HallowThanksMas?

Can you tell that sometimes Dream Team's "Fearless Leader", Pam Hornschu, has a hard time deciding on monthly challenges? Since the team will be taking turns all month with the Smeared and Smudged 31 Days of Halloween, and we are doing a Christmas collaboration with Stampendous and Core'dinations the 13th - 17th, the confusion should be understandable. Therefore...happy HallowThanksMas! As usual, we'd love for you to play along with the challenge and link your creations to the Inlinkz tool on the Dream It Up! blog. Just in case you are wondering...NO, YOU DO NOT NEED TO POST SOMETHING WITH ALL THREE HOLIDAYS ON IT! However, you get bonus points for actually using Dreamweaver stencils and product on your creations! And bonus points might actually earn you an extra stencil as our monthly winner...just sayin'!
 

Here's my creation for today:
 

 

I really wanted to share this project, even thought it is REALLY an autumn card, so I am calling it "Thanksgiving".  I am hoping that everyone is okay with that!

On this card, I used Stencil LX7027 Quartrefoil , Stencil LL3043 Oak Leaf, Stencil LL3044 Maple Leaf and Stencil LM295 Autumn.  I used the my manual die cut machine (in my case, a Cuttlebug) and the Stamping Details Rubber Embossing Mat on all of them.  The real difference in the components is in the materials and finishing.

The background was created with Core'dinations card stock that was sanded after it was embossed.  The word Autumn was "debossed" by running it through the machine with the stencil face up and the red coated aluminum, also face up.  It was sanded afterwards with the stencil still in place underneath.

Now, the leaves.......First, I embossed the mustard colored aluminum. I put the stencil and the metal face down in the machine.  After I removed it, I used the metal tool beginner's kit to "pouf" out the metal, making it further embossed.  Then, I flipped it over and used the Teflon tool in that beginner's kit to make vein lines.  After I fussed a little while, I finally had it the way I liked it.  Then, I filled the back with Mercart Filling Paste.

After a couple of hours, when the paste was dry, I used regular scissors to cut around the leaves.  I then dripped several colors of Color Solutions Alcohol Inks onto the leaves and smeared the colors around with Q Tips.  I used Paprika Red, Christmas Red, Crème Brulee, Aspen, Pumpkin and Mojito.

 

 

I love the shine under the colors.  It looks almost like the leaves were cut from fire opal. 

 

It was the combination of the metal color and the Color Solutions that excited me so much about this card.  I hope you enjoyed it, too.

Remember to visit the rest of the team, as well as our guest designer, as confusion takes rein...could be interesting!

Dream It Up! 

Leadonna Kimmel

Louise Healy

Laura Drahozal

Lynn Mercurio

Pam Hornschu

Jamie Martin

An InLinkz Link-up

Dreamweaver and Woodware Blog Hop Day 1

All of this week, the Dream Team and the Woodware UK teams are celebrating the release of the new holiday designs from Dreamweaver Stencils. Of course, no celebration is complete without prizes...and there are some fabulous ones for those commenting on both sides of the "pond".

Each team will be providing the opportunity to win four prize packages of stencil designs, perfect for the holidays. Just leave your comments each day on each players' post as well as the Dream It Up! and Woodware UK blogs, and the Dreamweaver and Woodware Facebook pages. Two random commentors will be chosen from the batch of weekday posts, one each from the DW and WW Facebook pages, and from the big hop on Saturday...from each side of the pond!* That's a total of eight prize packages up for grabs! Here's what you could win:

So, here is my post for today.  This card is going to be on many of the new stencil boards in the U.S. this year, so I thought I would let everyone know how it was made.

I began with a piece of Mercart aluminum.  This piece was actually color coated with the plain side up. I ran it through my Cuttlebug with the new stencil LX7016 Season of Joy.  I used the A Plate, the stencil face up, the metal silver side up, the Details Embossing Mat and two flat B Plates (not those curvy, scratched up ones we all have.....).   After I put it through the machine, I left the stencil on and refined the edges with my Mercart Teflon Tool.  I then tackled the coloring challenge with my gorgeous Color Solutions Alcohol Inks.   I dripped it into the "wells" of my card, smooshing it around and into the holes with the tip of the bottle.  I shortened my cleanup time a little by gently wiping the overages with a paper towel before the ink dried.  I used Sugar Plum in the words, Gold Star in the star, Pine Bough in the foreground trees, Noble Fir in the background trees, Creme Brulee in the animals and Iceberg in the stream.  After the colors were dry (moments, really), I sanded it.  Any stubborn spots of color on the background were removed with a little Color Solutions Thinner on a precision Q Tip. Then, it was just a matter of assembly. 

I hope that you got a little inspiration here. Don't forget to leave me some holiday cheer as you move on to the other players for today.                                                              

Woodware UK
Dream It Up!
Laura Drahozal
Lee Kellogg
Pam Hornschu
Dorothy Adam
Terrece Siddoway
Wendy JordanLouise Healy
Remember to follow along with the challenges on the Dream It Up! and Woodware UK blogs for more prize opportunities, and more crafty inspiration, as well as "liking" DW and WW on Facebook.

*Winners selected must be from USA/Canada/UK only.