More Picnic Fun!

Today wraps up our Stampendous Picnic Fun weekly theme. If you missed some of the fun, you can check over on the Stampendous Blog for this week's links. There have been so many wonderful ideas!

I love going on picnics with family and friends, so my card today shares that sentiment. These two little owl friends are having a picnic on a beautiful summer day in the shade of their favorite tree!

"Picnic buddies"

Can't you just feel the warm summer breeze...I wish I could, it's very cold here again and we would love our warmer days back. Oh well, soon enough.

To create this little "picnic" really didn't take very long because I keep a stash of images that I've made in the past and didn't use right away. So I looked, and found that I had paste embossed the Owl Pair stencil (LL3013) on tan paper  with Translucent Embossing Paste tinted brown with Metallic FX Cocoa. They were perfect for my picnic. I cut them out and set them aside while I created their background.

I placed the Leafless Tree stencil (LX7020) near the left side of a 4 3/4" x 6 3/4" piece of white cardstock and taped it down. Using a 1/2" stencil brush and Memento Rich Cocoa ink, I stenciled the tree. I also added a little Memento Tuxedo Black for some depth. The "leaves" were created using a 1/2" stencil brush and Memento New Sprout and Bamboo Leaves, keeping each color concentrated in little circular areas.  The "grass" was done with Bamboo Leaves and the "shade" under the tree with Memento Cottage Ivy.

Of course, the perfect image of a summer day is a sky filled with fluffy white clouds, so I used the Picasso tool (LL332), 1/2" brush and Memento Bahama Blue to add a few clouds.  The little saying is from Stampendous SSC1213 Life Words set and was a perfect sentiment for the feeling I was trying to express.

The red and white gingham ribbon from May Arts made a great tablecloth, but what would they eat at their picnic? I didn't think it would be very cute to have dead mice on the tablecloth, so I created some nice healthy little apples for them instead using the Lg Cherries stencil (LL3032), a 1/4" stencil brush, Brilliance Rocket Red ink, and a little Bamboo Leaves.  I made two "apples", cut them out, pressed them in VersaMark, sprinkled with clear embossing powder and heat set them.

I'm on vacation this week (at the happiest place on earth, you know, WDW!) with my family, so I'm just going to send you to the Stampendous blog for the list of wonderful links today!

Stampendous Blog

Happy Creating,
Louise

JULY...a month to DIE for Week 3!

Welcome to week three of our Dreamweaver Stencils July Challenge!  All of this month the Dream Team are featuring our newest toys...our DIES! You'd be surprised at how many we have, and what fun things you can do with them...especially when used in conjunction with many of their matching stencils. They are such a simple way to create an effective card.

This week my creation incorporates three of our dies and three stencils. Yes, it's a little more work than last week's card, but it is so cute! Here it is...

Dog Days of Summer!

See, it is totally worth it! 
The background was created using 3/4" stencil brushes and Distress Inks (Salty Ocean, Peeled Paint, and Vintage photo). I used the Picasso (LL332) to create some clouds (I told you there were three stencils!).

So what are the three dies? They are DX7020 - Leafless tree, DD003 - Leafy Branch, and DL3029 - Dog. The decorative papers for the Leafy Branch and the Dog had Double-sided mounting paper put on the back before cutting. I did not do that to the tree because I wanted the branches to be flexible. I just used a dot roller on the back of the trunk and some lower branches to adhere the tree. The Leafy branch was cut apart so I could stick the leaves all over the tree limbs.

LL3029 - Dog stencil was paste embossed on light green paper with Matte Black Embossing Paste and set aside to dry. The cut pieces were edged with black marker and stuck on him. This allowed me to keep his eyeball, nose, collar and back spot black for more contrast. I added a little glue and glitter to his collar. 

The Sun stencil (LR502) was paste embossed with Matte Black Embossing Paste, then, before removing the stencil, a combination of Distress Embossing Powders were sprinkled over the wet paste (spiced marmalade, mustard seed, fired brick), the stencil carefully removed, heat set the powders being careful not to let the paste bubble.

I'm sure that our "A" team is just DIE-ing to show you their creations, as well as our Guest Designer for the month of July...

Dream It Up!

Leadonna Kimmel

Louise Healy

Laura Drahozal

Lynn Mercurio

Pam Hornschu

Jamie Martin

and

Terri Sproul (GD)

Happy Creating,
Louise

An InLinkz Link-up

February Flutters

Are you ready for the new Dreamweaver challenge for the month of February? It will be a short month of posts for the Dream Team, but we're pretty excited to share with you our versions of"February Flutters", meaning anything that flutters. Heart flutters, wings that flutter, breezes, sails, etc. So, come along for the ride and link your own "flutterings" to the Dream It Up! blog for a chance to win the stencil of your choice. 

Meanwhile, here's my "fluttering" for the week featuring the beautiful new Sailboat stencil (LG755).  We will be creating these in my class at Memories and Beyond on February 25:

LG755 - Sailboat and LL332 Picasso
Paste with glitter

LG755 - Sailboat
Leafing technique

LG755 - Sailboat
Letterpress technique

Be sure to leave me some encouragement before flitting over to the "A" team blogs: 

Dream It Up!
Laura Drahozal
Lyn Bernatovich
Pam Hornschu
Heidi Erickson
Louise Healy 
Cyndi Bundy

 

Happy Creating,

Louise

Summertime, Sparklers and S'More!

*correction to instructions add 6:00 pm, sorry!

Welcome back to the Dreamweaver Stencils July challenge. The rain has finally stopped here in northern Illinois and it is now our normal hot and muggy summertime, which fits our challenge perfectly! Congratulations to our winners from the Dreamweaver/Ranger blog hop! Don't forget to contact Lynell for your prize.
I'm continuing my beach theme this week with a card that just screams "hot summer day at the beach!". Of course, a hot summer day at the beach is fine with me, I wish we were there!

LR502-Sun and LL3033-Sandcastle

This is the same technique I used on my home decor piece on June 13th, if you missed it click here to check it out. It's a fun technique that shows a lot of dimension.

• Tape the Sun (LR502) stencil to yellow cardstock with removable tape onto a piece of copy paper
• Use a palette knife and paste spreader to apply Matte Black Embossing Paste over the Sun
• With the stencil still in place, carefully sprinkle some Distress Embossing Powder in Mustard Seed and Spiced marmalade over the wet paste, tap it gently in place
• Lift the whole copy paper and turn it over to tap off any extra powder (be careful!)
• Gently remove the stencil from the image trying not to let any move powder fall through the openings (the goal is to keep the edges black)
• Place the stencil in water for cleaning
• Heat set the emossing powder, set aside to let the paste dry completely
• Repeat the process with the Sandcastle (LL3033) stencil but using blue cardstock, and a mixture of Distress Embossing Powders Antique Linen, Peeled Paint, and Fired brick
• Heat set the embossing powders and let it dry thoroughly
• Cut out the Sun leaving a small yellow edge all the way around
• Use the Picasso (LL332) stencil to put some clouds in the sky above the sandcastle. When you do this on blue paper, you first use a 3/4" stencil brush and white ink to make some areas white (I like Brilliance Moonlight White), then use the edge of the Picasso and a 1/2" brush with a light blue ink to create the "cloud" at the edge of the white areas
• Use a 1/2" brush to add some brown ink at the bottom of the sandcastle
• Use foam tape to apply the sun to the sky

I hope you are enjoying your summer and the summertime creations the team has been showing. Be sure to check out what they've created this week for you!

Dream It Up! 

Wendy Price

Lea Kimmel 

Louise Healy (me!)

Stacey Rumsby 

Terrece Siddoway 

Caroline Duncan 

Pam Hornschu 

Cherylynn Moser

Happy Creating,

Louise

Glitter, glitter and more glitter!

 

The Dream Team has a big day today! Not only are we into week three of our Pinterest Inspired challenge, we are also playing with Ranger's Stickles Dry Glitter in the mix! We've had so much fun playing with jars of sparkly goodness, that we want to share the fun with two lucky crafters! 

 

  

Just visit everyone on the list below, and leave comments for everyone. Two winners* will be randomly selected and announced Thursday, July 4th...what a great day for a celebration! Each prize package includes a mix of five Ranger Stickles Dry Glitter, a mix of sixDreamweaver Stencils, and jar of Dreamweaver Translucent Paste, and a Palette Knife for spreading. If you want to add to the fun, play along with our Pinterest challenge and link your own creation to the linkytool on the Dream It Up! blog before July 1st for a chance to win this month's stencil prize. 

This weekend my Granddaughter had her first trip to the beach and loved it! It brought back so many wonderful memories of the weeks we spent at the Outer Banks of North Carolina years ago. We used to go for two weeks every summer with some dear friends of ours. But, alas, as happens, our kids grew up and went to college and spent all our money! Someday soon we'll have to restart those wonderful vacations. So needless to say, my inspiration this week has a beach theme (again!). Here's the link to my "At the beach" board on Pinterest, guess which picture inspired me this week! Now here's what I created using the wonderful Dreamweaver products and Ranger Stickles Dry Glitter.

LL329 - Beach chair

I used the double glitter technique. Here's how it was done:

• Cut a piece of Dreamweaver's Double sided Mounting Paper the same size as the stencil
• Cut a red cardstock mat 1/4" larger each direction
• Remove the release paper from one side of the double sided mounting paper and adhere it to the red mat
• Apply Dreamweaver's Hawaiian Soap to the back side of the Beach chair stencil (LL329), using a large stencil brush to brush away any crumbs of soap from the openings
• Remove the other piece of release paper and place the stencil soap side down on the sticky surface, making sure all the small bridges of the stencils are pressed down
• Apply Stickles Dry Fine Glitter to the umbrella and chair. I used Christmas Red in the umbrella, Cinnamon in the umbrella pole, True Blue on the chair, tapping off between each color
• Use a large stencil brush to gently brush away any glitter clinging to the stencil
• Place the image glittered side down on the table and carefully peel the paper off the stencil, be sure to hold the stencil down with your other hand so it does not bend
• Sprinkle the bottom area of the chair with Platinum stickles and the rest of the background with Distress Stickles dry glitter clear rock candy
• Apply a piece of double sided mounting paper near the bottom of a piece of white cardstock
• With the release paper still on, use the Picasso (LL332) stencil, and 1/2" brush and some blue ink to create clouds in the sky area of the card
• Remove the release paper and apply Platinum stickles across the "sand" area
• Use foam tape to mount the beach chair to the lower right corner.
• Perfect for a summer birthday, or fourth of July card!

Here's the list of sparkly-Pinteresting players:

Dream It Up!

Cherylynn Moser

Leadonna Kimmel

Laura Drahozal

Louise Healy (you're here)

Jessica Griffin

Caroline Duncan 

Stacey Rumsby

Pam Hornschu

Heidi Erickson

Cyndi Bundy

Terrece Siddoway

Lyn Bernatovich 

Jennifer Dove

The Ranger Blog

Happy Creating,

Louise

Inspired by a Pin!

This month the design team at Dreamweaver Stencils has been given a fun challenge, we are to base our creations on something we've been inspired by on Pinterest. You can search for virtually anything on Pinterest and it will bring back hundreds (or more!) of ideas and images. One of my favorite flowers is the Bird of Paradise, so I decided to see what was out out there. Oh my! There was everything from garden ideas to shoes, fabric, tattoos, botanical prints, photos, watercolors, quilling, and LOTS more. I found some incredible vintage prints, and this amazing quilt in my search. So while no one image was my inspiration this week, I definitely was inspired to create a card using Dreamweaver's beautiful Long bird o'paradise stencil (LL454) and the Jungle leaves (LJ825) stencil for the background. Here's how it came out:

LL454 Long bird o'paradise
Glossy Green Embossing Paste under Crackle Embossing Paste
LJ825 Jungle leaves
Dry embossed with the Strié technique applied

I love the combination of bold color (orange) and soft (green) background, and the Crackle Embossing Paste was the perfect touch to give it a lot more texture. Here are the steps:

• Tape your stencil to smooth cream cardstock with removable tape
• Use a palette knife and paste spreader to apply a coat of Glossy Green Embossing Paste
• Remove and clean the stencil, let the paste dry completely (about 50 minutes)
• Tape the stencil back over the dry paste and apply a coat of Crackle Embossing Paste
• Remove and clean the stencil, let the paste dry completely
• In the meantime, dry emboss the Jungle leaves stencil on white cardstock with a die cut machine and rubber embossing mat
• Remove the stencil, place the leaves raised side up on a piece of copy paper and use a 1/2" or 3/4" in brush to sweep color in from the edge towards the center all along one side, turn the image and do the next side, repeat until all four sides have been colored. I used Distress Inks Peeled Paint and Forest Moss.
• Mount the leaves on orange cardstock
• Add two small strips of orange near the bottom
• To color the flower, place your clean stencil back over the dry crackle paste and use 1/4" stencil brushes to add color. Use a Picasso (LL332) stencil to help shield areas from other colors.
• On the flowers I used Distress Inks Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Faded Jeans and Dusty Concord. Yes, I really did! One the leaves I used Peeled Paint and Forest Moss.
• Use the larger green brush from the background leaves to add color around the edge of the flowers
• Mount the flower on a blue or purple mat to pick up the little part of the flower with blue on it
• Use foam tape to add the flower to the front of the card

For more Pinterest inspired creations, hop on over to the rest of the team blogs. Don't forget, you are always welcome to join our challenge. Just link your creation on the DREAM it UP! blog, or send Lynell a photo and description and she will post it for you. Of course, the possibility of winning a new stencil is always good motivation, so get creating!

Dream It Up!

Jennifer Dove 
Laura Drahozal
Lyn Bernatovich
Pam Hornschu
Heidi Erickson
Louise Healy (you're here!)
Jessica Griffin
Cyndi Bundy

Happy Creating,

Louise

Inspired by Pinterest!

Hello everyone and welcome to the Dreamweaver Stencils Thursday challenge. This week we are looking for inspiration on the very popular Pinterest site. Our challenge is to find an idea on Pinterest that appeals to us and apply it to Dreamweaver products. If you've never seen or heard of Pinterest trust me when I say it can be addicting (but so much fun!).
The inspiration for my design this week came from a posting from Tammy Tutterow, an amazingly talented artist whose work I love. Click on the link to see her original creation
http://tammytutterow.com/2013/03/tuesday-tutorial-bee-happy-die-cut-shadowbox-frame/

Here's my version of it using Dreamweaver products:

Steps:

• Paste emboss the Hexagons (LJ806) stencil on brown paper using the Matte Yellow Embossing Paste
• Remove and clean the stencil, let paste dry
• Place the stencil back over the dry paste and use a 3/4" stencil brush to add Distress Inks Wild Honey and Vintage Photo over the whole background
• Paste emboss the Bee (LS76) stencil on yellow paper using the Regular Embossing Paste (matte white)
• Remove stencil and use a cut straw to carefully add Crystal glitter to the wings of the bee
• Clean and dry the stencil, let paste dry
• Return the stencil back over the dry paste and use a 1/8" stencil brush to add Memento Tuxedo Black ink to the body of the bee
• Cut out the bee and brush Vintage Photo ink around the edges
• Using just the leaves from the Flower and Leaves (LG625) stencil, use a small stencil brush to add a darker green over light green paper (I used Distress Inks Peeled Paint)
• Use the Picasso (LL332) to add some veins to the leaves
• Cut out the leaves, and edge them with Distress Inks Vintage Photo
• I used some beautiful dark pink May Arts ribbon to create a twisted ribbon flower and bud, and another May Arts ribbon to make a small bow
• The base card was a piece of cream cardstock that I brushed Wild Honey and Vintage Photo on to give it the same "distressed" look as the rest of the piece
• Assemble all the layers, use foam tape under the bee and large flower

I hope you've enjoyed today's post and that it has inspired you to check out more great ideas from the rest of the team. We are delighted to welcome Jennifer Dove as our guest designer for the month of June and look forward to seeing her creations!  

Dream It Up!

Jennifer Dove 

Laura Drahozal 

Lyn Bernatovich 

Pam Hornschu 

Heidi Erickson 

Louise Healy 

Jessica Griffin 

Cyndi Bundy

Happy Creating,

Louise