Artfully Articulate: March 2013

Thursday, March 28, 2013

A bloomin' Spring!

It's hard to believe that we're already on our last posting for the March Dreamweaver Stencil challenge of "A bloomin' Spring!". It's still not quite Spring here, but luckily we dodged the last snow storm that blanketed southern Illinois! My daughter is supposed to be playing golf this Friday in their first invitational of the Spring season, we'll see...
I hope you had a chance to "meet" our new team members on the DREAM it UP! blog last week. We are excited to have them join the Dream Team and look forward to their posts starting next week.
Sure signs of Spring are the beautiful bulbs that bloom while there is still a nip in the air. While they might be blooming a little later this year, I still look forward to them and the fresh swath of color they provide. Tulips are some of my favorites, though I've stopped planting them now that our neighborhood is mature enough to have squirrels (you gardeners out there will understand!). I swear they watch you plant them, then dig them up and eat them as soon as you turn your back! Oh well, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with coloring my own tulips. Here's what I created this week.

LL444 - Mack tall tulips

This is the beautiful Mack tall tulips stencil (LL444) from Dreamweaver Stencils. I kept it clean and simple with crisp lines and colors, just like Spring!

Tape the stencil to white cardstock with removable tape
Apply inks using small stencil brushes (use the Picasso (LL332) to keep your colors in place)
Remove and clean your stencil
Mount on "spring-colored" paper and add a beautiful ribbon

The rest of the team have more springtime cards to share with you, so take some time to "smell the flowers!"

Only a few days left for you to join our March challenge. Just link your blog on the DREAM it UP! blog using the Mr. Linky tool, or email a picture of your creation to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com. Join us in April for our new Dreamweaver challenge!

Happy Creating,
Louise

Thursday, March 21, 2013

A Bloomin' Spring!

How I wish I could say it felt like Spring today, but I can't! Even though the sun has been shining brightly the last two days, it has been very cold and very windy here in northern Illinois. My daffodils continue to bravely grow a little taller each week and hopefully will be in bloom for Easter (oh my! I haven't even started Easter cards!)
This week the Dreamweaver Stencils Design Team welcomes our new members who will start posting with us in April. Welcome aboard everyone, we can hardly wait to see what you will share with us!
The cards I am sharing with you this week will be featured in my upcoming class in Marshfield, WI at Stampin' N Scrapin' Fun on April 4th. Give Jean a call to sign up if you're in the area, we are going to have a great time! We'll be creating three cards using three different Dreamweaver techniques, and the Long stem iris (LL374) stencil is yours to take home after class.

Want to learn more about how we create with Dreamweaver products? Give your local craft store a call to see if they offer Dreamweaver classes. Here's a link of Where to Buy locations. Your local store doesn't carry Dreamweaver? Tell them you NEED them to carry this fun line, or check out the online locations too.
As usual, the rest of the team has more beautiful creations for you, so be sure to stop over at their blogs to see what's new this week.

Happy Creating,
Louise

Thursday, March 14, 2013

A Bloomin' Spring!

Welcome back to week 2 of the March Dreamweaver Stencils design challenge. This month our challenge is "A Bloomin' Spring!", which naturally leads to spring flowers popping up and birds returning for the season. We would love to have you join our fun. Make your own creation and post it on your site then link it on the DREAM it UP! blog using the Mr. Linky tool. Don't have a way to post your creation? Not a problem, just email a photo of your card or project to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com and she will post it for you. You could win a great prize!
This week I will show you the Faux Tile technique. It's fun and can be done with virtually any stencil. Here we go:

Place the Diamond Grid (LJ882) stencil on the large platform
of your die cut machine

Lightly mist your paper with water or alcohol and tape over the grid

Place the rubber embossing mat over the grid and paper

Place two clear cutting mats over the grid and paper and run thru the machine

Here's the back of the embossed grid

Turn the embossed image to the front and tape the grid stencil back in place

Use small pieces of removable tape to cover the frame portion of the Birds & blossoms (LG646) stencils

Tape the bird to the lower left side of the grid stencil

Use small stencil brushes to add color to the bird design

Remove the Bird & blossoms stencil

Use a larger stencil brush to add some light blue in the background

Use a finger dabber to add VersaMark ink over the entire grid

Remove the grid stencil and cover with Clear Embossing Powder,
heat to set

Return the grid stencil, add another coat of VersaMark and Clear Embossing Powder,
heat to set

Mount into a beautiful card and add some gorgeous ribbon from May Arts!

Close up of the tile

I hope you enjoyed learning about this great technique. The rest of the team have more great creations for you, so please check out their blogs too!

Happy Creating,
Louise

Thursday, March 7, 2013

A Bloomin' Spring!

Welcome to the Dreamweaver Stencils March Designer Challenge! Our theme this month is "A Bloomin' Spring!" so you'll probably be seeing alot of our beautiful floral stencils being displayed in this fun challenge. It doesn't look much like spring here in northern Illinois right now, we have about 4-5" of snow on the ground and are supposed to be getting another 5-6" this week! March came in like a lion and I sure hope it goes out like a lamb!
As soon as I heard the theme of this month's challenge, I knew what stencil I would use first, the beautiful Long Daffodils stencil (LL428). My daffodils were actually starting to pop through last week, now they are covered with a blanket of snow! But, a few more warm days and they'll be fighting their way through again. Sadly my creation for this week is serving double duty, for this challenge and as a Sympathy card for my dear sister-in-law on the loss of her husband of 35 years. The daffodils give that perfect feel of comfort and hope of new life so I decided to change my card from a "spring" card to a "comfort" card. I think it worked out very well.

Long Daffodils - LL428

Here are the simple steps I used:

Cut cream colored linen cardstock (4 1/4" x 11") and score in half to create an A2 size card that opens at the bottom
Tape the stencil to the left side of the front of the card with removable tape
Place the card, stencil side down on a light box, and use a stylus to dry emboss the image
Move the stencil over to the right and down a little to emboss a second image
Place the stencil back over the first embossed image and use small stencil brushes to stencil on color
Repeat with the second image
Tape off the word "comfort" from the Comfort combo (LG696) stencil and place the word in the upper right corner of the card
Use a small stencil brush to stencil on brown ink
Remove and clean the stencil
Use a 3/4" or 1" brush to rouge a lighter brown ink around the edges
Tie a yellow ribbon around the front portion of the card and tie a bow

For the inside:

Place the Long Daffodils stencil along the left edge and stencil on color with small stencil brushes
Tape off the "With Deepest Sympathy" part of the Comfort combo stencil and place it along the right side of the card
Stencil brown ink through the words
Rouge some light brown ink at the base of the flowers
Attach the card to a small yellow mat (4 3/8" x 5 5/8") then to an A6 size piece of orange cardstock (4 3/4" x 6")

Please be sure to stop over at the rest of the team blogs for more wonderful ideas on using these beautiful stencils.

Happy Creating,
Louise