Forgotten Songbird

 As I was checking out this week's challenges on Split Coast Stampers, I noticed that the Thursday challenge was to use birds on your creation. Suddenly, I remembered that I still had a favorite card that I created for the Stampendous October 2011 catalog which featured the Cling Jumbo Songbird set. I still hadn't used it in a post, so now is the perfect opportunity. I love the soft colors I achieved by chalking the image and the embossed background paper by Canvas Corp. A stamped torn vellum panel highlights the poem from the cling set, yet still allowing the beautiful Songbird image to shine through.

Black and White and a Peek of New

 I'm doing the happy dance as I post this week. Those of the Dream Team were finally given the go-ahead to share peeks of the brand new designs from Dreamweaver Stencils. All of them have been soooo much fun to work with, really challenging the creative mojo in so many ways.

Since we are working with the May challenge...black and white with a pop and/or graduation, I chose to show off this new fascinatingly elegant design, "Art Nouveau Background", a dramatically art deco feel, with a framed square toward the top of the design. This square provides the perfect opportunity to use the Alphabet Monograms to personalize each card.

The new background was Glossy Black Embossing Pasted on white cardstock. The monogram was Glossy White Embossing Pasted on a black square of cardstock. The pop of color added obviously was red...a mat of thin red cardstock, a beautiful organza bow, and a few rhinestones for sparkle. Leave off the bow and rhinestones, and this could easily go in a masculine direction. I have so many ideas of ways to use this new background...so keep watching for more fun projects.

Speaking of ideas, check what the rest of the Dream Team has been inspired to create for this month's challenge:

Dream It Up! blog
Pam Hornschu   

Laura Drahozal  

Louise Healy  

Wendy Jordan  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin

 Cyndi Bundy 

Cherylynn Moser 

Jessie Hurley

Remember to play along with us this month for an opportunity to win one of two sets of stencils. Just link your own black and white with a pop and/or graduation creation to the Mr. Linky on the Dream It Up! blog, or email a pic of your creation to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com. We love to post your creations on the blog and/or our Facebook page...so break out those ideas and play along!

Thinking of Mom...

Still playing with my stash of Gourmet Rubber Stamps. Today's post features the April 2012 Diner's Club set, "Garden Tea Time". So many fun images and sentiments for the mother and/or gardener in our lives. I decided to "pretty up" this card...embossed roses in the background with Stampendous Vintage Lilac Tinsel Embossing Powder, layered Nesties dies, yummy May Arts ribbon, and inked up paper roses. To fit the sketch challenge this week at Split Coast Stampers, I added an additional rose-stamped panel behind the focal point layers.

Take time to think of the mothers in your life, those you are fortunate enough to have now, and those you've loved and lost. Why? Because I said so!

London Calling...from Woodware UK!

I was so excited when Stampendous created this new Cling London image for Woodware UK! It will be released in the US as well, but for now...it's all mine to play with...along with the Woodware ladies, of course. Our posts this week are to feature this new image with red, white, and blue, and I went all out on this.

I used a beautiful navy cardstock, threw in a panel of red, which was also stamped on twice to pop up Big Ben Tower, the Double-decker bus, and the Millenium Eye...the giant ferris wheel-type contraption that provides tourists the opportunity to see all of London from way up high.

The Union Jack and the London portion of the image were colored with markers to make them stand out against the bright white cardstock panel.

I added some Card Candi "Britannia", with a border of red velvet Mini Wavy Lines Peel Offs, and some knotted organza for a border along the design.

Remember to visit the Woodware UK blog each day this week for more fun inspiration with this new image, and to check your local stores to purchase any of the products listed above.

 It's the very merry month of May now, and the Dreamweaver Stencils' Dream Team are playing with a new challenge, and we're hoping that YOU will play along! All of this month, we'll be creating for graduations and/or using black and white with a pop of color. May and June are typically the time for grads in the US, but to keep things even more interesting, you can choose to play with our colorway challenge instead.

My card features just the colorway with the pop of neon green...in the addition of rhinestone eyes, bright ribbon, and sparkly Sea Green glitter. This CAS card has a simply machine-embossed black panel with the Kitty Words on a white card. The Retro Sitting Cat was also machine-embossed on both black and white cardstock. The sections of white were pieced over the embossing on the black. A little puddle of Ranger Glossy Accents were the puffy base adhesive for the gorgeous Stampendous Sea Green glitter in the heart portion of the "I (heart) My Cat!" saying.

Obviously, to play along with us, you do not have to have a complicated creation, so pull out your supplies and have some fun! Link your creation to the Dream It Up! blog, or email pics of your creation to Lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com. We love to post your submissions on the blog as well as the Facebook page. Even more, we love to provide you the opportunity to win one of two sets of two stencils by playing along. You have all of May to link as many creations as you'd like! Sorry...winners must be from the US or Canada.

The Woodware UK Team is Singing "Buttons and Bows"

 As I'm writing this post this week, I'm humming the "Buttons and Bows" song from "The Paleface", with Bob Hope and Jane Russell. (If you are too young to remember this movie, google it!) The reason for this is that he Woodware UK team was challenged this week to use "Buttons and Bows", something I love to use on my cards, so much so that I am featuring two cards today. The first is a super simple everyday card. I used three colors of ink pads to create the background for the embossed in white Stampendous Cling Jumbo Dahlia. A doubled up loop of orange and yellow organza ribbon with a button and twine bow were the perfect finishing touch.

 This second card features the Dreamweaver Stencils' Rooster which I paste-embossed with a "sludge" mixture of Glossy Red and Matte Yellow Pastes. Using the two pastes separately, I created the plaid border with the Stripes/Plaid stencil. A bright, cheerful mix of buttons adds to the whimsical feel of this card.

Remember, the entire Woodware UK team are creating with Buttons and Bows all of this week, so check the Woodware blog for links on each day!

Recycling With French Flair

Well...we've recycled, reused, repurposed, and renewed everything within our grasp this month. This has really been a fun challenge for the month of April for the Stampendous team, and we hope that you've had fun playing along as well.

For my final post for the month, I decided to go French...as in baguette, that is! I picked up a loaf at the Trader Joe's when I was "down the hill" last week, and saved the paper wrapper bag that it came in. This became the basis for my card. I broke out the Stampendous Cling I Love Paris image, stamped and embossed it in Aged Black Embossing Enamel. Then I stamped and embossed the Cling Leaf Swirl with Aged Copper Embossing Enamel, added several sprinkles and puddles of both enamels indiscriminately over the card, before finishing it off with a scrap of pompom trim, ribbon, twine, and the foil cap from one of my favorite bottles of wine (unfortunately...not French)... I just liked the regal crown imprinted on it! Besides, if you are drinking wine while creating, you are entitled to a little artistic license...even in recycling!

The winner for this month's challenge will receive this fabulous Perfectly Clear Mother's Love set:

 Be sure to play along with us in May as we are full of great gifty ideas! Meanwhile, check out what the rest of the team has been up to this week:

Stampendous Impressions!

Janelle Stollfus

Jennifer Dove

Lea Kimmel

Jennifer Ingle

Pam Hornschu (me)

Wendy Price 

Susie Moore

Taylor Usry

Tenia Nelson

Wendy Jordan