Challenge #13

I had the privilege of attending a Dream Weaver Stencil 2 day Certification class last week in Chicago.  It was a fun and a great learning experience using Dream Weaver Stencils and paste.  I want to share some of the ideas and techniques that I learned with you.

We made an idea book using all the different techniques so that it will be easy for us to remember what we did at this class.

 

 

 

Click on pictures to enlarge for better viewing.

 

I made this book after I got home. How fun and easy.  Have you all made books?

I had not done any that I can remember, so this was exciting for me.

The technique I want to show you is the Shadow Technique using Dream Weavers Regular Paste.

This is the inside of the book and it holds 4 note cards.

This technique shows using Dream Weavers Fern Die.

The left side I used  the negative that was left after cutting out the fern on the right.

The fern on the right used the tip that I shared with you last week, putting the double sided tape on the back of the card stock and then cutting it out.  This way you need not use any other adhesive to glue it down.

 

I also learned how to use the Kaleidacolor ink.  Did you know you need to push the button in to push the ink pads together and then when you are not using them, pull them apart so they don't bleed into each other?  I did not know this.  Don't they make a beautiful background?

 

This pictures shows the ink pads spread apart so they don't bleed into each other when not in use.

 

This pictures shows the ink pads pushed together so that there is no separation when using the brayer.

You push the little button like thing where I have type the instructions.

Be sure when you are finish using the brayer, that you separate them again.

 

Probably most of you knew this, but I did not so I wanted to share in case some of you did not know.

 

To get started, tape the Dream Weaver Cattail Stencil down with removable tape.

I masked off the sun and the lake as I didn't want to put them on this design.

 

Next, color in the stencil with brown.  I  ordered the ink and stencil brushes from Dream Weaver on Friday, so I had to use what I had (archival ink), which didn't work the best.  Dream Weaver ink is much better for this project.

 

Once that ink is dry, remove the tape and move the stencil slightly to the left and up. Tape the stencil down again. This will give you the shadow effect.

Then using Dream Weaver's Regular Embossing Paste, pull the paste over the stencil.

Let dry completely and then color.  You can use Pan Pastels or Splendor from Dream Weavers.

 

This is the finished project.  I absolutely love stenciling with Dream Weaver Stencils.  They are metal, and so easy to use.  If you are interested in purchasing some of Dream Weaver Products, you might contact Terri to see if she could order them for you at www.joansgardens.com
By the way, Wendy Vecchi's Paste is made by Dream Weavers.

                   I would love to hear from you on your thoughts of stenciling. 

 

A badge will be sent to the winner and Terri at Joan's Gardens will be sending a prize to the winner.

 

Here is what you need to do for this week's challenge!

You can make 3 cards this week

Below is what you need to do for this week's challenge

• Use a stencil (would love it if you tried the shadow technique, but it is not a requirement
• Combine 2 patterns of paper
• Can be a card, a book, a note....
• You must use a product sold at Joan's Gardens.  Also, mention that you are doing the card/project for Joan's Touch Challenge. It would be nice if you would add this link to your post: www.joanstouch.com

 

You will have until next Monday, May 19 morning 6:00 AM EST to link your project.

A winner will be chosen from a random drawing for week #13 and the winner of the challenge will be announced May 20

 

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Happy Mother's Day!

Oh how I miss talking to my Mom ....especially in the spring.

We spent so much time talking about our flowers, what was coming up, what we needed to move and on and on.  She gave me such a love for flowers and it was such a big part of our lives together.

We loved walking through each other's gardens and I sure miss that this beautiful Mother's Day morning.  Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!

 

Last fall I purchased 450 tulip and hyacinth bulbs and planned to get them planted before it turned cold.  After reading the instructions which said don't plant until after the first freeze, I waited.

 Then my brother got very sick and I left for Arkansas and spent a week there for his funeral. That was the week I could have gotten them in the ground.  When I returned home it turned cold and I got extremely busy selling Joan's Gardens.  So, before we left for Florida I stuck all the bulbs in the refrigerator for the winter.  When I returned home, I called the bulb company to see if I should plant them or wait till fall.  I was told to get them in the ground as they would not last till fall.

So, Jon helped me and we planted them,. hoping and praying they would survive.  I am so very happy to report they all came up and are either blooming or setting bulbs to bloom.  I am in love with them and so thankful for God's beautiful creation of spring flowers.  Below are some pictures to let you enjoy them too.

 

 

 

And the winner is~~~

  You can see all last weeks challenge entries by clicking here!

This week's winner was chosen by a random drawing and

Lori is this week's winner.  

Congratulations Lori!!!!!

 

I guess many of you don't like to alter things, but Lori sure enjoyed this challenge.  Thanks to those of you who did join us with this altered project challenge.

I will be sending Lori a badge for her web site and Terri will be sending a gift from Joan's Gardens.
 

 You can see Lori's  pretty altered journal by clicking here!   She used one of my favorite Graphic 45 papers too,.   If you haven't left Lori a comment yet, please do so. It is always nice to read how others enjoy our cards.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

5 

Timestamp: 2014-05-06 12:32:01 UTC

Challenge #12

I am sorry I am late posting this today, but I was determined to fix my blog before I posted.

The good news is.. I did!  I spent a lot of time doing so, but it was driving me nuts. I am thankful I figured it out.

Isn't this one of the prettiest embossing folders that you have seen?  I inked one side using a brayer with Scattered Straw and carefully ran it through the Ebosser.  I loved the way it turned out.  What do you think? Labels 34 will cut out the center, but I do not have it.  Therefore, I cut it out by hand and it was very easy to do.  I popped it up for dimension, added 2 small Lace Faerie Queen Butterflies, one on top of the other.  Flourishes and leaves were added underneath, along with the Blessings Sentiment and a pretty Silk bow.

One thing I learned in Florida was how to attach sentiments and other detailed dies easily.

First cut or tear a piece of double sided tape (I used Score Pal tape)

and put it on the BACK of the paper you are going to use to cut your die.

Then turn the paper over and tape down the sentiment with the cut side down.

Once you have the die taped down, run it through your die cutting machine.  When you take the words out of the die, the back is sticky and you can stick right to your card, label or wherever you are putting it.  You can doing this with flourishes or anything that is tricky to glue.

Another little tip is if you get adhesive somewhere it isn't supposed to go, sprinkle a little powder on that area and the stickiness will be gone.

Products used on today's card:

Small Lace Faerie Queen Butterfly - DL181  - Cheery Lynn

Scattered Straw Distressed Ink - Tim Holtz

Flourish - LR0117 - Marianne

Leaves - LR0156 - Marianne

Blessings - B347 - Cherry Lynn

Embossing Folder - E3D-016 - Spellbinders

Silk Ribbon

Pearls

All these items can be purchased from Terri at www.joansgardens.com

A badge will be sent to the winner and Terri at Joan's Gardens will be be sending a prize to the winner.

Here is what you need to do for this week's challenge!

You can make 3 cards this week

Below is what you need to do for this week's challenge

• Use an embossing folder (try inking one side)
• Butterflies
• Use a sentiment
• You must use a product sold at Joan's Gardens.  Also, mention that you are doing the card/project for Joan's Touch Challenge. It would be nice if you would add this link to your post: www.joanstouch.com

You will have until next Monday, May 11 morning 6:00 AM EST to link your project.

A winner will be chosen from a random drawing for week #12 and the winner of the challenge will be announced May 12.

Philip and Lori's new home on Easter Sunday

Philip and Lori have moved their family into a wonderful new (to them) home.  We had our Easter dinner there one week later.  It is a 5 bedroom home, which is wonderful for their 8 and possibly will soon be 9 children that they have or are in the process of adopting.  They raised a family of 3 children who now are grown  .Both girls (Kara and Kelsey) have 4 children of their own, so it is a wonderful "gang" when we all get together.  Since many of you have followed my posts on their fire, I thought you might enjoy seeing some pictures I took Easter.

The rooms are all very nice sizes, so they "fit" their family and guests when they entertain.

 

Nathan, their son is living in Washington now, so he wasn't able to join us.

 

A largest portion of the furniture you see was donated to them.  The community, churches, friends and so many they didn't even know from many states as far away as Missouri, Wisconsin, Mississippi, etc.  The out pouring of generosity was amazing and we thank God each day for their blessings!!!  Our biggest thanks though, is that they all survived the disastrous fire.

 

 

The kitchen is very spacious and plenty room for several of us to work

in it at a time. 

 

This is where the family gathers to watch TV, play games and

do their home schooling.

 

 Jon and Jim (family friend) in the "Bible Study" Room.  A room to get a way and have friends.

Dining Room - a great place for their entire family to eat.

 

Kara - oldest daughter

Her children were off playing.  Travis was home cooking as they had his family coming to their house for Easter dinner.  Kara just stopped by for a few minutes so we could see the kids.

 

Todd, Kelsey, and boys

 

The kids taking time out from their Easter Egg Hunt

 

I tell Lori often that I had one daughter and now look at our family.

Jon has 2 daughters and 3 grandchildren too, so we are doubly blessed.

 

 

 
 
 
 

And the winner is~~~

  You can see all last weeks challenge entries by clicking here!

 

This week's winner was chosen by a random drawing and

Darlene is this week's winner.  

Congratulations Darlene!!!!!

 

A big thanks to those of you who created a card for the challenge.

I will be sending Darlene a badge for her web site and Terri will be sending a gift from Joan's Gardens.

 You can see Darlene beautiful card here!  I love the addition of the cheese cloth to her card.  Makes great texture.   If you haven't left her a comment yet, please do so. It is always nice to read how others enjoy our cards.

 

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

4

Timestamp: 2014-04-29 11:35:31 UTC

 

Challenge #11

 On Lori's shower invitation, I asked everyone to bring their favorite recipe and one ingredient.  I said we would  use these recipe cards for a drawing for a nice gift.  I wanted to make this gift, so I etched a vase/candle that I had purchased quite a long time ago.    I wish you could see it in real life as it is so pretty.  It is very hard to get a good picture especially since I am not the best photographer.

 

This picture is with green material and a Votive Candle I made when I had my Soap and Candle

business.

 The next picture is with lace added over the green

 

This shows the vase without the candle.

 

Etching  with the Armour Etching Cream is very easy if you get the right image.  The first image I tried  was more detailed without a lot of etching space, so I did another one and I really love it.

Lots of possibilities for wedding gifts, showers, and many of your household glass items you would like to label

There are great videos on YouTube for Etching with this the Armour Cream, especially using the Silhouette and Cricut.

Click here to see one that does not use the Silhouette Cutting Machine.

 

Products Use:

Armour Etching Cream (can be ordered at Joan's Gardens)

 

Here is what you need to do for this week's challenge!

You can make 3 projects this week

Below is what you need to do for this week's challenge

• Make an Altered project (can even be a card you altered)
• You must use a product sold at Joan's Gardens.  Also, mention that you are doing the card/project for Joan's Touch Challenge. It would be nice if you would add this link to your post: www.joanstouch.com

 

You will have until next Monday, May 5 morning 6:00 AM EST to link your project.

A winner will be chosen from a random drawing for week 10 and the winner of the challenge will be announced May 6.

 

 

 

 

Lori's Kitchen Shower

It was a beautiful day yesterday for Lori's Kitchen Shower.  We had 21 attend for Brunch and she was so blessed with many lovely gifts that she needed for her kitchen.  At the end of the shower she announced that she "can now cook".   It was a great day. (For those of you that might not know, their house burned to the ground in February and everything was a total loss)

The menu was Quiche, Scones, Fruit Slush and Chocolate Covered Strawberries.  I had 2 tables set up in the family room and extended the kitchen table to seat 8.  Everything looked very pretty and I am happy to say the food turned out very delicious.  I always worry about that when making pie crusts, especially for that many. 

 

 

 

 

Lori Opening Gifts

 

 

 

Lily (oldest Great-Granddaughter, Kara, Lori, Joan and Kelsey

After the shower.

 

 

The guests in the Family Room

 

 

 

 

Sherry

 

 

 

 

Fruit Slush, Scone, Quiche and Chocolate Covered Strawberry

 

Kitchen Table

 

Two tables like this in Family Room

 

I had purchased paper plates, cups and napkins for the shower.  But, something just kept gnawing at me everyday and I finally gave in to it and decided to use my china etc.  I am just not a paper plate kind of "girl" for these kind of parties.  I was so tickled that I listened to myself and even though it was a ton more work (still washing dishes today) I was so very please with the way everything turned out.

I can't thank my friend Sherry and my two granddaughters for all their help.  They dished up the food, cleared the tables, stacked the dishes and moved all the furniture back to put the house back in order.

I was so very thankful!!!

It was a great day indeed!!!

Blogger still not fixed!

Blogger still not fixed and everything that is normally on the right hand side, is now at the bottom on the left side.  Please bare with me until they get it fixed. Thanks!!!

Blogger is at it again!

This morning when I opened my web site, everything that is normally on the right hand side, is now at the bottom on the left side. When I go into the layout, it is correct. Nothing I do is correcting it, so I do believe it is a problem with blogger. Please bare with me until they get it fixed. Thanks!!!

And the Winner is~~~

  You can see all last weeks challenge entries by clicking here!

This week's winner was chosen by a random drawing and

Ginny is this week's winner.  

Congratulations Ginny!!!!!

 

A big thanks to those of you who created a card for the challenge.

I will be sending Ginny a badge for her web site and Terri will be sending a gift from Joan's Gardens.

 You can see Ginny's adorable card here!   Ginny was very clever using a recycled doily from a restaurant.   If you haven't left Ginny a comment yet, please do so. It is always nice to read how others enjoy our cards.

 

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

10	

Timestamp: 2014-04-22 11:29:06 UTC

Challenge #10

 

Please click on the  picture for a larger view.

 

Yesterday was a picture perfect day in Indiana.  It was in the 70's, slightly breezy, sunny and a fantastic celebration of Easter.  We spent the afternoon/evening in Michigan at our daughters new home.

Since Lori's kitchen is not completely outfitted with all the essentials yet, we had a great non-traditional dinner of Spaghetti, meatballs, salad, corn and garlic bread.  If course some yummy deserts too.

It was fabulous and much easier especially since Philip (Lori's hubby) is an Italian and cooked

the Spaghetti and Meatballs with his fabulous sauce.

It was a day of much thanksgiving and blessings.  I will try and share some pictures tomorrow.

 

I have discovered several European card makers work and I just love their style.

First I started with a new paper pack I recently purchased called Maja Designs Vintage Spring Basic.

This paper is manufactured in Sweden and it very strong and easy to work with.

The card is a 6x6 and after distressing the layers of the 2nd layer, I sewed it on to the base, added tulle by again stitching it to the paper.  The round circle was cut from another piece of the paper line and popped up. 

 

Several flowers of  Spellbinder's Rose Creation die were cut, conditioned with the Tool kit, crumbled, opened and baked in the oven for a few minutes to set the crumbles.  After cooling, I assembled the flowers.

Several layers of  Magnolia Summer Foliage leaves were cut and conditioned.  Then I put some white Gesso on them and went over the entire leaf with "Pickle" by Art Anthology.  I loved how this turned out.

 

You can't really tell, but the little bird nest is inside the lantern and the door is open.  In the background are Peacock Feathers by Magnolia.

 

I really wanted to add a bird in the top left corner, but I did not have any that I thought looked good.  Once I added the Small Lace Faerie Queen Butterfly I was pleased with the results.  I still do want to find a lacy kind of bird for my die collection.

 

All the products below are available at www.atjoansgardens.com

Products Used:

Small Lace Faerie Queen Butterfly  DL 161 - Cheery Lynn

Summer Foliage - M40229  - Magnolia

Lace Coaster - M43763 - Magnolia

Peacock Feathers - M43732 - Magnolia

Rose Creations Dies - S5050 - Spellbinders

Lantern Die - MLR0190 - Marianne

Gesso - Ranger

Best Glue Ever

Neenah Paper

 

A badge will be sent to the winner and Terri at Joan's Gardens will be be sending a prize to the winner.

Here is what you need to do for this week's challenge!

You can make 3 cards this week

Below is what you need to do for this week's challenge

• Use something from Nature
• Purple and white
• distressed edges
• You must use a product sold at Joan's Gardens.  Also, mention that you are doing the card/project for Joan's Touch Challenge. It would be nice if you would add this link to your post: www.joanstouch.com

 

You will have until next Monday, April 28 morning 6:00 AM EST to link your project.

A winner will be chosen from a random drawing for week #10 and the winner of the challenge will be announced April 29.