Sweet & Cute

Using up leftovers is one of my crafting goals this year, so I used lots of leftover papers and die cuts on this page to create homes for these sweet and cute critters (grin!).

Don’t forget that there is still another week to join our Oh So Cute challenge over at Try it on Tuesday; we are so looking forward to seeing your cute creations!

I started by covering the background with some colourful leftovers papers that have been sitting on my craft desk since Christmas – eek! They were stuck in place, like all the paper elements, using a glue stick. As the papers were quite brightly coloured, I applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top using a brayer.

When dry, I added strips of bunting washi tape that my sister had kindly gifted me. The wording and stars were stickers from Craft Sensations and I outlined them all using a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out more.

Next I raided my stash of leftover die cuts and created little scenes with them for those cute critters which were foam stickers.

This malt loaf may not be cute but it is sweet (grin!). I bought it as a treat, when I was food shopping for my mum and dad, from our local bakery and it was so very yummy!

If you aren’t familiar with malt loaf, it’s a type of sweet leavened bread made with malt extract which originated in Scotland in the United Kingdom. It has a chewy sticky texture, and often contains fruits such as raisins. It’s usually eaten sliced and spread with butter.

We enjoyed it (sliced with butter) for our elevenses and as T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing it today with my cuppa – Happy T Day!

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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• Docrafts Ultimate Die Cut & Paper Pack (Folk Christmas PMA160933)
• Pritt Stick
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Bunting Washi Tape
• Craft Sensation (Creative paper Collection CRO458/GE)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Leftover die cut pieces – Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Fall Foliage 66955, Garden Greens 661206, Holiday Greens 658759, Funky Florals #1 662700), Papers (Tim Holtz idea-ology Paper Stash – Halloween #TH93712, Paper Bundle from local craft shop – green heart paper and metallic linen textured cardstock, Recycled Notepad Paper, White cardstock), Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Twisted Citron, Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge)
• Hobby World Foam Craft Stickers (Forest Friends)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month with the metallic linen textured papers that were used for some of the leaves surrounding the cute hedgehog. I’m pleased to join the Anything But A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my art journal page. I’m happy to join Paperbabe Stamps and their #138 – Anything Goes challenge with my art journal page too. I’m also pleased to join the Favourite Technique challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, as collage, using white gesso to push back the background colour and die cutting are some of my favourite techniques. I’m also joining in the fun over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their #46 – Anything Goes + Fancy Fold challenge with my art journal page; the different techniques I used to create this page included collage, using white gesso to push back the background colour and die cutting.

Miss You

Today’s page was created in memory of my dearest friend; I found myself thinking of her as it was her birthday this week. She passed away two year’s ago after battling ovarian cancer, she was a shining light and I miss her very much!

I started by painting some gold metallic paint over the background and then I stamped a Serpentine stamp from Art Impressions using the same paint and some Black Soot Distress Ink. I recycled one of the papers that I had tested inks and stamps on; this time the paper had black and gold stamping on it so I cut it into pieces and stuck them into place using a glue stick.

I edged paper pieces and also the page using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger which was fun. All the different words were added using rub-on transfers and I arranged some gold sparkly flower and circle Glitterations stickers which added some lovely texture and finished the page.  

Thinking of my dear friend bought back so many happy memories; here she is, on the far left, the year before she passed when we were celebrating our friend’s wedding (grin!).

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well! x

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

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

• Poundland Metallic Acrylic Paint (Gold)
• Art Impressions Wood Mounted Stamp (Serpentine Background T2773)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Old paper pieces with gold and black stamping
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• UHU Stic
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Spring Sentiments #ROY506, Motivate Sentiments #ROY510)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Tiny Text #TH93695)
• Docrafts Papermania Glitterations (Gold Flowers ANT8181020, Gold Circle Frames ANT8181028)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month with the gold elements on this page. I’m joining the LTSCB #142 – Love is … remembering dearest friends so I’m joining the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Miss You art journal page. I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Add Some Texture challenge with the texture from stamping the acrylic paint and Glitterations stickers. I’m also pleased to join the Favourite Technique challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, as collage and edging the paper pieces by smudging ink with my finger are some of my favourite techniques. I’m happy to join Paperbabe Stamps and their #138 – Anything Goes challenge with my art journal page too.

It’s cold, let’s cuddle

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Oh So Cute.

These really cute owls were recycled from a Christmas card and with all the cold weather we’ve been having of late they are sat in a snowy wonderland. I thought the wording was cute too, it reads “It’s cold, let’s cuddle”.

I hope you’ll join us with your cute creations too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by colouring the background using Bluebird Wendy Vecchi Blendable Ink from Ranger. When dry, I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and left it to dry.

It’s one of my goals this year to recycle and use up any leftovers from previous pages, so I was pleased to recycle these cute owls which were fussy cut from the Christmas card and stuck into place using a glue stick. I arranged them with some white foliage die cuts that were leftover from last year’s Happy January page. The foliage was decorated using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker, a silver metallic pen, some Icicle Stickles from Ranger and also some Inkylicious Fluffy Puffy Stuff which added the lovely texture. The Fluffy Puffy Stuff was a fun product to use as it’s applied and then heated with a heat gun which turns it all puffy and 3-dimensional. The snowflakes were leftover too, having been previously die cut from different patterned papers and white cardstock; they were arranged onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium.

For more Oh So Cute inspiration, please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies (grin!).

So far this month, it’s been cold and we’ve had quite a few snow flurries; I was surprised one morning to find it snowing so I took this photo out of my craft room window – brrrr!

As T Stands for Tuesday and it’s cold outside, I’m sharing our hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, and also some yummy lebkuchen – Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

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

• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Blendable Ink (Bluebird)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Recycled Christmas Card
• Pritt Stick
• Leftover foliage pieces – Sizzix Thinlits Tim Holtz Alterations (Garden Greens 661206, Holiday Greens 658759, Woodlands 660978), White cardstock, Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233), Script Metallic Pen (Silver), Ranger Stickles (Icicles), Inkylicious (Fluffy Puffy Stuff)
• Stix2 glue dots
• Leftover Snowflakes – Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Paper Snowflakes Mini 661599), Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (falling Snowflakes 1792e), The Works (Cutting Dies – Snowflake Garland), Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE), White Cardstock, Poundland Design Paper Pad (Purple Swirls)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Challenges I’m pleased to join the Add Some Texture challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the snowy 3D texture on my page. I’m joining LTCCB #55 – February Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my cute page. I’m also joining in the fun over at the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog and their LTSCB #145 – Love is … all about cuddling your partner when it’s cold as I’ve depicted here on this cute owl page.

Savour this moment

Before Christmas we ordered some different teas, it was so beautifully wrapped that I recycled the packaging to create this wintry art journal page; I hope you like it!

I started by covering the page with the snowflake tissue paper, that the teas were wrapped in, using a glue stick.

Next I cut up the greetings card that came with the tea and stuck the front of the card onto my page using double-sided tape. Then I added some copper outline stickers around the flowers. I covered the “Season’s Greetings” sentiment with two squares which were die cut from the navy blue cardstock from the greetings card and some blue design paper from Craft Sensations. They were layered together and I decorated them using copper outline stickers and a blue snowflake which I had die cut from the same design paper.

The teacup and saucer were cut from the navy blue cardstock using a die set from Crafter’s Companion. They were arranged onto the page with more of the blue snowflakes and copper outline stickers to look like steam rising from the teacup. To finish, I cut some of the navy blue cardstock, mounted it onto some of the blue paper, and added the wording using letter stickers; it reads “Savour this moment”.

It was a lovely surprise to open the box of tea and find it so beautifully wrapped.

We had purchased our normal Ceylon Tea and also two new teas – Chai Spice and Assam Tea.

We also received these complimentary teas too; they all sound yummy! I love the packet designs which I’m sure will end up on a journal page or two (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday and my post is all about tea, I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• Tea packaging – tissue paper and card
• Pritt Stick
• The Works Cutting Dies (Squares, Snowflake Garland)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Bright Colours CR730/R)
• Crafter’s Companion Vintage Tea Party (Toppling Teacups)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Cold Grey IV 233)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Stampendous Outline Stickers (Copper Leaves 2077)
• Habico Signature Collection (Rose Gold Foil Alphabet Lower & Upper Case PP1077)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month with the silver snowflakes and copper embellishments on my page. I’m pleased to be able to join the Groundhog Day over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as this page was made from recycled materials and I’m always recycling everyday things for my art journal designs. I’m joining LTCCB #55 – February Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my recycled tea packaging page. I’m also joining MIUCB #46 – Anything Goes + Fancy Fold over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the fun recycling techniques that I used to create this page.

May all your wishes come true

It’s time for our first challenge of the year over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, this is a monthly challenge and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I had fun creating this mixed media page using my favourite Frost Fairy stamp from Paperbabe Stamps; she seems to be casting a spell – may all your wishes come true!

I started by applying black DecoArt acrylic paint to the edges of the page and blending it towards the centre. When dry, I applied the gold stars over the top using Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad, a Sparkles stencil by Tim Holtz and Gold Ranger embossing powder. The centre of the page was coloured using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and the wording was created using foam letter stickers.

The Frost Fairy from Paperbabe Stamps was stamped using black Archival Ink onto some mixed media paper. Then I coloured her using Spectrum Noir TriBlend markers; the dress was coloured using Green Turquoise Blend, the ribbon using Yellow Gold Blend, her hair using Dark Red Blend, her skin using a Fair Skin Blend marker, her lips using Pale Pink Blend, her eyes using True Blue Blend and her wings using Iced Grey Blend. I also added more detail using a black Uni Pin fine line marker and white Uniball gel pen. Then I cut her out and added the Gold Ranger embossing powder using a Versamark Watermark Pen to create the stars. She was stuck in place using a glue stick which finished the page.

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

I was reminded of this beautiful glass angel that we bought when we visited Prague, there is room to place a tealight behind her and being made from glass she looks so delicate and pretty (grin!).

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.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create these ATCs:

• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil (Sparkles THS132)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Ranger Embossing Powder (Gold)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (MLD Frost Fairy)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Spectrum Noir TriBlend Markers (Green Turquoise Blend, Yellow Gold Blend, Dark Red Blend, Fair Skin Blend, Pale Pink Blend, True Blue Blend, Iced Grey Blend)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Pen)
• Pritt Stick
• Simply Creative Alphabet & Number Stickers (Glitter SCSTK025)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month with the golden stars that I included on my page. I’m pleased to be able to join the Groundhog Day over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as I couldn’t resist using my Frost Fairy stamp and TriBlends again (you may remember on my Believe page that I created last month) and of course the background may look familiar too, it’s from an ATC that I created in December, I just had to create it on a bigger scale (grin!). I’m also pleased to join the #136 – Patterns challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the pattern of stencilled stars on my page. I’m also joining MIUCB #46 – Anything Goes + Fancy Fold over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different techniques I used; I’m still perfecting my colouring and blending techniques using the TriBlend markers.

Falling in love

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Falling in love.

I’m celebrating falling in love with my romantic shabby chic page using a gorgeous Shabby Chic paper from Studio Light and some very delicate green voile butterflies that my sister kindly gifted me for Christmas (grin!). I hope you like it and are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

Keeping the background colours soft and elegant, I started by lightly painting some Rose Madder, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre and Turquoise blue Kuretake watercolours onto the page. Then I used a Lace stencil from Tim Holtz to apply some Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and a Moroccan Stencil from Creative Expressions to apply some Speckled Egg Distress Ink; both inks were applied using a blending tool. Next I stamped a Gothic Book stamp from Finnabair, which is one of my favourite stamps, and also a delicate Floral Icons stamp from Docrafts using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink.

I cut the Shabby Chic paper to create the different paper pieces including some tags which I die cut using a Tag Collection Framelits die set from Tim Holtz. They were all edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then I arranged them onto the page using double-sided tape. I used Kaisercraft stickers for the wording and I tied some green thread to the tags to match the colour and delicate nature of the butterflies. The metal copper embellishments were held in place using Ranger Glossy Accents; they included a framed picture of the Tower of Pisa, a heart and a love letter envelope.

I used glue dots to stick the delicate green voile butterflies in place and then I added some sparkly green gemstones to the butterflies, metal embellishments and paper pieces which finished the page.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Falling in Love creations from my Design Teamies too (grin!).

We love Italy and have visited Pisa whilst travelling to Tuscany; the Tower of Pisa was a sight to behold with its four-degree lean which is due to unstable foundations.

As T Stands for Tuesday, here are a couple of glasses Aperol Spritz; it’s a refreshing drink that we always enjoy whilst in Italy! Aperol is an alcoholic Italian aperitif which is bitter in flavour. In this case it has been mixed with prosecco and a splash of soda water then served with ice and a slice of orange – Happy T Day!

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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Rose Madder, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Turquoise Blue)
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil (Lace THS034)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry, Speckled Egg, Vintage Photo)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Moroccan)
• Finnabair Clear Stamp (Gothic Book #966966)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Floral Icons DCE907123)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch)
• Studio Light 12×12 Paper (Shabby Chic SCRAPSC03)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Everlasting SS376)
• Guterman Thread (Col. 763)
• The Works (Metal Framed Embellishments)
• Crafter’s Companion Parisian Collection (Metal Charms S-PAR-CHAR)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Green Voile Butterflies
• Stix2 glue dots
• Hero Arts Gemstones (Green & Red CH120)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month with the metal embellishments that I included on my page. I’m so happy to join in the fun over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and their So Delicate challenge with my delicate and romantic shabby chic page. I’m joining the LTSCB #142 – Love is … challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my love-themed art journal page. I’m also pleased to be able to join Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Love and/or Hearts challenge as my romantic page contains both. I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too.

Vintage Squares

Do you have things in your craft stash that you haven’t used because they’re too precious?

This year, one of my goals is to use these items on my pages. So here’s my first one which features some papers from a Vintage Design Pad that I’ve had for a while now; I wanted to showcase them so decided on this square grid design (grin!).

I started by tearing the vintage papers, some recycled Kraft book pages and sheet music into squares and sticking them onto the page in a grid design using a glue stick. I drew lines around them using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger. Next I applied some Pébéo white gesso using a brayer over the papers and left it to dry. Then I added the delicate silk flowers over the squares and some vintage lace along the bottom of the page.

For the wording I used a Small Talk sticker from Tim Holtz; it reads “it’s always the small pieces that make the big picture” which seemed to fit the square grid design perfectly.

The squares reminded me of this local building, which was built in 1878, with it’s magnificent lion that seems to be roaring – I thought Iris may like this (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday and to continue the square theme, I’m sharing my mug of tea with a shortbread jam square; it’s a tray bake of raspberry jam sandwiched between two layers of shortbread – Happy T Day wishes!

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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• The Works Design Paper (Classic Vintage CRO707/TW7)
• Kraft notebook pages – recycled
• Sheet Music
• Pritt Stick
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• The Range (Lace Flower Stickers, Crafting Lace)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge this month as this page was created to showcase some of my favourite vintage papers. I’m so pleased to join the Squares Challenge at Country View Challenges with my vintage square design. I’m pleased to join in the fun over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and their So Delicate challenge with the delicate flowers and lace on this vintage page. I’m joining the #136 – Patterns challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my square grid patterned page. I’m also joining the Make Your Own Background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the vintage paper background that I created. I’m happy to join in the LTSCB #141 – Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my vintage page too.

Winter Blues

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Winter Blues, where we are asking you to use the colour blue.

This was the perfect challenge for me as blue happens to be my favourite colour (grin!). I hope you like my wintry blue journal page and are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by colouring the background using After Midnight Dylusions Spray Ink and Speckled Egg Distress Ink. When dry, I covered the page with Pébéo clear gesso; this stopped the inks reactivating and bleeding into the next layers of media that I added. Next I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and left it to dry. For the snowflakes, I die cut them using a Paper Snowflakes Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some blue and white mottled paper from Craft Sensations. They were arranged around the edges of the page using Liquitex matte gel medium.

The pretty winter scene of the hares was a recycled Christmas card and the quote was from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet. I thought the quote was perfect to combat those winter blues; it’s by Ralph Waldo Emerson and reads “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year”.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the amazing Winter Blues creations from my Design Teamies too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my new Assam Tea. This is a loose leaf tea and has a delicately rich and malty flavour – Happy T Day!

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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (After Midnight)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Speckled Egg)
• Pébéo Clear Gesso
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Craft Sensations (Creative Paper Collection CR0458/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Paper Snowflakes Mini 661599)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Recycled Christmas Card
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Wandering Ivy SS352)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge this month as I blue is my favourite colour. I’m so pleased to join the Squares Challenge at Country View Challenges with the square Christmas card on my page. I’m happy to join The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and their Put A Good Word In challenge with the uplifting quote that I used on my page. I’m also joining the Layer It Up challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the snowflakes, image and quote that I layered on my page. I’m pleased to join the LTSCB #141 – Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my blue wintry page too.

Grateful Heart

I had fun creating this journal page to join some of my favourite challenge blogs and the words I included resonated with me and seemed perfect for the New Year – “start each day with a grateful heart”.

On my craft desk, I always have a piece of paper that I use to test stamp images, inks and markers before using them on my pages, so for today’s page I recycled one of them. I ripped the paper into different shapes and stuck them randomly onto my page using a glue stick and Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I painted some Pébéo white gesso and Cadmium Yellow Acrylic paint around them using a paintbrush. When dry, I edged them with a Cold Grey and then a Black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger. Next I added some shadows and contrast around the paper pieces using a Gold Champagne Faber-Castell Gelato and also a Gold Daler-Rowney Acrylic marker; applying each of them and then smudging the colour with my finger. Then I splattered the whole page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

For the heart, I created a stencil by drawing a heart onto some paper and cutting it out. Then I stamped the square postage sheet design through it onto some white card, using a Woodware stamp and some black Archival Ink. I cut the heart out and added some colour using a Gold Champagne Faber-Castell Gelato. Before sticking it down, I outlined the heart shape on the page using a black marker so it stood out more.

To finish, I added the flowers and wording which were from a sticker sheet from Kaisercraft.

Here’s a canvas sign that I have in my craft room, I love the sentiments it contains and the top one “have a grateful heart” reminded me on my page (grin!).  I fell in love with this sign as soon as I saw it and the words are a wonderful reminder of how live life to the full!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well! x

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

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

• White paper – Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (SA60175), Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black), Concord & 9^th Clear Stamps (Sophisticated Script), Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black)
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Cadmium Yellow Deep Hue)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Gold Champagne)
• Daler-Rowney Acrylic Paint Marker (Gold)
• White paper and cardstock
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Postage Sheets FRS076)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Golden Grove SS343)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge this month as I created this page to join some of my favourite challenges including AJJ! I’m so pleased to join the Squares Challenge at Country View Challenges with the postage stamp squares making up the heart on my page. I’m also pleased to be able to join Paperbabe Stamps too and their #135 – Picture Inspiration challenge as the colours and design of my page were inspired by the ladies clothing. I’m happy to join The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and their Put A Good Word In challenge with the positive quote I used on my page. I’m also joining the Layer It Up challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the layers of papers, colours, heart and flowers on my page design. I’m pleased to join the LTSCB #141 – Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Grateful Heart page too. Don’t forget that there is still time to join our Uplifting or Positive Quote challenge over at Try it on Tuesday; it would be lovely to see you there!

Celebrating the New Year

I created this page to welcome the New Year with fireworks lighting up the sky and a row of very pretty houses (grin!). I hope that 2021 is a better year for everyone and as the words say “may love and laughter light your days and warm your heart”.

I started by painting the background with purple and silver acrylic paints to create my night sky, making sure the brush strokes were pulled from the edges to the centre of the page so it looked like explosions of light.

Next I stencilled the fireworks using a Creative Expressions stencil and Ranger Texture Paste. The wording was from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet and I die cut the “2021” using a Folk Alphabet die set from Docrafts.

To finish, I fussy cut the houses from an old Christmas card and arranged them onto the page using double-sided tape.

These houses are so beautifully drawn and wonderfully detailed. The front doors reminded me of my family’s tradition of welcoming the New Year; on New Year’s Eve at the stroke of midnight one of us knocks on the front door and when invited in, enters the house carrying a piece of coal which is said to bring good luck for the coming year (grin!).

This tradition stems from when, on the stroke of midnight people opened the back door (to let the old year out) and asked the first dark haired man to be seen, to come through the front door carrying salt, coal and bread. This meant that the following year everyone in the house will have enough to eat (bread), enough money (salt) and be warm enough (coal).

Do you have any New Year traditions?

Wishing you all the very best for 2021 – Happy New Year!
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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic (Dioxazine Purple)
• Poundland Metallic Acrylic (Silver)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Fireworks)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Old Christmas Card
• White Cardstock
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Set (Folk Alphabet XCU 503286)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Pen & Ink SS360)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Challenges I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, as 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 pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge this month as I love to celebrate the New Year and recycled one of my favourite Christmas cards to create this page. I’m joining the Celebrate challenge over at Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge Blog as I’m celebrating the New Year with my page. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Squares challenge with all the squares detailed on the houses especially the windows. I’m pleased to be able to join Paperbabe Stamps too and their #134 – Anything Goes challenge with my 2021 page. I’m pleased to join the Sparkle and Shine challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too with all the shine from the silver metallic paint in the background and sparkle from the glittery snow on the houses.