Two Quick Cards

Hello everyone, it's time for the monthly Fifteen Minute blog post over on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team blog.  I have two cards featuring in the post, and would like to share them with you.

The first card uses some of the incredibly versatile Drawing Cartridge available from the website. I have coloured the background with Distress Oxide Inks, which I spread over a craft mat and spritzed with water. I placed the drawing cartridge over the ink, and patted it down to pick up the colour. I dried the paper, and then patted it onto the mat again to pick up some of the left over droplets of ink for another layer of colour. I then stamped a variety of foliage stamps over the top using Versafine Clair inks in first and second and third generation stamping, to create lots of depth. I have added two bees, and given their wings some sparkle with Stickles glue. A great sentiment finishes off the card. I used black Versafine for the bees and the sentiment. The stamps are from the Essence of Nature, Honey Bee, Fragrant Honeysuckle, and The Rose Tree stamp sets.

To create my second card, I used some of the fabulous Textured Art card, which has a linen like texture to the surface. I added some Decoart Media Tinting Medium, which I had coloured with Ultramarine and Turquoise Brushos to the surface, almost dry brushing the colour over the background. I stamped the words from the Essence of Nature stamp set all over the large background using Jet Black Archival Ink. I then stamped the tree panel onto a smaller piece of card, and mounted both pieces onto black card. The finish created by the medium and Brushos is chalky, which I could not have achieved with the Brushos by themselves. It is a technique that I will definitely use again.

Do hop over to the Design Team blog to see the cards that my Team mates have contributed to the post. They have come up with some great ideas, as always. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Spring Things!

Hello everyone, I have a couple of projects to share with you today, featuring the newest batch of stencils from Chocolate Baroque.

For my first project, I used a piece of background watercolour paper from my stash, already coloured with green Distress Inks, and added some stencilling, using the Useful Leaves Stencil and two different colours of green ink. I coloured some texture paste with Twisted Citron Distress re-inker, and spread it through the Seasonal Journey Stencil, choosing the word 'Spring'. Once the paste was dry, I added some green gilding wax to darken the colour slightly, and add some shimmer.

I stamped two butterflies from the Just Butterflies stamp set onto acetate using Versafine Onyx Black Ink, and embossed them with clear embossing powder. I coloured the reverse of the images with Copic markers, and cut the images out, before attaching them to the background. I chose a bright green card to mat the background.

For my second card, I stamped the Spring Awakening image onto a piece of smooth watercolour paper, and masked the image. I coloured the background with Scattered Straw Distress Ink, and added some stencilling with a honeycomb stencil in two opposite corners. I used Wild Honey Distress Ink to add the stencilling.

I drew through the twig section of the Seasonal Elements Stencil, using a Distress Marker, and then added some leaves, using a bright green Zig Clean Colour marker. I used the same green to add the word Spring from the Seasonal Journey Stencil. I added some detail to the leaves with a darker green pencil.

I stamped a bee and butterfly from the Patchwotk Butterfly and The Rose Tree stamp sets onto acetate, embossing and colouring them exactly as I did in my first card. I removed the mask, and coloured the main image with Polychromos pencils. I added some deeper shading around the edge of the card, using Seedless Preserves Distress Ink, and matted the background onto some purple card.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Mixed Media Tag

Hello everyone, I have a project to share with you today. I have created a mixed media tag for the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, as part of a short bio about myself. You can read the blog post here.


I have used a Tando long tag, painted with gesso, I added some texture paste through a Dutch Doobadoo Swirls stencil, and allowed it to dry. I spritzed the tag with Decoart media sprays, and then added a bit of water to dilute them slightly. I added some gilding wax to the raised area and around the edge. I then stamped a word from the Artistic Expressions stamp set, using Jet Black Archival ink. I stamped two butterflies from The Rose Tree stamp set onto a piece of scrap card, and painted them using some of the spray and a water brush. I cut the butterflies out, and glued them to the tag, adding black flower stamens for antennae.

 Thanks for stopping by, xx

Wisteria Doorway

There are some new stamps recently released over at Chocolate Baroque and as a member of the Design Team, I have been creating some samples with them. There are some great flower stamps in these new sets, dandelion clocks, honeysuckles, rose trees, and some fabulous little insects too.

The first card that I have made to show you combines some of these new stamps with a great door stamp from the 'Echoes of Italy' stamp plate. I stamped this first, and masked it off, sponging Distress Inks over the card. I coloured the image with Polychromos pencils, layering up the colour to create depth and shade on the door.

I used several different colours of Versamagic chalk inks to stamp the flower head in the foreground, starting with the lightest, and moving through to the darkest. I then went back to the lightest colour to fill in the gaps, and add a bit of light to the foreground. I used Versamagic to stamp the wisteria at the top of the card.

Finally, I stamped the butterflies with Versafine Onyx black ink, and coloured these with Polychromos pencils again, before adding them to the picture with some stamens. The picture was matted onto lilac and purple card to tone in with the flowers.

I have used stamps from 'Wisteria Lane' and 'The Rose Tree' to complete this card. Do pop over to the Design Team Blog to see what the other Design Team members have been up to with these stamps over the next few days. Thanks for stopping by, xx