Joggles Art Journal Adventure - Week 21 - Goddess or Monster

Hi everyone. It's Week 21 of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure and the prompt for this week is 80% Goddess and 20% Cookie Monster. We can feature either a goddess or a monster or both. I thought about doing something with a goddess but these cute monsters from Katzelkraft Stamps were calling to me in a rather noisy way and I couldn't resist. They make me smile :)

I started with 2.5 inch circles which were punched from white cardstock. Five Distress Oxide Inks ( Picked Raspberry, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet, and Twisted Citron) were chosen to apply pattern to them through Carabelle Studio For the Love of Layers stencil as well as darkening the edge of the circle. I love this stencil because there are so many different patterns throughout it that it's like having many stencils in one...so easy to get different looks and only one stencil to clean. Each circle was made more interesting by using Jet Black Archival Ink on Crafty Individuals Script stamp. Black Pitt Pen was used to trace a 2.25 inch circle to serve as a border.

Once the circles were set out in the order I wanted, I was able to choose the main colour for each of the five monsters from the stamp set. I coloured each monster with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, using the colour that matched the Distress Oxide used on the background from the one before. I also made sure that each monster had some details coloured in the vibrant pink shades to tie them together. The pink and yellow monsters had Diamond Stickles added to their wings and they all had Glossy Accents added to their eyes. The monsters were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and fussy cut again, leaving a narrow black border. They were popped up on foam tape and adhered to their circles which were then glued to the black background in a circular pattern.

The wording was done with white stickers dotted with black Posca Pen for added whimsy. White Posca Pen was used to doodle 3 rows of faux stitching around each circle as well as a simple border around the page.

Thanks for joining my friends and me today. That's always much appreciated. To check out what the others post in response to the Goddess or Monster prompt, be sure to pop by the Joggles Art Journal Adventure Group on Facebook. We would love to have more people posting their creations. It's always fun and inspirational to see what others are up to :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Check Your Attitude ~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! Happy Saturday! I had fun creating a page in my art journal using the image by Vera Lane Studio called Wednesday and Pugsley since she has the perfect expression for the saying I wanted to illustrate. She comes with her brother, Pugsley but he will star in his own page at a later date.

I coloured Wednesday with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Her dress was paper pieced using a piece of left over cardstock which had been spritzed with Lindy's Starburst sprays for another project and then shaded with Polychromos pencils. The buttons were added with Ebony Black Nuvo Crystal Drops. Wednesday was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border.

The 6x6 inch watercolor paper background was colourized with Carved Pumpkin Distress Oxide Ink. Rusty Hinge Distress Oxide Ink was added through Carabelle Studio Mosaique stencil. Orange Blossom Archival Ink was used to apply one of the stamps from Carabelle Studio Grungy Patterns set (Kate Crane). Jet Black Archival Ink was used to add one of the circle stamps from the same Kate Crane set. More texture was added when white gesso was pounced through the harlequin design from Stamperia Steampunk Man stencil. Inktense pencil was used to shade to the left of the diamonds to help them show more.

Before Wednesday was adhered to the background, a length of washi tape was adhered to the same background as her dress to change the bright yellow to a colour which would blend a little better. This tape was then adhered to a punched scallop border and placed under her feet to ground her. A spiral stamp from Rubber Moon called Spiralstract was applied to white cardstock several times using Jet Black Archival Ink. It was then cut out using a .5 inch circle punch and Carved Pumpkin Distress Oxide was used to tint the background. The white sections were highlighted with Posca Pen and the center dot was plumped up with black Nuvo Drops like her buttons. These were then scattered around the page to add more pattern and whimsy.

The wording was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. A scribbly border was doodled around the outside of the page and black Big Brush Pen was used to remove the white edges.

Thanks for joining Wednesday and me today. I'm happy you did that and Wednesday...well, she has an attitude...LOL. Be sure to check out the other fabulous images in the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop and pop by the Facebook group where there is wonderful new inspiration daily.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Wise Guys Artist Trading Coins ~ inspired by Vera Lane Studio images

Hi everyone! Just a quick post today to share these sweet artist trading coins I created featuring the four images from the Vera Lane Studio digi set called Vera's Owls.These coins are 2.5 inches in diameter and were punched from Gel printed scraps left over from other projects. ATCoins are quick and fun to create and a great use for those scraps too good to throw out.

The owls were coloured with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Extra patterning and dots were done with black Pitt Pens and White Posca pens. The owls were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and trimmed out again. Foam tape was attached to the back of each to pop them up.

The backgrounds had mostly colour from acrylic paints on them so stamping, stencilling, and white Texture Paste were added to each to create more interest.

A doodled border was added to each coin with a black pen. Garden Patina Archival ink and then black Big Brush Pen were added to the edges of the background. The coins were adhered to recyled circles of chipboard and then a black circle slightly bigger than the 2.5 inches was adhered to the back to serve as a frame and to hide the unattractive recycled packaging.

Thanks for popping by today. We OWL appreciate that (groan!) ...I just had to do that :) Be sure to stop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop and Facebook group for more inspiration and a few must haves.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure - Week 20 - Blue

Hi everyone. It's Week 20 of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure and since yesterday was National Blueberry Cheesecake Day, our prompt today asks us to use the colour blue, or feature blueberries or a dessert. I decided to use as many shades of blue as I could and still come up with a page I liked. I also decided to use a paper weaving technique for my background from a YouTube Tutorial by the talented Paula Foerder. I love her videos and always come away inspired and having learned something new.

I have an abundance (!!) of designer paper which I want to start using up so I decided to use two relatively plain pages in two different shades of blue. One became the background which I sliced into wiggly lines and the other I cut into different width strips for weaving. I won't go into the details of this because Paula's video is very clear and explains the steps well. Once the weaving was finished and the ends glued in place, I spattered the page with white gesso and used a white paint pen to doodle faux stitching around the edges. I didn't want to do much because I wanted the weaving to show.

The image, called So Long Yesterday by Ching-Chou Kuik, is the most challenging digital stamp I have coloured in ages. It took a while and some thought but I enjoyed the process. She was coloured with Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils. The butterflies were decorated with paint pen and Nuvo Drops and given a swipe of Wink of Stella to create shimmer magic. She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. Foam tape was used to pop her up off the background.

The wording was printed on white cardstock, matted with black, and popped up with foam tape. To break up the darker background and add more texture, pieces of drywall mesh were adhered in 5 places using Matte Medium.

Puffy blue triangle stickers were added to opposite corners and above/below the word "seeds" to pull a little of the turquoise from the butterflies into the background. They also add pops of bright colour to contrast with the darker blues. The page was darkened around the edges before it was adhered to the black background common to all pages in this journal.

Thanks for joining us today. We appreciate that. To check out the other responses of the members of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure Facebook group, be sure to pop round there throughout the week. We would love it if you decided to play along with us.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Overthink ~ inspired by Vera Lane Studio images

Hi everyone! I came across an altered version of a very familiar song that made me laugh out loud, mostly because I could see myself in it. I, like many people, am notorious for overthinking something, although strangely enough not when it comes to my art where I am intuitive and rarely think about what I am doing or where the piece is going. I decided that the digi set by Vera Lane Studio called Raven and Pixie was the ideal set to illustrate this message. Look at their faces...Yikes moments, for sure.

I coloured Raven and Pixie with a mix of Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils, using a black Pitt pen to go over the black lines that the coloured pencils dull. They were both fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. The double border helps them stand out next to the busy background and has become one of my signature details.

The background already had a little colour from a previous page where it transferred while I was working on it. I went with the same two colours of Distress Oxide but used the ink pads instead of the sprays. Fossilized Amber and Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide Inks were smushed one at a time onto a 3x3 inch gel plate, spritzed with water, and dabbed onto both pages of the spread. Drying with a heat tool was done between colours and between layers. Once the saturation and patterning were what I was looking for, I applied Magenta Hue Archival Ink in several places with one of the Carabelle Studio Grungy Pattern stamps by Kate Crane. Jet Black Archival was sponged through Alexandra Renke Grid of Crosses stencil and was also used to apply the lines from Indigo Blu Tasty Textures stamp. Ranger Texture Paste was scraped through TCW Mini Netting stencil to add dimension.

The song lyrics were printed onto white cardstock, cut into a rectangle, and matted with black. The word on Raven's page was done with a Lawn Fawn alphabet stamp and Jet Black Archival. It was outlined with black pen and lightened on the inside with white acrylic paint. Pink coloured pencil was used to shade around it on the outside to help it stand out. Piano washi tape was mounted on white cardstock, trimmed out, and used to ground Raven and Pixie as well as accent the song lyrics. Two black triangles were added to opposite corners and white dots were added to tie in with the piano keys. A simple doodled border was added around the outside of the two page spread which was also edged with black Big Brush Pen.

Thanks for joining Raven, Pixie, and me today. We appreciate that! To see all of Janet's fabulous images, check out the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop. Be sure to also pop by the VLS Facebook group, too, because there is new inspiration and projects featured daily. I hope that song isn't stuck in your head, and if it is, it at least makes you smile :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal \adventure ~ Week 19 ~ Celebrating the Invention of the Camera

Hi everyone! It's Week 19 of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure. May is National Photograph month where we celebrate the invention of the camera and those wonderful photos which can instantly take us back to a moment in time. I went with a collaged page this time because I wanted to include this fabulous photo of my mom and dad taken when they were in their late teens...just before Dad went overseas with the Air Force for WWII.

When working on this page, I noticed something I hadn't before even though I have seen this photo many times...there's a camera in Dad's right hand which I thought made this photo especially apropos for this week's prompt.

I used a piece of  Stamperia scrapbooking paper from the Clockwise pad as my background. I was able to find a vintage ad for a Kodak camera online which I sized and darkened the edges of with Coffee Archival Ink. Two word embellies from another scrapbook page, Memories and Smile, were fussy cut, matted with black, and added to the collage.

I had a digital stamp of a camera in The Traveler set from Vera Lane Studio so I coloured it with Prismacolor pencils and added Red Stickles for the shiny lights. It was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and fussy cut leaving a narrow black border before being popped up on foam tape. A small amber coloured see-through sticker which I have had FOREVER was added to the background above the camera. Because it's domed, the wording appears slightly distorted which I love and the amber colour says aged to me.

I found a fabulous saying about photos which I printed onto white cardstock and die cut into tickets. These were edged and grunged up with Coffee Archival Ink and overlapped near the top left of the photo. The outside edges of the background were inked with Coffee Archival and then black Big Brush Pen before it was matted with the black page for my journal. Outlining and a simple black border were added with black pen to finish the page.

Thanks for joining the three of us today. It made me very happy to include this photo in my art journal and to share it with you as well. I'm excited to see how others in our Joggles Art Journal Adventure Facebook group respond to this camera/photograph prompt. We would love it if you joined us :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

More Ta-das ~ Inspired by Vera Lane Studio images

Hi everyone! Like my mom, I am a list maker. I always have lists going of projects I want to get done both inside and outside the house as well as in my art, books to read, things to shop for...and so on. Sometimes I get more caught up in moving on to the next item rather than in taking a moment to enjoy the completed job or even in enjoying the process. This art journal page which incorporates the Vera Lane Studio planner/journal cards and one of the images from the Miss Sassy Pants set, is a reminder to myself to celebrate/appreciate both the process and the end product before moving on. It's all about being more mindful.

I chose the Frazzled image because she seemed to suit the theme best since I can get caught up in the frenzy of doing. I coloured her with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils and fussy cut her leaving a narrow white border. Once she was adhered to black cardstock, she was trimmed out a second time leaving a narrow black border to help her stand out against the background.

The background, a 6x6 inch page of watercolour paper, was spritzed with Fossilized Amber and Dried Marigold Distress Oxide Sprays plus water to help it move, drip, and blend. Once dry, it was patterned by sponging those same colours of Distress Oxide inks through Studio Light Mask L13. Jet Black Archival was used to apply the grid stamp from Studio Light Tropical Jungle stamp and Magenta Hue was applied to the triangles stamp from the same set. To add more texture and dimension, Ranger Texture Paste was scraped through Tim Holtz Burlap stencil with a palette knife.

Two of the journal cards were sized and fussy cut, overlapped, and then adhered to black cardstock. They were trimmed out again leaving a narrow black border. A hand pointing down to the word frazzled was placed on the card closest to her. The wording was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. To finish off the page, a border was doodled with black pen and black Big Brush Pen was used to darken the page edges.

Thanks for joining Frazzled and me today. We are going to take a moment to savour that :) Speaking of savouring, be sure to pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop and the Facebook group where you can take a moment yourself to be inspired and get your mojo cooking :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Bookmark Swap for Vera Lane Studio Facebook group

Hi everyone! There is a fun swap going on this month in the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group. This month we are swapping bookmarks and the theme is Let's Hear It For the Girls. I love making bookmarks, celebrating the females in our lives, and creating with Vera Lane Studio images so this was win/win/win all around. I chose to feature the earth from the Change the World set and the girl and stars from Pleiades. I turned the girl horizontal so she looked like she was flying over the earth in her invisible cape.

All images were coloured with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, fussy cut and matted with black cardstock. The stars were given a coat of Wink of Stella to add a little shimmer.

The background began as a 2.5x6 inch rectangle of mixed media paper which was spritzed with Lindy's Afternoon Delight Denim(top2/3) and Sassy Sapphire (bottom 1/3) Starburst Sprays plus water. Once dry, the card was splattered with white paint plus water using a rake brush to create a starry sky.

The sentiment was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. The topper was created from green and blue seam binding to pull the earth colours  up to the top section. The background was adhered to a sturdy piece of black cardstock both to frame it and to add strength and faux stitching was added around the outside edges with a black pen.

Thanks for joining Pleiades and me today. We love that you dropped by. To see the other fabulous bookmarks already entered into the swap, be sure to pop by the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group and check out the album. We would love to have you play along.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure ~ Week18 - The Number 5

Hi everyone! It's Week 18 for the Joggles Art Journal Adventure and this week's theme has several options. Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo so we can go with that or the number 5 or the number 6 because that's the real date. Originally I was going to go with a sugar skull but I just wasn't feeling it so I decided on the number 5 as the basis for my design. Add to that some super cute little clip art black line art birds and I had myself a page.

I found an image of the number 5 where I liked the shape and drew it out onto a mop-up piece of cardstock. It had Heidi Swapp Ocean Color Shine and Lindy's Van Dyke Sepia Moonshadow Mist collected by dipping white cardstock into the mix. The number 5 was fussy cut and then stencilled by ink-blending Coffee Archival Ink through Carabelle Studio Downward Spiral Stencil. The same ink was used to darken the outside edges of the 5 before black faux stitching was added. Many of the stencilled circles were outlined with black pen and then shaded/highlighted with Zig Clean Color Brush Markers. Five little birds from Taka Tatu on Etsy were printed onto other mop-up scraps, shaded with coloured pencils and detailed with black and white Posca Paint pens. They were each fussy cut and the yellow and green ones were matted with black cardstock and fussy cut again. The other three were adhered to the number 5 and then it was adhered to black cardstock and the whole thing was fussy cut to create a narrow black border around it. This helps it stand out against the background as well as giving it extra strength when adhering it with foam tape.

The background began with spraying the white mixed media 6x8 inch rectangle with Lindy's Creme Brule Cream Starburst Spray and Vintage Photo Distress Oxide Spray. Stamping of a distressed grungy #5 stamp was added with Coffee Archival Ink and the stamped word, five, was added with Jet Black Archival Ink. White gesso was loaded onto an empty thread spool and transferred onto the background to make the rings. Because that picked up the Oxide colour, a white paint pen was used to trace over these a few times. A dark brown coloured pencil shaded around the rings to add depth.

To give the number 5 and the purple bird somewhere to stand, a strip of green striped patterned paper was added to the bottom of the background. Bird legs and a doodled border were added and black Big Brush Pen was used to remove the white edges of the background before it was adhered to the black matting. The final detail was to add the Chit Chat Sticker, Friends, matted with black cardstock, to the number 5 because these little guys are definitely 5 friends :)

Thanks for joining us today. We appreciate that. To check out the other responses of the members of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure Facebook group, be sure to pop round there throughout the week. We would love it if you decided to play along with us.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Shelter from the Storm ~ Inspired by Vera Lane Studio images

Hi everyone. We have had so much rain lately that it even managed to creep into my art journal... LOL. I love this image by Vera Lane Studio called Under my Umbrella and wanted to create a scene for her where she created her own bright spot in a gloomy day. The cloud comes from another VLS set called Hello April. The puddle is actually the pond from The Little Sailor digi stamp set and the chick comes from the Farm Animals 2 set. I absolutely love how so many of Janet's sets come with extra images which can be combined with the main ones from other sets or can star all on their own.

I printed Clair, the umbrella girl, and the chick onto white cardstock and coloured them both with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. White Nuvo Crystal Drops were added to her umbreall and black Pitt Pen was used to pattern her coat. Both Clair and the chick were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and fussy cut again leaving a second border of black.

The cloud/raindrops and the puddle were printed onto left-over ink sprayed scraps and fussy cut without borders or extra matting. They were shaded with Clean Color Brushes and sparkle was added with Clear Wink of Stella.

The 6x6 inch background was spritzed with Heidi Swapp Ocean Color Shine plus water to help it move when tipped. To add interest and texture to the dried spray, French Ultramarine Archival Ink was used with Studio 490 Vintage Mesh Stamp and was sponged through the grungy circles from Studio Light MaskMB06. The sidewalk was created by spritzing Lindy's Down The Rabbit Hole Starburst sprays onto a strip of watercolour paper and then inking the edges with Watering Can Archival Ink. Black Big Brush Pen was used to darken the edges and Pitt Pen to create the sidewalk cracks. Once the puddle, Clair and Chick were glued in place, a gray Clean Color brush was used to create shadows on the sidewalk. The wording was printed onto white cardstock, cut into individual words and matted with black. A wobbly border was doodled around three sides of the page and black Big Brush Pen darkened the edges to help frame it.

Thanks for joining Clair, Chick, and me today. We hope the sun is shining wherever you are and if not, that you have a big umbrella to shelter you from the storm. As for me, I'm heading back to the Vera Lane Studio shop to see what I can get into next :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie