My Girl

Sometimes when you are doing challenges, which to me is an excellent way of socialization with people you like and have things in common with... but also it teaches you so very much about techniques and also about yourself...  so one of those days hit me about a week ago... and I started to play for ME... 100%... not for any challenge or a class or anything... just for ME... 

I wanted to make a DOLL... yes a doll.. a paper doll.. no not one that you change like we did when we were younger... but one that is made from all kinds of scrap papers... and you and I both know that in this art form... we have way too many... so trying to use them up can always be a situation that truly needs ones attention...  I have given even some of mine away... and the people I give it to love it... as it is new to them JUNK... LOL.. but the good kind of JUNK... 

So with all that in mind.. I created this project that I call

 

My Girl..

 

is it me???  you be the judge... I sort of think in a lot of ways she is me... but in some not...

 

I still love her... and until I make another one... she will be my favorite...

 

My Girl stands about 12 inches tall.. and is about 4 inches at the bottom... first thing that is not like me... LOL.. anyway... that is her!!! 

 

 

 

I will show you different parts of her... the top part is two pieces... her arms and shoulders and head are all one piece... the lower part has straight edges...  from the neck to the bottom of her skirt.. I always wear long skirts...  love them... so comfy..

Okay... I will show you her head up close later... so her neck piece is a button I bought a long time ago... and just love it... so had to use that finally... 

her dress is entirely made of scraps of paper... and I tried to use the smaller pieces... hey the larger ones are good for larger items.. you never know when you are going to need a large piece...

 

Her heart is a piece of greet glass... and it was given to me by a friend over 14 years ago... a very sweet gal, who also got me started in making 1000's of boxes.. .LOL.. Love you Mary Heald...hope you see this...  she also gave me some little butterflies and such... I have used them all.. with the exception of this one... 

I also used TH Remnant rubs for the words and some of the things like butterflies etc... 

  

 

On the lower half.. .I made the flower... more on that later... but I also made the feather... I cut a piece of paper the shape I wanted the feather to be... and then used a pair of very sharp scissors to but the sections of the feather...  *remember I said to learn about self...  I am learning patience !!!!  of all kinds... LOL..

The dragonfly has separate wings that have are glossy.. and the copper wire was fun to mold thru the skirt...  the butterfly is two layers and the top one has 13 gem stones on it... so very glittery in real life...  (I dont' wear that much jewelry anymore at all... so not me... but I love to create it... ) 

 

The head...  I love to spin, felt and create my own wools... so these pieces of wool I dyed using my distress stains... !!!!  WOW.. not washable... but so vivid and GREAT...  and the little flowers I also made with a punch and also some stamen...  so adorable... reminds of flowers I use to love as a small child...

Her face... a Butterfly... (Not me... but hey!)  it is a rub on decal type from TH...  just wanted a fun face...

 

Following are just some close ups... and then more...

 

wire bracelet... and giggle ticket in kraft

 

 

 

Okay... the flower... I LOVE flowers of all kinds...  and wanted another New type of flower...  so I took an old book and cute out about 10 poinsettias (the med from TH Die)  and then dyed them purple... and put them onto a wire of stamen...  love it... nice new flower for me.. 

 

The doll stands free.. as I have used another Tim Holtz die cut... called Small Easel... love it for so many things... especially some cards even that I send to older people... they love to stand them up so they can be viewed by all... 

 

 

I use to make a lot of jewelry for New Age Stores... and have tons of feather and such left over from that long ago time...  and so I made some really long droppey turquoise wires with feathers on the end...

 

 

Last but not least... an ear ring from my Mother In Laws gem jewelry... can you image wearing this...  it is heavy...  and a clip on... yikes... must have been painful plus... 

 

Okay.. so my girl is standing in front of me as I write this... and there is a lot of things on her that I didn't write about... but... I am sure you can see that she is loaded... 

 

I wanted to share her with others... and so I though about challenges... and low and behold...

 

A VINTAGE JOURNEY...

"Just Stain It" 

Since I make a lot of my papers using Distress Stains... I think this qualifies...  I always use distress inks... my fav to say the least...

 

 

The Kraft Journal

#182  Funky Junk

 

My first time entering this challenge... but this so fit...

Hope you all enjoy it... 

 

Yesterday sort of seems like a blur...  I did way to much.. and tomorrow I have a class here in the studio... but I had so very much fun with this GIRL.. and hope it inspires you to create one too... 

she is easy to make... and everything you have on hand... even the paper... anythings goes with something like this...

 

Hope you have a super great day... and see you all soon..

Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie    

 

 

Thanks for all the BOUNTY

Gratitude

'You ought to return thanks in a neat speech,' the Red Queen said, frowning at Alice as she spoke. . . . 

In fact it was rather difficult for her to keep in her place while she made her speech: the two Queens

pushed her so, one on each side, that they nearly lifted her up into the air: 'I rise to return thanks--'

Alice began: and she really DID rise as she spoke, several inches; but she got hold of the edge of

the table, and managed to pull herself down again.

-- Chapter 9, Through the Looking Glass

Okay... now that you have the details on this months theme... lets see what I did... LOL... I had FUN!!!  That is what I did...  I got out my alcohol inks, pens and palette,  paper and my new NATURES BLESSINGS stamps... 

(which I have to tell you this... when I received my Designer Team Stamps... they were wrapped in white tissue paper with the up most of CARE...  what a wonderful way to start a project... )   

So I un Wrapped my NEW Natures Blessings stamps and started to stamp them all.. oh I love these stamps... nice visions of happiness came across my face...  And I didn't have any of these wonderful stamps from Through the Looking Glass... what fun...  

Okay... then came the process or what to create...  

I knew that I was going to use my alcohol inks to color this beautiful stamps... and then what... ???? Think... ponder... think some more... go out of the studio and then come back in and tangle a little while... ..... all of a sudden it came to me... 

A book... a book of THANKS... So this is what I did...  

 I wanted to talk about THANKS.... Thanks for all the wonderful things that are around me... and Us...  so I created this little THANKS book... 

 On the front of each of the pages I have attached a letter...  spelling out the word THANKS.... (I used some Grundgeboard letters and painted them fall colors... but you would never know that I used 6 different colors... would you???  I used a Perfect pearls spray and I think that is what color took!!!  But I do love them... so that is all that counts anyway... right???  

 The first page is ALICE... with that cute little piglet...  and of course a funny sticker of a turkey... I had to use him as this was a Thanksgiving day theme...  GRATITUDE!!!  Thanks for all that you do...  

 I used some dyed seam binding ribbon for the colors on the rings... and love the way  they flow down the side of the book...  so fall and I might even glue some leaves on there too..  

Good Idea.. 

 T

So here are each of the pages prior to being put into the book form...  and I will tell you all about the meaning of each page...  

T= turkey...  and thanks for all the time that we have to create with...  Thanks for everything that we have in our lives... 

 H


 Because this is actually in the H section on the left hand side of the book...  it stands for rabbit... or hare...  LOL... even though this is truly the white rabbit.. it is still a hare!!!  

Haystacks...  hello letters, harvest in the fall... and homecoming of the kids...  and all the trimmings of the holiday....and for PUMPKIN PIES...  from the harvest... you can't just look at one thing... you have to look at the whole... right???  

Also H stands for my hubby.. as I am very thankful in so many ways that he is in my life... 

 I forgot to tell you... the leaf paper behind a lot of these pages I made with one rubber stamp that I also made... and used different colors ink to create a fun paper... and then using a 8.5 x 11 paper cut it for each page...  that was one piece of paper!!!  This book is 3.25 X 8 inches long...  a great size for this project...  

Okay... so that is all about H...  a good letter...  and I love these stamps... I hope that by now you have taken a look at the great ALICE selection that Nature's Blessings has...  REALLY WONDERFUL... and very fast service too...  

 A

There are so many things that A stands for... one is for this little rabbit ANNOUNCING that AUTUMN is here...  the APPLES are ready for the pies... and the AUTUMN leaves are falling...  

 I have to tell you that I love these Looking Glass stamps... I love them.. take a look at this UNICORN.... is he something... and that LION... GREAT going Alice with this AUTUMN CAKE....  

 N

Oh yes... so many things with N... we just don't maybe think of it...  the NEWLY fallen leaves.. the nesting of the little birds... do you feed the birds during the winter months when they can't find anything to nibble on...  do you thank them for all the sweet music that they give us all during the year...  look at all the colors in the leaves... so very vibrant and GREAT...  what a kaleidoscope of colors we have here this year...  the dogwood is the most vibrant red I have ever seen... and the yellows are just starting to form up... the oranges will be brilliant too...  

 And do we say GRACE with a flair... as the Mad Hatter does here...  with all his finery on...  We should thank ourselves everyday of the year for all we have in our lives... no matter how little it may seem... it is grand.  

Okay... now I would like to take a few side steps here and show you something that I JUST love... I have all the Distress line by Tim Holtz... and have found that coloring stamps can really be a lot of  fun... and you can get some great results with some great tools...  

So I wanted to really color these with a lot of flair... and so I grabbed my ALCOHOL inks and wanted to share this with you...  as I have shown these to so many people and they love it...  

You can use t he alcohol inks so many different ways.. but did you know this...  

 I love this stamp... Alice with these precious little kittens... and since this is for the K section... what could be more perfect???  Anyway... I wanted to have a nice little frame around this...  so I used a corner and border punch set... and then colored it with my alcohol inks...  

 The pieces that came out of the punches.. I saved and colored them too...  

I found this palette with a cover... made by Ranger and it is for the alcohol inks... you put some of the ink into each well... and let it DRY...  

Then using a refillable pen... you fill it with Solvent and can use that to pick up the color from the palette and color your stamped images...  I love the effect that it gives... it looks like water color... yet you have the control of a marker... 

 You can use the alcohol inks so many different ways.. but did you know this...


It is so very easy...  and will allow you another way to create with your Alcohol inks...  

 Okay... now you can use that same pen...  and fill it with the alcohol inks... 

and on the band mark it with the color ink you have used... 

Now go one step more...  you can CREATE your own colors...  
like a light green using blues and yellow inks...  what fun... each pen is naturally refillable by YOU... with YOUR own bottles of inks that you use for other alcohol ink projects... really fun...  '

 You don't have to have many... but hey... I love lots of colors... so I have a lot... and always find that I need more and more of these... to create new colors...  

Hope you have enjoyed this little side show...  now on with the main event... 

 K

 Here is ALICE in all her glory with these cute little kittens...  I love it.. and she is GRATEFUL for them... she loves them dearly...  

 And here is Alice trying to project herself from a storm of little leaves... (the ones I punched out... )   So much fun...  and all the animals that she has around her... she has to be GRATEFUL for them too... 

S  

The letter S...  So many words of thanks for this letter... but lets say that this book is all about gratitude... and THANKSGIVING... and what a SPECIAL day that is of the year...  also for sharing with all our friends... and how about the SHEEP.. that give us the wool for our clothes... thanks for that to all the sheep out there...  and to all the shop owners too...  it is a SEASON of THANKSGIVING ... and I am thankful... thanks...   

 I Love this little book.. .but will be mailing it onto my Mom who loves ALICE... and she will enjoy this SPECIAL little gift... 

I do hope that you have enjoyed it too...  

THANKS for stopping by for a visit.. and I do hope that you take a look at Nature's Blessings...  wonderful stamps of all kinds...  

 

I decided that I should commit to doing the Creative EveryDay challenge… and so I signed up and will be doing a piece every day for a month… nothing really different for me… as art is my life in so many ways… but I will try and share more with you each day… 

Have a great day... and thanks for all the wonderful comments that you leave...  Love them all...  

Love, Light and Peace..Bonnie 

Background papers

 I just needed to unwind so I tore a piece of paper in half and started to ink them up... using some stencils, new inks, new stencils, and just had a lot of fun... I love just playing for the heck of it... 

I have a bin near where I sit in the studio, and it is filled with all kinds of papers that I have made and will find a home for them all... I don't throw out too many pieces of paper at all... very little in fact... tiny scraps...  

Anyway.. unwinding is special...  
Hope you had a fun day... and that you find your art enjoyable in all ways...  See you soon... Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie  

Think outside the BOX

This week the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge theme is WOMEN…. So I had to make some more tags… I just HAD to… now two ways about it…  I felt the need to use some stamps that have been screaming at me for a LONG time…

I also just got some of the new 6x6 background stamps from Impression Obsession… so I have used them too… I love them …. They are wonderful …. Hope that you like them too if you have them… I think they are an asset to any collection of stamps…

I also used some Just Rite Stamps… and some of Martha’s Punches…  and of course Spellbinders…and Tim's Die cut of the Tattered Floral... I don't think I could live without that one...  I love the flowers I can make with that die and a few baby wipes... LOL... 

  

These tags are a little Shabby Chic… and a little of this and that… but I really had fun with them.. .that is for sure… I am going to use them for Birthday present tags on the front of a white bag… so very perfect.. and I have a lot of them coming up… so these will give me a head start…

The meaning behind this tag is very forceful in my mind… women need to step out of the box and be heard as to who they truly are… the inner being that is… so this tag is for that feeling…  the perfume and lacey things are fine… but let the mind be heard and speak you truest feelings….  

The background is graduation… the dots start out small and get larger… so let your voice be soft and then let it get louder…  stop hiding and be a WOMAN in the truest way…

Hope that you have a wonderful day… thing strong… and enjoy yourself in all ways…  thanks for stopping by for a visit… I love your visits…. Love, Light and Peace....Bonnie 

Can you see me???

 This week's ALTERED ALICE challenge is to make something that represents FALL.... so here it is... I had so many ideas... but this is the first one that has come out onto the paper .... ( you will see more...) you know I love doing paper things... and love ALICE things too... 

Anyway... this is the little Cheshire cat... in the tree playing with all the fall leaves... trying to hide... "Can you see me"  
 

I think so... but if you think I can't that is fine too...  you will disappear anyway...and then appear when you need to... LOL... you silly cat.  

Okay... fall to be is the many wonderful colors that all the leaves turn... and I do love them all... so that is what this double tag represents...  Yes there are two tags there... one underneath has all the leaves attached.. which were cut out with the Tim Holtz tattered leaf die... from SCRAPS that were left overs from Twinkling H20 papers... I just can't throw out pieces of that paper... they are too pretty... so I cut leaves and flowers from it... they are always handy to use for all kinds of things... such as this tag...  

These leaves were all glued onto the tag that I colored with Ripe Persimmon  (new TH Distress Fall ink set)   The smaller tag was colored with Twinkling H20's... but the leaves (I made the stamp)  were colored with Distress stains...  and the CAT... he was colored with an assortment of markers...  (Tombow and Mementos)  

I cut the letters out of black cardstock freehand...  and the crowning glory... the seambinding tapes... they were colored with all the fall colors... 

Yesterday (sunday) Glenn and I took our usual Sunday drive up the mountain to do a little food shopping and seeing the leaves... and the colors are just about in their prime... so very pretty... I dont' think we are going to have a really bright year... but what we did see was wonderfully colored for our eyes... we totally enjoyed the fall foliage and colors...  so this is also a CAN YOU SEE ME... the beauty of fall all around you... are you looking... or is it hiding from you..  

Take a look and see...  

Have a fun day.. thanks for stopping by for a visit... and hope to see you soon... 

Love, Light and Peace.... Bonnie

The BELOVED Tea Party

 The Mad Hatter is really a lot of fun to play with... he is as crazy as can be... so the playing field is so open to us... 


The theme this month at the ALTERED ALICE is the Mad Hatter's Tea Party... 

I also had just received this great set of tea pot stamps from my winnings on Simon Says Stamp and show... so I wanted to use these... I love them... they match his wild bow tie... how perfect is that...  

 SO..... I also wanted a hanging heart in a special place in my kitchen... between the cabinets and the stove...  so this is going to be hung up there...  I love this... it is going to be right by our own TEAS.... how perfect is that...  


Okay... so now I will tell you about some of the other fun things... with the tea pot stamps... there were cup cakes...  and a few flowers... but the tea pots and cup and saucer and the cupcakes were just what I wanted for this...  so I made a cup cake serving 'tree'   Since the Mad Hatter lives in the woods... wild as he is... the woods of Wonderland...  I used a twig punch for the tiers of the cupcake platter... Love it... 


I decorated each cupcake with paints and then embellished with Distress Stickles ...(glittery glues... )  and then topped them off with Liquid pearls... for the cherries etc... what fun I had doing that...  

The tea pots and the cup and saucers were all done with markers...  and also a few colored pencils... and anything that had the color I wanted... 

 I made the table with a sheet of 
Glassine  from Ranger and then added the brown paper ruffle that I made with an old paper bag...  The letters Tea Party are from Tim Holtz's line of ideology goodies...  

Way down at the bottom I put a flower on there... as all tea party tables have to have a pretty flower arrangement on it.. no matter how Mad the person is that is having the Tea Party... LOL... the flower I made from a baby wipe... and I love the way that these look... 

The back ground paper on the top I made with my favorite paints... Twinkling H20's... and the bottom is made with Distress Stains and a word stamp...  

I have it hanging up now... and I must say I love it...  some seam binding is holding it up... and it looks great...  I did use clear Glossy accent on the tea pots... so that they would look like real china...  so much fun... and just a jump away from the end of the month... so make something and join in on the Altered Alice Challenge...  it is a lot of fun..... 

Thanks for taking a look at my fun times I have... and for stopping by for a visit... I love it all.. 

Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie 

Travels... you are going to love these! ! !

 A long story very very short... some one showed Sande and I this adorable little suitcase that they had made at a Tim Holtz class... and we fell in love with it... 


So I decided that it was about time I got the brain into gear and made one... 

Oh what fun I had making these... I started out with one... and of course couldn't stop.... you know me... 

 One is never enough... besides, I am going to have to show a lot of people how to make this fun little suitcase, so I have to know all the ins and outs of how to make it and simply make it... 


I used paper on this one.... actually a K&co paper... a little bit thicker than paper... and used real sheet music on the corners...  


This is the little 'lock' area.. and it 
of course locks the suitcase

 I used Bazzill for the handles and put sewing holes along the edges for detail... 


I had to make this look like a real suitcase, so I put a key, tags and also a Tim Holtz 
Philosophy token on it... Since this suitcase is for my

Mom, I used the LIFETIME one... as it is going to be a little suitcase with a book on the inside of all the places in the world she has been to...  in her LIFETIME... since she is 92 ... I didn't want her to really think her travels were over, so I added a few extra pages in the back... 
 

 Here is the book cover... and it has 25 pages... as she has been to almost that many places..  
her Travels... love it... she is going to really enjoy this... and look back at all the great places she has been and remember things that she has forgotten... 

 On the inside of the box... more great K&co papers... a fish... and a flower... wow... fun things... very collage like and all done for me... 

Don't forget this little suitcase is made from 100% chipboard... and covered with papers...  Love making these cute little things...  

 Here is the inside of the book... actually the first page... places in the USA that Mom has visited...  


And a quilled flower on the inside of the cover.. 

When I was little we had a car that sort of looked like this... and we called her Jenny...  I hope Mom remembers this... this car use to have major problems.. but it generally got us to where we were going... overheating or not... LOL... a real problem in the hot summer months.. 

 Okay... now as I said... Sande and I really wanted to make these and had been planning on doing them for a while... so we had bought some really nice suede papers... and so I wanted to do a couple in them... I even embossed the darker color using a bubble folder by Cuttlebug...  

 You can see the Philosophy token a little bit better here... this is for a journey journal... 

 The lock area... and the swivel chain by Tim Holtz Ideology line of great things...  I love these things... really puts the finishing touch on things... don't you think.... try them ... they are fun to use too.. 

 This is the inside... fully lined... and of course the little books will be going on the inside.. 


the suitcase is 4" X 5" and 2 inches deep... so it is a good size little suitcase... and can hold a nice little book... 

 I wanted one done with a heavy cardstock... so I used some of Tim's papers... and this is going to be a suitcase of all the places that Glenn and I have traveled together in our 42 years together...  what fun remembering all those places... and trips that we took...

 Here is the inside... more of that great paper...  love it... 

 Okay... then I had to get a little funky... and made my own paper using some 6x6 stamps by Impression Obsession... love these stamps... and when Susan and Marie were over the other day, I used some of Susan's stamps and made these papers and then made the suitcase...  


I have not finished it yet... but will ... needed to think through some things on it... 

Here is the inside of the box... wow... I love this color with the brown outside... 
Oh by the way.. the outside is Gathered Twig Distress ink.. and inside is the Plum from the new Archival inks...  isn't that a rich color...  I love it...  

I am going to finish this and will show it to you when done... but not really sure yet what I am going to do with it... 

Just wanted to share these with you... dont' you just LOVE them... I do... and the books are just the right size... not too large and not to small... Spellbinders can be used in them.. and all the things we love to use fit perfectly... wow... what a fun project... 

Hope you have a fun day... and thanks for stopping by for a visit... hope to see you again soon.. Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie