We're all mad here!

Hi everyone. It's Bonnie here today with a fun mixed media piece I created to help me blow off a little frustration. I don't know about you but, for me, this works every time...have a little play, get a little messy, make myself smile, and feel a lot better! I began with a mop up page covered with Dylusions sprays in Postbox Red and Pure Sunshine. I keep a pad of  6x8 inch mixed media paper beside my work space and when I have leftover ink or paint on my craft sheet, I use a piece to mop up the extra. Then I'm not wasting and it provides a jump off point for another project.

I loved the mix of the colours and the bits of white peeking through but there was a large uncoloured chunk at the bottom so I tore off a piece of Authentique's dotty Classique Elegant 12 paper and added it to the bottom. The piece that I trimmed off of that became the strip I added to the top edge. Using Wendy Vecchi's Red Geranium Archival ink and a mini ink blender, I stencilled TCW's Art Is pattern here and there. I also pounced black gesso through TCW's Mini Texturized stencil. More black gesso was used to create the bottle top rings as well.

In order to add some sparkle and shine that would catch the light without detracting from the background, I scraped Art Anthology Frost Sorbet Dimensional paint through TCW's Netting stencil, First time I used it and it is gorgeous and will likely live on my desk, an honour reserved for only my favourite products that I use all the time. It picked up a little of the Dylusions ink and was a dream to spread giving me crisp stencilling.

The rabbit and clock images, purchased on Etsy, were fussy cut and then edged with Black Big Brush pen. Both were adhered to the background with Gel Medium. Once dry, the hoop and stick were outlined with silver metallic gel pen. Two Idea-ology pen nibs were adhered to the clock face with Glossy Accents. Two other embellies, Wendy Vecchi's Blossom Bucket Stars, were added to the top left corner to give a little more visual weight there.

The sentiment was computer generated, printed on white cardstock, and matted in black. The word MAD was coloured with Prismacolor pencils. All words were popped up on foam tape for dimension and to create shadow. To finish off the piece, Black Soot Distress ink and Black Big Brush pen were used around the outside edges.

Thanks for joining Ms. March Hare and me today. We do appreciate your fine company and hope that you gained a little inspiration to get messy!

Bonnie

Dylusions Ink Spray - Pure Sunshine	Dylusions Ink Spray - Postbox Red	Wendy Vecchi - Studio 490 Archival Ink - Red Geranium	Dina Wakely Media Gesso - Black
Dina Wakely - Gel Medium	TCW - Mini Texturized 6x6 Stencil	The Crafter′s Workshop - 6x6 stencil - Netting	Ranger - Mini Ink Blending Tool
Art Anthology � Sorbet Dimensional Paint - Frost	Faber Castell - Big Brush Pen - Black	Tim Holtz - Idea-ology -Decorative Pen Nibs	Wendy Vecchi - Blossom Bucket - Black Mini Stars
Scotch Foam Mounting Tape	Inkssesentials - Glossy Accents 2 oz.

                                     

                                     

Mosaic Canvas

Hi everyone! It's Bonnie here today to share a little 5x7 inch board canvas I altered. A while ago, through Pinterest, I saw these fabulous mosaic canvases created by Linda Iverson and found the idea really inspired me. It's a wonderful way to use of scraps of papers and chipboard and I love the results so I decided to have a go.

I started by applying black gesso to the canvas board and allowing it to dry. Next I cut up some chipboard scraps and laid out a pattern that pleased me. I wanted a few of the "tiles" to be thicker so I cut an extra layer for two and three layers for the center rectangle. These I glued together and then used my Black Big Brush Pen to blacken the edges of all tiles.

The next step was to choose stamps and stencils as well as papers to feature on some of the tiles. The gold embossed quote as well as the black embossed squares stamp come from the TH Classics 16 set. The paper under the squares stamp is a piece of Authentique Anchored Sailing paper. There is a very faint map printed on it which fits the journey theme and a small resin hand was added to point to the quote.. Directly above the square tiles stamped tile is an Idea-ology Word Band which says Live in the Moment. Gold nailhead stickers were attached to the band with Glossy Accents to resemble brads.

The black starry tile at the top and bottom right were stencilled with TCW's Mini Random Stars and Studio 490 Gold Embossing Paste onto black cardstock. This was then adhered to the chipboard and cut to size. The B is a Scrabble tile adhered to a scrap of gold striped paper using Beacon 3-in-1 glue which was also used to adhere all of the tiles to the canvas. This same striped paper formed the background on a narrow tile which housed the Idea-ology pen nib.

Two scraps of music paper from Michelle Hill's Vintage Ephemera Bundles were used to cover two more tiles. I was able to center the lyric "What a life" onto the one tile which continues with the message of the canvas. These papers as well as the Authentique one were edged in Black Soot Distress ink to better connect them to the rest of the project.

Scraps of black cardstock embossed with TH Riveted Metal Texture Fades embossing folder were rubbed with various colours of Inka Gold to highlight or accentuate the embossed design. These were then adhered to two tiles and trimmed to fit.

I love how this turned out and am already planning more canvases in different sizes. I think a big one would be super fun to do and have several more of the same size started in my head. I'd love to see what you do with Linda's fabulous idea. Thanks for the inspiration, Linda.

Bonnie

Authentique - Anchored - 12x12 paper - Sailing	Dina Wakley - Black Gesso - 2 oz.	Wendy Vecchi - Studio 490 - Embossing Paste - Metallic Gold	Tim Holtz - Idea-ology -Decorative Pen Nibs
Idea-ology - Word Bands	Vintage Paper Ephemera Bundles	BEACON: 3-In-1 Advanced Craft Glue	Faber Castell - Big Brush Pen - Black
Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder - Black	Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder - Gold	VersaMark Stamp Pad	Tim Holtz Alterations - Texture Fades Embossing Folders (2PK) - Diamond Plate & Riveted Metal
Chipboard - 8.5" x 11"	Inkssesentials - Glossy Accents 2 oz.	The Crafter′s Workshop - 6x6 stencil - Random Stars	Distress Ink Pad - Black Soot

Bless Your Heart!

Hello, everyone!  It's Broni here with you today.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you're ready for a bright and happy New Year!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to move on from all the holiday hustle and bustle.  Lately I've been looking forward to celebrating LOVE and creating Valentine's Day projects.  I have one for you today!

I've got a brief run-down on the how-to for you:

I added a book page to my journal using Matte Multi-Medium, then painted it with some watered down Gesso.

 Next I added some Spun Sugar Distress Paint.

I took some scraps that I had left over from another project and added them to the page with the Multi-Medium, then added some print stamped in Memento Tuxedo black ink, and some hearts from the Catherine Scanlon Random Shapes stamp set stamped in Seedless Preserves ink.

I drew some lines around the page and added some shading to the hearts with a watercolor pencil and also added some Tiny Circles with Black Soot ink.

I cut a heart from some cardboard and painted it with Black Gesso then added some Charcoal twine tied through the tag hole.  I randomly added some silver dots using Glossy Accents.  My die cut arrow is also from the leftovers of another project.  (You'll get to see that one on Thursday!)

 

Sigh.  Now that we've moved on from Christmas, what's up for you in the new year?  More crafting, I hope!

Have fun!