Magenta Christmas Stencil Catalog

Magenta has launched a new catalog of Christmas stencils, and they are beautiful and amazing! This collection by Christine Gaudreault of MarieLune Designs is a must have for your Christmas cards and tags. Some of these stencils are already available at Art 'n Soul, and more on the way!

If you are having any trouble viewing the catalog, please go the Magenta blog here

More Inspiration Station September

Here are two more cards that I did for Art 'n Soul's Inspiration Station this month. Really, I could not stop making cards with this versatile stamp set. I love that the images have an almost Zentangled look to them.

This first one has another die cut from the Upcycled Paper Towel (see previous post). The background is Magenta Nuance (another product I really can not stop playing with). All my Nuance projects are done on watercolor paper.

The last card was very simply done: a Nuance background and the images are stamped with Versamark (clear, sticky ink) and embossed with gold embossing powder. Easy, fast and pretty!

It's also worth it to note that whenever I spray onto  the powdered Nuance, it's with pearly water. (1/4 tsp Perfect Pearls powder to 2 oz water in a spray bottle). I love the shimmer that this gives.

Happy Thanksgiving Card

Magenta Nuance used:

MNU002 Bright Yellow

MNU008 Golden Yellow

MNU006 Orange

MNU010 Scarlet

MNU004 Jade

Other Products Used:

Hero Arts Stamp Set CL-882 Autumn

Hero Arts Die Set Frame Cut DI-156

Paper towel used to clean up after using Nuance

Versafine Onyx Black ink

Tim Holtz watercolor paper

Stardream Flame paper

Orange fuzzy twine

Various sequins

Pearly water (using Perfect Pearls)

Give Thanks Card

Magenta Nuance used:

Same as above, plus:

MNU009 Grass Green

Other Products Used:

Hero Arts Stamp Set CL-882 Autumn

Tim Holtz Watercolor paper

Judikins Gold Detail embossing powder

Versamark ink

Pearly water (using Perfect Pearls)

Technique of the Week: Upcycled Paper Towel

In conjunction with Art 'n Soul's Technique of the Week, and also Inspiration Station for September, this post is about how to use your paper towels that you don't want to throw away.

Here is a card I made with my paper towel

Have you ever been crafting and mopping things up with a paper towel, and at the end of it all, think "this is too pretty to throw away?" Don't throw it away!

I had a paper towel that was covered with Nuance and pearly water that I had been using to clean up during a project. The colors and sparkle on it were beautiful!

Paper Towels have 2 plys. Once the paper towel you are using is dry, peel it apart, and you will have 2 pieces to use on projects.

This is a technique I learned from Marj Marion, who showed me how to do this with napkins. Rub a glue stick over a piece of card stock. It is preferable to use white card stock, since your paper towel will be somewhat translucent, and the color of the card stock will show through. White will brighten your piece.

Lay your paper towel carefully (single ply) over the card stock that you have prepared with the glue stick. Smooth it down and if you have a brayer, brayer it smooth. If you don't have a brayer, use your fingers to smooth it down. Let the glue dry.

At this point, you can use your paper towel as patterned paper. You can stamp on it (I used Versafine Black Onyx), and you can die cut with it. You can also just cut it to size and adhere it onto a card with a stamped image or sentiment.

In the card above, I first stamped on the paper towel that was adhered to the card stock. Then I die cut it into leaf shapes. I used the new Hero Arts stamp set CL-882 "Autumn", and the die set Frame Cuts DI-156. We are featuring these sets in Inspiration Station this month. All of the color in these leaves comes from the Nuance that was on the paper towel.

This was a fun technique and I love how it turned out. I hope you will try it!

Magenta Nuance used:

Bright Yellow MNU002

Jade MNU004

Orange MNU006

Golden Yellow MNU008

Grass Green MNU009

Scarlet MNU010

Other Products used:

Hero Arts Stamp Set Autumn CL-882

Hero Arts Die Set Frame Cuts DI-156

Stardream Gold (strip)

Memento Rich Cocoa (used to stamp sentiment)

Versafine Onyx Black ink (used to stamp onto paper towel)

Paper Towel used to clean up when using Magenta Nuance

Inspiration Station September

Here is one of the the cards I made for this month's Inspiration Station at Art 'n Soul. This one was made with some of the Inchie+ pieces that I made with Nuance (see previous post)

I had so much fun with this project, especially working with Inchies and Nuance!

After pressing the Inchie Art Squares into puddles of Nuance, and letting them dry, I stamped on them with the featured stamp set (Hero Arts CL-882 Autumn). 

I mounted them onto a panel of watercolor paper (also splattered with Nuance), and matted the panel with 2 colors of Stardream paper. The sentiment is also from the Hero Arts set, and I scattered various sequins (applied with Ranger Multi Medium Matte). Super fun and super easy!

When I was playing with the Nuance, I got it on my craft mat, on my Art Squares, on various pieces of watercolor paper, and I mopped up everything with a paper towel. After a craft session, did you ever have a paper towel that was too beautiful to throw away? More on that tomorrow!

The September Inspiration Station projects are on display at Art 'n Soul now! Please come in to see what the staff has made to inspire you. The pictures are never as good as seeing them in person.

Magenta Nuance used:

Nuance MNU-010 Scarlet

Nuance MNU-008 Golden Yellow

Nuance MNU-009 Grass Green

Nuance MNU-006 Orange

Nuance MNU-002 Bright Yellow

Other Products used:

Hero Arts Stamp set CL882 (Inspiration Station feature)

Inchie + Artboard Squares, white (1.5" square)

Versafine Onyx Black Ink

Tim Holtz Watercolor paper

Stardream Flame and Stardream Gold paper

Various sequins

Ranger Multi Medium Matte

Inchies and Magenta Nuance

Why yes, I AM supposed to be working on my Inspiration Station project for September. Can't. stop. pressing Inchie+ Artboard Squares into Magenta Nuance mixed with pearly water. You might see these squares again some time in the future!

I sprinkled Magenta Nuance powders around on my craft mat and sprayed with pearly water (1/4 tsp Perfect Pearls Pearl mixed with 2 oz water). I pressed Inchie+ Artboard squares into the puddles. Each one was like opening a present. These have a lot of shine in real life. I plan to stamp on some of these, and some are like little artworks of their own. Really fun! I absolutely love Inchie Artboard Squares and how they react with color and water.

Technique of the Week: Stencil Stamping Update

In conjunction with the Art 'n Soul newsletter, this is an update on the technique of Stencil Stamping that I have posted about before here.

First I applied color to a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor paper, using mini Distress inks direct from pad to paper. For this project, I used Mustard Seed and Mowed Lawn.

I blended the colors just a bit with a mini ink blending tool

I sprayed the back of the stencil liberally with a mixture of water and Perfect Pearls powder (1/4 tsp of Perfect Pearls to 2 oz water) and applied the wet stencil to the inked panel and pressed it down.

When I lifted it up, the pattern was not as strong or dark as I wanted.

Even after waiting a bit for it to dry, it didn't show up as much as I wanted

I replaced the stencil onto the panel, and using a mini blending tool, I inked through the stencil with Mowed Lawn Distress ink. For this step you can use one of the original colors, or any darker color that will go with your project will work.

This time when I removed the stencil, the design really popped!

This is a peek at one of Magenta's newest stencils (TM123), which will be launched very soon in their new Christmas Stencil collection. You are going to love them! I will make a card from this panel for the Magenta blog. Watch for it!

Magenta September Challenge!

September 2015 - Magenta Challenge:

Autumn

Create a Card, a Layout, an Art Journal page, or even an altered object; whichever you feel like, and follow the theme. Use some Magenta products such as: papers, stamps, embellishments, Peel Off's, chipboard, stencils, etc.

Be sure to link back to the Magenta challenge here.

The winner will be drawn randomly from the participant's linked up entries.

Challenge projects that catch Magenta's eye will be featured in the winner post.

Here's my card:

 For this card I used my newest favorite coloring medium, Nuance from Magenta. I started with a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor paper, and I masked off a rectangular area in the center of the panel. I did not press it down hard, because I wanted the colors to bleed into the rectangle a little. I chose some Fall colors of Nuance, and tapped the powder into a palette. I added pearly water (1/4 tsp Perfect Pearls Pearl in 2 oz water) to each color, and painted them around the masked area. Then, using the Magenta Maple Leaf 1 stamp (665.K) I stamped all around the rectangle using Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.

I removed the mask, and stamped the Magenta Fall Text stamp into the middle of the rectangle with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink. Last I took some of the leftover Nuance from my palette, and flicked it into the center of the rectangle.

I mounted the panel onto copper Stardream paper as a mat, and then onto a white base card. In spite of the recent hot weather where I live, this card really makes me feel like Fall!

Magenta Products used:

Magenta Maple Leaf 1 0665K

Fall Text 07.347.I

Nuance Bright Yellow MNU-002

Nuance Golden Yellow MNU-008

Nuance Orange MNU-006

Nuance Scarlet MNU-010

Nuance Grass Green MNU-009

Other Products used:

Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink

Stardream Copper paper

Tim Holtz Watercolor paper

Now it's your turn!

You have until September 30th to enter!

You could win a Magenta gift certificate valued at $25!

Please read the challenge requirements carefully and please be sure to follow them to be eligible to be entered in the random draw.

Use InLinkz on the Magenta Blog here to submit your page.

 You may enter up to a five different entries and each entry must be linked up separately.