Woodware UK: Sketch 48 for a Happy Christmas

It is sketch challenge time once again on the Woodware Blog, and we're up to number 48. We'd love to have you play along, and share your creations. You can find the info on the blog.

To the left is the layout for this sketch, and above and below is my version. I started with a base card in a tomato color. The next layer was a blue panel, which I stamped using the Woodware Christmas Sentiments "Happy Christmas" at a diagonal repeatedly using Clearsnap ColorBox Chalk ink in French Blue.

The smaller rectangle panel was white. Stamped in black dye ink with the Woodware Clear Treemendous Dots image, and colored with Tombow Markers, deliberately using an ombré effect in shading  from the outside-in. Once colored, the entire panel was covered in Watermark ink, and embossed with Stampendous Crystal Embossing Powder.

Once that panel was adhered, I added a stamped strip of the red cardstock, using a sentiment from the Woodware Clear Heartfelt Christmas Wishes. The finishing touch was a layering of two buttons, tied with cord, and adhered over the heart image on the card.

Be sure to visit the Woodware Blog each day to see more incredible versions of Sketch 48!

Dreamweaver Thursday: Getting Cozy with Family and Friends

Let's all snuggle up by the fire, literally or figuratively, with our cup of cocoa, our snuggly cat or dog and/or afghan, and contemplate those we love...friends, family, fur babies, and goldfish. Well, maybe not the goldfish.

It's Thanksgiving today in the United States, a time when we are with, or think of our friends and family, and count ourselves fortunate to have them, and everything else that makes us cozy.

Sharing our blessings multiplies that warm and cozy feeling for others as well. Happy thanksgiving!

My card today features that warm and cozy feeling during the holidays, and is a quick one to create. Using this rich marsala-colored cardstock and Tsukineko® Gold Delicata ink, the steps are simple:

1. Create a 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 inch, tent fold card.
2. Place Dreamweaver I Beam stencil over front, and tape to work surface with removable tape.
3. Using a large stencil brush, rouge gold ink through the stencil over the surface to cover design all around the outside edges.
4. Cut smaller panel. Machine-emboss the Dreamweaver Stockings by the Fire stencil using your favorite embossing/die-cutting machine. (I use the Big Shot Pro.)
5. Keep stencil in place on panel, and tape edges as in step 2.
6. Once again, rouge gold ink over the embossed surface.
7. Use inkpad to add gold around edge. Adhere panel to card with foam tape.
8. Stamp the sentiment from the Joyful Phrases Perfectly Clear set sentiment in gold ink, and emboss with Stampendous Detail Gold Embossing Powder on vellum strip*. "Fish-tail" cut one end. Score and fold the top edge to wrap over the top of the panel to be adhered from behind. Tear bottom edge of strip.

*Rub a small amount of talcum powder or anti-static medium over the vellum strip on back and front before stamping and embossing to prevent static cling with the EP.

For more warm fuzzies...visit our friends...

Stampendous Blog

Laura Drahozal

Louise Healy

Pam Bray

Tenia Nelson

Pam Hornschu (you're here)

Kristine Reynolds

Woodware: Tangles and Doodles with Stencils

Over on the Woodware Blog this week, the team has been challenged to Zentangle with stencils. Yeah. I got this. I may not be an amazing tangler, as doodling is more my forté, but I always did love this card. It was originally created for the Design Originals' Zentangle 6 book, featuring Dreamweaver Stencils.

The stencil design is called Open Bird, and is a perfect reminder of Peace, which we all could use, the whole world over.

When I tangle/doodle with stencils, I like to trace the design with my Sakura Micron pens, usually in the .3 - .5 size range. If I'm adding bolder patterning, I'll use up to a .7. I have so many great friends that are truly amazing at this art, some of which are Certified Zentangle Teachers. Someday, I'd really like to sit down with them and have them teach me some of the patterns and tricks to creating a motion-feel to the design. Until then...I doodle! Like Dorrie!

Woodware: Decoupage for a Season of Joy

The Woodware team is playing with the art of decoupage this week, with a Christmas holiday theme, so I thought that I'd share one of my favorite projects featuring Dreamweaver and Stampendous products. The base of this is a plaque made of slate, to which I used a decoupage medium to adhere a torn section of music score paper...

Then I added a wash of blue paint over the top, letting the music show through...

I taped the Dreamweaver Season of Joy stencil on all sides, and used Regular Embossing Paste with my Spreader tool to smooth the paste over the design...

The wet paste was covered with Stampendous Multi Crystal Glitter, and the plaque was set aside to dry...

I added a "snow bank" of dabbed-on paste, and covered this with glitter before drying...

Next I trimmed the back of a craft store tree to make it lay flat, dabbed white paint on it, and sprinkled glitter...

A bit of paint wash on a torn strip of music score before wrapping it around the tree, and adhering it to the plaque...

Paste was dabbed on a pine cone and glittered before adhering to the plaque along with a yummy bow, and a few Mark Richards' Crystals on the star, and here's the result...

Pretty gorgeous, don't you think? And what a wonderful seasonal gift!

Wobbling Again with Dreamweaver and Action Wobbles

I seriously challenged myself this week to incorporate the Action Wobble with Dreamweaver Thursday, and mix in "the fat man with the beard". How did I do? First, I used the Dreamweaver Santa stencil, machine embossed twice on Core'dinations' Chalk Core Red cardstock. The embossed areas were sanded to reveal the design in a chalk board fashion. I added a panel of red Core'dinations which I machine-embossed using the Dreamweaver Stripe/Plaid stencil before sanding to reveal the plaid design.

And then I added the Action Wobble...

I cut out the second Santa head...

 

Adhered the self-adhesive gadget, and...

So. Much. Fun!

Here's what the crew has been up to...

Stampendous Blog

Kristine Reynolds (Wobbles, DW, and Santa)

Pam Hornschu (Wobbles,  DW, and Santa)

Laura Drahozal (DW and Santa)

Louise Healy (DW and Santa)

Pam Bray (Wobbles,  DW, and Santa)

Lea Fritts (DW and Wobbles)

Wobbling Again with Stampendous and Action Wobbles

The holiday season has only just begun, and the Stampendous/Dreamweaver team is already feeling wobbly! No...not from too much Christmas "Cheer", but from playing with these cute little Action Wobbles...

They look pretty boring, don't they? But they can make your projects spring into action with the tap of a finger! Suddenly your ho hum project becomes snow fun...like mine...

I used the Cling Snowglobe Gift image (which I'm sorry to admit that I really didn't care for when I first received it) to create a fun sticky note pad cover as a little gifty for friends (or for Santa to keep track of those naughty and nice lists). Stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento, the image was colored with Spectrum Noir Colored Pencils, and blended easily with gamsol and a paper stump.

 The snowglobe portion was stamped and colored twice, with the extra to be used as my Action Wobble element. The bottom of the spring was self-adhered to the main image, and the top was self-adhered to the underneath of the extra globe. So, with a flick of a fingertip, you get this...

I die cut three graduated sizes of Spellbinders® Grand Labels One from tagboard (bottom), aqua Bazzill Basics, and then pink Bazzill Basics (on the top). The pink piece was machine-embossed using the Stampendous/Dreamweaver Christmas Borders Embossing Folder, and Cardinal VersaMark ink was swiped over the embossed surface to highlight the design. A slit was cut across the top of this piece for the next step.

The image was cut around the outside with a bit extra at the top which I scored and folded 1/4 inch apart. A bit of Zip Dry glue was spread across the top before inserting in the slip of the pink piece, leaving that 1/4" gap of fold for the sticky note pad to be adhered underneath.

The tagboard layer was covered with a wash of white acrylic paint, and covered with Crystal Micro Glitter around the edges while still wet. To make sure that the glitter would adhere, I sprayed a mist of Krylon Crystal Clear Finish over the top.

When dry, all the layers were adhered, and the top embellished with a crinkle ribbon bow made from May Arts ribbon. Magnets could be added to the back to attach to a fridge or file cabinet, or the gifty can be left as is to set on the workspace...always at the ready for adding that nice...or naughty...person's name. Oh, and in case you were wondering...I love this Snowglobe Gift stamp image now! How about you?

To shake things up some more, here's our wobblers for today...

Stampendous Blog

Amy Hurley-Purdie (Santa)

Jamie Martin (Wobbles)

Louise Healy (Wobble and Santa)

Pam Hornschu (Santa, Wobble and DW)

Woodware and the White Fluffy Stuff!

 

The Woodware team are embossing in white for this week's challenge, so of course, I just had to go with plenty of Dreamweaver Glossy White Embossing Paste for a super snowy scene. In order to make the embossing really pop, I started with a glossy white cardstock panel that I'd placed in a puddle of Color Solutions Alcohol Inks (Iceberg and Sugarplum) on my craft mat and spritzed with Thinner. When dry, I paste-embossed the Season of Joy stencil design, and covered the wet paste with Stampendous Multi Crystal Glitter Mix, and set it aside to dry.

The words were pasted on a strip of vellum, and covered with elements from the Stampendous Winter Micro Glitter Kit. The base of the card features a panel of white cardstock, machine embossed both horizontally and vertically with the Dreamweaver Stripes/Plaid stencil after swiping ColorBox French Blue Chalk ink over the stencil each time. This works as an ink-press technique.

The panels were matted and layered, and a blue rhinestone crystal was added to the star in the design.

The rest of the team will be sharing their version of this challenge all of this week, so be sure to check them out on the Woodware Blog.