Guest Post at Joggles blog ~ Man of Mystery ATB

Hi everyone! Woohoo! I am celebrating this week because today I am a guest on the Joggles blog...so excited! Now as I have said before, Joggles is my favourite online store and also a huge source of inspiration for me. I love Barb's weekly Wednesday YouTube videos where she demos new products or new ways to use products we already have. I also am enjoying and playing along with her weekly Art Journal Adventure projects posted each Monday. Soooo...I was thrilled to bits when she invited me to do a guest post. Happy Dance!

I decided to create a mixed media Artist Trading Block using Joggles Precut Mat Board - Artist Trading Block in the Extra Large size on which I featured Deep Red Stamps - Man of Mystery. This is the fourth ATB which I have made (love them) and I am smitten with this fun stamp. So smitten, in fact, that I stamped and colourized him six times...one for each side of the block.

The background was pure play and layer after layer of goodness from supplies I found at the Joggles shop. The picture above shows many of the products I used. If you are curious about my process, head over to the Joggles blog where I have posted a full tutorial with step-out photos detailing my process. I would love it if you visited there and left me a comment :)

Thanks so much for stopping by this blog today. Mystery Man and I are delighted you did. Hope we see you over on the Joggles blog, too! A huge thank you to Barb as well for this fabulous opportunity. I had a blast!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Red Riding Hood ~ Sweet Pea Stamps ATB

Hi everyone. I haven't made an altered trading block (ATB) for a little while and I still had some blanks which I had purchased from Joggles. As soon as I spotted these adorable Red Riding Hood images from Ching-Chou Kuik at Sweet Pea Stamps, I just knew that they would be awesome for this project. The image is called Plate 65 and is a bit of a departure from her other images. Same sweet faces, though!

I coloured each of the four images with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. They were delightful to colour. I think I might have to do a domino book with them soon. Once coloured they were each fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted them with black cardstock. I wanted them to pop against the background and this usually does the trick.

The block, from Joggles, comes in two pieces cut from white mat board and scored where necessary. I spritzed the two sections with Bachelor Button Blue, yellow Rose of Texas, and Freaky Frankenlime Lindy's Starburst Sprays. The shimmer from the mica is yummy. I edged all sides of both pieces with Permanent Green Olive Big Brush pen. Each face was then edged with two shades of blue Gelatos to act as a frame. Hero Arts Painted Circle was stamped on each face with Jet Black Archival. Joggles Sparks stamp and splatter dots were added with Forget-Me-Not Archival ink.

The four little Red Riding Hoods were added to the side faces along with a die cut branch, fence, or grass. Three of these were cut from green and black cardstock and then layered to create a shadow. It also allowed the green to be seen more easily. Once each sweetie was placed, black embossing paste was scraped through TCW's Halftone Borders stencil with a palette knife.

One of the sentiments that comes with these images was used to create the title on the top face of the block. It was printed on white cardstock, torn around, and matted with a torn layer of black. A wooden hand cutout was inked black and added with a tiny blue gem for a cufflink. A small wooden house was sprayed with the same Starburst spray used before and it was added with Patina Stickles squeezed into the heart cutout.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I had so much fun creating this ATB and colouring these sweet Little Red Riding Hood images from Ching-Chou Kuik. If you head over to Sweet Pea Stamps, you can find this one plus check out all of the other fabulous images by her as well as the other talented artists. I'd love to see what you create!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Rick St. Dennis Euro Girls Artist Trading Block

Hi all. A few weeks ago I posted  my bees and flowers artist trading block which you can see here if you missed it. I had such a blast with it that I decided to create another one using some of Rick St. Dennis' Euro Girls. There is something sweet and innocent about them within their quirkiness that appeals to me. The ATB, which I purchased pre-cut from Joggles, measures 3.25 on all sides and although I did the background on all six sides, I couldn't bear to have an image face-down so I didn't add one to the bottom.

I coloured each of the five Euro Girl Images with my Prismacolor pencils using Polychromos to shade the skin. The images I used are: Euro Girl LinDa, Euro Girl Pauline, Euro girl Springi, Euro Girl Rosa, and Euro Girl Easter Edna. While colouring, I kept the palette the same, trying to incorporate most colours on each image for continuity. I fussy cut each one leaving a narrow white border, matted each on black cardstock, and trimmed them out again. I like how this double matting gives them contrast with the background and allows them to take center stage.

The background was created by spritzing the flat block pieces with Yellow Rose of Texas, freaky Franklin Lime, and Bells of Ireland Green Starburst sprays. I didn't tip them to make the colours run because I wanted the yellow to stay true in some places and with yellow and green side by side on the colour wheel, I knew they would blend easily and make one colour quickly if I wasn't careful. I actually heat dried them and re-spritzed with the yellow to strengthen it. I did pick up some of the green over-spray to make stronger spots here and there.

White embossing paste was scraped through a Memory Box Rings and Puddles stencil with a palette knife, varying the design on each side. I love how it picks up a little of the background colour in places.  A bubble stamp was inked with Mowed Lawn Distress ink and rolled onto the background randomly. The same ink was used to deepen the outside edges of each cube face. Bits of drywall mesh were added to each side once the box was assembled and I knew approximately where each image would be placed.

Now you know it wouldn't be my piece if there weren't touches of black accenting the design. I began with stars punched from black cardstock. next I added bits of black and white harlequin washi tape to each side and then finally added larger black half pearls. I also added tiny black half pearls to the pull toy duck's eye and Pauline's dress. White half pearls were added to the buttons on Rosa's blouse. White paint pen dots were added to the stars. Initially I edged the sides of each face with a green Big Brush pen, thinking that I always use black and I might change it up. I assembled the block and finished it but something was definitely missing. I left it over night and in the morning went back and added the black Big Brush pen to each edge over the green. Much happier :) To me, it needed that frame to look finished.It was worth a try though...lol.

Thanks for joining the Euro Girls and I today. We appreciate your fine company. Hopefully, we have made you smile and sparked an idea or two.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Flowers & Bees ~ Rick St. Dennis altered trading block

Hi there. I'm here today and on the Sparkle and Glitter blog with a mixed media artist trading block. I have been fascinated with these since I first saw them. They are cubes of different sizes with five or six (if you do the bottom) slices of real estate for altering and showcasing wonderful Rick St. Dennis images. This particular one is 3.25" on all sides...I knew just what I wanted to feature, too.

I coloured all of the images with Prismacolor pencils, adding in a few Polychromos for the skin shading. The flowers are from the Clippings series: Clippings Rose B; Clippings Rose C; Clippings Daisy, Clippings Shasta Daisy. The bees are Standing Busy Bee Kid and Seated Busy Bee Kid. The flowers remind me of Alice in Wonderland's garden and the bees just make me smile. I fussy cut them all and then matted each in black cardstock trimming them out a second time. The wings of the bees were coated with Diamond Stickles for a little sparkle.

The ATBs that I purchased from Joggles came as 2 flat, scored, and cut pieces of mat board. I spritzed the good sides with Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst sprays in Hottie Patottie Hot Pink, Marigold Yellow Orange, and Yellow Rose of Texas, also available at Joggles. The colours were allowed to blend and drip which I facilitated by tipping the mat board in different directions. I also picked up some of the over spray off my craft mat to create splotches.Great shimmer from these inks. I love being messy! Background stamping was done with some texture stamps and Ranger Magenta Hue and Brilliance Rocket Red Gold. White embossing paste was scraped through TCW Halftone borders stencil. Then the pieces were folded along the score lines, the edges coloured with Big brush pens, and the flaps glued in place to create the cube.

Originally I was going to place one image on each of the six sides but I couldn't bear to choose an image for the bottom which would be hidden. Instead I combined the two roses on the top section. Green grass was die cut and applied to the bottom of each side so the images were grounded (pun intended). A few punched flowers were added to the grass on each side and the centers were dotted with black Pearl pen. TH rub-ons were added to the bee panels. Some black splatter dots were stamped randomly on each side to finish them off.

I love this fun little ATB. The bees make the flowers happy, the flowers make the bees happy, and they all make me happy. I can't help but smile when I look at it. Thanks for stopping by today. I hope they made you happy, too.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie