Thursday's Dream Schemes/Colorway Challenge Purple and Yellow

I have to begin this week by saying that on Saturday several of the team will be involved in a July 2nd blog hop with another team of people. We are giving away a couple of stencils in conjunction with this...so hop along on Saturday and you can go to Pam Hornschu's site to learn all the details and could even start there on Saturday. Lots of other prizes will be given away so follow her name on the sidebar at the right to learn more. I won't be involved here on this site but you can navigate to her site from here if you get lost. Free stencils are always fun!

This week design team member Laura Drahozal has chosen a colorway of purple and yellow. I have taken a few liberties with the color and interpreted yellow as Yellow/Gold. I did this because when I went to my craft cupboard I happened to pull out a jar of Dreamweaver Pearlescent Embossing Paste (DPP) that I had dumped a teaspoon of Goldfinch colored Metallic F/X into a few weeks ago when I was trying to make a yellow iridescent mixture...in fact now that I think about it... I had also mixed in about two tablespoons of Dreamweaver Matte Yellow Embossing Paste (DMYP). When I opened it up, it appeared fairly "yellow" iridescent and then Violá! that was it...a light went on in my brain as I went through this scurry flurry process of trying to find the perfect "yellow" color for this week's colorway. Then I went to my paper closet and started trying to find the right color of purple...well I found a packet of fusible synthetic suede that had been there for eons. It was a rich deep color of purple and I decided that I had obviously been hoarding it for just this occasion. YAY!!! So gold is just another form of yellow...right? Might as well use what you have in stock when time is short. 

Well my second liberty happens to be my choice of a background stencil that I used with that lovely golden "goop".  Yes, the design team is going to be very annoyed with me this week, because I am using a new design that will not be available until August and I usually don't let them tease the customers with things that are not yet available. Sorry to tease you with this, but I just couldn't resist. Technically it is an older design made larger and just slightly different in the design. But this wonderful Optical art design is now the LJ size of stencil. Several years ago I discontinued it in the LG size category and in August look for it at your favorite retailer as Optical/Art (LJ915). I paste-embossed this background onto the purple suede using our new paste spreader tool (LM2010). Then on a piece of navy cardstock I paste-embossed the pear stencil (LL563) using the Dreamweaver Matte Black Embossing Paste (DMBP). Once it was dry (approx. 25 min. later) I repositioned the clean/dry pear stencil onto the pasted pear design and pasted a second layer of paste this time using the Dreamweaver Crackle Embossing Paste (CEP). The reason I pre-pasted with the Matte Black Paste is because it creates stability for the second layer of Crackle Embossing Paste. Otherwise the crackle paste might just crack off the paper. Once this second layer of paste is dry and completely crackled (if I lay it on my pancake griddle on a low setting it only takes 20 minutes) I reposition the pear stencil onto the design and then I stencil it with pigment inks. I started with a base of yellow and then shaded with reds and a variety of greens. Then I cut it out using a craft knife and mounted it onto my background with foam mounting tape. I have always loved this pear stencil design...it is truly a classic and everyone should have it in their bag of stencil goodies. 

This week I have a special post done by a student of Marj Marion. Remember I posted a card design done last week by this wonderful stencil teacher in Lacey, WA. The store where Marj teaches is called Art 'N Soul and her student Peggy has taken many many many of Marj's classes. She paste-embossed this darling snail stencil (LM290) with Dreamweaver Glossy Black Embossing Paste (DGKP) and then once it was dry she daubed it with the Stamp & Stick Glue Pad (GSP) and then stenciled on top of the glue with mica powders. Thank you Peggy for sharing this card design with Marj and thank you Marj for passing it on to me. 


Remember we would love to share your creations on the blog...you can email them to me digitally at my email address: lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com or you can send them to me physically via US postal service. Contact me at my email and I will let you know where to mail it. You can also play along with our colorway challenge this week by linking below to Mr. Linky. If you don't get a chance to play along please take time to follow the Dream Team's creations. Their names are listed at the sidebar on the right. Many of them teach all over the United States and even Nova Scotia and they list their classes on their sites. Enjoy!

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Free Challenge this Week!

This beautiful card was crafted by Marj Marion. She is a teacher in the Pacific Northwest and teaches stamping and stenciling at a store in Lacey, Washington called Art 'n Soul (right next door to Olympia). 


The apron stencil (LG736) was dry embossed on a patterned paper and then stenciled with turquoise/teal ink to highlight the edges of the apron.  


The metal band of turquoise colored aluminum was dry embossed through an embossing machine using a patterned background stencil (LJ899). The stencil was then removed and a metal edging tool was rolled along each edge of the now embossed aluminum strip. The Adirondack alcohol ink (the color is called lettuce) and Pearl Mixatives were daubed onto the metal to create a colorful background for the apron, which has been cut out and mounted onto the metal and decorative paper.


The flowers were created by punching out decorative paper and shading the edges with contrasting inks. The centers are small pearls added for a finishing touch. 


Would love to have you create along with us this week. If you don't have a blog just mail me your creation and I will share it with our readers. Be sure to leave a comment for Marj and it would also be great to have you make the rounds of the design team members as they share their card designs this week. Their names are on the sidebar to the right...just click on one and see what stencil and technique they have used for this week's free challenge.

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Sketch #7

This holiday is like Mother's Day for me. It is great when you can say that the Father in your life has created many wonderful memories for you. Some of my earliest memories were the "road trips" I used to take with Dad. He was a truck driver and my three siblings and I used to take turns in the summertime taking trips with him. I can remember looking at all the beautiful scenery and we played lots of road games and even had a bird watcher's list. He did love his kids and as I got older our "trip" conversations turned to "the national debt" and the "federal reserve system", political topics and where the nation was headed. He had a great influence on my values and opinions. He also loves to collect anything from barbed wire to books on the old west. And all those years of trucking my Dad wore cowboy boots. So Dad this one is for you....

Deborah March's Sketch #7

This week I was inspired by Dream Team member Wendy Jordan. She did a cowboy boot in her post this last week using the damask (LJ907) and I thought it was so beautiful. Check out her blog from Thursday of last week.

So I CASEd Wendy's cowboy boot (LG660) by paste-embossing on white paper with the Matte Black Embossing Paste (DMBP) and then after it was dry I paste-embossed with Glossy White Embossing Paste (DGWP) by leaving the cowboy boot in position and layering the damask stencil (LJ907) on top of it. Just a reminder I used a bit of tape to mask out the sole and heel of the boot, so the damask design would not be on that portion of the boot. Then for the other side of the card I just reversed this process. Black paper with the main part of the boot Glossy White Embossing paste ...etc.

The center red circle became the area for my sentiment and I had to digitally print out a Happy Father's Day, because I didn't plan in advance and the circle was too small to use my favorite Happy Father's Day stencil (LM244). Sometimes you just have to make do.

As we begin this week's challenge don't feel as if you need to do a design for Father's Day. Use Deborah March's sketch challenge in another way and join us by posting next week after Father's Day. If you don't have a blog and just enjoy stenciling your cards for your own pleasure we understand. But if you send me one of your creations I will post it for all to enjoy. Follow the sidebar at the right to see what the Dream Team has come up with this week.

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Embossing on Colored Aluminum

I am very excited because next week I get to take a class from Magdalena Muldoon of Mercart. She is "the" expert when it comes to embossing on metal. The card that I am showing here this Thursday is done so simply. Magdalena sells colored aluminum sheets of metal and this creation was done by her rep in the Illinois area...Elaine Benedict. 

Elaine very simply ran the cathedral window quilt design (LJ808) through her Cuttlebug embossing machine on beautiful aqua colored aluminum and then sanded with a fine grit sanding block or manicure sanding block. It took off the top layer of color and left just the silver aluminum show through. Then she did the same thing with the Heliconia butterfly (LM257) on black colored aluminum and after sanding the raised layer of black color off she cut the butterfly out with small sharp scissors. She edged the background with a decorative wheel and mounted the aqua piece onto black shiny cardstock that she paste-embossed the Thank You (LM147) with Silver Embossing Paste (DSP) and then while it was still wet she added glitter.

If you are interested in using your embossing machine to emboss metals my suggestion is to use the stacking that I suggest for paper, but the thicker embossing mat is not necessary (a thin one that comes with the machine will work just fine) and of course you do not need to spray the back of the metal with rubbing alcohol like you do the paper. If you want the instruction sheet for dry embossing you can email me at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com

This is a free challenge this week...this means you can do anything you would like, so if you get inspired join us by creating something and linking us into your blog. Occasionally one of you out there sends me a sample and I love to write about it, so if you get inspired to do so that will inspire me. Also take the time to visit the Dream Team and leave some comments....their names are on the sidebar to the right. Have a wonderful week!

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Colorway Challenge Lavender and Gray

This week we are using Pam Hornschu's colorway of lavender and gray! Hooray!! I had fun doing this card. I paste-embossed with the Regular Embossing Paste (DEP). It has just a bit of a "tooth" (or roughness) to it and you can stencil onto it beautifully. It is also the fastest drying embossing paste and dries in about 25 minutes. I stenciled the leaves with gray pigment ink. Then stenciled the flowers with Brilliance Inks of Lavender, Orchid and Purple as seen in purple Tsukineko tri-color pad called Twilight. The main stencil is the Serendipity flower (LG709) and while it was drying then the Happy Birthday (LM248) was paste embossed with the Silver Embossing Paste (DSP) onto a purple plaid ribbon, I paste-embossed this on the ribbon first and then applied it with double stick mounting tape to the card later. I used a silver Krylon pen to make my three inch embellishment pin silver and when I placed it I tucked it under the flower card.

I am presently traveling in eastern Oregon and will be home at the end of the week, but we are hoping that you can join us and play along. Thank you for your nice comments the last few weeks and follow the Dream Team's names on the side bar at the right to see what they have posted in lavender and gray this Thursday.

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Free Challenge this Week!

Louise Healy of the Chicago area

I am doing something a bit different for my post this week. We have had a couple of lovely weeks of cool weather here in Southern California and have even had to break out the umbrellas. So this week I am going to post umbrella card designs from some of the design team and other teachers who work so hard to promote my stencils. I won't give a lot of detail on how they are done, but if you have a question ...just "ask away" in the comments section and they will come to my blog to answer your questions in the comments section. Or if you are more comfortable asking via email, just email me at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com, and I will pass the questions on for them to answer in my blog comments. I just wanted you to have the opportunity to see all these wonderful rainy day creations in one fell swoop. Aren't they gorgeous? If you would like to play along feel free to do so..it doesn't have to be a rainy day theme, you could maybe try one of their techniques. For more details on these newer stencils go to www.stencilwithstyle.com

Terrece Siddoway from Western Wyoming

Pam Hornschu from Southern California

Liz Martin from the Bay Area of San Francisco

Wendy Jordan from Western Montana

Laura Drahozal from Michigan

Showers of Blessings by Marj Marion from Illinois

Georgia Sommers from the Bay area of SF

Elaine Benedict from the Chicago area

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Sketch #6

This week our sketch #6 comes to us from our Canadian Dream Schemer, Deborah March of Nova Scotia. I interpreted it very traditionally as a cathedral arch and I think it is going to be a lot of fun to see what everyone else has done with it on the Dream Team. Just follow the names on the sidebar to the right to see their creations.

I started by dry embossing the cathedral window stencil (LG639) on an off-white cardstock by putting it through the Big Shot machine. If you want my instructions on how to do that without bending the stencil just email me and I will send you the step-by-step process. Then I took a sharp craft knife and cut out the outer shape and the windows so just the frame was left. The background paper was a piece of suminagashi marbled paper that my friend Diane Maurer showed me how to do. She is a marbler and artisan who has written several books on paper crafts. Two of her books, Decorative Paper and The Ultimate Marbling Handbook give instructions for this particular paper craft. They are both out of print, but if you are interested I think I can find some for you. She has done one other book called Marbling that has been out of print for several years and I have seen it sell for as much as 4x the original price. She has a web-site www.dianemaurer.com where you can view her creations. She also sells marbling tools and inks, books and collage pieces she has created with her papers. She still travels occasionally to give workshops too. 


After I mounted the paper in the window, I mounted the entire window on a piece of iridescent periwinkle colored paper that I had paste-embossed the "comfort" words (LG696) onto using the glossy green embossing paste (DGGP). While this paste was still wet I sprinkled it with a teal green microfine glitter from Art Institute Glitter. Then I cut another piece of off-white cardstock, the shape of the entire sketch, and mounted my window onto half of it to complete the card. Feel free to email me for the embossing machine instructions at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com


I have been struggling a bit with blogger the last couple of days, so if you have already been here to leave a comment I apologize, but am hoping you'll take time this week to join the team and make a creation for others to enjoy. Also if you get time be sure to visit and see the other creations, please leave them some creative love in the form of an encouraging comment. Thanks for stopping by to browse! Oops almost forgot to tell you our DVDs are now available at a store near you, if not you can find them at: www.stencilwithstyle.com