Change

Our new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Inspired by a Word – please note on your blog post which word you used for your inspiration.

Please check out the creations and words that my Design Teamies chose over at Try it on Tuesday too; we hope to see you there!

This time I got my hubby to choose a word for me which was “Change”, so I created a page based on the changing winter to spring seasons (grin!).

I started by stamping a letter stamp from Carabelle Studios using black Archival Ink onto the page, concentrating the letters at the bottom of the page to depict the ground. Then I covered the page with thin layers of Windsor & Newton watercolour paints using a baby wipe; I coloured the left-hand winter side of the page with Payne’s Gray and the right-hand spring side with Ultramarine watercolour paint. Then I covered the Payne’s Gray with Platinum Planet brilliance Ink which gave it a lovely shine of frosty grey and the Ultramarine with a wash of Salty Ocean Distress Ink so it was a sunshiny blue. For the foreground I added some white DecoArt acrylic paint to my winter scene and some watered down Cottage Ivy and Dandelion Memento Ink to the spring scene. Next I stamped the two trees from Docrafts Build a tree stamp set using black Archival Ink which gave an outline of the tree shapes.

For the winter tree I stamped lots of snowflakes from three different stamp sets using Bahama Blue, Summer Sky, Paris Dusk, Danube Blue and Teal Zeal Memento Ink. I coloured the tree trunk and branches using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker. Then I die cut some snowflakes from glitter paper and arranged them onto the tree with some silver snowflake relief stickers and some clear and blue gems. To finish the tree I stamped a festive ornament and tiny star from one of the branches using black Archival Ink decorating it with a blue gem.

For the spring tree I stamped the leaves and flowers using the same Tree stamp set from Docrafts using: Cottage Green and Dandelion Memento Ink for the leaves which I blended together on a blending mat before applying to the stamp; Rose Bud Memento Ink for the flowers. I coloured the tree trunk and branches using the Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and then I added a couple of pink flower paper embellishments and some pink gems. To finish the tree, I stamped a bird house using black Archival Ink and decorated it with a blue gem.

Next I die cut the “Change” letters from some recycled black packaging paper using a Folk Alphabet die set from Docrafts and my Big Shot machine. They are stuck down the centre of the page using a Zig Memory System glue pen. To finish, I stamped the Carabelle Studio letter stamp using black Archival Ink over the bottom of the tree trunks so they blended in more, and added two Kaisercraft stickers with the words to describe the change in the seasons as it was a “Happy” Winter and I “Love” Spring (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday and with the change in the seasons I changed my drink choice when I was out and about with my mum recently; so instead of drinking my normal hot chocolate (pictured on the left), I enjoyed a chocolate frappe (pictured on the right) – yum! Wishing you all a Happy T day!

Challenges

I’m pleased to link my art journal page to the Hello Springtime challenge that I am hosting over at Art Journal Journey as it depicts the change of the seasons from winter to spring. I hope you are inspired to say hello to springtime too, it would be lovely to see you there!

I’m pleased to be able to join the Letters and/or Number challenge over at Country View Challenges with the letter background that I created and die cut lettering.

As I used snowflakes to represent winter and sunny blue skies to represent Spring I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Whatever The Weather 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:

• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colours (Payne’s Gray, Aquamarine)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Pigment Ink (Platinum Planet)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Salty Ocean)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Bahama Blue, Summer Sky, Paris Dusk, Danube Blue, Teal Zeal, Cottage Ivy, Dandelion, Rose Bud)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Carabelle Studio Art Stamp (Background – avec des letters SA60233)
• Docrafts Creativity Essentials Clear Stamps (Build a tree DCE907130)
• Free with magazine Embossing Folder & Stamp Set (Winter Wonderland)
• Sheena Douglass Stamp Set (Winter Woodland) – free with Creative Stamping magazine Issue 62
• The Works (Clear Stamps CRO274K/TW1)
• Kars Clear Stamps (Christmas Hanger 180009/2024)
• The Works M&C Boutique (Cutting Dies, Mini Paper Flower Embellishment)
• Docrafts XCut A5 Dies Set (Folk Alphabet XCU503286)
• Recycled black packaging paper
• Poundland (Glitter Sheets 116432)
• Crelando Relief Sticker Set (IAN289011)
• B&M Craft Goody Bag (Turquoise 321451)
• Hobbycraft (Rose Gem Stones 5666091006)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Secret Garden SS283)
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)

Advertisements

Cherish Little Moments

We’ve been having some beautiful sunny days here of late and mild temperatures too, which have reminded me of summertime, I have even sseen my first butterfly on the drive in our front garden. So to celebrate I created this sunshiny yellow page with a butterfly – I hope you like it!

I started by using some stamped white paper which was leftover from other projects. It was stamped using black Archival Ink and the stamps included: a Music Sheet and a Vintage Circles stamp set from Woodware Craft Collection; a Cherish, a Script and also a Doily stamp set from Kaisercraft. The white paper also had some stencilling on it as I had used it to mop up some leftover Black Soot Distress Ink when I was cleaning a stencil using a baby wipe. I ripped the paper into pieces and stuck them onto the page using Liquitex matte gel medium along with three yellow paper flowers. Between the gaps of the papers and flowers I painted a base colour of Lemon Yellow Kuretake watercolour paint and then I dripped water onto the painted areas and added Black watercolour paint to create a marbling effect, highlighting areas with Yellow Ochre and more of the Lemon Yellow paint.

Once dry, I outlined the yellow flowers using a black Uni Pin marker and stuck some black seed beads into the centre of the flowers using Ranger Glossy Accents. The yellow border strips and wording are from Kaisercraft Sticker Sets and are outlined with a black Uni Pin marker. To finish, I added a black and white 3D butterfly sticker.

This page reminds me of the beautiful rudbeckia …

… that were flowering in our newly planted flower bed at the end of summer last year (grin!).

I added the 3D butterfly to my page as I was so surprised to find a Red Admiral butterfly sitting on our front drive last week, I know we have been having warmer temperatures but it is still February, isn’t it (double grin!).

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 be able to join the lovely Rike from rike’s art and her The Colour Yellow challenge over at Art Journal Journey with all the yellow that I added to my page.

Over at Country View Challenges their challenge is Black, White and One Other, so I’m happy to join this challenge to with my black, white and yellow page.

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:

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Lemon Yellow, Black, Yellow Ochre)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.5mm)
• Woodware Craft Collection Clear Magic Singles (Music Sheet JGS111, Vintage Circles FRS665)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Vintage – Cherish CS831, Script CS752, Doily CS297)
• Viva Décor Universal Stencil (Past Times 900270300)
• White paper
• Craft Sensations (Paper Flowers CRO344/R)
• Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Say Aloha SS281, Fiesta! SS284)
• Seed Beads (Black)
• Home Bargains Self-Adhesive Stickers (Beautiful Butterflies 22742)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Kin Toffee + Vodka

Today my page is inspired by a present that my hubby kindly bought me, Kin Toffee + Vodka which tastes delicious and is locally made in the heart of the Lake District. The box was gorgeous so I had fun recycling it to create this page (grin!).

The background is created using Kuretake watercolour paint set; I painted strips of Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Black paint diagonally onto a page that I had already wet with water, so that the paint colours bled into each other. I added more of these paints until I achieved the look I wanted, and then I also added some Lemon Yellow and Cadmium Scarlet watercolour paint to intensify the colours and add some contrast too.

Once the paint had dried, I added some tiny squares over the black watercolour paint using black Archival Ink and a stamp from the Docrafts Geometric Capsule Collection. Then finally I cut the vodka box packaging into squares and rectangles, and arranged them onto the page with an image of a bottle and glass that I recycled from a magazine; they are stuck in place using double-sided tape.

This toffee vodka is amazing and a little goes a long way, you only need a few sips in a glass; it tastes so yummy by itself and is a lovely treat served over ice cream too (grin!).

Kin Vodka is made in the Lake District as you can see by the packaging it is inspired by the beautiful area that it comes from and the great outdoors. It is hand blended and has rich caramel tones with a lovely smooth taste and a subtle warming kick – so delicious!

I’m sharing my drink related post over at T Stands for Tuesday and sending the T Gang very Happy T day wishes!

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 Alison/Craftytrog and her Geometric Shapes challenge over at Art Journal Journey with all the square stamped and collage square/rectangular shapes on my page.

I’m joining in the Alcohol, Drinks Or Inks challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my Toffee Vodka inspired page.

As I featured both stamped and collage squares on my page, I’m also happy to join the Squares challenge over at Moo Mania & More.

I’m pleased to join the “New” (Fresh Start) challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps as my page was created to remember my new Toffee Vodka that my hubby kindly bought for me.

I’m also joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Have a Heart challenge as my page features vodka that is made in the “heart” of the Lake District from my dear hubby.

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:

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Black, Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Scarlet)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Docrafts Papermania Gift Tags & Stamp Set (Capsule Geometric Kraft PMA105307)
• Kin Vodka + Toffee Box packaging
• Old magazine
• Stix 2 double-sided tape

Merry Moose Winter Wonderland

Our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday for the next two weeks is Winter Wonderland, where you will find some amazing creations from my Design Team teamies!

For my art journal page, I had so much fun creating a winter wonderland for my Merry Moose. I fell in love with this Merry Moose die set from Tim Holtz as soon as I saw it and finally succumbed to purchasing it last week, so I just couldn’t wait to use it and it didn’t disappoint – I love it (grin!).

To start, 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. 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. Next I positioned a circular stencil onto the page to depict the sun and also a hand cut paper template to mask out the foreground. Then I painted the sky background using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour paint set; I did this by wetting the page with water first and then applying Ultramarine Pale, Ultramarine and Turquoise Blue colours using my paintbrush, gradually shading and blending the paints so that they were lighter around the sun. When dry, I splattered the page with white acrylic paint and then I defined the edge of the foreground more using Paris Dusk and Danube Blue Memento Inks and a blending tool. I removed the foreground mask and also added another line of snow using a mask and the same inks. I added some colour to the snowflakes in the foreground by painting them with the Ultramarine and Turquoise Blue watercolours too. For the sun I applied a light wash of Lemon Yellow watercolour paint and when dry, I covered it with some Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink to add some shine. The wording is stamped using the blue Memento Inks again and overlaid with the Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink and I added a little of the Turquoise Blue watercolour paint to the letters so that it colour matched the background more.

The trees are die cut using the Merry Moose Thinlets by Tim Holtz from Sizzix and my Big Shot Machine. I used some brown wood effect paper from Tim Holtz and also some blue glittery paper for the dripping snow dies; they are stuck to the page using a Zig Memory glue pen. Next I added a puffy snow effect using Inkylicious Fluffy Puffy Stuff which you apply and then heat with a heat gun to make it 3-dimensional; it was so much fun seeing the snow come to life (grin!). I also die cut some snowflakes out of the same blue glitter paper and embellished them with the Fluffy Puffy Stuff too and then stuck them to the page. I really need to use the fluffy puffy stuff again, just so I can write fluffy puffy some more (double grin!).

To finish, I added the Merry Moose which is die cut three times, once out of cream linen finish card stock and then twice out of white card stock; I layered them together so the linen finish was on the top. I masked off his antlers and then coloured him using Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Inks blending the colours with a blending tool. Then I removed the masking tape and coloured the antlers with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I stuck him in place and then decided that he needed a scarf to keep him warm, so I used the harness die cut from the Thinlet set and fashioned one together using the blue glitter paper and white card stock which I coloured with the Paris Dusk Memento Ink. It was fiddly to make but I think it completes his look beautifully, don’t you (grin!).

We have been lucky enough to see moose several times in the wild on our travels to America and so I love everything moose! We have a few moose items around the house from our travels too including these beautiful mugs which we were purchased at Booth Bay in Maine. Today they are filled with hot chocolate that has Pumpkin Spice syrup in it and topped with whipped cream – yum! As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a very happy T Day!

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 Erika from BioArtGal, who is hosting the Vintage or Modern challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my modern Christmas page!

I’m also joining in the fun over at Moo Mania & More and their Tic, Tac, Toe theme (Designer Paper – Glistening Season from Tim Holtz Paper Stash, Die-Cut – Merry Moose, Circles – on the scarf and the sun).

I’m also pleased to join A Vintage Journey and their Paper Stash challenge this month as I was inspired by my new Tim Holtz Merry Moose Thinlets so used the linen and glitter papers that have been in my craft stash for a while as well as the Tim Holtz Paper Stash pad to create my Mixed Media style page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Winter Wonderland so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my Merry Moose Winter Wonderland page.

I’m also pleased to be able to join the Baby It’s Cold Outside challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with as it must be cold with my Merry Moose wearing his scarf (grin!).

With the embossing powder that I used for my pretty stamped snowflakes, I’m also joining Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their Resist It 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 the materials that were used to create this art journal page:

• Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Stampendous Embossing Powder Basics (Detail White Opaque DP100)
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine Pale, Ultramarine, Turquoise Blue, Lemon Yellow)
• Tsukineko Memento Ink (Paris Dusk, Danube Blue)
• Tsukineko Brilliance Pigment Ink (Platinum Planet)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso, Antique Linen)
• Faber-Castell Craft Stamper Big Brush Pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Derwent Graphic Marker (black 0.05mm)
• Inkylicious (Fluffy Puffy Stuff)
• Simon Says Stamp Clear Stamp Set (Frozen Fractals SSS101694)
• Inkylicious Stencil (Sun & Moons)
• Winter Wonderland Stamp Set (free with Craft Stampers magazine No:62)
• Tim Holtz Alterations Sizzix Thinlets (Merry Moose 663103)
• Dovecraft Cutting Dies (Merry Christmas DCDIE052X16)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Paper Stash (Halloween #TH93712)
• Blue Glitter Paper
• Cream Linen Card Stock
• White Card Stock
• Zig Memory System Chisel Tip Glue Pen
• Stix2 double-sided tape
• Ranger Heat Gun
• Sizzix Big Shot

Make your own background … for Simon Says Stamp

Hi everyone! I am so delighted and honoured to be in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

This week the theme is Make Your Own Background.

As it is the first Monday of the month Simon Says Stamp are featuring Carabelle Studios Products, so I had fun using some of their products to create this art journal page and you’ll find the details of how I created this page below.

I had fun making my own background and to start I added some pieces of torn dictionary pages to add some interest. Then I spritzed the page with water and applied three Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints (paint colours were No.34, No.64 and No.139) using a paintbrush.

Next I applied some white gesso using my finger and then I used a Carabelle Studio stencil, called Sur Fond De Mosaïque, to add Picked Raspberry and also Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink using a blending tool. I added more of the same watercolour paints to further define the edges of the colours and to finish my background, I stamped a Carabelle Studio stamp, called Background Avec Des Lettres, using black Archival Ink.

For the flowers, I stamped the Carabelle Studio Fleurs Dalex Cling Stamp Set using black Archival Ink onto white cardstock.

I coloured them using Spectrum Aqua Markers which I blended with a wet paintbrush; the colours were Yellow, Gold, Sunflower, Bud Green and Leaf Green. Then I cut them out which took some time (grin!).

I also used the same white cardstock to create the Inspire wording, which I drew using some magazine letters as a template, cut out and coloured using the yellow shades of Spectrum Aqua Markers and a white Uni Posca Paint Pen creating an ombré effect.

The flowers, wording and “Channel your inner Picasso” are edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen and a black fine line marker, and then they are stuck into place using a Zig Glue Pen. To finish, I coloured the stamens of the flowers using a white Uni Posca Paint Pen and then outlined them with the black fine line marker.

I had such fun creating my page for this challenge and I hope you will join in the fun too! For more inspiration check out the amazing creations from the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge (grin!).

Don’t forget that Simon Says Stamp are 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.

Here is a list of the materials over at Simon Says Stamp that were used to create this art journal page:

• Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi 18 Color Set
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad (Picked Raspberry)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Chipped Sapphire)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Carabelle Studio Fleurs Dalex Cling Stamp
• Crafter’s Companion Floral Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker
• Crafter’s Companion Primary Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker
• Faber-Castell Craft Stamper Big Brush Pen (Black)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Crafter’s Companion Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock
• Zig Chisel Tip Glue Pen
• Ranger Inkssentials MINI MISTER Spray Bottle Tool
• Docrafts 5 x 7 Clear Stamp Block Papermania
• Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy Cleaner
• Ranger Ink Blending Tool Applicator Foam

Delicious Autumn

Autumn is one of my favourite months and finding this pretty tissue of a robin sat amongst autumn leaves I decided to create a page using some leaves that I had pressed and a beautiful quote from a poem by George Eliot.

I started by ripping the tissue into pieces around the robin, leaf and branch images and adhering them to the page using a glue stick and matte gel medium. Next I applied DecoArt crackle glaze using a palette knife in between the tissue pieces and left it to dry overnight.

To highlight the crackle effect, I painted Yellow Ochre from my Kuratake watercolour paint set onto the page and also Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker by scribbling the pen onto an acrylic block and picking the ink up with a paintbrush. I also added droplets of Carbon Black Liquitex Ink and then applied water with a paintbrush making it spread between the cracks. I repeated this process using Black Soot Distress Ink too. For the wording, I used my new label maker, which was fun (grin!). The quote is from a poem by George Eliot who wrote “Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns”. I distressed the edges of the labels with scissors and used Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks to edge and colour them; once they were stuck in place I outlined them using a black Uni Pin marker. Then I added some leaves to the branches which I collected last year and had dried and pressed; they are stuck down using wood adhesive. To finish, I applied some little dots of Pumpkin Liquid Pearls to add a pop of bright autumnal colour.

I love the quote from George Eliot too; wouldn’t it be amazing to be a bird and fly about the earth experiencing one autumn after the other (grin!). There is so much I enjoy about autumn especially the colours of autumn which can be seen in this beautiful view of the River Yarrow when we visited Duxbury Woods.

One of my favourite places for autumn/fall foliage with its amazing reds, oranges and yellows is New England. This photo was taken a few years ago, it’s lovely to be transported back there and maybe it is possible to chase those successive autumns after all!

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 Yvonne from Meggy’s way, who is hosting A World of Fantasy challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my successive autumn wishes, wouldn’t it be amazing to experience one autumn after another!

I’m pleased to join their Back To Nature challenge over at A Vintage Journey, as their brief for this challenge inspired me to use the leaves that I had collected last year and dried. I hope you like my Art Journaling and Mixed Media style page.

Over at That’s Crafty! Challenge Blog their theme is Forever Autumn so I’m pleased to join this challenge with my Delicious Autumn page.

I’m also joining the lovely Wen and her Simply Neutrals Tuesday party over at Apple Apricot with my seasonal nature page.

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

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 Medium Crackle Glaze
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Yellow Ochre)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
• Liquitex ink! (Carbon Black)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.2mm)
• IHR Ideal Home Range tissues (Red Robin PT89600)
• Dymo LetraTag Personal Label Maker LT-100H
• Dymo LetraTag Tape 12mm (White Paper)
• Dried and pressed leaves
• Ranger Liquid Pearls (Pumpkin)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Pritt Stick
• Evo-Stik Wood Adhesive

Bee Happy

Today I’m sharing my first attempt at painting with my new Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour paint set. I think I’ll be using them again soon as the vibrancy of the colours is amazing and I love how they blend together to create this summery page.

I also used a new bee stamp set and the “Don’t worry bee happy” sentiment which made me smile as it reminds me of the “Don’t worry, be happy” song. Don’t forget that you still have a week to join the Inspired by a Song challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, it would be great to see you there.

I started by die cutting some flowers out of pages from of my old pocket dictionary using my Big Shot machine.  On the page I stuck both the die cuts and the page they were cut from, so as to get a positive and negative flower image, using Liquitex matte gel medium. I also stuck some pieces of leftover decoupage paper and white leftover tissue paper that were sitting on my craft desk, which already had a floral stamp from Docrafts, a Sheet Music stamp from Woodware, a Vintage-Believe stamp and a Script stamp from Kaisercraft stamped on them using black Archival Ink. When the gel medium was dry, I wet the page with water using a paintbrush and then I added Rose Madder, Sap Green Light, Viridian, Ultrmarine, Turquiose Blue and Colbalt Violet watercolour paints over the top using a paintbrush; it was fun as I learnt how to apply the paints. I concentrated the Rose Madder paint over the flower shapes and added Lemon Yellow to their centres. They are outlined using Black watercolour paint and later with some black Uni Pin markers to add more detail. Next I stencilled a honeycomb pattern using modelling paste and stamped a hexagonalGeometric hexagonal stamp using black Archival Ink. I applied some white gesso to the page using my finger to dull the black stamping and some of the watercolour which added more depth and dimension to the page. The heart was a leftover piece of dictionary page which already had a heart shape punched out of it, I coloured it using the Rose Madder and Lemon Yellow watercolour paints and outlined it as I did the flowers. I also used the top of my spritzer bottle to stamp the small round circles using black Archival Ink and they are painted using Rose Madder, Colbalt Violet and Lemon Yellow watercolour paint. Next I stamped the bees onto some white card three times and also onto the page. For the ones that I stamped on the card, I coloured their body using Lemon Yellow watercolour paint and an extremely diluted Ultramarine Pale watercolour on their wings, then fussy cut the body, head and wings out. I then coloured the legs of the ones that I had stamped on the page using a brown Uni Posca paint pen and stuck the body and wings over the top using a UHU Stic, bending the wings upwards so they looked more 3D. As this page is so bright and cheery, I added the sentiment “Don’t worry bee happy” using black Archival Ink which is from the same stamp set as the bees; this finished the page.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m showing a drink of apple juice and ginger beer again, you may remember it from last week (grin!). Well, following all of the comments from the T Gang I was getting a bit confused until my lovely friend from Drivers and Sundry made me realise that Ginger Beer here in the UK is similar to Ginger Ale in America. They are both non-alcoholic soft drinks although ginger beer is spicier with a more fiery ginger flavour than ginger ale, so as an alternative half apple juice and half ginger ale will work too – Happy T Day!

Also if you look at my glass closely you will see a bee etched upon it, which links back to today’s page (double grin!).

In case you are wondering, this is my box of new Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint; I’m looking forward to using them some more and trying our new techniques too.

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. As well as Try it on Tuesday, here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to join the lovely Bleubeard & Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover, who is hosting the Count your blessings challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I feel very blessed to be able to create art and share it with others.

I’m joining in the fun over at Moo Mania & More and their theme is Summertime challenge with my summery watercolour page.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday the challenge is Watercolour! so I’m pleased to join this challenge too.

I’m also happy to join the Anything Goes! challenge over at The Artistic Stamper with my Bee Happy stamped art journal page.

With the bees and stamping, I’m also pleased to be able to join Fashionable Stamping Challenges and their It’s A Bugs Life challenge.

I love my new bee stamp so I’m also joining the Use your ‘current’ favourite stamp challenge over at Stamping Sensations 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:

• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Rose Madder, Sap Green Light, Viridian, Ultrmarine, Turquiose Blue, Colbalt Violet, Lemon Yellow, Black)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm & 0.5mm)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (Brown)
• That’s Crafty Dinky Stencil (Reversed Honeycomb)
• Docrafts Papermania Capsule Clear Stamps (Geometric Mono)
• Dovecraft Premium Clear Stamps (Bee Happy DCSTP129)
• The Oxford Pocket Dictionary
• Leftover decoupage paper
• Leftover stamped white tissue paper
• Cardstock (White)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic