The Art of Resisting Iresistible Ink!

Today is a Twofer post...two team posts in one...double the fun! All of the month of September, the Dream Team have been playing with ink and our wonderful stencil designs. This week for the Woodware UK team, our challenge is to create with a resist technique.

This card features one of my favorite creative techniques...mixing stencils and stamps. I stamped the Stampendous Cling Follow Your Art image on a white cardstock panel with Versamark ink, and embossed in clear. Then I had fun with several of the Dreamweaver Memories Mists inks...Mango Lemonade, Pink Lemonade, Strawberry Daiquiri, and Diet Cola. The Open Heart stencil was placed on before some spritzing with ink and water, and allowed to drip dry. The stencil was removed, and the Jigsaw stencil placed over the panel and spritzed with Mango Lemonade and Pink Lemonade. Then I replaced the heart once again, placed the Hexagons over partially, and spritzed with Diet cola. This same ink was sprayed thoroughly through the same stencil on the orange card at the bottom. I used a paper towel to wipe away the ink from the embossed area. The embossing enamel makes a perfect resist. The remainder of the card was completed by layering and adding a beautiful May Arts ribbon bow.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Woodware UK team posts...they are sure to be "irresistible"! And here's the list of the Dream Team that are playing today:

Dream It Up!   

Laura Drahozal
Cherylynn Moser 

Louise Healy
Wendy Jordan 

Cyndi Bundy  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg

Liz Martin

Remember to play along with both team's challenges for opportunities to win some great prizes. Woodware UK has a monthly sketch challenge to play along with. The Dream It Up! blog provides the opportunity to link your inky creations, or to email your pics to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com for a chance to win the stencil of your choice! Winners will be selected and announced along with the next challenge on the Dream It Up! blog next week. It could be YOU!

Fall Colors Feed My Soul

I just got back from a wonderful whirlwind trip to Minnesota for Scrapfest at Mall of America, a short but wonderful visit with my uncle and cousins, and a gorgeous drive down to the southern portion of the state to visit friends and see my grandparents old home. Most of the week that I was there, the weather was cooler, and frosty during the night, which meant that the leaves were beginning to turn color along my drive. I followed the Great River Road, which follows along down the Mississippi River, and was enthralled by the colors...greens and vibrant yellows, with a healthy sprinkling of oranges and reds in the maple trees. So beautiful that it feeds your soul.

My post for Woodware UK this week celebrates the beginning of fall with the color combo of orange and brown. I did this card as a triptych of brown cardstock panels, paste-embossed in gold with the Dreamweaver Maple Branch stencil, and a heavy sprinkling of Stampendous glitters...Emerald, Red, and Gold Ultra Fine Jewel, and a few of the glitters from their Field & Forest Fringe Benefits Kit. I used a thoughtful sentiment from the Stampendous Perfectly Clear Sincere Sentiments set, stamped with Vintage Sepia Versafine ink. A looped and tied metallic baker's twine from Hemptique was the final touch.

Be sure to go to the Woodware UK blog as well as the team blogs for more fabulous fall inspiration!

Getting Inky...Again

Once again, the Dream Team is "Getting Inky with Stencils", for the whole month of September. My post today features the new Jumbo Birthday stencil. Another great open stencil full of possibilities. You can stencil other patterns in it. You can paper-piece it. You could Zentangle inside the large letters. Decisions. Decision. I chose to do something completely different.

On a white cardstock panel, I used various shades of markers and just swiped them across and down to create a plaid pattern. Then I inked up the back side of my Jumbo Birthday stencil with ColorBox Black Pigment ink, placed it on the base plate of my Big Shot with the plaid panel face down on top. Added the rubber embossing mat, and TWO non-warped clear plates on top, and ran the whole sandwich through the machine. This transferred the ink over the panel, as well as embossed the panel to make it stand out some more. I covered the ink with Midnight Black Embossing Enamel and applied my heat tool. Granted there is some amount of transparency that allows a bit of the plaid to show through the black, but the effect was more cool than you can really tell in the photo as it ended up speckled. I added a fun punched border, strung some matching buttons, and added ribbon scraps. In the end...a very fun birthday card.

Remember, just by playing along with the team getting inky with your stencils, you can link your creations to the Dream It Up! blog, or email pics to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com, for an opportunity to win whichever stencil that your little heart desires! Yep. It's free choice for the two winners this month.

The girls have some more inky tricks up their sleeve this week...go check them out and leave some love (Me, too! Me, too!):

Dream It Up!   

Laura Drahozal
Cherylynn Moser 

Louise Healy
Wendy Jordan 

Cyndi Bundy  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg

Liz Martin

Fall into Fall with Flair: Cherish Family Frame

 

The Super Novas at Paper Craft Planet are playing with new toys this week...specifically Zva Creative embellishments. These are the perfect elements to take any project from a card to home decor to the next level. We are especially excited to show how well their new colors work with our "Fall into Fall with Flair" theme!

For this frame, I used a plethora of Ranger Distress Stains on the unfinished base frame (purchased at Michael's for $1), and then embossed the new Stampendous Cling Decorative Grate with Aged Green Embossing Enamel over the surface.


To add to the fall theme, I copper paste-embossed the Dreamweaver Stencils' Maple Branch on the frame, and sprinkled with a few shades of Metallic F/X, also from Dreamweaver. Using the new DW Molten Magic technique, I applied my heat tool over the surface until all of the pasted leaves were bubbling up. Once cooled, I pressed with my fingertips to get just the texture that I wanted.

I attempted to ink stencil the Maple Branch on the ivory watercolor paper to match where the leaves left off on the frame. I stamped and embossed in Aged Wine Embossing Enamel the new Stampendous Cling Cherish Family sentiment.

At this point, my frame was pretty, but still needed that something...extra. Just a touch of bling. Zva Creative was just what the frame needed. I used the Champagne/Chocolate Flourish. I did add a touch of purple Sharpie on the few of the champagne colored crystals to go with the violet mica powders on the leaves. I added the smaller Chocolate Crystal Flourishes to the framed panel in the center. Oh, yeah. This is what I'm talking about...love those Flourishes!

Zva Creative produces many beautiful color groupings of high quality pearls, flowers and crystal embellishments that can be used on scrapbooking, card making and mixed media projects. Visit Zva’s gallery or blog for great project ideas and to find a list of stores and online retailers that sell Zva click HERE.

Want to win some Zva Creative  goodies of your own?  You can win the product featured here by leaving a comment on the Paper Craft Planet post, and we will pick one lucky winner at the end of the week. 

It's Crystal Clear...Handmade is Best!

 
Everyone loves getting those special gifts that someone made just for you. You know that the giver spent time thinking about you during the creative process, and these gifts, while often less expensive than their store bought brethren, are cherished forever by the recipients. The Stampendous Design Team is making gifts by hand this year, and they're forging those special ties with their loved ones this season. Each day this week we'll bring you some clever and creative ideas for making some of your own gifts this year.

For my post today, I created a beautiful crystal pendant tucked into a decorated clear tube that can double as an ornament to hang on the tree. I used the Perfectly Clear Kiddo Snow Globe for this project. I stamped two of the snowflake images with Bahama Blue Memento ink on tissue, and decoupaged these onto the back of a Connie Crystal pendant, and around the clear tube, using Beacon Adhesives Fast Finish Decoupage medium. I work with this product all the time. It is thin, dries perfectly clear, adheres to everything, and dries fast! I've found that if I brush a coat on the surface and pour Stampendous Multi Crystal UF glitter over it, it will dry in a few minutes so that I can brush on another coat and apply the stamped tissue over the surface. The result is a subtle sparkle that can't be rubbed off.

I wanted the snowflakes to show through the crystal, so I added a coat of Versamark ink on the back of the pendant, and embossed with Shabby Blue Embossing Enamel. This provided a pretty solid background for the snowflakes to contrast off of. I embossed with more of this on a torn strip of tissue and applied that to the tube at the bottom with the Fast Finish.

The pendant was strung on tinsel cording along with crystal snowflakes, silver beads, and a silver heart charm. All of these can be found at your local craft store. I was able to dangle it within the tube with the cording trapped by the lid. Then the cord could become the hanger for the ornament. I stamped, embossed, and layered an acetate tag with the "sparkly sentiment" from the same clear set, and some extra frou-frous for embellishment finished off this gift.

We hope we inspire and delight you with these ideas.  And of course there will be prizes!! Be sure to visit the blogs we list each day and comment on each one! For those you may have missed through the week, start back at the beginning with the Monday post on the Stampendous Impressions! blog. We'll be drawing for some of our favorite stamps for gift giving! Here's the players for today:

Cyndi Bundy

Janelle Stollfus

Jennifer Ingle

Krissy Fossmeyer

Kristine Reynolds

Melinda Gleissner

Pam Hornschu (you're here!)

Tenia Nelson

Wendy Jordan

Wendy Price

Color Solutions Inks Just Make My Heart All a Flutter!

I love a challenge. Especially when I happen to already have a completed project that fits the challenge! For this post, the Woodware UK team have been challenged to use "Anything but a Stamp". For me, that means breaking out the Dreamweaver Stencils (which, yes, you can get from Woodware!). Amazingly enough, this card also works for this month's Dream Team challenge with the Dreamweaver design team..."Getting Inky with Stencils". So for that reason alone, I think I'll use this post for Thursday as well.

This card is one of those that comes together so easily, yet still has the "wow" moment. Using the Dreamweaver Butterfly shape stencil, and Mercart colored aluminum in Teal, I machine-embossed the butterfly into the metal with my Big Shot (need a refresher on the "sandwich" for this? Click HERE). I then used a sanding block to removed the color from the embossed portions, which left the actual butterfly design still teal. I placed the stencil back on the metal, which now shows only the exposed aluminum. Using the Dreamweaver Color Solutions alcohol inks in Iceberg, Citron, and Sugarplum, with the Color Solutions Applicator (you NEED one of these...they are so cool and clever), I applied splotches of the colors over that exposed metal. Once the area was covered well, I used the edge of the still damp applicator to swipe the color out onto the surface of the metal around the edges of the design. Pretty cool, huh? So simple and fun to do. With the addition of some textured Core'dinations cardstock, a gorgeous fluffy bow from May Arts ribbon, and a punched edge, you have the "wow" moment that every designer "weaves dreams" of (Get it? Weaves? Dreams? Dreamweavers? Yeah, I know...bad pun).

For more inky ideas, without the use of a stamp, check out what the Woodware girls will be posting this week on the Woodware UK blog site HERE. And, on Thursday, check out what the Dream Team are posting in the list at right.

I'm pretty excited. This coming week I'll be flying off to Minnesota to visit relatives, and go play at the Mall of America at Archiver's Scrapfest 2012. Lots of make and takes, a Tim Holtz class and a 7Gypsies class, a fab dinner with a good friend. It's going to be soooo fun. I'll try to take lots of pics to post here next week...so stay tuned!

While I am away, I expect you to break out your stencils and inks and create something fab to link to the challenges on both the Dream It Up! blog and the Woodware Uk blog!

Gotta Get Inky!

 All of the month of September, the Dreamweaver Stencils' Dream Team are "Getting Inky with Stencils". These leaves the options wide open as there are so many ways to use ink with stencils, besides the obviously beautiful, tried-and-true, pouncing ink through the stencil with a good stencil brush or two.

My feature card today does NOT use that technique. However, I have played with ink and stencils in two ways. The hope panel was created by wiping the Leafy Branch stencil with Clearsnap ColorBox Chalk ink in Tangerine, and running it through my Big Shot Pro with a panel of faint wood-grain print cardstock to emboss the leaves and at the same time, transfer the ink for a simple and natural look. I added the hope sentiment in black embossing paste.

The other ink technique features the Dreamweaver Stencils Color Solutions Artist Grade Alcohol Inks in Aspen Leaf, Pumpkin, and Paprika placed in drops that mingled on the back of a panel of acetate. I love this technique as the transparent, yet saturated colors, remind me of stained glass. I paste-embossed the fall tree from the Four Seasons stencil on the front of the acetate panel, and added a black cardstock frame. Some Hemptique cording finishes it off.

All of this month should be a fabulous opportunity to learn a plethora (word for the day) of inky fun techniques, so be sure to play along with us. Link your creations to the mr. linky on the Dream It Up! blog, or email pics to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com. This month only, the two winners that are chosen can choose whichever stencil they want the most! (Pssst, I suggest one of the great LX stencil designs!) For more inky notions, check out what the rest of the team has been playing with:

Dream It Up!   

Laura Drahozal
Cherylynn Moser 

Louise Healy
Wendy Jordan 

Cyndi Bundy  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg

Liz Martin

Got Puddles?

Quickie post featuring my fun "Puddles" card that I created with the new Dog stencil from Dreamweaver Stencils. I paper-pieced him with scraps from my "kibbles and bits" box. I wanted to add a sentiment of some variety, and couldn't find anything that spoke to me until I came across the Dreamweaver Rain Words stencil with the "puddles" word. With an addition of a Glossy Accents "puddle", the card ties together nicely. Fortunately, this card also works for the Split Coast Stampers' Wednesday sketch challenge this week HERE.

Sketches and Songbirds

The Woodware girls are playing with a new sketch this week, and my card is a loose adaptation of the sketch. I used a panel of pre-embossed canvas cardstock from Canvas Corp for the background, rubbing Decorating Chalks over the surface for a soft look. The Stampendous Cling Jumbo Songbird was stamped and chalked as well. I added a torn vellum strip with the beautiful poem which is included with the songbird image, stamped with Black StazOn as it works the best on vellum. Some bright brad fasteners attach this panel over the card.

Be sure to visit the Woodware UK blog all of this week to see how the team completes their challenge, and how you can play along and link your creation for an opportunity to win. As usual, if you are in the UK, you can purchase the linked products from the local stores listed HERE. If you are in the US/Canada, you can purchase any of the Stampendous product HERE.