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

Stencils, Nuance and Doodles

This post is in conjunction with my post on the Magenta blog today.

I used watercolor cardstock, the Crest 4-04 Stencil and some Nuance powder. First I placed the stencil onto the watercolor cardstock and sprinkled Nuance powder onto it, trying to concentrate the color in the openings. I lightly sprayed the Nuance to activate it, and it covered the stencil and the openings with beautiful color.

I carefully picked up the stencil and placed it wet-side down onto another piece of watercolor cardstock. The Nuance that was on the stencil transferred to my cardstock and made a mirror image of the first card.

I had the urge to Zentangle in the openings, so I drew lines around them first and then did different tangles in each space. I flicked some mica watercolor from Artquest onto each card and stamped sentiments with Versafine ink.

This is such a great stencil to use for Zentangles!

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).

Crest 4-04 Floral Crest

07.846.G

07.901.F Imagine

MNU001 Turquoise

MNU002 Bright Yellow

MNU004 Jade

MNU011 Cerulean Blue

MNU013 Royal Blue

Other Products Used:

Micron Black pen 01

Versafine Deep Lagoon ink

Versafine Onyx Black ink

Watercolor paper

Artquest Palette Metallics

SaveSave

Technique of the Week: Zentangled Black Inchies

In conjunction with the Art 'n Soul Newsletter, this is an expanded version of Technique of the Week, published today.

I got this idea from a post by Cindy Shepard, CZT. She was using stencils and white paint on black paper and Zentangling in the white space. I decided to take it a step further and use one of my favorite mediums: Art Squares by Inchie Arts.

I used a 3" black Art Square, and a great new stencil by Magenta (TM146) (I could not do a link for you to this mini sized heart on their site, but we can get them exclusively - for now - at Art 'n Soul). 

Most any size Art Square would work for this, depending on the stencil you're using.

Using Dylusions White Linen paint by Dyan Reaveley of Ranger, I dipped a mini blending tool into the paint and rubbed it around on my craft mat to work the paint into the sponge.

I positioned the stencil over the Art Square, and applied the white paint with the blending tool.

When the paint was dry, it was a perfect canvas for Zentangling. The ink in a Micron pen is the same color as the black Art Square, and if you need to make some of the edges neater you can do so. I added Zentangle patterns into the white spaces of this gorgeous little heart from Magenta. You could do less if you wish, and leave more of the white; it's up to you. This was really quick and fun to do.    

Be sure to wash off your mat, your sponge (blending tool) and your stencil.

I inked just the first two lines of the Magenta stamp 07.927.H (Multilingual I Love You) with Versamark Ink. Using a stamp positioner, I lined it up and stamped; then embossed with JudiKins White Diamond embossing powder. I love how it turned out!

In Progress

To finish the card, I prepared a base card of Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock. I took a strip of So Silk Beauty Pink cardstock (2.25" x 5.5") and dry embossed with a We R Memory Keepers Next Level embossing folder (Wave 662676).

[Just a note about this embossing folder: we are trying to get them in the shop and they are being backordered quite a bit, but we are going to keep trying. They are very worth it; they give a beautiful look to your embossing. They are, however, thicker than a normal embossing folder, and they are 6"x6", so they do not fit into a Cuttlebug. The sandwich for the Big Shot varies depending on the model that you have, but if you do not open the tabs, lay your folder with the cardstock inside onto the base plate and use only one cutting plate. I tried opening one tab, and using two plates like we would normally do with an embossing folder, and it was too thick to go through. I ended up opening all the tabs, and it went through, but shot one cutting plate and the folder across the room!]

I adhered everything down with Scot Tape, and placed various sequins, adhered with Ranger Multi Medium Matte adhesive.

Magenta Products Used

TM146 Celebrating Heart (small)
This mini 4" size is available exclusively at Art 'n Soul,
but will be widely available soon

07.927.H Multilingual I Love You

Other Products Used

Inchie Arts 3" Black Art Square

Ranger Dylusions White Linen Paint 

Distress Mini Blending Tool

Micron Pen

Versamark Ink

JudiKins White Diamond embossing powder

So Silk Beauty Pink cardstock

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110# cardstock

Various sequins

Scor Tape

Ranger Multi Medium Matte adhesive

Diamond Stickles

Zen Happy Birthday

I had a couple of birthday cards to make, and best of all, I had some time.  Ever since our Zentangle Club meeting at Art 'n Soul (third Friday of each month, from 4:00-6:00), I have been craving time to just sit and tangle.

I love the Dreamweaver stencils with the chunky sentiments, like Happy Birthday, Thank You and Merry Christmas.  I pulled out the Happy Birthday one (LJ 920) and lined it out onto two pieces of watercolor card stock that I had previously colored with alcohol ink during an alcohol ink play day.  These particular pieces were colored by dropping alcohol ink carefully onto water (about 5" of water in a plastic tub), and pulling the watercolor card stock carefully through the water.  I made a lot of pieces and saved them for times like these.

After outlining the Happy Birthday stencil, I covered each letter with different tangles.  These were so fun to do, and they really didn't take that long.  (I'm actually unaware of how long they may have taken, I was having too much fun).  The frames around them were previously created when I die cut stencil stamped pieces for the Inspiration Station project here.  I created such a nice stack of backgrounds, and when I diecut them, I had all of these frames left over.  I was sure they would come in handy for another project.  The Zentangled pieces and the frames were adhered onto an A2 size white card base, and some enamel dots were added.  I hope the recipients love them!

Zen Egg

My friends Kerri and Tamera brought me a wood tree to tangle on last year, and I had it at Art 'n Soul for a while.  This year, they brought me a very large white plastic egg, that was about a foot high, and about 8" wide at the wide end.  I spent an evening and the better part of a day working on it off and on.  Debbie Gaetz, who has the blog  http://bellacartaatartnsoul.blogspot.com, kindly photographed the egg, which now resides on the Zentangle table at Art 'n Soul  I thought I would post these for you to see.

And the top

I used an Identipen (permanent ink pen from Sakura) and also a Sharpie Extra Fine Oil Based paint pen, both in black.  I really like the classic black and white look best.  The Sharpie paint pen was slightly more challenging in that it took longer to dry and I had to be careful to keep my hand out of what I had already drawn.  I liked it better though, because it made a finer line than the Identipen.  The Identipen was perfect for areas that needed to be colored in.  Another challenge is that the egg was...well...egg shaped, and also slippery to hold.  I had a lot of fun doing it though, and it made me itch for another tangle project.

Zen Birthday Wishes

Sorry I have been so absent from the blog in the last month!  Those of you who know me know I have a lot going on in my life right now - good things!  One thing that I'm excited about is that Magenta will have a new collection coming out very soon, so watch these pages or their blog for that announcement.  I have been seeing some sneak peeks and it will be fabulous!!

I recently took a little time and made a birthday card for a friend.  I didn't take a picture of the outside, but here is the inside of the card, opened up.  You can see I left a little space to write a Happy Birthday greeting.

I masked a space off with a heart shape that I die cut out of masking paper.  This gave me a clear space to stamp a message.  The tangles were done with a brown Micron 01 pen on Kraft card stock, and the stamping was done with Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink.  The tangle at the top is Por Fin - a new one that I recently learned. I prefer drawing it on a curve, rather than straight.

I like the effect of masking a space for stamping and then drawing all around it; I will definitely use this technique more!  I'm also liking the brown Micron on the Kraft.

Zen Fan

I think that Dreamweaver Stencils and Magenta sentiment stamps make a dream team for simple, pretty Zentangled cards.  I have paired them up quite a bit.  Here's the latest

by Dianne Johnson

Dreamweaver Stencil: LM 189 Fan

Magenta Stamp:  07-804-F "I'm a fan of yours!"

This card didn't really want to get made.  I had this stencil from Dreamweaver for a while, and wanted to Zentangle with it on a card.  I didn't really have a good sentiment for it though, and Helene from Magenta kindly consented to make this one for me, which is just so perfect!  [this stamp can be obtained through Magenta - or for local Art 'n Soul readers, you can get it through the shop].  Once I got the stamp, then I couldn't find the stencil.  I looked for it for a while, and then decided to get another one; which would surely mean the first one would turn up. Yeah, that didn't happen.  In fact, the second one disappeared also.  Ok, I'm embarrassed to admit that this is the third one of these stencils I have purchased.  I decided to quickly make this card before this one joins the others.  Yes, I am doing some renovation in my studio, but why am I only losing this one stencil, over and over?  Some things just can't be explained.

Local Art 'n Soul readers, we are having a gigantic trunk show of Dreamweaver products at the shop for the next couple of weeks.  This Saturday the 10th, Lynell and Wayne Harlow of Dreamweaver Stencils will be in the shop to demo their products, all day from 11:00 - 4:00.  Lynell will demo molten paste and other techniques, and Wayne will be showing Zentangling inside Dreamweaver stencils!  I know I will be there!

I will also demo Zentangling using Dreamweaver stencils on Wednesday the 14th and Thursday the 15th.  Ok, actually, for those of you who know me, you know I will demo Zentangle pretty much any time anyone asks.  Or even if they don't ask.