HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE

Our color challenge this week was to use burgundy and gold and I immediately new that the Christmas Script stencil (LL3009) would be perfect for my card.  And it's a snap to put together. 

Paste emboss the stencil with metallic gold paste.  When dry, cut to size, and mat on ivory Stardream paper.  Cut larger mat and add ribbon and tie the bow before adhering to card base.  Adhere Christmas Script matted piece and you're done.  Note:  I used a wired gold ribbon, which is not post-office friendly.  If you're going to mail your card, remove the wires before tying the bow and it will flatten nicely when you put it in the envelope.

With Christmas just days away, I know there's more on the "To Do" list than there are hours in the day, but be sure to check out the Dreamweaver blog, DREAM it UP!   Lynell is announcing the new Dream Team members and you'll want to be sure to check out their blogs and add them to your blog reader so you can follow along each week as we continue our Thursday posts.   And there's more to see from the rest of the Dream Team – check out their blogs by clicking on the links on the right.

Wishing you all the best this holiday season, and my thanks for following our blogs (and hopefully playing along with the challenges) this past year.   If you have yet to join a challenge, why not make it a New Year's resolution?   You'll find once you start, you're hooked!

All the best this holiday season to you and your family.
Happy crafting,
Liz

Dream Scheme Color Challenge

There are so many options for a black and white color challenge – the possibilities are endless.  So let's get to it.  Here's what I did:

This is a combination of paste embossing and Zentangle-ing.   For the middle pear,  place the Pear stencil (LL563) with the Opto-Checkerboard stencil (LJ915) on top on white card stock and tape all edges.  Apply Glossy Black Embossing Paste (DGKP) and let dry.  For the remaining pears, I traced the Pear Stencil on to white card stock and began Zentangle-ing.  If you're not familiar with Zentangle, it was developed by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, as "an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns."  You can learn more about Zentangle here.  Cut out each pear and assemble.

Get more ideas and inspiration from my talented team members (blog links on the right) and be sure to leave us a note and let us know you dropped by.  It doesn't have to be long – a "just stopped by to say hi" is fine! We love hearing from you.

Now, if you've been following the Dream Team for the past year and a half, here's your chance to find out what it's like to be on a design team and how much fun we really have. Dreamweaver is having a design team call.  You can find the details, time line and contact information on the DREAM it UP! blog.

And don't forget to "like" us on the Dreamweaver Facebook page.
 
Hope you have a wonderful weekend and have set aside some time for crafting.

See you next week,
Liz

Dream Scheme Color Challenge

Some days are better than others in the crafting world, and this week was heavenly.  First of all, it was a color challenge week and the colors were pink and black – two of my favorites.   And since I'm having a lot of fun with the background stencils right now, I couldn't pick just one, so you get the benefit of two cards.

For all cards, I used Glossy Black Embossing Paste  (DGKP).  For the card on the left, I pasted the Houndstooth (LJ913) and the large Hope (LL3018) stencils with glossy black embossing paste.  To give the Hope image a softer touch, I replaced the clean stencil over the pasted image, applied glue from the Palette Stamp & Stick Gluepad (GSP) with a large dauber, and lightly dusted Metallic F/X Pink Blaze and Pixie Blush over the pasted image with a stencil brush.  You can see some of the detail here, though the pinks are harder to see.

For the card on the right, I paste embossed the small Damask (LJ907) and Thanks (LS106) stencils with Glossy Black Embossing Paste.  When the paste was dry, I trimmed the images, added ribbon, matted them on card stock and adhered them to a card base.  Couldn't be easier.

Why not play along with us this week?  First, stop by the Dreamweaver blog, DREAM it UP! and then check out the great projects the other design team members have made for you.  Then, get out your stencils and whip up a card or two and post it on the Dreamweaver blog using the Mr. Linky tool.  We'd love to see what you're working on.

And don't forget to leave us a note.  We love reading your comments.

Happy crafting,
Liz

Dream Scheme Thursday Color Challenge

Dream Teamer Lee Kellogg provided the colors for this week's challenge: lime green and gray.  These are colors I'm not usually drawn to, but it's good for me to get out of my comfort zone and, as a result, I have lots of ideas to work on.  Here's my card:

I never throw away paper scraps and, over time, I've collected quite a stash of photo paper.   I've been playing with the scraps and find that they take well to a variety of inks. The background was made by dry-embossing photo paper with the Houndstooth stencil (LJ913), sanding the raised edges and applying Ranger's Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters and Pumice Stone with the applicator tool.  When applying the inks, remember to begin with a circular motion off the edge of the paper and work toward the middle. 

The Hot Air Balloon (LL3003) was dry-embossed on black metal  and, again, the raised edges were sanded to expose the gray base.   I used a Copic marker (New Leaf) to add color to the stencil and smoothed it out with the applicator tool.

The sentiment is from a set that most likely came from Michael's dollar bin; the brads are by Basic Gray.

There you have it.  Be sure to check out the other Dream Team members' blogs, listed on the right, to see what they've been working on.  And don't forget to let us see your work by linking to the Dreamweaver Stencils bog, DREAM it UP!

See you next week,
Liz

Thursday Dream Scheme Monochromatic Color Challenge

Whew!  That's a long title.  But the fun is just beginning.  Get out your favorite stencils, papers, inks or pastes and embellishments and play along with us for today's color challenge.

Picking a color was probably the hardest part because there were so many I wanted to use.  I began by attaching the Large Flourish stencil (LJ896) to paper and adding color using Splendor Inks by Tsukineko and a large sponge dauber, which worked better than a stencil brush for this particular application.   I positioned Thanks (LS1006) on cream card stock and applied the ink again, using the dauber.  The ribbon began as a piece of cream colored sheer, but didn't look quite right, so out came the inks and dauber and voila! – color coordinated ribbon.

 Check out the other blogs for more inspiration and don't forget to stop at the Dreamweaver Stencils blog, DREAM it UP! and link your project using Mr. Linky.  I can't wait to see what color you chose.

Happy Crafting,
Liz