Pop-Ups and Puppies Dreamweaver Style!

The Stampendous Design team has been having fun all week with TWO great challenges: Pop Ups and Puppies for our weekly Stampendous theme, and a blog hop with Linnie Blooms design team (be sure to go to the Stampendous blog to check out the details...there are prizes involved!) If that wasn't enough to keep us busy, we can't forget our Dreamweaver Thursdays!
Today I am combining Dreamweaver Thursday and the Pop Ups and Puppies theme in this fun Graduation card. Yes, it's that time of year when we all need a few of these cards around.

The front of the card, featuring LL3003 Hot Air Balloon, Regular Embossing Paste, inks,
and the "It's your day!" from Soaring Sentiments SSC1170

Another balloon floating in a sky of fluffy clouds created with the Picasso tool LL332,
another saying from Soaring Sentiments, and Congratulations from the Say It Today set SSC1190,
but the main character is the darling Dreamweaver Dog stencil LL3029, paste embossed with Matte Black,
sprinkled with Stampendous aged ochre embossing enamel while the paste was wet, heated when dry,
a little Gold Micro glitter on his collar, a cute graduation hat and gold tassel finish it all off!

A closer look at our graduate

A simple little square to pop him up!

With three different challenges today, there will be a lot of variety so be sure to stop over at these designers blogs for more fun inspiration:

Stampendous Blog

Kristine Reynolds

Amy Hurley-Purdie

Wendy Price

Pam Hornschu

Laura Drahozal

Alison Heikkila

Tenia Nelson

Linnie Blooms Blog

If you don’t see the Blog Hop post as soon as you click the link, you may need to click on the header or home button of the blog and scroll a bit to find the post. Some bloggers post for more than one thing each day. If you have trouble commenting on a blog, please let us know at submissions@stampendous.com. Thanks for your patience, designers across several time zones mean every post may not be active immediately.

Happy Creating,
Louise

Tiny Treats and Treasures

It's week three of our Dreamweaver Stencils May designer challenge. This month we were given the challenge to create little gifts or treats to use for various occasions such as shower favors, party favors, thank you gifts, and so on. We hope you will join our challenge by either linking your creation over on the DREAM it UP! blog using the linking tool, or by emailing a photo of it to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com, you could win a beautiful new stencil of your choice. 
This week I have created a thank you treat that could be used for a number of events: a teachers' appreciation lunch, a bridal shower (you could do a recipe shower),  thank you favors for volunteers, like I said, any number of events.

LL3032 - Cherries 

LL3032 - Cherries (just the frame), and LS1006 - Thanks

This is so easy to to make. Here are the simple steps:

• Tape the Cherries stencil to white cardstock with removable tape
• Use 1/4" stencil brushes to apply various colors of inks to the design, using the Picasso (LL332) as a shield and to add a vein to the leaves
• Remove and clean the stencil
• Return the stencil to the colored image and tape back in place
• Use a palette knife and paste spreader to apply Translucent Embossing Paste over the image
• Remove stencil and place in water for cleaning, let paste dry
• Tape the clean, dry Cherries stencil to another piece of white cardstock 
• Use the 1/4" stencil brush to apply red ink in the border checkerboard only
• Remove and clean the stencil
• Place the Thanks stencil across the center of the checkerboard frame and tape in place
• Use a 1/2" stencil brush to apply brown ink to the word
• Remove and clean the stencil
• Mount onto coordinating papers and attach a small bag of Sour Cherry Balls between the layers

Now be sure to see what our other team members have created this week, just click on their names below.

Dream It Up! 

Laura Drahozal 

Lyn Bernatovich 

Pam Hornschu 

Heidi Erickson 

Jessica Griffin 

Cyndi Bundy

Happy Creating,

Louise

More Summer Fun!

The Summer Fun challenge from Dreamweaver Stencils continues throughout the month of July. You can win a great prize if you join our fun by submitting your creation through Mr. Linky on the DREAM it UP! blog, or by emailing a picture to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com. Don't be shy, the design team loves to see what you have created with these wonderful products!
My creation this week takes me back to when we lived in Colorado. The sun shines every day in CO, yes EVERY day (even if only for a little while), and we would often wake on a Saturday morning to the sounds of the hot air balloons that lifted off from the field in front of our house. The WHOOSH is unmistakable. The balloons are usually so bright and filled with beautiful designs, they are incredible to watch. Dreamweaver has a wonderful Hot Air Balloon stencil (LL3003) that brings back wonderful memories of those mornings in CO.  Here are some ideas for this great stencil:

LL3003 - Hot air balloon
Glossy White Embossing Paste with glitter

This first card was done by pasting the image on acetate with Glossy White Embossing Paste and sprinkling the wet paste with various colors of glitter.  The clouds are created by brushing on Brilliance Moonlight white with a 3/4" stencil brush, leaving them a little wispy. The mountains are torn pieces of cardstock with some of the Moonlight white brushed on the peaks.
This next card uses similar colors but a different technique:

LL3003 - Hot air balloon
Regular Embossing Paste stenciled with color

LL332 - Picasso
Use the edge on the left to create clouds!

This balloon was paste embossed with the Regular white matte embossing paste on a small gingham patterned paper. After the paste was dry, I returned the stencil to the image and used small stencil brushes to add color to the various parts of the balloon (I used a Picasso (LL332) to help keep colors clean). I cut out the balloon and ran a black marker around the edge so it would have more definition when I put it on the background. For the clouds on this card, you use a large stencil brush to add white ink in random clusters around the card, then use the end of the Picasso that looks like a cloud (be sure to tape off the openings at this end) and lay it near the edge of a cluster of white. Use a stencil brush with some light blue ink and starting on the Picasso brush color off the edge in a sweeping motion, and VOILA! clouds!  Add the balloon with some foam mounting tape to give it more dimension.
Now I know some of you are saying, "How many balloon cards do I need!", well here's another idea for this versatile stencil, make it into a vase!

This was done with Memories Mist spray through the stencil, cut out, edged with black, filled with "grass" and mounted on the front of decorative paper. How easy is that!
Be sure to stop at the rest of the design team blogs for more Summer Fun!

Dream It Up! blog
Pam Hornschu
Laura Drahozal
Wendy Jordan
Terrece Siddoway
Kristi Van Doren
Georgia Sommers
Lee Kellogg
Jessie Hurley
Liz Martin
Cyndi Bundy
Cherylynn Moser

Happy Creating,
Louise

April Showers bring...

May flowers!  The new Dreamweaver Stencils April challenge is "Bring May Flowers!". I don't know about the rest of you, but in our area (northern IL) we are experiencing one of the earliest springs on record. Yesterday as I sat at my craft table working on today's post, I enjoyed the beautiful view out my window of my crab apple trees in full bloom. We have two whites and two pinks and they are breathtaking right now. Normally they are just coming into bloom the last weekend of April! They were my inspiration for today's post using the Cherry blossoms (LG644) stencil.

This is a very easy card, really a "back to basics" card. Here's how you do it:

• Tape the stencil to light green cardstock with removable tape
• Apply Dreamweaver Embossing Paste (DEP) to the paste spreader (LM2010) using a palette knife (DPK).
• Spread the paste over the stencil
• Remove and clean stencil, let paste dry
• Place clean and dry stencil back over dry paste and tape in place with removable tape
• Use small gold handled stencil brushes to apply color to the paste (I used Brilliance Coral, Coffee Bean, Sunflower Yellow). The Picasso stencil (LL332)  is a great tool for shielding the blossoms from the brown ink

Picasso - LL332

• Add a pretty layer of pink behind the blossoms and mount to the front of a card with foam mounting tape
• A beautiful, springy card for a birthday, anniversary, shower, Mother's Day, really any occasion

Don't forget that you can play along with our monthly challenges. Simply create your own version of "Bring May Flowers" and link it on the DREAM it UP! blog using the Mr. Linky tool. If you don't have a way to link it to us, simply email a picture of your design to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com and she will be happy to post it for you. Remember, you have to play to win!
One more card to share with you today, a simple Easter card to wish you all a very Happy Easter!

Now check out the designs from the rest of the team by clicking on their names below:

DREAM it UP!

Pam Hornschu
Laura Drahozal
Wendy Jordan
Terrece Siddoway
Kristi Van Doren
Georgia Sommers
Lee Kellogg
Liz Martin
Cyndi Bundy
Cherylynn Moser
Jessie Hurley

Happy Creating,
Louise