A New Year Wish

Hello everyone, it is hard to believe that another year has passed.I hope that you have all had a good Christmas and are looking forward to the new year with optimism. I know that not all of you will have had someone to celebrate with, or are missing loved ones. I hope that you can enjoy the friendship that we offer at Chocolate Baroque through the blog, the Facebook Group, and the Ning Group. The groups are all very friendly, and if you sign up for Chocolate Baroque's weekly newsletter, you can find the links for each place in the newsletter. You can ask questions, pick up lots of tips, and find heaps of inspiration.

Personally, I have had a mixed year, but I always feel that a new year offers the possibility to try new crafting challenges, and to learn new skills. I always want to be able to do something else! My craft room is bulging as it is, but there is room for more, and I love to experiment with colour and texture. My two projects that I am sharing with you today are both very cheery, and will hopefully chase away the Winter blues. The first one is a scrapbook page that I made as a TV demo for the Hochanda shows last month, featuring Lesley's Designer Papers 8" x 8" - My Floral Soul, and the Movie Strip Collage stamp.

I started the project by stamping a fern from the Wild Meadow stamp set onto the background, using Versafine Clair ink. I added a sepia photograph of my parents, celebrating their golden Wedding Anniversary. I changed the photo to a sepia effect, because I wanted to use it for a different occasion. I stamped the flower image onto a spare piece of pale kraft card a couple of times, and coloured it using Koh-I-Noor paints. I decoupaged the image, and added it to the page. I made my own ticket, and stamped a sentiment from the Shared Beauty stamp set onto the centre. I added brown ink onto a couple of scrabble tiles, which are my Mum and Dad's initials and a bingo piece, to represent the number of years they have now been married, and also added those to the background.

These papers are lovely for scrapbook pages, they are the perfect size, and are great to add a bit of stamped detail if you wish. I added a piece of kraft card behind mine for extra stiffness.

My second project uses the same background paper , but in the plain version, to make a pretty card. I stamped the Be Kind image onto some book paper a couple of times, using Versamark and gold embossing powder. I added three different colours of Distress Ink for shading. I also stamped and embossed the image onto a piece of kraft card, and added the book page flower layers onto the kraft card script layer. I then adhered this panel to the decorative paper. I stamped the sentiment onto the background with a deep orange ink, which I then used to edge the paper. A kraft card mat finishes the card.

Thank you for your support in 2018, your visits to the blog, and your kind comments. Have a wonderful New Year, and I look forward to your visits in 2019.

Take care and best wishes, xxx