1206 Whip Cream Christmas ~ A Sandra Caldwell New Release

Hi everyone. This is my second post for today and I am sharing my second card created with my second New Release image from Sandra Caldwell. That's a lot of seconds...LOL. I hope you didn't do that at Thanksgiving dinner :) Today is another New Release Monday at Sandra Caldwell's Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs and that means a lovely collection of new images posted to the shop and wonderful DT projects on Sandra's Facebook group featuring those stamps. This week I was lucky enough to be able to play with two images. The one I am featuring in this post is called 1206 Whip Cream Christmas. Yum!

The image was coloured with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Black pen was used to create the grain of the wood, and white paint pen created the white dots on the napkin. The dots on the cupcake icing were made with Red and Green Stickles which catch the light. Icicle Stickles were added to the star on top for more sparkle. The image was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and once again I matted it with black and fussy cut again, not knowing that I was putting black behind the image. Foam tape was used to pop the image up.

I created this card in a similar fashion to my earlier card only this time there is no black mat around the frame. I cut a frame from red checked pattern paper slightly smaller than the white card base so that 1/8 inch of white would peek out. The frame was faux stitched on both the inside and outside edges with a black pen. A rectangle of yellow dotty paper was cut slightly larger than the frame opening and adhered to the back of the frame before both parts were adhered to the white base. A rectangle of black card stock big enough to fit the image was cut and embossed with a snowflake folder. The flakes were dry brushed with white acrylic paint to highlight the raised areas before being adhered to the yellow paper. The image then went on top.

The sentiment was printed onto white card stock, matted with black, and popped up with foam tape. It was placed where the frame and the inset piece meet along the bottom to bridge the two. Stars were punched from the same yellow dotty paper and matted with black card stock. They were then adhered in each of the four corners.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope I didn't make you too hungry with this whipped cream topped cupcake.To see the rest of this week's fabulous new images from Sandra, be sure and pop by the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group where our talented DT will be posting their makes throughout the day.  Steal some time to stop by Sandra's Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs, to browse through all of her awesome images. You are sure to smile and to find inspiration and Must-Haves there. I know I always do!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

1200 Present For Me ~ A Sandra Caldwell New Release

Hi everyone! Today is New Release Monday at Sandra Caldwell's Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs and that means a lovely collection of new images posted to the shop and wonderful DT projects on Sandra's Facebook group featuring those stamps. This week I was lucky enough to be able to play with two images. The one I am featuring in this post is called 1200 Present For Me and she is a cutie!

I coloured her with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils and fussy cut her leaving a narrow white border. At the time, I didn't know I was going to place her on a black background so I adhered her to black card stock and fussy cut her again leaving a narrow black border. It was a step I could have skipped but I don't mind fussy cutting so no big whoop:) Foam tape was placed on the back of the image to pop her up.

The background began with a white card base to which I adhered a black card stock mat leaving 1/8 inch of the white still showing. From yellow plaid patterned paper, I cut a frame 1/8 inch smaller than the black mat and about 3/4 inch in width. Faux stitching was doodled around the outside edges of the frame with black ink. Another rectangle of black was cut slightly larger than the frame opening and embossed with a swirly folder. This piece was then adhered behind the opening and the lovely lady was centered inside. It gives great texture and movement to the background without detracting from the frame pattern or image.

The sentiment from Create With TLC was printed onto white card stock and die cut into an oval shape. It was then matted with green card stock and the white edges were faux stitched with pen before it was adhered under the image. A wooden stocking embellie was glittered with Icicle Stickles on the star and also the wee snowflake which I added. It was then adhered to the top left corner and balanced by three threaded black buttons in the bottom right corner.

Thanks for joining my "gifted" friend and me today. We appreciate that. When you get a chance, be sure to pop by both Sandra's Facebook group, where the fabulous DT projects will be displayed, and also stop by Sandra's Etsy shop. Not only will these images be posted later today but there is a huge selection of other fabulous images there which are sure to catch your fancy. It's a wonderful place to browse and get inspired.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure Week 46 Response

Hi everyone! Barb's prompt for Week 46 of the Art Journal Adventure series was Less is More. Now if you have followed me for any length of time, you know that that minimalist approach challenges and perplexes me more than nearly any other type of challenge. I always create with the idea of more is more...just one more detail...LOL. I have difficulty remembering to leave any white space and I rarely restrict my colour palette to a couple of colours. Yikes!

Barb created a lovely simple page using only a few media and colours so, for a change, I thought I would follow her recipe. And I did...for a while :) She used black and white gesso, scraping them onto the page sparingly. My page was already white so that wasn't going to work and there was no way I couldn't add a least a little colour. I mixed a little Dina Wakley Media Turquoise paint into the white gesso and scraped it on with a palette knife. Then instead of black gesso, I scribbled in some horizontal and vertical lines using Black Gelato which I softened and spread with my finger. I like the smudgy look that gave. Like Barb, I scribbled some black pen.

Unlike Barb, I added some white gesso stencilling using the tiny circles from Joggles Punchinella Quartet Minis stencil. I wanted more texture and to break up the turquoise areas. Instead of scribbling a pen line base for my Joggles Anthropomorphic 1 collage sheet guy, I tore and layered two pieces of washi tape. It bothers me not to include some text (one of my many quirks) so I added an Idea-ology Chit Chat sticker and outlined it with black pen.To finish the page, or so I thought, I stamped three tiny stars over the washi tape with Jet Black Archival Ink.

It really looked unfinished to me. I left it overnight but it was still bugging me the next day. I was desperate to add a border and a little more texture. I tried to talk myself out of it but in the end decided that I needed to please my own eye. I also realized that even with a border, the stencilling, and word which weren't in the original script, this page would still very much follow the challenge. This is Less is More for me and there are no rules! Scraps of white page toppers which were cut off from previous spiral bound pages were adhered above and below the image. I also went back and added a row of stamps above  both borders. I didn't add any more colours to my existing palette but there was a whole lot more texture and framing. I was happy now :)

Thanks for popping by today. My thinking guy and I appreciate that. 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

Joggles Art Journal Adventure ~ Week 45 Response

Hi everyone. Barb's prompt for the Joggles Art Journal Adventure Week 45 page was to use a face as the focal for a page. Faces are one of my favourite things to colour or paint and with the new Joggles/Margaret Applin Fearless Face Stencil System, they really are so simple to create now. The system has three different size face outlines, a huge variety of facial features in each size, as well as various hair styles. There are also cool accessories such as hats, crowns, and glasses. This was the first time I had used the system and I was instantly smitten!

I began by tracing with pencil the medium round face onto white card stock. I then added the features with the facial features #3 stencil. At that point, I went to my most comfortable medium for doing faces, a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. I used a Super Fine Black Pitt pen to outline the eye and add lashes. Once coloured, she was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black card stock. This was also fussy cut leaving a narrow border to frame her and help her contrast with the background.

The ungessoed journal page was spritzed with Delphinium Turquoise and French Lilac Violet Lindy's Starburst Sprays. Once dry, pattern and texture was added with a VLV number stamp and Deep Purple Archival ink,  a VLV circles stamp applied with Forget-Me-Not Archival ink, and Joggles Nonsense Latin Text applied with Garden Patina Archival Ink.  texture and dimension were created by scraping Texture Paste through Joggles/Margaret Applin's This & That #1 stencil. Once the paste was dry and face was in place, stars die cut from book text and corrugated cardboard (coffee sleeves) were overlapped and adhered around her.

Outlining was done on the stars and below some of the Texture Paste designs with black pen, and a doodled border was added to the outside edges. The sentiment was printed on white card stock, cut into individual words which were then matted with black. Black Big Brush pen was used to outline the page edges. A small stitch stamp and some stamped splatter dots were added with Jet Black Archival ink to complete the page.

Thanks for joining my sweet smiling friend and me today. We appreciate your company. To see Barb's video demonstrating this fabulous stencil system, pop over to her YouTube channel here. If you haven't already joined our wonderful Art Journal Adventure Facebook group, you can do that here. We would love to have you play along with us and it's a lovely group of art-minded people to hang out and learn and be inspired from and with.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Chill Out ~ Inspired by a Sandra Caldwell image

Hi everyone! Today I have another Christmas card featuring one of Sandra Caldwell's delightful snowmen. This guy is called 64 Snow Guy and I just love him to bits. It could be the look on his face, It might be his slouchy top hat or his dapper vest...or it could be every single detail :)

I coloured Snow Guy with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils before fussy cutting him leaving my usual white border. He was matted with black card stock and fussy cut again. Foam tape was attached to the back of him to pop him up from the background.

Two designer papers were cut on the diagonal to fit the black mat which was slightly smaller than the white card base. This left a black border around the edges as well as one separating the two papers. Tiny white die cut snowflakes were adhered along that center black dividing line. Black faux stitching was doodled around the outside edges of the paper.

The sentiment was printed onto white card stock and cut into two sections. Both were matted with black card stock and adhered flat to the card front above and below Snow Guy. Red enamel holly berries were used to fill in the O in each section and then holly leaves were adhered sprouting from the berries.

Thanks for visiting Snow Guy and me today. We hope you find time to take his advice over the next 6 weeks.  It's sometimes a challenge to remember to take some down time when the holidays are approaching. To see more of Sandra Caldwell's sweet snowmen, as well as her other fabulous images for all or no occasions, be sure to visit her Etsy shop. There is a feast for the eyes there!

Life is good; so is art.

Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure Week 47 ~ I'm hosting!

Woohoo! I am hosting on the Joggles blog for Art Journal Adventure Week 47. The theme I chose for this week was to use Drippage (a Donna Downey term) to create a background. I had a great time playing...even broke out a straw to help the ink flow horizontally. You can check out the entire process on the Joggles blog here.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Sandra Caldwell New Release ~ 1196 Reindeer Games

Hi everyone! It's New Release Monday at Sandra Caldwell's Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs. On Mondays, Sandra's DT members post projects created featuring many of the new images both on their personal blogs and on the Sandra Caldwell Stamps Fans Facebook group. Today, I have a Christmas card featuring a newbie called 1196 Reindeer Games.

I coloured this image with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. The image was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black card stock. It was trimmed out again leaving a narrow black border and then popped up on foam tape to create dimension and natural shadows.

A black mat slightly smaller than the 5 x 7 white card base was adhered to the front. A rectangle of black and white dotty designer paper cut slightly smaller than the black mat was adhered over that. A zig zag pattern was cut from another designer paper to form a horizontal band which was adhered behind where the image would go. Because I thought it looked like Santa and Rudolph were trying to raise the ornament to hang, I created a tree branch with a die cut and greenery with a punch to give them somewhere to aim for. Small amber coloured rhinestones were also adhered to the bough. The sentiment, which seemed to summarize the orders issued by Mrs. Claus, was printed on white card stock and the words were cut apart. They were matted with black card stock and adhered flat to the card.

Thanks for visiting Santa, Rudolph, and me today. We all love that! When you get a chance, be sure to pop by both Sandra's Facebook group where the fabulous DT projects will be displayed, and also Sandra's Etsy shop. Not only will these images be posted later today but there is a plethora of other fabulous images there which are sure to catch your fancy. It's a wonderful place to browse and get inspired.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

What Candy Canes? ~ Sandra Caldwell New Release

Hi everyone! The other day, Sandra Caldwell had a contest on her Facebook group looking for Candy Cane image suggestions. If she chose one of our ideas to illustrate, we would get that digi first. I suggested a big haired woman with candy canes sticking out of it and she not only chose it but nailed it! How absolutely cute is this image called 1249 What Candy Canes?

I just had to colour her up right away using Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black card stock. After trimming her out leaving a narrow black border, foam tape was added to the back of the image. I just love her sweet expression!

A black card stock mat was cut to fit just inside the 5 x 6 inch white card base. A rectangle of black and white checked patterned paper was cut to leave an eighth of an inch border of the black mat showing. The Keep Calm sign, a free download from the Internet, was printed on white card stock and then matted with black. Wide dotty washi tape was adhered to white card stock and cut into three fishtail flags which were adhered on the top and left side. White die cut snowflakes adhered offset to black ones were used to embellish the flags. White flat pearls were added to the snowflake centers. To finish off the card, a black doodled border was added to the outside of the patterned paper.

Thanks for popping by today. My little candy cane friend and I appreciate that. To see more of Sandra's awesome images, be sure to visit her Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs. There is an absolute ton of fabulous images which are sure to inspire you and call your name :)

Joggles Blog Post ~ Sneak Peek

Hi everyone. It's my turn to post a DT project on the Joggles blog today. I created a mixed media canvas featuring a face created with the Joggles/Margaret Applin Fearless Face Stencil System...love that set of stencils and all of the possibilities it presents! I also used some of the Joggles Foam Stamps and my Gel Press Plate. I would love to see you over there to check out the step-out photos of the full project and tutorial!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

1176 Snow Steampunk ~ a Sandra Caldwell New Release

Hi everyone! I am a huge fan of steampunk. I love the mix of industrial and fantasy, the contrasts between the hard and the soft, and the creativity and appeal to my imagination. Today's new release by Sandra Caldwell at Babycakes Digis and Designs held instant attraction for me because it combined steampunk with a snowman, another fave of mine. Put those two things with Sandra's fabulous and unique style and this image called 1176 Snow Steampunk was irresistible!

I coloured Snow Steampunk with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, keeping my palette neutral...kind of rusty and industrial. As much as I like bright colours, the Steampunk colour palettes are one of the things I really love about the genre. Snow was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black card stock, and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. He was them popped up on foam dots.

I wanted a black background but also wanted to include snowflakes. Luckily, I found the perfect designer paper from Heidi Swapp so I measured out a 6 x 7 inch rectangle, allowing the large snowflake to "drift" off the page. In order to create Steampunk snowbanks, sections were torn from the inside of a corrugated coffee sleeve and then overlapped when they were adhered. White gesso was scuffed onto the corrugated areas using a finger. Metal gears were adhered in the top right corner as well as in the center of the large snowflake. Other flakes die cut from white card stock were adhered next to the gears in the sky.

The sentiment was printed onto white card stock and then cut into individual words. These were matted with metallic bronze toned paper and then popped up on foam tape. Gold gel pen was used to fill in the small circles in the font. The same paper was used to mat the black background and then another mat of black was adhered behind that to create a double frame. Although the camera didn't capture it, the bronze matting has a dull sheen and quite a bit of texture.

Thanks for popping by today. Snow Steampunk and I appreciate that. To see the rest of this week's fabulous new images from Sandra, be sure and pop by the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group where our talented DT will be posting their makes throughout the day.  Steal some time to stop by Sandra's Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs, to browse through all of her awesome images. You are sure to smile and to find inspiration and Must-Haves there. I know I always do! She is also sponsoring a fun 12 Days of Christmas contest over on the Markers!Papers! Digis! Facebook group. It's been lots of fun and we are only on Day 6 :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Angel Kisses ~ inspired by a Sandra Caldwell image

Hi everyone! It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I love snowmen. Creating with them gives me the biggest grin. Sandra Caldwell has such sweet snowmen in her Etsy shop, Babycakes DND, that I decided to have a play with some this week. Today I am sharing the first card I made starring  89 Snow Stuffed. Isn't he just the cutest? I love the wee bird in his hat.

Snow Stuffed was coloured with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. He was then fussy cut leaving my usual narrow white border. Once he was adhered to black card stock, he was fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. These two borders give him a bit of a frame and help him contrast with the background. He was then popped up on foam tape.

The card started with a white card base. A rectangle of MME Comfort & Joy designer paper was cut to fit just inside that base so that about 1/8 inch of white still shows once the black mat was adhered to the dotty paper. Another pattern from the same paper pad was cut into a band and matted with black card stock before being adhered behind Snow Stuffed. Snowflakes cut with a Lawn Fawn die from white card stock were adhered in the upper right corner.

The sentiment was printed on white card stock and cut into two sections. These were matted with black and popped up on foam tape. Another die cut snowflake was adhered next to the bottom section of words in order to bring the snowflake detail to the bottom of the card. This helps the eye move through the card and adds unity to the design.

Thanks for joining Snow Stuffed and me today. You've made us both so happy...he melted a little...LOL To see more of Sandra's fabulous designs and check out her other sweet snow guys, be sure to pop by her Etsy shop. Grab a hot beverage and a little snack first...there's lots to see :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

1172 Turkey Chick Joins the Club ~ a Sandra Caldwell new release

Hi everyone! This is my second post this morning and my second new release from Sandra Caldwell of Babycakes Digis and Designs. This time I created an art journal page inspired by this hilarious image called 1172 Turkey Chick. I love the "chick" images which Sandra creates and always imagine stories to accompany them. For this one, I imagine a bunch of turkeys convincing her to join their wonderful club with the turkey costume as part of her uniform. They were hoping that she would be chosen for Thanksgiving dinner instead of one of them :)

I coloured Turkey Chick with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She was fussy cut leaving my usual white border and then matted with black card stock to make sure she stood out from the background. Foam tape was used to pop her up and adhere her to the background.

The 6 x 8 inch mixed media background was spritzed with California Poppy Gold and Yellow Rose of Texas Lindy's Starburst sprays. Marigold Yellow Orange Starburst Spray was spritzed through Joggles Twaddle stencil and allowed to dry. Two Viva Las Vegas background stamps were applied to the background with Yellow Ochre Archival Ink before pieces of washi tape which had been adhered to white card stock were  added in two places. Small scraps of Texture Paste  accented black cardstock were added to the washi tape on the left. A circle was punched from the same paper and added to the washi on the right. A third element, a punched corner, was placed in the upper left corner to complete the visual triangle.

The sentiment was printed on white card stock, cut into sections, and matted with black. Foam tape was used to adhere these segments to the background. A dinner plate was cut and decorated from orange card stock and a small knife and fork were adhered over the plate to give Turkey Chick a not- so-subtle hint to head for the hills. A border was doodled around the page and the edges were inked with black Big Brush pen before a black mat was added to frame the page.

Thanks for joining Turkey Chick and me today. We appreciate that. Her advice for you is that if any turkeys come around to recruit you into their club, Just Say No! LOL To see the rest of the fabulous new images from Sandra, be sure and pop by the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group where our talented DT will be posting their makes throughout the day. Be sure to pop over to Sandra's Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs, to browse through all of her awesome images. You are sure to smile and to find inspiration and Must-Haves there. I know I always do!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Sandra Caldwell New Release ~ 1128 Grandma's Little Elf

Hi everyone. Today I have two new releases from Sandra Caldwell because she very kindly gave us last Monday (Halloween) off. The first one I am sharing is this adorable one called 1128 Grandma's Little Elf. I absolutely adore the look on her face so I chose to create a Christmas card with her. I coloured her with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border. Once she was adhered to black card stock, she was fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. I like how the white and black frame the image and help it contrast with the background. I also like the fact that Sandra's signature linework becomes wider and therefore stronger with each border added. I don't want to lose those skinny bits because they are an integral part of Sandra's style and design. Foam tape was added to the back of the image to pop it up and create a natural shadow.

I kept the background simple on this one which I often do on a card to allow the image to take center stage. The card base was white so a rectangle of designer paper was cut to fit inside the base leaving a white border and enough room to mat the green with black card stock. Another piece of designer paper was trimmed out to emphasize the strips of pattern and make an interesting staggered shape. This was also matted with black before it was adhered to the upper left corner of the card. Four black enamel dots were adhered across the top.

The sentiment was printed onto white card stock and then every other letter was coloured in red or green using fine markers. The sentiment was cut into two segments which were each matted with black to make them pop. Faux stitching was doodled around the outside edge of the green background and black Big Brush pen was used to edge it and hide the white edge of the designer paper.

Thanks for joining Grandma's Little Elf and me today. We are delighted you did that. She will be available in Sandra Caldwell's Etsy shop, Babycakes DND, later on today. While you are there, check out the many other fabulous images which she has. I always find lots of Must-Haves and look forward to my Monday visits there. We would love to see your Sandra Caldwell creations posted in our Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook page. If you tune in later today, all of the other awesome  DT makes with the new releases for this week will be posted there for all of us to enjoy :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

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