Do You Stack Up?

The January 2014 Stampendous! catalog has been released and today I'm sharing a project I created with one of the new products.  It was really hard for me to decide which project I wanted to share first but this one just called to me on so many levels!  I won't bore you with the details!  I have to apologize now as I'm confined to the main level of my house at the moment recovering from knee surgery, because of this, I don't know all of the supplies I've used on this.  I know most of the basics though and when I can, I'll go back and add the additional information.

Stampendous has released these really cool Stack Art Kits!  They come with nifty little chipboard pieces that can be decorated in any number of ways with Elements Kits and included printed sentiments.  They have their own matching stamp sets that can be used on other projects, too.  I'm in love with them!  Here's the first one I ever did and I think it came out super cute!

For this one I used the Stack Art Kraftboard Angel Wings Kit and the matching Stack Art Cling Rubber Stamps Angel Wings Kit.  The patterned paper on the bottom layer is from Bo Bunny and I used a bit of DecoArt Metallic Lustre (Champagne, I think) around the edges. For the next layer up, I stamped it with a red Archival Ink then painted over it with some cream DecoArt paint which allowed the red to ghost through the paint.  I also rubbed more of the Metallic Lustre over it once the paint dried.  I also used a little of the paint around my sentiment for accent.  I used Chunky White embossing enamel on the wings and as soon as my enamel was melted, I used the matching wing stamp and pressed it into the wings.  I rubbed some of the Metallic Lustre to bring out the detail of the wings.  For the heart, I used our Red Micro Glitter and totally covered it for lots of sparkle!  I punched two holes in my bottom layer and added wire that I randomly curled and added little seed beads here and there for accent.

Super cute, super easy and super fun to create!  What a fun little project to give as a teacher gift or to grandparents and friends!  If you haven't tried one of these cool kits, you really need to.  Thanks for stopping by today and I'll see you again soon!

Hugs,
Lea  

Bali, Baby, Bali!

Have you seen all the cool new designs from Dreamweaver Stencils?  I've used two on my card today and I love them all!  For this card I used double-sided sticky paper and embossing powder and I'm really enjoying this technique.  The embossing powder has a distressed look and that's right up my alley!  For this card I used LG756 Open Elephant and LX7023 Large Scales stencils.  All the embossing powders are from Stampendous.  I apologize for not having the details at hand but as soon as I do, I'll add the details in.  Here's my card:

I let my paper from My Mind's Eye Indie Chic collection guide my color choices and I think they're perfect.  I love the Bali-wood feel to this card!  I've had to include two pictures of the the card as the gold embossing powder is so reflective it makes it difficult to see the whole elephant.  Since we're doing clean and simple for this month's challenge, I kept my accessories simple with skinny gold twine and an oversized brad as my only embellishment.

I hope you like my project today.  Here's the list of my teammates that are playing along today:

Dream It Up!
Louise Healy

Cyndi Bundy

Terrece Siddoway
Cherylynn Moser
Lyn Bernatovich
Pam Hornschu
Lea Kimmel

If you haven't already checked out their projects, please do and be sure to leave them some love!  Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you again tomorrow.

Hugs,
Lea

Show and Tell

In Creative JumpStart 2014, Nathalie Kalbach has asked us to do a little show and tell as to what inspires us.  Both of the projects I'm posting here have been posted previously but they were created after two of the many things that inspire me.  The first is flowers.  I love flowers!  My grandmother was a HUGE lover of any plant that bloomed and she instilled that love in me.  This card was originally posted on December 13, 2012:

The stamps are both from Stampendous and the images were colored with Copic markers.

My next inspiration piece is one inspired by the beach.  Being a North Carolina gal, I spent a lot of summers vacationing at the beach.  I could sit and watch the waves roll in forever!  It's so peaceful there and I find that I fully relax when I feel the sand between my toes.  Ahhh!  Sweet serenity!  This card was originally posted on April 14, 2012.

The stamp is Stampendous, I've colored her with my Copics, the metal background piece is part of a truck filter that I've recycled.  The shells are from my favorite beach, Oak Island, NC!

There are many other things in life that inspire me, my children, music, all of nature, art in general, it doesn't take much to get my creative juices flowing!  These are just a couple of examples of my art and how I express myself.  I hope you enjoy them!

Hugs,

Lea

Zen Butterfly

Hello, crafty friends!  It's a new year and we've had a new challenge at Dreamweaver Stencils, Clean and Simple or Lose the Weight!  I have to admit, I like to keep most of my cards relatively simple anyway so it really wasn't too hard for me to play along with this challenge.  This is one of our fantastic new stencils, Zen Butterfly, LL 3037,  and I absolutely love it!  I think it's gorgeous and could even be used to create lovely fairy wings if you were so inclined.

The technique I used to create this card used embossing powders on double-sided sticky paper.  It's a fun technique and gives you the chance to be a little creative with the placement of your powders.  I used Recollections Embossing Powders that can be purchased at Michaels.  I would give you more details but my craft studio is in the basement and I've just had knee surgery and can't make it down to my studio just now to retrieve the information.  My apologies for this!  I'll come back and update when I can access my room!

Here's another angle to try to show you how sparkly my lovely embossing powders are!

Here's the list of my teammates that have more projects for your viewing pleasure:

Dream It Up!

Lea Kimmel (me)

Louise Healy

Stacey Rumsby

Terrece Siddoway

Wendy Jordan

Pam Hornschu

Cherylynn Moser

Thanks for stopping by today and I'll see you again soon!  

Hugs,

Lea

Wicked Wednesday!

Hello crafty peeps!  I was recently invited to join the Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge Blog and I happily accepted!  I've never done ATCs before (GASP!  I know!) and thought this would be something fun to do.  Not only that but a great way to use up scraps and, let me tell you, I have plenty of those hanging around the craft room.  Besides, the images from our sponsors are all pretty cool!  I think it's going to be a super fun endeavour and I'm really looking forward to playing along.  With all that said, here's my first ever ATC:

Our sponsor for this week is Time for Tea Designs Digis and Clear Stamps.  There are some really cute images and if you've never checked them out, you need to!  This image is Super Cute Hat Digital Stamp and I am just in love with her.  All of her girls are adorable and I'm going to need more of these!  I've used Crate Paper's Bundled Up Collection, along with Neenah and Bazzill.  I colored her with my Copic markers and accented with Dew Drops.  So quick, easy and FUN!  Hope you like her!

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you again soon!

Hugs,
Lea

Just Some Fun...

...with Just Some Lines, our sponsor this time around!  Desert Islands Crafts Challenge time!  Here's the itinerary for this challenge:

  1. Your favorite color combination

  2. Use Metal

  3. No Flowers

  4. Ribbon

  5. Paint

  6. Not a Card

  7. Make it a Tag

  8. DO NOT color your image

  9. Journal it

10. Sparkles 

For this challenge I've used 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 10!  I do plan to use this tag in my journal but since I haven't gotten that far, I didn't want to fudge and add #9.  Here's my project:

Here's the whole tag and a close-up!  This stamp from Just Some Lines is Em Joy and I think she's totally adorable and so much fun to color!  I've colored her with my Copics, my papers are Memory Box and I've used miscellaneous ribbon and sparkles.  Be sure to go to the Challenge Blog and link your project, you know you want to play along!

Hugs,

Lea

My Favorite Tool!

For Creative JumpStart 2014 we've been asked to share our favorite tool.  I have to say that my little Tim Holtz Paper Distresser by Tonic has to be one of my most favorite tools to use!  I love how it softens the edge of the paper and gives it a distressed look.  Hence the name, eh!?

Here are some samples where I've used this handy dandy little tool:

Some are obvious, others more subtle, either way, it's a tool I love to use.  Happy creating!

Hugs,

Lea

Guess what day it is!

Did you know that we're celebrating the Queen's birthday this week? Well...the Queen of Stencils, Lynell Harlow, that is. Actually, her birthday is on Saturday, but here at Dreamweaver Stencils we're surprising her by posting birthday cards in her honor today. Nothing like making you feel OLD sooner than necessary, right Lynell? You'll even see a few familiar names in our lineup, as some of the teaching team are whooping it up for her as well.

In addition to our birthday party, we are also beginning a new year and a new monthly challenge. In honor of all those resolutions we hope to achieve, our challenge is "Losing the Weight...AKA Clean and Simple (CAS)". If we all try really hard to simplify our design-work without losing our creativity, we can all say at the end of the month that we've lost some weight! Maybe not off of our waistlines, but at least off of our cards! Gotta start somewhere!

I used Dreamweaver Stencil LL 379, Tall Palm Trees, for Lynell's card as she spent a good deal of time in Hawaii and I know that's a place near and dear to her heart.  I lived there myself for four years and it's truly one of the most beautiful places on earth.  In case you're wondering, my card says Happy Birthday in Hawaiian.  I airbrushed the background with Copics and then brush stenciled my design with chalk inks.  I went back in with a flat brush and added a little more detail on the trees.  I kept my card very simple as that's our new challenge this month.  My papers are Neenah, Bazzill and Little Yellow Bicycle's Splash.  Be sure to leave Lynell some birthday love!  Here's the hop list so you don't miss a thing:

Dream It Up!
Laura Drahozal
Lyn Bernatovich 

Pam Hornschu
Heidi Erickson
Louise Healy
Cyndi Bundy

Lee Kellogg
Liz Martin
Terrece Siddoway
Lea Kimmel (Me!)

Cherylynn Moser 

Kristi Parker Van Doren

Lynell, I wish you the happiest of birthdays and I hope you enjoy your special day!  Thanks for stopping by today and I'll see you again soon!

Hugs,
Lea

Whimsical Bird

It's the 1st and that means it's time for another Desert Islands Crafters Challenge.  Our sponsor for this challenge is The Stamping Boutique.  She has some super cute digital stamps and the one I've used today is called Whimsical Bird.  It reminded me of a partridge in a pear tree so I thought it was perfect for this time of year.  Here's the itinerary for this challenge:

1.  Glitter

2.  Ribbon

3.  Die Cut

4.  Airbrushing or Spray (Perfect Pearls Mists, Memories Mists, Dylusions)

5.  Snowflakes

6.  Winter theme with Summer colors

7.  Stencil

8.  Three Layers

9.  Pocket

10. Distressing

Remember, you need to use at least three from this list.  Here's my card:

I've used #'s 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 & 8

Here's a close-up showing the sparkle from the Clear Spica pen I used to add a little glittery goodness:

Now it's your turn to show us what you've created!  Link your card here!  I look forward to seeing what you've come up with.  Have fun!

Hugs,

Lea

Creative JumpStart

Today is the start of Creative JumpStart 2014!  Woohoo!  If you haven't signed up already, you need to!  Nathalie Kalbach, a fantastic mixed media artist, started this program a few years ago and has some great artists lined up to contribute.  Click on the link below to find out more of the details and then go sign up!  It's only $20 and you'll be glad you did!

http://www.nathaliesstudio.com/cjs/creative-jumpstart-2014/

Nathalie has designed some awesome mixed media stamps for Stampendous which you'll see in the January 2014 catalog when it's released.  Nat is an amazing artist and you will love her stamps and her creativity.  Even if you don't plan to sign up for Creative JumpStart, go take a stroll around her site.  She's pretty darn awesome!

Happy New Year, everyone!  I hope that 2014 is the best year yet with plenty of creative endeavors for all.

Hugs,
Lea