Stampendous Christmas in July: Peeking Pals Gift Card Holder

Elves, and reindeer, and penguins...oh my! No, you're not having heat hallucinations. It's Christmas in July! So while you are contemplating filling up your bathtub with ice cubes and parking yourself in there until October, take a gander at these cute little guys, ready and waiting to bring you holiday cheer. This fun gift card holder was created using the Stampendous Perfectly Clear "Snowy Short Stacks". This set reminds me of those books we had as children that were divided into thirds and you could mix and match the heads, bodies, and feet, to create something totally unique. I haven't gone that far with these little guys, but I do have them peeking over the top of a panel of cute plaid paper, with their little feet showing below. Behind the plaid panel is a slot to add a gift card, in this case for a barely-heard-of coffee chain, which makes the sentiment delightfully appropriate. Well, maybe not in July, but in December you'll agree with me. This set can be used in so many different ways to created so many fun projects for the holidays, so pick it up quick and get started. From now through the end of August, most of the Stampendous   design team are posting every Saturday, giving you wonderful inspiration for the upcoming holidays, as well as fabulous "Fran-tagey" creations with all the latest releases of images and accessories. Along with these posts, each of us are giving away blog candy. So hop around to all of these fabulously talented ladies and leave some sweet comments for your chance to win some sweet Stampendous images.

Cyndi

Wendy Jordan

Taylor

Lynn

Wendy Price

Want to see what you could win off of my post this week? It's my favorite Stampendous image right now...the Cling "Dragonfly Vine"! 

 AND

Cling "Dream Forever"

You've seen me post with these stamps a few times like HERE, HERE, and HERE! Leave me a comment between Saturday, July 30th and Friday, August 5th, 6 pm PT. Winner will be chosen at random. Hope it's YOU!

SSC1058 Perfectly Clear Snowy Short Stacks
Tuxedo Black Memento ink
Copic Sketch Markers
Pine Cone Press patterned paper
white cardstock
circle punch
red rick rack

Dreamweaver Talent Squared!

Team quilt from left to right:

Laura, Terrece, Kristi

Lee, ME, Kristi

Kim, Louise, Georgia

Can you say, "WOW"? My post today definitely epitomizes the word. Since this week is a "free" week for the Dreamweaver Stencils' Dream Team, I thought I'd show you just how talented our team is. Our own Kristi sneakily asked the team members if we would be interested in creating a stenciled quilt as a gift to Lynell, to which most of us answered with a most definite "YES". (A few members were not able to take part due to family emergencies, etc.) Here is the final result. Each of us were given a square of fabric to work with (praying that we wouldn't mess it up, lol.), and we let Kristi know which stencils we would be working with so there would be no repeats. I went with the sea stencils...Nautilus, Sea Horse, Scallop, Sand Dollar, Humu, and for the watery feel, the Mosaic Swirls. I used the set of Acrylic Paints, which provided me with eighteen colors to mix, match, color, shade, and highlight with. The process was as simple as stenciling on paper. I taped down each stencil where desired, first stenciling the Mosaic Swirls in the center. When dry, I added each of the other elements.
The paint dries quickly on the fabric. I had squirted several colors on a piece of wax paper to act as my "palette". I worked with three different sizes of the stencil brushes. Some of the areas were done in layers to build up color, shading, and highlights. When all was done except for the wavy border of Mosaic Swirls around the edge, I did one of those "necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention" type of things. I knew I wanted a wave pattern, so I taped several "Picasso" stencils together end to end to create a wavy pattern. This masked off the areas that I did not want to have the swirls and worked perfectly. When dry, I applied a clear adhesive line around the edge and sprinkled with clear tiny beads. For the Humu in the center, I sewed a few beads to mimic bubbles. To be honest, I was nervous about doing this quilt block...mainly I was afraid that I might mess it up and need another square, but it was really simple and so much fun. As a matter of fact, I plan on buying enough fabric and doing an entire quilt/hanging like this for my own home, with predominately the sea theme once again. Want to try this for yourself? Start small and do just one block to frame and hang in your home. I guarantee that it will be addictive! Send me a pic...I want to see your creation as well. Meanwhile, travel around to the rest of the team (listed at right) to see what they've been up to lately, as well as the Dream It Up! blog. Link your creation there as well.

Butterfly Beauties Fabulously Fran-taged!

      Last week in Chicago was the CHA Summer show (Craft & Hobby Association) which I had the opportunity to go again after a few years away. Aside from the ghastly record heat and humidity which I am totally unused to (living in the High Desert of California), I had a fabulous time seeing all the latest and greatest in the industry. I spent most of my time helping in the Dreamweaver Stencils' booth doing a fun Make It Take It (more on that in a later post), but of course, I had to make several visits to the Stampendous booth. Working with the fabulous team creating samples for the new catalog with all the new images and Fran-tage Elements, finally came to fruition in the booth. It was gorgeous! So many of our samples, along with those done by Tammie Wilson (she is amazing!) and the famed Fran Seiford, owner and Chief Artistic Officer of the company, were on display. It was just stunning to see.
      The card that I am posting today is one from the new catalog featuring the Perfectly Clear Butterfly Beauties with the Flourish Frames. These are not new images, just new ways to use them...they've been Fran'taged! The images were randomly stamped and embossed on the Bazzill Brandywine card. I brushed off-white acrylic paint over the surface before wiping with a damp paper towel to remove some of the paint from the embossed areas and edges. I stamped and embossed one of the Butterflies, as well as one Flourish with brand new Vintage Plum Embossing Tinsel. The butterfly was done on cork and Nestie-framed. A yummy, silky matching bow from Creative Impressions was the finishing touch. Be sure to visit the rest of the team as well as the Stampendous Impressions blog for more Fran-tag-y inspiration. Oh, and bonus...most of the team will be giving blog candy with their Saturday posts now through the end of August, including ME!

Dream Schemes Monochromatic Colorway-A Masculine View

I'm posting this for the Dream Schemes Thursday a week in advance as I will be at CHA Summer in Chicago when this will post. Just had to brag about that. Hee hee. I'm really looking forward to this trip. I haven't had the opportunity to go to the CHA in Chicago for a few years, and I've really missed it. What an opportunity to see all that is brand-spanking-new in the crafting industry, meet old crafty friends and make new crafty friends. Some of these crafty friends will include a few from the Dreamweaver design team as well. Now, speaking of brand new, this post is using two new stencils being released this week at CHA...the Houndstooth pattern which will be soooo cool for  backgrounds, and this amazingly cool Gears stencil. So, yeah, it's obviously aimed at more masculine paper-crafting, but really...I love it too! Because of the more masculine feel, and because this week's challenge is a Colorway featuring monochromatic, I kept this card in the fall earthy tones of brown. The card base is Core'dinations cardstock and was run through the Big Shot with the Stripes stencil in both ways to create a plaid...highlighted by the sanding of the embossed surface. The Houndstooth stencil was first paste-embossed with Metallic Copper paste on kraft cardstock. While this was drying (approx. 40 minutes), I ran two pieces of the Mercart copper placed face down on the Gears stencil on the base platten of the Big Shot. The rubber mat went next, with the two clear plattens on top. (Putting both plattens on top helps to protect the stencils from getting bent.) The embossed pieces were wrapped around chipboard squares. A couple shades of StazOn ink was sponged over the surface, the excess was wiped away with a paper towel and a little rubbing alcohol. These "tiles" became the focal point for my card. Okay, back to the Houndstooth panel. Once dry, I replaced the stencil over the panel, ink-stenciled the pasted areas with Versamark and embossed with Stampee Bonding powder. Then I immediately poured Chocolate Latte Fun Flock over all and ran the panel through my laminator. (Note: Place panel with the flocking on top between scrap paper to protect the machine.) We've been using the laminator lately to get a super stick with the Stampee foils that Dreamweaver will be carrying, so I thought it just might help to get a super thick coverage of flock as well. It worked! The Thanks sentiment was used for it's more masculine feel and was copper paste embossed and attached with a large orange eyelet.
So, while I'm away at CHA learning new things and sharing new things, I suggest you hop around to the rest of the team and see where they took the monochromatic theme this week. Then play along with us and link your creation on the Dream It Up! blog. Get ready for some fabulous new designs coming next week! You'll be in love!

Dream Forever...and Put a Bow On It!

My final posting for this week's collaboration between Stampendous and May Arts features one soon-to-be-released image, one new from January, and one older classic. The card base was a kraft Dotted Swiss cardstock stamped with the Cling Dream Text which is a classic staple everyone should have. Perfect for backgrounds! On top of the background, the Cling Rose Hips (available next week) was stamped. These same images were stamped once again on the Nestie Labels Four panel with the additon of the fairly new Dream Forever sentiment. In keeping with the mostly monochromatic color scheme I had going, I added the gorgeous May Arts Leaves trim once again, only this time in this gorgeous chocolate color. Rick rack was added down the side for texture, and a May Arts twill trim, stamped with the Rose Hips image, wrapped and tied with a natural twine and a button to finish it off. Kind of has a fall feel to it, which as we are heading into more hundred plus degree temperatures once again, I can really appreciate! Be sure to check out once again the May Arts blog, the Stampendous blog, and the team members who are playing along, and leave comments for opportunities to win some fabulous prizes! This has been a seriously fun and inspiring week!

Dreamweaver Sketch #8-Welcome Baby!

 For Dream Schemes Thursday, we have a sketch challenge as shown at left. I decided to keep it fairly simple and use designs that I haven't played with yet. I thought that I'd mimic the animal print of the giraffe on the Baby Bib by using Memories Mists with the Leopard Skin stencil. I highly recommend creating a spraying box from an old cardboard box for this process. Because the background stencil was smaller than the 5 1/2" square card base, it was necessary to tape and mask off the other areas while spraying in sections. The bib square panel was also misted but first was run through the Big Shot to emboss it first. I love yellow and aqua together (actually pretty much any color with aqua), so I used the Eyelet Squares dies from Nestabilities for the frame. Matching buttons complete the three items necessary to the sketch, and I had this cute epoxy sentiment sticker in my stash with touches of the yellow and aqua as well. All in all, a baby card for either gender, easy enough to create several of to have on hand. The Dreamweaver Stencil's team loves to post for your pleasure (as well as their own) each week, but we would REALLY love it if you would play along. Stenciling is not just your mother's old-fashioned way to decorate walls, it's come a long way, baby. Check out what the rest of the team has been creating this week, play along, and link your own unique take to the Mr. Linky on the Dream It Up! blog.

Dreamweaver Stencils:
LL309 Baby Bib
LJ819 Leopard Skin
MM01 Mango Lemonade Memories Mists

Royally Jazzed with Stampendous and May Arts

Have you been having as much fun with this May Arts/Stampendous week as we have? If you haven't had the opportunity yet, be sure to check out the links on the Stampendous blog to the May Arts team blog, as well as those of my teammates who have been playing along this week. Seriously, did you SEE Taylor and Wendy Price's cards from yesterday? And what about Cyndi's "Bird Post" card from Monday with all the fabulous new embossing powders creating such a wonderful texture and sheen? Oh, yes, and (blushing modestly), my own Vintage Rose frame posted on Monday? It is soooo easy to come up with fabulous creations when you are mixing any of the Stampendous images and accessories along with May Arts ribbons and trims. For today's post, I'm featuring two new images to be released July 15th...Cling Jumbo Baroque Bouquet and Cling Princess Crown. The crown was embossed in gorgeous new Fran-tage Aged Gold Embossing Enamel. There are several wonderful new embossing enamels, that are chunky and rich...designed to work wonderfully with all the new Fran-tage Collection. Since I was working with the crown, and there is no other more royal color than purple, I used this Solid Two Tone purple ribbon from May Arts. Such a gorgeous color with perfect draping abilities. A sprig of their Leaves trim was interspersed with dimensional flowers cut from the stamped images and a couple paper roses. (Hmmm...suddenly hearing Marie Osmond in my head...) Anyway...I used brads to hold the crown in place rounding it out from the card. Maybe a little tricky to mail, but so pretty, don't you think? I'll be back again on Friday with one more creation using Stampendous and May Arts, and tomorrow is Dreamweaver Stencil's Dream Scheme Thursday. Feel free to come check out both postings. Remember commenting on the Stampendous blogs and the May Arts blogs during this week offers you the opportunity to win some fabulous new products from both companies. And an added bonus, head over to Lynn's blog for an opportunity for some super blog candy.

Stampendous:
CRS5019 Cling Jumbo Baroque Bouquet
CRN239 Cling Princess Crown
FREG024 Fran-tage Aged Gold Embossing Enamel
VM001 Versamark Ink

Plus:
Sweet Plum Memento ink (Tsukineko)
Bazzill Velvet and Berry Pretty Dotted Swiss
AF47 Solid Two Tone ribbon (May Arts)
BY16 Leaves (May Arts)
rhinestone stickers, paper flowers, gold brads

Mixing It Up With May Arts and Stampendous!

Are you ready for an amazingly fun week? Stampendous and May Arts Ribbon are playing together this week. The May Arts team has been playing with Stampendous products, and the Stampendous team has been playing with the May Arts products. The result? Absolute fabulousness! Check the Stampendous blog all this week for posts and links to those who are playing along from both teams. As for me, I will be posting my creations today (duh), Wednesday, and Friday. Thursday will be my Dreamweaver post with the latest challenge. Today's post is a mixed bag of mixed media/home decor/dimensional fun...and I do mean fun. I had a blast with this. The frame was a cheap $1 wood frame from Michael's (amazing deal) with nice wide sides for lots of stamping goodness. I did the "Antique Embossing" technique of first painting the frame
black. When dry, I stamped and embossed with Deep Impressions Clear Embossing Powder the soon-to-be-released Cling Jumbo Rose with it's additional lovely scroll leaf and stem image. Then pink acrylic paint was brushed over the top and using a slightly damp paper towel, I rubbed the paint away from the embossed areas. To add texture, dimension, and shimmer, I sponged, daubed, rubbed, and spritzed various Distress Inks, Paint Daubers, and Color Wash from Ranger Inks. So easy, and really no right or wrong way to do this. Just let the mojo flow! I used a wonderful vintage photo of my 
mother which I stamped more soon-to-be-released images, Jumbo Cling Rose Hips, around the edges. To complete the frame, I added a sentiment banner covered in Crackle clear finish, several Class A' Peel Damask Leaves, and finally the piece de resistance...the fabulous May Arts ribbons. I love the crinkly look of the Solid Textured Crush for the bow. The wired edges make it so simple to tie a gorgeously full fluffy bow. Following one of the umpteen million (technical term) ribbon rose tutorials that can be found on the internet, I used the Solid Center Band Satin ribbon to create this two-toned rose. I wrapped their Leaves trim around the bow for the finishing touch. You seriously need to see and feel these ribbons and trims to believe how beautiful they are. Okay, so now is your opportunity to check out the blogs from both teams that are posting today. Check back with me again on Wednesday. Happy creating!

Stampendous:
CRS5006 Cling Jumbo Rose
CRS5022 Cling Jumbo Rose Hips
SSC1080 Perfectly Clear Scripty Stems
EG020 Deep Impressions Clear
VM001 Versamark Ink
AC990VB Damask Leaves

May Arts Ribbon:
XY12 Solid Center Band Satin
AW33 Solid Crush Textured Wired
BY16 Leaves

Plus:
Rich Cocoa Memento (Tsukineko)
Black StazOn (Tsukineko)
Walnut Distress Stain (Ranger)
Cranberry and Butterscotch Adirondack Color Wash (Ranger)
Metallic Gold Paint Dauber (Ranger)
Crackle Finish (Ranger)
wood frame (Michael's)
Coredinations cardstock
metallic gold cardstock
Nestabilities Ribbon Banners dies
sanding block

WERE YOU REEEEAAAALY HOT OVER THE WEEKEND? CHECK HERE:

 Winners of the Summer/4th of July Blog Hop have been chosen! If your name is on this list, please click HERE to receive info on getting your prize! We had a blast...hope you did, too!

 Jan Garber -  Stampendous Cling Jumbo flower and handle (will be chosen by Stampendous)

Crystal Irwin - Stampendous Cling Jumbo flower and handle (will be chosen by Stampendous)

LUV2SCRAP - Karber Digital Studios - 2 digis of your choice

Alison Heikkila - Dreamweavers Stencils prize pack

Chris - Ippity Kit, courtesy of Maria Levine (will be chosen by Maria)

Jan-Marie  - a muse studio catalog and stamp set of your choice ($12.99 or under), courtesy of Sunghee Chon

Jessica Diedrich - Stampendous Cling Jumbo flower and handle (will be chosen by Stampendous)

Mousekmom - Chi Chi Memories digi stamp set of your choice

Lillian Child - Ellie Loves the Beach stamp from Your Next Stamp

Martha (Sissy) Speed Ramey - Skipping Stones Design stamp set (of their choosing)

Jennifer Ingle - $20 gift certificate to Little Potato House, courtesy of Sunghee Chon

Rachel - Pixie Dust Studio - 2 digis of your choice

Corinne - SU Fast and Fabulous set, courtesy of Cindy Coutts and Christian Paper Crafts

Thanks so much for all of the wonderful comments on all of the blog hop stops!!!

Dreaming of My Grandmother's Aprons

 Wow. I almost totally forgot my post for this week's Dreamweaver Stencils' Dream Scheme Thursday. Somehow I thought it was still Tuesday. Speaking of living in the past, as I was scrambling to find a sample to use for this post, I remembered this cute old-fashioned, vintage-inspired version of the Apron stencil which was released in March. I love this apron. So versatile and so much fun to decorate. Reminds me of playing paper dolls as a child. (Yes, I am THAT old!) This version reminds me of my grandmother. She loved to cook and bake, and always had a collection of the most fun aprons. Her absolute favorite color was always aqua. The walls in her living room were aqua. The cabinets in her kitchen were aqua. The funny thing is, guess what my favorite color is now? Yep. Aqua. For this apron, I paper-pieced this using yummy October Afternoon papers in coordinating prints. So easy to do. Just place the Apron stencil over the areas you want and trace inside with a pencil, cut out and adhere. For a little added depth, I had run the main panel through the Big Shot with the stencil and adhered the piecings over the top of the embossed areas. A little distressing with a sanding block and inks, some paper piercing, a cute sentiment from Lizzie Anne Designs, and a lot of layering complete the vintage feel of this card. Now go check out what the rest of the team has been up to for this free week, play along and provide us with a link to your creation.  Happy stenciling!

LG736 Apron from Dreamweaver Stencils
Rich Cocoa Ink from Tsukineko
"Time for a Cuppa" from Lizzie Anne Designs
patterned paper from October Afternoon
ivory cardstock
brad fasteners from American Crafts
tag punch
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

ARE YOU HOT, HOT, HOT? THEN HOP, HOP, HOP!

Nothing is more cool than a blog hop, especially one organized by the fabulous Taylor Usry and Cyndi Bundy! At this stage in the Summer/4th of July Hop, you must need a little refreshment and cooling off. Especially if you've just come from Jenn's blog. That is one HOT designer and a hard act to follow, but I'll try my best! Lol. My first chilly card is featuring Stampendous images for the summer. The Ice Pop was created using the Painting with Powder technique. For more info, click HERE. The Yummy 4th sentiment was paper-pieced for added pop.  I kept it simple with kraft cardstock, fun colorful paper, and pompom trim. (Visit the Stampendous Impressions blog for more inspiration.)

My second card is featuring Dreamweaver Stencils, techniques, and products. I went with a summer beach theme for this card. I sludge-pasted the Mosaic Swirls over the card base with a mix of three shades of paste.  (Info HERE) This same sludge was used to stencil the Celebrate and Summer sentiments. I used the kraft cardstock as the sandy shore and ran the cardstock panel through the Big Shot with the Baby Feet stencil and chose to use the back or debossed side. I swiped Rich Cocoa ink over the panel to highlight the debossed image. Shells and sea glass were tucked into white tulle and looped through holes on the side to hold in place. (Visit the Dream It Up! blog for more inspiration.)

So, now is your opportunity to leave some love and hop on to the next in line, Angelique. Here is a list of the prizes YOU have a chance to win just by hitting all the blogs along the way and leaving comments by 6 pm EST on Tuesday, July 5th. The winners will be selected by random from comments and posted on Taylor's blog Friday, July 8th.

Prizes:

Stampendous

(3) prizes of one Jumbo Flower image plus a Jumbo Handle

Chi Chi Memories

(1) prize of Digital Stamp set of choice

Pixie Dust Studio

(1) prize of two Digi Images of choice

Dreamweaver Stencils

(1) prize package of two summer themed stencils plus brush

Karber Digital Studio

(1) prize of two Digi images of choice

Maria Levine

(1) Ippity Kit

Skipping Stones Designs

(1) Stamp set

Cindy Coutts/Christian Paper Crafts

(1) Stampin' Up "Fast and Fabulous" set

(US resident only)

Sunghee Chon

(1) $20 Gift Certificate to Little Potato House Template Shop

Karen/Your Next Stamp

 (1) Stamp Image: "Ellie Loves the Beach"

Just in case you've missed a spot along the way, here's the list of participating blogs:

Taylor 

Cyndi 

Lynn 

Patricia 

Alison 

Berenice

Erica 

Mary

Janelle 

Erin 

Maria

Jennifer D

Pam (YOU'RE HERE!)

Angelique 

Sandie 

Wendy P 

Suzi 

Kathy 

Beth 

Wendy J

Kerry 

Louise 

Liz

Laura 

Lee 

Jennifer I 

Krissy 

Sunghee 

Cindy