Dreamweaver Stencils: Window on a World That Flutters

We are now at the grand finale of the February Flutters challenge over on the Dreamweaver Stencils' Dream It Up! blog. Hope you've had as much fun with it as we have! We've discovered that anything can flutter given enough wind! LOL.

My card features the newly released Sailboat (and yes, I have another sailboat card on the Dream It Up! blog today), with a bit of a mixed media approach. I wanted to attempt to try the Copic technique of "No lines coloring". With this technique, lines are stamped (in my case daubed) with a light ink (I used Memento London Fog). Then you go in and add coloring and shading with your Copic markers until the final appearance is of a painting or colored drawing. It was quite fun, and I love the result. I also added some clouds in the background by daubing more of the Memento inks in the background, using the Picasso tool's scalloped edge for the subtle shapes.

Recognize the "window"? This window is what happens when you've used the newly released Nested Frames dies to cut multiples out of a panel of cardstock. I had this saved in my "kibbles and bits" box, and was the perfect embellishment for this card...that, and the perfect sentiment from the Woodware Clear Magic "Patch a Flight" set.

The rest of the team have one last "flutter" to share with you, so check them out and share some love! Before you go, though, be sure to read the info below the link list. You might surprise yourself!

Dream It Up!
Lea Kimmel
Louise Healy
Stacey Rumsby
Terrece Siddoway
Pam Hornschu
Cherylynn Moser

How would YOU like to be part of the Dream Team? We are having a team call beginning today, and all the info can be found on the Dream It Up! blog HERE!

In My Easter Bonnet, With All the Flock Upon It...

For this week's Woodware challenge, I'm giving you a double dosage of Easter cuteness. Both cards feature the Stampendous Easter Bonnet Birds. The top one has the Feather Bonnet Baby as well as the Floral Bonnet Baby, along with the Spring Greeting. All of these stamps are in Cling form...easy to apply to your clear acrylic blocks and to see precisely where you are stamping, and still have the feel of stamping with rubber. These have been colored with Tombow markers, and Stampendous Fun Flock as been added for some vintagey fluffiness. To apply, just place some glue marker in the appropriate areas, let dry until tacky, and rub the flock into the adhesive. Very faintly in the background, you can tell that I machine embossed the card base with the Dreamweaver Damask design, and brushed lightly over it with an orange inkpad. All of the images have been stamped with brown ink to keep the vintage feel going.

This second card was created by using the Dreamweaver Open Egg stencil as a template...just place slightly above the top fold on your card  base, trace, and cut out with scallop-edged scissors. Trace a second one on patterned paper, cut out and adhere on top. The sentiment was stamped in black, as was the Feather Bonnet Baby. She was colored with markers as on the above card, but no flock was added. I popped her up off the surface with foam dots. A bit of glue marker was added to adhere a sprinkling of Frantagé fun in the form of Color Fragments and Fresh Green Glass Glitter. A fluffy bow was added to both cards to finish them off in typically Easter colours.

If you haven't already checked out the springtime holiday fun with the Woodware girls, head on over to the blog to catch up!

February Flutters Goes Mixed Media

My third post for February Flutters is a fun mixed media project with an inexpensive wood door hanger as the base. I brushed one coat of black acrylic paint over the surface, and when dry, I used a palette knife to apply a layer of Dreamweaver Crackle Paste over the top. Once dry, and crackled, I started to play...I ink-stenciled the new Zen Butterfly randomly in either purple or black, and placed the Crusade Background stencil behind the butterfly stencil, and ink-stenciled that pattern on to it. I added some more of the pattern randomly over the hanger, along with some stamped flowers from one of Woodware's new clear sets, and torn snippets from an old book of poems. I brushed a coat of Beacon Fast Finish over the surface and set it aside to dry.

Meanwhile, I used Pearlescent Embossing Paste to paste the same butterfly onto a piece of thermo acetate. While wet, I sprinkled various Metallic F/X powders over the surface. Heating this creates the Molten Magic technique...bubbles and textures and gorgeous shimmer. I used a "Swiffer" cloth to wipe away any mica residue, cut out the butterfly, and attached it to the door hanger. I had a lovely box of white paper flowers from Woodware that were begging to be colored, and color them I did! Only a couple drops of Color Solutions Alcohol Inks from Dreamweaver to the centers of each flower, and a couple drops of the Thinner/Blender, and the color spreads to cover the entire flower. I added some fun Card Candi to the flower centers as well.

It occurred to me that if you aren't "into" door hangers, or don't have door "knobs" in your home, you could easily place a photo behind the opening! How cute would that be?

I hope you've taken the opportunity to link your own fluttery creations to the Dream It Up! blog linkytool for a chance to win the stencil of your choice! Meanwhile, check out what the "A" team has been up to this week:

Dream It Up!
Laura Drahozal
Lyn Bernatovich
Pam Hornschu
Heidi Erickson
Louise Healy 
Cyndi Bundy

Woodware UK: Flourishes and Swirls and Swirls and Flourishes!

Perfect challenge to post this card! Dreamweaver recently introduced this beautiful new Swirly Heart design, and I had this very swirly card created for CHA in January. The technique that I used is called "Sludge Paste", which means a mix of colors with embossing pastes. This can be deliberate, or it can be the bits leftover from other projects. You can mix 2-3 paste colors together, or just add acrylic paint, reinkers, alcohol inks, Metallic F/X, etc. The colors are not mixed completely, so the effect is marbled and interesting. In the case of my card, I mixed deliberately a small amount of Cosmo Pink Color Solutions Alcohol Inks (just a drop or two) into a small amount of the Regular Embossing Paste in a separate disposable container. I barely stirred this mix, so when I spread the paste across the stencil, the end result was an ombré appearance. I used a small amount to paste the design over a section of this gorgeous ribbon from May Arts as well. Just tape the ribbon down flat. Place the stencil on top, and tape that down with removable tape. Paste the design. Remove the stencil to clean, and let the ribbon dry (which doesn't take long as air is coming at the paste from underneath as well. I added a few sparklies as well in the form of crystals from Mark Richards. Woodware carries a HUGE selection, and you will want them ALL!

Don't forget to visit the Woodware UK blog all week for more inspiration!

Woodware UK: Life is a Circus with Sketch 31

It's sketch time again with the Woodware UK team! Remember, if you play along, and link your creation to the challenge on the Woodware blog, you could win a great prize! Just follow the sketch #31 at left and prompts on the blog! Good luck!

My version of the sketch features a fun Circus sentiment and Carousal themed images from Stampendous, brightly colored with Tombow markers, and popped up slightly. A fun pompom on the top of the carousal matches the trim at the bottom of the card.  Clean and simple!

Check out what the team has been creating with this sketch on the Woodware blog each day this week!

The Heart Flutters But "Love is a Battlefield"!

Are you ready for the new Dreamweaver challenge for the month of February? It will be a short month of posts for the Dream Team, but we're pretty excited to share with you our versions of "February Flutters", meaning anything that flutters. Heart flutters, wings that flutter, breezes, sails, etc. So, come along for the ride and link your own "flutterings" to the Dream It Up! blog for a chance to win the stencil of your choice. Meanwhile, here's my "fluttering" for the week:

 My card is almost an "Un-Valentine" card. With the spatter of red, a war was waged, no one won, and the end result is undecided. Lol. I did this card as a tribute to my two sons, and various other single people that I know, that detest Valentine's Day. To them it is just another reminder that they are expected be lovey-dovey with someone else, and to be spending an entire paycheck to demonstrate this. What happened to the days of those sweet little Valentines that everyone gave to their class mates? Why does Valentine's Day have to become this monumental event, seemingly designed to make one feel like a loser?

For those of us who have that special someone in our lives, and don't feel the need to boost the economy in order to prove it, this card is the perfect example of a strong relationship...slightly battle-scarred, but holding in there just the same. That is truly romantic!

Hopping off of my soapbox now to explain the design of this card. The background panel is done with the Ink Transfer technique (spraying or inking the stencil, placing the card panel on top, and pressing to ensure the transfer of the design) using the new Pop Rectangles stencil and Diet Cola Memories Mists spray. The center of the heart was the reverse...ink sprayed through the stencil onto the card panel. The red panel with the heart was the Letterpress Technique (ink sprayed onto the stencil, placed on the base plate of the embossing machine, card panel on top, then rubber mat, and two clear plates. All run through the machine to PRESS the inked design into the paper) with the Diet Cola ink once again, and the Ruffled Heart stencil. A quick spatter of Strawberry Daiquiri Memories Mists was the finishing touch.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. Hope you spend it with your special someone...be they romantically special, family special, or friendship special. Remember, "love will keep us together!", (although, apparently not for the Captain and Tennille any longer). Wow. I'm getting as cynical as my sons!

Now, let's go see what puts the "B" Team in a "flutter":

Dream It Up!
Lea Kimmel
Louise Healy
Stacey Rumsby
Terrece Siddoway
Wendy Jordan
Pam Hornschu
Cherylynn Moser

Woodware UK: Breaking Out My "Kibbles and Bits"!

This week's challenge on the Woodware UK blog is awesome! Being forced to break into your "stash" not only challenges your creativity, but also cleans up your space...a bit. I have what I have always called, my "Kibbles and Bits" box (named after a brand of dogfood in the USA). In this box are the pieces that were pretty great, just didn't end up on a finished project.

Last month I had been doing some serious playing around with the Dreamweaver Ink Transfer and Letterpress techniques. What is the difference you ask? Well, I did, too, until the Queen of Stencils, Lynell Harlow explained it to me:

Ink Transfer is when you've covered your stencil in ink either by spray mist or directly from an inkpad, and then place a panel of cardstock over the surface, smoothing it out to TRANSFER the ink!

Letterpress is when you've covered your stencil in ink either by spray mist or directly from an inkpad, and then place it on the bottom plate of your embossing machine, with a panel of cardstock on top, the rubber mat, and two clear plates on the top of that, and run it through your machine to PRESS the ink into the cardstock...thereby embossing and inking at the same time.

Either way, the finished creations are simple to do, and very effective. The newly released Zen Flower was done with Letterpress and Clearsnap Chalk Ink in Rouge (the Chalk inks are particularly nice for this technique). The side panel was done with the Quatrefoil stencil and spray mists in banana, tangerine, and strawberry...shifting the stencil slightly between each, and the final being red sprayed on the stencil and transferred. Both of these scraps were leftover from previous projects, and had something not "up to snuff" about them, but worked perfectly for this challenge! The finishing touch was the Card Candi which had exploded all over the bottom of a drawer. Note to self: Open these packages and store in individual containers! Oh, and I added a wonderful sentiment and a ladybug, too!

Dreamweaver Stencils: February Flutters...Tangled Style!

Are you ready for the new Dreamweaver challenge for the month of February? It will be a short month of posts for the Dream Team, but we're pretty excited to share with you our versions of "February Flutters", meaning anything that flutters. Heart flutters, wings that flutter, breezes, sails, etc. So, come along for the ride and link your own "flutterings" to the Dream It Up! blog for a chance to win the stencil of your choice. Meanwhile, here's my "fluttering" for the week:

I chose to play with some Zentangle, or as Lynell refers to it...Stentangle! It's awesome to be able to use the terrific open stencil designs to add your own patterns, doodles, or whatever! Just use a fine line pen like Sakura Micron or Copic Multiliners in .05 up to .7 sizes to outline and create designs that are fine and light, to bold and dark. I used the newly released Zen Butterfly stencil for this and added a sentiment from the Bird Words stencil. Coloring and shading were with Copic markers, and the background was broken up a bit using a small square of terrycloth with  Copic Blending Solution. Just press and hold over the various areas for a few sections...the end result is a more mottled and watery appearance. To finish, I curled the edges of the panel for a more "fluttery" feeling. I am no Zentangle expert, but it is easy and fun to doodle and play. Give it a try! If you'd love to know more about Zentangling with Dreamweaver Stencils, you can purchase the Design Originals Zentangle 6 book HERE. You'll find a few creations in the book by members of our Dream Team, past and present, and even me!

Be sure to leave me some encouragement before flitting over to the "A" team blogs:

Dream It Up!
Laura Drahozal
Lyn Bernatovich
Pam Hornschu
Heidi Erickson
Louise Healy 
Cyndi Bundy