Going Traditional with Woodware UK...Maybe...

 This is a happy day for me. Last week I was invited to be part of the Woodware UK Design Team. If you are not familiar with Woodware, they are a distributor in the UK of craft labels predominantly found in the US. Fortunately for me, they carry a huge selection of both Stampendous and Dreamweaver Stencils' product lines. A couple of months back, the Woodware UK team collaborated with the Dreamweaver team on a blog hop. It was a great learning experience on both sides of the pond! Now I get to play with the WW team some more.
For my post today, the weekly challenge was for traditional Christmas. Now, if you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I normally do not do really traditional, but this card came close. The focal point of the card is the Holly & Swirls stencil from Dreamweaver Stencils, which I love, love, love! The panel was created at CHA Summer in Rosemont, Illinois, in July, as part of a demonstration I was doing in our booth of the double-glitter technique. Normally, our Dreamweaver Stencils' team sweetheart, Laura Drahozal, demonstrates this as she is the queen of the double-glitter technique, but that day we gave her a short break. The Double Glitter technique normally goes like this:

1) Cut piece of Double-sided Adhesive as desired. Remove carrier from one side and save.
2) Adhere adhesive to panel of cardstock (in this case, white). Remove the other carrier sheet.
3) Using Hawaiian Soap bar, cover back of stencil thoroughly*. Use a soft brush to remove any bits of soap from inside the image area. Place Holly & Swirls Stencil soap side down on your adhesive panel. Use saved carrier sheet (not your fingers) to press stencil into place.
4) Carefully pour the Stampendous Emerald Green Jewel Glitter over the leaf and stem areas** and use your carrier again to press and rub the glitter into the spaces for great coverage. Brush off excess glitter and save.
5) Carefully add Stampendous Red Jewel Glitter where the holly berries would be**, rub in, brush off excess. (Note: Be careful to brush away all excess glitter!)
6) Remove stencil from the adhesive panel (soap will wash off easily with water...because it's...soap!)
7) Pour Stampendous Multi Crystal Glitter to cover background areas. Rub in with carrier sheet, brush away excess and save.

So, you noticed that before the directions I had said that normally this was the process? However, this was one of those cases where the expression, "Mistakes are just opportunities for embellishment", is so true. If I had been more careful, I would have realized when I placed the stencil down, that there was still sticky area uncovered and just waiting for unintended glitter to migrate over there, which is what glitter does best. I should have masked off those areas with the carrier sheets, but I forgot. Now remember, I was demo-ing this process. Have to make it look good...what can I do? What any self-respecting paper crafter would do! I added more colors of glitter in those areas to appear intentional. In the end, I liked it better that way! But if you are a purist, follow all the directions. In my demo, I also showed how you can use the Dreamweaver Stencils' Picasso to mask off areas as you stencil various colors of Tsukineko's Splendor Circus ink pad to add shading and highlights to the glittered panel.
To complete the card, I cut around a couple of the leaves and pulled them up for dimension, before adhering the panel to my layered card. A Stampendous sticker sentiment, some yummy red rhinestones, and pretty sheer ruffled ribbon completes the card.

The Woodware UK Design Team posts six days a week on a revolving schedule, with challenges for each week. So be sure to check out the Woodware UK blog to visit the rest of their super-talented team!

*Soaping the stencil prevents the stencil from sticking permanently without leaving residue that glitter won't stick to.
**A trick for placing glitter where you want it is to cut a drinking straw at a sharp angle, and use this as your "spoon" to apply your glitter.