Peaceful Reindeer

I had fun playing with Magenta Nuance on the background of this card, which is featured on the Magenta blog today.

I tapped out some blues, yellow, violet and greens, and sprayed it all with water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder. When the background was dry, the mini reindeer stencil (TM126) was placed on top and outlined with a black Micron pen.

In order to make the reindeer image pop, I colored inside the image with a water brush that was filled with bleach. Dots were added outside the antlers with Wedding Dress Pico embellisher. A white uni-ball pen would also work to achieve a similar look. I do like how when the Pico dries it's dimensional.

To finish the card, I stamped the sentiment, (Magenta 07.457.H Peace on Earth) in Versamark ink and embossed it with Judikins White Diamond embossing powder. The card is matted with So Silk Fair Blue card stock. With the So Silk paper, the White Diamond powder, and the Perfect Pearls, this card is quite sparkly in real life.

Magenta Products used:

MNU001 Turquoise

MNU002 Bright Yellow

MNU004 Jade

MNU009 Grass Green

MNU011 Cerulean Blue

MNU012 Violet

MNU013 Royal Blue

TM126 Mini Reindeer

07.457.H Peace on Earth

Other Products used:

Versamark ink

Judikins White Diamond embossing powder

Perfect Pearls powder

Micron Pen 01

Wedding Dress Pico Embellisher

Bleach in water brush

So Silk Fair Blue paper

Sending Peace and Joy

Remember that post I did about how to use your beautiful paper towels on a card? I had a paper towel that I had used to clean up after playing with Magent's Nuance powders, and I hated to throw it away. You can see that post here. It was a Technique of the Week, called "Upcycled Paper Towel". I used that technique again on this pair of cards.

These cards were made using the Hero Arts Stamp & Cut set DC169 Joy, and a paper towel used to clean up Nuance powders that I was using for Christmas cards. The "Joy" in the first card was actually cut out of the negative space on the second. You can really see the paper towel texture in the second card, yet when people see this card, they are always surprised to know that's what I used.

I hope you like these, and that you'll try using paper towels as your backgrounds!

Magenta Nuance used:

MNU004 Jade

MNU009 Grass Green

MNU010 Scarlet

MNU015 Red

Other Products Used:

Hero Arts Stamp & Cut Set DC169 Joy

Star dream paper

Various Sequins

Dream Your Reality

The new Fall products from Magenta are lovely any time of year! This card is being featured on the Magenta blog today.

For this project, I sprinkled Nuance powder onto watercolor card stock, and spritzed with water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder. When the panel was dry, I stamped the beautiful Leaves of Joy image using Versafine Onyx black ink. The John Lennon quote was stamped in Versamark ink and embossed with Ranger black sparkle embossing powder.

To make the flower images stand out a little better, I painted them with a water brush containing bleach. I love this technique!

Magenta Products Used:

MNU012 Bright Yellow

MNU004 Jade

MNU009 Grass Green

MNU015 Red

85.017.O Leaves of Joy

07.945.K Reality

Other Products Used:

Versafine Onyx Black Ink

Versamark Ink

Ranger Black Sparkle embossing powder

Perfect Pearls powder

Stardream paper

Tim Holtz watercolor card stock

Technique of the Week: Using Magenta Nuance on Regular 80# Card Stock

I was inspired this week by Teresa Staal, who is a member of Nib 'n Inks. Nib 'n Inks is the fabulous calligraphy group that makes the calendars that we sell at Art 'n Soul once a year.

Teresa did the lovely January page of the 2016 calendar, and she used Magenta Nuance on it!



Nuance colors are the wonderful powdered colors by Magenta. I use them constantly, but have always used them on watercolor paper, so I was inspired to try using them on a piece of regular Neenah Solar White, 80# cardstock. Although I didn't follow the same technique that Teresa did, I found my way.

I got out and used all of the blues and purples (Cerulean Blue; Turquoise; Royal Blue; Violet and Purple). I tapped just a little color onto the paper at a time, and moistened a sponge with a little spritz of pearly water. I rubbed the sponge on the paper to spread the color around. This method allows you to color the paper without getting it too wet. It's best not to use too much water, or rub too much - just enough to get the color spread evenly. I continued to tap color and rub with a damp sponge until I was happy with the look.

I love this method! Not only can you use regular cardstock, I think it gives more control over where the color is placed.

To finish the card, I stamped the bottom of the panel with Magenta  07.457.H Peace on Earth with Versamark ink (I think a lot of my Christmas cards are going to feature this sentiment this year). I embossed the sentiment with Judikins White Diamond embossing powder.

I then die cut a snowflake into the panel. One of my favorite dies this year is Memory Box Dazzling Snowflake 99041. It cuts a beautiful star shaped snowflake into your card. I used this die on my panel, and it's just the right size for an A2 (4.25" x 5.5") card.

I took another piece of white cardstock and covered it with Versamark ink and used White Diamond embossing powder on the whole piece. 

I placed the blue snowflake panel onto the piece of White Diamond cardstock. The sparkly shine of the White Diamond shows through the openings in the snowflake beautifully, as well as showing around the edges of the panel. I mounted the piece onto a base card and scattered a few sequins.

People have asked me how I put sequins onto a card, and this is what I do: First I lay out the sequins onto the panel until I like how they look. I usually use an odd number and sprinkle them in a diagonal line. I squeeze some Ranger Multi Medium Matte onto my craft sheet. This is the only glue I will use for sequins. I have tried many others, and this is the one that works the best for me. I pick up each sequin, dip into the glue and place back on the card. Wait for them to dry and they will be firmly affixed.

I hope you try this technique with Nuance. It's fun, fast, and creates a lovely effect.

Magenta Products Used:

MNU001 Turquoise

MNU003 Purple

MNU011 Cerulean Blue

MNU012 Violet

MNU013 Royal Blue

07.457.H Peace on Earth

Other Products Used:

Memory Box 99041 Dazzling Snowflake

Judikins White Diamond embossing powder

Versamark Ink

Neenah Solar White 80# card stock

Various sequins

Ranger Multi Medium Matte adhesive

Happy Happy Christmas

Continuing with the theme of keeping Christmas cards simple, here is another one that I did for the Art 'n Soul Christmas Party inspiration.

Taking a piece of sparkly red cardstock cut to 4" X 5.25", I used the Memory Box die Distressed Snowflake Collage on the left side. This die cuts out snowflake shaped holes in your paper, in several sizes and shapes, and I love how this looks.

I stamped the Hero Arts stamp Happy Happy Christmas in Versamark ink, and embossed with Judikins White Diamond embossing powder. I love the font of this stamp, and love that it says Happy Christmas. Just a little difference that makes me happy.

Not shown is that I glued a few of the snowflakes that came out of the Memory Box die cut onto the inside of the card.

The panel was mounted on a white cardstock base, and I sprinkled a few sequins. This card is actually quite sparkly in real life, fast to make, and very mailable.

Products used:

Memory Box die 30061 Distressed Snowflake Collage

Hero Arts Stamp H6116 Happy Happy Christmas

Sparkly red cardstock of unknown provenance, but Stardream Jupiter would also be pretty

Versamark ink

Judikins White Diamond embossing powder

Various sequins

Golden Reindeer

I really love this reindeer stencil (TM134) that is part of the Magenta 2015 Christmas collection. This card is featured on the Magenta blog today (November 14).

This card was made very simply by applying Versamark ink through the stencil, onto a piece of white card stock.  Image was embossed with Judikins Gold Detail embossing powder. The sentiment was stamped with Versamark ink and also embossed with Judikins Gold Detail embossing powder. The panel was mounted onto a piece of gold mirrircard paper, and some sequins were scattered around. Another very simple, quick card, but with an elegant feel.

Magenta Products used:

TM134 Reindeer

07.457.H Peace on Earth

Other Products used:

Versamark Ink

Judikins Gold Detail embossing powder

Gold Mirrircard paper

various sequins

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

This card was made very simply using a great sentiment die from Impression Obsession (DIE330-R).

First, a circle was cut out of white card stock using the Memory Box Stitched Circle Layers die (30036), and adhered to a base card of red textured card stock.

To create the paper that the sentiment was cut from, I made use of a paper towel that I had used to clean up when I was playing with red and green Nuance colors. This technique was illustrated in a previous post here. If you adhere your beautiful paper towels to card stock, you can use it for stamping and/or die cutting. Since I used perfect pearls powder with the Nuance, the resulting die cut has a beautiful sparkly appearance.

The die from Impression has the "Merry Christmas" sentiment, but also "and a Happy New Year". You can choose to use them together or separately. In this case, I used the Happy New Year sentiment on the inside of the card.

Since the base card is red, I cut a panel out of white card stock using the Memory Box Stitched Rectangle Layers die set. The sentiment was adhered at the top, and there is still plenty of room to write a personal note.

At the end, I scattered a few sequins on the front. This would be a simple card to mass produce. You could cut the sentiment from paper that you have prepared with watercolor, paper towels, or just scraps of paper with Christmas colors.

Magenta Nuance colors used

MNU004 Jade

MNU009 Grass Green

MNU010 Scarlet

MNU015 Red

Dies used:

Impression Obsession Merry Christmas and Happy New Year DIE330-R

Memory Box Stitched Circle Layers 30036

Memory Box Stitched Rectangle Layers 30009

Best Gifts Don't Come Under the Tree

At Art 'n Soul, we recently had a Christmas party event, where we made lots of Christmas and winter themed cards to provide inspiration for Holiday card making. I will try to share all of mine here.

First up is a card I made using some Penny Black stamps. This beautiful tree stamp is one that we acquired from the new Penny Black collection. 

I find that when I want an interesting background, I often will go to my Nuance colors from Magenta. Since I wanted a primarily blue background, I used all of the blues and the violet for the background of this card, and I love how it turned out. I tapped each color onto a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor card stock, and sprayed it with water mixed with perfect pearls powder.

When it was dry, I stamped the image and sentiment with Versamark ink, and embossed with White Diamond embossing powder from Judikins. It's very hard to capture in a picture how very sparkly this card is in real life. This card could be easily mass produced by making lots of backgrounds first...which would just be a lot of fun!

To finish the card, I matted it with So Silk white card stock, and the base card is Stardream Steel Blue. Since the base card is dark, I made a panel for the inside by die cutting some Neenah Solar White cardstock using the largest size of Memory Box Stitched Rectangle layers. This allows a good place to either stamp an inside sentiment, or to write a personal message, or both.

Magenta Nuance colors used:

MNU001 Turquoise

MNU011 Cerulean Blue

MNU013 Royal Blue

MNU012 Violet

Penny Black stamps used:

40-417 Regalia

30-310 Believe (clear set of sentiments)

Other Products used:

Perfect pearls pearl powder

Versamark Ink

Judikins White Diamond embossing powder

Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock

Stardream Blue Steele cardstock

So Silk White cardstock

Neenah 80# Solar White cardstock

Memory Box Stitched Rectangle Layers die 30009