I created this card for a dear friend of mine who is definitely 50 & Fabulous (smile!).
I started by creating a panel from some recycled wrapping paper which had a pink leopard skin design. Then I stuck it to a card, that I made from a piece of A4 white card stock, and framed it using some sparkly silver zebra striped washi tape and black Glitterations border stickers.
Next I die cut the different paper elements from either black cardstock, the pink wrapping paper or some cardstock that I had covered in the silver sparkly washi tape; I used an X-Cut Folk Alphabet set for the numbers and letters, a stitched circle die for the circles and a tropical flower and foliage die set for the flower and leaves. I embellished the circles with a circular silver outline sticker and the leaves with some of the black Glitterations border stickers before layering all the die cut pieces together using Liquitex matte gel medium.
I hope you’ll join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenge too, for more inspiration please check out the amazing Animal Print designs from my Sparkles Buddies in the Design Team; we would love for you to join us so please be sure to check out the rules here.
With animal print in mind, I thought I’d also share these pretty Snake Head Fritillary flowers pictured here in my garden; their Latin name is Fritillaria meleagris and meleagris means “spotted like a guineafowl“, the name “snake’s head” may refer to snakelike appearance of the nodding flower heads when in bud. We planted them in our garden border last year after rescuing them from the poorly plant section of a garden centre, and with this being their first year flowering we were delighted to see so many flowers (grin!).
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.
Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Butterflies.
My “Flutterbies” page features lots of butterflies which were stamped using a stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps and coloured using Spectrum Aqua markers; I hope you’re inspired to us too, I can’t wait to see your butterfly creations!
I started by stamping the butterfly wings onto the page using black Archival Ink and a Butterfly Peiredae stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps masking some of the butterfly wings to create the different layers. Then I coloured the smaller butterflies using a Scarlet Spectrum Aqua marker and the larger butterflies using Yellow and Sunflower Spectrum Aqua markers; first by applying the ink using a paintbrush and then using the marker to intensify the colour. I used the black Archival Ink and the Paperbabe Stamps stamp set again to add the body and antenna to each of the butterflies. Then I splattered the page with the Scarlet and Yellow Spectrum Aqua markers and also some black DecoArt acrylic paint. Next I coloured some white cardstock using the Yellow and Sunflower Aqua markers and die cut the letters for the “Flutterbies” wording using an X-Cut die set from Docrafts. The letters were edged using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place using a glue stick, which finished the page.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look at the amazing butterfly creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies; it would be lovely to see you there (grin!).
The colours on my page were inspired by the summer wreath which I made; if you look closely you can see a pink feather butterfly attached at the top (grin!).
As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing our homemade milkshakes – there is either banana or peach to chose from and they are both very yummy – Happy T Day!
Hoping that you’re all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of the materials that were used to create this art journal page:
Paperbabe Stamps Stamp Set (Butterfly Peiredae)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Spectrum Aqua Artist Pen (Scarlet, Yellow, Sunflower)
DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Cut Set (Folk Alphabet)
White cardstock
Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Black 199)
Pritt Stick
Challenges
As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:
Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by the lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat this month and her Language theme as “Flutterbies” is used by children as an alternative word for butterflies.
Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #144 – Anything Goes with my butterfly art journal page stamped using the Butterfly Peiredae stamp set from Paperbabe Stamps.
Our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday for the next 2 weeks is Make a Rainbow.
For my art journal page, I created a rainbow coloured background of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet with matching die cut flowers. I hope that you are inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!
For the rainbow background, I painted Kuretake Watercolour paints in the vertical panels onto the page. I did this by applying water to the page first and then adding Red, Cadmium Scarlet, Lemon Yellow, Sap Green Light, Ultramarine, Indigo and Cobalt Violet watercolour paint over the top. Then I splattered the page using white and also black acrylic paint and when dry, I applied some Pébéo white gesso using a brayer to push back the bright rainbow colours into the background more. The different flowers were die cut using three sets of Wildflower Thinlits from Tim Holtz; they were cut from coloured papers and also white cardstock. I layered the coloured and white flower die cuts together so they were slightly off centre and then I arranged them onto the page using a Zig glue pen. The letters for the “rainbow” wording were created the same way using a Docrafts Alphabet die cut set which finished the page.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Make a Rainbow creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).
It’s always magical seeing rainbows and whilst creating this page it reminded me of this one; taken through my craft room window last year.
As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big welcome to the T Gang and sharing my cuppa with one of my yummy birthday cupcakes that I made (it’s a sponge cake filled with vanilla buttercream and jam then topped with the icing) – wishing you a very Happy T Day!
Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of the materials that were used to create this art journal page:
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Red, Cadmium Scarlet, Lemon Yellow, Sap Green Light, Ultramarine, Indigo, Cobalt Violet)
As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are:
Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month but sadly passed away shortly after her heart surgery last month – she is greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my pages this month which was inspired by rainbow wishes (grin!).
MIUCB#48 – Anything Goes + optional No Stamping challenge over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my rainbow page which contains no stamping.
Jennie is hosting this challenge which is described as “According to most search engines the Fall season has officially begun so we should be starting to see the emergence of all those beautiful Autumnal colours, unless Mother Nature throws us a curve ball! Let’s celebrate them anyway by creating a vintage or shabby chic project in traditional Fall shades that includes some form of foliage”.
This Fall Foliage challenge was perfect as I love the leaves and colours of autumn so my page was inspired by our woodland walks that we enjoy this time of year. As I also wanted to combine both the American and UK names for this season, I added the saying “Fall into Autumn”.
The woodland background was created using some fun techniques with Colourcraft Brusho powders; the colours I used were Yellow, Sandstone, Orange, Brilliant Red, Moss Green and Dark Brown. First I sprinkled the Brusho powders over the left-hand side and bottom of the page, spritzed them with water and then watched the magic as the colours exploded on the page. I used a piece of kitchen paper towel to mop up any excess colour and then I applied more of the Brushos until I achieved the finish I was after. Next I splattered the page with the Brushos that I had diluted with water and then using Liquitex matte gel medium I stuck the coloured kitchen towel (which I had just used to mop up the excess colour) over the top. As you can see the kitchen towel also had some black acrylic paint on it and it added the most gorgeous texture for my woodland setting.
The fungi images were from a Field Notes Ephemera Pack from Tim Holtz; I stuck them to the page with glue dots and then covered their bases with small pieces of the coloured kitchen towel so they blended into the foreground. Then I added some twiggy brown grasses which were die cut using a Funky Florals Thinlit set by Tim Holtz from some cardstock that I coloured with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
The branches and leaves were cut from different autumnal coloured design papers using a Fall Foliage Thinlit set by Tim Holtz. I edged some of the leaves using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then arranged them onto the page so it looked like the leaves were falling from the tree branches to the woodland floor. To finish, I added the “Fall into Autumn” wording which was die cut from the same design papers as the leaves using a Docrafts alphabet die set.
I love the yellows, browns and coppers colours of the autumnal leaves …
… and this time of year we see lots of fungi on our woodland walks so I thought I’d capture them on my page (grin!).
Both me and my hubby love this time of year and it happens to be our 32nd wedding anniversary today. We are normally on holiday but as you probably guessed we are happily staying at home this year instead, so I’m sharing a photo of us when we travelled to Maine in America that was taken on our anniversary a few years ago – wishing you a very happy anniversary my darling hubby, love you (grin!).
Thanks so much to The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog for having me as Guest Designer! I hope that you are inspired by the Fall Foilage challenge too and are able to join in the fun!
Stay safe and keep well! x
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 it The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog , 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 so pleased to join the LTSCB #138 – Fall Back over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Fall into Autumn art journal page too.
I’m happy to join in the fun over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the Brusho techniques I used.
Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge their challenge is Dry Embossing, so I’m pleased to join them with the embossed linen textured cardstock that I used on this page.
I’m also joining in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Make It Sparkle challenge with the sparkle from the metallic cardstock I used for the yellow leaves on my art journal page.
Don’t forget that you still have time to join the Autumn Colours 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:
While tidying up my craft room I came across a motivational photo that I used to have on my work desk which always made me smile and inspired me to be more adventurous, it depicts “The power of self-belief”. It reminded me of a lion photo that I had saved from an old magazine so I just had to create this page – I hope you like it (grin!).
For the background I covered the page with Scattered Straw and Antique Linen Distress Ink with a blending tool and then I spritzed with water and left to dry; I love the dreamy way the inks blended with the bursts of colour. Then I splattered the page with black DecoArt acrylic paint dabbing it with a piece of kitchen towel to smudge and reduce the intensity of the colour.
For the lion and wording, I used a picture from a magazine. I experimented by die cutting the trellis pattern into the left-hand side of the picture to blend it into the page; I really like the result (grin!).
I die cut the letters for the wording using a Docrafts alphabet die set from the remainder of the magazine page. They are edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place and surrounding them with pieces of the trellis, which finished the page.
Here’s the photo that inspired my page, I love how the kitten looking into the mirror depicts how powerful self-belief is and I’m a great believer in being able to achieve something if you set your mind to it (grin!).
I hope that you are all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
With the background and trellis texture that I created on this art journal page, I’m pleased to join the Texture challenge over at Art Journal Journey that I’m hosting this month; it would be lovely to see you there!
I’m so happy to join the Staying in the Background challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the dreamy background that I created for this page.
I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their No Stamps Allowed challenge too as no stamps were used to create this page.
I’m pleased to join the Time Out Challenge where for their Challenge #170 they are challenging you to be Adventurous; I’ve been adventurous three-fold in that my art journal page inspires me to believe and therefore be more adventurous, secondly in that I experimented by die cutting into the magazine picture to blend it into my page, and thirdly because I focused on making my page more paper-based so I could play along at this challenge blog.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Antique Linen)
DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic Paint (Black)
Old magazine
The Works (Die Cutting – Trellis)
Pritt Stick
Docrafts X-Cut A5 Die Cut Set (Folk Alphabet XCU503286)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
Zig Memory System 2-Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
I got creative to join in with a number of challenges today including the Texture challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey. Thanks so much to all those who have joined in the fun so far with all your wonderful texture creations!
I’ve been meaning to use this Emily Dickinson quote on one of my pages for a while now and it seemed to match the feathers I used beautifully!
To start, I covered the page with Colbalt Blue Liquitex acrylic paint and added some Prussian Blue and white acrylic paints using a credit card to create some texture. When dry, I stamped a hexagon pattern stamp and my favourite Script stamp from Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink. Then I splattered the whole page using white acrylic paint and applied some Ranger Texture Paste around the edges of the page using a Carabelle Studio Stencil.
The feathers are stickers which I outlined using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and white Uniball gel pen. For the quote, I cut the letters from white cardstock using an X-Cut die set and then stuck them in place using Liquitex matte gel medium.
The colours of the feathers on this page remind me of some flowers that were kindly gifted to me this week when we had family visiting – the orange yellow autumnal colours look fabulous!
I hope that you are all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
I’m joining in the Use Your Favourite Stamp challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge as I used my favourite Script stamp as part of my design.
I’m also joining the Complimentary Colours challenge over at Country View Challenges with the blue and orange complimentary colour combination on my art journal page.
I’m also pleased to join the #127 – Picture Inspiration challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the blue pantone background.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Liquitex Acrylic Color (Colbalt Blue)
Liquitex Artist Color (Prussian Blue)
Art Discount Acrylic (White)
Kaisercraft Clear Stamp (Script CS752)
Docrafts Capsule Collection Clear Stamps – free in magazine
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Carabelle Studios Art Template A6 (Weft Fabric & Numbers TE60034)
Ranger Texture Paste
Feather Stickers
Faber-Castell Big Brush Artist Pitt Pen (Black 199)
I am so delighted to be hosting Art Journal Journey this month and the challenge theme that I have chosen for this month is Texture.
We would like you to have fun creating texture on your pages. As you can see from the different panels on my page there are lots of possibilities to create texture. This could be by adding texture paste, crackle paste, high density mediums like gesso, paints or embossing powder. You could also use embossing folders, layers of papers, die cuts, fabrics or chipboard pieces too. The choice is yours!
I couldn’t just choose one texture so I decided to create my page using 21 different texture panels to inspire you and as I started creating the panels they turned into little scenes, I hope you like them (grin!).
If you’re interested, here’s close up pictures and full details of how the panels that make up my page were created. There’s also a list of all materials I used at the end of this post too.
1. Foil For my first panel, I stamped a dragonfly using black Archival Ink onto some coloured foil, which is recycled from an Easter egg wrapper. I stuck it onto the panel using a glue stick and to create the worn textured look I added some black Archival Ink to emphasis the creases and then I rubbed the foil back to its base silver colour with a baby wipe. To finish I added the glittery flower.
2. Teabags & staples Using staples I attached a used teabag to the panel and then I stuck three teacups on the top which were die cut from some design paper.
3. Glass beads I coloured the panel with some Summer Sky Memento Ink and then applied Liquitex Glass Beads Texture Gel over the top with a palette knife. Whilst the medium was still wet I pressed some pretty blue glass beads into the texture gel. When dry I added the little orange fish which is a brad.
4. Dried leaves I used matte gel medium to layer together a yellow skeleton leaf, a dried beech leaf and a die cut flower, which was cut from some linen textured paper using a Wildflower Tim Holtz Thinlet.
5. Fabric, threads and lace The panel was covered with some self-adhesive fabric and layered with a piece of frayed muslin, some Hessian/burlap and some threads which I topped with a lace flower.
6. Corrugated card I added a piece of corrugated card, which was recycled from some packaging, using matte gel medium then applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top. When dry, I emphasised the corrugations using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The postage stamp is from Graphic 45 and was distressed using the Dark Sepia marker, Tea Dye Distress Ink and black acrylic paint.
7. Elastic bands I applied some matte gel medium to the panel and sprinkled on some Orthodontic elastic bands that CJ kindly set to me (grin!). When dry I covered them with white gesso and highlighted the circles using a Dark Sepia marker. Then I edged the panel using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and coloured some of the circle centres using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. To finish, I added three little hearts that were in my craft stash; they were created using the Falling Hearts Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and glossy white cardstock.
8. Crackle I covered the panel with white gesso and when it was dry I applied Earl Grey, Caramel and Coconut Faber-Castell Gelatos smudging the colours with my finger. To create the crackle I used a BoBunny stamp and some Toffee Crisp and Rich Cocoa Momento inks and Black Archival ink.
All the letters for the “texture” wording were created using an X-Cut die set; they were cut from both black and white paper and then layered together onto a panel of textured design paper.
9. Glitter I cut some different coloured glitter sheets into squares and then stuck them onto the panel using a glue stick.
10. Cork I simply stuck a piece of cork designed paper onto the panel.
11. Paint Splatter To add more texture I used some high density Liquitex paint, splattering Vivid Lime Green, Cold Grey and Bright Aqua Green onto the panel and leaving it to dry.
12. Wood This is one of my favourite techniques; I applied Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy and Ground Espresso Distress Ink pads vertically down the panel and used a paint brush to add some matte gel medium over the top keeping the brush strokes in a vertical direction. I repeated the process a couple of times making sure each layer dried before adding the next.
13. Texture paste I applied some Ranger Texture Paste to the panel using a Vintage Diamond stencil. When dry I coloured the panel using Salty Ocean and Cracked Pistachio Distress Inks, then emphasised the texture paste using some Midnight Sparkle lustre wax.
14. Napkin I simply covered the panel with a gold embossed napkin using a glue stick.
15. Wooden chipboard pieces and rust effect I started by sticking the cogs in place using matte gel medium. When dry I added layers of different shades of rust and brown acrylic paints which I had created by mixing Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow and black acrylic paints. When dry I added more detail using Dark Sepia and a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Then I added some patina by lightly stippling some Bright Aqua Green acrylic paint over the top.
16. Paper layers I covered the panel with leftover paper pieces and edged them using a black Uni Pin marker. The flower is a paper sticker and the foliage was cut using a Funky Floral Thinlet from Tim Holtz and coloured using two green Winsor & Newton Promarkers.
17. Doily and gems I added lots of texture to the panel using layers of doily which I edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia marker. They are stuck in place using double-sided tape and then embellished with some textured gemstones to add some shimmer and shine.
18. Embossing Folder, thread and buttons I used an embossing folder to add a flower design to a piece of Kraft cardstock and then coloured the raised embossed design using a white Uniball gel pen and Aqua Green Promarker. Then I wound some wax thread around the panel and attached a big button.
19. Drywall/Plasterboard Tape I added some drywall/plasterboard tape to the panel and coloured it using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray. I splattered the panel with black DecoArt acrylic paint and added some washi tape to create the foreground. Then I added the mushrooms which are from the Field Notes Ephemera Set from Tim Holtz.
20. Embossing enamel and die cut trellis The panel background was coloured using Tea Dye and Antique Linen Distress Ink and Dandelion and Pistachio Memento Ink. The trellis was die cut from white cardstock covered in black Archival Ink and Chunky Silver Stampendous embossing enamel. I added two little birds which were stamped using black Archival Ink, coloured with Promarkers and fussy cut out.
21. Tissue Paper For the final panel, I crumpled some white tissue paper and then added it to the panel using matte gel medium. When dry, I coloured it with Lemon, Cadmium Yellow, Cerulean Blue, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna watercolour paint. The flower was cut from some Kanban cardstock using a Wildflower Tim Holtz Thinlet.
Once the panels were complete I stuck them onto the page using double-sided tape; I coloured the background with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to outline the panels before sticking them in place.
Do you have a favourite panel? It’s hard for me to choose, maybe number 3 with the beads and little fish, number 6 as I love the corrugated card, number 15 with cogs and rust or number 20 as you know I adore robins (grin!).
I hope that you are inspired to join us at Art Journal Journey this month too! We are really looking forward to visiting you and seeing all the Texture that you create on your pages (grin!).
Hoping that you’re all staying safe and well! x
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
I’m joining the It’s A Wrap challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the Easter Egg wrapping, corrugated packaging and tissue paper wrap I used to create my panels.
I’m happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.
It’s a new month so we are launching our August challenge over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.
Today’s mixed media art journal page was inspired by happy summer sunflowers and the beautiful quote by John Lubbock “Like the sun colours flowers, art colours life” which resonated with me. I hope you like it and that you are inspired to join us over at Creative Artiste; it would be lovely to see you there!
I started by applying Snowcone, Boysenberry, Bubble Gum and Lime Faber-Castell Gelatos, scribbling them onto the page and then smudging the colours with my finger which I had wet with water. Then I used a baby wipe to remove some of the Gelato colours through two different sizes of honeycomb stencils which gave the page depth and contrast. I used the smaller of the two Honeycomb stencils to add Rose Bud and Paris Dusk Memento Inks using a blending tool. Next I stamped an abstract numbers stamp from Kaisercraft and a Solar & Lunar stamp from Finnabair using black Archival Ink and then I stencilled Ranger Texture Paste through a Reversed Honeycomb stencil from That’s Crafty.
I had fun creating the large sunflower, drawing the petals and cutting them out of some design paper. The petals were coloured using Lemon and Limencello Faber-Castell Gelatos and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker which I also used to edge the petals. The centre of the sunflower was die cut from some glossy brown card stock to which I then applied Ranger Texture Paste through the Reversed Honeycomb stencil. To finish, I added the quote which I created using an alphabet X-Cut die set with some yellow paper. Like the sunflower, the letters were highlighted using Limencello Faber-Castell gelato and edged using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.
All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge. For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too.
We have sunflowers in our garden this year which have flowered beautifully …
… and as you can see the bees love them (grin!).
Hoping that you’re all staying safe and well! x
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
I’m pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Use Your Favourite Tool challenge too as I used lots of stencils which is one of my favourite tools to use on my mixed media pages.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Let's Art Journal 