Quick and Cute!

In a flurry of a hurry? This month the Dream Team are all about the Quick and Cute...whether that be cards, gifts, wrapping, or tags...we have sleigh-loads of ideas! Play along by posting your creations using the Inlinkz tool on the Dream It Up! blog, for a chance to win the stencil of your choice, and a possible bonus stencil for using Dreamweaver products in your Quick and Cute project! Here's what fun I've been up to this week:

Envelope Gift Card Holder

Choose your envelope (this is an A2)

Score it down the middle

Fold it in half with the flap to the inside

Open it up and cut away the flap on the right side only, following the fold lines

Tape down the flap on the left side

Add a ribbon to the outside of the envelope, I love using Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac

Add decorative paper to the outside front

Use a stencil, inks and brushes to add a to/from (LS64)

Add decorative papers to the inside along with your to/from

Insert your gift card in the "pocket"

Tie it shut and put it in an envelope

I keep a stash of left over images from past projects. When I need to make something in a hurry (as I almost always need to do!) I go through these first to save time. The crackled holly on the front of this (LL3005) was left over from a long ago project and now has a new use!

I'd love to receive a comment from you before you head on to the rest of the "A" team:

Dream It Up!

Leadonna Kimmel

Louise Healy

Laura Drahozal

Lynn Mercurio

Pam Hornschu

Jamie Martin

Happy Creating,
Louise

An InLinkz Link-up

Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Wow! September is already flying by! Kids are back in school, with all the insanity that goes with it, vacations are a not-so-distant memory, and it is once again time to get busy with the important things in life...crafting for the holidays! Yay! All of September the Dream Team will be featuring all the new goodies we have for the "Most wonderful time of the year", the fall and winter holiday season. New stencil designs, and new dies, all to be found on-line through the Stencil with Style web-site, or your local papercrafting store.

Here's my creation for this week:

Holly and swirls die (DL3005) positive image

Holly and swirls die (DL3005) negative image

This is Dreamweaver's wonderful new Holly and swirls die (DL3005) that matches the Holly and swirls stencil (LL3005). Again, by taking care when cutting the image, you get two cards, the positive and the negative. You can get your holiday cards made twice as fast! I used some beautiful washi paper from Hanko Designs, put some of Dreamweaver's double-sided mounting paper on the back, and carefully centered my die, cutting edge down on the front of the paper, then ran it through my die cut machine. I love the new magnetic platform that Sizzix has, it hold the die in place with no tape. The positive image is a little fragile, so you want to use your Dreamweaver Die-cut tool (DCT) to push the cut image out of the die.  I ran a dark green marker around the edge of the positive image before sticking it down on red cardstock. I also ran dark green marker around the outer edge of the negative image before sticking it down to a red mat. After it was on the red mat, I used a black Micron 01 pen around the edges of all the openings to give them more definition and dimension. Mount them on some coordinating papers and you're finished with two cards!

Of course, we have our monthly challenge for you to play along, so post your own holiday creations, and use the Inlinkz tool on the Dream It Up! blog, for a chance to win the prize at the end of the month. We also have our fabulous Guest Designer for the month of September, Wendy Price! Here's the list of our "A" Team with their links for the 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

August Christmas in August Day 4!

Yes! It's that time of year again! The time when we inspire crafters on both sides of the "pond" with a mix of bothDreamweaver and Woodware UK* products for the holidays! Six days, SIX, of beautiful, elegant, merry, cute, artsy, and craftsy projects to have you heading out to your local stores or internet sites to buy these goodies immediately!

Of course, there will be prizes as well. Three prize packages will be given to three commenters during this week's posts on the team's blogs, including five stencils and one nested die set. You can have an opportunity to win these goodies by leaving some holiday sweetness for each team member posting each day, to be one of the three winners for the week. Here are the team members that are inspiring you today:

Dream It Up!

Woodware UK

Laura Drahozal

Pam Hornschu

Kristi Parker Van Doren

Kristine Reynolds 

Lyn Bernatovich

Louise Healy

Gill Wilson

Lea Kimmel

Crafty Debs
Debs Frost
Alison Heikkila

Thursday is our normal posting day for the weekly Dreamweaver challenge, so I combined our "August as an Adjective" challenge with this week's "Christmas in August" theme for my card today. Here's my creation: 

LG731 Holly flourish and LL3005 Holly and swirls stencils
plus the new matching die DL3005 Holly and swirls!

LL3005 and DL3005 used to create the crackled holly leaves

This beautiful card has a few steps, but no one takes very long, and the results are worth it! 

• Paste emboss the Holly and swirls (LL3005) stencil with Glossy Blue (or black if you don't have blue) Embossing Paste, remove and clean stencil and let paste dry
• Place the clean stencil back over the dry paste and add a coat of Crackle Embossing Paste, remove & clean stencil, let paste dry
• In the meantime, place the Holly flourish stencil (LG731) on a piece of white cardstock and tape in place with removable tape
• Place a drop or two of Wendy Vecchi's Archival Re-inker Red Geranium on a craft sheet or palette and pick it up with a 1/4" stencil brush, be sure to work the ink up into your bristles before stenciling with it
• Use the Picasso tool (LL332) and place one of the small holes over each berry area to stencil on ink with the brush you loaded, wipe off the Picasso with a soft cloth before continuing to the next color
• Place several drops of Wendy Vecchi's Archival Re-inker Fern Green on a craft mat and load a different stencil brush with this, stencil the leaves and swirls with the Fern Green using the Picasso tool as a shield around the berries
• Remove and clean the stencil
• Use a 3/4" brush to pick up some of the Fern Green and brush a light coat around the edges of the entire piece
• Use a heat tool to set the inks
• Place the clean, dry Holly stencil back over the dry Crackle paste and use the Fern Green ink and brush to color the holly leaves
• Gently heat set the ink
• Place the matching Holly die over the crackled image and run through your die cut maching
• Cut the leaves away from the rest of the image and brush a little more green ink along the edges
• Mount everything into an august card embellished with a beautiful ribbon from May Arts

*For a stockist near you contact Woodware Craft Collection in the UK and Notions Marketing in the USA.

Happy Creating,

Louise

An InLinkz Link-up