Awesome Zen Crests

I sometimes like to add Zentangle onto a card, and these simple patterns are not hard to do. This post also appears on the Magenta Blog today.

I started with a piece of watercolor cardstock and placed masks from Crests 02 and the small Temari mask onto my panel. I sprinkled some Nuance powder onto the cardstock and spritzed lightly with water. Since some of the powder landed onto my masks, I flipped them over onto the cardstock to make a mirror image.

I added some background with Memento Gray Flannel ink through the Waves stencil, using a finger dauber. I then added some Zentangle to two of the images with a Micron black 01 pen. I added the sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black ink.

I die cut the panel to 5.25" x 4" using the Stitched Rectangle die from Die-namics MFT463 Blueprints 13, and mounted it onto a piece of So Silk Glamour Green cardstock.

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).

Crests 02

MC28 Temari Small

TM156 Waves

07.966.D You are Awesome!

MNU001 Turquoise Nuance

MNU007 Raspberry

MNU013 Royal Blue

Other Products used:

Memento ink Gray Flannel

Black 01 Micron Pen

Die-namics MFT-463 Blueprints 13 die set

So Silk Glamour Green cardstock

Watercolor cardstock

Technique of the Week: Prismacolor on Kraft

This post is in conjunction with the Art 'n Soul newsletter article, "Technique of the Week"

This is really less a technique and more a reminder about how great coloring with Prismacolor pencils is on kraft paper. To me, coloring and blending seems easier, and colors seem more vibrant on kraft paper.

First I die cut a piece of kraft cardstock using the largest die from the Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables LF768. This makes a rectangle that is 5" x 3.75", with stitches all around.

I chose the Zen Bouquet image that I designed for Magenta this Spring, 44.024.Q, and stamped it with Versafine Onyx Black ink.

I got out my bucket of Prismacolors to color my image. (Now you can see how messy my desktop is - I usually try to crop this out of my shots)

I started coloring the largest blossom with PC926 Carmine Red and PC918 Orange. It was while I was coloring that I decided to try and add some foil embellishments to the centers of the blossoms. I almost didn't share this card because this created all sorts of difficulties.

I first tried to use a Quickie Glue pen. I have seen this pen work for this application in videos before, but it wasn't working for me. If you let the glue get a little dry and tacky, it works better. I ended up using some Sticky Stuff powder from Judikins and pressing the foil to the glue, with the pretty side up. 

The coloring part went much better for me, and I really enjoyed coloring and blending the colors. 

After coloring the largest blossoms, I changed to PC1003 Spanish Orange for the rest of the blossoms, with a little of the Orange blended in. For the leaves I used PC912 Apple Green and PC911 Olive Green. At the end, I added some white dots using a Uniball Broad white gel pen, and stamped the Magenta sentiment "You are awesome!" 07.966.D, in Versafine Onyx black ink.

I had some trouble deciding what to use to matt the panel, so I ended up taking a piece of Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock cut to 5.25" x 4", and rubbed Versamark ink all around the edges. I applied Judikins Gold embossing powder and embossed it to get a nice gold border around it, and I adhered my kraft panel to that and mounted it to a base card of Neenah Solar white 110# cardstock. I added a few sequins for some sparkle.

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).

44.024.Q Zen Bouquet

07.966.D You are Awesome

Other Products Used:

Prismacolor pencils:

PC926 Carmine Red, PC918 Orange, PC1003 Spanish Orange,

PC911 Olive Green, PC912 Apple Green

Versafine Onyx Black ink

Versamark ink

JudiKins Sticky Stuff powder

JudiKins Gold embossing powder

Deco gold foil

Uniball Broad white gel pen

Kraft cardstock

Neenah Solar White cardstock 80# & 110#

Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables LF768

You are Awesome Blossom!

This Zen Bouquet stamp is the latest of my Zentangle inspired stamp designs, and is being featured on the Magenta blog today. I designed it so that it would work for coloring, or stamped onto an all-over wash of color. In this case, I chose to color the blossoms, and used Tombow markers.

I stamped the Zen Bouquet stamp with Versafine Smokey Gray ink, and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I colored the blossoms with various Tombow markers, just in the areas where I wanted the color to be darkest. I then took a clear Wink of Stella glitter brush marker and used it to pull the color out into each blossom and leaf. If you need more color, you can color your marker onto your craft mat, or an acrylic block and pick up the color with your Wink of Stella brush marker, just like using a water brush  This process is very fast and fun to do, and the end result is very glittery! It's hard to capture the sparkle in a photograph.

The sentiment, "You are Awesome" is also my design and is new in the Spring 2017 Collection, and was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink. I added a few white dots with a Uniball broad white gel pen.

I die cut the panel with the largest die in a Lawn Fawn stitched rectangle set (see list of materials below). This creates a panel that is 3.75" x 5", and is perfect for matting onto a card.

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).

44.024.Q Zen Bouquet

07.966.D You are Awesome!

Other Products Used:

Tombow Markers: 177, 098, 245, 743, 685, 725, 515, 933, 885, 925

Clear Wink of Stella brush marker

Lawn Fawn LF768 Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables

Versafine inks: Smokey Gray; Onyx Black

JudiKins clear detail embossing powder

Uniball Broad white gel pen

Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock

So Silk Fair Blue Cardstock

Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock