Magenta Super Saturday - Stencil Stamped Heron

Hi! I'm over at the Magenta blog today and you can see that post here.

I love all of the stamps in the Magenta Spring 2019 release, but I particularly like the Egret and the Heron, because they are beautiful and peaceful. I chose the Heron this time because he seems to be contemplating the start of a new day.

This card was done using the stencil stamping technique that I have done many times. You can see some of the things I have done using this technique here, (scroll down for the stencil stamped items) here, here, and here. To see them all, you can search for "stencil stamping" on my blog search feature.

I first die-cut a panel of Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock using the Lawn Fawn LF768 Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables die. The largest die in this set cuts a 3.75" x 5" rectangle with a stitched edge. 

I applied Distress Ink direct to paper, using Twisted Citron at the top, Mowed Lawn at the bottom, and Mustard Seed and Wild Honey in the middle to simulate a sunrise. For this technique to work, you need a lot of ink on your paper - the more you have, the better it works.

I took the new Magenta stencil, TM297 Shell Texture and sprayed it with Pearly Water (water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder). When doing this technique, you don't want to get the stencil too wet, or it will just make puddles on your paper. I often use watercolor cardstock for stencil stamping, but this time I wanted to see how regular cardstock would work. If I try it again with regular cardstock, I might use 110# Neenah. I sprayed the stencil until the water was beading up but not running off.

I pressed the stencil onto the card panel and pressed it down with a paper towel. When I lifted it off, I could see the texture of the stencil, and also some of the droplets of water that were on the plastic part of the stencil. I loved how it turned out. As the panel dries, the image becomes more prominent.

To finish it off, I stamped the Heron stamp and sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I chose not to stamp the Heron's reflection on this piece, but it is on the stamp, and is a nice option. I tried really hard to get the shimmer of the Pearly Water to show up; maybe you can see it better at this slightly oblique angle. It's very pretty in real life.

To finish the card, I mounted the panel onto a 4" x 5.25" piece of Stardream Flame cardstock, and adhered it to a base card of Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock.

Enjoy and have a beautiful day!

I have received some questions about how to get the Magenta stamps I use. You can order directly from Magenta by going to their online store here. You can see the Spring 2019 collection here, and you can click on "Stamps" and/or "Stencils" to look at the entire collection. If you are interested in a stamp I have used on any of my blogposts, you can click on the name of the stamp or stencil below the image at the bottom of each of my posts, and the link will take you to that stamp or stencil in the Magenta Store. Just put the item in your basket, and as many more as you wish, and check out. You will be glad you did!

Magenta Products Used:

0763.M Reflective Blue Heron

TM297 Shell Texture

07.969.F have a Beautiful day!

Other Products Used:

Distress Inks: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn,

Mustard Seed, Wild Honey

Perfect Pearls Powder

Lawn Fawn LF768 Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables Die set

Versafine Onyx Black ink

Stardream Flame cardstock

Neenah Solar White cardstock 80# & 110#

Fast and Fun Birthday Cards Part 1

This post will partly be a walk down memory lane, and I have provided some examples of previous cards, plus some links to past posts using the featured techniques.

I still need to replenish my supply of Birthday cards; I have so many friends and relatives that I want to send a card to on their special day. You will see a lot of Birthday sentiments on my cards for a while now.  I think that a sentiment like "Have a Beautiful Day can work for a Birthday card, or for lots of special occasions, or even just saying Thinking of You.

I recently acquired this great set of Tim Holtz Multi-Media #5 dies by Sizzix (662688). I like to make pretty backgrounds, so I love dies like this. If you have lots of nice backgrounds, putting the card together is pretty simple. There are three dies in this set. I cut the background panels to 5.25" x 4", and the white panel that I die-cut was cut to 5" x 3.75" using the largest size die in the  Lawn Fawn LF768 Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables. The sentiment is from Magenta, and was stamped using Versafine Onyx Black ink.

I started with some backgrounds that I had previously made while playing with various techniques.

The top left and bottom right backgrounds shown above were made by "stencil stamping." I have several posts on this technique, here, here (please scroll down for the stencil stamped cards), here, here, here, and here. This has been a favorite technique for a long time, and I used to really enjoy demo'ing it when I worked at Art 'n Soul.

Here is an example of a previous card using stencil stamping.

You can find the original post for this card here

The bottom left panel is just blended Distress Oxide ink with some splatters of water thrown on it. If you want to see my Distress Oxide overview post, packed with lots of information about using Distress Oxide inks, please go here. I also have fun techniques with Oxide inks here, here, here and here.

Here is an example of a card using blended Oxide inks

You can find the original post for this card here

The panel in the upper left of the photo showing the different backgrounds was done with one of the most popular techniques I have ever shown on my blog. It's a technique with Oxide inks, using Distress glaze over the Oxide. For a tutorial on how to do this technique, please go here. For some other posts with cards using this technique, go here, here and here.

Here is an example of a card using the Distress Oxide glaze technique

You can find the original post for this card here

The final panel above, that is already covered with a die-cut (the orange one) was made using Nuance. Nuance is a fabulous powdered color from Magenta, and is lots of fun to use. If you search for Nuance on my blog, you will see lots of posts for many techniques using it. Here is a card using Nuance.

You can find the original post for this card here

Here's a look at all of the finished cards I made from this one die, and all of the beautiful backgrounds I chose out from my stash. I will have a second post using another die from this set soon.

Magenta Products Used:

07.969.F have a Beautiful day!

Other Products Used:

Tim Holtz Multi-Media #5 dies by Sizzix 662688

Lawn Fawn LF768 Small Stitched Rectangle die set

Versafine Onyx Black ink

For products used to make the various backgrounds, please 

refer to the original posts for those techniques.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines Day everyone! I don't make a lot of Valentines, but I made two this year for a couple of friends that I thought would enjoy them. They are almost exactly alike.

The heart in this one was made from a panel of watercolor cardstock on which I had added Nuance powder in a variety of colors and sprayed. I particularly liked the spray pattern on this. Here's a close-up

The heart on the second card is from a panel that was stencil stamped

Here's a close up. I have posts about how to do stencil stamping here (scroll down), here and here amoung others.

Unfortunately the stencil I used on this heart is a Magenta one that was discontinued, but you can get the same look with any stencil that has about the same amount of negative and positive space. I used Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey Distress inks for this heart.

I cut these hearts out with the Hero Arts DI334 Nesting Hearts Infinity die set. I love this set! It has 10 heart dies, the largest being 4.66" x 4.11", and the smallest being .27" x .23". The hearts are a nice shape and the dies are open, so that you can place them on a colored panel to cut it in just the right place to capture the look you want.

The rectangular background panel is something that I already had in my stash. It illustrates ink blending over emboss resist. You can see this technique demonstrated in a previous post here. I made lots of panels where I stamped with Versamark ink, using a large background stamp, and embossed it with JudiKins Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder. You can't see it in these pictures, but what looks like white in the background is actually very very sparkly, almost like lines of glitter. It's beautiful in real life. You can also use other embossing powder for this technique, such as opaque white or White Diamond. 

The background panel that I had was 4" x 5.25" and I cut it in half and use half for each of these cards. The stamp I used on this panel was Impression Obsession CC024 Tapestry Cover a Card.

The Happy Valentine's Day sentiment was die cut with a Mama Elephant die out of glossy black cardstock on which I had applied Stick-It adhesive to the back.

The background strip, heart and sentiment were adhered to a panel of Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock that was die cut with the stitched rectangle die from Die-Namics MFT 643 Blueprints 13. This die cuts a rectangle that is exactly 4" x 5.25" and has a stitched edge. I matted the panel with a slightly larger piece of Stardream Flame cardstock, and the whole thing was mounted to a base card of Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock.

I hope you enjoyed these. I did a Zentangle square recently that I think I will make into a Valentine for my hubby. He didn't photograph this, so it's not a great picture, but here it is. I will probably add some color to it before it's turned into a card.

Products Used:

Magenta Nuance

Magenta Stencil TM79 (discontinued)

Hero Arts DI334 Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies

Mama Elephant Valentine's Day die

Die-Namics MFT 643 Blueprints 13 die set

Impression Obsession CC024 Tapestry Cover-a-Card

Distress inks: Picked Raspberry, Orange Marmalade, Wild Honey

Distress inks for background: Fired Brick, Orange Marmalade, Carved Pumpkin

JudiKins Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder

Versamark ink

Stick-It Adhesive

Tim Holtz Watercolor cardstock

Neenah Solar White 80# & 100# cardstock

Stardream Flame cardstock

Black glossy cardstock

Smiling Heart

This is one of my favorite sentiment stamps, and also one of my favorite techniques, stencil stamping. You can see other posts using this technique here, here and here.  This post is on the Magenta blog today.

I covered a piece of watercolor cardstock with Distress inks Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet and Peacock Feathers. I sprayed the Laces stencil with water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder and placed the wet stencil onto the colored panel.

Once the panel had completely dried, I stamped the sentiment in the center and embossed it with White Diamond embossing powder. I cut a panel from white felted cardstock with the stitched rectangle die from the Die-namics MFT-463 Blueprints  13 die set. I then cut an oval opening using the Die-namics MFT-846 Inside & Outside Stitched Oval die set. I placed the resulting frame onto the stencil stamped panel.

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).

07.861.K You make my heart Smile

TM220 Laces

Other Products used:

Distress ink: Wilted Violet; Peacock Feathers; Picked Raspberry

Perfect Pearls pearl powder

Versamark ink

JudiKins White Diamond embossing powder

Die-namics MFT846 Inside & Outside Stitched Ovals

Die-namics MFT-463 Blueprints 13 die set

Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock

White felted cardstock

Various sequins

New Magenta 2016 Summer Catalog is here!

It's here everyone, and I absolutely love this collection! The sentiments are all fabulous, I love the flowers and the new templates, and the 3 little Zen birds in it are my designs! Check them out on page 9, along with a card I made. I have a larger picture of the card below.

At Art 'n Soul, we have a shipment from this collection coming very soon; possibly as soon as Thursday.

Wait a few moments for the catalog to appear.

Here's the card I made with two of my new little birds, and the sentiment "Sending you Sunshine" that Helene kindly made at my request, and that I think goes perfectly with these adorable sunflower birds.

This card was done with Distress ink and a stencil stamping technique in the background. If you have not seen my tutorials on stencil stamping, you can see them here, here, and here to mention a few. It's a favorite technique. Any detailed stencil should work well.

Magenta Products used:

44.022.L  Zen Sunflower Bird Large

44.021.H Zen Sunflower Bird Small

07.952.F Sending you Sunshine

Other Products Used

Distress Inks: Picked Raspberry; Spiced Marmalade

Judikins White Diamond embossing powder

Versamark Ink

Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock

So Silk Beauty Pink cardstock

Various sequins

Two Last Christmas Cards for 2015

Things just got so crazy toward the Holidays, that I just never got these posted before Christmas, but I had to post them because I love them both! Bookmark them to try for next year; Magenta never retires their stamps or stencils, so everything will still be available!

Both of these cards use the same technique that I call Stencil Stamping. On the first one, the green panel was featured in a Technique of the Week post, and I told you that you would see it again later on a card! The technique tutorial can be seen here. After creating the panel, I rubbed the edges of the green panel through a gold Delicate ink pad and mounted it on an A2 white base card. I then stamped the sentiment (Magenta 07.780.G) with Black Onyx Versafine Ink.

This second card is so sparkly in real life! It was also Stencil Stamped, using the Magenta stencil TM104 Daisy Love. This is one of my favorite stencils for this technique. You can see a tutorial of stencil stamping here, and other stencil stamped cards here, here, and here. This card also has one of my favorite Christmas stamps (Magenta 07.883.K Multilingual Merry Christmas), since it contains the sentiment Merry Christmas in languages that have a lot of meaning to me: English, French, Icelandic, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, and Russian.

Joyeux Noel Card 

Magenta Products Used:

TM123 Small Holly Border Template

07.780.G Joyeux Noel Small

Other Products Used

Distress Inks: Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn

Perfect Pearls Powder

Versafine Onyx Black Ink

Delicate Gold Ink

Tim Holtz Watercolor paper

Hero Arts red nailheads

Merry Christmas Card 

Magenta Products Used

07.883.K Multilingual Merry Christmas

TM104 Daisy Love Template

Other Products Used

Distress Inks: Broken China, Faded Jeans

Perfect Pearls Powder

Versamark Ink

Ranger Black Sparkle Embossing Powder

So Silk Fair Blue paper

Tim Holtz Watercolor paper

Various Sequins

Magenta Christmas Inspiration

Magenta has a great Christmas Inspiration Look Book out, and you can look at all of the great cards by the Design Team, and designer Christine Gaudreault on the Magenta blog here.

Keep paging through and you will see two cards of mine in the book. They were each done with the same technique, but different stencils and colors.

The technique I used for these is stencil stamping. You can see a tutorial on this technique here, and another stencil stamped card here.

On the above card, I applied Distress Inks Worn Lipstick, and Festive Berries direct to water color card stock. I liberally sprayed MC16 Poinsettia Garden Mask with pearly water (2 oz water with 1/4 tsp Perfect Pearls Pearl powder), and applied the stencil to the panel. When dried, I stamped this beautiful Merry Christmas sentiment (07.462.I) and embossed with White Diamond embossing powder. The mat around the watercolor panel was made by applying Versamark directly to all 4 sides of the paper, and embossing with White Diamond. This provided a perfectly matching mat for my card. This was mounted onto a red card base, and various sequins were sprinkled on. Since I used a red card base, I cut a stitched rectangle using the largest die in the Memory Box Stitched Rectangles dies 30009.

The second card was done using the same technique, but with different colors. I used Abandoned Coral and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks, and the stencil is Magenta TM129 Poinsettia Border Stencil

Pink/Red Card

Magenta Products used:

07.462.I Merry Christmas

MC16 Poinsettia Garden Mask

Other Products Used:

Distress Inks: Worn Lipstick; Festive Berries

Versamark ink

Judikins White Diamond embossing powder

Perfect Pearls Pearl powder

Tim Holtz watercolor paper

Memory Box Stitched Rectangles Die 30009 (inside)

Various sequins

Red/Green Card

Magenta Products Used:

07.462.I Merry Christmas

TM129 Poinsettia Border

Other Products Used:

Distress Inks: Abandoned Coral; Mowed Lawn

Versamark ink

Judikins White Diamond embossing powder

Perfect Pearls Pearl powder

Tim Holtz watercolor paper

Silver Stardream paper

Various sequins

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 Challenge - June 2015

June 2015 - Magenta Challenge :

Summertime

Create a Card, a Layout or even an altered object, if you feel like it,

follow the theme and use at least one Magenta product :

papers, stamps, embellishment, Peel Off's, chipboard and more...

You have until June 28th to enter!

You could win a Magenta gift certificate

valued at $25!

Here's my card:

This card was made using one of my favorite techniques: Stencil Stamping. You can see my tutorial blog post about it here. The Distress inks I used were Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, and Peacock Feathers - yes my favorite Mini Distress kit #1. These colors all go together so beautifully! The stencil is one of my new favorites from Magenta - TM70 Zen Flower, which was inspired by one of my new stamps! After stencil stamping onto watercolor paper, I dried the panel and stamped the Zen Dragonfly, another of my new stamps, in Versamark and embossed with White Diamond embossing powder. The sentiment was added with Versafine Black Onyx Ink. I love how this turned out.

Now it's your turn!! You can go here to enter using the inlinkz link, and use the theme Summertime! 

Magenta Products used:

Zen Flower TM70

Zen Dragonfly 44.018.K

Give Wings to Your Passion 07.835.G

Other Materials Used:

Distress Inks: Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, Peacock Feathers

Versamark Ink

Versafine Onyx Black Ink

Judikins White Diamond embossing powder

Tim Holtz watercolor paper

Perfect Pearls Powder

So Silk Beauty Pink paper