Awesome takes practice ~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! For my last project as a guest designer for Vera Lane Studio, I created a #10 size tag featuring one of the 7 images from the new set called The Thumbs. These characters are simple and sweet, fun to colour and ideal for paper piecing.

I coloured the skin and hair of Pigtails with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. Her dress was printed a second time onto a mop-up atc sized paper covered with Lindy's Starburst sprays. This was fussy cut, shaded with coloured pencil, and adhered over the original image. Three small black jewels were used to indicate the dress buttons. Pigtails was then popped up on foam tape, ready for the background to magically appear.

The background started as a second pull from a gel plate which had used acrylic paints and TCW Mayan Calendar stencil to achieve the design. The page was mostly white with pink patterning. Extra pattern and texture was added with Viva Las Vegas Row of Stars stamp plus TH splatter dots with Jet Black Archival, Stampotique Dotted Squares stamp applied with Magenta Hue Archival Ink, and Crafty Individuals script stamp using Tiger Lily Archival Ink. Three patterns of washi tape plus black cardstock cut into a strip and punched in a scallop border were added. The edge of the tag was edged with Magenta Hue Archival Ink, Black Big Brush pen, and given a doodled border.

The wording was printed on white cardstock, cut into individual words, and matted with black. Foam tape was used to adhere the words to the tag. A black button from Gram's stash was threaded and glued to the left side of the bottom washi strips and the entire tag was matted with black cardstock to frame and finish it.

Thanks for joining Pigtails and me today. Be sure to pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop to check out the rest of The Thumbs set as well as the multitude of fabulous images available. There is a ton of inspiration there as well as on the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group. I have had the most delightful time guest designing for the month of February. Thanks again to Janet and the amazing VLS design team.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Week 4 of Guest designing for Vera Lane Studio

Hi everyone! It's hard to believe that this is the last week of my guest designing stint at Vera Lane Studio. The time, she flies :) For my first post this week, I am sharing a card I made with one of the beautiful Matryoshka images which were released on Monday. The set contains two lovely dolls and a sentiment.

I coloured Mattie (the Matryoshka doll) with a mix of Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils. She was fussy cut (so easily) leaving a narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and trimmed out a second time leaving a narrow black border. Foam tape was applied to the back to adhere her to the background as well as add dimension.

The background, a 4.5 x 6 inch rectangle of white cardstock was coloured with Abandoned Coral and Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide Inks. These were applied to my craft mat, spritzed with water, and picked up by dipping the card into the puddles of ink several times. Once dry, the same ink colours were used to transfer the DecoArt Doily stencil design to the background using stencil brushes. I wanted a very light pattern and the stencil brushes achieve that look much easier than the blending tools. To give Mattie a place to stand, a length of washi tape applied to white cardstock was added to the bottom of the card front. A narrow strip of spray inked paper in orange hues was added to the top of the washi tape to make the base stand out and pull some of the bright orange from her dress into the background.

The sentiment I chose, instead of the one which came with the set, was printed onto white cardstock, chopped into sections, and matted with black. Foam tape was used to pop the sections up. Faux stitching was added to the outside edges which were then darkened with Tiger Lily Archival Ink. Large enamel dots were adhered to opposite corners before the card front was matted with black and adhered to the white card base.

Thanks for joining Mattie and me today. A special heartfelt thanks to Janet Klein for the opportunity to guest design for Vera Lane Studio. I had such a blast. A huge thanks also to the VLS Design Team who not only inspire me each week with their creativity and talent but are also wonderfully supportive. If you haven't already joined the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group, be sure you do. It's a great place to hang out!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Week 3 of guest designing for Vera Lane Studio

Hi everyone! This post marks the third one in my 4 week stint as a guest designer for Vera Lane Studio. I have certainly been enjoying myself. This week, I chose to play with two of the images from the Warm and Cozy image & sentiment set. Not only do I love the fact that these two are all dressed up for winter weather (of which we have had more than our share) but their expressions were ideal for the sentiment I had in mind. Besides that, they are just plain cute!

I coloured them with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, highlighted with a white Posca Pen, and used a black Pitt pen to re-trace the linework where the coloured pencils dulled it. They were then fussy cut leaving my usual narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and fussy cut leaving a narrow black border. Foam tape was placed on the back of each image to pop them up, creating a natural shadow.

The background began as a gel print from a while ago. Liquitex Basics Light Blue Permanent and Brilliant Yellow Green acrylic paints were applied to the plate and then I used a plastic canvas shape to make marks by removing paint before pulling the print. Prism Violet was used to stencil TCW Tile Mania template in a few places. To add a little more green to the white spaces, Twisted Citron Distress Oxide was applied to a Viva Las Vegas circle text stamp. More texture was added with a numbers stamp from VLV using Forget-Me-Not Archival Ink. Deep Purple Archival Ink was used to add a Crafty Individuals text stamp here and there, and Jet Black Archival Ink to add the stitching from 49 and Market Captured Adventures stamp set.

I had this idea to add a sidewalk to the bottom of the gel print to give the girls a place to stand. I wanted it to have texture so first I printed the word sidewalk over and over on white cardstock and then spritzed the strip with Lindy's Down the Rabbit Hole Starburst Spray to add gray tones. The strip was edged on all sides with Watering Can Archival Ink and matted to black cardstock. Thin pieces of the same cardstock were used at an angle to mark where the sidewalk lines were. Once the sidewalk was adhered, gray Neocolor II was applied along the top edge with a waterbrush to create dimension.

Because I loved this look of the text so much, I did the same thing for the cloud, printing cloud over and over onto white cardstock. I then fed this back through the computer and printed one of the Vera Lane Studio clouds from the Polka Dot Fairy set. It was fussy cut and the bottom was edged with Aquamarine Archival ink.

The sentiment was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. Foam tape was used to pop up the words and a doodled border was added to the outside edge of the page to frame it. At that point, there still seemed to be something missing from the design so I applied Deep Purple Archival Ink directly to white cardstock, and punched .25 inch circles. These were then scattered around the sky area and adhered with Scotch Quick Dry glue. The edge of the page was inked with Black Big Brush pen before it was matted with black cardstock, again to frame it and keep the eye from drifting off the page.

Thanks for joining the Warm and Cozy Girls and me today. We are delighted you popped by. To check out the huge selection of Vera Lane studio images, hop over to the VLS Etsy shop where you will find inspiration galore. Speaking of inspiration, remember to stop by the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group where you will see fabulous makes created by the Design Team and the VLS community. It's a great place to hang out and find out about the newest releases.

Life is good; so is art
Bonnie

Guest Design Projects Week 2 for Vera Lane Studio

Hi everyone! Today I am sharing two Guest Designer projects made with the new Vera Lane Studio digi set called Birthdays. The set contains a boy and a girl as well as a sweet saying, all of which can be used together or separately depending upon your needs.

I created a birthday card with the adorable girl as well as a tag featuring the cute little guy. I love doing two projects at once because you only have to think once...LOL

I coloured both images with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, adding white Posca paint pen dots to Birthday Girl's dress and their eyes.

Both were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted to black cardstock, and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. Foam tape was applied to the backs of the images to add dimension and natural shadow.

Both the tag and card backgrounds were created at the same time using the same colours and mediums. I started with the card background first. Brilliant Yellow Green Liquitex paint was brayered onto my gel plate and then Joggles Teardrops in the Round Foam stamp was applied to the painty plate to remove some of the colour here and there. The card front was then pressed to the gel plate and a print was pulled which had white spaces in the shape of the foam stamp design. As I lifted paint from the plate with the foam stamp, I applied the painty foam stamp to the white cardstock tag to begin the tag background. That way no paint is wasted and you end up with a two-fer...two backgrounds for the price of one :)

The next step was to apply some turquoise pattern over the yellow green. Bright Aqua Green Liquitex Acrylic paint was brayered across the gel plate in a thin even coat. This was then used as a "stamp pad". Joggles Wonky Layered Circle foam stamp was loaded with a thin even coat of Aqua Green paint from the gel plate and then pressed over the previously yellow green printed background. The paint was brayered smooth in between each stamping to get even coverage and a crisper image. The same step was done to the white tag, printing the turquoise circle over the green ones from earlier. Such a simple process and I love how the two backgrounds look different depending upon the background colour.

The card front was then stamped with an Indigo Blu text stamp using Garden Patina Archival Ink. Black gesso was pounced through the harlequin section of Stamperia Steampunk Man stencil. Two pieces of turquoise dotty washi tape were overlapped and matted with black cardstock before being adhered on the left side of the card. Two enamel dots accented the washi flags. The tag had the same dotty washi tape, topped with a thin strip of the card background print adhered above it. This gave Birthday Boy a place to stand. Before he was adhered to the tag, the same Stamperia harlequin stencil design was applied to the background. I love the contrast the black provides and how it makes the other colours pop. A black enamel dot was also used to accent this washi.

The sentiment on the card front was created using the Vera Lane Studio Baby Powder font. I love this font so much! Both sentiments were printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections or individual words, and matted with black. Foam tape was used to op them up. Both projects were then given a doodled border and matted with black cardstock to frame them. The finishing touches of adhering the decorated card front to the white base and adding ribbon as a tag topper were done to complete the two projects.

Thanks so much for joining Birthday Girl, Birthday Boy, and me today. To see more projects using these adorable images, be sure to stop by the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group. The talented Design Team has been creating with them all week and there are also inspiring projects created by the VLS community. When you have a minute, pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop, too. There is a huge selection of fabulous images and collage sheets that will surely spark your mojo.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Guest Designing with Vera Lane Studio

Hi everyone! Did you hear my ear-piercing squeal? That was me when Janet Klein asked me if I wanted to guest design with her fabulously talented team using her amazing images from Vera Lane Studio. I am both honoured and excited to have been asked because as I'm sure you have figured out these are my favourite images and I have great admiration for both Janet and for her DT members. This is the first project I completed for the month (4 Saturdays...squee!) and it seemed very fitting because it's all about friends helping us enjoy the journey. That's exactly what the Vera Lane Studio community has done for me. I asked the two sweeties from the Besties set along with one of the 12 hearts from the Have Hearts set to star on this art journal page. I also used the awesome new font from Vera Lane Studio called baby Powder to create the wording for this page. I am smitten with this font!!

I coloured the two best friends using Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils. White highlights and dots were added with a Posca Paint Pen and the original lines were retraced with Pitt pens to restore them after the pencils dulled a few areas. The friends were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. Their hands were separated from their wrists (there is no nice way to say that!) so they could be glued back on top of the heart, making them look as if they were holding it.

The heart was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and the white spaces were coloured with a turquoise metallic gel pen. The heart was glued to the girls' arms and the hands were adhered over the heart. The girls were popped up on foam tape to add dimension and the heart was only adhered to the background at the point. Once the images were adhered to the background, tiny black stickers were placed inside the heart to spell BFF.

The 6x8 inch mixed media paper was spritzed with Lindy's Bells of Ireland Green  and Sassy Sapphire Starburst Sprays. Garden Patina Archival Ink was sponged through DecoArt Doily stencil to create additional texture and interest. Deep Purple Archival Ink was sponged through both the large and tiny circles from the AALL & Create Lotza Dotz stencil and text was added with Jet Black Archival Ink using a Crafty Individuals stamp. Black pen was used to doodle a heart and line border and to outline the larger stencilled dots. A strip of book text was layered over a torn piece of black cardstock and adhered along the bottom edge of the page to ground the two girls. The text paper was then stencilled with Deep Purple Archival Ink sponged through TH Burlap Layering Stencil. Turquoise and purple Gelatos were spread onto the text strip with a finger.

To brighten the background, white dots were added with a stylus and white acrylic paint. The wording using the Vera Lane Studio Baby Powder font was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. Foam tape was used to adhered the sections to the background. To finish the page, Jet Black Archival Ink was sponged on to create a dark edge all around the page and the spread was matted with a rectangle of black cardstock to serve as a frame.

Thanks for popping by today. The BFFs and I appreciate that. To see more wonderful creations using Vera Lane Studio images designed by the awesome VLS Design Team, check out the Vera Lane Studio  Facebook group. Be sure to set aside some time to browse the huge selection of amazing images in the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop. You're sure to be inspired and come away with a list of must-haves! See you next Saturday with my next Guest Designer project.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Guest Design Post at Joggles

Hi everyone. I am fortunate to be a guest designer again today on the Joggles blog. This week I am playing with Joggles Mehndi Hands Collage Sheet and Lindy's Stamp Gang Two Toned Starburst Sprays...plus a whole lot more :). As soon as I saw the Mehndi Hands, I fell in love with the detailed patterns on them and there is something about hands themselves that draw me. If you looked around our home, you'd know what I mean :) Anyway, I wanted to use as many of them as I could so I ended up doing two pages created with the same steps but different specifics which was fun.

To see my two pages and the accompanying tutorial explaining my process, please pop over to the Joggles blog. There are detailed instructions and step by step photos..and chocolate and balloons and kittens and...OK, maybe not but I'd love it if you visited anyway :) Thanks so much!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Take the Leap ~ Joggles Guest Post

Hi everyone! I am lucky enough to have been invited to do a second guest post on the Joggles Blog this week. I am so grateful to Barb for giving me this opportunity. Today I have created an art journal page featuring one of the many Joggles Collage Sheets called Bird Feathers Fluff. I love this sheet with the adorable birds, sweet eggs, and so much more to play with. I have such a fondness for whimsical little birds. The colours of them totally inspired the background...so soft and pretty.

Here are most of the supplies from the Joggles store that I used to create this mixed media page. If you pop over to the Joggles Blog (please...please), you will see the full tutorial detailing my process with step-out photos. I would love it if you visited there. Thanks for popping by and a huge thank you to Barb for allowing me to do this guest post. Loved every minute of it!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

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

Warm Winter Wishes ~ Outlawz Greeting Challenge Guest Designer

Hi everyone! Rick St. Dennis is sponsoring The Outlawz Greetings Challenge and I have the privilege of representing the EDT as a Guest Designer. Yay! The theme is Anything Goes so I chose to play along using Tipsy Tinpail who can be found in Rick's Zibbet  or Etsy shops.

I coloured Tipsy and Buddy with Prismacolor pencils and then fussy cut them leaving a narrow white border so I could capture the furriness of the hood and pompom. They were then popped up on foam tape to create dimension and shadow.

The card base is a deep red textured cardstock. A blue rectangle was cut for the sky and pattern was added with a swirly embossing folder. Treasure Silver wax was brushed over the embossing to highlight it and create movement in the background. The snowdrifts were cut from sparkly and shiny white cardstock. Each layer was embossed with polka dots and the top edges were inked with gray to allow them to show depth. Once the front two drifts were adhered with foam tape, Tipsy and Buddy were added over that.

Die cut clouds were brushed with Icicle Stickles and popped up on foam tape. Small snowflakes were punched from white cardstock and given pearl centers before being added to the sky. The sentiment was computer generated and printed on white cardstock which was then matted in black. Two lengths of blue and white baker's twine were added to the back of the sentiment which was then popped up on foam tape.

Thanks to The Outlawz Greeting Challenge for allowing me to play along with their Anything Goes Challenge. When you get a chance, pop over to their site to see the other wonderful Rick St. Dennis creations by their talented Design Team. Maybe if we are lucky, some of them will share their delightful projects on our Fans and Friends Facebook page.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Inspired by a Book ~ Gandalf

Hi there! Members of Rick St. Dennis' EDT were invited to guest design at the C.R.A.F.T. challenge which he is sponsoring this week. The theme is Inspired by a Book and knowing how much I love books, how could I resist? I chose to play with Rick's Gandalf Wizard image which can be found in Rick's Zibbet shop.

Gandalf, from Lord of the Rings, is such a wonderful character and I have a great fondness for wizards. I coloured Gandalf with Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut him. He was matted in black cardstock and popped up on foam tape. Who knows what problems he was solving while he awaited his background tag.

I had searched for a Gandalf quote from the book and when I saw this one, I knew what would be the first background layer: map designer paper. Next I tore some scraps of blue paper (sky/water) and layered them across the tag  along with some vintage text ( reference to books). These scraps of blue and text were edged and scuffed with Vintage Photo Distress ink to age them and then outlined with a Sepia Micron once they were adhered to the background. Pattern was applied with gesso through the TCW Texturized Stencil and with Coffee Archival ink through another pattern of the same stencil.

A generous coat of both Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress inks were added to the tag edges to frame the tag. Idea-ology Remnant Rubs were chosen on the basis of words that fit with the sentiment and applied both to the background and to an enamel coated metal star. The sentiment was computer generated, matted in black, and popped up on foam tape. Two segments of a punched scallop border were added to the edges, as well as an Idea-ology pen nib,  a reference to the wizard's era but also to the written word (book). The topper is a length of grosgrain ribbon stapled to the back of the tag. The staples are covered with an Idea-ology Muse Token which says courageous.

Thanks for visiting today and thanks to the C.R.A.F.T challenge for letting me play along. Gandalf and I are so appreciative. When you get a minute, pop by the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge blog to see the other fabulous responses to this fun theme, Inspired By a Book. For more inspiration using Rick's fabulous images, fun challenges, and some wonderful sharing of projects and knowledge, come and visit:
our Facebook group
our Airless Chambers blog
our Rick St Dennis Gallerie
our Tuts and Comments blog

I am entering this tag in the following challenges:

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Guest Designing at Cute Card Thursday

Hi everyone. Rick St. Dennis is sponsoring the current challenge at Cute Card Thursday so the EDT have the opportunity to guest design. The theme for their challenge is Circles and I had the ideal image to use for this: A Stitch in Time which can be found at Etsy or Zibbet. I love clocks and the image of this guy from the SIT Maintenance Company hand stitching the numbers onto the clock face is delightful. I coloured him up using my Prismacolor pencils, fussy cut the image, and then matted it on a die cut circle of black cardstock.

The background paper started out as a designer paper from BasicGrey in a kraft colour featuring a tiny check. The paper was embossed with a Sizzix Brick folder. The bricks were then darkened with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress inks and scuffed lightly with white gesso. The same treatment was done to the edges with the addition of Walnut Brown Big Brush pen. A larger rectangle of black cardstock was cut to fit inside the white card base and the brick rectangle was adhered on top towards the upper edge.

The image was popped up on foam dots. The sentiment, "You cannot find time; you must make time" was computer generated, edged with Walnut Stain Distress ink, and the words which would sit on the brick background were matted in black. All were popped up on foam tape. The two words I wished to emphasize were created with circle stickers which sparkle in the light. To complete the card and further the themes of clock mechanisms and circles, metal gears were grouped in opposite corners and adhered with Glossy Accents.

Thanks so much for popping by today and thanks to Cute Card Thursday for allowing us to play along with their Circles challenge. When you get a chance, why not check it out! We'd love to see what you create.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Guess who is an artbymiran Guest Designer... Moi!

I am so excited to have been invited to Guest Design for the artbymiran Challenge #5 beginning today. I love Mi Ran Jung's fabulous images which can be purchased from her Etsy shop. They are a delight to colour and have wonderful stories to tell...plus her Design Team is so talented that I feel honoured to be featured on the same blog with them. The theme for Challenge #5 is Anything Goes ~ who doesn't love that!

 I chose to create with one of the images that I won for Challenge #2 called Isabel's Bouquet which can be found here. I coloured Isabel with Prismacolor pencils and then fussy cut her. I matted her with a narrow border of brown cardstock and popped her up on foam tape for added dimension.

The background papers came from DCWV's Collage Art Stack. Both layers had additional stencilling added, although the bottom one was mostly covered. The yellow layer was cut with a Spellbinders Curved Rectangles die. It was then stencilled with Vintage Photo Distress ink through TCW's Mini Punchinella stencil as well as Orange Blossom Archival ink through TCW's Web Doily stencil. The edges were inked with Vintage Photo Distress ink and then doodled around with Sepia Micron pen. Both the pink layer and the yellow layer were matted with dark brown textured cardstock.

Sandwiched between the pink and yellow layers was a piece of burlap which adds wonderful texture even though it barely peeks out. The yellow layer was wrapped with yellow gingham printed ribbon backed by pink grosgrain ribbon with white stitching. This layer was then popped up on foam tape and adhered to the background.

To complete the card, a pink mulberry flower, some burlap leaves and two resin flowers whose colour was altered to brown with a Big brush pen were adhered to the top left corner. A punched photo corner was added to the top right and three brown brads were added to the bottom right. For better balance and layout, three strips of brown cardstock were adhered to the left of the image.

Thanks for stopping by today to meet Isabel. Both she and I appreciate that so much. When you get a chance, pop over to the artbymiran Challenge blog  to see the amazing inspiration provided by the artbymiran DT for this fun Anything Goes Challenge. We would love to see your creations, too. Hope you'll play along!

Thanks again to Mi Ran for this wonderful opportunity. I loved every minute of it!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie