Dreamweaver Sketch Challenge

This week was initially supposed to be not only a sketch theme, but a vintage theme. I was thrilled when Pam opted to remove the vinatge requirement, because ever since I initally saw this sketch, I have been thinking that I needed to use these stencils, some metals and the Color Solution Inks. Those alcohol inks were my primary problem. The colors that I had to use--Blue Velvet and Sugar Plum were neither shy colors nor vintage. I kept trying to use another idea, yet this take off of the Tim Holtz pumpkin technique just wouldn't allow me to move on. I kept thinking that perhaps the sanding would allow this to work with the theme-but a vintage purple, silver and black Christmas card? Happily, it worked out in the end.
This project was much easier than it looks. First, I used my Lifestyle Crafts metal through my Cuttlebug with the Snowflake Background stencil LJ 819. The sandwich was B plate, A Plate, stencil, metal, a soft embossing mat, a shim and another B Plate. I used my Mercart Metals basic kit to lightly enhance parts of the snowflakes. Then, I removed the stencil and put my metal face up on my craft sheet. This is where I drew inspiration from the Tim Holtz pumpkin: I dripped the Color Solution Inks on top of the metals. I used both Sugar Plum and Blue Velvet. With such intense colors, I didn't need very much. Instead of using a regular paint brush, I swirled the colors around with a Q-Tip. Then, because they were still quite bright, I used a little paper towel to dab off some of the color. Then, I used regular isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol in a Mini Mister and spritzed the top of the background piece to create the splotches. Finally, I lightly sanded over the top of the snowflakes to bring out the silver color.

The individual snowflake was done roughly the same way. The stencil I used was the Gothic Snowflake LL 396. I ran this one through the Cuttlebug as well. I then placed it stencil side down and used the metal tools to push the metal forward into the stencil. The Color Solution was applied the same way, but was never sprayed with the alcohol, because I wanted that foreground snowflake to appear a little brighter than the background. I then lightly sanded the snowflake, cut it out, and mounted it on a piece of white glossy. After that, it was a simple matter of assembly, including cutting the snowflake background into strips.

So, with the help of this very interesting sketch, I was able to do a card with only two stencils and one technique. You should try and play along this week (if you have any time). Go to everyone's blogs, post yours and link it on the Dreamweaver Stencils blog. At least check out the blogs and get inspired. Oh, and leave comments if you can. We all love comments. See you next week!