Backporch: Magenta 07.457.H Peace on Earth

Friday, December 22, 2017

Winter Peace

This is the last Christmas card for 2017, and I think it's my favorite one; although I do like the other cards I did this year. I think this one is simple and elegant and could probably fall into my Upcycle Your Scraps category. The backgrounds are from alcohol ink on Yupo paper that I previously made, plus a couple using Nuance backgrounds that I already had.

For this card, I first cut panels from Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock, using the largest die in the Lawn Fawn LF768 Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables die set. This cuts a rectangle that is 3.75" x 5" with a nice stitched edge.

I then used the Memory Box 99843 Stitched Circle Trees die to cut out the top center of the panel. I knew I wanted this die the moment I saw it. It's a collage type die, which I like, and I love the stitched circle that defines the trees and sloping hills that could be snow. This little scene reminds me of where we live.

I stamped the Peace on Earth sentiment (Magenta 07.457.H) with Versafine Onyx Black ink toward the bottom of the panel. I love the script of this stamp, and also the message behind the sentiment.

For the backgrounds I added Ranger alcohol inks to Tim Holtz Yupo paper. For each of these cards I only needed 1/4 piece of each of the 5" x 7" pieces of Yupo paper, so they are fairly economical. I used a number of different colors on these, including blues, greens, pinks, oranges and some of the silver mixative, which ended up looking like snow. I really like the ones that I used greens and pinks in because they remind me of the Northern Lights.

I already had these Yupo pieces hanging around, and I grabbed all I had that were predominantly blue. I cut them into 2.5" x 3.5" pieces and mounted each one to the back of a die-cut panel. Since these cards were relatively easy to make, I made 15 of them.

I mounted the panel to Malmero Perle Abysse cardstock and then to a base card of Neenah Solar White 110#.

Since I didn't have enough of the already colored pieces of Yupo paper, I pulled out a panel of watercolor cardstock that I had worked with Nuance. I think I like this card even better than the alcohol ink ones, although only 2 were made with Nuance. Since the colors in the Nuance ones are a little different, I matted them with So Silk Fair Blue cardstock instead of the darker Malmero.

This one REALLY looks like the Aurora to me. I first saw the Northern Lights in Iceland on Christmas Eve 3 years ago. I was standing on the balcony of my Son-in-Law's Mother's house. It was such a perfect moment. A good friend has since taken us out to see the Northern Lights a number of times, and each time it's like the first.

These were taken from a rooftop in Southeast Iceland on a memorable trip with our good friends Jón Eldon Logason and Inga Olsen. I took these photos with my phone! Photos with real cameras on a tripod are better, but this experience is etched in my mind forever.

Some of the Lights were shimmering and moving, and some had pinks and purples in them.

So I want to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you. When I look at the Northern Lights, I have hope that things will be better next year. They are so beautiful and ethereal, and seem to be full of promise. All the best to you, and thank you for following me and looking at my blog!

Products Used:

Magenta Peace on Earth 07.457.H

Magenta Nuance

Memory Box 99843 Stitched Circle Trees

Lawn Fawn LF768 Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables

Ranger Alcohol Inks

Tim Holtz Yupo paper

Tim Holtz Watercolor cardstock

Versafine Onyx Black ink

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Malmero Perle Abysse cardstock

So Silk Fair Blue cardstock

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Technique of the Week: Nuance Spin Art

One of our customers at Art 'n Soul, Sue Wright, brought this technique to me, and agreed to let me use it for Technique of the Week. Sue brought in a salad spinner and we made some backgrounds then and there. Here's one card I made, and this card is also on the Magenta blog today.

This is a perfect fun art project for kids and grandkids. It's fun and the mess is contained pretty well.

It's a good idea to obtain a used salad spinner from the local thrift store. I preferred not to use the salad spinner that I use for food. Some of the spinners don't have an enclosed bottom to them. If you get one like this, you can place it onto a paper plate or bowl so that the mess would be contained.

To begin, Sue said to get some poster putty, make a donut from it, and place it in the center of the spinner basket.

This serves two purposes: first it levels the center which usually has a small bump; second is that when you place your watercolor cardstock into the basket, it will stick down to the putty.

In playing with this technique, I used several different papers, including Bristol and Strathmore watercolor paper. I liked how the color moved the best with the Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock.

I tapped Nuance powder onto the cardstock after placing it into the basket and pressing it down not the putty.

I then sprayed the cardstock liberally with water. You can use plain water, or water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder.

I put the top on the spinner quickly and spun it as fast as I could.

At first this is what I got, and it's pretty, but I wanted a little more color in the center. I tapped more of the Scarlet Nuance into the center, sprayed and spun it again.

I love this! I like how you can keep adding powder, spraying and spinning until you get something you really like. This panel said "celebrate" to me.

To make my card, I let it dry naturally, although you could hurry the drying with a heat tool. I die cut the panel with the Die-namics MFT-483 Blueprints 13 die. I stamped the Magenta Graceful Poppies stamp and the Happy Birthday sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black ink. To accentuate the "celebrate" look of the card, I stamped the Magenta Flowery Ink Spot stamp several times on the panel with Distress Barn Door ink.

I mounted the panel onto a piece of Black So Silk cardstock and then adhered it to a base card of Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock.

This was the second background I made, and then I made a few more.

I shared this technique with the staff, and we got together and had a great deal of fun spraying and spinning.

One of the things I did when the staff got together to make these is to wipe out the spinners on many of the staff's panels with paper towels.

I got these paper towels from doing that.

Some of you may remember what I do with beautifully colored paper towels. You can make gorgeous patterned cardstock with these. You can look at how to do this here on my blog on a technique called Upcycled Paper Towel.

Here is one more card I made using a panel from the spinner technique.

I made this card using one of the new 2017 Holiday Collection dies from Memory Box, as well as a beautiful Magenta stamp. I cut the Memory Box Snowy Cabin die from white cardstock. Then using the Die-namics MFT-860 Inside/out Stitched Squares die, I cut the blue and purple panel AND the Snowy Cabin die cut. I wanted the Snowy Cabin die cut to just fit onto the bottom of the panel.

I used the same square dies to cut a frame from silver glitter paper, and the inside of the frame is the size of the panel and Snowy Cabin die cut. I adhered these pieces to a base card, and stamped the Magenta Peace on Earth sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black ink.

I think these spinner panels are great for lots of kinds of cards, but especially for a celebration. I loved doing these and I hope you will give it a try. I will try to make some cards with the paper towels and show them in a later post.

Card #1:

Magenta Products Used

(If you are local, please look for products at Art 'n Soul. If you are not local and wish to find Magenta products, you can click on the link in the stamp or product name below each image, or you can visit the Magenta online store here).