Be your own kind of beautiful

Today I was inspired by a seahorse mosaic that you can find in St. Anne’s on the Sea where I live; I always love seeing artwork when I’m out and about and this dancing seahorse is one of my favourites!

I started by covering the page with Salty Ocean Distress Ink by stamping the ink pad directly onto a blending mat, spritzing with water and pressing the mat onto the paper a number of times to build up splashes of ink to depict seawater.

Then I applied Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain through a circular stencil from Inkylicious and also blotted the stencil onto the page to mop up the excess Stain. Next I used a mosaic dot stamp using both Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink; firstly through the circle stencil to add more details to the large circles that I stencilled and then to the rest of the background so it looked like bubbles of water. I outlined each of the stencilled circles by stamping white acrylic paint using a plastic tube and then smudged the white gesso over the circle. When the paint was dry I coloured it with the Platinum Planet ink using my finger. I added more bubbles by stamping some dot stamps from Paperbabe Stamps using Shabby Shutters Distress Ink and then I splattered the page with some white acrylic paint which finished the background. The foliage is tissue paper which I die cut using Tim Holtz thinlets and my Big Shot machine which I then stuck to the page using Liquitex matte gel medium; I wasn’t to careful how I stuck them down as I wanted them to look like they were floating and moving in the water.

My dancing seahorse is fussy cut from a colouring book and coloured using Gold, Yellow, Sunset and Amber Spectrum Aqua markers to match the seahorse colours of the mosaic. Then I used a blending tool to blot Rusty Hinge Distress Ink onto the seahorse to add texture and give it more of a 3D look. It is stuck in place using matte gel medium, detailed using some black Derwent Graphik markers and a white Uniball pen for its eye. The words “Be your own beautiful self” are cut from a 3×4” card by Kaisercraft, stuck in place and outlined with a black marker pen. To finish, I added some silver and blue sequins to the background to add some sparkle.

This is the pretty seahorse mosaic and the words say “Golden sun rise on our sands moonlight pass us by. As seahorse dance among the waves. Our sandgrown spirit flies”. I particularly like the words as it mentions being “sandgrown” which applies only to the Flyde coast area where I live and literally means someone born by the seaside; I happen to be a Sandgrown’un too (grin!).

This is the other beautiful mosaic, this time of a pretty mermaid and the verse reads “We dream fondly of seas. Her waves lap softly on our shore. While mermaids songs drift onwards. Our peace to breathe once more”.

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 Erika aka BioArtGal and her Polka-Dots, Stripes, Plaids and Patterns challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my circle patterns on my background.

I’m also happy to join in the Under the Sea challenge over at Country View Challenges with my seahorse art journal page.

I’m joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my dancing seahorse too.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page which included inks, paints, papers and sequins.

Don’t forget that you still have until over a week to join our Hot, Hot, Hot! Challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too, maybe you can use hot colours like those I used for my seahorse; it would be lovely to see you there!

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Shabby Shutters, Rusty Hinge)
• Inkylicious Stencil (Sun & Moons)
• Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Cracked Pistachio)
• Docrafts Papermania Mini Cards & Stamp Set (Capsule Geometric Krafts PMA105308)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Pigment Ink (Platinum Planet)
• Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (Birthday Wishes)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz (Garden Greens 661206, Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Recycled dark and light green tissue paper
• Animal Kingdom Suduko & Doodle Book
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Gold, Yellow, Sunset, Amber)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm, 0.1mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Kaisercraft 3×4” Cards (Life’s Treasures CM108)
• Poundland (Assorted Sequins)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Ranger Glossy Accents

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Have the happiest of days!

Today we have a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday called Hot, Hot, Hot!

You may choose to use hot colours like me or maybe your creation may include a hot drink or even a hot destination; you can interpret it anyway you chose as long as it’s Hot, Hot, Hot!

For more inspiration please pop over to our blog where you will find some amazing inspiration from my Design Teamies too!

For my hot coloured page, I started by creating a background of orange and yellow Liquitex acrylic paints. When dry I applied some red Liquitex acrylic using a sponge through a retro stencil from Creative Expressions. Next I added some modelling paste using a palette knife through a circular mini stencil also from Creative Expressions and left it to dry. They are painted using a white Uni Posca paint pen so they stood out more. I stamped a Worn Rings stamp from Gummiapan using Love Letter Memento Ink and covered them with some of the orange and yellow paint so they faded into the background more. I also stencilled some dots using Fired Brick Distress Ink, blotting them with a baby wipe so the colour was less intense. Then I splattered the whole page using white acrylic paint. The yellow circle that says “Have the happiest of days!” is from a birthday card from my dearest friends which I’ve wanted to use for while and seemed perfect for this page; I fussy cut it out, stuck it in place using a glue stick and outlined it using the white Uni Posca paint pen. I also added a yellow butterfly which I fussy cut from an old nature book and some yellow flowers adding some orange rhinestone to their centres which finished the page.

This weekend we harvested the apples from our garden; we picked 18 braeburn apples off one tree which was wonderful as we only planted this apple tree last year.

I used some of them to make my homemade spiced apple cake with salted caramel frosting – yum!

As T Stands for Tuesday, here’s a cup of Hot Cinnamon tea with a piece of the cake which I just couldn’t resist (grin!) – Happy T Day and have the happiest of days!

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 Blog,s 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 Erika aka BioArtGal and her Polka-Dots, Stripes, Plaids and Patterns challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my patterned background.

I’m also joining the Use a Stamp challenge over at Moo Mania & More with all the stamps I used on this page.

I’m happy to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my hot art journal page.

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

• Liquitex Basic Acrylic Color (Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Yellow, Naphthol Crimson)
• Creative Expressions That Special Touch of Mica Mask (Retro Christmas)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil (Eclipse Circles)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Gummiapan Stamp (Worn Rings 11050601)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Love Letter)
• Dot Stencil
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fired Brick)
• Art Discount Acrylic (White)
• Recycled Birthday Card
• The Illustrated Book of Nature
• The Works (Mini Paper Flower Embellishments, Rhinestone Flower Stickers)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix 2 glue dots

Butterflies for my Tag Journal

Today at A Vintage Journey it is Tag Friday, which takes place only when there is a fifth Friday in the month; it’s all about creating something you love so there is no particular theme, it’s time to play, experiment and have fun – it would be great to see you there!

I had lots of fun creating a Mixed Media tag for my tag journal and this time I was inspired by the butterflies that have been visiting our garden recently, so I captured both a Painted Lady and a Peacock butterfly on this double-sided tag.

To start, I used a large grid design Poster Card by Tim Holtz to create the tag by cutting off two of the corners to make a tag shape and punching a hole using my Crop-A-Dile machine. I used Distress Ink to colour each side of the tag by stamping the ink pad onto a blending mat, spritzing with water and pressing the tag onto the mat. I used Salty Ocean Distress Ink on the blue side of the tag and then Fired Brick on the red side of the tag.

For the blue tag, I stamped Sheet Music from Woodware using black Archival Ink, added some white gesso with my finger and then stamped the branches from Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink again. I also stamped a lot of butterflies using a Docrafts stamp with Teal Zeal Memento Ink. Next I added some mini white flowers and a Painted Lady butterfly that I had fussy cut from an old book, and stuck into place using double-sided tape.

For the red-side of the tag, I stamped some letters from Tim Holtz using the black Archival Ink, added some white gesso with my finger and stamped a round ornate design from the same Kaisercraft stamp set with the black Archival Ink. I added two stems of flowers which are from a Botanical Layers set by Tim Holtz and then I fussy cut a Peacock butterfly and stuck it in place.

I chose some wording that I thought was appropriate for the butterflies that I saw in our garden, all of which are from Tim Holtz and edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; the “Butterflies” wording is from a Salvage Sticker set and “A memory to hold”, “beauty and grace”, “happiness” and “in the garden” are Clipping Stickers. Both sides of the tag are edged using Black Soot Distress Ink and a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

To finish, I added an eyelet with my Crop-A-Dile machine which reinforced the hole as I’m using a book ring to secure all of my Tag Journal tags together when they are finished.

For more Tag Friday inspiration, please pop over to A Vintage Journey where you’ll find some amazing tags created by my fellow Creative Guides. I hope you are inspired to join us as I’m so looking forward to seeing your tag designs!

The purple flowers were popular in our garden this year and we had so many Painted Lady butterflies on our lavender …

… as well as this beautiful Peacock butterfly (grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m joining the Letters and/or Numbers challenge over at Moo Mania & More with letters I used on my tag.

I’m joining in the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this double-sided tag:

• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Salty Ocean, Fired Brick, Black Soot)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Sheet Music JGS111)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Magnolia Grove CS822)
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Docrafts Papermania Mini Clear Stamp (Everyday Assortment PMA907003)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Teal Zeal)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Home Bargains Special Occasion (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• The Illustrated Book of Nature – Painted Lady Butterfly
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Layers – Botanical #TH93554, Salvage Stickers – Crowded Attic #TH92898, Clipping Stickers #TH93583)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• The Fruit Pixie (Collectors Cards – Peacock Butterfly)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• American Crafts We r Memory Keepers (Crop-A-Dile and Standard Eyelets 41582-4)

Celebrate Friendship

Today my page celebrates one of my best friends who sadly passed away last weekend after battling cancer; it’s heart breaking, she was only in her forties and it seems so unfair that she left this world so early. She was a shining light of love, kindness, enthusiasm and positively, which I hoped to have captured on my page!

My friend loved colour so I painted the background using my Kuretake watercolour paint set to create a rainbow effect; by wetting the paper with water and then applying Lemon Yellow, Orange, Cadmium Scarlet, Red, Rose Madder, Colbalt Violet, Turquoise Blue, Ultramarine, Viridian, Sap Green Light and Yellow Ochre paint in stripes vertically on the page letting the paint blend together where they joined. When the paint was dry I used two Carabelle Studios Art Stamps to stamp the letters and also some thistle heads using black Versafine Ink. To finish, I added some appropriate wording which are Kaisercraft stickers; they read “love you”, “forever and always” and “The language of friendship is not in words but meanings by Henry David Thoreau” the latter being mounted onto some pink design paper.

It’s been an emotional week and my garden has helped by keeping me busy, here are my “pretties” (mesembryanthemums) that I grew from seed; I love their multi-coloured flowers which seem appropriate as they only open when the sun is shining!

I would also like to apologise to my blog friends for my lack of visits this past week, I look forward to catching up with you again soon. Thank you, Jo x

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all bright and colourful today.

I’m joining in the Make Your Own Background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my watercolour background art journal page.

There is still a few more days to join the Colours of the Rainbow Challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too!

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

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Lemon Yellow, Orange, Cadmium Scarlet, Red, Rose Madder, Colbalt Violet, Turquoise Blue, Ultramarine, Viridian, Sap Green Light, Yellow Ochre)
• Tsukineko Versafine Ink (Onyx Black)
• Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (Background avec des Lettres SA60233, Dans la nature, il ya … SA60175)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Book (Antiquities SK807)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Bright Colours CRO730/R)
• Stix2 double-sided tape

Sun, Sand, Surf

We love living by the sea and feel very blessed that our house is only 2-3 minutes walk from the beach, so today’s page is inspired by the Sun, Sand and Surf (grin!).

I started by adding Pébéo modelling paste using a Fossil stencil and then to represent the colours of the sun, sand and sea, I applied Yellow, Fawn and Aquamarine Spectrum Aqua Markers by scribbling them onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and pressing the block or dripping the ink onto the page. Then I fussy cut the compass, anchor and lighthouse from some design paper and glued them in place, like all of the paper elements, using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. Once dry I outlined them using black Derwent Graphik markers to add more definition and make them stand out from the background more. Next I die cut the letters using a Docrafts die set and my Big Shot machine using design paper by American Crafts and I outlined them using the same Derwent Graphik markers again. I also used the American Crafts Design Paper to frame the postage stamp which I choose as it matched the page colours beautifully; it’s from my hubby’s childhood postage stamp collection that he kindly gifted to me for my art journaling (grin!). I stamped some little bubbles from a stamp set by Paperbabe Stamps using Teal Zeal Memento Ink. To finish, I added some compass stickers and two strips of blue ribbon to the top and bottom of the page.

We often walk or take a tandem ride along the beach front; even in the height of summer on our particular beach, as you can see in the background, there is plenty of space for everyone (the tide often goes out 3km / 1.8miles) …

… and even when the tide is in the views are still stunning, I always pinch myself as I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful place (grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all going to the beach.

I’m joining the Summer Holidays challenge over at Moo Mania & More my beach art journal page.

I’m joining in the Life On The Ocean Waves challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my Sun, Sand, Surf page.

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

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

• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• That’s Crafty! Dinky Stencil (Fossil)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Yellow, Fawn, Aquamarine)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Vintage Travels CRO378/18R)
• Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Set (Folk Alphabet XCU03286)
• American Crafts Papers (DIY Shop 366665)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm & 0.1mm)
• Postage Stamp (St. Vincent 1975) from Hubby’s childhood collection
• Paperbabe Stamps stamp set (Oriental Zen)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Teal Zeal)
• Poundland Fun Stickers (Sailor SKU136785)
• Poundworld (Adhesive Ribbon U-80933)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Precious Metal at A Vintage Journey

Our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey being hosted by Amanda is Precious Metal who has kindly provided the following description:

“For this challenge we would like to see some kind of precious metal feature in your project. Think gold, silver, brass, copper, aluminium, steel….. It could be in the form of embellishments, cardstock, paint, gilding wax, foil, gold leaf or rub ons. Just remember to ensure that you create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.”

For Amanda’s wonderful Precious Metal challenge I created an art journal page using copper and silver embossing powders. I had lots of fun heat embossing them onto stencilled modelling paste, stamped letters, chipboard pieces and a die cut butterfly – I hope you like it!

I started by stencilling modelling paste using a Specimens stencil and then covered it with copper and silver embossing powder, heating it with a heat gun until it became glossy and 3D. To create more of a grungy look I lightly dragged a Watermark stamp pad over the page and then I covered it using the copper and silver embossing powders heating the powder with my heat gun again. Then to colour the background I applied Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain and also Forest Moss and Twisted Citron Distress Ink which I diluted with water by stamping the ink pad on a blending mat, applying water and applying it to the page using a paint brush.

Next I applied some rub-on transfers to the page so that the images were broken to look like thoughts swirling around the page; they are Special Delivery transfers from Tim Holtz. I stamped some letters from a Tim Holtz stamp set onto tissue paper using black Archival Ink and heat embossed it with copper embossing powder. I cut the letters out and stuck them onto the page using gel medium and then splattered the page using black and white acrylic paint.

I used the copper and silver embossing powder again to edge the wording “Thoughts and Theories” which is a Chip Quote from Tim Holtz, to cover some wooden circular chipboard pieces and also to add silver to a die cut butterfly from the Tim Holtz Botanical collection.

The chipboard pieces are stuck to the page using Ranger Glossy Accents and to finish I stuck the butterfly in place using double-sided tape to stick down the centre and then double-sided foam tape to elevate its wings.

My art journal page reminds me of one of the signs that hangs in my craft room. There are lots of similarities to my page with the green colour palette, circular swirls, similar meaning of the words and pretty copper bell; it’s also made of metal and is very precious to me as I bought it for my craft room when we visited our dear friends in Maine, America last year (grin!).

For more inspiration, please pop over to see the amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey too, it would be lovely to see you there!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris from pearshapedcrafting and her We’re all/going challenge over at Art Journal Journey as we’re all art journaling.

I’m joining in the Make Your Own Background challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge too.

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

• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• TCW 6×6” Stencil (Mini Specimens TCW4545)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Copper, Silver)
• Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Cracked Pistachio)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Forest Moss, Twisted Citron)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Special Delivery #TH93188)
• Leftover Letraset Rub-ons
• White Tissue Paper
• Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Boozybear Chipboard pieces
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Quote Chips #TH93563)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Layers (Botancial #TH93554)
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape

Believe in yourself

I was so inspired by Astrid’s Tissue Paper challenge over at A Vintage Journey that I created another page; there is still another week to join in the fun, it would be lovely to see you there!

This time I collaged tissue paper to create the background and distressed it, then added a beautiful butterfly and some motivational wording; I hope you like the shabby chic style that resulted.

The background is made of pieces of tissue Patch Paper collaged together using a glue stick and matte gel medium. Once dry I applied some white gesso over the top using a palette knife and then created a worn look by adding: some Coconut and Caramel Faber-Castell Gelatos smudging the colour with my finger; Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker which again I smudged using my finger; and finally some Frayed Burlap Distress Ink which I applied using a blending tool. Then I stamped a Tiny Dot stamp from Kaisercraft using the Frayed Burlap ink and also some black Archival Ink. For the butterfly, I chose a large pre-cut butterfly and heat embossed the edges of its wings and also its body using Versamark ink and black embossing powder. It is attached to the page using double-sided tape in the centre and also double-sided foam tape for the wings. The words are Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz and read “you are capable of becoming more than you realise”, “believe in yourself” and “with brave wings she flies”. They are all outlined using a black marker and using the same marker I drew two antennae on the butterfly which finished the page.

This page seemed to create itself and I think I was channelling butterflies as our friend that we walk with every week went on a Butterfly Tour last week, around the UK, looking for rare butterflies. When she was telling us about the Large Blue it reminded me of my page and as she is an exceptional photographer she kindly shared her photos with me which I’m pleased to be able to share with you too. This is a Large Blue which became extinct in 1979 and is being reintroduced to some areas of the UK.

Here’s some more of her amazing photos, this one is a Painted Lady …

… this is a Heath Fritillary …

… then there is a Marbled White …

… and finally a Brown Argus – I so enjoyed looking at the photos as I haven’t seen many of these butterflies before, so thanks very much K (grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle of Halle’s Hobbies and her Words to live by challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my “Believe in yourself” page.

I’m joining in the It’s a Bugs Life challenge over at Country View Challenges with my butterfly art journal page.

I’m happy to join the Spots and/or Stripes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the dots I added to the background of my page.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge too.

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

• Poundworld (Patch Paper DS9454)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Coconut, Caramel)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233, Black 199)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Frayed Burlap)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Tiny Dot CS360)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.08mm)
• Tsukineko Versafine Ink (Onyx Black)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black PMA4021006)
• The Works (Make your own 3D Butterflies)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• Pritt SticK
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• The Range double-sided foam tape