Butterfly Bookmark

Hello everyone,

I hope that you are keeping well. I have a useful little project to share with you today, using a combination of stamps from Chocolate Baroque. This project was a demonstration that I did on this month's TV shows on Create and Craft, which featured a whole host of butterfly themed stamps.

I started my project by creating a background using Distress Inks on my craft mat, which I spritzed with water. I placed a sheet of Drawing Cartridge onto the mat, dried the background, and picked up any remaining droplets of ink, before drying the background again. I repeated this proces with both green and blue ink.

I then stamped an image from Slim Word Strip 1 onto the background using teal ink. I stamped a butterfly from the Patchwork Butterfly stamp set onto smooth stamping card using Versafine Clair black ink, and coloured this with pencils. I coloured the body with a fineliner pen, and cut the image out, chopping off the head and bottom of the body.

I cut the butterfly in half and stuck it to each end of the word strip with glue. I drew a pencil line along the top and bottom of the word strip. It does not matter if a little bit of the words are going to be trimmed away. 

Using a ruler and a craft knife, I cut along the pencil lines, and then I cut around the butterfly shapes using scissors. I added some shading around the word strip using the blue Distress Ink that I used on the background previously. I also used a black pencil to run around the edges of the butterfly to ensure that there were no white edges from either the smooth stamping card or the Drawing Cartridge.

I scored along the middle of the strip and folded back the butterfly halves to create the bookmark. To make the bookmark more sturdy, and a bit more decorative, you can add some patterned paper to the back.

This was such a fun project to make, and I hope that you will try it out for yourselves! Thanks for stopping by, take care xx

Making a Mark

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a few more projects to share with you showcasing the fabulous stamps that were featured during the TV shows this month on Create and Craft.

My first project is a DL card, created using a piece of book paper, which I coloured with some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink around the edges. I added some stamping using images from the Timeless stamp set, the splatter stamps are so useful to create an aged look. 

I stamped the Tagtastic stamp onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge that I had previously stained with tea and sprinkled with salt. I wanted to fill the tag image completely, so I used some of the smaller images from the Timeless stamp set to cover the blank areas; the bar code, the big splat, the mini clock, and the label definition. I used a bit of the Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and some water to colour some of the clocks on the main image.

My other two projects are older cards that I have shared before. I know that lots of our viewers are new to Chocolate Baroque, so I hope that you will not mind me sharing these again. 

The first card was created by stamping the fabulous large butterfly from Patchwork Butterfly onto a Brusho background from my stash. I stamped the image in one corner, and masked off the image with Masking Tissue. I then added images from Numerology, Make Your Mark, and the sentiment from Patchwork Butterfly over the background in colours to co-ordinate with the background colours. 

I coloured the butterfly with pencils, and added some shading around the edge of the butterfly with a grey pencil to create a shadow.

My next card was created using a Distress Ink background, using ones of blue and brown. I added stamps from Make Your Mark, Timeless, and Steampunk Butterfly to the Background. I embossed two Butterflies from the same stamp set using copper embossing powder, and coloured them using Inktense pencils. I added a sentiment from Punky Expressions.

My last two projects for today were made with the A Year of Stamping Issue 2 - February stamp. I wanted to show how different one stamp could look. For the first interpretation, I stamped the image on smooth stamping card, and coloured the mage with blue toned Inktense pencils. I created a matching background with Distress Inks and added some white embossing over the top. I used a circle stencil, and a stamp from Make Your Mark. I stamped the image itself using a deep blue Versafine Ink, instead of black for a change.

The second version was stamped on grey card, and coloured with regular pencils. I added some white shading in the circles behind the flowers.  The background was again made with Distress Inks in zingy colours this time, yellow, green and pink. I added stamping using images from Make Your Mark and Numerology.

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing what I have created. Thanks so much for stopping by, your visits are always appreciated. Take care, xx

More Anything Goes Projects

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well. I have a couple of projects to share with you today on an 'Anything Goes' theme. There are so many stamps to choose from in the Chocolate Baroque stamp collection that I had a hard time narrowing down my choices for my final blog post this month!

For my first card, I decided to make a useful Birthday card to add to my stash box, handy for when I need a card in a hurry. I took a piece of fabric and frayed the edges. I painted the fabric using watered down acrylic paint, I used an ochre colour. Using Plum Archival ink, I stamped an image from the Brocade Backgrounds stamp set. I stamped a sentiment from Loving Sentiments onto an inked die cut rectangle. To complete the card, I added some pretty pleated ribbon and some metallic card as a mount.

 For my second card, I had a left over background from a previous project created using Brushos. I stamped the large butterfly from Patchwork Butterfly in one corner. I masked the butterfly using masking tissue, and stamped images from Make your Mark and Numerology over the background, plus the sentiment from Patchwork Butterfly. 

Once I had built up the background sufficiently, I removed the Masking Tissue, and coloured the image with Faber Castell Black Edition pencils. I added a couple of grey pencils around the edges of the butterfly to give a shadow and to create the feeling of depth. The pencils coloured over the Brusho background quite well, avoiding the need to cut out another butterfly and decoupage over the top.

I have really had fun dipping into my library of stamps this month, and hope that you have enjoyed my posts. Thanks for stopping by, take care, xx

Spring Things!

Hello everyone, I have a couple of projects to share with you today, featuring the newest batch of stencils from Chocolate Baroque.

For my first project, I used a piece of background watercolour paper from my stash, already coloured with green Distress Inks, and added some stencilling, using the Useful Leaves Stencil and two different colours of green ink. I coloured some texture paste with Twisted Citron Distress re-inker, and spread it through the Seasonal Journey Stencil, choosing the word 'Spring'. Once the paste was dry, I added some green gilding wax to darken the colour slightly, and add some shimmer.

I stamped two butterflies from the Just Butterflies stamp set onto acetate using Versafine Onyx Black Ink, and embossed them with clear embossing powder. I coloured the reverse of the images with Copic markers, and cut the images out, before attaching them to the background. I chose a bright green card to mat the background.

For my second card, I stamped the Spring Awakening image onto a piece of smooth watercolour paper, and masked the image. I coloured the background with Scattered Straw Distress Ink, and added some stencilling with a honeycomb stencil in two opposite corners. I used Wild Honey Distress Ink to add the stencilling.

I drew through the twig section of the Seasonal Elements Stencil, using a Distress Marker, and then added some leaves, using a bright green Zig Clean Colour marker. I used the same green to add the word Spring from the Seasonal Journey Stencil. I added some detail to the leaves with a darker green pencil.

I stamped a bee and butterfly from the Patchwotk Butterfly and The Rose Tree stamp sets onto acetate, embossing and colouring them exactly as I did in my first card. I removed the mask, and coloured the main image with Polychromos pencils. I added some deeper shading around the edge of the card, using Seedless Preserves Distress Ink, and matted the background onto some purple card.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Another Butterfly Canvas

Hello everyone, I have a second butterfly canvas to share with you today, made just for fun, and I wanted to use some new products that I bought from Chocolate Baroque recently.

I have used a long thin canvas to create this project, and added some pretty rice paper by Stamperia, using matte medium. I had a strip left over from the A4 sheet, which I stuck to a piece of stone paper, again using matte medium. Once the glue was dry, I stamped two butterflies from the Patchwork Butterfly stamp set onto the strip, and cut them out. I coloured the images lightly with Polychromos pencils, just to add a bit more colour.

I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set onto a piece of plain tissue paper, and added it to the canvas, using matte medium. I die cut some leaf shapes, and adhered those to the canvas, and added the butterflies. Finally, I stuck some lace rolled roses to the leaves.

I have added a touch of green ink here and there on the canvas, as I felt that the background was a bit too pink. I feel that the extra green gives the whole project more balance.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Vellum Butterflies

Hello everyone, we are sharing our monthly bumper post filled with quick and inspirational tips and ideas over on the Design Team Blog today. All of the cards made by the Design Team have taken fifteen minutes or less to make, and using fabulous stamps from Chocolate Baroque show that great cards can be made in next to no time.

I have made a card as part of the post, and would like to share a few more details with you.

I used purple and green Distress Oxide ink, and covered a circular gelli plate, blending the inks where they met. I used a large flourish from the Patchwork Butterfly stamp set to stamp onto the gelli plate, not cleaning it in between each stamping. This meant that the colour from each stamping transferred to the gelli plate, adding colour or taking colour away, depending on how much ink was picked up on the stamp each time. It creates a very random effect, but I love how it turns out. I pressed the gelli plate onto a large white card blank to take a print.

I stamped and embossed two butterflies from the same stamp set onto coloured vellum, using Versamark and Wow white embossing powder, before cutting them out. I adhered the butterflies onto the background, and then stamped a sentiment from the Birthday Words stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Patchwork Butterflies

Hello everyone, I have some projects to share with you today that featured on the One Day Special shows on Hochanda last month. I always love working with butterflies, they are amongst my favourite images. The large Patchwork Butterfly is such a beautiful image. You may have heard Lesley say on the show that I had suggested that we have a stencil to match the stamps, and it has been great fun using the stencil with the stamps, creating some of these projects, and the ones that I will share with you later in the month.

For my first project, I stamped the large butterfly from the Patchwork Butterfly stamp set onto a piece of smooth watercolour paper, and masked the image with Masking Tissue, before moving onto creating the background. I drew one of the butterflies onto the Masking Tissue, using the stencil, six or seven times, and cut these out. I then inked through the stencil, using a Dried Marigold Distress Ink randomly over the background, keeping to the same butterfly shape each time. Ensuring that the ink was dry, I then used the sentiment from the stamp plate, and stamped through the same shape over the previously inked areas. Once the ink was dry, I covered each image with a mask.

I added background colour, choosing warm reds and yellows, blending the colours where they met, and spritzing the background with water once I had finished. I blotted the background with some kitchen tissue to take away some of the ink. I added some swirls using brown ink. Finally, I removed the masks and coloured the large butterfly with Distress Inks, (keeping to the same tones as the background), and a water brush.

For my second project, I created a wrinkle free distress background using Distress Oxide Inks. I stamped a swirl around the edge of the background to create a frame, and added the sentiment. I stamped the butterfly antennae onto the card directly, and stamped the entire image again onto a separate piece of card. I coloured the image with Zig Clean Colour markers, before adhering it to the background.

Finally, a remake of an old card that I made several years ago. It has had a bit of an update, so I hope you will forgive me for showing it in my post.

I created a background using paper masks and inked the sky and hills. I added a sentiment from the Words to Dazzle and Sparkle stamp set. The foliage is from the Spring Foliage and Spring is in the Air stamp sets, and I used a mixture of greens and purples to tone in with the colours that I had used for the background. I added a bit of colour to the flowers with pencil. I stamped the antennae from the large butterfly directly onto the card, and then stamped the butterfly and a fairy from the Spring Fairy Collection onto a spare piece of card. I coloured them using Distress markers.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Dreamy Butterfly

Hello everyone, I have a project to share that is featuring over on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog today.

I have created a panel using a heavy duty greyboard panel, covered with script paper. I then covered this with a light coat of watered down gesso, and chose two pretty stencils to add more detail to my background. I used Bundled Sage Distress Ink for the harlequin stencil, and both Victorian Velvet and Festive Berries to colour the floral stencil, adding a touch of red pencil to the flower tips. I edged the panel with Peeled Paint Distress Ink.
I added a lovely sentiment from the See Beauty clear stamp set, and my favourite big butterfly from the Patchwork Butterfly stamp set. I coloured the image using Zig Clean Colour markers and a water brush.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Paisley Butterfly

Hello everyone, it's time for a brand new challenge over on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog this week, and I am providing part of the inspiration using the scrumptious new colours.

I created my background by adding some Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink to the centre of a piece of smooth watercolour paper, before placing my stencil onto the background. I then added Fossilized Amber, Ripe Persimmon, and Fossilized Amber again in bands radiating out towards the edge of the background. With the stencil still in place, I spritzed some gold shimmer spray over the background, and then removed the stencil. I dried the background with a heat gun.

I stamped around the edges with a small leaf design from the Nature's Paisleys stamp set, using Plum Archival Ink. I added the body of the large butterfly from the Patchwork Butterfly stamp set in the centre of the stencilled area, by masking off the wings, and inking only the body and antennae, and then removing the masking tape before I stamped the image.

I coloured a scrap piece of card with Shaded Lilac Distress Ink, and dried the card thoroughly with a heat gun. I then stamped a large paisley design using Plum Archival Ink, adding clear embossing powder over the top. I repeated this until I had four images. I stamped the paisley design onto a scrap piece of paper and drew a paisley shape arpund the image to create a template for the butterfly wings. I used the template over the top of the four Plum images on the lilac card, drew around the areas and cut them out. I added some shading around the edges of each wing with Seedless Preserves Distress Ink. I stamped an extra butterfly body onto a piece of card that I had coloured with Fossilized Amber Distress Ink, and cut it out.

I assembled the butterfly using dries clear glue, adding the extra body over the wings. I added a sentiment from the Butterfly Dreams stamp set. I used Seedless Preserves Distress Ink to add some shading to the edge of the background before matting it onto to some plum card, and then onto a large white card blank.

I hope that you will pop over to the Challenge blog to see the rest of the Design Team inspiration, check out the new colour swatch, and join in the challenge, you could win a £15 voucher to spend at Chocolate Baroque!
Thanks for stopping by, xx

An Irish Blessing

Hello everyone, I have been enjoying working with the beautiful Butterfly Dress cling mounted stamp so much this month, that I have another card using this stamp to show you today. I decided to incorporate a bit of an Irish theme into my card, so used a palette of mainly greens to create my card.

I started my background, by adding Memento Pear Tart ink to a piece of scrapbook paper through a Prima Mask using a stencil brush, and then added some script using a stamp from the Mini Scripts stamp set. I used Memento Bamboo Leaves to ink the stamp. I stamped the main image onto a die cut oval of scrapbook paper, and again onto a spare piece of the paper. I coloured the images with Polychromos pencils. I decoupaged the butterflies from the spare image onto the main image. I added some of the flowers, along with some shamrock style Crealie die cuts to a sentiment taken from the Patchwork Butterfly stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Big Bold Butterfly

Hello everyone, it's the start of the final week of the current challenge over on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog. There are some fab projects from some of the contestants which we are taking a look at this week, plus a free digital download from Lesley which you can use to create some beautiful cards and projects. The Design Team have made some cards using the download for your inspiration.

I decided to use some of my favourite stamps to create a card using the download. I chose a large flower from the Tangled Garden stamp set which I stamped twice using Archival Jet Black ink, and embossed with clear embossing powder. I also stamped several leaves from the same stamp set. I then stamped the body and one wing from the large butterfly belonging to the Patchwork Butterfly stamp set. I coloured all of the images with watercolour pencils and a waterbrush.

I layered the flower and the butterfly using 3D foam pads. I assembled the card, adding a deep plum matting and some die cut sprays in the same colour behind the leaves. I used some flower stamens for the butterfly antennae.

I hope that you will pop along to the challenge blog to take a look at the rest of the inspiration over there. Grab the freebie and make a project with it, it would be great to see what you come up with. If you use Chocolate Baroque stamps currently available on the website, and enter into the challenge, you could win a £15 prize to spend online at Chocolate Baroque.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Butterfly Fairy

Hi Folks, goodness this year is going fast! With the start of March, my mind turns to Spring,the garden seems to be showing signs of wanting to get going again with new plant shoots showing their heads, and the birds are preparing themselves in our loft to hatch their eggs again. The good weather seems to lift the spirits, and promises a farewell to the Winter months.

The new Spring Fairy stamps were just the ticket to create a Spring scene that seemed to echo those feelings. I promise that no butterflies or fairies were harmed in the making of this project! I created a background using paper masks and Memento inks in soft greens and lilacs. I added some foliage from the Spring is in the Air/Spring Foliage Multibuy stamp set, again using Memento inks. I painted the flower heads with bleach, before colouring them with pencils. I stamped along the bottom edge using the top of the bird and foliage stamp from the new stamp set, it makes a great edging stamp.

I stamped the fairy, and the large butterfly from Patchwork Butterfly and coloured them with pencils. I stamped the antennae of the butterfly onto the background. I cut off the fairy wings, and the butterfly body  before adding them to the background.

 

I have added my card to the following challenges: 

Spring is Coming 

Fantasy Stampers Challenge Blog Spring Colours

Hiding in my Craft Room Spring Colours

This month the DT have again excelled themselves with some great samples, so do be sure to pop over to the Design Team Blog Thanks for stopping by,  xx

Leafy Zentangle Butterfly

There are some lovely leaves on the Tangled Garden stamp set, just released at Chocolate Baroque and I wanted to make a feature of a few of them in this design. I decided to create a rambling frame, by stamping and masking them around the outside of the background, which I had painted with Ecoline ink. I then linked the leaves with small areas of tangled designs. They are simple twirls and dots, not very complicated at all.

I coloured the leaves with pencils. I then stamped the Butterfly onto a spare piece of card and coloured it with pencils as before. I added some wire and some toning pearls for antennae. I stamped a sentiment taken from the 'Patchwork Butterfly' stamp set onto the background to complete the card.

I love using butterflies in my card making, and I think that this one will become a firm favourite. Thanks for stopping by, xx