Upcoming March Classes

If you're in the Pacific Northwest either this weekend or next, I'd love for you to come join me in either of these classes. I'll be at Stampin' Cat Studio in Salem, Oregon on March 3 and  Karen And Friends Creations in Springfield, Oregon on March 10.

The first class is Paste Embossing and starts with basic paste embossing so no experience is necessary. Then we'll move on to a few advanced techniques which will WOW you: crackle, double-embossing and sculpting.

The second class, ME 2 (Machine Embossing) uses your die-cut machine (Cuttlebug, Big Shot, Wizard, Vagabond....) with Dreamweaver stencils to do faux letterpress, embossing on metal and basic embossing. Then we'll add some sparkle to our cards with the double-glitter technique.

Class fees are extremely reasonable and really a great bargain when you consider we'll be covering at least 3 different techniques in each class.

Until tomorrow when I share my first Dreamweaver challenge for March!

Get your green on!

TODAY IS YOUR LAST CHANCE!!! What are you wating for? And don't forget to stop by tomorrow and see what the new Dreamweaver challenge is for March!

You only have until midnight TODAY to get your creation linked to Dreamweaver's blog to be eligible to win these two incredible stencils:

The rules are really very simple! Just create a card/project either with a St. Patrick's Day theme OR with green colors OR with "green" materials (repurpose, reuse, recycle green). There are two categories: (1) most creative use of the theme with or without Dreamweaver product and (2) most creative use of the theme with Dreamweaver product! Yes, thats right, you don't even need to use Dreamweaver product to win. How awesome is that?!

Then just link your creation to the Dreamweaver blog and voila! you're eligible. And considering there are only 2 entrants so far you have a really, really, really good chance of winning. What have you got to lose!

AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE A WAY OF POSTING YOUR CREATION, YOU CAN EMAIL IT TO LYNELL@DREAMWEAVERSTENCILS.COM AND SHE'LL POST IT FOR YOU!!!!!

Enter as often as you like, just enter!

(Bonus tip: these stencils might come in very handy for  future upcoming challenges. I'm just saying...)

Now get creating. Just like the lottery, you can't win if you don't play!!!

Giving it all the Green I've Got!

Today is the last "Green" Challenge for the Dreameaver Design Team so I thought I'd go out with a bang and put as much green as I could onto one little card. Not sure if it all works but at least its green! (I dedicate this card to Kristi, my fellow Dreamer, who does artsy and complex way better than I do!)

The Dreamweaver balloon was first pasted with embossing paste (green, of course) and then colored with Metallic F/X (Ivy Garden and Kiwi, of course). The background paper is Graphic 45.

So...I wasn't really happy with "Take 1" so I did a re-do. As much as I fight it (and for those of you who have known me for a long time, this will come as no surprise), I really am a "clean-and-simple" kinda gal. I dress that way, I cook that way, I basically live that way, except for my hoarding of craft supplies! So...I did a "re-do of this card, much more aligned with my natural CAS style. Is it too simple?

Same paper (Graphic 45) and same stencil (Dreamweaver). Also paste embossed, but this time with original matte paste and then colored with Metallic F/X (Ivy Garden, Kiwi and Gold Dust).
Now before you head off to create your "green creation", go check out the other Dreamweaver Design Team blogs (links on right). Remember, you only have until midnight on the 29th to get your submission in for this month's challenge. And there aren't many entries so you stand a really, really good chance of winning a stencil or two!!!

Needing a rainbow

I have a friend who is going through a tough time and so I thought I'd send her a little note to help her keep her spirits up.

She has a wonderful positive attitude and a great sense of humor so I hope that, being from Oregon, she'll appreciate the sentiment behind this card.

The paper is a discontinued pattern from My Mind's Eye's Quite Contrary collection. Living in Oregon, this paper sure struck a chord with me since we have two seasons, rain and sun! The umbrella is from Dreamweaver and pasted with silver paste and then colored with their new Color Solutions Alcohol ink. And the sentiment is from Penny  Black.

I hope you'll join me tomorrow as we explore the weekly Dreamweaver Design Team challenge!

Until then, may today be filled with sunshine and rainbows, if only in your mind!

Hugs,
Cherylynn

Sculpted Horses

One of the things I absolutely love about Dreamweaver stencils is their paste and its versatility. I know, I know, many of you are saying but its such a mess to work with. Well...its really not. You just need to "set the table" and prep your area and it really is a lot less messier than some of my stamping projects.

And since I use a griddle to speed up the drying time, it really is fast and easy.

This card is one from my upcoming Paste classes where we are going to be working with dimensional pasting, i.e., more than 1 layer of paste. This particular card uses the sculpting technique and I think it works perfectly with the running horse stencil, don't you agree?

A Sneak Peak: ME 2

Next month I will be teaching classes at Stampin Cat in Salem and Karen and Friends in Springfield.

The first class at both stores is called ME 2 for Machine Embossing 2. It is a fun class where everyone gets to use their Cuttlebug, Big Shot, Wizard, Vagabond....with Dreamweaver stencils. There are so many different techniques to choose from so each time I teach one of these classes I try and mix it up so that both beginners and repeat students ALL learn something new.

One of the cards we will be making uses Colored Aluminum with Dreamweaver's awesome Color Solutions alcohol ink. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed making it.

I'm going to take the weekend off from posting so I hope you'll come back next week and I'll share some more from my upcoming classes.

Have a great weekend and happy creating,
Cherylynn

February Challenge #3

I AM BACK! After taking a couple days off just to rest and take care of some "business" I feel refreshed and have been having fun creating!

Today, as part of the Dream Team challenge, I present another "green" card. (Okay, I added a little pink and since white is technically void of color, it doesn't count!) This time I went with one my favorites, the double-glitter technique. The stencil is one of the 17 new stencils that were just released at CHA. It is Cherry Blossom Shape LL3024. It is a "shaped" stencil which makes it perfect for this technique.

Not only does this card count towards my challenge BUT it is also one of the cards that we will be creating in my March classes! This particular one is for the ME 2 class. Machine Embossing, get it!!!) I'll be at Stampin' Cat Studio on March 3 and Karen and Friends Creations on March 10. If you're in the area, I'd love for you to join us.

Do you realize you only have 14 days to post your submission for the Dreamweaver February challenge? And all you have to do is create a "green" card. It can either be a St. Patrick's Day card, green in color or use repurposed materials! How easy is that?! And there are 2 winners each month! One for the most creative creation using any prodyct and the second one for the most creative use of Dreamweaver product! This month each winner will receive the following two stencils (which might just come in handy for the March challenge:)

So after you've finished checking out the Dream Team challenges for this week (see the links on the right), head off to your happy place and get working on those challenge submissions. Who couldn't use TWO FREE stencils?!

I hope you'll come back again tomorrow for yet another peak at the projects we'll be doing in our March classes!

Hugs and happy creating,
Cherylynn

Stencils, yours for the creating!!!

First things first! How would you like to win these two fabulous Dreamweaver stencils?



Well you can! And it's easy! All you need to do is participate in the Dreamweaver monthly challenge for February! (In fact, last month ALL participants were sent the winning stencils so everyone was a WINNER!!! How cool is that!) You don't even need to post your pictures online, you can either mail the actual card or email a photo of it to Lynell and she'll gladly post it for you!

Check out the Dreamweaver blog for all the details and then head off to your creative space and get working (that is, of course, after you finish checking out all the Dream Team blogs today! All the links are in the right hand column.)

Now, on to my challenge post for today. So...our challenge this month is to create something either for St. Patrick's Day or green (either color or recycled). Last week I went with St. Patrick's Day so this week I've gone green (literally).

Here's a re-do which adds the sentiment. Not sure if I like it or not. Although the font screams Irish, I think its too much for the gorgeous flowers. What do you think?

Can you find the 4 stencils I used in this card? Okay, so maybe 2 of them aren't very visible so I'll go ahead and tell you. First, obviously, is the floral stencil (yes, the same one you can win if you participate in the challenge!!!) and the Thanks sentiment. The other two are on the background. The top of the base layer has the Plaid stencil embossed on it and the bottom 1/4, below the printed paper, has the large dots stencil. Stencils make great background patterns.

Okay, I've blathered on long enough. Now its time to go check out the other Dream Team blogs and then get yourself busy working on your February challenge project. REMEMBER, YOU CAN ENTER AS MANY TIMES AS YOU'D LIKE!!!

Sending my love

I had fun creating today'spost. The main image is from Penny Black and stamped with Memento black ink. I then colored it with colored pencils and blended with Gamsol. I created the ribbon flower from white organza ribbon that I misted with tea dye mist.

Nothing overly complicated to do, just a lot of fun to make!

Until tomorrow, hugs and happy creating!

A Quilted Heart

Happy Monday!

I had a great weekend. I actually slept (major accomplishment lately) and spent some serious time creating. Plus I got to spend some time with my brand new Granddaughter and her incredible parents and also with my wonderful husband. Overall, not much to complain about!

Saturday I spent creating and was needing some inspiration so I checked out the message boards to get my mojo going. Lo and behold, I found it! It was hiding over at  Two Peas in the Ribbon Flower video! Who knew.

So I combined that technique with a quilted heart I just had to mimick after seeing at CHA and ended up with this:

Fun, springlike and very feminine! I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed making it!
Supplies:

• SEI promise 6x6 paper pad
• Dreamweaver Double-sided Mounting Paper
• Dreamweaver Damask Stencil  LJ907
• Dreamweaver Large Damask Stencil LX7001
• Hero Arts Script background stamped with Versamagic Pink Grapefruit
• Hero Arts Much Love stamped with Versafine Onyx Black
• Old Paper Distress Ink
• Spellbinders Heart and Scalloped Heart Dies
• Self-adhesive pearls sponged on stamped script
• Organza ribbon scraps

So fun to make and I have enough squares cut that I can make quite a few of these up rather quickly.

Tomorrow I'll share another flower ribbon card and a Penny Black stamp! See you then.

Three at Once!

So I really was having a hard time getting inspired this morning. Everything seemed like a lot of work, which is not how I usually feel about creating.

So I headed over to Splitcoaststampers to check out some challenges for this week. That usually does it for me. Instant inspiration.

So today I share with you a card I made that qualifies for 2 challenges. Add that as a blog posting and I've killed 3 birds with just one stone!

So here is my White Island Pool meets Sketch Challenge 370 card. First the outside:

 And now the inside:

Not bad for a quick Friday morning card! The white cardstock is edged with Ranger Pool and the Tim Holtz Floral Fantasy stamp in Versamagic Turquoise Gem. The butterfly is Outlines and colored with Prismacolors and blended with Gamsol. (You can't tell from the photo but there is Stickles on the Butterfly to give it some life and it is raised with 3-D tape.)

I have the whole weekend set aside for nothing but creating. Who knows, maybe I'll come up with something really cool to share with all of you next week.

Until then, happy creating and love, live and laugh each day!!!

A St.Patrick's Day Wish

Welcome to February and the first of the Dreamweaver Design Team Challenges for this month. Our challenge this month is to create either St. Patrick's Day or green projects. Be sure to check out the Dream It Up blog to find out about how you can participate in the challenge and be a winner!

I have to admit I struggled with this challenge. You would think being 1/4 Irish I'd have this one on the bag but NO! I was raised in Chicago where St. Patrick's Day equates to drinking green beer and eating corned beef and cabbage. Oh yeah, and dying a river green and a big unionized parade. Not much there to build a card upon!

So I took a little liberty and created this card. Its so-so in my book. I'm going to blame it on CHA exhaustion but really its more a lack of inspiration. I am sure by the end of this month I'll be into the full swing of things inspired by my awesome Dream Team members.

So...for what its worth, here's my first attempt at a St. Patrick's Day card.

Don't get me wrong. I love the new Pointed Celtic Knot stencil, I just need some inspiration on how best to use it. To me, its like crosses, they have meaning and significant symbolic value and I want to be true to that. Any one out there that can help shed some light on the meaning of celtic knots?

Okay, enough rambling, head on over to the other Dream Team blogs and see the amazing creations they have posted for our first challenge. You can find the links to all their blogs in the right hand column.

I'll be back tomorrow with another post, hopefully one that I REALLY like!

Feedback, both good and bad is greatly appreciated!