Easter Daffodil ~ Sweet Pea Stamps Progressive Challenge

Hi everyone. I am excited to announce that I have joined the Sweet Pea Stamps Challenge Design Team. I have long been an admirer of the artists in the Sweet Pea Stamps shop and the incredible variety and range of rubber and digital stamps that they offer so I was delighted to be asked to join this DT. They have such awesome challenges beginning the first and third Mondays each month. On the Sweet Pea Stamps Fans and Friends Facebook group, there is a Progressive Challenge where if you played along in Part 1, you get an adorable image sent to you for playing along in Part 2. The image is called Easter Daffodil by the artist Karen Middleton. No worries if you didn't join in for Part 1 because the image is available for purchase in the shop which means that you can still enter Part 2.

I coloured this cheerful little fellow and his flower using Prismacolor pencils. I used short choppy strokes on him to give the appearance of fuzzy. Awww! I added Glossy Accents to his eyes and to the ladybug on the leaf. The image was cut out with a Spellbinders Labels 25 die. Background colour was added to the white with Tumbled Glass and Peeled Paint Distress inks using an applicator tool. The image was matted in black and a doodled border was added around the edge. Isn't he cute!

The background began with a white card base. A piece of green text designer paper was cut to fit inside the base and a black mat was added. A second rectangle was cut from a companion piece and again matted with black cardstock. I added more of a mixed media feel to this rectangle by randomly  applying Memento Bamboo Leaves ink through TCW's Tiny Circles stencil. Broken China Distress ink was added to the background with a Joggles bubble stamp.

A band of old text paper from one of the lovely old books a friend gave me, was matted in black and added across the middle of the background. The image was popped up on foam dots and centered over that. Two lengths of dotty ribbon were adhered coming out from the image over the text band. Four black and white dotty buttons were threaded with white floss and adhered to the corners with Glossy Accents. To complete the card, the word JOY was added to the image area with tiny square beads. My mom is going to love this Easter card! Shhh! Don't tell her :)

Thanks for stopping by today. To check out some of the other DT inspiration using this heart-melting image stop by the Sweet Pea Stamps Friends and Fans group on Facebook. We would love to see what you create with this image. There are already some wonderful makes in the folder there. Hope you will join us for the Progressive Challenge..

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Through the Craft Room Door ~ Always Anything Goes (Jan.27 - Feb. 2)
Crafting From the Heart ~ #44 Always Anything Goes
Dream Valley ~   #98 Anything Goes
Make My Monday ~ Bright and Cheerful Colours
613 Avenue Create ~ #108 Create Your Own Challenge (image,diecut, stencil, buttons, ribbon)
Robyn's Fetish ~ #247 Animals

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

TEW New Release - Twisted Venus Beautiful

Hi everyone. There is a new release today at The East Wind and I had the opportunity to play along. Her name is Twisted Venus Beautiful. I am smitten with her long flowy hair...love colouring hair especially in reddish tones. I coloured Venus with Prismacolor pencils and then fussy cut her leaving a narrow white border. This border adds width or strength to her strands of hair so they don't tear when she is popped up on foam tape. It also provides contrast with the black mat and allows her to show up better against the busy background.

This background started as a tag cut from mixed media paper. I often use this paper because it will stand up to all of the wet media I like to use in my backgrounds. It also takes sprays beautifully. I spritzed the background with a combination of rusts, crimsons, paprika, and orange from Tattered Angels, Starburst, Dylusions, and Art Anthology sprays. I added layers by dipping the tag into the over-sprays and then drying it  between dips until I was happy with the mess I had made...lol. I added some stamping using my crosshatch stamp and Jet Black Archival ink, as well as a stamp with multiple circles and orange Blossom Archival ink. Some black gesso rings  were thrown into the mix using bottle lids as the stamps.

Before Venus was adhered to the tag, washi tape adhered to white paper was torn into two sections and added behind her. By layering the tape over white cardstock or paper, it makes the tape more opaque and allows the pattern to be visible without the background changing its appearance. Half circles punched from black cardstock were added to the edges and white paint pen created the dots to tie in with the ribbon topper.

The sentiment comes from Create With TLC, one of my favourite sources for sayings. I paired this one with Venus because I wanted to send a positive message to all females regardless of their age. We are all beautiful and awesome just the way we are. It was printed on white cardstock, edged with Black Soot Distress ink, and matted with black. A length of cheesecloth was layered behind the popped up sentiment. To complete the tag, three large amber coloured gems were added to the bottom right corner and black matting was added to the tag to serve as a frame.

Thanks for coming by today. Venus and I appreciate your fine company. To see what others on The East Wind DT created with this, have a peek on our FB Community page There's more fantastic inspiration there.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

A Little Love for You ~ CYP Challenge 246

Hi everyone. It's time for a new challenge at Craft Your Passion Challenges. As always, our theme is Anything Goes and our wonderful sponsor is DeeDee's Digis. I had a hard time choosing just one image to play with because there are so many cute ones.

I decided to use this sweet bird called Valentine Tweet. The sentiment at the bottom of the card comes from the same set. Love that! I coloured Tweeter with Prismacolor pencils and added white paint pen dots to his body. I also added a plaid pattern to his hat with a black Micron pen. He was then fussycut and popped up on foam tape. The background to the image was cut with Spellbinders Label One die and inked with Tumbled Glass Distress ink. It was then matted with black cardstock and given faux stitching around the edges. A little foam tape on the back gave it the dimension I was looking for.

The pink background was cut to fit leaving room for the white base and black matting to show. A border of icicles was cut from white cardstock, adhered over the pink, and then outlined with black pen. The sentiment, printed on white cardstock, was also matted in black and faux stitched. Two pink dotty buttons threaded with floss were adhered to the card next to the sentiment.

This is my last challenge with Craft Your Passion and I can hardly believe I am saying that. I have been with Lisa and this fabulous team for so long. An opportunity has come along that I cannot resist and since there are only so many hours in the day, I had to make the tough decision to let this team go. I will miss them and wish them all the best. My time at Craft Your Passion Challenges has been wonderful.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Gimme a Little Kiss ~ RSD Showcase

Hi there! Once a month, Rick St. Dennis sets a challenge for the EDT and those who participate historically have posted their projects on the Sparkle and Glitter blog. This time, we are posting on both the SNG blog and on the Airless Chambers blog. A little light...a little dark...and a whole lot of challenge! Our theme this month is Valentine's Day but the twist is that we cannot use traditional colours like pink, purple, and red. Yikes! Those are my go-to colours not just for Valentines but for everyday, too.

I chose to play with Rick's Rosy Romanza image. I just love her quirkiness and sense of style...so fun. I coloured Rosy with Prismacolor pencils, adding silver Stickles to her fancy evening bag. She was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and matted in black to help her stand out against the busy background. Rosy was popped up on foam squares and asked to wait until her background was ready.

The background began with a white piece of mixed media paper which I spritzed with Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst sprays in Delphinium Turquoise and Freaky Franklin Lime. I tried to leave white space...honest, I tried. Pattern was applied with French Ultramarine and Forget-Me-Not Archival inks through Colorbox's Lovely stencil. To make the hearts slightly more noticeable, they were outlines with a Stabilo pencil and the inside edges were highlighted with a bit of white paint. White embossing paste was applied through TCW's Mini Tiny Circles stencil. Black Archival ink was used with a cross-hatch stamp.

Black Marble Dylusions ink was sprayed onto old book paper through a heart shaped stencil filled with stars. The hearts were then cut out and matted with black. More black hearts were either die cut or punched from cardstock and scattered around the page. White paint pen dots were applied to highlight them.

The song lyrics were printed from the computer, matted in black, and popped up on foam tape. They were then added to the large hearts with Cupid's arrows under each section. Again, white paint pen dots were added to make the arrows more noticeable. To complete the mixed media page, a border was doodled around the edge of the spread and Black Big Brush pen was used to darken the edges. The spread was then matted in black cardstock to frame it.

Rosy and I thank you for dropping by today and encourage you to visit both the Airless Chamber blog and the Sparkle and Glitter blog to see how others on the EDT interpreted this challenge. Such a creative bunch! And remember we have the Progressive challenge on Sparkle and Glitter plus the FB contest on Rick's Fans and Friends FB group if you want to play along. we love seeing your creations, too.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

The East Wind FB Contest ~ Alice in Wonderland

Today marks the beginning of the new Facebook Contest on The East Wind Facebook Community page. The theme this time is Alice in Wonderland and you must use an image from The East Wind to play along. The good news...there are so many images to choose from, some specifically an Alice character and some which could be coloured up to become an Alice image. I chose to create a mixed media spread using Lucy Loo Mad Hatter.

I coloured Lucy Loo with my Prismacolor pencils and then fussy cut her leaving a narrow white border.She was then matted with dark brown cardstock. Foam tape was attached to the back to provide dimension.

The background began as a piece of mixed media paper which I sprayed with Dylusions Melted Chocolate and Tattered Angels Yellow Daisy, Creme de Rouge and Tattered Leather. Black Ink was dripped from the top edge to create runs. A rust coloured pattern paper as well as very old book text paper were torn, edged with Distress inks, and adhered over the dried inks. Pattern was added with Jet Black Archival ink using text and scattered dots stamps. The outside edge of the background was inked with Dark Brown Big Brush pen.

In order to further the Mad Hatter theme, I chose embellishments that reminded me of Mad Hatter scenes in A in W. The chipboard pocketwatch, From Bo Bunny, could have been either the Hatter's watch which the March Hare filled with butter or perhaps the Rabbit dropped it on his way through. The key could have been the one Alice used to open the door to Wonderland. The teacup is like the one Lucy has in her hand from the tea party and the stars remind me of the tune Hatter sang, Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat. I love weaving references and reminders into my mixed media pieces.

The saying which was computer generated is something Alice said to the Mad Hatter in the Tim Burton movie. Loved that line. So true! It was printed from the computer onto white cardstock. The words were cut apart, matted with black or red and black, and then popped up on foam tape. Three flat black pearls were used as periods to indicate that the middle of the quote is missing. To finish up and add strength to the piece, dark brown  and black cardstock were used as mats.

Thanks so much for joining Lucy Loo and me today. We appreciate that you spent time here. To see other projects from others on The East Wind DT, pop over to our Facebook Community page. We would love to see your take on this fun challenge, too. Hoping you will play along, too.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Song For Tears ~ New release at The East Wind

There is another fabulous new release at The East Wind today. The image is Lucy Loo Song for Tears. Unky has captured Lucy Loo's emotions beautifully in this image and several of the DT have had a go at interpreting it their own way. When I saw this image of Lucy Loo, I was reminded of how many people fight battles that we know nothing about even though we think we know them. I was thinking about the courage they show daily in their own quiet and sometimes unrecognized way. That inspired this mixed media piece.

 I coloured Lucy with Prismacolor pencils, adding silver gel pen to her tears. She was then fussy cut and matted with black cardstock to allow her to stand out against a strong background. Foam dots on the back of the image added dimension.

The background began with a piece of white mixed media paper which I sprayed with Dylusions Squeezed Orange, Bubblegum Pink, Postbox Red and Pure Sunshine plus a little water. I twisted and turned the paper to allow the colours to blend a little and then dried it. The background was then dipped into the overspray on my craft sheet and a little extra of each colour was added where I wanted it intensified. Once it was dry, I dripped black ink from the top and then it run down the background, helping it in a few spots with a straw in order to get finer lines. I wanted this to look like mascara running down the face during a good cry. Black gesso rings as well as white ones were added to the background with lids to bottles. More white gesso was used to stencil through TCW's Mini Netting template. These were grunged up with a charcoal pencil and a paper stump. Black crackled pattern and scattered dots were added with stamps and Jet Black Archival ink.

Lucy Loo was popped up on foam dots to create dimension and shadow. The sentiment, by Maryanne Radmacher from a pre-printed sheet, was torn around and backed with a very narrow black mat. Using two fabulous rubber stamps from Designs By Ryn (have you seen her fabulous stamps??? you NEED to check them out), the teardrops were stamped onto Ranger Foil paper using StazOn ink. They were then fussy cut and adhered to the background with some popped up and others glued flat.If I were a better photographer, I might be able to capture how cool these look. They have all the incredible detail of Ryn's stamps but they are also reflective so they change colour depending upon what they are reflecting. Love them!

To complete the mixed media spread, I applied lengths of black and white striped paper tape to the back of the mixed media paper, mitering the corners for a cleaner look. Then I matted the entire piece with black cardstock to frame it.

Thanks for stopping by today. Check out The East Wind Facebook group to see how others on our DT coloured and featured this fantastic image. We would love to see what you do with it as well.

Life is good: so is art.
Bonnie

You are inspirational ~ CYP Challenge 244

Hi everyone! After a bit of a break, Craft Your Passion is back with a new challenge, Anything Goes. Our fabulous sponsor this week is The East Wind for which I have a particular fondness...lol. I chose to play with the gorgeous Mother's Day Flower image also known as the braided hair girl. I coloured her with Prismacolor pencils, adding a little white paint for the whitecaps and some Tumbled Glass Distress ink for the sky. The black border which is part of the image was reinforced with  a black Big Brush pen once the image was trimmed. Tickled Pink Stickles was added to the pink flowers in her headband.

The card began with a white base, topped with a mottled piece of bright blue cardstock matted with black. The vertical band of plaid paper came from my scrapbox and was also matted with black before being adhered to the center of the blue rectangle. The image was matted in black, popped up on foam dots, and placed over the upper portion of the band.

The sentiment from Create With TLC was printed on white cardstock and cut with one of the  Spellbinders Deckled Mega Rectangles dies. It was then matted in black and popped up on foam dots before being placed just below the image. Although I auditioned many other embellies, borders, and trims, I finished the card off with three black half pearls in the top right corner. Everything else seemed to take away from the clean lines and the image.

Thanks for stopping by today. I appreciate your visits. To see the other wonderful projects created by the CYP DT and using The East Wind images, stop by the Craft Your Passion challenge blog when you get a chance. We would love to have you join us for our Anything Goes challenge.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Mall Girlz Mixed Media Tag Book Part II

Hi everyone. I'm here with the next three images from the mixed media tag book I showed you last week. If you missed that post last week, you can check it out here. Again, I have used images from Rick's Mall Girls digi sheet. Since the backgrounds were completed in the same fashion as explained in my last post, I won't go into all of that again. Instead, I will focus on how I have created continuity within the tag book while still changing up enough elements to keep it interesting and slightly unpredictable.

I coloured all of the  five images with Prismacolor pencils keeping the same basic palette but varying the combinations and the proportions of each. I fussy cut them leaving a narrow white border and then each was then mounted on black cardstock and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. This double mat provides greater contrast to the busy colourful backgrounds as well as providing greater strength to the image. This helps when the image will be popped up on foam tape like these have been and also frames the image stopping the eye and notifying it that something important is within the frame.

The sale signs were computer generated and the open letters were coloured with marker. The black border and signpost give weight to the signs and provide that pop of black that I like so much. Doing them all the same way adds continuity to the tag book but varying the colours of the markers as well as the sale words keeps it interesting and fun. The sayings vary in content and font used but all are printed on white cardstock and have been matted in black.

All tags have doodled borders but each one is slightly different from the others. All tags have punched black pieces added but again they vary in shape and detail. By repeating elements and details throughout the tag book, there is a sense that they belong to a whole. By changing it up within the elements, it makes each tag fresh and helps the viewer want to see the next one. It also keeps it fun and challenging for me while I am creating.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. All of the Mall Girlz and I appreciate it. The sale is still on at Rick's Zibbet shop which is where this digi sheet can be found...along with 800+ other fabulous images and a huge variety of content...something for every taste.. You can get the details and discount code in this post here. We would love to see your creations on Rick's Facebook page or as an entry in the Progressive Challenge or Facebook Art Contest.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Shop 'til you drop ~ RSD Mall Girlz

Hi everyone. Today I'm sharing part of a mixed media tag book I created with the five fabulous images from Rick's Mall Girls digi sheet. I love these women: their quirkiness, sense of style, and awesome hair. They are so much fun to colour and make me smile. Today I will share the cover and first two tags of the book which you can see above.

All of the tags were created in the same way. The larger tag shapes are heavy black cardstock and the smaller tags which those mat are cut from mixed media paper to withstand the spray inks and other media. The cover features one of the girlz enlarged and cropped to a head shot. It was fussy cut and backed with an oval of sprayed paper and then matted in white. The signs were matted in black and the open letters coloured in with marker. The hearts and a second mat were cut from more ink sprayed papers.

The mixed media backgrounds were created by spraying the mixed media papers with water plus a variety of inks, some with mica for the extra sparkle. Several layers were applied to get spots, drips, and splotches. White or black gesso and white embossing paste were applied through several stencils to create pattern and texture.  Stamping was also added with Archival inks. A different doodled border was added to each tag and various shapes punched from black cardstock were also added to the backgrounds.

Each tag has a shopping sign created on the computer with an open font. The lettering was filled in with markers and the sign was matted with black. A narrow strip formed the sign post on each one. The shopping sayings were also computer generated and matted in black.

Each of the Mall Girlz was coloured with Prismacolor pencils, sticking to the same colour palette for continuity. They were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black. They were each popped up on foam tape for dimension and to create those lovely shadows I like so much.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you will return next Tuesday to meet the rest of the Mall Girlz. They are unabashed shop-a-holics and I'll bet they were first in line for those crazy Boxing Day sales. If this set of images speaks to you, remember there is still a sale going on at both of Rick's shops, Zibbet and Etsy. You can read more about it and get the coupon codes here. You can even shop in your pajamas and these Mall Girlz will never know...lol.

Bonnie

Long Winter Nights ~ Rick St. Dennis Progressive Challenge

Happy New Year! I hope that 2015 is a wonderful year for all of us. because it is the first of the month, it's also the start of the Progressive Challenge on Rick St. Dennis' Sparkle and Glitter blog. Since it is Part One of the challenge, we are allowed to use any RSD image and any theme. I love snow people so I decided to choose two of Rick's images to create a winter scene. Ever wonder what they do during those long cold winter nights?

I coloured Frosty and Mrs. Frosty with Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut them leaving a white border only on the arms. I wove their hands together and glued them in place before matting them with black cardstock and cutting them out again. Then the two were popped up on foam tape for dimension and to create a natural shadow.

Their snowball kids were pinched from white cardstock and also from black which was glued offset to create a shadow. Broken China Distress ink was used to edge each one and features were drawn in with a black pen. The noses were filled in with an orange marker and the open eye were created with small black half pearls. Tiny pink embroidery floss bows were added to three of them. In my crazy little brain, that's what snowbabies look like...snowballs with features. Then they grow up to have bodies.

The background started with a purple-blue piece of cardstock to which I added white stencilled swirls and gold stencilled stars. I was wanting to create a snowy scene.I added iridescent snowflakes (actually confetti) and tore a piece of white cardstock for the snowdrift. It was edged with Broken China Distress ink. frosty and the Mrs. were adhered onto the background and then their kids were added around them. Some are popped up on foam dots and some are adhered directly to the background to vary the heights.

The sentiments were computer generated and matted with black cardstock. Both were popped up on foam tape. A piece of black cardstock was used to mat the background and frame the entire piece. The finishing touch was to outline the gold stars to make them more visible.

Thanks for stopping by today. The Frosty family and I appreciate your visit. Be sutre to stop by the Sparkle and Glitter blog to see the fabulous creations which others from the EDT created for this challenge. You will see even more on the 15th when the rest of the team post their projects for the Progressive Challenge Part 1. I hope you will play along. If you do, you will receive the February image free. Bonus!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie