Dreamweaver Double Days Finale…a Bit of Magic with Mica

Here we are on our final day of Dreamweaver Double Days! We’ve loved all of your wonderful comments regarding the technique videos and the samples that we’ve shared here, as well as on the individual team blogs. This tells us that YOU love it when we share all of our not-so-secret tips with YOU! So…expect to see more in the future! Today’s video is a technique tutorial that always has the recipients of your creations going, “Ooooh and aaaah”! Follow along as Dreamweaver Stencils‘ founder, Lynell Harlow, demonstrates using mica powders* with Matte and Glossy Embossing Pastes…

Amazing, isn’t it? And super easy to do. How about a double dip of samples from our team members featuring this technique?

Created by Alison Heikkila featuring the Dreamweaver Open Feather design with Pearlescent Embossing Paste and Metallic F/X powders. This technique is called Molten Magic!

Created by Kristine Reynolds featuring the Dreamweaver Stylized Dahlia, Matte Black Embossing Paste, and Metallic F/X mica powders.

WHOA! Wait just one minute, you say? Alison’s card is not the same technique at all. Mmmm. Yes it is, with one variation. This is the Molten Magic technique, so called because you paste-emboss just as in the video (preferably a glossy paste), sprinkle it with mica powders*, and HEAT it using a heat tool until it is puffy and bubbly. This adds great texture, and a totally different look, and all she did was heat it! Pssst, you can do this technique with Stampendous Fran•tagé Embossing Enamels, for a totally different look as well!

Now, let’s go see what the team members have been playing with for today. Oh, and leave them some love, please. They’ve worked hard this week!

Lyn Bernatovich

Louise Healy

Pam Hornschu

Kristine Reynolds

Jamie Martin

*Just a note: Many of the items that you may see in our videos may not show on the website, but most are still available either from the Stencil With Style site, local stores, and/or the Stampendous website. Just leave a comment in the order form regarding the product that you’d like to purchase.

Dreamweaver Double Day Wednesday

Feeling in the mood for some heavy metal? For today’s posting for Dreamweaver Double Days, we have an awesome tutorial from Dreamweaver Stencil’s Founder, Lynell Harlow, demonstrating the use of stencils with metal…specifically aluminum, which can be purchased in a variety of colors. Following the video, we’ve posted two samples by team members demonstrating two ways to use the techniques mentioned.

Created by Laura Drahozal featuring Dreamweaver Large Scales and Open Fish. Color added with Color Solutions Alcohol Inks.

Created by Louise Healy featuring Dreamweaver Mittens and Christmas Borders on blue aluminum, with color removed from background.

For more Dreamweaver ideas today, visit:

Pam Hornschu

More New Goodies from Stampendous!

The Stampendous January 2014 Catalog is full of new products, innovations, and terrific new designs from the minds of Stampendous Owner Fran Seiford, House-Mouse Designs® Artist Ellen Jareckie, and international Mixed Media Artist Nathalie Kalbach. All this genius has brought us some terrific new goodies for 2014!  Our Design Team will be sharing all week with their favorites. Here’s who is sharing today:

Janelle Stollfus

Kristine Reynolds

We’re particularly excited about some of the designs we’ve created that stem from the growing interest in Mixed Media techniques. We shared Nathalie’s cool stamp images with you last week.  But our own Fran Seiford has been busy creating Mixed Media images as well.

Brush Strokes Mixed Media Stamp Set

This terrific set of organic brush strokes is perfect when you don’t want to risk ruining your artwork by using actual paint on a brush. (yes, I have done this many times!). It’s so perfect to ink up a stamp like this, in any color you choose, and create an attractive background pattern you can be sure won’t run, bleed, or get blobby! A huge relief for us more timid mixed media novices! The Brush Strokes set also comes with a terrific, FREE template to add even more variety to your projects!

Here’s a Scrapbook page using this stamp set and template:

Beach Day by Laura Weed

Another super favorite this year is the Mixed Media Dress Form Stamp Set. Such a popular style and image right now with some terrific background fabric images to work with it!

CRS7002 Cling Jumbo Dress Form

This stamp set also comes with a fantastic FREE template for masking the parts of the dress form or the outside area to make stamping so much easier!

Here’s a fun sample we made by stamping the backgrounds, sponging inside the template, then embossing the dress form on top. We offset it just a bit to make a “shadow” effect. Super wow, super fast! (the greeting and fabric texture background were stamped in bleach, you have to test several papers to find one that bleaches to the color you want)

Dress Form Thanks by Laura Weed

And last, but certainly not least, Fran came up with this terrific set of stamps with a focus on music! Perfect for your scrapbook pages of band practice, dance recital, or just some meditative time, this timeless set will be a favorite for years to come!

CRS7003 Cling Jumbo Musical Motif

This stamp set, of course, includes a terrific, FREE template. This time you get a mask for the piano keys and a wonderfully sized treble clef for using with paint, pastes, gels, or just sponging!

Here’s a terrific sample using the stamps and the template:

Musical Motif Journal by Terry Braddock

Look for all these designs at a store near you, or on our website, available immediately! Plus, stay tuned here to see the terrific ways our Design Team used these super versatile stamps!

This year, no “prancing and pawing…”!!

Santa is definitely coming to town, but not in the usual way! We saw Monday that he’s streamlining the task with Hot Air Balloons, but he’s also considering something more down to earth. Our new Santa Roadster stamp definitely has him distributing the goods in style!

P209 Santa Roadster

Still fun to color, still available in woodmounted or Cling Rubber™, this Santa is in a hurry to get those presents delivered! If you had a bit more time and wanted a larger card, you could stamp him racing through our Winter Scape:

P217 Winter Scape

How would you do that? Simple! Masking.  It’s an easy technique that gets you an amazing, layered look from your images.

Simply stamp the Santa Roadster image first, near the bottom of your panel, since he’s “in front”.

Then stamp him again on a sticky note pad, making sure some of the stick is behind his most detailed area, like the presents. Don’t bother reinking. And don’t bother with parts you don’t need.

Cut out the sticky image by cutting OFF the outside black line. Use sharp scissors, and if you’re making lots of cards, cut 2 or three at a time by leaving them stuck together.

Place one sticky Santa over the Santa Roadster you stamped on your card panel.

Then stamp your background over the top.

Voila!  Remove mask and Color!

A couple tips – practice on scratch paper to see how you want them to work together. Don’t be afraid to get your face down by the table to line them up. There are lots of positioning tools on the market to help you align your images if you’re a perfectionist.

But it’s super easy!

Special Delivery Santa by Laura Weed

Winter Wishes – Masking a Border

BlogStar Annette Witherspoon is back today with a super easy introduction to a great technique – masking! Her snowflake card is much easier even than it looks and produces fantastic results, so you can be proud to say you made it yourself. This beautiful card would be a good choice for those cards you just didn’t get done before Christmas. Swap out the ornament for a large snowflake and a Happy Winter greeting, no one will ever know!

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Hello friends. This is BlogStar Annette Witherspoon and I’m back with some clean and simple cards. We usually associate masks with Halloween, not Christmas, but today, I’m going share a masked Christmas card. I’m not talking about the disguise. Masking is a technique in which you cover an area of your project that you don’t want to stamp on or ink in any way.

In the card I’m sharing, I used the masking technique to create a clean edge. First, I stamped some snowflakes from the Snowflake Symphony Perfectly Clear set with Versamark and embossed them with Detail White Embossing Powder. In this case, clear would also work because the paper is white. Then, I masked off the edges of the white card stock. I used paper scraps and adhered it with re-positionable glue, but a low tack tape will work well in this case, too.

Once I masked off the edges, I used a brayer to apply ink to the paper. I used light blue on the bottom and darker blue on top to give it a graduated look. Finally, I stamped and embossed the ornament from the Ornament Greetings Perfectly Clear set onto red cardstock using Detail White Embossing Powder. I added the sentiment, also from the Ornament Greetings set, with Sterling Silver Embossing Powder and some ribbon and gems to finish it.