Vintage Christmas

Welcome to this week's Dream Scheme Thursday sponsored by Dreamweaver Stencils. This week we were given the challenge of using a specific sketch with a Vintage Christmas theme. Sounded easy enough right? Ha, there's a reason they call them challenges! Although I had several ideas for Vintage Christmas, they did not fit the sketch challenge very well. But I have to say, I'm pretty happy with what I finally designed.
The sketch looked like this:

Here's my version of Vintage Christmas using the sketch (well, all the elements of the sketch anyway!):

I started by taping the vertical ornament stencil (LL468) to white cardstock and applying Glossy Red Embossing Paste. After removing the stencil I sprinkled Crystal glitter on three ornaments, and Metallic FX Kimono Red on three, then set those aside to dry.
The Long Merry Christmas (LL557) stencil was paste embossed using Metallic Gold Embossing Paste and set aside to dry.
I wanted to have some small holly leaves at the tops of the ornaments so I used the new Color Solution Alcohol Inks (Pine Bough, Citron, Gold Star) on a piece of felt along with a few drops of cleaning solution and pounced it over vellum. It dries pretty fast so I was able to keep creating by laying the 3 Xmas icons stencil (LL469) on the now green vellum and use an Extra Fine Black Sharpie to trace the small holly leaves several times. Cut them all apart, but put them in a little container until you're ready for them or they magically disappear!
By this point my pasted images were dry and ready to assemble. Buff the ornaments that had the FX powder on them to get the excess off, then cut the ornaments out to get three sets. I used a gold Krylon pen on the edges and the "caps" of the ornaments. The gold stripe paper behind the ornaments was left over from a previous project using Memories Mist Gold on the Plaid maker stencil (LX 7002).
To assemble, cut three pieces of striped paper and three black mats for behind them. Attach two ornaments to each striped piece using foam mounting tape behind the ornaments. Place another piece of foam mounting tape at the top and apply a group of holly leaves in a cluster (you may need to use some additional adhesive once the foam is covered. Attach a small red bow to each as a finishing touch. Mount the three sets of ornaments toward the left side of the card (5" x 7") staggering them slightly. Cut apart the Merry Christmas leaving the holly attached to each piece. Use a COPIC marker to color the holly and berries. Mount the words on black cardstock with foam mounting tape, and trim around the image leaving a small black border all the way around. Add additional holly leaves between the words to cover the black. Use red stickles for berries. Adhere it on the right side of the card. There you have it -- Vintage Christmas.
I hope you have time to check out all the team blogs for more beautiful samples of Vintage Christmas using Dreamweaver Stencils great products. Be sure to check out the DREAM it UP! blog too, and play along with the fun if you can.
Happy Creating,
Louise

Dream Scheme Thursday

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas...no snow yet, but decorations are up, presents are almost all purchased, parties have begun...I just love the Christmas season, it is so inspiring.
Today's Dreamweaver Stencils Dream Scheme Thursday challenge is designer's choice (a free week). Like almost everyone in the crafting industry, I love to follow Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas blogs, and yesterday's tag (Day 7 click here to see it) was my inspiration for my post today. Sharing concepts is what blogging is all about, and then creating your interpretation of the concept. Sounds complicated, but it really isn't!
Today's post isn't for the faint hearted, this one was a little work, but I love how it turned out.

Supplies: Dreamweaver Glossy Black Embossing Paste, Dreamweaver Glossy Green Embossing Paste, Dreamweaver Stencils LJ863 & LM254, LJ896 & LM134, LL3005, Stampers Anonymous TH Joyful Song CMS119, Dreamweaver Metallic F/X Gold Dust, Palette Stamp & Stick, Xmas Red Stickles, VersaFine Onyx Black ink, Distress Ink Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, 1/2" stencil brushes, cream cardstock, dark green cardstock, blending foam, finger dauber

Here we go:

• Cut a piece of cream cardstock 5" x 7"
• Lay the Swirls stencil (LJ863) along two edges, and use a 1/2" stencil brush and Tea dye ink to color the image
• Move the stencil, matching up the design, and continue adding color until the swirls fill the card
• Clean and dry the swirls stencil
• Randomly stamp the music image from the Joyful Song set using Versafine Onyx Black ink
• Tape the angel with dove stencil (LM254) in the upper right corner and emboss using Glossy Black Embossing Paste (tape off the dove so it does not get pasted)
• Remove and clean the angel stencil, and let the angel dry
• Power paste the Holly and swirls stencil (LL3005) on dark green cardstock with Glossy Green Embossing Paste three times so you'll end up with nine holly leaves
• Remove and clean the holly stencil after the last pasting
• Set the holly aside to dry
• Tape the Large flourish stencil (LJ896) to a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of cream cardstock and stencil with a 1/2" brush using the black ink
• Remove and clean the flourish stencil
• Tape the Merry Christmas stencil (LM134) toward the lower right side of the flourish
• Apply Glossy Black Embossing Paste to the Merry Christmas
• Remove and clean the stencil, let image dry well
• When the angel is dry, use blending foam and Distress Ink vintage photo to rouge deeper color around the edge of the card
• Apply Stamp and Stick to the angel using a finger dauber
• Let the glue sit for a minute to get tacky, then use your finger to rub a little Gold Dust FX powder on the angel
• Add a star charm in the upper left corner
• When the holly are all dry, cut out all the leaves so you have nine individual holly leaves
• Apply Stamp and Stick to each leaf and let sit until tacky
• Apply Gold Dust FX powder to each leaf using your finger to spread it around
• Cut around the flourish and Merry Christmas to form an interesting shape, making sure it will fit the card front
• Use the blending foam and Distress Ink vintage photo to add color around the edge of the design
• Determine the placement of the saying and holly leaves before attaching them
• Use foam mounting tape behind the Merry Christmas to add some dimension
• Adhere the holly leaves around, using double sided tape, or tacky glue
• Adhere the design to the front of an A7 card
• Apply your "berries" using the Xmas Red Stickles, let dry well

I hope you enjoyed my interpretation of Tim's Day 7 tag and that it will inspire you to apply any techniques you learn to your stencils.  They truly are so versatile.
Don't forget to check out the DREAM it UP! blog to see what Lynell has dreamed up this week, and the rest of the team too!
Happy Creating,
Louise

Dream Scheme Thursday

Well, the countdown to Christmas officially starts today! Only 23 shopping days left to find all the right things that you know they'll love. I love giving presents to family and friends, I even love giving presents to people I barely know, it just makes me happy to make someones day.  Needless to say, I tend to go a little overboard at Christmas, but someone has to keep the economy moving!
This week the Dreamweaver Stencil design team was given a colorway challenge for our Dream Scheme Thursday. We had to use silver and turquoise with the stencils and supplies of our choice. With Christmas right around the corner, I decided to make a quick and easy card that would be easy to make in larger quantities.. Here's what I created for this week's challenge:

This was created using the Gothic snowflake stencil (LL396) and the double glitter technique. The simple version is: soap the back of the stencil brushing away any flakes of soap in the openings; apply a square of double sided mounting paper to a larger square of silver mirror paper; remove the release paper from the mounting paper and place the stencil soap side down onto the sticky surface; tap the stencil in place especially along all of the small bridges; apply ultrafine opaque silver glitter, pressing it down with a piece of the release paper; tap off the excess glitter then use a brush to clean any glitter on the stencil; turn the stencil face down on a clean paper towel and gently pull the paper off the stencil (be sure to hold the stencil flat with your free hand); apply ultrafine opaque Ice glitter to the background, pressing down firmly with release paper; tap off all excess. The image is very pretty at this point, and you could stop there and mount it onto a card, but it wasn't popping as much as I wanted, so I place the stencil back over the glittered image, taped the edges, and applied Dreamweaver Metallic Silver Embossing Paste over the snowflake, removed the stencil and sprinkled the wet paste with the silver glitter again. This gave it a little more dimension. Here's a close up of the finished image:

Glitter is hard to photograph, but I hope you can see what I'm talking about! While the silver paste was drying, I put glue on a white 3" embellishment pin from Dreamweaver and sprinkled it with the same Ice glitter that is in the background of the snowflake. You only need a thin coat of glue to hold the glitter and it dries in just a couple of minutes. I made a square card from silver mirror cardstock, added a layer of beautiful Hanko washi cardstock (Seafoam, but I think it is pretty "turquoisy"!). When the snowflake was dry, I mounted it to the front of the card with foam tape, added a silver bow and the glittered pin for a beautiful holiday card, or even a winter birthday card. One last thing, I put a turquoise gem in the center of the snowflake as a finishing touch.
Hope you've enjoyed this week's design. For more great Silver and Turquoise creations, stop over at the DREAM it UP! blog and the rest of the team blogs listed at the side.
Happy Creating (and shopping!),
Louise

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I know that I have a lot to be thankful for this year. My kids, my wonderfully supportive husband, family and great friends to name just a few. Every day I remind myself not to complain because I don't have anything to complain about when I hear and see what others around me are going through. Today I am with family and friends enjoying good company and good food, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, relax and enjoy it because Friday starts the mad rush to Christmas!
This week's Dream Scheme Thursday, sponsored by Dreamweaver Stencils, has a "Thanksgiving Day" theme (no big surprise there!). Here is the card I sent to family and friends this year:

Luckily, I still had a couple of jars of Dreamweaver Matte Orange Embossing Paste left in my stash, but even if you don't, it is simple to mix the yellow and a little red embossing paste to make a lovely shade of orange. The stencil is LJ832 Cornucopia from Dreamweaver Stencils.  To create the pasted image, use removable tape to tape the stencil to cream colored cardstock, then use the new paste spreader (LM2010) to apply the orange paste. Remove and clean the stencil. Let the paste dry for about 10 minutes before using a small, soft brush to apply Metallic FX powders to parts of the design.They give a little shimmer to the image and just a soft touch of color to set off the pumpkins. The cornucopia is layered on two pieces of kraft cardstock that were sprayed with Memories Mist Iridescent Spray (MM28) to give it a matching shimmer. Layer the image onto an orange cardstock embellished with some green ribbon, attach it all to a 5" x 7" base card that has a nice saying stamped inside and it's complete!
If you love working with stencils too, or have always wanted to work more with them, think about joining our Dreamweaver Stencils design team. It is challenging and fun, and you get to work with all the great Dreamweaver products! If you'd like to know the details about joining our team click HERE. It is a wonderful, supportive group who love sharing ideas with whoever will listen! Good luck.
I hope you have time to hop over to the DREAM it UP! blog for more inspiration, then on to all the other designer's blogs too.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Louise

Thursday Dream Scheme

The air was crisp and cold today, winter is defiantly creeping up on us. But the sun was bright and still warm, trying to hold winter at bay just a little bit longer! Thanksgiving is only a week away, then before we know it Christmas is here! So much to do, so little time...but somehow it all works out.
This week's Dreamweaver Stencils Thursday Dream Scheme is a sketch challenge created by fellow team member Wendy Jordan. Here's what she came up with for us:

This is what I created from the sketch:

The small fern frond stencil (LM2006) is so beautiful and creates a peaceful focal point for your card. For this one I used Glossy Green Embossing Paste on kraft cardstock. When it was almost dry, I gently brushed Metallic F/X Amber Glow (FX02) over the frond. When completely dry, I tore the edges around the design. The other two layers of kraft cardstock were sprayed with Memories Mist Iridescent spray to create a shimmer to match the shimmer of the FX powder. The three brads are antique paper fasteners I found on one of my journeys, I only found three boxes so I rarely use them because I really like them! Do you have things like that, you buy them because you like them, but then you can't make yourself use them because you don't want them to be gone! I have a whole room full of things like that!

Be sure to check out the creations at the other designer's blogs, as well as the DREAM it UP! blog for more inspiration.
Happy Creating,
Louise

Thursday Dream Scheme

Welcome to another Dreamweaver Stencils Thursday Dream Scheme! If this is your first visit, thanks for joining us! Every Thursday the Dreamweaver Design Team posts creations using the beautiful products from Dreamweaver Stencils. Sometimes we are given a challenge (usually either sketch challenges or color challenges), and sometimes we are free to create whatever we choose. This week is a free design week, so be sure to check out all the wonderful ideas from the whole team.
Lynell recently released some beautiful new stencils that are 6" x 6" and were inspired by Hawaiian quilt patterns. Check them all out by clicking on this link. Aren't they fabulous! This week I am sharing with you a piece of framed art that I created using the Torch Ginger (LX7008) stencil.

The technique was simple. Tape the stencil to a piece of white linen cardstock (6" x 6"). Use stencil brushes, the Picasso (LL332), and Brilliance Inks to color the design. Remove the stencil, clean and dry it, then tape it back over the colored image.  Apply Dreamweaver Translucent Embossing Paste (DEPT) over the image using the Paste Spreader (LM2010). This new tool is just perfect for these large stencils! Remove the stencil, clean and dry it, always making sure you keep your stencil flat while you wash and dry it. While the paste was drying, I cut my other layers: a small black layer to edge my design (6 1/4" x 6 1/4"); a lighter green layer to compliment the image (7 1/4" x 7 1/4"); another small layer of black (7 1/2" x 7 1/2"); a dark green layer (8 1/2" x 8 1/2"); and a final layer of black (8 3/4" x 8 3/4"). The white mat around the image came with the black frame (10" x 10"), so I used it as my final layer. I removed the glass from the frame before adding my artwork (the translucent paste will protect the image). This could be a great gift for those quilters in your life (or just for you!).

My schedule for the next few weeks is:
Saturday, November 12, 2011 - 1:00 pm Stampology Chicago - Dreamweaver Class
Thursday, December 1, 2011 - 6:30 pm The Cottage Stamper - Dreamweaver Class
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - 12:30 pm and 6:00 pm The Cottage Stamper - Christmas Mirror
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 - 12:30 pm The Cottage Stamper - Dreamweaver Class (repeat of 12/1)

Hope to see you in a class if you are in the area.
Now head over to the DREAM it UP! blog for more inspiration, then off to the other team members to see what they came up with this week!
Happy Creating,
Louise

Thursday Dream Scheme

WOW! It's hard to believe it's November already. The weather here has been incredibly mild and sunny, which has been just delightful, but it really makes you wonder what's in store for winter! Hope everyone in the northeast is surviving the snow storm and that your electricity is back!
This week's Dreamweaver Stencils Thursday Dream Scheme challenge came to us from fellow team member Deborah March. We were given a colorway this week to use black and white.  I knew right away the look I wanted to create, then it was a matter of finding just the right stencil. Here's what I came up with this week:

Glossy Black and Glossy White Embossing Pastes were the obvious choice for my project, and the Crested Mum stencil (LL582) worked out great for the focal point image. Simply paste emboss the image on a square piece of black cardstock using the Glossy White EP, then on a square piece of white cardstock using the Glossy Black EP. When both images are completely dry cut each image in quarters, but try to make sure you cut both colors the same way. Cut two black and two white squares that are 1/4" larger than the image pieces. Adhere each piece of the Crested Mum to the opposite color matte, aligning the image so only two sides have a border. Tape them down to a slightly larger square white cardstock, then trim each side to even them all up. Go around the edge with a black marker. Emboss two pieces of white cardstock through a die cut machine using the Herringbone stencil (LJ914). Trim along one side of each Herringbone image to fit the front of a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" card.  Use black ribbon to cover the seam. Cut a black and a white square mat to center on the card, then use foam tape to mount the Crested Mum to the center of the card.  This technique actually gives you the images for two cards, which is always great.
Black and white images are so crisp and clean, and great for many occasions. Be sure to check out more black and white ideas at the DREAM it UP! blog and at the other team member blogs. Take special note of Lynell's posting for new Dream Team Members, click here to go directly to that post for all the info on how to join this great team.
Here's another sample using the same technique, but only cutting the images in half:

I'll be teaching at Stampology Chicago on Saturday, November 12th. Click here to see the samples and class information.
Happy Creating,
Louise