Summertime, Sparklers, S'more!

Hello everyone. Today I am on my way up to northern Minnesota to celebrate Christmas in July with my husband's family. We have been doing this for many years now and it is absolutely wonderful! No hassles or guilt at the holidays themselves, and no snow! We have traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas food, presents, games, bonfires, boating, fishing, it's four days of family fun!
But I wouldn't leave you high and dry with no Thursday inspiration. Thank goodness for technology, it gives us a lot of freedom to share ideas no matter where we are, or aren't! This months Dreamweaver Stencils theme is Summertime, Sparklers, S'more and this week I am sharing another re-released stencil with you. This one I saved especially for this week because it reminds me of the cattails around the lakes in northern MN and it's sparkly!

LL3035 - Cattails Scene
LL517 - Cattails

Steps:

• Cut a piece of Dreamweaver double sided mounting paper the same size as the stencil
• Cut a light brown mat 1/4" inch larger in each direction than the stencil
• Remove the release paper from one side of the mounting paper and center it on the mat
• Use Dreamweaver's Handmade Hawaiian soap to apply a light layer of soap to the back of the stencil
• Use a large stencil brush to remove any crumbs of soap from the openings of surface of the stencil
• Remove the top piece of release paper from the mounting paper and center the stencil, soap side down, over the sticky surface
• Use the release paper to press all the bridges of the stencil down to the sticky paper
• Use a cut straw to apply Ranger Distress Embossing Powders to each opening 
• I used a combination of Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Fired Brick for the sun, Weathered Wood and Broken China in the water, Walnut Stain in the cattails and birds, and Frayed Burlap, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint in the leaves
• Press the powders down with your finger or a piece of release paper
• Use a stencil brush to gently brush away any extra powder
• Turn the image face down on a paper towel and carefully peel the paper off the stencil, being sure to use your other hand to keep your stencil flat on the table
• Use a heat gun to heat set the powders
• Sprinkle the background with Crystal glitter (the "Sparkler" part of the challenge!)
• Mount on a darker brown mat
• Use kraft cardstock as a cardbase
• Tape the Cattails stencil (LL517) toward the left edge and use a 1/2" stencil brush and Memento Rich Cocoa ink to stencil color through the openings, repeat a couple times across the card ( I moved the stencil down a little to extend the stems to the bottom of the card before I move to the next grouping)
• Mount the Cattails Scene in the lower right corner with foam tape
• A GREAT guy card, especially if they are the "outdoorsy type"!

Check out the other team member's creations this week. 

Dream It Up! 

Wendy Price

Lea Kimmel 

Louise Healy (me!)

Stacey Rumsby 

Terrece Siddoway 

Caroline Duncan 

Pam Hornschu 

Cherylynn Moser

Next week we will be having a blog hop with the team over at Stampendous.

It's fun in the sun time again with another collaboration between Stampendous and Dreamweaver Stencils! We'll be playing together all of next week, with a fabulous hop on Friday, August 2nd, featuring a slew of amazing talent from both teams, and of course...prizes!!!

Two prize packages will be given away for the comments left on posts Monday-Thursday, July 29th - August 1st, and one prize will be given away for comments left on the hop day, Friday, August 2nd. Winners will be selected randomly and announced Thursday, August 8th. (Note: USA addresses only, please, due to shipping costs.) Here's what you could win:

Stampendous Surfer and Sandcastle Kiddos • Dreamweaver Hot Air Balloon, Ice Cream Cones, Summer, Mosaic Swirls, Bird Words, and Sandcastle stencils

Happy Creating,

Louise