Dreamweaver Free Choice Week AND New Stencils!

Welcome to another Free Choice week! After ALOT of rain here in Michigan, with an occasional nice day thrown in, I felt truly inspired to post this card. I was feeling the saying, which is one of Lynell's newest designs. It is on a stencil with several fun sayings on it.

When designing this one, I was thinking about how that cute new apron stencil would look hanging from a clothesline. I also felt that the apron itself should be plaid, evoking a fresh spring country day, when a sudden rainstorm could ruin the attempt to dry clothes in the sun. Originally, I pictured the apron in pink plaid, but the color was just too pale to hold its own against the blue.

First, I pasted, using the original paste. The words were on brown color core Core'dinations, which was ripped later in the process. The apron was done on a mottled Basic Grey brown, because I wanted the various shades of brown to show up as shading, as if it were blowing in the wind. After the paste was dry, I used the Dreamweaver Stripe stencil to create the plaid. I tried to follow the "flow" lines in the apron, splitting up the top and the bottom. I stencilled these with Distress Inks in a couple of different browns. First I went in one direction, and then I moved the stencil to a 90 degree angle and stencilled in the other direction. I really like how the Distress Inks are so delicate on the paste. The background was the rain stencil, run through my Cuttlebug with Core'dinations color core in blue. Then, I lightly sanded it, to enhance the embossing.

After some assmebly, which included a twine and real tiny clothespins, the card reflects my very mood today. I hope that there is no rain where you are!

Stop in again next week and see what is in store for the Blue and Orange Mother's Day card challenge. In the meantime, check out the other Dream Teamers on this free week.

My Mind's Eye Sketch Challenge #22--April Showers

Here is this month's My Mind's Eye Blog Layout Sketch Challenge. The sketch is absolutely beautiful, and was created by Anam Stubbington. The theme this month is April Showers. Here is my take on it.

For once, I interpreted the sketch fairly literally. I used the gorgeous Stella and Rose collection. I loved how the orange enhanced her clothing, and the wood grain paper echoed the deck that she stands on. When deciding on a title, I kept ruminating on the theme of April showers. Soon, I had the Disney song from one of my Mom's favorite movies : :Drip, drip, drop little April Showers...." Kaitlyn looks so happy with the rain, that I found it rather approriate. I cut out most of the words from printed papers in the line. The others were from a lovely turquoise Core'dinations paper. I sanded it in the places that I needed it lighter for contrast. I also distressed most of the papers for added dimension.

I really enjoyed having intentional play with scallops. The orange scallop is actually part of the die cut paper piece. (I had to resist the urge to string a lovely ribbon through those holes, but I won't resist it next time.) I used My Mind's Eye ribbon as the scalloped embellishment featured on the sketch. Then, I used scallops in the hand made flower. Finally, when I cut the delicate doily from it's sheet, the edges became scalloped. (So much scallop fun!)

I then wanted to add a little something more to my layout. The "Drip, drip drop" was a little lost. I knew that the theme was April Showers, but aside from the photos, and the title, I was not really getting "rain". That is when I came up with the idea to make raindrops. It would add to the theme and make it a little different from the sketch. I used turquosie My Mind's Eye Lush 2 gemstone collection as the bottom of my drops. I made quick straight lines with light pencil right on the project. Then, I used my Bazzil InStitchz' Awl and mat to poke guide holes on the lines. I added the gems at the end of some of them, and poked guide holes around them. I stitched all of this with embroidery floss.

The flower center is a My Mind's Eye button that is really pretty. I was going to use the second one in the card sketch, but just don't think I can get it done this time.

This was really lots of fun. I am considering entering every month!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Sketch Challenge and a New Stencil!

This week's sketch was chosen by Lee. I always admire her for her southwestern style creations. This sketch had that sort of feel as well. I could almost see the desert and mountains in the image.

So, here is my take on the sketch. I got special permission from Lynell to sneak this new stencil. Never fear, it will be out VERY soon. You can see that I enlarged the primary image and, because of that, really didn't have the room to mat it with those torn mats. I also moved it to the other side of the card. That decision was based on the direction that the bird was facing. I would like to think that I kept the spirit of the sketch by using layers of torn tissue paper, stacked and glued with a glue stick. I chose the colors because I wanted to invoke the feeling of a sunset. I reflected the glitter in the tissue paper to make it appear as if the sun was setting behind mountains.

As for the technique, I used Double Glitter. This time, I did it with a twist. Sometime, somewhere, I saw one of my Dream Team Sisters using double glitter with embossing powder. I chose to do the same here, to keep the raven black and glitter the "sunset" in the background. I first soaped the back of the stencil and applied it to the Double Sided Adhesive Paper. Then, I poured detail black embossing powder over the whole thing and pressed it down with my fingers. When I was sure that I had it well pressed in, I turned the stencil over and gave it a good flick. I carefully removed the paper, laying the whole thing stencil side down on the table, and peeling the paper off of the stencil. Then, I heat embossed it. I poured layers of colored glitter on the background to imitate the sunset. This time, I did not use Art Glitter, but instead the Woodware UK glitter that I brought home with me.

Check out how the other Dream Teamers have interpreted this sketch. I have reorganized my blog to make it easier to find everyone. Enjoy the creations and, most of all, feel inspired!

My Core'dinations Creative Frenzy

THE FIRST PROJECT: A Spring Wreath Happy Spring! I had so much fun making this wreath with Core'dinations paper. There are only a few items used for this wreath that are not cardstock. They are: the wreath form, wire, a cereal box (became the bird wings), the birdhouse base, the egg base (originally sparkly Easter ornaments), and the base for the bird. When I mention the "bases" I am referring to things that I used to create the initial shape. I treated each of them as if they were part of the Rose Bowl Parade--their surfaces are covered in cardstock! The branch was formed with paper coated wires. Then, I used small, ripped strips of Core'dinations color core in brown to roll around the wires. As I rolled, I twisted slightly, and was able to make a branch that looked entirely real. The nest was also the color core paper, but it was dampened, folded, and twisted until it held a shape something like a nest. I used Art Glitter Dries Clear glue on the eggs to hold it in place. I then used a craft knife to cut slices out of the nest and twisted, ripped and folded the pieces until it looked the way I wanted. This project was just so much fun because of all the detailed items. The flowers and leaves were all cut on the Silhouette Machine from designs that I purchased in their store. They were cut on the color core papers, including the White Wash Collection. It is one of my favorites, because the top loots "white washed" while the cores are beautiful colors. I played with the pink and the color core pink together in some of the flowers. I was able to create the petal shape because of the way I was sanding. I used a soft sanding block and placed the petal over my finger. The finger created a "template" of sorts to sand over. It caused the Core'dinations paper to curl ever so gently and mimic the look of a real flower petal.

The birdhouse (Why can't I stop singing the "Birdhouse in my Soul" song by They Might Be Giants?) was created with various colors of blue sent through different embossing folders and sanded. The butterflies were all made using the Black Magic Collection and Dreamweaver Stencils. I ran the stencil through my Cuttlebug. Then, I sanded through the embossed image to the yellow. All I had left to do on them was stick them on with a Glue Dot. The paper was so sturdy that, even after all that sanding, it held up well.

The last image for this project is the hummingbird. I used a styrofoam bird as the base. The wings were made from a cereal box. The paper used on the hummingbird is primarily the Foundations paper by Core'dinations. I had never used it before, but found it perfect to cover this bird. It is smooth, thin and tough, so it held the wings on nicely. I used Whitewash in black under the belly to deliniate the tail feathers. I scratched the details in (showing the black) with a craft knife. I also used Gemstones in Opal and the Glitter Silk in green, red and white to enhance the bird. I was really impressed by the flexibility of the new Glitter Silk, as I had to bend it into unusual shapes to make it fit over the 3D bird correctly.

THE SECOND PROJECT: A two page layout

This is a layout about my trip with my aunt and cousins to The Henry Ford Museum. I used a Graphic 45 Collection and Core'dinations Core Impressions to create this layout. I really loved those pre-embossed papers in the watch and fancy background imagery. I went for an overall distressed look, so in addition to sanding these papers, I also inked them. I especially liked inking the tan layer, because it added such an extra depth to the image. After distressing it with Walnut Stain ink, I went back in and selectively sanded some of the design. The journalling spot was made with a Tim Holtz embossing folder and the White Wash paper. I also used White Wash alternatively with Black Magic for the mats. I especially loved using the coordinating cores with these two very different collections. For all the mats, I cut them, crinkled them up, opend them, ripped the edges, sanded them, and then ironed them. I love their look.

THE THIRD PROJECT: An all occasion card

Here is the Dreamweaver Card that I promised yesterday. This was really easy to create. First, I used my Cuttlebug to use the wave stencil to emboss Core'dinations color core in blue. Then, I did the same with the Koi stencil on orange. I distressed the fish with Rusty Hinge before sanding them. Then, I mounted them on Black Glitter Silk and cut around the fish. I used a craft knife to cut out the eyes, so that the Glitter Silk could show through. I sanded the backgound and mounted everything, including an organza ribbon. The white background is also Glitter Silk and the far background is Color Core used as regular cardstock (yet another use for it).

Well, I hope everyone has enjoyed my Core'dinations explorations as much as I have. I have been in love with this cardstock, which began my desire to distress, ever since it came out.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Week

It looks like I am posting a little early this week. Those of you who took my latest class should recognize this one. It was actually created as the twin to a sample that I made for Lynell. (I make two of each of my Dreamweaver Stencil samples so that I can have one for myself.) Although my initial creation had issues with adhesive not sticking to the background of the card (sorry Lynell), I added some sparkly American Crafts rhinestone brads to keep it in place.

The white background paper and the blue paper is a beautiful shimmery cardstock (I think it is by Wausau). The gold mats are also shimmery. The white base for the pasting is regular, smooth cardstock. All the paste used on this one is the Pearlescent.

I sprinkled gold Metallic FX on the word and on the heart for the birds. A little went onto the birds, but it didn't matter, because I planned on painting the birds. Once it dried, I used a Swiffer to wipe off the excess Metallic FX and buff the image.

After the image was buffed, I put Liquid Pearls on my craft sheet, added water, and painted the birds. I used the light blue, the dark blue, light orange and red. The birds' breasts were painted with a mixture of the orange and red, because I thought the red alone was too bright.

After that, I just assembled it, and it was done. I love the Pearlescent paste with the Metallic FX, as it creates a subtle, glowing look.

STOP BY ON FRIDAY FOR A BONUS CARD!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Color Challenge Yellow and Teal

Kristi chose our yellow and teal challenge this week. One thing you should know about Kristi, is she LOVES her bling--I daresay, ALMOST as much as I do, but that is something up for personal interpretation. With all this sparkle love, though, I felt absolutely compelled to do something glittery again this week.

On this project, I used three different stencils--two butterflies and the dot stencil. The dots were dry embossed and lightly colored with Distress Inks.

The main technique this week is actually the same double glitter technique as last week--but with a different twist. I developed this 3D technique when I was entering for a magazine publication. That first card I did like this is on page 20 of April 2011 Scrap & Stamp Arts Magazine. It includes only one butterfly. Ever since I created that one, I have been dying to try it again. It really only works well with a symmetrical stencil--so butterflies are perfect. I was looking for the right opportunity, when I saw this stamp. I just loved the phrase, and, of course, it would be wonderful with butterflies. I looked through our challenges and knew Kristi's color challenge would be my chance.

As you can see in this picture, the butterflies are all raised from the page. It is super simple. I used the double glitter technique that I explained last week, only right after I removed the adhesive paper from the stencil, I trimmed around the image. Then, I added the black glitter.

Next, I removed the backing and put the back side of the butterfly on the stencil. I then repeated the double glitter technique. You can see why it had to be a symmetrical stencil. When I was done, I had a butterfly that was glittered and detailed on the front and the back.

After I finished the rest of the card assembly, I organized the butterflies. Then, I folded each butterfly in the center, put a Glue Dot under the body, and glued it into place. I then took black 3D foam and positioned it under the wing and close to the body. I did not choose to use the foam under every wing, because I thought it would look more natural to have the wings at different levels.

I hope you give this one a try. Remember, it is really simple--I promise from the bottom of my glitter filled heart!