A Shrinking Heart

Welcome to the first week of Dreamweaver's February Challenge! This month, in keeping with tradition, but adding a slight twist to our theme, we're going to be using "LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP" for our theme.

BUT before I get on with my challenge post for this week, I have some EXCITING NEWS to share: DREAMWEAVER IS HOLDING A DESIGN TEAM CALL! Yes, you've read that right, its time for some new friends to join the Dreamweaver Design Team. Sounds interesting? Well head on over to Pam's blog for all the details.

Now on to my challenge post. As any one who has followed this blog for any period of time knows, I like Clean and Simple and I like inexpensive. I also like to customize little pendants for different occasions. Today I'm doing all three!

Remember "Shrinky Dinks"? Well that is the base for this lovely (easy, inexpensive) pendant!

LL425 Heart Bouquet on Shrink Plastic

• Begin with a 3-1/4" x 3-1/4" square of clear Shrinky Dinks and color the backside with Dreamweaver Winter Red Color Solutions using a felt pad. (Note: because these inks are artist-grade, they take a few minutes longer to dry than other alcohol inks on the market.) 
 

• Once dry, flip over and secure the LL425 Heart Bouquet stencil to the plastic. Using a Tsukineko finger dauber and Stazon Opaque White ink, I lightly dabbed the ink over the stencil openings. It looks very light when you apply it but as it shrinks, it really does become quite opaque.
• Next I rounded the corners with a paper punch, punched a 1/8" hole in the center the jump ring and placed the piece inside my toaster oven to shrink.
• After 2 minutes I removed it and set it aside to cool.
• Once cool, I edged the back and sides with a Krylon Leafing pin, attached a jump ring and the chain.

Finished necklace, all ready for Valentine's Day!

Like I said, very easy, very quick, very inexpensive and perfect for the outfit I had planned for today!

I hope you've enjoyed this little inspiration piece. It really is so simple to do and takes so very little time. Wouldn't this be the perfect accent for your Valentine's attire next week? Remember, if your local store doesn't carry Dreamweaver product, ASK THEM TO! And if you don't have a local store, you always purchase Dreamweaver's entire product line at Stencil with Style.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll take some time to visit the other Dream Team blogs. They always inspire me. And remember, give some thought to joining the Dreamweaver Design Team. I promise you, its a great experience you won't regret.

Hugs until next week,
Cherylynn

Back to the Start of Things

Happy last day of January 2013! Yikes, can you believe what I just said? It is the end of January already! Where did this month go?

It's a good thing I'm taking a step back in time today or else I might start freaking out. When I first started stenciling, well over a decade ago (YIKES again!), I started by hand embossing the images over a lightbox. One of my favorite ways to color the image was with soft pastels or chalks.

So in honor of the last day of the Dreamweaver FRESH START theme, I created a card that using the technique that started it all for me:

Fortunately for me, instead of having to emboss by hand, I used my handy dandy Big Shot to dry emboss the LL516 Bearded Iris. Then with the stencil still in place, I sponged on my chalk inks. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture but I used Pebbles Pearlescent chalks which have quite the shimmer which just adds to the richness of the color.

Please take some to enjoy this last day of January by visiting the other Dream Team blogs. And if there is still time left in your day, why don't you dig out your old chalks and create something for this month's challenge. Remember there is an extra special prize this month, a $25 gift certificate for the Dreamweaver product of your choice! Here is a list of the Dream Team members playing along with the challenge this week:

Queen of Stencils:

Lynell Harlow

Team Leader:

Pam Hornschu

Laura Drahozal

Louise Healy

Terrece Siddoway

Kristi Van Doren
Georgia Sommers
Lee Kellogg
Liz Martin

 

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you next week when we'll unveil a new theme for February!

Love grows

Hi there!

This week I created a tutorial over at the PaperCraft Planet blog on how I created this simple and whimsical wall hanging just in time for Valentine's Day:

It was a lot of fun and used one of the brand new stencils that Dreamweaver just introduced at CHA last week, LX7020 Leafless Tree:

I love this new stencil and it is a nice and big stencil, measuring almost 6 x 6 so its perfect for cardmaking, scrapbook and even home decor projects.

Please take some time to leave me some love before you head over to the other Dream Team blogs for inspiration. 

Remember you only have until the end of this month to participate in the January challenge. And this month is one month you don't want to miss out on participating in. Not only is the challenge pretty wide open "A Fresh STart" but the prize is fantastic: a $25 gift certificate towards the Dreamweaver product of your choice! WOWZA! For all the details on how to participate in the challenge, head over to Dreamweaver's blog.

A Fresh Start for a Cool Cat

Today's post is bittersweet. It is a card I designed as a tribute to Lisa Taylor and her incredible store, Stampin' Cat Studio in Salem, Oregon. After 10 years, Lisa has made the difficult decision to close the store so that she can move several states away and begin a new chapter in her life with her special someone. You can read all about it in her own words here.

So when Lisa announced her decision to close, I decided to design a Dreamweaver stencil class centered around the LL 3020 Retro Sitting Cat as a tribute to Lisa. Last week I shared one of the cards from that class:

And this week I am sharing another one, which not only uses the LL 3020 stencil but was also designed with Lisa specifically in mind:

Tribute card for Stampin' Cat Studio

The card uses both black and silver embossing paste, flocking and glitter as well as two other stencils: LX 7009 Paisley and LG741 Kitty Words.

Remember, if you don't have a local store where you can purchase these and other incredible Dreamweaver product, you can always find it online at Stencil with Style.

Please be sure to check out the other Dream Team blogs this week for some additional inspiration. Remember, this is an extra special challenge month because not only is the theme pretty wide open "A Fresh Start" which can be interpreted in soooo many ways: fresh colors, new beginnings, i.e., birth, move, wedding...., fresh clean layout, new technique....the list is endless.

For more info on this months challenge, please click here to be taken to the Dreamweaver blog post with all the details.

Starting next week I am going to be posting on both Tuesday and Thursday. I have lots of fun things to share with you and one day a week just isn't enough. I hope you'll come back to check out what I've been up to.

And remember, if its easier, you can always subscribe to my blog posts by clicking on the subscribe button on the right. That way you won't have to type in the long, long, long URL for this blog (my apologies there, all the short names were taken!)

Until then, happy days to you all!

Cherylynn

A SCS Tribute

It is a sad time here in Oregon for us papercrafters. Within the next couple of months, we will be losing a very cool stamp store, Stampin' Cat Studio, in Salem, Oregon. Lisa Taylor, the proprietress for the past 10 years, has made the difficult decision to close the store in order for her to begin a new wonderful life with her very special man.

All of us here had been hoping a Buyer would step in and save the store. Alas, the economy has worked against us and unless someone comes forward quickly the store will close before the end of March.

So in tribute to Lisa and all she has brought to the Salem area papercrafters, I created a stencil class in her honor. The class, called "COOL CATS" uses Dreamweaver's LL3020 Retro Sitting Cat stencil and LG741 Kitty Words.

Today I am sharing one of those cards and next week when I return from CHA, I'll share one I created specifically with Lisa in mind.

Until we meet again, I hope you are having a healthy and creative life!

A Fresh New Stencil

Since CHA is just a few days away, I thought I'd share a fresh and new stencil that Dreamweaver will be debuting.

(See how I as able to twist the January Fresh Start Challenge to suit my whim!)

Today I am sharing the new LG748 Bold Thank You stencil seen below and available for purchase at either your local stamp store or online. Remember, if you don't have a local store, you can always find the entire Dreamweaver line at Stencil with Style.

I had a lot of fun using its companion stencil, LJ920 Bold Happy Birthday when it came out last year that I couldn't resist doing something fun with the new stencil.

 

So instead of creating a brightly colored Twinkling H2O background like I did before, I went a bit more whimsical and played with the Piggyback Paste Technique to create this:

LG748 Bold Thank You and
LJ804 Big Dots

For the main image I first stenciled Thank You with Dreamweaver's red paste and set it aside to dry. While it was drying, again using the red paste, I embossed the Big Dots onto a piece of black cardstock. After the Thank You was dry, using the Piggyback technique, I overstenciled the big dots over the Thank You using black glossy paste. A fun and whimsical way to say Thank You!

Want to see more fresh new stencils? You can see them all HERE! And for even more inspiration, don't forget to check out the other Dream Team blogs. All of the links can be found in the right hand column.

Okay, I'm off to start packing my bags for CHA. I'll be back next week with the "skinny".

Until then, happy creating!

Happy Birthday Lynell!

Welcome to 2013! And to my first post of the new year.

This post is extra special because not only does it introduce the Dreamweaver challenge for January, it also serves to wish a very special lady a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Tomorrow, January 4 is Dreamweaver's very own Lynell Harlow's birthday! (If you want to send her a birthday wish, her email is lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com).

And since the theme for this month's Dreamweaver challenge is "A Fresh Start". I love the theme because it is very wide open. Do you go with fresh colors, fresh design, fresh new images....so much to choose from. It makes it very easy for everyone to participate in this challenge! (hint hint)

Me, being me, couldn't decide so I went with them all, fresch colors, fresh and c lean design (imagine that!) and fresh new images.

So without further delay, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYNELL! I hope this year is full of magic and wonder for you!



Dreamweaver stencils:
LX7017 Stars
LS1010 Small Happy Birthday
 

Both of the stencils, LX7017 Stars and LS1010 Small Happy Birthday are new(er) for Dreamweaver. They were both released last year in 2012 (how weird is that to say "last year in 2012!")

The double glitter technique is so fast and fun to do. If you haven't tried it  yet, maybe that can be your New Year's Resolution!

I hope you enjoy this week's take on "A Fresh Start". I hope you'll take the time to leave me some love and also to visit the other Dream Team blogs. You can find all their links in the right-hand column.

Thanks for stopping by. I wish you all a wonderful 2013!