A Cornucopia of Thanks from Dreamweaver Stencils

As Lynell is away with family for the Thanksgiving Day festivities, this is Pam once again sharing one of my creations for the holiday. Originally, we were being doubly challenged this week with a sketch design of either a round card, or a round panel on a card, along with the Thanksgiving theme. Since most of us here in the US, either entertain in a huge way or travel long distances for this holiday, I thought that I'd take pity on the girls and suggest that we just stick with a Thankful/Thanksgiving theme this week. However, I had already started my card with the circle sketch in mind, so I continued with it...somewhat. I had paste-embossed in Metallic Copper Embossing Paste the Cornucopia stencil on a circular cut kraft card. Once this was dry, I placed a sheet of Stampee Red Foil over the surface, placed it between a folded sheet of printer paper, and ran it through my hot laminator. The process adheres the foil perfectly to the pasted surface. I did change up the process with one detail. I crumpled up the piece of foil really well to break up the look of the foil on the copper paste, and give it a slightly aged appearance. I added to this by softly stamping a crackle finish around the edges with brown ink. I stenciled the sentiment from this stencil slightly overlapping the image with the same brown ink and embossed clear brown embossing powder over it for added shine. My dark brown card and fun plaid patterned paper finished off the warm and homey look that I was trying to achieve. Since the Dream Team have taken special time this week to inspire you with their Thanksgiving creations, be sure to check them out:

Wendy Jordan
Terrece Siddoway

Laura Drahozal
Deborah March

Louise Healy

Kristi Van Doren

Liz Martin

Lee Kellogg

Georgia Sommers

Pam Hornschu

This team is a fabulous group to work with, and we would all love for you to join our team! The Dream Team call is open until November 30th for submissions. The term will start January 1st, 2012. All the info can be found in the post HERE. Meanwhile, please play along with us and post your own Thanksgiving creation and link it below.

Nothing Warped About This Sketch Challenge!

 Pam here for this week's Dreamweaver Stencils' Dream Team sketch challenge, created for us by Wonder Wendy (yes, Wendy, I just did that to you!). Since I was lucky enough to work with this sketch twice this week (and now have two more Christmas cards to add to my pile!), I decided to keep this pretty simple. I ran the base card through my Big Shot with the Stripes stencil to mimic the cute paper. Do you remember the correct "sandwich" recipe for embossing with stencils using the machines? No, no. Put away the peanut butter and jelly. It goes like this:

1) Place stencil first on base platen (item number face down). If stencil has predominantly vertical or horizontal lines, place to go vertically through machine.
2) Spritz the back of your cardstock with rubbing alcohol, (helps to break down the fibers slightly for a deeper emboss) and place face down on stencil.
3) Place rubber embossing mat over cardstock layer.
4) Place TWO clear platens on top (add cardstock shims if necessary). This will protect your stencil from becoming bent.

Note: If your clear platens are warped from repeated die-cutting, do not use with stencils. We recommend purchasing a set for your die-cutting and a separate set for embossing.

Okay, so that was simple, right? Now I followed the same process once again with the red Dotted Swiss cardstock panel and the Poinsettia stencil...but just one more addition. To get just a bit more pop, I applied Warm Red ColorBox Chalk ink over the surface of the stencil, placed my spritzed panel on top, etc., etc....the end result being a transfer of ink just dark enough to add more depth to the embossed image. I paste-embossed the Happy Holidays sentiment in Regular White Paste over the panel and sprinkled with ultra-fine crystal glitter. The striped panel of paper with it's matching punched circle "buttons", and baker's twine bows add the fun factor. The rhinestones add the "Kristi" touch...the bling!
Now, it's time to see what our fun team has been up to with Wendy's challenge. We'd love for you to take part as well and link your creation below on Mr. Linky. Want to play with the team all the time? We are looking for YOU! We have a design team call now through the end of November for the term beginning January 1st, 2012. You can find the info in THIS POST. Feeling social? Be sure to LIKE us our new Facebook page found HERE.

Butterflies in the Winter?

I am still posting some of the alternate projects for the Thistle card for my upcoming classes at Rubber Stamp Fantasy in Marietta, Georgia. I showed that card on my blog a few days ago. And if you want to see the boards with the actual classes click HERE to visit their blog.


Again this card is done with the same materials...colored aluminum from MercartUSA, and the new Color Solution which is an artist grade alcohol ink from Dreamweaver Stencils. However it uses two different stencils: the daisy background stencil (LJ892) and the new butterfly stencil (LJ916).


You may ask, "What makes this color used on these metal projects artist grade?". Well, it comes in 16 vibrant colors for one thing, and this means you can mix the colors and thin the colors to make them tints, tones and shades. Also the conditioner which is the Color Solution actually helps the solution stay moist for a few seconds longer than most alcohol inks. Which means you have a bit more time to work with them. Yes, they do dry quickly but you have time to manipulate them more which makes it nice for the traditional stenciling procedure of applying your colorant moist as opposed to extremely wet (and of course you can't stencil with a dry applicator...where's the fun in that).


HEY!!! Don't forget ....if you are a cardmaking, blogging, enthusiastic stencil fanatic (like the rest of my team)...consider joining our design team.  Click HERE to learn more of what you can expect from us and what it means to be on the team and of course how to make it happen. You have until the end of November to respond.

Nouveau Rose

Here is another creation which could be substituted for the Thistle at my classes at Rubber Stamp Fantasy in Marietta, Georgia on December 3. It uses the exact same materials (done on aluminum metal from Mercart), but different stencils. The Nouveau Rose stencil (LL3000) was embossed with the Nouveau Roses background stencil (LJ862) and the Thank You stencil (LM222) adds a vertical sentiment.


If you are interested in seeing the descriptions for the other classes click on Rubber Stamp Fantasy and this will take you to their blog.


Would you like to join the Dreamweaver Stencils design team? We would love to have you try out for the team, just click HERE to find out all the details.

Classes in Georgia

There has been some discussion regarding the projects for Layered Metallica which is my December 3 afternoon class at Rubber Stamp Fantasy in Marietta Georgia.  I have included a couple of alternative cards for people and here is one of the possibilities that you can do with the exact same materials, but different stencils. See the detail of how the background stencil (LX7001) comes alive in the detail of the poinsettia (LG700). I love how this technique makes you want to touch the metal. I have put the backing paste from Mercart behind the poinsettia stencil area to give it the extra "puffy" look.


If you are interested in the New Dream Team Call and what is required of you to be on the team click here to discover how it all works.

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Free Challenge Today!

This week I am posting a card design I made with Mercart's metal. I will soon be teaching a metal embossing technique where the stencils are being put through the Big Shot or Cuttlebug embossing machines with metal and then sanded and colorized using our new Color Solution Artist Grade Alcohol Inks. This is just a small preview because the class has not yet been taught, but over the next couple of days I will show a few of the creations for my upcoming classes at a stamp store in Marietta Georgia called Rubber Stamp Fantasy. If you happen to be visiting or living in the Atlanta area near Rubber Stamp Fantasy I will be teaching there December 2-4, so go to their blog to see all of the different classes scheduled for those dates and sign up...here is their link:http://rubberstampfantasy.blogspot.com/  The stencils used for this creation are the Thistle (LL3001) and the Celtic Cross (LG647). Be sure to check back over the next few days for more information. Later in December I will be sharing more details on how to do these techniques. 


Also remember our New Dream Team "call". Click here to find out more about how you can become a team member. To let us know more about your talents why not play along with us this week. You can make any creation you desire since it's a free week. Just connect in to mr. linky below and we will hop by your blog and share your creative moments.

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Black and White Colorway Challenge

This card was done by Julie Makela, stenciler extraordinaire, from Australia. Our monthly colorway challenge is black and white, so I thought you would enjoy these little penguins from "Down Under". Julie has a website and a blog that you can visit to see some of her other creations if you click here. Every once in awhile she visits us here at our blog, so Julie if you are reading and I haven't told how you have done this correctly, just hop into the comments and let us all know your methods. Thank you soooo much for sharing your work with us over the years. Julie has been our inspiration for what we call the "double glitter" technique and more recently for her techniques with the Stampee Foils.


These little guys (penguin stencil LL560) were paste-embossed in Glossy Black Embossing Paste (DGKP) onto acetate and once they were dry she painted their white stomach and necks on the back of the acetate with a Glossy White Embossing Paste or white acrylic (DGWP). While they were drying she sculpted the mountains (or icebergs) onto black cardstock freehand, using a sharp tipped spatula or artist palette knife again with the Glossy White Embossing Paste (DGWP). To finish the card she layered textured papers...white, silver, and an icy pale blue.


For those of you who enjoy card design or teach or both we are putting out a Dream Team Call, just continue on and read through to the next posting to hear all about what we can do for you and what you can do for Dreamweaver Stencils. Design team member, Pam Hornschu, is taking on the responsibility of making it all happen, so if you have any questions about being on the team feel free to email her.