Happy New Year to You All

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well. It's been a while since my last blog post, so firstly I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. 2023 looks set to be a very busy year for us on the personal front as our Daughter is getting married. We have lots of planning to look forward to, and no doubt the months will fly by as we head towards the big day.

I have lots to share with you today, as I did not manage to post last month. I will add a few projects from last month's TV shows, as well as some from the shows that we did just last week. I hope that you managed to watch the shows, we were very busy. The shows were our 6th Anniversary shows with the TV studios, it's amazing to think that we have been affiliated with the Company for that long. They have gone through a few name changes in that time, but we have enjoyed a good working relationship with them throughout the changes. I have been with Chocolate Baroque for a lot longer than six years, as those of you who know me will be aware. I have been on the Design Team for about twelve and a half years now, and Design Team Leader for eight and a half years. Goodness, I had to check, as I couldn't believe that it had been so long! 

Unfortunately Lesley was rather unwell last week, and so I needed to do a few more demos than I would do normally. I really enjoyed working with the beautiful stamps and so I had created lots of projects. I was ready to help out and show how to use the stamps in lots of different ways. My first project was created using some Drawing Cartridge, and stamps from the Technical Butterfly stamp set. I stamped and embossed the vacuum flange image using white embossing powder and Versamark over the background, and added Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink over the top. On a piece of scrap card, I stamped and embossed some of the butterflies, using Versafine Clair Nocturne and clear embossing powder, then coloured them in using a variety of Distress Inks and a blending brush. I cut them out and attached them to the background. I used a little strip of card and stamped the sentiment, brushing a bit of Distress Ink around the edge. 

The TV demo sample was a smaller version of my finished card, simply for speed.

 My second demo on the show was a journal page. I used stamps from some of our older stamp sets; Timeless, Make Your Mark, and Floral Parapernalia Elements. I also added colour to the background with a circle stencil and our own Chocolate Baroque Mask - Kaleidoscope of Butterflies. I used Distress Ink and blending brushes for the stencils, and Versafine Clair in toning colours for the stamps. I chose some stamps from Technical Butterfly to add to the page and then added the fabulous Friendship strip from the Mini Slim Words stamp along the edge. I added some coloured pencil accents to the images, sticking to a limited colour palette of blue, pink, yellow and green. 

 I only added the word strip partway along each page, but as I showed on my TV demo, you can easily join the word strip to stamp all the way along the page. I felt it was well balanced having it just along part of the side in my design, but it is really up to you how you use it.

As Lesley and I mentioned in the shows, we discussed the design of these stamps over a cuppa in the Green Room after one of the shows, we often do our brainstorming that way. We live so far apart, and we only meet up at the studios nowadays. Hopefully this year will see a few more new stamps in the pipeline, including some designs that I have had mulling over for a while now....

Anyway, here are one or two projects from last month's shows that I did not get a chance to share with you before. 

The first card is a remake of an old design, but I added some words from Words of Inspiration to the background. I used two of the little trees from Fantasy Woodland to make the flower.

I created an inky background for my next card by adding Distress Ink to an acrylic block and spritzing it with water. I placed it onto textured card. I have added stamps from Essence of Nature and Baroque Meadow, using Versafine Clair Inks.

These next two cards were very quick and simple to make. I simply took a piece of white or kraft card, and added the splatter stamp from the Timeless stamp set, using coloured Versafine Clair ink. I then added words from Words of Gratitude over the top. I created a matching tag for a gift.

This was another quick card, using a piece of brown kraft paper for the background, to which I added Brushos and spritzed them with water. I stamped a sentiment from Essence of Nature all over the top, to make the background look like a book page. I coloured some Drawing Cartridge with the same Brushos, and stamped two more images from the Essence of Nature stamp set. I used clear embossing powder over the top.

I reworked an old design once again for this card, using the Patchwork Landscape stamp set. I stamped several of the images onto some Drawing Cartridge upon which I had already created a wrinkle free Distress background, and used a fine liner pen to add lines to create more hills and attach the images to each other. I used a circle mask to add more Distress Ink, to give the appearance of a sun. Using the fine liner pen, I added some birds freehand. I coloured the scene using pencils, choosing a palette of five colours, plus the slightly darker versions for shading.

I created an alternative colour option which is more masculine in grey and terracotta tones. You could use kraft card and add white accents too, or create a black, red and white version. There are so many possibilities, why not create a monochrome version in blues, or greens?

I hope that you have enjoyed my projects. I will be back later in the month to share more of this month's demos with you. Thanks so much for stopping by, your visits are always appreciated.

Take care, xx