Happy 6th Anniversary

This page celebrates T Stands for Tuesday’s 6^th Anniversary, where our wonderful hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth ask us to share a drink related post each week. It’s so much fun meeting up with the T Gang each Tuesday, thanks so much to everyone for making it such a friendly and happy place!

My page was also created to join in our Colours of the Rainbow challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too where you still have until next Tuesday to join in the fun, it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by covering the page with Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain and then stencilling multi-coloured teacups using Distress Ink and a handmade stencil that the lovely Eileen aka The Artful Crafter sent me last year – the design and detail of the teacup is amazing, thank you so much dear friend! The Distress Inks that I used were Festive Berries, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves and Fired Brick. Next I used some Kaisercraft paper and stickers to add: some stripes of colourful patterned paper which I outlined with a black marker pen; die cut teacups using a die from Crafter’s Companion and my Big Shot machine, they are outlined with a black Faber-Castell marker and held in place with some little brads and I also numbered them 1-6, using Tim Holtz Label Letters, to depict each year of T stands for Tuesday 6^th Anniversary; the wording which reads “friends are the sunshine of life” as I am very blessed to have made such wonderful friends and also “These are T Days” which I cut to make the word “T Day” as it originally said “These are the days”. The black teapot, teacups and saucers are outline stickers which I coloured black using a Sharpie marker. To finish, I added some white hearts so they looked like steam floating up from the teacups; they are outline stickers which I outlined with a black marker pen so they stood out more.

My homemade raspberry gin is just the thing to celebrate the 6^th Anniversary at T Stands for Tuesday; our friends told us about making it, all you need to do is soak raspberries (or any fruit of you choice) with some sugar and gin in a Kilner Jar and place it in a dark place for 4 weeks (grin!). It tastes amazing, so delicious! I serve it with either fizzy lime/lemon or fizzy mango drink – yum! Wishing you all a Happy 6th Anniversary this T Day!

Challenges 

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all celebrating T Day’s 6^th Anniversary (grin!).

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Add A Number challenge with the numbers that I added to the teacups.

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 Stain (Cracked Pistachio)
• Teacup Stencil handmade by the lovely Eileen aka The Artful Crafter; you can see all the goodies that she sent me here – thanks very much, so kind!
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Festive Berries, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick)
• Kaisercraft Design Paper (Fiesta! Collection – Siesta P1859, Fly Free Collection – Confidante P1896)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)
• Handwriting Pen (Black)
• Crafter’s Companion Die Set (Vintage Tea Party – Toppling Teacups S-VTP-MD-TOPT)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Label Letters #TH93072)
• Docrafts Anita’s Outline Stickers (Alice in Wonderland ANT810116)
• Craftime Designer Vinyls (B/W Boy & Girl PBDV02)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape

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Be the brightest colour

For the next two weeks, our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Colours of the Rainbow.

I had fun creating this colourful page as not only did I use a new set of acrylic paints, but the paint colours and stencils that I used were chosen by my hubby. As you can see he likes bold and bright contrasting colours and he chose birds, leaves, mosaic and brickwork stencils.

I started by adding the Cerulean Blue, Yellow Oxide, Primary Red and Light Green acrylic paints, that my hubby had chosen, using a dry brush technique where a clean dry brush is used to spread each of the colours; I did this so that the colours would not blend together as some of the colours chosen are on opposite sides of the colour wheel so if blended together they would produce a brown or grey so I didn’t want them to blend by adding water. Then I applied the same paints again using a sponge through the four stencils that my hubby had chosen: Cerulean Blue through a birds stencil; Yellow Oxide through a mosaic stencil; Primary Red through a brick stencil and finally Light Green through a leaf stencil. Next I stamped some postage marks from Prima Marketing and some numbers from Inkidinkado using black Archival Ink. To add some depth and contrast I applied some white acrylic paint to the page with my finger and when dry, I stamped more of the postage marks and numbers over the top. The flowers are stamped onto a dictionary page using some Hampton Art stamps sets and black Archival Ink, fussy cut and stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. I added the stems to the flowers using a Hampton Art Border stamp set and the black Archival Ink again. The wording is from a Kaisercraft sticker sheet finishes the page and reads “Be the brightest colour in the box”; I thought it linked well to my new set of paints.

There are some amazing creations from my Design Teamies too, please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to check them out. We would love to see your rainbow colour creations of the next two weeks, it would be lovely to see you there!

Here’s my new paint set, there are 36 colours to use so I’m sure I’ll be using them again soon (grin!).

As T Stands for T Day, I’m sharing these colourful teapots from the Blackbird Café which you may remember from a previous post – 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 Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all colourful with my new set of paints.

I’m pleased to be able to join Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their #51 Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge with all the mixed media I used to create this art journal page.

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Colour (Cerulean Blue, Yellow Oxide, Primary Red, Light Green)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil (Mosaic #THS084)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Take a leaf)
• Prima Marketing Clear Stamps (Rossi Belle #587499)
• Inkadinkado Cling Stamps (Typographic 65-32008)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Hampton Art Bella Blvd cling mounted rubber stamps (Sand & Surf ICO226)
• Hampton Art Doodlebug Designs Inc. cling mounted rubber stamps (Thankful ICO162, Borders ICO160)
• Dictionary pages
• Kaisercraft Sticker Set (Fiesta! SS284)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Material Girl

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 our Material Girl challenge where you are asked to create all things feminine, maybe using fabrics, lace or like me faux stitching and dressmaking images.

There are some beautiful inspirational creations from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday so please pop over and take a look, and you’ll also find a full set of guidelines on how to join in the fun too (grin!).

I started by painting the background with watered down Scattered Straw Distress Ink and once dry stamping it with a set of Urban Arts stamps using black Archival Ink, the stamps included: lace stitched flowers; a dressmaking heart pin; a safety pin; a tape measure; and a tiny flower motif. Next I cut strips of a pretty floral design paper and some button embossed card. I arranged them on the left-hand side of the page using a glue stick and then I edged them with some zig-zag stitched stickers. I used the same floral paper to stamp the tape measures and fussy cut them out. They are stuck over the tape measure images that I stamped on the background. I then added an oval image of a mannequin which was a topper from the same set as the floral paper; the outside oval is stuck down using a glue stick and the central piece using double-sided foam tape. I attached a piece of satin ribbon to the tag which is a sticker and reads “Happy girls are the prettiest”. To finish, I added some yellow pearl gemstones to the flower motifs on the background and to the bow on the mannequin.

We have been having some hot sunny days of late so as T Stands for Tuesday I thought we could cool down by drinking a pineapple frappe or a chocolate milkshake – Happy T Day 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 the lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey as being happy is a wonderful way to live although I’m not sure you’ll be the prettiest as a result (grin!).

I’m happy to join the Spots and/or Stripes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the spots from the embossed buttons and gems and the stripes of design paper and measuring tapes.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw)
• Docrafts Papermania Urban Stamps (Craft Coollection – Pastels PMA907223)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Create & Craft Paper Craft Topper & Background Paper (Birthday Celebrations)
• Button Embossed Cardstock (Lavender, Yellow)
• Sandylion Sticker Designs Kelly Panacci Scrapbook Collection (Stitches & Borders KSCB102)
• Little Yellow Bicycle Cardstock Stickers (Fresh Verse PD-140)
• Satin Ribbon
• Trimcraft (Adhesive Pearls SCDOT056)
• Pritt Stick
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Beer & Ale

I created another masculine page for our It’s a Man’s World challenge over at Try it on Tuesday where there is still another week to join in the fun, it would be lovely to see you there!

This time my page celebrates Beer & Ale using some vintage images from old magazines and a background that I had created sometime ago to experiment whilst trying out a new technique using Brushos – such fun!

For the background, I stamped a Steampunk Background stamp from Docrafts onto the page using a Versamark Watermark stamp pad and then I sprinkled Sandstone, Dark Brown, Terracotta and Yellow Ochre Colourcraft Brusho Powders over the top and used a paintbrush to brush the powder over the stamp images so that it clung to the Watermark Ink. Then I then spritzed the page with water a few times and watched the Brusho colours burst to life; if you want the stamping to be more defined spritz lightly with water – such a fun technique! Next I fussy cut some vintage brewery and beer images from some old magazines, stuck them in place using a glue stick and outlined them with a black Uni Pin Marker. The “2/11” plaque, letters for the “beer” and “ale” wording and large button are all Salvage Stickers from Tim Holtz. Next I added the cogs and gears which are wooden chipboard pieces from Boozybear using Ranger Glossy Accents and to finish, the words “collect beautiful moments” which are Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz.

As you probably know by now, me and hubby like our beer and I thought Bleubeard and Elizabeth over at T Stands for Tuesday may like the story of how this beer came to be called Old Tom. It’s brewed at Robinsons Brewery in Stockport, Cheshire and it’s almost as old as the brewery itself. It’s a dangerous 8.5% ABV, that’s why I only have a taster in my glass (grin!). This beer was born in 1899, when Tom, the old brewery cat, was sketched into immortality by the head brewer. It is rich and warming, and has a distinctive deep port wine finish, with bitter hops balanced by the heady aromas of dark fruit – cheers and 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 Halle of Halle’s Hobbies and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words “collect beautiful moments”.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, their theme is Transport It, so I’m pleased to join in the fun as you can see in the images that the beers on my page are being transported by men, locomotives, horse and carts.

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

• Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Colourcraft Brusho Colours (Sandstone, Dark Brown, Terracotta, Yellow Ochre)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 clear stamp set (Steampunk Background DCE907128)
• Old Magazines
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH93898)
• Boozybear Chipboard Pieces (Cogs andGears)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk # TH93193)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Pritt Stick

Lytham St. Annes

Loving the happy colours of some vintage images of Lytham St. Annes that I found in a magazine, I was inspired to create this happy page to celebrate where we live and sunshiny weather which I have been wishing for of late (grin!).

I started by blending some white and blue Liquitex acrylic paints to cover the background of the page; varying the colours and also adding some Peach Liquitex acrylic paint to produce an aged and worn look. Next I added some blue and white striped washi tape vertically and horizontally onto the page, then lots of rub-on transfers and stickers to build up the design; they include some vintage black and white rub-on transfers, some beach designed stickers and rub-on transfers and also some 3D fabric flower and heart stickers. I used a black Uni Pin marker to outline some of them so they stood out more. To finish, I cut out the Majestic Hotel and Lytham St. Annes images from a local advertising magazine, mounted them onto some black paper and stuck them to the page using double-sided tape or foam tape.

We feel very blessed to live by the sea and there is nothing better than walking along the beach. One of our favourite regular walks is with our very good friend, where we start at Fairhaven Lake …

…. and walk alongside the dunes towards the beach which you can just about see in the distance …

… along the beach passing the beach huts …

…. and past the pier and then back along the promenade returning to Fairhaven Lake. It’s about 4.25 miles and we always see lots along the way whether it’s winter birds or the summer tourists (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 pleased to join the lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey as the words say Lytham St. Annes is the perfect resort especially when you live here (grin!).

I’m happy to join the #193 Here Comes The Sun challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my sunshiny page.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Vacation challenge with my Lytham St. Annes art journal page.

I’m also joining the Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday Summer Vibes! Challenge as this page reminds me of summer.

Don’t forget that you still have over a week to join the It’s a Man’s World 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:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Swedish Blue, Navy, Apricot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.5mm)
• The Works (Washi Tape Set)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Create-A-Collage (Travel Collage #ROY-871)
• Craft Planet Metallic Waterfall Sticker Set (Beach PO#9622)
• Wilko (Let’s Create A5 Stickers)
• Old Magazine
• Coloured Paper (Black)
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Man’s World

Time for a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday and for the next two weeks our challenge is It’s a Man’s World. So be masculine, it could be something for Father’s Day or for a male birthday.

As I always find it hard to get started on masculine designs, I ended up getting all my appropriate crafting goodies out for inspiration and once I got started I really enjoyed creating this page; it all came together quickly and I love the grungy vintage look and I hope you do too!

I started by ripping some decoupage paper into large pieces and sticking it to the page using a glue stick. Then I stencilled the metal plate effect using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and a Dinky Stencil from That’s Crafty! I splattered the page with water to smudge the Hickory Smoke ink using a piece of kitchen towel giving it a grungy look. Next I smooshed and splattered some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink over the page and I edged the pieces of decoupage paper using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. To finish the background, I added three rub-on transfers from Royal & Langnickel which I outlined using a black Uni Pin marker so the edges looked worn and then I splattered the page using black DecoArt acrylic paint. Next I layered all the different paper elements together having edged them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using a blending tool and also a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before I stuck them onto the page. They included: letters creating the “mans world” wording, some numbered tiles and shields which are Crowded Attic Salvage Stickers by Tim Holtz; some pieces of a book page which I distressed with scissors along the edge; a vintage car stamp from Tim Holtz which I stamped onto some American Crafts paper and also some recycled Kraft paper using black Archival Ink and then fussy cut out; a clock which was stamped using a Kaisercraft stamp and black Archival Ink onto the same American Crafts paper then cut out; a clock which I fussy cut from an old magazine; two Victorian style brown tags; two wooden effect tags from Docrafts that read “Brilliant” and “The World’s Greatest”, and I emphasised their design using a black Uni Pin marker; a ruler which I cut into two pieces and finally two round discs, which read “in these moments time stood still” and “A lifetime of memories” all of which are fussy cut from a Kaisercraft paper sheet. To finish, I added some brown metal brads to all of the tags and splattered black DecoArt acrylic paint over everything.

For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our pie and a pint that we enjoyed whilst sitting in the sunshine at a local pub. We only had one day of sunshine last week and I’m now wishing for more with all the grey cloudy and rainy days we have had of late, although I’m sure the flowers in my garden are grateful (grin!). If you are wondering, our pie is meat and potato which is much loved in the North of England, you probably won’t find this pie in the South of England. It’s served hot and goes very nicely with a pint of beer too – cheers and 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 Halle of Halle’s Hobbies  and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Masculine challenge with my Man’s World page.

I’m pleased join in the fun over at Creative Artiste and their June #50 – Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge with my mixed media art journal page (which included decoupage paper, ink, markers, stickers, etc).

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

• Trimcraft Santora London (Decoupage Papers SBDEC043)
• That’s Crafty! Dinky Stencil (Metal Grid Background – TC041)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B, Black 199)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Create-A-Collage (Men’s Accessories #ROY-853)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Book page
• Tim Holtz {Components} Collection Stamper Anonymous (COM013 CAR)
• American Crafts Papers (DIY Store 366665)
• Recycled Kraft Notepaper
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Vintage- Believe CS832)
• Old Magazine
• The Works (Victorian Style Embellishments)
• Docrafts A5 Die-Cut Toppers & Sentiments (Mr. Smith’s Workshop PMA157261)
• Kaisercraft Glossy Paper Story Book Collection (Trinkets PS445)
• Craft Sensations (Brads CRO550/A)
• Pritt Stick

Live simple …

June means that summer is here and as we have been having a few grey days of late, I created this brightly coloured page inspired by some motivational wording which I hope brings a smile to your face too (grin!).

With the chevrons and stamped shapes, my page is also a reminder that you have another week to join our Make a Mark challenge at Try it on Tuesday, it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by collaging the whole page with colourful design papers using Liquitex matte gel medium and then I covered the papers with some Pébéo white gesso using a palette knife. When dry, I coloured the edges of the papers with corresponding coloured Faber-Castell gelatos which included Red Cherry, Watermelon, Snow Cone and Coconut, smudging the colours with my finger which I wet with a baby wipe. Using black Archival Ink, I stamped: some hearts using a Heart Background stamp; Circles using a Worn Rings Gummiapan stamp, a recycled cardboard tube and also a plastic tube; and some geometric mini patterned dots and a hexagon pattern stamp from Docrafts. I highlighted and added more detail to these stamped images using a white Uni Posca paint pen; yes I did colour all those little hexagons white (grin!). Then I added the multi-coloured chevrons which are stickers from Kaisercraft; I outlined them with the white Uni Posca paint pen and also a black Uni Pin marker to make them stand out more. I cut out a panel from a Kaisercraft paper sheet, it reads “Live simple, dream big, laugh lots, be amazing, give love” which I thought was a great philosophy to live by. The panel was stuck in place using double-sided tape and I framed it using black Glitterations border stickers. To finish, I added strips of the black Glitterations border stickers to the right-hand side edges of the chevrons so they were more defined.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my cup of cinnamon orange tea and some homemade French toast. It definitely feels like summer as strawberries are in season here and we’ve been having them on either American pancakes or French toast along with some golden syrup – so yummy! Wishing you a very Happy T Day!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies  and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the motivational words that I included on my page. Thanks for the inspiration Halle!

I’m joining the Things with wings challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the butterflies on my page.

I’m also happy to join in the It’s a bugs life challenge over at Country View Challenges as I included butterflies on my page.

I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my summery art journal 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:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Red Cherry, Watermelon, Snow Cone, Coconut)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Hobbycraft A6 Clear Stamp (Heart Background 50351HC)
• Gummiapan Stamps (Worn Rings 2 11050601)
• Recycled cardboard and plastic tubes
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection Geometric Kraft (Mini Cards & Stamp Set PMA105306, Gift Tags and Stamp Set PMA105307)
• The Works Design Pad (Happy Spring CRO707/TW26)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)
• Kaisercraft Paper Fly Free Collection (Confidante P1896)
• Docrafts Papermania Glitterations (Black Borders ANT8181015)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 double-sided tape