So Cold ~ Inspired by Bloobel Stamps

Hi everyone! I had so much fun creating an art journal page with two of Lisa's fairly recent releases from Bloobel.com. These sweet and goofy little robins just crack me up. The short hunched down one is called Cold Christmas Robin and the other one standing up is called Quirky Christmas Robin. They come as separate stamps but they go so well together :)

I coloured both robins with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils using short choppy strokes to create the feather texture. I used 4 or 5 different colours for each section. The robins were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted them with black card stock. Once they were trimmed out again, they were popped up on foam tape for dimension.

The 6 x 8 inch mixed media background was spritzed with Delphinium Turquoise and French Lilac Violet Lindy's Starburst Sprays. Three sizes and shapes of snowflakes were punched from both white and black card stock. These were adhered to the background with the black slightly offset from the white to create a shadow and help them show against the background. Two branches were hand cut and adhered below the robins so they had a place to stand. A Derwent Inktense pencil was used to shade under the branches. Black pen was used to outline some of the snowflakes.

The sentiment was printed on white card stock...it makes me laugh! The words were cut individually, matted with orange sprayed card stock, and then again with black. The word "cold" was given an extra matting to emphasize it. Black Big Brush pen was used to edge the background before it was matted with black card stock.

Thanks for joining the robins and me today. We're glad that you did. Be sure to pop by Lisa's shop to see all of her fabulous images. She has a bunch of delightful Christmas ones as well as ones for all occasions or no occasion at all. It's a fun place to visit and become inspired.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure - Week 44 (guest hosting)

Yay! I am guest hosting Joggles Art Journal Adventure for Week 44. I love when Barb asks me to do that for her. It's always so much fun to take an idea from start to finish and then to see what it inspires others to create. This week is all about using embossing as a resist. I hadn't combined spray inks with embossed stamping before so I was curious to see what would happen.
To see the full project and an explanation of my process, pop over to the Joggles blog! Hope you do!!

Life is good; so is art!
Bonnie

New release from Bloobel Stamps~ Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Oh my word...have you seen this fabulous new release by Lisa Bloobel at Bloobel.com? It's called Mommy Kissing Santa...and yes, I have been humming that earworm song for days now! But how cute is the image? I just love Lisa's quirky and fun characters, as well as her unique drawing style.

I coloured Mommy and Santa with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. I think I smiled the whole time I coloured them :) They were then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, adhered to black card stock, and trimmed out again leaving a narrow black border. Foam tape was used to adhere them to the background and add dimension and natural shadow.

The background began with a white card base to which I added a black mat slightly smaller then the base size. Next a rectangle of green patterned paper was cut to fit 1/8 inch inside the black. From another designer paper, a letter to Santa was cut 1/8 inch smaller on three sides and 1 inch shorter on the bottom. Vintage Photo Distress ink and faux stitching were added to this letter. This layer was matted with black card stock to help it pop and was then adhered to the green background.

The letters to spell MWAH were stamped onto the letter to loosely follow the shape of Santa's hat. A lipstick kiss image was fussy cut and matted with black before being adhered to the top right corner. Three punched hearts were added to the bottom corner to help balance the design and also bring a third point of red to complete the visual triangle. A strip of another designer paper was cut to serve as a border for the bottom of the card and also to give Santa and Mommy somewhere to stand so they weren't floating :)

Thanks for joining Santa, Mommy, and me today. We're so happy you did that! Be sure to check out Lisa's other amazing stamps at Bloobel.com. She not only has a fabulous selection of Christmas themed stamps but there is also a huge collection of other wonderful images for all occasions just waiting to spark your imagination...and make you smile.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles DT Post Sneak Peek ~ GirlIttude Tag Book

Hi Everyone! I have a new DT post on the Joggles blog today where I share a tag book( sneak peek above) I created using the Joggles GirlIttude Collage Sheets I and 2, and a whole lot of stamping and stencilling. Just for fun, I added some machine stitching...something I haven't done in a while. Do you ever do that...just stop using a technique and then when you use it again, you wonder why you ever stopped? Anyway, the full tutorial and step out photos are in my post on the Joggles blog. Hope to see you over there!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

1126 Almost Dennis ~ New Sandra Caldwell Release

Hi everyone! When I was a kid (way back in the day), I used to love watching Dennis the Menace with poor old Mr. Wilson. I used to laugh and laugh at the crazy situations Dennis got himself into and at Mr. Wilson's reactions. Sweet memories. When I saw this fun image by Sandra Caldwell (which will be in her Etsy shop later today) called 1126 Almost Dennis, I really wanted to colour him up. I had an ideal saying that suited him to a tee.

I coloured Almost Dennis using Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. He was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black card stock. Once he was trimmed around again to leave a narrow black border, foam tape was added to the back of the image to give some dimension.

The background was one that I had started earlier. I believe the first layer of colour were Lindy's Yellow Rose of Texas and Marigold Yellow Orange Starburst Sprays. Hag's Wart Orange Starburst Spray was spritzed heavier on one side than the other. Marigold Yellow Orange was again used to spritz through TCW Mini Stars and Circles stencil on the left side of the page. Orange Blossom Archival Ink was used to add a VLV Circle Text stamp. Black Archival Ink was used to apply a VLV stitching stamp as well as the words Oh dear and a splatter stamp. Almost Dennis was adhered in place and washi caution tape was applied to white cardstock and adhered below him to ground him. A small strip of black was added below the washi tape. A black die cut border was added to the right side of the page. I like the zigzag shape because it adds tension which Dennis had a habit of doing too.

The sentiment was printed on white card stock and the words were cut apart. They were then matted with black and then popped up on foam tape.To add a little more black to the right side for balance, five black rhinestones were adhered along the edge. Black Big Brush Pen was used to outline the page before it was matted with black card stock to frame it and draw the eye into the design.

Thanks for joining Almost Dennis and me today. To see more of Sandra's new releases, be sure to pop by Sandra Caldwell Stamps Fans Facebook group where the rest of my talented DT teamies will be sharing their wonderful creations. Later today, you will want to hop on over to Sandra's Etsy shop because not only these new releases will be available, but she often sneaks in a couple of yummy surprises, as well. There are images for every occasion and inspiration galore there! I always have a giant  Must Have list after stopping by on Mondays.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Tibetan Mastiff ~ New Release at The East Wind

Hi all. When I first saw this new release image called Tibetan Mastiff  from The East Wind, I thought he was cool and would be fun to colour. It wasn't until I looked closer that I noticed the surprise peeking out from behind his leg. Once I noticed that, this image became a Must Have. I googled images of this breed to see the colouring possibilities and then went to town.

The Tibetan Mastiff and wee Unky are coloured with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. I used short choppy and uneven strokes over a lighter base to create the fur, using several layers to achieve depth. The image was then fussy cut leaving my usual white border and matted with black card stock to allow good contrast with the background. Foam tape was added to the back of the image to pop him up.

The background began as a 6 x 8 inch rectangle of burnt orange coloured card stock with a darker chevron print on top. Rings were added using Jet Black Archival Ink and an Ellen Hutson Bokeh stamp. Text was added using Orange Blossom Archival Ink and a Wendy vecchi stamp. The same ink was applied to one of the Darkroom Door Paint Splats stamps which was then rolled on in several places. To give TM a place to rest his big ol' paws, washi tape was applied to white cardstock, torn, and edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. It was then layered under him to ground him.

The sentiment was printed onto white card stock and the words were cut apart and matted with black. Foam tape was used to adhere them in place. A heart die cut from mop-up papers was inked with Orange Blossom, edged with Black Big Brush pen, and popped up on foam between the sentiment and TM's head. On the other side, two Idea-ology Adage tickets were inked with Vintage Photo and adhered behind TM. The word 'your' is an Idea-ology Big Chat sticker. The edges of the background were inked with Black Big Brush pen before the page was matted with black card stock. This serves to strengthen the page for binding and also draws the eye into the page by framing it.

Thanks for joining TM, wee Unky, and me today. We are delighted you did. To see other creations by my talented TEW teamies using this sweet Tibetan Mastiff image, be sure to pop by The East Wind Facebook group where they will be posted throughout the day. We would love to see what you create with them.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure ~ Response to Week 39 Use Pink

Hi everyone. Barb's prompt for Week 39 of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure series was to Use Pink. Now, I am a frequent user of pink so that in itself was not hard. However, she also doodled these awesome frames on her page and  frames are not something I include very often...actually only when challenged to do so. That became the part of this page that pushed my comfort zone out a little...just what I like to do. I didn't want to doodle my frames or my innards within the frames so I chose instead to use stamps.

I purchased a set of frame stamps ages ago and never used them...until now. I first spritzed a piece of white card stock with Hottie Patottie Hot Pink and Hi Maintenance Magenta Lindy's Starburst Sprays and let that dry thoroughly. Then I stamped the frames plus one extra label stamp onto the spritzed card stock using Jet Black Archival Ink. Each frame was fussy cut and matted with black to make it pop against the background.  Stampotique Originals Fleur Girl 3, Medium and Tiny Bee, and Home Sweet Home stamps were inked with Jet Black Archival and stamped onto white card stock. They were then coloured with Prismacolor, Polychromos, and Derwent Coloursoft pencils before being fussy cut and matted with black.

Stampotique Originals Hanging Hearts was stamped directly onto a medium label and coloured in with two shades of pink markers. The word fleur, which Barb also included on her page and happens to be the name of the flower image, was stamped directly onto the smallest label and the inside of that frame was deepened with coloured pencil. Two black rhinestones were used to cover the "nail holes". The letters for Maison were stamped individually onto white card stock, cut apart, and then adhered to a strip of black before being attached to the small label.

The background of the page made me think a bit. I wanted pink but not solid. I used Magenta Hue Archival Ink on a hero Arts plaid background stamp and repeatedly stamped until the page was covered. I didn't worry about making my lines meet up nor about getting perfect images. If I had wanted that look, I could have used designer paper. Black card stock strips were torn to frame the top and bottom and hide ant huge imperfections. Black Big Brush Pen was used to edge the two sides. Once everything was adhered in place, black punched circles were adhered in rows to finish off the page.

And that's it for my mainly Pink and mostly Stampotique page. I'm happy with the outcome and certainly enjoyed the process so it was win/win.  Thanks so much for stopping by. If you haven't already been following along with the Joggles Art Journal Adventure and Barb's weekly Monday prompts, it's never too late. You can join in at any point, catch up or not, and we'd love to have you join our wonderful AJA Facebook group as well. It's an awesome group filled with creative, friendly, and supportive people who share the same enthusiasm for this fun adventure.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie