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

Designer's Choice on Dream Scheme Thursday

Bright, shiny ornaments, twinkling lights, tinsel and GLITTER!   What else could be more 

Christmas-y?  Today is designer's choice and this is one of my favorite stencils (OK, each stencil I work with is my favorite of the moment).

 

This card was made using the Long Stocking stencil (LL499) and the double glitter technique.   Begin by adhering one side of the double-sided mounting tape (MPDS) to card stock.  Leave the protective covering on the top side until you are ready to position your stencil.   Rub the back side of the stencil with Handmade Hawaiian Coconut Soap (DHHS), making sure to cover the entire stencil.  This will keep the stencil from making a tight bond with the adhesive.  Carefully brush the soap "crumbs" from the stencil openings, making sure not to bend the stencil.  Remove the protective paper from the double sided mounting paper and position your stencil, soap side down. 

Now, here comes the fun part.  I used Glitter Ritz micro fine glitter in Grasshopper, Regal Red, Dark Gold and Cool Highlight.  To add glitter, I cut a straw in to 3" pieces and then cut one end at an angle to make a little scoop.  This is perfect for getting into small areas.   I began by applying red to the stripes and burnished it in with my finger.  After tapping off the excess and returning it to the jar, I added the gold, burnished it, then added the green and burnished it, as well.

Place the glittered image, stencil side down, on a flat surface and begin removing the card stock.  Be sure to move your fingers along the stencil as you peel back the card stock so that the stencil always remains flat and does not bend.

Lastly, apply the clear highlight glitter to the entire image and rub it in with your finger.  Trim to the desired size and you're read to finish your card.  I used several layers of mats and ribbon for mine, but the fun part is finding a patterned paper or embellishment in your stash you had forgotten about. 

As the countdown to Christmas continues, check out the Design Team's posts (see the sidebar on the right) for more ideas and inspiration. 

Happy crafting,
Liz

Happy Thanksgiving

If you're taking a break from family, dinner dishes and football, you couldn't have come to a better place.  The Dreamweaver team is sending Thanksgiving wishes to you, our faithful readers.   Sit back and take a look at what we've been working on.

Begin by paste embossing the Cornucopia stencil (LL529) with regular embossing paste (DEP).  When the paste has dried, reposition the clean stencil over the card and color to your heart's content.   Add your sentiment, embellishment and layer on your choice of patterned paper.  Adhere to card stock and you're done! 

This is a very short post, but I do want to remind you to be sure to visit the Dream Team blogs for more ideas and inspiration, and don't forget – there's still time to submit an application for the Dreamweaver Stencils Design Team Call.  You can get the details here.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such faithful followers.  We love hearing from you (and the attention), so don't be shy . . . leave us a note and let us know you've stopped by. 

Happy thanksgiving to all,
Liz

It's Sketch Challenge Thursday!

Welcome to another fabulous Dreamweaver Stencil Sketch Challenge.  Today's sketch is brought to you by Wendy

Here are the products I used and the card I made . . .

 Tape the Candy Cane stencil (LL555) to cream card stock with removable tape.  Apply Glossy Red embossing paste with a palette knife.  Remove the tape; wash and dry stencil and palette knife.  While the paste is drying, cut patterned paper (Stampin' Up) to size and adhere strip of paper diagonally to the lower part of the card.   When the paste is dry, trim pasted image to size and mat on solid red card stock.  Adhere three dots to the upper right and you're done.  Couldn't be easier for this busy time of the year.

There is a lot more inspiration coming from my fellow team mates, so don't forget to check out their blogs, as well as the Dreamweaver Stencils blog, DREAM it UP!    Once you've hopped around to the other blogs, get your stencils out and play along with us.  Link your project on the DREAM it UP!   blog using Mr. Linky and let us see what you've made. 

And, don't forget the Design Team Call.   You can read all about it here.  But you'd better get busy if you want to make the December 1 deadline.  Come on!  You can do it.  

Happy crafting,
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

It's Sketch Challenge Thursday!

We are days away from October and we should be having fall-like weather, but yesterday's temperatures made you want to get back into the pool.  The weather aside, we are heading into the fall/winter holidays and I heard someone mention last weekend that Christmas was 90 days away.  Eeeeck!   It's time to get busy with our holiday cards.

Today's sketch is by our Team Leader, Deborah March, and it's perfect for two of my favorite stencils (in truth, the stencil that I'm working with turns out to be that day's favorite!).

And here's my card

To begin, paste emboss the spider web (LJ816) and raven (LL3015) with glossy black embossing paste (DGKP), and set aside to dry.  When dry, cut the spider web into quarters and adhere to patterned paper.  Trim the raven, add coordinating mat, and adhere to the center of the card.  Add punched trim to the side and you're done.  One Halloween card done; many more to assemble.

I hope you've enjoyed today's sketch challenge.  Be sure to stop by the other design team blogs (listed in the side bar) to see what they've been working on and please leave a comment.  We love hearing from you.  Then, why not play along with us this week? We'd love to see what your take on the sketch.  Don't forget to post your creation on the DREAM it UP! blog using Mr. Linky.

See you next week,
Liz