Mere colours …

As I shared a Halloween page to launch our Autumnal Colours and/or Halloween challenge over at Country View Challenges this month, my second creation is an autumnal art journal page featuring a beautiful quote by Oscar Wilde.

For the background I stuck a piece of kitchen towel onto the page which had been stained with Crackling Campfire, Rusty Hinge, Fossilized Amber, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso and Peeled Paint Distress Inks. It was stuck down using Liquitex matte gel medium. When dry, I stamped some fern images over the top using a Leaf Prints Tim Holtz stamp set and Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink. Then I used the fern stamp again to add the gold ferns using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and some Gold Ranger embossing powder. I edged the page using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and I stamped the quote using an old alphabet stamp set and some black Archival Ink. To finish, I used a white gel pen to make the letters stand out more; the quote is by Oscar Wilde and reads “Mere colour … can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways”.

I hope you are inspired to join our Autumnal Colours and/or Halloween challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

At this time of year, I always find myself thinking for our dearest friends in Maine (America) and the holidays we’ve enjoyed with them. The autumnal colours and ferns remind me of our woodland walks around their lake property.

Like the quote says, the autumnal colours speak to my soul – so breathtaking (grin!).

A few years ago, we even celebrated our wedding anniversary whilst we were there (double grin!). It seems like yesterday that me and my hubby got married but this year we find ourselves celebrating 33 years of marriage – sending my hubby all my love on our Anniversary and always! x

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.

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. You can also check out Country View Crafts as they sell many of the Ranger and Tim Holtz products I used too.

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Tracey from Hotchpotchcreations  who is hosting this month with her My favourite colour is October challenge with my autumnal coloured October page (15x15cm). Fall Gratitude challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog as I’m being thankful and paying homage to the autumn season with my quote and fall colours. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #153 – Anything Goes with my autumnal page. LTSCB #150 – Anything But A Card over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my autumnal mini art journal page celebrating autumn. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Not A Card challenge with my autumnal mini chipboard art journal page. Challenge #6 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media autumnal page; this is a new challenge so I thought I’d join in the fun!

Summer Blooms

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Summer Blooms.

For this challenge I added lots of flowers and created the quote from some Graphic 45 stickers so it reads “Summer when the earth laughs in flowers”; I hope you’re inspired to us too, I can’t wait to see your summer flower creations!

I started by covering the page with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and when it was dry, I applied some some watered-down ink from a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and some Buttercream Faber-Castell gelato over the top, smudging the colours with my finger. Then I stamped the tiny flowers over the background using a Magenta stamp and Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. All of the postage stamps and summer wording were taken from either a Graphic 45 Season’s Collection sticker sheet or a Summer Collection 12×12 design paper. The large flowers were Washi tape stickers and to finish, I added three purple gemstone embellishments to add some sparkle.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the amazing Summer Blooms creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies; it would be lovely to see you there (grin!).

There are so many summer blooms to see at Lytham Hall on our walks, whether it’s the beautiful flowers on display in the Garden Hub plant centre which surrounds some of the outside café area.

Or in the flower borders which you can just see here; I’m sharing the water flask that I take on my walks to join in the fun over at T Stands for Tuesday and say a big hello and welcome to the T Gang – Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping 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.

For the sake of brevity I am 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.

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Neet from Hickydorums; she has chosen Type as her theme so I’m joining with the different typed wording on my page. Mixed Media Lovers Challenge Blog and their Challenge #4 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media page; this is a new blog so why not join in the fun too! Triple the Heat challenge over at The Funky Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with shabby chic page that includes three lots of yellow sunflowers, three lots of washi tape stickers and border wording, three stickers of wording making up the main quote “Summer when the earth laughs in flowers” and three gemstone embellishments. MIUCB #52 – Anything Goes + Mixed Media over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my mixed media summer page. LTCCB #61 – August Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my summer blooms page.

Beautiful reasons to be happy

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Keep it Simple.

We are looking for creations that are easy to make and/or simple in design – I hope you’re inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

My page was both simple in its design and easy to make (as you can see by my short tutorial today – grin!). I started by stamping the doily using a Kaisercraft stamp, Versamark Watermark stamp pad and white Stampendous embossing powder which I heated with a heat gun. Then I applied some Watermelon, Guava and Coconut Faber-Castell gelatos by scribbling them onto the page and then smudging the colour with my finger and a little water. Next I added the fairy and flower images which were Washi tape stickers and also the “There are so many beautiful reasons to be happy” wording which was a Kaisercraft sticker. To finish, I added some gemstone embellishments for more sparkle.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Keep it Simple creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m also keeping it simple with my glass of ice cold water – wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

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.

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.

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Neet from Hickydorums; she has chosen Type as her theme so I’m joining with the typed quote on my page. Shimmering Summer Fun Challenge over at The Funky Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the shimmer and sparkle from the embossing powder and gemstones on my shabby chic fairy page. The Birthday Celebration! challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge who are marking their 11th Birthday and also have “so many beautiful reasons to be happy” too – thanks for all the challenge fun over the years and wishing you all a very Happy Birthday! Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #149 – Anything Goes with my happy fairy art journal page. Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my summery fairy page. LTCCB #61 – Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my happy summer page.

Be happy, be you

It’s a new month so we are launching our July challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, this is a monthly challenge and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I always love to use mixed media to create my art journal pages and this month’s celebrates summer.

I started by sticking the orchid flower napkin pieces onto the page using a glue stick. Then I coloured the remaining white areas of the page using some Gold, Light Green and Hooker’s Green Liquitex acrylic paint. When dry, I used a Flutter stamp from Kaisercraft to add the trellis pattern using Cottage Ivy and Pistachio Memento Inks and also black Archival Ink. I outlined and defined the flowers using a black fine line marker and I added the two dragonflies which were rub on transfers. I applied some Glistening Gold Lustre Polish by Cosmic Shimmer around the edges of the napkin which added some lovely texture and sparkle. Finally, I splattered the page with some black and also some white acrylic paint using a paintbrush. Then I added the wording which are stickers from Kaisercraft; they read “be happy”, “be you” and “celebrate the little things”.

All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge. For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. I hope you are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

This page reminded me of these amazing orchids that we saw hanging in a garden centre some time ago; 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.

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

• Orchid Napkin
• Pritt Stick
• Liquitex Basic Acrylic Color (Gold, Light Green, Hooker’s Green Hue Permanent)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Flutter CS853)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cotage Ivy, Pistachio)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-On Transfers (ROY1643G)
• Cosmic Shimmer Lustre Polish (Glistening Gold)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Say Aloha SS281)

Challenges As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Alison from Words & Pictures; she has chosen Summer Countryside as her theme so I’m joining with my summer inspired page and the green and gold colours and pretty dragonflies that you find in the countryside. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #147 – Anything Goes with my mini art journal page. LTSCB #147 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my summer inspired mixed media page which includes stamping. Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my page too.

Parisian Café

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges where I’m sharing this mini art journal page for this month’s We will always have Paris challenge.

I had fun creating this grungy Parisian Café page using a new Andy Skinner stamp and some French Fancy Mixed Media Transfers that I’ve had in my craft stash for a while (grin!).

I started by covering the chipboard background with some white gesso and then I used some sandpaper to distress the surface by rubbing it horizontally across the page. I sprayed the page using White Linen Dylusions Spray and Pumice Stone Distress Oxide Spray and left it to dry. Next I stamped a Grunge Wallpaper stamp by Andy Skinner using a Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad and covered the ink with Broken China Distress Glaze which I melted using a heat gun. I edged the page using a black Faber-Castell marker and smudged the ink with my finger. The Eiffel Tower was fussy cut from some design paper and was stuck in place using a glue stick. I added some of the French Fancy Mixed Media transfers by Andy Skinner and then two oval glass embellishments of a butterfly and some roses, which finished the page.

I hope that you are enjoying our We always have Paris challenge over at Country View Challenges too; it would be lovely to see you there, and if you do join us then you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts website too (grin!).

This challenge reminded me of the Parisian Cafés that lined the streets of Paris and of course the Eiffel Tower – c’est magnifique!

Hoping 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.

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

• Ranger Dylusions Ink Sprays – White Linen
• Ranger – Tim Holtz® – Distress® Oxide® Spray – Pumice Stone
• Creative Expressions – Rubber Stamp By Andy Skinner – Grunge Wallpaper
• VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad
• Tim Holtz® – Distress Embossing Glaze – Broken China
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Andy Skinner Mixed Media Transfers (French Fancy CEAST002)
• Docrafts Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Travel Memories)
• Pritt Stick
• Oval Glass Embellishments
• Stix2 glue dots

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 French language on my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #143 – Anything Goes with my Paris page. LTSCB#154 – Anything Goes over at the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my mini art journal page. Feminine challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and also at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my pretty Paris page.

Eight Days A Week

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Inspired by a Song; please remember to let us know which song inspired your projects too.

My page was inspired by one of my hubby’s favourite Beatles songs, Eight days a week. I hope that you’ll join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

As this song is about love, the background of my page was covered in hearts. I did this using one of the very first stamps that I bought when I started art journaling, and the hearts were stamped using Lulu Lavender, Grape Jelly, Paris Dusk and Teal Zeal Memento Inks. I used a brayer to add some Pébéo white gesso over the top to push the colours back into the background more. “The Beatles” wording and image were recycled from a paper bag that I had in my craft stash; it was from when we visited The Beatles Story in Liverpool. The paper flowers were a gifted to me by my sister for Christmas and were arranged onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium; maybe you noticed that I included eight flowers on this page to match the song title. The wording “Eight days a week” and the “8” that I added to the centre of each of the flowers were cut from white cardstock using an Alphanumeric Bold Thinlits die set. I coloured the song title wording using a Navy Spectrum Aqua marker before sticking them into place which finished the page. 

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and find out which songs inspired the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).

We love Liverpool and have visited many times. Of course Liverpool is synonymous with The Beatles and there are lots of Beatles things to see and do around the city. This includes The Beatle Story, which is well worth a visit; it’s a permanent exhibition telling the story of the lives and times of The Beatles.

This is an iconic statue of the “Fab Four” located along the waterfront near the Liverbird Building and Mersey Ferry Terminal.   

As we always visit Rococo for lunch when we are in Liverpool and T Stands for Tuesday, I’m pleased to share our green tea from one of our visits. We also enjoyed a Club sandwich to share and a cake each; I had a Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffin whilst my hubby had a Malteser (malt ball) Slice – Happy T Day everyone!

If you’re interested, here’s The Beatles singing Eight Days A Week 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.

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

• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Lulu Lavender, Grape Jelly, Paris Dusk, Teal Zeal)
• Hobbycraft Clear Stamp (Heart Background)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Recycled paper bag – The Beatles Story
• Pritt Stick
• Paper Flowers
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Die Set (Alphanumeric Bold 665205)
• White Cardstock
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Pen (Navy)

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 – she is greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my page which was inspired by a song – Eight Days A Week. Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #142 – Anything Goes with my art journal page. LTCCB#57 – April Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my mixed media page.

Spread your wings

It’s a new month so we are launching our March challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I used a fun technique using a Watermark Stamp Pad to create some of the flowers on my background which gave a lovely depth to my mixed media page; I hope you like it too (grin!).  

I stamped a Floral Silhouette stamp from Penny Black onto the background of the page using Versamark Watermark ink and then I dried it using a heat gun (the heat fixed the ink and achieved better watermark images). I applied some Abandoned Coral Distress Stain and also some Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso and Black Soot Distress Archival Inks over the top, gradually building up the colour using a blending tool so the watermark flower images appeared; they are the lightest flowers on the background. Then I stamped more of the flowers using the Penny Black stamp again and the Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso inks.

The pink flowers were die cut using Wildflower Stems #1 Thinlits by Tim Holtz from some design paper and then arranged onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. I used a journal card from Kaisercraft for the wording which reads “Until you spread your wings you’ll never know how far you’ll fly!”. The top and bottom of the card was embellished using two strips of silver metal beading.

To finish, I added the pretty butterfly sticker and some silver wire to trail behind it.

All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge. For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. I hope you are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

I seem to be drawn to pink at the moment, I even decorated my friend’s birthday cake with pink and white feather icing; this is a Victoria sponge filled with buttercream and strawberry jam. As we are still in lockdown here, I thought this would be a nice surprise to wish her a happy birthday (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.

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

• Tsukineko Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Penny Black Clear Stamp Set (Floral Silhouette 30-563)
• Tim Holtz Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Black Soot)
• Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Abandoned Coral)
• The Works (Design Block)
• Tm Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Wildflower Stems #1 664163)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Kaisercraft Captured Moments (Life’s Treasures CM108)
• Mark Richards Metal Bead Stickers (Silver Metals #1981)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Home Bargains You & Me Stickers (Beautiful Butterflies 22742)
• Silver wire
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the Beautiful Blossoms challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with all the beautiful stamped and die cut flowers on my page. I’m joining the Anything Goes challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog with my vintage shabby chic flower page. I’m also joining the Art Journal challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge too with my art journal page. I’m happy to join Paperbabe Stamps and their #138 – Anything Goes challenge with my page too. I’m also joining the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and their MIUCB #47 – Anything Goes + Inlaid Die Cut challenge with the fun technique I used to create the background using the Watermark Stamp Pad.

To my Valentine

As it’s Valentine’s Day this weekend, today’s page is To My Valentine – Happy Valentine’s Day!

I started by covering the page with some Picked Raspberry Distress Ink using a blending tool and then I sprayed some White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray over the top.

When dry, I splattered the Picked Raspberry and White Linen inks over the page making sure that I dried each of the inks with my heat gun to stop them blending into the background too much. Next I stamped a couple of Clearly In Love stamps from Penny Black over the background using Lilac Roses Memento Ink.

I used an Organic Thinlits die cut from Tim Holtz to cut some recycled gold paper, arranging them around the page using Liquitex matte gel medium; I used a new technique for this which involved applying the gel medium to the back of the die cut pieces, placing them and then dabbing them down onto the page using a piece of tissue paper which removed the excess gel medium beautifully. I added the cherub heart image and some small hearts that I had cut from the gold paper and some burgundy cardstock using a paper punch. Some pearl gems and a satin ribbon bow finished the page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our Falling in Love challenge over at Try it on Tuesday; it would be lovely to see you there!

Me and my hubby would usually be volunteering at our local Beer Festival this weekend which for obvious reasons has been cancelled this year. An online festival has been arranged instead so we’ll joining in the fun and drinking some of our own home-brewed beer. Here we are at last year’s festival – wishing you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day!

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 Ink (Picked Raspberry)
• Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray (White Linen)
• Penny Black Stamp Set (Clearly In Love 30-009)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Lilac Roses)
• Recycled gold paper
• Tim Holtz Sissix Thinlits (Organic 664153)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Cherub heart image and burgundy cardstock
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Heart Punch – thank you CJ!
• Pearl Gem Stickers
• Satin Ribbon
• Stix2 glue dots

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month with the gold die cut and punched pieces on my page. I’m joining the LTSCB #142 – Love is … challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my love-themed art journal page. With the pink, red and white colours, hearts and roses that I included on my paper-crafted art journal page, I’m also pleased to be able to join #181 – Photo Inspiration over at Time Out Challenges.

May all your wishes come true

It’s time for our first challenge of the year over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, this is a monthly challenge and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I had fun creating this mixed media page using my favourite Frost Fairy stamp from Paperbabe Stamps; she seems to be casting a spell – may all your wishes come true!

I started by applying black DecoArt acrylic paint to the edges of the page and blending it towards the centre. When dry, I applied the gold stars over the top using Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad, a Sparkles stencil by Tim Holtz and Gold Ranger embossing powder. The centre of the page was coloured using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and the wording was created using foam letter stickers.

The Frost Fairy from Paperbabe Stamps was stamped using black Archival Ink onto some mixed media paper. Then I coloured her using Spectrum Noir TriBlend markers; the dress was coloured using Green Turquoise Blend, the ribbon using Yellow Gold Blend, her hair using Dark Red Blend, her skin using a Fair Skin Blend marker, her lips using Pale Pink Blend, her eyes using True Blue Blend and her wings using Iced Grey Blend. I also added more detail using a black Uni Pin fine line marker and white Uniball gel pen. Then I cut her out and added the Gold Ranger embossing powder using a Versamark Watermark Pen to create the stars. She was stuck in place using a glue stick which finished the page.

All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge. For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. I hope you are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

I was reminded of this beautiful glass angel that we bought when we visited Prague, there is room to place a tealight behind her and being made from glass she looks so delicate and pretty (grin!).

I hope that you are 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:

• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil (Sparkles THS132)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Ranger Embossing Powder (Gold)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (MLD Frost Fairy)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Spectrum Noir TriBlend Markers (Green Turquoise Blend, Yellow Gold Blend, Dark Red Blend, Fair Skin Blend, Pale Pink Blend, True Blue Blend, Iced Grey Blend)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Tsukineko VersaMark (Watermark Pen)
• Pritt Stick
• Simply Creative Alphabet & Number Stickers (Glitter SCSTK025)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month with the golden stars that I included on my page. I’m pleased to be able to join the Groundhog Day over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog as I couldn’t resist using my Frost Fairy stamp and TriBlends again (you may remember on my Believe page that I created last month) and of course the background may look familiar too, it’s from an ATC that I created in December, I just had to create it on a bigger scale (grin!). I’m also pleased to join the #136 – Patterns challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the pattern of stencilled stars on my page. I’m also joining MIUCB #46 – Anything Goes + Fancy Fold over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with all the different techniques I used; I’m still perfecting my colouring and blending techniques using the TriBlend markers.

Falling in love

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Falling in love.

I’m celebrating falling in love with my romantic shabby chic page using a gorgeous Shabby Chic paper from Studio Light and some very delicate green voile butterflies that my sister kindly gifted me for Christmas (grin!). I hope you like it and are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

Keeping the background colours soft and elegant, I started by lightly painting some Rose Madder, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre and Turquoise blue Kuretake watercolours onto the page. Then I used a Lace stencil from Tim Holtz to apply some Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and a Moroccan Stencil from Creative Expressions to apply some Speckled Egg Distress Ink; both inks were applied using a blending tool. Next I stamped a Gothic Book stamp from Finnabair, which is one of my favourite stamps, and also a delicate Floral Icons stamp from Docrafts using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink.

I cut the Shabby Chic paper to create the different paper pieces including some tags which I die cut using a Tag Collection Framelits die set from Tim Holtz. They were all edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then I arranged them onto the page using double-sided tape. I used Kaisercraft stickers for the wording and I tied some green thread to the tags to match the colour and delicate nature of the butterflies. The metal copper embellishments were held in place using Ranger Glossy Accents; they included a framed picture of the Tower of Pisa, a heart and a love letter envelope.

I used glue dots to stick the delicate green voile butterflies in place and then I added some sparkly green gemstones to the butterflies, metal embellishments and paper pieces which finished the page.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Falling in Love creations from my Design Teamies too (grin!).

We love Italy and have visited Pisa whilst travelling to Tuscany; the Tower of Pisa was a sight to behold with its four-degree lean which is due to unstable foundations.

As T Stands for Tuesday, here are a couple of glasses Aperol Spritz; it’s a refreshing drink that we always enjoy whilst in Italy! Aperol is an alcoholic Italian aperitif which is bitter in flavour. In this case it has been mixed with prosecco and a splash of soda water then served with ice and a slice of orange – Happy T Day!

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:

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Rose Madder, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Turquoise Blue)
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil (Lace THS034)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry, Speckled Egg, Vintage Photo)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Masks (Moroccan)
• Finnabair Clear Stamp (Gothic Book #966966)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials A5 Clear Stamp Set (Floral Icons DCE907123)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Toffee Crunch)
• Studio Light 12×12 Paper (Shabby Chic SCRAPSC03)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Everlasting SS376)
• Guterman Thread (Col. 763)
• The Works (Metal Framed Embellishments)
• Crafter’s Companion Parisian Collection (Metal Charms S-PAR-CHAR)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Green Voile Butterflies
• Stix2 glue dots
• Hero Arts Gemstones (Green & Red CH120)

Challenges I’m pleased to join the lovely Valerie over at Art Journal Journey and her Heavy Metal challenge this month with the metal embellishments that I included on my page. I’m so happy to join in the fun over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog and their So Delicate challenge with my delicate and romantic shabby chic page. I’m joining the LTSCB #142 – Love is … challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my love-themed art journal page. I’m also pleased to be able to join Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Love and/or Hearts challenge as my romantic page contains both. I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too.