Joggles Art Journal Adventure ~ Week 28 ~ Nautical

Hi everyone! It's Week 28 in the Joggles Art Journal Adventure group and the prompt this week is to feature something nautical or beach related. I chose to feature a beautiful digital image by Norma J. Burnell which can be found in her Etsy shop, Fairy Tangle Art. I love the detail and flowing elements in her designs, as well as the beautiful faces of her characters. While they can be challenging to colour, they are always worth the extra time and effort.

I coloured the image called Deep Love Mermaid with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils as well as gold Posca paint pen and some metallic gel pens. The mermaid and her seahorse friend were then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border. It was then adhered to black cardstock, and fussy cut a second time leaving a narrow black border. I like how this adds visual weight to the image as well as helping it stand out against the background. It also gives it physical heft so it withstands being popped up on foam tape better.

The background began as a gel print which used Liquitex Basics acrylic paint to add colour through some stencils. More patterning was added with Carabelle Studio Toujours des Ronds stencil and Forget-Me-Not plus Manganese Blue Archival Inks. Joggles Nonsense Latin Text stamp was applied using Managanese Archival Ink and Kate's Doodle Cube by Stampotique Originals was added with Liquitex Light Green Permanent acrylic paint. Jet Black Archival Ink was used to add 49&Market
chevron stamp from the Captured Adventures set.

To create the sand area below the mermaid, a torn strip of kraft cardstock was embossed with a TH snowy stencil which makes great grains of sand. These were then brushed over with Coffee Archival Ink and White Fire Treasure Gold wax. I love the sparkle that adds and how it emphasizes the texture. Some small shells were adhered on the sand strip either side of the image.

Underwater plants were added by die cutting another gel print twice using a leaf flourish die by Cheery Lynn Designs. They were adhered behind the image, shaded both on and beside the plants with Inktense pencils activated with a waterbrush. Little circles were also coloured in so that when clear Dew Drops were glued over them, they would show up as deeper turquoise bubbles. A simple doodled border was added with black pen and black Big Brush pen was used to edge the page after Manganese Blue Archival Ink was used to deepen the outside. The wording was printed onto white cardstock, matted with black, and popped up on foam tape to finish the page.

Thanks for stopping by today. Mermaid, her seahorse friend, and I appreciate that. To see how others in our wonderfully supportive and talented art journal community respond to the Nautical/Beach prompt, pop over to the Joggles AJA Facebook group throughout the week. It's one of my favourite places to hang out!

Life is good; so is art.

Bonnie

Use It, Already! Collage Journal Pages 5-8

Hi everyone! I'm back with the next 4 pages of my Holy Cow! Use It, Already! collage book where I am taking time to play and de-stash at the same time. If you want to know more, here's the intro post with the first 4 pages.

Although I usually give lengthy explanations as to what I have done and why, that's not happening with these posts but if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Just PM me.

So far the pages have been vintage in feel, mainly because of the larger TH paper dolls I am using as well as the more muted colour palette. These are the paper scraps I seem to have the most of so that's what I'm using first. It's also a fun change and a bit more of a challenge since I'm normally a bright as can be type creative :)

Anyway, I am enjoying the process and feel a bit like an archaeologist unearthing hidden treasures from who knows where. It's a messy but satisfying process with a lot of exclamations of "Oh yeah...I forgot about that______".

Thanks for stopping by and if you happen to be following a similar journey, I would love to see what you create. Tag me on FB or PM me.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Home ~ a book in a tin inspired by Vera Lane Studio images

Hi everyone! Those who have been following along for the past while already know that I have been on a mission which I call "Holy Cow! Use it, already". This self-assigned mission is me giving myself both permission and the challenge to use things which have been in my stash for a while, either forgotten, hoarded for the "special someday project" or just acquired in a moment of weakness...LOL. Today's project for the Vera Lane Studio design team uses a little 3.25 x 1.5 inch tin with an even smaller (3 x 1.25) accordion book inside that unfolds like a bunch of tickets. It's been in my stash for ages and today is its day to be filled with Vera Lane Studio Tall Town images.

I used all 6 of the Tall Town houses for this book, leaving the first and last panel for one of the sentiments from the same digi set. The houses were coloured with a limited palette of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. I wanted the houses to coordinate and also pick up some of the background colours. Each house was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and matted on three sides with black cardstock. The bottom of each house was simply inked with black Big Brush Pen to add black without adding any more length.

Each panel was either given a black punched star for the background or tiny stars somewhere on the house. Above, you can see the tiny stars adhered as the flower centers.

To create the background, I began by spritzing the joined tickets with Lindy's Shabby Turbine Teal Starburst Spray and water, followed by Lindy's Van Dyke Sepia Moon Shadow Mist which I blotted with paper towel to keep it light. On the back, I stencilled some harlequin designs and script stamping with Coffee Archival and inked the edges of both front and back with the same ink. Black pen was used to doodle a frame on each panel.

The sentiment from the set says" Home is where your story begins". I printed the words and cut them apart, matting them with black. The word "Home" was placed on the first panel as the title of the book. It was adhered over a book text heart which had been dry brushed with gesso to knock back the print. The rest of the quote, minus the word "is", was adhered to the last panel along with another of the black punched stars to mark the end of the book.

I decided to keep the tin fairly plain. Pool and Patina Alcohol Inks were added to the top of the lid and once dry, a fixative spray was added. Jet Black Archival Ink was used to stamp both script and splatter dots over the ink. A metal puffy heart was adhered to the center of the lid using E6000 glue. To keep the book closed while inside the tin, a length of seam binding was wrapped and tied in a simple knot.

This is the cutest little project and I love how those houses are the ideal shape and (thanks to the magic of digi stamps) sized to fit perfectly on these tiny pages. Above is a terrible photo of how the book looks stretched out. It's about 23 inches long when all 8 panels are unfolded. 

Thanks for stopping by today. When you get a minute, pop by both the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop and the VLS Facebook group where you are sure to be inspired. We'd love to see what you are creating with the plethora of VLS images.

Life is good; so is art.

Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure ~ Week 27 ~ Things That Fly

Hi everyone! The prompt for Week 27 of the Joggles Art Journal Adventure marks the first Boeing 707 which flew on this day back in 1954. We are asked to include something that flies in our project this week. I love dandelions both when they are bright yellow (I had so many dandelion bouquets as a teacher) and also when they have gone to seed, ready for wish-making. That's the direction I chose to go for my art journal page, and in keeping with my Use It , already! mindset, I have pulled out a stamp which hasn't seen daylight in ages as well as some embossing powder which I'm not sure I ever used before!

I wanted a black background to provide lots of contrast with the metallic two toned embossing powder called Aged Copper by Stampendous. It has both copper and shades of green in it which I thought would be cool for stems and fluffer bases. The dandelion stamps were placed on the black paper in my Misti, and once picked up, were coated with Versamark Ink. The embossing powder was then sprinkled over the Versamark and heat set. It was so fun doing this because it pretty much makes its own decisions on where the copper and where the green will show up. Like magic!

To make the fluffers (the seed parachutes) more realistic (ish), white chalk paint was pounced over those areas attached to the stems as well as the individual parachutes. This was kept light and delicate so that the embossing still showed through. A gold Posca pen and some blue and green metallic gel pens were used to add more linework and detail over the fluffy areas. More of the gold Posca paint pen was used to add dots to the background.

The ground area was created in the same way as the dandelions. A grass stamp and a fern stamp were added to the background with Versamark, sprinkled with the same Aged Copper embossing powder, and heated to melt it. Extra bits of the same colours were added below the grass/ferns as wel as within the embossing to fill them in where needed. A torn strip of kraft cardstock was torn to create ground. It was inked on all sides with Coffee Archival and then stamped with Wendy Vecchi Open Dots stamp with the same ink. The wording, which reminds me that attitude changes everything, was printed on white cardstock and matted with checked kraft washi tape before being popped up with foam tape. To finish the page, one of the metallic gel pens was used to create a scribbly border. I love how it catches the light.

I'm so happy with how this page turned out even though it gave me fits in the photographing part. It's so hard to capture the shimmer and glow which really makes the page so special. You'll just have to use your imagination or take my word for it...LOL. Thanks for stopping by today. To see how others in our wonderful and talented art journal community respond to the Things That Fly prompt, pop over to the Joggles AJA Facebook group throughout the week. It's an awesome place to hang out!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Use it already! ~ collaged art journal pages

Hi everyone! Sometimes I get overwhelmed with the sheer volume of "stuff" I have accumulated from past projects, future maybe projects, and "this is cool" moments....things that I thought I might "need" someday so I've kept them. Scraps and bits...piles of them. I decided that I was going to make a dent in these piles and use things that I've been collecting...or pass them on to someone who will use them.

With that in mind, and because I love to collage and don't do it often enough, I have decided to begin a new "just for me" project. I have taken one of the TH binder covers with the rings inside and cut 4.5x6.5 inch pages from left over patterned paper (I have a few of these binders and tons of papers that have been kicking around for ages), punched them, all ready for collaging. I was inspired by one of my favourite YT channels, Nairobi, where she is doing something similar and is fabulous at collage.

It's a great way to use up things collecting in a bin on my desk (or the bin in my closet...or the one on my shelf...) as well as things I have tucked away and forgotten about like rub-ons, stickers, gems, and the larger TH paper dolls. So far I have created 4 pages and I have loved every moment because it's pure play and I like the challenge of pulling random bits and trying to make them work/play together. There is a huge satisfaction in that.

The other bonus is that I am rediscovering supplies and things I've been hoarding as I go in search of "what else do I have" :) It's great fun and another opportunity to use my creativity. Win/win!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Star and Heart - new releases by Vera Lane Studio

Hi everyone! There is a new release in the Vera Lane Studio shop called  Heart and Star. Oh my word, they are the cutest little sweeties. I created two projects, one for each of the two images and used one of the two sayings that come with the set. Star is featured in an art journal page and Heart is starring on her very own ATC.

Both Star and Heart were coloured with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils with the exception of Star's hair which was paper-pieced from mop-up book paper. The stars on her head were printed onto scraps of ink sprayed papers and shaded with coloured pencil. The images were fussy cut leaving my usual narrow white border, matted with black, and fussy cut a second time, leaving a narrow black border.

The art journal page is 6 inches square. It was spritzed with Lindy's Cotton Candy Pink Starburst Spray and once dry was stencilled using Studio Light Mask MB03 and Magenta Hue Archival Ink. Tiny Xs were added in a few places with black pen using an Alexandra Renke stencil as a guide. Crafty Individuals Script stamp was added here and there with Deep Purple Archival Ink.

To give Star a place to stand, wide washi tape, matted with black, was placed behind her. This was layered with a strip of book text muted with white gesso and a black negative piece which was left from punching a scalloped border. 

The sentiment was cut into individual words which were matted with black. The scalloped border was added under the word begins both to add a second pop of black, and to emphasize that word.  Small stars and a cluster of stars were die cut from the same paper scraps as the stars in her hair. These were shaded with coloured pencil, highlighted with Posca Pen, and outlined with black pen. The page was finished with a doodled border and edging with black Big Brush Pen.

Heart's ATC background was a mop-up 2.5 x 3.5 inch rectangle of white cardstock. It was stamped with Wendy Vecchi Open Dots stamp using Deep Purple Archival Ink. Torn book text scraps were adhered over the background and the text was pushed back with white gesso. Heart was popped up on foam tape and strips of washi tape weree used to ground her and pick up the heart colour. Another pop of pink was added with an epoxy heart in the top left corner. The tiny TH ChitChat stickers were matted with black and glued next to Heart. The ATC was finished by inking the edges with Deep Purple Archival Ink and edged with black Big Brush Pen.

Thanks for popping by today. Star, Heart, and I appreciate that. When you get a minute, stop by Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop to check out these beauties as well as the other fabulous images and collage sheets. Come and visit the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group, too, where there is new and wonderful inspiration daily. 

Life is good; so is art.

Bonnie

Joggles Art Journal Adventure ~ Week 26 ~ Half

Hi everyone! Happy Canada Day! It's Week 26 in the Joggles Art Journal Adventure and that means we are half way through our year of art journal pages. How amazing is that! Because of that, the prompt for this week is half...could be half way, half and half...anything we want to mark the occasion. I decided to divide my page in half and link them with a stamped image which seems to also have different styles on each half.

I began by gel printing the 6x8 inch background with Liquitex Brilliant Yellow Green on one half and Light Blue Permanent on the other. Then I gel printed Studio Light Mask L13 using the opposite colour on each side. I added more of the blue, green, and some Titanium White to both sides from the gel plate. Once these layers were dry, Jet Black Archival Ink was applied to one of the Indigo Blu Tasty Textures stamps to create a border on both sides. Another stamp from the same set was added to both halves of the page with Forget-Me-Not Archival Ink. Some of the circles from the gel printed stencils were highlighted with either blue of green Pentel Milky Pops pens. Ranger Texture Paste was scraped through Kaisercraft Dots and Dashes stencil in a few areas.

To separate the two halves of the page, a length of black and white striped washi tape was adhered to white cardstock to take away the transparency and adhered down the center vertically. A TH Sizzix die was used to cut distressed hexagon sections which were added to the top or bottom of each half. A simple black border was doodled around the outside edge and black Big Brush Pen was used to ink the outer edges.

Before printing this TH dragonfly blueprint stamp onto dictionary paper torn from the section about half, white gesso was applied to the text to push it back so it would compete less with the Jet Black details from the stamping. A circle was punched from some of the same dictionary paper which had been used to clean off my brayer. It was placed into the center of the circle from the stamp to help tie the image to the background. Once adhered, the paper was outlined with black pen.

A few of the negative black pieces from the die cut were adhered in two groups to add another couple of pops of black. Two Big Chat Stickers, one white and one black, were added to create the phrase fly free. The finished page was then adhered to the black background which serves as a frame for the spread.

Thanks for stopping by today. When you get a chance, pop over to the Joggles Art Journal Adventure Facebook group to see the wonderful art created by other members of our community. We would love to have you play along with us.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie