection with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink and also some fern leaves using a Tim Holtz stamp set and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. The black circles are stencilled using a Dutch Doobadoo stencil and Black Soot Distress Ink. I stamped the damselfly stamp which was free with a magazine using black Archival Ink so they look like they are flying around the page and then I splattered the page with Carbon Black Liquitex Ink. The wording “don’t forget to fly”, “with brave wings she flies” and “use your wings” are all Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz.

The central “Until you spread your wings you’ll never know how far you’ll fly!” wording was created using a couple of Kaisercraft Journal Cards which I cut to size, dyed with Twisted Citron and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink and embellished with a black metal dragonfly brad. Then I edged them with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and layered everything together with some pretty flowers and leaves which finished the page.

I hope that you are inspired to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge too! 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!

Here is the pretty blue damselfly that inspired this page. They are very similar to dragonflies but the easiest way tell them apart is when they are at rest like this one; damselflies fold their wings up and hold them together across the top of their backs whereas dragonflies hold their wings out perpendicular to their bodies when resting, like an airplane. This is a Common Blue Damselfly; it is fairly common throughout the UK and is seen from May through to September.

If you’re interested here are some more differences between damselflies and dragonflies (which made me think that the free stamp I used is a damselfly – grin!):

• Damselflies have much smaller eyes than dragonflies and their eyes always have a gap between them whereas dragonflies wrap around the head from the side to the front of the face.
• Damselflies have narrow bodies like twigs, whereas dragonflies have bulkier bodies giving it a shorter, thicker appearance.
• Both dragonflies and damselflies have two sets of wings, damselflies have wings that are the same size and shape and dragonflies have hind wings that are larger than the front set of wings.

Hoping that you are all staying safe and keep 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 Erika from her blog BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her When It’s Hot challenge this month with my damselfly page as they appear when it’s hot.

I’m joining the Cattywampus challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the askew journal cards.

Art journaling always makes me happy as it helps me breathe and I love to capture memories on my pages, so I’m entering the Do What Makes You Happy challenge over at Country View Challenges too.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Bright & Cheerful challenge.

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon, Mowed lawn, Black Soot)
• DecoArt Andy Skinner Mixed Media Stencil (Shedded)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Vintage Circles FRS665)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Leaf Prints CMS273)
• Dutch Doobadoo Mask Art A5 (Geometric Tiles)
• Free Stamp with magazine – The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady (Dragonfly)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Liquitex Ink! (Carbon Black)
• Kaisercraft Captured Moments Journal Cards (Life’s Treasure CM108)
• Metal Brad (Dragonfly – Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pitt Pen (Black 199)
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• Little Birdie Flowers (Boutique Elements SKU213179)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)

Sewing Bee

I always enjoy watching The Great British Sewing Bee on the TV and now it’s finished it inspired my to create this vintage sewing page – such fun!

I started by covering the page with an old napkin using a glue stick and when dry I edged the page with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool. I added some vintage sewing designed gold outline stickers which included a pair of scissors, a thimble, needles and pins, cross-stitches, flower shapes, a cotton reel, a pin cushion and a sewing machine. The “Sewing Bee” wording was constructed using letter outline stickers too.

For the tags I covered a piece of white card with some dressmaking pattern tissue paper and some of the napkin that I used on the page background. Then I cut three different sizes of tag and some circular reinforcements using the Tim Holtz Tag Collection Framelits and my Big Shot machine. I applied some Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool to each of the die cut pieces and then collaged some sewing related Tim Holtz stickers onto the tags which I edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker so they stood out more. I added a circular reinforcement to each tag and threaded some cotton through them; the threads were leftover from some sewing that I’ve been doing. To finish, I added some outline stickers of cross-stitches, needles and pins and some the lace and silk flowers to the tags; they are stuck in place using double-sided foam tape.

If you haven’t seen or heard of The Great British Sewing Bee it’s a television programme on BBC1. It’s a spin off of The Great British Bake Off and is a reality show where amateur sewers compete to be named “Britain’s best home sewer”; they compete in a Pattern challenge, Alteration challenge and Made-to-measure challenge each week.

If you are interested you may be able to access the programmes here BBC programmes – The Great British Sewing Bee (this link may only be available to those of you who live in the UK).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m showing you my cuppa by my sewing machine, like everyone I’ve been making face masks (that’s where the leftover threads came from for my page); the material is recycled from one of my hubby’s old summer shirts (grin!).

Hope that you are 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 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 Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with my Sewing Bee page.

I’m joining the Cattywampus challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the askew tags and stickers on this page.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Sewing Bee art journal page.

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

• Napkin
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Sew Retro – Gold ANT810136, Flower Blossom –Gold ANT810143)
• Outline Stickers (Alphabet – Gold)
• White Cardstock
• Style Dressmaking Pattern Tissue Paper
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• The Works (Self-Adhesive Lace Trim)
• The Range (Crafting Flowers)
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape

Mountain Scene

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

There are many options for this challenge so I decided to create a summer mountain scene. As I was creating the scene I knew I had to use my favourite Merry Moose Thinlet set – such fun (grin!).

Everything on this page is coloured using Kuretake Watercolour paints even the die cut Thinlets. To start I painted the gorgeous purple mountains using Colbalt Violet and a little Ultramarine watercolour paint. When dry, I painted the meadow foreground using Sap Green and Hooker’s Green paint, layering the colours to add texture. I also transferred some of the wet green paint using a piece of kitchen towel to blend the colours together at the base of the mountains.

The trees are from the Merry Moose Thinlet set by Tim Holtz and were cut from linen textured cardstock like all of the die cut Thinlets on this page. I coloured the cardstock using a mixture of Burnt Sienna and Black paint for the trunks and added some more detail with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The tree foliage was a mixture of Sap Green and Hooker’s Green. I cut out a circle of linen cardstock for the sun and coloured it using Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Scarlet paints, when dry I painted Lemon Yellow over the top and edged it first with a Cold Grey and then a White Faber-Castell marker. The sky was painted using Ultramarine Pale paint and I gradually built up the clouds by letting each paint layer dry before adding the next to ensure the clouds got darker as I added each layer.

For the shrubs at the base of the trees, I used a Funky Florals Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and coloured them first using Sap Green allowing it to dry and then adding dots of Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Scarlet paints. The moose was from the same Merry Moose Thinlet set and I coloured him using Burnt Sienna and Black paint, I also used Yellow Ochre for his antlers. To finish, I added three Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz, they read “life was meant to be a great adventure”, “live everyday with intention” and “always take the scenic route”; they are edged with a Unipin pen.

I hope that you are inspired to join us too, for more inspiration my Design Teamies have created some amazing scenes for you over at Try it on Tuesday, so please pop over and take a look (grin!).

The mountains on this page reminded me of the purple mountains that you find in Wales, this is due to the purple slate that is found and was mined in the area. Of course the only moose that you’ll find there is the Purple Moose Brewery in Porthmadog in North Wales. As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our moose pint glasses that we often use at home to serve our home brewed beer in. They are a lovely reminder of the Purple Moose Brewery that we have visited on a few occasions, these were mementos from their Brewery Tour that we took on my birthday some years ago – Happy T day everyone!

Hoping that you are 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 also happy to be able to join the #121 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page design; the bottom panel is depicted by the green foreground and the logo by the moose.

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Summer Fun challenge with my summer mountain scene.

With my moose walking through a summery meadow at the base of the mountains, I’m pleased to join in the Summer Fields challenge over at Country View Challenges too.

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

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Colbalt Violet No:139, Ultramarine No:64, Sap Green No:53, Hooker’s Green No:52, Burnt Sienna No:46, Black No:20, Cadmium Scarlet No:31, Yellow Ochre No:44, Lemon Yellow No:40, Ultramarine Pale No:61 )
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Merry Moose 663103, Funky Florals #1 662700)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Zig Memory 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• UniPin Fine Line Marker Pen (Black 0.05mm)

Beautiful Self

Inspired by a beautiful notebook that my sister bought me, I created this fun Highland cow page as a reminder to ‘Just be your beautiful self’ (grin!).

I started by taking a page out of the notebook to use as part of the collage background. I dyed the page with inks, firstly Bluebird ink for the sky and then with Leaf Green, Fern Green and Prickly Pear ink for the grass; they are all Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Inks.

As the page was lined I ripped the paper diagonally, positioning the pieces so the lines ran from left-hand side up to the right-hand side diagonally across the page. I collaged them using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium along with some torn pieces of kitchen towel and baby wipes that were used to mop up blue and green inks and paints from previous art journal pages that I had created. When dry, I painted Ultramarine and Sap Green Kuretake watercolours to add more colour to the sky and grass. The highland cow is from an old magazine and layered some of the pieces of coloured paper, kitchen towel and baby wipes over the edges to blend it into the background. As you can see, I created my page background so that it matches and blends with the felt/fabric look of the highland cow image background.

For the foliage and daisies I used a Wildflower Stems #2 Thinlet set from Tim Holtz: cutting the tall grasses from brown tissue paper and layering them on top of the background using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium; I used white cardstock for the leafy foliage which I stamped using black Archival Ink and a Finnabair Stamp, coloured using the Leaf Green, Fern Green and Prickly Pear Wendy Vecchi Blendable Inks and Mowed lawn Distress Ink, and edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; and I used some linen textured cardstock for the daisies which were coloured using the Leaf Green and Prickly Pear inks and also watered down Watering Can Wendy Vecchi Blendable Ink for the petals. Once stuck into place using a Zig glue pen, I edged the leafy foliage and daisies using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker so they stood out more. Then I added a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “Just be your beautiful self” which finished the page.

Here’s the beautiful A4 notebook that inspired my page.

You may notice that I always list the materials I use for pages at the end of my posts and as you can see here I use this type of notebook to record these details, so this gift was perfect (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m also sharing my cuppa (of Ceylon Tea) which I often enjoy whilst crafting – wishing you all a very Happy T day!

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.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with the faux felt/fabric background.

I’m pleased to join in the Summer Fields challenge over at Country View Challenges with my highland cow summery field art journal page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the #121 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page; the green and blue splits the page and images.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Sprays and Splashes challenge with the splashes of green ink on the die cut foliage.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our monthly Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog too!

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

• Notebook page
• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Make Art Blendable Dye Ink (Bluebird, Prickly Pear, Leaf green, Fern Green, Watering Can)
• Recycled kitchen towel and baby wipes used to mop up inks and paints
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine No:64, Sap Green No:53)
• Old magazine
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Recycled brown tissue paper
• White cardstock
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Old Receipt #966980)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mowed Lawn)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Black 199, Cold Grey IV 23)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)

Wonderful Life

Outside our kitchen window we always have one of our seasonal garden flags displayed that our dear friends gifted us. I’ve been meaning to create an art journal page based on our summer flag for a while now, so over the weekend I got creative and this is the page that resulted – I hope you like it (grin!).

I started by applying Salty Ocean and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink using a blending tool through a doily stencil to create the circular pattern; the stencil only detailed one quarter of the doily so I stencilled it four times joining the pattern together to create a whole circle. I ensured that the blending tool was wet when applying this ink to give a washed out effect and I also graduated the ink from dark blue to light blue from the left-hand side to the right-hand side of the page to give a hombre effect. To further emphasis the hombre effect, I applied more of the Salty Ocean ink on the left-hand side of the page using a blending tool and also by stamping the ink pad directly to an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page.

When dry, I added strips of a dotty lime green washi tape and some torn pieces of a dark green striped washi tape. The pretty flowers that I stuck over the washi tape are cut from a strip of stickers from Kaisercraft. Next I stamped the background with a Music Sheet stamp from Woodware Craft Collection using Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink and also splattered the page with some Ground Espresso Distress Ink.

I created the bird using my new Feathered Friends Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and some linen textured cardstock that I had coloured using Ground Espresso, Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, Hickory Smoke and Salty Ocean Distress Ink. The quotes are from the same Kaisercraft sticker sheet and were edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; they read “Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful”, “Happy” and “Love this life” which finished the page.

This is our summer garden flag that inspired my page design; it is such a bright and happy design and makes me smile when I see it everyday (grin!).

Hoping that you are 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 Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with the faux doily background and pieces of washi tape which represent my fabric garden flag.

I’m pleased to join in the Summer Fields challenge over at Country View Challenges with my summery art journal page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their It’s A Man Thing challenge with the blue, green and brown masculine colours on this page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our monthly Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste too!

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

• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire, Ground Espresso, Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, Hickory Smoke)
• The Works The Craft Place (Spotted Paper Tapes)
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Patterned Craft Tape (Spots & Stripes Festive PMA462302)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Secret Garden SS283)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Music Sheet JGS111)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Ground Espresso)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Feathered Friends 664433)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Pritt Stick
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)

Make it Masculine

Our new challenge for the next two weeks over at Try it on Tuesday is Make it Masculine.

I enjoyed creating this masculine page with the help of my hubby who chose the three stamps for the background and also the air balloon rub-on transfers which gave the page a lovely Victorian Steampunk feel (grin!).

I started by stamping the three Kaisercraft stamps that my hubby chose onto the background using Archival Distress Ink; these were an Alphabet stamp using Hickory Smoke ink, a Sketchy stamp using Vintage Photo ink and a Keys stamp using Ground Espresso ink. Then I scribbled some Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker onto an acrylic block, spritzed with water and then pressed the block onto the page to add to the grungy look.

Next I cut some rulers and also tore some grid and map papers from American Crafts and arranged them on the page with some leftover pieces of book pages and sheet music; they are all edged, like all the paper elements, using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck in place using a glue stick. The “masculine” wording and shop advertising signs are from a Crowded Attic sticker set from Tim Holtz. I splattered the page using black and rust coloured acrylic paints and then edged it using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

I added some Men’s Accessories rub-on transfers which included some men’s trouser braces, a pair of spectacles, a lighter, a couple of gentlemen and a wallet. To finish, I added some Kaisercraft rub-on transfers detailing hot air balloons, tickets with the words “explore”, “discover”, “adventure” on them and some scrollwork.

For more inspiration, my Design Teamies have been making it masculine over at Try it on Tuesday with their wonderful creations too, so please pop over and take a look!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my cup of tea that we enjoyed with some homemade chocolate mousse – so very yummy (grin!). Wishing you all a Happy T Day!

If you are interested, the chocolate mousse was made using aquafaba (juice from a tin of chickpeas) which I whisked for 10–15 minutes until it was at the stiff peak stage, like you would meringues, and then I folded 250g of melted dark chocolate and a couple of tablespoons of castor sugar into it, poured the mixture into dishes and refrigerated overnight.

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

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 Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with the men’s clothing and wallet accessory on this page.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Masculine challenge.

I’m also happy to join the It’s A Man Thing challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with this page.

The challenge over at SanDee&amelie’s Steampunk Challenge is Anything Goes – Steampunk/Industrial so I’m pleased to be able to join them too.

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

• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Alphabet CS887, Sketchy CS878, Keys CS801)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Hickory Smoke, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pitt Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• American Crafts Papers (DIY Shop 366665)
• Leftover pieces of book pages and sheet music
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Pritt Stick
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Liquitex Artist Color (Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Men’s Accessories #ROY-853)
• Kaisercraft Rub Ons (Up, Up & Away Collection RB870)

Ladybird

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

I had fun playing around with mixed media to create this Ladybird (ladybug) art journal page. I hope you’ll join in the fun too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by applying Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain, like all the other elements, horizontally across the page and then I added some Raw Umber, Burnt Umber and Bright Aqua Green Liquitex acrylic paint. I applied this paint using the long edge of an old gift card in horizontal lines. Next I added torn strips of three different washi tapes which detailed a green striped, an aqua/purple flower and a tape measure design. Then I applied some more of the Liquitex paints and also some Pébéo white gesso using the gift card again. I stamped an alphabet stamp from Kaisercraft with black Archival Ink and then added more layers of washi tape, this time a hexagonal design and a black & white flower design. Then I repeated the layers of paints and gesso and stamped a grid design using a Sheena stamp and Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink.

The tags were created using Tag Collection Framelits by Tim Holtz and were die cut from white card which I covered with some paper from a Vintage Romance design pad. I edged them with Ground Espresso Distress Ink using a blending tool and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to create an old and worn look. I stamped some foliage onto some of the tags using a Carabelle Studio stamp and Cottage Ivy Memento Ink.

The ladybirds are rub-on transfers and the wordings are Small Talk stickers which read “lucky” and “make a wish” relating to the spiritual meaning of ladybirds. The tags are stuck to the page using double-sided tape or foam tape and also two different sizes of brown brads. To finish, I added the “ladybird” wording using Kaisercraft letter stickers and then I splattered the page with black and also white acrylic paint.

I hope that you are inspired to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge too! For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too.

I’ve noticed quite a few ladybirds this year in our garden; here are a couple sitting on some bark in one of our flower borders (grin!).

If you’re interested here are some fun facts about ladybirds:

• They are called “ladybirds” in Europe but are also known as “ladybugs” or “lady beetles”. Technically, they are actually beetles.
• A ladybird’s spots warn potential predators and the most common type of ladybird in the UK is red with black spots, but in fact there are 5000 different species of ladybirds in the world.
• One ladybird may consume 5000 aphids in its one-year lifespan – so they are very welcome in my garden (grin!).
• They are much loved and in many cultures are considered good luck. 

I hope that you are 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 glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like Creative Artiste, as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join in the Summer Fields challenge over at Country View Challenges with my summery meadow foliage and ladybirds on my art journal page.

I’m happy to join the Make Your Own Background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the background that I created too.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Quotes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the “make a wish” quote.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Masculine challenge.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Cracked Pistachio)
• Liquitex Acrylic Basics (Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Bright Aqua Green)
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Patterned Craft Tape (Spots & Stripes Festive PMA462302)
• Crelando Decorative Tape (Aqua/purple Flower)
• Michael’s Washi Tape (Tape Measure, Black & White Flower)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Alphabet CS887)
• Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black)
• The Works Washi Tape (Enjoy the Ride)
• Sheena Create A Flower Unmounted Rubber Stamp (Funky Textures 2 SD-CAFS-FT2)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• White Card Stock
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Romance 154897)
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ground Espresso)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pitt Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (Dans la nature, ill y a … SA60175)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Insect Collection #TIP1484)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Stix2 double-sided  tape
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape
• Craft Sensations Brads (CRO550/A)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Mix & Match – Alpha SS252)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)

Time …

Experimenting with new products is always fun but what happens when things don’t work as expected, well you make do and improvise which is what I did for this page (grin) – I hope you like it!

The background started with some leftover Seedless Grape Distress Ink that I stamped using a Clock stamp from Kaisercraft. I added some Burnt Umber Liquitex Acrylic paint which I coated with a layer of Docrafts Crackle Medium and then some Parchment Liquitex Acrylic paint but the crackle didn’t appear. I repeated the layers again thicker this time but still no crackle effect (having doing a bit of research, apparently this brand is not easy to use) so I decided to rub the layers with a baby wipe to remove some of paints which left a distressed painted wood effect instead which I really like (grin!).

Then I stamped the clocks using a Tic Toc stamp from Kaisercraft and Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink. Next I added the lace and large flower border which are stickers from Kaisercraft; I created some shadows around the top edge of the flowers, so that they stood out more, by applying and smudging some of the Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker with my finger before sticking them down. The vase of flowers was from a Botanicals Layers set from Tim Holtz and the wording was from Kaisercraft and reads “Time has a wonderful way of reminding us what’s important”. To finish, I added some tiny flowers to the wording and the bottom of the vase which are from the same sticker sheet from Kaisercraft.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my cup of tea and a yummy homemade carrot cupcake topped with cream cheese frosting and saying a big hello to the T Gang – Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping that you are 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 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 Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with my Time art journal page page and also the faux lace that I included.

I’m happy to be able to join the Quote challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with quote I added to my page too.

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Make Your Own Background challenge with the background that I created for my art journal page.

I’m also joining the Tickled Pink challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my pink feminine vintage page.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic (Burnt Umber)
• Docrafts Artiste (Crackle Medium)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Tic Toc CS796)
• Distress Archival Ink (Ground Espresso)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Cherry Tree Lane SS329)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium