Christmas in August

Okay, so I know it is HOT in Michigan today, but I just finished my cards for the Dreamweaver Design Team Christmas challenge, and I am very excited about them, so I am posting one today. This one took a long time for me to figure out because I had something in mind, but nothing was coming close to it. Finally, I think I got it right.

This card started with a statement I heard from Lynell in California's CHA last January. She said that she doesn't use the binders in her Metallic FX, because the polymer clay artists liked to use it without binders. I filed that notion away for awhile, but it was always in the back of my mind. This ornament, which I actually purchased to teach a cloisonne technique in a class, was used with black polymer clay. I pressed the stencil into the clay, then removed it and cut the embossed design out with my Exacto. I used the holly stencil, and pressed that into the clay as well. Then, I brushed the openings with mica powders and rubbed the powder in lightly with my finger. After that, it was baking according to package directions.

The word also used mica powders. It was pasted with glossy black and sprinkled with moonstone and goldfinch Metallic FX while it was still wet. Once dry, Swiffer cloths work great to pick up the excess.

Assembly wasn't too hard. I used metallic white Wassau paper, Bo Bunny green pattern paper, ribbons and a Dreamweaver pin. I sent the ornament through my 5" Xyron, and also actually tied it onto the card as well. The actual card is an A2, with that 1 1/4" on the right hand side trimmed off, so the celebrate word underneath shows through.
Enough Christmas for today--hope you enjoyed it!

Lynell and me at CHA

Well, CHA was very interesting. (I got a little hung up on that Teresa Collins Stampmaker.) I was even more excited, of course, that some of MY work was hanging in the Dreamweaver Stencils Booth! You can see my summer card (previously posted) behind Lynell and me in the picture, but several other pieces were there as well. I was so excited that I am afraid I made a total geek of myself. Fellow Dream-teamer Louise was running a Make-N-Take using one of Lynell's latest Christmas stamps and an absolutely gorgeous technique of painting with pigment ink on transparent Art Institute Glitter. Unbelievable!

Also, I had completely forgotten that I had not yet posted the two CHA stencilled cards yet. Here I was, thrilled to get the fantastic new Christmas stencils, and I hadn't shared the Peacock or the Black Eyed Susan (I call it a Daisy) cards--so here they are.

The daisy was stencilled with the original paste, which I was thrilled to find takes about any additional techniques with no problems at all. I used a Versamark pen over the vines and heat embossed them with American Crafts Zing! in metallic green. Then, I flocked the centers in gold and added Art Institute Opaque glitter in Martini to some of the petals, using Zig glue. I pasted the word summer in glossy white, echo cut around it and popped it up. The papers are by Bo Bunny.

The peacock, quite honestly, was alot of work. The bird was pasted several times with glossy blue paste on white cardstock. Then, it was mounted on chipboard, cut out and layered. The edges of the board were distressed with ink, and the layers were assembled. Then, I used Zig glue to select areas to add the Navajo Sky Mica Powders and to add Goldfinch Mica Powder to the beak and opaque black Art Institute Glitter to the eye. The gems were from Little Yellow Bicycle Lucky Me collection. With the peacock done, I moved to the background. It was pasted with the original paste on a white background. While the paste was still wet, I used the peacock to flatten the area I would glue it to, and added Art Institute Glitter in Polar Bear to the vines. I then used the dream stencil with blue paste and Art Institute Glitter in a color that I have since forgotten the name of. Finally, I assembled all of it. It took a very long time, but I was extremely pleased with it.

Well, I am off to work on some projects for Scrap Academy at the store, my fall Dreamweaver classes and, of course, my Dreamweaver sample with the beautiful new Christmas stencils.

This Week's Challenge

This week's Scrap Wars challenge was to create a two page layout that included a baby picture, high school picture and current picture of yourself. It also had to include journalling. I have never scrapped a page all about me before, and I found the idea intimidating. Of course, once I got into it, I just couldn't stop. This Bo Bunny Mamarazzi collection was absolutely perfect! The colors were great, and even the stickers and embellishments seemed created for a layout about oneself! I made it look like an old fashioned scrapbook, by laying the elements in a more haphazard manner. Yes, the woman in the current picture with me is Lynell from Dreamweaver Stencils. If you are in the area, stop by Scrap Tales and vote for me.