Decorative Christmas Tree

Here's my latest post for Magenta, and you can see it on the Magenta blog today also.  I really like how this card turned out.  I seem to gravitate toward blues this time of year.  This lovely Decorative Christmas Tree stamp from Magenta makes such an effortless and beautiful card; it does all the work for you!

I inked the background with distress inks, using a blending tool, and dried it with a heat tool.  The tree and sentiment were both stamped with Versamark, and embossed with White Diamond embossing powder from Judikins.  After mixing some Perfect Pearl powder with water, I flicked that onto the card to simulate snow.  I used some Waterfall Stickles in a few areas to add even more sparkle.  In my photo, I could not really capture how sparkly this card is in real life.

Stamps all by Magenta:  Decorative Christmas Tree 42.170.O; Joyeux Noel 07.780.G (English version of Merry Christmas is available, and would also work here 07.779.G)

Other Materials used:

Versamark Ink

White Diamond embossing powder by Judikins

Distress Inks:  Chipped Sapphire; Faded Jeans; Stormy Sky

Perfect Pearls - Pearl

Waterfall Stickles

Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers!!

Christmas Wishes

I absolutely love the new circle and seal stamps from Magenta.  They remind me of Christmas ornaments, and they can give a very elegant look to a card.  Here I embossed them with gold embossing powder and punched them out with circle punches.  Very simple and quick to do!  These would also look great on tags.  You need a 2" round punch for the Christmas Wishes Seal stamp; a 1.75" round punch for the Reindeer Seal; and a 1.25" round punch for the Ornamental Circles.

By Dianne Johnson

Stamps used -all from Magenta
42.169.H Christmas Wishes Seal 

42.164.H Reindeer Seal

42.176.F Ornamental Circle 1 

42.177.F Ornamental Circle 2

07.779.G Merry Christmas

Paper is Red canvas paper from Magenta

Other:  Gold embossing powder

Xmas Red Stickles

Christmas Spirit

I have a new post on the Magenta Blog with some of my cards using one of my favorite Christmas stamps from Magenta, Christmas Spirit 07.777.G.  I can imagine so many different cards using this stamp, paired with the Memory Box jar dies; it's a perfect pairing.

Magenta stamps used:

07.777.G Christmas Spirit

42.171.J Christmas Ornaments

42.180.O Christmas Song 

Other:

Memory Box die 98382 Tall Canning Jar

Memento Ink:  Bamboo Leaves; Love Letter; Desert Sand

I inked up the ornament stamp with both Bamboo Leaves and Love Letter inks from Memento, and stamped it onto some patterned paper that had a little shading.  I also added the Christmas Song image, that I inked lightly.  I die cut the stamped image using the canning jar die.  On all three cards, I also die cut the jar in acetate to cover the image.  It's hard to see in the photos, but in real life, it's a fun look.  The jar lids were die cut from some scrap silver paper.

Magenta stamps used:

07.777.G Christmas Spirit

412.169.H Christmas Wishes Seal

Other:

Memory Box Die 98382 Tall Canning Jar

Memento Ink: Danube Blue

Stardream Fuse Vista paper

Waterfall Stickles

Embossing Folder:  Couture Creations Co723278 Powder Puff

On the card above, I used the Christmas Wishes Seal stamp, but it was a little big to fit in the jar, so I taped off part of it when inking.  It's such a pretty snowflake image, and this is a good way to get more use from your stamps!

Magenta stamps used:

 07.777.G Christmas Spirit

42.173.O Decorative Christmas Tree

Other:

Memory Box Die 98383 Small Canning Jar

Memory Box Die 98420 Magic Flourish

Distress Stains:  Mowed Lawn; Festive Berries

Memento Ink: Danube Blue

Stardream Fuse Fairway paper

Embossing Folder: Couture Creations Co723603 Sugarplum Ball

On this last card, I had stamped the Decorative Christmas Tree and embossed in gold, and tried applying Distress Stains to the image, using the splat technique.  I ended up not liking how that turned out, so I instead used that image to die cut the small canning jar.  I love how the gold flourish in the tree, and the red and green Distress Stain colors are perfect to show Christmas spirit.  I also used the rest of the tree image to die cut with the Magic Flourish die, showing Christmas Spirit swirling up out of the opened jar.  Fun!

Magenta November 2013 Challenge

November 2013 - Magenta Challenge :

Fall Colors

Create a Card, a Layout or even an alterned object if you feel like it!
You simply have to follow the Fall Colors theme and use at least one Magenta product :

papers, stamps, embellishment, Peel Off's, chipboard and more...

You have until November 28th to participate in the Challenge

You could win this Magenta Prize :

You can enter the challenge on the Magenta blog here and be sure to check out the samples from the Design Team for inspiration.

Here is my card, based on the Fall Colors theme:

Magenta Stamps used:  Oak Leaf 0664.J; Maple Leaf 1 0665.K; Maple Leaf 2 0666.K;
                                       I am in Love With This Day! 07.730.H
Distress Inks used:  Barn Door; Rusty Hinge; Peeled Paint; Mustard Seed
Memento Inks used:  Lady Bug; Olive Grove; Rich Cocoa
Artquest Palette:  Metallic

I masked a panel of white card stock with post-it notes and used the Distress Inks with a blending tool to create the  Autumn colored strip.  I stamped the leaf stamps with the Memento Inks over the strip of color.

The sentiment stamp I used is all in one line, and I wanted a shorter, stacked sentiment, so I used a stamp positioner to create that look.  I taped over the second half of the sentiment, and inked it up; then I removed the tape, positioned the first line of text on the card and stamped.  I then taped over the first half of the sentiment, inked up the stamp; removed the tape; and positioned the second line of text and stamped.  I love how this technique turned out, and I love that you can get more use from your stamps this way.

I applied the Distress Inks onto another piece of white card stock, using the blending tool and stamped over the colors I had created with the Maple Leaf 2 stamp, and cut it out.  I mounted the cut-out stamped image onto the panel using the technique that we learned in Montreal from Mimi of Mimi a la Carte.  You apply several blobs of silicone caulk (that you can find at the hardware store) onto the spot on your card where you want to pop up your image.  Be sure to draw the blobs up to a point when applying.  Gently place your cut-out onto the silicone and only press down very gently if at all.  Allow the silicone to dry for several hours.

After the silicone had dried, I matted the panel with Stardream Flame and Magenta red Canvas paper, and mounted onto a card.  I used Artquest Metallic water color to splatter the card.

I want to encourage everyone to enter this challenge.  You just have to use a Fall color theme, use at least one Magenta product, and go to the Magenta blog to enter; you will have a chance to win a great prize!