Cards via Snail Mail

I love it when you send me a card in the mail. This card comes to me from a follower who won a stencil in our last blog hop. Marijane is an avid follower and this thank you card made my day. 


She paste-embossed the pineapple stencil (LS27) with the regular Dreamweaver Embossing Paste (DEP) and then stenciled it with yellow and green and then shaded with a bit of brown.


Love it Marijane, and hoping you are having a good weekend!


Just a heads up regarding our new design team call, Pam Hornschu will be posting information this next week on what to expect so keep in touch.

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Sketch by Kim

This weeks sketch challenge is by Dream Team member Kim Parkinson. And the technique I chose is appropriate for her creation because she was one of the first people that ever sent me a card with alcohol inks showcased. It was such an inspiration that I have been intrigued with the idea of working on metal with alcohol ever since.


I began by dry embossing the new "Prince of Peace" stencil (LX7004) through my embossing machine with a yellow-gold colored aluminum. Remember the stacking process is important so you don't bend the stencils. Here is the formula that works best...follow this order for all of the plates and materials for the best results. 


1. Thick white plate (Cuttlebug and Big Shot both have these).
2. Stencil
3. Material to be embossed goes face down on the stencil in this case gold colored metal is against the stencil
4. Thick rubber mat by Stamping Details
5. Two acrylic plates (be sure these are not warped and if you are using the Cuttlebug it would be the two "B" plates.


After it is embossed I removed it from the stencil and sanded the raised lettering with a fine grit sanding block or manicure block. Then I repositioned the stencil onto the metal and daubed a mixture of Color Solution alcohol ink (the color was Sugar Plum CS208) with thinner or blending solution (CSC). This was accomplished by dripping just a few drops of each onto a felt applicator. The new one ounce bottles have a control tip nozzle that just squeezes out one drop at a time.


Then I dry embossed the nativity stencil (LL3019) onto a plain "silvery" colored piece of aluminum using the same stacking formula as above and then removed the stencil and daubed the entire surface with the same Sugar Plum Color Solution (CS208) using a felt applicator. Because I wanted to colorize the nativity with a yellow gold color I replaced the stencil and wiped the purple color off of the design using a cotton swab dampened with thinner. Doing this gave me a clean surface to work on, otherwise the purple would mix with the next color I used. The Color Solution Gold Star (CS203) matches the background to a "t" and was perfect to then stencil a beautiful yellow-gold color onto the nativity. Again I achieved this using a clean piece of felt on my applicator, but this time I wanted it to be more opaque so I didn't add thinner like I did with the Sugar Plum Color Solution. 


Once these pieces were dry I mounted the nativity onto a glossy piece of black cardstock and again onto the metal piece.


If you would like to play along with our sketch this week sign up on mr. linky below. And be sure to follow the "dream team" list at the sidebar on the right of my blog to see what the other members have done this week.

Art for Joplin

Design team member Kristi Van Doren has been working so hard the past few months on an e-bay auction for the people of Joplin Missouri. Many people lost everything including loved ones in this terrible tornado in southwest Missouri. Kristi lives in nearby Springfield and has been getting together both finished pieces of crafts and artwork as well as crafting supplies donated by CHA members.


Today I went onto the site and noticed she has my allotment of stencils, dvd, embossing paste and a beautiful tray that someone handcrafted. This lot of items (including the peacock stencil that you see in this post) is worth almost $100 retail and the bid is only $12.50, so I would like to encourage those of you that are crafting enthusiasts to take a look at what is available to bid on  and then give a stab at getting some of these crafting treasures. It is for a great cause and you would benefit in more than one way. Here is a link to the ebay page http://donations.ebay.com/charity/charity.jsp?NP_ID=33694 that is titled ART for Joplin. This allotment has only a few hours left, but there are other items that are still coming up.


Have a good weekend!

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Artist Grade Alcohol Inks-Color Solution

This Fall card was created using the new Color Solution Artist Grade Alcohol Inks and they will soon be available. I designed this card to be taught at a retailers workshop in the UK recently.


The Japanese Maple leaves stencil (LJ906) was paste embossed with the Glossy White Embossing Paste (DGWP) and after it was dry I repositioned the stencil onto the leaves to add the color.


The Color Solution inks have a control tip on them. This means that only one drop at a time will come out of the tip. So I dripped Paprika Red and Aspen Leaf onto a felt applicator and daubed it with a tapping motion through the holes of the stencil design. These inks dry a bit slower than other inks that I have worked with so I waited just a minute for it to dry completely then I daubed on just a small amount of a purple color called Thistle for some sharp contrast. The stems were daubed with Creme Brulee (this is a light carmel color) and a few drops of Paprika as well.


The frame was simply made by daubing Citron and Aspen Leaf onto glossy card stock and then die cut twice with a nestability frame...a larger one and smaller one of the same shape. 


The embellishment pin started out white and then I daubed it with the Thistle Color Solution. (These alcohol inks can be used on many non porous surfaces. I have used them on acetate, glossy cardstock, shrink plastic, metal, gourds, ribbon and the list goes on and on because of course they can also be used on porous surfaces as well.) Next it was threaded through the beautiful red crepe ribbon from Creative Impressions. I absolutely love their line of crepe ribbons. (And everything else they have for embellishments as well.)


I know I have been teasing you with these new alcohol inks and the design team will start showing them off on their posting creations as well, keep in touch by visiting our blogs. Be patient...these new inks will be in your local rubber stamp store soon.


Also this past week I was posting in pink and black every day and mentioning that a call will soon be going out for a new design team. Pam Hornschu will be our new team leader and she is staying on top of the details. I will be posting more details as she lets me know her next steps in the process. As the owner of Dreamweaver Stencils I wear many hats and am happy to turn this demanding job of co-ordinating the design team call over to her. I have learned so much about design teams this year and yet with all that I have going on I realize that I can't do it justice. I want to thank Deborah March and the present team for keeping on through the ups and downs of their busy and eventful lives. Looking forward to being supportive of each and every one of the new team.


Join us this week and link us to a creation you have on your blog! After all it's a free challenge this week...anything goes.

Black Flocking on Glossy Black Paste

I loved doing this card. The flower lace background stencil (LJ820) is one of my favorites. This time I paste-embossed it with Glossy Black Embossing Paste (DGKP)... in fact I used the new paste spreader (LM2010) to paste-emboss the black paste onto a pale pink cardstock. The new spreader is especially wonderful for large lacy designs like this one. After I removed the stencil and while the paste was very wet I sprinkled the black flocking generously over the design. I placed it on my pancake griddle to hasten the drying time. (It usually cuts the drying time in half ...if not faster.) Then I turned on my laminator to give it time to heat up. After about 20 minutes I knocked the excess flocking off the paste (you don't want it too thick going through the laminator) and then sprinkled it sparsely with the black flocking. I then placed it into a folded piece of glossy paper and ran it through my now well heated laminator. The heat and pressure helps push the flocking into the slightly heated glossy black paste. I trimmed it out and tied it up with a pale pink ribbon and a black organza ribbon to make it look like a package wrapped in black lace. The small celebrate stencil (LS89) was placed onto a small glossy black tag and then paste-embossed with a mixture of Glossy White Embossing Paste (DGWP) and a small amount of Glossy Red Embossing Paste (DGRP). The ratio was 4 parts white to 1 part red. Remember when you are mixing to make a tint you want the majority of the mix to be white. Once it was dry I tied it into the ribbon. This is a card that people want to touch...the fuzzy surface is a real tactile delight!


This is my last pink/black colorway posting. Tomorrow it is a free challenge day for the Dream Team...come back and see what they are dreaming up!

Aint She Sweet and Pretty in Pink (and black)

This is the pink and black card I mentioned in an earlier post that Pam Hornschu posted a couple of months ago on her blog. She sent me the actual card and every time I look at it I see some small detail that I missed before. One thing that I saw yesterday on the card was that the pink die cut behind the cameo stencil design (LL3017) was dry embossed through an embossing machine using the fleur de lis background stencil (LJ841). And I think it was such a clever detail to put the same die cut behind the pink one and offset it to give it a shadow effect. The little banner saying "little sweetie" is done in the same way.


The houndstooth background stencil (LJ913) was paste-embossed with the Glossy White Embossing Paste (DGWP) on a glossy black cardstock.


For the cameo itself she dry embossed the stencil on a piece of black colored aluminum using her embossing machine. She then removed the stencil and using a low grit manicure block sanded the image. The necklace was a simple embellishment of sticky crystals.


I am amazed at how many different ways you can use this cameo stencil and I am sure the new Dream Team will come up with many more ideas. If you are interested in maybe trying out for the team, be sure to stay tuned for our "call" at the end of the week. And thanks to all of you who have been following my pink and black theme this week.

"You Tube" Video of the Double Glitter Technique

I have really enjoyed doing this double glitter technique with "sticky paper". I cheated a bit and added the yellow-gold mounting paper to give the pink and black an added kick. Recently I was a guest on the TV show Scrapbook Soup and if you want to watch exactly how to do this umbrella using this fun technique click on this YOU TUBE link to take you to the TV session. I tend to be a visual person and I am sure that at least the majority of crafters are the same, so it is nice to be shown how to do a technique, instead of reading the details. You can also email me at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com if you want me to email you the step by step process of double glittering. The rest of the card was very simply done. The raindrops stencil (LJ905) was paste-embossed with Glossy Black Embossing Paste (DGKP) onto bright pink cardstock. The Showers of Blessing sentiment (LG738) was paste-embossed with Glossy White Embossing Paste (DGWP) onto glossy black cardstock and then glittered with hot pink glitter before it dried. (Marj Marion was again the inspiration for this rain words stencil.) In the YOU TUBE video the umbrella stencil used is (LG737) and the dots stencil (LJ804) was over-layed onto the umbrella stencil and stenciled in black pigment ink.

One thing the Dreamweaver Design Team has done recently is a blog hop with our sister team in the UK. The theme of the hop was stenciling and creating on things that are NOT paper. So for our upcoming "Call" for a new design team we will probably be asking those of you who are interested in trying out for the team to do the same. Put your thinking caps on and look back at the old posts from a few weeks ago to see what our blog hopping team created for this amazing challenge. My favorite saying is: "No idea is immaculately conceived", so be inspired to inspire!

It's a Girl/More Pink and Black

When I make a card that I am doing multiples of I do whatever I can to make it as simple as possible and the "it's a girl" (LM189) stencil was so easy to just stencil with black pigment ink. Even though the holes in this particular stencil are very fine I use as big a brush as I have because I am not worried about shading. Sometimes people think that if the holes are small you need a small brush, but you want as big a brush as possible if there isn't the need for finesse.  Of course the paste-embossed bear was a little more involved, but that too was not so difficult to do quickly. In my new DVD called Tips and Tools (DVD-3) I show how you can paste-emboss multiples of the same design without changing the tape and washing the stencil off after each paste application. DVDs are great if you are a visual learner.


The little bear stencil (LM137) was paste-embossed very simply with the Matte Black Embossing Paste (DMBP). When the design dried I replaced the stencil and daubed some of the Stamp and Stick Glue (GSP) onto her bow and paws and then stenciled them with Pixie Blush Metallic F/X (F/X09).


The ribbons were a black with white polka dots and a pale pink organza tied together. I cut single slits on either side of the bear with an x-acto knife (these were done after I mounted the main card onto the black border cardstock, so they were only cut through these two card front pieces.) Then I threaded the untied pieces of ribbon behind the bear and through these slits. Next I tied the ribbon into a bow and put mounting tape on the back of the black piece of cardstock to then mount onto the bottom pink cardstock.


If you are interested in becoming a member of the Dreamweaver Stencils Design Team stay tuned this next week for more details. One of the requirements will be for you to design a card using all the innovation you can dream up. We won't require that you use stencils just lots of imagination. So Dream it UP!!!

Ink Transfer using your Embossing Machine:

To achieve the background for the cameo Elaine Benedict used a technique that some people are calling "letterpress" and I  am calling "ink transfer". She started by tapping a pink distress ink called "spun sugar" all over her background tapestry stencil (LJ907) and then placed it face up on the thick white plate of her embossing machine. (Please note that stacking the plates in the right order is important so you don't bend your stencil.) She then placed her digital or glossy card stock face down on the inked stencil and followed this with a thick rubber embossing mat by "Stamping Details"(REM). The last two acrylic plates were then placed on top of this rubber mat. (If you are using a Cuttlebug it would be two "B" plates.) Just be sure these acrylic plates are not warped because the end result could be a curved stencil. I recommend that you have two acrylic plates that you use just for embossing with your stencils to avoid this pitfall. Then she embossed this stack of thick white plate, stencil, paper, rubber and last the two acrylic plates through her embossing machine. You want them to go through firmly for the best embossing results. This then transfers the ink from the stencil onto the cardstock and embossed the tapestry design at the same time. I have an instruction sheet on how to stack the plates through your embossing machine...email me at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com if you are needing this.


She then paste embossed the cameo (LL3017) in Glossy Black Embossing Paste (DGKP) and the happy birthday (LM248) was paste embossed with the Translucent Embossing Paste (DEPT) and sprinkled with a pink glitter. 


This cameo stencil (LL3017) seems to lend itself to this colorway, because this past Thursday design team member, Louise Healy, posted another beautiful rendition of the same stencil for our black and pink colorway challenge. In fact design team member, Pam Hornschu used the same cameo and colorway on her August 25 posting. Yes, these ladies are truly kindred spirits...makes me want to go do my own version right now. LOL!


I want to thank several of you for designing cards to go on my blog this year. Elaine Benedict and Marj Marion have been popular guest designers. Those of you who have occasionally joined our challenges and leave comments keep our creative spirits soaring. So if you are an adventuresome stenciler and would like to join our team be sure to check back next Thursday for more details on what it takes to belong to the Dream Team. Tomorrow we will have another pink and black creation, see you then!

Get Ready-Get Set-Get your "Glossy" Valentines Done Early

Well, this card doesn't have to be a Valentine, but I have several people in my life that already have their Christmas cards finished and are starting on the next holiday...yes, Valentine's Day will be here before we know it . LOL!


The pink dangling heart (LM272) was paste-embossed with a specialty mixture of one Tablespoon of the Glossy White Embossing Paste (DGWP) with one teaspoon of the Glossy Red Embossing Paste (DGRP) mixed together using a palette knife (DPK). These two glossy pastes mixed together equal a sparkling look...and there wasn't even a speck of glitter in sight.


To make the second layer of black paper look like a darker black I used glossy black cardstock. And to make the ribbon look like it was pink with black dots...(it is a white organza ribbon with black dots), I tied it together with two very pale pink ribbons behind it to give it that same pale pink appearance.


Remember I told you we will be putting out a call very soon for a new Dreamweaver Stencils Dream team. What does that mean for you? It means that if  you are interested be sure to practice up on your stenciling skills. At least one of your submissions should be a stenciling project. We will give you more details in one week.


Don't forget to come back and see more black and pink tomorrow! Dream team member Georgia Sommers posted a beautiful card yesterday in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Week. This reminded me that this past weekend as I was watching the Raiders play football that they were all dressed in black and white and then their shoes, socks, gloves and other accessories were hot pink. Great colorway guys!!!

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Colorway Challenge- Pink & Black

This week is another colorway challenge...my fave challenge of the month you know! Marj Marion from Art n Soul in Olympia is the creator of this darling bird inspired card. In fact Marj was the one that really encouraged us to do a stencil of "bird words" (LG734) as you see in her sample.  This card isn't difficult...just takes a bit of time, so if you are a beginning "paster" give it a try. She paste-embossed both the bird words and the fine feathered friends stencil (LM2009) with the Dreamweaver Glossy Black Embossing Paste (DGKP) and the bird cage (LL3012) was paste-embossed with the Pearlescent Embossing Paste (DPP). The two black birds on the cage were little die cut birds as were the to white birds on the right...these embellishments were die cut on a glossy card stock and then glued onto the card.


As I was trying to decide on what to post this week I discovered that I have several cards done in pink and black, so this week I am going to try (operative word here is "TRY") to post everyday for a week with pink and black....and as I do so I will leave you some encouragement to try out for the Dreamweaver Design Team.  We will be putting out a call in another week with details on what we need from you.


You are probably wondering what it means to belong to a design team...when I put out my initial call over a year ago, two or three of the people who answered the challenge didn't even know how to blog. But they came on board and became bloggers. YAY!!! They are  proof evident that it can be done. LOL!


If you are interested in playing along this week with our colorway challenge sign up on Mr. Linky below, or email me one of your pink and black creations and I will post it this coming week. Be sure to visit the rest of the design team listed on the sidebar at the right for more pink and black inspiration.

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Our Canadian Friends

This Thursday is a free challenge week and today I am honoring our Canadian neighbor's Thanksgiving holiday. This year October 10 is their Thanksgiving (the date changes yearly just like ours) and I actually wish we celebrated this same day for ours, it just makes so much sense. It is before the weather turns cold for one thing, so the "over the river and through the woods" drive to Grandmother's house is much safer and the scenery much more Fall-like. Also we would have a bit more time to enjoy that holiday, because it is separated by more than two months from Christmas. Let's advertise this idea on facebook to everyone we know and see if we can get things changed. SERIOUSLY!

Today I have featured a simple dry embossed card using the pumpkins stencil (LL514) and the happy thanksgiving stencil (LM251). The greeting was even more simply done by just stenciling it with pigment ink. After the pumpkins were dry embossed I stenciled them with pigment inks as well. Next I took a large stencil brush and added just a touch of green pigment ink at the edge of the white cardstock by stenciling in a circular or rouging motion all the way around the card. Sometimes simple is elegant.

Speaking of elegant, the second card I am featuring is done by Canadian card artist and teacher Fran Holt. I met Fran at CHA and she was kind enough to send me a card recently. I love it when I can post YOUR creations on the blog...feel free to send them to me anytime. Now I have to admit I don't know how she did the background, so Fran...if you are reading along here let us know by writing us a message in the comments at the bottom of this post. Well here is what Fran emailed me as an explanation as to what she did for the damask background:


Hi Ladies,

Thank-you so much for your kind words about my card. My background was made using an ink transfer technique - so easy to do with Lynell's Dreamweaver stencils. Here are the steps that I followed.
Place your stencil on the flat bottom of a cardboard box.
Spray it with 4 - 6 sprays of at least 2 different colours. I used my old LuminArte Radiant Rain sprays: Sky Blue and Bronze Medallion. (I had the best results when I used opaque sprays that laid down solid colour.)
Place a piece of watercolour paper over your sprayed stencil. I used Canson, 140 lb, Cold Press.
Run your fingers over the paper, without moving it, to press it into the ink. When you're satisfied that you've transferred the colour, lift it off.
That's it, easy and simple. Have fun and enjoy!






I do have an instruction flyer with the above technique called "ink transfer technique". If anyone wants this please email me and I will send it to you. lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com The cameo stencil (LL3017) was paste-embossed with the Pearlescent Embossing Paste (DPP). The damask background stencil is (LX7001). This is a fairly new size of stencil for us and measures six by six inches. I made these LX stencils a size that would go through the Embossing Machines, both the Big Shot and Cuttlebug. Just FYI we also have a new size of rubber embossing mat (REM) that fits these stencils made by Stamping Details. For those of you that may be interested in taking a class from Fran, she teaches at a store in Pointe-Claire, Quebec called Bonnidee. Take time to visit them.


If you would like to play along this week remember it's our free week, so anything you want to show us. And I do love getting your cards in the mail as well if you don't know how to blog...I know you're familiar with snail mail.