Woodware UK Goes to the Third Dimension

Come with the Woodware UK team to another dimension...a third dimension. No flat cards here, just opportunity to take your crafting a thicker, more substantial level. Yep. The challenge this week is to go 3D. My project features an unfinished wood frame on which I used the Stampendous Antique Embossing technique:

1) Paint the entire frame with black acrylic paint and let dry.
2) Stamp the Stampendous Cling Jumbo Rose with Versamark, and emboss with Deep Impressions Embossing Powder.
3) Paint two or three other colors of acrylic paint over the surface.
4) While paint is damp, use damp terry toweling and rub away paint from the embossed areas.
5) Apply Metallic Rub-ons for added sheen.

After this part was completed, I took Stampendous Damask Leaf Peel Offs, turned them over and applied Chocolate Latte Fun Flock to the adhesive side before adhering them to the frame. I stamped a sentiment on a banner die, coated it with Versamark, and embossed with the Deep Impressions powder. A beautiful satin rose, crinkled ribbon, and leaves trim, along with a vintage photo finish off this dimensional beauty.
Be sure to visit the Woodware UK blog daily to see what the team has been creating with the latest challenges.

Last Chance to Bling It On With Stampendous!

The Stampendous design team is finishing off the last week of the January "Bling it On!" challenge. My card is giving you a peek at some more new images being introduced this weekend at CHA in Anaheim, CA. The background Cling Calligraphy Sampler was stamped in London Fog Memento ink, and over-stamped with the Cling Medieval Unicorn. I added some shading and detail to the Unicorn with Copic markers before applying Versamarker to the collar and embossing in Aged Silver Embossing Enamel and adding the requisite bling...bright pink rhinestones. I used the same Calligraphy Sampler on the main card, added a stamped and embossed in Shabby Pink border to the card, over-lapping an EK Edger punched border embossed in Shabby Pink as well. Some layering, distressing, a ribbon and a Class A' Peel Damask Leaf embossed in Shabby Pink, finish off my slightly blinged out card.  You know you have to check out what the rest of the team has done to finish off this sparkly month, so here's the list:

Stampendous Impressions Blog

Cyndi Bundy

Wendy Jordan

Taylor Usry

Suzanne Czosek

Kristine Reynolds
Jennifer Dove

Pam Hornschu

Melinda Gleissner

Janelle Stolfus

 Remember, by playing along with the challenge by Feb. 1st, and linking your creation(s) to the link below, you have the opportunity to win this fabulous Perfectly Clear Cherub Wishes set:

Final Sneak Peek Before CHA

Today a few of us from the Dream Team will be helping Lynell and Jennifer set up the Dreamweaver Stencils' booth for CHA. So exciting! I can hardly wait to see what all the attendees think about the new stencil designs, and new products to use with them! I'll try to post pics as the show begins on Sunday. Meanwhile, here's another sneak peek for you, featuring the new Open Butterfly stencil. I machine embossed the design on a panel of black linen cardstock before inking the antennae and thorax of the butterfly with Versamark ink, and embossing in shiny silver embossing powder. I paper-pieced the wings with this subtle gray patterned paper, which I also used in the background of the card. Finally, I paste-embossed in black the Thank You Words stencil. Easy peasy! Now, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and visit the rest of the Dream Team blogs and the Dream It Up! blog for more sneak peeks!

Final Week of January Challenge and Day Four Sneak Peek!

Dreamweaver Stencils' sneak peek day four, and I'm going with an Asian influence today. I machine embossed the Art Nouveau Flourish on the Bazzill pink card. Then I used Versamark ink through the new Thank You and embossed with Stampendous Vintage Olive Tinsel EP. This EP matches quite well with the Sea Green Glitter background of the new Cherry Blossom Shape stencil which I used with the Double-glitter technique. To accomplish this simple technique, just follow a few easy steps:

1) Apply Double-sided Mounting Adhesive to a cardstock panel.
2) Rub Coconut Soap over the back of the Cherry Blossom Shape stencil. Brush away soap in the crevices. Place stencil on adhesive.
3) Apply green glitter to background, rubbing thoroughly into the adhesive. Brush away ALL excess glitter.
4) Carefully remove stencil (the soap helps with this).
5) Sprinkle pink glitter around edges of design. Pour Multi Crystal glitter to cover all existing adhesive areas, rubbing into the surface. Pour off excess.

Adhere the panel to the card. Embellish with a few rhinestones.

Be sure to check out the posts from the rest of the Dream Team this week:

Dream It Up! blog 

Laura Drahozal  

Louise Healy  

Wendy Jordan  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin

 Cyndi Bundy 

Cherylynn Moser 

Jessie Hurley

Don't forget...this is the last week of the January Valentine challenge! Be sure to post and link your creation(s) on the Dream It Up! blog with the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the page by midnight, Feb. 1st. We will select TWO winners of stencil prizes!

Woodware UK Works With Tempting Templates

Sometimes life hands you a challenge. You can freak out and run away, or you can push up your sleeves and tackle it head on. This week's Woodware UK challenge was like that for me. This week we were to work with Artemio's templates, and one that I was given was for a Mini Scrapbook. I have apparently become lazy in my crafting career, as I am so used to dies that cut every little thing for you, so I felt a bit like I was going back in time to the land of templates. This was not the templates fault...this was mine. In my head I made it much more difficult than it actually was. This template has a few cool aspects to it. First, you have a section to trace, cut out and fold that creates the accordion folded pages for your mini book. Secondly, you have a section that creates a folding cover with a tab and slot closure. Thirdly, you have a wide variety of areas to trace to create windows (like I used), triangles, and multiple-sized squares. All of these can be used for cutouts or for shaped photos to be placed in your mini book.  Once I traced, cut out, and folded my cover and one section for accordion folded pages out of the kraft cardstock, I stamped and colored with markers a white cardstock insert with the Stampendous Cling Tree Swing to fit behind the window. I folded that section in three and adhered it to the outside of the cover. The fold gave my window more dimension as well. Now for the insert. I cut two sections of the three-fold pages from denim and plaid papers and adhered them back-to-back. I stamped some fun images from the Stampendous Perfectly Clear Summer Tree Fun set, as well as the Stampendous Cling Instant Vacation with Onyx Versafine ink, and then added some pics of my kid from many moons ago. A little ink distressing around all the edges, a Striped String bow and WW Earth-toned button complete the project. The end result made me realize that templates CAN be tempting. They are less expensive to purchase, there are a huge variety of these Artemio designs to purchase, and they take up very little space in your art studio! Give them a try! To check out what the rest of the Woodware UK team has been up to with these templates, visit the blog HERE.

KEEP ON SCROLLIN'!

Looking for today's sneak peek from Dreamweaver Stencils? Scroll on down!

Gourmet Rubber Stamps New Diner's Club Release...It's Magical!

Wow! This has been a serious week of sneak peeks! Today's post features the latest Diner's Club set from Gourmet Rubber Stamps, "Abracadabra". Full of magical and vintage images, with a lucky sprinkle of leprechauns, pots o' gold, and rainbows, this set is a surprising variety of fun and imagination. My imagination took me off to visit Houdini and his magic show. With a little extra distressing...the poster, gentleman, top hat, tickets and sentiments take you back in time...back to a bygone era where there was less scientific data to destroy your illusions...POOF! You're there!
Check the rest of our team "chefs" to see what magic they've come up with. No hocus pocus, you can easily order your own Diner's Club set by clicking HERE!

Day Three Dreamweaver Stencils' Sneak Peeks...Yippee!

 Day three of the sneak peek-a-thon for Dreamweaver Stencils. Today's post features my favorite new stencil to be released at CHA next week...the Retro Cat Sitting (yes, this means that there is also a Retro Cat Standing). I paste-embossed him in black and covered it with Stampendous black glitter before adding glowing rhinestone eyes and a jumpring collar.. The background is the new Waves and Dots stencil, which also has a very retro feel. I machine-embossed it on white cardstock, and while the stencil was still in place, I placed drops of the new Color Solutions alcohol inks in Iceberg Blue and Citron through the stencil. The embossing prevents a small amount of the color from oozing under, but I was happy with the end effect...sort of mod sixties. I used the same stencil to machine emboss my "lamp base" for my retro lamp,  added a curved dimensional shade with pom pom trim, a pull chain, and black rhinestones for embellishment.

Wait until you see what the rest of the Dream Team have done with the new Retro Cats! Maybe you'll be lucky and someone else is posting with them today...go check! The team list is at right.

Dreamweaver Stencils' Sneak Peek Day Two

Today's the second day of the Dreamweaver Stencil's Dream Team sneak peek. My card today features the new Cherry Blossom Shape stencil...so gorgeous! The stencil is the shape of the flower, and the center can be embossed to highlight the beautiful design. I machine embossed it off the edge at the bottom of the red panel, which would be stunning all on its own. But I used the flower once again on the black panel. I used double-sided tape to adhere the stencil temporarily to the black panel. Then I used a palette knife to spread the Translucent Embossing Paste onto the stencil and across the center portion. Afterwards, I took a flat brush to brush the paste away and towards the outside edges of the black panel. Once dry, the brush lines mimic the lines of the center of the flower. Pretty cool, huh? I also paste-embossed in black the Hope symbol stencil, matted the panels and adhered the layers along with a simple black satin ribbon.
Remember, the whole Dream Team are posting their sneak peeks this week, so be sure to check out who is playing each day. You can find the list at right.

Sneak Peeks with the Dream Team!

I'm so excited! Today is the beginning of a big week! All this week the Dreamweaver Stencils' Dream Team will be posting sneak peeks of the latest designs to be released on Sunday, January 29th, at CHA in Anaheim, CA.

My first posting features the new Festive Thank You and the Big Dots background. The card was created by machine embossing the Big Dots background on the yummy purple cardstock and adhered to the black card. A black and gold layered frame was Nestie die cut, and run through to machine emboss the Big Dots once again. It's subtle, but it's there! The frame was popped up over the top of the Festive Thank You which also was machine embossed. To add the shine, I applied Versamark ink over the embossed areas through the stencil, and embossed it with Stampee Stuck on You bonding powder. I placed a piece of Stampee gold foil face up over the surface, I ran it through my hot laminator to get a perfect covering of the foil over the sentiment. A fluffy bow, a purple embossing powder coated embellishment pin, and the card is complete.

Be sure to check the rest of the team to see what they've been creating with the new designs. Then start attacking your local store owners to purchase these. Trust me...you'll want them all!

Stampendous Sneak Peeks with Bling

Back again for the third week in the Stampendous January challenge to "Bling it On!" This week's card features another sneak peek of a new Jumbo Cling image, Hollyhock. The image was stamped in black twice...once on this gorgeous American Crafts, "Garden Cafe", and the second on a subtle polka dot print from Pebbles. The designs were colored and shaded with Copic Markers. Flowers were cut from the second image and popped up with foam tape over the first for dimension. The bling portion of this card is the sparkly about to be released Stampendous Fresh Green Crushed Glass Glitter adhered into the centers of the blossoms. A stamped tag with ribbon to match are added for fun. Did you know that you can shrivel the ribbon with a light sweep of a heat tool for more texture? To look for more fun tips and inspiration, check out the rest of our stupendous team:

Stampendous Impressions Blog

Cyndi Bundy

Wendy Price

Wendy Jordan

Taylor Usry

Suzanne Czosek

Kristine Reynolds

Pam Hornschu

Melinda Gleissner

Jennifer Ingle

Steph Lee

Janelle Stolfus

Come play along for an opportunity to win this fabulous Perfectly Clear Cherub Wishes set:



Just post a link to your own blingified (technical term) creation to the Stampendous linky here:

This Week's Recipe Calls for Martinis!

 Almost forgot my post for this week's Gourmet Rubber Stamps' Weekly Recipe #17. You can see the sketch above. My version of it features the Murray's Law image, "Martini", one of the great lines from Gourmet Rubber Stamps. When you need that extra touch of humor, Murray's Law will add the spice to your weekly recipe. This 'ol gal has been stamped, paper pieced, and Copic colored. Best of all her boobs have been given a necessary lift with the help of a few foam dots. Wish that it was that easy for me! Lol. With all those martinis, she needs to make sure she gets plenty of the fruits/vegetables portion of the food pyramid, so her olives are ready for her...toothpicks and all. Play along with the sketch and post your own creation to the Gourmet Rubber Stamps Facebook page. To buy this fun image, and many more, head on over to the GRS site.

Dreamweaver Stencils' Post

Here for this week's Dreamweaver Stencils' post? Scroll on down...just don't leave drool along the way.

A Little Late But Very Cool

 Oops. This post was supposed to go live four hours ago. Posting for a UK team keeps confusing me. I even mark in on my calendar the actual date that I need to post to match it up with the UK time. Still missed it. Sigh. Well, anyway, my post today for Woodware UK is my answer to this week's challenge...Cool Cool Winter. To see what the rest of the UK team has created with this challenge, check out the Woodware UK blog HERE.

My card features Dreamweaver Stencils' new Ice Skates paste-embossed in silver on cool blue cardstock. The background card is a variation of the Double-Glitter technique. I placed Double-sided Adhesive on a white cardstock panel. Then I wipe the back of the Rolling Hills stencil with Coconut Soap and place it onto the adhesive panel. (The Coconut Soap aids in removing the stencil from the adhesive without bending the stencil.) I poured Stampendous Crystal Glitter over and exposed adhesive areas, rubbing the glitter into the adhesive with my finger was heavy sparkle. After carefully removing the stencil (do this by placing the panel face down and pulling the paper off the stencil), I covered the remaining adhesive with Stampendous Fun Flock in Cotton Ball White. The background was adhered to an icy blue textured card with sparkly ribbon tied around the center of the card. The Ice Skates panel was matted and popped up with Woodware Mini Mounting Squares. For final embellishment, I added a Dreamweaver Stencils' embellishment pin and a metal sentiment.