Fun Starts Here

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Embossed.

This challenge is all about embossing, whether its heat embossing, embossing paste, embossing folders or embossed papers just be sure to tell use what you have used (grin!).

I was still in Halloween mode when I created this page being influenced by the Mexican celebration “Día de Muertos” (which happens to be next Monday). I used lots of embossing powder to heat emboss the white flowers, black doilies and black lace.

I started by painting magenta and green Liquitex Basics acrylic paint over the page using a dry paintbrush technique to prevent the colours blending. When dry, I covered the paints with some Pébéo white gesso and also some black DecoArt acrylic paint; I used a brayer to apply both paints letting them dry between applications.

For the white embossed flowers, I used an Oriental Zen stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps and black Archival Ink to stamp the flower design over the magenta coloured areas. I then covered the ink with white Stampendous embossing powder and heated it with my heat gun until glossy. The black doilies were stamped using a Dovecraft stamp set and the black Archival Ink and covered with black Papermania embossing powder; they were stamped over the green areas of the page.

I used the same Dovecraft stamp set, black ink and embossing powder to add the lace detail to my skull which was die cut using a Halloween Hangouts Thinlit set from Tim Holtz from white card. I mounted it onto some glittery paper and stuck it in place using a glue stick. I also added some circles that were cut from the glitter paper using a Spellbinders die set and to finish, I added a Kaisercraft sticker that reads “Fun starts here”.

I hope that you are inspired to join us too, for more Embossed inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look at all the beautiful creations from my Design Teamies (grin!).

As it was my hubby’s birthday last week and T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a slice of the birthday cake that I made him and his cuppa! The cake is a Victoria sponge filled with homemade buttercream icing and cherry jam which I topped with a white and red feathered icing and his tea is Ceylon Orange Pekoe Tea – Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping that you all staying safe and well! x

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

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

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color (Quinacridone Magenta, Hooker’s Green Hue Permanent)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• Paperbabe Stamps (Oriental Zen Stamp Set)
• Dovecraft Stamp Set (Lave & Doile DCCS009)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Stampendous! Embossing Powder (Detail White Opaque)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with a Linen Texture CR0240/GE)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Halloween Hangouts 663088)
• Glitter wallpaper sample
• Pritt Stick
• Spellbinders Nestabilities Decorative Elements Die Cut System (Stately Circles S4-388) – thank you Astrid!
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Bombay Sunset SS339)

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 Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the outlined embossed flowers and lines of lace adorning the skull on my page. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with my Mexican inspired Halloween page. I’m joining the Purple, Orange, Green! Eek! It’s Halloween! challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my “Día de Muertos” page. I’m also joining in the fun over at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge and their Halloween Jump Start challenge with my art journal page. I’m so pleased to be able to join in the Anything Goes over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Mexican “Día de Muertos” page – thanks so much Tracey, your beautiful ATCs reminded me of “Día de Muertos”, so inspirational! I’m also joining the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Distressing (ink or tool) with the dry painting technique that I used. I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Layer It Up challenge with layers of paint and embossing powders that I used for the background and layers of papers that I used for the skull.

Sweet Life

I love everything pumpkin so my hubby kindly bought me a beautiful glass pumpkin for our wedding anniversary, which inspired me to create this pumpkin page – I hope you like it!

I started by colouring the foreground of the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a brayer. Then I used up leftover torn pieces of collage papers, sheet music, stamped tissue paper, napkin and design papers to create the background. It was fun to collage all the different papers together using Liquitex matte gel medium and I really like the spooky pumpkin patch look that resulted. When dry I painted Pébéo white gesso in the centre of the page blending it outwards towards the edges of the page.

The pumpkin was hand drawn and then cut out to make templates for different segments of the pumpkin. I used these templates to cut out different orange, white and black patterned Pion Design papers. Then I layered them together onto the page to create the large pumpkin using matte gel medium and left it to dry. I outlined each segment using a black Uni Pin marker and then shaded the edges of each segments using either Mango or Earl Grey Faber-Castell Gelato. The stalk of the pumpkin was created from recycled brown string which I coloured using two green Liquitex acrylic paints. When dry I doubled the string over and tightly twisted it together applying matte gel medium to stick the strands together. I stuck it in place using glue dots twisting and looping the stalk. To finish, I added a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “The Sweet Life”.

Here’s the beautiful glass pumpkin that my hubby kindly gifted me, isn’t it amazing (grin!).

I 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 art journal page:

• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• Leftover paper pieces (Tim Holtz Halloween Collage Paper, sheet music, dressmaking tissue paper stamped with a Gothic Book Finnabair stamp and black Archival Ink, napkin, design papers)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Pion Design Paper (Trick or Treat PD8102, Midnight Spell PD8103, October Garden PD8104)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Mango, Earl Grey)
• Recyled brown string
• Liquitex Basic Acrylic Colour (Light Green Permanent, Phthalocyanine Green)
• Stiz2 glue dots
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Bombay Sunset SS339)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the lined design paper on the pumpkin. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with the spooky pumpkin patch background. I’m joining the Purple, Orange, Green! Eek! It’s Halloween! challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my spooky vintage pumpkin page. I’m also pleased to join the Not A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my art journal page. I’m so pleased to be able to join in the Anything Goes over at Paperbabe Stamps with my pumpkin page. I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Layer It Up challenge with the collage background and pumpkin layers on my page. I’m also happy to join LTCCB #51 – October Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my pumpkin inspired art journal page too. Don’t forget that you still have a few days left to join in the Halloween fun over at Try it on Tuesday too!

Tis the Witching Hour

Here’s another Halloween page, this time in a vintage style to celebrate the Witching Hour with steampunk clocks, recycled chains, bats and I thought I’d never say this but a spider too – eek!

I started by colouring the background of the page with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and Pébéo white gesso using a baby wipe. When dry, I tore a piece of Pion Design paper called Midnight Spell that details clocks, lace and cobwebs and stuck it to the page using a glue stick. Then I added stamping and collage layers to blend the paper into the background; firstly by stamping a Gothic Book stamp from Finnabair over the page using black Archival Ink. Then using the same Gothic Book stamp and ink I stamped some tissue paper from an old dressmaking pattern, and ripped and stuck pieces of it onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I applied some more white gesso and layered more of the stamped tissue paper over the top. Next I stamped the pretty foliage over the page which was from a Floral Silhouette stamp set by Penny Black and some cobwebs around the edges of the page using a stamp by Molly Browns; both were stamped using black Archival Ink.

I used the black Archival Ink to create the “Tis the Witching Hour” wording using an alphabet stamp set by Hampton Arts and also to add the bats which were from an Autumnal Treasures stamp set that was free from a magazine.

The clock was made from wooden chipboard pieces from Boozybear which I covered with white gesso and then coloured with the black Archival Ink and a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

I backed the cogs and face with some recycled cream card that I die cut into circles and then I painted them with some watered down black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The clock pieces were stuck together using Ranger Glossy Accents making sure that the hands on the clock showed midnight (the Witching Hour!) and I added some highlights using a silver Daler-Rowney paint pen.

The clock is arranged on the page with some pieces of chain and pendants from an old necklace that I had coloured with the white gesso and then some black DecoArt acrylic paint. To finish, I suspended a spider from the top of the page; it was stamped using the Autumnal Treasures stamp set and black Archival Ink and I drew a line using a black Uni Pin for the little spider to dangle from (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my hubby’s Hobgoblin beer which is brewed by Wychwood Brewery in Oxfordshire.

I thought of this beer as the Wychwood logo, (which is hard to see, but it’s etched onto the neck of the bottle), includes a witch flying on a broomstick which is perfect for my page too (grin!).

I 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 art journal page:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Parchment)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Pion Design Paper (Midnight Spell PD8103)
• Prima Marketing Finnaibar Clear Stamps (Gothic Book #966966)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Style Dressmaking Pattern tissue paper
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Penny Black Clear Stamp Set (Floral Silhouette 30-563)
• Molly Blooms Rubber Stamps (Cobweb MB-0065D)
• Boozybear wooden chipboard pieces (Clock Face)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Recycled Cream Cardstock
• The Works (Cutting Dies – Circles)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Daler-Rowney Acrylic Paint Markers (Silver)
• Recycled necklace – chains and pendants
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Hampton Art (Alphabet Stamp Set WM1037)
• Creative Stamping Issue 61 (Autumn Treasures Stamp Set)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.5mm)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the lines of chain and cobwebs on my page. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with my Tis the witching hour art journal page. I’m joining the Purple, Orange, Green! Eek! It’s Halloween! challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my vintage witching hour page. I’m pleased to join the Not A Card challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my art journal page. I’m also joining in the fun over at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge and their Halloween Jump Start challenge which is their very first challenge – thank you Dar for inviting me to join in the fun, I hope you like my witching hour page! I’m so pleased to be able to join in the Anything Goes over at Paperbabe Stamps with my witching hour page too. I’m also pleased to join Sandee & aimlee’s Steampunk Challenge and their Anything Goes -Steampunk/Industrial challenge with my vintage steampunk Halloween page. I’m also joining the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Distressing (ink or tool) with the stamping and layering background techniques and the techniques I used to create the Steampunk clock. Don’t forget that you still have another week to join in the Halloween fun over at Try it on Tuesday too!

On Halloween

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Halloween.

As I love owls, I just couldn’t resist buying the new Arthur Thinlits die set from Tim Holtz and using it to create this Halloween page. I also included a fabulous poem called “On Halloween”, it’s by Nina W. Walter – Happy Halloween!

I started by covering the background with Dioxazine Purple, Deep Violet and Vivid Lime Green acrylic paints using a baby wipe. Then I added the lines by scraping the paint with an old gift card and also applying more paint with the edge of the card; both of which were fun techniques.

Next I created the owl and branch using the Arthur Thinlits die set; cutting the 16 pieces from different coloured papers, edging them with some Black Soot Distress Ink using a blending tool and then piecing them altogether. I coloured the small feather detail that was embossed on the owl Thinlits pieces with an Orange Spectrum Aqua marker so they stood out more.

For the poem, I used a Sizzix Doodle Alphabet & Numbers Thinlits die set to cut out the letters from two different orange papers and then stuck them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium; this was a bit fiddly and time consuming (grin!). The poem, “On Halloween” by Nina W. Walter, reads:

The witches fly across the sky The owls go, Who? Who? Who? The black cats yowl and the green ghosts howl, Scary Halloween to you!

As T Stands for T Day, I’m sharing my cuppa today and a special treat from my hubby – Happy T Day!

He kindly bought me this box of marshmallow treats as part of my wedding anniversary present last week which are very yummy!

I 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 art journal page:

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Colour (Dioxazine Purple, Deep Violet)
• Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic (Vivid Lime Green)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture – Multicoloured)
• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper Pad
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Dies (Arthur 664730)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Orange, Topaz)
• Pritt Stick
• Sizzix Thinlits Die Set (Doodle Alphabet & Numbers by Sophie Guilar)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

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 Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the lines that I created in the background using the old gift card, the underlined poem title and the actual lines of the poem. I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge with my On Halloween art journal page. I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #138 – Fall Back over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Halloween page too. I’m also happy to join the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes + optional twist of Distressing (ink or tool) with the fun gift card techniques I used to apply the paints and the ink I used to distress the edges of owl Thinlits. I’m also pleased to join the Spooky! challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my Halloween page too.

Fall into Autumn

Hello Everyone, I’m so pleased and honoured to be Guest Designer today for the Fall Foilage challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog.

Jennie is hosting this challenge which is described as “According to most search engines the Fall season has officially begun so we should be starting to see the emergence of all those beautiful Autumnal colours, unless Mother Nature throws us a curve ball! Let’s celebrate them anyway by creating a vintage or shabby chic project in traditional Fall shades that includes some form of foliage”.

This Fall Foliage challenge was perfect as I love the leaves and colours of autumn so my page was inspired by our woodland walks that we enjoy this time of year. As I also wanted to combine both the American and UK names for this season, I added the saying “Fall into Autumn”.

The woodland background was created using some fun techniques with Colourcraft Brusho powders; the colours I used were Yellow, Sandstone, Orange, Brilliant Red, Moss Green and Dark Brown. First I sprinkled the Brusho powders over the left-hand side and bottom of the page, spritzed them with water and then watched the magic as the colours exploded on the page. I used a piece of kitchen paper towel to mop up any excess colour and then I applied more of the Brushos until I achieved the finish I was after. Next I splattered the page with the Brushos that I had diluted with water and then using Liquitex matte gel medium I stuck the coloured kitchen towel (which I had just used to mop up the excess colour) over the top. As you can see the kitchen towel also had some black acrylic paint on it and it added the most gorgeous texture for my woodland setting.

The fungi images were from a Field Notes Ephemera Pack from Tim Holtz; I stuck them to the page with glue dots and then covered their bases with small pieces of the coloured kitchen towel so they blended into the foreground. Then I added some twiggy brown grasses which were die cut using a Funky Florals Thinlit set by Tim Holtz from some cardstock that I coloured with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

The branches and leaves were cut from different autumnal coloured design papers using a Fall Foliage Thinlit set by Tim Holtz. I edged some of the leaves using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then arranged them onto the page so it looked like the leaves were falling from the tree branches to the woodland floor. To finish, I added the “Fall into Autumn” wording which was die cut from the same design papers as the leaves using a Docrafts alphabet die set.

I love the yellows, browns and coppers colours of the autumnal leaves …

… and this time of year we see lots of fungi on our woodland walks so I thought I’d capture them on my page (grin!).

Both me and my hubby love this time of year and it happens to be our 32^nd wedding anniversary today. We are normally on holiday but as you probably guessed we are happily staying at home this year instead, so I’m sharing a photo of us when we travelled to Maine in America that was taken on our anniversary a few years ago – wishing you a very happy anniversary my darling hubby, love you (grin!).

Thanks so much to The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog  for having me as Guest Designer! I hope that you are inspired by the Fall Foilage challenge too and are able to join in the fun!

Stay safe and keep well! x

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, like it The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge 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 so pleased to join the LTSCB #138 – Fall Back over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Fall into Autumn art journal page too.

I’m happy to join in the fun over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the Brusho techniques I used.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge their challenge is Dry Embossing, so I’m pleased to join them with the embossed linen textured cardstock that I used on this page.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Make It Sparkle challenge with the sparkle from the metallic cardstock I used for the yellow leaves on my art journal page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join the Autumn Colours 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:

• Colourcraft Brusho Colours (Yellow, Sandstone, Orange, Brilliant Red, Moss Green, Dark Brown)
• Kitchen Paper Towel used to mop up Brushos
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CR0701/16PL1)
• Metallic Linen Embossed Textured Cardstock – Paper Bundle
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Fall Foliage 660995)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Ephemera Set – Field Notes #TH94051)
• Stix 2 glue dots
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Set (Folk Alphabet XCU503286)

Taste of Autumn

While I was tidying up my craft room I came across some beer bottle labels that I brought back from a holiday in America a couple of years ago. We were visiting our friends who live in Maine and we went in Fall to see the foliage, so for me these beers were a taste of autumn!

I started by tearing a fall leaf design napkin and sticking two pieces to opposite corners of the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. Once dry I stamped the page with Ground Espresso, Vintage Photo and Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Inks using a Falling Leaves stamp set by Tim Holtz.

Next I stuck the two beer bottle labels in place using a glue stick and outlined them using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and black Uni Pin pen; I love the Halloween scene on the Punkin Ale. Then I edged the whole page with Black Soot Distress Ink using a blending tool and to finish, I added some red and green gems.

We always have fun exploring the supermarkets in America especially the beer aisles as they have such a wide variety of locally brewed beers; my hubby is in his element (grin!).

As you can see they also decorate the aisles with neon signs which look amazing (we don’t have this in the UK). This is the Shock Top signage which was on display; it’s on the beer bottle label on my page too.

We discovered pumpkin beer whilst in America and having tasted quite a few different ones, this Punkin Ale is my favourite (grin!).  This beer is brewed by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and is a full-bodied brown ale which is copper in colour and 7% alcohol by volume (ABV) and has smooth hints of pumpkin, cinnamon and brown sugar – so yummy!

As you can see from my photos we tried quite a few different beers whilst we were there and this Shock Top Belgian White was another of my favourites. This beer is light and refreshing tasting of citrus and coriander being 5.2% ABV – cheers!  

As T Stands for T Day, I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a wonderful T Day!

I 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 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 Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the barcode lines on the beer label.

I’m pleased to join the Fall Foliage challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog  with all the autumn leaves that I added to my page using stamping and napkin.

I’m also pleased to join the LTSCB #138 – Fall Back over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my autumnal page too.

With the beer labels on my page, I’m also happy to be joining the Add A Photo challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Halloween challenge as the Punkin Ale label on my page details a Halloween scene.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my Taste of Autumn art journal page.

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

• Napkin – Fall Foilage
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Tim Holtz Distress Archival Ink (Ground Espresso, Vintage Photo, Hickory Smoke)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Stamp Set (Falling Leaves CMS097)
• Beer Bottle Labels – Shock Top and Punkin Ale
• UHU Stic
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.2mm)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• MultiCraft Forever in Time (Gemstone Embellishments (Glam SE019C)

Shine like the whole universe is yours

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Autumn Colours.

I love the colours of autumn so I had fun creating this page and there’s not a leaf in sight – I hope you like it!

I started by covering the page with Pébéo white gesso and modelling paste using a paintbrush. When dry, I applied Peat Moss, Potting Soil, Orange Blossom and Buttercup Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Inks and Fired Brisk Distress Ink over the top and spritzed them with water letting the inks drip across the page and left it to dry. Then I splattered the page using gold Liquitex Ink.

Next I added some gold Ranger embossing powder over the inks using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and my heat gun.

The eagle picture was cut from an old book and edged using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and some of the gold embossing powder; it was stuck in place using double-sided tape. As the eagle symbolises courage and power, I added some Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz which read “Shine like the whole universe is yours”, “be Fearless” and “be brave with your life”. They were coloured using Yellow Ochre Kuretake watercolour paint to blend them into the background more. 

Next I added some gold Glitterations border stickers to the page and then applied some of the gold embossing powder to some Bozzy Bear wood chippies which I coloured using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; they were stuck down using Ranger Glossy Accents which finished the page.

For more inspiration, my fellow Design Teamies have been having fun with Autumn Colours over at Try it on Tuesday too, please pop over and take a look.

As T Stands for Tuesday and it’s autumn I’m sharing our homebrewed pumpkin beer – cheers and Happy T Day! This copper beer has to be my favourite beer, it has a lovely hint of pumpkin and pumpkin spice aroma; this one came at 5.78% abv (alcohol by volume). We discovered pumpkin beer when we visited Federal Jack’s in Kennebunkport, Maine. They serve it with an optional shot of spiced rum added, so we have tried it that way too; it’s so nice and warming on a cold autumn day, though I limit myself to only one as it’s quite potent (grin!).

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

Challenges

With all the texture on my page, I’m pleased to join the Texture challenge over at Art Journal Journey where I’m guest host this month; thank you to everyone who has joined in the fun, I have really enjoyed visiting your blogs and seeing your wonderful creations!

I’m happy to be able to join the Animal Antics over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the eagle on my art journal page.

With my autumnal coloured background, I’m pleased to join the Staying In The Background challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog .

I’m also pleased to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the wood chippy dimension on my page too.

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

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Pébéo Modelling Paste
• Ranger Wendy Vicchi Make Art Blendable Dye Inks (Peat Moss, Potting Soil, Orange Blossom, Buttercup)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fired Brick)
• Liquitex! Ink (Iridescent Bright Gold)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Tsukineko VersaMarker (Watermark Pen)
• Ranger Embossing Powder (Gold)
• Old book
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Yellow Ochre No.44)
• Docrafts Papermania Glitterations (Gold Borders ANT8181012)
• Boozybear Wooden Chipboard pieces
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Don’t worry, be happy

Today I’m sharing another texture inspired page to join the Texture challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey.

The quote “don’t worry, be happy” was used recently on a page by Valerie over at Bastelmania; it resonated with me as I have a sign in my kitchen saying exactly that – thanks so much for the inspiration!

For the grungy background, I started by collaging lots of scrap pieces of paper that were sitting on my craft desk (my scraps pile seems to be multiplying not decreasing – grin!). I used Liquitex matte gel medium to stick them in place and the scraps included some grey design paper, some Typeset collage paper from Tim Holtz and some test stamped papers from previous pages. Then I applied some Pébéo white gesso to the page with my finger. With the Indian Summer we’ve been having here, I was in the mood for bright hot colours so I painted Rose Madder, Lemon Yellow and Cadmium Scarlett Kuretake watercolours over the top varying the shades by applying water to the page first and then applying the paint colour.

Next I applied some Black Soot Distress Ink and some Ranger Texture Paste through an Iso Fun mixed media stencil from Paperbabe Stamps. When dry I covered the paste with Pébéo white gesso so it stood out more. I stamped three text stamps from a Documented stamp set by Tim Holtz using black Archival Ink and then I splattered the whole page with white and black DecoArt acrylic paints. The quote was created using white foam letter stickers and to finish, I added some white Glitterations dots and smiley stars which are stickers too.

This sign always makes me happy and I see it everyday when I make a cuppa as it hangs on the wall above the kettle; it was bought many moons ago from a local store in town (grin!).

Hoping 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

With my bright coloured background that I created for my page, I’m pleased to join the Staying In The Background challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog .

I’m happy to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the foam letter dimension on my page.

I’m also joining the Favourite Bright or Pastel (& why) challenge over at the As You Like It Challenge as the bright colours with reminded me of the lovely Indian Summer we had here this month. 

Don’t forget that you still have until next Tuesday to join our Use Your Scraps 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:

• Scraps of collage, design and stamped papers
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Rose Madder No.34, Lemon Yellow No.40, Cadmium Scarlett No.31)
• Paperbabes Stamps Mixed Media Stencil (Iso Fun)
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Simply Creative Alphabet & Number Stickers (White Glitter SCSTK025)
• Docrafts Anita’s Glitterations (Dots – White ANT8181041)
• UPIKIT Stickers (216005 – Stars)

It’s Fall

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Neat & Tidy.

Please note: If you are looking for my Texture page (I’m so excited to be guest host over at Art Journal Journey this month), please scroll down or click here.

I found our Try it on Tuesday theme very challenging as my art journal pages aren’t usually very neat and tidy (grin!). So I decided on an autumnal leaf design to welcome autumn/fall as it September signifies the beginning of this season – I hope you like it!

The background was covered in a piece of plain coloured paper using a glue stick.

I started my neat and tidy leaf design by creating a template for the columns of leaves; measuring and then die cutting the maple leaves so they were evenly spaced across the page. The maple leaves were cut using a Fall Foliage Thinlet from Tim Holtz and they were cut out of some linen textured cardstock. I cut 40 leaves in total, one by one using the template to position each leaf to create 8 columns, then I stuck 2 of the columns together to give more depth and dimension to the leaf die cutting.

Next I backed the leaf die cuts with some autumnal patterned papers from Craft Asylum and I used double-sided tape to stick the columns evenly across the page using the template to space them.

I used the template again to position the die cut leaves between the columns and achieve a uniform pattern. To finish, I added the “It’s Fall” image to the centre of the page, which is a sticker from Graphic 45.

For more inspiration, my fellow Design Teamies have also been Neat & Tidy over at Try it on Tuesday, please pop over and take a look.

As T Stands for Tuesday and it’s September maybe I can tempt you to a piece of homemade pumpkin roll filled with cream cheese frosting with your cuppa today. As you can see there’s even coffee today if you would prefer it to tea – Happy T Day!

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

Challenges

With the texture from the die cutting, papers and leaves, I’m pleased to join the Texture challenge over at Art Journal Journey where I’m Guest Host this month; it would be lovely to see you there!

I’m happy to be able to join the Anything Goes 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 pleased to join the Complimentary Colours challenge over at Country View Challenges with the red-green+yellow complimentary leaf colours.

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

• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper Pad
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Fall Foliage 660955) 
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CR0240/GE)
• Pritt Stick
• Craft Asylum Paper Pad (Into The Woods 480326)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Graphic 45 Cardstock Stickers (Place in Time 4500617)

Love to Create

Our new challenge for the next two weeks over at Try it on Tuesday is Splash & Splatter.

I had so much fun splashing and splattering inks to create this page which compliments some beautiful postage stamps and paper that I received from CJ as a result of winning her prize draw, thank you so much for all the fabulous goodies – it’s very kind and much appreciated (grin!).

I started making the splashes and splatters of ink using Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and Cracked Pistachio Distress Inks and Rose Bud and Bahama Blue Memento Inks. I did this by applying the ink pad to an acrylic block, holding the block over the page and then spritzing the ink with water until it dripped from the block, splashing and splattering onto the page; I applied the Distress Inks first and when dry I added the Memento Inks drying each of the inks using a heat gun before adding the next one. The wording was cut from some black paper and some pretty aqua green paper that CJ kindly sent to me, using Shadow Script Thinlet set from Tim Holtz; you may be aware that this particular Thinlet set doesn’t contain the word “to” so I cut it out from the word “story”.  

As part of my design I choose to use some beautiful birds and flowers postage stamps from CJ. I made some tags using recycled clothes packaging which I coloured using the two Memento Inks and some leftover off-cuts of the pretty aqua green paper.

The tags were edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and splattered with black DecoArt acrylic paint. After mounting the postage stamps onto some white card to give them more stability, I stuck them onto the tags using double-sided tape and then used the same tape to stick the tags in place which finished the page.

For more inspiration, my fellow Design Teamies have also been having fun with our Splash and Splatter challenge, so please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see their wonderful creations!

As you may remember, CJ kindly had a prize draw to share some of her goodies with us and kindly agreed to send some goodies to someone outside the US too. I was so thrilled to have won and received this gift box, full of amazing goodies! Even the lovely tissue paper is something I’ll be using for my pages too (grin!).

Here’s what the box contained as you can see it was jam packed – thank you so very much!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my water flask that I take with me whilst out walking, this was a recent visit to Lytham Hall as you can see the flower beds are full of gorgeous colour (grin!). Wishing you a very Happy T Day!

I hope that you are 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 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 AKA Craftytrog over at Art Journal Journey and her Pockets and Tags challenge this month with the tags that I created for this page.

I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their  Midsummer Blues challenge with the blue splashes of ink and pretty blue bird on my page.

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

• Tim Holtz idea-ology Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rose Bud, Bahama Blue)
• Ranger Mini Spritzer
• Gift from CJ – thank you so much!
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Shadow Script #1 662684)
• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper Pad (Black)
• Recycled packaging from socks
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pitt Pen (Black 199)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• White card stock
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape