Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Christmas Already...?

Okay, so I know I had a personal goal of using the same stencil in a different way every week, but we just got in a new product called Inka Gold, and I couldn't wait to play with it!  I was taught the technique on an Embossing Folder, but you KNOW my brain strayed to Dreamweaver Stencils!
This Pointsetta Stencil LG 700 is one of my ALL TIME favorite images, but I'm afraid to admit that this is the first time I've dared to pull it out of it's package!  All those tiny "bridges", they were sure to cause me some sort of trouble!  Well, I'm awfully glad that I chose this stencil as my first foray into Ink Gold!  I dry embossed the Stencil onto Black Cardstock (Grasscloth texture) and then with my finger, rubbed Old Gold, Copper, Lava Red and Lava Green into the embossed image.  I layered the colours randomly, and completely fell in love with the detail on this stencil!  
I now have the courage to try more techniques with this image, as it's not as delicate as it looks!  can you imagine it with glitter!?  Oh my heart is all a flutter!  Now the Inka Gold is a thickish paste, and I want to try the same idea using Dreamweavers Colour F/X, I think the softness of the powders will really compliment this stencil, and the shine will be just as beautiful!  These pictures don't show the shine off to it's best, but stop in the store and check it out for yourself!  I'm going to be doing a Demo on Saturday @ 2pm and I'll show you how easy it is to Dry emboss your stencils, and how beautifully they are complimented by the Inka Gold!!

Don't forget to post your samples to Mr Linky, the projects I've seen so far have been very inspiring, keep up the great work!!

And with that,
Stencil til you sprout wings,
Paste til you pop ,
and add colour to your craft when it's raining and gray outside!
Jessie

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Finally! Clean & Simple Take Four!

After all the inspiration I've seen this week from everyone who has downloaded their cards to Mr Linky, I think I may have gotten a handle on the Clean & Simple concept (Though thanks to Kristi reminding me, I didn't HAVE to do Clean and Simple ALL month!) It's not about creating a card different from your personal style, it's about keeping the message Simple and not muddling the Beauty with a lot of extra "Fluff"...

So this week, I feel like this card is definitely more "My Style", but is in keeping with the Clean & Simple Mindset...

I used the DragonFly Stencil LS 56 (the same one I used the first week) and Embossed it with Black embossing paste on a page ripped from an old Dictionary (Yes, it IS hard to rip a page out of a book, but get one from a thrift store cheap, and once you rip a few pages out, it gets easier...I promise!)

The Dragonfly image begged for glitter, but I wanted this card to be for someone who is battling something and needs to know that they have my support, and I didn't want too much sparkle to take away from my message of "Courage".  (There wasn't a page with "Dragonfly" as the Header, so I had to change my message)  The inside of the card will have a little note saying how much I admire my friend's Courage.  Sometimes we all need to know there is someone out there who thinks we are strong...it makes us Stronger, right?

Anyway, I enjoyed creating this card (while teaching a Baby Card Class and packing up my store for the Trade-show this weekend!  Same old story around here!) and I hope that you will be inspired to post your creation this week to Mr Linky as Lynell is giving away 2 Free stencils this month!!

And with that,
Paste with Perfection,
Add Glitter if you think it needs it,
and don't forget to enjoy yourself!
Jessie

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

CAS ~ 3rd time's a Charm...

I have to admit that I absolutely L.O.V.E. a green and purple combination.  I don't know what it is, but if I only had 2 colours to choose from to make all my cards with, these would be the ones I would pick.  I first saw them used together on a Christmas card over 7 years ago, and I was hooked!  So for this week's Challenge, I thought I would share my love of this colour combo with you!


What do you think?  Isn't it a pretty duo?  Like Sonny & Cher, Peanut Butter & Jam, Baileys & Iced Cappuccino, these pairs should not stand alone!  Okay, maybe I've taken it a bit too far, but have you ever HAD Baileys in your Ice Cap?  Trust me, it's Delish!

And of course, I'm keeping with my own personal challenge to show you different cards using the same stencil, (my favorite!) background stencil, Waterlilies LJ 861.  I machine Embossed the Stencil on Light Green Cardstock, and used the EM-bossed side for the larger background piece, and the DE-bossed side for the smaller "Main Image" piece.  I like to mix up the textures for a varied look.


After I embossed the cardstock, I added Dreamweaver's Metallic F/X to add shine to the cardstock.  It's hard for the camera to pick up this detail, but trust me, in person, just that little bit of glimmer, really adds depth to our "simple" card.  


So now it's YOUR turn, and I can see that there are a lot of you out there, who have been inspired by this challenge and have posted your creations to Mr Linky, AWESOME!   Keep playing along, as you know there are great prizes to be won at the end of this challenge as the following stencils are up for grabs...


 
 
And of course, don't forget to visit the other Dream Team blogs, I love how different everyone's projects are...and don't forget to leave comments, we love that!
 
And with that,
Emboss with Enthusiasm,
Paste 'til you're Purple,
and get Grubby 'til you're Green,
tee hee
Jessie