Happy Valentine's Day--Virtual Valentine's Day Blog Hop!

Hello, everyone. Today is an addition to our regularly scheduled Dream Scheme Thursday. Dreamweaver, and many other wonderful companies, are sponsors for a Virtual Valentine's Blog Hop. The hop is being organized by Taylor Usry. Her blog is http://taylorusry.blogspot.com/ . There are tons of people in this hop, including Dreamweaver Stencils and my Dream Team sisters Wendy, Kristi, Terrece, Louise and Pam. Taylor's blog should have ALL the links. The more you comment, the more chances you have to win--so warm up that keyboard.

ALSO, as a special BONUS: Lynell of Dreamweaver Stencils says that she will select 3 new followers of ANY Dream Team Member Blogs to receive a free stencil. So, if you have been considering following one of our blogs, now is the time to sign up.

Anyway, here is today's Valentine's offering:

So, kind of surprising, huh? I have been posting every color of red and pink Valentine card for weeks, and now, on the actual day--green, blue and purple? There is a story behind this. Believe me.
I met this wonderful Australian woman at CHA, Julie Makela, who was demonstrating Dreamweaver stencils using an interesting foil product from Stampee Crafts. The process is as follows: emboss the cardstock traditionally or through a machine, stencil using pigment ink, pour their powdered glue on the wet pigment ink and heat, cover with foil (it doesn't matter if the glue cools first), send through a thermal laminator (cheaper than you think) and let the foil cool a little before pulling quickly off of the project. Well, this foil is so beautiful, that I just HAD to try it. It was easier than I thought and completely addicting! The pear, LL 563,was simple to emboss, and the stencilling sponges I could find were already loaded with green, blue and purple--so, I made green, blue and purple pears. They were so pretty, that I took a couple home.

These were done with the clear cracked ice (the green, left hand pear) and the clear water (right hand side pear). I included both of these detail pictures so that you might be able to determine the shiny texture. That cracked ice really turned out nice in the pictures, but the water is easily as lovely in person. They both catch the light just beautifully.

So, when the challenge came up, I must admit that I wanted to use these pears. I thought about it for quite awhile, before I remembered my friend's wedding, where she used the phrase "A Perfect Pear". Of course, I altered it a little. The phrase was printed from my computer. Be My Valentine LM 276, and the brand new Large Damask were both pasted with Pearlescent Paste and glittered with Art Institute Sea Shell Glitter. (Sea Shell is a transparent white glitter that "flashes" with pink and green--it reminds me of a crushed opal). Then, I just adhered everything and, viola, a green, blue and purple Valentine!

Comment for a chance to win-one entry per blog-and don't forget to go back to Taylor's blog at http://taylorusry.blogspot.com/ for more links!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Pink and Brown

This week's Dream Scheme is Pink and Brown/Kraft/ or Cream. In this post, I used the Double Glitter Technique. When you use this technique, with the double sided adhesive paper, don't forget to soap up the back of the stencil first, to prevent it sticking too much and bending. On both images, I used brown Art Institute Glitter on the main image and a pearlescent white Art Institute glitter on the background. The sentiment actually started as a longer set--Be My Valentine, but I maked out the extra words with removable Scotch Tape before I adhered the stencil to the paper.

Then, I squeezed pink Liquid Pearl into all of the hearts. It actually dried pretty quickly, considering that it was on top of a layer of glitter. I liked the contrast of the little pearl look with the sparkly glitter.

When everything was dry, I assembled the card using Bo Bunny Paper and Karen Foster Scrapper's Floss.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Week

Okay, so call me a liar. I WAS planning on posting that turquoise and brown challenge that I postponed from last week. I really was! Then, I realized that I had only two more posts until Valentine's Day and I really wanted to post this cute pink and green one.

Here it is

The patterned paper is Bo Bunny (even the green behind the rose). The dots, I think, are Bazzill Swiss Dots. The schocking part is the stripe that appears black. It is actually a dark green velvet paper. It doesn't photograph bright enough.

Anyway, the stencil, LG724, is older, but still gorgeous. I used the pearlescent paste. I waited until it was dry and then replaced the stencil. Then, I squeezed Liquid Pearls in two pinks and a green onto my non-stick craft mat. I then used a paint brush loaded with water to thin out each color and paint it onto the dried pearlescent paste. I pulled off the stencil and set the heart aside to dry. I just ADORE the pearl on pearl tones in this card.

Thursday (er--WEDNESDAY) Dream Schemes

So, this week, Dreamweaver is sponsoring the Cardabilities Challenge. Instead of our normal Thursday Posting, therefore, we were told we could play along with their sketch, seen below, and our colorway--turquoise, dark brown/craft brown or neutral. Now, at first, I was inclined to just finish my planned turquoise challenge AND the Cardabilites Challenge. Then, of course, I got caught up with CHA stuff and a really icky cold, and, well, I am hoping that my Dream Teammates will accept this slight stretch in colors--dark turquoise, tan and neutral. I promise I will post my turquoise and brown next week, during the free theme week.

So, here is the Cardabilities sketch. It was really easy to use and came together quite well. I suggest that if you have the time today, you make a quick card to enter on Cardabilities.blogspot.com. You could win one of three different gift certificates: $25, $15 or $10. Although the Dream Team is playing along, we aren't eligible to win. :(

Anyway, here is my take on it.

You see what I mean about the colors? The dark brown around the outside is not actually part of the card, but is the background on which I shot the photo.

As for what I did, I used the Pearlescent Paste with the Thinking of You stencil. Then, I ran the small sand dollar and the starfish through my Cuttlebug with Co'oredinations paper. I sanded the embossed paper lightly to create the beautiful soft effect. I cut them out and assembled the card. Simple, see?

Thursday Dream Schemes--Another Free Week

This week's challenge started for me with this beautiful Creative Imaginations paper. I really liked it, but thought that it would be difficult to use. The silver foiled patterns reminded me of old fashioned Valentine cards and luxe materials. I was considering which materials would be simple and elegant--and an idea was born--velvet paper and metal!

Although I was concerned that the Dreamweaver paste might not work well on the velvet material, I discovered that I was very wrong. The silver paste worked like a dream! I used the Dreamweaver stencil LM 241, which reads "Happy Valentine's Day." I masked out the additional letters with Scotch removable tape and pasted as usual.

The metal is a Quickutz (Lifestyle Crafts) product. I used it in the Revolution machine with Dreamweaver stencil LM 272, Dangling Heart. It was very easy. I put the stencil down, followed by the metal (face down), a rubber embossing mat and the blue plastic embossing mat. The metal is adhesive backed, so once it was embossed, assembly was a breeze.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Sketch Challenge

SNEEK PEEK ALERT

This week, the Dream Team has chosen a sketch challenge. I was inspired by the large shape, which reminded me of a slider. That was the inspiration for my project.

In this post, the card sketch was changed a little. First off, it was turned on its side. I took the ribbon slide idea that I had to the extreme, making two slides. The sentiment has been enlarged and moved up.

The image is a little darker than it the project is in real life. The color that appears almost black in the photo is actually a burgundy color. The background is the new, SOON TO BE RELEASED stripes. It was pasted with Pearlescent on a textured white surface. The paste is very shiny and takes on a slight gold cast next to the metallic cardstock.

The sliders were created with a light ivory polymer clay. First, I kneaded it for a while, then brayered it onto a piece of aluminum foil until it was smooth and even. I added a light coating of vegetable oil on the back of the stencil. (The oil allows the stencil to release easier from the sticky clay.) Then, I placed the stencil over the clay and brayered again until the clay pushed upwards, slightly over the stencil in the openings. After that, it was merely a matter of choosing the Metallic FX color that I wanted (I used Goldfinch, Rose Berry and Cocoa) and rubbing then gently on the exposed surface. I removed the stencil and cut around the image with a craft knife. Then, I added the holes that would make these projects into ribbon slides. I left them on aluminum foil and baked them at 275 for 18 minutes, according to my package instructions.

The Metallic FX colors turned out lighter, softer and shinier than they appear in this photograph. Here is another close up to give you a feel for the card. This is a fun, and relatively easy way to use your stencils and Metallic FX.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Theme Week

Okay, so I am sure that some of you are thinking that I might be a little obsessed with the Shrink Plastic lately, and you may be right! I always thought they were really cute, but then, I got the Ranger Heat It tool and wow!--I REALLY started to love the shrinking. Before this heat gun, I would either have to cook them in the oven or blow them all around the table. The new gun makes it much easier to control.

Anyway, I have been thinking that the Shrink Plastic was my way of making charms, and it suddenly hit me--yes, I am making charms! Why don't I use them as such? And here you go, I have a Valentine's jewelry set.

Lynell of Dreamweaver Stencils makes so many beautiful Valentine's stencils, that it was difficult to choose which one to use. I had to try out several stencils to see which one would work. I settled on the LM287 heart stencil, because it seemed like it shrunk to the best size for earrings. I stencilled onto the rough and ready shrink plastic with Adirondack Pigment Ink in Red Pepper and then cut out the image. I punched out the two holes with my Big Bite on the largest setting. Then, I shrunk the project using my heat gun. I created the jewelry with materials I already had.

Originally, I had two hearts in the same direction, but then flipped the stencil, so that the images were mirrors of each other. I made three in each direction, not knowing how many charms I would need for each earring. Then, I had left over charms.

I thought maybe I would create another set of earrings, when it suddenly hit me--why not a bracelet?

So, I began to think about using these charms as links. I created more than enough in each direction, so I flipped them back and forth throughout the bracelet. I tried to make it match the earrings with the same red and white beads. I also found a clasp amoung my things to create a cute Valentine closure. It unfortunately is not shown here, but you can imagine that arrow end going through the heart.

This was a really fun project, although the photography was quite the challenge. After all, it isn't easy to photograph your own wrist or ear. Thank you all so much for being indulgent on the Shrink Plastic. I think it may have run its course, and now I will be on to other techniques (for a little while, at least.) Finally, I hope that I didn't upset anyone by taking a departure from the paper crafts today. If you need your paper crafting fix, I will be back to normal next week. In the meantime, check out the posts of my fabulous Dream Team Sisters!