This page was inspired by all the bird activity in our garden and the beautiful apple blossom on our apple trees (smile!).
I started by covering the page with some Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and White Linen Dylusions Spray. Next I added some Pébéo texture paste through a Lace Tim Holtz stencil and when dry I removed some of it using a craft knife to create a grungy worn lace look. The dots were added using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and a Dot Fade stencil by Tim Holtz. I stamped the birds and sentiment onto some recycled white tissue paper using a couple of Stampendous stamps and black Archival Ink.
The stamped images were stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium and I arranged them onto the page with some Dogwood blossom rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel.
We’ve had lots of blossom on our apple trees so hopefully we’ll get lots of fruit this year too!
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.
Challenges
I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
Paperbabe Stamps and their #168 – Anything Goes challenge with my bird and blossom page.
Stamping Sensations and their Anything stamped with option of Floral and Fauna challenge as I included stamped birds and sentiment along with the pretty blossoms on my page.
Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Black and White + 1, where we would like you to use black and white plus one other colour on your entries.
Limiting colour options is always a challenge for me, so I decided to create a black and white collage background and see where my creativity took me; I ended up adding a dark cherry colour as my “plus 1” – what do you think?
I covered the page with leftover pieces of white tissue paper which had been stamped with black Archival Ink and some black and white Botanicals/Halloween Collage papers by Tim Holtz; they were collaged onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. Next I added some pieces of an old magazine page (which was where the cherry coloured inspiration came from) and then I applied some Pébéo white gesso using a brayer over the whole page and left it to dry. I mixed some Kuretake watercolour paints to match the cherry colour and used it to add a colour wash over the collage pieces and also some splatters. For my flowers, I arranged some white paper flowers onto the page and drew in their stems using a black marker. The leaves were stamped using a Carabelle Studio stamp set and black Archival Ink. To finish, I added the “Happy” wording panel which was by Kaisercraft.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the wonderful creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our mugs of green tea along with my hubby’s favourite Black Forest Gateau (which happens to be cherry like my page … smile!) and my favourite cream filled meringue – 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.
Challenges
As well as Try it on Tuesday , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
Paperbabe Stamps and their #162 – Anything Goes challenge with my happy page.
Add A Die Cutover at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the die cut paper flowers that I added to my page.
Wow, I can’t believe that it’s March already but here we are launching March’s challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog which is Anything Mixed Media Goes.
My mixed media page was inspired by the snowdrops that are flowering at the moment, especially those on display amongst the woodland leaves at Lytham Hall (grin!).
I started by covering the chipboard page with some old dressmaking pattern tissue paper using Liquitex matte gel medium and then I applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top. When dry, I added some more pieces of the dressmaking tissue paper and I coloured around the edges of them with Ground Espresso Distress Ink using a baby wipe. The snowdrop image was fussy cut from an old garden book and I arranged it on the page with some leftover die cut pieces which were coloured in autumnal coloured ink. Then I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and left it to dry. Next I added the white text, the smaller wording were Field Notes Rub-ons by Tim Holtz and the larger letters were Metallic Stickers by Tim Holtz.
For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our mixed media challenge; I hope you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see you there!
We always enjoy walking at Lytham Hall and the snowdrops are looking particularly lovely this year; creating a carpet of white amongst the woodland.
There are so many different snowdrop varieties to be found at Lytham Hall and they all look so beautiful (grin!).
I 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.
Challenges
As well as Creative Artiste , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
The lovely Valerie of Bastelmania is hosting Art Journal Journey and has chosen Spring as her theme and snowdrops to me make me think that spring is on its way.
As it’s February, here’s the art journal page that I created to wish my hubby a Happy Valentine’s Day this year (grin!).
I started by covering the chipboard page with white tissue paper that I had been previously used to mop up some black acrylic paint; it was stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium building up the layers of tissue paper to create texture for my grungy background. Next I stuck some leftover circle outline stickers onto the background and then I applied gold metallic acrylic paint over the whole page. The hearts were die cut from red cardstock using a Sizzix Bigz Heartfelt die by Tim Holtz. Once in place I added more colour to the hearts and edged them using Derwent Inktense pencils. I stamped the hearts using an Etcetera Tim Holtz stamp and gold metallic paint applying it to the stamp using a brayer. Then I used the same stamp set to add more text to hearts and to the background using black Archival Ink. The page was splattered using black acrylic paint and to finish, I added the “You make my heart smile” wording which was from a Metallic Sticker Book by Tim Holtz.
I love this photo of me and my hubby who always makes my heart smile!
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.
Challenges
I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
For The Love of Mixed Media challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as my mixed media page was created for my hubby who makes my heart smile and I love very dearly.
Paperbabe Stamps and their #162 – Anything Goes challenge with my heart page.
Something Big-Something Small over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge with the large and small Valentine’s hearts on this page.
Don’t forget that you still have another week to join us at Try it on Tuesday for our Add Some Texture challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!
Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is All Loved Up.
My art journal page is all loved up with hearts, flowers and words; this time it was created just from collage materials.
I started by covering the page with some stripes of lace, star and old wallpaper designed decoupage and tissue papers using Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I stuck a silver outline sticker vertically down the right-hand side of the page and some pink border and flower stickers from Kaisercraft horizontally across the page. Next I added the two large which I intertwined together with some ribbon; they were recycled from a banner. To finish I added the wording and small hearts which were from some Kaisercraft Sticker sheets.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the wonderful All Loved Up creations from our Guest Designers and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!
For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.
To match my page and as T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my green tea in a mug with a pretty pink heart on it that I often have at my friends house – 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.
Challenges
As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
“Always wear your invisible crown” is such a powerful message; to me it means to maintain self confidence, believe in yourself and be aware of your own self worth. I also like the idea of wearing an invisible crown (grin!) … a symbolic meaning of strength, courage, and respect.
I included this wording on today’s grungy page with some other related positive affirmations – I hope you like it!
I started by covering the page with strips of decoupage papers using a glue stick and Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso and Bright Aqua Green Liquitex acrylic paint over the top using a brayer. When dry, I stencilled some Picked Raspberry Distress Ink onto the page using a Shabby Harlequin stencil from Creative Expressions. I used black Archival Ink to stamp the birds and keys using a Craft Sensations stamp set and the birdcages, crowns and “always wear your invisible crown” wording using a Kaisercraft stamp set. Then I splattered the whole page with black DecoArt and white acrylic paint. The words, filigree diamond shapes and pink flowers were stickers from Kaisercraft which I edged using a black Faber-Castell marker before sticking them in place. To finish, I added a black oval frame to emphasis the central stamped wording.
With summer on its way, I’ve been making raspberry gin again and as T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my gin (and Sprite) with the T Gang and wishing you all a very Happy T Day!
If you are interested, here’s the recipe:
400 g (14oz) Raspberries – or any fruit of your choice, maybe pineapple, blueberry, peach, strawberry, rhubarb
300g (10oz) Granulated Sugar – you can vary this depending on your taste
750 mll (25 US fl oz) Gin – a cheap brand such as supermarket own brand as these are not too flavoured
Add them all to a Kilner Jar (or similar). You need to ensure the sugar dissolves so make sure you shake the jar throughout the first day, it dissolves pretty quickly. Then put it in a dark place for 4 weeks, I tend to shake the jar every other day to muddle the fruit. It’s tempting to eat the fruit afterwards, perhaps on ice-cream, however, I tried it and it was far too potent! So I ended up forcing it through a sieve to add more flavour to the gin. One last tip – don’t be tempted to do half a recipe like I did as when you start drinking it you’ll find it goes pretty fast (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:
Poundworld (Patch Paper DS9454)
Pritt Stick
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Pébéo White Gesso
Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Bright Aqua Green)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry)
Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Shabby Harlequin)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Craft Sensations Clear Stamps (CRO274/19A)
Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Oh So Lovely CS2111)
DecoArt Crafter’s Arcylic (Black)
Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fly Free SS289)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
The Works (Frame Stickers)
Challenges
I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:
Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat this month and her Language theme with the empowering meaning behind the quote I added to my page.
Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #144 – Anything Goes with my art journal page.
I’m thrilled and honoured to be over at Altered Book Lover with Bleubeard and Elizabeth today as part of her 22 days of recycling leading up to her happy bEARTHday.
One of my goals this year is to recycle and use up leftovers on my art journal pages, so I was delighted to be invited and very happy to join in the fun – thanks so much!
The background and main images for this page were created using recycled materials; they just seemed too nice to throw away (grin!).
For the background I collaged strips of recycled tissue paper, brown paper packaging and some of the card that I place under my journal pages whilst crafting to catch any excess paints, inks, modelling paste etc; like all the paper elements they were stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. When dry, I outlined the edges of these collaged pieces using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger. I also added some gold embossing powder to highlight the texture of the tissue paper and to match the gold on the main images. I fussy cut the cute dogs, heart balloons and patterned foreground from a beautiful anniversary card that my mum and dad kindly sent us; I had fun fussy cutting everything which took quite a bit of time. I arranged them on either side of the page and then I added the Kaisercraft sticker wording which reads “Wherever you go, no matter how far, I carry your heart with mine” which finished the page.
I hope that you’re inspired to recycle and repurpose materials for your art creations; there’s lots of inspiration this month over at Altered Book Lover too (grin!).
The little dogs on my page reminded me of this pottery dog that sits on our mantel in the lounge which was from a local gallery. It’s Raku pottery which is my favourite type of decorative pottery and derives from a traditional Japanese process where the fired raku piece is removed from the hot kiln and is allowed to cool in the open air. I believe that this spotty dog was decorated with coloured slips, glazes and metal leaf before it was Raku fired.
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:
Recycled white tissue paper
Recycled brown paper packaging
Recycled card that I place under my journal pages whilst crafting covered in paints, inks, modelling paste, stencilling, scribbles, washi tape, sticker off cuts etc
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
Ranger Embossing Powder (gold)
Recycled anniversary card
Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Havana Nights SS354)
Challenges
I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are:
Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – I miss her greatly! I’m so pleased to be able to her challenge and was inspired to recycle; I think the wording “I carry your heart with mine” is perfect to remember Eileen by too!
MIUCB#48 – Anything Goes + optional No Stamping challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my recycled page which contains no stamping.
Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Hello Spring.
With all the bird activity in our garden, it feels like spring is finally here so my page design includes blue skies, birdsong and nesting birds. I hope you’re inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!
I started by adding some drops of Speckled Egg Distress Ink, from a re-inker bottle, and then spreading them over the page using an old plastic gift card. When dry, I applied some white gesso over the top using a brayer and then I splattered the page with the Speckled Egg ink. Next I added the birds, foliage and sheet music which were from some Aviary Collage Paper by Tim Holtz; they were stuck in place using a glue stick. I splattered some black DecoArt acrylic paint over background and left it to dry, and then I stamped a documented stamp from Tim Holtz using Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink. The large “nest and eggs” panel, the nest image in the top left-hand corner, the row of alphabet letters and the fussy cut letters making up the “Hello Spring” wording were all Poster Cards from Tim Holtz. I edged them all using the Vintage Photo ink and they were stuck in place using double-sided tape. To finish, I added a Clippings sticker from Tim Holtz which reads “The pretty little birds chirped”.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Hello Spring creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).
As T Stands for Tuesday, today we are enjoying our cuppa with some homemade chocolate crispy nests – wishing you all a very Happy T Day!
I always make these chocolate treats this time of year; they are Rice Crispies covered with chocolate, filled with a chocolate fudge icing and topped with mini marshmallows, chocolate covered raisins and mini chocolate eggs – yum!
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:
Tim Holtz Distress Re-Inker (Speckled Egg)
Pébéo White Gesso
Tim Holtz idea-ology Collage Paper (Aviary #TH93706)
Pritt Stick
DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
Tim Holtz Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo)
Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
X-Press It! double-sided tape and foam tape
Tim Holtz idea-ology Sticker Book (Clippings #TH94030)
Challenges
As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are:
Paperbabe StampsChallenge #140 – Anything Goes with my Hello Spring page.
MIUCB #47 –Anything Goes + optional twist of Inlaid Die Cut challenge over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the techniques I used to create this spring page.
Jenny is hosting, here’s what she has to say about this challenge: “Although it’s not always evident in my projects, I have a real passion for delicate laces, fragile flowers, fine stitching, intricate artwork and exquisite architecture. For this challenge create something delicate or a vintage/shabby chic project that features delicate things in it.”
I enjoyed using different techniques and mediums to create this delicate page starting with the delicately painted background. I covered the background with water first and then added Kuretake watercolours over the top using a paintbrush; the colours I used were Ultramarine Pale, Yellow Ochre, Sap Green and a mixture of Black and White.
The elegant lace flower heads were stamped using one of my favourite stamps from Carabelle Studio and black Archival Ink. The flower heads were coloured using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then I added lots of sparkle using some Silver Stickles from Ranger.
For the wording and butterflies, I coloured some white tissue paper using Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks. I did this by stamping the ink pads onto a blending mat, spritzing with water and pressing the tissue paper over the top. When dry, I die cut the letters for the wording using Alphanumeric Label Thinlits set and the butterflies using Springtime Sidekick Thinlits set from Tim Holtz.
I glued the wording onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium which was a bit fiddly as the letters were so fine; it reads “be still and listen, the earth is singing”. To finish, I arranged the butterflies around the page using some glue dots. I love how the tissue paper butterflies and wording look so fragile and delicate (grin!).
Thanks so much to The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog for having me as Guest Designer! I hope that you are inspired by the So Delicate challenge too and are able to join in the fun (grin!).
There are so many delicate things to observe in nature and as I live by the sea, my watercolour background was inspired by this sea view with its pale colours and soft lighting; this was taken whilst walking along the beach near our house .
The lace flower heads, touches of green and pretty butterflies on my page were inspired by our garden. It reminded me of all the Painted Lady butterflies that visited last summer; here are a couple on the lavender (grin!).
I hope that you’re 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 this art journal page:
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine Pale, Yellow Ochre, Sap Green, Black, White)
Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (Dans la nature, il y a … SA60175
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlit (Alphanumeric Label 664177)
Tim Holtz Sizzix Sidekick Thinlit (Springtime 662711)
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Stix2 glue dots
Challenges
I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like it The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog , as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:
I’m pleased to join the lovely Erika from BioArtGal over at Art Journal Journey and her Favourite Things challenge as I used one of my favourite flower stamp sets.
As I used my favourite Carabelle Studio stamp set to create the lace flowers on my page, I’m also pleased to be able to join Stamping Sensations and their Favourite Stamps challenge too.
I’m also joining the Beautiful Blooms challenge over at the Allsorts Challenge with the pretty sparkly flowers on my page.
I’m happy to join in the LTSCB #141 – Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my delicate nature page.
I love winter so to wish you a Happy Christmas I created this frosty page, using a variety of techniques to build up layers of snowflakes – I hope you like it (grin!).
I started by stamping snowflakes onto the background using a Versamark Watermark stamp pad and then heating it with a heat gun to fix the Watermark ink onto the page. Then I used some Distress Ink re-inkers to apply drops of Speckled Egg and Peacock Feathers inks, spritzed them with water to disperse and blend the inks over the background and left it to dry.
I stamped my second layer of snowflakes using a Woodland Christmas stamp set and Peacock Feather Distress Ink, Teal Zeal and London Fog Memento Inks. Next I die cut some snowflakes from three different coloured tissue papers using a Paper Snowflakes Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and layered them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. I love how frosty this page looks with the different layers of snowflakes. Next I added lots of sequins from Simon Says Stamp and some glittery wooden stars; all of which are stuck down using Ranger Glossy Accents. Then to finish, I added a silver sticker to wish you all “Happy Christmas”.
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing some of our beers from our advent calendar – cheers and Happy T Day!
Here are some of the ones we’ve had so far; the Ruby Ale has been my favourite so far, probably because it is a classic British dark beer with a toffee malt and chocolate flavour which I prefer. We have had quite a few Craft Beer IPAs too; they tend to have a distinctive sharp citrus finish due to the big flavour American hops and so far my favourite has to be the Talking Head Extra Pale Ale, which had a lovely tropical mango flavour.
This Buckhorn Stateside IPA was also refreshing and had a smoother hoppy finish.
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 all the materials used to create this page:
Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
The Works Clear Stamps (CRO274/TW1)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Speckled Egg, Peacock Feathers)
Clear Impressions (Woodland Christmas)
Tsukineko Memento Ink (Teal Zeal, London Fog)
Poundworld (Patch Paper DS9454)
Teal Blue Tissue Paper
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Paper Snowflakes 661599)
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Simon Says Stamp (Winter Sequins Mix, Snowflake Sequins)
Ranger Glossy Accents
Wooden Glitter Stars
The Works (Christmas Embellishments)
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 Tracey over at Art Journal Journey and her Meaning of challenge this month as I created this page to wish you a Happy Christmas.
I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything Christmas challenge with my frosty Christmas page.
I’m also joining Paperbabe Stamps and their #134 – Anything Goes challenge with my Frosty Christmas page.
As I used lots of different techniques to create all the frosty texture and snowflakes on this page, I’m also joining the MIUCB #44 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Clean and Simple challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog.
Don’t forget there is still another week to join our Christmas Sparkle challenge at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!
Let's Art Journal 