With Love

It’s the first Friday of February and we are pleased to be back all refreshed after our annual break with our new challenge at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I fell in love with a beautiful tag, that my mum attached to one of my Christmas presents, so I recycled it on this mixed media page – I hope you like it too (smile).

I started by colouring my chipboard page with Salvaged Patina, Tumbled Glass Distress Paints adding patches of light using Brushed Pewter Distress Paint and stamping Moonlight White Brilliance Ink using an Etcetera stamp from Tim Holtz . Next I cut out lots of foliage, from Tim Holtz Kraft cardstock, using a Festive Bouquet Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz. I arranged the tag and foliage onto the page using glue tape. To finish, I added a chipboard snowflake, which I covered in Wow! sparkly embossing powder and then I cut it in half before adding the two pieces to the page.

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

As this page reminds me of winter festivities, I’m sharing this photo taken in Prague that we found whilst exploring. This square is in the old town, and the restaurant seating was so pretty with all the lights and winter foliage. There is even a beautiful Christmas tree; you’ll find lots of Christmas trees in Prague, just turn a corner and you’ll find another square with another tree on display (smile!).

Of course, we couldn’t resist taking a selfie of us with those twinkly Christmas tree lights in the background (double smile!).

Stay safe and well! x

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

Challenges

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Vicki Parson from stampedsmiles.com and her Keeping It Light challenge.

Mix It Up Challenge – MIUCB #69 Anything Goes + optional Mixed Media

Menorca

It’s time for our first challenge of the year over at Try it on Tuesday, which for the next two weeks is Winter Blues.

I decided to escape to Cala Galdana, Menorca for my winter blues page; creating a smooshed blue background using one of my favourite techniques and recycling a postcard, calendar page, restaurant business card and napkin from our holiday travels.

For my page background, I pressed some Mermaid Lagoon and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks onto an acrylic block, spritzed the ink with water and then pressed the block onto the page. I also splattered some of the inks from the acrylic block over the page using a paint brush. Next I tore the white napkin into pieces and applied them to the page using a glue stick. I arranged the postcard, calendar picture and business card together using double-sided tape and then stamped the “Menorca” wording using a Sophisticated Script Letters stamp by Concord & 9th and some Paris Dusk Memento Ink. Then to finish, I added the “Cala Galdana” wording which was detailed on the recycled napkin.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

Here’s the beautiful beach at Cala Galdana, Menorca.

There are lots of walking trails and you can easily walk along the beach or promenade to the other side of the horse-shaped cove.

We loved the Sa Lluna restaurant that we often visited; the people were so friendly and the food was amazing and so very yummy! We often had the three course set menu and here were some of our favourites (starting top right going around clockwise) we have: Prawn Cocktail which was very delicious with the crab sticks and pineapple that were added; stuffed aubergine with a Menorcan cheese sauce and served with salad; Fideuà which is a seafood dish that is similar to paella but with pasta noodles instead of rice; Flan de leche or crème caramel, a custard dessert with clear caramel sauce which they were kind enough to let us have as dessert with every meal, even when it wasn’t on the set menu (smile).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m also sharing our drink of Estrella Damm which is a Spanish beer and is pictured here with a very tasty lasagne – cheers and Happy T Day!

We had such a wonderful time and the weather was lovely; the perfect way to beat those winter blues!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Erika from BioArtGal; she has chosen It’s On The Calendar as her theme so I’m joining with my Menorca page.

Mix It Up Challenge – MIUCB #69 Anything Goes + optional Mixed Media / MIUCB #68 Winner & Top Picks

Dear Santa

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

This was such a fun page to create and I love the Santa image – doesn’t he look jolly (smile!).

I started by covering a chipboard page with the “Dear Santa” paper that was from a letter pack to Santa (it was in the sale and I thought it would look good on one of my pages). Then I distressed the edges of the page using Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker, and I stamped some snowflakes using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink. The jolly Santa was from a Tim Holtz Christmas Ephemera pack and the wording I put together from a Tim Holtz Christmas sticker pack; it reads “The children were nestled all snug in their beds, Off to the land of dreams. When, from far up the chimney, Santa Claus came. Happy smiles and twinkling eyes, This very merry night”. To finish, some gold star outline stickers added some sparkle.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

Here’s another very jolly Santa that you will find on my Christmas Tree, it’s an old fashioned design (made of metal) and was from a local shop – wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Traditional Christmas

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is Traditional Christmas.

I had fun creating this page which features traditional Christmas colours and images (smile!).

I started by stamping the foliage onto the page using Cottage Ivy Memento Ink. The pretty robin and foliage were cut from a party cracker that I recycled from last Christmas. I arranged them onto the page using a glue stick and then I edged them using some washi tapes. I finished the page by adding gold snowflakes and stars, which were outline stickers.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

These were the party crackers that we enjoyed last year at my family’s Christmas celebrations; I loved the beautiful festive foliage and of course the robin, which is my favourite bird especially at Christmas time (smile!).

I hope that you are staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

Art Journal Journey which I’m pleased to be hosting this month and the challenge theme that I’ve chosen is Nature.

MIUCB #68: Nov 1 – Dec 15 — Anything Goes + optional Stamping (rubber/clear – no digis)

I’d send you a blizzard

Robins are my favourite bird, and are synonymous with winter which is just around the corner. So when my hubby kindly bought me a gift with robins and this wonderful quote, I knew I had to use both on my page – I hope you like it!

I started by creating a masterboard from mixed media paper by first stamping the robin image using black Archival Ink and black Ranger Embossing powder. Next, I stamped the pretty snowflakes using the Simon Says Stamp Frozen Fractals stamp set and Versamark Watermark ink which I covered with white Stampendous embossing powder. For each of the embossing powders, I shook and tapped any excess powder off the page and then I used a heat gun to melt the embossing powder until it became smooth and dimensional with a glossy finish. I positioned a circular template onto the page to depict the sun and then I painted the different elements using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolour paint set: for the sky background, I flooded the page with water first and then applied Ultramarine Pale, Ultramarine and Turquoise Blue colours using my paintbrush, gradually shading and blending the paints; for the robin image, I used Red, Lemon Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Black, Sap Green Light, Sap Green, Hooker’s Green and Viridian paints; and for the sun I removed the sun template and applied some watered-down Lemon Yellow paint. Then I ripped the masterboard into pieces and arranged them onto my chipboard page using a glue stick. To finish, I added the wording which was stamped onto white cardstock using black Archival Ink.

Here’s the pretty plaque that my hubby gifted me, it take pride of place on my dresser so I see it every day (smile!).

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

Challenges

Art Journal Journey which I’m pleased to be hosting this month and the challenge theme that I’ve chosen is Nature, with my wintery robin page.

MIUCB #68: Nov 1 – Dec 15 — Anything Goes + optional Stamping (rubber/clear – no digis)

Thankful Everyday

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is Winter Blues.

My page today was created with lots of blue scraps that I had in my craft stash which included recycled papers from greeting cards, recycled envelopes, recycled book pages, leftover stamped tissue paper, old calendar pages, recycled foil from sweets and a photo from an old magazine. I simply collaged everything together using a glue stick and some Liquitex matte gel medium after edging them all with a black Faber-Castell marker. To finish, I added some measuring tape designed washi tape, a blue washi tape flower and the “Thankful everyday” sticker from Kaisercraft.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing Winter Blues creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my pretty blue mug of tea with a piece of spiced apple cake made with apples from my garden (smile!) – Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

LTSCB #159 Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my paper scraps collage page.

Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Mia from https://craftartista.blogspot.com/ this month who has chosen Use a Photo; I used pieces of sky and rocks from a photo in a magazine as part of my collage papers which you can see here:

Winter Village

Today I’m sharing a page that I created with two beautiful stamps, one of the Winter Village scene and the other of Santa’s sleigh, that I won over at Stamped Smiles. I was so thrilled to win and receive this special gift, especially as Vicki kindly sent them to me all the way from America – thank you so much!

I started by using an Airbrush Pen Set to spray purple, green, magenta and black felt tip pens onto a piece of mixed media paper. When fully dry, I ripped the mixed media paper into pieces and collaged the darker pieces onto the top of a chipboard page using a glue stick; creating the night sky. I coloured the white torn edges of the paper using the Airbrush Pen Set and then covered them with some Black Mirage Cosmic Shimmer Brilliant Sparkle Embossing Powder. I collaged the lighter coloured paper pieces to create the foreground stamping the houses and trees over the top using the Winter Village stamp, VersaMark Watermark ink pad and some Detailed White Stampendous embossing powder.

I stamped Santa’s sleigh using the VersaMark Ink Pad and the white Stampendous embossing powder. To finish, I added a small dot of Red Ranger Stickles to Rudolph the reindeer which gave him a very shiny nose (smile!).

Here are the stamps that Vicki kindly sent me along with a very pretty card; the Winter Village stamp is gorgeous and goes so beautifully with the surprise Santa’s sleigh stamp – thanks so much! They were both such fun to use and I’m sure I’ll be using them again soon.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

The lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from https://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/ who is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Collage Fodder, Food & Drink or Both so I’m joining her with my collaged page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #180 – Anything Goes challenge with my Winter Village page.

MIUCB #61 – Anything Goes + Optional Open Technique over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my Christmassy page using a collage technique.

Merry Little Christmas Challenge and their MLCCB #47 – Anything Christmas Goes challenge with my Winter Village Santa page.

So Beautiful

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which for the next 2 weeks is Autumn Colour or Scene.

I love autumn and this challenge gave me the perfect excuse to use lots of autumnal stamps and some pretty autumnal stickers; I hope you like it!

I started by creating the background using a VersaMark Watermark ink pad and some brown embossing powder; I did this by dragging the ink pad over the page and stamping the leaves before I covered everything in the embossing powder and using a heat gun. I added some of this diluted Ground Espresso Distress Ink as a wash over the page and then stamped the autumn wording “Hello Autumn”, “Autumn the year’s last loveliest smile” and “Autumn Blessings” using Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink. Next I added all the colourful autumn leaf and acorn stickers, and to finish I added a Pocket Card by Tim Holtz and a yellow banner by Simple Stories, which reads “so beautiful”.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

As I was making this page, I was reminded of our autumn window display which you can see here. As T Stands for Tuesday, I’ve also included my cup of Cinnamon Orange tea – Happy T Day everyone!

Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!

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

Challenges

As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #177 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

Challenge #62 – Anything Goes over at Ally’s Angels with my Fall page.

Cute as a bug

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

My mixed media page was inspired by a pretty Sunflower napkin that I just had to buy whilst out shopping.

I started by cutting panels from the napkin and sticking them onto the page using a glue stick. Then I added some colour between the napkin pieces using watered down Jasmine and Spice Spectrum Aqua Markers. Next I stamped a hexagon design from Docrafts over the top using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink. To finish, I edged the napkin pieces with black Glitterations border stickers and I added the cardstock stickers of a bee, flower and the wording “Cute as a bug”.

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

The sunflowers reminded me of September as we always have family holidaying with us this time of year who kindly gift us flowers which are often sunflowers; here’s the beautiful bouquet from last year (smile!).

I hope that you’re all staying safe and well! x

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

Challenges

As well as Creative Artiste , I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

The lovely Neet from Hickydorums is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month and her theme is Fur and/or Feathers; bees can be furry so I’m joining in the fun with my page (smile!).

Paperbabe Stamps and their #175 – Anything Goes challenge with my sunflower page.

LTSCB#157– Anything Goes over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my sunflower napkin inspired page.

My Heart

It’s a new month so it’s time to launch a new challenge over at Country View Challenges which is Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness.

The lovely Debs is hosting and says that the title for her challenge is inspired by John Keats ode to Autumn, in particular the first stanza, “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”. So think of the colours, ripened fruit, late flowers, watery sunshine, swelling nuts and gourds, anything you associate with early Autumn.

My page captures autumnal leaves as we’ve noticed on our woodland walks that the leaves are falling early this year, with layers of leaves already forming on the woodland floor.

I started by covering the chipboard page using white gesso and when dry I rubbed some of the gesso off using a baby wipe to give a distressed look. Then I used a Falling Leaves stamp set by Tim Holtz to layer leaves around the edges of the page using quite a few different colours of Memento Ink; the colours included London Fog, Pistachio, Toffee Crunch, Rich Cocoa, Love Letter, Dandelion and Potters Clay Memento Inks. The wording was a sticker which I edged using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker. To finish, I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint and added two sparkly Gumdrop Heart gems.

I created this page with my hubby in mind as he loves autumn and this season brings both birthday and wedding anniversary celebrations – “when I follow my heart it leads to you” (smile).

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges. I hope you’ll join us, it would be lovely to see you there and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the Country View Crafts shop! Before you enter, please read the rules!

Wishing you a Happy September and I hope that you’re staying safe and well! x

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:

Paperbabe Stamps and their #175 – Anything Goes challenge with my autumnal page.

LTCCB#70 – Anything Goes over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my autumn love page.