Week 4 Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Fall has definitely arrived! The days have been sunny and warm with just a cool breeze, and the nights are chilly and crisp. I love it! This, to me, is the "Most Wonderful Time of the Year!". But it also means that we need to get busy with all of our holiday card making.

This week I have used one of Dreamweaver's beautiful new embossing folders, FG675 Pine cones embossing folder, and the new LL3047 Happy Holiday stencil. I have a lot of family who live in northern Minnesota, so this card will be for one of them because it has that "Up North" feel. People who live there know what I'm talking about!  Here it is:

I started by embossing the pine cones on cream colored paper. Used a 1/2" stencil brush to add some color to the needles and pine cones. I didn't worry if some color went on the background, if you would prefer the image to be crisper, lay the matching stencil (LG675) over the embossed image before adding color. Then I tore around the image and added darker ink to the torn edge. The Happy Holiday was stenciled using the same brush, torn and edged with ink. The green checked paper in the background is from Authentique and is called Curiosity from the Wonder collection. Some burgundy burlap ribbon from May Arts added a little pop of color without being too bright and has the perfect texture to match the feel of the card.

Be sure to check out the holiday creations from our team members this week:

Dream It Up!

Wendy Price (GD)

Lyn Bernatovich

Louise Healy

Alison Heikkila

Kristine Reynolds

Pam Hornschu

Gill Wilson

Kristi Parker Van Doren

Happy Creating,
Louise
An InLinkz Link-up

Fresh as a Daisy!

It's hard to believe that January is over already! Every year seems to go by faster than the last, man I must be getting old! I have really enjoyed our Dreamweaver Stencils January challenge theme of "A Fresh Start", it has gotten creative juices flowing for a lot of people other than just our Dream Team. Click on this link to see the list of people participating in this month's challenge, then click on their name to go to their blog and see their wonderful creations. Thanks to all who played along with us this month.
When I hear "fresh start" it reminds me of that old saying "fresh as a daisy", so this week I have used two of Dreamweaver's beautiful daisy stencils, LL548 - Daisies, and LL549 - Tall daisies to create my card. Winter has definitely made an appearance this week, so this card offers the promise of Spring right around the corner!

Here are the easy steps:

• Tape both stencils to pieces of Authentique "Gifted" paper (PUN006) with removable tape
• Use a palette knife and paste spreader (LM2010) to apply Dreamweaver Regular Embossing Paste over each stencil (this is a matte finish white paste)
• Remove and clean the stencils
• Let the paste dry completely (about 20 minutes should be fine)
• Place the clean dry stencil back over the dry paste and use small stencil brushes to apply ink to the centers of the daisies and leaves
• Use a 3/4" stencil brush to rouge a little pink ink around the edges of the paper
• Layer each of the daisy images onto a piece of pink Bazzill cardstock
• Tie a small white ribbon around the smaller daisies and tie a bow
• Make a 5" x 7" card and attach a piece of the pink Bazzill paper to the front
• Rouge some pink ink around a piece of coordinating decorative cardstock (I used an older collection from American Crafts called I Do - Amaryllis, but any pretty paper will do!)
• Adhere the decorative paper, then add the Tall Daisies near the left side of the card front
• Use foam tape to attach the smaller Daisies image

The matte white paste is perfect for coloring on top of so it is easy to create in any of your favorite colors. We hope you will consider joining in our challenges. It gives you a reason to get creative, it's fun, and best of all - you might win a prize! Just create a card or project using stencils and add a link on the DREAM it UP! blog using the Mr. Linky tool, or email a picture of your design to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com, it couldn't be easier.
The rest of team has some more "fresh" ideas for you, so check out their blogs too.

Dream It Up!

Kristi Van Doren

Lee Kellogg

Georgia Sommers

Terrece Siddoway

Pam Hornschu

Liz Martin

Cherylynn Moser

Laura Drahozal

Happy Creating,
Louise

Christmas in August

Welcome back to week two of the Dreamweaver Stencils Christmas in August challenge. It's never too early to design your Christmas or Holiday cards, of course, no matter how early I design mine, it seems I'm always making them in December! This week I created a card using the paper piecing technique, but by using decorative paper it was very quick and easy to make!

LG674 Oval Ornament - Paper piecing

• Start by choosing a decorative paper with a nice Christmas design that fits well in the Oval Ornament stencil (LG674). I used a piece of Authentique Paper from the Wonder collection. The sweet little poinsettia design is on one side, and the beautiful stripes are on the other side, so they match perfectly.
• Lay the ornament stencil over the part of the paper you want inside your ornament and trace around the inside edge of the stencil with a Black Micron Pen (I used an 02)
• Cut out the ornament from the decorative paper staying as close to the black line as possible without cutting away the black line
• Emboss the ornament stencil on cream or natural cardstock
• Leave the stencil in place and add color to the ornament cap and hook area by using a small stencil brush and gold or silver ink (I used Brilliance Galaxy Gold)
• Round the corners with a corner rounder
• Glue the decorative paper ornament over the embossed ornament
• Cut out another flower and layer it on the first to give it more dimension
• Mount ornament on a dark green layer, then the stripe paper, then another dark green
• Embellish with a bow at the top of the ornament and a gem in the center of the flower

Want to get into the holiday spirit a little early? Link your own Christmas in August creations to the Dream It Up! blog mr. linky, or email pics of your creations to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com, for an opportunity to win this wonderful newly released Heart Ornaments:

 Don't you just love this new design? There are several newly released stencils and products from CHA last month, which you can view for yourself HERE. During the week of August 20th - 25th, the Dream Team will be posting all week with a hop on Saturday to top it all...featuring all of these new fabulous designs...in collaboration with the Woodware UK team. Just a little hint...you may want to buy all of these new designs now, so you are ready and waiting for the inspiration that will come your way that week! Meanwhile, check out what the rest of the team has been creating this week:

Dream It Up! blog
Pam Hornschu
 Laura Drahozal
Cherylynn Moser
Wendy Jordan  

Terrece Siddoway

Kristi Van Doren

Georgia Sommers

Lee Kellogg

Liz Martin

Cyndi Bundy

Happy Creating,
Louise