Monday, December 31, 2012

Winners for the Frosty Fun Challenge!

New LG748 open large thank you stencil, done with molten magic tech.
Happy New Year everyone! And I want to especially thank all of you that played along with our challenges in 2012. I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that another year has sped by and has left me gasping in it's wake.

For the December month of Frosty Fun we only had a handful play along with the challenge, but your creations were just stunning. Wayne and I could not decide whose was best interpretation of the challenge and whose was best usage of Dreamweaver products. It was one of the hardest decisions to make. In fact it was so hard that we decided to award all five of the players this new Thank You stencil which will be released next week at CHA and also we are going to let each of the five players choose any stencil they would like. If you go to www.stencilwithstyle.com you can even choose one of the new designs available. What a great way to start out the year! Right? LOL!!! Be sure to email me your choice and your snail mail address to: lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com and we will ship that post haste.

The winners are Yogi, Caroline, Sheila L., Rose S., and Tiffany S.

Join us on Thursday's Dream Schemes for news regarding our upcoming design team call!

Friday, December 28, 2012

Tiffany is Joining the Challenge: More Frosty Fun!

Tiffany S. is joining us with a tealight lantern and in her own words she describes the process:

"Here is my entry for the December DreamWeaver December stencil challenge. I made a tealight lantern with vellum paper. You will want to use an adhesive that does not show through the vellum paper. I used a tape that is specifically for vellum.  A white snowy patched vellum paper was used for the base of the lantern. I used a thick vellum on the back to give it more support. I then tore strips of blue vellum and layered them to create a snowy hills scene. I put the blue vellum on both white vellum pieces, so you can use both sides of the lantern if you want."

"To create the trees (LL570), I used silver (DSP) and translucent embossing paste (DEPT). I taped my stencil directly to a non-stick craft sheet and then spread the embossing paste over, making sure you have a thick coat of paste. I tapped the paste with the spreader to give the trees some texture. You can sprinkle glitter on the paste or leave it as is. I experimented with blue and white glitter to see what it looked like on both the silver and translucent paste. (If you use the translucent paste, make sure you use something with color to make it stand out. I found out that the translucent shows more light through, but you can see where it overlays other trees.) You will want to let the paste dry completely (overnight preferably) before carefully peeling off the non-stick craft sheet. This creates embellishments that you can then place any where you want. I arranged the trees so it gave an appearance of a forest with the blue hills. I adhered the trees with a bit of liquid glue."

"Using a vellum tape, I then adhered the two sides together, leaving the top and the bottom open. This creates the lantern. I used a battery-operated tealight to light the lantern up. To secure the tealight, I used two repositionable glue dots on either side of the light and gently adhered it inside the lantern. This way I can replace the tealight without tearing the paper."


Thank you for playing along this month for the challenge, Tiffany. Especially when it is such a busy time for one and all. Tiffany often joins our challenges by emailing me a picture of her creations to: lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com You too can join in the fun. This month you could win one of the new designs being released at CHA next month. Click HERE to find out the details and if you have your own blog link to our mr. linky.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Joining the Challenge/Frosty Fun!

Today I am posting a card for Rose S. Thank you, Rose, for emailing me this beautiful seasonal card for our December challenge called "Frosty Fun". If you are here this Thursday to join the challenge just click HERE for all the details and also link up to mr. linky if you decide to play along. If you don't have a blog, feel free to do what Rose did and email your Frosty Fun creation to me at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com and I will post it for you. There are still a couple more days left until we choose our winners.

Just a brief description from Rose revealed how she created this Clean and Simple card:

She dry embossed the background design Dreamweaver holly design (LG731) using a light box and a stylus, then edged that cardstock with a metallic gold pen. The tree was from a set by Stampin' Up called Lovely as a Tree, stamped with a green versafine ink and then embossed with a clear ink and heat gun, this panel was also outlined with a metallic gold pen. Lovely card Rose!

Because of the holiday this past week not all of the team may be playing along this week. But please visit their Frosty Fun blogs and leave some love in the way of comments to encourage them as we begin a new challenge and NEW YEAR next week. They are an unbelievable team:


Thursday, December 20, 2012

Frosty Fun ...Gift Card Holder!!!

It's less than a week before Christmas and all through the house...well, you know the routine. Sigh! Not enough hours in my day and I haven't gotten all my shopping finished, so I am relying on ye old gift card routine. Am at that point in my life where the kids (or in our case, the "kid") are on their own and capable of getting themselves what they want or need, no grandchildren yet, so for those special people... gift cards do the trick and make my life much easier.

Two years ago former design team member Kim Parkinson sent me this lovely card and I thought I would show you how to make a Frosty Fun gift card holder out of it. Recycle is my middle name these days. And thanks Kim, for letting me use your card. You have always been an inspiration! To create the sleigh (LJ904) she paste-embossed it using the Dreamweaver Regular Embossing Paste (DEP) which is matte textured. After it dried she stenciled it with silver and gold metallic inks. A slit was cut at the top edge of the sleigh and a be-ribboned gift card can be slipped into the card. Once it is removed you can read the "Season's Greetings" sentiment which was part of the same sleigh stencil so it was also paste-embossed and stenciled as well. The regular embossing paste was also loaded onto the bottom of the card for a wintery frosty effect. Easy peasy and oober simple projects are my mantra for the end of the year.

If you are here for the December challenge just click HERE to find out the details. You can also link to Mr. Linky there. If you don't have a blog or site to link up to, just email me at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com ...your frosty fun creation and I will post it for you here on the Dreamweaver blog.

We also hope you will take the time to visit the design team's blogs today to see what they have accomplished for the frosty fun challenge:

Thursday, December 13, 2012

FROSTY FUN....I mean Frosting Fun!

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'Tis the season to a make Christmas cookies. And I think it is extra special to get the children involved. Join us today as my great-niece helps me with this tutorial using edible frosting instead of embossing paste.


If you have come here today to check out the challenge for the month of December, called "Frosty Fun" click HERE to find out the details about what you could win or link up with mr. linky.


Materials:
A variety of Dreamweaver metal stencils
Your favorite sugar cookie recipe
Your favorite butter frosting recipe
Dreamweaver Palette Knife (DPK)
Cookie cutters without a lot of detail
Removable tape (RMT)
Food coloring
Cookie sheets
Sugar Sprinkles plus....

A Child (or best friend...or do it yourself...)

STEP #1. 


Roll out the chilled sugar cookie 
dough... wearing bright Christmas 
colors and jingly earrings makes 
the occasion extra fun:


STEP #4. 

Cut out simple shapes with cookie cutters and bake them according to the recipe:



STEP #3. 

Mix several colors of frosting and set aside... wearing jingly bell earrings adds a bit of Christmas music to the atmosphere:



STEP #4. 

Once the baked cookies have cooled, tape all the way around the small snowflake stencil (LS26) with removable tape (RMT). I like to use removable tape because it is less tacky and easier to clean off the stencil later:


STEP #5. 

Gently spread colored frosting into the holes of the stencil using the bottom of the palette knife (DPK). (The bigger the cookies, the easier it is for the kids to handle) :


STEP #6. 

Remove the stencil off the cookie using the hinge technique, like when you are doing the embossing paste, so your frosting won't smear:




Here's Matilda with her own creations! YAY!!!

The type of stencils used for this technique have wide open holes in them. Stencils with tiny holes are too challenging for the kids to be successful with this technique (some adults have problems too). Here is a list of the stencils shown in this frosting fun tutorial:
LL399 antler snowflake, LL398 Southwest snowflake, LS26 small antler snowflake, LM297 ornament, LS79 star. And you can purchase these from your favorite retailer or online at www.stencilwithstyle.com

(Now all that is left is the clean up!)


 If you are interested in how to stencil with the more detailed stencils on cookies using food coloring visit my tutorial that I did today for Paper Craft Planet. Click HERE.
Now try stenciling with food coloring!



If you leave a comment on my Dreamweaver Giveaway @ the Paper Craft Planet  TUTORIAL  you will  have an opportunity of winning your favorite stencil.

My great-niece (Matilda) helped me with THIS tutorial as well.

Please join us and see what the team is doing for "Frosty Fun"!





Thursday, December 6, 2012

December Challenge: Frosty Fun!

Ahhh...December! Brrrr....!!! 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!) Just link up to mr. linky below and if you don't have a blog or Flikr account feel free to email me your creation and I will post your creation on my blog for you. lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com





Today I posted this creation on Paper Craft Planet, click HERE to see more stencil tutorials on their site. This is my frosty creation for this Thursday's Dream Schemes. I was inspired by Pam Hornschu's creations when she did a similar creation on flat ceramic ornaments. So here is my CASEing of her beautiful work. Click HERE to see what she did.



MATERIALS NEEDED:

Dreamweaver Embossing Paste
Palette Knife
Paste Spreader
Removable Tape
Flat Glass Ornaments
Gothic Snowflake Ornament (LL396)
Art Institute Glitter (Blue Angel)
Pan for water/scrub brush





STEP #1:
Begin by placing one long piece of removable tape (RMT) at the top of the gothic snowflake stencil (LL396). This piece is referred to as your hinge. When it is time to remove the stencil it will be the last piece of tape to be removed.













STEP #2:
Tape out the rest of the other sides of the stencil and press the tap down firmly onto the stencil so the paste doesn't seep underneath the tape.















STEP #3:
Apply the Dreamweaver Regular Embossing Paste (DEP) to the Dreamweaver Paste Spreader (LM2010) using the palette knife (DPK).













STEP #4:
Gently yet firmly spread the paste into the holes of the stencil with the paste spreader (LM2010). Try to avoid going over the image more than once or twice. This will ensure that the paste doesn't seep under the stencil and cause the image to blur.












STEP #5:
Remove all of the tape except the "hinge" or the first piece you positioned at the top of the stencil. You now remove it just like you would flip open a hinged door. This keeps the print from getting smeared.











STEP #6:
Add a small amount of dishwashing degreaser into a shallow pan of water and immediately put the stencil into this bath. Be sure that when you dry or wash a metal stencil you always keep them flat. This will keep them from getting damaged or bent.









STEP #7:
For the finishing touch, while the paste is still wet sprinkle it with glitter. Because it is past-embossed on glass it will take longer for this to dry than if it were done on paper which is absorbent. This ornament was filled with giant flakes of glitter for extra Frosty Fun...







Come back to link up with your creation for our December Challenge right here on this post. and don't forget to follow the list of the Dream Team below: