Heart Cards this Week

Deborah March, design team member from Nova Scotia, made this beautiful heart card. Some of my postings this week may not be exactly Valentines, but I think "heart" cards are valid to send on Valentine's Day.

Once again this Valentine creation is paste-embossed with the lovebird stencil (LL3011). Deborah used the white paste on the aqua paper by just repeating the heart portion, and then she added an aqua color to the white paste and paste-embossed the white paper with the entire motif. I am a bit biased, since aqua is one of my favorite colors, but I do think this is a gorgeous color-way. The little pearl embellishments and the sentiment really add that little bit of panache. Also the silver lining on both card mountings really makes this card sparkle. A very elegant card to send to someone you love on Valentine's day, don't you think?

This week I would like to again challenge you to send a card to a shut in or someone you know that needs a little extra love these cold winter days. In fact tonight I am going to take time to do just that, so join me if you have time.

Pretty Pink Valentine

Elaine Benedict paste embossed this beautiful tole heart (LL3010) with the regular matte embossing paste (DEP) on pretty pink paper. When it was dry which took about 25 minutes, she repositioned the stencil and stenciled it with pigment inks using a 1/4" brush for the green and 1/8" brush for the small pink hearts. She also stenciled the background leaves from the spider mum stencil (LJ892) on a paler pink cardstock using the same ivy green pigment ink, but this time she used a 1/2" brush.

Valentine's Day is on it's Way!

Lee Kellogg has dry embossed this lovebird stencil (LL3011) on pewter. After she embossed it she took a

special metal brush and distressed the background area of the pewter. Magdalena Muldoon from Mercart has many different metals and tools available to purchase. You can also purchase these materials at Lee Kellogg's store in Santa Fe, NM, called Guadalupe's Fun Rubber Stamps.

This week I will be showing several different Valentine Cards made by the Dreamweaver Design Team which you can make to share with those you love.

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Challenge Yourself

Just returned from CHA and after reading Louise Healy's post this A.M. I realize how severe the storm is that hit the country. Hoping that all of you are safe and sound. So in your comments today... let me know if you are inside cozily by the fire, (or maybe I should say cozily by the fired up computer) or basking in the sun.

There was a lot to take in this past week at CHA and one of the many interesting things was sitting down with Magdalena Muldoon from Mercart to learn about working with colored aluminum. In our booth we were demonstrating how to run it through the embossing machines that are so popular. This is one of my first attempts and it will be one of the techniques shown in the second DVD we taped recently called "Tips and Tools: Creating with Metal Stencils". (This DVD will also be available this Spring.) After running this through the embossing machine I also added color to the Lovebird stencil (LL3011) with the titanium white Paintstik.

When you use Paintstiks they initially have a dry skin on the top of them that you peel back with a dry paper towel. Then I stroke this white color onto a palette of wax paper until it is smooth and creamy. Next I used a 1/4" stencil brush and picked up the color off of the palette and stenciled it through the holes of the stencil onto the birds.

Dream Team member, Wendy Jordan, posted three different card techniques done with the same stencil today. One of them is using the metal from Mercart, the other two are using the foils from Stampee Crafts. Julie Makela (distributor for Dreamweaver Stencils in Australia, also known as The Stencil Specialists ) demonstrated in our booth using these foils. Yes, "foiled again"...this material has been used by crafters in the past, but it will be used in a very different way by the Dream Team here at Dreamweaver...check our posts regularly for more on this new twist on a familiar product. And be sure to check out Wendy Jordan's renderings of Julie's technique when you get the opportunity.

Also I want to thank Cardabilities for sponsoring the sketch from last week. We have three winners from their challenge. Be sure to visit their interpretation of Karan Gerber's beautiful sketch at Cardabilities.com.

Thursday's Dream Schemes/A double take

Yesterday's posting was one day early for the Cardabilities sponsorship....read all about it in my Wednesday post. There are gift certificates involved too. Hope some of you will play along. As I prepared for that sketch challenge I made two cards. Just couldn't decide how dramatic to interpret our monthly colorway sketch of turquoise/dark brown/craft brown and neutral. Soooo when I was overtaken with a creative attack I made this card in several variations and here is #2. I found I really loved Karan Gerber's sketch and am planning some Valentine's Day cards with this sketch to send to special loved ones. Her sketch is also posted on Wednesday's post. Be sure to follow the sidebar at the right and see what our design team has been up to the last couple of days.

I paste embossed first by mixing the Navajo Blue Metallic F/X into the pearlescent embossing paste (DPP) and used our new damask stencil (LX7002). The new paste spreader (LM2010) is long and really addresses using embossing paste with large background stencils. Then I sprinkled turquoise flocking from Stampendous (fun flock) all over the design while it was wet. So here's hoping you have a creative attack too and join us in the Cardabilites sketch challenge.

Thursday's Dream Schemes on Wednesday Morning

Yes, you are correct, it is only Wednesday and I am a bit early with our colorway sketch for Thursday. The reason is... that this week, we are a sponsor on the Cardabilites Blog, which starts today, Wed. Jan 26,2011. If you are interested in playing along the opportunities for winning are tremendous. Three different gift certificates are being offered: $25, $15 and $10. All you need to do is play along with their sketch at Cardabilites.blogspot.com, so be sure to check out their lovely blog site. At the end of this post is their sketch challenge and our color way sketch this week is Turquoise/Dark Brown/Craft Brown and Neutral.

This is how I have interpreted the Cardabilites sketch. I am using the new damask stencil (LX7001). It is a new 6 x 6 inch size for us and makes a lovely background. Here at Dreamweaver it is our colorway Thursday of the month and our colors are Turquoise/Dark Brown/Craft Brown/and Neutral. I used Glossy Black Embossing Paste (DGKP) and our new wide spreader (LM2010) to paste the damask. While it was still wet I sprinkled the entire design with dark brown flocking (...yep it is a fuzzy background). I used the same embossing paste on the Thank You stencil (LG691), but used dark brown glitter instead...it adds a bit of a spark. I trimmed up the card with the craft brown paper color, then added a turquoise ribbon with a dark brown trim and mounted it all on a neutral background. For a finishing touch the thank you was mounted with foam mounting tape, so I could attach the bow with a pearl colored three inch pin (TIPI). This is done by sliding it through the knot of the ribbon, under the thank you and then hiding that sharp tip in the foam mounting tape. Actually this was a very simple card to do...I made four variations of it for ready to send thank you cards.

Our DVD is still being edited, but in it I demonstrated doing this large background damask stencil with our new wide spreader in a technique called "platform pasting". This technique gives you the ability to paste those lacy background stencils in just one sweep with this new pasting tool. We are still aiming for February release of both DVDs. Keep watching for more information.

Don't forget, since this is such a special week for us, some of the team are posting today so they can post on the cardabilities blog and then some are again posting on Thursday for our colorway sketch. And some people like me are posting for both today. So follow the sidebar at the right and start with our fearless leader and visit the DTs blogs. Have fun and we hope you'll become a follower today!

Thursday's Dream Schemes/The Challenge is "Your Choice"

It's a Free Challenge this Thursday and I am here to tease you with two new designs, the stencil of the "birds on bare branches" (LG733) and "fine feathered friends" stencil (LM2009). These will be available in stores soon. Give us a few days to get them packaged and shipped, then you can visit your local retailer or on-line store and shop.

I loved doing this one with the double glitter technique. It was a bit of a challenge, because each bird was done with a different color of transparent glitter and the tree branches were done with an opaque brown glitter. As I worked I went back and forth between these different colors of glitters. This way you are working right up to one color and then changing to the next color to avoid contamination. I laid out several pieces of copy paper on a table and set out a jar with a different color of glitter on each piece of paper. Then I held my "sticky paper"(to which the stencil was attached to) at a slant above the paper and let the glitter waterfall a bit at a time off the stencil. I started at the bottom of the tree branches and each time I moved to another color I would rub it into the stencil holes and make sure it did not get into the adjoining holes where I wanted to use the next color of glitter. (This is why you angle or "waterfall" the glitter off the stencil.) Then once all the glitter was applied, I pulled out my pigment inks and stenciled bright colors onto the feathered guys using very small 1/8" stencil brushes. For this portion of the technique the "Picasso" stencil shield was used. This tool helped isolate the pigment color to the areas where I specifically wanted the shading to be and helped create the fine detail you see on the birds. A black gel pen was used to add the eyes on each bird. "Fine feathered friends" was paste embossed vertically on the blue cardstock with glossy white embossing paste (DGWP) and while it was still wet, dark blue opaque glitter was sprinkled on the word "feathered". This way the words "fine friends" stood out and makes a statement. It was a bit of a challenge doing this one, but on the other hand it was so satisfying when I was finished.

Again if you are interested in the instructions for the double glitter technique email me at www.lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com My third DVD, which is being edited as I write this, will cover not only this fun technique, but several others. I will be sure to let you know when it's ready to ship.

Also if you get the chance, do play along with us this week. Also I want to challenge you to send one of your creations in the mail this week to someone that you know needs a boost. There are a lot of "shut ins" out there. The weather has been extremely bitter this year, so warm up someone's life with a pretty greeting card!

Don't forget to follow the design team's blogs by clicking on Deborah March's name on the sidebar at the right. Our fearless leader is at the top of the list and will get you going. Enjoy!