Thursday's Dream Schemes/Clouds, Mists and Showers Challenge

Hey everyone! It's another Thursday to celebrate our monthly challenge of Clouds, Mists and Showers. And this Thursday I am sharing two of our new stencil designs. Mother's Day and Father's Day will be here before you know it and I think these two foxy foxes could be designed into cards for those holidays. I am kind of jumping the gun though because our retailers might not have these on their shelves quite yet, so give them another week before you insist you have to have them. lol!

You could win one of these new designs by joining our monthly challenge and becoming one of our random winners. So join us and throw your hat into the ring...or name into the hat. If you have a creation click HERE and link up for the challenge. If you don't have a blog just email me one of your creations at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com. Many of you have done this and I love seeing what you are creating.

Today I again used the Memories Mists to stencil a spray collage. This line of sprays is one of my favorites because if you are spraying onto non-glossy card stock it dries to the touch almost immediately. But the spray beads up on the stencil and stays wet for awhile so I can have a wet medium to stencil detail onto the edges of the design. If you want small droplets of spray for your work hold the bottle 18-24 inches above the card and spritz by pushing the atomizer down firmly. If you want large droplets, hold the bottle closer to the card stock and gently push the atomizer half way down. 

First I sprayed the entire card with Mango Lemonade (MM01) to achieve a light yellow background. Next I placed the smaller Fox stencil (LM2016) into the lower right corner and sprayed with Iced Coffee (MM24) and then just a small amount of Amaretto (MM06). I used a small Dreamweaver Stencils Gold Handled stencil brush (GHB) and with the wet stencil still in place I stenciled by pulling the wet ink off the edges of the stencil and moved it onto the tips of his tail, ears, chests and feet. Then I removed the stencil and layered the Large Fox stencil (LL3030) onto the smaller stenciled fox and repeated the process with the same two spray colors.  I took a slightly larger brush (NHB 3/8") and stenciled off the edges of each of the stencils with a black pigment ink to frame the foxes. Even though the spray ink is dry to the touch immediately the moisture has absorbed into the card stock, so I let it dry just a bit before paste-embossing the YOU & ME stencil (LS1004) using the Dreamweaver Matte Black Embossing Paste (DMKP). The matte black usually dries more quickly than the glossy pastes, but considering the wet paper I place the stencil onto a warming pan or electric pancake griddle to dry it more quickly. A low setting is all that is needed to hasten the drying time. Once dry I mounted it onto black card stock and they are ready to be sent.

I hope you'll have time to visit our design team's creations this week, just follow the list at the bottom of my blog. We have a special guest designer Alison Heikkila joining us each week in April. She always amazes me with how she thinks outside the box. Thanks so much, Alison, for consenting to play along with us this month! 

Pam Hornschu

Lea Kimmel

Alison Heikkila

Louise Healy

Stacey Rumsby

Terrece Siddoway

Caroline Duncan

Cherylynn Moser

Clouds, Showers and Mists: Thursday's Dream Challenge

LG642 leaves and LM210 friends

Our challenge this month is Clouds, Showers and Mists. Today I am using the Memories Mist sprays. I began by spraying the cardstock first with an allover misting of the Wheatgrass (MM05) and a very light mist of Strawberry Daiquiri (MM08). Next I used the letterpress technique with my Big Shot embossing machine and instead of spraying the cardstock I sprayed the leaves stencil (LG642) itself. This time I used a turquoise mist called Blue Martini (MM21). I then placed the inked stencil on a piece of scrap paper (which I had positioned on the thick white plate of my machine) inked side facing up. Then I followed the stacking method for letterpress through the machine. Cardstock on top of the inked stencil, next the thick rubber mat by Stamping Details (REM), and last add the two acrylic mats that come with the machine. Crank it through the embossing machine, but don't force it. You want this to go through with firm pressure. If it goes through easily you may need to add another piece of cardstock as a shim on top of the rubber mat.

Next I stenciled the leaves (LG642) in a random manner surrounding the embossed leaves using green pigment ink . Then I paste embossed the Friends stencil (LM210) using the matte yellow embossing paste (DMYP).

Showers Challenge card by Rose S.

I would also like to share a card today from Rose S. She too, created a background for her design, but she used alcohol inks. Her umbrella stencil (LG737) and showers of blessing sentiment (LG738) were done with the regular white matte embossing paste (DEP) and then she stenciled it with yellow pigment ink. Thanks Rose for joining our challenge! 

So if you have your own blog or Flickr account and would like to join our challenge click HERE or scroll down to my first post of the month and add your design to our linking device at the bottom of the post. If you don't have your own blog but want to join our challenge, just send me a picture and I will happily post it here for you like I did Roses' cards. lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com You could be one of our random winners! We love to know that you are out there creating and this is a way we can say thanks for joining us in our creative endeavors.

Please take a few minutes to enjoy our design team's creations. This month we have a special guest designer...Alison Heikkila! YAY! Thanks for joining us Alison.

Dream It Up!
Alison Heikkila
Laura Drahozal
Lyn Bernatovich
Pam Hornschu
Heidi Erickson
Louise Healy

Cyndi Bundy

Jessica Griffin

Rose is Answering the Challenge: Rain/Showers/Mists for the Month of April

This month we are dedicating our challenge to Rain/Drizzle/Showers/and Mists...literal or figuratively, whichever direction you are inspired to go. Today Rose S. took me at my word and emailed me this creation. Clever design ms. Rose! And for those of you who would like to play along ....remember if you don't have a blog you can email me your creations and I will post them for you, just like Rose's design. Email me at: lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com And if you do have a blog click HERE and link up with our linky tool to join this month's challenge. We will randomly choose a winner at the end of the month and if you win you can choose any stencil we sell.

Here, in her own words, is how Rose created the card above. If you have any questions for her please leave them in the comments below:

"I used the rain stencil (LJ905) with white paste (DEP), sponged on blue ink and then 2 coats of embossing powder in clear. The cat is from the 3 cat stencil (LM266) on which I used black paste (DGKP) and black glitter and then cut out the kitty that I wanted. I also wanted to use the rain expressions stencil, but didn’t have room so I hand drew books and then printed the rain, rain.... phrase on them.  Rest of the details: plastic for the window, stickers and hand drawn frames for the pictures, glossy accents on the pics and the boots and flowersoft for the flowers and the clock was stamped on white shrink plastic. I had a great time doing this card and it actually came out the way I envisioned it. This does not always happen, lol."

Be sure to take time to visit the other half of the design team listed below. Our team takes turns now, half one week and half the next! My side bar has the entire team, but those on the list below have created specifically this week. Be sure to leave them some love in the way of a comment or two...we thrive on this and sharing our creations with you. We also have a wonderful guest designer this week Alison Heikkila, thanks for joining us Alison...we know you are very busy and we feel fortunate that you are taking time for Dreamweaver this month!

Pam Hornschu

Lea Kimmel
Alison Heikkila
Louise Healy
Stacey Rumsby
Terrece Siddoway
Caroline Duncan
Cherylynn Moser

Thursday's Dream Schemes: A Tutorial on Picasso, a Stencil Shield Extraordinaire

This month's challenge is all about clouds, showers and mists! You can take that literally or go a lot of different directions with it. Can't wait to see what people come up with...it's fun to see the way this creative group of followers interpret the monthly challenges. So link your card below on our Dream it UP link ...we will be choosing a random winner and it could be YOU! If you don't have a blog you are more than welcome to email me your creation and I will post it for you. lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com

Today I was given a challenge by Pam Hornschu, our fearless leader. She said that one of our facebook followers would like to know how to use the Picasso tool, which is a stencil shield (LL332). Stencilers have been using stencil shields in many different shapes and forms from the very onset of stenciling. I created the "picasso" shield when Karyn Busby and her sister Lori Bodnar traveled with me many years ago and they asked for a metal shield that would be long lasting for small stencils. Thank you ladies for the inspiration! So here is how I created my Clouds...Showers...Mists creation:

Sometimes I use "picasso" (LL332) to make clouds and when I do, I begin by taping out the holes so I don't stencil them onto my sky. I am very simply using removable tape (RMT). This tape happens to be my favorite, but painter's tape or drafting tape will work as well.

Load a large stencil brush (NHB 3/4") with blue pigment ink.

Offload the excess ink and work it out across a piece of scrap paper, so it is evenly loaded up inside the bristles as well as on the tips.

 Stencil the ink gently off the cloud edge of Picasso.

Reposition "picasso" and repeat over and over for a cloudy sky to your liking!

Now to use picasso as a shield...

I taped the palm tree stencil (LL379) onto the right side of the cloudy paper. And so that I don't have to use tape over and over as I work ...I use "picasso" to shield the green ink from getting onto the tree trunks as I stencil the palm fronds. This makes work go much more quickly! See how it is positioned onto the right side of the palms?

Please note the small red circle. If I were to try and stencil this small tip of the palm frond without a shield, my tree trunk may end up green. So I will take a small raindrop size hole from the shield and place it over this area and it will isolate the color.

Here is a picture of the small raindrop shaped hole in the stencil shield and it is now isolating the tip of that palm frond. You are now ready to stencil the green ink into that palm frond.

Later as I am stenciling brown ink into the tree trunk holes I place the shield on the right side of my work, thus covering the green frond that I just stenciled in the above step to avoid getting brown on the green this time around. This back and forth process becomes second nature as you move from one color to the next in the stenciling process.

On the opposite side of the shield from the rounded cloud area that I first showed you are some sharp tips. I am placing one of these tips at the base of the tree trunks and moving up the tree to create a palm bark. As you get better and better with the tool you will find the curves and holes are definitely the stenciler's friend.  I hope this tool will bring you as much creative satisfaction as it has me!

   

 To finish the card I stenciled the rain words stencil (LL738) using dark gray pigment ink.

I then paste-embossed the raindrops background stencil (LJ905) using the Dreamweaver Translucent Embossing Paste (DEPT). I taped out a portion of the raindrops so just about half of them showed up on the finished work. The paste spreader (LM2010) is especially wonderful for large background stencils like this...just one sweep across (maybe go back the opposite direction as well) and you are good to go.

Here is a picture of the raindrops all milky and white before they dry. Take a look at the finshed card at the top of this post to see how wonderfully clear they look when they're dry, also one last detail that I added to sharpen the image just a bit...I used a 005 Sakura Micron pen (30081) and outlined the palm tree stencil (LL379), this is also seen more clearly in the finished card above.

Thank you for joining me in this tutorial on the stenciler's friend...picasso! This tool will do other things as well, if you want to know more about a stencil shield read my two books and view any of my DVDs. Find them HERE or at your local stamp stores.

I am hoping you will have time to visit the new Dream Team's creations today, including our special guest designer, Alison Heikkila! Follow the list to see what they are creating for this month's challenge:

Dream It Up!
Alison Heikkila
Laura Drahozal
Lyn Bernatovich
Pam Hornschu
Heidi Erickson
Louise Healy
Jessica Griffin
Cyndi Bundy

Our Bloomin' Spring Challenge Winner IS....

March challenge winner Jill D. use of LL375 and LJ803

Our random winner for the March Challenge is Jill D. We want to thank all of you for joining us this past month. And Jill... you can email me your favorite stencil request and we will get that out to you ASAP via snail mail! Love how you used the long stemmed rose (LL375) and the checkerboard stencil (LJ803). The way you used black really highlights your design.

I really enjoyed everyone's creations this month. I think we are all more than ready for some warmer weather in April. Even though we've had some very warm weather recently I am sad that my avocado tree froze this winter and I'm afraid my plumeria tree may have bit the big one too. RATS!!!

This next month we will be having a challenge surrounding rains and mists...and that can be literally or...left to your imagination. We still sell Memory Mists sprays...hmmm, well that's just one hint how you could approach this challenge. I am sure Pam Hornschu has some great ideas too...be sure to follow her lead on our Facebook Page. This week will be the first week for our new design team to post ...be sure to check back on Thursday!

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Bloomin' Spring

Faux Cloixonné technique by Elaine Benedict

Elaine Benedict is formerly a teacher and sales rep from the Chicago area that has recently retired to North Carolina. Just talked to her this morning and she is still in the stencil teaching mode. Yesterday she taught 10 women in the development where she and husband, Jay, are building their retirement home. Sounds like a lot of fun Elaine!

I am presenting two of her stylized dahlia (LG743) cards and each one is done with a different stenciling technique. 

This first card is a technique called faux cloisonné. One of my favorites, it requires a base of matte embossing paste (usually either white DEP or yellow DMYP). Once it is dry, reposition the stencil and add color by stenciling with pigment inks and next sprinkle (the tip here is to "sprinkle" and not totally coat the ink during this step) this wet ink with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE), heat it with a heat gun and stencil with a darker hue of the same color of pigment ink. This time you can completely coat the darker color with Ultra thick and heat once more. The two colors of pigment ink sandwiched with the Ultra Thick really give some interesting effects. It almost looks crackled doesn't it?

This second card was done on white cardstock. She began by dry embossing the dahlia stencil (LG743) through an embossing machine. Remember to stack the stencil in the middle of the thick white plate, then the paper, then the thick rubber mat (REM), then the two acrylic clear plates. This will protect the stencil from bending.

Next she stenciled the flower petals with a golden yellow pigment ink and the leaves with green pigment ink. Now with the dahlia stencil still in place she layered dots from the picasso stencil shield (LL332) on the upper petals and the Pop Art stencil (LJ915) on the lower petals with black pigment ink. Then she used a darker green pigment ink on the leaves and layered the LJ863 swirls stencil over the top of the dahlia stencil. Layering stencils is a unique way to add interest to your design work.

Thanks Elaine for these beautiful samples.

This is the last week of our challenge and you still have time to post a card to mr. linky below. Click HERE to do so. Or go there to see what everyone else has posted to mr. linky for the monthly challenge. I have been looking at everyone's Spring creations and really enjoying it. Check back on Monday to find out who our random winner is. I would do it sooner, but with Easter weekend ahead I know we will all be busy until the next week. And I will outline our next month's challenge as well.

Now remember to take a minute to visit the blogs of our design team. This will be the last week for a couple of the team members before our new team starts posting in April. Be sure to leave them some love in the form of some heartfelt comments:

Pam Hornschu   

Laura Drahozal  

Louise Healy  

Wendy Jordan  

Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin

 Cyndi Bundy 

Welcome Our New Additions to the Dream Team

Dreamweaver is so excited to be introducing our new designers for the 2013-14 year. We thought that

you'd enjoy learning a bit about each of them:

Lyn Bernatovich-
"I have been a paper-crafter all of my life, starting with a little desk I had at my grandma's where I would spend hours cutting, pasting, and playing with paper dolls. Little did I know that several decades later, I would go to a home party that featured rubber-stamping! I was absolutely hooked from that day on, and have immersed myself in getting as much paper crafting information and technique knowledge as possible. What inspires me is everything, and if I didn't require sleep, I'd be able to do that much more with this craft. My style leans toward vintage and shabby chic, but I adore cute and whimsical designs as well. My excitement over being on the Dream Team is all about giving their product my paper art style in ways that are even unknown to me, which makes me even more eager to learn all about their products. It is definitely the journey, and I'm all in!"

Bunny Line by Lyn Bernatovich

Caroline Duncan-
"I began stamping in the late 1980’s and then began scrapping in 2000. My husband and I have been married 13 years. We live near Pilot Mountain, NC, just north of Winston-Salem in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We have three fur-babies: 2 short-legged Jack Russells and one cat who are more than spoiled rotten! Besides stamping and scrapping, my other hobbies include a variety of other crafting, kayaking, geocaching, reading, movies, beachcombing, and travel. I obtain lots of inspiration for my crafts from all that I do. I enjoy and embrace a variety of styles from traditional to inky mixed media. I think the variety of crafting keeps my enthusiasm high. Using stencils with my papercrafting is something I absolutely love and I’m thrilled to be designing for Dreamweaver Stencils!!"

Flower Shower by Caroline Duncan

Heidi Erickson-
"My Mom was the one to introduce me to stamping. I have been making cards for about 18 years. My Mom and I opened a Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook store in 1997 and will be celebrating our 16th anniversary in April. I love many different crafts, but cardmaking is my favorite thing to do. I am excited to be a part of the Dreamweaver Design Team. I have been using these stencils for several years now. I love all the fun techniques and elegant designs that Dreamweaver has created and I hope to inspire others to be creative as well."

Butterfly Blossoms by Heidi Erickson

Jessica Griffin-
"I started, actively, paper crafting when I had my first child. It started with scrapbooking, lent itself to stamping, and then card making, now altered art! I love color, bright vivid colors paired with dimension- and I'm in heaven! I find color inspires me the most. I've recently taken to art journaling, and have discovered a love of stencils! I'm so excited to be part of the Dream Team and to have the opportunity to share my love of stencils and dimension!

Lea Kimmel-
"One of the things that excites me about Dreamweavers is the variety of ways to create with the stencils. I love that you can use such a variety of mediums. I can use my Copics, pastes, paints, the list goes on and the possibilities are almost endless. I'm getting a little deeper into mixed media and one of the most popular tools used is stencils. I'm looking forward to having more time to spend on my blog and promoting the various projects I create. Time is too short to spend it creating with products you don't believe in or wholeheartedly love and enjoy using. I'm excited at the possibilities!"

Damask Songbird by Lea Kimmel

Stacey Rumsby-
"I LOVE challenges and look forward to sharing my creations with others who love Dreamweaver Stencils. I look forward to being inspired by the Dream Team Members and creations that Dreamweaver Stencil followers share. The wonderfully designed Dreamweaver stencils allow all of us to take a stencil, create with it using Dreamweaver Pastes and products and a variety of other mediums. The possibilities are virtually endless. When describing my creative "style” I like to think of it as “clean and neat”."

Forest Frolic by Stacey Rumsby

Along with these amazingly talented women, we are depending on a few of our previous extraordinary Dream Team members...Laura Drahozal, Cherylynn Moser, Terrece Siddoway, Louise Healy, Pam Hornschu, and of course, Lynell Harlow!

Our new members won't be posting until April, but you can check out what the Dream Team has been creating for the March challenge:

Dream it UP 

Laura Drahozal  

Louise Healy  

Terrece Siddoway 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin

Cherylynn Moser

Kristi Van Doren

Pam Hornschu

We have oodles of exciting new events coming up in the very near future, so make sure to sign up for email alerts on posts, like us on facebook, pin us on Pinterest, and check out our weekly tutorials on Paper Craft Planet! Once you've made the rounds, be sure to link your own challenge creation to mr. linky on this blog, or email pics to lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com.