Remembering Life's Moments

A New Challenge--St. Patrick's Day or Green

2012-02-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

Is it February already? Yes, it sure is--and time for a new challenge. The winners of the Valentine's challenge are posted at the Dreamweaver Stencils blog at www.dreamweaverstencils.blogspot.com . The new challenge should be posted there, as well. You have until the end of the month to link your creation there. The theme is St. Patrick's Day OR green. Here, I have presented both. I began by running a piece of white cardstock through my Cuttlebug with a Details Embossing Mat and LX7002 Plaid Stencil. I then used the new stencil LG742 Pointed Celtic Knot on Double Sided Adhesive Paper. I soaped up the back first to make it easy to remove, and then placed it on the paper, soap side down. I placed green Stampee foil over the top and rubbed it down using a fine tipped embossing stylus. Once I pushed down as much as I could, I removed the foil and rubbed black flock over the whole thing. I vigorously brushed off the excess flock. Then, I put the whole thing stencil side down on the table and very carefully removed the paper from the stencil. I made sure to "walk" my fingers along the stencil to keep it flat while I removed the paper. I poured Crystal Art Glitter over the whole thing and brushed off the excess. The shamrock was created with green coated aluminum. I used stencil LS58 Clover. I placed the stencil face down on a hard surface, put the aluminum green side down over the top and pushed it into the opening using Mercart Metal Tools. I removed the stencil and placed the aluminum face down on a piece of suede, using the Mercart Ball Tool to create the dimension. I flipped it over, put it on a hard surface and used the Teflon tool to enhance the details and flatten the metal. I put Mercart Backing Paste in the clover and waited for it to dry. Then, I cut around the outside of the shape and assembled the whole card. A lot of steps, I know, but ultimately not difficult. c

Check out the rest of the blogs and get inspired. Don't forget to make a little something Irish, or green and link it over to the Dreamweaver Blog for a chance to WIN! I will see you next week!

CHA Sneak Peek Week Day 5--The Final Peek

2012-01-27T05:00:00.000-05:00

I am posting this Thank You card as a thanks for attending the Dreamweaver Sneak Peek Week. I hope you have had a great time. I know I have enjoyed showing off these stencils. This is what I did today. The new background stencil is LX7012 Waves and Dots and the Thank You stencil is LL3022 Festive Thank You. I ran each stencil through my Cuttlebug with the Details Embossing Mat and white cardstock. I misted the back with Isopropyl Alcohol first to loosen up the fibers and make a good impression. I left the stencil on the cardstock and used a stencil brush to quickly color it with Adirondack Pigment Ink. I then removed the stencil and covered the ink with Stampee Bonding Powder and shook it off. I heated it with my heat gun until it melted. I put clear Stampee Foil over the top of the whole thing and put it inside a folded piece of regular copy paper. Then, it all went through my laminating machine. When it was out, I quickly pulled off the foil in one movement. Then, I mounted everything and was done. The actual card is much shinier and more holographic than the picture. Don't forget, these stencils will be released at CHA next week, so if you like it, let someone at your local shop know so that they can order it. Meanwhile, check some more new ones out with the rest of the team (links on the left). Get inspired and make something Valentine's Day to link to the Dreamweaver blog. You could win one of two fabulous prizes, so get to work! I will see you next Thursday for the reveal of the new February Challenge.

CHA Sneak Peek Week Day 4

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to day four in the CHA Sneak Peek Week for Dreamweaver Stencils. You say you didn't know that it was Sneak Peek Week? That's okay. Just go look at the three previous posts, too. Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the finale. Anyway, back to today. I will start with the easy background. I ran aluminum through my Cuttlebug with a Details Embossing Mat and the new LX7011 Big Dots Stencil. I then covered the whole thing with Color Solutions Ink in Sugar Plum and Blue Velvet. I lightly sanded to show only the edges of those big dots. The cat is my reaction to the Zentangle fad. I have done Zentangle before, but it never really held my interest until I did it with typography. First, I lightly traced the inside of the new LL3020 Retro Sitting Cat stencil. Then, I lightly drew the words to the song "Everybody Wants to be a Cat" in the spaces. I colored around the words with my Zig Millenium Pen. I trimmed around the outside, mounted it on black (which I also trimmed) and popped it up on the background. The words "Cool Cat" are from the new LG741 Kitty Words stencil. I did it with the Double Glitter Technique in Art Glitter. Don't forget, these stencils have not been released yet. If you see something you like, call your local scrapbook store and let them know. Don't forget to check out the other team members' blogs. Also, create a little something Valentine-y and link it to the Dreamweaver blog for a chance to win a prize. I will see you for the last peek tomorrow.

CHA Sneak Peek Week Day 3

2012-01-25T05:00:00.000-05:00

Well, it is day 3 of our CHA Sneak Peek Week for Dreamweaver Stencils. Today, I feature both an old and new stencil. The old one, which I did with the Double Glitter Technique and Art Glitter, is LJ 905 Rain. The new stencil is LL3025 Mushrooms. I think I am going to have a LOT of fun with this stencil. It reminds me of mushrooms from Alice in Wonderland or something from a story about fairies. I could use it with crazy colored spots all over it or even glitter. Of course, this one is a little more traditional. I pasted it with the Original Embossing Paste right over the glittered adhesive paper that I used with the rain. I let it dry, replaced the stencil and colored it quickly with Adirondack Pigment Ink. I removed the stencil and covered the inked paste with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. I heated the powder until it was melted and glossy. I adhered it to the cardstock and was done. I hope you are enjoying all of the sneak peaks so far. We are only half way through! Check out everyone else's blog today, and I will see you back here tomorrow. Don't forget to enter the January Valentine's Challenge for your chance to win!

CHA Sneak Peek Week Day 2

2012-01-24T05:00:00.001-05:00

It is the second day of the CHA Sneak Peek Week, so here is a little more of what we have coming. This post features two stencils: the flower is a rerelease of LM 219 Plum Blossom Shape and the gorgeous LJ 919 Art Nouveau Flourish (Art Nouveau again--see the theme with me?). I used a slightly mottled green background paper. I pasted the flourish with Glossy Green Embossing Paste. Then, while it was still wet, I sprinkled Art Glitter in two different shades of transparent green over the top. The lighter green is on the right. As I let that dry, I used my embossing stylus to hand emboss some multishaded pink vellum. There really aren't very many lines to emboss and of course, vellum is transparent, so it was extremely easy to do. I just love the way that vellum embosses because it creates a completely different color when embossed. I stuck it on with a couple of small Glue Dots. Then, I added a brad in the center. That's it. Another simple card. Take a look at everyone's blogs (listed on the left) and if you see something you like, let your local scrapbook store owner know so that they can order it at CHA. In the meantime, make a little something that says "Valentine's Day" to you and link it to the Dreamweaver Blog. It could win one of two fabulous prizes this month. Give it a try--what do you have to lose?

CHA Sneak Peek Week Day 1

2012-01-23T05:00:00.000-05:00

WELCOME to the Dreamweaver Stencils Sneak Peek Week! These designs will not be available until CHA next week, but if you like them, let your local retailer know so they can decide what to buy. I promise that most of my posts this week will include more than one stencil, but I wanted to kick off the week with one of my favorites--LL3023 Tall Poppy. I have always been a huge fan of the Art Nouveau movement and the Arts and Crafts style that this stencil reflects. Copper was often used during the time period, so it was copper that I chose to use on this card. This particular copper was a thicker mil than I am used to working with, so it gave my hands a real workout. I used Mercart tools to do the tooling. When I was finished, I filled the back with Backing Paste and let it dry. I have always loved the look of blue with copper, so I used some blue alcohol inks over the copper to bring out the details. I sanded when I was done to remove any excess color. Then, I used the "brass brush" end of one of the tools to brush sections of the copper, creating a softer, yet more textural look. I know that the Arts and Crafts Style also featured many textures, so I tried to include a couple of extras here. I put the copper on navy mulberry and Creative Imaginations Wood Paper. Then I attached it with brads. I adhered it all to cork paper. Not my usual crazy style, I know, but I just loved its simplicity. Sometimes it is best to just let a great stencil do all the work! (Of course, sometimes you just can't resist using lots of techniques and bling.....) If you would like to get more involved with stencils, be sure to enter this month's challenge. There is still time to show us what you've got! The theme is Valentine's Day, so get busy! There are two prizes. (Maybe even a new stencil?) Don't forget to check out everyone else's posts and get inspired......See you TOMORROW!!

More Valentine Inspiration and Classes

2012-01-19T05:00:00.000-05:00

Dreamweaver Stencils is still running the Valentine Card Challenge through the end of the month, so I am hoping that this post will give you a little extra inspiration. Don't forget, there are TWO prizes at stake, and you need to post your creation online and link it to the Dreamweaver Stencils blog by the end of the month. This post features the remaining cards from my upcoming classes. The two above are from the Stamp Peddler class in Northville, Michigan this Saturday. They employ a Metal Technique and a Double Glitter Technique. The metal card uses the stencil LL 540 Heartweave. The one on the top right, the glittered card, uses the LL 3010 Swooshy Heart Stencil. The card on the right is also from Saturday and features Shrink Plastic. I used Adirondack Pigment Ink and the LM 287 Heart Flourish Stencil. This class also features the purple and silver card from last week's post.

These next two cards will be taught on Saturday, February 4th at Altered Art Addicts in Jackson, Michigan. That class will also include the double glitter card from last week and a thistle card, that I won't be showing until February. The card on the left here also features that Heartweave and metals. The background was created by running plain cardstock through my Cuttlebug with the Plaid Stencil LX 7002. The card on the right features pasting, hand embossing and debossing. The stencil that I used is discontinued and only available as a free giveaway in this class.

The last class cards that I am showing are from the class on February 5th at Capture A Memory in Flint, Michigan. This class also includes the gray and black oil stick heart from last week.

This first card features metal embossing, both by machine and by hand. The background is created by machine and features the Snowflakes Stencil LJ 819. The single snowflake is the Antler Snowflake Stencil LL 399. It was hand embossed. Both were inked with alcohol inks and sanded. The next card is an altered version of the double glitter technique. I used double glitter with a transparent neutral Art Glitter color to fill in all of the words and shadowed areas. The rest was filled in with Crystal Art Glitter. I then used pigment ink to color in the individual hearts. I went right over the entire heart, including the shadow and the crystal glitter. This allowed the hearts to be individual colors while still seeing all of the detail. The stencil used on this one is discontinued and only available as a free giveaway for taking the class. The background is the Plaid stencil through the machine with cardstock. The last card that I feature here is pasted with Pearlescent Paste.I used one of my favorite heart stencils, LG 724 Heart Flower. After it was pasted and dried, I added a little glue to select areas and brushed on Metallic FX in Purple Satin, Ivy Garden and Kiwi . The rose itself was painted with Liquid Pearls watered down a little and brushed on.

I know that this post includes a LOT of pictures. All of these pictures were initially going to
be spread out to two different posts, but the Team is doing something a little different next week. Starting Monday, the Dreamweaver Design Team is posting CHA Sneek Peeks every day. That's right folks, EVERY day. There are a lot of gorgeous new stencils to see, so be sure to let your local store owners know which ones you like. Also, don't forget to enter the January Dreamweaver Challenge and win some great prizes! Look around at all the team's posts and get inspired. Come back and visit on Monday, okay?

Valentine Challenge and One Stencil Four Ways

2012-01-12T05:00:00.003-05:00

This year, we have new, monthly challenges. This month, the challenge is Valentine's Day. YOU have the whole month to come up with an answer to that challenge (a card, a decor object, a scrapbook page, or anything else that your heart can imagine) and link it to the Dream It Up! blog. There is a Mr. Linky on the bottom, so you should post your creation somewhere (blog, gallery, Snapfish, whatever), copy that site into the Mr. Linky and you are done! The best part? We are giving away TWO prizes--one for the most creative project (which may or may not be Dreamweaver related) and the other for the best use of Dreamweaver products. You have until January 31st at 11:59 PM EST, so get busy! The winners will be announced Feb 2nd.
So, about now you are thinking, geez, I would love to enter, but I only have one or two stencils, and I have used those before. I say, "No excuse!" I offer to you four different ways to use one (or two) stencils. These are in classes of I am teaching, and they feature LL 567 Heart Swirls.

EXAMPLE 1: Easy Metals
This one you have seen before. It was part of last week's post. The heart was created by running the stencil through my Cuttlebug with a Details Mat and Black Coated Aluminum. Then, it was sanded so that the silver color showed through. The background was created almost the same way, but instead of aluminum, I used Core'dinations cardstock. I spritzed the back with a little rubbing alcohol before I ran it through to sort of loosen the fibers of the paper. I used the large LX 7001 Damask Stencil. I distressed the edges of the paper and mounted it all. That was it. This card is part of my class at My Craft Room in Troy, MI this Saturday morning.

EXAMPLE 2: Double Glitter
This is a very easy, quick and fun technique. First, I soaped the back of the stencil to create a slight resist. (This makes it easy to remove from the Adhesive Paper later). I brushed off the "crumblies" created by the soap. I then removed one side of the backing on the Double Sided Adhesive Paper. I placed the stencil soap side down on the sticky side of the adhesive paper. I covered the entire thing with gold Art Glitter. (It doesn't have to be Art Glitter, but that is my favorite.) I tapped and then brushed the excess glitter off very well. I placed the whole thing stencil side down and carefully removed the paper, keeping the stencil flat on the table by "walking" my fingers along it. I poured crystal glitter over the whole thing. Then, I added the gems. The background on this one was made the same way as the last--I ran it through the Cuttlebug after spritzing the paper with a little alcohol. I didn't sand this one. I used the Plaid Stencil LX 7002. I am teaching this card in Jackson at Altered Art Addicts on Saturday, February 4th. (Of course, there are a few more cards with this, and I will post them later this month.)

EXAMPLE 3: Shiva Oil Sticks

For this example, I used black cardstock and Silver Shiva Oil Stick. These sticks are pure oil paint, so you have to remove the film with your fingernail before you begin. I did that, and then rubbed the newly exposed section on waxed paper to create a palette. I taped the stencil down with removable tape. Then, I used a stencil brush to pick up paint from the palette. I rubbed it around over the stencil to create the color on the black background. When it was all colored, I gently wiped the top of the stencil. Then, I used transluscent paste and a spatula to paste over the oil colors. Without the paste, the oil colors would take a long time to dry. The paste creates a barrier when it dries, which allows you to touch those colors. The bonus? While the paste is still wet, you can put the gems in it and they will stick. I am teaching this card in a class in Flint at Capture a Memory on Sunday, February 5th.

EXAMPLE 4: Double Glitter with Foil and Flock
The technique on this card is almost identical to that on the Double Glitter Card. I soaped up the back of the stencil. Then, I attached it to the Double Sided Adhesive Paper. This time, I used silver foil instead of just glitter. The foil that I used is NOT the Gold Leaf Foil, which is gorgeous, but must be used a little differently. This is the Stampee type foil, with the acetate backing. You use this foil by rubbing it, dull side down on something really sticky. You can use a glue pad, glue pen, glue powder or, as in this case, Double Sided Adhesive Paper. I put this foil (dull side down) on the open spaces of the stencil. First, I rubbed a little with my finger, and then I pushed it down the best I could with an Embossing Stylus. I pulled the foil backing up. Then, I used silver glitter to fill in the blanks. I brushed off the excess, turned the whole thing over and carefully peeled the paper off of the stencil. Then, instead of flooding the it with glitter, I used Stampendous Fun Flock in dark purple. The only tricky bit with the fun flock is to make sure that you use PLENTY ( Its okay, the stuff multiplies). Push down hard when you apply it to make it very plush. That's it. Easy, really. I am teaching this card as part of a class at the Stamp Peddler in Northville, MI on Saturday, January 21st.
So, now that you have seen a few different ways to use a single stencil, perhaps you should get that one you own out and create something for our challenge. Not enough inspiration? Well, take a look at the other Dreamweaver Team names on the left side of my blog. Visit them, too, and get inspired! I'll see you next week.....

And Now For Something a Little Different.....

2012-01-10T21:56:00.011-05:00

It may come as a surprise to my followers that I have always considered myself a scrapbooker, NOT a card maker. Recently, I have joined a great group of online scrappers. The Disney Scrappers, as they call themselves, have reinvigorated my scrapbooking. Here it is, a layout that combines four of my passions: Disney, scrapbooking, the Silhouette Machine and Dreamweaver Stencils. These photos were from a trip to Epcot in November, just as the Christmas Decorations were being put up. I decided to reflect some of the decorations in the embellishments: snowflakes and ice skates.
The first stencil that I used was the Ice Skates Stencil LL 3016. I taped it down on top of black cardstock and right onto my craft sheet with removable tape. I actually taped it upside down because I wanted the skates to face in. I then got out my Dreamweaver Spatula and the original embossing paste. I placed some of the embossing paste above the stencil. I laid my spatula at a 45 degree angle from the table and pulled the paste over the stencil toward me. I made sure that the spatula was in contact with the stencil at all times. I tried to cover it all in one stroke. The remaining paste went right back into the container. After the paste was dry (about a half an hour) I colored the heels with a Copic marker and the blades and lace accents with a silver paint pen. The original paste takes all sorts of techniques. I trimmed around the edge, attached it to the page and added a brad.
The snowflakes used almost the same technique. Instead of the Original Embossing Paste, I used the Glossy White Embossing Paste.
It is more opaque (obviously shinier), and a little thinner in consistency. I always make sure that I work just a little quicker with the glossy paste because I find that it has more of a tendency to try and "bleed" under the stencil than the original. I pasted these stencils: LL 399 Antler Snowf lake, LL 396 Gothic Snowflake, LL 398 Southwest Snowflake, and LS 26 Snowflake (which I pasted twice). When these were dry, I used silver Stickles to sparkle them up. You can see that I had fun using the stencilled snowflake with different patterns of Stickles.
Oh, and I mentioned the Silhouette Machine (the best die cutting machine in the world). Well, that title? It was cut on my Silhouette. The font is a dingbat font called Prototype Community. It contains the original logos of everything in Epcot. If you are a Disney fan and a Silhouette user, you DEFINITELY need this font. I was also surprised that the Silhouette cut the mirror paper that I wanted to use. The top layer ripped just a little on some of the finer corners, but I think that may have been due to a slightly duller blade. I just fixed it up with a little gold paint pen.

So, I am hoping that you like my extra posting this week. I sure had fun with it. Don't worry, regular cardmaking fans, I am still going to post my usual on Thursday with the rest of the Dreamweaver Stencil Design Team. It is already scheduled, in fact. If anyone is visiting from Disney Scrappers, you can expect to see me A LOT more active in the near future. I love both groups--you inspire me. Here's hoping I inspired someone else. See you Thursday!

A Few Changes for 2012--January Challenge

2012-01-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first posting of the Dreamweaver Stencils' Dream Team 2012 ! We're changing things up a bit for this year, and YOU can help. The first Thursday of every month will feature our new challenge and will extend through the entire month. This means that YOU have ALL month to play along with the one challenge, as many times as you want. Sometimes it will be a color challenge, sometimes a theme, and sometimes a technique. We are hoping that an entire month will give you plenty of time to be inspired, create, and link to the Dream It Up! blog . Each month we are offering TWO prizes...one for the most creative version of the challenge (does not have to be Dreamweaver Stencils ' product, but we sure are happy when it is!), and the second for the best use of Dreamweaver Stencils ' product in the challenge. This could be stencils (of course), Embossing Pastes , Metallic F/X , the new Color Solutions , etc., anything you find on the Dreamweaver Stencils' web site , or in your local store. Don't know where your local store is? The list can be found on the web site . Not near any of the stores listed? There is also an online site to purchase from, Stencil with Style !For the month of January, we challenge you to create something for Valentine's Day! You have until January 31st, 11:59 PM EST, to post and link your creation(s) to the Dream It Up! Blog Mr. Linky. The winners will be announced February 2nd, along with the February challenge.
This month's challenge is Valentine's Day.
Here is my version of this month's challenge:

I chose to feature the cards that I am teaching in a January 14th class at My Craft Room in Troy, Michigan. While my focus is on the metals, I have a couple of extra techniques thrown in. Lets start on the left, shall we? For this card, I used two stencils. One, the candy hearts, can only be obtained by taking the class. I ran that stencil through my Cuttlebug with plain metal, dripped alcohol inks on it, and sanded it. The other was the Plaid Stencil LX 7002. I used that one with Adirondack Dye Inks to create the plaid on the background. The middle card also features that Plaid Stencil, this time run through the Cuttlebug with SEI Velvet Paper. It is difficult to see how beautiful it looks because velvet paper does not photograph well. Then, I used the Cuttlebug with the Cathedral Windows Small Stencil LJ 909 and fuschia coated aluminum. I sanded the metal and put it back through the Cuttlebug without a stencil to flatten it out. I put the metal face down on top of the Heart Swans Stencil LM 2000. I used the Mercart metal tools with the stencil to create the 3D swans. Then, I filled the back with Mercart Backing Paste and let it dry. Once dry, I pounced some alcohol ink right over the swan area to enhance and seperate them from the background. I then sanded the swans well, using the Mercart Fiberglass Tool when I had to get it very shiny in little areas.The final card in the row was the easiest. The background was created with Damask LX 7001 run through the Cuttlebug with Core'dinations Color Core paper and sanded. The Heart Swirls Stencil LL 567 was also run through the Cuttlebug, but with black coated aluminum. It, too was sanded. That was it. Simple, right?

Need more inspiration? Please visit the rest of our fabulous team listed here:

Pam Hornschu (our fearless leader)

Laura Drahozal (me)

Louise Healy

Wendy Jordan

Terrece Siddoway

Kristi Van Doren

Georgia Sommers

Lee Kellogg

Liz Martin

Cyndi Bundy

Cherylynn Moser

Jessie Hurley

Happy New Year!

2011-12-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

This week's blog post is a card celebrating the New Year. Mine combines two of my very favorite techniques--Double Glitter and Metals. The background was made using the Confetti Stencil LJ 854. This was the first time that I had used this stencil, but I purchased it knowing that I would use it for New Year's and for birthdays throughout the year. I soaped up the back and brushed off the little "crumblies" that accumulated in the holes of the stencil. Then I laid it soaped side down on a piece of Double Sided Adhesive Paper. I used small amounts of Holographic Art Glitter in the holes and rubbed it in a little. (To see it in person, the confetti is extremely sparkly.) I then put the whole thing stencil side down and very carefully peeled the adhesive paper off of the stencil. I "walked" my fingers along the stencil as I did this, so that I could keep the stencil flat. I poured an older, slightly golden clear glitter on top of it to created the background. I mounted this on something called Holographic Tissue Paper, purchased from the dollar store, and wrinkled the paper a little around the edges. This was then attached to a glittery cardstock from Core'dinations.

The numbers were all created with red coated aluminum. I debossed them by hand, mostly because it wasn't too difficult and I was being a little lazy about pulling out the Cuttlebug. I used the teflon tool from the Mercart Basic Tool kit and placed the metal red side up on top of the stencils, pushing it into the holes. Then, with the metal still in the stencil, I sanded the top. They were then all cut with the Lifestyle Crafts (previously Quickutz) Diesel font. I mounted them on adhesive chipboard and then on a dark gold metal, which I trimmed about an eighth of an inch from the number all the way around it. The stencils I used were LJ 909 Cathedral Windows Small, 912 Triangle Weave, LJ 913 Houndstooth, and LJ 914 Herringbone.

Well, I had a great time with this one. I hope you enjoy it. Check out the other blogs, too. Leave a message if you can, because everyone likes messages. Get inspired! Be ready for more inspiration and a few changes in the New Year. Most of all, I am wishing you happiness, health and love in 2012!

A Burgundy and Gold Dreamweaver Christmas

2011-12-22T05:00:00.000-05:00

This week's challenge was burgundy and gold. I knew from the start which stencils I would be using--two of my favorite Christmas ones--I just didn't realize that I was going to be sassy and add a little green until yesterday. This particular holly was created as a sample pasting during a class. I used the Holly and Swirls Stencil LL 3005. The paste was the Green Glossy Embossing Paste and, as part of the demonstration, I sprinkled on Ivy Garden and Kiwi Metallic FX. Once the paste was dry, I used a Swiffer to remove the excess powder. I found the sample later when rummaging for the stencil, and it was just so pretty with the Metallic FX that I decided to use it, despite the burgundy and gold mandate. I also used the Metallic FX, in Goldfinch and Gold Dust on the Metallic Gold Embossing Paste for the word. I used the Christmas Stencil LL 3009 for that one.

The only other stencil that I used was the Plaid Stencil LX 7002. This was used with velvet paper and my Cuttlebug Machine. I just ran the stencil through the machine with the velvet paper and a rubber embossing mat. The actual color of the paper is almost identical to the cardstock, but velvet paper does not photograph very well, so there is a slight color shift. The berries are Queen and Company pearls, and almost an exact match as well. I raised the holly up just a little with 3D Dots and added a gold mat and ribbon. I was very pleased with the results. Here is another photo of the card. It shows the raised holly, dimension on the pearls and shimmer on the word just a little better than the previous picture.
So, Merry Christmas all, and a hearty "welcome" to the newest design team members, Cherylynn and Cyndi! I didn't have Cherylynn's blog info yet, but link on over to Cyndi's blog and check it out when you get the chance. Don't forget to check out all of the other Dream Team blogs, get inspired, and leave a comment if you can--we all like comments!

Dreamweaver Sketch Challenge

2011-12-15T02:47:00.014-05:00

This week was initially supposed to be not only a sketch theme, but a vintage theme. I was thrilled when Pam opted to remove the vinatge requirement, because ever since I initally saw this sketch, I have been thinking that I needed to use these stencils, some metals and the Color Solution Inks. Those alcohol inks were my primary problem. The colors that I had to use--Blue Velvet and Sugar Plum were neither shy colors nor vintage. I kept trying to use another idea, yet this take off of the Tim Holtz pumpkin technique just wouldn't allow me to move on. I kept thinking that perhaps the sanding would allow this to work with the theme-but a vintage purple, silver and black Christmas card? Happily, it worked out in the end.
This project was much easier than it looks. First, I used my Lifestyle Crafts metal through my Cuttlebug with the Snowflake Background stencil LJ 819. The sandwich was B plate, A Plate, stencil, metal, a soft embossing mat, a shim and another B Plate. I used my Mercart Metals basic kit to lightly enhance parts of the snowflakes. Then, I removed the stencil and put my metal face up on my craft sheet. This is where I drew inspiration from the Tim Holtz pumpkin: I dripped the Color Solution Inks on top of the metals. I used both Sugar Plum and Blue Velvet. With such intense colors, I didn't need very much. Instead of using a regular paint brush, I swirled the colors around with a Q-Tip. Then, because they were still quite bright, I used a little paper towel to dab off some of the color. Then, I used regular isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol in a Mini Mister and spritzed the top of the background piece to create the splotches. Finally, I lightly sanded over the top of the snowflakes to bring out the silver color.

The individual snowflake was done roughly the same way. The stencil I used was the Gothic Snowflake LL 396. I ran this one through the Cuttlebug as well. I then placed it stencil side down and used the metal tools to push the metal forward into the stencil. The Color Solution was applied the same way, but was never sprayed with the alcohol, because I wanted that foreground snowflake to appear a little brighter than the background. I then lightly sanded the snowflake, cut it out, and mounted it on a piece of white glossy. After that, it was a simple matter of assembly, including cutting the snowflake background into strips.

So, with the help of this very interesting sketch, I was able to do a card with only two stencils and one technique. You should try and play along this week (if you have any time). Go to everyone's blogs, post yours and link it on the Dreamweaver Stencils blog. At least check out the blogs and get inspired. Oh, and leave comments if you can. We all love comments. See you next week!

Free Week--Upcoming Jackson Class

2011-12-08T05:00:00.000-05:00

This week, I have decided to post a card preview for the class that I am teaching at Altered Art Addicts in Jackson, Michigan this Sunday. So here it is, all four cards. These techniques are a little easier than they are in my average post.

The first card I have featured is made with a simple pasting technique. I put the brown paper down on my craft sheet, texture side up. Then, I laid the Christmas Script Stencil LL 3009 on top of it, right side up, and taped it all the way around, directly to the craft sheet, with Scotch Removable tape. I used the back end of my spatula to get Gold Embossing Paste from the container and place it on one of the short sides of the stencil. Finally, holding my spatula at a 45 degree angle to the stencil, I pulled the embossing paste across it. I let the spatula scrape gently on the stencil as I did it so that the paste was level with the top of the stencil. I removed the stencil immediately, and then let the paste completely dry before I added Christmas Red Stickles to the "berries" on the image. I just love this stencil, especially with that gold paste.

The second card here is also created with paste, and the basic technique is the same as the first. I used the Holly and Swirls Stencil LL 3005. Instead of the Gold Embossing Paste, I used the Glossy Green Embossing Paste. After I removed the stencil, I sprinkled Metallic FX in Kiwi and Ivy Garden over the top. I was able to sprinkle just a little on while the paste was still wet using cut straws to get the powder out of the containers. After the paste dried, I used a Swiffer refill to remove all of the excess mica powders. I like to use the micas in colors that are similar to the glossy paste color. I think the look is almost like a patina. When the paste was dry and the project swiffered, I used the Christams Red Stickles again for the berries.
The third card was created with the "double glitter" technique. First, I soaped the back of the Mistletoe Stencil until it had a "cloudy" look to the metal. (This stencil is discontinued, but will be yours if you sign up for the class.) The soap "crumblies" had to be removed with a clean stencil brush before I could proceed. Then, I peeled the paper off one side of the Double Sided Adhesive Paper and put the soaped side of the stencil down on the exposed adhesive. I put some small pearls into the "berry" holes of the stencil. I then used green flock in the plant portion and white flock on the square section. When I used flock on this project, I put a generous amount on the area that I needed filled, then I pressed it in vigoruosly with my thumb. After that, I brushed it off well, and, when I thought I was done, I brushed it again. Afterwards, I put the whole thing stencil side down and carefully peeled the adhesive paper off of the stencil, while "walking" my fingers along the stencil to keep it flat. Then, I flipped the paper over and poured Jadestone Art Glitter over it. I have used this stencil many times lately, as it is my giveaway for the holiday season, and I have to admit that this was probably my favorite technique with it.
Finally, I used the Holly Flourish Stencil LG 731 through my Revolution. (I could have used the Cuttlebug, but I like that the Revolution has a magnetic base.) First, I put the stencil face down on the plate. Then, I spritzed the back of the cardstock with a little rubbing alcohol and placed it on top of the stencil. Then, I used the rubber embossing mat, a couple of shims (this is determined by a little practice with your own machine, as they all vary a little) and my embossing mat. When the embossing was done, I left the paper on the stencil and flipped the whole thing over. I used Fantstix and Distress Inks in Peeled Paint and Pine Needles to add a little color. Then, I removed the stencil and colored the berries with Burgundy Stickles.
So, pick your favorite card and give it a try. Better yet, if you are in Michigan, call Altered Art Addicts and come out to take the class. Go to everyone's blogs and check out other things you can do with these fabulous stencils. Be inspired, and come back again next week, when we will have a sketch AND theme challenge.

Turquoise and Silver Challenge

2011-12-01T00:59:00.004-05:00

Hello all my Dreamweaver friends! It is time for another Dreamweaver Challenge. This week it is a color challenge--turquoise and silver. When I think of these two colors together, especially this time of year, I always think about snowflakes. It was quite the coincidence that in my area of Michigan, we just experienced out first big snowfall of the season. We got over 5 inches. I can tell you that this card looks very much like early morning in the snow.

At any rate, I should get to telling you how it is made. On this card, I used only two techniques, my two favorites, in fact: Double Glitter and Metals. The background, which is very subtle (more subtle than I am used to anyway) was made with the double glitter technique. I first soaped up the back of stencil LJ 819, snowflakes. I brushed off the excess soap and pressed the soaped side of the stencil onto double sided adhesive paper. I then pressed some silver Stampee foil into the larger exposed areas of the snowflakes. I used a dry embossing stylus to push it down well. I then put Art Glitter Microfine Silver Moon glitter over the top and rubbed it in with my finger. I had to make sure to rub it in because this Microfine is so light weight that it needs to be coaxed into place. I then brushed it off well and, when I thought it was good enough, brushed it again. I placed the whole thing stencil side down on the table and carefully removed the paper while running my fingers along the stencil to keep it flat. I poured Ultrafine Opaque Art Glitter in Sky and Blue Hawaii over the top. In real life, you can see that there are two different colors of blue on this card.

The metal was done with plain aluminum and the Gothic Snowflake stencil LL396. I placed the stencil down on a flat, smooth surface and put the metal, plain aluminum side down, on top of the stencil. I rubbed a drawing stump over the top to outline the edges of the stencil. Then, I used the Mercart Telfon tool to push the metal down into the stencil. I flipped the whole thing and carefully removed the stencil. I used the telfon tool to define the outline of the snowflake. Then, I flipped it back again and laid it on a piece of suede. I used a ball tool to push the design out and make it "pouffy". Flipping it back and laying it back on the smooth surface, I once again used the teflon tool to define the edges. Then, I used turquoise alcohol inks over the top and sanded it to show the snowflake. After that, it was a simple matter of assembling the card.

This card, while it certainly uses my favorite techniques and appeals to the "magpie" glam collector in me, is also a very different style than I am used to. It lacks my usual contrast level and, because of that and the turquoise color, feels almost "retro" to me. It is one of the things that I love so much about being on a design team--I am challenged to try something new. Check out all the Dream Team blogs and feel challenged to try something a little different. Maybe even take a class. If you are in Michigan, I will be teaching a lot this week. You can catch me tonight, Thursday, December 1 at Stamp Peddler in Northville (I think there is one spot left), where I will be teaching various uses of double sided adhesive paper. On Friday, December 2, I will be at Capture a Memory in Flint, where I will teach a little of everything. There were two spots left for that on Wednesday afternoon. If you like metals, catch me at My Craft Room in Troy on Saturday, December 3. That is where I will be teaching everyone how to play with metals and stencils. There are a few spots left there. On December 11, I will be at Altered Art Addicts in Jackson, MI. I will be teaching a variety of things there.

So, I will be busy for a little while. If you aren't too busy, take a little time to view all our blogs and get inspired. We check out anything you link to the Dreamweaver Stencil blog, so let us take a look. (I love to read your comments, too, so leave one if you have a chance). I'll see you next week!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T01:39:00.006-05:00

Here in the United States, today is Thanksgiving, a day set aside to give thanks for everything that we are grateful about. Me, I am grateful for my fantastic, supportive husband, my family, my dog, and my opportunities with the Dreamweaver Design Team. It seems appropriate that the challenge this week is to create a Thanksgiving card. This is mine:

This card uses three different stencil techniques: metals through the machine, paste, and a foiled version of the double glitter technique. I finished this a little too late to take a decent photo, so I had to scan it. Sadly, there was a little color shifting. I wish that you can see how really pretty the shiny foil, glitter, metallic paste and metals are. Anyway, the metal in the background is all a light gold in color. I used the Herringbone Stencil LJ 819 through the Cuttlebug with a rubber mat. It was quite simple. Then, I used the Gold Metallic Embossing paste with the Happy Thanksgiving LM 251 on dark brown cardstock. I trimmed around it and seperated the words. The leaves were LG 728 Blowing Leaves. I soaped up the back of the stencil and attached it to Double Sided Adhesive Paper. I then pressed into the stencil leaves with foil in fall colors--red, gold, orange, copper, and brown. The small end of a dry embossing stylus helped me get into some of the smaller areas. I used the fine brown glitter over everything to create the swirls and the brown edges of the leaves. Then, I brushed off all of the excess with a large stencil brush. I flipped the whole thing over and peeled up the edge of the adhesive paper. I "walked" my hands along the back, being careful not to damage the stencil. After it was off the background, I covered the entire thing in Crystal Glitter by the Art Institute. When that was done, I assembled the card.

I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I also hope that you are inspired to make a little something of your own. Link it to the Dreamweaver Blog. ALSO, if you enjoy creating with the Dreamweaver Stencils, you should try out for the newest design team. You will get lots of free products and stencils in exchange for samples. My time with the team has been just fantasic! Here is the information. In the meantime, check out the blogs from the rest of the team. Get inspired!

Dreamweaver Sketch Week

2011-11-17T00:35:00.004-05:00

Here is this week's sketch, courtesy of the fantastic Wendy Jordan. Sorry Wendy, but I really changed it up a little this time. I turned it on its end--literally! I eliminated the embellishments on the bottom--uh, side.

Once I had it all sorted out, I used a few different techniques and stencils. First off, on the background I used stencil LJ 914 Herringbone with a textured carstock. I ran it through my Cuttlebug. Then, I sanded it to add depth of color.

For the snowflake strip, I used a technique that was fairly new to me. I sprayed Meomory Mists in Stormy Sky, Blueberry Milkshake and Blue Lagoon directly on the Snowflake Background Stencil LJ 819. I left it blotchy, because I liked the look. I then layed it on some paper towels and ran it through my Cuttlebug. I decorated the snowflakes a little with Diamond Stickles.

The single snowflake layer was created with the Antler Snowflake Stencil LL 399 and, yes, metals. This time I used the dark blue aluminum. I embossed it, filled it and sanded it.

The last technique I used was embossing with regular paste and the Ice Skates Stencil LL 3016. When it was dry, I used a Versamarker and added silver embossing powder to the blades and the eyelets. I then enhanced these with Sitckles as well.

That was it. One thing that I have discovered on this team is that it is often the projects that I struggle with that are the ones I like the best when they are done. I wasn't excited about this sketch, but once I actually started it, I really enjoyed it. It sort of reminds me of a scrapbook page. Ultimately, it is the challenges that I enjoy most about the team.

Do you think that you would like to rise to the challenges of being on a Design Team? If you give it a try, you won"t regret it. Check out the link on the Dreamweaver Blog and give yourself the chance to be inspired all year long. Try out the other Dreamweaver links for some great ideas. I'll see you next week...........

Dreamweaver Free Week--An Upcoming Class

2011-11-09T22:20:00.011-05:00

It's free week again. I hope that you are not all tired of seeing the metal projects that I have been making. I can't help it--I am addicted. This week, I am bringing you four cards. They are the ones that I will be teaching in my upcoming Dreamweaver Stencils and Metals Class. I am actually teaching specifically metals at two different stores--The Stamp Peddler in Northville, MI and My Craft Room in Troy, MI. These are from the first of the two classes, the Stamp Peddler class. I am teaching this one on Thursday, November 17th. These cards are very different than the ones from My Craft Room, which I will post at my next available time. Anyway, the top card that I featured (the skates card) was created with black coated aluminum and a Mercart metal tool kit. It was made with the LL 3016, Ice Skates stencil. After I pushed the metal through the stencil with the Mercart Teflon Tool and filled it with the Mercart Filling paste, I sanded it to bring out the details. The background is Core'dinations Cardstock that has been run through my Cuttlebug with the Snowflakes Background Stencil LJ 819.I then sanded it to show the snowflakes.
The candy cane card was also made with the Mercart Teflon Tool. I used red coated aluminum and debossed it into the LL 555 Candy Cane Stencil. I was very careful about this. I then sanded it to show the silver aluminum in the background.

The poinsettia card was made by machine embossing plain silver aluminum through my Revolution Machine with the Large Poinsettia Stencil LG 70 0. I then enhanced the embossing just a little with my teflon tool. I used alcohol inks generously over the metal with the stencil still in place. I then removed the stencil, cleaned it up a little, and added some green alcohol ink to the background.

The last card was made with the Season's Greetings LS stencil and the discontinued Mistletoe Stencil. Both were embossed using the Revolution. After removing the stencils, they were colored using alcohol inks. When the inks were dry (which took almost no time), they were sanded to bring out the embossing. How could you get a hold of one of these Mistletoe Stencils?

You could ask your LSS if they could order it for you--OR you could take my class if you live in Michigan. I will be giving this Mistletoe Stencil out for free at any of my stencil classes this November or December. Look me up and take a class. I would love to see you. Meanwhile, you should check out all of the other Dream Team members posts. Get inspired and try out for yourself. It has been a wonderful experience, which I highly recommend.

Black and White Challenge (Almost)

2011-11-02T22:07:00.004-04:00

This week's Dreamweaver challenge is black and white. I followed it...well, sort of. See, this Teresa Collins paper goes perfectly with one of my absolute favorite stencils, LL 3005 Holly and Swirls. Sadly, the paper is not EXACTLY just black and white. It is sort of ivory, black, and white with some red berries thrown in. I hope my Dream Team members will forgive me.
This particular card is also very much like one of the cards that I will be teaching at Capture A Memory in Flint on November 27th. In this case, I used that gorgeous Holly and Swirls stencil with black coated aluminum. First, I placed the stencil upside down on a hard acrylic block. (It didn't have to be an acrylic block, just something hard and smooth and my old kitchen table no longer qualifies.) I then laid the aluminum face down on top of the stencil. I lightly rubbed over the back of the aluminum with a large blending stump (an inexpensive paper art supply). This showed the edges of the stencil beneath. I then pulled out my metal tools. All of the tools I used, with the exception of one (which I will name specifically) are from the Mercart Basic Tool Kit. The first one I used was the Teflon tipped outliner. I rubbed the back of the metal with it around all the edges of the stencil. I removed the stencil and then put the metal face down on a piece of suede. I used the very small ball tipped tool in all of the "vine" areas. I then used the "ball" side of the ball and cup tool to push out the berries and the leaves. As you can see, I tried to create a lined look on the leaves. I accomplished this by pushing the metal out from the leaf tips to the center, stopping right in the middle. After I got all the way around the leaf, I had a veined look. I flipped the metal over again, placed it on the acrylic block, and used the "deer foot" side of the teflon tools to refine and flatten the background areas. When I was satisfied with the look, I put Mercart Filling past into the raised areas and let it dry. Once it was dry, I got the suede out again and placed the metals face up on top. I then used the "tile roller" tie all around the edges. This tool is not included in the Mercart basic kit. I used the smaller wheel, which is included in the kit, to make the edges stand out more. I then took a sanding block to the whole thing. I sanded through the black coating on the top of the raised bits. I attached everything together, and was finished! I really liked the look. If you are in my area, you can create something like this at Capture a Memory, so take a look at their classes.
Something EVERYONE should look at is the Dreamweaver Design Team call. The requirements are on the Dreamweaver Stencils blog. I have had such a fantastic experience on this team! I highly recommend you check out everyone's sites, get inspired, and audition for this team. You won't regret it.

Sketch Challenge

2011-10-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

So, it is sketch week again. These are always a little bit of a challenge for me, because they cause me to think of a card in a very different way. Of course, all of the challenges are creativity expanding, because they are made to get you out of the proverbial "box". It somehow seems easier for me to do the other challenges than the sketches though. This sketch, however, was a little easier for me. It is actually a format that I use quite often. (At least a modified version of it.) In this case, I chose to highlight a couple of the new Dreamweaver Christmas stencils, Joseph and Mary LL 3019 and Prince of Peace LX 7004. (I used just the bottom line of this last one.)

Both of the stencils used the Double Glitter Technique. First, I soaped the back of the stencil with the Dreamweaver Soap. (The soap acts as a release agent so that the stencil doesn't bend when you take the adhesive paper off of it.) I brushed off all the little "crumblies" with a large Dreamweaver Stencil Brush. Then, I attched the stencil to the Double Sided Mounting Paper. I used the Microfine Art Glitter in gold, to get into all of the little details. Because it is Microfine, I used my finger to rub it in well. After I was sure that it was all rubbed down, I used the large Dreamweaver Stencil Brush to brush off ALL the excess glitter. When I thought it was done, I brushed it again. I then placed the whole thing stencil side down and very carefully peeled the adhesive paper off of the stencil. I "walked" my fingers along the plain stencil as I peeled off this paper. This keeps it down and unbent. I then poured Crystal Art Glitter over the top of the paper.

This project was simple and fun! The rest of it was even easier, as I just had to assemble the card.

It has been great this week. Check out everyone else's interpretation of this sketch. You should play along with us. If you get a chance, go link to the Dreamweaver Blog so that we can see what you have been up to.
Until next week--stay inspired!

Dreamweaver Free Week--Pandora's Box?

2011-10-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

Alright, I am going to be completely honest. I absolutely LOVE working with metals on Dreamweaver Stencils. I adore it so much that I could easily and happily do metals for almost every post (alternating, of course, with all the variations of Double Glitter). It is SO addicting. I am really excited that I am going to be teaching classes in working with metals and stencils at a couple of different stores. Anyway, on to this week's post.
The Greek legend of Pandora says that Pandora was given a box (actually a jar) and told not to open it. Being a curious woman (I can relate), she opened the box and all the bad things in the world came pouring out. When it was hastily closed, the only thing that remained was Hope. I love this legend. It explores human nature, sure, but I love it because I have learned, the hard way, that when all else is truly lost, there is ALWAYS hope. Never give it up. In fact, the first time my mother had Sepsis, and we were told that she could never live, my cousin gave me one of those rubber bracelets that said "hope". I wore it, never taking it off, until my mother actually passed, several months later--months after RECOVERING from the Sepsis. It reminded me that hope is the one thing that can never be taken from you. You have to agree to give it up.
How do Greek legends and my personal experience relate to this project? Well, that image embossed image is the character for "Hope", LS 1008. Of course, the image is Chinese, I think. Hope has no native tongue, however, even if the Pandora legend does. The stencil I used was the small version of it. I placed the stencil face down on a hard, smooth surface. I then placed the red side of my colored aluminum on top of it. I used the Mercart Teflon Tool to press it down into the cut out parts. I removed the aluminum from the stencil, placed it face up on a hard surface, and refined it with that Teflon Tool. I flipped it back over and placed it on suede. I used the small Mercart "Ball" tool to push out the design. I once again flipped it right side up and refined it for the final time on a hard surface with that Teflon Tool. I filled the raised design with Mercart Filling Paste. After it was dry, I finished this part by sanding the raised portions to highlight them.
I had purchased this box for a dollar, yes, just a dollar, at Michaels. It was natural colored when I purchased it, so I painted it black. I then used the Koi Stencil LG 613, well, the edging of that stencil anyway, to deboss the metal for the edges. This was even easier than the embossing on the lid. I simply placed the stencil right side up on a hard surface and laid the red aluminum, also right side up, on top. I rubbed lightly with a blending stump over it so that I can tell where the edges were. I then used the tip of that Teflon Tool to press in all the details. I sanded it while the aluminum was still on the stencil. I removed it from the stencil and placed it on Double Sided Adhesive Paper to help me attach it to the box. I bent the aluminum over the edges where appropriate, and had to trim it just a little on the top corners. Then, I was done.
This project was SO much easier than it looks. It really was. If you haven't tried Metals with Dreamweaver Stencils, I encourage you to do so. Please--you won't regret it. If you are in the Michigan area, look up one of my classes. I will be teaching metals (not precisely this project) at Stamp Peddler in Northville, My Craft Room in Troy, Capture A Memory in Flint, and Altered Art Addicts in Jackson. Check their calendars online for dates. As a reminder, EVERY one of these classes has different projects, so check the photos and find out which class interests you the most.
So, what do you think about this project? Leave a message and let me know. I had so much fun making it. I find it very appropriate to October, breast cancer month. It was breast cancer that taught me one very important lesson: even if things look bleak, it is hope that remains in the box, and hope that remains in your heart.
Until next week, I hope you are inspired!

Thursday Dream Scheme Color Sketch--Pink and Black

2011-10-13T06:00:00.001-04:00

When I first saw this Umbrellas Stencil, LJ 908, I remembered an image of a gathering in the rain. I couldn't tell you what it was from, of course. Everyone there had a black umbrella except for one person, who had a red one. That single pop of color really stood out because of its uniqueness. It was a little bit of brightness and enthusiasm in the staid black landscape of umbrellas.
When I decided to recreate the image on a card, I opted for the accent color of pink and, for an added bit of whimsy, a leopard print. I started by using matte black paste through the Leopard Skin Stencil LJ 817 on bright pink cardstock. As that dried, I cleaned the stencil and used it on white cardstock with pink pigment ink and a stencil brush. I then stamped this white cardstock with the sentiment. I pasted the Umbrellas Stencil LJ 908 on shimmery dove gray Wausau carstock, using the glossy black paste. As that dried, I flipped the pink leopard print over, and using the back side of the umbrella stencil, outlined the highlighted umbrella pieces with a pencil. I hand cut them, only slightly larger than the outlines. I put some glue on the back and situtated the pieces to create my focal point umbrella. A couple of scraps of the bright pink leopard skin print created the borders on the sentiment. I added ribbon, and I was done. Aside from the drying time, it may have taken me longer to write this blog post. You should give some of this paper "piecing" yourself. It is fun, dramatic and easy. When you finish, you should link to the Dreamweaver Site. We would love to see your stuff. Check out the pink and black on the other Dreamweaver team members sites. Get inspired. I will see you next week.

Dreamweaver Free Challenge Week

2011-10-06T06:00:00.001-04:00

Well, here it is, October. It is a glorious month here in Michigan, as the nights are cool, the days are warm and (usually) sunny, and the air is crisp and smells of apples and crackling bonfires. Personally, it was one of my favorites in childhood, being that it contained both my birthday and Halloween, which meant gifts, cake, costumes and candy. Later, it also held my husband's birthday and our anniversary. It was the king of months for me. The past few years, however, it has been a difficult month. It is breast cancer awareness month, and my mother passed due to complications of breast cancer. Now, October is often a month of as many tears as smiles for me. Not only do I miss my mom at the important events of my life, but I also get the "treat" of shopping at stores filled with pink ribbons on one side of the aisle and tombstones on the other. I have to wonder why no one ever foresaw this disturbing imagery when they chose October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
You may wonder what all of this has to do with this week's card. Well, this card symbolizes a lot for me, and I thought it wholly appropriate to include it as my first October post. First, the background, the beautiful Opto Checkerboard, LJ 915 which reminds me of MC Escher, art school and a lesson plan I once taught in a previous career. To me, it also relates to October, because it is an unexpected checkerboard. It is just a little "off", like all things in October, especially at the end of the month. I pasted this one with black paste.
The butterfly is absolutely one of my favorite new stencils. It is LJ 916. If you followed my Art Glitter blogs over the summer, you have seen this one before on a straw bag. I just love it. It looks its absolute best, I think, when it is double glittered, like it is here. In this case, I used the Double Sided adhesive paper and soaped the back of the stencil before I attached it. I then filled the holes with stunning autumnal (also Monarch colored) Art Institure Glitter, and black Stampendous Fun Flock (in the body). I removed the stencil and poured black glitter over the whole thing. This is a very large stencil, and it runs over the boundaries set forth by the card. I liked this. It seems like the butterfly's will to fly is so strong that it breaks away from its world. My mother and I used to go to butterfly houses where ever we could find them. She loved the idea and feeling of flight, so I imagine that she would have really loved this strong willed butterfly.
Finally, the Make a Wish sentiment. This one I did with Black Adirondack Pigment Ink and a stencil brush. It is from the Birthday Words stencil LG 704. I chose this one for many reasons. Most of all, it is because my mother and I went to Disneyworld after her cancer metastisized. We saw the fireworks display Wishes for the very first time. During the show, the narrator tells us to all "make a wish". Mom and I both started crying, because we both knew what we were wishing for. Anyway, that is what this phrase reminds me of.
So now, here it is, some years later. Sometimes, especially in October, it seems like yesterday, and I feel like an open wound. Most Octobers, I try to just "lay low" to escape all of those pink ribbons and tombstones in the stores. This year, I am opting to face it head on. That is what this posting really represents. While the butterfly reminds me of my mother, it also brings up the sayings that I have been so fond of lately, "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly" and, of course, "Without change, there would be no butterflies." I can't undo this change in my life, so I guess that it is time for me to try and become the butterfly. So, maybe this post was a little less lighthearted than others, and for that, I guess, I am sorry. Sometimes a card is just a card, but sometimes it is a catalyst for thought. I would love it if you could leave me a comment. Check out the other Dream Team designs for this week and play along if you are so inspired. Link it to the Dreamweaver Blog. I hope I didn't bring anyone down. Just remember, try to become the butterfly. It is never too late. Start now.

Stampendous September Challenge

2011-09-30T02:19:00.004-04:00

So, here is my response to this Stampendous Sketch Challenge. I really wanted to enter it the moment that I saw the sketch. The idea of a charm bracelet of sorts sprung right into my head. My challenge was to find the right stamps. It took me forever. Then, one day, when I was shopping at Stamp Peddler in Northville, MI, I stumbled upon lots of new Stampendous Products. This acrylic set was perfect for the job--it was even called Charm Collection!

Initially, I was using the new and gorgeous Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing Enamel, but because the stamps are so detailed and the Enamel so thick, I had to switch to regular silver embossing powder. The paper I used, Lost and Found by My Mind's Eye, was perfect with these stamps for a vintage charm look.

Of course, life got in the way a little this month, so I am really posting this at the last minute. I am thinking since Stampendous is in California I am going with Pacific Time?? Even if that doesn't work for me, I still have a great stamp set and a pretty new card, so that's a good thing.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Sketch Challenge

2011-09-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

I followed this week's sketch exactly. I used only one stencil--the beautiful Black Eyed Susan LJ902. Here is my result:

I pasted both the lighter and darker versions on Bo Bunny Paper from an older release. I pasted on the lighter paper with the Original Matte White Paste and the darker paper with the Matte Yellow Paste.

After the paste was dry, I replaced the stencil on the lighter color and used Distress Inks to color it. Those inks do not soak in right away, and leave a lighter, more faded look on the white paste. This was exactly the look I wanted so that the background image would remain subordinate to the foreground.

On the darker paper, I used just a little Distress Ink on the flower. Then, I glued green Fun Flock on the leaves and vines. Finally, I used Art Glitter Glue on the flower center to glue small brown beads in the center as seeds.

I cut the lighter flowers into fourths, aged them with Distress Inks in Denim, rounded the edges and glued them onto the AC cardstock. I then cut a square from the darker flowers, matted it in yellow AC cardstock, roughed up the edges and popped it up on top. Finally, I used a pretty little eyelet and yellow gingham to complete my country look (and inadvertantly honor my team, the Michigan Wolverines with the colors maize and blue).

I had some fun with this one. You should check out the other Dream Team member blogs and give it a try yourself. Then, link your creation to the Dreamweaver Blog, so we can all check it out. Oh yeah, and leave a comment--we all love comments!

If you could do me a giant favor, become a follower here, too. I don't keep track of your email or send anything out, but I am thinking of trying out for another design team (in addition to this one) and they would really like me to have one hundred followers.

In the meantime, have an inspired week, and I will see you back here next Thursday.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Week

2011-09-22T06:00:00.000-04:00

For this week's free challenge, I decided to use this card that I recently sent to Lynell. We were given these two Kanji character stencils. They are both the same symbols, but in two different sizes. They mean hope. I have used the smaller of the two a couple of weeks ago with the red maple stencil. In this card, I am using both of them, LL3018 and LS1008, the fan LJ903 and the ginger jar, LG 626. I also use a few different techniques. I am going to break them down into steps:
THE GINGER JAR:
1) Use regular paste on black cardstock with ginger jar.
2) When the paste dries, replace the stencil and use a large stencil brush and Weathered Wood Distress Inks to create shading.
3) Place the Large Hope Stencil over the jar and use a stencil brush and Cranberry Adirondack Pigment Inks to stencil.
4) When all is dry, replace the jar stencil and lightly dab with Versamark. Toss clear embossing powder over the top and heat it.
RED FAN:
1) Use red cardstock and a dry embossing stylus to create the outline shape of the fan. Don't worry too much about accuracy on the bottom, as this won't show.
BLACK FAN:
1) Using the Mercart Teflon tool and black covered aluminum, emboss the outline of the fan, including the blades on the bottom. Emboss from the back.
2) Remove the stencil. "Poof" out the fan from the back using the largest Mercart ball tool you have.
3) Place the small Kanji figure on the fan and lightly tape with removable tape. Emboss with the teflon tool from the back.
4) Flip the fan over. Working from the front, place a ruler to attach the blades from the bottom to the raised parts on the top of the fan. Very LIGHTLY draw a line along the ruler. Avoid the section with the raised figure.
5) Use Mercart filler in the back of the fan.
6) When filler is dry, sand on black side of the aluminum. Trim around edge.

I think at this point, that you can assemble the card. I hope I have been able to inspire you to use these stencils or this technique to make a creation of your own. Go check out the blogs of the other Dreamweaver Team members. Leave a comment, get inspired, and link your creations to the Dreamweaver Blog. Come back again next week and check out the sketch challenge. See you then!

Thursday Color Challenge--Lime and Gray (sort of)

2011-09-15T00:25:00.004-04:00

Okay, so I guess it is true confessions time: I was really afraid of this week's challenge. Yep, I will boldly jump into multi layered painted boxes, use shrink plastic with abandon, and am not anxious about adding ANYTHING on top of flat white paste--yet, I was so afraid of a color challenge that it took literally all day. I procrastinated and procrastinated. I just had NO idea what I could do with lime green and gray.

Finally, when it became really, really late, I sorted through my stencils to look for something that is supposed to be green. I wound up with a stack of butterflies, a frog, a turtle and some really cute lizards. I decided on the lizard LM 2004. I have always liked this one with a southwest vibe. In fact, it is the one that I used to demonstrate this very technique at The Cottage Stamper in Illinois this past June. I soaped up the back of the stencil, brushed off the crumbs and adhered it to the Double Sided Adhesive Paper. Then, I found a lime(ish) foil from Creative Imaginations and laid it over the top of the stencil. I pressed the foil into the stencil "holes" with the smaller of the embossing tools. I did the eyes the same way with red. Before removing the stencil, I rubbed in some Stampendous Flock in Olive You. I brushed off the excess and carefully removed the paper from the stencil. Then, I poured Crystal Art Glitter over the whole thing. I cut around the shape, adhered it to the green cardstock and cut again. The Friend stencil (which is, apparentl unavailable, but has been replaced by the almost identical Friends stencil LM 210) was done the same way, but I left a border of the adhesive paper around the outside which I covered in the foil as well. I also did not attach the cardstock to it.

The background was done by placing black coated aluminum over the the Mosaic Swirls LJ 901 stencil. I rubbed it all over with a thick drawing blending stump. With the stencil still in place, I sanded lightly over the top of the aluminum, removing the black coating on the raised areas. I am calling this aluminum "gray" for purposes of the challenge. Finally, I attached it all, using a gray patterned paper from Little Yellow Bicycle and gray and white twine from My Mind's Eye.

Once I decided what to do, this challenge wasn't all that hard. Like everything, I just had to set my mind to it and get started. I hope you feel inspired to get started on some stencilling of your own. Leave a comment, visit the other Dream Teamers, then get to work. Make your own and link it to the Dreamweaver Blog. It'll be fun! Oh, and don't forget to come back next week!

Dream Scheme Thursday--Free Week

2011-09-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

After all of the great blog hopping last week, it sure is nice to have a free week now. By the way, if you are Nikkib or Marijane, look at my last post for a way to get in touch. You won the blog candy from my site!

Anyway, back to this week. I chose to do a masculine card.

This card was made using three different stencils: LJ 911 Gears, LJ 912 Triangle Weave and LG 704 Birthday Words. I used textured brown cardstock as the gear base. Before I stencilled it, I roughed it up a little and then rubbed some Distress Ink in Walnut Stain over it. I placed the Gears Stencil on it (which I love, by the way) and used Silver Embossing paste over it. I did the same with a smaller piece and the Triangle Weave Stencil. While the pastings were WET, I sprinkled Distress Embossing Powder in Vintage Photo over parts of the paste. I then heated it with my Heat It tool. You can see what it did. I got a fantastic bubbled look. Also, where it bubbled, it looks shinier. The effect was perfect. Rusty gears. I then pasted some cork paper with Birthday Words in Glossy Black. I stacked it all and used my Big Bite to add holes for brads. I put it all on a black card and viola! Super easy, but it looks hard.
So, if you would like to play along, with ANY stencilled project at all, go to the Dreamweaver Blog and link your project. Otherwise, be sure to check out the list of my Dreamweaver Sisters on the links at the side of my blog. Get inspired and stencil something! Oh, and don't forget to come back next week.

Across the Pond Blog Hop Winners

2011-09-06T16:57:00.002-04:00

Well, I went to random.org and generated some winners. For the first post I did on the International Blog Hop, the hair clips, the winner is number 20, or Nikkib. The second post, the celtic treasure chest, random.org generated number 8--Marijane. Congratualtions winners. (Everyone is a winner, of course, but only those two were generated by Random.org.) Nikkib and Marijane should email me at Drahozals@aol.com with their snail mail addresses so that I can make sure you get your stencils. Thanks so much to EVERYONE who commented. Come back again!

Blog Hop--Treasure Box

2011-09-01T00:48:00.007-04:00

For some time, I have been thinking about using stencils and metals to make a treasure chest. I only had to decide what theme to use. I have always loved Celtic Knots, so when I realized how many wonderful Celtic Knot stencils Dreamweaver had available, I knew I was on the right track.
I began by purchasing a wooden chest shaped box at my local craft store. It already had brass hardware, which I wasn't crazy about, so I sanded it. I also painted the box green to go with my Irish theme. The first coat was actually black and painted with a foam brush. I then put a few layers on of two different colors of green paint with a sea sponge.
Most of the metal was done with black coated aluminum. The part around the latch was with regular aluminum and alcohol inks because I very much wanted it to blend with the latch. The technique was a lot like the butterfly technique that I used on Monday, except that I pushed on the opposite side of the metal. In this case, I put the stencil face down on my hard surface. Then, I placed the metal on top, black side down. I used the teflon tool from Mercart (also available through Dreamweaver) to push the metal into the holes on the stencil. Then, I removed the stencil. This is a big difference from the previous post. I put the metal black side down on a piece of suede. I then used a "ball" ended tool (also in the beginner set) to push the metal into the suede on the parts that were already indented. When that was done, I flipped the metal over and laid it back on the hard surface. I used the teflon tool to "clean up" the lines. When I was satisfied with the embossing, I filled the back with the Mercart filler (also through Dreamweaver) and let it dry. After it was dry, I sanded it down to the aluminum on the embossed sections and cut around the piece with a regular pair of fine tipped scrapbooking scissors. I attached the pieces to the box with a thick, tacky glue (actually a product here in the States called Tacky Glue). I don't think that the glue is going to hold it in place permanently, so as soon as I can find a very fine hammer, I am planning on nailing them into place with metal tacks.
So, on to those fantastic stencils that I used. The lock was created with LL 540 Heartweave. This one was done on plain aluminum and inked later. The really fun bit on this was when I cut out the insides of the bottom loop to fit it over the latch. I then cut off the loop all together so that I could put it on the bottom of the latch. The emblem on the top is LL 345 Square Knot. Celtic Hexagon LL 381 is on both sides up near the top. I used LL 380 New Age Celtic as a decoration on the back by cutting it in half and putting one half on the lid and one half on the back. I positioned it to slightly overlap the hinges.
Probably my favorite to use on this was the Triangle Knot LM 180. I made four of them. After they were prepared, I merely folded each in half and used them on the corners. I just loved the look that they gave the finished piece.
So, now that you have finished here, don't forget to leave a comment. You will want to win wonderful stencils! (Oh, and you could always sign up as a follower--I love followers!) Then, be sure to hop on over to Louises blog here. She always has great projects. Have a great time hopping, and don't forget to come back again some time!

Bonus Hop Post

2011-08-30T01:24:00.005-04:00

Let me start by saying, this is NOT the post to reply to if you are looking for blog candy. If that is your reason to comment, scroll down two posts until you see the hair clips with my cute niece models. Post on THAT one for blog candy.
This is a bonus post for a couple of reasons. First, I just COULDN'T stop making the cute metal butterflies. Second, the photos just would not post to the right spot when I was posting the hair clip post. Finally, I entered a Reminisce contest (using a Dreamweaver stencil, mind you) with a blog post and then I realized that it knocked my hop post down a post. It occured to me that perhaps it wasn't the best week to move my non-card metal post down one, so I thought maybe I should make a post out of my bonus metal piece. It is a pin.

I made this piece in much the same way that I made the hair clips. I started with blue coated aluminum. I placed it over the Dreamweaver Scallop Butterfly Stencil LM 255. I used a large blending stump (an art supply material) and ran it over the top of the stencil to get a rough idea of where everything was. Then, I used the Mercart Metal teflon tool (also available from Dreamweaver Stencils) to push the metal deep into all of the crevices in the stencil. I used a sanding block while the stencil was still under the metal to sand off the blue from the raised areas. I removed the metal from the stencil. I attached the backing aluminum to a piece of chipboard. I then measured and marked hole spots from a purchased pin back. I used my Big Bite to make the appropriate holes. I then used brads to attach the pin back. I adhered the metal butterfly to the pin and trimmed around it. Finally, I used Ranger Glossy accents in the holes that I wanted to add glitter. I threw Woodware glitter in the areas. After it dried a little, I covered some of the glitter with a top coat of Glossy Accents. Then, I let it dry completely.

Once again, this piece is NOT part of the hop. That blog post is two down and includes girl models. If you would like to comment anyway, fantastic--I love comments! You won't win blog candy for it, but you would make me feel good. Stop by again on Thursday for more ways to win and more posts for the hop. See you then. Oh yeah--I love to get followers, too!

Reminisce Card Challenge

2011-08-30T00:46:00.005-04:00

I had a little fun this week entering the Reminisce Card Challenge. The sketch is here

And my take, horizontal, and with the beautiful Harvest line by Reminisce is here:

For my Dreamweaver Stencils fans, you will notice that the Sentiment is LM 251. It was pasted with Matte Orange Embossing Paste. The other thing that I had tons of fun with was the turkey image. I cut three of them out of the paper. Then, I layered pieces with 3D Dots in between the layers. I occasionally added a little bit of regular adhesive to parts (like the head) and squeezed it down to the previous layer, so that I had a couple of different layers. I also used the top portions of the papers to make the smaller stripes. This is something that I really appreciate about the recent Reminisce papers--the part that holds the scan bars on one side has patterned bits on the other so that it is still useful paper.

I hope you enjoyed this cute, fast card. I will have lots more Dreamweaver goodies when I hop again on Thursday, but for now, think about cool crisp weather and changing leaves......

BLOG HOP--Butterflies in your hair!

2011-08-28T23:44:00.017-04:00

Welcome to day one in the Dreamweaver/Woodware Blog Hop. I was so excited that I wanted to sign up on today, the very first day. A special shout out to everyone that I may have met while at the Stitches show in Birmingham last February. You were all so wonderful to me, and I had the best time in your country! I hope to visit again some day.
As you know by now, this hop is going to feature NON card projects. For the first of my hop posts (I signed up for Thursday, too, because I just can't pass on my habit of posting on Dream Scheme Thursdays) I have decided to make hair jewelry out of Dreamweaver Stencils and metals.The first two pieces that I am going to post are both hair clips. All of the "findings" that I will be mentioning (the actual clips and pins that I used) were purchased without anything on them from a local craft store. The tool that I used was a double sided teflon tool from Mercart Metals that is available in a kit from Dreamweaver Stencils as well.
For this blue butterfly, I used aluminum that was coated with a blue coating. I placed the blue aluminum on top of Dreamweaver LM 255 Scallop Butterfly stencil. Working on an acrylic block, I used a very large blending stump (used in fine art drawing) to gently rub across the entire stencil. This caused the edges of the stencil to show up. I then used the teflon tool to press the metal down into all of the openings on the stencil. Then, with the stencil still attached, I rubbed the top with a sanding block, removing the blue color. Then, I took the metal from the stencil. I adhered it to chipboard, and the back of the chipboard to plain aluminum. I trimmed around the butterfly with a pair of sharp, fine tipped scissors. I adhered the premade hair clip to the butterfly with glue dots and I was done. My niece, Victoria is posing here so that you can see how it looks when it is worn.
My next piece was made very much the same way, with a couple of small exceptions. Here it is modelled by another niece, Evelyn. This was made with pink coated metal on stencil LM 257 Heliconia Butterfly. Everything was done the same way on this one except for the addition of the glitter. This was done after the entire piece was assembled. I filled the areas that I wanted glitter in with Ranger Glossy Accents. Then, I added Woodware Glitter in a magenta color. I really liked using this glitter. In addition to being a high quality, fine glitter, it comes with a great dispenser. It has a small opening on the top and you can squeeze the container to get out the amount that you want. There is a little less mess and waste this way.
My final piece for this post was done in a slightly different way. I used a new stencil, LJ 916 Butterfly. This stencil is unique because, instead of being on a square, it is the actual shape of the butterfly. I was able to work around the edges as well. I used a black coated aluminum. Instead of sanding off the top, I used rubbing alcohol in the shapes. For my UK friends, rubbing alcohol is actually called isopropyl alcohol and is sold as a cleaning supply for electronics. I just put a little on a cotton swab, and used it to clean out those holes. Then, I used the Glossy Accents and Woodware Glitter to create the glittering colors. This one was actually a large hair clip, and I attached it by using brads in the hole on both sides. I put them through the backing and the chipboard that was on the bottom layer. I used a second piece of chipboard under the butterfly. You can see it worn by yet another niece, Natalie.
So, now you have seen my first Blog Hop Posting. You should definitely leave a comment, then proceed to my very talented Dream Team Sister, Pam's blog. You can find it here. Have a wonderful week. Don't forget to stop by again on Thursday. (Stop by every Thursday for plenty of additional Dreamweaver ideas!). Also, I love followers!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Week

2011-08-24T22:39:00.016-04:00

First off, let me tell you what is happening next week. The Dreamweaver Team is going to be blog hopping with the folks from Woodware UK. Yep, that's right. It is the WONDERFUL people that I worked with when I went to the UK for Lynell. I am so excited that I signed up for at least two days. I believe that I am first hopping on Monday or Tuesday, so stop by early next week and get in on this. This, by the way, is a NON CARD blog hop! I have a couple of cute things in store.

Anyway, on to this week. I am particularly proud of this one. I like to think of it as four ways to use a metallic effect. Here it is:

So, on to why I think of this one as metallic four ways:

1) The sentiment is done with metallic gold embossing paste. It tells a tale on me--I don't always use tape all the way around. That was the case with this one, stencil LM 146 Thinking of you. You can see the paste that went over the edge of the stencil on the top and the bottom. Usually, I trim this off and no one is the wiser. I liked the little borders in this case, so I left them on.

2) The metal on the background was run through the Cuttlebug with a rubber mat and stencil LJ 901 Mosaic Swirls. Then, it was colored using alcohol inks and sanded to enhance the detail.

3) The dragonfly (stencil LM 193) and wings were both pasted with glossy green embossing paste. The body of the dragonfly was made by sprinkling Metallic FX in Kiwi, Ivy and Goldfinch on the paste while it was still wet. After it all dried, I brushed off the excess and then used a Swiffer cloth to get it really clean.

4) After all the green paste was dry, I covered the wings with glue and let it dry until it was tacky, but not completely dry. Then, I used Green Leaf over it. I noticed that the glue did not seem dry enough (but, of course, only AFTER I laid the gold leaf over it). At this point, I dried it with my heat gun. As the glue under the foil dried, it bubbled, raising the foil. When I pulled the heat gun away, it fell into a bit of a wrinkly heap. This was wonderful, and created a slightly reticulated look. It seemed to me to appear more "insecty" and was a true happy accident.

Now that you have seen what I had to show you, go around to the other Dreamweaver blogs and check them all out. Then, post something of your own. With no regular challenge this week, it should be easy to do. Link it to the Dreamweaver Blog, leave a comment for us, have fun, and just participate. Be sure to check back next week for a wonderful, non-card hop!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Red, Ivory and Kraft

2011-08-18T07:40:00.007-04:00

This week's challenge is red, ivory and kraft. When I looked through my work, I found one that was very close--red, ivory and brown. I decided to remake it, with only a slight change in products and colors. Here it is--red, ivory and kraft two ways. Both cards use stencil LJ906. The top card, which is the newer one, also uses the new LS1008. It is a Chinese character for the word Hope.
The two different cards both used Red Glossy Paste. It was applied the same way, but the technique varied after the application. The top card had Art Glitter in Ultrafine Red Velvet, Christmas Red and Chunky Holographic Red Rocket thrown on the wet paste and brushed off when the paste was dry. On the bottom card, I used the Metallic FX in Cocoa, Amber Glow and Kimono Red. It was also brushed off when dry, but then I used a Swiffer to remove all the excess.You might be able to see on this bottom card, but on both I scraped off the covering to expose the beautiful Red Glossy Paste underneath. See how the edges on this one appear drawn on? In real life, it is bright red on those edges. I did the same on parts of the top one, but being that that has red glitter on it, it shows up a little less bright.
These cards were actually very simple. Not much to do beyond the pasting and assembly. I hope you like them. Check out the rest of the team's reaction to this colorway. Leave a comment. If you want to try it, link yours to the Dreamweaver Stencils blog. Come play with us!

Dreamweaver Free Week--A Masculine Confirmation Card

2011-08-11T05:00:00.000-04:00

I have to admit, I know that my projects are generally of the "not for the faint of heart" variety. I just like to push the products and techniques a little further than I think they would go. I assure you, however, that this week's project is EASY. I promise.
When Lynell asked me to use the Gothic Cross LG 694, I thought about how my nephew is having his Confirmation this October. This cross isn't particularly masculine, but I knew that with the right color combination I could make it appropriate for a teenage boy. I also chose to use the recently discontinued Bless You (which your LSS can still get if you want it) and the brand new Herringbone Pattern Stencil LJ 914.
Okay, here are those easy directions:

1) Use Core'dinations dark blue with a blue core through your die cut machine with the Herringbone LJ 914 stencil. Be sure to spray the back of the paper with rubbing alcohol before running it through. Sand the result--making it look a little like fabric.

2) Place a light gold coated aluminum on the back of the Bless You stencil. Using the Mercart teflon point tool to lightly push in the metal from the back of the stencil. Push all around the edges of the words.

3) Remove the stencil and flip the metal. Clean up your edges by rubbing the Mercart teflon deer foot tool (opposite side of the other tool) up against the edges of the words.

4) Flip the metal back over and place it on a piece of suede. You are working on the back side. Use the Mercart ball tool to push out the letters. Also, while on the suede, roll over the edges of the metal with a Mercart texture wheel. Flip it back and clean up with the deer foot tool on a hard surface. Fill in the back of the metal with Mercart Filler. Let dry.

5) To Deboss the cross, use a darker gold covered aluminum. Place it on top of a face up stencil LG 694. Using the fine end of the teflon tool, press into all the lines. Sand to get a silver cross. Cut out

6) Assemble the card.

See, simple, right? If you haven't tried the metals, I do have one warning: they are SUPER addictive. If your local store doesn't carry them and is concerned about minimums with a new company, let them know that they can order them directly from Dreamweaver with their next stencil order. If they are still reluctant, you can order these tools and metals yourself from the Mercart website. All the tools I used here are in the basic kit. I have news though, about that addiction. I am absolutely planning on ordering more tools and metals myself. I have Christmas projects in mind....
That said, thanks for stopping by. Check out the rest of the Dream Team Blogs. Leave a comment. Link a project of yours to the Dreamweaver Stencils Blog--we would love to see it.

Dream Scheme Sketch

2011-08-03T23:30:00.015-04:00

This week, I had some trouble uploading the sketch at a reasonable size. It is probably just as well, though, as I really didn't follow it exactly. I kept the circle in the center, but removed the small circular sentiment from the lower right hand corner.
When Lynell sent this stencil, I have to admit that I was thrilled. I have collected cameos for many years, and am excited to imagine the many ways that I can use this gorgeous stencil. For this first use, my real cameo collection influenced the colors. My favorite cameos are either brown or pink, so those are the first colors that I thought of for this. It was such an easy card!
First, I pasted the cameo stencil with white glossy paste on textured brown cardstock.
Then, I soaped the back of the houndstooth stencil and affixed it to the Double Sided Adhesive Paper. I used brown flock first. The secret is to use alot of Fun Flock at once and push it down hard onto the adhesive. I brushed the excess off with a large stencil brush. I carefully peeled the adhesive paper off of the stencil. Then, I used alot of the pink Fun Flock and pressed that in hard as well. I brushed off all the excess, peeled off the backing and mounted it onto the dark brown cardstock. After that, it was really simple. Just assembly.
So, if you want to see the sketch, or get inspired by more stencil art today, just take a little peek at the other Dream Teamers this week. Don't forget to leave comments! We all like comments. Then, you should make a little something (it doesn't have to be a card) and link it to the Dreamweaver Stencil blog.

Dreamweaver Free Week--My CHA Badge

2011-07-28T01:25:00.034-04:00

Three years ago, the store that I work at was about to open its doors. Sadly, it is about to close, exactly three years from its opening date. I will never forget all the buzz that was generated by my new bosses, fresh off of their first CHA (Craft and Hobby Association Conference). They were back with stories about fantastic new products, exciting ideas and enthusiasm to spare. I remember how they hung the badge holders that they had recieved from Crafters' Home over their respective desks. To me, those badge holders represented excitement. Indeed, ever since my first CHA, I had been thinking about making myself a badge holder. Once I became part of the Dreamweaver Design Team, I knew exactly what I would make it out of.It took me some time to decide which techniques to use on my Dreamweaver CHA Badge holder. I wound up with four different materials and five different techniques.First, I sprayed a 5 1/2" x 10" piece of Claudine Helmuth Sticky Backed Canvas with Adirondack Color Wash in Stream. I let that dry before I pasted, starting about about 1" down from the top with Translucent Paste and the LJ 901 Mosaic Swirls stencil. After that dried, I used a little bit of Black Soot Distress inks around the sides of the paste. When that was dry, I cut a roughly 3 3/4" by 2 3/4" square from the center of the pasting.
In case you are interested in the assembly, I lined the inside with a cotton fabric placed on the sticky backed canvas, leaving about 1/2" on each side to stick to the edging of the back piece. I evenly spaced five eyelets under the pasted portion. Then, I folded the back up so that the edges met the edges of the top, sticking the front to the back, and making the pouch with an approximate 1" flap on the front top portion. I then ran the LJ 901 stencil with Lifestyle Crafts Sticky Backed Metal through my Cuttlebug, colored it with Alcohol Inks and sanded it. I put it on the back side of the pouch to reinforce it a little. I used bias tape and a really horrible hand stitching to encase the raw, stuck together edges. Then, I inserted two eyelets on the top.

The beading was created with blue wire and some beads. I also created a couple of charms. They were made with Dreamweaver Stencils LS6 Scallop and LS 71 Small Conch. I put a little vegetable oil on the back of the stencils and pressed them lightly into flattened dark blue polymer clay. Then, they were rolled down with a brayer until the clay extended just a little over the stencil. I dipped my finger in Moonstone Metallic FX and lightly rubbed it into the clay with the stencil still in place. Then, I added just a little shading with my finger and the Metallic FX in Cocoa. Lastly, I peeled the clay from the stencil, trimmed and gently shaped it with my finger, added two holes, and baked it according to the instructions on the label.

The metal pieces were really interesting. They were made in two similar, but different ways: metal embossing and debossing. The seahorse LM 181 (in pink covered aluminum) and the turtle LM 179 (in green aluminum) were embossed with the Mercart Metal Embossing kit. Using the same kit and brown coated aluminum, I debossed the sand dollar LR 12. The difference lies in where you hold the stencil and the relative placement of the metal. For the embossing, I placed the stencil face down on my table and put the metal over the top of it, pushing it into the holes on the stencil. Then, I removed the stencil, flipped over the image and sanded it lightly. For the debossing, I laid my stencil face up, and put my metal over the top, pushing into the crevices. Then, I "poufed" up the metal around the outside and sanded it. The metal colors show in the portion that is the furthest back. All three of the metal pieces were filled in the back with the Mercart filler.

Now, on to the fun Shrink Plastic Charms. I used the matte finish Shrinky Dinks. I sanded the area that I was planning to use. Then, I covered it with Adirondack Snow Cap Pigment Ink. When it dried, I taped the stencils LM 181 Seahorse, LM 179 Sea Turtle, LR 12 Sand Dollar, LL 371 Humu Humu and LL 372 Kihi Kihi down and, using Adorondack Pigment ink, I colored the images. I cut around the outside of them and punched holes in the top with the largest hole punch on my Big Bite. Finally, I shrunk them with my Heat It tool.
I had so much fun creating this badge holder, and even more fun wearing it at CHA. I wanted to show it to everyone this week to bring my excitement from CHA to you, just the way my bosses did three years ago. I also wanted to show you something that wasn't a card. I realize that you may never make or need a badge holder, but Dreamweaver Stencils can be used to create anything. I hope you get inspired by what I did, or by what a team mate has done. If you do, leave a comment. Then create something and link it to the Dreamweaver Blog. We would love to see it. Inspire us!

Dreamweaver (sort of) Monochromatic Challenge

2011-07-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

This week's challenge is monochromatic. This card that I made for Lynell fits the theme (almost). The grayish wood looking paper is not technically part of the blue monochromatic scheme, but I think you will forgive me.
So, have you noticed the two new stencils? The skates are new and are simply pasted with white glossy paste. The background is also a new stencil, which I think Lynell is calling "hills". When I saw it, I knew right away that I would be using it this way. The openings are perfect for Zentangles. I did this Zentangling with the Ranger Inkssentials Opaque White gel pen.
The Winter stencil was pasted with glossy white paste as well. Both Winter and the skates were put on the card with 3D Dots. The brad was added to make the skates look as if they are hanging just inside the windowed door, waiting to be taken out on a glorious winter day.
This was a simple one, but so much fun to create. Thanks for stopping by today, to check out our challenge, the new stencils and a little bit of cool winter on this toasty summer day. I hope you enjoyed it all. Check out the other Dreamweaver Team Blogs, leave a little love, get inspired, and make a monochromatic (or sort of monochromatic) project yourself. Then, you should link it to the Dreamweaver Blog. We would love to see your projects, too.

Dream Scheme Sketch Week

2011-07-14T08:03:00.007-04:00

This is the sketch for the week. I followed it very closely, and used three different techniques: paste, metals and shrink plastic.
The paste technique was pretty straightforward. It is done with the original paste. I used LL 403 Live, Laugh, Love. This stencil is actually a small set of three stencils in a ovals. I knew that I wanted to use the oval to follow the sketch. Due to the casual nature of the card, I made the decision that I wanted the paste to lap over the outside of the oval. Using the regular taping method, it would be impossible to get that paste to completely surround the oval, being that there would be tape blocking it. I tried something new for me and attached the stencil with double sided adhesive tape. I would NOT recommend this technique for everyday use. It has a high probablity of damaging your stencil. I only tried it here because it was a smaller stencil that had very small openings compared to the amount of the metal. I was very careful to remove the paper from the stencil, instead of pulling the stencil off of the paper. I suspect that I was also a little lucky not to have bent the stencil.
For the metal portion, I used the Beach Chair Stencil LL 329. The metal is actually aluminum covered with a copper color. I used Mercart Metals basic tools to push the metal through the stencil. I just love using metals and now that I have some tools, it is so easy. It is sort of like traditional embossing. Anyway, I purposely added some lines inside the chair, as you can see here, so that it would look more like wood grain. In the upper corner of this photo, you can see that the metal work on the umbrella is much smoother. After the embossing was done, I sanded the metal to expose the aluminum color underneath.

When I attached this metal, I wanted to use some sort of non-adhesive connection to back up the typical adhesion, as metal is heavy. This is why I used my Big Bite to add holes and some Scrappers' Floss.

My last technique on this card is the use of Shrink Plastic. For this card, I used clear plastic. I scruffed it up with my sanding block before adding the stencils. I then used Adirondack Pigment Ink in Snow Cap all over the plastic that I was using for the shell (stencil LM 267) and sand dollar (stencil LR 12). I used Distress Ink in Tea Dye behind the Starfish LM 209.

I then used both Distress Inks (Worn Lipstick, Walnut Stain, Weathered Wood) and Adirondack Pigment Inks (Mushroom, Snow Cap) with small stencil brushes to stencil in all the colors. I removed the stencils and cut around the images. I added the holes with the large setting of my Big Bite. You have to use the large setting, as the smaller holes would completely disappear when you heated them. Then, I used my Ranger Heat It tool to "shrink" the images. I attached them with scrappers' floss.

The paper that I used was by Creative Imaginations. I was pretty happy with my results on this one. Although I sort of dreaded this sketch initially because of all of the activity on it, I really enjoyed it once I started working on it. You should give this sketch a try, too. Once you do, be sure to link it (or email the image) to the Dreamweaver Stencil blog. Maybe you will see your project highlighted in future weeks. Meanwhile, check out all the variations of this sketch on the blogs of my fellow teammates (listed on the left side of this page.) Leave some comments if you can (we all like comments). Get inspired and inspire others. Oh--and check back next week for a reveal of two of the brand new stencils!

Dreamweaver Free Week--A Shower of Blessings

2011-07-07T09:00:00.001-04:00

In this season of weddings, and (at least for my friends) babies, I thought it would be appropriate to show a cute little shower card. Here it is:I used four beautiful Dreamweaver stencils on this card: LJ 905 Rain, LJ 909 Cathedral Windows Small, LG737 Umbrella, and LG 737 Rain Words.

To start, I taped (with removable tape) the umbrella on the light blue shimmery paper backwards. This means that I could not read the stencil name when I looked down. I did this because I wanted that horseshoe shape in the handle to be facing up. Anyway, I pasted this with the original Dreamweaver Paste. I also pasted the Showers of Blessings words by taping off the nearby phrases and attaching it to the dark blue shimmery paper. By the way, these gorgeous, shimmery papers are by Wausau Papers.

While the paste dried, I set up my next step by creating a mask. I used the Inkadinkadoo Masking paper. I traced the stencil (backwards, again) onto the masking paper with an ordinary pen and cut it out around the outside of the image.

Then, I removed the backing paper and positioned the mask where I wanted to put the umbrella. You may wonder why I needed a mask at all. Well, I knew that I was going to be using paste on those raindrops, and I didn't want that raised effect under the umbrella.

Also, I started thinking around this time that I did not want any rain to show under where the umbrella is sitting, so I needed to mask out that area as well. It wasn't quite as critical that I have it precise, so I just took enough of the scrap masking paper and set it under the umbrella like it is in this picture.

Then, I was ready to paste the raindrops. I used Pearlescent paste and sprinkled Art Glitter Ultrafine Transparent #145 Blue Boy on top while the paste was still wet. (Ironically, the same color I used for my guest post, which is up this week on the Art Glitter Blog).

While that dried, I went back to my umbrella. First, I replaced the stencil, and covered it with the Cathedral Windows stencil. I used my Versamark Pad on top of the paste and then covered it with white embossing powder. If you are the type who needs this to be extremely precise, you should probably use a stencil brush to stencil it with white pigment ink and use clear embossing powder instead. Because I was using white on white, I wasn't too worried about precision. I only wanted it to have some sort o texture to the umbrella. Anyway, after removing both stencils, you should heat set the embossing powder. Then, replace the umbrella stencil and use the Versamarker Pen on the parts that you want silver. I did the handle, the tip and the ends of the spokes. Emboss these with the silver powder. Then, I trimmed the umbrella very close all the way around.

When the raindrop paste was dry, I brushed off the excess glitter and removed the mask. I adhered the umbrella in its spot. I used a Crop-A-Dile to punch holes on either side of the handle, and inserted the ribbon, which I tied into a bow. Then, I punched out a bunch of small flowers. I adhered them, some Hero Arts Flower Gems and some small pearls to the bottoms of the raindrops. I assembled the rest of the card and Viola! I was done.

This card turned out just the way I wanted it to. It was inspired by the kinds of cards and the lacy decorative umbrellas that were all the rage many years ago, when I got married. Inspiration, indeed, comes from many things. I am hoping that you are inspired today to make your own Dreamweaver card. Then, you can link it to the Dreamweaver Blog. Don't be shy! Show us what you've got!

Look at the other Dream Team Blogs (linked on the side) if you need a little more inspiration. Ah, even if you are already inspired, look anyway. Make a comment or two--inspire us back!

Blog Hop Winners

2011-07-05T20:51:00.002-04:00

Time to announce the winners from our fabulous Summer/4th of July blog hop! If your name is listed below, go to Taylor Ursy's blog at http://www.taylorursy.blogspot.com to email her. Please put Blog Hop Winner in the subject line, and be sure to let her know what you won. If you get to choose your stamps/images, let her know which ones you want! Also, include your mailing address if necessary. All prizes will be distributed by the company or donor, so she needs your info to pass on to them.

You have one week to claim your prize...if she hasn't heard from you by Friday, July 15th she'll draw another name and give your prize away!

Jan Garber - Stampendous Cling Jumbo flower and handle (will be chosen by Stampendous)

Crystal Irwin - Stampendous Cling Jumbo flower and handle (will be chosen by Stampendous)

LUV2SCRAP - Karber Digital Studios - 2 digis of your choice

Alison Heikkila - Dreamweavers Stencils prize pack

Chris - Ippity Kit, courtesy of Maria Levine (will be chosen by Maria)

Jan-Marie - a muse studio catalog and stamp set of your choice ($12.99 or under), courtesy of Sunghee Chon

Jessica Diedrich - Stampendous Cling Jumbo flower and handle (will be chosen by Stampendous)

Mousekmom - Chi Chi Memories digi stamp set of your choice

Lillian Child - Ellie Loves the Beach stamp from Your Next Stamp

Martha (Sissy) Speed Ramey - Skipping Stones Design stamp set (of their choosing)

Jennifer Ingle - $20 gift certificate to Little Potato House, courtesy of Sunghee Chon

Rachel - Pixie Dust Studio - 2 digis of your choice

Corinne - SU Fast and Fabulous set, courtesy of Cindy Coutts and Christian Paper Crafts

Thanks so much for all of the wonderful comments on all of the blog hop stops!!! We had so much fun :)

July Fourth BLOG HOP

2011-07-01T15:09:00.013-04:00

Welcome to the fantastic July Fourth Blog Hop. We have thirteen (like the original colonies) opportunties to win great prizes, but more about that later. First, here is my card for the day:

Here are the steps I used:

1) I soaped up the back of the Fireworks stencil LJ 886 and attached it, soap side down, to the Double Sided Adhesive Paper.

2) Using Art Glitter, including Holographic Glitter, in red and gold I filled the inside of the fireworks.

3) I removed the paper from the stencil and covered it with black glitter.

4) Using the flag stencil, LL 359, and colored metal in red, blue and gold, I embossed and debossed the flag. Embossing is what we think of as traditional, pressing into the stencil from the back, and creating a raised area in the metal. I did this with the stars. Debossing is pushing the metal in the opposite direction, making a different look. This was used on the stripes and the pole. I tried to make sure that the metal was pushed all the way down to prevent it from being sanded. I did this with Mercart's teflon ended tool.

5) I lightly sanded the metal. Then, I used the Mercart fiberglass tool to remove all the color over the areas that needed to be more silvery--the white stripes and the stars.

6) Until this point, the metal pieces were all seperate by color. Now, I trimmed each piece as close as I could and pieced them together on a some Double Sided Adhesive Paper. I popped this up and mounted it onto the glittered background.

7) I used a stamp by Northwoods for the sentiment with Archival Ink. I trimmed it and distressed it.

8) I assembled the card. White on blue, glitter on white, felt ribbon on glitter and sentiment on felt ribbon. A couple of blue gems, and I am DONE.

Now, you should leave a comment for a chance to win some great prizes. Then, hop off to Lee Kellog's blog at www.leekellog.typepad.com for the next step. If you get confused, or are hopping out of order (NEVER!) here is a list of all the participants:

Taylor -- http://taylorusry.blogspot.com/
Cyndi -- http://scrappychickcyndi.blogspot.com/
Lynn -- http://www.stamperosity.com/
Patricia -- http://thinkingofinking.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Alison -- http://alisonsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/
Berenice -- http://karbersweetescape.blogspot.com/
Erica -- http://www.inkedupandreadytoplay.com/
Mary -- http://softangelkisses.blogspot.com/
Janelle -- http://rainpuddlesdesign.blogspot.com/
Erin -- http://stamptillucramp.blogspot.com/
Maria -- http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
Jennifer D -- http://just4funcrafts.blogspot.com/
Pam -- http://1pamperedstamper.blogspot.com/
Angelique -- http://scrapping-angel.blogspot.com/
Sandie -- http://sandieshores.blogspot.com/
Wendy P -- http://paperinkandsmiles.blogspot.com/
Suzi -- http://mrsweyremaster.blogspot.com/
Kathy -- http://pixieduststudio.blogspot.com/
Beth -- http://inkyfingersrule.blogspot.com/
Wendy J -- http://papertherapy-wendy.blogspot.com/
Kerry -- http://kerryischilling.blogspot.com/
Louise - http://www.artfullyarticulate.blogspot.com/
Liz -- http://www.blackcatsstudios.blogspot.com/
Laura - http://www.rememberinglifesmoments.blogspot.com/
Lee -- http://www.leekellogg.typepad.com/
Jennifer I -- http://www.justjingle.blogspot.com/
Krissy - http://www.paperinkspirations.blogspot.com/
Sunghee -- http://www.creativityinprogress.com/blog/
Cindy - http://cindycoutts.com/

If you get lost, start again at Taylor's blog. She really DOES have all the answers. She also got some generous sponsors to donate prizes. They are:

Stampendous - - http://www.stampendous.com/ (3 Cling Jumbo Flowers plus a handle - 3 prizes total) they are giving away: one Cling Jumbo Tulip set ( http://www.stampendous.com/product/0/CRS5012-R/_/Cling_Jumbo_Tulip_Set ), one Cling Jumbo Tiger Lily set ( http://www.stampendous.com/product/0/CRS5010-R/_/Cling_Jumbo_Tiger_Lily_Set), and one Cling Jumbo Dogwood set ( http://www.stampendous.com/product/0/CRS5011-R/_/Cling_Jumbo_Dogwood_Set ) . Each set will come with a Jumbo Handle. ( http://www.stampendous.com/product/32763/SSH57-R/_/Jumbo_Perfectly_Clear_Handle )

Chi Chi Memories - http://www.chichimemories.com/ - (digi stamp set of winner's choice)

Pixie Dust Studio - http://www.pixieduststudio.net/ - 2 digi images of winner's choice (1 winner)

Dreamweaver's Stencils - http://www.dreamweaverstencils.com/ - prize pack to 1 winner

Karber Digital Studio - http://www.karberdigital.com/ - 2 digi images of winner's choice (1 winner)

Maria Levine -http://www.etsy.com/shop/tykatsupplies - Ippity Kit (1 winner)

Skipping Stones Design - http://skippingstonesdesign.com/ - 1 clear stamp set of SSD's choosing (1 winner) --**as sooon as I know what the set is, I'll let you know)

Cindy Coutts/Christian Paper Crafts - http://cindycoutts.com/ - one SU stamp set - Fast & Fabulous -- US resident only (1 winner)

Sunghee Chon - http://www.amusestudio.com/sunghee/ - 1 a muse studio catalog + 1 stamp set of choice (Value equal or less than $12.99) for US resident only.

Sunghee Chon -- http://www.littlepotatohouse.com/ -- $20 gift certificates to Little Potato House template shop for US or non-US resident.

Karen from Your Next Stamp - http://www.yournextstamp.com/ would love to give away a stamp called Ellie loves The Beach http://yournextstamp.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_226_165&products_id=2586

"You have until Tuesday, July 5th at 6:00 PM EST to comment on as many blogs as you can. Winners will be drawn from random comments on blogs, and announced on Wednesday July 7th (on Taylor's (http://taylorusry.blogspot.com/) blog). "

Well, bye for now. Have a Happy Fourth of July

Dreamweaver Color Challenge--Purple and Yellow

2011-06-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

This week's challenge is purple and yellow. I actually chose it for the team, because I really love complementary color combinations. Green and red seemed to Christmas-y, and blue and orange were already taken. I like purple and yellow anyway, because they are cheery colors. Here is my take.

I used two stencils on this one: the fan is Large Open Fan LJ 903 and the flowers are Cherry Blossoms, LG 644.

First, I "sludge" stencilled the fan on purple by putting regular matte white paste and yellow matte paste on my spreader and using them together. When this was almost dry, I noticed that there was a divet in the stencilled area. I also noticed that the yellow color had really overtaken the white, and that I had missed a spot on the bottom of the fan. The paper was wavy as well. I loaded my spreader with just white paste and spread it over again. It was then that I had my "happy accident". Because of the wave in the paper, the new paste skipped over the surface. It made a stripey color that I really liked, and a stucco type texture that I also appreciated.

While the fan dried, I used Sunshine Yellow Adirondack ink with a stencil brush on the background. I moved the stencil a couple of times to completely fill the background with the cherry blossoms. After the fan was totally dry, I repaced the stencil and used the yellow pigment ink on the blades. I then used opaque Sand Zig Embossing Powder on them and heated it. The stencil went back on one final time. I covered it with the cherry blossom stencil and used my stencil brush with Eggplant Adirondack Pigment Ink to color them purple. While they were still wet, I used Stampendous Purple Amethyst Pearlescent Embossing Powder and heated it. The color actually is purple, it just looks a little dark in this scan. Finally, I assembled the card.

I hope that the purple and yellow challenge has inspired you to create with stencils. If you want more inspiration, check out the other members of the team (links on the left side). Then, create something using our color choice and yet remarkably, wonderfully you. Post it and link it to the Dreamweaver blog. Enjoy, create, appreciate and share. Have great fun with your card, have a fantastic week, and stop by again soon. I will be participating in a July Fourth Blog Hop, which is actually on the 2nd. I am hoping you stop and hop.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Week

2011-06-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Summer! This is my first blog post of a brand new summer, so I decided to show something fun and easy from my upcoming summer class.

The fish stencil shown here is actually discontinued--but never fear! If your local retailer does not have it in stock, they can still order it from Dreamweaver for you. It is stencil number LJ 848. If you are in the Brighton, Michigan area, I will be teaching a class at Scrap Tales twice in July and this stencil is INCLUDED in your class fee. Call the store to register.
Anyway, on to how I made this one. It is actually the easiest one in this class. The fish are a double glitter technique. You soap up the back of the stencil and attach it to the Double Sided Adhesive Paper. Then, you use three different colors of Microfine Art Glitter on the fish. I pinched the colors, one at a time, into the spaces and then used my VERY IMPORTANT art tool--my finger--to push them into the paper. This is critical with the microfine glitter because it is so light weight that it won't go down into the crevices on its own. When burnished like this, though, it creates a beautiful shimmering look.
When the fish are done, brush off any excess glitter. Brush it off well, mind you, because you don't want it to migrate to the areas that are supposed to be blue. Then, you put the whole thing stencil side down on a flat surface. You must remove the paper from the stencil while the stencil remains on the table. Slowly and carefully pull the double sided adhesive paper off while walking your fingers along the stencil to keep it flat.
Once you have removed the stencil, pour blue glitter over the top and gently rub it in with your fingers. (I used Art Glitter True Blue Ultrafine). Brush all remaining glitter off of your project.
The little shell charm was made with the Scallop LS 6 stencil. I used the ArtC clay. I believe it is a white paperclay. I smoothed the clay down on my craft sheet. Then, I put just a little vegetable oil on my finger and rubbed it lightly on the back of the stencil. I pushed the stencil onto the clay and rolled it slightly. Then, I removed the stencil and cut the excess clay around it. I rolled a little of it into a ball and draped the shell over the top to create dimension. I had to let this dry. I am really not good with patience, so I set it out to dry overnight. This sort of clay never dries hard, it always remains a little spongy. When it is dry, use a craft knife to put a little hole in the top.
The assembly is easy. The base is blue and is followed by Core'dinations White Wash in yellow that has been lightly sanded and ripped. The twine is from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist collection. See? An Easy summer card.
So now that you have a summer greeting from me, you should go check out all the rest of the Dreamweaver Design Team creations. Get inspired. Create. Then post a link to the Dreamweaver Blog. See you next week.

My Mind's Eye Card Sketch Challenge # 24--Song Lyrics

2011-06-20T01:38:00.005-04:00

I have really been enjoying these sketch challenges. Especially this time, with the theme of song lyrics. (People who know me know that I love to sing).

Here is the sketch:

And my interpretation:I kept looking at the MME paper at Scrap Tales, and was drawn to Lime Twist for this challenge. It was just perfect for the song lyric theme. There were so many obvious choices, and even embellishments that contained lyrics. As I looked, the one song that stuck in my mind was "Let's Go Fly a Kite" from Disney's Mary Poppins. It was composed by Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman. It is at the end of the movie, when the father decides that his family is more important than his job. I kept humming it while I shopped, so I decided that it was the one to use. As I was thinking of how it would fit in a card, I thought about that person that you really want to hang out with who always seems too busy. It would be great to let them know that you just want a little time to relax and reconnect with them. The words go:" With a tuppence for paper and string, you can have your own set of wings. " How perfect for a cardmaker!

So, I used the Lime Twist collection, except for the wood grain paper in the background, which is Stella and Rose. I inked a little with distress inks, cut out and popped up the kites, and added one little extra--twine! I was thinking of how the song is all about escaping, and imagined that the person making this fine offer was flying their own, full sized kite as they invited their friend. This twine is the string mentioned in the song, and would attach to the cardmaker's kite. So, if your with me still, "Let's Go Fly a Kite" and escape reality a little. After all, "with your feet on the ground you're a bird in flight with your fist holding tight to the string of your kite---oh, oh. oh!"

Dreamweaver Fathers' Day Sketch Challenge

2011-06-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

This is sketch week at Dreamweaver. Fathers' Day is right around the corner, too, so we decided to combine it with a Fathers' Day Challenge. Here is the sketch we used.......

......and here is my interpretation.

As you can see, I moved the sentiment, added a couple of things, and kept the background as one solid piece. If you look carefully, you can see that I also didn't exactly make it a "Fathers' Day" card, but more of a general masculine card. Why, you may wonder? Well, for one thing, I think that it is difficult to find a masculine card. This one can be used for anything from Fathers' Day, to congratulations, to a birthday. I went for the more flexible card. That is the pat answer I would give. Truth be told, though, I really like the fishing themed stencil LG 726, and my father DOESN'T fish. At all. So, I decided to make a card that I could use for any of my fishing inclined friends. The phrase is from LG 704, Birthday Words. I used LM 2003 as a focal piece because the scale fit with the idea of a circle in the center of the card. The pieces on LG 726 worked better for a rectangular vertical card.
So, on to how it was made. First, I pasted the lure LM 2003 on brown with the metallic silver paste. Then, I used the same brown cardstock and pasted LG 726 with the original, white paste. I made two extra of the fish, because I knew I wanted to have three. I selected the phrase I wanted from LG 704, and masked out the rest of the words with removable tape, pasting only the "It's Your Day" phrase.
When the paste was dry, I replaced the stencil and colored the basket with a combination of Distress Inks in Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain, and Adirondack Pigment Ink in Butterscotch. I dried them with my heat tool before using my Versamarker and Zing Metallic Green Embossing powder on the straps.
I did the fishing pole in much the same way, coloring the handle with Burgundy Distress Ink and clear embossing powder. The rod was done with Zing Embossing Powder in Sand. The reel was with Stampendous Metallic Silver Embossing Powder. One of the things I love so much about this original paste is the way that it takes EVERYTHING from embossing powder, to ink, to glue.
The lure in the center was also done with embossing powders--it used Stampendous Amethyst Metallic, and a really old red powder by Commotion. Then, I used Zig pen glue and added Stampendous Flock in red and purple. The glue does not stick quite as well to the metallic paste (remember, this one was silver), so I have some patchy parts. I am fine with this, but wanted you to know it is no fault of the flock--which will be as thick and plush as you put it on.
Finally, the fish. This was the part that I was really looking forward to. I used Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear on the fish and glittered them. The silver is the Microfine, making the little "scale shine" that I had been expecting. I used Canadian Blue on the eyes and for some spots on one fish. Then, I used Pink Smoothie and Blue Boy to add a little color. I only wanted a little color, which is why I chose those specific glitters--they are transparent, and very subtle. By the way, I guess now would be a good time to mention that I am guest blogging for Art Glitter over the summer. My first post is here: http://artglitterblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/hologram-glitter-butterfies-t-shirt-by.html#comments.
So, back to the card. I cut everything out and used the TPC Reel Me In collection for the background papers. I popped up the lure, parts of the fish and the phrase. This image, complete with midday shadows, should give you an idea of how they were raised:

Now that you have seen my card, continue on and check out the rest of the cards on the Dreamweaver Design Team list. Get inspired, make your own, and maybe even link it to the Dreamweaver Blog. You can find it here: http://www.dreamweaverstencils.blogspot.com/
Come on, have a little fun! Play along with us.

Dreamweaver Free Week--A "Pear" of Thank You Cards

2011-06-09T08:00:00.001-04:00

This week, I am posting two cards made with the same four stencils: LJ 909 Cathedral Window Small, LJ 808 Cathedral Window Large, LL 563 Large Pear, and LS 1006 Small Thanks. I was particularly interested in showing the contrast between the small Cathedral Window and the large one. These two cards were both very easy to make.
On this first one, I ran plain white cardstock through my Cuttlebug with the large Cathedral Window. I then lightly brushed across the pattern with purple ink. I ran the Thanks through the machine with Core'dinations cardstock. I sanded it to bring out the words. I used white cardstock again and embossed the pear by hand. I colored the pear with ink in a couple of colors using a stencil brush. I then placed the small Cathedral Windows on top and hand embossed selected areas. I inked them with a much darker color.

This second card was done the same way. The primary difference (aside from the size) is that I used Core'dinations cardstock on the background as well. I then lightly sanded it to bring out a very light purple.

These cards were very easy to do. They are just the sort of thing to do during a quick indoor break this summer while the temperatures are soaring outside. You should give these techniques a try. While you are thinking about stencils, take a look at the other projects made by the Dreamweaver Dream Team this week. Their links are on the left. Take a minute and get inspired!

Color Challenge--Grey and Lavender

2011-06-02T01:18:00.004-04:00

Pam chose this week's color challenge: Grey and Lavender. Here is what I did.

Yep, I took a couple of liberties. First, I added both green and white. Then, I took the color lavender a little loosely. Although, honestly, it is not quite as bright of a purple as it is in this scan (nor is the background a bright blue color, but a instead it is a muted purple). In fact, the entire card is much more muted, subtly varied, and shimmery than it is in this picture.

The basics behind the card are very simple. First, I used the original Dreamweaver Embossing Paste with LJ 888 Hydrangea stencil on a beautiful Little Yellow Bicycle grey paper. When it was dry, I painted the paste with Twinkling H2Os in Periwinkle, French Lilac, and Snapdragon for the flowers. For the leaves, I used Pebbles Pearlescent chalks in green and then layered on Twinkling H2Os in Olive Vine for shading. I stamped a piece of white with a TPC Stamp and Black Soot Distress Ink. I then distressed it with Weathered Wood Distress Ink. After that, I just had to assemble it.

This is the card that I could have easily given to my mother for her birthday last week. That is what it reminded me of. I just absolutely love the sentiment and how it goes with the gorgeous Hydrangea stencil. In case you can't read it, the sentiment goes: "If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I would walk in my garden forever."

I really enjoyed the lavender and grey challenge. Thank you, Pam.

Stampendous Card Challenge

2011-05-31T22:22:00.004-04:00

Here is the Stampendous Card Challenge. The sketch was created by Geny Cassady, who is a Stampendous Blogstar.

Here it is:

It was created for a long card, which is a very interesting proportion to me. Here is my take on it:

I used a cling background stamp CRR114 on green with Versamark and Stampendous White Pearl translucent embossing powder. Then, I stamped the flowers from Daisy Stem Trio with Walnut Stain Distress Ink three times. I embossed one set with Stampendous Clear Embossing Powder. Then I colored some of the background petals with colored pencils. On the second set, I colored the top petals with a Versamarker (the marker relative of the pad) and embossed with Stampendous Winter Wonderland Opaque Embossing Powder. It is hard to see in this photo, but it is sparkly white. The third set was embossed with clear, and then flocked (except in the details) with Lemonade Yellow Stampendous Fun Flock. Each of these separate sections were cut out and stacked with 3D Dots, making the flowers very dimensional.

The butterfly and ladybug were from the Daisy Thanks set. The butterfly was stamped twice and embossed with Stampendous Detail Black embossing powder. Then, I colored it with Twinkling H2Os, cut out the top wing from one and stacked it with dots to make it three dimensional. The ladybugs were stamped once with Black Soot Distress Ink and embossed with the Black Detail Powder. Then they were colored with Stampendous Red Jewel Glitter and Stampendous Crystal Glitter (for the wings). The "hello" was from the Daisy Stem Trio set, and was stamped with the Walnut Stain Ink.

I really enjoyed using this fun sketch, and am quite pleased with the results. I especially liked making the flowers and bugs that replaced the hearts from the original.

Dreamweaver Free Week--Two Cards, One Theme

2011-05-26T00:17:00.006-04:00

Aren't you always in need of masculine cards? I know I am. Well, partially this is because I can't keep my hands off of the glitter (more on that later.....an announcement at the end of the post) and the flowers. Neither a particularly masculine item. I think I can also blame the manufacturers, though. Not too many of them make masculine products. Lynell has come to the rescue with the tie stencil (LG 735). I used it, the stripe stencil (LX 7002) and the Happy Birthday stencil (LM 248) to make this card for Dreamweaver.

I first pasted the tie with the original white paste. Then, I pasted the Happy Birthday in glossy black. After the paste was dry, I stencilled a little Distress ink in Antique Linen under the collar and Mustard all across the tie. Then, I placed the stipe stencil on the tie, angling it to match the bottom edge of the tie, and stencilled it with Adirondack Pigment Ink in Denim. After that dried, I replaced the tie stencil, covered the whole tie with Versamark and embossed it with clear powder. Finally, I determined the shape and angles of the suit and cut it from a beautiful piece of Graphic 45 Proper Gentleman paper. I finished up the card with inking and brads, photographed it, and sent it off.

Fast forward a couple of months, and I am thinking that I would like to use this card in a class. Of course, we have run out of the Graphic 45 paper, and never did carry the brads. Additionally, we only have one of these birthday stencils in stock. I was thinking that I could also stand to cut a little time from the overall class...........So, this is what I came up with:

Okay, so this is how I solved my problems: I switched the stencil to the Birthday Words (LG 704), I replaced the paper with one from the Pebbles Mr and Mrs line, and I changed the tie color, stencil, embossing project to just stencilling on a colored piece of paper and cutting it out. This last part will shorten my time considerably, since there is no waiting for the ink to dry between steps. I just stencilled on the yellow paper with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink and replaced the tie stencil, tracing the inside lightly with pencil and cutting it out. Then I glued it on with Art Glitter Dries Clear. Notice I removed the brads from the card, saving me time, money, and aggrevation, as Scrap Tales never did carry that particular brad. This decision, believe it or not, really troubled me. I kept trying to find a replacement for the brads until I finally just gave up.

The assembly is pretty much the same. I did take awhile to figure out the changes needed to make this card more appropriate for class, but once I worked it out, I liked it. I think I might like it better than the original. Of course, it is now time for you to make the changes that you want to on it. Also, check out my Dream Team Sisters Blogs for their projects today. (The blogs are listed on the left).

Oh, and about that glitter comment, anyone who knows me understands that I often walk around leaving a trail of glitter in my wake. My favorite brand is, of course, Art Institute Glitter. Therefore, it is quite a thrill for me to have been selected to be a guest blogger for June, July and August on the Art Glitter Blog. (Blinkie and link to follow as soon as I get it). You have heard it here first, folks, as Art Glitter hasn't announced the names yet, and I am posting here before Facebook this time. I hope to catch you over there some time this summer, too. I will still be here every week though, so keep coming back for your Dreamweaver fix.

Dreamweaver Sketch Week

2011-05-19T09:22:00.011-04:00

Deborah made this week's sketch. Initially, it had me a little perplexed. What could I put in those arches? Then, I remembered an arched shaped stencil LG 639. I based my interpretation on that stencil.

I wish the photograph did it justice. This card was created with foils--a mix of Stampee and Creative Imaginations--and Art Glitter. First, I soaped the back of the stencil and placed it on the Double Sided Adhesive paper. Then, I trimmed around the outside of the stencil.

This is where I owe a shout out to my new friend, Julie Makela, the Australian Distributor of Dreamweaver. Without her great demonstrations at CHA, I would have NEVER thought of using foil with the double glitter paper. Of course, she did laugh at me when I gathered all the used bits of foil to take home with me. Julie, THIS is what I used them on.

I started with the darkest color, a purple, on the edges. For this first pass, I used just those remnant bits that were left on the backing. I pressed them down firmly with my fingers. I continued, lightening the colors as I worked inward, and making sure that I overlapped all of these bits, so the colors would blend into each other. After that initial pressing, I found larger areas of foil, pressed them near their coordinating colored edges, and pushed them down with the larger end of the small purple embossing tool. Then, I pressed foil right into the edges of the stencil with the smaller end. Finally, I took fresh sheets of foil and, finding the colored areas that coordinated, I rubbed over the whole area with the larger end of the big purple embossing tool. That covered all of the adhesive paper and did not use much of the foil. I then poured a blue colored pearl Art Glitter over it all and pressed it lightly with my fingers into the very small parts that I missed.

When all of the inside was finished, I turned it over and carefully removed the stencil from the adhesive paper. Then, I poured pearl white Art Glitter over the whole thing. I mounted the two windows on the black cardstock. I stamped a phrase from a company called Words Like Honey on some white/gold shimmer cardstock with Archival ink. I then mounted that on the black and added sheer white and blue ribbon. I trimmed around the windows and put it on plain white cardstock and trimmed the outside of the top windows.

It was missing something. Being that it was a Confirmation card, I decided that it needed a dove. Of course, this was last minute and I was not able to go to the store for a dove embellishment, so I made my own. I googled the picture, which is actually listed as a tatoo image by Bangbang Urdead, although to me it looks straight out of stained glass. Anyway, I downloaded this image, made a couple of changes, and printed it. Then, I mounted it on the back of my shimmery cardstock, cut it out, and adhered it to black carstock. I cut around it, attached it, and added a little Diamond Stickles. I was done.

I really enjoyed using the foil with the adhesive paper. If you are local, look for this technique to show up in my next class......... Until then, check out everyone else's interpretation of this sketch by clicking on the names listed under Dream Team. See you next week.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Week

2011-05-11T23:29:00.000-04:00

It is another free challenge week at Dreamweaver, and this week, my card was inspired by a stamp. See, I was prowling a craft store, looking for sayings that would go with the fabulous new umbrella stencil, when I found this Inkadinkado stamp in the kiddie writing that said "Count your rainbows, not your thunderstorms." The sentiment was written by Alyssa Knight, when she was 12, apparently. I didn't buy it at first, because, although I liked it, the rainbow part really had me wondering--how could I show it? Well, here is my resulting card, as well as the step by step instructions:

I found a way to create a rainbow rainbow using the new paste spreader LM 2010.
First, cut the cover sheet of a Double Sided Adhesive paper in half. Remove the top half of it, and replace a strip along the right side. Soap the back of the spreader, and position it so that it covers up to the top of the rainbow--where you want the sky to show through. Using the Double Glitter Technique, cover that upper left hand corner with blue Art Institute Glitter. Brush off the excess. Pick up the spreader, and scoot it down to rest under the first color of the rainbow. Be careful not to change the relative position of the spreader, because you want to make sure that the rainbow stripes are even across the arc.
Then, put red Art Institute Glitter on that stripe, brush it off, and move the spreader further down. Keep repeating this process, using the roygbiv colors that we all learned in elementary school, until you have a complete rainbow. The great thing about this technique, is that even if you get a little sloppy with the color that you are working on, as I did with the green in this photo, the current color will only stick to the adhesive paper that was just revealed. The parts that have already been covered with glitter just won't accept any more. Make sure that it is good and covered with glitter for each and every stripe. After you are finished with the rainbow, brush off the colors well, then remove the stencil anthadditional coverings from the Double Sided Adhesive Paper. Cover the entire thing with the sky blue that you used above the rainbow.

Then, position the umbrella stencil so that the umbrella reaches side to side and overlaps the rainbow. When you are sure that you have it right, tape sheets of paper all the way around the stencil. This way, you can be sure that none of the paste gets on any of the glitter that you worked on. Then, paste the umbrella with Glossy Black. You will need to work quickly and confidently to get it pasted well on all that fantastic glitter. Remove the stencil and set this aside to dry.

Meanwhile, get clear acetate and the Rain Stencil. Paste the stencil on the acetate using Pearlescent Paste, and tossing clear glitter onto the paste while it is still wet. After the paste is dry, brush off the excess glitter.

For the assembly, the Double Sided Adhesive gets adhered to the cardstock background. Then, the acetate overlay, which is attached with Glue Dots and brads. Finally, the ribbon and the popped up saying.

One last parting shot. I think it really shows the acetate

Thursday Dream Schemes--Blue and Orange Mother's Day Card

2011-05-05T09:00:00.001-04:00

This week's challenge is a blue and orange Mother's Day Card. The colors seemed appropriate for me, as I have been feeling a little blue around Mother's Day since I lost my mother three years ago. Anyway, I really took my time on this one, while thinking about my mother.

The stencils I used included the now discountinued teacup stencil. (You can still get it if you ask your local store to order it for you.) I recently gave it away in a class, so if you are one of the folks that got it, you are all set already.

I used the regular paste with the teacup stencil. My paper choice is from the My Minds' Eye Stella and Rose Collection. I really like the MME papers because they are sturdy enough to take this much paste without too much warping. After pasting, I waited until it was dry. Then, I replaced the stencil, and brushed a little Weathered Wood Distress Ink on to create some shading. I then put the Cherry Blossom stencil over the top, leaving that teacup in place. I stencilled the image using one of my latest obsessions--Twinkling H2Os by Creative Imaginations. It is a shimmery watercolor paint that is loaded with mica. These paints need to be activated with a spritz of water a few minutes before you plan to use them. They are usually used a little wet, so I was concerned that they might migrate under the stencil. I used a Dreamweaver Blue Handled Stencil brush, which I daubed into the paint, touched on some paper towels, and stencilled onto that paste. Fortunately, the paste took the paint extremely well (that regular paste can take ALOT of things!) and very little travelled under the stencil. I used three different colors: Yellow Rose, Ginger Peach, and Burnt Umber. I tried to place these colors the best I could before removing the stencil. Then, I removed the stencil. Here is the best part: because the H2Os are a watercolor, I was able to remove any errors with a little water on my brush. I loved this complete control. I went in and added extra shimmer and color as I removed the parts I did not want. The ribbon was also painted with Twinkling H2Os. Finally, I added a rim around the top, bottom and handle with a gold Zig paint pen. The sentiment, by Inkadinkado for EK Success, was stamped with Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. The MME papers were distressed with ink as well.

Well, here is wishing all the mothers out there a happy day and a great weekend. Check out my Dream Team Sisters' blogs while I consider what to make for next week's Free Week. ( You should consider playing along with us....)

Dreamweaver Free Choice Week AND New Stencils!

2011-04-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

Welcome to another Free Choice week! After ALOT of rain here in Michigan, with an occasional nice day thrown in, I felt truly inspired to post this card. I was feeling the saying, which is one of Lynell's newest designs. It is on a stencil with several fun sayings on it.

When designing this one, I was thinking about how that cute new apron stencil would look hanging from a clothesline. I also felt that the apron itself should be plaid, evoking a fresh spring country day, when a sudden rainstorm could ruin the attempt to dry clothes in the sun. Originally, I pictured the apron in pink plaid, but the color was just too pale to hold its own against the blue.

First, I pasted, using the original paste. The words were on brown color core Core'dinations, which was ripped later in the process. The apron was done on a mottled Basic Grey brown, because I wanted the various shades of brown to show up as shading, as if it were blowing in the wind. After the paste was dry, I used the Dreamweaver Stripe stencil to create the plaid. I tried to follow the "flow" lines in the apron, splitting up the top and the bottom. I stencilled these with Distress Inks in a couple of different browns. First I went in one direction, and then I moved the stencil to a 90 degree angle and stencilled in the other direction. I really like how the Distress Inks are so delicate on the paste. The background was the rain stencil, run through my Cuttlebug with Core'dinations color core in blue. Then, I lightly sanded it, to enhance the embossing.

After some assmebly, which included a twine and real tiny clothespins, the card reflects my very mood today. I hope that there is no rain where you are!

Stop in again next week and see what is in store for the Blue and Orange Mother's Day card challenge. In the meantime, check out the other Dream Teamers on this free week.

My Mind's Eye Sketch Challenge #22--April Showers

2011-04-21T23:53:00.005-04:00

Here is this month's My Mind's Eye Blog Layout Sketch Challenge. The sketch is absolutely beautiful, and was created by Anam Stubbington. The theme this month is April Showers. Here is my take on it.

For once, I interpreted the sketch fairly literally. I used the gorgeous Stella and Rose collection. I loved how the orange enhanced her clothing, and the wood grain paper echoed the deck that she stands on. When deciding on a title, I kept ruminating on the theme of April showers. Soon, I had the Disney song from one of my Mom's favorite movies : :Drip, drip, drop little April Showers...." Kaitlyn looks so happy with the rain, that I found it rather approriate. I cut out most of the words from printed papers in the line. The others were from a lovely turquoise Core'dinations paper. I sanded it in the places that I needed it lighter for contrast. I also distressed most of the papers for added dimension.

I really enjoyed having intentional play with scallops. The orange scallop is actually part of the die cut paper piece. (I had to resist the urge to string a lovely ribbon through those holes, but I won't resist it next time.) I used My Mind's Eye ribbon as the scalloped embellishment featured on the sketch. Then, I used scallops in the hand made flower. Finally, when I cut the delicate doily from it's sheet, the edges became scalloped. (So much scallop fun!)

I then wanted to add a little something more to my layout. The "Drip, drip drop" was a little lost. I knew that the theme was April Showers, but aside from the photos, and the title, I was not really getting "rain". That is when I came up with the idea to make raindrops. It would add to the theme and make it a little different from the sketch. I used turquosie My Mind's Eye Lush 2 gemstone collection as the bottom of my drops. I made quick straight lines with light pencil right on the project. Then, I used my Bazzil InStitchz' Awl and mat to poke guide holes on the lines. I added the gems at the end of some of them, and poked guide holes around them. I stitched all of this with embroidery floss.

The flower center is a My Mind's Eye button that is really pretty. I was going to use the second one in the card sketch, but just don't think I can get it done this time.

This was really lots of fun. I am considering entering every month!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Sketch Challenge and a New Stencil!

2011-04-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

This week's sketch was chosen by Lee. I always admire her for her southwestern style creations. This sketch had that sort of feel as well. I could almost see the desert and mountains in the image.

So, here is my take on the sketch. I got special permission from Lynell to sneak this new stencil. Never fear, it will be out VERY soon. You can see that I enlarged the primary image and, because of that, really didn't have the room to mat it with those torn mats. I also moved it to the other side of the card. That decision was based on the direction that the bird was facing. I would like to think that I kept the spirit of the sketch by using layers of torn tissue paper, stacked and glued with a glue stick. I chose the colors because I wanted to invoke the feeling of a sunset. I reflected the glitter in the tissue paper to make it appear as if the sun was setting behind mountains.

As for the technique, I used Double Glitter. This time, I did it with a twist. Sometime, somewhere, I saw one of my Dream Team Sisters using double glitter with embossing powder. I chose to do the same here, to keep the raven black and glitter the "sunset" in the background. I first soaped the back of the stencil and applied it to the Double Sided Adhesive Paper. Then, I poured detail black embossing powder over the whole thing and pressed it down with my fingers. When I was sure that I had it well pressed in, I turned the stencil over and gave it a good flick. I carefully removed the paper, laying the whole thing stencil side down on the table, and peeling the paper off of the stencil. Then, I heat embossed it. I poured layers of colored glitter on the background to imitate the sunset. This time, I did not use Art Glitter, but instead the Woodware UK glitter that I brought home with me.

Check out how the other Dream Teamers have interpreted this sketch. I have reorganized my blog to make it easier to find everyone. Enjoy the creations and, most of all, feel inspired!

My Core'dinations Creative Frenzy

2011-04-15T01:30:00.049-04:00

THE FIRST PROJECT: A Spring Wreath Happy Spring! I had so much fun making this wreath with Core'dinations paper. There are only a few items used for this wreath that are not cardstock. They are: the wreath form, wire, a cereal box (became the bird wings), the birdhouse base, the egg base (originally sparkly Easter ornaments), and the base for the bird. When I mention the "bases" I am referring to things that I used to create the initial shape. I treated each of them as if they were part of the Rose Bowl Parade--their surfaces are covered in cardstock! The branch was formed with paper coated wires. Then, I used small, ripped strips of Core'dinations color core in brown to roll around the wires. As I rolled, I twisted slightly, and was able to make a branch that looked entirely real. The nest was also the color core paper, but it was dampened, folded, and twisted until it held a shape something like a nest. I used Art Glitter Dries Clear glue on the eggs to hold it in place. I then used a craft knife to cut slices out of the nest and twisted, ripped and folded the pieces until it looked the way I wanted. This project was just so much fun because of all the detailed items. The flowers and leaves were all cut on the Silhouette Machine from designs that I purchased in their store. They were cut on the color core papers, including the White Wash Collection. It is one of my favorites, because the top loots "white washed" while the cores are beautiful colors. I played with the pink and the color core pink together in some of the flowers. I was able to create the petal shape because of the way I was sanding. I used a soft sanding block and placed the petal over my finger. The finger created a "template" of sorts to sand over. It caused the Core'dinations paper to curl ever so gently and mimic the look of a real flower petal.

The birdhouse (Why can't I stop singing the "Birdhouse in my Soul" song by They Might Be Giants?) was created with various colors of blue sent through different embossing folders and sanded. The butterflies were all made using the Black Magic Collection and Dreamweaver Stencils. I ran the stencil through my Cuttlebug. Then, I sanded through the embossed image to the yellow. All I had left to do on them was stick them on with a Glue Dot. The paper was so sturdy that, even after all that sanding, it held up well.

The last image for this project is the hummingbird. I used a styrofoam bird as the base. The wings were made from a cereal box. The paper used on the hummingbird is primarily the Foundations paper by Core'dinations. I had never used it before, but found it perfect to cover this bird. It is smooth, thin and tough, so it held the wings on nicely. I used Whitewash in black under the belly to deliniate the tail feathers. I scratched the details in (showing the black) with a craft knife. I also used Gemstones in Opal and the Glitter Silk in green, red and white to enhance the bird. I was really impressed by the flexibility of the new Glitter Silk, as I had to bend it into unusual shapes to make it fit over the 3D bird correctly.

THE SECOND PROJECT: A two page layout

This is a layout about my trip with my aunt and cousins to The Henry Ford Museum. I used a Graphic 45 Collection and Core'dinations Core Impressions to create this layout. I really loved those pre-embossed papers in the watch and fancy background imagery. I went for an overall distressed look, so in addition to sanding these papers, I also inked them. I especially liked inking the tan layer, because it added such an extra depth to the image. After distressing it with Walnut Stain ink, I went back in and selectively sanded some of the design. The journalling spot was made with a Tim Holtz embossing folder and the White Wash paper. I also used White Wash alternatively with Black Magic for the mats. I especially loved using the coordinating cores with these two very different collections. For all the mats, I cut them, crinkled them up, opend them, ripped the edges, sanded them, and then ironed them. I love their look.

THE THIRD PROJECT: An all occasion card

Here is the Dreamweaver Card that I promised yesterday. This was really easy to create. First, I used my Cuttlebug to use the wave stencil to emboss Core'dinations color core in blue. Then, I did the same with the Koi stencil on orange. I distressed the fish with Rusty Hinge before sanding them. Then, I mounted them on Black Glitter Silk and cut around the fish. I used a craft knife to cut out the eyes, so that the Glitter Silk could show through. I sanded the backgound and mounted everything, including an organza ribbon. The white background is also Glitter Silk and the far background is Color Core used as regular cardstock (yet another use for it).

Well, I hope everyone has enjoyed my Core'dinations explorations as much as I have. I have been in love with this cardstock, which began my desire to distress, ever since it came out.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Week

2011-04-13T21:20:00.007-04:00

It looks like I am posting a little early this week. Those of you who took my latest class should recognize this one. It was actually created as the twin to a sample that I made for Lynell. (I make two of each of my Dreamweaver Stencil samples so that I can have one for myself.) Although my initial creation had issues with adhesive not sticking to the background of the card (sorry Lynell), I added some sparkly American Crafts rhinestone brads to keep it in place.

The white background paper and the blue paper is a beautiful shimmery cardstock (I think it is by Wausau). The gold mats are also shimmery. The white base for the pasting is regular, smooth cardstock. All the paste used on this one is the Pearlescent.

I sprinkled gold Metallic FX on the word and on the heart for the birds. A little went onto the birds, but it didn't matter, because I planned on painting the birds. Once it dried, I used a Swiffer to wipe off the excess Metallic FX and buff the image.

After the image was buffed, I put Liquid Pearls on my craft sheet, added water, and painted the birds. I used the light blue, the dark blue, light orange and red. The birds' breasts were painted with a mixture of the orange and red, because I thought the red alone was too bright.

After that, I just assembled it, and it was done. I love the Pearlescent paste with the Metallic FX, as it creates a subtle, glowing look.

STOP BY ON FRIDAY FOR A BONUS CARD!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Color Challenge Yellow and Teal

2011-04-07T09:26:00.007-04:00

Kristi chose our yellow and teal challenge this week. One thing you should know about Kristi, is she LOVES her bling--I daresay, ALMOST as much as I do, but that is something up for personal interpretation. With all this sparkle love, though, I felt absolutely compelled to do something glittery again this week.

On this project, I used three different stencils--two butterflies and the dot stencil. The dots were dry embossed and lightly colored with Distress Inks.

The main technique this week is actually the same double glitter technique as last week--but with a different twist. I developed this 3D technique when I was entering for a magazine publication. That first card I did like this is on page 20 of April 2011 Scrap & Stamp Arts Magazine. It includes only one butterfly. Ever since I created that one, I have been dying to try it again. It really only works well with a symmetrical stencil--so butterflies are perfect. I was looking for the right opportunity, when I saw this stamp. I just loved the phrase, and, of course, it would be wonderful with butterflies. I looked through our challenges and knew Kristi's color challenge would be my chance.

As you can see in this picture, the butterflies are all raised from the page. It is super simple. I used the double glitter technique that I explained last week, only right after I removed the adhesive paper from the stencil, I trimmed around the image. Then, I added the black glitter.

Next, I removed the backing and put the back side of the butterfly on the stencil. I then repeated the double glitter technique. You can see why it had to be a symmetrical stencil. When I was done, I had a butterfly that was glittered and detailed on the front and the back.

After I finished the rest of the card assembly, I organized the butterflies. Then, I folded each butterfly in the center, put a Glue Dot under the body, and glued it into place. I then took black 3D foam and positioned it under the wing and close to the body. I did not choose to use the foam under every wing, because I thought it would look more natural to have the wings at different levels.

I hope you give this one a try. Remember, it is really simple--I promise from the bottom of my glitter filled heart!

Thursday Dream Schemes Free Week--Welcome Spring

2011-03-31T09:00:00.000-04:00

Ah, yes. So much for wishful thinking! I woke up to discover that April is right around the corner, but the high temps in Michigan are still in the forties. In honor of the impending spring, despite the weather, I am posting an Easter card from my next card class.

In person, this card is ridiculously sparkly and has a beautiful color changing shimmer. Of course, it was made with fantastic Microfine Art Institute Glitter. I used one of my favorite techniques (just ask anyone who saw me demonstrate at CHA, or followed the trail of glitter back to my hotel) the "Double Glitter Technique".

First, you need to "soap" the back of the stencil. I used the LJ 907 Damask stencil. Put your soaped stencil on Double Sided Adhesive paper. On this project, I used paper that had been cut into the Egg shape with the help of the LG 670 egg stencil.

Then, glitter the project. I used the Microfine glitter made by the Art Glitter people because it is not only gorgeous, but one of the few glitters that can get into all the fine details on this damask stencil. Because it is so light weight, it actually needs to be burnished, or rubbed in with your fingers. Make sure you get all the little spots.

Once you are confident that you got all the little spots rubbed in, take a large, soft brush to the whole thing and brush off the excess. Then, brush it again. Put your project stencil side down on a hard, flat surface and peel off the double sided adhesive paper very carefully. You don't want to bend the stencil as you remove it.

Finally, pour glitter over the top of your adhesive paper. Since I used the Microfine glitter, I was careful to burnish it in very well. I really had alot of fun with this, and the shimmer of the egg changes color depending on how you hold it to the light. Such glittery fantasticness!

These are the extra ones that I made. After I finished the bunny, it faded into a couple of these different choices, which is how I wound up with the blue on blue. You can see, however, that it was a tough choice. Take a good look at the top of the bottom egg (I hope that makes sense). Do you see that blue blob? THAT is what happens when you don't brush the first color off well (hence the suggestion to brush it twice).

Anyway, the bunny was made with the very same technique. I prepared the stencil, placed it on the adhesive paper, and filled the eyes and nose with black glitter. A little brushed off onto the back and ears, but I really liked it that way because it added to the shading. I then used flock instead of glitter to make the pink inside the ears and the tan shading. I followed this with all white flock. The secret behind fun flock is to make sure that you use alot of it and press it down very well. Also, you have to brush and brush again to remove the excess before you peel off the adhesive. I mounted him on a little lightweight chipboard (the packaging of a punch) before I put him on the egg.

The shape of the card is actually the egg. I folded a piece of white cardstock and then used the stencil to trace and cut it out on the fold. (The white sliver on the back of the picture is the back of the card.)

Well, that's it. If you are in the area and would like to have a hands on with this card in my class, give Scrap Tales a call to sign up.

Dream Scheme Sketch Week

2011-03-24T09:00:00.002-04:00

This is the sketch challenge for this week. For once, I actually followed the sketch exactly. This is my very simple card. Unlike many other cards I have made, this one has already been used. I made it for my niece's Confirmation.

It was so, so simple. When I saw this sketch, I immediately thought of how the oval would be a great shape for this cross, being that the proportions would fit perfectly. The colors were dictated by the Confirmation paper that I found at Scrap Tales. Both pieces were part of the same collection. I probably would not have chosen these colors if it weren't for the paper, but once I found it, the color choices were obvious. (Just like when those design shows on TV say to pick an "inspiration piece".) Although I tried this with MetallicFX, the beautiful metallic colors just didn't fit. The only good choice was glossy white. So, there it is, a plain glossy white pasting.

The other nice thing about this sketch was that I was able to easily create a "money envelope" on the inside. All I had to do was cut a piece of cardstock that was slightly smaller than the orange outer rectangle, and adhere it on three sides. I also echoed the rectangle shape to create the spot for a sentiment. I used the decorative ribbon on the front as a closure device for the whole card to create a little more security.

Simple, simple, simple. Anyone could do it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day--Free Dream Scheme Week

2011-03-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

I have recently learned to love St. Patrick's Day. Oh, I always loved the green and the shamrocks, but have recently been enjoying the celebrations with the help of my friend and neighbor, Amy. We have a three year tradition of going to the Irish pub around the corner. We eat, drink, sing and have a fantastic time with our husbands and friends.

Anyway, in celebration of this fun holiday, I am using the free week to show a St. Pat's card.

This is the card that I used for a tutorial for Scrap Tales. The actual card is hanging at the store. I made another one (slightly different) for Lynell's blog this week. Its twin is also hanging up at Scrap Tales.

So, here is the tutorial:

SUPPLY LIST: Black Cardstock, Shamrock Paper, Dreamweaver stencil LS 58, Dreamweaver stencil LM 283, Alcohol inks in green, pearl, Alcohol Blending tool, Alcohol Blending Solution, Tan Spellbinders mat, Die cut machine, embossing mat

1) Emboss stencils through the die cut machine using metal and the tan Spellbinders mat. I used the shamrock three times and celebrate once
2) Use your blending tool with felt and alcohol inks to color all of the metal pieces. I used Meadow, Pesto, and Pearl Mixative
3) Sand the back of the Shamrocks. You can use a nail file block to get into the small crevices. It is better to go over the edges of the shamrock than to not sand enough.
4) Replace the stencil onto the shamrocks and hit with the alcohol inks again. It is better to have the ink felt a little dry. Do not get too damp.
5) Remove stencil and let dry. Touch up the sanding if needed
6) Sand Celebrate lightly to reveal word and leave green on background.
7) Make black card 5 ½ inches high, 4 ¾ inches wide
8) Cut shamrock paper 5 ¼ inches by 3 inches
9) Remove backing on celebrate and stick with a slight black border to left hand side
10) Attach paper with slight black border to right hand side
11) Cut shamrock metals close to design and create small black mats for each approx. 2 inches by 1 ¾ inches for mats.
12) Lay mats and metals on cards to see how you like the placement. I chose off kilter.
13) Attach metal to mats and all to card
14) Trim top and bottom of card.
15) Clean shamrock stencil with Alcohol Blending Solution

I hope you enjoyed today's post. Check out the other DT posts. Also, check out my plaid one at www.dreamweaverstencils.blogspot.com and HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Color Challenge, Brown, Blue and Cream

2011-03-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

This week's color challenge was blue, brown and cream.

I am working on a spring Dreamweaver Class for Scraptales, and one thing I have wanted to do for awhile was use this bare branch stencil LJ 900, that came out for Christmas, as a spring card. Ever since I initially saw this stencil, I thought of how versatile it was. With just a few flowers, it would be a different look. With a brown branch, blue sky, and cream blossoms, it would fit the color challenge well.

I used the regular white embossing paste on My

Mind's Eye paper from the Sophie collection. I know that this paper seems a little busy for a stencilling background, but to me it seemed quite appropriate. Not only were the colors perfect for the challenge, but when you think about branches in nature, you almost never see them with a simple sky background. They are usually viewed with other branches behind them.

At this point, you can barely see the main branch.

When the paste was dry, I replaced the stencil and pulled out my Versamarker. It is a clear watermark and embossing fluid in a marker form. I ran it over the branch parts that I wanted brown. I then removed the stencil, poured Chocolate Zing Embossing Powder over the top. It, of course, stuck only to the areas where I used the marker. I heat set the powder. I repeated the process with the word Spring on cream cardstock. Then, I echo cut the word and mounted it on dark blue. I cut around it again.

The flowers were punched out of two colors of cream cardstock with two different punches. I glued the smaller flowers on some of the "berries" of the original branch. I then stitched the larger flowers on the remainder. Each got only one stitch through the center, and I attached a seed bead to hold it in place. I was amazed at how well the needle slid through the white paste.

I felt that the card needed a little bit of color, so I used Egyptian Gold Luminarte Twinkling H2Os and brushed a little on each of the flowers. I popped the word up on foam, mounted the card on cardstock and the flip side of the paper, and then bent the flower petals up to add a three dimensional effect.

Thursday Dream Schemes--The England Cards

2011-03-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

For those who don't know, I had the wonderful opportunity to represent Dreamweaver Stencils at the Stitches Show in the United Kingdom. (Think CHA of the United Kingdom). I had an absolutely fantastic time demonstrating to the retailers across the Atlantic. I showed several different techniques, and used the products of those demonstrations to create some cards for Woodware, the United Kingdom distributor. Three of the cards that I made wound up with the British version of QVC. I will never see them, and no one will hear my name, but it was thrilling nonetheless. Five others were just left with the wonderful Woodware women, and I never got photos of those. These five were finished just a little later, and I was able to take these (not fantastic) photos of them on my bed before I mailed them off on my last day. You will notice my souvenir scarf laying behind them. Now, I had random items with me, so go easy on me this week. (In fact, I would have more, but my cuticle scissors gave up on me.)

A version of this bird card was one of my make and takes during the show. It was created with the Woodware Microfine Glitter (I liked it so much that I "pinched" the remainder when I left), and Stampendous Fun Flock. First, I soaped the back of the birds on a branch stencil (to allow it to be easily removed). Then, I attached the stencil to the double sided adhesive paper, soap side down. I used a Big Shot to dry emboss the birds on a branch stencil, and then loosely cut out the birds. This way, I created a mask, to individually color the birds. I covered the stencil with the mask, lining up the birds. I put glitter into each of the holes seperately, pushing the glitter onto the adhesive backed paper. I also pushed glitter into the saying. I brushed the excess glitter off. Then, I removed the mask. I put alot of flocking on the branched and pressed it in HARD with my finger. It is the only way to make your flocking feel plush. Then, I rubbed and brushed the excess off completely. I removed the stencils, and flooded the remaining area with white glitter and added a ribbon.

The rest all used this same "double glitter" technique. Some used additional techniques. The Thistle, for example, used flock and glitter in the blue (I didn't have purple) thistle flower. The glitter is shaded because I used two different colors. Both the Thistle and the Blue Knot also use the "plaid maker"--which is the stripe stencil held one way and stencilled, then turned and stencilled at 90 degrees. The knot also had a machine embossed raindrop background.

This owl card has a double glitter raindrop pattern, but also includes a simple machine emobssing on the owl. It was embossed with a slightly thicker copper. Then, I just sanded lightly over the top to add to the dimension.

So, those were my quickly assembled "demonstration" cards.

Did I have fun in England? ABSOLUTELY! I am including a few photos here.

The picture on the left is Windsor Castle. This is the largest currently inhabited castle in the world. I was able to tour around, but not go into the state rooms, as the Queen actually followed me there. The other picture is me at the St. George's Chapel on the castle grounds. This "chapel" is larger than almost any church I have seen in the U.S. It was fantastic. It survived a shelling in World War II, and still has the hole to prove it!

You should recognize the photo on the left. The right is the front gates of Buckingham palace. It is the crest of the royal family. Below, there is a picture of Westminster Abbey side entrance and a crocus that was beginning to bloom in the gardens by Buckingham Palace.

The next picture is of the White Tower in the Tower of London. The Tower has an intriguing history, and this building is the oldest, from 1024.
This is Trafalgar Square, as seen from the front steps of the National Gallery.

I will finish with my favorite new dinner finisher--Sticky Toffee Pudding. It is like a chocolate sponge cake infused with toffee, served with vanilla ice cream and a little chocolatey/toffee sauce. So delicious, and COMPLETELY WORTH all the calories. Yum! I only wish I could get it here......

Thursday Dream Schemes--Sketch Challenge

2011-02-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here is this week's challenge sketch. I don't know why, but when I first saw it, I thought of the Honeycomb Stencil LJ 806. I just couldn't get that thought out of my mind, no matter how much I tried. I just couldn't figure out how I wanted to execute it. Then, I went to CHA and met a wonderful Australian lady named Julie Makela. She showed us a technique with Stampee Crafts foil that was PERFECT.

First, you emboss the image, either traditionally or with a machine. (I chose traditionally).

Then, you use pigment ink to stencil the image. (I used Adirondack in two colors of yellow).

While the ink is still wet, pour the powdered glue on it, and heat. It can't overheat, nor does it matter if it is a little undercooked at this point, so there is no pressure.

You then place the foil over the top of the image, and send it through a thermal laminator. I used the transparent color Cracked Ice and just purchased the laminator at Target for under $30.

Finally, you let the image cool a little and then pull the foil off quickly, in one fell swoop. (Think Bandaid).

This was REALLY easy, and just look at the beautiful results. Even more stunning in person, this honeycomb sparkles in holographic colors when hit by the sun.

So, then I began to think about the details. Bees were an obvious choice. I looked for the extra bees that I used on the card that I had published. (Stampers' Sampler Dec/Jan 2010-2011--shameless plug!). Not finding them (of course), I decided to recreate them. This is how I did it:

I conditioned and rolled out black polymer clay.

I used bee stamp (by the now defunct Cornish Heritage Farms), to press the design into the clay.

I cut around the bee with a craft knife.

I rubbed a little Moonstone Metallic FX onto the wings with my finger.

Then, I baked the bees according to the polymer clay instructions.

After the clay cooled, I glued yellow flock into the stripes using Art Institute Glue and added Purple Stickles to the eyes.

Then, it was time for assembly. I used My Mind's Eye paper, dark teal cardstock, and a stamp by Cornish Heritage Farms. I attached the bees with Glue Dots.

I was very happy with this card, which I promptly gave to my aunt--whose husband keeps bees!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Week

2011-02-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here it is, finally. This is the turquoise/brown/kraft/neutral card I was initially going to post on January 27th. It is a recreation of the one I made for Lynell. This one is not for the faint of heart.

First off, the easy stuff. The background is a fabulous new raindrop background stencil that I did in the double glitter technique. I used two shades of turquoise that were very close, so the effect is very subtle.

Now, the details. I used the original white paste on the new owl stencil. I did it twice. On one, I used a Versamark pen on top of the dried paste with various colored embossing powders. When I reached the owl's back, I raked an Exacto knife through the hot embossing powder to create the feathered look. This really worked well, because the Opaque Zing powder that I used actually has two slightly different colored layers.

I used flock in the white parts of his stomach with the Zig Glue Pen. I did the same thing with brown on the other pasting.

Once finished with all the details, I cut them out and pasted them on the other paper. It created a nice 3D effect.

When I assembled the card, I popped the owl up a little, to show off all of his details.

Happy Valentine's Day--Virtual Valentine's Day Blog Hop!

2011-02-14T08:00:00.002-05:00

Hello, everyone. Today is an addition to our regularly scheduled Dream Scheme Thursday. Dreamweaver, and many other wonderful companies, are sponsors for a Virtual Valentine's Blog Hop. The hop is being organized by Taylor Usry. Her blog is http://taylorusry.blogspot.com/ . There are tons of people in this hop, including Dreamweaver Stencils and my Dream Team sisters Wendy, Kristi, Terrece, Louise and Pam. Taylor's blog should have ALL the links. The more you comment, the more chances you have to win--so warm up that keyboard.

ALSO, as a special BONUS: Lynell of Dreamweaver Stencils says that she will select 3 new followers of ANY Dream Team Member Blogs to receive a free stencil. So, if you have been considering following one of our blogs, now is the time to sign up.

Anyway, here is today's Valentine's offering:

So, kind of surprising, huh? I have been posting every color of red and pink Valentine card for weeks, and now, on the actual day--green, blue and purple? There is a story behind this. Believe me.
I met this wonderful Australian woman at CHA, Julie Makela, who was demonstrating Dreamweaver stencils using an interesting foil product from Stampee Crafts. The process is as follows: emboss the cardstock traditionally or through a machine, stencil using pigment ink, pour their powdered glue on the wet pigment ink and heat, cover with foil (it doesn't matter if the glue cools first), send through a thermal laminator (cheaper than you think) and let the foil cool a little before pulling quickly off of the project. Well, this foil is so beautiful, that I just HAD to try it. It was easier than I thought and completely addicting! The pear, LL 563,was simple to emboss, and the stencilling sponges I could find were already loaded with green, blue and purple--so, I made green, blue and purple pears. They were so pretty, that I took a couple home.

These were done with the clear cracked ice (the green, left hand pear) and the clear water (right hand side pear). I included both of these detail pictures so that you might be able to determine the shiny texture. That cracked ice really turned out nice in the pictures, but the water is easily as lovely in person. They both catch the light just beautifully.

So, when the challenge came up, I must admit that I wanted to use these pears. I thought about it for quite awhile, before I remembered my friend's wedding, where she used the phrase "A Perfect Pear". Of course, I altered it a little. The phrase was printed from my computer. Be My Valentine LM 276, and the brand new Large Damask were both pasted with Pearlescent Paste and glittered with Art Institute Sea Shell Glitter. (Sea Shell is a transparent white glitter that "flashes" with pink and green--it reminds me of a crushed opal). Then, I just adhered everything and, viola, a green, blue and purple Valentine!

Comment for a chance to win-one entry per blog-and don't forget to go back to Taylor's blog at http://taylorusry.blogspot.com/ for more links!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Pink and Brown

2011-02-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

This week's Dream Scheme is Pink and Brown/Kraft/ or Cream. In this post, I used the Double Glitter Technique. When you use this technique, with the double sided adhesive paper, don't forget to soap up the back of the stencil first, to prevent it sticking too much and bending. On both images, I used brown Art Institute Glitter on the main image and a pearlescent white Art Institute glitter on the background. The sentiment actually started as a longer set--Be My Valentine, but I maked out the extra words with removable Scotch Tape before I adhered the stencil to the paper.

Then, I squeezed pink Liquid Pearl into all of the hearts. It actually dried pretty quickly, considering that it was on top of a layer of glitter. I liked the contrast of the little pearl look with the sparkly glitter.

When everything was dry, I assembled the card using Bo Bunny Paper and Karen Foster Scrapper's Floss.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Week

2011-02-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

Okay, so call me a liar. I WAS planning on posting that turquoise and brown challenge that I postponed from last week. I really was! Then, I realized that I had only two more posts until Valentine's Day and I really wanted to post this cute pink and green one.

Here it is

The patterned paper is Bo Bunny (even the green behind the rose). The dots, I think, are Bazzill Swiss Dots. The schocking part is the stripe that appears black. It is actually a dark green velvet paper. It doesn't photograph bright enough.

Anyway, the stencil, LG724, is older, but still gorgeous. I used the pearlescent paste. I waited until it was dry and then replaced the stencil. Then, I squeezed Liquid Pearls in two pinks and a green onto my non-stick craft mat. I then used a paint brush loaded with water to thin out each color and paint it onto the dried pearlescent paste. I pulled off the stencil and set the heart aside to dry. I just ADORE the pearl on pearl tones in this card.

Thursday (er--WEDNESDAY) Dream Schemes

2011-01-26T14:26:00.004-05:00

So, this week, Dreamweaver is sponsoring the Cardabilities Challenge. Instead of our normal Thursday Posting, therefore, we were told we could play along with their sketch, seen below, and our colorway--turquoise, dark brown/craft brown or neutral. Now, at first, I was inclined to just finish my planned turquoise challenge AND the Cardabilites Challenge. Then, of course, I got caught up with CHA stuff and a really icky cold, and, well, I am hoping that my Dream Teammates will accept this slight stretch in colors--dark turquoise, tan and neutral. I promise I will post my turquoise and brown next week, during the free theme week.

So, here is the Cardabilities sketch. It was really easy to use and came together quite well. I suggest that if you have the time today, you make a quick card to enter on Cardabilities.blogspot.com. You could win one of three different gift certificates: $25, $15 or $10. Although the Dream Team is playing along, we aren't eligible to win. :(

Anyway, here is my take on it.

You see what I mean about the colors? The dark brown around the outside is not actually part of the card, but is the background on which I shot the photo.

As for what I did, I used the Pearlescent Paste with the Thinking of You stencil. Then, I ran the small sand dollar and the starfish through my Cuttlebug with Co'oredinations paper. I sanded the embossed paper lightly to create the beautiful soft effect. I cut them out and assembled the card. Simple, see?

Thursday Dream Schemes--Another Free Week

2011-01-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

This week's challenge started for me with this beautiful Creative Imaginations paper. I really liked it, but thought that it would be difficult to use. The silver foiled patterns reminded me of old fashioned Valentine cards and luxe materials. I was considering which materials would be simple and elegant--and an idea was born--velvet paper and metal!

Although I was concerned that the Dreamweaver paste might not work well on the velvet material, I discovered that I was very wrong. The silver paste worked like a dream! I used the Dreamweaver stencil LM 241, which reads "Happy Valentine's Day." I masked out the additional letters with Scotch removable tape and pasted as usual.

The metal is a Quickutz (Lifestyle Crafts) product. I used it in the Revolution machine with Dreamweaver stencil LM 272, Dangling Heart. It was very easy. I put the stencil down, followed by the metal (face down), a rubber embossing mat and the blue plastic embossing mat. The metal is adhesive backed, so once it was embossed, assembly was a breeze.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Sketch Challenge

2011-01-13T01:38:00.007-05:00

SNEEK PEEK ALERT

This week, the Dream Team has chosen a sketch challenge. I was inspired by the large shape, which reminded me of a slider. That was the inspiration for my project.

In this post, the card sketch was changed a little. First off, it was turned on its side. I took the ribbon slide idea that I had to the extreme, making two slides. The sentiment has been enlarged and moved up.

The image is a little darker than it the project is in real life. The color that appears almost black in the photo is actually a burgundy color. The background is the new, SOON TO BE RELEASED stripes. It was pasted with Pearlescent on a textured white surface. The paste is very shiny and takes on a slight gold cast next to the metallic cardstock.

The sliders were created with a light ivory polymer clay. First, I kneaded it for a while, then brayered it onto a piece of aluminum foil until it was smooth and even. I added a light coating of vegetable oil on the back of the stencil. (The oil allows the stencil to release easier from the sticky clay.) Then, I placed the stencil over the clay and brayered again until the clay pushed upwards, slightly over the stencil in the openings. After that, it was merely a matter of choosing the Metallic FX color that I wanted (I used Goldfinch, Rose Berry and Cocoa) and rubbing then gently on the exposed surface. I removed the stencil and cut around the image with a craft knife. Then, I added the holes that would make these projects into ribbon slides. I left them on aluminum foil and baked them at 275 for 18 minutes, according to my package instructions.

The Metallic FX colors turned out lighter, softer and shinier than they appear in this photograph. Here is another close up to give you a feel for the card. This is a fun, and relatively easy way to use your stencils and Metallic FX.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Theme Week

2011-01-06T01:35:00.007-05:00

Okay, so I am sure that some of you are thinking that I might be a little obsessed with the Shrink Plastic lately, and you may be right! I always thought they were really cute, but then, I got the Ranger Heat It tool and wow!--I REALLY started to love the shrinking. Before this heat gun, I would either have to cook them in the oven or blow them all around the table. The new gun makes it much easier to control.

Anyway, I have been thinking that the Shrink Plastic was my way of making charms, and it suddenly hit me--yes, I am making charms! Why don't I use them as such? And here you go, I have a Valentine's jewelry set.

Lynell of Dreamweaver Stencils makes so many beautiful Valentine's stencils, that it was difficult to choose which one to use. I had to try out several stencils to see which one would work. I settled on the LM287 heart stencil, because it seemed like it shrunk to the best size for earrings. I stencilled onto the rough and ready shrink plastic with Adirondack Pigment Ink in Red Pepper and then cut out the image. I punched out the two holes with my Big Bite on the largest setting. Then, I shrunk the project using my heat gun. I created the jewelry with materials I already had.

Originally, I had two hearts in the same direction, but then flipped the stencil, so that the images were mirrors of each other. I made three in each direction, not knowing how many charms I would need for each earring. Then, I had left over charms.

I thought maybe I would create another set of earrings, when it suddenly hit me--why not a bracelet?

So, I began to think about using these charms as links. I created more than enough in each direction, so I flipped them back and forth throughout the bracelet. I tried to make it match the earrings with the same red and white beads. I also found a clasp amoung my things to create a cute Valentine closure. It unfortunately is not shown here, but you can imagine that arrow end going through the heart.

This was a really fun project, although the photography was quite the challenge. After all, it isn't easy to photograph your own wrist or ear. Thank you all so much for being indulgent on the Shrink Plastic. I think it may have run its course, and now I will be on to other techniques (for a little while, at least.) Finally, I hope that I didn't upset anyone by taking a departure from the paper crafts today. If you need your paper crafting fix, I will be back to normal next week. In the meantime, check out the posts of my fabulous Dream Team Sisters!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Love in the New Year

2010-12-30T02:58:00.005-05:00

Our challenge this week was "Love in the New Year". I just adore so many of the love themed stencils that it was hard to choose. I finally decided to let the paper guide my decision--a Bo Bunny print that was pink, red and ivory. The red swirls in the paper reminded me of the swirly heart stencil LL 3010, so I pasted this with red glossy paste on ivory cardstock.

Then, I needed a sentiment. I chose LM 276, which is a larger stencil. I liked this design, with its cute little hearts imbedded into the capital letters, but I still wanted the beautiful swirled heart to be the focal point. This posed a problem because of the relative sizes of each of the stencils, therefore it was--Shrink Plastic to the Rescue! I roughed up the white shrink plastic and then stencilled it with Red Pepper Adirondack Pigment Ink. For Kate, who asked previously (I just read it today, sorry) about how I know where to cut the shrink plastic, most of them are easy to find the edges of once stencilled. This one, I stencilled the red right over the edge of the stencil and then "eyeballed" the border size as I cut it. My Big Bite set in the largest hole setting created the holes that I would use to affix the plastic. I shrunk it with my embossing heat tool. It turned a slight ivory, which fit my color scheme perfectly.

This card was cut to about 3 1/2" by 5 1/2" and is folded at the top and distressed on the edges with Antique Linen Distress inks. I cut around the pattern on the pink paper and adhered it to the base. (It was raising up when I took the picture--sorry for the shadow.)

I attached the shrink plastic to the heart with both Glue Dots and small pink seed beads. I then used the beads to embellish around the heart. I put the whole heart on foam tape when I attached it.

I wasn't sure about this card when I started, but the color scheme really grew on me. With the beading, which I realize is difficult to see in the photos, and the almost lacey looking edge, the whole thing took on a sweet, old fashioned look that I quite like now.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Challenge

2010-12-23T01:36:00.006-05:00

This week, we have a free challenge week. I chose to do one last Christmas card (seeing as Christmas Eve is tomorrow). This time, I decided to eschew my glitter-loving ways and do something a little more vintage. I used metals and alcohol inks.

First, let me clarify one thing--the glittery silver around the edges is not actually part of the card, but my Christmas tablecloth. Additionally, the black border around the images is burgundy velvet paper. It is beautiful to use, but horrible to photograph. The brown color is Creative Imaginations Real Wood paper in cherry.

So, the steps? Well, first I distressed the beautiful

Basic Grey paper and the Real Wood with Walnut Stain Distress Inks. Then, I ran two fantastic Dreamweaver Stencils, LL 430 Buck and LS 92 Merry Christmas through my Revolution Die Cut Machine. I used the Quickutz Metal Sheets and a rubber mat to make the impression.

I used alcohol inks over the whole impression, making sure that I rotated the blending tool between each pat. I let it dry for just a moment, and added a second coat.

Then, I lightly sanded the whole thing. The sanding removed the inks on the embossed portion only. It also scruffed a little on the background. The lovely, vintage look probably could have been enhanced even more if I would have taken the sanding block to the edges as well, but perhaps that is a project for another day.

The rest was simple assembly and adding a couple of brads. As it was, I liked this project when I was finished. It looked like a "masculine" Christmas card. I made a second one to give to my father for Christmas and will probably use similar techniques on other cards. Come back again next week, when the theme will be "Love in the New Year". I am not sure what I will be making yet, but I promise--no more Christmas cards. (Although this card could have just as easily been an all occasion or birthday card.)

Thursday Dream Schemes--Blue Paste Challenge

2010-12-15T23:10:00.008-05:00

This week's Dream Team Challenge is Blue Paste. This card is my crazy acetate fueled glittery take on the winter snow. Ironically, Michigan was experiencing a snowstorm as I assembled and photographed it.

I just loved using this blue paste. Don't get me wrong, the black paste is fantastic for use with Metallic FX powders, but the blue paste is deep without being too dark for the transparent Art Glitter.

This entire project was done with Glossy Blue Dreamweaver Paste and transparent Art Institute Glitter in three colors--Polar Bear (white), Blue Boy (light blue) and I think French Lilac (purple). The stencils I used were Let it Snow LG 717, Snowflake LL399 and Small Snowflake LS 26. That was it. Add white and blue cardstock, white glitter paper, acetate and you have one very large finished card (it is about 6x7). Everything was done by pasting with blue paste and covering it with glitter while it was still wet. The Let it Snow stencil was on the white paper, but everything else was pasted on the acetate. Then, I rough cut around the snowflakes, stacked it all and assembled.

There was alot of pasting, but the technique was super simple. I have set the card out on my table for the past few days and I just LOVE the way it seems to change color with the light. Sometimes it looks purple, sometimes a little greenish and other times blue, as it appears here. Can you believe there was only ONE color of paste? The Art Glitter does all the work to change the color.

I would like to mention that the initial spark for this one came from fellow Dream Teamer, Kristi Van Doren, of Kristi's Creative Cafe. Kristi (whom I have never met in person) inspires me with her tight color schemes and use of both snowflakes and GLITTER. I hope to inspire her someday, too.

Dream Team Schemes

2010-12-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

This week for the Dream Team Scheme, we get to post a free choice. This one is that second one that I made for the "Non Traditional Christmas Colors" challenge. A special shout out goes to my aunt (who is only 4 years older than me) who absolutely LOVES purple. Indeed, I chose a purple and white theme because of her and this will probably be her Christmas card.

The images, Christmas LL3009 and Holly Swirls LG 731 (two of my absolute favorites) are pasted on acetate. The swirl is made with the pearlescent paste and the Christmas with the silver. The Christmas is then placed directly onto a beautiful paper from Reminisce (last year's Christmas line) with all sorts of white glitter patterns on a white background.

On the other hand, the holly had a little more to it. Working on the back with Art Glitter Dries Clear and the fine point tip, I echoed the gorgeous curves in the stencil. I enhanced them with a deep purple Art Institute Glitter. I then waited until it set up a little before making another echo with the glue and putting a medium purple Art Glitter on. After that set, I filled in the blanks with a light purple Art Glitter. When I mentioned I let it set up a little, I don't mean that I actually let it completely dry. I just didn't want the glue to migrate at all, so just a few minutes betweeen layers. Finally, I let it dry overnight. Then I set it on top with a couple of Glue Dots and added a ribbon. The actual colors of the purple are a reddish lilac. This detail shot is close to the right color.

The two lightest purples are transparent glitters, which allow the glitter on the paper to sparkle through. I only wish that the photos did it justice. The whole thing just sparkles in any light. Of course, different light shows the purples off differently, as you can see by this outdoor shot.

I hope you enjoyed this one, as I really loved making it.

Thursday Dream Schemes

2010-12-02T08:58:00.007-05:00

This week, the Dreamweaver Team was challenged to use a sketch. Upon seeing it, I immediately thought about that ribbon and the three bows. Truth be told, I actually became a little obsessed with the idea of attaching charms in three spots on that ribbon. I decided to use shrink plastic to make the Dreamweaver Stencils the appropriate size. Then, the idea hit me--I could use the Candy Cane stencil LL 555 to make cute little canes to hang from the ribbon. I would use a small Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays for the sentiment. I also downloaded some cute Silhouette designs for the flourishy parts around the edges.

Well, you know what they say about "the best laid plans". The candy canes were too long and narrow to shrink well. I had to try it several times before I realized that they would just curl up and stay that way. Still obsessed with the plan, I switched to Valentine's Day. These shrunken patterns were really cute (expect to see them soon). I guess I just wasn't in the Valentine's mood during the first week of December, because I couldn't finish it. I switched again--this time to the small ornament stencils LM 297 and LS 98. I used pigment ink to stencil them on white shrink plastic and heated it with my heat gun. This was a bit scary at first, because they would blow around the table. Once I realized that I could gently hold them down with a wooden skewer as they heated, it all turned out fine. I am actually thinking about using this technique to make cute charms for Christmas earrings.

The charms looked a little too small for the original three bow vertical design, so I opted to switch the design to horizontal and add two more charms. Then, I took a good look and decided that I wanted the sentiment to be a larger focal point, so I switched the stencil to a larger, more graphic version of the Happy Holiday sentiment.

Next, I used the Double Sided Adhesive Paper behind the Happy Holidays stencil LM 249 to create the sentiment. Just a little soap on the back of the stencil before I adhered it to the paper, and I was assured that it would come off without bending. I have used this technique several times, but have recently discovered a new secret--the Microfine Glitter by the Art Institute Glitter Company. It goes right into every little crevice in the stencil and really enhances all the detail. Then, I used the Art Institute Ultrafine Transparent White Glitter (my favorite--Polar Bear) for the background.

The background papers were the Reminisce Christmas Collection from last year. Very glittery and shiny. So, that left me with the question of the flourish. With all the glitter, the charms and the larger sentiment, I really didn't think I needed the flourishes. They would have probably been a little too much, so I deleted them.

Unfortunately, it is snowing and dark here in Michigan again, so photographing it was a little difficult. This card is SO sparkly, that this picture does not do it justice. Here is another. It is also not great, but if you can imagine the above colors with the below shine, well, that is what it really looks like. The charms look askew, but they are actually free to swing.

Dreamweaver Thanksgiving Parade

2010-11-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is the first of new weekly Thursday posts by the entire Dreamweaver Team. This week, we had a challenge--to create a Christmas card using non-traditional colors. I had so much fun with this that I created two! I have chosen to only post one today, so be on the lookout for a purple glittered Christmas card in the future....... Meanwhile, here she is:

So, if you haven't guessed, my nontraditonal color choice is orange, blue, and ivory. The skater was easily created by running the stencil through my manual die cut machne. Then, I used a Versamarker and embossing powder on the skates (silver and white). Three colors of Ranger Adirondack Ink (Peach Bellini, Orange Sunset and Terra Cotta) were used to stencil her face, coat, and Season's Greetings tag. I used Fun Flock on the fur, hair and earmuffs.

The snowflake details were created with almond colored shrink plastic. I cut it out with Spellbinders Dies and sanded it. Then, I used a snowflake stencil (two different ones, actually) and Brilliance Moonlight Ink to add the images. I must have had some blue in my stencil brush, because the color shifted when I heated the project. I loved the result, though--so I kept it. I used a Copic marker to outline the image.

I punched the guide hole on the snowflakes using my Crop A Dile. Of course, even the large hole would not have been big enough for the brad once the pattern was shrunk. Because of this, I heated the plastic with my heat gun and punched it again when it was still warm. This did the trick, and I was able to push the brad though and create the look I wanted.

The paper is a Graphic 45 Christmas paper. I just fell in love with doing this project, as I was amused by the challenge and pleased with the results. I couldn't help but giggle as I thought about how, between this card and its diametrically opposed glittery purple sister, I was creating Christmas cards in Halloween colors. If nothing else, it gave me a fresh perspective on Christmas tradions. Give it a try sometime--and check in next week for more Dreamweaver goodness!

Christmas Recipe Box

2010-11-14T20:49:00.009-05:00

The store I work at has started playing Christmas music and, while I do sort of think it is too early, it was wonderful to listen as I taught this class. It was half of a workshop that I ran twice with my friend and coworker, Claudia. She taught a cookie recipe book, while I taught this box. When I created it, I thought of it as simply a cute recipe box that someone would fill with the special family recipes that you only use for Christmas. I worked on it, though, I got to thinking about what a great gift box it would make! (Just fill it with stencils and glitter for me, please!) Also, I was thinking I will probably put mine on the mantle as just a cute Christmas decoration.

The box started as a $1 recipe box. I created the project adding a chipboard roof, Graphic 45 paper and Co'ordinations Cardstock. The box, of course, opens (for all that glitter to fit into!).

The doors, which are made with the Creative Imaginations Real Wood paper (the thicker Cherry wood), also open to reveal the cute Santa image. In the students' version, you can't see the back of the brads that make up the door handles, as they are hidden with the cardstock backing.

The images and the colorful frames are all from the Graphic 45 paper. The wooden frames are that real wood paper again, cut small and run through the Xyron. The "icicles" are a ribbon stuck under the eaves with Glue Dots.

So, do any of my Dreamweaver followers recognize the roof? It is the Dreamweaver fish scales stencil run through my embossing machine with the Co'ordinations cardstock. It was then sanded and trimmed to make the cute roof. The slight white "frosty" shimmer comes from Metallic FX in Moonstone just rubbed over the top with a finger. It sticks in the texture to create the look. Then, I added white Liquid Applique, which I heat set for a puffy snow look.

Finally, the cute Santa. He, too, was taken from the paper and mounted on chipboard. I then cut out around the Santa. What you can't see in the picture is that the reverse of the same Santa (there was a front and back on the paper) was cut out and pasted on the back. You can see his belly poking out from behind the chimney on the back of the box. I took my two sided Santa and colored the black parts with a journalling pen. I then added white flock and a fantastically beautiful red Art Institute Glitter. He was just the finishing touch I needed!

Dreamweaver Christmas Card Class

2010-11-04T16:55:00.001-04:00

Here are the cards for my Christmas Dreamweaver Stencils class.
This card was made with four different types of paste--black matte, glossy white, regular and crackle. The moose antlers were crackled and then stencilled with pigment ink. The moose was enhanced with two colors of Fun Flock. The string of lights was pasted with the regular paste, and then covered with a Versamark marker and Zing metallic green embossing powder. The bulbs were covered in beautiful Art Institute Glitter. Finally, his antlers were enhanced with embroidery floss and beads.

I love the technique used on this one. The ornament was pasted using the regular paste. I then enhanced the dimensionality by adding a little shading of Distress Ink. With a technique I learned from Lynell herself, I overlayed an all over holly stencil and used pigment ink in green to stencil the pattern. While it was still wet, I added UTEE and embossed. The silver was added with a Versamark marker and tinsel embossing powder. The berries are red Stickles. The word "celebrate" was pasted in Glossy Black and Metallic FX was thrown on it while wet, making a lovely, shiny effect.

This card used silver embossing paste and pearlescent embossing paste on acetate. I stacked the two images. The silver image is in the back. When dry, I flipped the design and added alcohol ink to the back. I enhanced the berries with Stickles. It was simple, but is striking in person. I just love it.

Simple, simple, simple. All glossy black embossing paste with Metallic FX thrown on while wet and berries enhanced with Art Institute Glitter.

This one was honestly probably my favorite. Fortunately, it was also one of the simplest ones to do. I used the double sided sticky backed paper by Dreamweaver, cut to the size of the stencil. Then, I soaped the back of the stencil, and attached it to the paper. I used light green transparent Art Institute Glitter on the leaves. I carefully added the yellow beads to the center. Then, I poured a pink transparent Art Institute Glitter on the flower. Using a stencil brush, I stencilled on some pigment ink in dark green and burgundy to add dimension to the flower. The glitter took it beautifully. The secret is to use a high quality, transparent glitter, because it accepts and reflects the colors better. After I was happy with the look, I VERY carefully peeled the backing off of the stencil (put the stencil down on the table and peel the paper up off of it). Then, I poured the Art Glitter opaque color Martini over the whole piece. It was really fun to do!

Dreamweaver Challenge

2010-10-21T16:09:00.000-04:00

Hey, Folks.
Today would be a great day to toddle off to PaperTherapy and check out Wendy's Dreamweaver challenge. I know that most of you checked out the blog hop a couple of weeks ago, and saw LOTS of inspirational things. Well, if you have been working (or at least thinking) up a storm, now is the time to get your reward. Make a project, upload it to Wendy's challenge, and you could win 5 Dreamweaver stencils. Yes, I said 5. Check it out here.

Halloween Card Class

2010-10-18T22:23:00.001-04:00

I am very pleased to show everyone the cards I am making with my students this Thursday, October 21st.

This first one is super simple, but lots of fun. Last year's Eerie collection from Basic Grey really does all the work. Just add a little distressing, a little cutting, an Inkadinkadoo stamp, some Twinkling H2Os, and some Karen Foster Scrappers' Twine and you are all done!

This one took a little stamping and cutting, but the real work was done with Co'oredinations cardstock, a Tim Holtz mask and some alcohol inks. The stamps are Tim Holtz and My Mind's Eye. I also really enjoyed using that Karen Foster twine with a few beads.

This next one is also really easy. It involves My Mind's Eye paper and stamps, Basic Grey paper, Distress Inks, Dew Drops, and a craft knife.

This last one was made with some of my new favorite products, Luminarte and epoxy papers, both from Creative Imaginations. The paper is from the Wicked collection, and is originally a black epoxy pattern on an off white background. I stamped the bottom images with Inkadinkadoo stamps on black tags and embossed them with clear powder. Then, I used the Luminarte daubers over the top of all the black to make it really juicy. I threw a little Kosher salt on the bottom images to create a mottled effect. I then used a damp cloth over the epoxy papers and the emobssing to wipe off the excess. Finally, I sprayed Radiant Rain (also a Luminarte/Creative Imaginations product) in white/lilac over the top. I painted the ghost with Twinkling H2Os in Heavenly White and added yellow Stickles to details. The Happy Halloween is a Tim Holtz stamp that was embossed on vellum. I punched squares of the images and out of vellum. I adhered it all and added the ribbon. I think you can tell how beautifully shimmery this stuff is, and it is even shinier in person. Just so much fun!

If you are interested in having fun with this class, call Scrap Tales to sign up.

AND THE WINNER IS.........

2010-10-04T16:05:00.000-04:00

First, I would like to thank everyone for their wonderful comments. They really mean alot to me and inspire me to keep pushing the envelope.

As selected by Random.org, the winner on this blog is Linda B (NY Card Lady). Linda, you have until midnight Tuesday to contact Lynell with your information at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com . Tell her that you won on my site and let her know which goodies you want. If you don't contact her, I will have to choose someone else.

BLOG HOP

2010-10-02T00:30:00.000-04:00

WHAT IT IS/HOW TO WIN

Here it is, our Dream Team Blog Hop. This is my very first Blog Hop, so bear with me. For three days, October 1-3, the Dream Team members will be posting new samples and card information. You need to comment on EACH member blog to qualify for the most fantastic free prizes. You can win YOUR favorite stencil, paste and Metallic FX color. Remember, comment on EVERY blog for the most chances to win. Become a follower of the Dreamweaver stencil blog here for an extra chance. After leaving your comments, go to the Dreamweaver Stencil site and choose your favorite stencil. Tell us why it is your favorite or how you would use it, and you can win it. Check back on the blogs October 4th to find out if you are the winner picked by random.org for that site.

DAY 2

This is the beginning of day 2. For a look at DAY 1, start with Deborah's blog here. Okay, so on to my goodies.

I am calling today METALLIC FX MADNESS DAY for my blog, anyway.

First Technique: Metallic FX on paste.

This peacock card was created using Peacock Stencil LG 730 and Feather Stencil LJ 840. I pasted the feathers on blue cardstock with Glossy Black paste and threw Metallic FX powders in Ivy, Kiwi, Navajo Sky and Glacier on it while the paste was still wet. I did the same with the peacock design on acetate. When they were dry, I used a Swiffer sheet to wipe off the excess. I then decorated the top with black Art Glitter and rhinestones. I put vellum behind it and laced ribbon up the side. I wish the photographs could do the beautiful Metallic FX powders justice!

This next card was done using the same techniques with the Holly and Swirls LL 3005 and Seasons Greetings LS 91. Using the Glossy Black Paste really made the Kiwi and Ivy Metallic FX powders stand out, even on the white cardstock. This card will be featured as one of 5 in my next Dreamweaver Card Class at Scraptales in Brighton, Michigan. (They also have a large selection of Dreamweaver Stencils and supplies in stock.) Check out the website for further class information here.

Second Technique: Metallic FX on Double Sided Tape

Okay, I had to work a little for this one, but I finally have it down to an EASY technique.

First, cut the Dreamweaver Double Sided Mounting paper to size. Then, rub soap on the back of the Candy Cane Stencil LL 555. You need to do this so that the stencil will be able to be removed easily from the backing without bending. Then, use the removable tape to mask out the ribbon. This is very important, because once the Metallic FX powders go down on the backing paper, you cannot attach anything else to them. When the ribbon is masked off, rub a little Metallic FX in Kimono Red on the candy cane with your finger (otherwise known as the very important crafting tool.) I find that the finger works best because you can really get into the nooks and crannies. Gently flick the stencil from behind several times with the stencil face down to remove as much of the powder as possible. Then, use a damp cloth over the stencil to remove the additional powder. Remove the tape and color the ribbon using 3 different colors of green flocking. I used the Picasso Stencil LL 332 to mask off the areas I wasn't currently putting flocking on. (It is probably the ugliest AND most useful stencil you will ever own.) Press the flocking onto the mounting paper with some pressure, as that is the best way to make it stick. Then, roll off the excess. Flick it and REALLY get the extra flocking off. Put stencil face down on a table and CAREFULLY remove the mounting paper. Pour white Art Glitter over the top of the whole thing. Apply to card.

What I like the most about this technique is how the FX powders are beautifully shimmery, but have an almost antique look about them, making a nice contrast with the flock and the glitter.

The Celebrate Stencil LM 283 was done with the first technique.

Now, the last technique: Metallic FX on Polymer Clay

For best results, use black polymer clay. Play with it then roll it out with your brayer and smush it several times until it rolls out smoothly. Put a little olive oil on the back of your stencil and press it into the clay. Brayer over the top a couple of times until the clay raises a little above the stencil. The Christmas one was made with Happy Holidays LM 139, Three Deer LL 467 (backwards, as it turns out) and Metallic FX in Gold Dust, Eye of the Tiger, Ivy, Kiwi and Kimono Red. The Iris (I am thinking about making it a bookmark) was done with Bearded Iris Stencil LL 516 and Metallic FX powders in Purple Satin, Plum Royale, Sapphire, Moonstone, Kiwi and Ivy. I also added a little yellow flocking with Zig Squeeze N Roll Glue.

Well, MY post is finally over. Just in case you can't tell, Metallic FX is one of my newest obsessions. I hope you learned enough here to make it one of yours, too. Comment below to win your favorite goodies. Then, go to Lee's Blog to continue your hopping.

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY HOPPING!

Blog Hop!

2010-09-23T12:41:00.000-04:00

The Dream Team is having a blog hop October 1-3rd. There will be special goodies and prizes. I highly recommend EVERYONE participate. My hopping day is Saturday the 2nd, but start with Lynell's Dreamweaver Stencils blog on Friday the first for the best opportunity to win a fantastic prize. I have to go back to creating my samples for the hop.........