Joggles Art Journal Adventure Week 4 ~ Clothing

Hi everyone! It's week 4 for the 2019 Joggles Art Journal Adventure and the theme this week is " Calories: Tiny creatures who live in your closet and sew your clothes a little tighter each night". We are being challenged to feature  closet gremlins, dieting, clothes...whatever this saying conjures up for you. I opted for clothing and stretched it even further to Style. I love when people buck the trends or fads and stay true to their own style, not worried about what others think. Funky and unique are fun :)

I decided to experiment with texture for this background. I had some watered down acrylic paint from another project and didn't want to waste it so I slapped it on a 6x8 inch piece of mixed media paper. While the three Liquitex paint colours (Cerulean Blue Hue; Light Blue Permanent; Bright Aqua Green) were still wet, I put the textured or patterned side of a paper towel don over it, waited a few seconds and then lifted it up. It left the most delicious diamond pattern which I dried immediately with my heat tool to preserve it. I added a previously decorated Sticky Snippet strip to the bottom edge and a length of black washi with a cross pattern overlapping one end.

To add more texture and pattern to the background, I stamped text (Crafty Individuals script) using Manganese Blue Archival Ink, and a punchinella design (Visible Image Mesh-allaneous) using Jet Black Archival Ink. Ranger Texture Paste was scraped through TCW Tiny Circles stencil to brighten the background and add dimension.

The girl is an Art by Marlene die cut. She was beautiful as is but I wanted to make her my own so I used coloured pencils, Posca Paint Pens, and black Pitt Pens to add shading, doodling, and to intensify some of the colours. The crown, another Art by Marlene die cut, was covered in Diamond Stickles to add that sparkle she deserved. The same Stickles was used on her ruby red shoes :) She was matted with black cardstock, fussy cut leaving a narrow black border next to the white one she came with, and popped up on foam tape to create a natural shadow. The flowers from a clip art sheet, were fussy cut, had the colours changed with Posca Pens, received a little doodling, and Stickles over their centers. They were also popped up on foam tape and skinny scraps of striped paper were used for their stems.

I loved this saying I found but wanted it to connect with the clothing theme visually so I drew out a dress shape onto a Lindy's covered mop up piece of cardstock and then drew in the words in the shape of the dress. Black and white Posca paint pens were used to fill in the lettering. A hanger was cut from black cardstock and embroidery floss was used to make the spaghetti straps to hang the dress. White paint pen dots were added to the hanger to make it more whimsical and less stark. There are dots everywhere so it helped it fit in.

A border was doodled around the outside edges of the page (again with the dots!!) and the very edge was inked with Black Big Brush Pen to remove that white edge that is so distracting. A yellow enamel dot was added to the flat end of the washi to tie in with the other yellows in the images and the entire page was matted with black cardstock to serve as a frame, drawing the eye into the page.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Be sure to pop by the Joggles AJA Facebook group throughout the next week to see the other creative works of (he)art from the rest of the AJA community. We would love it if you played along.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Out of Order ~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! I've been playing with yet another Vera Lane Studio image and a different technique to add colour to an art journal page. The image is called Luz Cannon and she comes with two hats and a bow as well as a sentiment. I think she has this wonderful deer-in-the-headlights look like she has just shut down for the time being. Most of us can relate to that at some point.

I coloured Luz with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils adding black Posca Pen dots to the circles on her dress. As usual, I outlined the black lines after colouring to bring back the contrast because the pencils really dull them. She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted in black, and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border.

Colour was added to the 6x6 watercolour background using a 5x7 inch gel plate. Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide Ink was picked up with a brayer and loaded across the gel plate moving from one side to the other and reloading to spread and intensify the colour. While the Distress Oxide ink was still wet on the plate, Orange Brusho which had been spritzed with water on my craft sheet was spattered over the loaded gel plate using a fan brush. Then the gel plate was flipped over and pressed to the page. This makes the coolest random pattern and is totally a surprise when the plate is lifted off the page.

More texture and pattern was added with Magenta Hue Archival Ink applied to an Indigo Blu Tasty Textures script stamp as well as Tiger Lily Archival Ink being applied to AALL & Create Dot Matrix stamp. To repeat the circle pattern in Luz's dress as part of the background, one inch circles were punched from mop up stamped papers covered in Lindy's Starburst sprays. The outer circles were shaded with Neocolor II crayons activated with water. Half inch circles were punched from black cardstock, added off center to the coloured ones and highlighted with white paint pen dots. The outer edges of the coloured circles were blackened with Big Brush Pen. To give Luz a platform to stand on, a length of checked washi was adhered to a black punched border and dotted under the seam where they meet and placed beneath her feet.

Another strip of gel printed paper in the same colour palette as the background and Luz's hair was stamped with stitching (49 and Market) and bordered with black cardstock on the right side and checked washi on the left side. Purple, orange and pink gelatos were used to add a bit more colour on the white spaces as well as to the background of the page. Luz was glued in place and Jet Black Archival Ink was used to add some VLV scattered stars and dots in the blank spaces. The wording was printed on white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. To finish the page, a border was doodled around the page and black Big Brush pen was used to darken the edges.

Thanks for joining Luz and me today. We appreciate that! I am of course speaking for her because she still seems to be out of order. Maybe tomorrow will be better for her :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Quiet? Not me ~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! I decided to have a play with a background technique I haven't used in ages. I love doing that just to see how I can incorporate it into my evolving style. One of my art goals this year is to create backgrounds using different techniques and mediums, changing it up so that I continue to learn and grow. The star of this page is an image by Vera Lane Studio called Crazy Cat Lady It comes with Flora, whose face I am so loving, 3 funny cats, and a saying. Flora is travelling solo in my page today.

I coloured her with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, adding white paint pen highlights and black pen to re-draw the lines that the coloured pencils dull down. Flora was fussy cut leaving the narrow white border, matted with black, and trimmed out leaving the narrow black border that I favour.

The background technique which I chose to create on this 6x6 watercolour paper began with a coat of gesso which is necessary to get good results. I then spritzed the page with water and added three watered down Liquitex Basics acrylic paint colours: Cerulean Blue Hue, Light Blue Permanent, and Bright Aqua Green. You want these paints quite watery and still wet for the next step. A piece of plastic wrap larger than the background is layered over the wet paint and then pushed/scrunched in toward the center of the page to create creases where the wrap is not touching the paper. These areas will come out much lighter once you remove the plastic wrap because the paint has been pulled off along those lines. I generally let this dry overnight because you want it to dry completely.

Black gesso was pounced through AALL & Create Lotza Dotz stencil to add pattern and contrast in a few areas. Jet Black Archival Ink was applied to number stamp from a Studio Light set and added in 3 areas. White chalk paint was used on a bottle lid to create the white rings.

A Caution tape washi was added to white cardstock, and trimmed to give Flora a place to stand and also to warn the general public...you don't want to mess with Flora!

The wording was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. Three enamel dots were used to signify the pause between the two sections of her statement. To finish off the page, Black Big Brush Pen was used to outline the edges and a border was doodled on all four sides of the background.

Thanks for joining Flora and me today. We appreciate your good company as well as your support.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles AJA Week 3 ~ Baby, It's Cold Outside

Hi everyone! Well, I don't know about where you are but here in south western Ontario, it's snowy and cold...very Januaryish! The theme for Week 3 of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure 2019 is very appropriate. Barb calls it "Baby, it's cold outside" and we are looking for a cold landscape, frozen tundra or...ice. I decided to colour a couple of Vera Lane Studio images to help create my snowy scene: Winter Sisters and Good to be Home.

The background is three separate layers with the base being 6x8 inches of mixed media paper. Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paint was added to the bottom layer which was then spattered with Dylusions White Linen Spray Ink and edged with Cornflower Blue Archival Ink. A rectangle the same size as the base was ton to create the next two layers of hills. Each was run through the Cuttlebug using a different embossing folder to create two raised patterns. These embossed pages were then spritzed with water and Ocean Heidi Swapp Color Fast spray, dried, and edged with Cornflower Blue Archival. To bring back the white and push this blue into the recessed background areas, white chalk paint was brayered across the raised dots. The two hill layers were then glued in an overlapping pattern to the original watercolour background.

The Vera Lane images were coloured with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, and matted with black cardstock. The images were then trimmed again leaving a narrow black border to help them stand out against the background. Foam tape was used to pop the large tree and the sisters up, while the other trees and the house were glued flat. Before the house was adhered to the background, a length of grid washi tape was adhered to white cardstock to eliminate the transparency and then matted with black, leaving it slightly wider along the bottom edge. Cheesecloth smoke was added to the chimney.

Silver Stickles was added to the door to make the doorknob shiny. Diamond Stickles was added to the trees and to the snowflake brads which had already been "de-legged" so they would attach without creating holes first. To finish the page, black Big Brush Pen was used to create a dark edge before gluing the page to its black cardstock matting. A Dymo label saying Oh Snow! was added to the top right corner of the page.

Thanks for popping by today. To see what others in our group create over the next week+, or maybe to join in with our weekly AJA challenge (we'd love that!), pop over to the Joggles Art Journal Adventure Facebook group. It's a fabulously creative and supportive community and we'd love to welcome you.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Who's With Me? ~ Inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! I was in a colouring mood so I grabbed a Vera Lane Studio image (of course), coloured him up, and then created a mixed media background so he would have a place to hang out. The image comes from a set called L'il Gangstas and comes with this guy called Doggyfish, his buddy Trainjumper, 2 smaller elements, and 2 sayings. I had my own saying in mind to help tell his story on this page.

I coloured Doggyfish using Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils and adhered some punched stars to his shirt to repeat other stars on the page. He was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and trimmed out a second time leaving a narrow black border.

The background colour of the 6x6 inch watercolour page was created by spritzing the page with 4 colours of Lindy's Starburst sprays: Yellow Rose of Texas, California Poppy Gold, Marigold Yellow Orange, and Hag's Wart Orange. The last one was used sparingly and blown around the page with the TH spritzer tool. A distressed star stamp (no idea what the source is) was added to the page using Vermillion Archival Ink and the Stampotique Dot Swirl was added with Cobalt Blue Archival. Texture Paste was scraped through Ranger Party Time Letter It stencil and then brightened with white paint pen once it dried. It had picked up the Starburst spray colours so this brings it back to its original white colour.

Before Doggyfish was adhered to the page, a Kate Hadfield border was fussy cut and glued along the bottom of the page to ground him. A punched scrap of white cardstock was stamped with a Carabelle star stamp using Cobalt Archival Ink. Colour was added to this strip using the Lindy's colours as well as red Gelato. Black Big Brush Pen was used to outline it before it was adhered to the top right corner over a scrap of drywall mesh.

The wording was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. A black punched border with white paint pen dots was glued beneath the "Who's with me?" section to add emphasis. A fussy cut arrow was given the same treatment and placed so it was pointing at Doggyfish, and another punched star was adhered to the top right starry strip to complete the diagonal line of 3 black accents. A doodled border shaded with red Gelato and water was added to the outside edges along with Black Big Brush Pen to darken the three sides of the page.

Thanks for joining Doggyfish and me today...if not for the misbehaving part, at least to meet him in his natural habitat :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

The Voice of Reason ~ Inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! Have you met Miss Dee, a fabulous character drawn by Janet Klein of Vera Lane Studio? She is one of my favourite quirky characters. I see her as curmudgeony, sarcastic, and with a low tolerance for people's nonsense. She makes me laugh with her facial expression as well as the sayings that come along with her. When I went looking for someone to help me illustrate this saying, she checked every box. She is also available as Nurse Dee which is a scary thought, although I think I may have met her after my surgery.

I coloured Miss Dee with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Grape Crush Stickles was added to her earrings, necklace, and purse button. I also coloured her in red and purple. Maybe she is a member of the Red Hat Society but is too ornery to actually don the hat. Anyway, she is all glammed up and ready to go. She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and trimmed out again leaving a narrow black border.

The background of this 6x6 watercolour page was kept very simple. Wilted Violet Oxide Ink was smushed onto a large acrylic stamp block and spritzed with water. It was then turned upside down and applied to the page several times. I dried between layers and repeated the process, to build up intensity, pattern, and layers. I made sure to leave white space (always a challenge for me) because that was the look I was going for. More ink and water were added to the block and a fan brush was used to splatter this ink over the page (and everything else on my desk). Deep Purple Archival Ink was sponged through Tim Holtz Starry Layering Stencil and Vermillion Archival Ink was applied to a Crafty Individuals text stamp.

To add more texture and a little white to brighten the page, Ranger Texture Paste was scraped through part of Carabelle Studio For the Love of Layers stencil. Because the Oxide ink is reactive with water, some of the Wilted Violet seeped through the paste. Once it was dry, white Posca Paint Pen was applied to the paste to bring back the brighter white colour. Three pieces of washi tape were adhered to white cardstock and then glued in place to give Miss Dee a place to stand.

The wording was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. To finish the page, a simple border where the open circles were filled in with marker and Grape Crush Stickles was added to the outside edges as a frame. Black Big Brush Pen was used to darken the actual outside edges.

Thanks for joining Miss Dee and me today. We love that you did that, although apparently I am a little more enthusiastic than she is :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure ~ Week 2

Hi everyone! I'm back this week with my response to the Week 2 Joggles AJA prompt which is  "My rap name is Li'l Hungry"...include food in your design. I wanted to put together a collaged image using some food clip art for the body. Of course, I had to alter the clip art to make it suit my style. You know I have to play :)

I printed the ice cream cone and candy piece which I had purchased as part of a package from an Etsy seller called Kenna Sato Designs. The original style was really pretty but it was in pastels and also lacked the whimsical detail I wanted for the dress. Never fear...markers, paint pens, sparkly gel pens, and coloured pencils to the rescue :) I intensified the colour of everything, adding shading, lines, and dots to make the elements more playful.

Next I went searching for a head and arms which would fit both the size and style of the body I had created. That lead me to the Art by Marlene Die-cut block images. I fussy cut the head, neck, and arms from one of the images, gluing them to the candy body. The entire image was then edged in black Big Brush Pen, and adhered to black cardstock which was trimmed again leaving a narrow black border. Foam tape was applied to the back and she was set aside to await her background.

The 6 x 8 inch mixed media page was spritzed with Lindy's Jack in the Pulpit Teal Starburst spray and allowed to dry. Lindy's Delphinium Starburst spray was spritzed through Carabelle Studio For the Love of Layers stencil and allowed to dry. To knock back the colour and pattern and push them into the background, watered down white chalk paint was added over the entire page. Once dry, full strength white chalk paint was applied through Joggles Twaddle stencil in several places. Manganese Blue Archival Ink was added through Ranger Party Time Letter It stencil to mimic the sprinkles on the ice cream in the dress, as well as stamping with it using Wendy Vecchi Open Dots stamp. Jet Black Archival Ink was used to add stamps from Studio Light (numbers), Joggles (text), and Viva Las Vegas (circle, stars, and swirl). White Posca Paint pen was used to colour in the stamped stars to brighten the background. For additional texture and dimension, Ranger Texture Paste was scraped through TCW Tiny Dots stencil.

The wording was printed on white cardstock, cut apart, and matted with black before being popped up on foam tape. Snow Cone Gelato was smudged here and there mainly towards the inside of the page and Spearmint Gelato was used to darken the outside edges, again smudged with fingers.A doodled border was added around the outside edges and white paint dots were added to further brighten the background. To pull some of the pink from the image, pink dotty fabric tape was adhered to the top left corner along with black enamel dots. As usual, the page was adhered to black cardstock to serve as a frame.

Thanks for dropping by today. That was just awesome! To see how the other members of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure community respond to the prompt or maybe to play along yourself, be sure to join the Facebook group. We would love to have you along for the fun :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure 2019 ~ Week 1

Hi everyone! I am so delighted to be back playing along with the Joggles Art Journal Adventure Facebook group for 2019. I had to bail partway through 2018 because of illness and I really missed the weekly challenges as well as the amazing people in the AJA Facebook group. It's such a warm encouraging community and there is inspiration galore. Barb has teased us with the idea that the prompts will be leaning toward the snarky or sarcastic side this year which adds an additional element of fun and appeals to my sense of humour.

The first prompt is the Year of the Pig since that is what 2019 is according to the Chinese zodiac. Barb and I have traditionally used the current zodiac animal as part of our cover for the year's journal so that's what I've done again this time. I have the most gorgeous watercolour pigs (Posh Pigs) which I had purchased a while ago as a download from an Etsy shop called Lola Graphic Images. I had a hard time deciding which one I would use because they are all so beautiful but I decided on the one with a beret (I call her Arty) because she looks artsy...LOL. She was printed on white cardstock, fussy cut, matted with black cardstock, and trimmed again leaving a narrow border. I added a heart, and some highlights as well as sketchy lines to make her my own. She makes me smile.

I wanted the background to be an extension of her skin colours so I smushed Worn Lipstick and then Gathered Twigs Distress Oxides spritzed with water onto my craft sheet and picked up the ink one colour at a time in several layers. I dried between layers and also between colours to keep the splotches distinct. To add a little shimmer, Lindy's Cotton Candy Starburst spray was spritzed over the Oxide inks. Once dry, a circle stamp from Darkroom Door Paint Splats, topped with another  circle from AALL & Create Dot Matrix stamp set, was added here and there using Jet Black Archival Ink. The same ink was applied through Memory Box Rings and Puddles stencil to add the open ring to each cluster. Coffee Archival Ink was added through AALL & Create Lotza Dotz stencil. Joggles Nonsense Latin Text stamp was applied to the background with Magenta Hue Archival Ink. To add more pops of black, watered down black gesso was loaded onto a gift card edge and tapped to create thin lines. Ranger Texture Paste was scraped through TCW Mini Circles stencil to add dimension and enough white to lift the page.

Arty was popped up on foam tape and allowed to rest on two lengths of washi tape which had been adhered to white cardstock. I do that when I want to keep the pattern and the colours true and remove the transparency of the washi. Enamel dots were used to accent the flat ends of the washi.

Both titles were added to the page via stickers, and white paint dots on the Ransom Alpha Letters helped them stand out. Before the 2019 numbers were applied to the page, a layer of drywall mesh was adhered behind them. The edges of the page were given a doodled border with black pen, inked around the outside with Magenta Hue Archival, and lined with Black Big Brush pen. A little pink Gelato was used to intensify the colour in a few places before the page was matted with black cardstock to frame the whole thing.

I just love this page as a cover and know that I will enjoy picking it up each week to play along with the latest Joggles AJA prompt. These are listed on the FB group each Monday morning and you are welcome to join us. Arty and I hope you do!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

My Crazy ~ inspired by Vera Lane Studio images

Hi everyone! Happy New Year! Once again, I found a saying that made me laugh and I went in search of a way to illustrate what I thought that would look like. Of course, I turned to Vera Lane Studio images because I can always find what I want. I chose to combine three separate images: the Homemaker for the main part, one of the Holiday Monsters for the crazy popping out of her head, and a hat from Girls & Cat with Party Hats because the little monster is happy in his craziness.

I coloured the three images with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. I was going to merge the images but instead kept them separate and combined them after they were fussy cut leaving the white border. I then adhered them all to black cardstock as one image and cut them out leaving a narrow black border. Low tech but it worked for me :) Diamond Stickles were added to the flower center and Glossy Accents to Monster's eyes. White Posca pen was used to make the catch lights in the eyes.

The  6x9 inch background began as a gel print from my stash. I believe I used Medium Magenta, Cadmium Orange Hue, and Titanium White Liquitex Basics acrylic paints along with foam stamps and plastic canvas shapes (it was created a long time ago). To add more detail, I used two stamps from Indigo Blu Tasty Textures set along with Tiger Lily and Magenta Hue Archival Inks. I also used Deep Purple Archival on a stamp from AALL & Create's Dot Matrix set. Black gesso was added to the background with a gift card and once dry, Texture Paste was scraped through TCW Tiny Circles stencil.

The saying was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. Foam tape was applied to the back of the images and the wording to add dimension and natural shadow. Checkerboard washi tape was adhered to white cardstock and trimmed to create fishtail flags and a base for the Homemaker to stand on. Black enamel dots were adhered to the flat ends of the washi...love the shine that adds. To emphasize the Monster's crazy partying, silver star sequins were glued around the party hat. I love how concerned she looks and how totally relaxed and wacky he looks. The piece was finished with Jet Black Archival and a doodled border applied to the outside edges of the page before the whole thing was matted with black to frame it.

Thanks for joining the Homemaker, Holiday monster and me today. We appreciate that!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie