Thursday, November 5, 2015

Dreamweaver Thursday: Falling in Love with Fall

I really do firmly believe that Stampendous and Dreamweaver were a match made in heaven. You might even say that the two product lines meld together beautifully. How else could you take the Dreamweaver die cut Treeline design, and have this kind of shimmer and shine? It's so simple to do...just coat the die cut design with VersaMark ink by Tsukineko®, pour on several colors of Fran•tagé Embossing Enamels, and heat to melt. Since we have a fall challenge going on this week on the Stampendous Blog, I chose to go with colors that suit the season...Aged Spice, Aged Copper, Aged Hunter, Aged Teal, and the Seasonings blend. The result is so gorgeous, that you really need nothing more than popping it up over yummy colors of cardstock from Bazzill Basics® and Core'dinations®. I love the sentiment that I chose to add to my card, the Cling Friendship Tree, and a few sprinkles more of the enamels, heated from underneath, were the perfect finish.


For more fall fun, be sure to visit the rest of the team posting today:








Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Stampendous: Falling In Love With Fall

 

 We had a fun month in October going creepy and scary, but now it's nice to settle down and just enjoy the fall season, with all of it's yummy flavors, crisp air, and gorgeous colors. This week the Stampendous team are celebrating this wonderful season, and we'd love for you to play along! Just break out your collection of fall images, accessories, stencils, and more from Stampendous, and have "a ball in the fall"!

My card today features the Jumbo Leaves stamp set. These leaves also come as a die set, and they come in our famous PenPattern design as well. I just kept it simple. I stamped the leaves on my ochre-colored cardstock. To make them pop from the background, I traced around the outside with two shades of my Copic Sketch markers...YG93 and YG99. Over the top of the stamped leaves, I used the VersaColor pigment ink cubes from Tsukineko® directly to the front of the card as square pops of color. So simple to do, and a very unique look as well.

To finish it off, I stamped the Cling Relax sentiment on a folded die cut of kraft cardstock, and attached it over simple twine wrapped around the card and tied in a bow.


 For more Fall Fun, check out this awesomeness from the team...

Pam Hornschu (you're here)


Monday, November 2, 2015

Woodware: Die Cut Delights for a Happy Christmas

Woodware's product line contains pretty much every die and/or die set that are produced by Dreamweaver and Stampendous, several of which have matching stencils or stamps, and most of them are designed for die-cutting a delightful Christmas! I've created this pop-up card (using the Pop Up Die Set from Stampendous). I've decorated it with the stamped and die cut Create Christmas Cling set as well. On the inside, I paste-embossed the Holiday Greetings stencil center, and adhered it over an ink-stenciled panel using the same stencil. Dabs of more paste were added to the "tiers" of the Christmas Tree, and coated with the Stampendous Sparkle Puff Embossing Powder and heated for extra puffiness. A light sprinkling of the same was added on the front of the card as well
the inside for more of a snowy feel. Finally, I used one of the Woodware flag buntings, stamped with words from the Perfectly Clear Joyful Phrases set. Such a fun card to create, and a festive card to give and display.

Remember, you can find these items by visiting the Stockists that carry the Woodware product line in the UK, and stores listed in the USA and/or the Stampendous website.


Friday, October 30, 2015

Dia de Los Muertos...a Celebration of a Crafty Life with Stampendous, Dreamweaver, and Glue Dots


We've been busy little hoppers for most of this fall, and this week is no exception. This week we're sharing our creativity with Glue Dots...an industry staple! These little clear dots come on runners for super convenience, really stick to just about everything, and there are sizes to accommodate every project. They're kind of like "hidden gems". You may not always see them, but you can be confident in them being there! And, as with every hop, we have wonderful prizes as shown in the banner below. All rules and stipulations can be found on the Stampendous blog HERE, but basically...leave a comment for each post from the team and on the two companies posts for a chance to win.
 

Here's what I have to share today...


As the Stampendous team have been challenged to "Bring Out the Dead", I thought I'd post my box that celebrates the life of the dead. As a traditional celebration in Latino communities, this is an occasion to celebrate the lives of loved ones that are no longer with them. I created this box as a way to save treasures and photos of those that are loved and missed.

The base is simply a paper maché box from the local craft store. The box portion was painted with DecoArt Americana Chalky Finish white paint. When dry, the sides were ink-stenciled in Onyx Versafine using the Dreamweaver Damask stencil. I applied my heat tool to the sides to set the ink, before swiping turquoise dye inks across the surface. Then I used the Andy Skinner Industrial "Crackle" image with brown ink around the box, and smudged black as well.
For the lid, I taped the Dreamweaver Quatrafoil stencil on all four sides, and spread Matte Black Embossing Paste smoothly over the design. The stencil was removed to be cleaned immediately, and lid set aside to dry. When dry, I replaced the cleaned and dried stencil, and spread Crackle Embossing Paste over the surface, leaving it smooth and slightly thicker for a better crackle finish. Once again, removing the stencil to be cleaned, and setting the lid to dry. The Crackle Paste dries white, so more of the turquoise ink was worked into the surface with a dauber. The outside edge of the lid was inked in browns, smudged with black, and a bit of Stampendous Fran•tagé Aged Black and Aged Bronze enamels were heated on the corners, as well as the corners of the box.

Now comes the fun part. The Cling Sugar Skull image was stamped on ivory cardstock, colored with Copic markers, and cut to fit the opening of the frame, along with an extra bunch of the colored flowers. The frame itself was one of the inexpensive $1 frames from Michael's, which I daubed Matte Black Embossing Paste over the surface for texture. When dry, I daubed it with VersaMark ink and sprinkled it liberally with both of the Aged enamels, and a some broken up Teal and Caramel Color Fragments. When heated, it all melded together. I used the Glue Dots® Craft to adhere the frame to the box, and used the Glue Dots® Minis to adhere the extra flowers to the frame, and the pompom trim around the edge of the box. That was the simplest part of the whole project, and very necessary to the overall effect, don't you think?

Here is where you leave me a sweet comment, and move on to the rest of the links. Be sure to visit often...I like the company!




Thursday, October 29, 2015

The Dreamweaver Ghouls Bring Out the Dead...or the Undead


Boy, did I have fun going gory and gruesome for this challenge...or should I say, three challenges, and one hop? For starters, I'm posting for the hop with Glue Dots®, as shown in the banner above.

 

There are awesome prizes to be had by leaving comments on all the links. If you live in Australia, there's an opportunity for you to win as well. You can find all the rules and info HERE. 


Also, I'm posting this for the 31 Days of Halloween challenge on the Smeared Ink Blog. Plus, the Stampendous team are sharing all things dead and/or undead this week. Finally, it's Dreamweaver Thursday, and many of our ghouls are on a death wish as well...bwahahahahaha.


There is a lot going on here. First, the card base is Bazzill Basics  cardstock, which has been ink-sprayed through the Dreamweaver Quatrefoil stencil in the background, as well as ripped, torn, smudged, and distressed.

The second layer is a panel of gray Core'dinations cardstock, which has been run through my Big Shot Pro with the Dreamweaver Spider Web, and then sanded to reveal the design. This panel has been thoroughly smudged and distressed as well, and has dripping "goo"  created with a Martha Stewart border punch, plus a stamped word from the Perfectly Clear Tricky Words set by Stampendous.

The focal point of this card is, obviously, the "Skull Ghoul Square" image...one of the "All-in-one" Stampendous designs that can stand alone for quick card-making, or taken to crazy-town as shown here. I thought this ghoul was just a bit too cute, so I added some "blood" red on the flowers and dripping onto the skull. The panel has been adhered with Glue Dot® Craft dots to a "post" created from black cardstock with jagged edges, and a bit more ooze for the fun of it. Just a quick "zip" with the Glue Dots® runner, adds perfect adhesive for any embellishment, and the fact that they are clear means that your creation is what catches the eye, not the adhesive. Precisely the reason that I call these adhesive dots, "hidden gems".

The finishing touch is a strip of gauze soaked in Strawberry Daiquiri Memories Mists from Dreamweaver, just for the "EWWWW, ICKKKK" factor! Once dry, I placed Glue Dots Minis strategically across the card, and draped the gauze over them to adhere to the card.


Be sure to visit the rest of the ghouls posting today using the links below. If you've missed any of the other "deadly"  creations from this week, or the 31 days of Halloween posts, you can find all the links on the Stampendous blog.





Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Woodware Sketech 47 Challenge: Leafy Thanks

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The Woodware team is back for another sketch challenge...number 47 to be precise. My card features the Dreamweaver Zen Flower machine-embossed onto the front of a side-fold horizontal blue card. Using a large stencil brush, I swiped deeper blue ink over the surface to emphasize the design.

The long strip at the top is from the Forever in Time patterned paper called "Graffiti", on which I stamped the thank you in deep blue ink using the Stampendous Perfectly Clear Vintage Alphabet set. The green panel was the negative portion of a die cut Dreamweaver Leafy Branch die, and the insert was a positive image of the same die on ivory cardstock, and inked with turquoise ink. All parts have been ink-distressed around the edges to emphasize and to coordinate with each other.

The end result is a very simple card with a unique look. Come play along with the Woodware team for this month's challenge. The rules can be found on the Woodware Blog.


Friday, October 23, 2015

Mixing It Up with Nathalie Kalbach Studio Designs and Stampendous


Welcome to the final day of the Stampendous hop featuring designs by Nathalie Kalbach. You'll want them all by the end of this day, but we're specifically highlighting the Cling Marks and Cling Fiesta sets. As with all of our hops, there will be prizes, and you could be one of the winners. Just leave comments all of this week on each post that the team has had, along with the Stampendous blog. See Official Rules.

There are also opportunities for someone in Australia and the UK to win as well. Just leave in your  comments that you are from either country for a chance to win from the Stencil Specialists in Australia or Woodware Crafts in the UK.

Here's how I got really messy with Nathalie this week:

Yep. I did another t-shirt. You may see many in the future, as I'm kind of addicted to them. A different way of playing with all of my creative toys, that I've really never tried much before. To get a basic step-by-step idea of how I'm doing these, check out my post from Monday, October 19, for the 31 Days of Halloween challenge HERE. I did mostly bleach spraying through Dreamweaver stencils for that one, and for this one it was mostly dye-ink spraying through the Dreamweaver Vintage Decor and I Beams stencils with Diet Cola (black) Memories Mists from DW. You could easily use any of the dye paints and sprays found at the fabric and craft stores near you. I stamped many of the Nathalie Kalbach Studio images from Stampendous using Onyx VersaFine ink from Tsukineko. I've found that it stays in the fabric well, and doesn't bleed. You'll see various images from Nathalie's Cling Fiesta and Cling Marks sets. Once I'd stamped and stenciled over the shirt, I realized that I'd managed to add several black smudges over the shirt as well. So, I mixed up a batch of Tulip brand Fuchsia dye with steaming water and some salt, and placed the entire shirt inside. (Btw, I worked outside with this on my patio table that I'd covered with a large plastic trash bag. I also wore clothes that I didn't care about, and gloves.) Every 10-15 minutes I'd pull out several inches of the shirt, squeeze the dye back into the bowl, and leave that portion hanging out from the bowl. When I got to the final third of the shirt, I mixed in a small amount of black dye, and used that in the same way for those last inches. The end result was an ombré look, and after adding a smattering of remaining spray ink, I had a more uniform yet freeform design.

You can really see the difference from dark to light with these two pics. The one above was designs stamped on the back of the shirt, and the pic at the left showed how the stenciled I Beams still showed through the dying process without taking over the shirt.

Just as with my previous shirt, I cut a patch from muslin, and using the stencil inside the Cling Fiesta set of the silhouette, I used a finger-tip dauber to dab Onyx Versafine around the inside edges of the stencil design, leaving the center lighter to show off the next step. This is where I inked some of the Fiesta designs and used them to add pattern where the hair, dress, hat, suit would be. Then I sponged a bit of Dreamweaver Color Solutions Alcohol Inks (Cosmo Pink, Winter Red, and Sugarplum) down the center of the patch, and around the edges. Once dry, I ironed it to set the ink. Now I added some bling by using my Walnut Hollow VersaTool to "Hot Fix" some Swarovski crystals over the patch, and a few on the t-shirt as well. The patch can take the heat better, so I pressed the tool on it for about 13-15 seconds, and only 9-10 seconds on the actual shirt. (Make sure to do this over a ceramic tile that can handle the heat, and make sure that you use this tile inside the shirt so that the glue doesn't go all the way through.)

I ironed a piece of fusible interfacing to the back of the patch, used a bit of Beacon Adhesives' GemTac to adhere it to the shirt, and then zigzag stitched it around the edges. I also sewed the fun pompom trim along the bottom edge of the patch. I felt like it added to the "fiesta" theme.

These are so much fun to create, but I really recommend that for your first ones you use an old t shirt or an inexpensive one that won't break your heart if things don't go right. However, you can shift directions if your first attempt isn't perfect. Spatter, dye, bleach, add patches and trims. Remember the crafting adage..."Mistakes are only opportunities to embellish"!
 

Leave your comments for a chance to win and then check out my messy mates here: