PaperArtsy: Mags Woodcock

Showing posts with label Mags Woodcock. Show all posts

Wednesday, 8 July 2026

3 Things - The Golden Girl {by Mags Woodcock}

Hi everyone, it's Mags here with you today for a 'With 3 Things' challenge post.

This feature on the PaperArtsy Blog is where 3 identical items are sent to 3 members of the PaperArtsy Blogging team. Typically we will receive a stamp, a stencil and a colour product.

We have no clue what PaperArtsy HQ is going to send, the whole idea of this challenge is to do something crafty in our personal style with these 3 items.

We can incorporate other PA products into the mix if we feel it is necessary.

So let's take a look at what I received from PA HQ ...

As you can see here, I received a gorgeous mini stamp (TSM19) and A5 stamp set (TS055) by Tracy Scott, along with a bottle of Ochre Translucent fresco Finish chalk Acrylic (FF195)

I must admit yellow isn't a colour I naturally gravitate towards, so I had to put my thinking cap on. A few ideas crossed my mind, including creating an art doll, but in the end I decided on a journal page with the sweet girl as the focal. I also decided to add my favourite Infusion, Just Walnut (CS25) into the mix

Lets take a closer look at what I made ....

I started with the background to my journal page, stamping the mandala randomly, overlapping the edge of the page sometimes. I used Versafine Clair ink to capture the tiny details in the stamp.

Whilst the ink was still wet I sprinkled on clear embossing powder, then tipped away the surplus powder and added heat to activate the powder.

I wanted a slightly grungy look to my page, so I spritzed the page with diluted Just Walnut Infusions

I liked the look of the infusions, but wanted more solid colour on the mandalas, so I used a brush to add more to the centre.

It was time for the Ochre Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic to come out to play. So I added some to the mandalas.

I was happy how the background was coming together, but it just needed a couple of finishing touches, so I used a gold and a white gel pen to add details to the mandalas.

The background was finished, it was now time to move onto the focal area of the page. I decided to create a frame for our girl to look out from. So I sprayed a sheet of copy paper with just Walnut infusions. Whilst that was drying I cut out a frame from recycled cardboard.

I covered the frame with the dyed copy paper, and also covered a panel with recycled tissue, this would sit behind the frame on my page.

The frame needed some details and interest, so I used more of the images from the large stamp set (TS055).

To tie the frame into the rest of the page, I coloured the images with more Just Walnut Infusions and added gold pen details.

It was now time to see how I could use that lovely Ochre colour combined with the sweet girl stamp.

I began by stamping our girl in Archival ink onto Smoothy Card (SCA4). It was time to experiment with the just Walnut to create a nice skin toned Infusion. I diluted the Just Walnut and added a tiny touch of diluted Magenta Infusions (CS23), it was perfect.

I always wanted the beads in our girls hair to be yellow, so I decided she also needed to have blond hair. Mixing some of the Ochre Fresco with a touch of diluted Just Walnut and plain water gave me the perfect blond hair colour.

The girls beads just needed some pure Ochre Fresco with a touch of shading and a white gel pen high light. I also added a touch of soft pencil shading in some areas of her hair. She was pretty as a picture.

All that was needed now was to add our girl to the frame , a few scraps of book pages, part of a stamped mandala, word sticker, and the dotty tissue background and she was ready for her close up.

I was excited to bring everything together to finish my page, so lets take a look.

I think you'll agree our girl looks very at home in the frame.

I think the frame adds a little more drama and focus to our pretty girl, I hope you agree.

Just a few more details to share with you.

The white pen work ties in with the lighter areas of the frame for a cohesive look to the page.

The gold tissue adds a touch of bling to the page, could our girl be a princess ? I'll let you decide !

I'm really please with how the shading and highlights on the beads and hair adds depth to the image.

Adding the book page scraps around the frame just lifts it a little and adds definition to the frame edges.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing how I used the mystery products sent by PaperArtsy HQ and how I overcame the challenge of using yellow Ochre. I will definitely be combining it with Just Walnut again in the future. I have lots of stamped images of our girl still to use, so I may well create an art doll or two with those.

Thank you for being here and I hope I have inspired you to try combing PaperArtsy products in unusual ways in the future.

Take care and happy crafting

Mags x

YouTube: Mags Woodcock

Facebook: Mags Woodcock

Instagram: Mags Woodcock

Wednesday, 27 May 2026

Paper Ticket Fun with EMW {by Victoria Wilding}

Hello everyone, Victoria here with you today for some paper ticket fun using the brand new designs by Mags Woodcock. The beauty of Mags’ designs is the variety of text and smaller images which makes them perfect for creating your own paper ephemera, and it’s always so handy to have a selection of tickets ready and waiting for your next project!

Mags’ new release has a love and music theme running through the designs, with some vintage text, numbers and pretty florals too, so there are limitless options for creative fun. And it is the playfulness of these sets, which help you create without pressure whilst enjoying your products.

There are so many stamps on EMW004, EMW005, and EMW006 and as if you didn’t already have enough options, it’s so easy to pick out elements from the large mixed media focal points too. The stencils PS515, PS516, and PS517 are lovely bold designs which give lots of flexibility for using different techniques.

I also picked out four PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylics in Eggshell (FF138) Seaglass (FF139) Wisteria (FF103) and Sherbet (FF28) to provide the base colour to my project. Infusions in Sleight Blue (CS13) was also selected for some additional colour.

So let’s get to my craft desk and see what I made!

I started off by preparing my ticket strips. I cut a piece of PaperArtsy Smoothy 240gsm Card (SCA4) into different sized strips (3/4”, 1”, 1 1/4”, 1 1/2” 2”) and divided each strip into sections to create the tickets.

Next I lightly blended some additional card with Distress Ink, to provide a pale base colour to stamp on top. I backgrounds using Speckled Egg, Tattered Rose and Milled Lavender, adding a little Pumice Stone and Frayed Burlap to the edges to create a more distressed effect.

I stamped images from all three stamp sets using Distress Archival Ink in a variety of colours on each of the backgrounds and leaving enough space for them to be cut out afterwards.

Once dry I cut out all the images to provide mini ticket details, and put these aside ready for layering on the main tickets later.

Creating the base colour for the ticket strips was a really fun part of the project. I used a brayer and a really small amount of each paint, using a flicking motion to hit random sections of the card. Applying the paint one at a time really helps you build layers of distinct colour. If you haven’t seen this done before, Leandra has an excellent technique video of this on the PaperArtsy YouTube channel. I left quite a bit of white space as I didn’t want the background colour to be overpowering, allowing future layers to stand out.

I then sprinkled a small amount of the Infusions powder onto a mini palette and added some water.

With a paint brush I applied a light top coat to all of the card strips, going over the paint I’d already applied. This light wash of colour softens the white space, preventing it from being too stark. If you work quickly before the walnut dissolves, you can pick up some of the different pigments in the powder to create slightly different wash effects. You can see in the photo below a strip with pink, one with more of a blue tinge and one with light brown.

Once dry I added some background interest stamping using the number and text stamps from the sets, stamping in columns using Archival Ink.

The final step for creating these base tickets was to cut the strips apart into individual tickets. I then used a corner punch to create a distinct ticket effect.

With the base elements all complete, I started putting everything together by layering the stamped elements with the base tickets, ensuring that there were a variety of compositions across the different tickets. I also added some extra stamping and fabric scraps to some of them for extra interest.

Next I stamped the flower images in grey Archival ink and coloured with watercolours, before fussy cutting them.

I added the flowers to the layered tickets and also selected some butterfly die cuts from my stash to fill some empty spots on the tickets and add some dimension.

Finally I added some zig-zag stitching to some sections of the tickets to provide additional texture and visual variety to the finished project.

The final step in my project was to create a ticket holder. I took a rectangle of kraft card and added some floral stencilling to the back side of the card, applying Fresco Finish Acrylics in Eggshell with a sponge. I also used a Sizzix ticket holder die from my stash to create a front piece with slots to hold the tickets. I glued these two pieces together.

Next I picked out some details on the stencilling using watercolour pencils. I used a damp paintbrush to lightly activate and blend the pigment. Once dry I placed a selection of tickets in the front of the ticket holder and glued the ticket with the sentiment ‘Dream’ to the bottom front section.

I love the contrast of the muted background with the brighter florals and sentiments on the finished project. The ticket holder looks so pretty with a selection of tickets poking out.

The variety in the finished designs is so pleasing, while the shared colour palette keeps everything feeling cohesive. And I made so many tickets there are plenty of extras which I will be able to use in future makes, so keep an eye on my socials over the next few weeks to see where these tickets end up next.

I really enjoyed using Mags’ latest designs and whilst I used almost all the stamps, I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of the creative possibilities.

The little flowers really pull the project together, providing a great floral focal point to all the background details. I hope you enjoyed my paper ticket fun and are tempted to give it a go for yourselves. This is one of those projects that is easy to put together without any pressure, as everything is done in layers and can be changed up with ease.