Stampendous: Forget Dum Dum Pops, I Want Cheese for Halloween!

If you've been following the Stampendous team this week, you are probably convinced that you NEED to adopt a whole bunch of mice this Halloween...from House-Mouse Designs® of course! Don't you just love this little Mudpie (Trick or Cheese)? All dressed up disguised as CHEESE of all things, and the cutest hunk of cheese ever! Colored with Copics, and waiting just inside the doorway to the tree house (Authentique Paper). Going along are little bat friends from the Perfectly Clear Tricky Words ready for trick-or-treating as the banner above says. I do have to say, though, that dressed as cheese, I wouldn't want to smell those feet! I'd just hand over the treats quick-like! Hmmm. Are those candy wrappers on the floor already? Nope! Just a sprinkling of Trick or Treat Color Fragments!

Woodware UK: Canvassing for Creativity

 

This week's challenge for the Woodware team strained my brain a bit, and I'm not sure why. We've all been working with the Canvas Cloth, an awesome product...perfect for painting, stamping, stenciling, and stitching on. All week I've been watching the rest of the team's posts, waiting for some inspiration to hit. I've had the cloth sitting on my island in the middle of my studio as a constant reminder while I've had ideas stewing in my head. Finally, this morning, the light bulb went on! A holiday door hanging! Perfect. And no sewing necessary, which is a good thing as my sewing machine is in dire need of being cleaned, oiled, and adjusted from lack of use.

I decided that I would use one of Woodware's wood dowels (which I covered in red ink and clear embossing powder, and then dipped the ends into Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing Enamel for more pizazz.) The length of the dowel is 6 inches (15 cm), which meant that my canvas needed to be 5 inches in width. I chose the Dreamweaver stencils that I wanted to use (Holiday Greetings, Holly Flourish, Christmas Borderss) and laid them out for measuring space of design. I added a few extra inches in length to create the banner effect that I wanted.
I wanted to have the look of cross stitch, without the work (duh!), so I pulled out my handy Dreamweaver Screen, taped it down on the canvas, and using a large stencil brush, added an antique-y looking color (Clearsnap Mixed Media ink in Vintage) over the entire panel, moving the screen as necessary. Then I placed the Holiday Greetings stencil as desired, taped it down over the top of the screen, and started adding the color to the leaves and berries (Mixed Media Schoolhouse Red and Mossy Green, with a bit of Leather Brown). You notice that the  berries are tiny, and fairly close to the leaves. This makes it tricky...unless of course you have in your possession the awesome Picasso tool from Dreamweaver. It looks a bit odd in shape, with sharp corners and rounded scallops, and inside little open lines and several sizes of circles. The purpose is to use this to mask off where you don't want ink, while you add the ink that you do want. For instance, on the berries, just place the appropriate circle size over the berry, ink your smallest stencil brush, and rouge the color into that space, and move onto the next. Easy!

Following the same process, I completed the Holly Flourish design at the top and bottom of the panel, as well as one section of the Christmas Borders. I used that large brush again to add more ink-distressing around the edges and over the canvas. Now I was ready for the finishing touches!

I added two strips of Woodware Self-adhesive White Lace, several Card Candis in Holly Berries, inked the bottom edge with Clearsnap Gold ColorBox ink, and embossed the edge with Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing Enamel...the perfect amount of bling while keeping the vintage feel. For a bit of whimsy, I added striped string bows with tiny Woodware Jingle Bells. I cut two slits at the top of the hanging to insert Tartan ribbon through, and tied this in bows around the dowel for hanging.

This hanging would really be a lovely gift or craft sale item, and is easy enough to do in multiples. Handmade is heartmade, after all!

Dreamweaver Stencils: Get Ready for the Holidays!

Where did the summer go? Kids are back in school, with all the insanity that goes with it, vacations are a not-so-distant memory, and it is once again time to get busy with the important things in life...crafting for the holidays! Yay! All of September the Dream Team will be featuring all the new goodies we have for the "Most wonderful time of the year", the fall and winter holiday season. New stencil designs, new dies, and...brand new, soon-to-be-released embossing folders featuring some of our top-selling designs, all to be found on-line through the Stencil with Style web-site, or your local papercrafting store.

Here's my holiday inspiration for this week:

I love this new Tall Poinsettia, and how perfect it is for doing the Double-glitter Technique. I used a diagonally-cut tip from a drinking straw as my scoop to place my colors of Stampendous Micro Glitter where I wanted them. Need a reminder of the technique? Here are the steps:

1. Cut a piece of Double-sided Mounting Paper the size of the cardstock panel you wish to use. Remove the liner from one side, and adhere it to the panel. Smooth it firmly over the surface.
2. Rub Hawaiian Soap over back side of stencil, and use a soft brush to remove excess.
3. Carefully, peel away the second liner, never allowing your fingers to touch the adhesive. Using a portion that you've torn off previously to hold in place while you pull the liner away is a perfect way to keep the oils from your fingers from ruining the adhesive.
4. Place the stencil, soap-side-down, on top of the adhesive, using the liner pieces to press into the surface.
5. With a straw tip or tiny scoop, place glitter colors on the poinsettia design. Use your finger to rub glitter into the surface for thorough coverage. When finished with the colors (Red, Pink, Green), use your soft brush to remove any excess glitter on the top and the back.
6. Now, place the panel stencil-side-down on worktable, and pull the panel away from the stencil. This keeps the stencil flat to protect it from bending.
7. Pour your background color (Multi-crystal Micro glitter) over panel. Rub in with finger. Brush away excess and save. Your double-glitter panel is now complete!

For my card, I added a pink panel of Bazzill cardstock which I used the new Dreamweaver Holiday Borders Embossing Folder, which will be available shortly, to emboss the design. Once embossed, I brushed pink Brilliance ink over the surface for extra sheen and emphasize the design. And yep, a beautiful May Arts crinkle ribbon knot to finish it off.

Of course, we have our monthly challenge for you to play along, so post your own holiday creations, and use the Inlinkz tool on the Dream It Up! blog, for a chance to win the prize at the end of the month. We also have our fabulous Guest Designer for the month of September, Wendy Price! Here's the list of our "A" Team with their links for the week:

Dream It Up!
Wendy Price (GD)

Leadonna Kimmel

Louise Healy

Laura Drahozal

Lynn Mercurio

Pam Hornschu

Jamie Martin

An InLinkz Link-up

Dreamweaver Stencils: Oldie But Goodie for August as an Adjective

If you are here for the Woodware post, please scroll down!

Sometimes when life gets hectic, you feel the need to give yourself a break. My post today is just that. I've pulled out an oldie but goodie from 2011 (which feels like just yesterday), that works with our "August as an Adjective" theme for the Dream Team.

This is a card that works for so many occasions, so is great for creating in multiples...for weddings, Valentines, anniversaries, etc. Start with a black card base. Machine emboss* a pink square with the Dreamweaver Large Damask stencil, as well as a panel of black cardstock. Use a Brilliance pink inkpad to swipe shimmery color over the embossed areas on the black panel. Adhere both panels to the card. Now, ink-stencil the Rose Heart design with Versamark ink, and emboss with Stampendous Crystal Embossing Powder, on a pink panel and a black panel. Cut out, split in half, and adhere to card. Add a sheer ribbon bow, a silver word charm (found in wedding section of craft store), and a string of plastic iridescent beads to finish.  It has quite a bit of "wow" factor, which I think makes this an "august" creation.

What has the "B" team been up to this week? Let's go find out...

Dream It Up!

Lyn Bernatovich

Louise Healy

Alison Heikkila

Kristine Reynolds

Pam Hornschu
Gill Wilson

*As a reminder on the "sandwich" for machine embossing with Dreamweaver Stencils:

1. Base plate to machine (Big Shot, Cuttlebug, Vagabond, etc.)

2. Stencil face down.

3. Cardstock face down.

4. Embossing mat (btw, Dreamweaver has an awesome one!)

5. TWO non-warped clear plates. This will protect your stencil as it goes under the roller.

6. Extra tip...spritz back of your cardstock with either water or isopropyl alcohol for a deeper emboss. 

Woodware UK: Some "Sketching" Up to Do!

Apparently, I had a brain blip at the beginning of the week, and forgot my post! Fortunately, Dorothy came to my rescue and switched days with me. Whew! Thanks, Dorothy!

For the sketch #37 challenge on the Woodware blog, I chose to break up the six squares into tiles from one image, the Stampendous Sweater Square. I stamped this in Versamark ink, and embossed in plain white embossing powder. I quickly cut the panel into six squares and adhered them to my red card, added an appropriate greeting from the Stampendous Perfectly Clear Snowy Short Stack set, and a gingham ribbon bow. The perfect card to do in mass quantities!

If you haven't been checking out the sketch designs from the rest of the team yet, head over to the Woodware UK blog for more inspiration, as well as info on how you can play along with Sketch Challenge 37, for a chance to win!

Dreamweaver: August as an Adjective...and Molten, Too!

Last week was so much fun playing with the Woodware team, but now we need to get back to focusing on being "August in August", which is our team challenge this month, if you remember. It is your challenge as well, since we love to see your creations. So, be sure to link them using the inlinkz tool on the Dream It Up! blog. Meanwhile, here's what I've created in the elegant and distinguished theme.

Using the Dreamweaver Partridge in a Pear Tree stencil, I paste-embossed this in Metallic Gold. While wet, I sprinkled various colors of Dreamweaver Metallic F/X powders over the surface (Ivy Garden, Goldfinch, Glacier, Cocoa, and Kimono Red). I've found that the easiest trick to applying these powders (first of all...don't sneeze), is to use a small clean stencil brush and pick up a small amount of the powder. Tap the handle on your opposite hand while holding the brush over the wet surface. The closer to the surface you are, the more concentrated the color will be. The further you are from the surface, the finer the color will be. Your choice. Wipe your stencil brush on a piece of paper towel between colors. Now you break out your heat tool, and holding it 4-6 inches above the surface, apply heat. The paste will bubble, causing your beautiful powders to bubble along with it, creating this awesome..."Molten Magic". On top of the black cardstock, you have such wonderful contrast of color, and are able to see every bit of texture and detail. Lynell's trick for removing any residual mica powders on the black surface, is to wipe over it with a "Swiffer" cloth. They are like magic for removing the staticky cling type items like mica powders and glitter.

The panel behind was a metallic gold cardstock which I rubbed over the surface with a bit of Versamark ink, and sprinkled with more Metallic F/X powders. I really rubbed these into the surface, and the ink becomes the fixative for these powders. I added the sentiment from a Clear Magic stamp set from Woodware UK called Heartfelt Christmas Wishes.

Now you may head on over to visit the Dream Team members that are posting this week:

Dream It Up!

Leadonna Kimmel

Louise Healy

Laura Drahozal

Lynn Mercurio

Pam Hornschu

Jamie Martin
Alison Heikkila

An InLinkz Link-up

Woodware UK: Tools of the Trade

The Woodware girls are breaking out the tools this week, so you know we take our crafting seriously! And Woodware has an amazing selection of tools to help anything that you envision become a reality. The tools that I played with this week are the Mercart Metalwork tools, of which there are several.

I created a base card, and added sprinkles of Stampendous Aged Copper Embossing Enamel over the surface, and heated from underneath to melt (using another great tool...a heat tool!). I also used the Dreamweaver Comfort Words stencil to ink-stencil in Versamark the selected word, and embossed that with the same embossing enamel.

Now for the fun...I cut a panel from a sheet of Woodware Copper and placed it over the top of the Dreamweaver Celtic Cross stencil. Then I used my fingertip to push around the design, slightly indenting the design for the next step. I used a Teflon tool to refine the design a bit before using a larger ball tipped stylus to really work the metal, pushing it to puff out a bit. At this point, I could take the Teflon tool once again, turning the panel over and removing the stencil, and trace around the edge of the design to define it some more. You can go back and forth at this stage until your piece is how you want it. I cut it out, and to age it, used a sponge dauber to really push Black StazOn ink into the design. Then I used a sanding block over the surface to remove the ink from just the embossed areas. If you were fortunate enough to have a really puffy design, you can fill it with the Mercart filler from the back. When dry, it will hold it's shape. Or you can just adhere the cross to the card with foam squares as I did here. The end result is a work of art, but the tools simplify the process sooooo much!


Remember, the entire team posts through the week, so check back to the Woodware blog for daily inspiration!