Is it Christmas yet?

No, but many card makers have already started working on their Christmas card design, some may even have started or finished making theirs already! But don't panic, there's still plenty of time to create a beautiful card for the holidays.

This past week I had the wonderful experience of being on the other side of the booth at CHA (the big buying show for retailers). It was here in the Chicago area and Lynell Harlow of Dreamweaver Stencils invited me to do demos in her booth! It was so much fun seeing all the Dream Team samples hanging in the booth, they were all beautiful. But what I really enjoyed the most was demonstrating for people how easy it is to use and promote the Dreamweaver products. They are so easy to work with and the results are just stunning.
Here's a sample of one of the new Christmas stencils just released at the show (LJ904). This is done by pasting the image with the Red Glossy Embossing Paste. Let the red paste dry. Place painter's tape or remove able tape over the greeting and runners and place the stencil back over the image. Use the Crackle Embossing Paste over just the body of the sleigh and let it dry. While that was drying, I use the flourish part of the Peacock stencil (LG730) to edge the main card using a stencil brush and Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy ink. After the crackle paste is dry, place the clean stencil back over the paste and brush the Ivy ink on the crackled sleigh. The pearlescent ink gives the sleigh a shimmer finish.
Happy creating,
Louise

Distress Mirror

I have made several of these mirrors for various occasions. They make a wonderful gift especially if you personalize them for the person you are giving it to. This is one I recently gave to my sister and her family as a "cabin warming" gift. They have a great place in northern Minnesota so I did an outdoor theme. I used a "B" scrabble tile

for their last name, a 52 bingo number and a five/three domino for their birth years, and a 75 bingo number for the year they got married, and a die set to three for their three children. Other items on the mirror had special meaning too, representing special occasions or memories. It was so much fun to make and we had a great time reminiscing when I gave it to them.
Here is a picture of the sunset over the lake the first night we were there. We took a pontoon ride and saw this and a pair of bald eagles!

Happy creating,

Louise

Final Peek!

This beautiful new Peacock stencil (LG730) from Dreamweaver is incredibly detailed. I used a glitter technique on the main design and stenciled the flourish part in the background of the card. This version was very easy. Just paste the design with Blue Glossy embossing paste on bright green cardstock, remove the stencil and immediately sprinkle the whole image with Art Glitter Kiwi ultrafine glitter. Let it dry then mount it on a piece of blue cardstock. Use the stencil to brush the flourish part of the design onto a coordinating piece of green cardstock (I used Memento Danube Blue). Add a ribbon across the green layer, attach to a 5" x 7" card, and add the image to the center with foam mounting tape. I put a small blue crystal gem on the eye.
Check out the Dreamweaver Blog for another sample of this beautiful new stencil.
That's all the peeks for now. CHA starts next week, so I have to get back to work creating more cards with the other new designs! I will be helping with demos in the Dreamweaver booth from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm both Tuesday and Wednesday next week but will try to get samples posted when I can.
Happy creating,
Louise

Sneek Peek

I'm back from vacation and excited to now be able to share with you a sneek peek of one of Dreamweaver Stencil's beautiful new stencils, the Black-eyed Susan (LJ902). It is gorgeous! For this card I first dry-embossed the image (I used my Big Shot, then made it even deeper with a stylus) on white linen cardstock. With the stencil on the embossed image, I used small stencil brushes and Brilliance inks to brush color on the image. Before mounting the image on the yellow cardstock I went around the edge of the white cardstock with brown ink. After it was mounted I opened up a couple of bags of tea (it had been in my cupboard for longer than I want to admit) and used glue to put the tea in the center of the flowers. I only had a white ribbon in my ribbon box so I used a COPIC marker to color the ribbon to match the flowers. As a final touch, I also stenciled one of the flowers on the envelope.

I love how this turned out and hope you do to. Another sneek peek tomorrow!

Happy creating,

Louise

Give Thanks

These beautiful stencils from Dreamweaver can be combined to create a beautiful card for any occasion, but I think it will especially nice for a Thanksgiving card. Many times in the last few months I have been reminded how blessed I am with a wonderful family, great friends and a relatively easy life! Always remember to take the time to thank the people who share your life.

This card is very easy. Start by placing your wheat stencil (LL3008) on natural linen cardstock and using black glossy embossing paste from Dreamweaver. Immediately sprinkle the image with Amber Glow and Kiwi Metallic F/X Mica powders (also from Dreamweaver). Remove the stencil and let the image dry, don't try to remove any extra powder yet. Repeat the process with the Thanks (LS1006) stencil. After both images are dry, hold over a wastebasket and give the back a good flick to remove as much extra powder as possible. Place the image paste side up on a paper towel and use a clean 3/4" stencil brush to gently brush any powders that are left and to polish it up. Buff it with a soft cloth and layer it into a beautiful card. A 5" x 7" (A7) size card seemed to show it off the best.

Also, check out the new Dreamweaver blog to see samples from the other Dream Team members.

Happy creating,
Louise

Flea Market Finds

Just got back from visiting Augustana College in Rock Island, IL with my daughter and niece. It is a beautiful campus, particularly if you want to get your exercise! It is on the bluffs of the Mississippi which is wonderful, but you climb stairs everywhere you go. They both loved it, but then again, they're young, they didn't even break a sweat.
Anyway, when I came home I rediscovered the treasures I found on Saturday during our exursion to Morris, IL. The flea market part was nice, but we really had fun in all the wonderful shops on a couple of their main streets. We had no idea there would such a great assortment of shops. Definately worth a field trip if you are in the northern IL area. I found a small bird bath that I will use on a buffet table, some antique hardware, a small book, and best of all, an old printing set that has small wooden stamps with all the letters, numbers and some punctuation, plus the original ink tin (I collect antique stamp sets). So overall, a fun, successful day!
We have been given permission to release two sneak peaks of the new Dreamweaver Stencils on July 20th, so be sure to check back, they are beautiful.

Happy creating,

Louise

Trash or Treasure?

You know that old saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure"? It is so very true! Garage sales, flea markets, antique stores, they're all filled with trash or treasures depending on your perspective. I love hunting through everything to find the buried treasure you didn't know you needed! Of course, to find the treasure, you definately wade through a lot of trash. This Saturday I am going to the 3 French Hens French Country Market in Morris, IL and can hardly wait to see what treasures await us. Then next week we will be going to northern Minnesota for a family gathering and I always find goodies up there. It always gets me inspired to start a project after a successful hunt! These are some treasures I have found recently at a few places.

Have a great week.

Happy creating,

Louise

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing everyone a wonderful 4th. We are in Cincinnati visiting our son and his wife and it is glorious here. The sun is shining, the humidity is low, it's in the high 70's. Life is good.

I thought I'd share another cupcake idea today because these make the perfect dessert for a Fourth of July picnic. They look like little cherry, blueberry and green apple pies, what could be more all American than cherry pie! If you buy the M&M's separately by color, it goes faster, but is alot more expensive. I buy the big value bag and pick out the ones for the pies. My husband likes that because he gets the "rejects".

Hope you all have a wonderful fourth with family and/or friends.

Happy creating,

Louise