When we visited our family for the Christmas holidays we went on a chocolate adventure to Chococo, which is a chocolate shop and café. We had such a wonderful time that I created this page to remember it by.
I covered the background with a striped piece of Kaisercraft paper; the bold colours reminded me of the Chococo logo and store. I edged the page with a thin brown washi tape and then cut up a leaflet that I’d picked up there; this included the Chococo logo, gingerbread caramel chocolate and two chocolate lollies with birds on them. They are arranged on the page with some die cut brown hearts, a circular hot chocolate image and some wording which reads “cozy” and “even when it’s cold outside our memories keep us warm”. The wording “sweet” is from Kaisercraft and “an armful of candy boxes” is from Tim Holtz, both of which are stickers. To finish the page, I added three wooden glittery snowflakes as we visited in winter.
Chococo is located in Horsham, West Sussex and celebrates all things chocolate.
They have a chocolate counter with lots of yummy treats and …
… also a café specialising in hot chocolate.
I couldn’t resist having one of their Gingerbread Caramel Hot Chocolates with all the works (whipped cream, marshmallows and chocolate shavings), it was so delicious and was accompanied by one of their award winning gingerbread caramel chocolates – yum yum!
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my drink related post 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
As this was a new café for us to visit, I’m joining the Something New challenge that I’m hosting over at Art Journal Journey, it would be great to see you there (grin!).
I’m also happy to join in the Love challenge over at Country View Challenges with my art journal page, who doesn’t love chocolate (double grin!).
I’m also pleased to join the Snowflake challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with the glittery wooden snowflakes that I included on my page.
I’m also happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page too.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Kaisercraft 12×12 Paper Save the Date Collection (Invite P949)
Washi Tape
Chococo leaflet – recycled
The Works Die Cut Book (Winter Feelings)
X-Press It! double-sided tape
Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet (Havana Nights SS354)
Tim Holtz idea-ology Sticker Book (Christmas #TH93999)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
The Craftblog Christmas Village Collection (Glittered Wooden Shapes)
We have been enjoying the antics of the cheeky House Sparrows that have been visiting the bird feeder in our garden so I created a page to remind me of them.
I used my new snowflake thinlet set by Tim Holtz and some images from a Winter Collective paper by Graphic 45 (also new to my craft stash) to create this page, so I’m pleased to join the Something New challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey. I’d like to thank all of you for your lovely comments and wonderful creations so far, I hope you are having fun getting creative with this theme (grin!).
I stencilled the brickwork background using Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress Ink adding some Peeled Paint Distress Ink so they looked like the brick walls of my garden. Next I die cut some snowflakes using my new thinlets set by Tim Holtz and Big Shot machine. They are cut from some recycled Kraft paper and are stuck in place using a glue stick.
Then I layered together some images and borders that I cut from the Winter Collective paper by Graphic 45 which are stuck in place using double-sided tape; the sparrows reminded me of the ones in our garden. I added some red glittery gems to add some sparkle which finished the page.
Here are the house sparrows visiting the feeder in our garden, they are such fun to watch as there are about 9 or 10 of them and only 4 perches on our feeder so they all fly to the feeder at once and then push each other off the perches to get to the seed (grin!).
In the end, they all seem to get there fair share of seed. We are pleased to see them in such numbers in our garden as House Sparrows in the UK have declined over the years and they are one of the highest conservation priorities.
We loved seeing them and these shared the love by creating a heart shape as they fed on the feeder (double grin!).
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
I’m happy to join in the Love challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Winter Sparrows art journal page as we love them visiting our garden.
I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Something New challenge too as I used new products to create this page.
I’m also pleased to join the Snowflakes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with all the snowflakes that I included on my page too.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
I created this page for all my blog friends to wish you all a magical Christmas and Happy Holidays!
I started by stamping the “We wish you a Merry Christmas” sheet music, the number 25 and the angels from a stamp set by Kaisercraft using Black Archival Ink. Then I applied some watered down Forest Moss and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink using a paint brush making light criss-cross strokes to add some texture whilst allowing some of the white paper to show through. Next I added a pretty foliage napkin which was gifted to me for my art journaling by a dear friend that we walk with every week – thank you! It is stuck in place using a glue stick and then the edges are ripped by painting a line of water along the piece of napkin where I wanted it to be torn, and then tearing it along the wet strip; the tear followed the water-soaked line like magic (grin!). The edges of napkin are stuck down using Liquitex matte gel medium. To finish, I recycled an old Christmas card to die cut the snowflakes and also to add the wording “Wishing you a magical Christmas”.
Me and my hubby always start our Christmas celebrations by visiting our local pub for a pint. Our pub doesn’t serve food but they are happy for you to take your own in with you to enjoy with your drink, so we always stop at the local deli for a Festive sandwich, which was so yummy!
Here’s our Festive sandwich (the deli kindly cut and wrapped it so we could have half each) with a pint of Mulled Stout from the Big Clock Brewery in Accrington, Lancashire; it’s a very dark beer, 4.5% ABV and tasted very Christmassy with the mulled spices – delicious!
The “re-order line” wording on the glass made me smile, well it would be rude not too so we did have another Mulled Stout (grin!). As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my pint with the T Gang – wishing you all a Happy T Day and also a magical Christmastime! Happy Holidays!
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 Yvonne, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words and numbers on this 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.
I’m also joining the Anything Goes challenge over at Moo Mania & More too.
I’m joining in the Party Time challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as my page is celebrating Christmas – wishing you a magical time!
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Kaisercraft clear stamp (December 25th CS790)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Forest Moss, Mowed Lawn)
Napkin
Pritt Stick
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Recycled Christmas Card
The Works (Metal Cutting Die)
Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
I love all things Christmas so I have another Christmas page which this time is inspired by the new reindeer street mural that was recently created by the wonderful artist Banksy. This time, he is highlighting the homeless at Christmastime.
For the background I stamped a Script stamp from Kaisercraft using London Fog Memento Ink and a wreath stamp using Black Archival Ink onto the page, and then I covered the page using Vintage Photo and Peeled Paint Distress Ink with a blending tool. Then I used a star stencil to remove some of the Distress Ink with a baby wipe and used the star stencil again to stencil the stars (in a Banksy style) using Black Soot Distress Ink, using a white Uniball gel pen to highlight some of the edge. Next I splattered the page with white gesso, black acrylic paint and Aged Mahogany Distress Ink.
The reindeer and snowflakes are glitter stickers which add some lovely texture and sparkle; it’s hard to see this on the photos. To finish, I added some white snowflake gems, red enamel dots and a fabric “Merry Christmas” tag.
Just a reminder that there is still another week to join our Christmas is coming challenge over at Try it on Tuesday; it would be lovely to see you there.
If you haven’t yet seen it, here’s the Banksy street mural which recently appeared in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter over the weekend. It was reported that it was later vandalised with two red noses being added which then resulted in it being covered with Perspex to protect it.
When I think of street art, Banksy always springs to mind and you may remember me featuring his work on my blog before, I love his pieces! Banksy is an anonymous England-based street artist who has been active since the 1990s. His street art style is a distinctive stenciling technique and often his works are controversial having a political and social message combined with satirical dark humour.
As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my drink of ginger beer at a café in Lytham after a walk with our friends – wishing you a very Happy T Day!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
As it’s the season for putting up Christmas trees and decorations I created this page to celebrate, I hope you like it!
Don’t forget that you still have until 2nd Jan 2020 to join us over at A Vintage Journey for our Holly Jolly Christmas challenge too. This art journal page fits the challenge perfectly, it would be lovely to see you there (grin!).
To start I coloured the background with three shades of green Liquitex acrylic paint, firstly painting them on the page and then once dry applying them again to the page using a palette knife to create layers of colour. I splattered the page with some white and black acrylic paint and created a stencil using Tim Holtz Holiday Green Thinlets to add green fir tree branches to the background using Shabby Shutters and Forest Moss Distress Ink. I used the same Thinlet set to create the white branches from some recycled white card and arranged them on the page with some white bauble stickers. Next I used a Snowy Star Thinlets set from Tim Holtz to create the white stars which are stuck in place using a Zig glue pen. To finish, I added some Tim Holtz stickers which read “sparkly decorations”, “around the Christmas tree” and “the sparkly Christmas tree”.
Here is me and hubby in front of one of our Christmas trees, this one is in the front room window and has a red, white and gold theme of flowers and foliage (grin!).
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
For the next two weeks our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Christmas is coming.
My art journal page features traditional Christmas red and green colours and Christmas trees; I love all things Christmas so I can’t wait to see your Christmas creations (grin!).
For the background, I stamped a Lattice stamp using Aged Mahogany Distress Ink over the whole page and then spritzed the page with water. When dry I added pieces of green polka dot washi tape to create the Christmas tree, added some red gemstones and then the numbers and trunk which are stickers from Kaisercraft. Next I die cut the letters to create the “Christmas is coming” wording out of white card; they are coloured using a green pen, stuck in place using Zig glue pen and more detail was added using a white Uniball gel pen. I used another sticker set to add the snowflake discs and create the tags, layering them together with the trees and stars and adding a bow of red and white twine. I also added some wording from a Tim Holtz Christmas sticker book which reads “the best tree”, “the magic tree”, “Christmas time has come at last” and “25th of December”. To finish, I added some green and white glittery snowflakes and also some red gems to the tags and snowflake discs.
There’s some amazing inspiration from my Design Teamies over at Try it on Tuesday too, so please pop over to take a look.
The numbered tree that I’ve created on this page could be used to count down the days until Christmas. I’m not sure where this year has gone now that December is here and oh my, there are only 15 days left until Christmas!
Another way this page could be used is as a calendar marking off the dates until Christmas Day is here. I think my friends have the best idea though, with the reward of a chocolate each day from this fabulous advent calendar! I may just have to get one of these next year – looks so yummy (grin!).
I noticed this advent calendar when we were visiting little Ellie, doesn’t she look adorable after her recent visit for her trim at the doggie parlour (double grin!).
Oh, and not forgetting hot chocolate for T Stands for Tuesday . This time of year we often enjoy a cup with a scrummy Lebkuchen which are only on sale at Christmastime. These ones are dipped in dark chocolate – delicious! I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang – 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 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 joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Traditional Christmas challenge with the traditional red and green Christmas colours on my page.
I’m also pleased to be able to join the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with the stars on the tags and the snowflakes star shapes I included on this page.
I’m also joining in the Stars challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the stars on the tags and the snowflakes star shapes I included on this page too.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey is Holly Jolly Christmas, which is being hosted by Sandy. Here’s what it is all about:
“This month Anything Goes as long as it says Christmas and is in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.”
I love all things Christmas so I had great fun Art Journaling this Holly Jolly Christmas page using lots of Tim Holtz products.
I started by covering the page with Botanicals Collage paper from Tim Holtz using matte gel medium and left it to dry. Then I coloured the centre of the page using Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink with a blending tool. I painted white gesso around the edges pulling the gesso into the centre of the page using a dry paintbrush so the gesso didn’t mix with the Distress Ink. I then added some splatters of white gesso, black acrylic paint and Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
Next I die cut some holly using a Holiday Greens Thinlet set by Tim Holtz and my Big Shot machine; they are die cut from some scrap white paper which I coloured using Mowed Lawn, Pine Needles and Forest Moss Distress Ink, edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker and stuck in place using a Zig glue pen. The berries were also die cut from some scrap paper which were coloured with Festive Berries Distress Ink.
I layered the sheet music and tartan strips together which are from a Christmas Sticker Book from Tim Holtz and edged them using a black marker smudging it to give a worn look. The Santa Claus, “25” and “Special Delivery” signage are from the Tim Holtz Christmas Sticker Book too. I also added the wording “have a holly jolly Christmas”, “A visit from Santa Claus” and “was a jolly happy soul” which were again from the Tim Holtz sticker book; once stuck in place they were edged with a black marker.
If you create a Christmas art journal page then why not share it with us at A Vintage Journey, it would be lovely to see you there (grin!). For more Inspiration, please pop over to see the amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey too.
Whilst creating this page I was listening to the fabulous Michael Bublé crooning the song “Holly Jolly Christmas” (grin!). This is a song that you can’t help but sing along to – wishing you a Holly Jolly Christmas!
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 A Vintage Journey, 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, aka Meggymay and her Words and Numbers challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the words and numbers on this page.
I’m joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Traditional Christmas challenge with my Holly Jolly Christmas art journal page with the Santa Claus and holly.
I’m pleased to be able to join the #108 – Winter challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my Holly Jolly Christmas page too.
I’m also happy to join Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their #56 –Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed-media art journal page as I used collage paper, inks, gesso, paper, stickers and markers to create it.
Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog their theme is # 32 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Veggie Stamping, so I’m pleased to be able to join this challenge too.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Tim Holtz Collage Paper (Botanicals #TH93705)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Rusty Hinge, Mowed Lawn, Pine Needles, Forest Moss, Festive Berries)
Recycled white paper
Sizzix Thinlets Tim Holtz Alterations (Holiday Greens 658759)
The Range (5×5 Dies Holly)
Tim Holtz idea-ology (Christmas Sticker Book #TH93999)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
My page today features a magical reindeer and was inspired by some Christmas shopping at a fabulous shop specialising in wool and haberdashery; there are photos later!
For the background I stuck a piece of wood effect design paper onto the page using a UHU Stic. Then I added some ripped pieces of holly tissue paper over the top using Liquitex matte gel medium and stuck some glittery snowflake stickers to the page. Next I arranged an A6 card, stars, leaves, gem flowers and foliage which are all from a Die Cut Book with some gold swirl foliage and gold stars which I die cut using my Big Shot machine. I added the wording “It’s the most wonderful time of year” which is from the same decoupage book and also the magical reindeer image which I cut from an old book; it’s stuck in place using double-sided foam tape. To finish, I added some small blue gemstones using Ranger Glossy Accents to add a little more sparkle.
Mrs. Johnsons Emporium is located in Blackpool in this grand building and they stock a large range of wool and haberdashery.
The owners are enthusiastic about knitting and created this amazing reindeer to decorate the shop and …
… also this colourful elephant – aren’t they both amazing!
They have an extensive range of wool and haberdashery to choose from, with lots of finished examples to show how the pattern and wool turn out. I was very tempted although I do not knit or crochet (grin!). As there website says, it really is a haven of gorgeousness for those who knit, crochet, sew and craft!
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our deer mugs filled with tea and a yummy custard slice – Happy T day (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 happy to join in the Stars challenge over at Country View Challenges with all the gold stars I added to my art journal page too.
I’m joining in the Let’s Sparkle challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the glittery snowflakes, gold accents and gemstones on my page.
Our new theme for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Inspired by a Song/Christmas Carol.
My page was inspired by the song ‘12 Days of Christmas’. I’m so excited to find out which song you have chosen to inspire your creations, please be sure to let us know.
I started by dividing the page into 12 equal sections; each
sections is coloured and then stamped with a Sheet Music stamp using a
different colour of Distress Ink; in numerical order the colours were Shabby
Shutters, Festive Berries, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves, Fossilized Amber,
Spiced Marmalade, Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Abandoned Coral, Picked
Raspberry, Twisted Citron and Fired Brick. They are all edged using a Postage
Stamp border stamp and black Archival Ink and then splattered with white gesso and
black acrylic paint. I added the numbers which are die cut from black paper and
stuck into place, like all of the paper elements, using a Zig Memory glue pen.
Then I created a scene to depict each line of the song using some white mixed
media paper to either stamp with black Archival Ink or die cut the different
elements. The main characters are from a 12 Days of Christmas stamp set by
Urban Stamps and for:
A partridge in a pear tree – I
fussy cut the partridge and three pears that I had stamped and arranged them on
the page with a die cut branch from a Garden Greens Thinlet set by Tim Holtz which
I edged using a black marker pen.
Turtle Doves – I surrounded the
dove with some hearts that were created using a paper punch.
French Hens – The foreground was
created using a circle die cut which I stamped with some French wording and the
three snowflakes are die cut too.
Calling Birds – The berry branch
was from the Tim Holtz Garden Greens Thinlet set and the music notes were hand
drawn and cut out.
Gold Rings – I suspended the five
gold rings using thin strips of paper and added some bows that were stamped from
the 12 Days of Christmas stamp set and they were very fiddly to cut out (grin!).
Geese a Laying – I stamped and cut
out some extra eggs.
Swans a Swimming – I added some
extra waves and a circle die cut to depict the sun.
Maids a Milking – The flowers were
die cut using a Funky Florals Thinlet set from Tim Holtz.
Ladies Dancing – I created the
dance floor and little flowers using another Urban Arts stamp set.
Lords a Leaping – The foreground
and the snow fall were created using die cuts.
Pipers Piping – I used the Sheet
Music stamp again to depict the Piper’s music.
Drummers Drumming – The tiered
podium is created using a square die cut set and the stars are from the 12 Days
of Christmas stamp set.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from my Design Teamies.
Do you know the song 12 Days of Christmas? It’s an English Christmas carol which has a simple verse structure that is modified with the progressive addition of Christmas gifts, so that each verse is longer than the verse before. It starts:
On the first day of
Christmas
my true love sent to me:
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
… etc, etc
And ends:
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me: 12 Drummers Drumming 11 Pipers Piping 10 Lords a Leaping 9 Ladies Dancing 8 Maids a Milking 7 Swans a Swimming 6 Geese a Laying 5 Gold Rings 4 Calling Birds 3 French Hens 2 Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Our local garden centre had a Christmas evening that I went along to with my sister and mum, we had a wonderful time and we all bought some Christmas gifts for family and friends.
The Christmas displays were so pretty and they even had live music which I really enjoyed (grin!).
They also treated us to a free mince pie and some mulled wine, so as T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing this treat with you too – Happy T Day!
Sending Happy Thanksgiving wishes to those of you who celebrate this week too!
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 Rike from rike’s art and her Fruit and Veggies challenge over at Art Journal Journey with ny pear tree.
I’m also happy to join in the Hand Stamped challenge hosted by the lovely Craftyfield over at Country View Challenges as I used six different stamp sets for this page including the main characters for each of the 12 scenes being hand stamped and fussy cut out.
My page design today was inspired by my new winter hat which is so pretty, it is navy blue in colour and has butterflies and sparkly gems on it (grin!).
This is also a reminder that you still have another week to join our Cold, Cold, Cold challenge at Try it on Tuesday too, it would be lovely to see you there!
I started by smooshing Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink onto the page by stamping the ink pad onto a blending mat, spritzing with water and pressing the mat onto the page. Then I used a blending tool to add the same Distress Ink around the edges of the page to darken the colour. Next I stamped a Hessian texture stamp from Kaisercraft, as it reminded me of the woven texture of my hat, using Paris Dusk Memento Ink. I also stamped some dots from Hampton Arts, as they looked like the sparkly lines of gems on my hat, using the same Memento Ink and also some Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink. I added the silver snowflakes which are stickers from Docrafts and then I splattered the page with silver Liquitex Ink and the Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. I added the embroidery butterfly and lots of clear gems to the lines of stamped dots to represent the sparkle on my hat. I’m all set for winter now as I have my new hat so I finished the page by adding the “Let it snow” wording which is from a set of silver glittery letter stickers.
Here’s my new hat, I just fell in love with it as soon as I saw it! What could be better than the navy blue colour, sparkle, pretty butterflies and a big fat pom-pom on the top (grin!).
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing the love and my hot chocolate which like my hat is guaranteed to keep you warm on cold winter days, and this one has a shot of gingerbread syrup in it – so yummy! 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 pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps .with my wintry art journal page.
I’m joining the Peace & Tranquility challenge over at Moo Mania & More with my winter butterfly page.
I’m pleased to be able to join in the fun over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog for their Anything Goes + optional twist of Watercolouring with my wintry art journal page.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
