Puzzle on This!

The Stampendous Design Team is having fun this week playing with foam puzzle pieces provided to us by Patty Pop Ons. These fun pieces can be used individually or together to form a whole picture and come in different sizes. Check out their website for more info about these great products. A portion of all sales of this product benefits Cornerstone for K•I•D•S a non-profit charity.

Prize
– it’s a box of 12 pieces plus velcro dots to hang them and a flyer of ideas. (expertly packaged by adults with special needs)

The BACK side is the loop side of velcro applied in their factory. The front side is a foam surface that will accept acrylic paint, permanent markers, stamping, stencil paste, etc. You can heat it to press a stamp in for a pattern. Alcohol sprays should work on it as well. When you've finished decorating the piece, just use a velcro dot to adhere it where you want it.  I was thinking about gluing a magnet to the back and putting mine on my refrigerator.

Here's how I decorated my first piece:

• I used a combination of Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylics to paint the background (1 drop Prussian Blue, 3-4 drops of Titan Buff, lightened up with a little Americana Decor Chalky Finish everlasting). 
• After the light blue was dry, I used my finger to wipe a little more of the the everlasting Chalky Finish over it to give a more "frosty" look. 
• The little snowflake is from the Build a Snowman set (SSC1184) and is stamped with Memento Bahama Blue.
• While all that dried well, I stamped a snowman from the same set on Mixed Media White Paper using Memento Tuxedo Black, and colored him with Copic markers and cut him out
• I used ZipDry from Beacon Adhesives to add the snowman to the puzzle piece, then stamped the "arms" using Memento Rich Cocoa.
• The snow at the bottom is Dreamweaver Regular Embossing Paste applied with a palette knife and swirled around a little to look like drifts.
• While the paste was still wet, I sprinkled it with Stampendous Crystal Snow glitter. This takes a little while to dry completely, but if you're careful, you can keep working.
• I painted on dries clear glue to the snowman's body using a small brush and working in sections, then sprinkled the glue with Stampendous Crystal UltraFine glitter. I really gives him a Frosty look!
• My final step was to paint each edge with the glue and sprinkle it with the Crystal UltraFine glitter.

I just love the glitter on the Snowman!

They are very light weight so I've been thinking about looping a thin ribbon around the top knob and using it as a tree ornament! 

See what the other Designer's have puzzled out for you today:

Stampendous Blog

Kristine Reynolds

Louise Healy

Be sure to stop by the Stampendous Blog each day this week for a complete list of who's hopping!
Happy Creating,
Louise

Snowman Reflections!

This week the Stampendous Design Team has been asked, "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?". Of course we wanna build a snowman!  Of course I've also had that song from Frozen stuck in my head all week! We've been featuring the fun Stampendous Build a Snowman Set in our creations.

All the inspiring ideas from the Stampendous Design Team have been snowballing around in my head forming this fun creation using a combination of a Snowman from the Stampendous Build a Snowman set and Dreamweaver products. Our Dreamweaver Thursday is sure to be a blizzard of great ideas from the team.

Here's my snowman for today:

"Reflections of a Snowman"

I just love how his reflection turned out! It is even cooler (pardon the pun!) in person because you can see the glittery, glossy finish of the "pond". But I'm getting ahead of myself...here's the how to:

• Put the snowman pieces you want on an acrylic handle (not the arms yet), ink with Memento Tuxedo Black and stamp the image on white cardstock off toward the left side
• Ink the stamp again, but this time stamp it onto another acrylic block, then use the acrylic block as your stamp to stamp the reflection underneath the main image, some parts will stamp clearer than others, but that's ok, you don't want the reflection too perfect, this gives you the true reverse image for the reflection
• Make a mask for the main Snowman by inking the stamp again and stamping it on a post-it note or other thin paper, cut it out along the two sides, set aside for later
• Take the snowman pieces off and choose one arm to put on the block, ink it and stamp it on the main image, stamp a second time on the reflection (don't reink first, there should be enough to get a light image), this one is not backwards, but it still works! Repeat for the other arm
• I used a Tuxedo Black Memento Dual Marker to add lines to the scarf and mittens in the main image, and London Fog Memento Dual Marker in the reflection
• Color the main image, I used Copics - BG10,, BG01, BV00, BV02 for the hat, scarf and mittens, YR21, YR16 on the nose, B0000 to highlight the snowman and snow, C7 on the buttons
• Color the reflection to match the main image but only use BG10 and BV00 on the hat, scarf and mittens, YR21 on the nose with just the smallest touch of YR16, B0000 on the snowman
• Place the mask you created over the main image (if your paper isn't sticky, you can put a removable glue dot or two on the back to hold it in place)
• Place the Snowflake Stencil (DWLJ819) over the top half of the image angling it to avoid the mittens, tape in place with removable tape
• Use a palette knife to apply Translucent Embossing Paste (DWDEPT) to the snowflake openings, remove the stencil and place it in water for cleaning later, take more Translucent Paste on the palette knife and spread a thin coat of it over the reflection area to create a "pond", sprinkle all the wet paste with  Crystal Snow ultrafine white glitter (GX900U), tap off extra, let paste dry well
• When the paste has dried, sprinkle Spoonful of Snow Embossing Powder and Elements between the main image and reflection and around the edges of the "pond", heat from below to set
• Stamp a sentiment from the new Holiday Expressions set (SSC1231) on white with Tuxedo Black ink, mount on purple and blue mats
• Fold a 7" x 10" piece of blue cardstock in half to form an A7 card, adhere a 4 3/4" x 6 3/4" purple mat to the front
• Adhere the snowman image, then use foam tape to add the sentiment

I could decide which sentiment to use, so I'm going to have you vote! Here's the other option:

"Reflections of a Snowman II"

Leave me a comment with your vote on which sentiment I should use. Oh, one more thing, can you find my mistake in the reflection? No not the arms, I already mentioned those. I forgot to color the buttons on the main image until after I had the card complete, so there was no way to "fix" the reflection because it has paste over it. It's one of those little things that NO ONE WILL NOTICE!, so don't stress out about little things like that, only you will know!

Time to go build some more snowmen with these great designers:

Stampendous Blog
Lyn Bernatovich
Kristine Reynolds
Amy Hurley-Purdie
Louise Healy
Alison Heikkila
Wendy Price
Pam Hornschu

Laura Drahozal

Happy Creating,
Louise

Doesn't have to be a snowMAN!

In case you haven't heard, our theme this week for the Stampendous Design Team is "Do you wanna build a snowman"! Catchy huh! Trust me, that song will be stuck in your head for days after this!

But really, the Build a Snowman (SSC1184) set of stamps from Stampendous is adorable, and you can create a whole village of snowmen if that's what you want to do!

Today I have used mainly the heads of the snowman set. There are three different ones and they are all adorable, and, of course, best buddies!  The color scheme I chose is red and lime green, not traditional colors you think of when you think of a snowman, but it works! Here they are:

"Snow Buddies"

These Snow Buddies might be looking in at you from the great outdoors, or maybe you see a portrait gallery. Which ever way you look at it, they have to make you smile! This is a quick and easy design, just follow these steps:

• Fold a 7" x 10" piece of red cardstock in half to form a top fold A7 card
• Cut a 4 1/4" x 6 1/4" piece of lime green cardstock and use a Micron 02 pen to add a little design along the outside edges, adhere to the front of the card
• Cut a 3 1/8" x 5 3/4" piece of white cardstock and use the Micron 02 pen to add a design to the outer edge, adhere near the top of the green layer
• Cut three pieces of white cardstock 2" x 3 1/4", use Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the three heads on the white pieces, color with Copic markers (or whatever you like to use for coloring)
• Measure down 2" from the top of each and make a mark on each side, draw a light line across, stopping and starting on each side of the scarf tails, cut away the extra paper going around the scarf tails
• Use the Micron pen to make the edge design on each head layer
• To add the lines for the "bodies" of the two smaller snowmen, you can either use a fine black marker and draw them in by hand, or I created masks for the heads, placed a sticky note over the design on the edge, and stamped the bodies from the set where I needed them
• Mat the two smaller snowmen on 2 1/8" x 2 1/8" red mats, and the larger snowman on a 2 1/8" x 2 1/8" lime green mat
• Adhere the two smaller heads near each corner on the top of the white mat, and use foam tape to add the third snowman in the middle
• Stamp the Snow Buddies sentiment of white (1" x 1 7/8"), and mat on a 1 1/8" x 2" red mat, adhere near the lower right at an angle
• Put green jute or thread through two red buttons and tie, use Glue Dots to attach near the bottom left side of the card
• Use a dries clear adhesive and ultrafine Crystal Glitter to add a little sparkle to the hats

This close up will help you see how I cut them, added the bodies and the great sparkle from the glitter:

Here are the colors of Copic I used:  YR15, YR68, B0000, R00, R27, R39, R81, YG0000, YG03, YG23, W8.

I hope you are enjoying building snowmen with us this week.  This is a great set and so much fun to use!  Tomorrow we are going to be incorporating Dreamweaver into our theme, so be sure to come back then.

Now keep building more snowmen with these designers:

Stampendous Blog
Amy Hurley-Purdie
Louise Healy
Alison Heikkila
Jamie Martin
Pam Hornschu

Happy Creating,

Louise

Do you wanna build a snowman

Ok, now that I've got that song going round and around in your brain...this is our weekly theme for the Stampendous Design Team. We released a darling Build a Snowman set a while back that fits this theme to a tee!

SSC1184 Build a Snowman

As you can see, it's a great set that lets you choose shapes, sizes, and arms. It even has a cute saying and five snowflakes.  Here's how I used it today:

"Yes, I want to build a snowman..."

This set is very easy to use and get everything lined up perfectly. The snowflakes were all put on an acrylic handle, inked with Memento Summer Sky and stamped all over the three smaller panels. The snowmen were stamped on another panel with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copic Sketch Markers. The "snow" across the bottom of the snowmen and on the pompoms,  is Stampendous Spoonful of Snow, sprinkled on and heated from below. Then it's just a matter of layering everything and assembling. The gems are Kaisercraft Silver Rhinestones (SB700).

This close up shows the texture and dimension the Spoonful of Snow adds!

Here are the measurements and supplies:
Blue base card 7" x 10", score at 5", fold to create an A7 card
White layer 4 3/4" x 6 3/4"
Blue mat  2 1/8" x 5 5/8" (x2)
White layer for stamping snowflakes 2" x 5 1/2" (x2)
Blue mat 2 5/8" x 2 5/8"
White layer for stamping snowflakes 2 1/2" x 2 1/2"
Blue mat 3" x 4"
White layer for snowmen 2 7/8" x 3 7/8"

Memento Tuxedo Black (snowmen)
Memento Summer Sky (snowflakes)

Copic Sketch Markers - BG10, BG72, B0000, C1, W6, YR15, YR68, R00, R85, E27

Stampendous Spoonful of Snow - EJS02

Kaisercraft Silver Rhinestones (SB700)

Do you wanna build ANOTHER Snowman?  Check out these other designer blogs for more ideas:

Stampendous Blog

Kristine Reynolds

Louise Healy

Happy Creating,
Louise