Backporch: April 2016

Friday, April 29, 2016

Technique of the Week: White Pencil Shading

I got this technique from Jennifer McGuire and thought I would try it out this week. It was super fun and easy to do. It makes your image look almost like it was hand drawn.

This technique looks best done on a piece of dark cardstock. You will need white pigment ink and a white Prismacolor pencil, and a stamp that is an outline type of stamp. I chose one of the new Magenta stamps 14.650.P Iceland Poppy.

Stamp your image using white pigment ink. I used Hero Arts White Unicorn ink.

Let your stamped image dry, or heatset it to dry it.

Start coloring with a white Prismacolor pencil on all of the stamped lines to soften them, and shade into the image. Be sure to leave some of the background color of the cardstock so that it shows through.

If any of your stamped lines get too covered up, draw them in a little darker with the white pencil.

To finish the card, I stamped a sentiment (Magenta 07.928.I With Sympathy) in Versamark ink and embossed it with JudiKins White Opaque embossing powder. I added some white dots to the center of the flowers using Imagine Crafts' Pico Embellisher in Wedding Dress. A few sequins were added, and I matted the panel with black So Silk.

This card was really fun and easy to do, and I hope you will give it a try.

Magenta Products Used

14.650.P Iceland Poppy

07.928.I With Sympathy

Other Products Used

Prismacolor White Color Pencil

Hero Arts Unicorn White Pigment ink

Versamark ink

Imagine Crafts Wedding Dress Pico Embellisher

JudiKins White Opaque embossing powder

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Simple Nuance Backgrounds

I taught three Nuance classes April 15 & 16, and my students were amazing! We had a wonderful time, and everyone finished five cards. The fifth card was a bonus, so that people could use one of the extra Nuance panels they made during the class. These are my samples for the possible fifth card, so that students could choose which die cut to use.

The panel above was made by tapping Nuance onto glossy cardstock and spraying the powder with pearly water - one color at a time was used and then heat set to dry. Since I wanted to put the Poppy Tree Triptych over it, I cut the panel down and had room for my favorite Thank You sentiment from Magenta, (07.882.I Multilingual Thank You) which was stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with White Diamond embossing powder. The Poppy die cut was cut from Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock and glued to the Nuanced glossy panel with Ranger multi medium matte adhesive.

The Celebrate panel was made by tapping some Nuance onto my craft mat, spritzing it with pearly water, and pressing a piece of watercolor cardstock into the puddles of color, one by one, and then drying each color. The Memory Box Stitched Celebrate Circle Frame was glued to the panel with Ranger Multi Medium matte adhesive.

The Happy Birthday panel was made by sprinkling Nuance onto watercolor cardstock and then spritzing with pearly water. I started with reds, and since there were some areas of the card that did not have the red, I thought I would try to tap in some complementary green. I also added some yellow as a little buffer. It worked, and I did not get mud! The Memory Box Stitched Happy Birthday rectangle was glued to the panel with Ranger Multi Medium matte adhesive.

This Thank You panel was made a lot like the "Celebrate" card above, where I tapped Nuance onto my craft mat and pressed watercolor paper into it. I love these blotches of color, and a plain white die cut goes perfectly over it. I was being brave, and put some yellow next to purple. I didn't get mud, but it was a near thing! It helps a lot to dry each color before moving on to the next. The Memory Box Scalloped Circle Thank You Frame was glued to the panel using Ranger Multi Medium matte adhesive.

Magenta Products Used

Card #1

07.882.I Multilingual Thank You

All Cards

MNUC Nuance Complete Collection

Other Products Used

Card #1 Tree Thank You
Poppy Die 1413 Tree Triptych
White Diamond Embossing Powder
So Silk Beauty Pink cardstock
Kromecoat glossy cardstock
Ranger Multi Medium matte adhesive
Various sequins

Card #2 Celebrate
Memory Box Die 99320 Stitched Celebrate Circle Frame
So Silk Purple cardstock
Tim Holtz Watercolor cardstock
Ranger Multi Medium matte adhesive
Variou sequins

Card #3 Happy Birthday
Memory Box Die 99379 Stitched Happy Birthday Rectangle
Stardream Fairway cardstock
Tim Holtz Watercolor cardstock
Ranger Multi Medium matte adhesive
Various sequins

Card #4 Thank You
Memory Box Die 99414 Scalloped Thank You Circle Frame
Shocking Green So Silk cardstock
Tim Holtz Watercolor cardstock
Ranger Multi Medium matte adhesive
Various sequins

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Wonderful World With Nuance

This is my post on the Magenta Blog today, April 18!
Sometimes I like to just paint with Nuance. To do that, I tap some colors into a watercolor palette and add a little water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder. I can use these just like any watercolors, and the colors are so beautiful! I find this to be such a fun, Zen coloring experience.

I stamped the "Bubbles" stamp from the new Magenta Summer 2016 collection onto watercolor paper, and embossed it with clear embossing powder. Using a watercolor brush, I painted clear water into each circular space, one by one, and added touches of Nuance here and there. The Nuance expands to fill the space covered by water.

Since my plan was to use the new "Wonderful World" sentiment, one of the bubbles at the bottom became the Earth, by first using some blue and then some green Nuance. I added a sprinkling of sequins at the end.

Magenta Products Used:

48.016.M Bubbles

07.955.G What a Wonderful World

Other Products Used:

Black Onyx Versafine stamp pad

Judikins Detail Clear embossing powder
Perfect Pearls powder

Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock

So Silk Fair Blue cardstock

Various sequins

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Colorful Merci

This is my post on the Magenta bog today, April 11. I love using Nuance all sorts of ways, and this is one of my favorites.

First, on a piece of Watercolor cardstock, stamp an image with Versamark and emboss with either clear or white embossing powder. In this case, I used the Magenta "Merci" stamp. The embossing powder will resist any color that you add to your panel.

I sprinkled some red Nuance onto my craft mat and sprayed it with pearly water (use 1/4 tsp Perfect Pearls powder with 2 oz water) I pressed my embossed image onto the puddle of color and heat set it to dry. Depending on how much color and water you use, you may have enough color on your mat to do several cards. Repeat the process with additional colors until the full image appears, and the area around your embossed image is covered with color. You will sometimes pick up splatters from your mat, adding to the overall look.

To complete my card, I matted the panel with So Silk Fair Blue cardstock and adhered it to a base card. Various sequins were scattered across the card.

Magenta Products Used:

Other Products Used

Versamark Ink

Judikins Opaque White embossing powder

Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock

So Silk Fair Blue cardstock

Perfect Pearls powder

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Zen Sunflower Gingko Bird

This Zen Sunflower Gingko bird is one of my designs for Magenta in the new 2016 release, and is being featured on the Magenta Blog today, April 4!

I made the background for this sweet bird using Nuance colors in blues, yellow, and just a touch of grey on watercolor cardstock.

Once dry, I stamped the bird with Versamark ink, and embossed with White Diamond embossing powder.

I matted the watercolor panel onto a piece of So Silk Fair Blue cardstock, and stamped the sentiment at the bottom of my base card. A piece of white fun foam was adhered to the back of the matted panel and then adhered to the base card just above the sentiment. Various sequins were scattered around the piece. This card has a beautiful glittery look in real life.

Check out more of the fabulous new Magenta Summer Release in their catalog here.

Magenta Products Used: