Hope anchors the soul

The agapanthus has just started shooting in our garden so when I came across this inspirational quote “Hope anchors the soul” whilst crafting, I was inspired to create this page. It seemed very poignant with the difficulties the world is facing at the moment – wishing you all well and hoping that you stay safe and healthy!

I started by covering the page with various stamps using black Archival Ink; the stamps included a Parisian Beau Collage stamp from Crafter’s Companion and a Provincial and also a 75 Cents stamp set from Kaisercraft. Next I applied Acqua Dolce, Earl Grey and Caramel Faber-Castell Gelatos by scribbling them onto the page and using my wet finger to spread the colour vertically down the page. Then I stencilled an Ornamental stencil from Creative Expressions using Vintage Linen Distress Ink. The agapanthus flowers are napkin which I stuck down using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium (this was a mistake as it got far too wet, I should have used a UHU Stic and then the gel medium around the edges). When dry I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint. The wording “Hope anchors the soul” is a sticker from Kaisercraft which I coloured along the edges with some Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and an Amethyst Winsor & Newton Promarker. It’s stuck in place along with a purple flower and some die cut foliage; I used a Garden Greens Thinlet for the foliage which was cut from some white card that I had coloured using Twisted Citron Distress Ink and Cottage Ivy Memento Ink. To finish, I added lots of clear diamante gems to add some sparkle.

As this page has Parisian references, I’m sharing these strawberry tarts that my hubby bought me for Valentine’s this year which always remind me of our travels to Paris; you may remember them from my post last month.

I thought you may like to see what the tart looks like inside; it’s a short crust pastry case filled with crème pâtissière (vanilla pastry cream) with glazed strawberries on the top, so delicious! As T Stands for Tuesday I’m also sharing my cuppa and saying a big hello to the T Gang – Happy T Day!

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 Eileen from The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with the predominant green foliage on my page.

Don’t forget that you still have until next Tuesday to join our Home Sweet Home/Where you would like to live challenge (for this page I incorporated the two with the agapanthus from our garden/and who wouldn’t want to live in Paris) over at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Crafter’s Companion Parisian Collection Clear Acrylic A6 Stamp (Beau Collage)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Provincial CS243, 75 Cents CS864)
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Acqua Dolce, Earl Grey, Caramel)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Ornamental)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen, Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron)
• Napkin
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Book (Antiquities SK807)
• Winsor & Newton Promarker (Amethyst V626)
• Poundland (Flower  – Accessories Pack 60911)
• White cardstock
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Garden Greens 661206)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• The Works (Jewel Stickers)

Be your beautiful self

I fell in love with the image of this beautiful lady in her diamante headdress which I found in a magazine, so decided to create this sparkly page to showcase it along with some inspirational wording – what do you think (grin!).

I started by applying some Pine Needles and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink using a blending tool through a Discovering Planets stencil from Sheena; I choose these colours as when blended they matched the eye colour on the image that I used. Then I applied some white acrylic paint to the page using a palette knife and stencilled the diamond shapes using a Creative Expressions stencil and some Ranger Texture Paste. When the paste was dry, I coloured the diamonds using a silver Daler Rowney paint marker.  Next I added some lines of black acrylic paint, Pine Needles Distress Ink and white acrylic paint using an old plastic gift card and then splattered the whole page with some black acrylic paint. The image of the beautiful lady is mounted on some card before sticking it over a silver doily. I covered the teardrop shaped diamonds on her headdress with some teardrop gemstones to give a 3D look; it was a happy serendipity that they were the exact same size as those on the image. To finish I added some Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz that read “be your own beautiful self”, “leave a little sparkle wherever you go” and “choose to shine”.

I love a bit of sparkle as you can see here; this is one of my favourite hats and has lots of diamante on it (grin!).

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 Eileen from The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with my green page background.

I’m also happy to join in the The Eyes have It challenge over at Country View Challenges with the beautiful lady on my art journal page.

I’m joining in the Stencil Fun challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my stencilled ink and texture paste background.

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

• Sheena by Sheena Douglas Create A Flower Stencil (Dissolving Planets SD-STEN-CAF-PLA)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Pine Needles, Shabby Shutters)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Vintage Diamonds CEMSDIAM)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Daler Rowney Acrylic Paint Marker (Silver)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Recycled Gift Card
• Art Discount Acrylic paint (White 011)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• The Works (Silver Doily)
• Old magazine
• Graham & Brown (Adhesive Jewels)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape

Home Sweet Home

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is:

Home Sweet Home/Where you would like to live

At Try it on Tuesday we are also saying a big hello and welcome to the very talented Helen and Mia who have both joined our Design Team, please check out their amazing first creations over at our blog!

My Home Sweet Home page design was inspired all the birds that are around at the moment that are setting up new homes in readiness for spring – I hope you like it!

I started by smooshing Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink onto the background by stamping the ink pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block onto the page. When dry, I stamped a Sheet Music stamp from Woodware Craft Collection and also the “Home Sweet Home” wording using a stamp set from Concord & 9^th and black Archival Ink. I added some more detail to the wording using a white Uniball gel pen and then I stencilled some Ranger Texture paste though a Carabelle Studio Art Template.

Using two different Tim Holtz thinlet sets I created the tree branches from brown paper that I coloured further using Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink. The branches are stuck in place using a Zig glue pen and shaded further using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The leaves were cut from green paper, which I coloured further using some Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron Distress Ink; they are cut using a Fall Foilage thinlets set from Tim Holtz and are also stamped with some tiny dots using a Kaisercraft stamp and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.

I created the birdhouse using some off-cuts of paper that were on my craft desk; drawing the birdhouse design and heart onto the paper and then cutting them out.

I added more detail using Winsor & Newton Promarkers; Henna and Canary to create the wooden panels and Ruby and Rose Pink for the heart and roof. I suspended the birdhouse from one of the branches using some white twine sticking the birdhouse in place using double-sided foam tape. The cute birds were stamped onto white linen paper using a Picket Fence stamp set and black Archival Ink and then coloured using Sky Blue, Cool Grey and Canary Winsor & Newton Promarkers. I also stamped the birds onto the page and the birdhouse roof using the black Archival Ink and then I stuck the coloured birds over the top using double-sided foam tape. To finish, I splattered the page with some black DecoArt acrylic paint.

My Design Teamies have created some amazing Home Sweet Home/Where would you like to live inspiration for you over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over and take a look.

The birds reminded me of the tea tray that we use everyday at home, as you can see it has lots of lovely garden birds on it that we find here in the UK.

Here’s our tray being put to good use; as T Stands for Tuesday it’s pictured holding our daily cuppa and homemade fruit cake that we are enjoying at the moment – Happy T Day!

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 Eileen from The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with the green leaves on this page.

I’m happy to be able to join the Use Some Green challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page too.

I’m also pleased join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.

I’m also joining the Stencil Fun challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I included stencilling on my art journal page.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, Vintage Photo, Grounsd Espresso, Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron)
• Woodware Crafts Collection (Sheet Music JG111)
• Concord & 9^th Stamp Set (Sophisticated Script 10056)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Carabelle Studio Art Template (Trame Tissues et Chiffres TE60034)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Studio Light Paper Pad (PPSL84)
• Crafter’s Companion Luxury Designer Paper Pad (Angelica & Adam Collection A&A-PAP6-M)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Funky Florals Large 664158, Fall Foliage 660955) 
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Tiny Dot CS360)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Paper off-cuts (Yellow, White coloured with red and pink Distress Inks)
• Winsor & Newton ProMarker (Henna 0225, Canary Y367, Ruby R455, Rose Pink M727, Sky Blue B137, Cool Grey 4 CG4)
• White Thread
• Picket Fence Studios Stamps (Chirp Chirp A130)
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)

Our friendship is like a cup of tea …

This page is inspired by some new green tea from the Tea & Biscuit Club in Arundel; the tea we chose was Spanish Orange Green Tea (grin!).

I started by covering the page with Metallic Mint, Iced Coffee and Gold Champagne Faber-Castell Gelatos by scribbling them onto the page and blending the colour with a wet finger. Then I sprayed some White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray through a Tim Holtz Stencil and left it to dry. Next I die cut the trellis from some gold paper recycled from a bar of chocolate and stuck them along with some of the cut outs onto the page using a Zig glue pen. Then I used a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker to add a shadow along edges of the trellis and cut outs to give a 3D effect; I love the way it looks as though the trellis is standing out from the page. I added the wording which is a Kaisercraft sticker edged with the Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker; it reads “Our friendship is like a cup of tea, a special blend of you and me”. To finish, I added a pretty Chinese tea image, with flowers which look a little like orange blossom, which is from a Kanban topper set using glue dots to stick it in place.

You may remember Arundel from my last post, if you want to see the castle and our walk, please see my Arundel Treasures post. This is The Tea & Biscuit Club shop we always visit to buy our tea; they have quite an array of loose leaf tea, which they create and blend on the premises.

We chose Spanish Orange Green Tea which is light green tea with rosehip, hibiscus, orange peel, calendula and sunflower petals, giving a vanilla aroma and a soft fruity taste. It’s very refreshing and as T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my tea with the T gang and wishing you all a very Happy T day!

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 Eileen from The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with green tea page.

I’m joining in the Something Feminine challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my friendship art journal page.

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

I’m also joining in the A Bit’O Green challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my green tea art journal page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Faber-Castell Gelato (Metallic Mint, Iced Coffee, Gold Champagne)
• Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (White Linen)
• Tim Holtz Layering Mini Stencil (Set 16 THMST016)
• Gold Recycled Paper
• The Works (Cutting Dies – Trellis)
• Zig Memeory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (High Tea SS336)
• Kanban Paper Craft Toppers (Flowers & Cupcakes 900858)
• Stix2 Glue Dots

Birthday Celebration

This month we are celebrating our 6^th Birthday over at A Vintage Journey with our Birthday Celebration challenge, which is being hosted by the lovely Brenda. Your projects don’t have to be about birthdays, here’s what she has to say:

“Yes! Let’s celebrate our 6th Birthday … so it’s over to you to show us what you are celebrating in your art and craft work at the moment. Don’t forget to link us into your blog post and if it’s not really obvious share with us how your project relates to the challenge theme. Just remember to create your project in one of our preferred styles: vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.

I’m so excited about our Birthday Celebration this month; I do hope you’ll join us! I was enjoying the party atmosphere whilst I was art journaling using Tim Holtz products to create this Happy 6^th Birthday page.

I used lots of Tim Holtz products for this page so unless stated otherwise it’s from Tim Holtz; there’s a full list of materials at the end of this post for your reference.

I started by covering the page with Pébéo white gesso using a palette knife and left it to dry. Then I cut a piece of vintage script paper into sections and die cut a flower from the larger piece of paper using Wildflower Stems Thinlet set.

I also cut the flower from some Craft Sensations white linen cardstock and inserted it into the flower space in the vintage script paper. I arranged the pieces of paper onto the page with some Aviary Collage Paper using Liquitex gel medium. Then I outlined the papers with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and a black Uni Pin marker to make them stand out more. Next I added some Crowded Attic and Destinations Salvage Stickers again outlining them with a black Uni Pin marker.

To finish the page, I added the wording using Label Letter stickers and also a No:6 Countdown Brad.

Did you notice the six intentional “No:6”s that I added to this page to commemorate our 6^th Birthday? They are all revealed below (grin!).

I hope you are inspired to join in our Birthday Celebration over at A Vintage Journey too, for more inspiration you’ll find some amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey, it would be lovely to see you there!

1. Large No: 6 (LHS of flower)
2. Saftey pins x 6 (LHS of flower)
3. Needle packaging No:6 (top RHS)
4. Happy “6th” Birthday (wording)
5. Ruler No:6 (under wording)
6. Countdown Brad No:6 (bottom RHS)

All the “No:6”s are pictured here – did you get them all? You may have found lots of 6’s on the Sheet Music and other rulers too (double grin!).

As it’s a birthday celebration I thought I’d share this amazing birthday cake that I saw in a local bakery, doesn’t it look amazing and the Steampunk style is fabulous, just right for A Vintage Journey – Happy Birthday!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be able to join the The Eyes Have It challenge over at Country View Challenges with the birds on this art journal page.

I’m joining in the Something Feminine challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the pretty birds and flowers on my page too.

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

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Halloween Paper Stash #TH93712, Aviary Collage Paper #TH93706, Crowded Attic Salvage Stickers #TH92898, Destinations Salvage Stickers #TH93005, Label Letters #TH93072, Countdown Brads #TH93631)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Linen Textured Cardstock)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm)

Paradise

I had fun art journaling using a New Technique, which is our new challenge theme over at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks.

I hope to see you there and don’t forget to tell us what new technique you used.

I created a quick and simple background (many of you will know that “quick and simple” is so unlike me … grin!) by applying paint with a old plastic gift card – it was such a fun technique and definitely something I will try again!

First, I layered some Cold Grey and Vivid Lime Green Liquitex acrylic and some white and black DecoArt acrylic paint onto the page using the gift card to scrape the paint across the page. Then I added more of these paints using the edge of the gift card to create lots texture; I love how it turned out (grin!). When dry, I added some pink felt flowers using Ranger Glossy Accents, some flower stickers which are edged with some smudged black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker, some green circular rub-on transfers and a “paradise” fabric sticker and just like that the page was finished.

We are starting to plan jobs in the garden for this year and this page reminded me of how our garden becomes our own little “paradise” especially when these beautiful pink daisy flowers are flowering. I’m so looking forward to seeing them again.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a pint of Saxon Red Ale that we had whilst out last week. It’s brewed locally by The Parker Brewery and is smooth and malty with a hint of spice on the finish – cheers and Happy T Day!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen from  The Artful Crafter and her Green challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month with the lime green paint, leaves, sticker flower centres and rub-ons on this page.

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

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 (Neutral Gray, Vivid Lime Green)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White, Black)
• Old Gift Card
• Home Bargains (Decorative Sticks 38352, Room Décor Embellishments)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Little Yellow Bicycle Fabric Favourites (PD-220)
• Kaisercraft Rubons (Lush Colour RB868)

Makes me dream

A visit to the Blackbird Café had me thinking of stars, so I created this page from recycled used inky baby wipes and a fabulous quote from Vincent Van Gogh that reads “I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream”.

I started by collaging pieces of baby wipe that I had used to mop up some After Midnight Dylusions Ink Spray and Black Archival Ink using some gel medium. When dry I also applied some of the Dylusions Ink Spray using a paintbrush to water it down to any areas of the page that I hadn’t collaged and then stencilled some dots using a Creative Expressions Distressed Dots Mask. I splattered the page with some Pébéo white gesso, black DecoArt acrylic paint and a silver Daler Rowney paint marker. Next I fussy cut some images from a sheet of Stargazer Collection paper from Kaisercraft, edged them with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck them in place. I framed the quote using silver outline stickers and then I added some glittery silver stars which finished the page.

You may remember the Blackbird Café from previous posts, it’s such a lovely place and we normally go there with our dearest friends and chat over a cuppa (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my cup of hot chocolate in a beautiful blue mug and it was served with a yummy white chocolate star – Happy T Day!

Of course we couldn’t visit this café without having a bacon butty too – so delicious (double grin!).

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 so happy to join in the Splatters, Splashes & Drips challenge over at Country View Challenges with all the splatters, splashes and drips on this page.

I’m joining in the Add A Sentiment challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page.

Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog their theme is # 34 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Stenciling so I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge with my mixed media stenciled page.

As I recycled some used baby wipes this is also a reminder that you still have another week to join our Go Green or Recycle Something challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Used baby wipes stained with Ranger After Midnight Dylusions Ink Spray and Jet Black Archival Ink
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Distressed Dots)
• Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (After Midnight)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Daler Rowney Acrylic Paint Markers (Silver)
• Kaisercraft Stargazer Collection 12×12 Paper (Galaxy P2538)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape
• Design Objectives Outline Stickers (Silver Borders 123551)
• Craft Sensations (Foam Glitter Stickers Silver CRO243/18GE)