Stampendous: Mad 4 U With Dreamweaver, Too!

Feeling MADLY in love...or just MAD? Either way, the Stampendous team has some great inspirations for you this week. I chose to go a bit edgy and goth on this one. Sometimes you just have to change things up a bit...even for Valentine's Day!

I used a large panel of Core'dinations red cardstock for the background, which I ran through my Big Shot with the Dreamweaver Crusade Background, and sanded to show off the design.

The Stampendous Cling Gothic Heart was stamped in black and embossed in Aged Black Embossing Enamel on a square of mirror cardstock. A bit of blood red Micro Glitter was added in splotches by means of a glue marker.

The background panel was stamped in Onyx Versafine and embossed in Aged Black twice with the Cling Kiss image. A rhinestone was adhered to one, and a jumpring inserted on the other.

Using the Dreamweaver Dual Alphabet Dies, I added my unique sentiment to complete my bit of madness.

Need more inspiration? Follow these links:

Stampendous Blog

Pam Hornschu

Lea Kimmel

Kristine Reynolds

Amy Hurley-Purdie (Thursday Post)

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:

To me, Frilly and Fabulous does not necessarily mean pile on every bit of embellishments that you own. Since I want the beautiful Dreamweaver Heart Whimsey to be my focal point, I wanted it to stand out, even on top of a band of red and white gingham ribbon! The design was paste-embossed in Glossy Red on a strip of acetate, and popped up slightly by means of tiny strips of foam adhesive tape placed behind the opaque elements. The background of the card was machine-embossed using the Crusade Background stencil for a nice texture. The gingham band as well as the ribbon bow are both part of the luscious products from May Arts that I'm ALWAYS playing with! To finish the card, I added tiny stamped messages from the Perfectly Clear Royal Heart Quotes from Stampendous...one of them having been stamped on a large flat brad fastener.

It's quite obvious that this card would make a wonderful Valentine, but would be equally perfect for a summer outdoorsy wedding.

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

Dream It Up!

Leadonna Kimmel

Louise Healy

Laura Drahozal

Lynn Mercurio

Pam Hornschu

Jamie Martin

An InLinkz Link-up

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

A Manly Ruffled Heart?

 I have been soooo busy preparing for my trip to the UK beginning next week, that I almost forgot to make the hubby his Valentine card! So, in the Pampered Stamper's usual fashion...I'm going to kill two birds with one stone (what a ghastly expression!).

Fortunately for me, this month's challenge on the Dream It Up! blog is "Love and Friendship", and since most cards are for those reasons, there should be no excuses for YOU not to play along this month. Hint, hint...there are prizes involved!

I chose to play with the newly-released Ruffled Heart, and for that manly touch, I added an ink-distressed and machine-embossed Houndstooth background.

For the center of the heart, I pieced in a section of Woodware UK's new background design by Jane Gill...Men We Love. Stamped with Jasmine Mixed Media ink from Clearsnap on black cardstock, it has that oh-so-trendy chalkboard look for added punch.

Now go hop around to the Dream Team blogs today, and be prepared to feel the "love and friendship". Then go off to your crafty space and create something full of love and hearts and mush for all of your sweet someones...and then link your creations to the linky tool on the Dream It Up! blog. Or, email your pics to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com for a chance to win a fab stencil prize of your own. Here's the team list:

 

Dream it UP  

Laura Drahozal  

Louise Healy  

Terrece Siddoway 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin

 Cyndi Bundy 

Cherylynn Moser

Kristi Van Doren

Pam Hornschu (me)

Wendy Jordan

 

Big announcement! If you haven't noticed the post at the top of the page, then go and check it out. The Dream Team is looking to add to our team. Read through the info linked there, or email me at phornschu@yahoo.com for complete info. You have until February 28, 2013 to submit your samples and details for consideration. 

A Cherubic Wish from Woodware UK

Since we are now at the Craft and Hobby Association show in Anaheim, California, USA, this week, I am posting a previously made card for the Woodware UK challenge this week...Heartfelt Wishes. This was a card that I created last year, but never had the opportunity to post, so this challenge is perfect.

The card features the Stampendous Perfectly Clear Cherub Wishes stamped over patterned paper, a sweet verse of poetry, a Scherrenschnitte laser cut frame, and a gorgeous glossy black Stampendous Class A' Peel Damask design, all put together in collage form.

Please take the opportunity to visit the Woodware UK blog each day this week, for more Heartfelt Wishes by the rest of the team. For purchasing any of the product seen here, please visit the Woodware UK site.

Feeling the Amore for Woodware UK

Now this was a fun and easy sketch to work with for the Woodware UK team challenge this week. I think this card maybe took me twenty minutes to throw together (which was a good thing as once again I'd forgotten to get my post up! Geeesh!). I know there are plenty of you out there who could throw together a card in five minutes, and now that this card is designed, so could I, but really... twenty minutes is amazing for me! Lol.

Woodware UK carries these great coordinating papers from GCD Studios, so I chose this one (Cloisonne) which uses the same pattern on both sides, one with a white background and pink design, and the other reversed. For my focal point, I stamped the Stampendous Scroll Heart* with Versamark ink on a Bazzill Dotted Swiss square, and embossed in white. Because of the raised dots, the embossing showed off that texture. I added a pretty sentiment from their Perfectly Clear Amore Frame set, a few Mark Richards Crystal Elements rhinestones, and matted the panel in white cardstock. This was when I realized that on the original sketch, the focal panel was more of a rectangle than a square, so I added a couple "banner" pieces from the reverse side of the paper to fill that space. Cheating a bit, but I was happy with the end result. Hopefully, Dorothy (our team slave-driver) will be happy as well!

Be sure to catch all the versions of this fun sketch from the rest of the team via the Woodware team blog. Remember, you can purchase most of these products from your local stamp stores as listed on the Woodware UK site. For those of you in the USA, you should know that the Scroll Heart is no longer available on the Stampendous site. You should be able to find it still in your local store, or online.