Poinsettia Magic!

The Stampendous Design Team is sharing from the July 2015 Stampendous Catalog again this week. Our new weekly theme is "Pretty Poinsettias". There are several gorgeous stamps and Dreamweaver stencils that feature poinsettias, all of them are fabulous and make beautiful holiday cards and projects. I have always loved this beautiful stencil from Dreamweaver, as I'm sure you'll understand when you see what an elegant card you can create with it!

This was done with our Molten Magic Technique.  I pasted the Poinsettia with Pearlescent Embossing Paste, removed the stencil, sprinkled the wet paste with Metallic F/X powders (mica powders), tapped off most of the powders, then heated the image until it was bubbly and almost dry. Once it dries completely, dust it with a Swiffer cloth to remove the residue from the powders.

Here's a mirror project I did a while back with this stencil (and a few others!) and this technique.

If you'd like more detail about the mirror project, click here.

Stop over at the Stampendous Blog today too! Here are the earlier links for this week.

Monday

Stampendous Blog

Pam Hornschu

Kristine Reynolds

Tuesday

Stampendous Blog

Louise Healy

Happy Creating,
Louise

Holiday Celebrations Week 3!

Welcome to week two of the Dreamweaver Stencils Design Team challenge "Holiday Celebrations!". We are creating everything but a card this month to show you how truly versatile these beautiful stencils really are. We hope you will be inspired to create something of your own and join our challenge this month. Just link your creation at the DREAM it UP! blog using the linking tool or email a photo and description of your project to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com, you may win a prize!

This month we are also using the wonderful adhesives from Beacon Adhesives in our work. It's true, the right tool for the job makes it much easier, and the different products from Beacon allow you to work with virtually any media.
This week I've created a Christmas mirror to decorate your home with or to give as a gift to a dear friend at this wonderful time of the year. You are going to think I work for IKEA, but really I just love the clean lines of their various products because they are the perfect base for so many craft projects! Here's my project using a red square mirror from IKEA (only $2.99):

This has a few more steps than some projects might, but they are all easy, and dry fast (an important feature in these busy days leading up to the holidays!).

• Start with a red mirror, or paint a natural mirror red with an acrylic paint
• Tape LG731 Holly flourish stencil along the bottom right corner of the mirror using removable tape
• Use a palette knife and paste spreader to apply Metallic Gold Embossing Paste
• Remove your stencil and place in water for cleaning later
• Use a soft brush to carefully sprinkle Metallic F/X Powder Kiwi on the holly leaves and Kimono Red on the berries
• Heat with an heat tool until the paste is bubbly and dry to the touch
• Clean and dry your stencil
• Repeat these steps with the stencil now in the upper left corner of the mirror
• Tape LL3009 Christmas script stencil in the upper right corner of the mirror with removable tape
• Use a palette knife and paste spreader to apply Metallic Gold Embossing Paste
• Remove your stencil and place in water for cleaning later
• Use a soft brush to carefully sprinkle Metallic F/X Powder Kiwi on the holly leaves and Kimono Red on the berries
• Heat with an heat tool until the paste is bubbly and dry to the touch
• Clean and dry your stencil
• Use a piece of Swiffer cloth (you know, the ones for dusting!) to careful wipe away the excess powders (there might still be a little sheen on the surface of the mirror, it actually looks pretty in the background of the design
• Color a piece of Tim Holtz Grungepaper with Distress Stain peeled paint and dry with a heat tool
• Tape LG700 Lg poinsettia stencil at one corner of the colored Grungepaper with removable tape
• Use a palette knife and paste spreader to apply Pearlescent Embossing Paste
• Remove your stencil and place in water for cleaning later
• Use a soft brush to sprinkle on Metallic F/X Powders - Goldfinch in center, Kiwi on the leaves, and Pixie Dust and Kimono Red on the flower ( you want most of the paste covered, but it doesn't have to all be covered)
• Pick up the piece and tap from underneath to help "jump" the powders around to finish coating the paste
• Flip it over a waste basket to tap of some of the excess powder
• Heat with a heat tool until bubbly all over the image, cool well
• Cut out the image leaving a small green edge all the way around
• Clean and dry your stencil and repeat the steps for a second poinsettia
• Use a Swiffer to wipe away excess powders from the poinsettias
• Tape LG720 Lotus stencil to part of the Grungepaper and use the same steps as for the poinsettia to create two Lotus flowers (except there is now Kiwi powder on these)
• Cut out the images
• Use a Black Micron 02 pen to outline holly leaves from LL3005 Holly and swirls stencil using left over pieces of the green Grungepaper, or you may need to stain some more depending on how you did your flowers
• Cut them out in clusters or as individual leaves 
• Arrange the flowers and holly leaves on the lower left edge of the mirror
• I used Beacon Adhesives 3-in-1 Advanced Craft Glue to glue everything in place. Notice I did not glue to the edges of the pieces, just in the middles so the edges could lift up and have more dimension
• The mirror comes with two eye screw hooks which I attached on the back near the very top of the mirror, then threaded a beautiful green ribbon from May Arts through them and tied a bow to create a beautiful hanger for my mirror

The other team members have more great ideas for you this week, so leave me a comment then hop on over to check them out!

Dream It Up! 

Linda Neff 

Laura Drahozal 

Stacey Rumsby
Lyn Bernatovich 
Pam Hornschu 
Heidi Erickson 
Louise Healy  
Cyndi Bundy

Happy Creating,

Louise

Clean and Simple Holidays!

Well our four whirlwind weeks of designing with Ranger Distress Embossing Powders and Dreamweaver Stencils is over! It was so much fun, I hope you take the time to give this great combination a try the next time you're creating.
The holidays are upon us and time is racing by just like it does every year. Our challenge this month is to help you create clean and simple cards which can be especially helpful if you are like me and haven't even begun to make Thanksgiving cards yet, much less Christmas cards!
My design this week is very easy to do and a lot of fun. Here it is:

LG700 - Poinsettia

This was done using our Molten Magic technique and the following steps:

• Tape the stencil to white cardstock using removable tape
• Use a palette knife and paste spreader to apply a coat of Pearlescent Embossing Paste
• Use a soft, dry paint brush to randomly sprinkle Metallic F/X powders around the design, I used Gold Dust in the center, Purple Satin and Plum Royale on the flower, and Ivy Garden and Kiwi on the leaves
• Remove the stencil and place in water
• Hold the design by a corner and gently tap from underneath to help "jump" the powders around the paste a little more. It will look quite messy at this point but that's OK, keep going!
• Add some more powders if you think it needs it
• Hold it up-side-down over a wastebasket and tap off extra powders
• Using a heat tool, start by heating from underneath for just a minute. Set the design down on a flat surface and hold in place with the tip of a scissors or a clean, dry palette knife. Heat the paste until it bubbles, keep moving the heat tool until the entire design is bubbled.
• Mount into a beautiful card!
• One down, seventy-four to go!

The colors did not photograph very well, it is much softer looking in real life! Be sure to stop off at the rest of the team blogs to see what great ideas they've come up with this week!

Dream It Up!
Kristi Van Doren

Lee Kellogg

Georgia Sommers

Terrece Siddoway

Wendy Jordan

Pam Hornschu

Liz Martin

Cyndi Bundy

Cherylynn Moser

Laura Drahozal

Happy Creating,
Louise