Dreamweaver Free Week--My CHA Badge

Three years ago, the store that I work at was about to open its doors. Sadly, it is about to close, exactly three years from its opening date. I will never forget all the buzz that was generated by my new bosses, fresh off of their first CHA (Craft and Hobby Association Conference). They were back with stories about fantastic new products, exciting ideas and enthusiasm to spare. I remember how they hung the badge holders that they had recieved from Crafters' Home over their respective desks. To me, those badge holders represented excitement. Indeed, ever since my first CHA, I had been thinking about making myself a badge holder. Once I became part of the Dreamweaver Design Team, I knew exactly what I would make it out of.It took me some time to decide which techniques to use on my Dreamweaver CHA Badge holder. I wound up with four different materials and five different techniques.First, I sprayed a 5 1/2" x 10" piece of Claudine Helmuth Sticky Backed Canvas with Adirondack Color Wash in Stream. I let that dry before I pasted, starting about about 1" down from the top with Translucent Paste and the LJ 901 Mosaic Swirls stencil. After that dried, I used a little bit of Black Soot Distress inks around the sides of the paste. When that was dry, I cut a roughly 3 3/4" by 2 3/4" square from the center of the pasting.
In case you are interested in the assembly, I lined the inside with a cotton fabric placed on the sticky backed canvas, leaving about 1/2" on each side to stick to the edging of the back piece. I evenly spaced five eyelets under the pasted portion. Then, I folded the back up so that the edges met the edges of the top, sticking the front to the back, and making the pouch with an approximate 1" flap on the front top portion. I then ran the LJ 901 stencil with Lifestyle Crafts Sticky Backed Metal through my Cuttlebug, colored it with Alcohol Inks and sanded it. I put it on the back side of the pouch to reinforce it a little. I used bias tape and a really horrible hand stitching to encase the raw, stuck together edges. Then, I inserted two eyelets on the top.

The beading was created with blue wire and some beads. I also created a couple of charms. They were made with Dreamweaver Stencils LS6 Scallop and LS 71 Small Conch. I put a little vegetable oil on the back of the stencils and pressed them lightly into flattened dark blue polymer clay. Then, they were rolled down with a brayer until the clay extended just a little over the stencil. I dipped my finger in Moonstone Metallic FX and lightly rubbed it into the clay with the stencil still in place. Then, I added just a little shading with my finger and the Metallic FX in Cocoa. Lastly, I peeled the clay from the stencil, trimmed and gently shaped it with my finger, added two holes, and baked it according to the instructions on the label.

The metal pieces were really interesting. They were made in two similar, but different ways: metal embossing and debossing. The seahorse LM 181 (in pink covered aluminum) and the turtle LM 179 (in green aluminum) were embossed with the Mercart Metal Embossing kit. Using the same kit and brown coated aluminum, I debossed the sand dollar LR 12. The difference lies in where you hold the stencil and the relative placement of the metal. For the embossing, I placed the stencil face down on my table and put the metal over the top of it, pushing it into the holes on the stencil. Then, I removed the stencil, flipped over the image and sanded it lightly. For the debossing, I laid my stencil face up, and put my metal over the top, pushing into the crevices. Then, I "poufed" up the metal around the outside and sanded it. The metal colors show in the portion that is the furthest back. All three of the metal pieces were filled in the back with the Mercart filler.

Now, on to the fun Shrink Plastic Charms. I used the matte finish Shrinky Dinks. I sanded the area that I was planning to use. Then, I covered it with Adirondack Snow Cap Pigment Ink. When it dried, I taped the stencils LM 181 Seahorse, LM 179 Sea Turtle, LR 12 Sand Dollar, LL 371 Humu Humu and LL 372 Kihi Kihi down and, using Adorondack Pigment ink, I colored the images. I cut around the outside of them and punched holes in the top with the largest hole punch on my Big Bite. Finally, I shrunk them with my Heat It tool.
I had so much fun creating this badge holder, and even more fun wearing it at CHA. I wanted to show it to everyone this week to bring my excitement from CHA to you, just the way my bosses did three years ago. I also wanted to show you something that wasn't a card. I realize that you may never make or need a badge holder, but Dreamweaver Stencils can be used to create anything. I hope you get inspired by what I did, or by what a team mate has done. If you do, leave a comment. Then create something and link it to the Dreamweaver Blog. We would love to see it. Inspire us!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Sketch Challenge

Here is this week's challenge sketch. I don't know why, but when I first saw it, I thought of the Honeycomb Stencil LJ 806. I just couldn't get that thought out of my mind, no matter how much I tried. I just couldn't figure out how I wanted to execute it. Then, I went to CHA and met a wonderful Australian lady named Julie Makela. She showed us a technique with Stampee Crafts foil that was PERFECT.

First, you emboss the image, either traditionally or with a machine. (I chose traditionally).

Then, you use pigment ink to stencil the image. (I used Adirondack in two colors of yellow).

While the ink is still wet, pour the powdered glue on it, and heat. It can't overheat, nor does it matter if it is a little undercooked at this point, so there is no pressure.

You then place the foil over the top of the image, and send it through a thermal laminator. I used the transparent color Cracked Ice and just purchased the laminator at Target for under $30.

Finally, you let the image cool a little and then pull the foil off quickly, in one fell swoop. (Think Bandaid).

This was REALLY easy, and just look at the beautiful results. Even more stunning in person, this honeycomb sparkles in holographic colors when hit by the sun.

So, then I began to think about the details. Bees were an obvious choice. I looked for the extra bees that I used on the card that I had published. (Stampers' Sampler Dec/Jan 2010-2011--shameless plug!). Not finding them (of course), I decided to recreate them. This is how I did it:

I conditioned and rolled out black polymer clay.

I used bee stamp (by the now defunct Cornish Heritage Farms), to press the design into the clay.

I cut around the bee with a craft knife.

I rubbed a little Moonstone Metallic FX onto the wings with my finger.

Then, I baked the bees according to the polymer clay instructions.

After the clay cooled, I glued yellow flock into the stripes using Art Institute Glue and added Purple Stickles to the eyes.

Then, it was time for assembly. I used My Mind's Eye paper, dark teal cardstock, and a stamp by Cornish Heritage Farms. I attached the bees with Glue Dots.

I was very happy with this card, which I promptly gave to my aunt--whose husband keeps bees!

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.