September's Challenge...Getting Inky with Dreamweaver Stencils!

Let's Boooogie by Tiffany Smith

Wow...I am sooo amazed at all the wonderful cards which have been submitted this month to our September Challenge---Getting Inky with Dreamweaver Stencils! Every single one is so wonderful that I know it will be hard to choose the winners. One more day and we'll post two winners. One winner will be chosen for best interpretation of the challenge and one will be chosen for best usage of Dreamweaver Stencils and products. Just link with mr. linky by clicking HERE or send me a photo of your creation to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com and I will post your creation for you right here on my site. 

Today's submission was emailed to me from Tiffany Smith and here is how she created this darling Halloween card.

1. She stenciled the little ghost onto the light green background paper using a darker green ink.

2. The "Let's Booooogie" stencil (LM286) was paste-embossed using the matte black embossing paste (DMBP). And in the process she sculpted the ghostie to give him more interest.

3. Once the paste was dry she repositioned the stencil onto the design and stenciled the ghostie and the words with white ink and then added bright ink onto the words as well.

4. Next she mounted the finished project and embellished the card for the final touches.

Remember this month's winners get to choose any stencil that they want in the Dreamweaver line! And start gearing up for next month's challenge which will be "Festively Fall".

Getting Inky with Dreamweaver Stencils! Joining the Challenge

Joy Hauck ...joining the challenge.

Today I received this creation in my email from our blog follower Joy Hauck. Thanks Joy for joining the challenge.

Here are her steps:

1. Stenciled the snowflakes (LJ819) with Versamark clear ink. 

2. Removed the stencil and sprinkled these with Stampendous Kaleidoscope embossing powder and heated with a heat gun. Next tapped on 3 colors of distress inks...  which the snowflakes "resisted" because of the powder.

3. Repeated steps 1 & 2  with Merry Christmas (LS92)

4. Spritzed these with Perfect Pearls mist for a lovely shimmery sheen.

5. Mounted and embellished with tinsel cord.

Rusty Card #1

Don't forget ...our challenge for the rest of the month is "Getting Inky with Dreamweaver Stencils". This time around we are letting our winners choose their favorite stencil. One winner is chosen for best interpretation of the challenge and one is chosen for best usage of Dreamweaver Stencils and products. Just link with mr. linky by clicking HERE or send me a photo of your creation to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com and I will post your creation for you right here on my site. Only a couple of days left this month...thanks to those who have joined us already...looking forward to revealing a winner soon!

I'll be doing a series of Autumn Leaves creations here to celebrate Fall...Here is card #1!

Today's card which I am calling the "rusty" card, was done on watercolor paper and I used Creme Bruleé Color Solution Alcohol Ink (CS106). 

1. I started at one edge of the paper and tapped the loaded felt applicator (loaded with droplets of Creme Bruleé and also droplets of the thinner/cleaner (CSC). Because it was watercolor paper the inks really soaked into the paper. 

2. Then I tapped the leaf stencil (LJ906) with the Sienna colored Archival inkpad by Ranger and then sprayed this inked stencil with the thinner/cleaner solution (CSC) which I had put into a small spray bottle. The stencil surface is now very wet and sloppy, so....

3. Next I placed it onto a piece of scrap paper which was already positioned on the thick white platen of my "Big Shot" embossing machine,  (this is to protect the white platen from the excess seepage of the moist inks) next I positioned the watercolor paper (which I had prepped with the Creme Bruleé Color Solution in step #1) face down on this inked stencil. Now I put my rubber embossing mat (REM) ...which happens to be thicker than most rubber mats, onto the back of the watercolor paper. And the last step in this process is to place the two clear acrylic plates on top of the rubber mat and run this entire stencil "sandwich" through the embossing machine. If you would like the "recipe" for this process email me at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com and I will send you the instructions.

4. After removing the "stack" of plates, the contrast of the two colors is quite stunning. Now I clean off the stencil and reposition it onto the leaves. I want to create even more contrast so I put drops of the cleaner/thinner on a cotton swab and daub this solution through the stencil onto the creme bruleé colored leaves. This daubing of thinner bleaches the creme color down into the watercolor paper and softens the look of the leaves. 

5. Once it is totally dry I take a very fine stylus and draw veins through the leaves and then take a 005 micro pigma pen by Sakura and do a bit of outlining to define the part of the design where you can imagine shadows would fall. 

Be sure to follow the team today and see how they are Getting INKy....

Laura Drahozal
Cherylynn Moser 

Louise Healy
Wendy Jordan 

Cyndi Bundy  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg

Liz Martin

Gel Inks...a Great Opportunity to Get Inky with Dreamweaver!

Wayne created this butterfly awhile  ago and I realized recently that this is a great month to share it with you! 

Our challenge for the rest of the month is "Getting Inky with Dreamweaver Stencils". This time around we are letting our winners choose their favorite stencil. One winner is chosen for best interpretation of the challenge and one is chosen for best usage of Dreamweaver Stencils and products. Just link with mr. linky by clicking HERE or send me a photo of your creation to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com and I will post your creation for you right here on my site.

Wayne used the metallic Gelly Roll pens by Sakura in his Zentangle creation. The paper he did the work on was a glossy black cardstock which is definitely a challenge to do Zentangle work on with gel inks. (If you are a beginner my recommendation is to use a black matte cardstock like an index cardstock weight and finish, it is less expensive and easier to work on, not quite as striking, but with the metallic pens it can still be very effective.) These gel inks are beautiful, but they can really "move" on a slick surface, so if you want to give it a try work slowly and patiently. The drying time is slower too, so one step at a time is the way to go, making sure that you give each pattern plenty of time to dry, so you won't smear the next step. It is worth the time though, because as you can see the results are beautiful. To learn more about Zentangle you could read Suzanne McNeill's book Zentangle 6 (ZEN) which has many pictures of Zentangle work created by the wonderful design team here at Dreamweaver.

Once the inked butterfly was dry ( it doesn't take long) he cut it out with an x-acto knife and since it was a team effort I paste embossed the butterfly stencil's antenna (LG740) onto the metallic lavender cardstock and then when they were dry I paste-embossed the art nouveau flourish (LJ919) into the corner. For both paste applications I used the Matte Black Embossing Paste (DMBP). Then I mounted the butterfly with glue aligning the antenna. Violå... a beautiful creation to send to someone you really care about, or you could also frame this in a small shadow box for a more dimensional look! 

We are looking forward to seeing how YOU "get inky" this month. Please join us!

Thursday's Dream Schemes: Elaine is Getting Inky with Dreamweaver!

It's Thursday again and I am traveling back from the UK today! The card featured for our challenge is done by Elaine Benedict an honorary member of the Dream Team. Getting Inky with Dreamweaver is what Elaine lives for...LOL!!! Well, a bit of an exaggeration, but not much! She is always trying something a bit different and yet her work is classic.

These are the steps she revealed to me:

1. She started by tapping the entire surface of the butterfly stencil with a black versafine ink pad. Then carefully repositioned it (ink side still up) onto a clean piece of scrap paper which was positioned onto her "A" plate of the embossing machine. Then she placed her digital cardstock face down onto the black ink followed by the thick "Stamping Details" rubber mat (REM) and two acrylic "B" plates. Next she rolled it through the embossing machine.

2. As soon as the card was embossed she sprinkled the black inked outline of the butterfly with detail embossing powder and heated it. This kept the ink from transferring to other areas.

3. The Leaves (LJ906) and the rest of the butterfly (LJ916) were then stenciled with Brilliance inks. I know Elaine loves to stencil using the blue and gold Dreamweaver Stencil brushes (GHB/BHB), but the digital paper is so slick she may have used something else. If you are reading this Elaine, would you please let us know in the comments what tool you used to stencil with? And did you have to seal everything with embossing powder or was it just the black?

Wow!!!  Talk about getting inky...this was a perfect ink job to inspire us to do more with Brilliance inks. I am going to buy more, because I know I don't have the green in my ink pad stash.

If you would like to join our challenge please link your creation to mr. linky below and we'd love for you to tell others about our challenge too. Remember...this month the two winners will get to choose a Dreamweaver Stencil.  There will be one winner for best interpretation of the challenge and another winner for best use of Dreamweaver products. If you don't have a blog or a way of linking your creation feel free to email it to me and I will blog about it when I return from the UK. lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com

Also take time to see what the Dream Team has been up to this week, here they are.

Pam Hornschu   

Laura Drahozal  

Louise Healy  

Wendy Jordan  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin

 Cyndi Bundy 

Cherylynn Moser 

Thursday's Dream Schemes: Getting INKY with Dreamweaver!

This week I have dedicated my creation to my friend Priscilla Teska in Kailua Hawaii. She called to let me know that she is closing her storefront, A Place in Time. She and Bill have been selling my stencils for several years and they have their own line of Hawaiian themed stencils as well. They will continue to do that business out of their home, and maybe even teach some workshops now and then. But I know many will miss their storefront and the ability to drop in and give Bill a bad time (or have Bill give them a bad time...LOL) and then have fun doing something creative with Priscilla.

Mahalo to Bill and Priscilla and Art and all of your wonderful customers for many years of Aloha! 

This thank you card was very simply stenciled with pigment ink and the Bird of Paradise quilt stencil. In keeping with our September challenge "Getting Inky with Dreamweaver" here are some of the details on stenciling with INK:

1.  One of my favorite ink pads to use is the Circus Splendor pigment inkpad (KS10) by Tsukineko! As you can see, the inkpad has 12 different colors.... and these happen to be extremely strong, bright colors. Tsukineko does carry other Splendor inkpads that have softer tones, tints and shades. Why do I like these pigment inks over others that are available? Well, as you can see there are 12 beautiful colors to stencil with and they are all under one lid making my choices varied as I am working. There are many many pigment inks available and I know many of you reading this are stampers, so you can certainly use any of your inks that you have in your stash, but just wanted you to know about my favorite one.

2.  When I work with a stencil design that has such large openings, I choose a stencil brush that is large. This affords me the opportunity to stencil quickly and also the application is then much more even and smooth looking. In the case of using this Bird of Paradise quilt stencil (LX7006) I used a 3/4"Natural Handled brush (NHB3/4"). 

3.  Also like last week I used the Picasso stencil shield (LL332) to keep ink from creeping into areas where I don't want that color to be. Watch my dvds for more information on this. Embossing Paste Techniques (DVD-2) and Tips and Tools (DVD-3). Having the right tools can really make the difference in your creations being just a bit more polished looking.

4.  The thank you sentiment, Mahalo (LM133) , was stenciled with a pale blue color and then the stencil  was slightly shifted upward to the left and next it was paste-embossed with Matte Black Embossing Paste (DMBP). The gives the impression of a shadow under the word.

Happy stenciling this week...don't forget to get down and "get inky with Dreameaver". Remember I won't be back until the 20th, but stop by each Thursday and support my team while I am gone, then add your challenge creations to mr. linky below. If you don't have a blog or a way of showing and linking your creations email me a picture of what you have done and when I get back I will post it on my blog. my email: lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com

This month we will again choose two winners. One for best interpretation of the challenge and one for best usage of Dreamweaver Stencil products. And the prize will be any Dreamweaver Stencil of your choosing. Now please take the time to see what the rest of the team has been up to:

Pam Hornschu   

Laura Drahozal 

Cherylynn Moser 

Louise Healy

Wendy Jordan 

Cyndi Bundy  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin

New Challenge this Month: Getting Inky with Stencils

I know everyone has their preferences, but I love strong colors. Just know that your creation can use soft colors or black or white but the stipulation in our challenge this month is to use ink of some sort.

The month of September we will be "getting inky with stencils"...hmmm, imagine that, another thing that I love, using ink in conjunction with stencils. This month we will have just a bit different twist on our monthly challenge ... we are letting you choose any stencil you would like as your prize if you win. Yep, any Dreamweaver stencil you "so desire". We will still have two winners, one for best interpretation of the challenge and one for best usage of Dreamweaver products.

Here is how this faux cloisonné butterfly card was done:

1. Paste-emboss the multi-butterfly stencil (LJ873) with the original "Embossing Paste" (DEP), this particular paste is the one that comes in a maroon label jar, and then remove the stencil and let the image dry well, approximately a half an hour. I often place my pasted project in an old electric skillet  and set the heat on the lowest setting, usually warm.

2. Reposition the clean stencil back onto the embossed butterflies with removable tape.

3. One thing that I find helps me to stencil more specifically is a tool which is a stencil shield. We refer to our stencil shield as "Picasso" (LL332). As you see, it has lots of curves and holes in it. So you can manipulate it on top of the stencil to shield one color from smearing into another color. In the butterfly creation I was able to keep the dark brown ink  you see on the moth's spots in the center of this stencil from getting onto the aqua color of his wings by positioning a small hole from Picasso over the spots. 

4. Now stencil the rest of the butterflies using pigment ink. You can also stencil with dye ink, permanent inks and the list goes on and on. I used pigment ink because in the next step I wanted to sprinkle the image with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (EB08) and it is nice if the ink remains wet because you want the UTEE to cover the entire image. Pigment ink has the reputation of remaining wet for some time. However in the stenciling technique (which of course means applying color through the stencil's holes), you need to use a dry brush technique as you see here. This works the wet paint into the bristles so that it will not be too wet and slip under the stencil to create a smudge. This off loading of ink into a paper towel takes a bit of practice, but is worth the time you put into mastering it.

If you feel that perhaps the ink is not wet enough once you have finished applying your colors, you can daub the entire image with a Versamark inkpad or you could use Clear Embossing Ink as an alternative and then remove the stencil and sprinkle on the UTEE, these clear inks make the image wet enough for the powder to adhere to.  

5.Next you will heat the powder with a heat gun and violá you have these beautiful bright images. 

So we are hoping you will join our challenge this month and get down and get inky with stencils! Don't forget to take time and follow the list below to see what the Dream Team has accomplished this week. When you are ready to share with us your creation just add the link to your blog to mr. linky below. This month I will be traveling to the UK and won't be back until the 21st. But if you don't have a blog and would like to share a creation just email it to me and when I return I will post your creations for you. Here is my email address: lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com

Pam Hornschu   

Laura Drahozal  

Louise Healy  

 Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin

 Cyndi Bundy 

Cherylynn Moser

Christmas in August Challenge Winners

Best interpretation by Tiffany Smith

YAY!!! We have two winners for the month of August!

Tiffany Smith has won the prize for best interpretation of the challenge and Caroline Duncan has won best usage of Dreameaver products! Please email me your addresses and I will send you the new design "heart ornaments (LJ921). My email: lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com

It is September 1 and we will be "Getting Inky with Dreamweaver Stencils". Come back this Thursday to see what you might win. I will not be around for a few days. Am headed across the pond to teach stenciling to retailers who carry our stencils in the UK. But if you don't have a blog or the ability to post your creations you can email your cards to me and when I get back after the 20th I will post your creations for you. 

Best usage of the Dreamweaver products: Caroline D.

So until then have a good September and do me a favor in my absence, ...stop by each Thursday and support my Dream it Up team, they love your supportive comments.