Art Journal Adventure Week 8 ~ Lettering

Hi there. Yesterday I spent some time playing in my art journal and responding to Barb's Week 8 prompt from Joggles' Art Journal Adventure, This prompt involved lettering on a painted background where the lettering was the focal. I rarely do this although I always admire when others do. One of the things I really like about the Art Journal Adventure is that the weekly prompts often take me out of my comfort zone with that little nudge that I need from time to time.

With a baby wipe, I applied the same three colours of Liquitex paint which Barb used: Light Aqua Green. Light Blue Permanent, and Titanium White. And no surprise here...my colours are more intense and the background far brighter than Barb's softer more pastel one. I think it's cool that we can use the exact same method and paints and come up with different versions. I still had left over Titanium White on my craft sheet (again, no surprise) so I applied it with my finger to the bottom of a rubber flip-flop sole and used that to stamp the cross-hatching texture onto the background. It makes lines in one direction so I overlap in the opposite to get that pattern.

I traced the Dylusions stamp block's curvy edge to make lines on the background with pencil and then went over the top of them freehand with a Pitt pen. I did two lines close together for the doodled borders and then two farther apart for the lettering. The lettering was pencilled in first to get the spacing correct and then traced over and fattened up with a Pitt pen. The doodling was done with the Pitt pen and then white paint pen was used to accent parts of each design.

I had the leftover off-cut from a heart die cut so I trimmed around it to make an open heart and traced the center so I could letter the word BRAVE inside. It was adhered after the lettering was done and a sweet butterfly from the Joggles Collage Sheet - Watercolor Butterflies IV was fussy cut, matted, and adhered overlapping the top part. Flat black pearls were added for the spots and antennae tips and an Idea-ology pen nib for the body. At this point, the design looked unbalanced and disjointed with the heavy words and all that doodling on one side and only the heart and butterfly on the other. I decided to continue the wavy doodle pattern around the left side of the page to tie both sides together...much happier with that.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by today. I appreciate you doing that. Barb's Art Journal Adventure Week 9 is up on the Joggles Blog today and you can also check out her original version of Week 8 here. We would love to have you play along and show your creations on the AJA Facebook group. Tons of inspiration and friendship there!

Queen of Hearts ~ a Bloobel Stamps image

Bloobel Stamps is sponsoring this week at Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge and after seeing the wonderful creations by the WW DT, I was inspired to play along. I love making ATCs and it's been far too long since I last created one. I decided to feature Bloobel Stamps' Queen of Hearts image who I coloured with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. I left the usual white border and added the black mat to help her stand out against the background.

The theme at Wicked Wednesday is to use the colors Red, Turquoise, and Gray which proved to be a challenge as it's not a palette I would normally use. I cut a rectangle slightly smaller than an ATC from gray cardstock and used it to mop up some Delphinium Turquoise Lindy's Starburst Spray spritzed onto my craft sheet. Once dry, a dotty circle stamp was inked with Forget-Me-Not Archival Ink and applied to the background. White embossing paste was scraped through TCW's Tiny Circles stencil. A piece of red and white dotty washi tape was torn and adhered beneath the queen along with a scrap of book paper to give her a royal platform.

To finish the ATC, the queen was popped up on foam tape and a heart border was doodled around the outside before Black Big Brush pen was applied to the outside edges. Black cardstock cut to the proper ATC size (2.5 x 3.5 inches) was added to the back to bring the piece up to the standard size and provide a narrow frame for it.

Thanks for joining the lovely Queen of Hearts and me today. We really appreciate that.When you get a chance, pop by Bloobel Stamps to see the new releases Lisa created this week. Once of them might just inspire you to play along with Wicked Wednesday, too.

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

Valentine Hat ~ A Rick St. Dennis image

Hi there. Today is my day to feature a project on Rick St. Dennis' Fans & Friends Facebook group. I also found myself short of pretty cards the other day so I decided to accomplish two things at once. I would make a pretty card, suitable for many purposes, featuring an RSD image.

I chose to colour Valentine Hat, one of Rick's gorgeous hat lady images. She was coloured with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Once finished, Val was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black cardstock. She was popped up on foam tape to add dimension and shadow behind her.

The background was a section of a mop-up page where I flipped over TCW's Bingo stencil and mini Punchinella stencil after spritzing over them with Lindy's Starburst spray to create another background. This prints the negative or reverse pattern and is much less crisp, more watery. Love that effect! This mixed media paper was cut to size choosing the section I wanted. It was then matted with purple cardstock with distressed edges.

Purple striped washi tape was adhered to white cardstock and trimmed close to the edges. It was then edged with a Big Brush pen and cut into two strips which were adhered near the bottom of the background. Two buttons were threaded with embroidery floss and adhered on the washi with Glossy Accents. Once the matted background was adhered onto the white card base, the card was done. I purposely left any sentiment off because it's an easy thing to add once I know what occasion it will be used for.

Thanks so much for popping by today. You still have a few days to enter a project into the Hearts and/or Arrows Challenge on the RSD Facebook page. This card with the two hearts on the image would certainly fit the theme.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure Week #7

Hello everyone. Yesterday I played along with Week #7 of  Barb's 2016 Art Journal Adventure on the Joggles blog. I'm still a week behind and still enjoying the process and Barb's prompts. There is no pressure to catch up so I don't mind being behind. Week #7 was all about adding a painted background using Liquitex paint and a baby white, as well as altering a magazine image Teesha Moore style. That's something I have wanted to do as I am a huge Teesha Moore fan.

Like Barb, I applied two colours of Liquitex Basics paint with a baby wipe, only I scraped gesso on my page first with a palette knife. The two colours I used were Bright Aqua Green and Cerulean Blue Hue. I used the same painty baby wipe to add the same pint through DCWV's Hip Patterns Template in several places. Once dry, I applied Forget-Me-Not Archival Ink to the Joggles Background Noise Sparks stamp here and there. Viridian Green Archival Ink was applied to the background with a TH splatter stamp for more pattern. A border was cut from black & white striped designer paper and from black cardstock. They were adhered with 1/2 inch Scor Tape and doodled on with a White Signo Gel pen.

The focal image started as a very lovely model's photo cut from a fashion magazine. Of course, she could not stay that way and follow Teesha Moore's or Barb's style so she was altered with other bits cut out from magazine photos. A flower became her skirt, a watch her belt, new glasses and new eyes, and a crazy hat with antennae plus a text paper heart were all adhered over the original photo. Doodling with a white paint pen, a white gel pen, and a black pen completed the transformation. I don't think her own mother would recognize her but I love her! To complete the page, a simple pen line border was added inside the wider paper one. Black punched circles, similar to the ones Barb added to her spread, and Idea-ology's Big Chat Stickers tied everything together and filled in the gaps.

Thanks for popping by today. I am delighted you did. Be sure to pop by the Joggles blog to see what inspired this project and also to see what Barb came up with for Week #8. I'm always excited to see her newest prompt and to play along. We would love to have you join us on the Art Journal Adventure Facebook group where we are sharing our projects and our friendship as we journal along.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

You Are My Happy ~ Inspired by Bloobel Stamps images

Hi everyone! it's been a super busy couple of weeks but I made some time to finish colouring these two lovelies from Bloobel Stamps. Bekkah Bloom was the Facebook group freebie a couple of weeks ago when Lisa was celebrating reaching 100 followers. The other one called Heart Moustache seemed like the perfect partner for Bekkah. They were destined to meet on this art journal page :)

I coloured Bekkah and HM with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. They were then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border. Black cardstock matting was adhered and trimmed out before they were each popped up on foam tape to add dimension and create shadows.

The 6 x 8 inch mixed media paper background was spritzed with Cocklebells Coral and Marigold Yellow Orange Lindy's Starburst sprays. While still wet, TCW's Spinning Tops stencil was placed on top and spritzed through with Autumn Maple Gold Starburst spray. It was then flipped over onto the right side of the background to print the messy negative pattern. The background was dried and stamped using Brilliance Archival Rocket Red Gold ink, a text and a dotty circle stamp.

A strip of French text paper was adhered at the ground level and brushed with White Linen Dylusions paint. Tiny flowers were punched from mop-up paper, shaped with a stylus, and given Buttercup Liquid Pearls centers. Four lengths of purple striped washi tape were added to the edges of the background and topped with tiny purple buttons. Tiny punched hearts were added between Bekkah and HM.

The sentiment from Create With TLC was printed on white cardstock, trimmed close, and matted with black. It was popped up on foam tape and adhered between the two. Jet Black Archival ink was used to apply little splatter dots. Dark Purple Archival ink was used to add the X and O letter stamps here and there. Doodling and outlining were added with a fine black pen before Dark Purple Archival ink was sponged on the edges. To finish the page, black Big Brush Pen was used to darken the edges and black matting was added to the background to frame it.

Thanks for popping by today. Bekkah, HM, and I appreciate your fine company. Be sure to stop by Bloobel Stamps to see more of Lisa's fabulous quirky images. You will surely come away inspired.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Aurora Warrior ~ New Release at The East Wind

Hi everyone. Tuesdays and Fridays are New Release days at The East Wind, days we all look forward to, DT and fans alike, The image which will be released today is called Aurora Warrior and she is fierce, strong, and confident..

I coloured Aurora with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black cardstock. Once I trimmed her out again, foam tape was applied to the back to pop her up and give her dimension.

The 6 x 8 inch mixed media background was sprinkled with OST Red and Rose Red Brusho Crystals. However, instead of spritzing with water to activate the colour, I used Dylusions White Linen Ink Spray. It creates a more muted and marbled look...very cool. Tone on tone pattern was added with Vermillion Archival ink and a zigzag stitch stamp as well as a text one. Contrasting rings were stamped with Jet Black Archival and Stampotique's Circles Cube. White embossing paste was scraped through Dina Wakley's Plastic Canvas stencil. I love that it picked up some of the colour from the Brusho crystals, more in some places than others.

The sentiment is from Create With TLC and is from the set called Be Brave. It was exactly what I was looking for to pair with this image. I printed it on white cardstock, cut it with Spellbinders Labels 26 die, and matted it with black cardstock. Foam tape was used to pop it up and tucked under and over the image pieces to tie it all together. A simple border was added with a black pen and three silver star brads were added to the top left corner. To finish the page, black Big Brush Pen was used to edge the page before it was matted with black cardstock to frame it.

Thanks for stopping by today. Aurora and I appreciate that. To see other creations showcasing this new release and made by my talented teamies, be sure to stop by The East Wind Facebook group where they will be posted throughout the day. We would love to see what you do with her, too.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie