Tag Archives: Old magazines

Fright Night

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It’s 31st October and Halloween is upon us, so I created this spook-tacular art journal page – Happy Halloween everyone (smile!).

Join me for a hauntingly good time by watching the video below to see how this page came together.

In this eerie tutorial, I’ll be creating a spooky skeleton graveyard art journal page that’s perfect for Fright Night. From selecting the right colours and materials to adding creepy details, I’ll take you through every step of the process.

The mixed media that I used for this page included Archival Ink, Docrafts Stamp Set, Cosmic Shimmer Embossing Glitter, Dry Wall Tape, Faber- Castell Big Brush Marker, Skeleton Bookmark, Crafter’s Companion Topper Pad, Mushroom Ephemera, Washi Sticker, Spectrum Noir TriBlend markers, UniPin fine line marker, Old Magazine and Liquitex acrylic ink.

We saw this Halloween display whilst out shopping, I love the happy skeleton family on the back chair cushion and the cat and dog skeletons and the way they are posed are such fun (smile!).

Thanks so much for joining me today. If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Happy and creative wishes! x

Challenges

The lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month; she has chosen Steampunk, Halloween or Steampunk Halloween as her theme, so I’m joining her with my Halloween page – thanks for a great challenge!

Happy Haunting

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Today I’m Happy Haunting this October with this fun art journal page (smile!).

Get ready for a spook-tacular art journaling experience in this video showing you how my page all came together. I’ll be diving into the world of Halloween-themed art with trick or treaters and haunted houses as inspiration.

https://youtube.com/shorts/5g5RTtyUlBA

Join me as I create a unique and eerie art journal spread that’s sure to get you in the mood for the spookiest season of the year. From creepy children to spooky scenery, we’ll be using a variety of art supplies and techniques to bring this haunted masterpiece to life. So grab your art journal, your favourite Halloween-themed images, and let’s get started on this spooky art adventure together!

The mixed media that I used to create this A6 page includes Distress Archival Ink, Finnabair Stamps, Cardstock marked using Dry Wall Tape and Black Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen, Distress Inks, Magazine Images and wording, UHU Stic, Crafter’s Companion Topper Pad and Liquitex Acrylic Ink.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing these plastic halloween mugs/cups with matching straws that made me smile, they were in a local superstore – such fun (smile). Happy T Day everyone!

Thanks so much for joining me today. If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Happy and creative wishes! x

Challenges

The lovely Elle from Empire of the Cat is hosting over at Art Journal Journey this month; she has chosen Steampunk, Halloween or Steampunk Halloween as her theme, so I’m joining her with my Halloween page.

Go Explore

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Today I’m sharing a page inspired by our travels, last year we had fun exploring different parts of Spain including Tenerife, Mallorca and Málaga.

It’s also time for our first challenge of the year over at Try it on Tuesday, which for the next two weeks is Feeling Blue; I’m feeling blue with beautiful blue skies and oceans (smile!).

To create this page, I used map paper from an American Crafts paper pad and recycled a beach image from an airport magazine that I brought back from our travels. Once they were stuck in place, I added some gold border outline stickers where the papers joined. Then to finish, I added some travel stickers of planes, a heart, arrows, markers, the wording “It’s a big world, go explore”, “Time to travel” and “Great times” and a pair of flipflops (which happen to be my favourite summer footwear).

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the wonderful creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies.

We loved our travels to Spain and here are some of the palm trees on the beach at Torremolinos, which inspired my page design. This photo was taken in November last year, it was lovely to enjoy the blue skies and sunshine, and yes, it was flipflop weather too (smile!).

Whilst exploring Torremolinos, we found a lovely little bakery café called Isabella & Simo, where we met a lovely Italian lady called Isabella who was an amazing baker. We enjoyed a Bignè (cream puff), which is choux pastry filled with mascarpone cream and chocolate ganache and as T Stands for Tuesday, there is also a choice of coffee or hot chocolate too – Happy T Day!

I hope that you’re staying safe and well!

Thanks so much for joining me today. If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Happy and creative wishes! x

Wild about Winter

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I know it’s August and not winter, but as I’m hosting our Wonderfully Wild challenge over at Art Journal Journey this month, I just couldn’t resist creating this page when I saw this adorable wild beastie; he’s recycled from an old calendar – isn’t he the cutest (smile!).

I started by colouring the bright blue sky using Prize Ribbon Distress Paint and left it to dry. I fussy cutting the Highland cow and foreground from the calendar page, and then I also created some hill shapes from the remaining snowy pieces of the image; I layered the pieces onto the page using a glue stick. Next I stamped the trees, first using Moonlight White Brilliance Ink and then again, over the top, using Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink; to create a snowy appearance. The wording “Wild about Winter” was cut from another magazine page, stuck in place and outlined with a white Uniball gel pen. To finish, I added snowy lines of Fluffy Puffy Stuff by Inkylicious, which turns 3D when heated with a heat gun.

I must have a thing for Highland cows as here’s another, more summery, one on my notebook, which was gifted me one Christmas – such fun!

Stay safe and well! x

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Call of the wild

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I’m sharing another page for our Wonderfully Wild challenge at Art Journal Journey, which was inspired by an image with some fabulous wording, that I recycled from an old magazine (smile!).

I started by painting the page using Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, Rustic Wilderness and Forest Green Distress Paints. When dry, I stencilled on some small leaves using a Kaisercraft stencil, and some Rusty Hinge and Forest Green Distress Ink. Then I fussy cut the stag and wording from an old magazine and stuck them in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. I also fussy cut the fern foliage from the same magazine image and I arranged them in the foreground, with a couple of fern washi stickers, to hide the text over the bottom portion of the stag. To finish, I used the Kaisercraft stencil again to add the large fern leaves using Ranger Texture Paste.

This bronze stag statue, at our local garden centre, is calling you to join our Wonderfully Wild challenge at Art Journal Journey (smile!). I love those pots of white hydrangeas surrounding the stag too; they look so beautiful.

Stay safe and well! x

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Wisdom

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It’s time for a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which for the next two weeks is Things With Wings.

I started my page by fussy cutting the main image from an old magazine. Before it was stuck in place I added a cloud of Peeled Paint Distress Ink and I stamped small honeycombs by Docrafts using Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink to frame the image; making it stand out more. I added snippets of the remaining magazine image over the rest of the page using Liquitex matte gel medium. Then I stencilled some larger honeycombs using a Creative Expressions stencil and the Peeled Paint ink and I stamped some more of the small honeycombs too. Next I applied some Ranger Texture Paste through the honeycomb stencil and I added the “Wisdom (Rodin’s Goddess)” wording from the magazine. To finish, I outlined the main image and the wording using a Black Ink Derwent Inktense pencil.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing winged creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies.

I can just imagine the angel on my page emerging from these water lilies at our local park.

They are flowering so beautifully and we admired them whilst walking, at Lowther Gardens in Lytham.

Stay safe and well! x

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Churches of Liguria

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It’s the first Friday of the month, so it’s time for our new challenge at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog, which as always is Anything Mixed Media Goes.

My mixed media page was inspired by the churches of Liguria in the Italian Riviera, which have the distinct characteristic striped marble façade (quarried from the local area) and beautiful large rose carved in a white marble window above the door.

I started by covering my page in Earl Grey, Coconut and Aqua Faber-Castell Gelatos, smudging the colour with my finger and a little water. I stamped both of the Architecture stamps from the Tim Holtz stamp set and a Gothic text stamp by Finnabair over the page using black Archival Ink. Then I smudged the stamping, by applying a wet baby wipe to the gelatos, to give a distressed look. Next, I cut out the church images from a magazine page that I’d saved whilst on holiday and arranged them onto the page with some Kaisercraft stickers. To finish, I stamped the “Liguria” and “Italy” wording onto some of the leftover magazine page and then stuck them in place.

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

This stunning church is Chiesa di San Pietro or St. Peter’s Church and can be found on a wave-lashed peninsula in Portovenere (where we visited on my last post). This church was built in 1198 in Gothic style and stands on the ruins of a 5th-century Roman temple dedicated to the goddess Venus, born from the foam of the sea, from whom Portovenere takes its name.

The beautiful contrasting marbles can also be found adorning the inside of St. Peter’s church too.

Chiesa San Giovanni Battista, which is also featured on my page, is one of the oldest churches in Cinque Terre and it’s striped façade dating back to 1307. The Ligurian-Gothic design features white and dark green marble and a large rose window with lace-like ornamentation. There is also a fresco of John the Baptist over the entrance.

The Church of Santa Maria is in La Spezia, where we stayed. This church has existed on its current site in some form dating back to the 14th century and has been rebuilt a number of times, significant repairs were carried out after it was severely damaged in World War II.

This 13th-century church is the Church of Sant Andrea (Church of St. Andrew) and is in Levanto; it’s a good example of Ligurian Gothic style.

I hope you enjoyed looking at the churches with me today and will join me again for more Italian adventures.

Stay 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 lovely Matilde from 100% Handmade/Craftowanie and her What Makes You Happy challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my page as remembering our Italian adventures makes me happy.

Venezia

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I wanted to join one of my besties, Chris and her On All Fours challenge over at Art Journal Journey and also send my apologies for not joining her challenge more or being around much this month; life has been a bit hectic with one thing and another.

But I wanted to share one of our highlights this month, when we visited Venice; it’s an amazing city, full of beautiful architecture and history.

The main image of a rather wonderful Venetian lady with the Lion inspired my page and was recycled from a magazine. Before sticking the image on my page, I coloured the left-hand and right-hand side of the page using Crushed Pistachio Distress Stain and then I layered some Pumice Stone, Gathered Twigs, Rustic Wilderness Pine Needles Distress Paint over the top. When dry, I rubbed the surface with a baby wipe and I applied some Ground Espresso Distress Ink to match the distressed green background of the image. Then I used the magazine again to create the black strip and to add the “Venice” and “Venezia” wording.

We stayed in a beautiful hotel, right on the Grand Canal itself, in a quiet location that was not very far from the Rialto Bridge.

The courtyard entrance to the hotel was very pretty.

Our room was very elegant with the gold accents and Murano glass light fittings (smile!).

The views of the Grand Canal from the hotel veranda and balcony were so beautiful and could be enjoyed in the evening enjoying a drink or whilst having breakfast.

This is the Arsenale di Venezia which was built in 1572 and the winged lion which is over the door of this building, (and also on my page, which allowed me to join Chris‘ fabulous challenge), symbolises Venice and St. Mark who is the patron Saint of Venice. You will find this lion throughout Venice; famously it’s known as a bronze sculpture on one of the pillars in St. Mark’s Square, but it’s also found on the Venetian flag and on many of the Venetian buildings, like this one.

We love visiting Venice, and it was wonderful to explore new areas that were away from the main tourist drag. If you’re interested in seeing more of our Venice adventures, please check out my blog next Friday.

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.

Get closer to nature

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I enjoyed creating this wintery page using some recycled old magazine pages and some pretty die cut snowflakes which were gifted me by my dear blog friend Tracey – thank you!

I started by covering the background with Rustic Wilderness, Prize Ribbon and Brushed Pewter Distress Paint, blending them together with a paint brush and leaving them to dry. Next I ripped and cut out the magazine images and wording and they were arranged onto the page with some large die cut snowflakes using a glue stick and some Liquitex matte gel medium. To finish, I edged the images and wording using a white Uniball gel pen and I splattered the page with white acrylic paint.

I love the pretty nature magazine images on my page, the little bird is a Coal Tit, which often visits our garden; they are very fussy and throw most of the seeds away until they get a black sunflower seed or sunflower heart (smile!).

I hope 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.

Challenges

Art Journal Journey which I’m pleased to be hosting this month and the challenge theme that I’ve chosen is Nature, with my Get Closer to Nature page.

Winter Magic

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My page today is for our new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday, which is Baby It’s Cold Outside and features a pretty bird enjoying the cold!

I started by stamping three different foliage stamps onto the page using Faded Jeans and Peeled Paint Distress Archival Ink and Pine Needles Distress Ink. While the inks were still wet, I used a wet wipe to mute and smudge the colours. Next I added the bird photo, which was cut from an old magazine and framed with some leftover stitched design paper. The pine cones and holly were cut using Funky Festive Sizzix Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from different colours of Kraft Cardstock-Classic by Tim Holtz and layered together. To finish, I added the topper wording by Docrafts which I backed with some leftover papers.

For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and the rest of my Design Teamies (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

I enjoy watching the birds in the garden this time of year, here’s an Eurasian Blue Tit (as featured on my page) visiting our feeder – so pretty (smile!).

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.

Challenges

Art Journal Journey which I’m pleased to be hosting this month and the challenge theme that I’ve chosen is Nature.

Triple B Challenge Blog – Birds, Butterflies & Blooms – November Challenge