April Showers Bring May Flowers . . .

 . . . I hope that's true, since the San Francisco Bay Area received half of this year's total rainfall in the last six weeks!   It's been a very wet spring, but the flowers (and pollens) are loving it.  For the last post of the April challenge I've made an April showers and flowers card.

I positioned the Long Sunflower stencil (LL429) so that only the top part of the flower was on the paper.  And by flipping the stencil over, I was able to change the orientation of the flowers.  I also found it was easier to stencil the flowers on each side of the card, let them dry briefly, and then stencil the middle flower.   If you're making several cards, do all the same colored flowers at once so you'll only need to wash your stencil when you reposition it to color the next flower.  Choose bright colors for the flowers as pastels will fade away under the "rain."

For the rain drops, I used the Rain stencil (LJ905), and embossed it with Translucent Embossing Paste mixed with a touch of Metallic F/X, Navajo Sky.   

 I have a friend who is not feeling well and this might be a "sorry to hear you're under the weather" card for her.  Some of the others might become note cards with a "thinking of you" stamped inside.  I love choices!

 Don't forget to visit the other Design Team blogs for more ideas and inspiration, and be sure to link your project using Mr. Linky on the Dreamweaver Stencils' blog, Dream it Up!

Pam Hornschu   

Laura Drahozal  

Louise Healy  

Wendy Jordan  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin  (you're here)

Cherylynn Moser

Happy Crafting,
Liz

Still covered in glitter . . .

Last week's Dreamweaver/Stampendous collaboration was so much fun I decided to continue playing with the glitter for this week's post.  For this month's challenge, May flowers and weddings, I  turned to one of my favorite floral stencils.

I began by dry-embossing the Hydrangea (LJ888) stencil and, with the stencil still in place, colored the image with pigment inks. Using my finger, I applied small amounts of Versamark Watermark ink to some of the petals and sprinkled them with Stampendous Vintage Lilac embossing tinsel.  The next steps are easy: heat from the back of the card to set the embossing tinsel;  tear the edges of the card stock to soften the image and ink with Ranger Antique Linen distress ink; and attach to coordinating background papers.

It's difficult to see the glitter on the larger image above, but the detail on the right, taken at an angle, gives you a better idea of the sparkle from the embossing tinsel.

There's still time to play along in this month's challenge, so be sure to link your project to the Dream it Up! blog using Mr. Linky.   And if you need more ideas and inspiration, check out the Dream Team blogs.  It's sure to get the creative juices flowing.

Pam Hornschu   

Laura Drahozal  

Louise Healy  

Wendy Jordan  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin  (you're here)

 Cyndi Bundy 

Cherylynn Moser

 

Happy Crafting,

Liz

And the winners are . . .

I hope you had as much fun on the hop as we did creating projects for it.    And now . . . drum roll,
please . . . the randomly picked winners from the Dreamweaver/Stampendous Hop Week are:

Lorraine Padden

Bernie

Miriam Prantner

Congratulations to all of you! Send your mailing address to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com so your prizes can be on their way.  I hope you'll keep the fun going and play along with us the rest of this month with our "May Flowers" challenge.   You'll find more information here as well as Mr. Linky for linking your projects,  or send them to Lynell at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com.  

Happy crafting,
Liz

Dreamweaver and Stampendous Blog Hop - Final Day

Welcome back to the final day of the Dreamweaver/Stampendous Blog Hop. All the Dreamweaver and Stampendous designers are participating today, so get ready to be inked, pasted, encrusted, stenciled and stamped! All of this week the Dreamweaver Stencils' Dream Team and the Stampendous Design Teams have been providing some "Dream-pendous" inspiration for you, with multiple opportunities to win some fabulous prizes from both companies. Each day this week, you will be directed from both the Stampendous Impressions' blog or the Dream It Up! blog to the players du jour for your oohing and aaahing pleasure. Everyone will be playing on Saturday, the 14th with our final hop for the week. This is your opportunity to see how to mix and mingle your creativity...if you are a stenciler, you will be fascinated at combining stamps with your first love. If you are a stamper, you will be wowed at how stencils can add to your impressions.

  

Begin by position the Rolling Hills (LJ910) stencil on your card stock and taping all sides.   Here's where the fun begins . . . pace a few drops of Aspen Leaf Color Solutions Alcohol Ink on a splat mat or a piece of aluminum foil and add a drop or two of blending solution.  Smush (newly coined technical term) your applicator tool into the mix and swipe, using smooth strokes, across the bottom of the stencil until you're satisfied with the way it looks.  Change cotton squares and do the same with the Iceberg Color Solutions alcohol ink for the sky.  Pick up the small drops of colors left on your mat or piece of foil with your applicator tool and use it to blend the space between earth and sky.  Not one to leave well enough alone, I blended all the way to the top, making the sky a color that is not normally seen in nature, but one that does work for this card.  Remove the stencil and clean it with rubbing alcohol while the card dries.

Stamp the Shade Tree** with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and color the tree trunk with Copic markers E31 and E33.  Apply liquid glue lightly and randomly across the tree branches and sprinkle with Fresh Green Crushed Glass Glitter.  Set aside to dry.  Trim to size and adhere to coordinating card stock.  

Be sure to leave comments as you tour the blogs (with your email addy!) for a chance to win* one of three combined sets of these Dreamweaver and Stampendous goodies:

 

There's a lot more to see, so be sure to check out the links below, but leave me some love before you "gear up" for the next player:

Dream It Up!

Stampendous Impressions!

Kristine Reynolds

Cherylynn Moser

Susie Moore

Lynn Mercurio

Laura Drahozal

Pam Hornschu

Terrece Siddoway 

Wendy Price

Liz Martin

Taylor Usry

Jessie Hurley

Krissy Fossmeyer

Cyndi Bundy

Jennifer Ingle

Georgia Sommers

Melinda Gleissner

Kristi Van Doren

Stephanie Lee

Wendy Jordan

Suzanne Czosek

Lee Kellogg

Janelle Stollfus

Louise Healy

Jennifer Dove

Happy crafting,

Liz

*For shipping and handling purposes, USA/APO/FPO/Canada winners only.

**This image will not be available for purchase online until April 21st.  Please check your local store for immediate availability.

Dreamweaver and Stampendous Blog Hop

I hope you've enjoyed the last four days of the Dreamweaver/Stampendous Blog Hop and are gearing up for Days 5 and 6.  So sit back and get ready to be inked, pasted, encrusted, stenciled and stamped! All of this week the Dreamweaver Stencils' Dream Team and the Stampendous Design Teams have been providing some "Dream-pendous" inspiration for you, with multiple opportunities to win some fabulous prizes from both companies. Each day this week, you will be directed from both the Stampendous Impressions' blog or the Dream It Up! blog to the players du jour for your oohing and aaahing pleasure. Everyone will be playing on Saturday, the 14th with our final hop for the week. This is your opportunity to see how to mix and mingle your creativity...if you are a stenciler, you will be fascinated at combining stamps with your first love. If you are a stamper, you will be wowed at how stencils can add to your impressions.

On a page torn from an old book, stamp Stampendous' Daffodil Girl** with Memento's Tuxedo Black ink and colored the image with Copic markers.  Position Dreamweaver's Nouveau Flourish (LJ919) stencil on the page and tape on all sides.  Using the pad to paper technique, apply Versamark Watermark ink to the open areas of the stencil.  Carefully remove the stencil and set in a pan of warm water.  Sprinkle Stampendous Vintage Lilac embossing tinsel over the stamped area and tap off excess.  Using a heat tool and from the back side of the paper, heat just until the embossing powder has set.   Again, using the pad to paper technique, apply the watermark ink to the bottom of the page, sprinkle with embossing tinsel and heat from the back side of the paper until set.   Carefully tear all sides for a deckle edge and ink with Tea Dye distress ink by Ranger.  Add ribbon, adhere to coordinating solid paper and to card base.   And don't forget to go back and wash your stencil!

Be sure to leave comments as you tour the blogs (with your email addy!) for a chance to win* one of three combined sets of these Dreamweaver and Stampendous goodies:

 

Leave me some love before you "gear up" for the next player:

Stampendous Impressions!
Dream It Up!
Georgia Sommers
Wendy Price
Liz Martin
Pam Hornschu
Terrece Siddoway

*For shipping and handling purposes, USA/APO/FPO/Canada winners only.
**This image will not be available for purchase online until April 21st.  Please check your local store for immediate availability.

Don't forget . . . tomorrow's the BIG DAY when all the designers participate in the blog hop and there will be many more ideas and buckets of inspiration for your next project!

Happy crafting,
Liz