Heavy Metal Challenge

I am thrilled to announce that I have been invited to join the Design Team at CS Designs. I am absolutely smitten with Chris Stern's digital art and am so excited to work with this group of talented women. You really want to check out their blogs!

For this month's challenge at Recycle, Re-purpose, & Re-invent, the two themes are Anything Goes and Heavy Metal. You must include at least one recycled item on your design and must tell us what that item is. We are adding metal this time...how fun is that? We are using these fabulous steampunk digis created by Chris including  Heavy Metal and Steampunk Solitaire round. . I love steampunk so this challenge was right up my alley.

I started with a piece of tin ceiling tile which was leftover from renovating our kitchen backsplash in another house.  A piece of cardboard was peeled back in spots to expose the corrugation and then drybrushed with copper metallic paint. That was layered on black cardstock and an acetate printed with the Nuts & Bolts mini background was laid on top. These four layers were fastened together with a  rusty wing nut.

The gorgeous Metal and Screws digi was coloured with Prismacolor pencils but I added a twist. I wanted the sections around the face to appear textured like the ceiling tile so I coloured them over some texture plates and embossing folders. It worked like a charm! I added a watch part to her face and small copper brads where the screws were on the design. That was framed with black border punched cardstock and then copper cardstock.

Now came the digging through the kitchen junk drawers to pull out some metal bits and bobs...things like washers, screws, nails, bead chain, and a few unidentified objects. Once they were adhered, all that was left to do was paint the metal phrase plate, mat it and attach some screw brads.

I had a blast working on this project. I love the contrast between her beautiful, soft face and the hard edges of the metal surrounding her. I really hope you'll join us in this challenge. I can't wait to see what you create!
Thanks for dropping by.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Cheerful Little Blossom

I'm not trying to avoid housework by posting twice in one day...that's just a little side bonus:). I just finished this sweet little friendship card and I wanted to enter it in the Dilly Beans challenge before tomorrow's deadline.

I used a Blossom digi stamp from CS Designs as the focal image for this card. I coloured her (very brightly, I might add) with my Prismacolors and a little OMS to blend. She asked for a few extra embellies so I added flat back pearls for her buttons, eyes, and antenne tops. I traced over the stitching on the digi with white pen to match her lovely pearl buttons :) and bloomers. No mismatching for this little Blossom!

I rounded the corners of the white cardstock, inked the edges, and doodled a whimsical frame. This was adhered to two layers of patterned paper which also have inked edges. I used another CS Designs sentiment which I mounted on pink cardstock and popped up on foam dots. Three coordinating buttons from my stash were also mounted on foam dots.

Hopefully, Blossom gave you a smile. I'm going to enter her in the Art With No Boundaries  Anything Goes challenge, as well. Why don't you play along, too?

Thanks for stopping by.
Life is good: so is art.

Bonnie

Peonies for you

Here's a pretty little multi-occasion card I created using Stamp N Plus' peony basket stamp. I coloured it with my Prismacolors and fussy cut around it. Where it was too fussy to fussy cut (LOL), I simply chose another green colour to fill in the white space. Both the basket and the peonies allowed me to do lots of shading which I enjoy.

I used a template to trace the label shape from the pink dotted paper, cut it out, and distressed the edges with ink. A tiny doily was sandwiched between the peonies and the pink paper to bring attention and contrast to the focal image. Faux stitching and flat backed pearls were added for that extra detail that makes me smile.

 I rounded the corners of the two background layers and once again inked the pink edges. I really like the message behind this sentiment which was computer-generated and cut out using my favourite template. A little more inking of the edges, some gluing, and I called it a card!

I'm really glad that you came to visit. Thanks.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Believe fairy

Here's a simple little atc I made using handmade paper from the art store and a Stamp N Plus fairy stamp. I coloured this little sweetie with my Prismacolor pencils and a little watercolour on her wings. I used my favourite Paper Wishes layered label template to trace and cut the shape around her. Then  the label was mounted on Glimmer Misted book paper. Hearts punched from the same book paper scraps plus some bling for her forehead and antenna tops addded those details I so love. Doodled edges finished the framing of the label.

The flowers are cut with an EK Success punch, cupped with a stylus, and then stacked. I have a jar filled with these flowers which I cut from leftover white cardstock scraps. That way when I need a little flower grouping, all I have to do is spray with Glimmer Mist or another ink and add centers. A little bling highlights the centers of this set.

The believe charm came from my stash. I might decide to add this atc to a card front or just enjoy it the way it is. Either way, it makes me smile.

Thanks for visiting.
Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Friendship art journal page

I wanted to play in my art journal today so when I saw the theme of friendship on this week's Dilly Beans Challenge blog, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to play along.

I watercoloured the background and then used some stencils to pounce in some extra texture and pattern. Then I printed the eyeball flower digi stamp from Dilly Bean Stamps in three different sizes. Since I had already chosen the quote, I knew that I wanted the three flowers to be similar but also different. I coloured them with my Prismacolour pencils but didn't use OMS because I wanted the shading to be more liney and less blended. These were so much fun to colour!

After I glued them to my page, I inked the edges of the quote which I had torn from the computer paper it was printed on. I then stamped and coloured the little bee which is a Lockhart stamp.

To finish this page off, I pulled out my Pitt pens and went doodle-crazy. It turned into a fun and funky page with a very cool quote. My art journalling itch is temporarily satisfied.

I am entering it in the Dilly Bean challenge just for fun! I've never played in that blog's challenges before.
Thanks for visiting. Have a great weekend.


Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Charisma Frame-up

Once again I'm playing in the Art With No Boundaries bonus round challenge where the sub-theme is A Frame of Mind. For this card I used the face from the Charisma Montage digi stamp from CS Designs. She is just a part of a larger design which gives me plenty of  options for using this stamp. I coloured her with my Prismacolor pencils using OMS to blend the shading and blush and mounted her on black cardstock. A little bling was added to her headband and earrings to echo the next layer/frame underneath her.

The silver frame was constructed using the spirelli manual cut kit, also from CS Designs. I printed it on the back of some metallic silver, cut it out and wrapped it with black embroidery floss. The spirelli design was attached to her lovely face layer with foam tape to create more dimension and shadow. Another black frame layer was added beneath the silver one.

The background stripe was created using three layers: black cardstock, metallic silver cardstock, and red velvet ribbon.

To continue the frame theme, this sentiment was written on my computer using a retro font to complement her retro look. A little black matting and some distress ink grounded it and gave it some importance.

I like the contrast of  Charisma's soft, and sultry look with the sharpness of the metallic points of the spirelli design. Thanks so much for coming to visit. Why not play along in this challenge? I love seeing what everyone creates.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

The Man in the Moon

I made this card for my Wednesday post at the Stamp N Plus blog. I love this celestial stamp and as soon as I saw it, I knew just the expression I would pair it with.

I mounted the brightest, shiniest yellow cardstock I could find in my stash to plain black cardstock to form a mat. Next I used a Martha Stewart All over the page punch to make the star-struck border piece.

My favourite part is always the colouring with my Prismacolor pencils. I coloured the man in the moon with these and blended with a little OMS. Using a Paper Wishes labels template, I traced a shape around him and cut it out.

To make the focal image appear even more whimsical, I doodled a border with my black Pitt pen. I mounted the whole piece on more of the black and popped it up on foam tape for dimension.

The banner is hand cut, computer generated, and mounted on another scrap of black. I doodled some faux stitching around the edges. More foam dots were placed under the center section to keep it rigid..

Did you notice that I didn't add any extra sparkle or bling? I know..it surprised the heck out of me, too.

Thanks for visiting. I appreciate you taking the time. Now I'm off to sharpen the 24 new Prismacolor pencils that arrived in the mail today. Yay..love new colours!

Life is good: so is art.
Bonnie