Talk to the Hand - A Bloobel Stamps image

Hi everyone! Recently I stocked up on several of Lisa Graham's Bloobel Stamps and I can see by her new releases that I will be doing so again soon. Anyway, the hilarious image which I am featuring today in my art journal is one of them called Talk to the Hand. I love her attitude and how she celebrates her individuality...and also that this was my favourite expression back in the day :) She makes me laugh.

I coloured her with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and matted with black cardstock. Foam tape was added to the back of the image to create dimension and shadows.

The background, a 6 x 8 inch rectangle of mixed media paper, was lightlu spritzed with Bachelor Button Blue and Witch's Potion Purple Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays, tipping the background to create drips and runs. Stampotique's Dotted Squares stamp was applied with Forget Me Not Archival ink in several places and Joggles Nonsense Latin Text stamp was added with Deep Purple Archival ink. Three sizes of circles were punched from book text which was then muted with gesso before they were adhered to the background. Two different patterned washi tapes were cut into fishtail flags and added in two places. Small black disks with printed stars were used to accent them.

The sentiment in its entirety was printed, cut apart, and matted with black cardstock. Foam tape adhered the first part to the background and the rest was glued flat. Outlining and a simple border were added with black pen and two die cut black arrows were stacked with foam tape in between the layers to finish off the top left corner. Black Big Brush pen was used to edge the background before it was matted with black cardstock to frame the page.

Thanks for popping by today. To see more of Lisa's fabulous images, be sure to check out her Bloobel Stamps shop. You can also see wonderful examples of how people feature them in their projects on the Bloobel Stamps Facebook group. We would love to see you post what you create on there, too.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Mad Molly 933 ~ A Sandra Caldwell New Release

Hi there! Every Monday, Sandra Caldwell releases many wonderful new images in her Etsy shop, Babycakesdnd.. The DT members get to choose one to colour and create a project with...it's always so hard to choose because I usually want them all :) The good news is that any one of them makes me happy so I can't go wrong. This week I was able to play with Mad Molly 933. I just love how annoyed she looks...been there.

I coloured Molly with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border. Molly was then adhered to black cardstock and fussy cut leaving a narrow black border. Foam tape was added to the back of the image to pop her up.

The background began with a 6 x 8 inch rectangle of mixed media paper which was spritzed withCanna Lily Burnt Orange and Fuzzy Navel Peach Lindy's Starburst Sprays. By tilting the background in different directions and adding spritzes of water to help it move as necessary, runs and drips were created. To make the tiny runs, a TH spritzer tool was used on the puddles of ink in a few places. Stampotique Originals' Upholstery stamp was applied over the dried Lindy's using Vermillion Archival Ink. French text paper was torn and adhered to the background. White gesso was applied to slightly mask the text. Stampotique's Dot Swirl stamp was applied randomly using Jet Black Archival Ink. Once Molly was set in place, Hero Arts letters spelling GRRR (because that's what Molly is saying) were stamped in two places with Jet Black Archival Ink to frame her.

The keep Calm sign was an internet freebie which I printed to size and trimmed. Because there will be NO keeping calm in Mad Molly's world right now, I decided to create one of those red banning symbols to layer over the Keep calm sentiment. The Hissy Fit sentiment by Create With TLC was printed onto white cardstock, trimmed close, and matted with black cardstock.  Foam tape popped it up and it became a platform for Mad Molly to stand on. A simple border was doodled around the outside edge of the page and a corner cut on one side with zigzag scissors was adhered to the top right corner to help balance the design. A black cardstock mat was added to the page to frame it and provide contrast to the background.

Thanks for popping by today. I appreciate that and I'm sure eventually Molly will, too. Right now, she's not giving an inch! When you get a chance, stop by the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group where you will see the other new releases as well as the wonderful DT projects featuring them throughout today. Both the new images and the DT creations are awesome!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure ~ Response to Weeks 23 & 24

Hi everyone! When Barb started the Joggles Art Journal Adventure week 23 page, she quickly realized that it would be a two week effort because of the time involved creating the intricacy of the design. Boy, do I get that! The theme for these weeks is Pick a Word(s) and fill in the negative space with doodles. This past Wednesday, she posted a fabulous Midweek Muse video showing how she uses circle templates to create the bones of these round doodles. She made it so easy that I felt much more confident tackling this. If you haven't watched it yet, take the time...it's worth it :)

The word I chose was Play because like all art journal pages, there are no rules for doodling and it's fun to see what comes out the end of those pens. I traced around the grungeboard letters with pencil and then later went back and filled them in with red, orange, and yellow Prismacolor pencils. They were then outlined with black Pitt pen. A very fine black Copic Multiliner was used to create the doodles around the letters. White paint pen was used to create the dots at the base of each letter. A length of narrow washi tape was used to underline the word and ground it.

I used a variety of black pens...different brands and sizes in order to get various thicknesses of the lines. The medallions were created using the two circle templates I had. There was no plan ahead of time. I just completed one design and then added the next until I was satisfied with the design.

As much as possible, I tried to vary the doodle patterns so I didn't repeat myself too often. I spread the play time over a few days. It was time consuming because I chose to make the patterns quite intricate and tiny in spots. I loved that and kept wanting to add more detail :) It's addictive!

To finish the page, I added jet Black Archival Ink to the edges with a sponge applicator to frame the page. I then took my finest pen and doodled a simple border over the black ink. I wanted a border but didn't want it to distract from the medallions and the word. The final touch was to punch two black photo corners and adhered them to the opposite corners which were quite open. They seemed to anchor the page and also the heaviness of them contrasted with the delicate designs which I like.

Thanks for stopping by today. I appreciate that!If you haven't already been following along with the Joggles Art Journal Adventure and Barb's weekly Monday prompts, it's not too late. You can join in at any point and we'd love to have you join our fabulous AJA Facebook group as well. It's great fun and is certainly helping me push the edges of my comfort zone and learn new things.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

A change in latitude ~ Inspired by a Bloobel Stamps image

Hi everyone. You know how much I love Lisa Graham's fabulous Bloobel Stamps images and she has a whole bunch of new must haves. I made a little visit to her site and snagged me a whole slew of inspiration :) I couldn't wait to colour this little cutie called Bon Voyage. I just love the look on her face and her battered old suitcase.

I coloured her with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She looks a little nervous and a lot excited...and makes me smile. She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then adhered to black cardstock. She was trimmed out again leaving a narrow black border which frames her and allows her to stand out from the background. She was then popped up on foam tape to create dimension.

The background started with a 6 x 8 inch rectangle of map printed designer paper. Stampotique's Circle Cubes stamp was applied to the background with Jet Black Archival Ink. The same ink was used to stamp black splatters as well. White Texture Paste was scraped through TCW's Tile Texture stencil in various places. To give my little friend a place to stand and also to extend the travel theme, air mail themed washi tape was mounted to white cardstock and then cut into two fishtail flags. They were then matted with black cardstock and adhered to the background. Travel ephemera was tacked together with a little glue and then matted with black as a whole. This was positioned so that she overlapped the cluster which prevents it from "floating".

A small wooden Journey tag was placed so it overlapped the top washi flag. The sentiment was printed onto white cardstock, cut apart, and matted with black cardstock. Foam tape attached to the back of each word created dimension and shadow around each one. Two punched photo corners were placed in opposite corners and a border was doodled around the edges. Black Big Brush pen was used to edge the outsides and take away the white edge. It was then matted with black cardstock to create a frame.

Thanks for joining my happy traveller and me today. We appreciate that! To see more of Lisa's fabulous images, be sure to pop by her Bloobel Stamps site. There are so many wonderful images to get to know!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

The East Wind Challenge #57 ~ You Da Man

Hi everyone! We have a new challenge beginning today at The East Wind Challenge blog.. Our theme this time is You Da Man! so we want to see masculine themed cards...suitable for a boy or a man. I always find these make my wee brain work extra hard for some reason. For my DT inspiration project, I chose to feature The East Wind image called Lucy Loo Lucy Style. 

I coloured Lucy with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. As usual, I kept the colours very intense, my favourite style. Lucy Loo was fussy cut rright on the outside lines rather than leaving a narrow white border as I usually do. I did adhere the image to black cardstock and fussy cut again leaving the black border which helps her stand out against the background. She was then popped up on foam tape to add dimension and shadow.

The background began with a 4 x 5 1/8 inch rectangle of green cardstock with white dots. One of the Stampendous Mish Mesh stamps and Joggles/Margaret Applin Vintage Correspondence Stamp were applied to the background using Fern Green Archival Ink. A segment of a flags border was adhered to the left side and Lucy Loo to the right side. Three sizes of die cut stars were matted with black and adhered to the top right corner. The sentiment was computer generated and printed on white cardstock. The words were cut apart and matted with black cardstock before being popped up on foam tape. To finish, the background was matted on black cardstock and adhered to a white card base.

Thanks so much for popping by today. Lucy Loo and I appreciate that. To see the other fabulous DT inspiration projects for this You Da Man! Challenge, be sure to stop by The East Wind Challenge blog. We would love to have you play along with us and create a masculine themes project. Check out Unky's images at The East Wind shop...you're sure to find inspiration.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure ~ Week 22 (Quilt Block)

Hi everyone! Look at me go...LOL. I managed to complete another art journal page from the weekly Art Journal Adventure prompts Barb Donahay is giving us on the Joggles blog. I was a little behind, not that it matters because you can go at your own speed and start anywhere you want but I do like to stay within  a couple of weeks of Barb. Today I responded to Week 22's prompt where Barb asked us to quilt with paper. We were to either create a quilt block or to feature shapes from a quilt block. The first quilt I ever bought was a log cabin one and I still love that pattern so that's what I went with.

I still had a number of designer papers in my Authentique Renew 8x8 inch pad and I love the soft colour palette and vintage looking patterns. I cut strips which were 1.25 inches wide and I started paper piecing using both sides of the paper. Each piece was edged with Black Big Brush pen and then faux stitched before being adhered to black cardstock. The black was trimmed slightly larger than the finished block to serve as a frame and make the block stand out against the background.

The journal page background was created by spritzing Yellow Rose of Texas and California Poppy Gold Lindy's Starburst Sprays through Joggles Wander stencil. Once dry, the edges were darkened with Butterscotch Gelato spread with a water brush. Once that was thoroughly dry, black pen was used to create a simple doodled border with a few cross stitches thrown in. The Stampotique Home Sweet Home stamp was applied to white cardstock using Jet Black Archival Ink and then coloured with Prismacolor and Colour Soft pencils. It was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and popped up on foam tape. A tiny black punched heart was added to the upper window. Such a cute house!

The quilt block was adhered to the background using Scor Tape. A scrap of cheesecloth was adhered under three threaded vintage buttons, The sentiment was printed onto white cardstock, cut into individual words, and matted with black. Foam tape was used to adhere the words and three black rhinestones were used to make the dots. Expanding on the quilt theme, a small safety pin was adhered to the right section of the black. The house was placed in the lower left corner and some paper scraps were used to ground it. A die cut cloud cut from white and paint dots were added using Joggles Punchinella Quintet stencil. The cloud was adhered with foam tape and overlapped a punched "sun" shaded with the same Butterscotch Gelato used earlier. Two small threaded buttons were glued to the bottom right corner of the spread.

Thanks for stopping by today. If you haven't already been following along with the Joggles Art Journal Adventure and Barb's weekly Monday prompts, it's not too late. You can join in at any point and we'd love to have you join our fabulous AJA Facebook group as well. I am loving this journey and am really enjoying the wonderful and talented people in the group.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Sandra Caldwell New Release ~ Old Lady Splits 918

Hi everyone. It's New Release Monday at Sandra Caldwell's Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs. This week I was able to play with another Old Lady image and you know how much I love them. She is called Old Lady Splits (918)...not something I will be trying any time soon! At least, not on purpose :)

I coloured Old Lady Splits with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils adding white paint pen dots to her leotard. She was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border. Not only do I like the contrast but it also gives those skinny pieces like the strands of hair extra strength so they don't tear off when being handled. She was then adhered to a piece of black cardstock and trimmed out again leaving a narrow black border which creates a shadow effect. To create even more of a shadow, she was popped up on foam tape.

The background began as a plain yellow 6 x 8 inch rectangle of cardstock. I have so much designer paper and coloured cardstock that I continue to challenge myself to use it as a first layer for mixed media pieces from time to time. I spritzed Lindy's Stamp Gang Marigold Yellow-Orange and California Poppy Gold Starburst Sprays through Joggles Twaddle stencil, quickly lifting it off and transferring the ink still on the stencil to a blank journal page for another time. A rubber stamp with an image of woven cloth was added to the background in places using Pale Ochre Archival Ink. One of the Stampotique Circles Cube images was stamped in places using Jet Black Archival Ink. The same ink was used to stamp splatter dots.

Before adding Old Lady to the background, two lengths of measuring tape washi tape were adhered to white cardstock, trimmed, and glued to the bottom of the background. This allowed Old Lady to be placed a little higher on the page without looking like she was floating. Two black enamel circles were added to the left end of the washi tape strips. Black cardstock semi circles were punched and placed along the sides. Turquoise dotted washi tape which matched her leotard was adhered to white cardstock and then punched into smaller semi circles to layer over the black ones. A white daisy with a turquoise button center was added over the middle half circle on the left side. The sentiment, which cracks me up, was printed from the computer onto white cardstock. Every other letter was coloured with turquoise gel pen and then dotted with white paint pen. The remaining letters were cross hatched using a fine black pen. The words were cut out individually, matted with black, and popped up on foam tape. Three half pearls were added as the dots between the two parts of the saying and a rub-on scalloped border was added to the top right edge. To complete the page, Black Big Brush Pen was used to edge the background . A simple border was doodled with black pen and the background was matted with black cardstock to create a contrasting frame.

Thank you for visiting today. Old Lady Splits and I appreciate that. When you get a chance, stop by the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group where you will see the other new releases as well as the wonderful DT projects featuring them throughout today. Both the new images and the DT creations are awesome!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie