Come and Join me ~ a tag inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! For my second DT project for Vera Lane Studio, I created a Halloween tag featuring one of my favourite witches. Her name is Stella Luna and she was created by Vera Lane Studio. I think she is adorable...definitely a good witch :)

I coloured her with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, fussy cut her leaving a narrow white border, and matted her with black. She was popped up on foam tape to create dimension and natural shadow.

The background was one I had started ages ago and just recently found in my stash. I believe it was coloured with Distress Inks but I would be guessing at the colours. It was done with the wrinkle free technique where the ink is smushed on the craft sheet and spritzed with water. The colour is then adde to the tag by dipping it into the puddles of ink. The bottom of the tag was layered with a bit of left over gel print and a strip of patterned paper both matted with black cardstock to help the layers stand out. A spiral stamp was added in a few places using Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. Tiny Xs were added with black pen through a stencil.

A die cut black spiky circle was added to the top of the tag before a string topper was added to the hole. The wording was printed onto white cardstock, matted with black, and popped up on foam tape. White punched circles were added to the background and were outlined with black pen. The outside edges of the tag were inked with Black Big Brush Pen to frame and finish the tag.

Thanks for joining Stella and me today. We are so glad you did. Have you seen the new stamps Janet Klein created in the Vera Lane Studio style for AALL & Create? They are fabulous and I can't wait until mine arrive. People have been sharing their makes with them on the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group...such awesome images and creations. So now you have a choice of rubber or digi. My rubber ones were ordered from Topflight Stamps and,of course, the digis are available in the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Dream a Little Dream ~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! It's Tuesday and that means I get to share what I have been creating with the fabulous Vera Lane Studio digi images. My first project is an art journal page featuring Dream Fairy who was released in the middle of the month. I love how serene she looks with that sweet face.

I coloured the face, arms, and shaded the collar of Dream Fairy with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils and then I felt like getting into a little paper piecing. I used three different patterned papers, printing the parts of the image I needed on each, and then fussy cut them. The wings and dress were then shaded around with Coffee Archival Ink and the headpiece was shaded with coloured pencil. Dream Fairy was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. The pieces were then glued on and black Pitt pen was used to colour in the circles on the wings.

The background of the 6x6 inch watercolour page was spritzed with water and then sprinkled with Lemon and Ost. Red Brusho Crystals. Tipping of the page allowed the colours to blend in some places. Once dry, a rusty orange Neocolor II crayon was added to some areas to pull in the colour of the headpiece. Torn scraps of book paper, topped with black and kraft checked washi bits, were added in three places. The text was coloured first with white gesso and then with Coffee Archival Ink to push it back and remove some of that stark white. Small circles were drawn in a few places with white coloured pencil and outlined with black.

The wording was done with a Dymo labeller and black enamel dots were added to the upper right corner for a bit more black and some shine. The upper left corner was given a scrap of black border which was faux stitched with brown pencil to mimic the washi colours. A simple border was added to the outside edges which were also inked with Coffee Archival to frame the page.

Thanks for joining Dream Fairy and me today. We are delighted you did that and hope you will stay tuned for my second DT project. While you are waiting, be sure to check out the other fabulous images in the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop and pop by our VLS Facebook group for a little friendship and inspiration.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure Week 43 - Masks

Hi everyone! We are in the final ten weeks of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure 2019...hard as it is to believe! This is Week 43 and the prompt this week is Masks since Halloween is only a few days away. I decided to go more with masquerade masks as I am not a fan of spooky and I didn't know where to go with a carved mask, both of which were options.

I searched in magazines to find a face which would fit my 6x8 inch journal page and which was a full frontal view and came up with this one of Helen Mirren which suited my purposes perfectly. I fussy cut her head and neck and then used black pen to doodle some hair and facial lines. I added Posca Paint pen to her eyes, changing the colour and opening them slightly more. Her cheeks were Abandoned Coral Distress Oxide ink layered onto white paper and circle punched. Her mouth was a heart punched from Posca painted paper and shaded with coloured pencil. I used flesh coloured acrylic paint to tone down her lipstick so that the heart became a Red Queen mouth.

Once she was sufficiently altered, I started on the mask. I cut a mask shape from mixed media cardstock and dipped it into Abandoned Coral and Scattered Straw Distress Oxide inks watered down on my craft sheet. I dipped and dried these two colours several times until I got the patterning and coverage I liked. The v/triangle marking on the forehead was from a Karen Burch stamp and Deep Purple Archival Ink. The strips above the eye openings are patterned paper dotted with white Nuvo Drops. The markings along the bottom edge of the mask and below the eyes are purple and white Posca Paint Pens and the ones across the forehead were created with a Pentel Milky Pop pen. A silver star sequin was added between the eyes and a puple rhinestone was added to the bottom of the V stamp. Two shimmery flowers were given purple rhinestone centers and added to each upper  corner. The mask was popped up on foam tape and thin black satin ribbons were added to each side before the mask was adhered to Helen's altered face.

The background was created using the same dip and dunk (wrinkle-free) technique as the mask with the same two colours of Distress Oxide. Once the multiple layers were dried, a harlequin design was stencilled on with Deep Purple Archival ink. The same ink was used to ink the edges of the page before black Big Brush Pen was added. The wording was printed onto white cardstock, matted with black, and popped up with foam tape. A simple doodled black border finished the background which was then adhered to the black cardstock matting.

Thanks for joining altered Helen and me today. We're excited to see what the others in the Joggles AJA Facebook group do with the Masks prompt. It's going to be fun!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

A sweet little witch card ~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! Have you ever seen a cuter witch that this one from the Wee Witches digi set by Vera Lane Studio? I absolutely had to colour her and have her star on a Halloween card. She makes me smile and that's always a good thing.

I coloured Wee Hattie with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils and fussy cut her leaving a narrow white border. She was then matted with black cardstock, and fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border. Foam tape was attached to the back of her to pop her up and add a natural shadow.

The base of the card is white and a black mat was cut from dotty embossed cardstock. A rectangle of orange patterned paper was cut to fit inside the black mat with a strip of the reverse side, a green stripe, peeking out the right side. To ground Hattie, a torn piece of plaid patterned paper was matted with black and placed along the bottom edge of the orange layer. A strip of Halloween washi tape adhered to white cardstock was placed where Hattie would stand.

The saying was printed onto white cardstock, matted with black, then purple, then black again. It was popped up on foam tape like Hattie was. She was surrounded by three die cut bats cut from black cardstock. A simple black border drawn with a ruler framed the card to complete the project.

Thanks for joining Hattie and me today. We love when you do that! Be sure to pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop to see Hattie's sister, Hettie, and all their other Halloween friends. Our Facebook group is also a lovely place to hang out and be inspired! Hope to see you there!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Choose Chocolate ~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! There was an awesome new digi set released by Vera Lane Studio yesterday. It's called Marie and is the cutest version I have ever seen. I chose to use the Marie with her eyes closed because she is really trying to puzzle out what's so wrong with cake!

I coloured Marie and her fabulous layer cake with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, adding some pink Stickles to the cake and black Stickles to the flower centers she is wearing. Both were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, and matted with black cardstock. The black was fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border.

The 6x6 inch watercolour paper background was spritzed with Lindy's Cotton Candy Pink and Hottie Patottie Hot Pink Starburst Sprays. Once dry, stamping was added with Magenta Hue and a VLV grid stamp, with Watering Can Archival and an Indigo Blu Tasty Textures Stamp, and with another stamp from the same set and the Magenta Hue. Stencilling was added with Tiger Lily Archival Ink and BAM stencil 1027. The same ink was added to the outside edges because some overspray from the previous page was already on one edge so I wanted to tie it in.

The scalloped border at the top of the page was a partial rub-on from my stash which I finished with black Pitt Pen and coloured in with white Posca Paint pen. It was shaded above the line with Inktense pencil activated with water. The wording was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. Three silver glittery stars were added to the top left corner to pull some of that gray from the bottom of the page into the top.

To give Marie somewhere to stand, two washi tapes were layered at the bottom of the page. Black pen was used to outline them and to create a border around three sides of the page. The edges of the page were inked with black Big Brush Pen to add the finishing detail.

Thanks for visiting Marie and me today. I hope you learn from her and opt for chocolate instead of cake today. While you are snacking, be sure to pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop and our Facebook page. Both are grplaces to get inspiration!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure Week 42 ~ Whoopee!

Hi everyone! It's Week 42 of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure and, in honour of my b-day yesterday and everyone else who has or will have a birthday this year, the prompt is Celebrate. The prompt is not limited to birthdays but anything that can be celebrated like reaching a milestone or goal or even the everyday. I have birthdays on my mind so that's where I went with this prompt using a Mo Manning (Mo's Digital Pencil) image called Whoopee to star on this art journal page. She cracks me up, looking as thrilled as she does...LOL.

I coloured her using Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, adding gesso dots to her hat and flat back pearls for her shirt buttons. She was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matting with black, and fussy cutting a second time leaving a narrow black border. Foam tape was added to the back to add dimension when she was adhered to the background.

The 6x8 inch mixed media paper background was spritzed with Lindy's Yellow Rose of Texas and California Poppy Gold Starburst Sprays were added to the background, allowing lots of splattery dots to dry as well. To make the background look like confetti was being thrown, several other colours of Lindy's were added by flicking the pick up tube over the page. The colours used were Hottie Pattotie Hot Pink, Bachelor Button Blue, Freaky Frankenlime, and Witch's Potion Purple. Large shiny metallic stars and tiny silver stars were added to the mix to make it look more festive and create some shine.

The wording at the bottom comes from a Create With TLC download which was matted with sparkly pink paper. A smaller pink metallic star was added to tie it to the background.

The title was created with chipboard letters which were edged with black Big Brush Pen. A border was doodled around the outside of the page and Magenta Hue was added to the edges as well as Black Big Brush Pen. The background was then adhered to the black background common to all the pages in this journal.

Thanks for popping by today to celebrate with us today. We appreciate that. It's not too late to join the Joggles Art Journal Adventure group. It's an awesome place to hang out!

Life is good; so is art.

Bonnie

Ghostly ATCs ~ inspired by Vera Lane Studio images

Hi everyone! My second DT project for Vera Lane Studio is a sweet set of Halloween artist trading cards (2.5 x 3.5 inches) featuring the images from the Trois Fantomes set. This is an older set which is timeless and so darn cute. They play well together or are quite content to star on their own. Each one makes me smile!

The fantomes were coloured with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils and fussy cut leaving a narrow white border. I did not mat them with black as I usually do because I have some black sections on all of the backgrounds plus they showed up very well without the extra matting. Foam tape was attached to the backs of the images to pop them up.

The atc backs were cut from cereal boxes to give them strength and then were covered with sections from both sides of the same Halloween paper from a double sided DCWV mat stack. Only one 6x6 paper was used for all three.

They were treated as a set of atcs by keeping the paper the same although the mix was different. Simple doodled borders and Coffee Archival Ink edging was common to all three, as was a punched star detail on each. The wording from each was cut from a Lisa's Altered Art Halloween collage sheet.

Thanks for visiting the Trois Fantomes and moi today. They hope you weren't too frightened by their scary costumes :) To find these and a plethora of other fabulous images for Halloween or any/no occasion, be sure to pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop and stop by our Facebook group when you get a chance, too. Both are lovely places to hang out!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Read her her rights ~ Inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! It's Tuesday and that means it's time to share my Vera Lane Studio design team projects. The first one I have is an art journal page starring the fabulous Lippy who was released in the shop last week. She is one sassy woman with a wonderful sense of style.

Lippy was coloured with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils and fussy cut leaving a narrow white border. She was then matted with black cardstock, and fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border. I generally do this because it allows me the freedom to make the background as busy as I want without worrying that she will fade into it.

The background started with a coat of white gesso over the 6x6 watercolour paper. I needed this to help the ink sprays move around easily. Carabelle Studio Cosmic Cubes Stencil was laid over the gesso and Texture paste was scraped through the openings leaving some places empty. Once dry, the page was then spritzed heavily with water and Lindy's Yellow Rose of Texas, Hottie Patottie Hot Pink, and Hag's Wart Orange were dropped here and there using the end of the pick-up tube rather than spraying. This allows greater control of where the colours go and by tipping the page you can blend and create drips. More water can be added to create a lighter area or to help the colour move. I like how the Texture Paste grabs the colour making it more intense and helping the stencilling to show more. A little stamping using Jet Black or Magenta Hue Archival Inks added text and numbers to the non-textured places.

To ground Lippy, a scrap of sprayed and painted background layered over black cardstock was adhered to the bottom of the page. Two more scraps from the same background were adhered to the right side of the page to create flow. Three black punched stars were added to pull a little more black into the page and also because Lippy is a star.

The wording was printed using different fonts, colours, and sizes to emphasize the word Fabulous. All word sections were matted with black to tie them together. A simple doodled border and edging with black Big Brush Pen were added to finish the page.

Thanks for joining Lippy and me today. We're so glad you did! If you want Lippy to star in your projects, remember to visit the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop where she and her friends hang out. You can see other projects featuring her and other VLS images by visiting our VLS Facebook group. Don't be a stranger...LOL

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure Week 41 ~ Tag(s)

Hi everyone! Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! I hope you are having an awesome weekend. Today marks Week 41 of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure and the prompt this week is to include a tag (or more than one) to your project. The other day. I was sorting through my big stack of gel prints and other backgrounds and discovered a small stack of tags which had backgrounds started. I found two which had colour palettes which would work together and also were two different sizes. That inspired today's art journal page.

I knew that the larger tag was used to mop up Lindy's Starburst sprays and that the other one was colourized with either Distress Inks or Distress Oxides, although I suspect the former. I flipped through my Distress Oxide Swatches and matched the colours, then used those same colours to ink the 6x8 inch mixed media paper background which would be my substrate. Just for fun, I flicked the page with water and patted with a dry paper towel to create splotches. The edges of the background and the two tags were inked with Coffee Archival Ink.

Then I started layering and auditioning to come up with a layout which made me happy. I knew that I wanted a die cut silhouette of a flower (TH Sizzix) cut from black cardstock to be the focal on the smaller tag which was going to be staggered over the larger tag. To join the two tags, a scrap of old book paper stamped with script, and over that I layered a coffee dyed tag decorated with rub-on letters. Three different washi tapes were used to decorate the lower part of the flower stem and add a little more black to the page.

A scrap of  sheet music, and some vintage book paper were tucked behind the tags but they needed more. Torn black cardstock was layered under the music paper and next to the larger tag and a strip of yellow dotty paper was layered under that, after being inked with Coffee Archival. The other little piece of washi which I had torn to decorate the stem was adhered in such a way that it united the large tag, the black, and the dotty layers. I find this is a great way to add unity to the piece and to push the layers into the background.

To continue the layering and add more texture to the background, a clear sticker  with script was added to the bottom right corner, tucking it behind the other papers.

Rub-ons were added to the top right and bottom left corners and a simple border was doodled coming from those sketchy dots. Number rub-ons were also added to the larger tag to repeat the pattern on the tiny tag. An extra scrap of the dotty paper and the black was tucked into the space next to where the two tags meet to bring over the pattern from the other side of the tags. Another rub-on was used to fill in the top right corner as well as linking to the silhouette which could be a figure from a botanical book :)

The wording is an Idea-ology Small Talk sticker. The final addition before inking the edge with black Big Brush Pen was to add the other part of that book text scrap with the red border to the bottom right corner, again to unite the two corners and help the eye move across the page. The page was adhered to the black background common to all of the pages in this journal.

Thanks for popping by to check out my response to the Tag prompt. To see what the other fabulous participants in the Joggles Art Journal Adventure Facebook group create with this prompt, be sure to pop by the group from time to time this week. It'll be worth the click!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Frankenpages Junk Journal

Hi everyone! Quite some time ago, when the neuropathy in my hands was really bad from chemo treatments, I made a bunch of Frankenpages based on a tutorial by Nik the Booksmith. It's a wonderful way to use scraps to create something new and useful and have fun in the process. Plus it was something that my hands were able to manage. I made large pages (no idea why) by gluing scraps onto larger scraps but I didn't stitch them together like she did. I added stamping and edged the scraps with Coffee Archival Ink before gluing them into a collage.

Then I wondered what to do with them so they sat patiently and waited for me to figure it out. I eventually decided to chop them up to make junk journal backgrounds for collage. They were cut to either fit into binders which I already had or to be joined with binder rings in a size I chose. Nothing was wasted. Even a few atc backgrounds were born.

These particular pages fit into an old MME binder from my stash. The pages are cut at 6 3/4 x 8 3/8 inches and are quite sturdy because of all the layering front and back. All holes in this binder are reinforced with black punched rings and the pages are edged with Coffee Archival Ink.  They are all also vintage and grungy in style which unites them.  I took each page  and started adding ephemera and left overs from other projects to decorate the page. I have had a sticker book from TH in my stash for years and years and made up my mind that I was going to use it up so you'll see a lot of those pieces in here.

I also have bits of punched borders, rub-ons, stencilling, and punched or die cut bits and pieces. At least one and sometimes two of the Idea-ology paper dolls star on each page and the sentiments come from Chit Chat stickers which have been hanging around too long. I also added the occasional charm or metal piece. a little washi, and anything else that was lying around and looked inviting :) I love this kind of creating...no rules, no expectations...pure play.

Thanks for joining me today. I have several more pages ready to share but I didn't want to bombard you with too much in one sitting...LOL. Until next time...

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Journal Faces Collage Sheet ATCs ~ inspired by Vera Lane Studio

Hi everyone! Last week, the most gorgeous set of collage sheets was released by Vera Lane Studio. They are called Journal Faces Collage Sheets and they come in different sizes and colourways, each one so beautiful. I decided to create an artist trading card set with three of them.

When I have small scraps of background left from other projects or if I have left over paint or sprays, I see if I can use them as atcs or artist trading coins. I have a stack pre-cut and adhered to cardboard backings so they are ready to go. Often these blanks will have stamping, stencilling, or Texture Paste already on them but if not, I add to them when I have the materials out for another project.

I add the fussy cut image with a white border to a piece of black cardstock, and fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border. Often, I use my coloured pencils, black Pitt pens, and white Posca Pen to add or enhance details on the images, adding my own artistic voice to them. These particular faces were popped up on foam tape to add dimension.

Then it's a matter of adding a word or words like these rub-ons, a doodled border done in black pen, and a little shading with an appropriate ink to the outside edges of the cards. Black Big Brush Pen finishes off the edges and hides the layers of white and gray.

Easy Peasy! Thanks for stopping by today. You can find these and many other beautiful collage sheets at the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop, or if you are in the mood to colour, there are images ready for that, too.

Life is good; so is art.

Bonnie

Be in the Know ~ inspired by Vera Lane Studio images

Hi everyone! Did you see the fun new release by Vera Lane Studio yesterday called Cate and Canine? I love the snooty look on her face and that crazy little dog makes me laugh. I decided they needed their very own art journal page with a quote that seemed to suit her.

I coloured Cate and her dog with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, fussy cut leaving a white border, and then matted them with black.

I also wanted Cate to have her shopping bags filled with her "must-haves". I used some of the images from the VLS set called Gift Bags. These were printed on atcs which I used to clean up Lindy's Starburst over-spray from previous projects. They were then shaded with coloured pencils, fussy cut, and matted with black.

I searched for a free printable of Monopoly money and found the ideal one for the background. Once it was adhered to the page, Ellen Hutson Bokeh Circles were stamped with Jet Black Archival, and shaded inside with Gelatos. A dollar sign button with the shank removed was popped up on foam on top of two offset 1 inch circles. I used the same green spritzed paper as the one shopping bag to tie the corners together.

A simple border was doodled around the outside edge and shaded inside with Inktense pencil before the pieces of the scene were adhered. The wording, which was printed onto white cardstock, was cut into sections, and matted with black to help it stand out against the background.

Thanks for popping by today. Cate, her lovely dog, and I appreciate that. When you get a minute, be sure to check out the other amazing stamps at the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop. You'll be sure to find some "must-haves" of your own :) Stop by the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group to see more projects using the Cate and Canine images. You'll be glad you did.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie