Happy Christmas

Hello everyone, I have a post over on the Design Team blog today, giving me another opportunity to work with the fabulous background stamps aired on the recent TV shows on the Craft Channel.

I have chosen to create a Christmas card for my final offering of the year, and hope that you will accept it as a card from me to you. I would like to thank you all for the lovely comments that you have left over the year on my posts, here and on the DT blog.

I have used the Studded Lattice cling mounted stamp to create the background, and added some poinsettias from the Joyful Christmas stamp set. The background card was a piece left over from another project, and I used Distress Paints to create the wrinkle free background. I stamped and embossed the poinsettias using a sparkly red embossing powder, and coloured them with Faber Castell aquarelle pencils.

I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, and offer my good wishes for 2016. I hope that Santa brings you lots of crafting goodies, and that you have time to relax and enjoy the festive season, whatever you are doing. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Beautiful Background stamps

Hello everyone, I hope that you have been able to catch the TV shows featuring the Beautiful Backgrounds cling mounted stamps on the Craft Channel recently. The samples created by my Team Mates, and demos by Lesley were just amazing. I have a couple of projects to show you myself that were featured on the shows, and I hope that they will give you a little bit of inspiration in using these fabulous stamps.

My first project features the Floral Weave cling mounted stamp, and I have created an underwater scene, using stamps from the Seashore and Seadragon stamp sets.

I created a watery background on a piece of watercolour paper, by painting some Ecoline ink onto the background, and dropping sea salt onto the paper while it was still wet. I left the background to dry before removing the salt. This technique creates patterns that are reminiscent of bubbles in water, and it is such a fun technique, as the results are different every time. I stamped and embossed the background image using a lovely teal embossing powder, it works really well as a seaweed image on this card. I stamped and coloured the seahorse on a separate piece of card, using Faber Castell Aquarelle pencils, before cutting it out and adhering it to the background. I stamped the sentiment, and matted the background onto teal card. I added some little pearls to the flower centres to complete the card.

My second project is a canvas, combining a couple of the background stamps, Baroque Orchids, and Studded Lattice. I have added some flowers created using stamps from the Elegant Iris stamp set, and some die cut leaves.

I started my project by painting the canvas with acrylic paint, blending the colours with a baby wipe, using a mix of purple, orange and yellow. I dried the layers each time, and just kept going until I was happy with the overall look. I then stamped the Studded Lattice image randomly over the canvas using white paint. I did not use an acrylic block for this, as I just wanted to stamp part of the image each time, and I wanted a more random finish.

I covered the Baroque Orchid stamp with Gold Soft Form Relief Paste, and left it to dry overnight. Once the paste was dry, and had become a film, I painted it with a thin layer of white paint. I gently removed some of the excess paint, revealing some of the gold underneath, which gives a kind of faded elegance to the piece. I allowed the paint to dry and then gently peeled the stamp away from the film. For durability, I added a piece of thin card behind the film before attaching it to the canvas.


I stamped the flower image from the Elegant Iris stamp set three times onto a piece of spare card, and coloured the images with pens. I found that the flowers were a bit bright, and so I gave them a wash of thinned down white acrylic paint to soften them a bit. I added some die cut leaves, which I edged with Soft Form Relief Paste, and I also edged the canvas with some of the Relief Paste as well. Finally, I added a sentiment from the Artistic Expressions stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Gothic Christmas

Hello everyone, this week on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, there is a fabulous free digital download, designed by our lovely boss Lesley Wharton. I have created a Christmas card using the download as part of the Design Team inspiration.

I chose to use the Gothic Angels rubber stamp set to create my card, as I felt that this set went with the background so well, and chose to create a Christmas card in red and yellow tones. I coloured a large background stamp with Distress Markers, and stamped it onto card, before adding some clear embossing powder. I trimmed the card, and then edged the card with Fossilized Amber Distress Ink. I stamped the angel image and sentiment onto die cuts using Potting Soil Archival Ink, and again edged the shapes with Distress Ink as before. I coloured the angel image with Distress Markers and a water brush. Finally, I matted all of the layers onto burgundy card, before adding them to a large card blank.

Hop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration provided by my team mates and to read about how you could win a £15 voucher to spend at Chocolate Baroque. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A Christmas Flower

Hello everyone, I have another project using one of the large Flowerhead collection stamps from Chocolate Baroque to show you today. I have really enjoyed creating projects with these lovely large stamps, great for creating a focal point on a card. I have chosen to use the Circle Centre Flowerhead for this project.

I created my background by covering a gelli plate with turquoise ink, using a brayer. I used a piece of white card to take a print from the gelli plate, taking care to smooth the back of the card thoroughly. This is a really quick way of colouring a piece of card if you want a single colour. Once the card was dry, I stamped and embossed a harlequin design from the Harlequin Fragments stamp set onto the background, using Versamark and gold embossing powder.

I used Fired Brick Distress Ink and water to flick onto my background with an old toothbrush as I wanted splashes of red over the rest of the background, and a little bit of gold shimmer, using a Wink of Stella gold pen.

I stamped and embossed the flower onto red vellum twice, using Versamark and gold embossing powder, and cut it out. I added a leafy die cut, and matching dark green matting to complete my card.

Well, that's another Christmas card completed thankfully, not long to go now! Thanks for stopping by, xx

Cheery Sunflowers

Hello everyone, I have another floral project to share with you today, using one of the Flowerhead Collection cling mounted stamps. I have chosen to use the Daisy Ring Centre image to create my card, as I liked the versatility of this design, with the open centre. I wanted to create a cluster of sunflowers, and the open centre of the design works perfectly for adding beads, which I love to do in lots of my flower projects.

I started my card by stamping the first image onto my smooth watercolour background, and masking the image, before adding some leaves from the Sunny Sunflowers stamp set. I masked the leaves, and stamped two more of the large flower images, plus a spare image onto an extra piece of watercolour paper, so that I could decoupage the central image.

I coloured the images with Distress Markers and a water brush, and then added shading with pencils. On this occasion, I used Faber Castell Aquarelle pencils, but I did not wet them once I had coloured the images. I coloured the background by tapping some Salty Ocean Distress Ink onto a craft mat, and picking it up with a crumpled baby wipe. I then patted the ink onto the background, turning the baby wipe this way and that way, to get a varied pattern.

I stamped the butterflies from  the Thistle Butterfly and Briar Rose Butterfly stamp sets, onto the background, and again onto spare watercolour card so that I could decoupage them. I simply coloured them with the Aquarell pencils, and blended the colours with a water brush. The sentiment is from the Mackintosh Sentiments clear stamp set. I matted the background onto a black card blank, and then added Glossy Accents to the centre of the main flower before adding dark brown seed beads.

Sunflowers are my Mother in Law's favourite flower. They are so cheery, and would brighten up anyone's day. This card would make a lovely Get Well card, or a Thinking of You card, as well as a pretty Birthday card. I hope it has given you some inspiration anyway. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Floral Tag

Hello everyone, it's time for another weekly post on the Chocolate Baroque challenge blog, and this week, I am providing a little bit of the colour inspiration to try to get your crafty mojo working. I have chosen to make a tag which I created by mopping up some of the left over ink from my card that I created in Monday's post. As you will be able to see, the colours are very similar!

I stamped a flowerhead twice onto some Crafty Individuals paper twice, using Memento Sweet Plum Ink, and cut these out. I added some coloured detail with pencils. Using Memento Bamboo Leaves ink, I stamped some leaves from the Sketchy Doodle Landscape stamp set onto green scrapbook paper, and also directly onto the tag itself. I then cut the leaves from the scrapbook paper, leaving the stems behind, and decoupaged the leaves onto the tag.

I edged the tag with Seedles Preserves Distress Ink, and the stamped the sketchy flower onto the background using Wild Honey Distress Ink, and Sweet Plum Memento Ink, for a layered look. I added the flowerhead, which I had stiffened with some card. Finally, I added two circles of tiny seed beads into the centre of the flower using a 'dries clear' glue.

Please pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration provided by my Design Team mates, and why not get your stash out and create something for the challenge?

There is something new over on the Design Team Blog today, so head over there as well if you have the time. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Zentangle Flower

Hello everyone, I have a project to share using one of the new individual cling mounted flowers currently on offer on the Chocolate Baroque website. There are six different designs and they are approximately 3.5 inches across, all mounted on cling mount, ready for you to start using straight away. These beautiful large flowers are perfect as centrepieces for your cards, and are sure to brighten anyone's day. I have chosen to use the Swirl Centre Flowerhead to create my card, as I love the overall design of this particular flower.

I created a wrinkle free distress background on a piece of watercolour card, using Salty Ocean Distress Ink, and then edged the background with Seedless Preserves Distress Ink. I stamped the flowerhead twice onto a spare piece of watercolour card, using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I also stamped a large leaf from the Tangled Garden stamp set twice onto the watercolour card. I coloured the images with Copic markers and added shading with pencils.

I cut the images out, and stuck them to the card, creating two layers on the flower. Once the flower was in place, I added some Glossy Accents to the centre of the flower and left it to dry. I drew some zentangle details on the background using a fine black permanent pen. I added a sentiment from the Amazing Birthday clear stamp set, and matted the background onto some black card to finish.

 This particular flowerhead lends itself to Zentangle so well with the centre swirls, and the petal designs. Fescu is the tall design that I have used with a scroll added for variation, and you could also try incorporating Printemps as a beautiful background idea. Please click on my links to take you to the Tanglepatterns.com website for instructions on how to draw the two Zentangle designs, and a whole host of other ideas.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Christmas Baubles

Hello everyone, I don't know about you, but I have lots of scraps of card and paper left over from other projects. I am always looking for ways to dip into my stash and use these bits and bobs up. My project today is a relatively quick card that could be made up as a batch card, using some of those left over paper scraps.

I made a wrinkle free distress background using watercolour paper and Distress Inks, and then added further colour with a Crafter's Workshop stencil. I chose a palette of green and purple, one of my favourites, using Shabby Shutters and Faded Lilac Distress Inks. I stamped the ivy flourish from the Beautiful Baubles clear stamp set across the top of the background using Versafine Olympia Green ink, and added the sentiment across the bottom. After drying the background thoroughly, I stamped and embossed the chains and baubles using Versamark and gold embossing powder. I stamped the baubles again onto some scrapbook paper and decoupaged them onto the background. Some dark green card completes the card.

The possibilities are endless with this card layout, you can mix and match the colours that you use, or change the flourish that you use at the top. It really is a versatile stamp set and I hope that you have as much  fun creating cards with it as I have. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Owl Tag

Hello everyone, I have chosen to make a tag to show you today using the Owl Edges rubber stamp sheet showcasing the current stamps of the month from Chocolate Baroque.

I started my project by creating a wrinkle free distress background on a plain tag, using Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks. I stamped the bullrushes across the bottom of the tag using Emerald Green Archival Ink, and added the small branch up one side of the tag using Coffee Archival Ink. I stamped the little owl onto a sticky label and then coloured it with Polychromos pencils. I also coloured the branches with pencils. I added some shading around the edges of the tag using Distress Inks for a bit of depth, and stamped a sentiment from the Steampunk Birds rubber stamp set onto the background.

Finally, I added some co-ordinating ribbon to the tag.

I hope that you have a chance to pop over to the Craft Channel today, as our lovely boss Lesley is demonstrating some of our older stamps on the television. I am sure that she will do a brilliant job, and if you watch the show, you will see lots of the Design Team samples along the way. Thanks for stopping by,
Judith xx

Here be Dragons

Hello everyone, I have another Halloween card to share with you today. As usual, I have been mixing and matching stamp sets to create a night time scene. I love to look back through my older stamp sets to see what I already have that will work alongside the newer stamp sets, and I hope that this project might inspire you to do the same.

I stamped the owl from the Hocus Pocus stamp set and the dragon from the Here be Dragons stamp set onto a piece of smooth watercolour paper, and then covered them with a mask. I coloured the background with Distress Inks: Forest Moss, Crushed Olive, Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade, Shaded Lilac, Seeded Preserves, and spritzed it with water. I added some foliage from the Spring Foliage stamp set, using first and second generation stamping. I added some stencilling with a spider's web mask, using the same colour inks as I had used on the original background.

I removed the masks and coloured the images with  Polychromos pencils. Finally, I added some bats randomly over the night sky. All of the black stamping was done with Versafine Onyx Black Ink.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Not just for Halloween

Hello everyone, I have a card to share today using this month's Halloween stamps, but I wanted to show how the stamps could be used in a very different way.

I have created a clean and simple graduation card using one of the book images and the starburst on a diamond die cut to represent a mortar board. I added a tassel underneath from the Baroque Eggs stamp set. I coloured the images with pencils. I coloured the centres of the starburst image with a gold Wink of Stella pen for a bit of sparkle. I added a flourish in the corners of the card from the Butterfly Daisy Collage stamp set, and finally stamped a sentiment from the Loving Sentiments stamp set onto a small tag.

The simple black and white colour scheme makes this card suitable for both male and female recipients, and could be adapted to add particular University colours. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Out of the smoke

Hello everyone, I have a spooky card to share with you today, showcasing some of the fabulous new Halloween stamps from Chocolate Baroque. As always, I have been mixing and matching new stamps with old, to hopefully give you some inspiration on how to stretch your stamps a bit.

I started my card by using a background from my stash. It is a leafy background using a technique taught to me by my very dear friend Elaine during a crafty get together several years ago. I love this technique, because it uses leaves from my garden, and because it reminds me of my friend at the same time. Essentially, you add spots of colur to your base card, and then stipple around the outside of a leaf using a brush. Move the leaf slightly, twisting the angle just a little bit, and keep repeating this manoeuvre until you have filled the original empty leaf shape. Keep making these leaf patterns all over the background until you have covered the card. You may need to use more than one leaf, as the leaves deteriorate with use!

I wanted the 'witch' to seem as if she was appearing out of the smoke, so I did not decoupage the image onto the background, I stamped the face straight onto the card. I used the Lady in Hat cling mounted stamp, but masked off the top of her hat before I inked up the image. I then stamped the brim and the pumpkins onto some spare card. Once I had the main image placed on my background, I added the book and the bats underneath the face. I stamped a border of cobwebs using a stamp from the Halloween Edges stamp set, and added a few spiders.

I coloured the images with Aquarelle pencils, adding the pumpkins and extra brim to the image, before drawing the rest of the witch's hat and colouring that the same way. Finally, I coloured a small tag with Distress Ink, and added a sentiment. I matted the background onto a black card base.

I had a lot of fun creating this card, you can really let your imagination run riot with these super stamps. I hope that you will pop over to the Design Team blog throughout September to see what the Design Team have created with them. I will be back with more spooky designs to show you soon. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A Light in the Window

Hello everyone, I love mixing and matching stamp sets, and my card today is no exception. I have made a CAS design which I hope will give you a little bit of inspiration for your Christmas cards.

I have stamped one of the candle stamps from this month's Christmas Candlelight stamp set and then masked the image, before stamping the Dressmaker's Window clear stamp. I used Versafine Onyx Black ink for a lovely crisp impression. I coloured the images with Polychromos pencils to give a soft effect. Finally, I added a sentiment to complete my card using Versafine Crimson ink.

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be back in a couple of days with some angelic inspiration for you! xx

Learning a new skill

Hello everyone, I have something new to share with you today. I have always loved felt, I love the texture, the feel, and the look of felt. I am fascinated by the way that it can be created, and have aways wanted to be able to work with it myself in various ways. I drive my Daughter nuts when we go shopping, wanting to buy various bags, and items of clothing made of felt, and my love of felt is a bit of a long running joke between us.

I go to a crochet class once a week, and the lady running the class mentioned last week that there was a needle felting class this week, and did anyone want to go? I jumped at the opportunity, it was too great a chance for me to miss! The class was two hours long, and there were only three of us attending, so we had lots of attention from the tutor. We each had lots of time to practise various techniques on a piece of felt backing; applying various different items, and I even made a flower and a leaf- not bad for a beginner!

Our tutor then let us have a go at making a picture, leaving the composition entirely up to us, a rather daunting prospect! I decided to go for a scene, incorporating fields, sky, and some more of those flowers. I added some complimentary wool to break up the fields, and some fluffy clouds. The tutor showed us how to make great two tone tree trunks, and I set about designing a twisted tree. I am fairly happy with my little scene for a first attempt, and may add a bit of stitching later for added texture. Even my OH was fairly impressed with what I had achieved, which can't be bad.

I have lots of felting supplies which have been gathering dust in my craft room for a few years now, so I am definitely going to get them out and have a play. I had a lot of fun learning my new skill, and found it was very relaxing creating my textured artwork. The tutor has promised to come back and teach another class, possibly some kind of shawl next time, so watch this space for more felted creations. You can find her on Facebook under the name of Dizzydollylou.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Bright Butterfly

Hello everyone, it's time for a brand new challenge over on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog this week. I am providing part of the Design Team inspiration for the lovely new colours that you can play around with for the next four weeks as part of the challenge.

I chose to use a technique demonstrated by our lovely leader Lesley recently on the Design Team blog, using greyboard, masking tape and gesso to create a background.  I covered the greyboard with strips of masking tape randomly, using horizontal and vertical strips until the surface was covered completely. I burnished the surface with an old credit card. I then painted the surface with gesso, and left it to dry.

I coloured the surface using Dylusions paints and a baby wipe, blending them where they met, and dried this layer with a heat gun. I then added some purple paint around the edges, just using my finger. I stencilled three flowers onto the surface using white paint, and dried this thoroughly. I then coloured the flowers using pencils. I added some buttons to the cenntres of the flowers.

Using some Olive Wow embossing powder, I stamped and embossed a sentiment onto the background. I used the same embossing powder to emboss the moth onto some scrap card. I then coloured this image with Distress Inks, before cutting it out and gluing it to the background.

Why not pop over to the challenge blog and see the other Design Team inspiration, and read all about the new challenge? If you enter, you stand a chance of winning a £15 prize.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

CAS Christmas Card

Hello everyone, I have a CAS Christmas card to show you today, using the lovely new Christmas stamps from Chocolate Baroque. I love to mix and match old stamps with new, and this project is no exception. I have created a clean and simple card that will be great for making up in batches when you need to make lots of cards in a hurry, always handy when you have so many cards to make.

I started my card by stamping the pine cone sprig three times across the top of a 7" x 7" white card blank. I coloured the stamp with Distress Markers so that I could get the variety of colours on the stamp. I used two tones of brown on the pine cones for extra shading. I added a greeting from the Bold Christmas Words stamp set at the bottom of the card, also using Distress Markers. Finally, I stamped and embossed a bauble from the Christmas Decorations stamp set onto scrapbook paper three times using a Rudolph's Red Nose sparkly red Wow embossing powder. I cut these out and used 3D foam pads to attach them to the card. You always need a bit of sparkle at Christmas!

I will be back in a few days with some more Christmas makes for you, thanks for stopping by, xx

Hearts and Flowers

Hello everyone, it's time for another week on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, and this week there is a free digital download for you to collect. It's a beautiful download, just great for those floral cards that you might like to make, but if you pop over to the challenge blog, you will see that Florence has made something very different!

I have chosen to make a romantic card that could be used as an Anniversary or Wedding card. I have combined the download with kraft card and cream lace for an alternative colour scheme. I stamped the Poppy Baroque Heart onto a spare piece of kraft card using Versamark and vanilla white embossing powder. I stamped the image again onto a piece of pale scrapbook paper. I coloured the second image using watercolour pencils, toning in with the digital download, before blending the colours with a waterbrush. I cut both images out and layered them up.

I stamped and embossed the sentiment from the Sweet Nothings stamp set onto the download background, and then stuck this to a kraft card blank. I added a piece of cream lace, and then adhered the heart using 3D foam pads.

Hop over to the blog to see Florence's inspiration, join in the current challenge yourself, and find out how to win a £15 voucher to spend at Chocolate Baroque. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A Get Well Card

Hello everyone, it's time for another week on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, and my turn to provide a bit of Design Team inspiration this week. I have made a Get Well card for someone special who is having an operation this week, and wanted a lovely cheery feel to the card.

I created a wrinkle free distress background using Scattered Straw Distress Ink, and then added ink through a stencil over the top, using Latte Adirondack Ink, and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink. I then stamped a tree from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set around the edges, using Memento Ink in Pear Tart and Grape Jelly, plus Seedless Preserves Distress Ink.

I coloured some cartridge paper with Shaded Lilac Distress Ink, and Pear Tart Memento Ink, and then stamped two small trees from the same stamp set several times, using darker ink. I cut these out, curled them slightly, and stuck them onto the background. I added a green button into the centre of the flower. I added a sentiment from the Card Sentiments clear stamp set.

I matted the background onto purple textured cardstock, and die cut three butterflies from some of the left over card. I added these to the background to finish my card.

Hop over to the challenge blog to see some more DT inspiration, and find out how you can take part and win a £15 voucher to spend at Chocolate Baroque. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Kaleidoscope Bird

Hello everyone, I have a final project to show you this month using the Birds of Paradise multibuy stamp set from Chocolate Baroque.

I have recently taken up crocheting, and love the brightly coloured blankets with the variation of patterned motifs spreading across from one side to the other. My background uses one of the little motifs from the stamp sets, and a range of Distress Ink colours to replicate this idea. I started my background by painting a section of smooth watercolour with a wash of aquamarine acylic paint, and dried this thoroughly. I drew a grid of diamonds with pencil, and then chose my colour palette of inkpads. I stamped the little motif across the background, and once it was dry, I rubbed out the pencil lines.

I painted a smaller piece of watercolour paper in the same way, using the acrylic wash, and then coloured the Damask Panel  using Distress Markers in the same colours as I used on the background. I stamped and embossed the birdcage onto a piece of pale green vellum using gold embossing powder. My bird was stamped onto a sticky label and coloured with Polychromos pencils to match the overall colour scheme.

Finally, I have added a sentiment taken from the stamp set to complete the card. I used a dark blue Distress Marker to edge all of the pieces of watercolour paper.
 

This layout would look great in black and white, or metallics as well, to create a more masculine card. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Birds of a Feather.....

I have done a couple of collaberative pieces of work with Lesley lately, and recently had the opportunity to join together with my Design Team mate Debbie in a couple of canvas projects. We decided to make two canvases between us, one horizontal, one vertical, and swap them over once we had each created a background. 

Debbie started her canvas by sticking small pieces of Melange Tissue and flowers from a serviette to a canvas panel with Glue 'n' Seal. Next she mixed some gesso with Peacock Feathers Distress Paint to make a tint and brushed it randomly around the canvas.

I used some Melange Tissue on my canvas along with a different serviette, covering the remainder of the canvas with gesso, and adding a wash of teal and linen acrylic paints, toning in with Debbie's colour scheme. Here are the canvases before we swapped them over:

Using the cherry blossom image from the Tranquility set I stamped it several times onto tissue paper and then coloured the images with Polychromos pencils. The bird, from A Little Bird Told Me was stamped on 160gsm white cardstock and then also coloured with pencils. Finally I stamped the sentiment from the See Beauty clear stamp set onto tissue paper as before. I attached everything using matte medium.

You will need to pop over to the Design Team blog to see what Debbie did to my canvas. We had a lot of fun creating these, and I hope that we have given you a bit of inspiration along the way. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Tropical Bird

Hello everyone, I have a project to share using the Birds of Paradise Multibuy stamps that are currently on offer this month from Chocolate Baroque. I have chosen to use a colour palette that is outside my usual comfort zone, but I really wanted to create a tropical feel to this card.

To make my background, I spritzed a piece of smooth watercolour paper with some Dylusion sprays, and then used a Crafter's Workshop stencil to add some depth. I used Distress Inks to add the shading; Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire, Mowed Lawn and Pine Needles.

I used a little flower spray from the Wisteria Lane stamp set to create some branches to hang the bird cage from. I stamped the image randomly around the top edges of the background, using Library Green Archival Ink. I stamped and embossed the birdcage using gold embossing powder, ensuring that the background was completely dry, so that the embossing powder did not stick to the rest of the background.

I stamped the bird onto the background, and then again onto a spare piece of card. I coloured the second image with Polychromos pencils and cut it out before adhering it to the background. I added a sentiment from the Card Sentiments clear stamp set. I matted the background onto a piece of dark green card to complete my project.

I hope that you will experiment with your colours as I have done when creating your projects, you never know where the journey will take you! Thanks for stopping by, xx

Brusho Bird

Hello everyone, I have a Design Team card for Chocolate Baroque to show you today. It is an Oriental themed card, using my favourite colours and some wisteria stamps taken from the Serenity and Wisteria Lane stamp sets.

I created my card by stamping and embossing the bird and bird cage from the A Little Bird Told Me stamp set onto smooth watercolour paper using white embossing powder. I dropped Brusho crystals over the background, choosing green and turquoise for the bird, and violet and lime green for the background. I spritzed my card with water, and blotted it with kitchen towel, to lighten the colours, and mop up the excess water.

I stamped the wisteria images using Distress markers around the edges of the card, using Peeled Paint, Seedless Preserves and Dusty Concord. I added some detail to the bird and birdcage using Copic markers.  Finally, I matted the background onto a white card base.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Vintage Poppies

Hello everyone, it's time for another post on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, and this week, we have a free digital download for you. I have created a card using the download to provide a bit of inspiration, and hope thatyou will pop over to the blog to take a look at some more DT inspiration. We are also looking at some fabulous customer artwork that has been entered into the challenge this month. The blog is fast approaching its one year Anniversary, and we are preparing for the big event, which is not to be missed, as there will be prizes across the month. Do keep visiting the blog if you get a chance, and leave a comment if you have the time.

To create my card, I printed off Lesley's download onto some smooth white card, and trimmed it to 19cms x 19cms, and matted it onto a black card blank. I added some self-adhesive cream lace across the card. I took a piece of Prima Epiphany paper, and die cut a circle, and then stamped the poppy image from the Flora and Fauna stamp set, using Versafine Onyx Black ink. I coloured the image with Polychromos pencils, and then edged the circle with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, before attaching it to the card. I have not added a sentiment yet, because I will wait until I know what I need to use the card for before I add any wording.

I hope that you will join in the challenge, as there are still a few days left. Here is the link to the post where you can add your entry.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

We've been collaberating again!

Hello everyone, Lesley and I have been crafting together again. We decided to make a couple of tags this time. We each made a background using the same colours, and then swapped them with each other. We made the tags on a recent craft day together, and it was great to be in the same place, as geographically, we live about 230 miles apart.

Here is a picture of our two tags side by side:

Apologies for the poor quality of the photo, but I knew that I wanted a photo of these before they went on their separate journeys, but it was a very speedy photo. The tag on the left is Lesley's tag, she coloured the tag and spritzed it with water before giving it to me. The tag on the right is mine. I sponged acrylic wax across the tag, which I heat set before I added the colour to the tag. We decided to use a colour palette of Squeezed Lemonade, Shabby Shutters and Dried Marigold for our backgrounds.

To complete Lesley's tag, I die cut two honeycomb fragments, and coloured them with the same colours before adhering them to the tag. I stamped a sentiment from the See Beauty clear stamp set onto the tag, and added some raindrops from The Seasonal Fragments stamp set. I stamped the Snake's Head Fritillary and some bees from the Honey Bee stamp set onto a sticky label, and coloured them with Polychromos pencils.

I hope that you will pop over to the Design Team blog to see what Lesley has done to my tag. Thanks for stopping by, xx