Thanks for the Visit ~ SNP

Just to change things up a bit and to take the opportunity to use some of my smaller Stamp N Plus Scrap N stamps, I decided to create a simple 4x4" card today. I really like this size and it makes a wonderful tuck-in card with a gift, cookies, or flowers. There's something about smaller than usual that delights me.

I stamped Emilie with Goldfish from the SNP Patti's Kids line on white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. She was coloured with Prismacolor pencils and then cut out with one of the smaller dies from Spellbinders Labels 25. The edges were inked with Walnut Stain and then Black Soot Distress inks and the label was popped up on dimensional foam.

The card base is kraft cardstock and both the torn layer and the text one are two sides of the same paper pulled out of my scrapbox. The text layer was matted in dark brown cardstock. The two patterned papers as well as the kraft card base have their edges inked with Vintage Photo Distress ink. Raffia and brown baker's twine were wrapped around the front of the card, slipping through a slit cut in the card fold and tied with a simple knot. A small metal flower was adhered over the knot. The lettering was hand done (something I rarely do but it suited the card) and accented with three black half pearls.

Just a quick and easy card but with enough "awww factor" to bring a smile to the recipient. Love that! Thanks for visiting today. Emilie, Goldy, and I appreciate it. Maybe you'll take another look at those small stamps you have and ink them up.

Life is good; so is art.

Bonnie

CYP All That Glitters

Time for another challenge at Craft Your Passion Challenges. This week the theme is All That Glitters so we want to see just that...lots of glitter. Easy-peasy, right? I chose to play with Mimi Stars from Stamp Fairy. She's such a cutie and was ideal for the layout I had in mind. I coloured Mimi with Prismacolor pencils and then dotted green Stickles on her dress and the ends of the headband.  Icicle Stickles was painted over her stars, hair elastics, shoes, and the center of the headband. I find that I can get a thinner smoother coat by using a paintbrush to pat the Stickles on unless I'm making dots. Just be sure to clean the brush before it dries. I keep a tiny jar of rubbing alcohol on my workdesk and just give the brush a quick swish.

The paper used from the background is three different patterns from MME's Lost & Found Market Street Glitter stack. The plaid paper has noticeable glitter. It is backed with a second patterned paper so that the corner could be rolled down exposing the second paper. Behind that is a layer of textured cardstock to form a darker mat and provide contrast. The image was cut with a Spellbinders die and matted with the same paper as the roll down liner.

A paper flower with a second glittery flower stacked on top and two leaves underneath embellished the lower left corner. A threaded star button, continuing the star theme, brings some light colour to the upper right corner. The sentiment was computer generated and matted in green to echo the leaves.

Thanks for visiting Mimi and me today. We always appreciate that. Be sure to pop by the Craft Your Passion Challenges blog to check out the projects made by the rest of the DT. Then get your glitter on and join us. I always look forward to seeing what you create.

Life is good; so is art.
 Bonnie

Eclectic Ellapu ~ Listen to Your Heart

Awesome job by the Pink Team on the last Eclectic Ellapu challenge for their girly-themed projects. This week it's the Purple Team's chance to play and Andria, who is hosting this week's challenge, has offered us a lovely photo for inspiration . You can respond to this photo below in any way that you wish, leaving it wide open for creative play. I chose to create a tag and while I changed the colours from pink to coral, I found my inspiration in the softness of the palette, the shabby chic details of the room, the flowers, and the delicate iron in the shelf and carriage.

I started with two chipboard sections from a Maya Road mini album. For the bottom layer, I cut a piece of chipboard the length I wanted but the same width as the other two layers. All three tag pieces were covered with papers from the MME Lost & Found Market Street stack using a craft knife to trim them out. The bottom layer was given a row of hearts and pearls. Above that, a Tim Holtz flourish was stamped a few times with a Colorbox Cat's Eye ink in Stucco. The word Love from the same Urban Chic stamp set was embossed withVersamark and white embossing powder.

The middle layer had white slightly gathered lace adhered to the bottom curved edge along the backside. The Listen to your heart sentiment was stamped in the same Stucco ink. I messed up the first one so I stamped it again on another piece of paper and glued it over top. The Jolee's boutique glittery birdcage was sprayed with hairspray because I was becoming the Glitter Queen (very decorative face and clothes) and then it was adhered to the middle tag. Normally I use a fixative spray but it was too snowy to go outside and I don't need to lose any more brain cells from the fumes :) The birdcage reminds me of the delicate metal pieces in the Inspiration Photo.

The top layer had that wonderful bird and the word fly as part of the paper. A crown charm was adhered to the bird's head. Flowers, leaves, and a round pearl spray were clustered in the lower left corner. Pearl trim was Glossy Accented above the cut out border. A tiny butterfly was punched (Martha Stewart punch), given pearls for the body, inked on the edges, and glued only in the center so the wings pop up. The sheer ribbon was gathered into loops and tied in the center by a length of wire which was then fed through the holes for the mini album binder rings. An Idea-ology accoutrement button was glued to the center to cover the wire.

The tag is quite substantial, about 4.5" wide and almost 9" for the bottom layer plus three thicknesses of chipboard at the top. I have had several chipboard mini albums sitting around and have decided to repurpose them since I haven't made a mini album in quite a while. This tag was a great way to use a few of the page layers.

Thanks for visiting today. I always appreciate your company and thoughts. Be sure to drop by the Eclectic Ellapu blog to see the projects the rest of the Purple Team have created in response to this great photo challenge. I hope you join us. I'd love to come visit you.

I am entering this tag in the following challenges:
Allsorts Challenge 194 ~ Things With Wings
Pretty Little Ribbons Shop ~ Challenge 19 Anything Goes
Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge 66 ~ Spring Colours and Ribbon

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Trust Your Wings (eP)

There is currently a Get Altered challenge going on at eclectic Paperie. The theme is altered books and the other day I posted the front cover of my altered child's board book which I called Flight Risk. I intend to art journal each two page spread following the theme of wings/flight in some way. My eP post today features the first double page journal spread inside that board book. The pages were already gessoed so I added a layer of Golden Absorbent Ground because I knew that I was going to use Dylusions Ink Sprays and they don't like gesso as well as they like absorbent ground. It allows the sprays to sink in instead of sitting on top of the gesso. I sprayed a healthy layer of water with my Mini Mister and then sprayed on  Vibrant Turquoise, London Blue, and Cut Grass Dylusions inks allowing them to blend and drip . I closed the book and then reopened it using tags and then paper towel to blot off the excess.

 

Often when I art journal I am influenced by whatever is sitting on my desk left over from other projects. The pieces of tissue wrap which were gel mediumed to the pages is a good example of that. Once they were adhered, light molding paste was scraped through a Crafter's Workshop stencil using a gift card. This gives an even thin coat and because the Dylusions sprays react with water, the molding paste will absorb the colour from the background darkening it slightly...very cool!

 

 The background layers were continued using rub ons and partial stamping with MementoTeal Zeal and a Lost Coast stamp. Circles were made with watery black or white gesso and my collection of  lids (hairspray top, ink spray top, pill bottle, etc.). Watery white gesso was spread over the very intense colour spots to knock back the colour a bit, keeping it random.

The wonky corner arrows were stamped using a Dylusions Doodle Parts stamp and then coloured in with a black Pitt pen. The dots were made using a White Big Brush pen from Faber Castell (love it). A charcoal pencil was used to line the molding paste triangles and was softened using a paper stump. Finally the tree was cut with a die from Tim Holtz's Kraft Resist paper, inked with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress inks, and lined with a Sepia Micron pen. It was adhered to the background with gel medium.

The bird was a Maya Road chipboard piece covered with Authentique Peaceful paper and trimmed with a craft knife. Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress inks were applied to the edges and further darkened with a Neocolor II watercolour crayon and a water brush. The eye was layered using an Idea-ology mini gear and a watch part. The wing was cut from book text paper using a Spellbinder's die (Fallen Angel). Tattered Leather Glimmer Mist was sprayed over the die cut while the die was still over it. Tumbled Glass and broken China were applied to the plain text using a water brush. Doodling was applied to the bird with a Micron pen and the rounded ends of the wing were popped up on foam adhesive.

To add more texture and dimension, cheescloth "clouds were adhered to to the top of the page and washi tape pieces were added to the bottom. Two legths of the top of a watercolour page where it was torn from the pad were Distress inked with Broken China and Vintage Photo before being adhered to the two pages. Again, they were sitting on my desk and they had cool texture. A little Crafty Secrets bird track stamp was randomly applied mainly because it made me smile.

The sentiment was computer generated on kraft cardstock, trimmed out, crumpled and distressed around the edges before Vintage Photo was applied. I wanted the saying to read " Trust that your wings are there" but I also wanted the eye to first see Trust your wings so I used a larger font for these three words  and kept the font the same style. A date stamp, a little shading under the branch with Derwent Inktense pencils and a water brush, some inking around the page edges with Black Soot Distress ink, more doodling and I called it done.

 I'm happy with the first two pages of this little altered board book mainly because I enjoyed the process. It's always fun to get inky and messy and if I end up with something I like, that's a bonus. I can hardly wait until the next time.  Thanks so much for joining me today. Kudos if you made it all the way through the post. I really like to break the process down because I know there are people out there really wanting to try art journalling but not sure how to start. The best part is that however you do it is the right way! just trust that your wings are there and take the leap.

I am entering this journal spread in the Something Messy challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show.

Life is good; so is art
Bonnie

Looking for some of the products I used? Just click on the thumbnails to go to the eclectic Paperie shop's listings. Kim will be happy to help you out.

Dylusions Ink Spray - Vibrant Turquoise	Dylusions Ink Spray - London Blue	Dylusions Ink Spray - Cut Grass	Inksessentials - Mini Mister 3-Pack	Idea-ology - Tim Holtz - Tissue Wrap - Melange
Dylusions Cling Stamps - Doodle Parts	Tsukineko - Memento Teal Zeal	Distress Ink Pad - Tumbled Glass	Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain
Distress Ink Pad - Broken China	Authentique - Peaceful Paper Kit

SNP Otto's in Love

Happy almost Valentine's Day! To celebrate I have a love card using one of my favourite Stamp N Plus Scrap N stamps, Otto the gargoyle. He looks so lovestruck and, in my twisted little mind, might be what Cupid really looks like :) It makes me laugh to think so anyway. I coloured Otto with my Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut him. I painted Stickles over his wings, gave him rhinestone eyes and covered his belly button with a punched and shaded heart (he's really very modest...except for the naked part). Otto was adhered to a hand cut red dotty heart that was matted in black cardstock and popped up on foam dots.

The background is a layer of gray cardstock which was inked and embossed at the same time using a brick embossing folder with the raised portion of the folder covered in charcoal ink before sending it through the Cuttlebug. A wide black mat was adhered to the back of the brick wall and a length of dotty gray ribbon was wrapped around the bottom quarter line. A sticker was adhered to black cardstock, cut out, and popped up on foam dots over the ribbon. Two flat pearls were glued to the ends. The sigh sentiment was done with a Dymo labeller and tiny black pearls were glued to each side. More of the punched hearts were shaded and highlighted with coloured pencil before being adhered above Otto.

This card makes me happy and hopefully will also make my husband laugh. He has the same warped sense of humour that I do :) Mushy we aren't! Anyway, thanks for visiting today. Otto and I appreciate that. Actually, I think Otto is crushin' on you :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

CYP Challenge ~ Caught the Love Bug

I am having so much fun with Valentine's Day cards. Our theme this week at Craft Your Passion Challenges is My Valentine. I chose this fun and funky image from Bugaboo Digi Stamps called JJ  calendar months February. I love the spunk of this woman and her funky sense of style. Bugaboo has so many fun and quirky characters.

I coloured JJ with Prismacolor pencils and cut out the image with the Deckled Mega Rectangles die from Spellbinders. (The look on her face makes me smile as I'm writing this. JJ is very distracting!). The image rectangle was matted on a larger black cardstock rectangle to frame it and give it weight.

The background uses three papers from the Recollections Bright and Basic stack. Each paper was matted with black cardstock. The rectangle matting the horizontal band was given a deckled scalloped edge which was cut with an EK Success punch. The image rectangle was mounted on foam tape and adhered over the background. Hearts were traced using a stencil onto more of the red dotty paper and cut out by hand. A Fiskars sentiment was stamped in the large heart which was then faux stitched and blinged. The smaller hearts have Icicle Stickles dots for a highlight.

That's it for me for our My Valentine challenge at Craft Your Passion Challenges. I hope you get a chance to pop by the CYP blog to see the fun creations by the rest of the DT. Maybe you'll get inspired to play along with us. As for JJ, she appreciates your stopping by but she has a hot date so she's moving on :)

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Come and Get It Challenges ~ Show us your heart/Love is in the Air
Gingerloft Challenge 58 ~ The Colour Red
Great Impressions February Challenge ~ Have a Heart
Catch the Bug ~ Affairs of the Heart

Life is good; so is art.

Bonnie

Chocolate Kisses (FPWA)

Our theme this fortnight at Fat Pages and Cards With Attitude is Be My Valentine. I chose to work with this adorable and oh so dashing bear from QKR, one of our wonderful sponsors. He makes me smile becuase he looks so lovestruck after receiving that big juicy smooch. He was coloured with Prismacolor pencils and red Stickles was applied to his buttons and lightly painted over his lipstick smear. I find if I use a paintbrush to apply the Stickles over a larger area, I have more control (no blobs) than if I just use the tip to smear it around and can get an even layer. Glossy Accents was added  to his eyes (I think they are misty with emotion) and to his healthy little nose. The little kissyface was then fussy cut and mounted on pop dots.

The background paper comes  from DCWV's Doodlin' Around Stack. The heart patterned paper was matted with red cardstock and part of a medium size doily was adhered over most of it starting in the bottom left corner. Small hearts were punched with a Martha Stewart punch, shaded and highlighted with Prismas, and adhered in the center of the doily border flowers. Pink and white dotty washi tape was cut into fishtail banners and adhered over the solid part of the doily to break it up and add detail. Pink buttons were threaded with white (no nekkid buttons here!) and adhered over the flat ends of the banners.

The sentiment was cut using a Lacy Ovals nestie die. While the die was still covering the cut oval, Glimmer Mist was sprayed over the die like a stencil.  This was then matted with red cardstock, stamped with a Fiskars stamp and more of the punched hearts added. A heart shaped paperclip was layered over the top edge before the label was adhered to the card using pop dots.


Does he not make you laugh or at least smile? Maybe it's the toes...I don't know. Anyway, thanks for visiting today. Be sure and pop by the Fat Pages and Cards With Attitude blog to see what the rest of the team has dreamed up. It's worth the trip...or the click, as the case may be. Hope you feel inspired to join us in our Be My Valentine challenge.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Catch the Bug Challenges ~ Affairs of the Heart
A Gem of a Challenge ~ #66  Hearts/Valentines
Di's Digis Designs Challenge ~ Valentines/Love


Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie