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

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