Brusho Journalling

Hello everyone, I have a project that is a departure from my usual projects today. We are exploring texture on the Design Team Blog this month, and I decided to create a two page journal spread, using layers to give a feeling of texture to the pages.

I have an A4 Pink Pig Journal, several in fact, and used one of these to create my project. The pages are quite robust for adding water, paint, etc. I started by sprinkling Turquoise, Violet and Lime Green Brusho onto the pages, (which I had placed newspaper underneath, so that I could keep the rest of the journal dry), and then spritzed the pages with water. I used two large spare pieces of watercolour paper to blot the pages, so that the excess water did not run everywhere, and I now have two extra pieces of background for other projects.

I added some stencilling with both Distress Inks and white paint. I chose to use in particular Three Quarter Face, and added a stamped image from the Texture Fragments stamp set below to give the suggestion of a lacy dress. I also added an image from the Tangled Fragments stamp set and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink  to build up the background layers. I added a few bottle top ring marks using left over white paint to echo the circular stencil that I had used.

Finally, I added sentiments from the Positive Pants and Rockstar Diva stamp sets.

This was one of those projects that was a lot of fun to make, as I had no real idea at the beginning how it was going to end up! Thanks for stopping by, xx

It's all about the Texture

Hello everyone, this month over on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team, we are exploring texture. It can be in a variety of ways, using stencils, stamps, patterns, layers, but as long as it represents texture in some way. I knew that I wanted to create this piece as my first project, as it incorporated lots of my favourite things. I hope that you enjoy what I have created, and use some of the tips along the way.

Those of you that know me, know that I adore poppies, and I decided to create a project using one of my all time favourite Chocolate Baroque stamps. I have used this stamp so many times over the years, and I decided to make it the focal part of my design. I covered a Tando plaque with a very thin layer of texture paste, do not make your layer too thick, or this will not work. I spritzed my poppy stamp with water, and stamped the excess off onto a non-stick craft mat, before gently pressing the stamp into the texture paste. I also used a small texture stamp from the Tangled Fragments stamp set around the edges. I set the plaque to one side to dry.

I covered a square canvas with gesso, and dried this completely. Using texture paste, I added some poppy heads to the canvas with a stencil. I let the canvas dry completely. I then took one of the Gold Aztec Paints, possibly Antique Gold, (mine do not have colours on them, so I do not know, but it is the duller of the gold options in the pack), and poured out two large blobs onto my non-stick craft mat. I added Vermillion Brusho to one blob, and Sea Green to the other blob. I painted the canvas using the paints, half red, half green, blending wherever they met. I also painted the Tando plaque, using mostly green, but added a small amount of red around the edges.

Once both of the pieces were dry, I added some stamping to the canvas, using a corresponding stamp from the Harlequin Fragments stamp set, using red and green Archival Ink. I added some gilding wax to the textured areas on both pieces, and edged both pieces with Gold Soft Form Relief Paste. This makes a super edging, as it is very easy to apply.

I added some pretty green/grey lace to the canvas before attaching the Tando plaque. I wanted this piece to provide a bit of a boost on those days when I am feeling a bit grey, and so I added an inspirational quote from the Words of Wisdom stamp set.

The picture taken outside shows the shimmer from the paint and the gilding wax, whereas the photograph taken inside shows up the texture detail a bit better.

I will be back later in the month with another texture piece to share. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Diverse Textures from Chocolate Baroque

Hi Folks, I have some cards to show you today using the Harlequin Fragments/Tangled Fragments multibuy from Chocolate Baroque . I wanted to show how versatile these stamps can be and have created three very different looking cards, using these great new stamps.

My first card was created using the watery background stamp, which I stamped onto a strip of white card, using black ink several times. I then created three pieces of decorated stampbord, using three layers of embossing powder and stamping into them while the last layer was still molten. I brushed a little bit of gold Perfect Pearl powder into the crevices to pick up the detail of the stamp. By stamping my background first, I could work out roughly where on the rubber stamp I needed to press to create the UTEE pieces to achieve a pattern running down the card.

I matted the background onto a piece of toning card, and stuck this onto a larger piece of black card. I added a sentiment taken from the Artistic Affirmations stamp set.

 

My second card was created using a piece of smooth watercolour paper, which I sprayed with diluted Weathered Wood Distress Ink. I then stamped the dotty stamp, and the stone effect stamp using the same colour over the background. I embossed the single stone spine in the centre using platinum embossing powder. I added some ferns around the edges, taken from the Wild Meadow stamp set using Pear Tart and Sweet Plum Memento Inks.

I stamped and embossed a flower from the Tangled Garden stamp set, plus the leaf fragment using platinum embossing powder, which I then painted with Splash inks. I decoupaged the flower, added the larger leaves to the stem, and used the smaller leaves for a grass effect. Finally, I added a sentiment from the Amazing Birthday clear stamp set to the background.

 

My third card was created again using watercolour paper for my background. I sprayed the paper with turquoise Dylusions spray, rolling off some of the intense colour for a paler effect. I added a touch of Perfect Pearls turquoise spray at this point. I stamped the large bubbles stamp, and the dotty harlequin stamp with forget-me-not archival ink over the background, and then added some Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the edges to age the colour slightly.

I embossed the butterfly from the Steampunk Buterfly stamp set and some flowers from the Punky Flowers stamp set, using copper embossing powder. I coloured them with splash inks. I added a stamped swirl from the Artistic Expressions stamp plate to resemble leafy tendrils behind the flowers. The sentiment was taken from the Amazing Birthday clear stamp set.

If you love our DT blog then keep your eyes open for something new and colourful coming next week. All will be revealed soon, keep visiting the DT blog to make sure you don’t miss it. Getting excited yet?

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Building Backgrounds

Hi Folks, I have a couple of samples to show you today, using the Harlequin Fragments/Tangled Fragments multibuy stamp set from Chocolate Baroque

I love to make my own backgrounds, and these large stamps are perfect for mixing and matching over sprayed or inked surfaces, or even patterned papers, to create layered backgrounds. For my first card, I have chosen a soft colour scheme, using a printed Julie Nutting tag, and embossed the dotty harlequin stamp using white embossing powder. I have used the large dotty stamp on the main background, stamping my image onto scrap paper first, then onto the card to get a fainter image. This is known as second generation stamping. I stamped three butterflies from the Briar Rose Butterfly stamp set onto beige vellum, using white embossing powder.

The poppy image is from the Flora and Fauna stamp set, which I stamped onto white card and coloured it using Polychromos pencils before cutting it out. Lastly, the sentiment comes from the Mackintosh Sentiments clear stamp set, and I have again embossed this with white embossing powder. I sanded the edges of all of my pieces of card to give a shabby feel to them, before assembling my project and added some cream lace.

I cut my card to 7" x 7" size so that I could use the tag without the top edges showing, I quite like this size, and may make more if I can find a ready source of envelopes. A bit of searching on the Internet, methinks.

My second project was made using a tag that I coloured with leftover inks from my project here as I did not want to waste the remaining ink. I coloured two further tags, and this was one of them. I am trying to create a stash of available backgrounds for future projects, saving me time when I am starting to make a card or tag. I do try to rummage through what I have already made to see if I have something I can use when I am making something. Like me, I'm sure a lot of you have a scrap box full of bits and pieces left over from previous projects.


I stamped the large background stamp using cobalt archival ink, and added white highlights with a signo uniball pen. I used a stamp from the Artistic Expressions stamp set on the background using forget-me-not archival ink, which I also used to edge the tag.

I stamped a peacock feather from the Tangled Peacock stamp set onto pale green vellum three times using navy ink and clear embossing powder. I coloured the reverse of the images with copic markers before cutting them out. A piece of emerald ribbon finishes the tag.

Keep popping over to the Design Team Blog to see what my team mates have made, they have some super samples coming up in July using these stamps. Thanks for stopping by, xx