Crative Impressions Blog Hop--A Pumpkin Card

Welcome to another wonderful day with a Blog Hop from Stampendous and Creative Impressions.  It wouldn't be a complete, of course, without PRIZES!

Comment for a chance to win one of these great prize packages! US winners only. See Official Rules for details. Deadline to comment is Sunday, August 7th, midnight PDT. Winners will be announced early next week.

Three prize packages that include:

• An assortment of ribbons and hardware
• PLUS winner’s choice of Create Winter, Create A Poinsettia or Create Fall Stamp Set

So now that you know about the prizes, let me share a card--and a new technique--with you.  While I was trying to spray the back of a stencil to add some color, I became frustrated with the coverage of the color.   That is when I came up with a new technique!  Read about it in steps 8-11.

MATERIALS:

Birthday Assortment Perfectly Clear Stamp Set SSC1115

Long Pumpkins Stencil DWLL514

Wood Background Rubber Stamp RS-R249

Perfectly Clear Acrylic Stamp Handle

Champagne Pearlustre Embossing Powder

White Mixed Media Paper

Versamark Embossing Ink Pad

Embossing Heat Tool

Creative Impressions Pumpkin with Olive Stitched Ribbon

Creative Impressions Brads from the Antique Copper Embellishment Kit

Creative Impressions Antique Copper Frames Set 84502

Memento Ink in Rich Cocoa

Manual Die Cut Machine

Rubber Embossing Mat

Versafine in Vintage Sepia

Tattered Angels in Burlap

My Colors Card Stock in Brown Eyes, Parrot and White

Prismacolor Pencils in Olive Green, Apple Green, Dark Green, Yellowed Orange, Burnt Ochre, Pumpkin Orange, Spanish Orange, Orange, Sepia

Adhesive--I used Zip Dry

Big Bite Tool

INSTRUCTIONS:

1)  Place the wood stamp on the clear acrylic stamp handle.

2)  Stamp on the brown card stock with the Momento Ink.

3)  Place the sentiment on the stamp handle.

4)  Stamp on green card stock with Versamark Ink.

5)  Cover with the Champagne Pearlustre Embossing Powder.

6)  Emboss with the Heat Tool

7)  Cut to fit inside the metal piece.

8)  Ink the back of the pumpkin stencil with the Versafine.

9)  Spray over the Versafine on the back of the stencil with the Tattered Angels.

10)  Place the stencil face down on the bed of the manual die cut machine and cover with the mixed media paper and then the rubber embossing mat and the top mat.

11)  Run the project through the machine.  This technique will give you a mottled background and an embossed image.  Let it dry a little.

12)  Color the embossed image using the Prismacolors.  I used the Sepia pencil to color some shadows under the pumpkins.

13)  Adhere the pumpkin and wood stamped elements to a 4 1/4" by 5 1/2" piece of green card stock.

14)  Use the Big Bite to create holes for the brads on your card.  I (somewhat awkwardly) held the metal piece in place as I used the holes as a guide.

15)  Glue the sentiment into the metal bracket.  (You can see the excess glue in this photo, but I promise it is not this evident in real life).  

16)  Use the brads to adhere the bracket to the card.

17)  Glue one piece of ribbon over the seam (leaving a small section in the center free of adhesive) and around the back of the green card stock.

18)  Slip a piece of the ribbon under the middle section and make a bow.  When you have it right, you can glue the edges down a little to prevent slipping.

19)  Adhere the card front to white 8 1/2" by 5 1/2" card stock folded in half.

Thanks for stopping by.  Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win!  Also, check out (and comment on) all the other blogs for today to increase your chances.

Stampendous Blog

Kristine Reynolds

Jamie Martin

Louise Healy

Pam Bray

Janelle Stollfus

Tenia Nelson

Laura Drahozal

Baby, it's Cold Outside Snowflake Card

Happy New Year!  The theme for the week is "Baby, it's Cold Outside" and I am presenting a snowflake card.  Snow hasn't been seen too much around Michigan this year, and I am okay with that.  Although I love the beauty of snowflakes, I sometimes prefer to see them in the Stampendous and Dreamweaver papercrafting lines!

Materials:
SSC1231 Holiday Expressions Perfectly Clear™ Stamps
R234 Snowflake Sky
SSH34 Medium Perfectly Clear™ Acrylic Handle
DWLL399 Antler Snowflake Stencil
White Multi Media Paper
Sparkle Puff 3D Embossing Powder
VersaMark
Pearlescent Embossing Paste
Crystal Multi Glitter
Palette Knife

Cardstock by Bazzill Basics Paper®
Ribbon and Pearls by May Arts
Acetate
VersaMagic in Royal Blue
Scotch Removable Tape
Scotch 1/2" Adhesive Tape
Xyron 5" Machine and Adhesive
Big Bite
Embossing Heat Tool

Instructions:

1. The base card stock is 9 1/4" by 6 1/4", folded on the side.
2. Cut dark blue card stock to 4 5/8" by 6 1/4" and adhere to the front of the card.
3. Stamp the light blue card stock with the Snowflake Sky stamp and VersaMark.
4. Cover the image with the Sparkle Puff Embossing Powder and tap off the excess.
5. Use the heat tool to emboss.
6. Stamp the multi media paper with the sentiment stamp and VeraMagic ink.
7. Tape the snowflake stencil on acetate using the removable tape.  Place a long piece across the top of the stencil first, as it will act like a hinge.
8. Use the palette knife place a strip of embossing paste above the snowflake.  Make sure there is a long enough strip to cover the entire snowflake.
9. Use the back of the palette knife to pull the embossing paste over the stencil. (Imagine a squeegee).  The entire snowflake should be filled.
10. Remove the tape from the sides and bottom of the stencil.
11. Carefully lift the snowflake stencil from a corner like a door on that hinge.  Then, pull the whole stencil off the acetate.
12. While the paste is still wet, cover with the crystal glitter.  Then let it dry completely
13. After the snowflake is dry, brush off the excess glitter with a CLEAN stencil brush.
14. Trim the acetate close to the snowflake.
15. Cut a medium blue piece of card stock in a square that is slightly smaller than the snowflake.
16. Cut a slightly larger piece of dark blue card stock and adhere the lighter one inside it.
17. Adhere the mounted card stock squares on point on the snowflake sky background.
    
18. Adhere May Arts Ribbon around the bottom of the snowflake sky background.
19. Make a mat for the stamped sentiment out of the medium and then dark card stock and attach in layers.
20. Attach the mounted phrase over the ribbon.
21. Use the Big Bite to make two holes above the sentiment.
22. Put May Arts Ribbon and Pearls through the holes and tie with a bow.
23. Run the snowflake through the Xyron machine and adhere to the squares.
24. Add rhinestones.

Thanks for stopping by to see my card today.  Leave a comment if you have the chance, and go check out the rest of the people posting:

Stampendous Blog

Laura Drahozal

Lea Fritts

Pam Bray

Pam Hornschu

Louise Healy

Tenia Nelson

Fall Fun with Dreamweaver

The Stampendous theme for this week is Fall Fun.  I am using one of my favorite stencils today.

MATERIALS:

Large Oak Leaf Stencil DWLG754
Crusade Stencil DWLX7025
Mixed Media White Paper
Pencil
Faber Castell Pitt Pen in Sanguine
Micron Pens in Red, Orange, Green and Black
Stamping Details Rubber Embossing Mat
Manual Die Cut Machine
May Arts Ribbon
Card Stock

INSTRUCTIONS:
1)  Place the oak leaf stencil on the Mixed Media Paper and lightly trace with a pencil.
2)  Trace all the pencil lines with the sanguine pen.
3)  Add designs with the sanguine pen, including the veining on the leaves.
4)  Create dots with the sanguine pen on the center areas of the leaves.
5)  Create dots for color on the leaves with the red, orange and green pens.  This works best if you cluster like colors in the same area.
6)  Use the black pen to add shading or accents to the image.

7)  Use the crusade stencil and brown cardstock in your manual die cut machine.  The stencil should go face down over the bottom plate and be followed with the card stock face down, the rubber embossing mat and the top mat.
8)  Assemble the card.

Check out the rest of the Fall Fun Players today, and leave us all a comment, if you get a chance.  We love comments.........

Stampendous Blog

Laura Drahozal (DW)

Louise Healy (DW)

Pam Hornschu (DW)

Lyn Bernatovich (DW)

Lea Fritts (DW)

Kristine Reynolds (DW)

Pam Bray

Stentangle?

This week at Stampendous, we have a Zentangle theme.  I am really inexperienced with the intricacies of Zentangle, but I do know how to doodle.  I use my stencil and a regular pencil (lightly) to create an outline to doodle in.  I have heard someone refer to this use of a stencil in Zentangling as "Stentangle" and I like it.  So here is my Stentangle:

I used the Open Butterfly Stencil for the outline.  For the doodles, I used my new Fabercastell Pitt Pens in the black set.  I actually used all of the markers in the set.  As a rule, the smaller tips make the lighter doodled areas.  Proving once again that I am not a traditionalist, I could not stand the lack of color.  I used my Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils in the Yellow Set for the butterfly and the Blue Set for the background.  A cute double-sided May Arts ribbon completed the look on the card. 

Check out the other team members posts today for more Stentangle inspiration.

Stampendous Blog

Kristine Reynolds

Louise Healy

Pam Hornschu 

Alison Heikkila

Laura Drahozal
Lyn Bernatovich
Lea Kimmel
Tenia Nelson

Ready for fresh air, sunshine, new leaves, and flowers blooming? Well, the Dream Team is right there with you! Our challenge for the month of March is...coincidentally...Marching into Spring. Per usual, we'd love to have you play along with us, and link your own creations to the Inlinkz tool on the Dream It Up! blog, or at the bottom of this post. Play as many times as you'd like. Those of you who work Dreamweaver and/or Stampendous products into your projects receive bonus points, but everyone has an opportunity to be the winner who receives the stencil of their choice.

For my post (on the last day of winter), I chose to create something with bright spring colors:

First, I used two different colors of blue pigment ink on blue card stock to create the background.  I used the Design I Beam Stencil.  The first layer that I brushed on was the lightest color, which was very close in hue to the card stock.  It went over the entire card.  Then, with the stencil still in place, I brushed the darker color over the top, focusing on the edges of the paper.  This created a "spotlight effect" in the center of the card.

Next, I used the Stylized Dahlia Cutting Die to cut the textured pink card stock for the flower and the green card stock for the leaves and stem.  I shaded them with a little pigment ink in corresponding colors.  To raise the die cut up and to add another color, I used the Pearlescent Embossing Paste with the Stylized Dahlia Stencil and placed the cut out pieces in place while the paste was wet.  I did place some pieces a little off the paste to create a slight white outline.  

I then let the paste dry, but decided that there was not enough contrast between the green parts and the background.  I remedied this by drawing a line over parts of it with a green Sharpie.  Then I added a little green ribbon and a pink card stock mat and was done!

Thanks for stopping by to see my post.

The "A" team would love to share their interpretations of this theme:

Dream It Up!

Leadonna Kimmel

Louise Healy

Laura Drahozal

Lynn Mercurio

Pam Hornschu

Jamie Martin

An InLinkz Link-up

More Festively Fall Fun!

If you follow my blog, you had to know that metals would be showing up again soon!  For my festively fall project this week, I have made a very simple card (that I will be teaching this month at Altered Art Addicts in Jackson, MI). 

MATERIALS:
Manual Die Cut Machine (I used the Cuttlebug)
Stamping Details Embossing Mat
Dreamweaver Stencils Falling Leaves LL 3004
Teal Mercart Metal
Dreamweaver Color Solutions Cleaner
Dreamweaver Color Solutions Lemoncello
Dreamweaver Color Solutions Pumpkin
Dreamweaver Color Solutions Aspen Leaf
Dreamweaver Color Solutions Paprika Red
Dreamweaver Color Solutions Pine Bough
Dreamweaver Color Solutions Aquarius
Sandpaper
Precision Q Tips (I got them at Target)
Cardstock
Adhesive
Scrapper's Floss

DIRECTIONS:
1)  Run the stencil through the die cut machine with the metal and embossing mat.  For the Cuttlebug, I used the A Plate, the stencil (face down), the metal (teal side down), the embossing mat, and two B Plates.
2)  Sand the embossed metal.  This defines the embossing by removing the teal color from the edges.
3)  Using the precision Q Tips and the thinner, strip off the extra teal color from inside the leaves.  Press down a little in the center to make a sort of well for the color.
4)  Apply Color Solutions Ink to the leaves to add color.  Squeeze the color onto the Q Tip and tap into place.  The color will spread a little, so try to keep it towards the center of those leaves, in the wells you have created.
5)  If the color runs off of the edge, you can correct it a little by first removing the extra color with a little thinner.  Then, gently tap just a little of the Aquarius Color Solutions over the now silver area. 
6)  Sand a little more to define the edges.
7)  Assemble card.

So, that was my easy, festively fall card.  Festively fall is the Dreamweaver Theme of the Month.  Take a chance and make a card of your own.  Then, take a picture and email it to Lynell@Dreamweaverstencils.com.  You could win the stencil of your choice!  Check out the other team member blogs for inspiration.  They are listed on the left.  Come join us and be festive this fall!