Thursday Dream Scheme

Better late than never as the saying goes!! The fourth threw my week off by a day. I was teaching a class today at The Cottage Stamper in St. Charles, IL when one of my students commented how the first thing she does every Thursday is get her cup of coffee and then logon to check out what is new on our Dreamweaver Stencils Thursday Dream Scheme.  She said she just loved my "fireworks"! Well, I was more than a little embarrassed to have to tell her that post was from Saturday and that I had forgotten to do my post for today!  Oh well, that's life.
This week was a free theme so I wanted to share one of the great designs we did at our workshop a couple of weeks ago.  Our focus was working with Mercart metal and Dreamweaver Stencils.  Here's one of the pieces we created at the workshop:

We ran a piece of black metal through a Big Shot using the Bare Trees (LJ849) stencil (be sure the black side is toward the stencil). Turn the metal over and sand the black off the raised tree areas.  Apply a variety of colors of alcohol ink to the exposed silver area of the metal for a beautiful effect. Mount on coordinating papers and embellish. So easy, so pretty!
Hope you've enjoyed today's creation and will give it a try with one of  your stencils. Now check out the DREAM it UP! blog (which happens to be featuring this same stencil) and the other designers as well.
Happy Creating,
Louise

Fourth of July Blog Hop!

Welcome to our Fourth of July Blog Hop. You should have reached me from Kerry's blog, but if you've gotten lost along the way, no problem,  the complete list is below.
Here's what I came up with for you:

I thought for sure that I knew exactly where my Dreamweaver Stencils fireworks stencil (LJ886) was, but alas I could not find it! So I started flipping through my stencils to come up with something that would work and I found my Spider Mum (LJ892) stencil instead! I used painters tape to block off the areas of the stencil that I did not want to use, then positioned the two flowers at an angle on white paper. I carefully pasted one with the Glossy Red Embossing Paste, then the other with Glossy Blue Embossing Paste, removed the stencil and sprinkled red glitter on the red paste and blue glitter on the blue paste.  While those were drying, I cleaned and dried the stencil so it would be ready to use on the third "fireworks".  The background papers are from Rusty Pickle a couple of years ago.
After the paste was dry, I flipped the stencil to the opposite side I used the first time, taped off the areas I didn't need, and positioned just one mum as my other firework, again using Glossy Blue Paste and blue glitter. When that one was dry, I used Distress Inks (Antique Linen, Old Paper, and Fired Brick) to age the white background so it would blend better with my other papers. Put it all together and they really do look like fireworks! (OK, maybe you have to use a little imagination, or squint your eyes a bit, but I think they worked!). Don't forget to leave me a comment for a chance to win a prize. Then hop on over to Liz's blog for another great idea.

Stop by the following blogs for lots of inspiration, ideas, and fun!  Leave a comment on each by 6 pm EST Tuesday, July 5th for a chance to win some great prizes.  Winners will be drawn at random from the various blogs.  Here's the list:
 
Taylor -- http://taylorusry.blogspot.com
Cyndi -- http://scrappychickcyndi.blogspot.com
Alison -- http://alisonsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com
Berenice -- http://karbersweetescape.blogspot.com
Mary -- http://softangelkisses.blogspot.com
Janelle -- http://rainpuddlesdesign.blogspot.com
Erin -- http://stamptillucramp.blogspot.com
Maria -- http://riacreations.blogspot.com
Jennifer -- http://just4funcrafts.blogspot.com
Pam -- http://1pamperedstamper.blogspot.com
Angelique -- http://scrapping-angel.blogspot.com
Sandie -- http://sandieshores.blogspot.com
Wendy P -- http://paperinkandsmiles.blogspot.com
Suzi -- http://mrsweyremaster.blogspot.com
Kathy -- http://pixieduststudio.blogspot.com
Beth -- http://inkyfingersrule.blogspot.com
Wendy J -- http://papertherapy-wendy.blogspot.com
Kimme -- http://kimme-thelifeofaprincess.blogspot.com
Kerry -- http://kerryischilling.blogspot.com
Louise - http://www.artfullyarticulate.blogspot.com/
Liz -- http://www.blackcatsstudios.blogspot.com/
Laura - http://www.rememberinglifesmoments.blogspot.com
Hope you have a great weekend and enjoy the hop!
Happy Creating,
Louise

Thursday Dream Schemes

Well we got back from vacation on Sunday afternoon. Two weddings, a graduation party, and a week in hot and humid Florida visiting Mickey and friends all in 10 days!  You're right, that wasn't a vacation, but it sure was fun! Now back to designing.
This week's Dreamweaver Stencils Thursday Dream Scheme is a colorway challenge given to us by fellow team member Laura.  We had to use the colors purple and yellow as the main focus of our design. Here's what I came up with:

Simply dry emboss the Black Eyed Susan (LJ902) stencil using a machine or by hand on white paper. With the stencil over the embossed design, use small stencil brushes to add color to the design (I used Brilliance Yellow, Orange, Thyme, Ivy, and Chocolate). Mount on a dark purple mat, then on a larger yellow mat. Use foam tape to mount to a dark purple card front.  Add a yellow ribbon with a couple of additional ties and mount to the front of a card.  As you can see, it looks great either as a vertical card or a horizontal card, which ever you prefer.  As a finishing touch, I put glue in the centers of the flowers and sprinkled loose tea on the glue to give the flower centers dimension and texture.
Be sure to check out the other great purple and yellow designs created by the rest of the Design Team, and don't forget to stop over at the DREAM it UP! blog for more inspiration.
Several members of our design team will be participating in a Fourth of July blog hop starting on July 2nd, so be sure to check back for more great ideas and some prizes!
Happy Creating,
Louise

Thursday Dream Scheme

While you're browsing the great creations from this week's Dreamweaver Stencils Thursday Dream Scheme, I'll be visiting Minnie and Mickey and the wonderful land of Disney with my family!  This week is designer's choice so I decided to share one of my favorite older stencils, Dreamweaver's Dragon (LJ844). He makes up into fabulous cards for those dragon lovers you know (I have two sons who loved D&D, still do). Here he is done with the faux cloisonne technique:

To start, tape the dragon stencil to black paper and apply Yellow Matte Embossing Paste. Remove and clean the stencil and let the paste dry.  Place the clean, dry stencil back over the dry paste and use small stencil brushes and pigment inks to color the dragon. Remove the stencil and sprinkle Ultra-Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) over the image, heat carefully. Let the image cool, place the stencil back over the design and add more color where desired. Sprinkle with regular Embossing Powder and carefully heat set the whole image.  Mount on coordinating papers and embellish as desired.
Hope you enjoy this design too! Don't forget to stop over at the DREAM it UP! blog and then to the other designer's blogs for more great ideas.
Happy Creating,
Louise

Thursday Dream Scheme

Welcome to this week's Dreamweaver Stencils Dream Scheme Thursday challenge.  This week's sketch challenge was brought to us by fellow Dream Team member Deborah March.  Here's a copy of the sketch:

Here's my take on the sketch:

Cut a circle out of decorative paper and tape the Dreamweaver Dragonfly stencil (LM193) to the circle.  Apply black embossing paste over the stencil, remove and clean the stencil.  Let the paste dry about 10 or 15 minutes then use a soft paint brush to add Metallic F/X powders over the paste (I used Navajo Sky, Purple Satin, and Kiwi). Let dry completely, then use a Micron 03 black pen to add "veins" on the wings. Cut a slightly larger circle mat for behind the dragonfly and mount on coordinating papers.  Add a sentiment for the appropriate occasion and send it off to the lucky recipient!
Check out the other Dream Team member blogs and the DREAM it UP! blog for more great interpretations of this fun sketch.
Happy Creating,
Louise

Thursday Dream Schemes

Hard to believe but it's Thursday already! Time for our Dreamweaver Stencils Thursday Dream Scheme challenge of the week.  We have another designer's choice this week so I thought I'd share this sweet, summery little notecard with you.

It just has that hot summer day feel doesn't it. Try this easy technique while you enjoy some air conditioning on these 100 degree days, it very simple.  Tape your stencil (I used Dreamweaver's LL582 Mum crest stencil) to white paper and use small stencil brushes to add color to the design. I used a pretty heavy coat of Brilliance Rocket Red and Thyme for this.  Remove and clean the stencil then tape it back over the stenciled image and  put a coat of Translucent Embossing Paste over it. Remove the stencil and immediately sprinkle the wet paste with crystal glitter.  Set it aside to dry, then mount into a great notecard that you can use for any occasion. Try it, you'll like it!
Check out the DREAM it UP! blog and all the other great designs on the Dream Team blogs.  We love hearing from everyone and use the Mr. Linky on Lynell's blog to share your work with us.
Happy Creating,
Louise

Dream Scheme Thursday

Time for another Dreamweaver Stencils Dream Scheme Thursday.  This week's challenge is from Dream Team member Pam Hornschu and is a colorway challenge of Lavender and Gray.  There are many shades of these two colors so the possibilities are many! Here's what I've created this week:

This is very easy to do. Simply paste emboss the Peacock (LG730) stencil on lavender paper with the Metallic Silver Paste.  With the stencil still on the wet paste, sprinkle the peacock with Purple Satin Metallic F/X powder (FX14). Use a soft brush to VERY GENTLY brush the powder over the peacock image avoiding the flourish areas. Remove and clean the stencil and let the pasted image dry thoroughly.  Use a sort brush and a swifter cloth to remove excess powder from the image. Mount on grey and lavender layers and embellish with a ribbon.  This would be a great birthday, anniversary or wedding card.

Don't forget to stop over at the DREAM it UP! blog to see what Lynell came up with this week, then check out the other team member blogs too.

Happy Creating,
Louise