Soar

Over at Try it on Tuesday our new challenge for the next two weeks is Feathered Friends.

For this challenge, I had fun using my new Scribbly Birds in Flight stamp set by Dina Wakley. My three birds are soaring high in the sky looking down on the lush green countryside filled with pretty flowers.

To start, I stamped the three birds in flight using a stamp set by Dina Wakley and black Archival Ink. Then I painted the sky around the birds using Ultramarine Pale watercolour paints; I also used these Kuretake Watercolours to colour everything on my page except the birds. When dry, I painted the mountains and the countryside foreground using Sap Green, Dark Sap Green, Hooker’s Green and Burnt Sienna paint, blending and layering the colours together. The flowers were created using a Flower Field Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and were die cut from some mixed media paper. I coloured them using the Sap Green Light, Dark Sap and Hooker’s Green paint and when they had dried, I painted the flowers using Cadmium Scarlet, Lemon Yellow, Rose Madder, Colbalt Violet, Red, Ultramarine paint; they were stuck into place using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium.

For the birds, I wanted to try a new technique using clear gesso and marker pens so I covered the birds with a layer of clear gesso and left it to dry. This allowed me to smudge and blend the marker inks by applying the marker colour over the gesso and then smudging it with my finger; the markers were Tri-Blend Spectrum Noir and the colours were Burnt Orange Blend, Gold Brown Blend, Earth Brown Blend and Gold Yellow Blend. I finished the birds by adding eyes and more feather detail with a black Uni Pin Fine Line marker and a white Uniball gel pen. To finish, I added the quote which I stamped onto a Pocket Card by Tim Holtz using an alphabet stamp set from Dovecraft and Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink. Once stamped, I cut out the wording to fit the page design and stuck them in place using double-sided tape. The quote I used is by William Blake and reads “No bird soars to high, if it soars with his own wings”.

I hope that you are inspired to join our Feathered Friends challenge too, for more amazing inspiration from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies please pop over to Try it on Tuesday.

This page was inspired by the English countryside and reminded me of our walks in the Forest Of Bowland, which is an “area of outstanding natural beauty” located near to the Lake District.

On this particular walk, we passed through beautiful countryside and farmland, woodlands and lakes making our way to a summit called Nicky Nook.

From the summit there are spectacular views across Lancashire; our house is located somewhere on the left-hand side of this picture faraway in the distance by the sea (grin!).

As T Stands for T Day I’m sharing our refreshing iced water that we always enjoy on our walks – Happy T Day everyone!

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.

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

• Dina Wakley Media Cling Rubber Stamps (Scribbly Birds In Flight MDR47636)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour Paint set (Ultramarine Pale No:61, Sap Green Light No:51, Sap Green No:53, Hooker’s Green No:52, Burnt Sienna No:46, Cadmium Scarlet No:31, Lemon Yellow No:40, Rose Madder No:34, Cobalt Violet No:139, Red No:32, Ultramarine No:64)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Dies (Flower Field 665369)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media Paper
• Pébéo Clear Gesso
• Tri-Blend Spectrum Noir Markers (Burnt Orange Blend, Gold Brown Blend, Earth Borwn Blend, Gold Yellow Blend)
• UniPin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.05mm)
• Uniball Signo Gel Pen (White)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Ranger Distress Archival Ink (Ground Espresso)
• X-Press It! Double-sided tape

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 this month by the lovely Alison from Words & Pictures; she has chosen Summer Countryside as her theme so I’m joining her with my summery countryside page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #148 – Anything Goes with my summery art journal page. LTCCB #60 – July Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my birds in flight summer page.

T Day – 8th Anniversary

Today’s page celebrates the 8th Anniversary of T Stands for Tuesday, where our wonderful hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth ask us to share a drink related post each week.

I always have fun meeting up with the T Gang each Tuesday, thanks so much to our hosts and everyone for making it such a friendly and happy place – Happy T Day!

I started by covering the background with white gesso and leaving it to dry. Then I added Passion Fruit Faber-Castell Gelato to the page in small horizontal lines and used a baby wipe to smudge the colour over the page. I repeated the same technique using Red Cherry Faber-Castell Gelato and then I painted some white acrylic paint over the top.

For the tags, I created a masterboard using some mixed media paper which I coloured with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink. Then I stamped and stencilled the number 8 over it using lots of different stamp sets and stencils. The tags were die cut using Tim Holtz Tag Collection Framelits and layered onto the page with the flowers and wording. All the white cardstock was recycled from an old anniversary card along with the fussy cut champagne flutes and “anniversary” wording; they were edged with a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place. The rest of the silver wording was die cut, using an Alphanumeric Label Thinlits set by Tim Holtz and the number 8 using a X-Cut die set, from some recycled card packaging. All the flowers were die cut using a Small Tattered Florals Thinlits set from Tim Holtz from the recycled white card, some red and pink linen textured cardstock and some of the masterboard that I created; they were layered together using gel medium and finished with gemstone centres.

I thought a glass of this ice cold pink prosecco, that you may remember from my birthday, fits the bill for our celebration and would be perfect served in the champagne glasses on my page – cheers and Happy 8th Anniversary this 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 all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Gelatos (Passion Fruit, Red Cherry)
• Art Discount Acrylic Paint (White)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media Paper
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Aged Mahogany)
• Number 8 Stamps – Papermania (Alphamania PMA9071102), Docrafts Creative Essentials A5 stamp set (Folk Alphabet, Script Alphabet, Alpha Trad), Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Grunge Alphabet CMC008, Documented CMS226), Kaisercraft (Provincial CS243), Craft Sensations (Clear Stamps CR0274/19A1)
• Number 8 Stencils – Craft Sensations (Deco Stencil Set 154892, 2 Piece Stencil Set – letters and numbers)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits (Tag Collection 658784)
• Recycled Anniversary Card
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker (Cold Grey)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Pritt Stick
• Recycled silver metallic packaging
• Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Textured Finish)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Alphanumeric Label 664177, Small Tattered Florals 661806)
• Docrafts X-Cut Die Set (Folk Alphabet)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Docrafts Papermania (Adhesive Stones – Red)
• Hobbycraft (Rose Gem Stones)
• Mark Richards (Silver Metal Style #1981)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #148 – Anything Goes with my journal page. LTSCB #147 – Anything Goes over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my celebration page. MIUCB #51 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Aperture challenge at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the different techniques I used to create this page too.

Here comes Summer

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Here comes Summer.

I created a page full of summer sunshine – I hope you’re inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by stencilling the sunbursts over the page using a stencil from Marianne Designs and some Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber and Scattered Straw Distress Inks. Next I painted some Salty Ocean Distress Ink in-between each of the sun rays to create blue skies and then I splattered the page with the same blue ink and also some Mustard Seed Distress Ink. I added the black wording to the background using some rub-on transfers and to finish, I layered together some black and yellow paper to frame the beach notecard which reads “Seagulls on the ocean breeze, sandpipers and shimmering seas … the best of days are made of these”.

As you may remember I’m trying to use up leftovers on my pages this year and I’ve been meaning to use this notecard on a page for a while now, it was leftover from a pack that I used to notify people of our change of address when we moved here, by the sea, many years ago (grin!).

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Here comes Summer creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, today I’m sharing my hubby’s summer mug that reminded me of my page and also the beach where we live – wishing you a 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:

• Marianne Designs Craft Stencil A4 (Slimline Sunburst PS8080)
• Tim Holtz Distress (Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, Scattered Straw, Salty Ocean)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Summer Sentiments)
• Leon X-Large Coloured Paper Pad
• Cape Shore Notecard
• X-Press It! double-sided tape

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #146 – Anything Goes with my summer art journal page. Love to Scrap Challenge Blog and their No Rulz 4! theme where their are no rules and you can create anything, so I’m joining in the summer sunshine page. LTCCB #59 – June Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my fun summer page too.

Peregrine Falcon

It’s a new month so we are launching our June challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, and as always the theme is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by the Peregrine Falcon that lives locally to us (grin!).

I started by tearing some feather designed paper into pieces and sticking them onto the page using a glue stuck. Then I coloured the rest of the page using Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress Inks and applied some Pébéo white gesso over the page using a brayer. When dry, I stencilled a Distressed Sequins stencil from Tando Creative using the Distress Inks again.

The Peregrine Falcon image and other paper pieces were cut from a Stamperia Paper Pad and edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place using double-sided tape.

I also used the Stamperia paper to create the wording which was embossed using a Typewriter embossing folder by Tim Holtz. I cut the letters out to create small tiles and then I coloured the letters using a Brown Grey Tri-Blend Spectrum Noir marker before sticking them in place.

To finish, I added the grungy metal embellishment which was stuck in place using glue dots.

For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste. To join our mixed media challenge all you need to do is use three different mediums on your projects; I hope that you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see you there!

We were lucky to see the Peregrine Falcon flying around near to where we live.

Peregrine falcons are fascinating birds, if your interested here are some facts about them:

• Peregrine falcons are the fastest creatures on the planet, reaching speeds of over 321 kph (200 mph) as they dive to catch their prey from a great height in a movement called a ‘stoop’.
• Tower blocks, bridges and cathedrals offer the perfect urban alternative to nesting on cliff tops, and pigeons and starlings provide a reliable source of food which we have in abundance here.
• Their nostrils guide shock waves of air to stop the high pressure damaging their lungs while they dive. A natural design so that inspired the design of the first jet engines!
• They have excellent binocular vision which is eight times better than that of a human so they are able to see prey from more than 3 km away.

I hope 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.

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

• The Works (Paper Pad Sheets with Glitter)
• Pritt Stick
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Ranger Mini Brayer
• Tando Creative Stencil (Distressed Sequins)
• Stamperia Double Faced Sheets (Forest)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175B)
• X-Press It! Double-sided tape
• Tim Holtz Sizzix 3-D Texture Fades (Typewriter 664760)
• Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend marker (Brown Grey Blend BG9)
• The Works (Metal Embellishments)
• Stix2 glue dots

Challenges As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #145 – Anything Goes with my Peregrine Falcon page. Masculine challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my falcon art journal page. Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge and their I’m Feeling Like Royalty challenge with my page as the Peregrine Falcon was considered a bird of royalty back when falconry was practiced in ancient times.

Happy 100th at Country View Challenges

There’s a special celebration at Country View Challenges this month to commemorate our 100 Challenge.

This month marks our 100th Challenge and we couldn’t let that go by without a celebration so we are offering two prizes, the first will be for your projects that fit the theme of 100 taking inspiration from one of the DT makes, such as a colour scheme, technique, design idea, stamp or die motif and of course, 100 (or One Hundred) must be included on the project. The second prize will be picked from one of the comments left on the CVC and DT blog posts – don’t forget, you can enter as many times as you like so make sure it is a comment that makes our DT happy to make them count

I’m celebrating our Happy 100^th challenge with this countryside scene which was created using lots of Tim Holtz products.

I started by using one of my favourite techniques, by stamping Salty Ocean and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink pads onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then pressing the block onto the page.

While the page was drying, I used the Flower Field Thinlits die from Tim Holtz to cut out my flower meadow foreground and then coloured the flowers using a blending tool to apply Seedless Grape, Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed Distress Ink; all the die cuts were cut from mixed media paper and stuck in place using matte gel medium. Then I coloured the foliage with Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn and Forest Moss Distress Ink, sprayed some water over the top and pressed some kitchen towel over it to remove the water and some of the ink which added a lovely texture. The little butterflies were created using a Bunny Scene Thinlits set and coloured using Abandoned Coral Distress Ink, a black Uni Pin marker and a white Uniball gel pen.

The leaves and branches were created using Small Tattered Floral Thinlits set from Tim Holtz; the branches were coloured using Brushed Corduroy and Vintage Photo Distress Ink and the leaves using the Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn and Forest Moss inks again. For the Happy 100^th banner, I used the colours of the Distress Inks that I used for the flowers to create the squares and then die cut the white letters using the Alphanumeric Bold Thinlits set from Tim Holtz. The banner was arranged over some wax thread and stuck in place using double-sided foam tape and to finish, I added some bows made from was thread.

For more inspiration please see the amazing 100 Challenge creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I hope you are inspired to join our celebration too, i

Remember you must take inspiration from one of the DT makes, such as a colour scheme, technique, design idea, stamp or die motif for your make to be in with the chance to win and, of course, include “100” (or One hundred in any language) for a chance to win a £20 voucher to the Country View Crafts shop. This month there is also a special prize for a commenter on todays’ CVC and DT blog posts. So Hop to it (grin!).

With the change in restrictions, we had a fabulous day at my sister’s over the weekend sitting in the sunshine, catching up, listening to music, and enjoying a BBQ and a few drinks. It was so lovely to be able to spend time with her and finally see her beautiful garden. To celebrate and as T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my fruity drink of gin and tonic with lemon and blueberries which was so very yummy – cheers and Happy T Day everyone!

Hoping 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.

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

• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Salty Ocean
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mermaid Lagoon
• Tim Holtz® Distress – Sprayer 4 Oz
• 660200 Sizzix Big Shot Machine Only (White & Gray)
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Seedless Preserves
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Festive Berries
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mustard Seed
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Twisted Citron
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mowed Lawn
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Forest Moss
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Brushed Corduroy
• 663320 – Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 3PK – Bunny Scene By Olivia Rose
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Abandoned Coral
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo)
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits (Flower Field 665369, Small Tattered Floral 661806, Alphanumeric Bold 665205)
• Mixed Media Paper
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• Wax thread
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape

Challenges As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and the lovely Mia from Craftartista who is hosting this month with her Butterfly Challenge, as I included lots of tiny butterflies on my page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #145 – Anything Goes with my countryside page. Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page. Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my celebration page.

Hello Little Sunshine

Today I’m sharing a page that was created with just recycled magazine images and some stickers that I’ve had forever (grin!).

It celebrates all the bright and colourful spring flowers that we’ve been seeing of late!

I started by tearing different spring images from magazines of flowers, food and a cute little bunny rabbit and then I arranged them on the page using a glue stick. I added the pretty cardstock flowers and wording from a sticker set which finished the page – well that really was simple to create (double grin!).

Spring is in bloom in the gardens along the seafront where we live, with these beautiful tulip and hyacinth flower beds.

They look and smell amazing; it’s such a beautiful flower display!

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:

• Recycled magazine images
• Pritt Stick
• Poundland (Cardstock Stickers)
• X-Press-It! double-sided foam tape

Challenges 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 page which was inspired by spring. Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #142 – Anything Goes with my page. LTSCB#144 – Spring Forward over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my spring page. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and their Bright, Cheerful Colors challenge with my brightly coloured spring page. MIUCB#48 Anything Goes + No Stamping over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my spring page which was created with no stamping.

Past Birthday Treats

As it was my birthday over Easter weekend and we can’t celebrate like we normally do, I decided to relive memories of past birthdays by creating this page.

You may recognise some of them from previous posts; I had so much fun looking back and remembering these birthday treats (grin!)

As my birthday is in April which is known for April showers and spring blossom, I chose a colour scheme of grey, blue and pink and created my background to look like a mixture of light and dark clouds. I did this by covering the background with Kingfisher, Peacock Blue, Charcoal and Blossom Spectrum Aqua markers; I gradually built up the layers of colour by scribbling the Aqua markers onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then pressing the block onto the page. Using black Archival Ink, I stamped the circles using a Docrafts stamp set and then the wording using some alphabet stamp sets from Dovecraft. I coloured the stamped leaves, buttons and hearts using the same Spectrum Aqua Markers blending them like watercolour. The butterfly and wording were recycled from an old birthday card, it reads:

“Wishes as bright as butterfly’s wings for laughter and sunshine and wonderful things,
Wishes for quiet and calm, peaceful hours for memories as sweet as meadow flowers,
These are the wishes, wished just for you … for happiness today and all the year through”.

To finish, I added some embellishments relevant to each of the birthday treats:

• As we usually go to the cinema for my birthday, I included the film “Beauty and the Beast” and added a glittery heart.
• We always enjoy walking somewhere local and Cockerham Sands was particularly memorable; as it’s by the sea I added the fish and starfish beads.
• A meal with our dearest friends is a must, so The Gurkha restaurant which specialises in Nepalese and other Asian cuisine was added along with a pretty flower made from oriental fabric.
• Notarianni is an ice cream parlour that we always enjoy visiting so this was accompanied by sticker of an ice cream.
• We often have a fun time exploring different places, so I added Liverpool which is a great destination for a “Happy Birthday!”
• A trip to a local café such as The Blackbird Café with its pretty birdcage décor which I captured by adding the glass embellishment.
• I added a tree to depict our visit to a sculpture called The Singing Ringing Tree. I was surprised that I have never featured the Singing Ringing Tree on one of my posts before which we visited a couple of years ago, so I’ll be creating a page and sharing this with you later this month  (stay tuned – grin!).
• Of course I couldn’t create a page without Coco’s Soul Food and for this I added a tropical wooden flower.

As some of you will know we normally have a week of birthday celebrations and I had fun looking back at previous birthday photos; these beautiful views were taken at Cockerham Sands.

Here we are having a wonderful time in Liverpool …

… and of course some of the lovely food we have enjoyed too; from left to right there’s Notarianni Ice cream Parlour, The Blackbird Café and Coco’s Soul Food.

I still very much enjoyed my birthday this year as we’ve had some beautiful sunny days, which meant we could still enjoy catching up with our dear friends over a takeaway and some bubbly in their garden (grin!). Of course we spent time with little Ellie too which is always a delight – yay!

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing this yummy pink prosecco which was a lovely surprise from my dear friends, thank you so much – cheers and Happy T Day everyone!

I hope that you’re staying safe and well. x

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:

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Kingfisher, Peacock Blue, Charcoal, Blossom)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Docrafts Papermania 4×4 Clear Stamp (Bellissima Christmas PMA907942)
• Dovecraft Upper and Lower Case Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Recycled Birthday Card
• X-Press It! double-sided foam tape
• The Works (Hearts, Sea Life Beads, Glass Embellishments, Craft Flowers)
• Twilleys of Stamford Crafties (Chinese Flowers Cerise 2912/160)
• Wilko Foam Stickers
• Craft for Occasions (Happy Birthday C2090)
• Poundland (3D Glitter Embellishments – Tree)
• Ranger Glossy Accents

Challenges 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 will be greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my page which was inspired by past birthdays. Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #141 – Anything Goes with my birthday page. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and their Layer It challenge with the layers of colour and recycled birthday card on this page. LTSCB#144 – Spring Forward challenge over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my spring birthday page. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes challenge with my art journal page. LTCCB #57 – April Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my mixed media page.

Adventure

It’s a new month so we are launching our April challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, our monthly challenge theme, as always, is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My page today was inspired by one of our walks along the beach front and a sea view that reminded me of adventures (grin!).

For the background, I dragged Hickory Smoke and Black Soot Distress Ink pads over the textured mixed media paper and then I added some water using a paintbrush to activate some of the ink. Next I framed the page by painting some white gesso around the edges using my finger which gave a cloudy appearance. The postcard, world, rectangle and bird sitting on the world globe were all fussy cut from some Vintage Travels design paper and the three alphabet tiles were cut from a wallpaper sample; they were arranged onto the page using double-sided tape.

I added two chipboard pieces from BoozyBear which I covered with Versamark Watermark ink and some specks of white and then clear embossing powder; they were stuck in place using Ranger Glossy Accents. I added all the motivational wording which were from Sentiments Sticker Pad by Finnabair. To finish, I embellished the page with some metal and glass beads which were recycled from an old necklace.

You need to use three different mediums on your projects to join our Anything Mixed Media Goes Challenge and for more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. I hope you are inspired to join us; it would be lovely to see you there!

Here’s the view that inspired my page; I captured this sea view whilst out walking as I loved the grey moody clouds and sunshine with the boat in the forefront, which seems to be waiting for new adventures (grin!).

Hope 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.

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

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Hickory Smoke, Black Soot)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Creative Expressions Design Pad (Vintage Travels)
• Wallpaper sample
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Boozybear chipboard pieces
• Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad)
• Wow! Embossing Powder (White, Clear)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Finnabair Prima Marketing Art Daily Sticker Pad (Sentiments)

Challenges As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are: I’m so pleased to be able to join 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 will be greatly missed! I’m so pleased to be able to remember her by joining AJJ with my page which was inspired by one of my walks along the seafront and new adventures. Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #141 – Anything Goes with my page. MIUCB #48 – Anything Goes + optional twist of No Stamping challenge over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the background, collage and EP techniques I used to create this page and there was no stamping too. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog and their Anything Goes challenge with my art journal page. LTCCB #144 – April Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my mixed media page.

Hello Spring

Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Hello Spring.

With all the bird activity in our garden, it feels like spring is finally here so my page design includes blue skies, birdsong and nesting birds. I hope you’re inspired to join our challenge too; it would be lovely to see you there!

I started by adding some drops of Speckled Egg Distress Ink, from a re-inker bottle, and then spreading them over the page using an old plastic gift card. When dry, I applied some white gesso over the top using a brayer and then I splattered the page with the Speckled Egg ink. Next I added the birds, foliage and sheet music which were from some Aviary Collage Paper by Tim Holtz; they were stuck in place using a glue stick. I splattered some black DecoArt acrylic paint over background and left it to dry, and then I stamped a documented stamp from Tim Holtz using Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink. The large “nest and eggs” panel, the nest image in the top left-hand corner, the row of alphabet letters and the fussy cut letters making up the “Hello Spring” wording were all Poster Cards from Tim Holtz. I edged them all using the Vintage Photo ink and they were stuck in place using double-sided tape. To finish, I added a Clippings sticker from Tim Holtz which reads “The pretty little birds chirped”.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the wonderful Hello Spring creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!).

As T Stands for Tuesday, today we are enjoying our cuppa with some homemade chocolate crispy nests – wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

I always make these chocolate treats this time of year; they are Rice Crispies covered with chocolate, filled with a chocolate fudge icing and topped with mini marshmallows, chocolate covered raisins and mini chocolate eggs – yum!

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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Re-Inker (Speckled Egg)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Collage Paper (Aviary #TH93706)
• Pritt Stick
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black)
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (Documented CMS226)
• Tim Holtz Distress Archival Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology (Pocket Cards #TH93208)
• X-Press It! double-sided tape and foam tape
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Sticker Book (Clippings #TH94030)

Challenges As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today which are: Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #140 – Anything Goes with my Hello Spring page. LTSCB #143 – Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Scrap Challenge Blog with my Spring page. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog and their Spring/Easter Mood Board challenge as I included with the eggs and blue skies on my page. MIUCB #47 – Anything Goes + optional twist of Inlaid Die Cut challenge over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the techniques I used to create this spring page. Easter/Spring challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my Hello Spring art journal page.

Happy Easter

I just couldn’t resist using my new sunburst stencil which was an early birthday present. As my birthday happens to coincide with Easter weekend this year, I used it to create a page to wish you all a Happy Easter!

I started by applying some Mustard Seed Distress Ink through the Slimline Sunburst stencil from Marianne Designs with a blending tool.

As it was a slimline stencil, I then extended the sunburst design across the page using a ruler and some paper to mask out the sunrays. I used a pretty Easter Treat bag to create my Easter scene by cutting out the bunny in the flower pot, another bunny face and a couple of Easter eggs and making some extra grass spikes. I outlined the bunny in the flower pot using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker, and then layered the other bunny face over the top so that it was slightly off centre, which made it stand out more from the background. I added some pretty white and yellow ribbon to the flower pot and then I layered all the card elements onto the page using a glue stick and some double-sided tape. The “Happy Easter” wording was created using some alphabet stickers and I added a ribbon bow and single flower to the flower pot which finished the page.

Here’s the Easter Treat Basket that I used to create this page (grin!).

I love this Marianne Designs stencil! It has two gorgeous A4 slimline sunburst designs as well as a foreground and a cloud mask. It’s such a fabulous birthday present – thank you very much dear hubby (grin!).

As it’s Easter soon, my hubby also treated me to this giant chocolate bunny; it’s huge as you can see from the regular sized mug placed by it – wishing you a Happy Easter!

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:

• Marianne Designs Craft Stencil A4 (Slimline Sunburst PS8080)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Mustard Seed)
• Aldi (Easter Treat Basket, Alphabet Stickers)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Pritt Stick
• X-Press It! double-sided tape
• Craft Sensations (Satin Bow and Ribbon Set CRO280/R)
• Flower embellishment (unknown) and leftover die cut leaf (Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Funky Florals #2 660721, white cardstock coloured with Mowed lawn Distress Ink)

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today, they are: The lovely Sheila’s Single Flower challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the single flower that I added to the flower pot on my page. Paperbabe Stamps Challenge #140 – Anything Goes with my Happy Easter page. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog and their Spring/Easter Mood Board challenge as the colours, bunny and eggs that I included on my page match the mood board. LTCCB #56 – March Anything Goes challenge over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog with my Easter page. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and their Whatever the Weather challenge with the sunburst I added to my page. Don’t forget that you still have a couple of days left to join our Use a Stencil or Two challenge over at Try it on Tuesday too!