Limited Edition ~ inspired by Bloobel Stamps

Hi everyone. Don't you just love this guy? He makes me laugh. I think it's partly the look on his face, partly the incongruity between his "proper" mustache and that pink tutu. Whatever it is, he needed to be the star of his own mixed media page. His name is Moustache Ballerina and he was created by the talented Lisa Bloobel Graham of Bloobel Stamps. Since he reminds me a bit of the great John Cleese in A Fish Called Wanda, I have named him John.

I coloured John with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils and used a flat black rhinestone for each eye. John was fussy cut leaving my usual narrow white border and then matted with black and trimmed out again. Foam tape was added to the back to give John a little lift (ballet pun intended) and add dimension and shadow once the image was placed on the background.

The 6x 8 inch mixed media paper for the background was spritzed with Lindy's Starburst sprays in Marigold Yellow Orange, Cocklebells Coral, and Autumn Maple Crimson straight onto the paper and then through Dylusions Blocks stencil. Various stamps were added usingVermillion, Rocket Red Gold, and Magenta Hue Archival inks. Black embossing paste was scraped through TCW's Spinning Tops stencil. Three lengths of washi tape applied to white cardstock and matted with black were used to create John's stage. Another length was added to the left side of the background.

The computer generated sentiment was printed on white paper, cut apart, and matted with black cardstock. Each section was then popped up on foam tape. A small punched section of border was added under the words Limited Edition for emphasis. Three flat back pearls were added to each side of the steps and outlining was done with a black pen. A border was also added around the outside of the piece. To finish off, Black Big Brush pen was used to edge the background before it was matted with black cardstock to frame the page.

Thanks so much for joining John and me today. I had so much fun putting this one together. I hope that you are celebrating being a limited edition just like John is. For more of these fabulous whimsical images, be sure and visit Bloobel Stamps Etsy store.

Life is good; so is art.

The East Wind Challenge #47 ~ Black, White & One Other Colour

Hi everyone. Today marks the beginning of a new challenge at The East Wind blog. Our theme this time is Use Black, White & one other colour. I chose red for the extra because I love the high contrast of those three. For this mixed media project, I chose to feature Lucy Loo Chinese Dancer which, surprisingly, I haven't coloured before.

 I coloured Lucy Loo with a combination of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. I did cheat on the eye colour because I was pretty sure that red eyes wouldn't have been too flattering. I added Clear Wink of Stella to her tiara. She was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border.

The background began as a plain black piece of designer paper which had a white line border and  a stylized flower in the corner. White embossing paste was scraped through TCW's Harlequin stencil and Dylusions White paint was pounced through the Tiny Circles stencil. More Dylusions white paint was stamped to make the two sizes of white rings. To add a little text, stamping was done with Versamark and then white embossing powder was added and heat set.

In order to tie the red in the image to the background, two lengths of red ribbon were wrapped to the back and adhered. A text printed chipboard butterfly was added over top and a tiny key, coloured black with a Big Brush Pen, was adhered as the body. The word strength, an Idea-ology Big Chat sticker, was placed to the right of Lucy Loo. To finish, the page was double matted with red and then black cardstock.

Thanks for joining Lucy Loo and me today. We are happy to have you visit. To see the other fabulous makes by my DT teamies, be sure to pop by The East Wind Challenge blog. We would love to see what you do with the Black, White & one more colour challenge theme.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Subtle?? ~ A Rick St. Dennis inspired creation

Hi everyone. As soon as I saw this fabulous image in Rick St Dennis' Zibbet shop, I knew just how I wanted to colour her, especially her big hair. She is over-the-top in-your-face and exudes such confidence. Love her! Her name is Moonbeam and that helped me decide how to do the background. I wanted a retro 70s feel to it.

I coloured Moonbeam with my usual mix of Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils. She was then fussy cut with a narrow white border, matted in black cardstock, and trimmed out again. She was then popped up on foam tape and asked to amuse herself while waiting for the background.

The 6 x 8 inch rectangle of mixed media paper was spritzed with Drop Dead Gorgeous Green and Freaky Frankenlime Lindy's Starburst sprays through Joggles Cyclone stencil. Once dry, more spirals were stamped with Viridian Archival ink. Scraps of tissue wrap printed with text were torn and adhered with gel medium. Two different washi tapes were adhered to white cardstock, trimmed and added to three spots. Black Dylusions paint was pounced through TCW's Mini Texturized stencil to add pops of contrast and more pattern/texture.

The computer generated sentiment was printed on white cardstock, trimmed out, and matted with black. Foam tape added dimension. Three green flower brads were added to the page: two through the yellow washi tape and one through a stitched felt flower button. Black pearls were adhered to the centers to draw attention to them and emphasize the visual triangle. The page was edged with Black Big Brush pen and matted with black cardstock to frame it.

Thanks for popping by today. Moonbeam and I hope you enjoyed your trip back to the seventies...LOL. Such a fun image!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Rainbows and Unicorns and Bloobel Stamps

Hi everyone! I came across these wonderful quirky images on Facebook the other day and I just had to track down the talented artist and her awesome Etsy shop. The shop is called Bloobel Stamps and the artist is Lisa Bloobel Graham. I love the humour, whimsy, and uniqueness of these designs so I purchased a few to have a play. They make me smile the whole time I am creating with them...and then after...oh, and before. Did I mention that I am smitten?

I coloured To Be a Unicorn with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Stickles were added to the stars in her hair and Glossy Accents plus tiny flat black pearls to her eyes. Unicorn Girl (UG) was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and popped up on foam tape.

The background colour was created on the 6 x 8 inch rectangle of mixed media paper with Distress inks and a little Lindy's Starburst spray. Black Archival ink was applied through TCW's Bingo stencil. text stamping was added with Coffee Archival ink and the little starburst pattern with Rocket Red Gold Archival ink. White embossing paste was scraped through Dina Wakley's Plastic Canvas stencil. White and black rings were created with Dylusions paint and bottle lids used as stamps.

The computer generated sentiment was printed on white cadrstock, trimmed close and matted with black. Each section was popped up on foam tape for dimension. I was going to use the sentiment that inspired the image " Always be yourself unless you can be a unicorn. Then always be a unicorn." but I had used a version of that not too long ago so I went for another one which suited UG just as well. Three spots of purple cardstock, two borders and a label, were added to bring purple from the image into the background. A length of cheesecloth was adhered under her legs to suggest a cloud and three punched metallic stars repeated the glimmer of those in her hair. To finish off, black Big Brush pen was used to edge the background before a black mat was added to frame the page.

Thanks for joining UG and me today. We are delighted to have you here. Be sure to check out Bloobel Stamps to see the other fabulous images Lisa has created. She has a Facebook group, too, where people are sharing their makes...lots of inspiration. I want Lisa to be hugely successful so she will make lots and lots of images for us to play with! Yes, it's all about me...LOL

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Aurora Forget Me Not ~ The East Wind new release

Hi everyone. Happy Tuesday! There is a gorgeous new release coming out at The East Wind shop today. She is called Aurora Forget Me Not...so pretty. Many on the DT couldn't wait to colour her...including me. Check out The East Wind Facebook group and you will see all of our versions throughout the day.

I coloured Aurora with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black cardstock. She was then popped up on foam tape for dimension.

The 6 x 8 inch mixed media paper background was spritzed with Lindy's Stamp Gang Witches' Potion Purple and Delphinium Turquoise sprays. Once dry, script text was stamped using Deep Purple Archival ink and a starburst pattern was stamped with Forget-Me-Not Archival ink (how appropriate!) Stars were die cut from silver glittery paper in two sizes and applied to the background with foam tape. White crocheted lace was adhered to the bottom edge and Petaloo flowers adhered over the bottom edge of the image.

The sentiment was printed on white cardstock, trimmed out, and matted with black. Foam tape was also used to pop up each word. The word "WISH" on the large star is an Idea-ology rub-on and the scalloped border is another rub-on from my stash. Blue Inktense pencil was applied to the background around each silver star and then activated with a water brush. Black Big Brush pen was used to ink the outside edges before the black matting was added to frame and finish the piece.

Thanks for joining Aurora and me today. We hope your wishes come true!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

So Glam ~ Rick St. Dennis Progressive Challenge

Here I am with my second post for the new year and it's still the morning of the first :) Happy New Year in case I missed you with my first post. We have a new Progressive Challenge on the Sparkle and Glitter blog and it's Team A's turn to post their creations. I decided to celebrate New Year's in style with the lovely and oh-so-glamourous Helene Hartz, one of Rick St. Dennis' fabulous images from his Zibbet shop.

I coloured Helene with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, adding a little metallic gel pen for the silver bits. She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black cardstock. She was also popped up on foam to add dimension and create a shadow behind her.

The background began as a 6 x 8 inch rectangle of purple cardstock.Text stamping and a stylized star were added with Deep Purple Archival ink.Platinum ink was used to stamp the zigzagstitching. Silver embossing paste was scraped through the Dylusions Bubbles stencil to add pattern, texture, and shine in various places. Pink zigzag washi tape was applied to white cardstock and then adhered in 5 places. Tiny star sequins glued to the end of each added interest and more shine. The washi tape segments were then outlined with black pen to help them pop. Silver sparkly paper was die cut into stars which were then glued around Helene.

The sentiment from Create with TLC was fussy cut close to the words and popped up on foam tape. Tiny rhinestones were adhered to some of the letters for ...you guessed it...more sparkle. Black Big Brush pen was used to edge the outside of the background before a black mat was added to frame the piece.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Helene and I appreciate your spending your time with us. To see other fabulous DT creations, be sure to pop by the Sparkle and Glitter blog. We would love it if you joined in the fun. After all, it's Anything Goes using a Rick St. Dennis image.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

The East Wind Challenge #46 ~ Flag on the Play

Hi everyone. Happy New Year! I hope 2016 is good to you! We are starting the new year with a challenge over on The East Wind blog. Challenge #46 is called Flag on the Play so we want to see a banner, bunting, fishtail flag, or pennant shape somewhere on your project. Easy peasy, right? All of the TEW blog DT are using the freebie image from this month's TEW newsletter called Dancing with Polarbear. I love 'em!

I coloured the image with a combination of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. They were then fussycut leaving a narrow white border. Once matted with black cardstock and trimmed again, foam tape was added to the back to give them dimension.

The background began as a 6 x 8 inch rectangle of patterned paper. I have so much designer paper that I decided to make an effort to use some as the start of mixed media projects. Circle stamps were added with Cornflower Blue Archival ink. Splatter dots and an asterisk border were applied to the background with Cobalt Archival ink. White embossing paste was scraped through TCW's Tiny Circles stencil for more texture. The two fishtail flags were hand cut from a border on the patterned paper. Two sizes of silver snowflakes were punched from metallic art paper and scattered over the background.

The sentiment was printed on white cardstock, trimmed, and matted with black. Each segment was popped up on foam tape. A Prima layered fabric flower was adhered to the top right corner. Two Idea-ology Typed Tokens were added with silver brads below the flower  and a tiny white ribbon bow bridged the gap. The outside edges of the background were inked with black Big Brush Pen. The background was then matted with black cardstock to frame it.

Thanks for popping by today. All three of us appreciate your fine company. To see the other fabulous DT creations, be sure to stop over at The East Wind Challenge blog. if you haven't already signed up for the newsletter and the monthly free image, you can do that while you are there.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie