Out with the old.

Happy New Year

Wishing my friends and followers a very Happy, Healthy,  New Year.

To end my crafting year I have made this digital Journal page collage, 

including some of my favourite crafting  techniques.

A photo of a  tag made using stencils, distress inks and stamps.

Loads of Pebeo fantasy range  paints.

Also some digital elements from My Craft Studio.

This is the last day of the collage theme over at Art Journal Journey, 

I have so enjoyed joining you all.
So onward to a New Year
Happy Crafting to you all

Thank you all for your visits , the comments you leave are always appreciated.

Sparkle and Shine

Sparkle and shine  was the prompt for week 50 at Journal 52

This is how the page started out.

Faces from a stencil and some texture  embossing using Glass Bead Golden Gel medium. It was  sitting around waiting  for a bit of inspiration to happen. That sounds better than the fact  I forgot about it.

I added a little random stamping to the background and chose a couple of colours to spray the page with Summer sky ,Storm Cloud [Prima Bloom sprays] and white gesso

The Lamp post is an Alterations  die cut.

next the fun bit with the glitter.

It goes with out saying that the glitter covered me, the desk, carpet , no where is safe when the top comes off this pot.

I hope you all have made your wish , as I'm sure my lady in the shadows  must have done, especially when the glitter pot appeared.

I am also going off to visit with  friends at Art Journal Journey and wish them all a Happy New Year. Thank you all for this fantastic blog site, it  is so inspirational, I realy enjoy taking out my journal these days, as a way to relax and try out new ideas.

Thank you for calling by, the comments you leave for me are always appreciated.

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas Everyone.

To all my friends and followers,

  I hope you  and yours,  all have a Wonderful  Christmas

and a Happy New Year.

Sing Along for Journal 52

Week 51's prompt at Journal 52 was Sing Along.

This is a quick page using a Vintage image, I think from The Graphics  Fairy.

Music page background, a couple of verses from one of my favourite Christmas Carols

'In the bleak mid winter'.

I used the heart stencil  especially because the  very last line is.......
If  I were a Wise Man I would do my part,

yet what I can I give him., give my heart'.

The year  with Journal 52 is coming to an end , I have another page scheduled to show you next week.

I may not have shown you them all on my blog,  but I will complete  the year,

the photos are all posted on the group site.

We will find out what week 52 brings next Saturday.

The good news is that this inspirational group is going to continue next year

and I will  hopefully continue my journey .

My little choir is going off to Art Journal Journey as well- the December challenge theme  is Collage

Thank you for stopping by, I realy appreciate your comments.

Journal 52 pages

In the cold of winter I am thinking of warmer summer days.

Well we can all dream.

This is another Journal 52 prompt 'Napkins'.

back in week 46.

This page is made using a couple of napkins, torn and glued to the page to create a French Village scene.

In week 39 the prompt was  'In the City'.

So I made this page using some favourite stencils for the skyline  and as

you can see I was  in France, when I did this page a few weeks ago. 

Well I have almost caught up with this years journal prompts,

I will be   up to week 50 when I finish my next one.

Thank you for calling to see me, I realy appreciate the comments you leave.

Lets build a snowman

Week 48 over at Journal 52 and our   prompt was

'Lets Build a Snowman'.

I couldn't put this cheeky snowman image away till next year without using him for this theme.

Some nice thick white embossing powder for the snow highlights and a couple of die cut tress.

Hope the weather is being kind to you  where you live,

here in the UK, it 's very cold outside.

Thanks for the nudge Valerie  the snow men will head off to
Art Journal Journey as well.

Thank you for stopping by the comments you leave for me are always appreciated.

Christmas Doodles

This is my Journal page for Week 49, the prompt we had was  'Doodles'.

This is another brusho background, spritzed with water and a stencil of some roof tops [Clarity]

Then is was left and forgotten about while other priorities took over.

So,  as  I am tidying away the Christmas stamps etc, I came across this Lindsey Mason doodle angel,

a stamp of one of my all time favourite Christmas poems--

Twas the night before Christmas.................

I stamped a reindeer, then last night I sat and doodled  a  free cut tree.

This is the doodled Christmas collage I ended up with,

 goodness know what that angel could be saying to the reindeer as they fly around the night sky.

 I will pop over to Art Journal Journey

as well , the theme for December is 'Collage'.

Thank you for taking time to stop by at this busy time of year.

The comments you leave are always appreciated.

Lets celebrate at the ATP Exchange

'Lets Celebrate' is the new challenge over at Artist Trading Post Exchange. There are many things that we celebrate during the year,  but for me,  at this time of the year my choice is Christmas. 

With fond memories of the the long gone days, when my children believed in Santa.

Sorry there are not many photos showing the stages in making this card. The light wasn't too friendly. I did manage to get one of the layers . I used pre- patterned papers music and floral from a  Prima  Marketing pad. 

To add some texture I used  Tim Holtz  Festive stencil and  Studio 490 Transluscent  paste. When dry I rubbed over this with Treasure Gold.
Other additions to this card were, a piece of die cut  trellis, and highlights to add even more textures using Frantage embossing powder  bits and pieces from my stash .

All  the extra shading was Vintage Photo distress ink. The Santa focal image is a Paper Artsy stamp, I love this traditional version of him.

We would love to to celebrate and share your mixed media pieces with us at ATP.Exchange, please pop over for all the details and see what we have been making.

There is a £10 store voucher for you to win offered by our Sponsor at the Artists Trading Post.

I have linked the products I used which are available from the store.

Thank you for stopping by, the comments you leave for me are always appreciated.

Sneak peek for Sheena -Day 3

Scary ? just a little, but we know all fairy tales have happy endings.

Just had to show you this card of Little Red Riding Hood walking through the woods.

A bit more of a peaceful card and another new stamp.

It has been hard for me to choose the peeks to show you.

Sheena's shows are on C & C tomorrow at 8 and 11 a.m. --2, 4 and 7 p.m.

When we will be able to watch Sheena and see all the super new stamps and stencils.

Day 2 ' sneak peek' for Sheena.

Another ' sneak peek',   for Sheena's One Day Wonder show, Thursday on Create and Craft.

As well as stamps Sheena is also launching some fantastic new stencils.

 This is a small canvas  I made  showing another new stamp and stencil.

Back tomorrow with another peek

Mr Frosty for TioT's

Winter Whites is the new challenge theme at Try it on Tuesdays

Another Christmas card from me this time, but I have to say that by the time this scheduled post gets published it will be on its way in the mail.

The base card was dry embossed as was one of the next layers, an easy way to add texture when time is short. The  Snowman image was gifted to me by a friend.

I have been thinking of the thickness of all my cards this Christmas 

as this relates to the cost of posting in the UK.

I hope you will pop over to TioT's for all the information and join us this time.

Thank you for taking time to stop by the comments you leave are always appreciated.

Sneak Peek for Sheena

On Thursday Sheena Douglas will be on Create and Craft with  some One Day Wonder shows.

 Here is a peek using the new stamps  being launched. 

Can you imagine the smile on a friends face if you sent them an invite like this.

Thanks for stopping by and watch out for more sneak peeks tomorrow.

December

The challenge this time over at Sugar Creek Hollow is...

'No Cards'.

Please pop over to get all the details.

I am sharing with you my December Page from the calendar that I have been adding

 to month by month this year.

The base is random stamped and shaded with my favourite distress ink---Vintage Photo.

The additions and images are mainly Graphics 45, with some scraps of material and  charms.

Thank you for stopping by to see me, I do so appreciate he comments you leave me.

Winds of change

 I have been trying for days to get a reasonable photo of this Journal page.

 Fate played its hand, so I can now share it in two places.

Its a collage piece using scraps of papers and materials, which always seem to remain on my desk. I may have a lot of imagination here, but I did think the pieces together [photo on left] look a bit like a church.

There is no step by step, or how I made it, the colours and layers were added over days, depending on what was to hand. You can see I used the same stamps that I used here  for my Speed Craft card last week 

I started this page originally for Journal 52 week 47, my prompt was 'wise words'.

Then today the very talented folk over at Art Journal Journey,

announced their  December theme -- Collage. 

AJJ has been inspirational for me, I am trying things I never imagined  I would and learning about so many Artists along the way.

Thank you for stopping by, the comments you leave for me

 are always appreciated.

Recycle for Christmas at ATP Exchange

Its my turn to choose the theme over at Artist Trading Post Exchange so the theme I picked is......

Recycle for Christmas

Please pop over for all the details and see what we all made.

There is a £10 store voucher to be won, donated by Artist Trading Post
.

This is the hanging I made, when I hang it up on the wall, I will be adding some fresh holly around the wire. 

It is just too soon to do that.

On the left  is the wooded plaque  I decided was long overdue
a make over.

First a  few coats of cream acrylic, a bit of random texture  and some stencilling using the  Tim Holtz Festive stencil.

  

I used Paper Artsy Fresco Finish paints Toad Hall and Vintage Lace for my base colours. 

Adding Treasure Gold  wax to the stencil and  edges

.

The three panels were all made in the same way. Corrugated packaging, painted with Vintage Lace. Edged with Frantage  embossing .

The poinsettia stamp is from the Stampers Anonymous Christmas Blueprint collection.  Embossed using Ranger gold powder, then water coloured, with a few tiny glass beads in the centers.
I hope you will join us and give something a new purpose in life.

Thank you for stopping by,  the comments you leave me. are always appreciated

Christmas is coming TioT 's

'Christmas is Coming', over at Try it on Tuesdays, we hope you all like this theme, we did.

Please pop over for all the details.

Another opportunity for me to make Christmas cards.

 I embossed the base card using a Holly embossing folder.

The main image is a Deep Red stamp, I have added no colours to this. Shading all the edges with  a little Weathered Wood distress ink. The die cuts are Spellbinders.

Thank you for taking time to stop by, the comments you leave for me are always appreciated.

A speedy card

The Speed Craft Challenge has another Anything goes theme this week. 

You have 15 minutes to make something, the good thing is that you can assemble the ingredients first.
On the left are my stamps [Clarity], inks, muslin. button and card stock.

.

Phew did the time speed around the clock, I am so glad I picked out a coloured paper for a layer.

The distress ink blending looked a bit rushed when I looked at my ??? finished card , so I grabbed a pencil with seconds to spare to give the poor bloke with the umbrella somewhere to stand on.

I think it could have done with another layer and some extra background stamping,

 but  I did manage the stick to the time.

Thank you for stopping by I do so appreciate the comments you leave.

Inspired by Auguste Renoir

Could you imaging cutting up a real Renoir masterpiece to make a Mosaic.  Well , I have just, sort of  done that , but mine were prints copied from a book and are guilt free.
This journal page  is made  with two things in mind.
Art Journal Journey who want us to be inspired by the Masters

Also, for  Journal 52  week 41, the prompt was mosaic inspired.

This is another of my Journal 52 pages from week 38, when the prompt was 

Rhyme Time. I am nearly up to date now, and will share a few more in the coming days.

Thank you for taking time to stop by, the comments you leave me are always appreciated.

A Vintage Dream

Our new challenge theme over at Sugar Creek Hollow is to ..

make a Vintage Christmas card.

Please pop over for all the details and see what we have all been making.

The main stamped, embossed  image here is an old favourite, lightly coloured with water colour paint. I added some chunky  white embossing powder [Stampendous] to represent snow in front of the church.. 

I have layered it onto an embossed and a plain base card The die cuts are Memory Box and Spellbinders.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look, the comments you leave me are always appreciated.

Home made Backgrounds

It is my turn to write the Exchange post today over at the Artist Trading Post Exchange Blog.
I am always quite last minute for making Christmas cards, so my exchange is,--- How to make fast and easy backgrounds. I would love it if you popped   over to see how I made the  backgrounds for these Christmas cards.

Thank you for stopping by, the comments you leave for me are always appreciated.

Stencils

Two more cards that I made at the weekend using Sheena's stencils

No stamps for this one just Aquatints, stencils, texture paste, a touch of black soot and some gilding wax.

Added one of Sheena's stamped  sentiments to this one.

The times of the 'inky' shows are at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. tomorrow on Create and Craft.

Thank you for stopping by, I love to read the comments you leave.

Sheena's Wednesday show.

Sheena has a One Time Only show on Create and craft this Wednesday  -

 'Painting with Sheena'.

I am sharing with you a couple of cards I made at the weekend using Sheena's Stencils ,

   Spectrum Noir Aqua tints and  a few of images from her range of stamps..  I hope you will be able to catch her shows and see her fantastic ' inky', demonstrations.

Thank you for taking time to stop by the comments you leave are always appreciated.

Journal Pages.

Inspired by the Masters is this months theme at Art Journal Journey.

Oh dear, where to begin, there are some fantastic pieces of inspiration over at AJJ.

Anyway after looking through some old books  I came across Van Gogh's painting called 'The Starry Night'.

I printed out a copy as I intended to use part of  it on my page, but first of all I got out the paints and had a go at my version of the  sky and background hills. Then a bit of fussy cutting of the print out to add to the bottom of the page.

 This  is not one of my comfort zones, but I enjoyed the challenge to try.

I am slowly catching up with my Journal 52 pages,  this one fits the prompt for Week 44 Skyline.

For week 40  at Journal 52 the prompt was Experiments.

I used one of my  first Brusho try out/ experiments pages  and this was  the end result.

  

Thank you for taking time to stop by, I always appreciate the comments you leave for me.

Stencil Mania at ATP Exchange

'Stencil Mania',

 is the new challenge starting today over at the Artists Trading Post Exchange. 

Please pop over for all the details, there is also a £10 voucher  for the winner of each challenge donated by our sponsor Artist Trading Post.

To begin, this is the first addition of masking to my base,  a home made stencil--the left over outer shape, from cutting out a Tattered Floral die cut flower , using Grunge Paste.  The remains of the paste I spread roughly across two sides using an old knife and a well used old stencil

On the left  it shows the next stencil layers  to my base,  the mask I used here is another  old one which I sprayed over using Pomegranate Seed Dylusions spray ink.

When dry I  lightly rubbed over the pattern area  with Spiced Marigold Distress ink, to fill in any white spaces.

These are the next two layer panels. The top one was  a scrap of dry embossed card sprayed the same colour as the base.

For the next strip, I used a Tim Holtz stencil and some Translucent embossing paste.

When dry I rubbed over the raised area with White Fire Treasure gold.

I also used this around the edges of the other layers. 

The main stamped image is a Dylusions stamp.

The metal flowers --- Prima Marketing

Metal word plate --- Tim Holtz

Many products  I used are  available from Artist Trading, I have added the links.

Thank you for stopping by to take  a look, the comments you leave me are always appreciated.

We do hope you will join us this time at ATP Exchange

Home Made

'Home made/hand made gifts', is the new challenge theme at Try it on Tuesdays.

Christmas is fast approaching and what nicer to give to a family member or friend,  is something that you have made personally for them with love.

This is the box I chose to alter.

To begin with it had a few coats of acrylic paint to cover all the surfaces.

Next came a bit of random stamping, before I delved in my boxes to decorate the top, adding a lace trim around the sides.

So what's inside, well as one of the additions on the box is an advert for Chocolate. You can no doubt guess whats inside.

Please pop over to TioT's and see what we all made.

Thank you for stopping by, the comments you leave me are always appreciated.