Thursday, May 29, 2014

May Challenge/ Fauna and Flora Abound! Comment winners too!

New Owl Buddy stencil (LL3039)
This "fauna" was a creative collaboration of three different people. A couple of weeks ago Wayne and I traveled by car from So. Cal. to Pittsburgh PA to do the National Art Materials Trade Show there. Elaine Benedict traveled from her new home in NC and joined us to help demonstrate. She was the beginning of the creative process and started this little guy (the owl buddy stencil LL3039) by paste-embossing him with the Dreamweaver Embossing Paste (DEP). Once it was dry she stenciled him a bit with yellow ochre pigment inks...then she asked Wayne (who was there demonstrating Zentangle work) if it was possible to tangle on top of the regular paste, which has a bit of a texture.

I want to let you know that the reason we call him "owl buddy" is that he is a smaller version of our LG751 larger owl. Next month we will have a nesting die that fits the outer area of the LG751 and then another piece that fits this guy for paper piecing.

So this was the result of that curiosity adventure. When we got home (6700 miles later...we had a bit of a detour into the Boston area where we met up with Pam Hornschu and together taught a Dreamweaver Stencils Teacher Certification Class) ....and I had time to create, I concocted this graduation themed card with ribbon, some burlap type of thread and dictionary paper. So this little owl buddy was truly a work in progress and did a bit of a national tour with the Dreamweaver Stencils team. Thanks, Elaine, for joining us and inspiring us to try some new things. Hope you NC students are enjoying your time with them.

WE HAVE COMMENT WINNERS THIS WEEK!!!

Our comment winners this week are:
JD/Jill has won the owl stencil (LL3039) for leaving a comment on Alison Heikkila's blog
Judy Sandor has won the sheep stencil (LL3040) for leaving a comment on Lynn Mercurio's blog
Burning Rubber has won the heron stencil (LG757) for leaving a comment on Louise Healy's blog

Please send me your snail mail addy's to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com and we will ship those out ASAP.
You have one last week to join our challenge this month. Anything flora or fauna goes! Next month we will be doing "old, new, borrowed, blue"... and that could be interpreted a lot of different ways...think about it! Now be sure to visit the team to see what they have to show you and leave them some love in the form of your encouraging comments. Thank you!

Posted by Lynell Harlow / Dreamweaver Stencils at 1:00 AM 8 comments
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Thursday, May 22, 2014

New Fauna Designs: Commenters Could Win a Stencil


The Dream Team is ready to inspire you with some extra fun this week! Not only are we posting with the Flora and Fauna challenge, we are introducing you to our THREE NEWLY RELEASED DESIGNS...our Owl Buddy, the Open Sheep, and the art nouveau-inspired Heron, which you had a sneak peek at two weeks ago on the Dream It Up! blog. Three lucky commenters on the Dream Team's posts will receive one of these designs to be announced on the Dream It Up! blog next week. Tell us in your comment which technique YOU would use with your favorite of these new designs.

See the new fauna designs on the Stencil with Style site
So here is our creation. I say "our" because once again it was a collaborative effort with Wayne. I stenciled the open sheep (LL3040) with a 1/2 inch stencil brush (NHB1/2) using a soft blue ink. Then he "Sten-tangled" the open design and drew in the face. It was fun to try drawing different faces on these sheep....if you aren't sure what to do with the face just use one of Wayne's sketches below as an example. I then wrote the "Thank Ewe" on a piece of black card stock using a Sakura white gel pen. You can never go wrong by finishing off your creation with ribbon by May Arts. (AW-03)



Both sheep are tangled with a pattern called "keeko"

Here is the face of another new creation by Wayne using the open sheep stencil (LL3040). This little guy looks a bit startled doesn't he...or maybe just "sheepish". Someone recently said "puns are the lowest form of humor"...too Baaaa-ad they have that attitude, they are missing out on a lot of fun. LOL!

This creature was paste embossed first with the glossy white embossing paste (DGWP) and after it was dry Wayne tangled him with an 01 Micron Pen by Sakura (30181). Working on the paste is a little tricky...but just take your time.


And here are the face sketches to give you some ideas how to add some humor to your open sheep creation:
Face sketches by Wayne Harlow

Don't forget to visit the team and leave some love for a better chance of winning a stencil this week. And also join our fauna and flora challenge this month in honor of our new designs....by adding your creation to the inlinkz tool below.





Posted by Lynell Harlow / Dreamweaver Stencils at 1:00 AM 17 comments

Thursday, May 15, 2014

More Fauna/Flora in the month of MAY....

Wayne "sten-tangled" this elephant stencil design (LG756)
It's another week in our month of May Challenge of ...all things Fauna and/or Flora. Please join us by linking your creation below.

If you are an elephant collector or a fan of these larger creatures you will want to have this stencil design.

Wayne Harlow is the designer of the stencil and the Sten-tangle creation that you see here.

He began by wetting 140 pound hot press watercolor paper. Hot press usually has a smoother finish than cold press, so the micron pens glide more smoothly on the surface while tangling. Then he laid down a wash of blue and purple watercolors using a large natural bristle watercolor brush. (I know that isn't very descriptive...not sure of the size, just LARGE). While this was still wet he sprinkled it with kosher salt, which has larger chunks than your usual table salt. Then he set it aside to dry well. When it was dry he brushed off the remaining salt crystals, centered the elephant stencil (LG756), and traced it with an 01 Sakura Micron pen. Because of the stronger colors behind his work he chose stronger tangle patterns to adorn the surface. When asked which size of pens he uses for the tangle work, he says he does most Sten-tangle work with an 01 Micron by Sakura. Every person has their individual favorites, filling in larger black areas can be done with the 05 Micron and my preference for tracing the stencil when the details are really tiny is to use an 005 Micron to reach into those tight angles of the metal stencil. But a word of caution.... the metal stencils can wreak havoc on your pen nibs, so be sure to hold the pen straight up and down rather than angled as you do your tracing. I tend to be heavy handed so I concentrate to use a lighter touch when I trace.

I know this technique can look a bit intimidating but don't be afraid to give it a try. There are many many patterns that can be drawn in the step-by-step process of Zentangle. The patterns that Wayne used can be stepped out and made very very simple. When I asked the names of some of the patterns he did on our elephant he answered with a lengthy description of how each was done. I discovered that the bottom line was that he had basics and then he created to make the work his own for his meditative creative process....my suggestion is that you enjoy that process and do the same.

Be sure to create your own Fauna and/or Flora creation and link up below. This month is the debut of our new design team so please take the time to visit the list below and see what they have created for our enjoyment...and leave a comment or two for the love of their art. At the end of the month stores will be carrying three new Dreamweaver stencil designs ...all Fauna...so be sure to stay tuned for more information on these creatures...the team will be designing with them soon. Meanwhile, let's see what flora and fauna the "A" team have been playing with this week...






Posted by Lynell Harlow / Dreamweaver Stencils at 1:00 AM 3 comments

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Dreamweaver Designs are to DIE For...

Welcome to the merry month of May! The Dream Team are challenging you this month to a "Flora and Fauna" theme! Considering most of the Dreamweaver designs incorporate both of these in the huge variety of stencils, you should have no problem playing along with our challenge this month! 
Die for bare tree DX7020 Paper artist: Elaine Benedict
 
Elaine Benedict sent me this beautiful Spring creation to post. Thanks Elaine for all the lovelies you send my direction...it is especially appreciated when I travel and don't have time to create. The bare tree is enhanced and made into a live creation for our "Fauna and/or Flora" May Challenge! It always amazes me to see bare branches adorned with blossoms even before the leaves arrive. I have never been to a Cherry Blossom Festival, but hoping to get there one day.

 This creation couldn't be simpler. First the word stencil Spring (LM293) was paste-embossed with regular Dreamweaver Embossing Paste (DEP) onto metallic cardstock and while still wet was sprinkled with a pale pink glitter.While the paste was drying the tree die (DX 7020) is die cut onto dark brown cardstock. Next she positioned the bare tree with glue dots onto the metallic cardstock. Then blossoms are punched out of a variety of printed transparent vellum papers and adhered to the tree branches with small glue dots. 


As usual, link your creations at the end of the Dream It Up! blog post, or at the end of our posts where it says, "Add Your Link". As the challenge gets underway, you'll see thumbnails of others who are playing along as inspirations for your own creations!

Please welcome our new "B" team, officially posting for the first time!


Posted by Lynell Harlow / Dreamweaver Stencils at 1:00 AM 6 comments
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Thursday, May 1, 2014

A New Challenge/and a Winner to Start the Month of May

Welcome to the merry month of May! The Dream Team are challenging you this month to a "Flora and Fauna" theme! Considering most of the Dreamweaver designs incorporate both of these in the huge variety of stencils, you should have no problem playing along with our challenge this month! As usual, link your creations at the end of the Dream It Up! blog post, or at the end of our posts where it says, "Add Your Link". As the challenge gets underway, you'll see thumbnails of others who are playing along as inspirations for your own creations! Speaking of inspirations...the month of April was our Inspirations month, and we had so many that linked with us! So exciting! Our randomly chosen winner for April is...JULIE STAVES! Check out two of her creations...

Congrats, Julie! Be sure to email lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com with your choice of stencil, and your address!

Here is Lynell's post:

 Although I often refer to Thursday's as Dream Schemes our challenges are actually monthly. I try to post each week though, and if I am traveling, Pam Hornschu takes care of things for me here on my blog. Our challenge for the month of May is all about Fauna and Flora. This suits me just fine, because Wayne and I love nature and have a plethora of stencils that are flowers and creatures to tease your creative spirit. We have three new designs that should be ready the end of this month. We are traveling the first part of the month so be patient and we will hit it running when we get back and have them ready to ship before you know it.
New Heron stencil design LG757
Here is our creature for the first week of May:

Our new informal word for using the stencils with Zentangle patterns is "Sten-tangle". Wayne is a CZT...a Certified Zentangle Teacher and often uses his knowledge to create ZIA or Zentangle inspired art.  

 As often is the case, Wayne did the Zentangle-ation of this critter and I did the background and put the card together....teamwork! 

 I started by doing the "letterpress" technique for the background. This means placing the new heron stencil (LG757) in my spray box (merely a large cardboard box that protects the surrounding area from overspray) and sprayed it with two or three colors of Memories Mists sprays. 

 Then I placed it on the thick white plate (inked side up) of my Big Shot. (I often protect the white plate from wet ink seepage by putting down a piece of scrap paper first.)

 Next I placed a white piece of cardstock on top of the inked stencil and gently held it in place while I placed my thick Stamping Details mat on top of this stack.

 The two acrylic plates now cover the rubber mat. Then I rolled this "stack" of plates and stencil with cardstock through the machine. The result is the background you see in the picture of smeared ink that highlights your stencil image.

 I proceeded to clean off the stencil and repositioned it onto the heron "print". Because the heron was white like the cardstock color I then stenciled it with a soft golden or yellow ochre colored dye ink. In the last phase of creation and to give this bird's silhouette some character, Wayne then tangled several patterns onto the bird and branches. There are actual names for official Zentangle patterns. The body of the bird is done with a pattern called "flourish" and the eye is "marasu" and the legs are "tripoli"....and the list goes on...these are all simply done and simple to learn. This beautiful form of meditation is a way of relaxing and creating at the same time.

We hope you will join us this month with some wonderful creations of fauna and flora of your own making! You could be a random winner of a Dreamweaver Stencil. 

Please welcome our new "A" team, officially posting for the first time!



Posted by Lynell Harlow / Dreamweaver Stencils at 1:00 AM 15 comments
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