Painting with baby wipes?!!

Who knew you could paint with a baby wipe as a "paintbrush"?!  Dyan Reaveley shared this great technique using her wonderful Dylusions Paints to quickly add dramatic coloring to a journal page.  You can also use this technique for making fabulous background panels for your cards.

Here I used horizontal strokes of Dylusions Paint; Fresh Lime, Crushed Grape,
London Blue,  and  Cut Grass.
Note that at the top of the paper, I added some strokes of White Linen to soften the colors.

 I like to use a 110# paper to reduce warping from the damp paint. When I paint on a 8.5" by 11" card stock, I can cut it in fourths, creating four card stock panels at one time!

I simply wadded up a baby wipe, forming a circular "pad"and dipped it in the jar of paint. Tap off a little paint if you get too much, and swipe away on your card stock. It's fun to try different types of strokes.....horizontal, round, circular, vertical or diagonal motions with your baby wipe "brush".  Or, use a combination of strokes for even more interest.

Here, I used a swirly motion with my baby wipe "brush", and made circular swipes with the paint.
I used Bubblegum Pink, London Blue, and Crushed Grape colors, with some swirls of White Linen on top.

On this paper,  after swiping on the colors, I made some strokes of White Linen paint on top.  I also just lightly "pounced" the baby wipe to create yet another look with the White Linen paint

I hope you will try this fun technique, and enjoy making lots of wonderful background panels for your cards.  The paint is super smooth on the paper, so it feels nice to the touch, and accepts stamped images quite well.

If you would like to see these samples in person, just drop by the shop and we would be glad to show them to you. Samples from the recent class using this technique and bokeh are also in the shop.

"A Luminescent Winter"

Today was Marj Marion's first class of 2016 and what a fun class it was!  Marj created cards using Dyan Reavely Paints, Distress Ink and touches of white ink.  Marj used a variety of techniques such as her version of Bokeh, to create beautiful, soft looking cards.  We had a group of nine ladies on this sunny, Sunday afternoon and you could almost feel the creativity flowing. 

   

By the end of the class everyone had created several lovely cards or were well on their way to several cards.

by Laurel

by Laurel

Work in progress by Corrie

by Corrie

by Leola

by Leola

Work in Progress by Katherine

Work in Progress by Katherine

This is just a small sampling of the beautiful work done by everyone during the class.  A few of the students were camera shy when it came to showing their work, but I saw a few of them during class and they were wonderful. 

Marj used a variety of items like the Modern Stationery Die set from Spellbinders, the Feathery Owl from Impression Obsession, and Buds and Flourishes from Magenta.  If you are interested in any of these items or the other materials she used, just stop in the store for more information.

Technique of the Week: Freezer Paper + Dies + Nuance

Since the contest we are running features Nuance (check out our last post for details on our contest), I thought I’d show you another fun way to use this great product.  This is an expanded version of the Technique of the Week from the Art 'n Soul weekly newsletter.  The blog allows us to add a few more pictures of the process used to create this fun card. 

by Pam Nelson

This week’s Technique of the Week was inspired by a posting on Kristina Werner’s blog which you can see at this link:  http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=15432   Kristina die cut shapes from freezer paper, ironed them onto watercolor paper and then added color using her favorite watercolors.  After trying her technique I decided to use Nuance instead of watercolors and I was really pleased with the result. 

For this project you will need freezer paper, a die (I used Memory Box Happy Birthday Extravaganza #98765 in my example), watercolor paper (I used Tim Holtz paper), an iron and Nuance.

Just in case you have never used freezer paper, you can find it at the grocery store in the same area as wax paper and aluminum foil. There is a matte side and a shiny side to the paper.  The shiny side is coated with wax – you want to put the shiny side down when you die cut your shape.

        

After you have done your die cutting from the freezer paper, the next step is to adhere it to your watercolor paper using an iron.  I used my regular clothes iron set on “cotton”.  I did try both my craft iron and a laminator and neither of them got hot enough for this technique.  Gently start ironing the die cut to your paper (again being sure that the shiny, waxy side is against your paper.)  Once the die is initially adhered to your paper, use a firmer pressure on the iron.  The heat from the iron will melt the wax and adhere it to your paper.  I used the pointed part of the iron to go over all the little flowers and leaves from this die – you want to be sure the die cut it is firmly adhered to your paper.

Now you are ready to add Nuance.  In this example I used Scarlet, Red and Hot Pink.  I sprinkled the powders a bit more intensely over the die and just lightly around the edges so the color would be more intense in the center.  I sprayed with water mixed with Perfect Pearls and used a brush to move some of the color around so that the darkest color was over the die cut.  If you have any areas with too much water, just blot gently with a paper towel.

Set this aside and let it dry thoroughly.  After your piece is dry, you are ready to remove the die cut.  Gently heat your piece with your heat gun and this will start to melt the wax under the die cut.  Use a sharp tool such as an X-acto knife to gently begin lifting the die cut at one of the outer edges. Continue heating with the heat gun and lifting the die cut until it is completely removed and the white watercolor paper underneath is revealed. 

Now you are ready to finish your card.  In this example I adhered the watercolor paper to a piece of fun foam for added dimension and then layered onto two colors of card stock.  I added a few sequins and put a drop of glossy accents in the center of each sequin. 

I hope you have fun with this technique!

Products used:

Magenta Nuance: MNU005 Hot Pink; MNU010 Scarlet; MNU015 Red

Memory Box die 98765 Happy birthday Extravaganza

Tim Holtz watercolor paper

Freezer paper

Various sequins

Glossy Accents

Launching Our New Blog...and a Contest!!

Welcome to Art ‘n Soul’s new blog.  We are delighted to have another forum to share information about the store, samples of art work from our staff and our amazing customers, as well as information about new products and techniques that we are excited about. 

We may go through a few growing pains in the next few weeks so please bear with us.  Also, if you have any suggestions for us, or have ideas about what you would like to see on the blog, please let us know.  We want to provide you with the information that will be the most useful to you.

First things first, we have to give a big thank you to Bill Gough (husband of our wonderful Carolyn Gough), who got the blog set up and running for us.  We couldn’t have done this without him!

by Pam Nelson

To get the blog off to a roaring start, we thought we would run a contest for our readers, and there will be a prize!  Since we were Magenta’s number one retailer again in 2015 (6 years in a row!), it seemed fitting that we use a Magenta product and what better product to use than Nuance!  

Ever since Magenta launched their wonderful watercolor powder, Nuance, last June, we have been selling it like crazy.  Everyone at Art ‘n Soul loves this great product and it appears that all of you do too.  You have seen lots of samples of our handmade cards using Nuance in a variety of ways and now we’d like to see your creations.

by Dianne Johnson

Use Nuance on your card, and if possible, please try to use other products you have purchased here at Art 'n Soul.

To enter the contest, drop off your card (or cards) to Art ‘n Soul by February 25th.  Include a brief description of your technique and other items you used in addition to Nuance.  Be sure to include your name on the card, too.  The ANS staff will select a winner and announce their name via the blog, newsletter and Facebook. We’ll display all of the cards in the store through the end of February and we’ll also post the pictures so all of our readers can see them.  At the end of the month you are welcome to take your card(s) home. Remember, your card will be posted on our blog, and the prize is a $10.00 gift certificate to Art 'n Soul!

We're putting a few cards here on the blog to inspire you. We have used Nuance on all of these cards in some way or another. If you have any questions about how we created these cards, please stop in the store to see them and we will be happy to answer your questions.

by Carolyn Gough

by Marj Marion

by Susie Tracy

We love comments! Please let us know how you like our blog. We'd love to hear from you.

Susie, Dianne, Marj, Pam and Carolyn