Keep Your Head ~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! I'm here today with an art journal page featuring one of the new release images from Lil Queen of Hearts by Vera Lane Studio. I combined her with a saying which seemed appropriate for her as well as for all of us during this unsettling time.

I coloured Lil Queen with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, adding a little silver gel pen beside the spots on her fur trim. She was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border. I just love this image...she's so cute!

The 6x6 watercolour paper background was generously loaded at the top edge with Lindy's Rudolph's Nose Red and then Witch's Potion Purple Starburst Sprays. I used a waterbrush to encourage the drips to run down the page. Once those layers were dry, Candied Apple Distress Oxide Ink was applied through TCW Plaid Fringe stencil to tone down the white between drips as well as adding more texture. Hearts were die cut from German book pages and coloured with Festive Berries Distress Oxide Ink. They were edged with black Big Brush Pen before being adhered to the areas around Lil Queen. A length of black and white checked washi was glued to a strip of white cardstock and placed at the bottom of the page to ground the Queen. There's something about black and white check that always reminds me of Alice in Wonderland.

The saying was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. Black circles were created with a hole punch and scattered around the background. Black Pitt Pen was used to doodle some plus signs and a wiggly border around three sides of the page. The page edges were inked with black Big Brush Pen to serve as a franme for the page.

Thanks for joining Lil Queen of Hearts and me today. We are always glad for the virtual company. We hope that you are able to stay safe and keep your head even when others are not. If you are looking for inspiration, pop over to the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop to see the plethora of fabulous images. If you want inspiration and company, visit the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group. It's a great place to hang out and you'll be among friends :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Chessie's Advice ~ inspired by a Vera lane Studio image

Hi everyone! I decided to have a little Alice in Wonderland fun with today's art journal page. Last week, Janet from Vera Lane Studio released a fabulous new digi set called Cheshire Cat, Mouse, and Toad and I chose Chessie to star on my page.

 I coloured Chessie in Disney colours  using Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, and adding some Clear Wink of Stella to make his grin sparkle. He was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border to help him show up against the background.

The background (6x6 inch watercolour paper, was spritzed with Lindy's Drop Dead Gorgeous Green and Jack in the Pulpit Teal Starburst Sprays so there is quite a shimmer to the page. The circle in the center of the page was created by applying Jet Black Archival Ink to Carabelle Studio The Geometriks #3 stamp. Extra dots were added outside the circle with the same ink and a Rubber Moon Inksplat stamp. Olive Green Archival Ink was used to stamp two of the leaf stamps from Bo Bunny Simply Flowers set to create the foliage at the top. A few of the leaves were coloured in with a Zig Clean Colour Brush pen to add variety. A tree limb was cut from kraft cardstock and shaded with Neocolor II crayons and water. A Neocolor II crayon was also applied with a waterbrush to shade inside the circle and beneath the branches, as well as around the page edges.

Small white flowers were punched from cardstock. The centers were coloured with Gelatos and water and the outer petal edges with Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide Ink before the enamel dot centers were added. Tiny leaves were cut from dotty cardstock and shaded with Olive Archival Ink before being adhered to the branches and limb. The wording was printed on white cardstock, matted with black. A scribbly border was added around the outsides of the page and the edges were darkened with Black Big Brush Pen to finish the page.

Thanks for joining Chessie and me today. We are glad that you virtually joined us :) When you get a chance, pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop to see Cheshire Cat's friends and relatives. There are so many images to spark ideas and keep you busy while you stay home. Stop by the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group for a chat or a look-see, too.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Alice will decide - inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! Oh my word, did you see the new release by Vera Lane Studio yesterday? It's called Alice and White Rabbit and I am smitten! I love anything Alice in Wonderland but these two are absolutely adorable.I decided to create with them one at a time and today it's Alice's turn.

I coloured Alice with my usual mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Tiny pearls were added as buttons on her dress before she was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border. Alice was matted with black cardstock and fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border to help her stand out against whatever background I created. You know me...there's never a plan :)

I first added a layer of white gesso to the watercolor paper background because Distress Oxide Inks behave differently on gesso and it's fun to change it up. Salty Ocean and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Oxide Inks were applied to the background blending to a pretty green where they overlapped. Carabelle Studio Weft Fabric and Numbers stencil was laid over the now dry Distress Oxide and a baby wipe was used to remove the colour through the holes. Once dry, a Viva Las Vegas stamp was applied loosely using Manganese Blue Archival Ink and no block. A strip of black and cream dotty paper was glued across the bottom of the page to ground Alice. Before she was adhered to the page, a small version of a AIW page, A TH A card, and an Alice Tea Party ticket were inked with Coffee Archival and layered to form a collage with her as the focal.

The quote from Lewis Carroll's Alice was printed onto white cardstock and matted with black. A strip of checked washi was added under the first sentence to add emphasis. A tiny rub-on was added to the left of Alice's legs and two black enamel dots accented the sides of the dotty strip. To finish the page, a black border was doodled around the edges which were then edged with black Big Brush Pen to create a frame.

Thanks for joining Alice and me today. We are delighted you did that. When you get a chance, check out the Alice and White Rabbit set in the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop and be sure to return on Wednesday this week...just sayin'. We would love to have you join us on the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group where this week you are sure to see more inspiration from this set. We have an ATC swap going on for March with the theme of Spring that we'd love to have you join as well.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure ~ Week 24 ~ A is for Alice

Hi everyone! One of my favourite classic stories ever is Alice in Wonderland so when I found out the prompt for Week 24 of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure was the letter A, I knew exactly where I was going with this one. I chose an image from Mo's Digital Pencil called Alice with Baby. I love the way Mo depicts Alice...and her facial expression makes me laugh.

I coloured Alice and her wee pig friend with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, sticking to a very traditional colour palette for Alice. They were fussy cut leaving the narrow white border, matted with a narrow black border, and popped up on foam tape to create dimension.

The background for the page is a copy of the Duchess page from one of my many AIW books. I printed it on tea dyed copy paper to give it an aged look. To tie the background into the image palette, pink, blue, and teal Neocolor II crayons were applied here and there using a water brush. The first of several circle elements were added using one of the AALL & Create Dot Matrix stamps and Jet Black Archival Ink. Dots were added by sponging Coffee Archival Ink through AALL & Create Lotza Dotz stencil. A third set of circular elements was added by scarping Ranger Texture Paste through TCW Tiny Dots stencil. Black splatter dots came from Jet Black Archival Ink on a TH stamp.

Black checkerboard pattern always springs to mind when I think of Alice in Wonderland so a frame of black and white checked washi tape was adhered to the outside edges of the page. The letter A alphabet card from the TH set was inked around the edge with Black Big Brush Pen before it was attached to the right side of the page with embroidery floss cross stitches. Two more of the stitches were added to the left side to repeat the detail. A bright teal button, which reminded me of those flowers with the faces, was threaded with black embroidery floss and adhered to the top left corner of the page over a scrap of cheesecloth.

To balance the piece and add another little black detail, a punched scalloped border section was added to the bottom right corner. Black pen was used to outline the book title which had disappeared a little in the busy background. A simple outlining of the washi border added a little more depth and drew attention to it.

Thanks for joining Alice, the Duchess' baby, and me today. With an open-ended prompt such as the Letter A, I am curiouser and curiouser to see what direction others in our AJA Facebook group go. We would love to have you join us!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

RSD progressive Challenge Part 1

Hi again! The first of the month is when Team A of Rick St. Dennis' EDT post their inspiration projects for the Progressive Challenge on the Sparkle and Glitter blog. November 1 is the beginning of Part 1 where we can use any RSD image we want. For those who play along this month, you will receive the Part 2 image free. It's been a while since I coloured one of Rick's beautiful faces so this time I chose to play with Q of H which can be found in Rick's Zibbet shop.

I coloured Q (not the James Bond one) with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black cardstock. Foam tape was used to adhere her to the background providing both dimension and a shadow around her.

The simple background began with a 6 x 8 piece of mixed media paper onto which I sprinkled Scarlet Brusho crystals. Water was then spritzed onto the crystals and the card was then tipped various ways to create drips. The skinny drips were created with the TH Spritzer tool by just squeezing the air using the bulb. Text was stamped with Red Geranium Archival ink and open circles with a Joggles background stamp and Jet Black Archival ink. Tiny sticker hearts were placed at intervals around the border and black pen lines drawn to connect them.

The  computer generated sentiment was printed on white cardstock, trimmed, and then matted with black cardstock. The two sections were glued flat to the background. Two Scribbly Hearts were die cut from black cardstock and added to the right side to balance Q. A metal crown charm was added to the top right corner and a fun Alice in Wonderland ticket was added to the bottom right corner. Black Big Brush pen was used to edge the background before it was matted with black cardstock.

Thanks for joining Q of H and me here today. When you get a minute, pop over to the Sparkle and Glitter blog to see what fabulous projects the rest of Team A have created for the start of our Progressive Challenge Part One.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Alice in Wonderland Shadowbox ~ Part 2

And we're back..Haha! This is the second post showing the Alice in Wonderland shadowbox that I created using mainly the Tenniel style images. The first 6 cubbies and info on the background are in this post from yesterday.

This scene with Alice and Chessie is very simple. I used the two images and featured a chipboard tree branch which was coloured with sprays and shaded with Archival ink.

I wanted a library background for this cubby so I sized a bookshelf image, punched a little floor mat, and used mini Scrabble tiles to spell Alice.

An image from Etsy was fussy cut and matted in black before being popped up on foam tape like the other images. Die cut vines, a blue butterfly, and wording from the book helped set Absolom's scene.

This image is from Pool of Tears where Alice ends up swimming in her giant tears. The Explore arrow is made from wood and the rabbit's fan is folded from origami paper.

Oh dear, this poor fellow has to get the roses painted red before the Queen comes along.The fence and grass were die cut. The roses are metal and were first painted with gesso and then red paint. A little extra red was added to the image because I think he paints messy like me!

China teacups from an actual child's set were stacked in front of Hatter and the March Hare. I like the effect layering dimensional pieces gives to the occasional cubby.

 And this is the finished project complete with the door and a few little extras on top. The cat's face reminds me of Chessie, the tea pot and cup for the Hatter and friends, and the gloves and watch for the White Rabbit. Thanks so much for stopping by. I had a blast creating this shadowbox. It was one of those projects Just For Me...something in my head that just had to get out :)

Life is good; so is art...and Alice in Wonderland.
Bonnie

Alice in Wonderland shadow box ~ Part 1

Hi everyone. I have been playing with a shadow box for a while now and I finally finished it. I had the idea to fill each cubby with one of the scenes from Alice in Wonderland...still one of my favourite books. The shadow box started out as a taupe colour but I wanted black to make the scenes pop so painting it was the first order of the day.

The back piece came off so I tore out pages from one of my many AIW books and collaged the sections onto the background, adhering them with gel medium. Once dry, I set the front back onto the backing, marked the squares on the text paper and used Vintage Photo Distress ink to deepen and age the edges of each square.

From there, it was a matter of choosing twelve characters/scenes and finding the appropriate digital downloaded images. Some came from Etsy, some from Alpha Stamps. I must say I have a large collection so it was easy to find what I wanted.

I decided not to worry about the order...I wasn't trying to retell the story. I only wanted to have a reference to parts I like and to have fun in the creating...which I surely did.

I took the cubbies one at a time starting with the characters first. These were fussy cut and matted in black to help them stand out against the text as well as giving them strength. They were then popped up on foam tape.

I kept the additional background elements simple so as not to compete with the colourful images. I knew once all twelve cubbies were finished that it would look busy so simple was good.

So here are the first 6 of the twelve squares. Come back tomorrow to see the other six and the finished (door and all) project. Don't be late...LOL.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie