Create Art/Be Brave Tag

Today over at A Vintage Journey it’s Tag Friday, there is no particular theme as it’s all about creating something you love, experimenting and having fun! I hope that you will join our tag challenge, it would be lovely to see you there!

Spending more time in my garden means that my art is being inspired by some of the beautiful flowers which are blooming at the moment, so today’s double-sided tag features purple poppies and rudbeckia.

The tag itself was made from a large Poster Card by Tim Holtz and I added some texture and colour to the edges of it by applying some Broken China Distress Embossing Glaze and then some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. As I planned to use Faber-Castell Gelatos on both tags, I applied some white gesso to the tag first; this enhanced the colours and made it easier to apply the Gelatos. When the gesso was dry, I scribbled Kiwi and Aqua Dolce Faber-Castell Gelatos over the top smudging the colour with my finger.

Next I removed some of the Gelato colours using a baby wipe through a Halftone stencil from Tim Holtz and I used the stencil again to add some Memento Inks; I used Cottage Ivy ink for the poppy background and Paris Dusk ink for the rudbeckia background.

I stamped a document stamp and a grunge stamp from two different Tim Holtz stamp sets using black Archival Ink and then some leaf stamps from Carabelle Studios using Cottage Ivy Memento Ink for the poppy tag and London Fog Memento Ink for the rudbeckia tag. To finish the backgrounds, I added some rub-on transfers from a Specimen Remnant Rubs set by Tim Holtz.

The flowers were stamped onto some Mixed Media paper using a Stamping Platform to ensure a clear crisp finish. The stamps are from a Flower Garden stamp set by Tim Holtz and are stamped using black Archival Ink. The foliage was coloured using Sap Green Kuretake watercolour paint and highlighted using Lime Green and Forest Green Winsor & Newton Promarkers.

I had fun painting the poppy using Colbalt Violet, Black and White Kuretake watercolour paints and I coloured the edges of the petals using Amethyst Winsor & Newton Promarker. I used Lime Green and Canary Promarkers to colour the centre of the flower and a white Uniball gel pen, a black Uni Pin marker and a Cool Grey Promarker for the stamens. The flower was stuck in place using a glue stick and some glue dots and I added the “Create Art” wording which was a Quote Chip from Tim Holtz that was edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.

The rudbeckia flower was painted using Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Scarlet, Black, White and Burnt Umber Sienna Kuretake watercolour paints and a Canary Promarker. I used a black Uni Posca paint pen and a black Uni Pin marker to add the texture to the stamens. I added the “Be Brave” wording and edged both tags using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. To finish, I added an eyelet with my Crop-A-Dile machine to reinforce the hole as I’m using a book ring to secure all of my double-sided tags together as part of my Tag Journal (grin!).

For more Tag Friday inspiration, please pop over to A Vintage Journey where you’ll find some fabulous 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!

These purple poppies are a welcome addition to our flower bed and were totally unplanned; I think the birds must have brought them into the garden (grin!). They have been flowering non-stop since the beginning of July. I’m featuring them again as some of you had never seen them before so I thought I’d share some more information about them:

• This particular poppy is called Papaver Somniferum “Hungarian Blue” and is an heirloom variety with single flowers.
• They are gorgeous purple-violet shades with dark inner markings on each petal.
• They are easy to grow being ideal as a cut flower and the dried seed pods can also be used in flower arranging.
• They grow to a height of 90cm.

The rudbeckia has just started flowering and adds a happy vibrant yellow to our flower bed; this particular one is Rudbeckia Fulgida ”Goldsturm” and is also known as the Golden Cone Flower or Black Eyed Susan.

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

I’m pleased to join the Summer challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my summer flower tags.

I’m joining in the fun at Country View Challenges and their Do What Makes You Happy Challenge with my flower tags as although I always find making tags a bit daunting I always enjoy making them; they also make me smile when I look at them as they are always on display in my craft room.

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 Embossing Glaze (Broken China)
• Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelato (Kiwi, Aqua Dolce)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencil (Halftone THS144)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy, Paris Dusk, London Fog)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Stamp Set (Documented CMS226, Urban Tapestry CMS061, Flower Garden CMS215)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Carabelle Studios Art Stamp (Dans la nature, il y a … SA60175)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Specimen #TH94047)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media Paper
• Ranger Tonic Studios Stamping Platform
• Kuretake Gambai Watercolour Paints (Sap Green No.53, Colbalt Violet No.139, Black No.20, White No.10, Lemon Yellow No.40, Cadmium Scarlet No.31, Burnt Sienna No.46)
• Winsor & Newton Promarkers (Lime Green G178, Forest Green G356, Amethyst V626, Cool Grey 4 CG4, Canary Y367)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (Black)
• Pritt Stick
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Quote Chips #TH96563)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Black 199)
• American Crafts Crop-A-Dile (Hole Punch & Eyelet Setter, Standard Eyelets – Black)

Mountain Scene

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

There are many options for this challenge so I decided to create a summer mountain scene. As I was creating the scene I knew I had to use my favourite Merry Moose Thinlet set – such fun (grin!).

Everything on this page is coloured using Kuretake Watercolour paints even the die cut Thinlets. To start I painted the gorgeous purple mountains using Colbalt Violet and a little Ultramarine watercolour paint. When dry, I painted the meadow foreground using Sap Green and Hooker’s Green paint, layering the colours to add texture. I also transferred some of the wet green paint using a piece of kitchen towel to blend the colours together at the base of the mountains.

The trees are from the Merry Moose Thinlet set by Tim Holtz and were cut from linen textured cardstock like all of the die cut Thinlets on this page. I coloured the cardstock using a mixture of Burnt Sienna and Black paint for the trunks and added some more detail with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The tree foliage was a mixture of Sap Green and Hooker’s Green. I cut out a circle of linen cardstock for the sun and coloured it using Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Scarlet paints, when dry I painted Lemon Yellow over the top and edged it first with a Cold Grey and then a White Faber-Castell marker. The sky was painted using Ultramarine Pale paint and I gradually built up the clouds by letting each paint layer dry before adding the next to ensure the clouds got darker as I added each layer.

For the shrubs at the base of the trees, I used a Funky Florals Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and coloured them first using Sap Green allowing it to dry and then adding dots of Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Scarlet paints. The moose was from the same Merry Moose Thinlet set and I coloured him using Burnt Sienna and Black paint, I also used Yellow Ochre for his antlers. To finish, I added three Small Talk stickers from Tim Holtz, they read “life was meant to be a great adventure”, “live everyday with intention” and “always take the scenic route”; they are edged with a Unipin pen.

I hope that you are inspired to join us too, for more inspiration my Design Teamies have created some amazing scenes for you over at Try it on Tuesday, so please pop over and take a look (grin!).

The mountains on this page reminded me of the purple mountains that you find in Wales, this is due to the purple slate that is found and was mined in the area. Of course the only moose that you’ll find there is the Purple Moose Brewery in Porthmadog in North Wales. As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our moose pint glasses that we often use at home to serve our home brewed beer in. They are a lovely reminder of the Purple Moose Brewery that we have visited on a few occasions, these were mementos from their Brewery Tour that we took on my birthday some years ago – Happy T day everyone!

Hoping 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.

Challenges

I’m also happy to be able to join the #121 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page design; the bottom panel is depicted by the green foreground and the logo by the moose.

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Summer Fun challenge with my summer mountain scene.

With my moose walking through a summery meadow at the base of the mountains, I’m pleased to join in the Summer Fields challenge over at Country View Challenges too.

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

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Colbalt Violet No:139, Ultramarine No:64, Sap Green No:53, Hooker’s Green No:52, Burnt Sienna No:46, Black No:20, Cadmium Scarlet No:31, Yellow Ochre No:44, Lemon Yellow No:40, Ultramarine Pale No:61 )
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Merry Moose 663103, Funky Florals #1 662700)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Zig Memory 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Stickers (Small Talk #TH93193)
• UniPin Fine Line Marker Pen (Black 0.05mm)

Beautiful Self

Inspired by a beautiful notebook that my sister bought me, I created this fun Highland cow page as a reminder to ‘Just be your beautiful self’ (grin!).

I started by taking a page out of the notebook to use as part of the collage background. I dyed the page with inks, firstly Bluebird ink for the sky and then with Leaf Green, Fern Green and Prickly Pear ink for the grass; they are all Wendy Vecchi Blendable Dye Inks.

As the page was lined I ripped the paper diagonally, positioning the pieces so the lines ran from left-hand side up to the right-hand side diagonally across the page. I collaged them using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium along with some torn pieces of kitchen towel and baby wipes that were used to mop up blue and green inks and paints from previous art journal pages that I had created. When dry, I painted Ultramarine and Sap Green Kuretake watercolours to add more colour to the sky and grass. The highland cow is from an old magazine and layered some of the pieces of coloured paper, kitchen towel and baby wipes over the edges to blend it into the background. As you can see, I created my page background so that it matches and blends with the felt/fabric look of the highland cow image background.

For the foliage and daisies I used a Wildflower Stems #2 Thinlet set from Tim Holtz: cutting the tall grasses from brown tissue paper and layering them on top of the background using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium; I used white cardstock for the leafy foliage which I stamped using black Archival Ink and a Finnabair Stamp, coloured using the Leaf Green, Fern Green and Prickly Pear Wendy Vecchi Blendable Inks and Mowed lawn Distress Ink, and edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker; and I used some linen textured cardstock for the daisies which were coloured using the Leaf Green and Prickly Pear inks and also watered down Watering Can Wendy Vecchi Blendable Ink for the petals. Once stuck into place using a Zig glue pen, I edged the leafy foliage and daisies using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker so they stood out more. Then I added a Kaisercraft sticker which reads “Just be your beautiful self” which finished the page.

Here’s the beautiful A4 notebook that inspired my page.

You may notice that I always list the materials I use for pages at the end of my posts and as you can see here I use this type of notebook to record these details, so this gift was perfect (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m also sharing my cuppa (of Ceylon Tea) which I often enjoy whilst crafting – wishing you all a very Happy T day!

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.

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Halle from Halle’s Hobbies over at Art Journal Journey and her A Stitch In Time challenge this month with the faux felt/fabric background.

I’m pleased to join in the Summer Fields challenge over at Country View Challenges with my highland cow summery field art journal page.

I’m also happy to be able to join the #121 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page; the green and blue splits the page and images.

I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Sprays and Splashes challenge with the splashes of green ink on the die cut foliage.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our monthly Anything Mixed Media Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog too!

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

• Notebook page
• Ranger Wendy Vecchi Make Art Blendable Dye Ink (Bluebird, Prickly Pear, Leaf green, Fern Green, Watering Can)
• Recycled kitchen towel and baby wipes used to mop up inks and paints
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine No:64, Sap Green No:53)
• Old magazine
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets (Wildflower Stems #2 664164)
• Recycled brown tissue paper
• White cardstock
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Old Receipt #966980)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mowed Lawn)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CRO240/GE)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen (Black 199, Cold Grey IV 23)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Fiesta! SS284)

Welsh Poppy

Today I have another page celebrating the flowers found in my garden. This time we have the Welsh poppy which are flowering so beautifully at the moment (grin!).

I started by stamping the poppy heads from a Tim Holtz Flower Garden stamp set using black Versafine Ink. Then I added some white gesso to the background using a palette knife, leaving the gesso thick in places; I left it to dry overnight. Next I painted Sap Green, Hooker’s Green and Burnt Sienna Kuretake watercolour paints over the background by applying water to the page first and then painting on the colours and letting them blend together. I added more detail to the background including: the numbers using a stencil from Craft Sensations and Black Soot Distress Ink; the text which was stamped using a Script stamp from Kaisercraft and the same Black Soot ink; and also a Solar & Lunar stamp from Finnabair using Cottage Ivy Memento Ink.

The poppy heads are coloured and shaded using Yellow and Gold Spectrum Aqua markers and also Canary, Honeycomb and Lime Green Winsor & Newton Promarkers. Then I stamped the stems and leaves using the same Flower Garden stamp set and black Archival Ink. They are shaded using Olive Green and Forest Green Winsor & Newton Promarkers.

I added some Mini Squares using a stencil from Creative Expressions and some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. The “Welsh Poppy” wording was created using letter stickers from Kaisercraft and the huge bee was from a Field Notes Ephemera Pack by Tim Holtz which finished the page.

If you are interested you can see the other pages that were inspired by two of my spring flowering plants in my garden here:

• Bluebells
• Tulips

Like my page there are two shades of Welsh poppies in our garden, here are the golden orange ones …

… and these are the yellow ones, aren’t they beautiful (grin!).

Hoping that you are 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

I’m pleased to join the lovely Mia from Craftartista over at Art Journal Journey and her Flowers challenge this month with my Welsh Poppy page.

I’m so happy to be able to join the #119 – Picture Inpiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the green and yellow colour palette, poppy flowers and Mini Squares scattering the background. Thanks so much for my win too, how exciting!

I’m joining in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their We’re All A-Buzz challenge as I added a huge bee on my page.

I’m also joining the Oh, Man! challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the masculine styled background of my page.

Don’t forget that you still have time to join our Beautiful Blooms Challenge this month over at A Vintage Journey; my art journal page would be perfect for this challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too – 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 Collection Sampers Anonymous (Flower Garden CMS215)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Sap Green No:53, Hokker’s Green No:52, Burnt Sienna No:46)
• Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Art 154892)
• Kaisercraft Clear Stamps (Script CS752)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot, Rusty Hinge)
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Clear Stamp (Solar & Lunar 966997)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Yellow, Gold)
• Winsor & Newton Promarker (Canary Y367, Honeycomb C547, Lime Green G178, Olive Green Y724, Forest Green G356)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencils (Mini Squares CEMSSQUARE)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Mix & Match – Alpha SS252)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Ephemera Pack (Field Notes #TH94051)
• Stix2 Glue Dots

Love

Today I’m joining the Something New challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey with a new technique using a hot glue gun that I’ve wanted to try for a while. Here’s the journal page that I created, what do you think?

Whilst the glue gun was heating up, I doodled an abstract heart design onto the page using a pencil.

Once the glue gun was heated to temperature, I applied the hot glue over the pencil marks and also added some dots of glue and then I left the glue to cool and dry.

I then applied Aged Ivory Stampendous embossing enamel powder over the top of the glue by carefully heating the surface of the glue up again with my heat gun (it takes seconds) and then covering it with the embossing enamel powder; it’s important that you don’t heat the glue too much as it will flatten and loose its 3D shape. I left the glue to dry and harden again before I carefully heated it again using the heat gun to melt the embossing enamel. Next I painted the page using Kuretake watercolour paints; using Red for the hearts and for the rest of the page using Rose Madder and Colbalt Violet coloured paints.

When dry, I coloured the embossed hot glue with a glittery gold lustre polish (which was new to my craft stash) using a paintbrush. The words are rub-on transfers from Tim Holtz and read “Love”, “Love you to the moon & back”, “always & forever” and “better together”. To finish, I splattered the page using some black DecoArt acrylic paint.

As Valentine’s is approaching, my winter window display, like my page, gets a smattering of red hearts which provides a lovely contrast to the white decorations (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a pint of Lancaster Red beer which we enjoyed at one of our favourite pubs – cheers and wishing you all much love this T day!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the Love challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Love art journal page.

I’m joining in the All Loved Up challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as with my love and hearts designed art journal page.

Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog their theme is # 33 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Paper Piecing, so I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge too.

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

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

• Bostik Hot Glue Pen & Glue
• Stampendous Embossing Enamel (Aged Ivory)
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Red No. 32, Rose Madder No. 34, Rose Madder Deep No. 36, Colbalt Violet No. 139)
• Creative Expressions Lustre Polish (Glistening Gold)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Remnant Rubs (Tiny Text #TH93695)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)

Warm Winter Wishes

I tried a new technique on my art journal page for the Something New challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey.

The new technique was for the background and involved watercolour paints and sea salt crystals; I have to say it was a fun and easy technique to do (grin!).

I flooded the page with water and added Indigo, Ultramarine, Turquoise Blue, Cobalt Violet and White Kuretake watercolour paints, graduating the colours down the page to white at the bottom. Then while the paint was still wet I sprinkled coarse sea salt crystals over the top and left it to dry.

When dry I brushed the salt crystals off the page and a beautiful mottled effect was left where the crystals had reacted with the paint.

Next I fussy cut the owl sitting on a bench from an old Christmas card and arranged him onto the page so it looked like the bench was disappearing under a bank of snow. The snowflakes were die cut using my new Thinlet Set by Tim Holtz from white linen textured paper and some glittery blue/purple coloured papers. I added some wording from a sticker book by Tim Holtz which reads “a wondrous sight”, “the wintry landscape” and “covered with snow”. I die cut two labels from the blue/purple and also from white linen paper using a Tim Holtz tag die set. Then I cut the white paper label slightly smaller, stamped “warm winter wishes” using Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink and an alphabet stamp set and layered the two labels together before sticking them in place, which finished the page.

Whilst on a winter walk around Glasson Dock we saw a strange shape in a tree and took some pictures, to our surprise when we looked through our camera lens there was this Little Owl sat there looking at us. My hubby took this picture before he flew away – isn’t he adorable (grin!).

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

Challenges

I’m joining in the Something New challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the new technique and Snowflake Thinlet set that I used on this page.

I’m so happy to join the #109 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps; the “paperbabe stamps” is represented by the “a wondrous sight” wording and the “flower” by the “owl” image, also the snow bank divides the page into two. 

I’m also pleased to join the Snowflakes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with all the snowflakes that I added to my page.

Don’t forget that you still have over a week to join our What a cutie/Make someone smile 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:

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Indigo No.67, Ultramarine No.64, Turquoise Blue No.62, Cobalt Violet No. 139, White No.10)
• Course Sea Salt Crystals
• Old Christmas Card
• Pritt Stick
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz (Paper Snowflakes, Mini 661599)
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture – White CRO240/GE)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Paper Pad)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Zig Memory System 2-way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Sizzix Framelits Tim Holtz (Tag Collection 658784)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Ground Espresso)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• X-Press double-sided tape

Black Magic

I was lucky enough to receive a box of Black Magic chocolates for a good deed that a member of my family requested – they were very yummy! So I thought I would recycle the packaging to create my Black Magic Halloween page – I hope you like it!

I started by using a Sun and Moon circle template from Inkylicious to mask off the moon and then painted the sky background with orange and black Kuretake watercolour paints. Then I removed the template and used the Sun and Moon stencil from the same Inkylicious set to add the moon detail using Vintage Linen and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and a white Uni Posca paint pen. I stamped the sky with a Gothic Book stamp from Finnabair using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink and then I splattered the page with the orange and black watercolour paints. Next I recycled the inner packaging from my Black Magic chocolates by ripping the black paper into pieces and arranging them on the bottom and down the left-hand side of the page. I also die cut the flowers and ivy from the same black paper using Wildflower Stems and Garden Greens Thinlets from Tim Holtz and my Big Shot machine; they are stuck in place using a Zig Memory glue pen. I stamped some cobwebs from Molly Blooms using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink. Then I used some of the cardboard packaging for the “Black Magic” wording fussy cutting it out, black heat embossing it and sticking it in place using Ranger Glossy Accents. Then to finish, I splattered the page using the white Uni Posca paint pen.

Here’s my box of Black Magic chocolates, help yourselves – you have a choice of Coffee Crescent, Pure Black Magic, Midnight Truffle, Raspberry Heaven, Hazelnut Swirl, Dreamy Fudge, Almond Crunch, Orange Sensation and Caramel Heart. To make them last I treated myself to one a day and they were delicious (grin!).

This page reminded me of a song by Little Mix, I enjoy watching the video – it’s such a fun story line!

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my happy black magic dreams.

I’m also joining the Die Cuts and Punches challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the die cut flowers and ivy that I included on this page.

I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Fall/Autumnal Colors challenge with the orange colours on my page.

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 paint, inks, recycled packaging and embossing powder.

Don’t forget that you can also join in the fun over at Try it on Tuesday for our Witches, Wizards, Halloween challenge too

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

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

• Inkylicious Template & Stencil Set (Sun and Moon)
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Orange, Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Hickory Smoke)
• Inkylicious Ink Dusters
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Prima Marketing Finnabair 2 Clear Stamp (Gothic Book 966966)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Black Soot)
• Recycled Black Packaging
• Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Wildflower Stems 2 664164, Garden Greens 661206)
• Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Molly Blooms Rubber Stamp (MB-0065D)
• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Black)
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Spooky

Hi everyone! I am so delighted to be in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thanks so much for all your kind wishes last week!

This week the theme is Spooky.

For this challenge I created a spooky art Journal page full of magic and mystery, maybe there’s a magic potion in one of those bottles – what are you going to wish for? (grin!).

I started by stencilling texture paste using a Mini Specimens template from The Crafter’s Workshop and when dry, I painted the page using Indigo and Black Kuretake watercolour paints. Then I applied Aged Silver Stampendous embossing enamel to the texture paste using a Versamark watermark pad. I used a Versamark watermark pen and Shabby White Stampendous embossing enamel for finer details. I also coloured some of the texture paste using a black Sharpie pen then I splattered the page using the black watercolour paint and also White Linen Dylusions Spray. I added some bats and cobwebs that I stamped onto tissue paper which finished the background.

For the tags, I die cut five tags using Sizzix Framelits and my Big Shot machine. They are cut from Pocket Cards from Tim Holtz, edged with black Versamark ink and then stamped using a Gothic Book Finnabair stamp and an Urban Tapestry Tim Holtz stamp set using the black Versafine ink and covered with black Stampendous embossing powder.

Next I added the pretty bottles which are from a Kaisercraft Sticker Book and decorated with some black ribbon and the metal “31” and “13” which are Countdown brads from Tim Holtz. The tags are finished with some eyelets and recycled black satin ribbon, and layered in place with some blue flowers which are fussy cut from a Botanicals Layers card. To finish, I added the “objet trouvé”, “finders keepers” and “make a wish” wording which are Quote Chips from Tim Holtz.

This spooky window can be found at the Moose and Moonshine restaurant in Liverpool and I think the witch may be making us a magic potion.

 This restaurant is part of the Moose Coffee chain and they make the best hot chocolate with a shot of pumpkin spice syrup in it – yum! I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang over at T Stands for T Day – Happy T Day!

I enjoyed creating this art journal page for the Spooky challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp is generously giving away a $50 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store! and one lucky participant will be randomly drawn to win this voucher. How amazing is that! Good Luck to everyone!

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

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the spooky dreams and wishes on my page.

I’m also joining the Die Cuts and Punches challenge over at Moo Mania & More with the die cut tags that I included on this page.

I’m pleased to be able to join the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my spooky page as their theme is Halloween.

Don’t forget that you can also join in the fun over at Try it on Tuesday for our Witches, Wizards, Halloween challenge too.

Here is a list of materials over at Simon Says Stamp to create this spooky art journal page:

• The Crafter’s Workshop Mini Specimens Template
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi
• Ranger Palette Knife
• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink
• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Emboss Pen
• Stampendous Embossing Enamel
• Sharpie Marker (Black)
• Ranger Dylusions Spray (White Linen)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Finnabair Clear Stamps (Gothic Book)
• Tim Holtz Stamp Set (Urban Tapestry CMS061)
• Tim Holtz Stamping Platform
• Tsukineko Versafine (Onyx Black)
• Stampendous Embossing Powder (Black)
• Crop-A-Dile Eyelet and Snap Punch
• Standard Eyelets
• Kaisercraft Antiquities Sticker Book
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Countdown Brads
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Quote Chips
• X-Press It Double-sided Tape
• X-Press It Double-sided Foam Tape
• UHU Stic
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Pocket Cards – alternative Tim Holtz Paper Stash Documented and Tim Holtz Paper Stash French Industrial
• White Tissue Paper – recycled
• Bat and cobweb stamp
• Black Satin Ribbon – recycled

Haunted House

It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday which is Witches/Wizards/Halloween.

If like me, you don’t really like the scary side to Halloween then you may like to create something fun like my Haunted House art journal page.

I started by covering the page in white gesso and then painting Light Red and Raw Sienna watercolour paints using a paintbrush to form streaks of colour across the page. I also streaked some Black Soot Distress Ink to add some contrast and depth, and then I stamped a homemade grid stamp using black Archival Ink and splattered the whole page using black acrylic paint. The haunted house, cat’s face and bats are all rub-on transfers and the portraits are fussy cut from a leaflet; I thought that they were a fun way to depict the inside of my haunted mansion. Next I stamped the “Happy Halloween” wording using a Papermania alphabet stamp set and black Archival Ink. I coloured the bottom of the wording with a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then applied Ranger Glossy Accents over the top. I added some modelling paste through a Vintage Diamond stencil from Creative Expressions and when dry, I coloured the diamonds with Spiced Marmalade and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink and Sanguine and Black Faber-Castell Big Brush markers; they are also covered with Ranger Glossy Accents to give them a glossy finish. To mimic the wrought iron railing around the haunted house image, I added some decorative border tape around the edges of the page, distressing it so it looked worn and broken. To finish, I added lots of green gemstones and clear, orange and purple gel stickers for more Halloween sparkle.

You’ll find lots more inspiration from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over and take a look.

The leaflet that I used for this page from Lytham Hall which also has spooky goings on in the vegetable garden.

Even the potting shed looks spooky with the faux cobwebs, pumpkin bunting and black cat – such fun (grin!).

Challenges

I’m pleased to join the lovely Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey as with my Hapy Halloween wishes to you.

I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their #54 – Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page which included paint, ink, rub-on transfers, paper, stickers and gems.

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

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

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colours (Light Red, Raw Sienna)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot, Spiced Marmalade, Seedless Preserves)
• Homemade Grid Stamp (Wooden block and Plasterboard/Drywall Tape)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Sentiments (Haunted House  #ROY714N, Bats, Cats & Ghosts #EDW355)
• Leaflet – Lytham Hall
• Papermania Alphamania Clear Stamp Set (Leftovers Alphabet PMA9071102)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencils (Vintage Diamonds)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Sanguine 188 B, Black 199)
• Poundland (Decorative Border Tape 15118067)
• Hobbycraft (Green Rhinestone Stickers 5971381004)
• Habico Signature Collection Self-Adhesive Gemstones (Festive Assortment PP948)
• Home Bargains (Mini Gel Stickers 30287)

Seek

Our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks is Animal Magic.

Enjoy this theme and have fun, all we ask is that there is an animal somewhere on your project. If you want to see which animals my Design Teamies have chosen please feel free to pop over to our blog.

When I saw this cheeky squirrel in a magazine, I thought he looked inquisitive so wanted to use him on my page; I like the way that he seems to be looking out at us, do you think he is trying to tell us something (grin!).

I started by painting the page with Kuretake watercolour paints, for the sky I used Ultramarine Pale and for the foreground I used Burnt Sienna. Next I stamped the trees using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink and then painted the foreground with some white DecoArt acrylic paint to look like snow. I stamped foliage and berries using Pistachio, Toffee Crunch and Potter’s Clay Memento Ink and then I splattered the whole page with some of the white acrylic paint to give a snowy appearance. The squirrel is fussy cut from an old magazine and once he was stuck in place I drew his whiskers with a black Derwent Graphik marker. To finish, I added the wording “adventure awaits you”, “wander”, “go where your heart takes you”, “embrace the journey” and “make it count” which are rub-on transfers and the word “seek” which is a quote chip; all of which are from the Tim Holtz idea-ology collection.

The squirrel on my page is a red squirrel also called a Eurasian red squirrel which has a darker coat in wintertime, hence the winter theme of my page. If you are interested here are some fun facts:

• You will only find flourishing populations of red squirrels in the Lake District and the Highlands in Scotland. They very shy and timid, not at all like American Red Squirrels.
• Red squirrels are largely vegetarian although they find acorns indigestible. They like to build larders of cones to provide food through the winter. Some larders have been found holding as many as 2,000 cones.
• Beatrix Potter’s Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, first published in 1903, did much to popularise the red squirrel; she was inspired by the squirrels that she watched in Lake District.

My red squirrel reminded me of the Scottish shortbread, can you see the red squirrel on this pretty tin (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my cuppa and shortbread with the T Gang and wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

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

Challenges

I’m 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 Eileen of The Artful Crafter and her Dreams or Wishes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with all the inspirational wording on my page.

I’m joining the Autumn Glory challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my wintry page with pops of autumnal colour.

I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge.

I’m also so happy to join #103 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the pops of autumnal colours on my page which match the picture inspiration too.

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

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine Pale, Burnt Sienna)
• Creative Stamping Magazine (Autumnal Treasures from Issue 61, Winter Wonderland from Issue 62)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa, Pistachio, Toffee Crunch, Potter’s Clay)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Old magazine
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Remnant Rubs – Special Delivery #TH93188, Quote Chips #TH93563)
• UHU Stic
• Stix2 double-sided tape