Embrace beautiful chaos

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

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

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

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

My favourite of course was the teapot! As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

Challenges

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

I’m pleased to join Wendy from Wendy’s Art and Craft Journal  and her Having Fun challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I always have fun creating art journal pages and this one was especially fun using all the different stencil techniques.

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

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

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

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

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

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The Journey

My springtime page today features a white hydrangea, pretty butterflies and a quote which reads “The Journey is never truly over it just changed course”. I find that this quote applies not only to life but also to my art journaling as I often start with one idea for a particular page which then changes course as I create it (grin!), do you find this happens to you too?

For the background, I started by collaging pieces of dictionary pages, dressmaking pattern tissue paper and some homemade decoupage paper to the page using matt gel medium; I wanted a grungy look, so I let the tissue papers crease as I applied them to the page.

I had fun making the decoupage papers and for the one I used on this page, I stamped recycled brown tissue paper using a Script stamp from Kaisercraft and black Archival Ink (pictured at the bottom of the photo).

Once the gel medium had dried, I blended Parchment, Cadmium Yellow, Navy and Green Liquitex acrylic paints to create different shades of green and then stippled and splattered them onto the page using a paintbrush to build up the background colour. When the paint way dry, I added Peeled Paint and Black Soot Distress Ink to emphasise the grunge look using a baby wipe and then I added some Pébéo white gesso using a paint brush. When the page was dry, I applied Peacock Feathers Distress Ink with a baby wipe over the white gesso giving it a blue tinge. Next I stencilled splatters using Black Soot Distress Ink and a blending tool through a textured template from The Crafter’s Workshop. I used the same template to add splatters of Ranger Texture Paste and when dry covered the paste using DecoArt white acrylic paint so it stood out more. The letters are cut from an old magazine and stuck to the page using the matte gel medium; they are outlined using a black Uni Pin marker and white Uniball gel pen. I stuck the pretty die cut hydrangea in place and added the butterflies which are rub-on transfers; I thought the butterflies went well with the “The Journey is never truly over it just changed course” quote that I selected for the page. To finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint.

This page reminds me of a pretty hydrangea that we saw at a local garden centre, this is a tree variety and has the most beautiful snowy lime flowers – I love it (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to link my art journal page to the Hello Springtime challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey with my springtime page – I hope to see you there!

I’m joining the Close to Nature challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my springtime page of butterflies and flowers.

I’m also pleased to join the Embrace The Journey challenge over at A Vintage Journey as the quote that I used applies to my creative journey which inspired my Mixed Media Style page – Happy 5^th Birthday!

Over at The Artistic Stamper, their challenge is Colour It Green, so I’m pleased to join this challenge too with my green and grungy springtime page.

I’m also joining the Letters and/or Numbers challenge over at Country View Challenges with the recycled magazine letters that I used for the quote and those that can be found on the background.

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:

• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Navy, Christmas Green)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Peeled Paint, Black Soot, Peacock Feathers)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Script CS752)
• The Crafter’s Workshop Ronda Palazzari Designs (Texturized 12×12 Template)
• The Pocket Oxford Dictionary
• Style Dressmaking Pattern
• Brown Tissue Paper
• Old Magazine
• K & Company Susan Winget (Floral Die-Cut Cardstock)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (LAN1236G)
• Winsor & Newton Matt Gel Medium

Something Old … Something New

I’m so excited as it’s our first challenge of 2019 over at Try it on Tuesday and it’s Something Old … Something New. You could use something new on your creation, or something you haven’t used in a while, just be sure to add an explanation to your blog post about what you have chosen to use.

For more inspiration and to see what “somethings” the design team have used to inspire you, please pop over to Try it on Tuesday.

I created my art journal page using “something new”; two new products that I just couldn’t wait to use (grin!) which were a Documented stamp set from Tim Holtz and also a pack of Anthology Collectables die cuts from Kaisercraft.

I started by adding Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge and Old Paper Distress Ink to the page by applying the ink pads to a blending mat, spritzing with water and then pressing the mat onto the page. Next I added some of the Documented stamps from Tim Holtz using black Archival Ink and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink to the background, and then a Mini Specimens stencil from The Crafter’s Workshop using Vintage Photo and Black Soot Distress Ink. With the background complete, I arranged the Anthology Collectables die cuts from Kaisercraft onto the page; they are edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck in place using double-sided tape. I love this set of vintage images and inspirational sentiments; they seem perfect to start the New Year!

I had so much fun using these new products to create my page and I’m sure that I will be using them again very soon (grin!).

I love using sentiments on my pages and so I often take photos of those that I see when I’m out and about, so because T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing some drink related signs that I captured. This sign can be found at John F. Kennedy Airport – the coffee lovers in the T Gang will appreciate this one (grin!).

This is from a local store in Blackpool and made me smile when I saw it due to the song reference (double grin!).

I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

Challenges

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

I’m pleased to join the lovely Alison/Craftytrog and her Geometric Shapes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the circular and square-shaped Kaisercraft Collectables that I added to my page.

I’m also joining the lovely Wen and her Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my neutral coloured page.

Over at A Vintage Journey their challenge is Put Your Stamp On It so I’m pleased to join this challenge too as I used my set of Tim Holtz stamps on my Mixed Media and Vintage Style page.

I’m also joining in the fun “New” (Fresh Start) challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as my page was created using two products that are new to my craft stash.

I’m joining in the Use Something New challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge too with the new products that I used to create this page.

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

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen, Hickory Smoke, Rusty Hinge, Old Paper, Vintage Photo, Black Soot)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
• The Crafter’s Workshop TCW Rebekah Meier Designs 6×6 Stencil (Mini Specimens TCW4545)
• Kaisercraft Collectables (Anthology C7938)
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Let It Snow … for Simon Says Stamp

Hi everyone! It’s lovely to be in the Designer Spotlight over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this month. Thank you for all your kind comments and support last week!

This week the theme is Let It Snow.

I was inspired by Simon Says Stamp (SSS) Frozen Fractals and Tim Holtz Urban Tapestry stamp sets to create a mixed media panel that could be made into a card or in this case used as the centre piece for my art journal page.

To create the panel, I started by cutting a piece of mixed media paper to A5 size, and then I stamped the pretty white snowflakes using the SSS Frozen Fractals stamp set, Versamark Watermark ink and white Stampendous embossing powder. I coloured it using Milled Lavender, Chipped Sapphire and Salty Ocean Distress Ink by spritzing the panel with water then applying the inks. The bird and foliage are from the Urban Tapestry stamp set and they are stamped using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink and a brown Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

Next I created the die cut ivy and berries using Tim Holtz Sizzix Garden Greens Thinlets, white cardstock and two different blue shades of vellum.

The ivy is coloured using Moss, Leaf Green, Bud Green and Chocolate Spectrum Aqua Markers and detailed using a black fine line marker. I layered the coloured ivy leaves and vellum berries over the white die cut pieces, so they were slightly off centre making the white cardstock look like a coating of snow.

To continue the snowy theme, I doodled snow onto the branch and foliage using a white Uniball gel pen. To finish the panel, I embellished it with SSS Frozen Fractals sequins and added some Icicle Stickles to add some sparkle to both the centre of the sequins and the die cut berries.

As I wanted to use the panel as the centre piece for my art journal page, I also created a wood effect background. Firstly I applied a thin wash of Ground Espresso Distress Ink to the page using a paintbrush and then I used the same ink to stamp snowflakes using the SSS Frozen Fractals stamp set again. I also used a blending tool to stencil the Ground Espresso ink using a Mini Specimen Template by The Crafter’s Workshop. Then I sprinkled Dark Brown and Sandstone Brusho powders onto the page and applied glossy gel medium over the top using a paintbrush, making sure I dragged the paintbrush vertically down the page to create the wood grain effect.

I mounted the panel onto the page using double-sided tape and added the wording, some more die cut berries, SSS Frozen Fractals Sequins and Icicle Stickles, which finished the page.

This page reminds me of Christmas a few years ago and the lovely woodland walk that we went on with my family; as you can see I was very happy to see the snow!

What could be better than a steaming cup of hot chocolate to warm you up after a walk in the snow – I’m wishing the T Gang over at T Stands for Tuesday a very Happy T Day !

I enjoyed creating my art journal page for the Let it Snow challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a $50 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! and one lucky participant will be randomly drawn to win this voucher. How amazing is that! Good Luck to everyone!

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 Art Journal Journey and the lovely Erika for her Vintage or Modern challenge this month with my Let it snow page.

I’m also joining Moo Mania & More and their Tic, Tac, Toe theme (Designer Paper – vellum, Die-Cut – foliage, Circles – sequins and stencilling).

Here is a list of the materials over at Simon Says Stamp that were used to create this art journal page:

• Simon Says Stamp Frozen Fractals Clears Stamp Set
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Urban Tapestry Cling Rubber Stamps
• Docrafts Clear Stamp Block Papermania
• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Stampendous Embossing Powder Basics (White)
• Ranger Heat Gun
• Ranger Inkssentials MINI MISTER Spray Bottle Tool
• Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad (Milled Lavender)
• Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad (Chipped Sapphire)
• Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad (Salty Ocean)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa)
• Faber-Castell Craft Stamper Big Brush Pen (Nougat)
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Garden Greens Thinlets
• Crafter’s Companion Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock
• Crafter’s Companion Floral Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker
• Zig Chisel Tip Glue Pen
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Simon Says Stamp Frozen Fractals Sequins
• Ranger Inkessentials Glossy Accents
• Ranger Stickles (Icicle)
• Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad (Ground Espresso)
• The Crafter’s Workshop Mini Specimens 6 x 6 Template
• Ranger Ink Blending Tool Applicator Foam
• Ranger Multi Medium Gloss
• Fiskars Paper Trimmer
• Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy Cleaner

My Favourite Things

I’m thrilled and honoured to be able to join the Design Team at Try it on Tuesday and I’d like to thank the wonderful team for inviting me. Being part of this team is very special to me as Try it on Tuesday is one of the first challenge blogs that I ever joined and I have very fond memories of when I made their “Top 5” and was subsequently asked to be a guest designer for one of the challenges!

A little about me:
I live by the sea in the North West of England with my hubby and I started Art Journaling just over 2 years ago as a way of expressing my life through words and pictures. I love using mixed media and I’m captivated by the variety of techniques and materials that can be used to create so many different styles of art. I’ve always been a creative person, and this has now become a passion of mine which I like to share with others.

Here at Try it on Tuesday we have a new challenge theme every two weeks and we would love for you to join us. Today we are launching the My Favourite Things theme where you are asked to use a favourite technique, stamp, stencil, ink or paint etc, which gave me lots of inspiration when I created this page.

I started the page using one of my favourite techniques using Spectrum Aqua Markers and an acrylic block; I did this by scribbling Sea Green, Kingfisher and Peacock Blue onto an acrylic block, spritzing the block with water then pressing it onto the page. I love the way the ink blends and imprints the page with colour creating some lovely textures. Next I selected my favourite hearts and circle stamp from Sugarloaf Inc. and stamped it on the page using Bahama Blue Memento Ink. Then I used an “Art is” stencil by The Crafter’s Workshop to stencil some black DecoArt acrylic paint using a sponge and I also splattered some of this paint over the page using a paintbrush. This stencil is a favourite of mine as I can really relate to the words which read:

When the paint had dried I used the stencil again to add Pébéo modelling paste over the top of the black paint using a palette knife. After the paste had dried I coloured it with Black Soot Distress Ink using a blending tool and then some Boysenberry, Snow Cone, Coconut and Kiwi Faber-Castell Gelatos by simply brushing the gelato directly over the top; gelatos are one of my favourite mediums too. Then I splattered the page using a white Uni Posca paint pen. Next I chose another of my favourite stamps to stamp the birds sitting on a branch directly onto the page and also onto a piece of patterned paper from a Design Pad from Crafter’s Companion. I fussy cut the birds out of the paper and stuck them over the stamped bird images on the page using double-sided tape. The “My Favourite Things” wording is formed from Label Letters from idea-ology by Tim Holtz which I mounted on three tags. The tags are covered with the appropriate word definition from my old school Oxford Pocket Dictionary using a UHU Stic; the edges of which are stamped with the heart and circle design from Sugarloaf Inc. using the Bahama Blue Memento Ink and Twisted Citron Distress Ink. They are edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker as well as Black Soot Distress Ink using a blending tool and then stuck to the page using double-sided tape. I also punched some hearts from the dictionary paper using a Tonic Studio paper punch; they are stamped, edged and stuck to the page the same way as the tags. I used the Label Letters again to add the names of the favourite things I used, to remind me of how I created this page. To finish, I stuck some paper flowers next to each of the words using Ranger Glossy Accents.

I thought you may like to see where I create my art, here’s my craft room. My hubby built the units for me and I painted them with chalk paint – I love it! My new Christmas present is on display too, can you guess what it might be (grin!).

I had fun using some of my favourite techniques, inks, paints, stamps, stencils, and labels to create this page. I hope you will join in the fun over at Try it on Tuesday too, if you need more inspiration take a look at the wonderful creations from my fellow design team members.

I’m so looking forward to finding out what your favourite things are too!

How to join us:

• As long as you stay within the challenge theme you can make whatever you like such as a card, altered project, ATC, scrapbook page, tag, mixed media or anything else you might like to try, including digital art.
• Simply go to our Try it on Tuesday blog and use the “Inklinkz” tool to link directly to your post (and not just to your blog).
• Remember to incorporate our Try it on Tuesday link in your blog post too.
• You can find the full set of guidelines here.

I’m also joining the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge and their January Challenge: Anything Goes!: (stamping MUST be included).

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

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

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Sea Green, Kingfisher, Peacock Blue)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Bahama Blue)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Boysenberry, Snow Cone, Coconut, Kiwi)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot, Twisted Citron)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• The Crafter’s Workshop 6×6” Stencil, Designs by Jamie (Mini Art Is TCW261S)
• Craft Sensations (Clear Stamps CRO274/16R1)
• Sugarloaf Inc. wood mounted rubber stamp (26645)
• Crafter’s Companion Angelica & Adam Collection (Luxury Designer paper Pad A&A-PAP6-M)
• The Pocket Oxford Doctionary
• White card
• The Works (24 Assorted Craft Tags)
• Poundworld (Gem Florettes 117128)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Label Letters #TH93072)
• Tonic Studios Paper Punch (Classic Heart Sider 858E)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• UHU Stic
• The Range double-sided foam tape