Magenta Guest Designer....

Hey there!

 Today I'm so excited to share with you, the first of a series of guest design projects I've been working on for Magenta.  Magenta is a stamping (and more) company from Quebec, Canada and they have invited me to create some projects for their blog, so that's what I'm sharing with you today!

I first encountered Magenta products in their booth at the Mesa Stamp Convention several years ago, and I watched a demo that intrigued me greatly!  So, for my first product post with them, I wanted to revisit that technique and share it with you here. 

To create this card, I laid a stencil over top my watercolor paper, diluted some Magenta Nuance pigment powders with water and used them to paint through the openings of the stencil.  As you can imagine, because water is involved, it's a messy technique, and you have to be prepared for that.  Color is going to seep, there's no getting around it, so here's where you can keep the money you had earmarked for therapy and just embrace imperfection!  Allow the seepage and color leakage, and use your brush to pull that color outward and away from the stencil shapes, and blend into the other colors nearby.  Once the paint has all dried, you can go back and add more color to the stenciled shapes if you like.  And when you're satisfied with the depth of color (it's always nice to have a variety of light and dark areas) you can use the stencil again to outline the stencil shapes.  As I first saw demoed in the convention booth that day, I used a white Signo Uniball pen to do the outlining on this first card.

To complete the card, I stamped the sentiment in black and then used a square stitched die to die cut the sentiment.  I popped it up using some foam tape and re-adhered it into its original opening.  The addition of a few coordinating sequins finishes it off.

For the second card, I did much the same as the first, except I used a lot more water with the pigment powders so that the colors went very pale.  

Because I left it all so light, I lost the stencil design altogether, but no worries!  I just replaced the stencil and used a fine-tipped Copic liner pen to restore the design.  I also added a very lightly inked script stamp to the top right and the stamped sentiment on the bottom.  Finally, I added Glossy Accents to each of the berries, and although it's difficult to see very well in a photo, it adds a pleasing texture to the finished card.

For this last card I allowed the watercolor paint to blend in a very abstract way by spritzing more water on after I'd painted through the stencil.  I added more of the dark blue pigment paint, and let the background blend out quite loosely.  Once again, I re-drew the shapes with a Copic liner pen and added more layers of pen work with squiggles and tendrils.  This is a technique best done after 4 cups of coffee on an empty stomach. *grin

To add a little more detail when it didn't quite feel complete, I used a straight edge ruler to add the corner lines along with more squiggle lines.  Finally, I stamped on the sentiment and adhered the painted panel to a folded card base.

If you're interested in any of the products I used, including the specific Nuance powder colors, be sure to click on over to my blog post at Magenta where they are all listed.

Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful day!