"KLIK" as a Wink or Jewelry in a Snap?

Klik Interchangeable Jewelry from Metal Complex is a fantastic new line of DIY accessory options. With two snap sizes and dozens of settings to snap your creations into, this terrific product is fun to play with for every level of crafter. There are tons of pre-made snaps so you can just “klik and go” to change up your look. But this week we’re playing with the Metal Complex Snap Bezel Blanks so we can craft our own masterpieces of wearable art. Along with this collaboration, we are working with Envirotex Jewelry Resin...an amazing product to easily make the jewelry of your creative dreams! 

Yes, there will be prizes...three random winners will receive a prize package that includes Klik Snap Bezel Blanks and jewelry components, a package of ETI Resin and a Stampendous Eclectic Perfectly Clear Stamp Set. To win one of these awesome prize packages, you need to comment on the Stampendous blog and that of each Stampendous designer in the list provided below. Eligible winners are those comments that provide a valid email and indicate a U.S. Mailing address. Here are the Stampendous Official Rules for all contests. Commenting will close Sunday, May 3rd and winners will be announced the afternoon of May 4th.

Here's what I've created for today:

I'm saving my more elaborate piece for my post on Friday, so be sure to check back. For today, I wanted to show how easy you can create a more masculine look with these products. The basic bracelet is a black leather wrap and snap, with three snap sections on it. The large bezel won't fit on this bracelet, but I wanted a larger focal piece. For the base, I die cut a 2 1/2" circle of clear polyshrink plastic. With black StazOn ink from Tsukineko®, I added the Natalie Kalbach Cling "Mish Mesh" circle design, as well as a couple of the Perfectly Clear Steampunk Gears, and finally my son, Bryan's, monogram using the Perfectly Clear Vintage Upper Case Alphabet. I carefully swiped a bit of talcum powder over the front and back to act as an anti-static medium, used my heat tool to shrink. As soon as the shrink process was complete, I placed a clean acrylic block over the top to flatten completely. I placed this piece balanced on top of a couple of pencils laid side by side, on top of my non-stick craft mat. Following the package directions, I mixed up a small amount of the Jewelry Resin, and poured it over the top of my disc until it domed on top, and dripped a bit over the edges. Then I sprinkled a few of the Stampendous "Trick or Treat" color fragments on the surface, and using the tip of a thin piece of wire, I pressed these under the surface of the resin. If you have a few bubbles, just blow softly over the top of the surface and they magically disappear! Once the resin was cured (12-24 hours), I adhered it to the top of a snap piece with some Beacon Quick Grip adhesive. Two more of the snaps were sponged with StazOn, and heated to set the ink, and two small orange eyelets were glued to the inside of the snap. Remember, you  can create multiple looks with these...just buy and create more snaps and designs!

Hop around and visit the posts for today:

Stampendous Blog

Pam Hornschu

Wendy Price

Metal Complex Blog

 

Dreamweaver: Frilly and Fabulous for February!

Break out the frou frou! For the month of February, the Dream Team are going Frilly and Fabulous! Vintage, retro, or modern, adding extra charm with fun Fran•tagé products from Stampendous, ribbons and lace from May Arts, buttons, crystals, charms, or even creating your own dimensional decor! A snippet or a pile, whatever your creative heart desires! Remember to link your creations using the Inlinkz tool on the Dream It Up! blog for a chance to win the stencil of your choice! Bonus points for using Dreamweaver and/or Stampendous product in your work of heart.

Here's what I've been playing with:

Sometimes in the process of creativity, accidents happen. It's up to you how you view your "oops" moment. I chose to go with it.

This banner was created on a base of cotton canvas paper. One side is pre-coated and ready to create with. I chose to use a palette knife to apply a swipe of Dreamweaver Matte Black Embossing Paste in a thin layer over the canvas. When dry, I placed the Open Heart stencil over the top, and applied Crackle Embossing Paste over the design. Normally, the Crackle works perfectly over the Matte paste, but for some reason, it wanted to crack and peel off, which was quite annoying...until I thought, "hmmm". So, I played some more. I used a dauber to apply VersaMark ink over the surface carefully before sprinkling with Stampendous Deep Impressions Clear embossing powder. After heating this. I spritzed over the entire canvas with Dreamweaver Memories Mists in Pink Lemonade and Mango Lemonade, and let the colors run. I sopped up a bit of the ink with some cotton ribbon, paper flowers, and strips of lace, and set these aside to dry as well. At this point, I still was uncertain as to how my peeling sections would stay put, so I brushed over all with Beacon Fast Finish, letting it ooze underneath and around. After drying (doesn't take long), I stamped the Stampendous Cling Contract and the Follow Your Art sentiment with Black StazOn ink over the canvas and on one paper flower. Holes were punched at the top to allow for the ribbon to tie a painted dowel to the top.  The lace was adhered and brushed with Fast Finish to hold its shape, and the flowers were layered and adhered, with a brad fastener inserted in the center.

Once completed, I was quite pleased with my banner. The cracked and peeling sections added dimension and interest, and let's face it...everyone has had a cracked heart at some point in their lives!

For more frilly fun, visit the "B" team:

Dream It Up!

Lyn Bernatovich

Louise Healy

Alison Heikkila

Kristine Reynolds

Pam Hornschu

Gill Wilson

Cindy Groh

An InLinkz Link-up

Dreamweaver: Cute, Cute, Cute!

Here for the Stampendous/Art Anthology hop? Please scroll down, and enjoy the view as you go!

In a flurry of a hurry? This month the Dream Team are all about the Quick and Cute...whether that be cards, gifts, wrapping, or tags...we have sleigh-loads of ideas! Play along by posting your creations using the Inlinkz tool on the Dream It Up! blog, for a chance to win the stencil of your choice, and a possible bonus stencil for using Dreamweaver products in your Quick and Cute project! Here's what fun I've been up to this week:

This card is a perfect example of why it occasionally okay to leave a mess on your workspace. I've been working with copious amounts of glitter lately, some of it being rather chunky. So, after I ran my panel of Core'dinations Chalk Core cardstock through my Big Shot with the Dreamweaver Heart Ornaments stencil, there were some additions in the sanding process. Using the Core'dinations sanding tool over the embossed image revealed the stencil design in chalky white which is very cool. However, it also revealed areas where there were bits of glitter underneath. Ordinarily this would not  be something you would want, but in this case, it created the perfect snowy impression!

As far as being quick and cute, the panel takes about a minute to complete before adhering it to the Dotted Swiss card with Beacon Zip Dry, and adding a scrap of May Arts ribbon and ric rac with a quickly stamped tag from Stampendous' Holiday Words set.

I'd love to receive a comment from you before you head on to the rest of the "B" team:

Dream It Up!

Lyn Bernatovich

Louise Healy

Alison Heikkila

Kristine Reynolds

Pam Hornschu

Gill Wilson

Kristi Parker Van Doren

An InLinkz Link-up

Stampendous and Art Anthology: Sprayin' and Playin'

Everyone knows that Mixed Media is the HUGE thing in the art world right now, and Stampendous has been happily mixing it up as well. For the next three days, we're also mixing it up with Art Anthology, with their amazing line of Dimensional Paints and water-based Colorations Spray Mists. Follow us December 10 - 12, leaving comments along the way, for a chance to win the awesome products featured in the banner above. For more details, check the Stampendous blog.

Here's my two-for-one card that I created for today's post:

Yes, two-for-one as it is a great greeting card for Christmas, but Santa can be also used as a handmade ornament on the recipient's Christmas tree! The Stampendous Jumbo Cling Santa's List was stamped and embossed in black on white chipboard, before having his snazzy suit painted with Art Anthology Stone Effects Dimensional Paint in Brick. These paints have a matte finish, add so much texture, and almost give the impression of velvet. Art Anthology also has a line of Velvet Dimensional Paints, with texture and shimmer which would have been perfect for this as well.

As a  contrast to the red, I painted the Cotton Velvet Dimensional Paint, daubing it really, over Santa's beard and suit trim. I covered this with Stampendous Multi Medium Crystal Glitter for the great sparkle that you expect during the holidays. Once the paint dried, I colored and shaded the remaining portions, and cut him out. A hole was punched at the top to loop a bit of red tinsel cord. The card base was Core'dinations cardstock over a kraft card. The white glittery panel was stamped and embossed with one of the sentiments from the Stampendous Christmas Wishes Perfectly Clear set. I applied a few dabs of Beacon FabriTac adhesive where the tag would  be adhered,  but let it dry slightly before placing Santa on top. This allows him to be removed and used as an ornament.

Let me know what you think of my happy Santa card, before hopping to the next on the list:

Stampendous Blog

Jamie Martin

Pam Hornschu (you're here)

Art Anthology Blog

(Please note: the Art Anthology team will be posting frequently throughout the days, so be sure to keep checking back for more fun inspiration!)

Don't forget...the Stampendous December blog challenge info can be found and linked to HERE. 

Stampendous and Core'dinations: More Sandy Options!

Yes, the Stampendous team are breaking out their sanding blocks once again as they get to the Core of their creativity with wonderful Core'dinations' cardstock. Three days of awesomeness, and yes, there will be prizes. 

 

Check the Stampendous blog for all the details. Meanwhile, here's my creation for day one:

You can't be sad when Santa is involved! Especially when using the Stampendous Jumbo Cling Dear Santa. This set comes with a great border stamp and template/stencils to use as well. Santa was stamped in Cocoa Memento ink on kraft cardstock, and colored with Prismacolor Pencils. I placed the Santa mask over him, and while he was covered, I stamped the border stamp in white ink and embossed in white, as well as stenciling the chevron design stencil/template with Rhubarb Memento ink. No cutting your own mask to protect your coloring while stamping something else in the background. Love that!


As for the Core'dinations cardstock...I used the new Chalk Core on the left panel by machine-embossing it with the Dreamweaver Flourish stencil, and sanding to reveal the "chalk" design. On the right is a panel of red Core Essentials, machine embossed with the chevron border from the stamp set, and sanded to reveal the pattern. This became a bit more distressed than I was going for as the stencil in the set is quite thin, but it does work, especially if you add an extra piece of thick cardstock as a shim.

Santa was asking for some bling, so he received a healthy dose of it by using Beacon GemTac to adhere Stampendous Spoonful of Snow. This was heated as well to melt the bits of white embossing powder in this mix, giving it a nice bit of sparkle and texture at the same time.

Be sure to leave me a comment before moving on the team members that are playing today:

Stampendous Blog

Kristine Reynolds

Pam Hornschu

Wendy Price

Lea Kimmel

Tenia Nelson

Core'dinations Blog

We'd love for you to play with our challenge for December. You can find all of the info HERE.

Stampendous and Core'dinations: It's Sandy Time Again!

 

Yes, the Stampendous team are breaking out their sanding blocks once again as they get to the Core of their creativity with wonderful Core'dinations' cardstock. Three days of awesomeness, and yes, there will be prizes. 

 

Check the Stampendous blog for all the details. Meanwhile, here's my creation for day one:

Giving someone a gift card or money can be a bit impersonal, so it livens things up a bit to present it in a fun card, handmade and designed to hold the gift. I used the Core'dinations Glitter Silk cardstock in black, white, and dark red. The pocket folds over on the front and the inside. On the front you can tuck a cute machine-embossed (Dreamweaver Holiday Borders Folder) and die cut (Dreamweaver Nested Frames) tag, stamped with one of the fun Perfectly Clear Holiday Words and embossed in black, with the addition of a woven May Arts ribbon. On the inside is another white panel, machine embossed with the same designed. Both panels were sanded to show off the embossed pattern. The focal point of my card, of course, is the darling Stampendous Cling Pen Pattern Penguin. He (or she?) has been stamped and embossed in black on the white Glitter Silk cardstock, as well as on the dark red. The dark red portions have been paper-pieced. The penguin was cut out and adhered on the top of the front pocket using Beacon Zip Dry. The sentiment on the inside is from the Stampendous Perfectly Clear Christmas Wishes, also embossed in black.

Be sure to leave me a comment before moving on the team members that are playing today:

Stampendous Blog

Jamie Martin

Leadonna Kimmel

Pam Hornschu (you're here)

Janelle Stollfus 

Core'dinations blog

We'd love for you to play with our challenge for December. You can find all of the info HERE.

Dreamweaver April Inspirations: Framed Fabulousness by a Fab Friend!

We're already into April, and no foolin', the Dream Team has a spectacular month planned for you...filled with exciting news and inspiration for all of your crafting dreams! The exciting news will be announced in the Dream It Up! post on April 17th, but the "April Inspirations" challenge will run for the entire month. Each team member will post what inspires them in their creative life...maybe a Pinterest pic, a magazine pic, a quote, a book, a place, an artist, a crafter friend...along with their creation. We are hoping that you will feel inspired as well, and link your projects (and inspiration) to the inlinkz tool on the Dream It Up! blog, or at the bottom of this post.

My inspiration picture features this fabulous creation by one of my favorite designers, and she just so happens to be on the Dream Team...Louise Healy! Check out this wonderful frame from IKEA, decorated with tiny chipboard squares of Dreamweaver designs...

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/166492517444980953/

I picked up one of these plain wood framed mirrors from IKEA, and proceeded to create my own version using Mercart colored aluminums, Dreamweaver's new leaf dies (Monstera, Petite Fern, and Small Branch) as well as several Dreamweaver background designs (Crusade, Large Scales, Small Scales, Op Art, Wavy Lines and Dots, Large Cathedral Window). I have to admit that the process took a bit of time, but I was really pleased with the end result...

Each panel was die cut with a leaf. Each leaf was embossed. And each panel was embossed and sanded. Then the parts and pieces were assembled together, and adhered to the frame with Beacon Quik Grip adhesive.

Check out what our Guest Designer and the "A" team has been inspired by for this week...

Janelle Stollfus (GD)

Dream It Up!
Laura Drahozal
Lyn Bernatovich
Heidi Erickson
Louise Healy 

Pam Hornschu

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Dreamweaver Holiday Celebrations...Want Something to WINE About?

The Dream Team have been getting sticky lately...sticky with great products from Beacon Adhesives! As a thank you to them, we're featuring their products all of the month of November, along with our Holiday Celebrations challenge and our Guest Designer, Linda Neff!

I've created a fun gift basket for wine, sparkling cider, olive oil, gourmet vinegars, etc. My hubby and I have several good friends that enjoy sharing a great bottle of wine...or two! I purchased the basket at a Home Goods store (love shopping there!) for $2.99! I had some burlap on a roll from the local craft store, so I used the Dreamweaver Grape Cluster by paste-embossing in regular paste in two sections to cover the front and back. I pasted each twice, allowing the first to dry before slightly overlapping the first pasting to increase the size of the clusters. When dry, I replaced the clean stencil over the design, and using stencil brushes I added color with Tsukineko Memento
inks. For an additional bit of shading, I added some touches of Copic marker. When dry, I brushed over the surface with a light coating of Beacon Fast Finish to set the color. Then I added some highlights of a few grapes with drops of Glossy Accents from Ranger. I applied Beacon FabriTac to the basket staves and wrapped and adhered my burlap cover.

Using the same inks, I stenciled the design on a matching tag, adding the sentiment "Merci" over the top. Some wonderful May Arts ribbon in this luscious two color iridescent makes the perfect bow.

I wonder what my fellow designers have been up to this week? Hmmm, let's go check on the "B" team and our wonderful guest designer:

Dream It Up! 

Linda Neff (GD)

Lea Kimmel 
Louise Healy 
Terrece Siddoway 
Wendy Jordan
Pam Hornschu 
Cherylynn Moser

 

Dreamweaver Stencils: Festively Distressed with Ranger Hop!

Ready to be festively distressed once again? The Dream Team have been playing with Ranger's Distress Paints, and are ready to inspire you to be distressed as well...paint distressed that is! Dreamweaver Stencils are the perfect choice to mix with all things festively distressed, as nothing shows off color and texture better than great designs. By following our hop and leaving love along the way, you have the opportunity to win a great prize package including five Ranger Distress Paints and five Dreamweaver Stencils! Here's the lineup for today, including our November Guest Designer:

Dream It Up!

Linda Neff (GD)

Cyndi Bundy

Lyn Bernatovich

Terrece Siddoway

Wendy Jordan

Heidi Erickson

Cherylynn Moser

Laura Drahozal

Louise Healy

Stacey Rumsby

Pam Hornschu

Lea Kimmel

This is also our first posting day featuring our new monthly challenge, "Holiday Celebrations", and for the entire month we will be demonstrating ways to use Beacon Adhesives' entire line of products with Dreamweaver to create special projects in home decor and gifts of love. Here's mine:

I purchased a plaque made from a slice of black slate at a local craft store, and adhered a torn sheet of music with Beacon Fast Finish over the surface. When dry, I used the dabber bottle of Ranger's Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Broken China over the surface as a wash, with some softer swipes of Frayed Burlap around the edges to soften them. When dry, I paste-embossed the Dreamweaver Season of Joy in white and covered it with ultra fine crystal glitter. Once dry, I added a sculpted paste "snowbank" at the bottom and covered it with chunkier glitter. I had purchased a small tree, and applied Picket Fence Distress Paint over the branches, and sprinkled more glitter. (Notice a sparkly theme going here?) I trimmed the back of the tree to make it fit against the plaque better. A skinny strip of music was distressed with more paint and wrapped around the tree before adhering to the plaque with Beacon FabriTac. A few crystals on the star, a luscious bow from May Arts was almost the finale...but no, I had to add paste to a pine cone with, yes, more glitter!

Dreamweaver Stencils: Hang Around for the Fun!

I have been having so much fun with the Dreamweaver Pinterest-inspired challenge this month! I'm thinking that I may just continue challenging myself for one day each week. I love Pinterest, and I can kind of justify the amount of time I spend "pinning", with the fact that my work involves staying on top of trends. One trend lately, is organizing and decorating your closet to suit your own personality. No more ugly shoe boxes and no more boring hangers!

I found several Pins for decoupaging on wood hangers, but the one at the left was my favorite. At first, I thought, "Darn. I just got rid of all my old wood hangers when we moved." And then I was wandering through TJ Maxx (love that store!), and found these awesome turquoise painted wood hangers on clearance for $2! Wow. Five hangers for $2, and my favorite color as well!
I sanded and distressed them a bit. Then I daubed some Ranger White Acrylic Paint Dabber where I intended to place the flowers. I used the Stylized Dahlia stencil with Memento inks on tissue paper. The tissue makes it easy to wrap around objects. I used my favorite decoupage medium...and no, it's not the one that everyone thinks of first...I use Beacon's Fast Finish Decoupage Medium. It is somewhat thin, so I put it in a cup and brush it over the surface to wet it. Then place the tissue pieces on the wet surface and brush more of the medium over it until is smooth and completely covered before setting it aside to dry...which doesn't take long! Maybe 10-15 minutes depending on how much the tissue is soaked. When dry, I used the Small Cathedral Window stencil with Memento Teal Zeal and a stencil brush to add the background details. You could leave it at that, but I did brush another coat of the Beacon Fast Finish over the entire hanger for a little extra shine. Of course, I couldn't just stop there! I added a May Arts Chevron striped ribbon bow, tied with twine and a fun button to the hanger.

Just think of all the fun Dreamweaver designs that could be used to decorate these hangers. They could even be personalized with the Monogram stencils, or the alphabet stencils. They could be a wonderful gift for a bride and her bridesmaids on the big day for those gorgeous dresses (in which case, I would definitely recommend adding that extra coat of the medium so no ink would rub off!)

So, obviously these could be used as garment hangers, duh! But what about a ribbon holder for all those scraps of luscious May Arts ribbon? Check out the picture below! Yep. Think I'm going to need to create some more hangers for all of my ribbon!

 Let's go check out what wonderful inspired pieces the rest of the team have created this week, as well as our amazing guest designer for June, Jennifer Dove! Leave some love for everyone, and then get working on your own Pinterest-inspired pieces. Link your creations to the linkytool on the Dream It Up! blog for an opportunity to win the prize for this month, as well as having your project featured on the Dream It Up! blog and the Dreamweaver Stencils Facebook page. Here's the roll call this week:

Dream It Up!

Jennifer Dove
Laura Drahozal
Lyn Bernatovich
Pam Hornschu
Heidi Erickson
Louise Healy
Jessica Griffin
Cyndi Bundy

If you'd like to view my complete tutorial on this project, please visit Paper Craft Planet!

A Little Birdy Told Me...About the Dreamweaver Challenge

 Feeling the love of the Dreamweaver Stencil's "May Flowers" challenge this month? We are down to the final week in this challenge, so I really wanted to provide a happy project to encourage more to play along with us...like YOU!

Ever have a creative idea in your head, that amazingly turns out just the way you planned? This project was mine. I had bought several of these darling unfinished wood birdhouses at JoAnn's for $1 each. They are about 5" tall and 4" wide, the perfect size to have a little fun with...and I did. I broke out a few of my Ranger products...Adirondack Paint Daubers In White and Pool, Claudine Helmuth Studio Acrylic Paint in Yellow Pastel, and Enamel Accents in White. Those Paint Daubers are soooo awesome! Great way to paint items without breaking out all the messy supplies. Here is what I did:

1) I daubed, swiped, and brushed on the Pool and Pastel Yellow paints.
2) I "white washed" over the surface by dry-brushing white paint over the surface.
3) I distressed the edges with a sanding block.
4) Using the Black Eyed Susans stencil from Dreamweaver Stencils, I taped it onto the flat side of the roof with removable tape. I stenciled the design with the Pastel Yellow, pouncing off excess paint before pouncing paint into the design in an up and down motion, to avoid getting paint under the stencil bridges.
5) I wanted to stencil the Bird Words onto the front of the house, but let's face it, the design of the house was not going to let that happen. So, here is what I did...I stenciled the words onto a piece of thin tissue paper. I traced the outline of the house and the heart opening, and cut out the piece of tissue. Then I coated the front with Beacon Adhesives Fast Finish Decoupage, placed the tissue on top,  and brushed more decoupage over the top.
6) I added little white dots of Enamel Accents to the roof.
7) Some ribbons and Prima flowers with a glitter brad were the finishing touch.

Remember we want YOU to play along with us with our challenges. Break out those floral stencils, etc., and create something only YOU can. Either link your creation to the Mr. Linky on the Dream It Up! blog, or email a picture of your creation to Lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com. We love it when you play along, so we post your creations on the Dream It Up! blog, as well as the Dreamweaver Stencils' Facebook Page (have you LIKED us yet?). Even better, this month TWO people have the opportunity to win one set of these two stencil designs:

For more inspiration, take a wander through the Dream Team's fabulous creations:

Dream It Up! blog
Pam Hornschu   

Laura Drahozal  

Louise Healy  

Wendy Jordan  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin

Cherylynn Moser 

Jessie Hurley