New Release - Sandra Caldwell's Who Can 890

Hello again! Monday's are exciting days at Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook Group because she releases many new images which the DT have had the privilege of playing with ahead of time. The images are uploaded to Sandra's Etsy shop, babycakesdnd, later in the day but we are so anxious to show you the new images that we post them in the morning. For today's release, I was able to create with the fabulous image called Who Can 890. I love owls and this one is cuter than cute!

I coloured Who Can with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, using jagged choppy strokes to create the look of feathers. He and his branch were then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border all around the image. It was then matted with black cardstock and trimmed out again before foam tape was added to the back.

The background began with a 6 x 8 inch rectangle of mixed media paper which was spritzed with Drop Dead Gorgeous Green, Delphinium Turquoise, and Tibetan Poppy Teal Lindy's Starburst Sprays. A TH text stamp was also rolled on using Jet Black Archival ink. Torn pieces of sheet music were adhered in three places coming from the sides and torn pieces of washi tape applied to white cardstock were layered over those. Viridian Archival Ink was applied to a woven background stamp and rolled onto the background. The same ink was used to stamp a large musical note in a few places. A TH text stamp was also rolled on using Jet Black Archival ink to create more texture in the background. White embossing paste was scraped through TCW's Tiny Circles stencil with a palette knife and allowed to dry thoroughly.

Black Dylusions Paint rings were added to the background using a bottle lid and then the image was glued in place.  Small chipboard leaves were added to the branch and then doodled on. A doodled border was added to the outside edges along with Black Big Brush Pen. Four photo corners were punched and adhered in the corners. The sentiment which had been printed on white cardstock was cut apart and matted with black cardstock. It was adhered to the page with foam tape and a scalloped border was added to every other word both to add more pops of black and to give the sentiment more visual weight.

Who Can and I thank you for popping by to visit today. be sure to stop by the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group to see the other fabulous new releases and what my talented teamies did with them. Check out Sandra's Etsy shop as well. There are so many fabulous images there to inspire and delight you.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

The East Wind - New Release - It's My Box

Hi everyone. It's Tuesday and that means it's New Release Day at The East Wind. We all loved this sweet image so you will see lots of samples of projects made with her on The East Wind Facebook group today. The image is called It's My Box and this little one reminds me so much of me when I was little. My dad used to warn me that if I kept up that pout  for too long, someone would surely come and sit on my lip thinking it was a couch. I was a masterful pouter!

I printed this image twice: once on white cardstock to colour the little girl and  kraft cardstock to colour like a box. Both were coloured with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She was fussy cut and then adhered over the kraft image. I wanted the kraft because it would give me a head start on making the box look more authentic. The box part of the image was also fussy cut and then mounted on black cardstock to make it stand out from the background. It was then popped up on foam tape to create dimension.

The background began as an 6.25 x 8.25 inch rectangle of black cardstock. A piece of corrugated cardboard with the top layer torn off was adhered horizontally across the center of the black base. A piece of black and cream herringbone patterned paper which reminded me of the black and white floors of the house I grew up in was cut smaller than the black and then torn at 5.75 inches to show the black background on the right side. Before  the herringbone paper was adhered to the black with foam tape, a length of twine was wrapped around it vertically and tied roughly in the center. The twine, which tied in to the cardboard carton theme, was left long because I wanted it to loop and curl above and below the image.

The sentiment was created with chipboard letters popped up on foam dots. In my mind, this little girl clearly wants the world to go away and leave her and her box alone :) To finish off the journal page and frame it, it was adhered to a thick piece of corrugated cardboard cut larger than the black. The edges of the cardboard were inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink after they were distressed and torn a little to add more character and texture.

Thanks so much for joining my wee friend and me today. To see more of Unky's fabulous images, be sure and visit The East Wind Etsy shop where my friend will appear later today. And remember to stop by The East Wind Facebook group to see what my talented teamies created with this same image. We'd love to see what you create, too.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Unsupervised ~ Inspired by a Sandra Caldwell Image

Hi everyone. While I love all of Sandra Caldwell's characters, the old lady is absolutely my favourite regardless of what she is doing. I adore her little face and the expressions she wears and her knobby little knees make me smile every time. She's feisty and funny...and reminds me a little of my mom. I created an art journal page using Old Lady Fairy "just 'cuz".

I coloured Old Lady Fairy with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils and fussy cut her leaving a narrow white border. She was then matted with black cardstock and trimmed out again before foam tape was added to the back. Cotton Candy Stickles were applied to her wings because every fairy likes a little shine :)

The 6 x 8 mixed media paper background was spritzed with Hottie Patottie Hot Pink and French Violet Lilac Lindy's Starburst Sprays along with a little water. Tilting and tipping of the background gave me the drips and runs I like so much. Once dry, the background was stamped using a woven background stamp and Magenta Hue Archival Ink. Deep Purple Archival was applied to Joggles Nonsense Latin stamp and rolled onto the background in places. A strip of patterned paper (actually the top edge that you tear off...yes, I save everything!!) was adhered beneath Old Lady's feet to ground her. Yellow stars were punched and shaded on one side with Butterscotch Gelato. The opposite side was covered with yellow Stickles. A second set of stars were punched from black cardstock and adhered under the yellow stars to create a shadow and help them show against the background.

The sentiment was printed onto white cardstock, and the words were cut apart. They were then matted with black cardstock and popped up on foam tape. Once the words were placed, the stars could be scattered around them.Five black half circles were punched and adhered along the left side and the opposite corners. White Signo pen was used to add the faux stitching and black pen was used to faux stitch the edges. Black Big Brush Pen was used to edge the background before a black mat was added to frame the piece.

Thanks for joining Old Lady Fairy and me today. We hope she gave you a smile. To see more of the Old Lady's antics as well as Sandra's other fabulous images (love her style!!), visit her Etsy shop, Babycakesdnd. Be prepared to smile, chuckle, and laugh out loud when you do.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Sticky Snippets Art Journal Page

Hi everyone. Every once in a while a product comes along that is so cool and filled with creative possibilities that you don't even realize it at first. Joggles has come out with just such a line called Sticky Snippets. They are this wonderful collection of pre-cut label shapes covering a white sheet with amazing adhesive on the back. First you get the absolute joy of creating a wonderful background on the white sheet. It can be quite difficult to see the outlines of the shapes unless you really look for them which for me is very freeing because I don't overthink the backgrounds. I don't worry if I have enough of one stamp or stencil on each shape. I like that randomness of peeling off the Snippets and discovering what patterns are on each and, for me, this results in better art. Below is the sheet with three of the hearts peeled off.

Barb Donahay from Joggles has a couple of fabulous videos here and here on using different media on the Sticky Snippets. I used Dylusions and Liquitex paints, Starburst sprays, and brushos which require lots of water to activate and no matter what I threw at them, the adhesive wasn't affected. Very cool! There is also no waste with these sheets because once decorated the paper surrounding the shapes becomes an awesome addition to a journal page as well. I will be showing more art with these Sticky Snippets sneaking in over the next while but today I wanted to share a simple art journal page where I used three of the heart Sticky Snippets on my art journal page.

This page began with just the orange chicken wire pattern. I had sprayed the TCW Mini Chicken Wire Reversed stencil on something and then slipped it between two journal pages to clean it. This is one of the two "clean it" pages. Beside the chicken wire, I used Joggles/Margaret Applin Vintage Correspondence stamp using Tiger Lily and Vermillion Archival Ink to transfer it to the page. The three Sticky Snippet Hearts were peeled from the background paper and added to the left side of this page. I outlined each with black pen to help them stand out crisply. I love the little pops of pattern and colour they add to this simple background.

Two black off-cuts from die cutting borders for another project were added near the bottom of the stamped image. Over that, a few loops of hemp twine were adhered with Aleene's Super Thick Tacky Glue and then a bit of cheesecloth added over that. One of the butterflies from Joggles Watercolor Butterflies IV Collage Sheet was fussy cut, matted with black, and adhered over the cheesecloth with foam dots. I added a little more orange and yellow to the butterfly using Inktense pencils activated with water so it pulled in some of the colours from the hearts. A TH pen nib was adhered to the butterfly for its body. Three vintage buttons were also added tothe cluster. The word Change was created with Idea-ology Alpha Parts Letters and a simple border was doodled around the page to frame it.

Thanks for stopping by today and sharing my excitement over these Sticky Snippets. I'm pumped to create more art with them and look forward to seeing how others use them as well. So far there are 7 different shapes to play and create with. The possibilities are endless :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure - Week 18 Response

Hi there! I took some time yesterday to play with the next prompt for the Weekly Art Journal Adventure on the Joggles blog. For Week 18, Barb asked us to illustrate a play on words and playing with language is something I enjoy a lot...even if it's corny :) I decided to feature three more of the Joggles/Bloobel Cling Mounted Rubber Stamps because I thought they would play well together and make me laugh...which they did.

I started the page by scraping a layer of gesso onto it with a palette knife. Once dry, I squeezed three blobs of Liquitex Basics paint onto my craft sheet. I added Light Blue Permanent and Cerulean Blue Hue to the background with my fingers and then spread Brilliant Yellow Green onto some bubble wrap and printed with that. A brush mix of Brilliant Yellow Green and Cerulean Blue Hue was pounced through the small circles of the Punchinella Quintet stencil to add some diffferent tones of the same colours to the background. The oval portion of the Punchinella Trio 1 was stencilled through with the Cerulean Blue Hue. I wanted that egg shape to feature prominently in the background to tie in with the images. The left side of each oval was outlined with black pen.

The three Joggles/Bloobel stamps (Potato Head; Spike; The Egg Painter) were stamped onto white cardstock and coloured with a mix of Prismacolor and Derwent Color Soft Pencils. They were then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and matted with black cardstock before being trimmed again. All three were popped up on foam squares to add dimension and create a natural shadow around them. The Egg Painter needed somewhere to stand and I wanted him away from the birds so I cut a set of steps from a brick embossed piece of black cardstock which had been highlighted with Silver, Bronze, and Gold Treasure Gold. The two birds were given torn pieces of corrugated cardboard (from a coffee sleeve) to stand on because they are in the dirt.

Before placing everyone on the background, a zigzag border was die cut from black cardstock and adhered as a frame for the page. The words in the speech bubbles were printed on white cardstock and hand cut so the pointy bits were in the right places. They were then matted with black cardstock and popped up on foam squares. The title of the spread, which is the Play on Words, was created with puffy letter stickers. The outside edges were coloured with Black Big Brush pen as the final detail.

Thanks for joining the four of us today. I hope this page gave you a smile or maybe even a chuckle. I had such fun creating it. I love imagining conversations between Lisa's quirky characters. To see more of the Art Journal Adventure prompts, be sure to stop by the Joggles blog. Barb puts up a new prompt every Monday and it's so fun to play along. We also have a wonderful group of participants who share their art, ideas, and friendship on the Art Journal Adventure Facebook group. We'd love to see you there.

New Release at Sandra Caldwell's Babycakes Digi and Design shop

Hi everyone. Since it's Monday, it's New Release Day at Sandra Caldwell's Etsy shop, babycakesdnd. Throughout the day, her new releases will be featured by the DT on the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group and later today they will be uploaded to her Etsy shop. I was fortunate to be able to play along this time, colouring Girly Ghoul 808 with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. GG was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and popped up on foam tape.

The background began as a 6 x 6 inch piece of Halloween designer paper by Recollections. It had a spider web design and a printed border and provided a great place to start. White and black paint rings were created with Dylusions paint and two sizes of bottle lids. White embossing paste was scraped through TCW's Tiny Circles stencil in three places. Once dry, the wicked laugh, Bwa ha ha, was stamped onto the background using Jet Black Archival Ink. GG was then added to the bottom right corner.

The sentiment was printed onto white cardstock, cut into individual words, and double matted with green and black cardstock. Each word was then popped up on foam tape. Two shimmery bat embellishments were adhered to the background with a single spot of glue in the center of each to allow the wings to be free.

Black and white washi tape adhered to white cardstock was glued to the back of the background layer to create a frame. Black Big Brush pen was used to edge this layer. It was then matted with green cardstock, and again with black cardstock to frame it and pull in the green from her collar and stockings. It also added a pop of colour and goes well with her slightly greenish complexion...:)

Thanks for popping by today. Be sure and stop by the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group throughout the day to see the other amazing new releases and the wonderful projects by my talented teamies. Both the images and the projects are fabulous! Check out Sandra's Etsy shop, too, for a whole boatload of inspiration.

Life is good; so is art.

Joggles Art Journal Adventure Week 17 - Complementary Colours

Hi everyone. I had a play in my art journal yesterday as I responded to Barb's prompt for Art Journal Adventure Week 17. The idea was to use complementary colours and like Barb's original spread, I used yellow/orange and blues/purples. I started by sponging Dylusions White Linen Paint onto the background a section at a time. While the white was still wet, I sponged in Squeezed Orange Dylusions Paint, reloading with the white to soften it in places. When the page was covered, I went back with Dylusions Lemon Zest Paint and sponged where there was still white showing in the center of the page. Because the paints were worked wet on wet, the colours blended and there were no harsh lines.

Once that was dry, Squeezed Orange paint was scraped onto my craft sheet with a palette knife and Joggles Wonky Circles foam stamp was loaded with it and then stamped in several places on the background. This was left to dry and then White Linen Paint was applied to bubble wrap and pressed onto the background. The left side of some of those circles was outlined with a white paint pen.

The crazy rabbits are Joggles/Bloobel Cling Rubber Stamps and are called Funny Bunny #2, #3, and #1 (left to right). These were stamped with Jet Black Archival ink onto white cardstock and coloured with a mix of Faber-Castell Colour Soft and Prismacolor pencils. Black half pearls were added for their eyes. They were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black cardstock. Once they were trimmed again, foam squares were added to the back to give them dimension and to create a shadow around them. Their platforms were die cut using Spellbinders Wonky Squares dies from another mixed media background I had prepared and not used yet. The colours on that background were the complements to the yellow and orange. These squares were matted with black cardstock to help them contrast with the background even more.

Purple stars were punched from cardstock, adhered to the background, and outlined with black pen. They were then coated with Grape Crush Stickles which has both purple and blue glitter in it...and is gorgeous. A border was doodled around the page and the circles within it were dotted with white paint pen. Black spatter dots were stamped around the page using a TH stamp and Jet Black Archival Ink. The sentiment, which seemed to suit these blissful bunnies, was printed on white cardstock, cut apart, and matted with black cardstock. Foam tape was used to adhere the words.

Thanks for joining the funny bunnies and me today. That was awfully kind of you! To see more of the Art Journal Adventure prompts and Barb's spreads, be sure to pop by the Joggles blog. She comes out with a new one every Monday. We also have a fabulous Facebook group where people share their responses to the prompts, chat, and share tips and ideas. We would love to have you join us.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

The East Wind Tic Tac Toe Challenge

Hi everyone. Today marks the beginning of the new challenge on The East Wind blog. Our challenge this time is Tic Tac Toe - Three in a Row. To play along, you need to feature three of the items from the chart below but they have to be in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line. I chose lace, TEW image, and a die cut. The star of my project is Lucy Loo Firefly which I cropped to get only her head and shoulders...no knees and toes :)

I coloured Lucy Loo with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. I loved colouring all of that gorgeous hair! She was fussy cut leaving my usual narrow white border and then matted with black cardstock which was trimmed again. Foam tape was applied to the back of the image to adhere it to the background.

The 6 x 8 inch mixed media paper background was spritzed with Yellow Rose of Texas, Hag's Wart Orange, and Hottie Patottie Hot Pink Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays plus a little water to help with the blending. By tilting the background in different directions, the colours blend beautifully. Once dry, a circle stamp was added here and there using Rocket Red Gold Brilliance Archival ink. It adds pattern and also another layer of shimmer to the background. Two Memory Box dies, Hayden Twigs and Winterberry Sprig, were used to cut  two of the large and three of the smaller branches . These were then adhered to the sides and top to frame the image and create strong contrast against the background. To add a little shine and dimension, black gems were added to some of the bigger "berries" on the die cuts.

A length of lace was added under Lucy Loo and then she was placed on top overlapping it slightly. Two cream mulberry flowers and a yellow one which was washed with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink were adhered to the bottom left of the image. The word memories, a Big Chat sticker, was added next to the lace and doodled around. The edges of the background were coloured with black Big Brush Pen before a black mat was added to frame the page.

Thanks for visiting Lucy Loo and me today. We appreciate that! To see the other wonderful Tic Tac Toe projects by my talented teamies, be sure to pop by The East Wind Challenge Blog. We would love to have you play along with us.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

It Takes All Kinds - inspired by Bloofou Stamps

Hi everyone. I was delighted to learn that Lisa Graham, the artist behind Bloobel Stamps, was going to open 2 more Etsy Shops carrying different styles of her artwork. One shop is called Bloochou Stamps and features big eyed sweeties who melt my heart. The other shop is called Bloofou Stamps and features images that are a little edgier, a little more out there but still reflect Lisa's wonderful imagination, talent, and humour. I decided to create an art journal page featuring three of the Bloofou images.

I love these crazy flowers. They are called: Ditzy Daisy (left); Sunflower (right); Pretty Flower (below center). All three were coloured with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils and then fussy cut, leaving a narrow white border. They were then matted with black cardstock to help them show up against the mixed media background.

The 6 x 8 inch mixed media paper background was spritzed with Drop dead Gorgeous Green, Delphinium Turquoise, and Tibetan Poppy Teal Lindy's Starburst Sprays. Water was not added as I wanted the colours to be distinct and not blended. Forget-Me-Not Archival ink was applied to a woven background stamp and rolled onto the background once the sprays dried. Deep Purple Archival Ink was applied to Joggles Latin Nonsense stamp and it was also rolled on in places. Torn or cut strips of washi tape applied to white cardstock were adhered to the bottom of the page to form the ground. Stampotique's Swirl Stalks was inked with Viridian Green and again with Jet Black Archival Inks and stamped above the washi ground. A scratch paper was used to mask the ground so that the stamp could come right up to it without going onto it.

The three flowers were adhered to the background. because I wanted the center one to be taller than the others, a scrap of corrugated cardboard was layered over the ground at that point. Deep Teal Inktense pencil was added around the images and spread with a water brush to create shadow. Black Marble and White Linen Dylusions Paints were used to add two sizes of rings in three areas. Two flags cut from shiny tape applied to white cardstock were added to the top right corner. Small leftover pieces were also added to each side of the ground to create a little contrast and pop. The sentiment was printed onto white cardstock, trimmed and matted with black. The open spaces of the font were coloured with pencils, A simple border and outlining were done with a black pen and the edges were inked with black Big Brush pen. A black cardstock mat was added to frame the page.

Thanks for joining my three amigos and me today. We are delighted that you did that! Be sure and pop by Lisa's Etsy shops to see the huge variety of wonderful and inspiring images she has created. Her imagination is quite amazing!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Blog DT Post Sneak Peek

Hi everyone. It's my turn to post a DT project over on the Joggles blog today and I am so excited to share this project. I combined one of the wonderful Joggles Accordion Books with 5 of the Joggles/Bloobel Cling Mounted Rubber Stamps  drawn by Lisa Graham to create my very own circus troupe. I love the expression "Not my circus, not my monkeys" and decided to do a spin off on that. The 5 images became my very own circus performers...love them!

To see the full tutorial with the step out photos and close-ups, please pop over to the Joggles blog. It would make all of the performers and me, the ringmaster, happy as heck if you did :) You know we love an audience!

back and front covers

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Art Journal Adventure Prompt - Week #16 Borders

Hi everyone. Barb's prompt for Week 16 of Joggles Art Journal Adventure was to use borders on an art journal page. She actually filled her page with delicious doodled borders over a Dylusions spray background. I decided to do "similar but different" by combining some doodling, some punched elements, and some stencilling plus a word as the focal.

I started by spritzing inks over an ungessoed page. In hindsight, if I had put gesso on the back of the page, it likely would have minimized rippling but I'm OK with it as is. The background was spritzed with water and then I used Squeezed Orange, Postbox Red, and Bubblegum Pink Dylusions Sprays plus Bougainvillea Fuchsia Lindy's Starburst Spray. There was a lot of blending because of the water and very little white space left once I tilted the page in several directions.  When that was completely dry (with a little help from a heat tool), I stencilled White Linen Dylusions Paint through Joggles Ancient Ruins stencil in a few places to break up the background and provide contrast.

The outside X row was created by pouncing Black Marble Dylusions Paint through TCW's 12x12 Deco Stitches stencil. The leaf skeletons were created by using a Pitt pen through the same stencil and then tracing over each line freehand with a broader nib. I wanted them to be less perfect. The other borders were freehanded in a wonky fashion...no straight lines here. White paint pen was used for the dots and Black Big Brush Pen was used to edge the page.

For the center block, stars were punched from black cardstock to fill the top and bottom rows...and yes, I put them upside down on purpose. The letters for the word Imagine were grungeboard painted with Black Marble Dylusions Paint and dotted with a white paint pen. Two lengths of drywall mesh were cut to size and adhered above and below the word to provide both texture and contrast. They were outlined with a black pen.

This was definitely a page that pushed my comfort zone boundaries. It's rare for me to have an art journal page without an image. That's one of the things I love so much about the Art Journal Adventure...it encourages me to try something I wouldn't normally do and to find a way to make it my own. We would love to have you join us on this journey. There is a fabulous AJA Facebook group where we share our pages and encourage each other...love to see you there! Barb's AJA prompts are posted each Monday on the Joggles blog and each person can follow along at his or her own pace.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Sandra Caldwell New Release - Bee Costume

Monday's are exciting days at the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group because the new releases come out. It's my turn to play with a brand new release from Sandra Caldwell's babycakes dnd Etsy shop. As soon as I saw this fabulous image called Bee Costume 463, I was smitten and knew she was the girl for me. I love bees andSandra's images so it was win/win for me. Is she not the most adorable bee?

I coloured Bee with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils adding some Diamond Stickles to her sweet wings. She was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and trimmed out again. Look at that heart melting face! Foam tape was added to the back of Bee to pop her up and create a natural shadow once she was attached to the background.

The background began as a 6 x 8 inch rectangle of hexagon printed yellow cardstock. A weave background stamp was rolled onto the paper in several places using Cofffee Archival ink. Black cardstock hexagons were die cut and adhered to the background. White Embossing Paste was scraped through TH Faded Dots Layering Stencil with a palette knife to add texture and dimension. Black rings were added by stamping with Black Marble Dylusions Paint and a bottle lid.

Most of the sentiment was printed from the computer onto white cardstock, trimmed close to each word, and matted with black. The word Bee was created with Idea-ology Ransom Alpha Parts. A bee button with a rhinestone head was adhered to the B with Glossy Accents and a small piece of foam tape was added to his little bee bum. Two punched photo corners were adhered to the top right corner and rhinestones to match the bee button's head were adhered to the top corner. This gives a visual triangle of sparkle with the button, the corner, and Bee's wings. Black Big Brush Pen was used to edge the outside of the page before it was adhered to a black mat.

Bee and I thank you for visiting today. To see the other fabulous new releases from Sandra, be sure and visit the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group where my other talented teamies will be posting their fabulous projects created with the other new releases. Check Sandra's Etsy shop later in the day because they will be there as well. You don't want to miss out! They are awesome!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie