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

Christmas Masterboard

Hello everyone, I have a project to show you today using the current stamps of the month available from Chocolate Baroque. I have used one of the leafy Seasonal Fragment designs to create a masterboard with contemporary colours, and then turned it into a Christmas card by using a seasonal greeting and poinsettia style flowers.

I started my background by colouring a piece of smooth white card with Aqua Adirondack Ink, then stamping the leaves using Red Geranium and Library Green Archival Ink. I completed the background using the same leafy stamp and Aqua Ink for a softer feel.

I die cut a long shape, and sponged the edges with Aqua, leaving the die in place, to create a white border, then stamped a sentiment, using Versafine Crimson Red Ink. I hand cut a matting layer using dark red card. I used the same red card to cut out some Crealie shapes to make some flowers, and cut some Crealie leaves using dark green card. I spritzed the flowers with water and scrunched them up slightly to get a more dimensional feel. I put three layers together and added a brad.

I hope that you will give this technique a try, I had more of this background left over for another project;

which is great when I need to make so many Christmas cards! Thanks for stopping by, xx

Falling Leaves

Hello everyone, it's a new week over on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, and my turn to make a card for inspiration as part of the Design Team. The colours on the colour swatch seemed very Autumnal to me, and so I decided to create a leafy card for my project.

I started to make my card, by stamping the line of trees using Potting Soil Archival Ink, and embossing it with clear embossing powder. I wanted a crisp clear image that would stand out amongst the multitude of leaves that I was going to add afterwards. Adding the embossing powder just sharpens the image.
I added some Aqua Adirondack Ink above the trees, and some Dried Marigold underneath, and then completed the background with Memento Pear Tart Ink. I stamped the leafy fragment using Olive and Orange Blossom Archival Ink, using first and second generation ink. Any gaps that were left, I filled in with stamping using Pear Tart for a fainter impression. I inked around the edges using Memento Potter's Clay Ink. I then stamped some leaves onto scrap paper from my scrap box, sticking to colours within the challenge colours, and once I had cut them out, arranged them randomly across the page before gluing them down.

I added a bit of shading under the trees using a couple of pencils. Finally, I matted the background onto some terracotta card.

I have purposefully left this card blank as a handy storecupboard card. It will be useful as a masculine card, or even a sympathy card if necessary.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Making an Impression

Hello everyone, I have a textured card to show you today using the stamps of the month currently on offer at Chocolate Baroque.

I created my background by cutting a piece of smooth watercolour paper slightly smaller than my card blank, and covering it with water. I added some acrylic paint that I had diluted to the paper to give a watery wash over the background. I chose three colours of paint; yellow, saffron and a plum colour. I dried the background with my heat gun, and as is it was quite rippled, gave it a good iron to get it nice and flat again!

I stamped the linen texture stamp using Saffron Archival Ink, and added the flower heads using Seedless Preserves Distress Ink. I stamped a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set onto some hand dyed ribbon that I had left over from another project, and attached this to the background.

I rolled out three pieces of polymer clay and cut them into circles. I pressed the flower head stamp firmly into the clay, and following the maufacturer's instructions, I baked the clay in the oven. Once the pieces had cooled down, I painted them with the same colours of acrylic paint that I had used for the background of the card. Once they were dry, I added some metallic wax to pick out the details of the flowers.

These stamps are great for adding texture to all sorts of surfaces, and I hope that you will experiment and try something like this out yourself. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Feeling Blue

Hello everyone, it's time for another blog post on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, and this week, it's digital download week. Lesley has created two free backgrounds for you to download and use in your own projects.Hop over to the blog to collect the downloads and see some inspiration using the downloads.

I decided to create a haberdashery themed card using the download myself, and wanted to keep the colour scheme very simple, just blue and cream. I stamped three mannequins across the background using second generation stamping, so that they would not be too dark. The various gridlines on the background are a great help for lining everything up. I edged the background with Versamark and added vanilla white embossing powder before heat setting it with my heat gun.

I found some scraps of paper in my stash that had been sprayed blue, and used these for the bodices, embossing them with the vanilla white EP. I then embossed the lace strips onto vellum, and the mannequin bases onto acetate, before cutting everything out and assembling the card. The crocheted cream flower is an oldie from my stash that I have had for ages.

 Thanks for stopping by, xx

Dandelion Clocks

Hello everyone, I have a card to share with you today, using some of the new Seasonal Fragments stamps from Chocolate Baroque. I wanted to create a little scene using one of the older dandelion clock images from the Fragrant Honeysuckle stamp set and add the clock seeds as if a fairy was blowing them off the flower head. I used to do this as a child and make a wish, did you?

I stamped the main flower image onto a piece of card, and then added the flower fragment across the bottom of the card. I added some colour to the background using Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks. I stamped the seed fragment, and added a fairy from the Spring Fairy stamp set. I coloured the images with Inktense pencils, and added a little bit of Stickles glue on the flowers, seeds and fairy wings as an accent. I stamped a sentiment from the Card Sentiments clear stamp set to finish.

I created a larger mount for my image using Shabby Shutters Distress Ink once again to colour the background card, and stamped the seed stamp around the edges using the same colour for a tone on tone effect. I attached both pieces of card to a large white card blank.

 I'll be back with more cards using these great new stamps in a few days' time. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Batik Florals

Hello everyone, it's my turn to post a tutorial on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog this week. I have made a card with a batik style background, and thought that I would share it here with you as well.

I stamped and embossed my background using a floral fragment stamp and Versamark ink with clear embossing powder. I then coloured the background using Distress Inks: Salty Ocean, Picked Raspberry and Cracked Pistachio, adding a bit of Memento Grape Jelly ink around the edges. Once I had added my colour, I ironed the baclground, covering it with scrap paper first! This left the background lovely and smooth, and showed off the lovely floral pattern.

I stamped the fantasy flower onto a smaller rectangle, and coloured it with watercolour pencils, before shading around the edges with Distress Inks. I added a couple of butterflies and a sentiment. A pretty organza bow was all that was needed to finish the card. These challenge colours are right up my street, so pretty.

I hope that you will pop over to the challenge blog to take a look at the other DT inspiration on offer. Don't forget, there is a monthly prize on offer if you enter the challenge using current CB stamps.

Thanks for stopping by, xx