Frosty Fun

CONGRATULATIONS to November's  Holidays CAS Challenge winners

Yogi

for the best interpretation of the challenge

and

Sheila Lile

for best use of Dreamweaver products

 We look forward to seeing more of your work in the coming months.

 Now, on to December's challenge.  This month we are challenging you to design a wintery delight. It can be something other than paper, but again we will have two winners: "Best interpretation of the challenge" and "best usage of Dreamweaver products". This last month of the year we will award each of these winners a brand new stencil design we are releasing at CHA. (It's a secret until the very end of the month!)

The first thing that comes to mind is the song . . . "The weather outside is frightful," ta-da-da-da, ta-da-da-da, ta-da-da-da (humming along because I can't remember the words, but I do remember this part) "Let is snow, let it snow, let it snow."   Well, every time I've worked with this stencil, I just have to sing along. 

Here's what you'll need to make the card:

Stencils:  Let it Snow (LG717) and Ice Skates (LL3016)

Metallic Silver Embossing Paste (DSP)

Palette Knife (DPK) and Paste Spreader (LM2010)

Aluminum

Clear glitter

The details:
Attach stencil to card stock and tape all sides with repositionable tape.  Apply metallic paste with paste spreader.  Remove, wash and dry the stencil; set image aside to dry.

Dry emboss ice skates on to aluminum using personal die cut machine, remembering to position stencil on the base plate and to use new cutting plates dedicated to dry embossing.  Remove stencil and carefully cut around image.

Adhere pasted image to card base and attach ice skates to card front with strong, double-sided tape.

We have a whole month ahead of fun and frosty inspiration, perfect for the winter months, when it's too cold to go outside.   Check out the rest of the design team blogs to see what they've been up to.  Then, sneak in some time to get crafty and post your project on the Dream it Up! blog using Mr. Linky.   There will be prizes for two lucky winners of this month's Frosty Fun challenge. 

Dream it Up!

Pam Hornschu 

Laura Drahozal

Louise Healy  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg  

Liz Martin (you're here)

 Cyndi Bundy

Cherylynn Moser

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

Designer's Choice on Dream Scheme Thursday

They've predicted a warming trend through the weekend, so of course my thoughts turn to cool drinks with lots and lots of ice.  In the paper crafting world, that would be snowflakes and ice skates, using  Dreamweaver's  new ice skates stencil in shiny, icy silver metal.   Take a look . . .

The background is the snowflake stencil (LJ819) paste embossed with translucent embossing paste.  After removing and washing the stencil, I sprinkled clear glitter over the paste while it was still wet.  After it was completely dry, I brushed off the excess glitter with a soft brush.

For the skates (LL3016), I dry embossed the metal first by running it through a personal die cutting machine and then, with the stencil still in place, went over the fine details with the small end of a stylus to give more definition.  Then, I turned the embossed metal over and applied regular embossing paste to the back to keep the details crisp and dent-free.  When dry, I cut it out and attached it to the snowflake panel. 

Please be sure to visit the other team blogs listed on the sidebar on the right for more ideas and inspiration, and don't forget to stop by the Dreamweaver blog, DREAM it UP!

AND, SAVING THE BEST 'TIL LAST . . . a special blog hop begins next Monday where you will be seeing some very different kinds of projects.  I won't say any more right now, just be sure to mark your calendar and check back next week to see what we've been working on.

Happy crafting,
Liz

It's Thursday . . .

and that means it's a Dreamweaver Dream Scheme day – and designer's choice – and a new stencil just released.  Whew! 

 
This design is quickly becoming a favorite as it lends itself so well to masculine cards.    I began by dry embossing the Gears stencil (LJ911) on to silver craft metal by running it through a die cutting machine.  I experimented with other embossing methods (paper stump, stylus) and found that the die cutting machine provided the sharpest image. I then pasted the back of the stencil so the embossed areas would keep their shape.  When the paste was dry, I sanded the front to give it a distressed look and then applied alcohol inks (Ranger and Copic) using a mix of  brown and olive green colors and blended them with an applicator tool and felt pad.   I know Father's Day has come and gone, but I had this sentiment (LM244) left over from another project and thought it was better to use it than lose it. 

Thanks for stopping by.  We love showing off our stencil projects!  Don't forget to visit the other Dream Team blogs as well as the Dreamweaver Stencil blog, DREAM it UP! and leave us a note.  We love hearing from you.

Happy Crafting,
Liz