Using up those Scraps

Hello everyone, I am sharing a couple of cards that form part of the Fifteen Minute Blog post found on the Design Team Blog today. Our aim is to create cards that can be made in fifteen minutes or less, using a variety of Chocolate Baroque stamps. The cards may be clean and simple in design, or simply quick and easy to make. You can find a whole host of inspiration in the blog posts, and the Design Team contribute as a group, so you will see a real mix of styles and techniques.

For my cards today, I am using some fabric scraps left over from my recent journal pages. The fabric had been coloured with Distress re-inkers, and then dried completely. I used Fossilized Amber for one piece, and Shabby Shutters for the other piece. I stamped a simple floral image from the Essence of Nature and Autumn Fairy Collection stamp sets on the scraps, using Black Archival Ink, and then frayed the edges of the fabric.

I used iron on interfacing on the reverse of the fabric to attach it to the card blank, and then attached a little pearl button to the panel. I stamped a greeting from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set on each card to finish.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Bouquet of Sunflowers

Hello everyone,September is a very busy month for me, with lots of family Birthdays. My Mother-in-Law has her Birthday in September, and so when I needed to make another DT project this design seemed perfect to double up as her Birthday card. She loves sunflowers, they are her favourite flower, and so I wanted to make them the focal point of the card.

I have created the card, using stamps from the Sunny Sunflowers stamp set, stamping the flowers and leaves, masking them as I went along, to create a cluster of flowers in the corner of the card. Once I had masked all of the images, I created a Brusho background, using red, yellow and brown pigments.
I embossed an image from the Texture Fragments stamp set around the edge of the background, using gold embossing powder. I then coloured the images in using Distress Markers, and added some shading with Faber Castell watercolour pencils.
Finally, I added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set, and matted the background onto a black card blank.

Once I had created my card, I had quite a bit of left over colour on my craft mat. I used a large water colour tag to mop up some of the colour, and dried it completely. I repeated the process a couple of times, until I was happy with the overall colour on the tag. I stuck the tag to a thick piece of burgundy card, and added some shading, using Seedless Preserves Distress Ink around the edge of the tag.

I stamped some more sunflowers and leaves onto some spare watercolour paper, and coloured them in using Zig Clean Colour markers. I arranged the flowers and leaves onto the tag, adhering them with a dries clear glue. I added some micro beads to the centre of the main flower for some added texture. Some toning ribbon completes the tag.

 Thanks for stopping by, xx

Brusho Trees

Hello everyone, it's time for another weekly post on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, and I am providing part of the inspiration this week. I have created a card using Brushos, choosing Vermillion, Orange, Lime Green and Emerald Green as my colour choices.

I die cut a rectangle from smooth watercolour paper, and added a circle mask, before sprinkling the four colours of Brusho across the paper. I spritzed the paper with water, and used a second piece of paper to blot the excess water. I repeated the process with the larger background piece. The beauty of this mehod is that I have two more pieces of watercolour paper ready for another project!

I removed the mask, and added some colour using Squeezed Lemonade and Wild Honey Distress Ink. I then stamped the tree from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set, and added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set. I added a small amount of shading under the tree using Peeled Paint Distress Ink, to ground the tree.

Finally, I matted the background onto olive card, and added a toning ribbon, before adding the main image.

Do pop over to the challenge blog, and check out all of the details about the challenge itself. You will also find lots of inspiration on the blog fromk my Design Team mates. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Spring Greens

Hello everyone, we are taking a bit of a retrospective look at our favourite stamps over on the Design Team Blog at the moment.  I have been a fan of Sue Page's images for many years, pretty much since I started stamping in the 1990's. So, I have a lot of Chocolate Baroque favourite stamps in my stash, as you can well imagine!I am sharing a card using just a few of my favourites with you today. For my card, I have chosen a lovely tree stamp from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set. I love the versatilty of this stamp set, so many different stamps, offering many possibilities.

To create my card, I stuck an old book page onto some thin card, and then stamped the tree image onto the card. I coloured the image with Inktense pencils and a water brush. I also tore some jagged strips of book page, and coloured them with various colours of green Distress Ink, darker at the top of each strip, and paler at the bottom.

I added a circle mask to a white card blank, and coloured the top portion of the card pale blue, using Distress Ink. I then removed the circle mask, and added a bit of yellow ink to the circle. I stuck the book page strips to the lower end of the card, and trimmed off the rough edges.

I stamped the tree image directly onto the card, using Versafine Onyx Black Ink, and added a bit of shading under the image using a dark green pencil. I decoupaged the image that I had stamped onto book paper over the background image. I stamped three birds from the Landscape Edges clear stamp set over the sun, and added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments clear stamp set.

This was a simple, card to make, and could be used for lots of different occasions. I feel that it has a rather Spring-like feel and have named my blog post 'Spring Greens', a bit of a pun there, sorry!

There is a competition running at the moment at Chocolate Baroque, as the Company is celebrating its fifth Birthday this month. We would like you to create a project using the theme of 'Spring', and email a picture to sales@chocolatebaroque.com you can find all the details here. There are some great prizes, and a chance to grab a guest spot on the Design Team! So get your thinking caps on and have a go, as it would be lovely to see what you create.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Some of my favourite stamps

Hello everyone, I am taking a look back at some of my favourite Chocolate Baroque stamp sets during this blog post. It was a tough call, but poppies featured heavily in my choices, so here are a couple of cards, that I came up with.

For my first card, I have chosen to combine stamps from the Poppy Meadow and Flora and Fauna stamp sets. I have stamped these images, and after masking them off, created a sponged background using Distress Inks, and a Crafters Workshop stencil. I wanted a crumpled finish to the background, and the soft grey ink really helped to achieve this effect. I have added a sentiment from the Loving Sentiments stamp set, and a grey mat behind the background.

My second card uses a stamp from the Poppy Edges stamp set, which I have stamped several times onto watercolour paper using Dylusions in red, orange and yellow tones to spritz the paper. I cut the images out, and stuck them onto another sprayed background, adding a smaller image from the Poppy Meadow stamp set. I used some black card to mat and layer the background, and then added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Cheery Sunflowers

Hello everyone, I have another floral project to share with you today, using one of the Flowerhead Collection cling mounted stamps. I have chosen to use the Daisy Ring Centre image to create my card, as I liked the versatility of this design, with the open centre. I wanted to create a cluster of sunflowers, and the open centre of the design works perfectly for adding beads, which I love to do in lots of my flower projects.

I started my card by stamping the first image onto my smooth watercolour background, and masking the image, before adding some leaves from the Sunny Sunflowers stamp set. I masked the leaves, and stamped two more of the large flower images, plus a spare image onto an extra piece of watercolour paper, so that I could decoupage the central image.

I coloured the images with Distress Markers and a water brush, and then added shading with pencils. On this occasion, I used Faber Castell Aquarelle pencils, but I did not wet them once I had coloured the images. I coloured the background by tapping some Salty Ocean Distress Ink onto a craft mat, and picking it up with a crumpled baby wipe. I then patted the ink onto the background, turning the baby wipe this way and that way, to get a varied pattern.

I stamped the butterflies from  the Thistle Butterfly and Briar Rose Butterfly stamp sets, onto the background, and again onto spare watercolour card so that I could decoupage them. I simply coloured them with the Aquarell pencils, and blended the colours with a water brush. The sentiment is from the Mackintosh Sentiments clear stamp set. I matted the background onto a black card blank, and then added Glossy Accents to the centre of the main flower before adding dark brown seed beads.

Sunflowers are my Mother in Law's favourite flower. They are so cheery, and would brighten up anyone's day. This card would make a lovely Get Well card, or a Thinking of You card, as well as a pretty Birthday card. I hope it has given you some inspiration anyway. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Making an Impression

Hello everyone, I have a textured card to show you today using the stamps of the month currently on offer at Chocolate Baroque.

I created my background by cutting a piece of smooth watercolour paper slightly smaller than my card blank, and covering it with water. I added some acrylic paint that I had diluted to the paper to give a watery wash over the background. I chose three colours of paint; yellow, saffron and a plum colour. I dried the background with my heat gun, and as is it was quite rippled, gave it a good iron to get it nice and flat again!

I stamped the linen texture stamp using Saffron Archival Ink, and added the flower heads using Seedless Preserves Distress Ink. I stamped a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set onto some hand dyed ribbon that I had left over from another project, and attached this to the background.

I rolled out three pieces of polymer clay and cut them into circles. I pressed the flower head stamp firmly into the clay, and following the maufacturer's instructions, I baked the clay in the oven. Once the pieces had cooled down, I painted them with the same colours of acrylic paint that I had used for the background of the card. Once they were dry, I added some metallic wax to pick out the details of the flowers.

These stamps are great for adding texture to all sorts of surfaces, and I hope that you will experiment and try something like this out yourself. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Spring Birds

Hello everyone, I would like to show you some cards made using the Spring Birds multibuy stamp set, currently on offer at Chocolate Baroque. These stamps are perfect for this time of year, as we start to look forward to warmer weather and the changing season.

I started my first card by making a wrinkle free distress background; placing some Spun Sugar and Old Paper Distress Stains onto a craft mat, and spritzing them with water. I also spritzed a piece of watercolour paper with water and then placed it onto the craft mat, ensuring that the paper was covered with colour. I dried the paper with a heat gun, and then patted it randomly onto the droplets of colour left on my craft mat, creating a second layer of colour on the background. I also dried this with the heat gun.

I stamped some dog roses and a bird from the Pretty Birdcage stamp set along with a bird taken from the Spring birds stamp set onto the background. I masked the main dog roses before adding the birds and extra roses. I coloured the images with pencils. I added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set to finish.

I decided to create an easel card for my second project, by cutting a piece of dark brown card measuring 12" x 6" and another piece 6" x 6". I scored the large piece at 6" and 9", folding and creasing the folds firmly. I folded the card in half, and then with the fold facing away from me, I stuck the bottom half of the 6" x6" square piece of card to the folded card. I stamped the Leafy Trails Big Bold Background stamp twice onto plain card, and coloured this with waterbased markers. I edged the card with Distress Ink.

I die cut two circles, and whilst the dies were still in place, I added some colour with Distress Ink. Once I had removed the dies, I then stamped the bird image onto the larger circle, and a sentiment from the Amazing Birthday stamp set onto the smaller circle. I hand cut the mounts for the circles, by drawing around the dies onto some card left over from the easel card. I coloured some seam binding ribbon with Distress Stains to match my colour scheme, I used Spiced Marmalade.

   

 Thanks for stopping by, xx

Changing Colours of Autumn

Hello everyone, I have a couple of projects to share using the new stamp sheets of the month for November.

My first card uses the lovely artichoke stamp from the Mellow Fruitfulness stamp set. I stamped the image onto smooth watercolour paper and then masked the image before adding a thistle image from the Wild Meadow stamp set. I added some texture in two corners of the background using a Crafter's Workshop stencil and some texture paste. I coloured the background using Adirondack Inks, and then stamped an image from the Harlequin Fragments stamp set over the top. I added some metallic gilding wax to the stencilled area for a bit of interest. I coloured the stamped image using pencils. I stamped a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments clear stamp set in one corner, and then added some plum shading around the edges of the background, before matting the whole thing onto purple card.

My second project was made using an oval cut from smooth watercolour paper, onto which I stamped and embossed the row of trees from the Autumn Edges stamp set. I used Versafine Onyx black ink and a clear embossing powder for a nice crisp image. I then used various tones of Distress Ink, and washed the colour loosely over the background with a large brush and some water. Once this was dry, I added deeper tones using Distress Markers for shading, and blended them  with a water brush. I added lots of little dots in Autumn tones to the grassy area to resemble leaves. I stuck the oval to a large kraft card blank.

I stamped the row of open leaves several times onto scraps of paper that I had left over from other projects. Some papers I had coloured myself, and some papers were ready made scrapbook papers, but I chose colours that were suitably Autumnal. I cut the leaves out and arranged them in a pleasing fashion around the edge of the image, before sticking them down. Finally, I added a sentiment from the Amazing Birthday clear stamp set. 

Thanks for stopping by,  xx

Autumn Tones

Hello Folks, I have some cards to share today, using some of the lovely new stamps that have been recently launched over at Chocolate Baroque .  This has to be my favourite time of year, as the leaves start to fall, and there is a riot of different colours displayed in the trees and hedgerows.

For my first two cards, I made a wrinkle free Distress background, using Ripe Persimmon and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks. I have used a stamp taken from the Poppy Edges stamp set, and stamped around the corners of a piece of the background, using plum archival ink. I masked the corners, and then stamped an image from the Poppy Meadow stamp set over the background using the same orange ink that I used to make my background. However, I stamped the image onto scrap paper first, before I stamped onto the background, as I did not want the image to be too vibrant. I masked off part of the poppy edge stamp with masking tape, before I inked up one of the flowers, and then peeled off the masking tape. I then stamped the single flower onto a piece of stampbord. I coloured the image with pencils, and then covered the surface with three layers of ultra thick embossing powder, to create a tile effect. I added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments clear stamp set.

On my second card, I used a strip of the same wrinkle free distress background, matted onto burgundy card, and placed it onto a kraft card base. I stamped the poppy edge four times onto card, and coloured sections of the image with pencils, before cutting them out, and layering them onto the background. I added two of the little bees, which were also coloured with pencil. The sentiment was taken from the Amazing Birthday clear stamp set.

For my final card, I made a gelli plate background, using a selection of green inks, and stamped the single leaf and foliage stamp taken from the Autumn Poppy stamp set randomly over the plate. I took a print from the plate and trimmed it to size, before edging the background with a Tea Dye Distress Ink. I stamped the main image onto a large oval die cut, adding some colour to the background with green and orange Distress Inks. I coloured the image with pencils. The sentiment comes from the Nature's Peace stamp set, and is one of my favourites.

Thanks for stopping by, 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

Birds of a Feather

Hi Folks, I have a couple of bird related samples for you today using the stamp of the month stamps from Chocolate Baroque

For my first sample, I created a couple of backgrounds using Distress paints and water. I used some smooth watercolour paper, as I wanted to add lots of water to the paints to create a watery feel to the backgrounds. I have used Seedless Preserves, Crushed Olive and Antique Linen as my colour palette. On the larger background, I stamped a border using a tree stamp from the Woodland Dreams stamp set using gold embossing powder. On the smaller background I have used one of the lovely Lalique style birds, which I have coloured using Distress Markers. I simply matted the backgrounds with plum card, and added some ruffled ribbon.

One difference I noted between Distress paints and Distress Inks was that I could not bleach my central image to paint it, owing to the acrylic base of the paints. It did affect the final look of my project, however, I was still able to add sufficient colour to the image to achieve the look that I wanted.

My second project is a little altered notelet box, using Weathered Wood Crackling Medium and acrylic paint from my stash. I painted the little box using navy and and pale blue paint, applying the crackling medium in between the two layers. I used very cheap acrylic paint, so I am happy that it works very effectively. I stamped the bird onto tissue paper using silver embossing powder, and coloured it with Distress Markers. I adhered the tissue paper using Matte Medium, taking care not to wet the front of the image, as I did not want to make the coloured image run.

I used a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments clear stamp set to stamp along a piece of ribbon to embellish the sides of the box, using Versamagic Ink. I added a couple of Crealie flowers to complete my project.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Fabulous Flappers

Hi Folks, There are new stamps that have been recently released at Chocolate Baroque  I have really enjoyed working with these lovely stamps, as I am a real fan of the Art Deco/Art Noveau era. There are three plates, a large A4 plate called Fabulous Flappers  full of flappers and decorative elements, and two smaller A5 plates with some lovely Lalique style birds, and lovely curvy Art Deco flowers.

For my first card, I have created a marble background, using shaving foam and Golden acrylic paints. I have stamped the main image onto a piece of white card, and cut out an oval shape, just avoiding the bottom area where her dress overlaps the edge. I hand cut a black mat layer. I stamped some of the flower images onto some spare white card, and coloured all of the images with Distress Markers.

My second lady is resting on a stepper card. I have embossed some linen card, and highlighted the raised areas to show the texture. I have used one of the smaller stamps on the Nouveau Lovebirds stamp plate to create a border along the bottom of the card, and added some black gems for decoration. I have added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments clear stamp set.

My last sample uses the same lady again, but this time I have used a peacock theme for my card. I created a Distress Ink background, and used a peacock feather mask over the background. I stamped the peacock cluster stamp around the edges, using the corresponding colour inks that I used to create the background.

I stamped the central image, and then used some bleach to take away the colour within the image, before colouring it with pencils. I added some ribbon, and Memory Box die cuts to finish. I wanted to thread the ribbon behind the main image, so I cut two slits along the outline of her dress, and simply threaded it underneath.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Hi Folks, I have made a card using the Mini Echoes template from Crafter's Workshop. I coloured some texture paste with acrylic paint, before spreading it over the template onto black card. Once it was dry, I dry brushed a deeper colour over the top to create some shadows. I stamped the main image onto a Tim Holtz cabinet card movers and shapers die cut shape, which I have actually used upside down because it fits the design perfectly this way! I needed to draw around the die to get the correct size, just in case you were thinking of trying this idea out yourselves. I have coloured the image with pencils. I have added a sentiment from the Mackintosh sentiments clear stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Foiled Rose Panel

Hi Folks, I have created a card with the Mackintosh Windows stamp set using some metal foil to create a focal panel. I stamped the image with Stazon Ink, and drew over the lines with an embossing tool. I rubbed black acrylic paint onto the panel, and then wiped the excess off, leaving black paint in the crevices. I added some coloured gilding wax to the leaves and flowers to make them stand out.

I stamped some matching roses onto a piece of background from my stash, that I had made ages ago. I have used the wrinkle free distress technique with metallic Distress Stain added to two tones of purple Distress Ink. I simply added a piece of ribbon and a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set to finish.

 

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Orange Tree

Hi Folks, I have another card to show you today, using the stamps of the month from Chocolate Baroque. I have combined them with an older stamp set, Fantasy Woodland to create this card.I have used some fairly plain background paper, the reverse is extremely patterned, from my stash, and stamped the images, using archival ink. I then coloured the images with Polychromos pencils, adding some white highlights. I used one of the gorgeous Mackintosh sentiments, the fonts are just great on these stamps, and I know I will use these stamps so much.

I have matted the design onto orange and black card, and simply added some little mosaic tiles, as a nod to the Mackintosh detail so prevalent in the designs of the time.

 

The beauty of Chocolate Baroque stamps is that lots of the newer designs have details that tie in with the older designs, so the leaves and orange motif match perfectly on both of these sets. If you are a CB fan like me, I hope that I have reminded you to look back through some of your old favourites and use them with your new best friends. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Mackintosh Birthday

I have always loved the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and the new stamps sets from Chocolate Baroque evoke that style perfectly. I have a Birthday card to show you today, using the lovely new Mackintosh Windows/Mackintosh Beauty Multibuy stamp set. I have created a wrinkle free distress background, and stamped the rose spray from each set onto the background to create a frame for the main image. I used bleach to paint the images, so that I could then colour these images with Distress markers. I stamped the main image onto a large die cut and also coloured this with markers before matting it onto black card. I have added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set.

 

I wanted to show the versatility of this stamp and that it could be used for lots of occasions, not just weddings, by changing the colours that you use. Thanks for stopping by, xx