Happy Hands art journal page - inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! Yesterday marked the new release of the Stitches digi set at Vera Lane Studio. Oh my word, I love these images. I have been sewing since my early teens and think these are the cutest images. I immediately thought of my friend, Jane, who is an avid and talented quilter. I chose to combine two of the images, the girl with her eyes blissfully closed and the spool of thread, to star on my art journal page today.

I coloured both images with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, fussy cutting each leaving a narrow white border. I then glued the images together where they overlap and matted them with black cardstock. The new "merged" image was fussy cut again leaving the narrow black border. White Posca paint pen was used to add the little design on her outfit.

I wanted a quilted background for the 6x6 watercolour page but I also wanted vibrant colours. Three Distress Oxide Inks (Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio, Wilted Violet) were added one at a time to a small gel plate and spritzed with water. Using a waterbrush, the colour was then added to the appropriate squares in the 9-patch design. Stencils were added over each square and the ink was removed using a baby wipe. On a few of them, the design was too small for this to be effective so I sponged through the stencil openings with white gesso. I wanted the texture and to break up the solid colour. The lines dividing the patches and the faux stitching along the lines was doodled with black pen. I love how that turned out!

The wording was printed onto white cardstock, matted with black. The saying, which I have always felt to be true, seemed to suit her expression of crafter's bliss. To ground her, a strip of zigzag cardstock was fussy cut and placed below the thread. I thought it looked like rickrack. Three enamel dots were added to the top left corner to add another pop of black and balance the design.

Thanks for stopping by today. You can check out Stitches as well as a plethora of fabulous and inspiring images in the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop. We would love to have you drop by the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group to say hi. There is always wonderful inspiration and friendly chats happening there.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

I promise...inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! Yesterday marked another fabulous new release at Vera Lane Studio. The image set called Cat and Canary has 3 of the cutest images plus two awesome sayings. For this art journal page, I combined the standing cat and the canary, stacking them because they are buds.

Cat and Canary were coloured with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. They were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border.

The background is crazy busy! After priming the page with a layer of white gesso, Wilted Violet and Peacock Feathers Distress Oxides were loaded onto a small gel plate, one at a time, and then spritzed with water before being smushed onto the page several times. Once dry, the Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide Ink was added through Carabelle Studio Weft Fabric and Numbers Stencil in several places. Both a 49 & Market Chevron stamp and a VLV numbers stamp were added to the background. To bring back some white and calm down the colour, three pieces of white cardstock were torn, stamped with Jet Black Archival Ink and a Wendy Vecchi stamp, and then edged with Twisted Citron D.O.and Jet Black Archival Inks.

The wording was printed on white cardstock and matted with black. The cat was grounded with three lengths of washi tape overlapped. Three small hearts colorized with the three Distress Oxide Inks were placed to tie the white pieces to the background. A doodled border and outlining were done with a black pen before Black Big Brush pen was added to the page edges to frame it.

Thanks for joining my two friends and me today. It made us all happy. You can check out the Cat and Canary image as well as all of the other wonderful images at the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop. We would also love if you popped by the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group where we have a fun Kindness Postcard challenge going on for the month of April. Hope to see you there!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

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

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

There is no tri - art journal page inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! I have a fun journal page featuring one of the new Dinos images released yesterday by Vera Lane Studio. All three of these guys are so cute. I chose the triceratops to combine with Yoda from the Princess Leia and Yoda set so that I could use this pun-tastic sentiment. It made me laugh and suited these two perfectly.

I coloured Yoda with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Ceratops was printed onto pink dotty cardstock and shaded with the same pencil brands. His spots were done with a black Pitt pen and his eye white with a Posca paint pen.

Both Yoda and Ceratops were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, fussy cut, and matted with black cardstock. The black was then fussy cut to leave a narrow black border.

The paper in this journal is 6x6 inch watercolour paper. The top section was spritzed withHeidi Swapp Ocean Color Shine and the bottom with Patina. Painter's tape was used to mask off the area not wanted each time. Lucky Clover or Faded Jeans Distress Oxide was sponged through TCW Plaid Fringe stencil depending on whether \i was on the blue or green section. Jet Black Archival was used to stamp a VLV grid pattern and French Ultramarine was used to stamp Ellen Hutson Bokeh circles. Because I wanted bright white little circles and anything wet would pick up the Color Shine colours, I punched .25 circles from cardstock and adhered them in clusters. They were outlined with black pen and then shaded with Inktense pencil plus water. To separate the grass from the sky and ground Ceratops and Yoda, a black and white sticker was placed along the dividing line. Black gesso lines were added to the page with a gift card.

The saying was printed onto white cardstock and matted with black. Two labels from a Tracie Fox download were added after the word triceratops was printed from the computer. Pink pencil crossed out the tri as per Yoda's wishes. To finish the page, a black photo corner was added to the upper right, a wiggly border was doodled, and black Big Brush pen pluse French Ultramarine Archival ink were added around the page edges.

Thanks for joining Ceratops, Yoda and me today. We love that you did! To check out the new Dinos release as well as the other awesome digi images and collage sheets, be sure and pop over to the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop. You can also see all kinds of inspiring projects by the VLS team and our wonderfully talented Facebook group members if you come by the FB group for a visit.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Selectively Social ~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone!  Vera Lane Studio released the cutest digi set yesterday called Lil Bit of Heaven. There are two images and a sentiment and I had a hard time deciding which girl I would feature in today's journal page. I ended up choosing the one with wings but you can be sure that I will be playing with the other one before too long. They are irresistible. Because Lil Bit needed a place to sit, I paired her with the mushroom from the Wonderland accessory bundle.

Both Lil Bit and the mushroom were coloured with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils.
They were fussy cut twice, once leaving a white border, and again after being matted with black cardstock.

The 6x6 inch watercolour paper background was spritzed with water and then Lindy's Drop Dead Gorgeous Green Starburst Spray, making sure to leave white space (so hard!!). Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide Ink was used to apply Carabelle Géométriks#1 in three places as well as an Inkylicious Borders 1 stamp. A Viva Las Vegas grid stamp and a Rubber Moon Inksplat one were added with Jet Black Archival Ink for contrast. White marks were added with a Posca Paint Pen before Texture Paste was scraped through Studio Light Mask L13. Once things were dry, a green Inktense pencil activated with water was used to shade inside the circle borders and next to the Texture Paste ones.

Pink and white washi tape was adhered to the bottom of the page behind the mushroom and also as two fishtail flags in the top right corner. These were embellished with black enamel dots. The wording was printed onto white cardstock, matted with black. A simple doodled border and black Big Brush pen edging finished the page.

Thanks for stopping by to visit with Lil Bit and me today. That was very kind and much appreciated. When you get a chance, stop by the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group and the VLS Etsy shop where you are sure to gather lots of inspiration and maybe a few "must-haves".

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Kindness ~ art journal page inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! The beautiful new release yesterday by Vera Lane Studio called Be Kind has 2 sweet images, a wonderful border, and 2 great sentiments. I decided one of the images needed to star in her own art journal page about kindness. I even decided to break out this beautiful designer paper called Hello Beautiful which I have been hoarding. She deserves it!

I coloured Be Kind with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, fussy cutting her, and leaving a narrow white border. She was matted with black cardstock and then fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border to help her stand out against the dove gray background.

The background is a 5.5 x 5.5 piece of the patterned paper chosen for the beautiful bird image as well as the colours which echoed her hair and dress. The paper has tiny white dots on the gray background so very little needed to be added to it...just enough to make it my own :)

Circles were added with Jet Black Archival Ink and an Ellen Hutson Bokeh stamp. Ranger Texture Paste was scraped through TCW Plaid Fringe stencil in three places.

Before the image was adhered to the background, a scrap of gray and white washi was added to ground her. The wording was printed on white cardstock, cut apart into individual words, and matted with black. Three black pearls were added after the word kindness for the dots in the saying. Before adhering the background to the page, a black border was inked around the outside edges with a Sharpie to serve as a frame.

Thanks for stopping by to visit with the Be Kind girl and me. We love that! When you get a chance, pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop to see this digi set as well as the amazing array of other sets. We'd love to have you stop by the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group, too. There is daily inspiration and a lovely group of like minded folks ready to welcome you.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Own That ~ an art journal page inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! I have two art journal pages to share today. The first one was created with the Party Like a Girl image which was released by Vera Lane Studio yesterday. The set contains two girls, two hats, and two sentiments...and every detail is so cute!

I coloured the smiling Party Girl using Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, using bright colours to show her bright outlook. A little extra doodling was added to give some pattern to her dress and carry on with the circle theme seen in the background. She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border.

The 6x6 inch watercolour paper background was spritzed and splatted with Lindy's Hag's Wart Orange Starburst Spray and the negative spaces were lightly filled in with Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide Ink. Stamping was added with Magenta Hue Archival Ink and a Viva Las Vegas Number stamp as well as a Rubber Moon dot stamp applied with Jet Black Archival Ink. I had previously decorated a sticker sheet with sprays, stamps and stencilling, creating a master board. I used one of the 2.5 inch circles whole and sliced another in half to create a visual triangle of these patterned shapes. They add just the pop of colour and pattern I was looking for.

Finishing details were added in the form of outlining of the circles and a doodled border using black pen. The wording was printed onto white cardstock and matted with black. A strip of washi tape was placed below Party Girl's feet to ground her and white punched stars replicating the stars on the circles were scattered about the page, both to brighten it with pops of white and to add unity to the design.

Thanks for joining Party Like a  Girl and me today. We are delighted to have you visit. When you get a chance, be sure to stop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop as well as the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group. Both are awesome places to gather inspiration for that project you've been wanting to create.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Well-loved ~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! I love the new Rag Dolls images released yesterday by Vera Lane Studio. They make me think of the Velveteen Rabbit when the Skin Horse is explaining what it means to be real. I was inspired to create a tag with one of the three rag dolls. I love the saying that comes with the set but I had another one in mind when I was creating.

I coloured Ragdoll 2 with Prsmacolor and Polychromos pencils, adding a little extra detail with a black Pitt Pen. She was then fussy cut leaving a white border, matted with black, and fussy cut again leaving a black border. Foam tape was used to pop her up when she was adhered to the background.

The tag shape was cut from a piece of cardstock from my stash which had been used to catch the over-spray from Distress Oxide sprays while creating another project. I love the randomness and the hard edges this creates within the pattern. The tag is a standard #8 size. An Ellen Hutson Bokeh Circles stamp was added in three places with Coffee Archival Ink and a piece of drywall mesh was layered where Ragdoll's torso would land. A stamped, folded, and stitched strip of plain vintage book paper was matted with brown cardstock and adhered along the bottom edge and this was topped with washi tape to give RD a place to stand.

The sentiment was printed onto white cardstock, matted with black, and popped up on foam tape. A simple border was doodled with brown Sharpie and Walnut Brown Big Brush Pen was added to the edges along with a brown reinforcement for the hole. The topper is a piece of the selvage edge from  woven fabric. I wanted it to be slightly worn looking as well.

Thanks for stopping by today to visit with Ragdoll and me. We are delighted that you did. When you get a chance, pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop to check out Ragdoll's sisters and all her other friends available to star in your creations. Check out the inspiration supplied by our DT members as well as our talented members in the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group. It's a lovely place to hang out and we would be delighted to have you visit.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Well Behaved Women ~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! Did you see the new release of  Princess Leia and Yoda yesterday from Vera Lane Studio? Oh my word, they are so cute! I mean, seriously cute!! I had a hard time deciding between them for this art journal page because I want to play with both. I finally settled on Leia because I figured Yoda might have more patience to wait.

I coloured Leia with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, using a silver Posca Paint pen for her buckle. She was fussy cut leaving a white border, matted with black, and fussy cut again. Although I usually glue images in flat in this journal, I wanted that shadow behind her so I used foam tape to pop her up.

The watercolour paper background had Wilted Violet and then Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxides added separately. They were smushed onto a 3 inch gel plate, spritzed with water, and then tapped onto the page, drying between colours. Black ink was splattered over the page once the Oxide layers were dry. To add to the galaxy feel, a Stampotique Dotted Spiral stamp was added with Jet Black Archival Ink. Silver star sequins were scattered above and beside her to catch the light. To ground Leia, blue starry washi tape was adhered to a strip of white cardstock and then to the page. That prevents the background colours from showing through the white areas and also preserves the pattern.

The wording was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. A simple doodled border was added with black pen to finish the page.

Thanks for joining the lovely Princess Leia and me today. We are delighted that you did. Stay tuned to our Vera Lane Studio Facebook group this week to see more projects using this amazing Star Wars set created by my talented teamies. Pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop where you will find many many images and collage sheets sure to inspire you.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

There's Snow Family...inspired by a Vera Lane Studio digi set

Hi everyone!The Wintertimes image digi set was released by Vera Lane Studio yesterday and they are the cutest little family. There is a father, mother, and child snowman plus a sweet cloud and some lovely snow in the set. Lots of options to mix and match or use them individually. I decided to create a two page mixed media spread to give them room to spread out.

The snow family was coloured with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, fussy cut leaving a white border, and matted with black cardstock to create a second border.

The sky of the 6x6 inch watercolour paper background was spritzed with Heidi Swapp Ocean Color Shine spray and water, allowing it to drip and pool to create extra texture. Extra colour and pattern was added using Broken China Distress Oxide and an ink blending tool. The snow portion was torn from white cardstock which was then embossed with a snowflake folder.

Snowflakes were stencilled on the sky area with Broken China Distress Oxide Ink and white ones were punched and sparkled up with Icicle Stickles before they were adhered across the sky. The horizon line was deepened with Neocolor II crayon activated with a waterbrush. Once dry, it was then outlined with black pen which was also used to doodle a simple border. The wording on the right hand page was printed onto white cardstock and matted with black.

The speech bubbles were printed onto white cardstock and cut into their shapes freehand. The bubbles were matted with black and adhered over their heads. They are trying so hard to calm the wee one down...LOL. I'm not sure it's going to work though :)

Thanks for joining the Wintertimes and me today. We all appreciate that. When you get a chance, pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop to check out this set as well as the plethora of others available...so many must-haves. We would love to have you pop by the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group as well. It's a great place to hang out and get inspired.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Owl Be There art journal page ~ inspired by Vera Lane Studio images

Hi everyone! I am smitten with the newly released Be Wise image set at Vera Lane Studio. The owl and the little girl are such sweet friends so I was excited to showcase that.

I coloured both images with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Tiny Xs were added to her little yellow shirt. They were then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black, and fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border. A tree branch was free handed and cut from brown patterned paper. It was edged with Coffee Archival Ink, lined and edged with brown Sharpie.

Broken China Distress Oxide was applied to a 3x3 inch gel plate, spritzed with water, and transferred onto the 6x6 inch watercolour paper background, lifting and plunking it down several times. It was allowed to dry thoroughly amd more of the same ink was applied through AALL& Create Lotza Dots stencil. The brown Sharpie was used to outline several of the circles as well as creating little clusters of the tiny ones in different places. Xs were added to the background by using a black Pitt Pen through an Alexander Renke stencil. Text stamping was added here and there with Coffee Archival ink and an Indigo Blu Tasty Textures stamp. The branch was adhered to the background and the two amigos adhered to the branch.

The wording at the top of the page was printed onto white cardstock and matted with black cardstock. The word, Friends, was added with stickers separated by punched black dots to mimic the tv show logo. The page was finished by doodling a little heart and line border which serves as a frame and by adding three little pink hearts to replicate the hearts on the border.

Thanks for joining Wendy, her owl friend, and me today. We are delighted you came by. When you get a chance, be sure to pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop where you can fin the Be Wise image set as well as a plethora of other images sure to inspire you. Stop by our VLS Facebook group, too. There is wonderful inspiration on a daily basis! See you there!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie