Hey...where ya going?

Meljen's Designs is having a fun challenge this week...bookmarks. I am an avid reader so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to use one of my favourite Meljen digis, Kitty Butts. Anyone out there who has cats knows this view. My cats think this is their best side and show it to me all the time!

I coloured the image using my Prismacolor pencils but didn't use OMS because I wanted the colouring to be choppy to look like hair/fur. I rounded the upper corners and mounted the image on black cardstock. That layer was mounted on a yellow checked paper from my scrapbox and then on another layer of black. A grommet was added to the top of the bookmark and ribbon/fibres threaded through.

The sentiments were computer generated. I imagined the book saying these things to me as I was putting it down to play with paper. Seriously, I have the strangest imagination :) The double scallop at the bottom was cut with an MFT die. A black satin ribbon covered the seam and then blingy stars were added.

This bookmark will make me smile when I insert it into the book and again when I open it next time. Gotta love that!

I'm off now to enter it into the Meljen's Designs Challenge.
Thanks for visiting. Tomorrow is Canada Day and my husband's birthday. Double yay!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Frog Hop

Welcome to StampNPlus Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!!

If  the Stamp N Plus blog sent you over for a visit then you are exactly where you are meant to be. If you just happen to be visiting, then you should head over to StampNPlus for the beginning of this fabulous hop!
This month the Design Team was working with this sweet tree frog stamp. He's so darn cute...love those toes! I coloured him and his branch with my Prismacolor pencils, fussy cut him out and mounted him on a piece of black cardstock so he'd show up against the green background. That background is embossed with a bamboo folder and distressed with ink to allow the pattern to pop. Froggy was then mounted on foam tape for dimension. The two sentiments were computer-generated, edges inked and matted on black. Once they were adhered, the green cardstock was layered on more black and then on yellow and white dotted paper. A slim border of the white card was allowed to peek out around the edges. Blingy stars were added to opposite corners to lead the eye through the card.
Now it's time to visit Melissa and check out what she's done with our friend, Froggy.
If you get lost along the hop here is the complete line up:

Bonnie Irvine-http://artfuldigits.blogspot.com
Melissa Pinter-http://pinkpolkadotscrapping.blogspot.com
Kathy Hering-http://khering.blogspot.com
Tina Keller (Crafty and Green)-http://craftyandgreen.blogspot.com
Paulette Akagi-http://paulettesapaper-artzy.blogspot.com/
Jackie- http://papermoments.blogspot.com/
Cindy Groh-http://cre8ivecindy.blogspot.com/
Julie Ericksen - http://julesericksen.blogspot.com
Beverly Montez- http://sugarstamper.blogspot.com/

Thanks for visiting. So glad you decided to hop with us (including Froggy).

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Hello Tiger

Tiger lilies are another of my favourite flowers so when I saw this stamp from Stamp N Plus, it was a "must have". They remind me of cottages and summer breezes and living in the country....happy sigh.
I coloured this image with my Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut it out. It was popped up on foam tape and adhered to an embossed piece of black cardstock.

The next layer consisted of an orange and white dot scrap matted with black cardstock. Then I took my handy dandy piercer and punched holes using the dots as a guide so I could embroider a cross-stitch corner. The vintage black button snuggled right into that corner. The image layer was glued over the orange dotty paper and some dollar store letter beads spelled out the message. The white background is the card front which picks up the white negative space in the image.

Simple design...high contrast. Works for me :)
Thanks for visiting. You know that makes me smile!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

AMW ~ Drama Queen

For Week 2 of our Anything Goes/Performing Arts challenge theme at Art With No Boundaries, we are working once again with amazing images of Anna May Wong created by CS Designs. The more I learn about Anna May Wong, the more smitten I become. Anna May was a film actress from the '20s and -30s. She was the first Chinese American actress in Hollywood and because of that, had a difficult trail to blaze. She was known for her superb acting, her beauty, and her sense of style. She was also known for her challenges to the prejudices and restrictions of the times.

This piece tells part of  Anna May's story. The foundation is a bamboo placemat which I combined with paper parasols, Chinese coin charms, and butterflies to represent the Asian roles which were the only ones Anna May was allowed to play. The image of Anna May is coloured with Prismacolor pencils with the exception of her dress. Green metallic watercolour was used on it to create the sheen of fine Asian silk. Paper with Asian symbols was pieced to serves as the background for her image.

Anna May became frustrated with the roles that she was offered in Hollywood so she travelled to Europe to make films and act on stage. The guest ticket with her initials symbolizes that travel. The filmstrip, also from CS Designs and printed on transparency, shows her first love which was film with the number 1 indicating her role as the first Chinese American actress. The black feather represents the glamour of Hollywood and the fashion icon she became.

The drama queen sign is another of Chris' designs for the performing arts package. I wanted it to look like the marquee sign outside of a theatre with the bling imitating the bright lights. Finally, the destiny charm and the key were added because Anna May inserted herself into the film industry at the age of 9 by hanging around movie sets and begging to act. She felt this was her destiny and the key to her happiness. What a remarkable woman and fascinating life story!

 I've really enjoyed learning a little about Anna May Wong. The determination on her face in this image really reflects her attitude in her life. Love it! I really hope you will join our challenge this week at Art With No Boundaries either in the Anything Goes or in the Performing Arts categories. Besides the awesome prizes available, I just love to see where your creativity takes us.
Thanks for visiting. Be sure to check out the rest of the DT's projects. A-MAZ-ing!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Together

My art journal called to me again today...and it was much louder than the vacuum or the door which needs staining. Funny how that often happens :)

Today I started with a gessoed page to which I added watercolour paints to start my background, Then the pan pastels came out along with some stencils sitting on my messy desk. Then just 'cuz I could, I spritzed with some spray inks, dabbed some circles in with acrylic paint, and stamped using Distress Ink. When the background was sufficiently messy and still wet, I moved on to the flowers.

The faces for the flower centers are part of a larger montage design from CS Designs called Best Friends. While I love the whole stamp, I'm especially crazy about these faces with the rectangular eyes and bow mouths...so fun! Anyway, they were coloured with Prismacolor pencils and OMS to blend. I was playing with different skintones to see how certain colours worked together ... experimenting  because it's my art journal. The images were glued to the center of these large paper flowers from my stash. Doodled stems and burlap leaves were added.

Hmmm, now back to the background. The sun was added with yellow pan pastel and a stencil. Tickets from my stash were adhered. The little arrow, bracket, and heart box were from my leftovers box. The sentiment is another digi stamp from CS Designs and the bumbly bees are from a stamp buried on my desk. Next came the doodles and scribbles and scrawls done with my favourite black pens. Finally black ink was generously added to the outside edges. Even though the colours are more subdued than usual for me, these pages made me smile during the making and after so I'm happy.

Hope they make you smile, too. Thanks for visiting. I'm glad you came by.

I'm entering this journal spread in the following challenges:
Crafty Calendar Challenge ~ Flowers in Bloom
Crafty Mess Challenge ~ Use Paint
Pause Dream Enjoy Challenges ~ 3 things
Stampin for the Weekend ~ Show us your style (Funky/artsy)

Hope you get a chance to get inky, painty, messy this weekend.
Life is good; so is art.


Bonnie

Just a note card

When I was prowling through the Resource section at Split Coast Stampers the other day, I found this fun technique called Herringbone which seemed like a great way to use up some of my scraps. I cut a piece of cardstock to size and adhered a piece of mounting adhesive onto it. Then I cut strips about 3/8" wide and layered them onto the page alternating the two patterns. Start with the long strip that divides the rectangle into two diagonal sections. Using the same pattern, divide those two sections, offsetting them slightly and then just fill in the four sections. Seriously easy but follow the link above. Pictures explain it so much better than words.

Next I coloured up this sweet little  Stamp N Plus bird stamp (X818) with my Prismacolor pencils and used a Spellbinders die to cut out the label shape. Because of the busy background, I layered the image label on black cardstock and popped it up on foam tape to make it more noticeable. A few red pearl berries and a music brad were then added.

Finally, the sentiment was computer generated, coloured in with marker, matted, and attached with tiny brads. The herringbone rectangle was glued to black cardstock which was then affixed to the white card. I made a bunch of these  herringbone rectangles using different scraps. They are a time-saving background to have on hand when you need a last minute card but still want it to look special. It seems to look different each time you do it depending on the papers you choose. Besides that, the process is addictive :)

Thanks for stopping by. I always appreciate the company.
Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Be Bold

I declared Playtime yesterday and pulled out my art journal for a two page spread. I knew I wanted to use these two digi stamps from CS Designs: Splash Montage and the Be Bold sentiment. That meant I could go wild with colour...which I did :) (in case you didn't notice  LOL)

The background was spritzed with water and then 5 different colours and brands of spray ink. More ink was sprayed through a couple of templates to create random patterns and more texture. A crackle stamp was inked up in black and applied here and there. The other day in the paint bin, I found a roll of drywall mesh which never quite got put away...oops. Since it was on my desk, I simply had to include some chunks on my page...had to, I say!

The funky Splash Montage image was printed on white cardstock along with the sentiment. Splash was coloured with Prismacolor pencils, mounted on black cardstock to frame, and bordered at the bottom with a hot pink zigzag strip. More of that strip was added to the rest of the pages. The sentiment was torn, inked around the edges, and layered over another black cardstock shape.

Then it seemed time for more stamping: writing on the border, alpha letters to make the sayings. At that point, Splash and I ageed that it was time to pull out the doodle pen and get messy. She always has the best ideas! My final touches were a Neocolor II blue crayon heart which I overpainted with water and lots of black ink around the edges of the pages.

Playtime was declared a huge success since great fun was had by all!

I'm going to enter this spread in the following challenges:
Drunken Stampers Challenge #91 ~ colour challenge

Robyn's Fetish Challenge #112 - Anything Goes

Stamp and Create June Challenge : Bold and bright

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 70 - No Cards, No Tags, or ATCs

Thanks for stopping by...now go and declare your own playtime!
Life is good; so is art!
Bonnie