April Kindness Postcard Challenge at Vera Lane Studio

Woohoo! It's April and that means a brand new challenge in the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group and this month I get to host it. I decided on postcards (3x5 inches or 4x6 inches) and the theme of Kindness because we all could use a little more (OK...a lottle) of that right now. It could be kindness to yourself, to others, or to animals...anywhere your muse takes you. I chose the first and last from the list above, featuring the sweetie from the Joyful digi set. She is feeding the birds which is kind to them but also brings her peace and warm feelings so that's kind to herself as well. There are so many Vera Lane Studio images and combinations that would fit this theme

I coloured Joy and her bird friends with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Each image was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and again a second time once matted with black cardstock.

I kept the background light and simple, choosing to add Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide to the top using drywall mesh as a stencil. The bottom was done in the same way using Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn Distress Oxides for colour. A small double heart stamp and some script stamping were added to the sky section using Forget-Me-Not Archival Ink. To ground Joy and her buddies, a length of leafy washi was adhered to the bottom edge of the postcard. The birdseed was created with tiny holographic star sequins. Love how they catch the light and change colours!

The saying was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. The same black was used to mat the postcard, creating a border around it.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope that you are all staying safe and are practicing kindness every chance you get. We would love to have you join the Kindness Challenge on the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group. Pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop to check out all of the fabulous images. There's sure to be a bunch that will inspire your Kindness Postcard.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Bloobel Stamps Progressive Challenge ~ Fantasy Creatures

Hi everyone! Each month, Lisa at Bloobel Stamps runs a Progressive Challenge on her Facebook page. If you played along the previous month, you get a discount code for the current month's image so you can play along again. This month the challenge was to use one of five Fantasy Creatures which Lisa created. There are dragons, a flying pig, a unicorn and this adorable fairy. She is called Shy Fairy and I couldn't resist her.

I coloured this little sweetie with a mix of Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils. Her wings were given a sparkly layer of Cotton Candy Stickles on the outside sections and Icicle Stickles on the inside sections. The flower centers were accented with Cinnamon Stickles because as far as fairies are concerned, the more sparkle the better :) She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black cardstock, and popped up on foam tape.

The background began as a piece of textured blue cardstock which was cut to a 6 x 8 inch rectangle. Texture Paste was scraped through one of the stars from TCW Layered Stars Stencil in three places to create the magical background. Once dry, the inside openings of the stars were shaded with an Inktense pencil activated with a waterbrush. This was also done to the outside edges to deepen them. Cobalt Archival Ink was used to add Carabelle Studio Letter Background as well as Stampotique Originals Dot Swirl stamps in several places. Black dots were added with Jet Black Archival applied to a TH stamp.

The sentiment, printed on white cardstock, was cut into individual words. These were matted with black and popped up with foam tape. Sparkly silver enamel stars were spread out throughout the background. To complete the page, a simple border was doodled around the edges and the page was matted with black cardstock to frame it.

Thanks for joining Shy Fairy and me today. We are both delighted that you did...although she is more reserved in her delight than me...LOL. You still have a few days left to join Lisa's Fantasy Creatures challenge on the Bloobel Facebook group. Be sure to pop by to see all of the awesome creations in the album. People are so talented and creative. And if you are looking for inspiration, stop by Bloobel.com where you are sure to come away with a lengthy list of must-have images. Love 'em all!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Bloobel Stamps Progressive Challenge ~ Bored at Work

Hi everyone! Each month, Lisa at Bloobel Stamps runs a Progressive Challenge on her Facebook page. If you played along the previous month, you get a discount code for the current month's image so you can play along again. This month the challenge was to use this hilarious Bloobel image called Bored at Work and create something to either amuse him or say what he's thinking.

I coloured Mr. B with a mix of Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils, using a metallic gel pen on his silver buttons. He was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and matted with black card stock. Once he was trimmed out again leaving a narrow black border, he was popped up on foam tape.

The background began life as a 5.5 x 8 inch piece of packaging on which I gel printed with brown and pale blue acrylic paint. I know for sure that Carabelle Studio Squares and Circles Art Template was involved as well as TCW Microbial stencil and black paint. I can also tell you that I used a VLV triangle stamp. Beyond that, I haven't got a clue...I do a bunch of backgrounds all at once and sometimes I forget to write down the magic formula...LOL. I created the big ol' pile of pooh and the shovel from scraps of cardstock and mop-up papers, shading them with coloured  and Inktense pencils and fussy cutting. I cut a slit in the manure pile so the shovel would look like it was stuck in.

The saying was printed on white card stock, cut into segments, and matted with black. Foam tape was used to adhere the parts to the background. A simple border was doodled with black pen and three red gems were added to the top left corner to play off the shovel and his tie. Finally the piece was matted with black card stock to frame it and tie it all together.

Thanks for visiting Mr. B and me today. I hope your day is going better than his! You still have a couple of days to enter Lisa's Progressive Challenge which you can find on the Bloobel Facebook group. I can see so many other ways to use this image. Check out the other fabulous entries while you are there!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Magic Tea Garden 1539 - Spring Fling Challenge sponsored by Sandra Caldwell

Hi everyone. Markers!Papers! and Digis! is having a Spring Fling Contest in the Facebook group and Sandra Caldwell is one of the sponsors. It runs from April 30 - May 27 and you must use the Sandra Caldwell image Magic Tea Garden 1539. I love this image so much and was excited to colour it up for a card.

Using Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, she was coloured and fussy cut leaving a narrow white border around the "wooden frame". Gray Copic marker was used to shade inside the frame and around the bunny girl. The image was then matted with black card stock and cut out again leaving a narrow black border. Foam squares were used to adhere the image to the card and provide dimension.

Gray and white dotty paper was cut to fit inside the white card base and this layer was matted with black. Another rectangle was cut from gray and white striped paper which was also matted with black. All edges of the designer paper were edged with Jet Black Archival Ink before matting was adhered. The sentiment, a nod to Alice in Wonderland, was printed on white card stock and matted with black. Two teacup brads were placed on either side of the sentiment to repeat the cup in the image.

You still have a few days if you want to play along with this fun challenge at the Markers!Papers! and Digis! Facebook group. The image is in Sandra's Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs. It was a definite Must-Have in my book :)

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Old Folks Challenge at Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group

312 Dancing Old Lady

Hi everyone! I'm excited today because I am hosting this month's challenge at Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook Group. 

583 Old Lady Bunnie

My challenge theme is Old Folks because I am such a huge fan of all of Sandra's Old Lady images (and also because I can relate to the theme...LOL). That woman has spunk and attitude :)

454 Old Lady Special Birthday

I have chosen four images which Sandra will put on sale for $1.50 for the duration of the challenge.

1456 Old Lady Bug

She has also created an adorable brand new image just for this challenge and it will also be on sale in her Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs. 

1373 Old Man Dancing

You can create a project with any (or all) of these five Old Folks images and enter it in the April challenge album on the Facebook page for a chance to win the prize of 2 free digis plus a bonus coupon which Sandra has generously included for Buy 2/Get 2 Free.

The challenge starts today (April 6, 2017) and will run for two weeks, closing at midnight PST on April 19, 2017. Just to entice you and show you the images, I have created 5 different art journal pages. I think these images would also be adorable for birthday cards, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, or JFF cards. They work for almost any occasion really since they certainly will bring a smile.

I hope you will join us for this Old Folks Challenge at Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group. I cannot wait to see what everyone creates with these lovelies!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Easter Parade ~ Bloobel Stamps Progressive Challenge

Hi everyone! Each month, Lisa at Bloobel Stamps runs a Progressive Challenge on her Facebook page. If you played along the previous month, you get a discount code for the current month's image so you can play along again. This month, she offered choice of six fabulous images or you could use a different code to buy them all at a special price...which, of course, I did because who can resist! The theme this month is Easter Parade based on that wonderful old Judy Garland/Fred Astaire movie.

I decided to create my own little Easter Parade using Easter Parade Judy, Easter Parade Fred, and Easter Parade Bunneh. They were each coloured with a mix of Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils. They were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border, matted with black card stock, and fussy cut leaving a narrow black border. Foam tape was used to pop them up. Fred was given Black Diamond Stickles with Lagoon Stickles in the center of the punched flower on his hat.

Judy was given Buttercup Liquid Pearls on her dress trim and buttons, and on the flower centers on her hat. The flowers were punched from mop-up atcs sprayed with Lindy's so they sparkle, too.

Bunneh was given Lagoon Stickles centers on his hat flowers and his wonky eyes were covered with Glossy Accents to add dimension and shine. Aren't they a well coordinated trio? You can thank their stylist...LOL

The background of this art journal page began as a 7 x 9 inch rectangle of designer paper. One of the designs from the Stampotique Originals Circles Cube and Joggles Nonsense Latin Text stamps were added with Garden Patina Archival Ink. Carabelle Sudio Mini Checkerboard stamp was added with Jet Black Archival. The sidewalk was a torn piece of textured tan coloured card stock which was stamped using Stampotique Originals Brick Road and Tree Branch Archival. Both Coffee Archival Ink and brown Prismacolor pencils were used to add shadow and darken some of the bricks. The same was used to edge the sides of the sidewalk before it was adhered to the background. Black pen was used to outline it and add faux stitching. A sign post was created with black card stock and white glittery stickers. Next to the sidewalk, Inktense pencil activated with a waterbrush was used to add shadow and dimension.

White cheesecloth scraps were adhered above Judy and Fred to create puffy clouds.

The sentiment, which is a line from the Easter Parade song, was printed on white card stock and matted with black. Foam tape was used to pop it up. Small music notes were drawn with black pen and accented with black rhinestones. The same black pen was used to draw a border around the outside edges. Turquoise washi tape was added to the edges to bring some of that lovely colour from their outfits into the background and add a little more pattern. Garden Patina and Coffee Archival Inks were used to edge the background before Black Big Brush Pen was added. Finally, the page was matted with black card stock to frame it.

Thanks for popping by and watching Fred, Judy, and Bunneh's Easter Parade. It's always wonderful to have a crowd at one of these things :) To check out the other amazing creations made by the people playing along with the Bloobel Progressive Challenge, be sure to pop by the Bloobel Facebook page. It's not too late to join in either. You have until the end of March to enter your creation made with one of the Easter Parade images into the Facebook album. Then you will be eligible for the coupon code for April's challenge. Hope to see you there!

Life is good; so is art.

Bonnie

Home is where...Sandra Caldwell Bee Challenge

Hi everyone! Each month on the Sandra Caldwell Stamps Fans Facebook group, there is a new challenge. Sandra puts 4 images chosen by whoever is hosting on sale and we can use whichever one we want to enter the challenge. This month the theme is Bees, one of my favourites, and the images are adorable. I chose to play with Bee Hive Sweetie 948...how cute is she!

I coloured her and her little friend with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Diamond Stickles was used to glimmer up both sets of wings to add a little magic. Both were fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black card stock to help them show against the background. Foam tape was used to pop them up and add dimension/shadow.

The background began with bee themed paper which was cut into a rectangle and matted with black. The next layer is tone on tone yellow dots which was cut into a rectangle to fit the image. It was edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink before being matted with black card stock. It was placed at an angle over the bee patterned rectangle.

The sentiment was printed onto white card stock, cut apart into individual words which were then matted with black. Foam tape was added to the back of each word. The two bee-utiful friends were placed first and then the words were staggered around them. A length of black picot-edged ribbon was adhered to the bottom of the card and a tiny bee button with a rhinestone head was adhered to the right side of the ribbon. The background was then adhered to a white card base.

Thanks for popping by today. The three of us are happy you did that! When you get a chance, pop by Sandra's Etsy shop, Babycakes Digis and Designs, to see the other choices for the challenge. You are sure to find at least one that will inspire you to play along with this fun Bee Challenge! You can check out all of the wonderful entries by joining our Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook group. It's a great place to hang out!

Life is good; so is art...and bees!
Bonnie

Original ~ An RSD inspired journal page

Hello everyone. Today I am sharing a mixed media journal page featuring a Rick St. Dennis image which would also fit the current Facebook theme in the Fans & Friends group, Metal Magic. The image is called Kitchen Robot 4 and it makes me smile. I imagine all of these robots who come to life like the toys in Toy Story. Imagine the fun they must have!

I coloured this image with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. It was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black cardstock. Once it was trimmed out again, foam tape was added to the back for dimension and to create a shadow around it.

The background was created on a 5 x 6 inch piece of watercolour paper. bells of ireland Green and Cathedral Pines Green Lindy's Starburst Sprays were spritzed through TCW's Harlequin Stencil and then quickly lifted off the paper. A light misting around the stencilled pattern was done to soften the pattern and fade it out. One of the images on Stampotique's Circle Cube was stamped onto the background with Library Green Archival Ink. A TH text stamp was applied to the background using Forget-Me-Not Achival Ink. In order to give KR4 a place to stand, drywall mesh tape was layered over a mop-up card and cut into three fishtail flags. These were edged with Big Brush Pen to remove the white edge before being adhered in two areas. Black enamel dots were added to the outside edge of each.

The sentiment was computer generated and printed on white cardstock. It was trimmed close to the single words, matted with black, and then foam tape was added to the backs. A simple star border was doodled around the page edge and the flags were outlined. To complete the page, a black mat was added to the outside after the white edges of the page were lined with Black Big Brush Pen.

Thanks for joining Kitchen Robot 4 and me today. We are delighted that you did. You can check out the Metal Magic Facebook Challenge here. You have until the end of March to enter and we'd love to see you then.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

March RSD Facebook Challenge - Metal Magic

Hi everyone. With the beginning of the new month came the start of a new challenge theme on Rick St. Dennis' Fans & Friends Facebook group. The theme for the month of March is Metal Magic so we want to see you either add a metal embellishment, colour something to look like metal within the image or add some metallic paper or effects.Of course, you have to use a Rick St. Dennis image from either his Zibbet or Etsy shops. Easy, right?

I have found myself short of "no occasion" cards lately so that's what I decided to create featuring the sweet image called Astor. I coloured her with a mix of Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils adding clear rhinestones as rivets on her metal wings. She was fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and then matted with black before being trimmed out again. Astor was then popped up on foam tape.

The white card base is 4.5 x 5.5 inches. A piece of textured black cardstock was trimmed to fit inside that base. The black was then run through my Cuttlebug using a TH embossing folder called Riveted Metal. Treasure Copper, Treasure Silver, and two colours of Treasure Gold were then applied with my fingers over the embossed cardstock. Some went onto the flat spots but most highlighted the raised areas creating a shimmery and distressed effect. The black was then adhered to the card base and Astor was adhered to the background.

To continue with the metal theme, three gear embellies were adhered below her using Glossy Accents. Metal trim was adhered along the bottom edge of the background and shiny silver letters spelling out Wish were placed vertically along the left side. And there we have it...a project following the RSD FB Challenge theme of Metal Magic and a card to add to my "no particular occasion" stash.

Thanks for joining Astor and me today. We appreciate that so much. Tune into Rick's Fans & Friends FB page throughout the month of March to see how the other talented DT members respond to this challenge. We would love to have you play along.

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

Rick St. Dennis February Facebook Challenge ~ Hearts and /or Arrows

Hi everyone. Along with adding 4 new members to Rick St. Dennis' EDT, we are also trying out a new challenge format. Instead of doing the Progressive Challenge on Sparkle and Glitter, we are doing a monthly challenge on Rick's Fans & Friends Facebook group with a specific theme each time. Our very first challenge started on February 1 and the first theme is Hearts and/or Arrows. We want to see a heart or an arrow or both either in the image or the background. Easy peasy, right?

For my mixed media project, I chose to feature the adorable Euro Girls Happy Hearts image from Rick's Zibbet store. I love these little Euro style people and this collection of buddies is adorable. I coloured the image with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. It was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and matted with black cardstock. It was popped up on foam tape to add dimension and shadow.

The background was brayered using yellow, red, and orange acrylic paints. Black Marble Dylusions paint was pounced through Tim Holtz's Arrows stencil to fill the page. Once dry, the background was cut into thirds, edged with black, and adhered with narrow spaces between each section as well as a border around the outside. Because it was wild and crazy busy, white dotty Japanese paper was torn into strips and adhered to the background with gel medium. White printed chipboard open hearts were edged with black Big Brush Pen and adhered behind the image. To give the girls a place to stand, piano key washi tape adhered to white cardstock was layered onto the background coming from each side.

The word Love was created from Thickers and black flat pearls were added to each letter to jazz them up a little. The other part of the song lyric was printed with a DYMO labeller. The one end was clipped into a fishtail shape. Two black triangles were hand cut and adhered to opposite corners. While still a very busy piece, I did manage to tone down the background with all of the white and black layers and elements...thank goodness!

Thanks for stopping by today. The Euro Girls and I appreciate your fine company. We would love to see how you respond to our Hearts and/or Arrows Challenge on the Rick St. Dennis Fans & Friends Facebook group. be sure to stop by throughout the month to see the other inspiration projects by the EDT. As a matter of fact, stop by every single day because there will be a brand new project featuring one or more of Rick's fabulous images each day of the month.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie