Furry Friends

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have some projects to share with you showcasing stamps from this month's TV shows on Create and Craft.

My first two cards feature stamps from a new set of stamps called Over the Rainbow, designed by Donna St. Pierre. I created a background for my cards by adding Distress Oxide to an acrylic block and spritzing this with water. I placed a piece of Drawing Cartridge over the block and pressed it down . Once I had removed the Drawing Cartridge, I scrunched a piece of cling film onto the surface, and left the background to dry. This technique creates a fabulous marbled effect.

Once the background was dry, I added some first and second generation stamping along the bottom with a foliage stamp from the Silhouette Grasses stamp set, using a green Versafine Clair ink. I used the same Distress Oxide inks to shade around the edges of a whiteboard heart using blending brushes. I then stamped the silhoette cat or dog onto the heart in second generation stamping, using a soft grey for the dog, and a yellow for the cat. I only wanted a faint impression of the image. I used three different coloured pencils and small pencil strokes to create fur for the animals. I started with the lightest colour first, and worked up to the darkest colour last. I let some of the inked image show through for highlights in the fur. My pencil colours were a brown, grey and black for the dog, and two shades of orange and a terracotta for the cat.

I added a little butterfly and a sentiment from the same stamp set to each heart, then more of the silhouette grass to create a little scene. I attached the heart to its background to complete the card.

My next card was created using both of Donna's sets, Over the Rainbow, and Hevenly Pets. I am a cat lover, and so I have chosen to use the cat for my sample, but you could use the dog image and create a similar project. I stamped the cat image onto smooth stamping card, and then masked the image off with Masking Tissue. I stamped the rainbow bridge image so that just the bridge and rainbow would be visible. I added a soft background using Wilted Violet, Kitsch Flamingo and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink blended softly over the background. I added a sentiment which fitted this card perfectly. I removed the mask and coloured the images with pencils. You could use whatever medium you like to add colour, I simply had my pencils nearby, and they are generally my go to medium of choice.

I am sharing an older sample created with another stamp set of Donna's, A Vase full of Love. I really enjoyed creating this card, the hummingbird is such a lovely image, as are the fuchsias.

We also had some beautiful designer papers on the show. They are a fabulous size, perfect for creating a card in no time at all. I simply trimmed one of the papers slightly, as I wanted a white edge, and added a bit of ink to the edges. I chose some words from Punky Expressions which I stamped in the corner, and I added a couple of vellum butterflies. This butterfly comes from the Butterfly Mind stamp set. 

You could use the papers as beautiful backgrounds, cut the flowers out, decoupage them, add stamping or inks, coloured pencils, or a vellum strip with a sentiment, they are so versatile. 

I will be back soon with more projects to share. Thanks so much for stopping by, I always appreciate your visits. 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

Focus on Florals

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well. I am back to share more projects from last month's TV shows.

My first project was created with a piece of scrap corrugated packaging, the sort that comes as a parcel containing books or anything flat, really. I opened it out, took off any extra pieces, and peeled away the top surface to reveal the ridges underneath. 

I created a large piece of A4 background paper by using one of the little worker stamps from the Flora and Fauna stamp set, stamping and embossing it randomly over the background using white embossing powder. I then coloured the whole background using Fossilized Amber Distress Ink and a blending brush. I chopped the background into three pieces to fit my corrugated panel, and added a bit of torm script paper to the lower portion. I die cut three tags from Drawing Cartridge which had been stained with tea. I stamped the main images from Walk Tall onto the tags, and edged them with Black Soot Distress Ink. On one tag, I added a sentiment directly, and on the other two, I added a piece of black ribbon and a little piece of card with a sentiment. I stuck the tags to the background and added lace and black buttons. I matted the yellow background to black card for definition before adhering it to the corrugated card. I chose to score the corrugated card to make a tryptich that would stand up, and for stability, I added washi tape to the back.

I created a similar background for my second project, using another little worker stamp from Flora and Fauna, embossing the stamp using white embossing powder over the background. This time, I chose Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink as the background colour. I stamped the image from the same stamp set onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge, and coloured it initially with Distress Inks and a waterbrush. I added shading with pencils. I stamped a sentiment from Punky Expressions onto a small die cut rectangle. I edged all of the card pieces with Distress Ink before adhering them to the card blank.

I chose to use the very pretty foxglove from the Honey Bee stamp set as the main focus for my final card. I stamped the image three times, along with two of the bees, and masked the images, before adding colour to the background with Distress Ink. I spritzed the background with water. I stamped the silhouette image using first and second generation stamping using green and purple ink. I removed the masks and coloured the images with pencils. Finally I added the sentiment from the same stamp set.

I will be back later in the month with more projects to share with you. Take care, and thanks so much for stopping by, xx

Painted Butterflies

Hello everyone, I have a couple of projects to share with you using stamps that were featured on last month's TV shows.

My first project was created using a stencilled background and three different colours of Distress Ink.  I used a piece of Smooth White Stamping Paper and moved the stencil across the page to cover the entire area. If you look closely, you can see where I have joined the two sections together, but it doesn't really matter, as it is just a background, and the butterflies from the Steampunk Butterfly stamp set mostly cover it up. The stencil I have used is one by Craft Emotions called 'Botanical'.

I chose three words from the Punky Expressions stamp set, and stamped them onto the background using Versafine Black ink, to represent the butterfly bodies. I stamped the butterfly wings onto some Drawing Cartridge using the same ink, and coloured them with Inktense pencils, blending the colours with a waterbrush. Any watercolour pencils would do. I cut the wings out and adhered them either side of the words. Finally, I added the sentiment, also from Punky Expressions.

For my second card, I created a background using a piece of Drawing Cartridge and Distress Inks in shades of brown and green. I added stamps from Make Your Mark, Timeless and Steampunk Butterfly. I stamped and embossed two butterflies from the last set using copper embossing powder, and coloured them with Inktense pencils and a waterbrush, again, you could use any watercolour pencils. I cut the butterflies out and added words from Punky Expressions. I edged the background using a dark brown ink.

I had a lot of fun creating these cards, the stamp sets are so versatile, and as you can see, they all mix and match so well. I hope that I have inspired you to try out some ideas. Thanks for stopping by, take care, xx

Quick Gelli Print Cards

Hello everyone, I have a couple of cards to share using the stamps featured on last month's TV shows on Hochanda. Both cards follow the same basic recipe, but with a few tweaks here and there, I have created two very different cards, one for a male and one for a female recipient.

If you have a spare afternoon, create a few gelli print backgrounds, or rummage through some of the backgrounds that you have already made to see if you have something suitable for this project. I simply used a brayer to apply two colours of Distress Ink to the gelli plate, then stamped a dotty tool over the top to get the background effect before pulling the prints. You could press bubble wrap onto the gelli plate for a similar effect.

For my first card, I stamped and embossed a couple of cog images from the Punky Flowers stamp plate along the bottom of the background, using gold embossing powder. I stamped an image from Steampunk Funky Fish and added a sentiment from Punky Expressions, using Archival Ink. I coloured the images using Koh-I-Noor watercolour pencils. Finally, I edged the background with blue Distress Ink.

For my second card, I created the background in exactly the same way, and then stamped an image from Punky Flowers using Archival Ink. I masked the flowers and stamped the image again a few times using Versafine Clair in a toning orange colour. I added a sentiment from Punky Expressions, and coloured the images with pencils as before. Before I attached my background to the card, I edged it with pink Distress Ink.

Punky Expressions is a very versatile stamp set, with words for lots of different occasions. These cards will be great for lots of different purposes, and can be sent to cheer someone up, just because, or for a particular reason. I hope that you will be inspired by my projects and try the ideas out for yourselves.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

A Steampunk Garden

Hello everyone, I have a project to share with you today, featuring stamps from last month's TV shows on Hochanda.

I love a bit of steampunk every now and then, and these sets are amongst my favourites. I have created a garden scene using flowers from the Punky Flowers stamp set, stamped onto tissue paper, coloured with Polychromos pencils, and adhered to a painted canvas with matte medium. I then stamped the owl from Steampunk Birds onto a piece of drawing cartridge, coloured it with pencils as before, and attached the image with wet glue.

The sentiment is from Punky Expressions.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Steampunk Cycling

Hello everyone, I have a couple of cycling themed cards to share with you today, using a range of Steampunk stamps featured during last month's shows on Hochanda.

To create my first card, I stamped the penny farthing image from the Steampunkery stamp set, and then masked the image using masking tissue. I created a series of hills using Peeled Paint, Twisted Citron and Shaded Lilac Distress Ink, and added some trees from the Tall Trees stamp set, using dark green Versafine Clair Ink. I added a bit of pencil shading to 'ground' the smaller trees. I used Salty Ocean Distress Ink to create the sky, masking off a circle for the sun. I stamped the sentiment from the Punky Expressions stamp set, and added some birds from the Landscape Edges stamp set.

I removed the mask and coloured the penny farthing with Inktense pencils. Finally, I matted the background onto a large black card blank.

For my second card, I wanted to create a collaged feel, using lots of stamping to build up backgrounds. I started by using a patterned Crafty Individuals tag, and added some images from the Eccentric Edwardian stamp set in vintage sepia tones. I also added the gentleman on the bike as the focal image, using darker brown ink.

I made a larger background in toning colours on a piece of kraft card, picking the same images that I had used on the tag to create the background. I picked a grey card to mat the background, as it was a colour that was already on the tag background. I added a cheery tan ribbon to the tag, and stamped a sentiment from the Punky Expressions stamp set onto a small piece of scrap card.

I hope that you have enjoyed my Steampunk inspiration this month, and that you will try some of the ideas for yourselves. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Clean and Simple

Hello everyone, I am back to share some more projects featured on last month's Steampunk shows on Hochanda. For these three projects, I wanted to focus on the new word plate, Punky Expressions, and the different ways that the stamps could be used. I have created three very clean and simple cards, great for when you need a card that does not take too long to make.

I created a gelli plate background on a large white card blank, by brayering Distress Ink in shades of Salty Ocean and Rusty Hinge across the round gelli plate. I used an image from the Steampunk Travel stamp set, stamping straight onto the plate, to take colour away, and not cleaning the stamp in between stamping, so it added colour in various areas as well. I pressed the plate onto the card to ensure that I printed the background exactly where I wanted it to go. I added a few more of the little airships onto the background, using the same shades of Distress Ink as before.

I stamped the large gentleman from the Eccentric Edwardian stamp plate using black ink. I added the Eureka! sentiment around the edges, starting at the top and bottom, moving left and right, then simply filling in the gaps.

For my second card, I created another gelli plate background, using Salty Ocean and Twisted Citron Distress Ink, and pressing a dotty tool onto the plate to create a textured pattern. I often use found items around the house, including bits of cling film, so whatever you have handy is fine. I added some images from the Silhouette Grasses stamp set, using shades of Versafine Clair Ink in tones of blue and green, a little butterfly from the Baroque Meadow stamp plate, and finally, combined two of the stamps from the Punky Expressions stamp set. These new words and phrases are so versatile, and will be very useful for lots of occasions.

Finally, a really quick card, using more of the grasses as before in a different colour option, sticking to blues, purples and pinks this time, straight onto a card blank. The butterflies as before, and a variation on the stamp sentiment. This was such a quick card to make using first and second generation stamping to build up depth to the flower field.

I hope that my cards have given you some ideas for these fabulous stamps. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Steampunk Flowers

Hello everyone, I hope you caught Lesley's fabulous Steampunk shows last week on Hochanda, featuring an eclectic mixture of Steampunk images. I love working with this versatile genre of stamps, because you can use the images in so many different ways; very grungy, adding lots of texture, or more feminine in style, altogether prettier, using brighter colours.

I have created a floral card, loosely based on the idea of dandelion clocks, which could be for a friend's Birthday, or just to show that you care, using a sentiment from the brand new Punky Expressions stamp set which will be available on the website in the next few days.

I started to create my card by blending Wilted Violet, Salty Ocean, Abandoned Coral and Fossilized Amber Distress Ink onto a piece of smooth Cartridge paper. I based my colour scheme around the papers that I had chosen for the flowers that I was going to make further along in the project. I spritzed the background with water, to create a mottled effect, blotting the background here and there with a piece of tissue. I stamped the large script stamp from the Eccentric Edwardian stamp set over the background, using Salty Ocean Distress Ink. On a spare piece of card, I stamped the small clock three times, and cut it out. I added a bit of yellow ink to age the images slightly.

I die cut some flowers from some Crafty Individuals paper, and scrunched them to give them a bit of texture and movement, inking the backs of the flowers with blue ink. To complete the flowers, I stamped three stems using an image from the Diamante Delights stamp set onto the background using grey ink, and some leaves from the Bold Blooms stamp set onto some scrapbook paper, which I cut out. I added the clock faces to the centre of the paper flowers, and used some 3D foam behind the central flower.

You may have caught sight of one of my old samples on the show created using images from some of our Steampunk stamp sets, featuring the fabulous beetle from the Steampunkery stamp set as a focal point. I have again used paper flowers to create this design, but added cogs in the centre, dropping beads into the middle of each one, and stamping onto the leaves this time.

I will be back later in the month with more Steampunk ideas to share with you, do keep checking the Design Team blog to see more fabulous ideas from my Design Team mates. Thanks for stopping by, xx