A Bumper Blueprint Post!

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. This post could be a long one, so I hope that you have a cuppa handy! I have lots of projects to share with you today, featuring stamps from our TV shows on Create and Craft. 

My first project was a journal page spread that I created using the beautiful blueprint stamp bundle that we had on the TV show. The stamps featured were Cala Lily Blueprint, Freesia Blueprint, Wild Cornflower Blueprint and Sweetpeas Blueprint. I cut some panels of smooth stamping paper, two were 8cms by 14cms, and one was 8cms by 15cms. I used a small rectangle gelli plate and covered it with Evergreen Bough Distress Ink. I stamped the On The Tiles stamp onto the gelli plate using Broken China Distress Ink. I then stamped the gelli plate onto each of the panels. Once the panels were dry, I stamped one of the large images from the stamp plates using Versafine Clair Nocturne onto each of them. I missed out the Cala Lily Blueprint, as I only needed three. 

I coloured the images with pencils, sticking to a limited colour palette of mostly purple, magenta and green. I added Seedless Preserves Distress Oxide through a square stencil onto the panels, avoiding the images themselves.

Using a small round gelli plate, I inked it up and stamped over the top with the On the Tiles stamp in the same way repeatedly over a two page spread in my A4 journal. I worked out where I wanted to place the panels, and added ruler frames around those areas using black ink. I added smaller technical images from the stamp sets using Purple Delight, Warm Breeaze and Nocturne Versafine Clair Ink. I then added sentiments using Twilight Ink. Finally, I attached the panels over the top.

I always knew that I intended to make a card with an extra panel, so I made one as I went along. I created a background using Drawing Cartridge and Evergreen Bough Distress Ink. I added one of the sentiments and black ink. I often find that working in my journal is a springboard for a good card idea, and this was no exception.

I decided to make a set of cards using some of the technical images. They are so useful, these smaller designs. I very quickly inked up a square gelli plate with a variety of colours, then stamped over the background with a toning ink. I cut a piece of smooth stamping card and stamped one of the medium floral images and coloured it with pencils. I inked around the edge of the panel with the background ink colour. These were fairly quick cards, but really pretty and very effective. 

You could choose more masculine colours - grey, brown, ochre, etc. and make a range of masculine cards by adding the technical images instead of the flowers. These would make fabulous storecupboard cards for when you need a card in a hurry. I can think of lots of other stamps in the Chocolate Baroque range that I am going to give this treatment to for Birthday cards now, and I hope that it has helped to give you some inspiration too.

So now I am going to share a bunch of older cards with you, which if you have followed me or Chocolate Baroque for a while you will recognise, if not, then I hope that you will enjoy them.

The first card is a typical blueprint style, white embossing on glossy card, with Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink over the top, and the lovely Wild Cornflower Blueprint image to complete the card.

More white embossing and colouring on kraft card for the Cala Lily Blueprint this time.

A few cards showcasing the Freesia Blueprint stamp set. The first card, I have stamped the image onto a linen panel.

The second uses textured embossing on the background through one of our stencils.

Onto the Sweetpeas Blueprint stamp set now, and a little canvas where the image was stamped onto tissue paper and added over acrylic paint.

A horizontal panel matted over patterned paper. the little flower heads were placed into the flagpole centers as if they were in glass domes.

Finally, I used the postage stamp stencil and added lots of the small images from the stamp sets to create postage stamps.

I hope that I have given you lots of inspiration using these fabulous stamps. Thanks so much for stopping by, take care xx

Butterfly Flourishes

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I am back with more projects to share from our April TV shows. 

My first project was created by stamping an image from the Butterfly Flourish stamp set onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge with Versamark and white embossing powder. I added Shabby Shutters, Evergreen Bough and Wilted Violet Distress Ink with blending brushes. I then covered the background with copy paper and ironed over the top to remove the embossing powder. This creates a faux batik effect, leaving a flat surface once again.

On a piece of smooth stamping card, I stamped the butterfly flourish image from the same stamp set, and a butterfly from the Butterfly Perfumery stamp set. I coloured these with co-ordinating coloured pencils, (I used Caran D'Ache pencils).  I cut the butterflies out, and arrached them to the card. I drew the antennae using a fineliner pen. Because I had ironed the embossing powder away, I was able to draw over the surface of the background easily. I also added a sentiment.

Faux batik is such a useful technique, you can stamp over the top and colour the clear areas with pencils, inks, etc. It adds so many possiblities to your backgrounds.

For my second card, I used the same colour Distress Inks as before, and swiped them over an acrylic block. I spritzed them with water, and pressed the block onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge. I allowed the background to dry completely. I used the two corner stamps from the Butterfly Flourish stamp set, and created a very simple card design, stamping with Twilight Versafine Clair Ink. I added a sentiment from the same stamp set. By varying the colours, you could make this into a masculine card.

I will be back soon with more cards to share with you, thanks so much for stopping by, take care xx

April Butterflies

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have lots of projects to share with you this month, using stamps that we featured on the TV shows on Create and Craft. I will spread them out over a few posts, and show you some older projects as well, using the same stamps, I hope that you don't mind.

Our A Year of Stamping stamps are proving to be very popular, and this month's edition, a cluster of butterflies, is no exception. I created several examples to demonstrate if necessary for the shows, but just ended up showing one in the end. I always like to be prepared! I made a background using red, yellow and orange Brushos, sprinkled onto Drawing Cartridge, which I spritzed with water. I let this dry completely. I them stamped the A Year of Stamping Issue 4 - April with Versafine Clair Nocturne and clear embossing powder. This makes the image more vibrant, and creates a gutter for painting, very handy, especially when I need to paint quite quickly during a demo.

I sprinkled a little bit of each of the three colours of Brusho onto an acrylic block and spritzed them with water, then using a paintbrush, I painted the three large butterflies. I added a little bit of red where the dots indicated shading near the butterfly bodies.

I made my own card blank using two pieces of black card. I cut two strips 15.2 cms long. I scored one at 15.2 cms, then folded it on the line. I trimmed the excess away leaving about one and a half cms beyond the fold, and then attached the second strip of card. I then shut the card, and cut the back piece to match the front, using a sharp knife and a ruler. This card is small enough to run through a standard die cutting machine and cut a circle aperture in the front, which is what I needed. I placed the painted background into the card, and put the spare piece of black card, (slightly trimmed) behind it, for stability. The black card base really makes the image pop.

Some time ago, I created a project using this image. I stamped the image three times, once onto book paper, once onto smooth stamping card, and then finally onto patterned paper. I decoupaged the image to create a very colourful project. We showed the card last month as a sneaky peek on the TV shows.

I wanted to recreate this project as a potential demo, but in a different colour option. I used Inktense pencils to colour the book paper and smooth stamping card on the bottom two layers. I chose a zingy green and orange, as they contrast each other so well. My top layer is a patterned paper designed by Lesley, but I have added some Distress Ink to darken it a little bit. I have embossed the top layer with clear embossing powder, when I stamped it. I chose a green card for the matting layer, and used a corner rounder on the edges, to follow the shape of the stamp itself. Again, I have used black card, to make the colours pop. This project requires a bit of cutting out, but I listen to some music, or watch a favourite TV programme, and I am finished before I know it!

My last project using this stamp was to remove the background entirely, and to create a backgound myself. I applied some Distress Oxide to an acrylic block- Twisted Citron and Broken China, which I spritzed with water. I pressed the acrylic block onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge to get a watery background, which I left to dry completely. I inked around the edges with Wilted Violet Distress Ink, and the using Warm Breeze Versafine Clair, I inked up the Square Bubbles stamp, and stamped little bits of it randomly over the background. I held the stamp in my hand, and curled it up, so that only a little bit of the stamp touched the background each time. I did get rather messy fingers!

I used a background paper designed by Lesley once more, and added a bit of Distress Ink again, to tailor the colours exactly to my design. I stamped and embossed using Versamark and white embossing powder. I added the antennae using a white gel pen.

I will be back very soon with more projcts to share with you. Thanks so much for stopping by, take care xx