SNP - Otto's checking in

This gargoyle stamp from Stamp N Plus just cracks me up. I love gargoyles to begin with and Otto has the funniest expression on his face. He looks so casual and friendly, unlike many of his friends who look fierce. Maybe all gargoyles look this way when they are off duty. Anyway, that's how this card came to be created.

I had the perfect paper for Otto's background. It's a night skyline from DCWV's Downtown Loft stack. Otto was coloured with Prismacolor pencils, using OMS to blend. His glowy eyeballs are bling, coloured with an alcohol marker, and his sparkly white teeth are gel pen. Once he was perched on his building, he needed a starry sky and a sentiment generated on the computer, faux stitched and popped up on foam tape. Two tiny gold brads decorate each banner. A little Walnut Distress ink around the edges finished off this fun card. Easy-peasy!

I like him...he makes me smile. I hope he does the same for you.

Life is good; so is art...and so is smiling :)
Bonnie

A message from Miss Mouse

Hey, I had time for a just-for-fun project today so I decided to make an atc since that's the current theme at Meljen's DT and Challenges blog. I haven't made that many atcs lately and I had forgotten how fun they are. This is a good thing because I have a bunch to do for a swap I'm in.

For this atc, I started with Meljen's Designs Hickory Dickory Mouse digi printed on white cardstock. I coloured Miss Mouse and her clock with my Prismacolor pencils and used a little OMS to blend. Some tiny black flat back pearls decorated the clock face and added a bit of dimension. The edges of the image piece were inked.  It was then mounted on dark brown cardstock and layered with foam tape.. I reused some packaging from some stickers I had purchased to make the foundation of this card. Some of that packaging is so darn cute and just the right weight, too.A little inking around the edges, a sticker,  and I called this atc done!

Not only did I get to colour a sweet image but creating this atc has put me in the mood to do more which is exactly what I hoped would happen. It's like that chip commercial...bet you can't eat (make) just one :)

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you find time in your day to just play and like Miss Mouse says,  "Relax". I'm off to link up to Meljen's challenge blog.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

AWNB - Just Clowning Around Week 2

I love art dolls! And I love harlequins! And...I love Chris Stern's images! So this week I was in Heaven because I was able to combine all three. This is the second week of our Anything Goes and Just Clowning Around challenges at Art With No Boundaries and an art doll was definitely calling my name.

I coloured the square harlequin image with my Prismacolor pencils, using OMS to blend. Then I cut out the image and layered it over another piece of cardstock for strength. Browsing through some body patterns from my stash, I came up with a basic shape for her arms, legs, and body and drew a tunic, tights, and shoes to fit the jester theme I saw in my head.  The clothes were cut out and glued to text paper. The hands were cut from white cardstock and coloured to match the face. The tunic has gold acrylic paint lightly stenciled over a harlequin diamond pattern. The edges of the clothes were inked to create some roundness. The tiny jingle bells come from my stash and the heart on her sleeve was hand cut to match the gold edging and bells and to repeat the hearts on her cheeks. Tiny resin roses were coloured with alcohol marker and glued to the toes of her shoes.

Next came the choosing of the Spirelli shape for her collar from the selection of shapes Chris designed in the Spirelli Manual cut kit. I printed the oval wide Spirelli shape on the back of shiny red cardstock, cut it out and then cut a hole in the center, This Spirelli shape was wrapped with thin hemp cord and bling was added to each point at  Jester's request, of course.

Now Jester needed a hat. The red and light text cardstocks were glued together and triangles were cut and curled around a pencil. These were glued to the back of her head, slightly overlapping each other and becoming shorter at the sides. Bling was added to the point of each triangle. A simple neck was cut and coloured to go through the hole in the Spirelli collar.

Hmmm, something was missing. She needed a scepter! Lengths of black and gold ribbon were cut and added to a stick pin made with a heart bead, spacer beads and a large red bead. This was pushed through a foam square on the back of her hand. And Jester came alive! It must be the magic in her scepter :)

Thanks for stopping by to meet Jester today. Be sure to check out the amazing creations by the rest of the CS Designs team. They are spectacular! I hope you join us in this challenge at Art With No Boundaries. We so enjoy your creations!

Life is good; so is art.


Bonnie

Hold on Tight

I love this crazy stamp from Stamp N Plus Scrap N of a little girl in a frilly dress riding an ostrich. It makes me wonder what circumstances led up to this situation and then my imagination runs free. How fun is that ! Anyway, it seemed a perfect stamp for the sentiment. Sometimes when things are a little out of whack or out of our control, the best thing to do is to hang on tight and ride it out :)

I stamped the image on white cardstock and coloured it with Prismacolor pencils. A little white pen was added to the neck and tail feathers and a little glitter pen to the edges of her dress...after all, it is a special occasion.  The image was then cut out with an oval die, inked around the edge, and matted on black and then pink cardstock. Foam dots were used between layers for dimension. The sentiment was computer generated, cut out with a template, and matted with black cardstock. Four little brads and some doodling finished it off.

The background harlequin paper came from a matstack so old that the cover is gone. It was matted with black and then pierced in the corners to add another detail. Flat back pearls were placed in the corners next to the piercing. Two more layers of pink and black cardstock were added to frame up the background paper. The white border of the actual card base was left showing to pick up on the white in the center of the card.

Thanks for visiting with me today. I'm always glad to see you. Now go put on a frilly pink dress and ride your favourite ostrich :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

AWNB Just Clowning Around Challenge

For Art With No Boundaries' new fortnight challenge, the themes are Anything Goes with the bonus round of Just Clowning Around. . This week I was able to play with the new CS Designs oval harlequin digital image and the manuel cut spirelli templates. What a wonderful combination! I love harlequins and this one is a beauty. Plus there are so many spirelli templates that it's always a tough choice.

When I create, I usually start by colouring the image first. Then it more or less whispers to me where to take the rest of the design. I might have a general idea before I start but the face usually gives me a push in a certain direction. To colour her face, I used my Prismacolor pencils with a little OMS to blend. Once the face was finished, I had this vision of a harlequin suit with a big ruffled collar. That determined the spirelli design I used (Solarflare) and wrapped with sparkly embroidery floss. She also needed bling on the points of her neck ruffle to make it more festive and elegant.  To suggest clothing, I printed a harlequin diamond pattern on the computer and chose tiny white buttons for the front.

 For the foundation, I decided to use a canvas in order to create an art journal type of background since a canvas holds up well to all of the mediums and layers I use. I wanted it to be messy and gray with lots of texture but it couldn't distract from her outfit and lovely face. I started out with gray acrylic paint on an 8"x10" canvas. Then I stippled white acrylic over a doily. Next I just started playing with anything that inspired me from my bin of textures: spray ink  and acrylic over stencils (at least 3 or 4), through punchinella, and over netting; dry-brushing; stamping randomly with various stamps on my table. For this, you don't want anything with a distinct shape since that will catch your eye and distract from the image. I used primarily grays, white, and black with a little silver and copper thrown in here and there.

This is what the canvas looked like before I layered the harlequin image over it. There are no rules so it's a very free and intuitive process.

Once everything was adhered to the canvas, I gave her the final touches: some glittery butterflies with bling bodies; the title, Mystique, and its definition because it seems to fit her expression; some foil spirals; and a great big organza bow under Mystique's chin. She and I were both happy with the finished piece, and I certainly enjoyed the process. I know this lovely face and I will meet again many times. She's very versatile.

Come join in the fun this week at Art With No Boundaries. Be sure to check out the projects done by the rest of the DT. They are sure to inspire you to play in this challenge.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Roses are pink...

Here's another example of using multiples of the same smaller image to create an eye-catching card. This time I stamped three of this rose image from Stamp N Plus Scrap N on white cardstock. It's a great way to use up some of those scraps of white I always have. I coloured each image with my Prismacolor pencils using a little OMS to blend. The same textured paper was used to mat them as was used on the background and foam tape was added to the backs.

A piece of pink and white striped paper from Ye Olde Scrapbox was layered over the brown after I cut a white scallop border to tuck underneath. It seemed to need that extra decoration and also helped to tie in the white from the image pieces and the card.

The small tag was stamped with a Stamp N Plus sentiment. Doodled stitching, a pink brad, and some ink around the edges finished the tag. Again, a clean and simple card which really allows the rose images to take center stage.

Thanks for visiting my little rose garden :) Come by any time.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Outstanding!

I am cat-crazy in case you didn't notice and this quirky little stamp which looks hand drawn by a child was impossible to resist. It's called Triangle Kitty and can be found at Stamp N Plus Scrap N. I stamped 4 images on white cardstock which I then coloured with my Prisma pencils. Using multiples of the same image is a great way to use a smaller stamp effectively on a card.

 I cut the images into rectangles and matted them on black cardstock. The background paper was from my scrapbox. The sentiment was computer generated and also mounted on black. I used  four little pink brads and knotted a piece of pink ribbon for the embellies.

Such a simple card but it works because of the bright colours, white space, high contrast, and mostly, because of the cute image. It makes me smile. Hope it does the same for you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Life is good; so is art.