Underwater Inspiration

Hello everyone, I have a couple more watery creations for you, using the sea themed stamp sets that we have been showcasing all month at Chocolate Baroque.

My first card was created by making a background using Distress Oxide Inks in shades of blue, yellow, pink and green. I created lots of layers until I was happy with the result. I stamped the shells from the Seaside Dreams stamp set, and masked the image before adding the second image behind. I painted both images using the little Koh I Noor palette, and then added some Inktense pencil detail and white highlights. Finally, I stamped the sentiment onto three pieces of scrap card, and attached these to the background. I edged all of the card pieces with blue ink before constructing my project.

For my second card, I used a background from my stash that had been made by painting Turquoise and Sea Green Brushos over the background with lots of water to make a colour wash. Sea salt had been sprinkled over the top and left to dry, which had created small bubbles randomly over the background.

I added some stencilling using coordinating Distress Ink, and stamped the small seahorse using first and second generation stamping. I added some stamping along the bottom using stamps from the Mermaid Queen and Underwater stamp sets. The bubbles were created by dipping a pen lid into white acrylic paint, and pressing it onto the background. I added a white highlight to each bubble to represent the light reflecting on the bubbles. I painted the foliage using the Koh I Noor palette once again.

I stamped the large seahorse onto a scrap of card, another background left over from a previous project, and cut the image out, leaving a small border around the edge. I attached the image to the background, and added a sentiment from the Seaside Dreams stamp set. Finally, I edged the background with teal ink, before adhering it to a white card blank.

Don't forget that there is a callout for new members for our Guest Design Team. Do check out the post on the Shop Blog for details of how to apply. The deadline is 23rd February, so there is plenty of time to apply. We are a really friendly Team to work with, and you could get to see some of your designs on the TV!

Thanks for stopping by, I will be back with some floral inspiration for you next month. xx

Going Live!

Hello everyone, I have three projects to share with you today, which I took with me to last month's TV shows on Hochanda to use as demos on the shows. If you watched the shows, you will have seen two of these projects in action, but the third one did not make it to air, because the stamp featured sold out so fast. That's the nature of live TV!

For my first project, I created a watercolour background on a large piece of cartridge paper, and stamped a selection of stamps from the Underwater and Mermaid Queen over the top. I cut a postcard sized piece of cartridge paper, and stamped the seashells from Seaside Dreams, and masked the image. I added a watercolour wash over the background. I coloured the shells once I had removed the mask, using just three colours of Distress Ink, Salty Ocean, Fossilized Amber and Rusty Hinge, mixing the three colours to create a variety of different shades. I added a sentiment to the bakground.

I created a postcard back by drawing some lines using a fineliner pen, and adding images from the Mail Art stamp set. Once I had completed all of my elements, I assembled the card.

To create my second project, I used the same selection of stamps to decorate some brown paper using brown, orange and red tones of ink. I used the paper to make first some wrapping paper for a present, addng some red hessian and some string as a decorative feature. I stamped and embossed some shell images onto kraft card using gold embossing powder, and added some colour using Distress Ink, before cutting the images out, and attaching them to the parcel. The card was made in exactly the same way.

To create my final project, I made a watercolour wash for a piece of watercolour card using Turquoise and Sea Green Brushos, and sprinkled sea salt over the background while it was still wet. The salt draws some of the liquid away and creates beautiful patterns. Once the background was dry, I brushed the salt away, and stamped a seaweed image from the Underwater stamp set across the background, using first, second and third generation stamping. I also added a sentiment.

Finally, I stamped the Ammonite image onto cartridge paper using some of the left over diluted Brushos, which I picked up from my craft mat, directly onto the stamp. I used a water brush to draw some of the colour from the outline of the image. I cut the image out, and attached it to the card using 3D foam pads.

I will be back with more watery inspiration for you in a little while. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Along the Edge of the Sea Bed

Hello everyone, I have another watery sample to show you today, using the Steampunk Funk Fish and Steampunk Sea World stamp sets, currently on offer as Stamp of the Month sets at Chocolate Baroque.

I started my sample by stamping the seashell edge from the Seaside Dreams stamp set near the bottom of my background, but splitting it in half, and stamping a piece on either side of the page. I also created a mask of the image, and covered the original stamped image with the mask. I then stamped the octopus from the Steampunk Funk Fish stamp plate in between the two images, and masked that image as well. I stamped the seaweed edge slightly higher up the page in the middle, and then a piece on each side, to create a continuous run behind the first set of images, and masked these as well.

I used some Splash Inks, which I diluted and blended to get the colours that I wanted, and then coloured the background, using a turquoise for the sea area, and an ochre colour for the sand. I added extra interest to the sea area by sponging Peacock Feathers Distress Ink through a Crafter's Workshop stencil to create a bubble effect. I stamped several fish onto adhesive labels and coloured these with water colour pencils, and also stamped a few more directly onto the background. I chose to stamp these background fish with blue ink, so that they appeared to fade into the background slightly, toning the colours down on these fish as well. I removed the masks from the images on the sea bed, and coloured these with watercolour pencils, blending the colours with a waterbrush. I added a stamp from the Nature Fragments stamp set along the edges for a bit of extra funky seaweed.

 I am having great fun combining these new stamps with some of the older sets already available on the website as you can see. I hope that I have given you a bit of inspiration,