Joggles Art Journal Adventure ~ Week 45 Response

Hi everyone. Barb's prompt for the Joggles Art Journal Adventure Week 45 page was to use a face as the focal for a page. Faces are one of my favourite things to colour or paint and with the new Joggles/Margaret Applin Fearless Face Stencil System, they really are so simple to create now. The system has three different size face outlines, a huge variety of facial features in each size, as well as various hair styles. There are also cool accessories such as hats, crowns, and glasses. This was the first time I had used the system and I was instantly smitten!

I began by tracing with pencil the medium round face onto white card stock. I then added the features with the facial features #3 stencil. At that point, I went to my most comfortable medium for doing faces, a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. I used a Super Fine Black Pitt pen to outline the eye and add lashes. Once coloured, she was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black card stock. This was also fussy cut leaving a narrow border to frame her and help her contrast with the background.

The ungessoed journal page was spritzed with Delphinium Turquoise and French Lilac Violet Lindy's Starburst Sprays. Once dry, pattern and texture was added with a VLV number stamp and Deep Purple Archival ink,  a VLV circles stamp applied with Forget-Me-Not Archival ink, and Joggles Nonsense Latin Text applied with Garden Patina Archival Ink.  texture and dimension were created by scraping Texture Paste through Joggles/Margaret Applin's This & That #1 stencil. Once the paste was dry and face was in place, stars die cut from book text and corrugated cardboard (coffee sleeves) were overlapped and adhered around her.

Outlining was done on the stars and below some of the Texture Paste designs with black pen, and a doodled border was added to the outside edges. The sentiment was printed on white card stock, cut into individual words which were then matted with black. Black Big Brush pen was used to outline the page edges. A small stitch stamp and some stamped splatter dots were added with Jet Black Archival ink to complete the page.

Thanks for joining my sweet smiling friend and me today. We appreciate your company. To see Barb's video demonstrating this fabulous stencil system, pop over to her YouTube channel here. If you haven't already joined our wonderful Art Journal Adventure Facebook group, you can do that here. We would love to have you play along with us and it's a lovely group of art-minded people to hang out and learn and be inspired from and with.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Chill Out ~ Inspired by a Sandra Caldwell image

Hi everyone! Today I have another Christmas card featuring one of Sandra Caldwell's delightful snowmen. This guy is called 64 Snow Guy and I just love him to bits. It could be the look on his face, It might be his slouchy top hat or his dapper vest...or it could be every single detail :)

I coloured Snow Guy with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils before fussy cutting him leaving my usual white border. He was matted with black card stock and fussy cut again. Foam tape was attached to the back of him to pop him up from the background.

Two designer papers were cut on the diagonal to fit the black mat which was slightly smaller than the white card base. This left a black border around the edges as well as one separating the two papers. Tiny white die cut snowflakes were adhered along that center black dividing line. Black faux stitching was doodled around the outside edges of the paper.

The sentiment was printed onto white card stock and cut into two sections. Both were matted with black card stock and adhered flat to the card front above and below Snow Guy. Red enamel holly berries were used to fill in the O in each section and then holly leaves were adhered sprouting from the berries.

Thanks for visiting Snow Guy and me today. We hope you find time to take his advice over the next 6 weeks.  It's sometimes a challenge to remember to take some down time when the holidays are approaching. To see more of Sandra Caldwell's sweet snowmen, as well as her other fabulous images for all or no occasions, be sure to visit her Etsy shop. There is a feast for the eyes there!

Life is good; so is art.

Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure Week 47 ~ I'm hosting!

Woohoo! I am hosting on the Joggles blog for Art Journal Adventure Week 47. The theme I chose for this week was to use Drippage (a Donna Downey term) to create a background. I had a great time playing...even broke out a straw to help the ink flow horizontally. You can check out the entire process on the Joggles blog here.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Sandra Caldwell New Release ~ 1196 Reindeer Games

Hi everyone! It's New Release Monday at Sandra Caldwell's Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs. On Mondays, Sandra's DT members post projects created featuring many of the new images both on their personal blogs and on the Sandra Caldwell Stamps Fans Facebook group. Today, I have a Christmas card featuring a newbie called 1196 Reindeer Games.

I coloured this image with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. The image was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black card stock. It was trimmed out again leaving a narrow black border and then popped up on foam tape to create dimension and natural shadows.

A black mat slightly smaller than the 5 x 7 white card base was adhered to the front. A rectangle of black and white dotty designer paper cut slightly smaller than the black mat was adhered over that. A zig zag pattern was cut from another designer paper to form a horizontal band which was adhered behind where the image would go. Because I thought it looked like Santa and Rudolph were trying to raise the ornament to hang, I created a tree branch with a die cut and greenery with a punch to give them somewhere to aim for. Small amber coloured rhinestones were also adhered to the bough. The sentiment, which seemed to summarize the orders issued by Mrs. Claus, was printed on white card stock and the words were cut apart. They were matted with black card stock and adhered flat to the card.

Thanks for visiting Santa, Rudolph, and me today. We all love that! When you get a chance, be sure to pop by both Sandra's Facebook group where the fabulous DT projects will be displayed, and also Sandra's Etsy shop. Not only will these images be posted later today but there is a plethora of other fabulous images there which are sure to catch your fancy. It's a wonderful place to browse and get inspired.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

What Candy Canes? ~ Sandra Caldwell New Release

Hi everyone! The other day, Sandra Caldwell had a contest on her Facebook group looking for Candy Cane image suggestions. If she chose one of our ideas to illustrate, we would get that digi first. I suggested a big haired woman with candy canes sticking out of it and she not only chose it but nailed it! How absolutely cute is this image called 1249 What Candy Canes?

I just had to colour her up right away using Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black card stock. After trimming her out leaving a narrow black border, foam tape was added to the back of the image. I just love her sweet expression!

A black card stock mat was cut to fit just inside the 5 x 6 inch white card base. A rectangle of black and white checked patterned paper was cut to leave an eighth of an inch border of the black mat showing. The Keep Calm sign, a free download from the Internet, was printed on white card stock and then matted with black. Wide dotty washi tape was adhered to white card stock and cut into three fishtail flags which were adhered on the top and left side. White die cut snowflakes adhered offset to black ones were used to embellish the flags. White flat pearls were added to the snowflake centers. To finish off the card, a black doodled border was added to the outside of the patterned paper.

Thanks for popping by today. My little candy cane friend and I appreciate that. To see more of Sandra's awesome images, be sure to visit her Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs. There is an absolute ton of fabulous images which are sure to inspire you and call your name :)

Joggles Blog Post ~ Sneak Peek

Hi everyone. It's my turn to post a DT project on the Joggles blog today. I created a mixed media canvas featuring a face created with the Joggles/Margaret Applin Fearless Face Stencil System...love that set of stencils and all of the possibilities it presents! I also used some of the Joggles Foam Stamps and my Gel Press Plate. I would love to see you over there to check out the step-out photos of the full project and tutorial!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

1176 Snow Steampunk ~ a Sandra Caldwell New Release

Hi everyone! I am a huge fan of steampunk. I love the mix of industrial and fantasy, the contrasts between the hard and the soft, and the creativity and appeal to my imagination. Today's new release by Sandra Caldwell at Babycakes Digis and Designs held instant attraction for me because it combined steampunk with a snowman, another fave of mine. Put those two things with Sandra's fabulous and unique style and this image called 1176 Snow Steampunk was irresistible!

I coloured Snow Steampunk with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, keeping my palette neutral...kind of rusty and industrial. As much as I like bright colours, the Steampunk colour palettes are one of the things I really love about the genre. Snow was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black card stock, and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. He was them popped up on foam dots.

I wanted a black background but also wanted to include snowflakes. Luckily, I found the perfect designer paper from Heidi Swapp so I measured out a 6 x 7 inch rectangle, allowing the large snowflake to "drift" off the page. In order to create Steampunk snowbanks, sections were torn from the inside of a corrugated coffee sleeve and then overlapped when they were adhered. White gesso was scuffed onto the corrugated areas using a finger. Metal gears were adhered in the top right corner as well as in the center of the large snowflake. Other flakes die cut from white card stock were adhered next to the gears in the sky.

The sentiment was printed onto white card stock and then cut into individual words. These were matted with metallic bronze toned paper and then popped up on foam tape. Gold gel pen was used to fill in the small circles in the font. The same paper was used to mat the black background and then another mat of black was adhered behind that to create a double frame. Although the camera didn't capture it, the bronze matting has a dull sheen and quite a bit of texture.

Thanks for popping by today. Snow Steampunk and I appreciate that. To see the rest of this week's fabulous new images from Sandra, be sure and pop by the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group where our talented DT will be posting their makes throughout the day.  Steal some time to stop by Sandra's Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs, to browse through all of her awesome images. You are sure to smile and to find inspiration and Must-Haves there. I know I always do! She is also sponsoring a fun 12 Days of Christmas contest over on the Markers!Papers! Digis! Facebook group. It's been lots of fun and we are only on Day 6 :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie