Thursday, January 29, 2015

Hiatus

In case you haven't noticed, I've been MIA as of late! As I have shared with many of you privately, I have returned back to school in hopes of changing my career and pursuing a lifelong dream of becoming an Art Therapist.

Because of this I have had to take a hiatus from blogging. Unfortunately, I don't see that changing anytime in the near future. 

I will be leaving this blog up indefinitely as I hope you'll come back and visit when you need inspiration.

Until we meet in blogland again, I hope your days and filled with lots of colorful and creative moments.

Hugs,
Cherylynn

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

GIVEAWAY TIME!


IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER DREAMWEAVER GIVEAWAY!!!
Each week for the entire month of April, I will feature one or two of my favorite projects created with Dreamweaver stencils and giveaway one of the stencils used! Since I am stepping away from the Dreamweaver Design Team because of other commitments, this is just my way of trying to encourage more of you to get behind the versatility and creativity of Dreamweaver stencils! Remember to check out the Dreamweaver Design Team blogs for additional inspiration as well as the Dreamweaver Facebook page for exciting news and more giveaways!

This week I'm feeling a bit nostalgic so I thought I'd share a couple of cards I designed using the LL 3032 Large Cherries stencil. 

The first card uses the stencil and the rouging (circular) technique for applying pigment ink:


And this second version uses the same stencil on aluminum and colored with Dreamweaver's ColorSolutions alcohol ink:





Do you have a favorite? I can't decide. Leave me a comment below before midnight, Monday, April 21 and you could be the lucky random winner to win this stencil:







AND NOW FOR THIS WEEK'S WINNER!!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO LUCKY NUMBER 4: 

LINSEY!

Linsey, send me your snail mail address by email to: 2nd-childhood@comcast.net and the Sandcastle stencil featured last week will be on its way to you!
Again, thanks for all your comments last week and be sure to leave a comment on this post to be entered in next week's random giveaway drawing! 



Hugs,
Cherylynn

Thursday, April 10, 2014

April Inspirations

Welcome to the first of two Dreamweaver challenges I will have this month. This month the Dream Team has a spectacular month planned for you including the "April Inspirations" challenge that will run for the entire month. Each team member will post what inspires them in their creative life...maybe a Pinterest pic, a magazine pic, a quote, a book, a place, an artist, a crafter friend...along with their creation. We are hoping that you will feel inspired as well, and link your projects (and inspiration) to the inlinkz tool on the Dream It Up! blog.

For my inspiration piece, I picked a cardigan that I bought to cheer me up on rainy April days:


which inspired me to create this card using the LX 7021 Corner Flowers stencil using the rouging technique  with Gelatos and my Picasso stencil. For those of you unfamiliar with what the rouging technique,  it basically refers to loading a stencil brush with color, such as pigment ink, acrylic paint, paintstiks, gelato, pan pastels...,offloading the color onto a paper towel or scrap piece to work the color into the brush and remove any excess color. Then using a circular motion, "rouge" the color over the design. The best way to do this is to start on the stencil and then work over the cut out areas to avoid any piling of the paint.




I liked how this turned out. Nice, bright and cheery!

Now please go check out what the Guest Designer and the "B" team has been inspired by for this week...

I'll be back next Tuesday with a new Giveway! Hope to see you then.

Cherylynn

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Dreamweaver Giveaway Week 2

Thanks for all the wonderful comments (and emails)! I always wonder if anybody ever really reads this blog and your comments helped affirm that I am not alone in this wonderful universe!

As I mentioned last week, due to so many other commitments in my life right now, I am stepping down from the Dreamweaver design team effective the end of this month. I still hope to be blogging and participating in the monthly Dreamweaver challenges, I just will be doing it a little more sporadically. 

And to honor and thank Dreamweaver for allowing me to be a part of their design team for the past 2+ years, I am giving away a Dreamweaver stencil each week this month.

Each week for the entire month of April, I will feature one or two of my favorite projects created with Dreamweaver stencils and giveaway one of the stencils used!

This week, since it feels like summer here in the Pacific Northwest, I am featuring the somewhat new LL 3033 Sand Castle stencil shown here:




Here is a card I designed for a class I taught last spring that featured not only this fun stencil but also Ranger Distress Embossing Powder and Dreamweaver's Double-sided Mounting Paper:




This card also uses Dreamweaver's LJ 901 Mosaic Swirls stencil that was machine embossed and colored using Ranger Distress Ink.



Like what you see here and want to win the sandcastle stencil? Well, that's so easy to do! Just leave me a comment on how you like to use Dreamweaver stencils. Is there a technique you favor? A product?...anything as long as it somehow relates to Dreamweaver or stencils. I will draw one name at random from all the comments posted before midnight, Monday, April 14.

The winner will be announced next Tuesday, April 15 along with the next giveaway! 

This is just my way of trying to encourage more of you to get behind the versatility and creativity of Dreamweaver stencils! Remember to check out the Dreamweaver Design Team blogs for additional inspiration as well as the Dreamweaver Facebook page for exciting news and more giveaways!

AND NOW FOR THIS WEEK'S WINNER!!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO LUCKY NUMBER 6: 

JANEEN!

Janeen, send me your snail mail address by email to: 2nd-childhood@comcast.net and the Umbrella stencil featured last week will be on its way to you!
Again, thanks for all your comments and be sure to leave a comment on this post to be entered in next week's random giveaway drawing! 


I'll be participating in the Dreamweaver April Inspires challenge this Thursday. I hope you'll stop on by and say hi.

Hugs,
Cherylynn

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Dreamweaver April Challenge

Even though I will be retiring from Dreamweaver Dream Team, I will be posting through the end of this month. (See official retirement notice and "giveway" post here.)

And this month the Dream Team has a spectacular month planned for you...filled with exciting news and inspiration for all of your crafting dreams! The exciting news will be announced in the Dream It Up! post on April 17th, but the "April Inspirations" challenge will run for the entire month. Each team member will post what inspires them in their creative life...maybe a Pinterest pic, a magazine pic, a quote, a book, a place, an artist, a crafter friend...along with their creation. We are hoping that you will feel inspired as well, and link your projects (and inspiration) to the inlinkz tool on the Dream It Up! blog. Check out what the Guest Designer and the "A" team has been inspired by for this week...



I'll be back next Tuesday with a new Giveway and next Thursday with a Dreamweaver challenge post! Hope to see you then.

Cherylynn

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A Dreamweaver Giveaway!

Welcome to April. This is a very sad post to write as of the end of this month, I will not be "officially" on the Dreamweaver Design Team. Don't misunderstand me, I am still totally in love with Dreamweaver products. However, because of all that is going on with my life right now (school, work, grandkids...), I wasn't feeling like I was able to devote the time I wanted to and that Dreamweaver deserved. It has been an incredible 2+ years and I will forever be grateful to Lynell and Pam for all their encouragement and inspiration. (And who knows, nothing is forever so maybe I'll be back!)

There's a silver lining to this news. Now that I'll have a little more time to just create for fun and not for design team deadlines, I'll hopefully be able to post a little often, including throwing in some stamping and other crafty stuff. And that definitely means more Dreamweaver posts, including taking part in the monthly challenges. I LOVE ME DREAMWEAVER PRODUCT!!!

And now for the Giveaway part!

Each week for the entire month of April, I will feature one or two of my favorite projects created with Dreamweaver stencils and giveaway one of the stencils used!

For this week, since it is April 1, I thought I'd share a couple of cards that use the LG 737 Umbrella stencil.



Paste-embossed on acetate with the original Dreamweaver embossing paste and then colored with pigment inks. Raindrops were silver-paste embossed and sprinkled with glitter.


Silver paste-embossed and colored with Dreamweaver alcohol inks

The umbrella stencil is an incredibly versatile stencil and works great for those who like to zentangle or "stentangle" as I like to refer to it!

Want to win the Umbrella stencil? Well, that's so easy to do! Just leave me a comment on what Dreamweaver product you love the most, a technique you would love to try, how you would use the stencil...anything as long as it somehow relates to Dreamweaver or stencils. I will draw one name at random from all the comments posted before midnight, Monday, April 7.

The winner will be announced next Tuesday, April 8 along with the next giveaway!

Think of this as my way of trying to encourage more of you to get behind the versatility and creativity of Dreamweaver stencils! Remember to check out the Dreamweaver Design Team blogs for additional inspiration as well as the Dreamweaver Facebook page for exciting news and more giveaways!

Thanks for supporting me these past 2+ years. I hope you'll continue to stop by and say hi!

Hugs,
Cherylynn


Thursday, March 27, 2014

Mad for Dreamweavers and Gelli!

This month's Dreamwaver challenge to honor March Madness is to go MAD. Anything goes, and the more outside-of-the-box, the better. This year, Dreamweaver is aiming to play with non-traditional challenges whenever possible. A chance to break out all of our I-never-quite-knew-what-to-do-with-these-products stash, and to look at Dreamweaver stencils in a whole new creative light!

So what does going MAD mean for me? Well, it means playing product "I just had to have" several months ago that still sits in the bag it came home in! (I bet you have a few things like this!). For me, it is my Gelli Plate.

I pulled prints from my Gelli plate 3 times each time varying the pink, yellow and orange colors along with the stencils. The stencils I used are:

  • LX 7002 Plaid
  • LX 7011 Big Dots
  • LG 713 Amsterdam Flourish
  • LJ 902 Black Eyed Susan and 
  • LJ 916 Butterfly

Remember, these stencils and all Dreamweaver products can always be bought at Stencil with Style if you don't have a local store or they don't carry Dreamweaver product (and first you should tell them then need to!)

 After I had several backgrounds that l liked. I chose one and created this calendar base. I kept the design very simple and didn't add a lot of embellishments because the background paper was so beautiful and had such interest that I didn't want to detract from it.




I started out by first wrapping the print around a piece of heavy chipboard and then paste embossing the LL548 Daisies stencil over the print. This is what it looked like before adding color to the paste embossing. (If you look closely at the upper right corner, you should be able to see a faint print of the butterfly stencil). 




Part of me likes the Daisies unpainted, much more contrast. What do you think?


Once the paste was dry, I repositioned the stencil and colored the daisy with my acrylic paints. I then punched corner slots (using another unused product--an old Fiskars slot punch!) in the black mat and adhered that to the printed board with foam tape. After inserting the calender it was done. And the best part is that next month, I can change the calendar. Now I just need to start working on one for the fall and winter months! (I'm thinking of starting with the LJ 849 Bare Trees and LX 7020 Leafless Tree stencils)

Now please hop on over to the other Dreamers and leave them some love. Hopefully their madness will inspire you to step outside of your comfort zone and go a little mad!


Thanks for stopping by. I'll hope you'll come back next Tuesday (April 1) when I'll have a giveaway to go with a little announcement and at least a new creation to share.