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!

Thursday Dream Schemes--Love in the New Year

Our challenge this week was "Love in the New Year". I just adore so many of the love themed stencils that it was hard to choose. I finally decided to let the paper guide my decision--a Bo Bunny print that was pink, red and ivory. The red swirls in the paper reminded me of the swirly heart stencil LL 3010, so I pasted this with red glossy paste on ivory cardstock.

Then, I needed a sentiment. I chose LM 276, which is a larger stencil. I liked this design, with its cute little hearts imbedded into the capital letters, but I still wanted the beautiful swirled heart to be the focal point. This posed a problem because of the relative sizes of each of the stencils, therefore it was--Shrink Plastic to the Rescue! I roughed up the white shrink plastic and then stencilled it with Red Pepper Adirondack Pigment Ink. For Kate, who asked previously (I just read it today, sorry) about how I know where to cut the shrink plastic, most of them are easy to find the edges of once stencilled. This one, I stencilled the red right over the edge of the stencil and then "eyeballed" the border size as I cut it. My Big Bite set in the largest hole setting created the holes that I would use to affix the plastic. I shrunk it with my embossing heat tool. It turned a slight ivory, which fit my color scheme perfectly.

This card was cut to about 3 1/2" by 5 1/2" and is folded at the top and distressed on the edges with Antique Linen Distress inks. I cut around the pattern on the pink paper and adhered it to the base. (It was raising up when I took the picture--sorry for the shadow.)

I attached the shrink plastic to the heart with both Glue Dots and small pink seed beads. I then used the beads to embellish around the heart. I put the whole heart on foam tape when I attached it.

I wasn't sure about this card when I started, but the color scheme really grew on me. With the beading, which I realize is difficult to see in the photos, and the almost lacey looking edge, the whole thing took on a sweet, old fashioned look that I quite like now.

Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Challenge

This week, we have a free challenge week. I chose to do one last Christmas card (seeing as Christmas Eve is tomorrow). This time, I decided to eschew my glitter-loving ways and do something a little more vintage. I used metals and alcohol inks.

First, let me clarify one thing--the glittery silver around the edges is not actually part of the card, but my Christmas tablecloth. Additionally, the black border around the images is burgundy velvet paper. It is beautiful to use, but horrible to photograph. The brown color is Creative Imaginations Real Wood paper in cherry.

So, the steps? Well, first I distressed the beautiful

Basic Grey paper and the Real Wood with Walnut Stain Distress Inks. Then, I ran two fantastic Dreamweaver Stencils, LL 430 Buck and LS 92 Merry Christmas through my Revolution Die Cut Machine. I used the Quickutz Metal Sheets and a rubber mat to make the impression.

I used alcohol inks over the whole impression, making sure that I rotated the blending tool between each pat. I let it dry for just a moment, and added a second coat.

Then, I lightly sanded the whole thing. The sanding removed the inks on the embossed portion only. It also scruffed a little on the background. The lovely, vintage look probably could have been enhanced even more if I would have taken the sanding block to the edges as well, but perhaps that is a project for another day.

The rest was simple assembly and adding a couple of brads. As it was, I liked this project when I was finished. It looked like a "masculine" Christmas card. I made a second one to give to my father for Christmas and will probably use similar techniques on other cards. Come back again next week, when the theme will be "Love in the New Year". I am not sure what I will be making yet, but I promise--no more Christmas cards. (Although this card could have just as easily been an all occasion or birthday card.)

Thursday Dream Schemes--Blue Paste Challenge

This week's Dream Team Challenge is Blue Paste. This card is my crazy acetate fueled glittery take on the winter snow. Ironically, Michigan was experiencing a snowstorm as I assembled and photographed it.

I just loved using this blue paste. Don't get me wrong, the black paste is fantastic for use with Metallic FX powders, but the blue paste is deep without being too dark for the transparent Art Glitter.

This entire project was done with Glossy Blue Dreamweaver Paste and transparent Art Institute Glitter in three colors--Polar Bear (white), Blue Boy (light blue) and I think French Lilac (purple). The stencils I used were Let it Snow LG 717, Snowflake LL399 and Small Snowflake LS 26. That was it. Add white and blue cardstock, white glitter paper, acetate and you have one very large finished card (it is about 6x7). Everything was done by pasting with blue paste and covering it with glitter while it was still wet. The Let it Snow stencil was on the white paper, but everything else was pasted on the acetate. Then, I rough cut around the snowflakes, stacked it all and assembled.

There was alot of pasting, but the technique was super simple. I have set the card out on my table for the past few days and I just LOVE the way it seems to change color with the light. Sometimes it looks purple, sometimes a little greenish and other times blue, as it appears here. Can you believe there was only ONE color of paste? The Art Glitter does all the work to change the color.

I would like to mention that the initial spark for this one came from fellow Dream Teamer, Kristi Van Doren, of Kristi's Creative Cafe. Kristi (whom I have never met in person) inspires me with her tight color schemes and use of both snowflakes and GLITTER. I hope to inspire her someday, too.