A Smile is Contagious - Magenta + More Than Words

Did you know that Magenta is a sponsor over at More than Words this month? They are providing a $25 US gift certificate to the Magenta Online Boutique to one lucky commenter. Yes, that is correct... all you have to do is check out the More than Words challenge for this month and leave a comment to be in the running to win!

The July challenge has very versatile sketch and the prompt is Smile. I flipped the orientation to the right for my Magenta Style art journal take of it which is up on the Magenta blog today. 

Supplies: 8 1/2" x 11" 400 Series Watercolour journal (Strathmore), Golden Yellow and Orange Nuances, Smile sentiment stamp, Bubbles stamp, Butterfly stamp, Constellations stencil, Blossoms mask, patterned paper (Magenta), clear emboss powder (Simon Says Stamp), Tangerine glitter emboss powder (Emerald Creek), Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade Distress ink, black Archival ink (Ranger) Cloudy Sky StazOn (Tsukineko), whipped spackle (Faber-Castell), label maker (KandCompany)

I chose items to incorporate into my journal page that I relate to a smile... bubbles that erupt like a smile that builds and bursts out and are so much fun, a galaxy of stars and constellations for the endless shine and joy that a smile can bring, flowers for a smile blooming and sending out sweetness, and sparkly butterflies cause I love them and they spread around their joy wherever they go, plus the cheeriness of orange and yellow that warm you up inside just like the feeling evoked from being on the receiving end of a radiant smile.

I started by clear emboss stamping with the Magenta Smile sentiment and then, wetting the watercolour paper background of my Strathmore 400 Series 8 1/2" x 11" journal with water. Next, I applied Golden Yellow and Orange Nuance and I continued to add colour with a smooshing technique using plastic. Once I was happy with the colour, I attempted to stamp with the Magenta Bubbles stamp with the wet Nuance on the page but then elected to wait for the page to dry and then, I used Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade Distress ink for a clearer image. Next, I stamped Smile some more in Black Archival ink and then stenciled the star Constellation Stencil with Cloudy Sky StazOn. 

I used Whipped Spackle on the Blossoms mask and while it was drying, I heat embossed my favourite Magenta Butterfly stamp on yellow damask patterned paper with Tangerine glitter emboss powder three times and then fussy cut them out. I purposefully had taken a self portrait photo of my mouth smiling, printed it out in Black and White, and then tore it to just the smile dimensions. Once, I adhered it to the page, the title labels and butterflies were the remaining items to be added.

Be sure to head on over to the More than Words July Main Challenge post here to see all the beautiful creations by their DT and comment for a chance to win the Magenta gift certificate.

TTFN,

Magenta Nuances Masterboard ATCs Part 2

Last Friday, over on the Magenta blog, I shared the first three ATCs in a three part series all made from a masterboard created using the three original Nuance blues.  If you missed out on last week's first edition post, you can find it here.

To recap, I took a masterboard created on a 9 x 12 piece of 90lb watercolour paper using Nuance blue colours (Turquoise, Cerulean Blue, and Royal Blue).  I cut it into nine - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" pieces and created a bunch of ATCs using stencils and stamps from the Summer 2016 collection with the added touch of gold foil. Each background piece was unique and the background colour helped determine what additional colours and/or designs would best suit it.

For the background, I used the cute Doily mask and created three circular sections with it by colouring them Grass Green Nuance. Once dry, I repositioned the mask back to where it was used and I used a white pen to add floral details. Next, I positioned the Flower Silhouette stencil and filled it in with a glue stick before adding the gold foil to it. I let it sit for 5 minutes prior to removing the foil sheet to ensure that the glue had set up. I ran the glue stick along the edges of the card and added gold foil there too. Lastly, I heat emboss stamped the Wonderful World sentiment.

For this ATC, I went with a wet on wet watercolour technique and dried the paper between colour addition layers. First, I heat embossed the Wild Rose flower image in black. After water colouring with Hot Pink and Grass Green Nuance, I heat embossed the "magic all around" parts of the sentiment stamp that I wanted in white and added some grey marker shadowing to make it pop. Lastly, I masked off the image with its' stamp backing and glue stamped the background with my favourite Script and Postmark stamp and added the gold foil.

This one required a little creative colour mixing as I intentionally wanted to create "mud" or rather, hues of brown. After heat emboss stamping the Doodle Feather in black, I started with a bit of Yellow and Purple Nuance powders and a few spritzes of water on my craft mat. Then, I mixed in some Golden Yellow and filled in the whole feather and adding some to the background. Then, I added some Orange Nuance to deepen the colour and added it to sections of the feather. I used the stamp's backing as a mask and splatter a bit of watered down gesso for some background interest. Once the card was completely dry, I stamped the Carpe Diem sentiment in two parts using VersaMark and Ranger Sticky embossing powder. Next, I added the gold foil. Lastly, I inked the edges of the card with Distress ink and then added a few splatters of glue and a touch of gold foil to finish it off. 

If you are interested in receiving one of my ATCs from last week's post, check out the Part 1 Nuance Masterboard ATC post on our Instagram account (@magentastyle) for a chance to win one for yourself and a friend.

Look for Part 3 of my three part Nuance Masterboard ATCs series next Friday.

TTFN,

Carpe Diem with some Simple Stories

You just can't help but smile at pieces of Simple Stories Carpe Diem collection. Besides some 12 by 12 sheets, I purchased the journaling cards to use on scrap layouts and cards.

I scrapped this layout for fun after seeing this photo of my daughter and her friends on her phone.

Supplies: patterned paper, cardstock die cut ephemera, cardstock stickers, snap pack, photo stickers (Simple Stories), cardstock and pen (CTMH), watercolour paint (Artist Loft), embroidery Floss (Iris), StazOn ink (Tsukineko)

I used this Struck?! Sketches sketch from April as I thought it would go well with the journaling cards. I am pleased with how they worked out.

TTFN,

Cheers

Another fun card was made with Crate Paper's Maggie Holmes Confetti collection. This one was inspired by the CardMaps challenge over at Scrapbook.com using a Becky Fleck sketch.

Supplies: Maggie Holmes patterned paper, stickers embossing folder (Crate Paper), cardstock (CTMH), icraft Deco foil (Thermoweb), glitter (Dollarama), gingham ribbon (O'Scrap!)embroidery floss (Anchor), Tim Holtz tiny attacher and staples (Advantus)

The music score embossing folder adds just that right touch to the background. 

For easy gold embellishing of the tag, I ran a quick swipe of glue stick around the edge and then added some gold foil.

TTFN,

Bright Times Ahead

Happy New Year!

What better way than to start out the New Year than to spend some family time watching college football bowl games and scrapping a layout. It has been months since I last created a layout and I didn't want to spend time getting sucked into online viewing so instead of finding new January challenges, I went with some challenge inspirations that I was already familiar with so... for colour the inspiration came from the gorgeous final moodboard over at Scrap Around the World and for the sketch, I used Riikka Kovasin's sketch which was Prima's December BAP.

Supplies: patterned paper, stencil, stamps, watercolour pencils, chipboard, flowers, letter stickers, resist canvas, laces (Prima), gesso (Golden), whipped spackle and Stamper's Big Brush (Faber-Castell), black Archival ink (Ranger), gold Delicata ink and grey StazOn (Tsukineko), glimmer mist (Tattered Angels), marker (Sharpie), glitter, vellum and gold metallic thread (Dollarama)

I used these funky pinkish filtered selfies my daughter played with and I really like how the colours of the layout brings out the purply-blue hues in her hair. A bit hard to see in these layout photos.

You could say I "got my Prima on" with this layout. It too has been a long time since I have done a PPP or BAP from there. I do love their products and golly gee I own enough of it in my stash, but I couldn't resist the Garden Fable collection when I saw it.

Like with the art journal page this week, it took a long time to get through the process. Hopefully, now that I have gotten "back in the saddle", I will get faster. I am thinking that that might be one of my things to try this year in scrapping... letting go of "just right" and the hemming and the hawing that goes with that and just get'er done.

I am still mulling my one word for this year. I have it down to two and will share it when it is ready.

Wishing you and your families bright times ahead for this coming year.

TTFN,

Catching Up with LGS layouts

It has been a drought here on my blog over the fall months. While Fall is normally a busy time in my household with me being a teacher, this year's autumn took everything out of me... literally... zapped, zilch, zero; thus, I had to solely concentrate on trying to get my health in order. I have missed my creative peeps and creating new stuff. As is the norm for me, I get a chance to catch up when I get vacation time. Yeah!

So let the posting catch up begin! Today, I have a bunch of layouts that I made for a variety of Let's Get Sketchy Design Team reveals in September and October over on the LGS blog.

Supplies: patterned paper, diecuts (MME), labels, transparencies, glitter stars (Making Memories), title stamp (Magenta), emboss powder(Stampendous), background diamonds grid stamp and pen (CTMH), Archival ink (Ranger)

Total stash find! This really old MME paper and diecuts paired with some old MM transparencies and labels but the best part (besides the stickin' cute photos) is the heat embossed "Oh My Dogness!" title created from a Magenta stamp.

Supplies: patterned paper, die cuts, chipboard, stickers, frames (Simple Stories), letters (American Crafts), gold leaf (Michaels), white pen (Signo)

Cracked into Simple Stories So Fancy collection and had a little fun (or should I say sarcastic scrap session) with these selfies of my daughter hamming it up. Yep... she is sooo fancy! Lol!

Supplies: patterned paper, die cuts, chipboard, pocket cards (Simple Stories), Dina Wakley acrylic paint (Ranger), grid stencil (Magenta), gold Delicata ink (Tsukineko), glass beads and jewels (Dollarama), burlap (Misc.), black pen (Sharpie), white pen (Signo)

Went a little mixed media on this one as it really suited the sketch. Fun and freeing, I am really pleased with how this one turned out.

That's it for layouts. More creative formats to come. :)


TTFN,

LGS September Week 1

It is reveal time for my team over at Let's Get Sketchy for this week's sketch.

Supplies: patterned papers, die cuts, and fall chipboard letters (Daisy D's), chipboard leaves and walk chipboard letters (American Crafts), family letter stickers (Making Memories), glimmer mist (Tattered Angels), StazOn ink (Tsukineko), marker (Sharpie), pen (Staedtler)

I really enjoyed creating with this sketch. It was a challenge to combine so many patterned papers especially given how busy my photo was but I love how it all came together. I even dug deep in my stash for this one... anyone remember Daisy D's? I still love their fall collection that I used on this one including that Fall chipboard part of the title.

Here is Brenshevia's sketch for this week:

To learn more details about joining us in this challenge, check out the info here.

TTFN,

LGS August Week 4 Sketch

Here is this week's sketch over at Let's Get Sketchy:

Team B has some great eye-candy takes on this sketch, so be sure to check it out.

Also, a reminder of the LGS's Get Inspired Magazine call for Issue 7 Fall Publication which includes this seasonal mood board.

The deadline is September 1st. You can find out all the submission details here.

TTFN,

Together

What do you get when you mix a fun sketch with a recipe challenge?

For me, it resulted in this... 

This is both my DT take on LGS August Week 3 sketch and me taking a crack at Sassy Scrappers Recipe Challenge for August.

    

Watercolouring with mists... check. I had filled two mini misters with leftover diluted Magenta Hot Pink and Orange Nuance from a previous project and it was just the right colour for the MME My Girl collection embellis that I wanted to use. I sprayed them on a clear gessoed background. After stamping with the white ink, I decided it need a bit more watercolour feel so I repeatedly stamped with the watercolour after spritzing it on my craft mat and then loading my stamp from there. Not perfect impressions but that is totally okay for the look that I wanted.

I used the orange Nuance spray on the Maya Road canvas tags after I stencilled them with a mix of whipped spackle and clear gloss medium. Nothing like some creative chemistry in improvising when you want a certain effect but do not have the product. ;) After they were dry, I dabbed a bit of Dreamsicle Glimmer Mist as it was a different and darker orange to give some further details to the tags.

After I sewed three rounds of circles and arranged my other elements, including the title using Thickers (another check in the recipe), it was time for the last recipe item or rather items... enamel dots. I used both the MME My Girl collection ones and some Simple Stories DIY pink ones.

See the other creative interpretations that my fellow design team members came up with based on the sketch here and fellow recipe challenge participants here.

TTFN,

Let's Get Sketchy - August Week 1

My first reveal for Let's Get Sketchy is this week's sketch challenge.

I scrapped a photo that I took of cousin Camryn at the cottage during July. The Hello Darling collection from We R Memory Keepers was ideal for the colours in the photo.

I started with a clear gesso covered canvas which I stenciled and then watercoloured using Tim Holtz Distress ink. I added a few splatters too.

Then I machine sewed the border using a thicker gauge embroidery thread before I added layers of patterned papers and die cut clusters.

Some bling with jewels and glitter glue as well as wood veneer add some fun touches. I finished it off with vellum journaling strips.

Looking forward to seeing participants takes on this week's sketch. You have until Friday to enter for the DT favourite but a whole month for the monthly prize. Pop over here for the details. 

This is the sketch for August Week 1:

Hope you can join us.

TTFN,

Summer Songbird

I just had some photos developed yesterday from last week's cottage time and got the urge to document this fun memory of cousin Hadley as she was singing her little heart out.

Supplies: patterned papers, flower die cuts, stickers (Basic Grey), stencil, fabric flower, clay flower, metal flower, golden wood leaf (Prima), texture paste and Distress Stickles (Ranger), glitter liner (Viva), gelato (Faber-Castell), gesso (Golden), pen (CTMH), thread (misc.)

I cracked open the June Limited Edition kit from My Creative Scrapbook, full of Basic Grey's Tea Garden collection and Prima goodies along with a Kristine Davidson sketch which in combination was ideally suited to the single photo and its colours.

Texture pasted the background using the Prima Wild Flowers stencil. Then added some glitter to the leaves and colour splatters to the background with a Metallic Mint gelato and water mixture.

It was very relaxing to just play with the paper, distressing the edges and adding touches of gesso to give it all a bit of a shabby feel as well as playing with levels and layers.

Entering this one into Frilly and Funkie's Raise It Up Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge of Anything Goes.

TTFN,

Cardabilities and Lemoncraft

I have been on a bit of a card making kick of late. Today I am sharing a card that I made using patterned papers from Lemoncraft's Heart Painted collection from My Creative Scrapbook's May Limited edition kit and Cardabilities sketch #126.

Supplies: patterned papers (Lemoncraft), clear gesso (Liquitex), gesso (Golden), watercolour pencil crayons (Prima), stamp and thread (Dollarama), ink (Ranger), glass bead glitter gel (Faber-Castell), ribbon and doily (My Creative Scrapbook kit May 2015), cardstock (CTMH)

I gave this one a touch of watercolouring using Prima Watercolour Pencils adding colour to the black and white magnolia image after it was treated with a layer of clear gesso. Watercolour was also added to a lightly gessoed area beneath the flower.

For a touch of bling, I dragged thread through glass bead glitter gel for a sparkly effect and nested it under the image area once it was dry. Some distressing and stitching rounds this one out.

This was the sketch that I used:

TTFN,

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Hello Darling!

Hello to the first day of summer! I am marking the summer solstice with a festivity of floralness.

Supplies: watercolour paper (Canson), patterned papers and die-cut (WRMK), stencil and some flowers (Prima), Tim Holtz Distress inks, and texture paste (Ranger), metal ribbon and crocheted flower (Michaels), bloomer flower (Webster's Pages), green ribbon (miscellaneous)

Flower goodness all around with texture paste stenciled base along with a variety of different florals on the top.

Inspiration for this one came from the Simon Says Stamp Monday Blog challenge for Don't cut, just paste!, colour inspiration from Colour Me...Subtle! and the sketch from Cardabilities #125.



                         
            


TTFN,