Chocolate Baroque Design Team

In England's green and pleasant land

2012-02-29T08:30:00.000Z

Hi there, here's my second sample combining the gorgeous new Artistic Expressions and Crafty Individuals stamps with some of my old favourites from Home Sweet Home.

As soon as I saw the sentiment 'In England's green and pleasant land' I knew I wanted to combine them with a country scene so of course Home Sweet Home were the perfect stamps for them. The gorgeous bold swirl stamps are from Artistic Expressions and the Britannia image at the top of the frame is from Crafty Individuals 'Britannia . I've made the flowers and leaves using Crealies dies.

For more details, pop over to my blog

Thanks for visiting today.

Claire xx

'Love' Artistic Expressions (by Miranda)

2012-02-28T09:30:00.006Z

Hi there,

Today a card made with a background which I already had for quit a while. I've used the doodle butterfly stamps and coloured them with pencils on kraft paper. I've cut a nestie label and used the word 'LOVE' from the Artistic Expressions sheet. Again I have die cut a butterfly out of metal foil and have been busy for quit a while taking out all of the metallic pieces.
Also use a Go Kreate die for this card model.

See you next time and have fun crafting........

Breath of Spring (posted by Judith)

2012-02-27T08:00:00.005Z

Hi folks, I'm back with another sample to showcase the great new stamp set Artistic Expressions available at Chocolate Baroque

The full details of how I made this piece can be viewed on my blog so you can hop over there if you are interested.

I thoroughly enjoyed making this piece, but with stamps like these, it's hardly surprising! I've used 'Artistic Expressions', 'Rose Tree', and 'Breath of Spring', all available on the website.

Keep checking back for more samples from the other Design Team members, and I'll be back in a few days. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Vintage, Inky heart with wings (by Debbie)

2012-02-26T06:00:00.001Z

Hi there. I wanted to create a vintage grungy style card using the heart with wings and a crown from the new Artistic Expression stamp set. I chose the colours for the backgrounds first, coloured and then stamped with the Small Script from Mini Scripts with the same inks. To add more of an aged feel I used an Ink Splat stencil and distressed into the splats with the Spiced Marmalade.
The heart and crown have been stamped seperately onto white card, cut out, coloured with Alcohol pens and glued on. I stamped the words from Crafty Individuals - UM Britannia below in black so that it became a focal point.

Ingredients
Distress Ink - Antique Linen, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo
Versafine - Onyx Black
If you would like to see the stamps I have used click on the underlined words and it will take you to the Chocolate Baroque website where they are.

Thanks for stopping by

Debbie

brown and blue butterflies.... (by Miranda)

2012-02-25T09:30:00.000Z

Hello there,

Today another one with the Crafty Individuals...( CI1333)and some swirls of the Artistic Expressions. This time with brown and blue shades. I find that always a beautiful combination.
Again I've used the acrylic bloc technique. The image is stamped on kraft paper and shaded with brown and white pencils. The butterflies are decoupaged and also coloured with pencils. The big butterfly is a die from Cheery Lynn and cut from metal foil. Than treated with some dabber's to make it look less shiny. Just added some pearls and voila!

Creative greetz,

Keep Calm and Carry On Pastel Easel Card (posted by Judith)

2012-02-24T08:00:00.005Z

Hi Folks, I'm back again with a sample using the great Crafty Individuals stamps available at Chocolate Baroque. The whole Britannia theme is so popular at the moment, isn't it?

I wanted to create a card using colours that weren't traditional for this theme, and set about using aqua as my basic colour. I have used a lovely Crafty Individuals swirl to decorate the background of the card, and stamped the sentiment onto seam binding ribbon. I added a large acrylic circle over the Britannia image, to represent a coin, and it makes a great stopper for the top half of the card. I had a great threepenny charm in my stash, and it was ideal for this card.

I pieced the flag together by stamping it three times in various colours onto a spare piece of background paper, then cutting out the pieces I needed. A piece of lace completes the vintage feel that I wanted for my card.

Keep checking back for more samples from the other Design Team members over the coming days. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Keep calm and carry on (by Claire)

2012-02-23T08:00:00.000Z

Hi here's my first sample with the new Artistic Expressions stamps which i've combined with some of the new Crafty Individuals stamps.

The backing paper is from the neutrals collection from Decadent Brocade cd, overstamped with the swirl from Artistic Expressions and embossed with beige embossing powder. The Crafty individuals Union Jack and the sentiment are stamped on printable canvas coloured with antique linen distress stain. I've used the wings and crown from the heart stamp on Artistic expressions,stamping the wings on vellum and the crown on beige and black card for a bit of contrast.

I've matted the sentiment on Shapeabilities Fancy Tags 2 and attached it with some seam binding ribbon. I've added lots of faux pearls and a few gems to finish off.

I'm hope you're enjoying all my teamies beautiful projects. These new stamps are irresistible aren't they?

Claire xx

purple and greens (by Miranda)

2012-02-22T09:30:00.000Z

Hello there,

Today I will show you a card with the same CI stamp as I shown before but with a different technique, colours and lay-out.
I've used the acrylic bloc method using distress inks, mist spray and perfect pearls. For the two tiny balloons I've used the Creative Petals no.1 from Crealies. On the balloons I used the mini stamps mail art en scripts.
I've stamped the main image from Crafty Individual with Archival black. The text is from the Word of Inspiration sheet. Attached some thin silver threads around this card and layered on purple cardstock.

So, this was another variation with the same stamp, have a nice day,

Artistic Expressions Winner

2012-02-21T18:06:00.000Z

Thanks so much to everyone for all your comments - it's time to pick a winner. The random number generator has been called into play and the lucky winner is ...

* * * Sharon * * *

Congratulations Sharon - I will leave a comment on your blog, but could you get in touch with your postal address and we will get your stamps sent out to you.

Travel Journal Card (posted by Judith)

2012-02-21T08:00:00.014Z

Hi folks, I'm back again, with another sample using the great new Artistic Expressions stamp plate recently released over at Chocolate Baroque and some new Crafty Individuals stamps.

This time I was aiming for a much more masculine feel to my project. Glenda has some great Crafter's Workshop stencils over on thewebsite, and I decided to use one of these to help create my background. I sponged Versamark through the stencil, and then used clear embossing powder, to create the design. I have added the large cogs and clock stamp from 'Punky Romance', masking off the flowers before I inked up the stamp.

I created a little book by stamping and embossing the crackle stamp from 'Echoes of Italy' in gold onto black card. I added a book plate with a computer generated title, and the great Crafty Individuals balloon image on the top. I stamped some Crafty Individuals tickets onto Kraft card, which I crumpled slightly, then stuck down the edge of the book, as if they were spilling out.

The sentiment that I used is a great one for scrapbooking, and I felt that it went really well with this project.

The other Design Team members have been really busy too, creating some great projects, keep popping back to see what they have been up to. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Masculine card with the new stamps..... (by Miranda)

2012-02-20T09:00:00.001Z

Hello there,

My creation today is a masculine one......don't make them so often but the new Crafty Individuals stamp(CI 1336) was perfect for this. I stamped the image with Archival brown on kraft paper and coloured with Derwent pencils. The car is a Marianne design die and was cut from metal foil and treated with a black dabber.The text 'Imagine' and 'Dream' is from the new 'Artistic Expressions' sheet. Also used an embossing folder from which I cut out the clock and sanded the paper. As additional stuff I've used a TH embellishment and some rope ribbon on the background.

Hope to have inspired you with these stamps!

till next time,

Dream (posted by Judith)

2012-02-18T16:48:00.001Z

Hi Folks, as you know Glenda has recently released a fabulous new stamp plate called Artistic Expressions over at Chocolate Baroque I absolutely love this stamp plate, as it has everything that I could possibly ask for to finish off a card or mixed media project. I love the big words, the swirls and the heart with wings. This plate is so inspiring, that I can't stop thinking of ideas!

Anyway, here is one of the ideas that I came up with, and I will be back over the next few days with some of the others, hopefully to show you how versatile these stamps really are.

I wanted to create a dreamy feel to my card, and so I used several colours of Distress inkpads to colour a piece of white card, and then spritzed the whole thing with a pearl shimmer spray. I stamped a tree from the 'Woodland Dreams' stamp plate, and a fairy from 'Dragonfly Faeries' before colouring them in with pencils. I embossed the big swirl around the edges of the card with a white pearl embossing powder for an ethereal feel.

I created a plaque using an offcut of mountboard, colouring it with Distress ink, and stamping it with the large crackle stamp from 'Echoes of Italy'. I then stamped the word 'Dream' before triple embossing it to give it a cracked tile effect.

Don't forget to keep popping back to see what the other Design Team members have created with these amazing stamps, and I'll be back in a few days. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Artistic Expressions - a blog giveaway

2012-02-17T22:10:00.002Z

We have launched a new set of stamps today called Artistic Expressions. This makes a great partner to Artistic Affirmations and contains some really big words which work really well as the focal point for a card as well as being great for scrapbooking and mixed media pieces. There are some lovely heartfelt sentiments too.

It's a full size A4 sheet and if you would like to win this set of stamps, please leave a comment and I'll pick a winner next Tuesday.

Check back for DT artwork coming along soon.

A Posy of Daisies (by Debbie)

2012-02-12T09:11:00.003Z

My card is from the Rose Tree stamps and I love the arrangement of the flowers in the posy. It is a stamp that can be used for so many occasions. A simple thinking of you to a wedding card, coloured with the brides bouquet colours.

I used dies to cut the easel card with white card and my favourite moss green as layers. The posie is stamped with Memento black the the flowers are coloured with alcohol pens, pastel pinks, lemons and greens. I used one of my nestabilie shapes chopped it up and created a border. I stamped the posie a second time and coloured and cut out the flowers to place around the bottom of the base.

Stay warm
Debbie

Orange Honeysuckle (by Debbie)

2012-02-09T07:21:00.004Z

My card today is from the Fragment Honeysuckle stamps and I wanted to keep use oranges as it's a colour I don't use often when card making. I stamped the flower with Memento black and coloured with Alcohol Ink pens. The delicious backing paper is from the Essence of Nature cd, a definate favourite of mine

.

I have a few more cards that I will post over the weekend.

Stay warm
Debbie

Dandelion frame (by Claire)

2012-02-06T08:00:00.000Z

Hi there, here's another sample using some of the gorgeous new stamps from Chocolate Baroque. These beautiful delicate dandelions are from Rose Tree and the sentiment is from Words of Gratitude

Its one of my all time favourite sentiment stamps, I've used it so many times and never get fed up of it.

This was a really quick and simple card to make using distress inks and memento inks

For more details pop over to my blog.

I hope you're managing to keep warm in this wintery weather, at least its perfect for crafting and all the new stamps are a wonderful reminder of better weather to come

Claire xx

'Fragile glittering' (by Miranda)

2012-02-05T09:30:00.001Z

Hello there,

Today a card I've made using the new CB stamp sheet 'the Rosetree'. The stamp I've used is a beautiful fragrant flower and I like it very much to work with. I've made a background using oil pastel crayons and a blending solution. Also used a lot of glittering which I like always! I am really like a magpie........Also used my indispensable white gel pen this time for the centre of the flowers. I've also used the same background behind the image and embossed that with a crafts too folder. A lovely lime coloured ribbon for the finishing touch. And I've also added a sentiment from the sheet 'Artistic affirmations'
On the picture below you can see the shimmer better, always difficult to catch on the camera.

Till next time,

Stylish Flower and one Inkpad (by Debbie)

2012-02-04T08:08:00.004Z

My card today has been made using the flower from Wisteria Lane stamps. The flower has been popular with my Design Team buddies.

I searched around for my Big and Juicy Waterfall inkpad to use with the stamp. I inked the flowers from different areas of the pad to achieve the difference of colour and used clear embossing powder. The background was made by masking off pieces of the white card, brayering then moving the tape and repeating. I stamped the tiny single flower head that also looks like an ink splodge. I mounted onto navy blue cards and placed onto a fresh green card base.

Stay warm and have a crafty weekend

Debbie

Dandelion sympathy card (posted by Elaine)

2012-02-03T10:28:00.002Z

As soon as I saw this dandelion stamp from the Fragrant Honeysuckle set, I thought it would make a very suitable stamp for a sympathy card. I stamped the images and sentiment in Versamark on a white card panel slightly smaller than DL size and embossed in the silver detail powder I seem to use so much! The words are from the CB With Sympathy set which is very useful for these sad occasions. I edged with more silver embossing using a Versamark pen. I then matted onto medium grey. I wanted to keep the design deliberately simple.

Hope you enjoy looking at all the ideas from the DT for these lovely new stamps

'art deco' flower (by Miranda)

2012-02-02T09:00:00.001Z

This time I want to show you this creation, a very stylish one with a beautiful flower from the 'Wisteria Lane' sheet. If you like these 'art deco' stylized images then this is your sheet! Personally I like this style very much.
I 've used masking tape and sponged with only 2 colors Versa magic ink, Aegan blue and Sage, both beautiful powder colours. After sponging and a little bit of drying I rubbed some perfect pearls onto the card. You can see the shine in the close-up.....

Well that is my contribution for today........have a great day

One layer card by ikki

2012-01-31T15:38:00.000Z

Wow, what a supa dupa display of artwork by my design team mates! Here one from me using a simple masking technique.......

If you would like to know how I acheived this look, please pop over to the Cupboard where you will find details.

Take care and keep warm.

ikki

Purple Honeysuckle (by Debbie)

2012-01-30T21:20:00.006Z

This is my first sample from the Fragment Honeysuckle stamps set. I instantly fell in love with this image as it reminded me of my parents garden. Honeysuckle covered the fence at the bottom of the garden.
I hadn't used my watercolour pencils for quite a long time and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed using them.

I know that purple isn't the usual colour of Honeysuckle but I think it works well.

There are more beautiful cards to come from the Design Team so stop by again.

Debbie

Ladybird Frame (by Claire)

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000Z

Hi there, today's card features some of the stunning new stamps from the Fragrant Honeysuckle stamp sheet. I love this stamp, its such a stylish floral design. The ladybirds are also from this stamp sheet.

The quote is from one of my old favourite stamp sheets, Curly Birds.

More details of how I made this card can be found on my blog

Thanks for visiting today, pop back soon for more inspiration from my talented teamies

Claire xx

creation in Blue

2012-01-29T09:00:00.001Z

Hello there,

Today I want to show you a creation made with the stylish flower from the new sheet ' Fragrant Honeysuckle'.
Again made with acrylic bloc technique and distress inks. I kept the colours in blue shades.
I stamped several layers with the same flower, using perfect pearls, distress inks ,blue and silver embossing powder. When the card was finished I found it suitable for a sympathy card. The sentiment is from the sheet 'With Sympathy'.

Till next time, creative greet

Wisteria butterfly (posted by Elaine)

2012-01-28T08:06:00.001Z

I have really enjoyed working with these gorgous new stamps. Here is a card I made with the Wisteria stamps.

I repeat stamped the wisteria image along the edge of a white card panel. I used two colours of Versamagic chalk ink, using dew drop pads so I could ink different parts of the stamp at the same time. I stamped the butterfly and sentiment in purple versafine ink and coloured the butterfly in with Coloursoft pencils. Finally I shaded the panel with Dsuty Concord Distress Ink to give a cloudy effect. I matted onto purple and mauve card, adding ribbon, gems and a die cut contrasting edge to finish.

Do keep popping by to see what we have all been up to.

Elaine x

Sunset with the Wisteria Lane..........

2012-01-27T10:00:00.001Z

Hello there,

Today I want to show one of my creations made with the new 'Wisteria Lane' sheet. I have made this one using a circle template and sponged with Versa magic. Afterwards I rubbed some perfect pearls over it. You can see the shine in the photo above.

I've also added an acrylic tag , stamped on the tag and also used the same stamp on the orange paper and added perfect pearls. You can see the close up here.... On the background paper(it's from the Essence of Nature) I also stamped the Wisteria and added pearl ex powder glittery copper. Hope to have inspired for you!
Creative greetz and have a nice day,

Art Nouveau Friendship Card (posted by Judith)

2012-01-26T08:00:00.001Z

Hi folks, here's another sample that I've made using some of the fabulous new stamps recently released over at Chocolate Baroque

I have chosen a quite bold colour scheme for this project, in contrast to my last card. I wanted to create an Art Nouveau feel to the card, and used some of the stamps that suggested that era to me. I have used stamps from the 'Wisteria Lane' stamp plate. I also used one of the Crealie Doily element dies, which are also available on the website to create a border behind the main image.

For full details of how I made this card, please pop along to my blog to take a look. Keep checking back to see what the other Design Team members have been up to over the next few days, as they will be posting some more of their great samples, Judith xx

With Love by ikki

2012-01-24T09:00:00.002Z

Hi, this is a card I made with the new stamp plates......

such a useful set of stamps for so many occasions!

I have listed the materials used to make this card over on my blog and would love you to drop by - you will find the link on the sidebar.

ikki

Rose trees

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000Z

Hi there, I really enjoyed working with all the new stamps, and Rose Tree is such a beautiful stamp I couldn't resist using it 3 times on this card

I've created a brayered scene with the Rose trees in the foreground and a fairy castle in the background. Actually the castle is really a spooky Halloween stamp from 'Howling Moon' but I've wanted to transform it into a fairy castle for ages. The foliage along the top is from Wisteria Lane, another of the new stamp sheets, as is the delicate grass around the bottom of the trees. The scene is brayered with Memento inks and the Rose Trees are coloured with promarkers. I love memento inks for brayer work. The butterfly is also from Rose Tree, stamped on acetate and glittered. More details of how I created this card can be found on my blog.

I think you're going to love this months new releases, my talented team mates have come up with some stunning samples again this month so watch out for them over the next few days

Claire xx

Wisteria Doorway (posted by Judith)

2012-01-23T08:00:00.005Z

When Glenda showed us these new stamps, I knew that I wanted to combine some of the flowers and butterflies with this lovely door from the 'Echoes of Italy' stamp plate. I have used stamps from the 'Wisteria Lane' and 'The Rose Tree' stamp plates to complete the scene.

I have chosen some of my favourite shades of purple and lilac to stamp the flowers. For full details on how I have made the card, please visit my blog
Please keep checking back over the next few days to see what the other Design Team members have been up to with these fabulous stamps. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Delightful New Spring Florals

2012-01-20T08:17:00.000Z

I'm so excited to announce our new stamps for January. Three beautiful and very useable floral sets. I managed to get in some playtime with these over the Christmas holiday and found myself reaching for the inktense pencils and copic markers quite a bit.

The Rose Tree

Fragrant Honeysuckle

Wisteria Lane

Watch out for these cards and more appearing on the blog here or over on my own, glendawaterworth.com. The DT have done some wonderful cards too - stay tuned for lots of sunny warm Springtime inspiration!

Bees love flowers

2012-01-16T18:59:00.002Z

Here are another two samples from the Honey Bee stamps. I decided to collect together a selection of flower stamps from CB and create small scenes. I cut Nestabilies shapes from copier paper and use them as masks. For the first card I used Mustard Seed Distressed Ink and the second used Milled Lavender around the edges. Leaving the mask in place stamp the flowers and leaves.

The thistles and ferns were coloured with various greens.
I coloured the lavender with pens so that the heads were purple and the stalks green.

Remove the masks and stamp the bees and sentiment.
I'm sure we all have flower stamps that these bees will go perfectly with.

Happy stamping and thanks for visiting
Debbie

Punky Romance Winner

2012-01-13T19:09:00.001Z

I am WAY behind here, but only because we had a rush of orders to deal with and that's a good reason to be busy so I'm not complaining. Things have settled down now, so I'm catching up with a very overdue job - picking a lucky winner of our latest stamp set, Punky Romance.

I have picked randomly from our followers and the lucky person is: Suzanne Czosek! Congratulations Suzanne, please can you get in touch and we'll get your stamp set sent out to you.

We have new stamps coming out soon, so watch this space for more glorious artwork coming up.

Bee Hive note card

2012-01-07T07:11:00.002Z

Good Saturday morning.

I make a selection of cards in January for different occasions that can be used during the year. I tend not to add a sentiment until I need the card.
I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the Bee Hive and coloured with a mix of Alcohol pens to colour.

This is a lovely image to colour with pens, pencils, paints and we all love to colour in.

Have a good weekend
Debbie

This is what's in the box

2012-01-05T07:14:00.002Z

These are the cards that I made to go in the box I showed previously. The stamps are from the Honey Bee and Pretty Bird Cage stamp sets.

The cards are A5 size and are perfect quick makes. I love the spring feel to the stamps and I'm sure we are all looking forward to better weather. I'll post pictures of the individual cards over the next few days here and on my own blog.

Thanks for stopping by and stay warm
Debbie

Gold watch

2012-01-04T08:30:00.000Z

I don't need much of an excuse to use the fab perforated postage papers from Chocolate Baroque and had to use some with this elegant fob watch stamp from Punky Romance themeplate. Its so easy to create the faux postage effect, especially with the Ultra Fine Masking Tape

The watch is stamped and embossed with gold EP and distressed with Vintage Photo Distress ink before removing the masking tape. The postmark stamp is from the Mail Art stampsheet.

The background is made with the same watch stamp, using metallic gold ink on vellum. I've used gold mirri card to mat and layer and attached the vellum with eyelets and a scrap of gold ribbon

I think this stamp will be perfect for retirement cards

Thanks for visiting today,

Claire xx

Steampunk necklace

2012-01-03T08:30:00.000Z

Hi there, my project today is a stampbord necklace made using stamps from Punky Romance and stampbord squares.

The stampbord is painted with metallic silver paint and I used the large Steampunk corner image with black StazOn ink. I found it easier to press the stampbord squares onto the inked stamp rather than stamp onto the small squares. The squares were all triple embossed with clear UTEE and while the UTEE was hot I added some tiny watch parts. Once the UTEE has cooled I attached glue on bails to the back of each square and joined them together with silver chain.

I hope you like my necklace, I think its a great way to use those stampbord inchies.

Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

Honey jar label (posted by Elaine)

2012-01-01T10:08:00.001Z

This is my last project from the delicious new Honey Bee plate. I love making preserves and so wondered about combining stamps from the bee set and the flower from the Pretty Bird Cage plate to make a label for a jar and a cloth lid cover. Here are the results.

For the label I stamped in brown memento ink, before colouring with Coloursoft pencils. I pieced the beehive and flower images together, adding the word honey at the bottom. A friend has just given me a Xyron adhesive machine and I realised after I had finished this label, this would probably have been a great project to try it out on and stick it down more evenly.

For the lid I cut a circle of natural calico with pinking shears to stop the edges fraying. I stamped the image with Versacraft ink which is especially designed to stamp onto fabric. I coloured the image with Inktense colouring pencils. Finally I edged the lid with honey coloured ric rac and tied the lid cover onto the jar with yellow and white baker's twine.

I hope you have enjoyed the variety of projects that my DT teamies have been posting with the newly launched stamps recently - aren't they great?

Happy New Year crafters!

Elaine

Dandelion Clocks (posted by Judith)

2011-12-31T08:00:00.003Z

Hi folks, here's another project that I created from the Punky Romance stamp plate from Chocolate Baroque. I wanted to make a bright and cheery card, using the dandelion clock stamps on the stamp plate. I really like the style of these stamps, and the stems of the dandelion flowers feel a bit Art Nouveau to me. I chose to team them with the Shapeabilities: Ornate Artisan Tags & Accents die set, as the corners were an almost perfect match.

I created a watercolour background, using various orange and red Ecoline inks. I then placed a large cog mask over the top, and sponged Distress Inks through the mask. I also stamped the two single dandelion clocks randomly over the background. I used a spare piece of the background to stamp the main image, before die cutting it with the die. I chose to use black card as a striking contrast to the orange tones on my card, and added Glossy Accents to the centres of the dandelion clocks.

The Shapeabilities are available from Chocolate Baroque, they are a great set teamed with these fabulous stamps. This was a very bright card for me, but these stamps really pushed my boundaries, and I have loved using them.

Keep checking back for more samples from the other Design Team members using these new stamps, and a Happy New Year to you all, Judith xx

Harlequin Gift book and Necklace (posted by Judith)

2011-12-30T08:00:00.004Z

Hi Folks, well as the big day draws near, and we start to think of the New Year ahead, I'd like to wish you health, happiness and lots of great crafting in 2012!

I'd like to show you a project that I made with the fabulous Punky Romance stamp set from Chocolate Baroque. I wanted to create a card and gift in one with these fabulous stamps, using a softer colour palette than I did for my last project. I created a book card, using sections of card folded and glued, to make the insert, and then created a cover, using kraft card. I stamped the harlequin butterfly image onto white card with a creamy white embossing powder, which acted as a resist, over which I applied some ink in different shades of plum and lilac.

I overstamped the cog stamp with a deep burgundy, added some cream lace, and a velum butterfly, again embossed with the creamy white embossing powder. A sentiment from the Butterfly Dreams stamp set completes the cover.

I added some lace to the inside of the book card, matching he lace on the front, and made a necklace to pop inside the niche. I chose some lovely deep purple pearls as the base of the necklace. I used a domino sized piece of Stampbord, which I stamped with Stazon, to pick out part of the harlequin butterfly image. I coloured the Stampbord with the lilac and plum inks again, and then etched details of the butterfly wings using a Stampbord tool, to add highlights.

So that completes my gift set, I hope that you like it! Keep checking back to see what my other team mates have made with this fabulous stamp set, and I'll be back with something else that I have made later. Judith xx

Dandelion Clock pendant

2011-12-29T08:30:00.000Z

I love to make jewellery and I thought this gorgeous dandelion clock stamp from Punky Romance would be perfect for a pendant. These stamps are so clever with the clock face in the centre.

These pendants are so easy to make, stamp the image on some white card, colour with markers or pencils and attach a flat backed glass with glossy accents. Once its dry trim off the excess card and seal (I just use satin varnish but I'm sure you'll have something in your stash). To finish off add a glue on bale with some glossy accents and once dry add a chain or as I've done string some tiny seed beads on beading thread and attach a clasp.

The tag is made with memento inks (London Fog and Angel Pink) and the same stamps. The sentiment is from Art Nouveau Birthday , stamped on vellum and wrapped around the tag.

These new stamps are perfect for jewelley and I'll be back later in the week with a Punky Romance necklace made with stampbord inchies

Claire xx

Shabby Steampunk

2011-12-28T08:30:00.000Z

Hi, I hope you've had a lovely Christmas and the big chap in the red suit has been kind to you. If you're anything like me you'll be ready for a change after all those Christmas cards. The new Punky Romance stamps were a real breath of fresh air when postie popped them through the letterbox. I've used a tissue paper background stamped with the harlequin stamp for this card.

The large focal image is a really stunning stamp and I've triple embossed it adding some holographic EP to the final layer for some sparkle. I've also made a backing paper by clear embossing the rose stamp from Punky Romance and inking with Dusty Concorde distress ink. Die cut cogs and vellum flowers made with Crealies 18 finish the card off.

Keep checking back as my teamies have some truly beautiful projects with all the new stamps

Claire xx

punky Romance butterflies.....

2011-12-27T10:00:00.001Z

Hello there,

And today my last creation with the punky Romance sheet......for me a very unusual colour combination.....Pumice stone, Crushed Olive and some Tumbled glass. Again with the acrylic bloc technique. I did decoupage some of the elements and used the flowers from the Bold blooms sheet.As you can see I have used the embossing folder 'bricks' on the background behind the image. Added some water drops and gemstones. Also gave some accents with a white pencil.......

And again hope to have inspired you, it's a great sheet to work with!

Probably for now till next year! Enjoy the last days of 2011 and wish you a inspirational, creative and the most important part, a healthy 2012!

Bee-ing organized

2011-12-26T08:17:00.004Z

Well the big day has been and gone. I hope everyone had a lovely day and that everything on Santas long wish lists was delivered. Looking to the New Year I'm going to try and be more organized.

I made this box that holds a selection of cards made from the Honey Bee stamps.

The hexagons which are coloured with dried marigold and wild honey. The bees etc are stamped using Versafine Vintage Sepia.

Inside are a selection of quick make cards which I will post photos on here and my own blog.

I tried to write the instructions to make the box and when I read them back they were a little confusing. You could make your own box and fill with cards as a gift or just to help you be more organized.

Enjoy Boxing Day and pop back for more inspiration from the Design Team.

Debbie

another punky Romance creation......

2011-12-25T10:00:00.001Z

Hi there,

Hope you enjoy these Christmas days and today I want to show you some other creation with the 'punky Romance sheet. I've made this one with Distress inks Victorian Velvet and also the new 'greens' from the Christmas Distress set. On the background I stamped the two solid roses using silver pearl EP. I decoupaged the heart and wings and used some Glossy accents and Rock candy on the wings as you can see on the detailed photo above. The ribbon was white and coloured with copic markers. Some embellishments were added at last. And... oops.... again used the textured fragments sheets shimmering through on the background.......can't get enough of this one......

Till next time, creative greetz

Blue Butterflies (posted by Judith)

2011-12-24T08:00:00.001Z

When Glenda sent me the Punky Romance stamp sheet, I was very happy. There are so many different stamps on the sheet, and I could see that there were so many different uses for this set. I love the big corner stamp, and that was what I wanted to use for this project.

I painted a canvas with stone coloured acrylic paint, blending a couple of colours to get the effect that I wanted. I added molding paste through a brick stencil on one side to give the effect of a wall, echoing the bricks on the stamp image. I stamped the image onto tissue paper for the base layer, and added this to the canvas. I then stamped the image three times, colouring it in with Polychromos pencils. I cut the image out, and decoupaged it over the tissue paper layer. I stamped some extra butterflies and flowers from Ruby Tuesday and Patchwork Butterfly, to name just two sets, and coloured those to match. I die cut some black leaves to echo those on the stamp image, and stuck them up the textured brick area of the canvas, and added the extra flowers and butterflies. To finish, I added some metal cogs.

The finished piece is quite striking in its colour scheme, very unusual for me! This stamp set really inspired me to push the boundaries with my colour choices, as you will see with some of my other projects! The layers in this one were time consuming, but worth it for the finished effect.

Keep checking back to see what the other Design Team members have been up to over the holidays. Have a great Christmas, and I hope that you get some lovely crafty presents this year! Judith xx

'Punky Romance' creation.........and Christmas wishes

2011-12-23T10:00:00.002Z

Hello there,

Hope to inspire you this time with some creations made with the new gorgeous sheet: Punky Romance from Chocolate Baroque. I must say this sheet was very inspiring to work with.......I really love that steam punk style with that elegant touch of CB!
I've made this card using the new Distress winter colours, great cool colours! I've used lots of water, shimmer and maybe you recognize the texture fragments sheet which I've used for the Crealies flowers.( Petal no.4 and flower no.20) Def one of my favourite sheets at the moment. I've embossed the textures with gold EP on the flowers. I have used clear embossing powder on aquarel paper to stamp the clocks and gears and used the acrylic bloc technique. Then again clear embossing and some extra sponging to create more depth.

For this moment I want to wish you all a beautiful and peaceful Christmas time, enjoy being with family and dear ones! Hope to see you soon again with some other punky romance creations! Hope that Santa likes 'Chocolate' and brings you lot of them!

Birdcage and Honey Bee winners plus another chance to win!

2011-12-22T11:38:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone for your lovely comments on the Pretty Birdcage and Honey Bee stamps. I have picked two winners completely at random from the comments and come up with:

Honey Bee goes to Shirls's Cards

and

Pretty Birdcage goes to Gini

Congratulations ladies, please can you get in touch and we'll get your stamps sent out. Gini, I have your details already, so I'll put yours in the post today.

Now, if you're feeling like you never win anything, we have our final stamp set of 2011 just out. It's called Punky Romance and it looks like this:

Perfect for Valentine's Day, anniversaries and weddings, but of course it has lots of versatility for Steampunk fans and is by no means limited to purely romantic kind of cards.

So I am giving you all another chance to be a winner, but this time I am going to pick a winner from our followers. If you are not already a follower of this blog, you have two ways to become one. If you look on the right hand side of the page you will see lots of tiny photos of people with a blue button above that says 'Join this site'. Click on that button and follow the instructions to become a follower. There are various accounts that you may already have that you can use, or simply create a new Google account and use that.

The second way of following is for Facebook users. You can use Networked Blogs which you will find right at the bottom of the side bar on the right.

I will add together the followers from both widgets and pick a winner at random. You have until January 4th 2012 as we are taking a break over the holidays.

Over the holidays, the girls will be blogging some artwork with this set and there's more to come with Honey Bee and Pretty Birdcage too.

So all that remains is for me to thank you all for your support this year and wish you all the very best for Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hope Santa brings you lots of crafting goodies!

Bee Happy! (Posted by Elaine)

2011-12-20T08:26:00.001Z

When I saw these lovely Honey Bee stamps I was buzzing with ideas! (Sorry couldn't resist!). I have quite a few samples to share with you, because I love bees so really enjoyed a good play when we had our DT delivery of these stamps.

Here is my first - a fairly simple card.

I started with a 6 x 6 black card blank as I wanted good contrast as a border. I cut a slightly smaller square of white card and used the honeycomb stamp to cover the card using black achival ink. I needed to use the stamp positioner and some masking to add little parts of the stamp to the gaps. I added shading with Sunshine Yellow Adirondack and Wild Honey Distress Inks. I used a white pen and a white glittery gel pen to add highlighting to the small bee wings. I then cut a strip of card for the sentiment and used the Words of Wisdom happy word stamp and positioned the larger bee instead of the word. I coloured the bee's body with a honey coloured marker, added white glittery pen to the wings and glossy accents to finish the body.

I have posted another of my projects - a bee canvas - on my blog today here please pop over and have a look.

Elaine

Springtime Stamps

2011-12-15T14:55:00.000Z

I know, I know, Christmas isn't even here and we're already releasing stamps with a definite springtime theme.

Well I wanted to get these on the website before our Christmas break, so here they are, two new A5 stamp sets:

Pretty Birdcage

Honey Bee

Main image coloured with prismacolour pencils

The team have come up with some really lovely ideas for these stamps and over the Christmas break we'll be scheduling some posts featuring their gorgeous artwork.

In the meantime I have one of each set to give away so leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning. I'll pick winners in a week (Wednesday 21st December) so I can get the prizes sent out before Christmas.

PS - if you think these stamps would make an ideal addition to your Christmas stocking, check out this article on my blog about the Amazon Universal Wish List button - it's such a neat idea!

Green and Copper Squares

2011-12-13T08:08:00.002Z

This is one of my samples from the fascinating Texture Fragments plate. This stamp set really encourages play. I started by using my stamp positioner to help me get an overall background pattern by piecing the small stamp together. Working on green pearlescent card, I used black perfect medium to help me see where I had stamped before I embossed. I find this a really useful ink to have. I embossed in copper powder.

I used small and one larger square of Stampbord, inked with green ink. I edged the tiles with a black marker pen. When fully dry I then embossed in more copper powder. I positioned all the tiles onto the background, added large square brads to the layout and matted the whole thing on a black 6 x 6 card.

Hope you are enjoying the amazing artwork from the team.

Elaine

Faux kraft resist tag

2011-12-10T08:00:00.000Z

Hi there, I really enjoyed making this tag with the Texture Fragment stamps. I love creating backgrounds and these stamps are perfect for so many styles. I decided to have a go at making a kraft resist effect by layering up some of the stamps from this themeplate but it doesn't show up too well in the pic

I stamped the filigree panel stamp in pumice stone and then overstamped with the same stamp in tea dye distress ink, using a brick effect to overlap the stamps. The gorgeous border was stamped with black versafine and embossed with clear EP. Next I stamped the texture stamp around the edges with versamark and embossed with clear EP before adding lots of vintage photo and a little black soot distress ink.

I stamped the sentiment from 'Home Sweet Home' and again embossed with clear EP. The main image is also from 'Home Sweet Home', painted with distress inks and framed with a diecut frame that I embossed with black soot distress embossing powder. To finish off I've added some ribbon from my stash, coloured with vintage photo distress ink and a little brass effect brad.

I hope you are enjoying all the inspiration from the DT this week

hugs

Claire xx

Woodland forest with texture fragments.......

2011-12-09T10:00:00.001Z

Hi there,

Today I want to show you these two cards using the woodland forest and texture fragments stamps. These textures are really fun playing with. They are very versatile! I wanted to do 'winter' cards so I used a lot of cool blues and greys.

I also cut the Crealies petals(Petal no.5) and flowers(flower no.18) on waterbased paper and coloured them with Distress inks.(on both cards) This Petal and flower matches together perfect.
On the first card I've used the trees from the Woodland forest sheet and a stamp of the Texture fragments. I've also used a mask as you can see on the left side and used some self made glimmer mist.(a teaspoon of perfect pearls and some water in a spray bottle). I gave some accents in the textures with white pencil as also in the trees.
On the second card I've used also the leaf from the Woodland forest sheet and the window and textures from the Texture fragments sheet. This time I've embossed the textures with silver EP. On the right side you see the branches of a tree which I've made using a mask.(Crafters workshop template)

Hope you get inspired and wishing you a nice day,

ATCs on a Canvas

2011-12-08T07:48:00.006Z

When the Textured Fragment stamps arrived I immediately thought playtime. These stamps are so useful and fun to use not only with paper and card. I've decorated beads, buttons and used with air drying clay.
I started my project by cutting my ATCs and chose a selection of Distress Inks. I coloured the cards and then stamped the main images from my selection of stamps that are firm favourites.
Dawn Chorus Wise Owl Teeny Weeny Trees

Our Design Team Buddy Judith regularily posts on her blog to encourage using stamps from your stash.

I used Jet Black Archival Ink as I wanted the image to stand out. I had fun stamping the fragments around the edge of the card. I mounted each of the ATCs onto black card as the backs were rather messy when I'd finished colouring. I took advice from Lesley W as I wanted to show them off to there best and she suggested putting them together, big thanks Lesley.
I had a canvas that had been painted at least 6 times. I covered the center with paper from Echoes of Italy paper pack. The longest part of this project was arranging the ATCs as I kept changing my mind where each one should be.
I have a selection of ATCs that are dotted around my room and I'm planning on creating a couple more canvas's to display them.

I certainly can see the benefit of having these stamps in my stash and hope you can take some inspiration from the DTs ideas.

Debbie

Crocodile Shoes

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000Z

I was a little unsure where to start when I received the Texture Fragments stamps but once you start playing with these stamps you just can't stop. They are really versatile stamps and lend themselves to so many different techniques.

I thought that one of the stamps looked a little bit like a crocodile print and set to with alcohol inks on glossy card and them over stamped with the texture stamp using Rich Cocoa memento dye ink. The gorgeous swirly corners are from Christmas Angel of Light stamp sheet, stamped in versamark and embossed with brown EP.

To create the shoe I used the free Paper Shoe Template and more of the glossy card coloured with alcohol inks. This time I stamped the texture in versamark and again embossed with brown EP. I trimmed the shoe with ribbon and lace and added a Vintage Trinkets metal flower.

To finish off I've added some paper flowers and die cut leaves (Crealies shapes 11) and a die cut happy birthday sentiment.

Thanks for popping by

Claire xx

Alcohol ink resist church window (posted by Judith)

2011-12-06T08:00:00.003Z

Hi folks, I'd like to show you another project that I made using the 'Background Texture' stamp plate.

As soon as I saw the stamp plate, the window stamp caught my eye, and I wanted to create a stained glass effect with this stamp. I decided to create a canvas, and use the stamp as the central image. I painted the canvas with a stone coloured acrylic paint, adding some of the other background stamps for interest. I used a mixture of acrylic paint, and archival inks to achieve this.

I then created the acetate panel using alcohol inks and archival ink. I used toning card to cut some Crealie flowers, which I layered around the edge of the canvas, and added some black leaves in keeping with the general colour scheme. I wanted to give the feel of ivy creeping up a church wall.

This stamp plate has made me experiment with colour schemes that I might not normally think of using, and I am really enjoying the opportunity to try new ideas. Keep checking back for more samples from my Design Team members using these really versatile stamps. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Peacock Texture Card (posted by Judith)

2011-12-03T08:00:00.003Z

When I received the 'Background Texture' stamps from Glenda, I was quite excited, because I could see lots of possibilities with these stamps. It is a really useful stamp plate, giving lots of options for texture and layers in backgrounds, and a chance to experiment with things like clay and UTEE, that we perhaps don't use very much.

For my first project, I started off fairly safely using one of the background stamps to recreate the look of the salt backgrounds that I like to make so much. I coloured a piece of watercolour paper with Ecoline ink, and then embossed the stamp using a copper embossing powder.

I then took three domino sized pieces of Stampbord, which I taped together with masking tape, and coloured with inks, before stamping with another one of the texture stamps. This one reminded me of the markings on a peacock's feather, and so I used a toning backing paper from the Artylicious Peacock Summer Party CD to finish off my card.

As I put my card together, I added a sentiment from the Artistic Affirmations set, and used some copper card and teal ribbon to bring the whole thing together. I edged the Stampbord pieces with a Krylon pen, and split them up slightly.

Keep checking back to see what else my team mates have made using this fabulous stamp plate over the next few days. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Videos now uploaded

2011-11-30T14:48:00.000Z

Firstly I must apologise to anyone who viewed the blog yesterday - I'd put the wrong picture in for Country Views and it was also wrong on the website. Both are correct now, but for the record, here is an image of both - Sunburst Scenes on the left, Country Views on the right. Also available as a multi-buy special offer.

There are also three videos on YouTube and I am going to try to embed them here for you.

If you can't see the videos here for any reason, try visiting my YouTube channel.

Altered Book (posted by Judith)

2011-11-30T13:39:00.000Z

When Glenda sent me the new Country Views stamp set, I fell in love with the little folly stamp on the plate, and wanted to make this a focal point of a project. I have made altered books before, and decided to make one for a Design Team piece.

Now for those of you that are horrified at my alteration of a good book, I will tell you where I get my books from! I buy my books from charity shops, so the proceeds always go to a good cause, and I choose books that have seen a better life, and have therefore outlived their usefulness.

Once I had cut a circle in the front cover of my book with my trusty Tim Holtz Tonic scissors, I painted the book first with gesso, then a couple of coats of acrylic paint. I mixed the colour myself, using a couple of colours, to achieve the shade that I wanted. I then dry brushed a darker colour around the edges. I embossed one if the fabulous new Texture stamps onto the book with gold embossing powder. I tore a loose circle shape out of the first few pages, creating a niche, and then stamped the folly stamp onto a spare piece of card. I coloured the image with Polychromos pencils, and blended the colours, adding extra shading where necessary. I then inked around the image with Distress Inks, before fixing the card into the book.

I wanted to add some flowers, and was undecided as to which colour to use, so I looked at a colour wheel for inspiration. The opposite colour to the zingy green that I had chosen for my book, was a lovely plummy pink colour, so I went with that, and added some ribbon in a similar shade as the closure for the book. I stamped and cut out some leaves from the 'Woodland Dreams' stamp plate to go with the flowers, as I love the leaf on this stamp plate, it is a firm favourite of mine. I also added the sentiment from the same stamp plate.

These stamps are so much fun to work with, and I really enjoyed creating this project. Keep checking back to see what the other members of the Design Team have come up with over the next few days. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Texture Fragments and other new stamps

2011-11-29T22:45:00.002Z

Brace yourselves for a flurry of eye candy coming your way - we have new stamps! Not only new stamps, but new web videos showing you some great ideas for them.

We have three new sets, starting with a full sheet A4 set called Texture Fragments.

As the name suggests, these are superb for creating texture, whether that is in polymer clay, air drying clay, embossing enamel, friendly plastic, shrink plastic, wax or any other medium you can think of. Your textured pieces can be used to adorn bigger projects - a box maybe or a canvas, or you can use cookie cutters to make smaller items like jewellery.

Several of the images were designed with 1x3 inch microscope slides in mind - I was actually thinking about Suze Weinberg's technique of pouring molten UTEE onto a stamp with a Ranger memory frame on top to contain it.

Aside from all the wonderful possibilities with texture, they can also be used for other cool techniques including kiss stamping and one I think I just made up - "Faketangle". You'll have to watch the video to see what I'm talking about.

The other two sets came about after the immense popularity of our Home Sweet Home stamp set that we launched earlier in the year. You loved it so much, it's been one of our best sellers this year, so I hope you will like the follow ups.

Here is Sunburst Scenes

and here is Country Views

Not only will these coordinate with Home Sweet Home, but each set alone will give you a huge range of options for creating pretty landscapes. Mix the two together and the number of permutations grows so you never need create the same landscape twice.

Here's a card featuring a UTEE piece made with Stained Glass Christmas, layered onto a stamp from Texture Fragments, embossed in clear on a coloured background, then rubbed with Distress Stains.

The DT admitted the Texture Fragments stamps pushed them out of their comfort zone at first, but I think you will find they rose to the challenge magnificently. Watch out for their artwork coming along over the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, the White Christmas Challenge is still open until December 15th. The prize fund is growing and you can now see my own response to the challenge on my blog.

You can check out the videos on my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/user/glendawww

Woodland Dreams tag card

2011-11-17T14:12:00.000Z

It's been a while since I posted any of my own artwork here, so here's a simple birthday card which I've made two weeks before I actually need to send it - unheard of!

I used a kraft tag and stamped the tree from Woodland Dreams with Memento inks and coloured with Prismacolour pencils. I added some shading around the edge of the tag then mounted onto a piece of card which I had previously used to cut out a Nestability shape. I liked the curved edge, so centred the tag on it and trimmed it to fit. It's matted onto a lime green layer and stuck onto an 8x8inch card with backing papers from the Essence of Nature CD. The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards and the gold leaves are cut with a Crealies shapes die.

I love the combination of chocolate and lime, but then I love chocolate with anything really!

Reflections

2011-11-05T08:00:00.000Z

Hi there, today I'm sharing a card made with stamps from Echoes of Italy themeplate. I wanted to create a reflection of the beautiful image as a kind of visual echo and it took a bit of experimentation and a happy accident or two along the way.

I've brayered the sky and the lake on glossy card and created the hills with promarkers and added lots of blender pen which has created a mottled effect. I was quite surprised at the result but I quite like the effect as it looks a little like hedges and shrubs .

The stamped image is also coloured with promarkers and I added the reflected image using my brayer. This is a large stamp so I had to do this in two parts and it was very tricky so my tip would probably be to stamp the image on acetate to transfer it to the card.

I didn't want to add a lot of embellishments so to finish off I added some ribbon and gorgeous glitter leaves. I created the flower using clear film from the Studio 490 Art Parts Sample Pack. I stamped the huge flower from Decadent Brocade themeplate onto the film with Teal Blue stazon, cut it out and then heated it. Once you've heated the film it softens and you can give your flower loads of dimension. Its a lot of fun to work with too and if you don't like the result you can just reheat and try again.

I've really enjoyed working with these stamps, and I've got loads more ideas from the other DT members gorgeous projects. I hope you have too

Claire xx

Full moon over the vineyard

2011-10-31T08:10:00.001Z

My card today was inspired by a friend talking about her wedding in Italy. She was married last year and had always wanted to marry there, her husbands family are from Italy. I made her invitations and wish I'd had this stamp set then. They married in the town square the violins playing and then walked with the guests to the hotel which is set in it's own grounds. Their photographs are amazing. I'm thinking of making them an anniversary card using these stamps.

I stamped the image with tuxedo black memento ink onto white card and coloured with copics and distress inks. Then stamped again to decoupaged the wall and trees. The main image is mounted onto card that has variagated leaf on the edge of it. I used paper from the Echoes of Italy pack and stamped the corners using the long ivy corners from Wedding Belle.

Thank you for stopping by

Debbie

Another Italian view (posted by Judith)

2011-10-30T08:00:00.001Z

Hi folks, I wanted to show you another sample that I made using the fabulous 'Echoes of Italy' stamp plate that Glenda has just released over on Chocolate Baroque My previous sample reflected the very bright colours around the Lake Garda area, but for this project, I wanted to incorporate some softer hues. I first called this project' From Senate to Ruins', as the border reminded me very much of a Roman senator's toga, and the arch was the remains of a grand building centuries later.

I stamped the arch, and masked it, using Eclipse tape, then formed the hills using torn paper, and inking against the edges. I used softer colours the further away from the front of the view I went. Purples and greys always work well to suggest distance. I then stamped some trees from one of the larger villa stamps either side of the arch. I coloured the arch using Polychromos pencils.

I quite like the main picture off centre on the card, for an unusual change in style. These stamps have been a real pleasure to work with.Keep checking back for more samples from my team mates this week. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Fairy Door

2011-10-29T08:00:00.000+01:00

Hi there, my project today uses a stamp from the new themeplate 'Echoes of Italy' but theres a lot more to these stamps that just scenery. As soon as I saw this stamp I thought of a Fairy Door and decided to create a small canvas combining the beautiful gate with some of my old favourite stamps.

I made the background with acrylic paints, using pink and yellow for the background and then adding clouds with white and pearl paint applied with scrunched up kitchen roll. I then stamped some foliage stamps from Autumn Hedgerow and embossed some with silver embossing powder and some with pink embossing powder.

To create the scene in the foreground I used the unicorn and fairy stamps from Gossamer Wings and the mushrooms from Nature Table, masked them with Eclipse Masking Tape and then stamped the arch from Echoes of Italy . I coloured the scene with Derwent Coloursoft pencils, added a little glitter and then cut it out, cutting the gate section out of the arch. I then stamped the gate on acetate and embossed with black embossing powder to create a wrought iron effect and attached it to the reverse of the scene.

To give the project some depth, I curved the scene and used silicone glue to attach it. As a finishing touch I added some lace and braid around the bottom and a little braid to hang the canvas, attached at the back with double sided tape. To cover the back I painted a piece of card with some acrylic paint and attached it again using double sided tape.

I hope you're enjoying all the inspiration from the DT this week

Claire xx

Autumn's lovely Smile

2011-10-28T08:00:00.001+01:00

At this time of year, I love all of the different shades of brown and red around on the leaves, and I wanted to reflect that when I used these lovely new stamps from the 'Woodland Dreams' stamp plate. I chose to stamp my images onto Kraft card, to create a muted background, and used clear embossing over all of the images. I used a green ink to add shading around the edges, to correspond with the ribbon that I used. Lastly I used a sentiment that I am very fond of from the 'Nature's Peace' stamp plate, which just went with this card perfectly.

There are some fabulous images on this stamp plate, as you will have seen from Glenda's introduction. Keep checking back for more samples this week from the Design Team. Judith xx

A leafy frame (posted by Elaine)

2011-10-27T08:19:00.000+01:00

I am pleased to post a project using the new Woodland Dreams plate. I loved the leaf stamp, in fact this plate was made for me as I love nature themed projects.

First of all I cut an oval aperture in a piece of medium brown card and then I stamped the leaf randomly around it in russet archival ink. I added a little shading with a brown pencil. Then I overstamped with gold Brilliance ink. I wanted to create the effect of vintage fabric. I heat embossed the leaf in gold and then carefully cut out and mounted the leaves to frame the aperture. I heat embossed the tree in gold onto a large piece of dark brown card and then mounted the frame on top.

There are some delicious stamps on this new plate and you can find it on the Chocolate Baroque website here

There will be more design ideas to come this week from my fellow teamies.

Elaine

A Taste of Italy in a Scrapbook page!

2011-10-26T08:00:00.003+01:00

I was very excited when I heard that Glenda was introducing some Italian themed stamps, as I regularly go to Italy on holiday. I have just come back from a trip to Lake Garda, and couldn't resist using the opportunity to blend the stamps and my holiday together. I decided to make a scrapbook page. I am not a natural scrapbooker, but I really enjoyed making this project.

I used a lovely Prima mask, which is available from Chocolate Baroque, and coloured my background paper with several colours of Distress Ink. I then used the fabulous crackle stamp to create an aged plaster feel to the whole page. I stamped the two large images onto watercolour paper, and coloured them in with Polychromos pencils, adding a mount behind them. I used two holiday photographs which reminded me of some of the lovely places we had seen, and then made some brightly coloured flowers, using a Crealie die and some vellum. Everywhere we went, the flowers were growing in abundance, and the colours were really vivid, just like these.

I hope that I have given you just a little taste of Italy in my scrapbook page, and that you can see how lovely these stamps are. Keep checking back all week for more samples from the Design Team. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Echoes of Italy and Woodland Dreams

2011-10-25T20:40:00.000+01:00

The girls are ahead of me here - I've been without a working computer at home for over a week and I had real problems with Blogger too, but the computer is back and things seem to be working fine now.

So, October's new stamps are two new A4 sets packed with beautiful images.

Echoes of Italy has been in the pipeline a long time and I'm sure the images will seem familar to anyone who has visited Tuscany, though they could equally be from Provence or other rural mediterranean areas.

Woodland Dreams is a much more stylised and decorative interpretation of trees and woodland and makes really striking contemporary cards. The simple shapes are easy to mask out, so lots of potential for using them with interesting background techniques.

The girls will be adding more of their artwork to the blog over the next week or two, so do keep coming back for more eye candy!

Wish you were here

2011-10-25T08:27:00.002+01:00

My card today is from the Echoes of Italy stamp sheet which I must say I fell in love with when I recieved it. The images stamp so well and they are so detailed. They are a pleasure to colour and I think take you to a serene place. I have lots of friends who holiday in Italy and always tell me of the relaxing and refreshing times they have had while there.

I coloured to the trees with various pens and drew under the trees to add a hint of grass. The sky is made from Dried Marigold Distress Ink and Sailboat Blue Adirodack Brights. The grass is Crushed Olive. I mounted onto white and black card then onto an olive green base card.

There's more inspiration to follow from the DT so keep popping back

Debbie

Echoes of Italy

2011-10-22T15:03:00.001+01:00

Hi there, my card today is using the newly released 'Echoes of Italy' themeplate. Its decidedly nippy here today so these stamps are a perfect reminder of warm sunny days. There are some gorgeous stamps on this sheet, from tranquil scenes to ornate baroque patterns and a fabulous crackle stamp that will be used again and again. Its a great time to place an order too as Glenda is offering free P&P until 27th October.

For this card, i've used one of the beautiful scenic stamps for the focal images, simply stamped onto white card (from the Essential Card Pack) with Vintage Photo Distress ink and watercoloured with the same inkpad. To create the background I tore a sheet of copier paper to make a mask for the hills and then stamps the trees from the same stamp in rows across a square of white card. I used the reverse piece of the mask to cover the trees and used Cut'n'Dry foam to add the hills again using Vintage Photo distress ink. The backing paper and focal image have been distressed again with Vintage photo and overstamped with the crackle stamp. They are both matted on some copper pearl card. The only embellishment i've added is a little copper organza ribbon overlaid with a die cut border made using Crealies 17

Thanks for visiting today, I hope my card has brought a little sunshine to a chilly day.

Claire xx

Snow falling on trees

2011-10-11T01:56:00.001+01:00

The card I have today I must admit took a little time to work out but once the grey matter in hy head woke up and thought methodically I was on to card number three.

Top tip: Draw a line from front to back of stamp with permanent pen so that you can see where the base of the tree is and it makes it easier to see where the stamps are lined up.

I stamped the trees from the Fat Robin stamp sheet three times onto copy paper using the pen line to help me line them up. Then I tore the copy paper for the snow covered ground. Place the paper mask over silk art card and brayer Adirondack sail boat blue.
When the sky is dry stamp the trees using the pen lines on the stamp to help. Dot the snow using a Inkssentials opaque white pen. I added the Merry Christmas sentiment to the bottom. I used silver mirri and blue card to layer then mounted onto the base card.
The base card has been stamped with snowflakes.
This really is a quick card to make.

Thanks for popping by and please come back as there's more inspiration to come.

Debbie

Fat Robin.......

2011-10-10T10:10:00.000+01:00

Hello there,

Today a creation made with the Fat Robin sheet, another beautiful Christmas sheet from CB. I have made this one with one of my favourite techniques, stamping with white ink on black paper and coloured with the Derwent soft colours. As you can see I've added lots of gemstones........and the colour...well it has become a pink robin instead of a red one......I've used the Christmas greetings background paper and also added an acrylic tag.

Enjoy the day and till next time,

Robin and a ribbon

2011-10-09T01:58:00.001+01:00

Hi there.
My card today is a quick card that will be ideal for making batches. This is a 5x6 inch white base card. I used brush markers to colour the stamps and as I wanted the robin, leaves and the berries different colours. It's been a long time since I've used brush marker pens and had forgotten how much fun they are to work with.
I added the organza ribbon to compliment the red of the berries.

I hope you are enjoying the samples from the Design Team.

Debbie

Fat Robin

2011-10-08T09:00:00.000+01:00

This is my first card as a member of the Chocolate Baroque Design team and the first card I made with the gorgeous new Christmas stamps. I think Fat Robin will be one of those all time favourite stamps that come out every Christmas.

The backing paper is from the Season's Greetings cd, printed on vellum and attached to mats of gold and brown card with brads.

The main image is embossed with brown embossing powder and painted with twinkling H2Os. I added flat backed glass nuggets to the snowflakes attached with gold stickles for some extra sparkle

The flowers are made from Kraft glassine, cut with Crealies Flowers 10, the centres are dots of the new Burgundy Stickles. I added some glassine leaves again diecut with Crealies (shapes 12)

To finish off I added a c robin embellishment made from clear UTEE, heated and then stamped with the Robin corner stamp while still hot.

Thanks for popping by,

I hope all the projects from the DT this week are giving you lots of inspiration and ideas for your Christmas projects

Claire xx

Winter trees from the 'Fat Robin sheet'

2011-10-07T10:00:00.000+01:00

Hello there,

This one I have made using those beautiful 'crispy' trees from the Fat Robin sheet.They are so detailed and beautiful. I've just stamped them with white ink and added some shades with pencils. I've used the Christmas greetings paper and stamped another pair of trees onto that with Brilliance Thyme/Olive. As you maybe see I've drawn some extra branches in the frame All it still needed was a Nestie label with ribbon. I have kept this one simple and clean. Sometimes the image is so beautiful that it needs almost nothing.

Well have a nice day and till next time,

Stained Glass window..........

2011-10-05T10:00:00.001+01:00

Hello there,

Again another creation with the new Christmas stamps and this time I've used the 'Stain glass Christmas' sheet. I enjoyed it very much to colour that beautiful window. I also used a template from Crealies for the star at each side of the card. And again I've used that great Christmas greetings paper. All these papers are so lovely and fits perfect with those stamps. Only added a ribbon and some gemstones.

Well, are you already in the mood for some stamping and colouring............till next time

Candlelit Window (posted by Lesley E)

2011-10-04T00:01:00.002+01:00

Good morning everyone,

I hope you've all been enjoying the fabulous inspiration from my team mates this past week. Today it's my turn to share again so here's my second card made from stamps in this latest release of gorgeous designs. This set is aptly called Stained Glass Window.

I embossed a piece of grey pearlescent card with the Tim Holtz texture fades Brickwork Folder and then cut round the edges following the line of the bricks. I then added a little colour by gently applying pink, bright green and tan cube inkpads over the surface before adhering it to a 19 cm square white card blank with double sided tape. I then stamped the lovely window image onto acetate with black Stazon ink, applied sheet adhesive to the back and then applied the gilding flakes before adhering this to the card using double sided tape again.

I then restamped the holly from the bottom of the window onto white card with the Versafine, coloured the leaves with Coloursoft pencils, cut them out and decoupaged them onto the acetate image using silicone glue.

I then stamped the sentiment from an old set called Seasons Greetings directly onto the base card as shown.

Finally I stamped the holly/pine spray which comes from the Christmas Tweetings set released a short while ago, several times onto white card with the Versafine inkpad, coloured with Coloursft pencils before cutting them all out and arranging them on the card as shown using silicone glue. I always shape my decoupage with a bone folder or my fingers before adding it to the card.

Finally add dots of red Pearl Pen to the holly berries.

That's all from me today folks. Keep watching as I'm sure it won't be long before there's more Design Team inspiration for you. As always, many thanks for your visit. We do appreciate you dropping by.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Winter's Night by ikki

2011-10-03T08:00:00.011+01:00

Hi, my card today uses stamps from the theme plate Christmas Cheer. I was looking to produce a dramatic effect to highlight these fab stamps, so chose the colours of black, white and red. The background is a messy mix of shimmer mist and distress inks on copy paper, overstamped with various snowflakes and the christmas greeting and then diecut with a Grand Nestie Label. For the white edging I used a glue stick and white embossing powder, I have a liking for this type of embossing as you will see from the edging on the Nestie snowflake! The centre piece I felt needed little embellishment being such a statement in itself, so I stamped with a black inkpad then tripled embossed with a clear embossing powder, adding just a touch of colour to the trees and roof to draw the eye in.

Materials used:

6" black linen textured card

Cardstock : white, black glitter

Stamps: Chocolate Baroque – sentiment, snowflakes, winter scene

Nestabilities: Grand label 1 #2

Snowflake

Perfect Medium

Embossing Powder: black, white

Promarkers: yellow, leaf green, red

Stickles : star dust

Shimmer mist: candy pink, angel mist, sunlight mist

glue stick, foam pads

Hope you're finding interest and inspiration from the DT's artwork using these new stamps.

Back soon with more, until then enjoy your crafting.

ikki

Snowflakes and a sentiment

2011-10-02T01:00:00.002+01:00

This is my first card from the Christmas Cheer stamp set.The girls on the Design Team have some fantastic cards that will be posted here.
The background started as one piece of card. I used Versamark to stamp the snowflakes and heat embossed with clear powder. The card was cut into three pieces and coloured with Victorian Velvet and Broken China Distress Ink. These were mounted onto silver card.

The snowflake toppers were easy to cut out as there were no curved cuts. A silver flatbacked gem has been added to the centre. I love the sentiment it's so ornate. I used the Nestabilities Label 18 and it's quickly becoming a favourite.

The team have some wonderful cards to show over the coming days, pop back to take a look.
Debbie

Steampunk Christmas

2011-10-01T10:00:00.001+01:00

Hello there,
Today my creation with the Steampunk Christmas sheet, if you like steampunk than this is really it! And even if you feel uncomfortable with steampunk ......if you work with these stamps you will change your thoughts about that. Because they are a mix of the raw style of steampunk and the well-known elegance and beauty of Chocolate Baroque. This is definitely one of my favourites!

I have used a water coloured(salt technique) piece of paper from my stash in brown/blue shades. Most of the time I make a lot of these papers at one time so I have always something to grab..... I embossed the steampunk flowers with gold EP and coloured them with water based markers. I also used the gear border die from Tim Holtz and added an acrylic tag. All the stamps I've used are from the same sheet.

Hope to have given you inspiration, creative greetz,

Krafty Robins by Judith Smith

2011-09-30T08:00:00.001+01:00

When I received these fabulous new Christmas stamps, the lovely robin images appealed to me the most. I decided to create a very simple colour scheme for this particular sample, choosing Kraft and green as my base. I stamped the large image onto a piece of Kraft card with Adirondack Snow Cap ink, and coloured the image with Polychromos pencils, before blending them with a blending solution. I then stamped the smaller image onto the corner of an 8" x 8" piece of Kraft card, colouring it as before. I cut a frame in the centre of this piece of card, cutting around the outside of the robin. I made a mount of green card to fit inside the Kraft frame, which I then placed over the larger image.

Some gems in the centre of the snowflakes add a little bit of Christmas bling to an otherwise simple card. Keep popping back to see what the other Design Team members have created this week. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Ring Out Those Christmas Greetings .................(posted by Lesley E)

2011-09-29T00:01:00.001+01:00

Hi Everyone,

Today I'm sharing a card made using one of the beautiful new stamp sets which is called Christmas Cheer. I love the greeting on this set as it looks like a pretty hanging sign and I also love the bell surrounded by mistletoe (as well as all the others, lol!).

I started by making an A5 tentfold card from pale green pearlescent card, and the rest was just matting and layering having first stamped the mid green pearlescent layer with the bell and mistletoe using Onyx Black Versafine ink. I heat embossed with clear embossing powder and then coloured the bells with metallic gold paint and the mistletoe with Lumiere paints in green and red before matting onto the darker green pearlescent and mounting that onto the card base.

I stamped the Christmas Greetings onto white card, again with the Versafine and clear embossing powder and then softly blended a little Pine Needles Distress Ink. I matted this onto gold mirri card and mounted this onto the card with 3D foam pads.

This was quite a simple card but the greeting stamp is so beautiful it really doesn't need much.

Keep your eye on the blog because there is lots more inspiration to follow from the team this week.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

New Christmas sheets.......my first creation

2011-09-28T12:20:00.004+01:00

Hello there,

Today I would like to show you my first creation with those new gorgeous Christmas stamps! I have worked with the 'Fat Robin sheet'. They are so great to work with and I would make a compliment to that talented designer of these stamps! I have chosen for those pretty little birds sitting on that table and eating the berries. I have stamped them with several colours of Brilliance ink. So here and there I've added some extra colours with my Derwent pencils. The background paper is from Christmas greetings and I used also the Crealies flowers. I have coloured the seam binding with Copics....works really great! Also added some lace ribbon and a holly embellishment. I have used Petals no.6 and shapes no.17.

Well hope to have inspired you and see you next time,

have a nice creative day,

Shine a light at Christmas (posted by Elaine)

2011-09-28T08:06:00.000+01:00

I have been working with the lovely new Peace on Earth and Stained Glass Christmas plates to make this 8 x 8 card. You can find the new Christmas stamps here. I wanted a luxurious feel so worked in black velvet and gold.

I stamped the images and embossed in the fabulous Ranger Queens Gold embossing powder. I added red, gold, block and white opaque glitter to the stained glass panel using a fine glue pen. I added a sentiment from an older plate Light of Christmas embossed in gold.

I added some of my favourite tiny gems to the lamp for a flame and as detailing.

I finished off the card with a gold star, more tiny gems, gold ribbon and large black gems and matted the panel onto gold mirri.

Christmas will be here before we know it so it's time to get cracking on those special cards.

Elaine

Faux Snow Globe by Judith Smith

2011-09-27T08:00:00.003+01:00

Hi folks, I just wanted to share this card that I made using one of the lovely images from The 'Fat Robin' set of Christmas stamps just being released at Chocolate Baroque I really like this little scene with the robins on the bird table, with the Christmas pud and the mince pie! I decided to create a faux snow globe effect, by using triple embossing, but adding thick white glitter in the second layer of the embossing.

I placed the image onto some of the lovely Spirit of Christmas papers, now available as a download from Chocolate Baroque. I then created a flower from polymer clay, using the Steampunk flower from the 'Steampunk Christmas' stamp set, painting it with acrylic paint once it had been cooked. The leaves are simply the larger flower stamped onto green card.

Some gingham ribbon, mesh and curly wire complete the card. Don't forget to keep checking back to see what the other Design Team members have created with these new stamps this week. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Little Robin Red Breast by ikki

2011-09-26T09:00:00.006+01:00

Hi, today I would like to show you my card using stamps from the Fat Robin set...

Materials used:

Cardstock – A4 dark turq, white

Stamps : Chocolate Baroque – Trees, robin, snowflakes

Perfect Medium

Adironack : oregano

Embossing powder : gold, clear

Glitter pens: red, green

Glossy accents, gems, glue stick foam pads

Method:

Make a 6" x 6" tent card. Randomly apply a glue stick round the edges, cover with gold embossing powder and heat emboss. With a green inkpad, stamp the snowflakes, and just the leaves from the robin stamp round the edges – cover with clear embossing powder and heat emboss.

From remaining cardstock, cut a strip approx 2.l/2" x 5". Stamps trees with Perfect Medium, cover with gold embossing powder and heat emboss. Stamp snowflakes and round edge of strip with green inkpad, cover with clear embossing powder and heat emboss. Colour the trees. Add gems.

Cut another strip of card 2.3/4" x 5.1/4". Apply glue stick to edges, cover with gold embossing powder and heat emboss. Add topper, and mount on base card using foam pads.

Using Perfect Medium, stamp the robin on spare card and cover with gold embossing powder and heat emboss. Cut out and add a touch of colour to the robin. Add to the card using foam pads.

Robins, holly and Christmas trees - favourites of mine for Chrissie cards and I'm not going to mention how many days.... to go, but it's defo getting time to start thinking!!!!!

Enjoy your day,
ikki

Introducing Claire

2011-09-25T09:00:00.000+01:00

I am delighted to introduce a new face to the Design Team, Claire Chapman who has been a fan of our stamps for quite a while. Claire has been good enough to answer a few questions that I put to her on what it is that inspires her and why she loves our stamps so much.

Click on any of the images below for a larger view.

How did you first hear about Chocolate Baroque?

I'd been a huge fan of Elusive Images and Graphicus for a long time since seeing Glenda demonstrate on Create and Craft. I was immediately hooked on the style and elegance of the designs and began my collection of stamps. Soon afterwards I joined the Graphicus Guild and learnt so many techniques from the monthly newsletter. I was lucky enough to find out about Chocolate Baroque as soon as it was launched through the newletter emails and placed my first order that very day.

What is it you like about our stamps?
Chocolate Baroque stamps have their own style and elegance and of course the quality is always superb. The stamps are really well thought out, they work together so well and I love the fact that I can often mix and match stamps from new themeplates with some of the stamps I have had for years. Chocolate Baroque stamps seem to bring out the best in my crafting,

What was the first set you bought?
The first set of stamps I bought was a set of 3 DL sheets, Unicorns, Gossamer Wings and Dragonfly Faeries. I fell in love with the delicate images and I still use them all the time. They are perfect for brayered scenes which I love to make but they combine beautifully with lots of other stamps. I've made so many projects with these stamps and they have all been different, everything from cards to canvases and even jewellery.

Do you have a favourite stamp set?
Its really difficult to choose a favourite stamp set, rather like asking a mother to choose a favourite child lol. Usually its the set I'm currently working and at the minute I'm really enjoying Steampunk Christmas but if I was on a desert island and could only have one set it would have to be Peacock Ladies. This is another set I've used again and again and the stamps lend themselves to so many different techniques they would keep me amused for a long time. I think the set I use the most though is Autumn Hedgerow, this set is always on my workdesk as I use it all the time. The stamps are perfect for creating backgrounds and adding depth to any scene.

Where do you get your inspiration?
I get inspiration from so many places sometimes from crafting magazines or blog hopping. I often find ideas pop up when I'm out and about and see a colour palette in a shop, a beautiful sunset or leaves blowing from the trees. I've had a huge amount of inspiration from the Chocolate Baroque Guild and also browsing all the beautiful artwork on the Chocolate Baroque Group too. Most of my ideas come from the stamps themselves though, as soon as I get new stamps I think about how I'm going to use them, what techniques and materials I want to use and make some notes so I don't forget

Do you have a favourite technique?
My favourite technique is probably trying new techniques. I love making my own background and just messing around with paint and ink. I think my absolute favourite technique is masking as its so useful and can be used in projects. It always seemed very complicated but once I'd got the hang of it I find it gives my stamps a whole new lease of life as I can combine several stamps in one project and get a seamless result . I didn't have a lot of luck with post it notes but now I use Eclipse masking tape and get a much better result. My other current favourite is colouring with pencils and promarkers, I recently took one of Glenda's online courses through My Creative Classroom and I've learnt so much. I find it so relaxing to sit and colour after a long day at work

Do you have any tips for beginners?
Tips for beginners..... I think my top tip would be to have a go if you see a technique or project that you really like. A new technique often takes a bit of practice so don't worry about making a mess of things. If it goes wrong you're only throwing some paper or card and often you'll be surprised at what you can do.

My other tips are to use tack'n'peel on your acrylic blocks instead of EZmount if you need to save some pennies and to dust your fingers with an antistatic bag before you handle glossy card for brayering so you don't get fingermarks on the card.

What’s on your Chocolate Baroque wishlist right now?

As a Chocolate Baroque addict, my wish list is always very long but at the top right now is the gorgeous Nature Swirls A4 themeplate which I haven't got around to getting yet. I love the combination of elegant swirls and the whimsical owls and birds in the tree. I've also got my eye on Family Christmas too, I don't know how I resisted that one last year but it will be perfect for traditional Christmas cards especially with the new Spirit of Christmas downloads.

You can see more of Claire's artwork on her blog, Claire's Crafty Creations or on our community site and Claire will be sharing some of her first DT projects both here and on her own blog very soon.

Yummy Scrummy Christmas Stamps

2011-09-23T16:19:00.000+01:00

OK, I know you have all been waiting to see these, so here are the latest Chocolate Baroque Christmas stamp sets.

Firstly we have Fat Robin - a full A4 sheet of gorgeousness.

Then we have three A5 sets which are all so incredibly versatile and usable.

Stained Glass Christmas

Christmas Cheer

Peace on Earth

The girls have all come up with some stunning artwork to illustrate the possibilities of this set and we have a series of blog posts scheduled over the next few days, so do check back or subscribe to our blog feed so you don't miss out.

I am doing a blog candy giveaway, but I've decided to do it over on my own blog for a change - it's been a while since I did that, so pop over to glendawaterworth.com and check out some of my Christmas makes with these delicious new stamps.

And please check back on Sunday - I have a new Design Team member to introduce to you all!

another musical note.........

2011-09-19T19:57:00.000+01:00

Hello there,

The 2nd one made with the 'Music Fanfare' sheet. I have used the center step card model. You can find the video tutorial from Glenda here. I have used my Derwent pencils for colouring and sponged the rectangle with Colorbox pigment inks. Also the panels with the hearts are sponged. Beneath I have put some mirri paper. The flowers are from Crealies.(no.6) Just added some gemstones and if you take a closer look you can see a bit of rainbow colours in the top of the card. I have a rainbow crystal hanging in front of my window and when the sun is shining it adds those colours on my photo's.

Hope you have a lot of inspiration by now made by all the girls of the DT team! So enjoy your stamping,

creative greetz,

Ideal for a Chess fan

2011-09-17T10:30:00.000+01:00

When we recieved our stamps for making samples I recieved the Music Fanfare which I love but with my Hubbys birthday around the corner thought the Art of Chess would be ideal for him.
This is an 8x8 card backed with paper. I cut out a square from acetate and used as a mask along the sides as a suggestion of a board. The chess pieces are stamped in black and brown and the edges are distressed. The centre image is stamped with Brilliance Tiramisu and clear embossed. I turned the ink pad as it isn't as big as the stamp. The shading around the sun is Antique Linen Distress Ink so the white of the palace stands out. I mounted onto brown and black then finished with a sentiment.

Keep popping back as there will be more inspiration coming from the Design Team.

Debbie

A Random Blog Winner

2011-09-16T21:36:00.000+01:00

I mentioned a while ago that I might do a random giveaway and I have gone through all the comments since we launched Music Fanfare and The Art of Chess, put the names into the random number cruncher and come up with a winner.

And that winner is ...

Marja's Stamp Addiction

Marja - I can't understand Dutch, but the pics on your blog are just gorgeous. Can you get in touch with me please and send me your address so I can send a little something to you.

Next week we are launching our main Christmas collection - be prepared to have your stamping tastebuds tickled pink!

Music is my first love and it will be my..............

2011-09-13T14:49:00.000+01:00

Hello there,
Music is my first love and it will be my last.....a great song from John Miles. And indeed music is a very important part of my life, so this sheet is fantastic to play with.
I want to show you my creation with that beautiful music sheet. I kept the stamping very simple, so it will be great for a beginner.This time a diamond folded card. I have used an embossing folder for the musical notes and sponged it with Distress Ink. Also used the Crealies flowers/leaves and clef. As you can see I stamped the flowers with the music notes stamp. I stamped the instrument with black and gave some accents with a white pencil. I stamped the clef onto the other areas which you can see in between. Hope to have inspired you and see you next time,

musical greetz,

Show Stockists wanted

2011-09-09T17:49:00.000+01:00

It is the start of the Autumn show season kicking off with the Great Northern Papercrafts Extravaganza at Harrogate this weekend, and we are actively looking for trade customers who would like to have exclusive rights to sell Chocolate Baroque stamps at shows.

I am getting so many enquiries about whether our stamps will be at Ally Pally, Harrogate, the NEC, etc, that we would really like to have our stamps out there at shows. Adrian and I have no intention of doing any of the shows ourselves so this is a fantastic opportunity.

We would be happy to grant exclusivity on a show by show basis, so if you are looking for a brand with exciting and popular designs, service second to none, show special pricing, and marketing support, then please get in touch. Please email trade@chocolatebaroque.com and let us know which shows you are going to be attending.

For all of you who are off to the shows to shop 'til you drop - if you have a favourite stand, why not let them know what we are looking for and ask them to get in touch. Hopefully we will be able to have Chocolate Baroque well represented for you at shows in the future.

Red, Gold, Cream and Brown (posted by Judith)

2011-09-06T06:04:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, well here is another submission from me, using the lovely 'Music Fanfare' set of stamps just launched this week. The title of my post sounds a bit like a colour challenge, doesn't it? I set out to use this colour combination when making my project and the title just stuck.

I embossed a path of treble clefs streaming across the card in gold, and then sprayed a mixture of red mists across them. I then stamped some of the flowers from the 'Filigree Fusion' stamp set onto cream card and cut them out, adding brown buttons to their centres. I cut brown Crealie leaves to put behind the flowers. The music fragment and floral instrument were stamped onto cream card and 'aged' with Distress Inks.

The mixture of stamps on this music plate is really lovely, and so versatile. It is such a useful set for male and female cards. Keep checking back for more samples from the Design Team this week. Thanks for stopping by today, Judith xx

Mini Tag Pocket Folder (ala Tim Holtz and posted by Lesley E)

2011-09-05T08:00:00.002+01:00

Hello Everyone,

I have another project for you today using the Art of Chess stamps together with a few more from the Chocolate Baroque catalogue. I made the little pocket folder using a method demonstrated by Tim Holtz on his DVD An Altered Journey.

I used watch stamps and a mesh background stamp to build up a background on the lightweight card I used for my little folder and I tore relevant definitions from an old dictionary to stick in strategic places once the folding was complete.

I blended inks onto my tags and used some sequin waste as a mask. I also did some background stamping. I stamped and embossed the chess pieces onto white card, cut them out and shaped them slightly and adhered with silicone glue to the tags.

On the inside of the folder I stamped some of the smaller chess pieces into melted UTEE (clear UTEE with some ordinary Burgundy Embossing Powder added) using a Brilliance inkpad and again used silicone glue to attach them.

For these two tags I pressed my Distress Inkpads onto my craft mat and spritzed lightly with water. I scrunched up my tags and opened them out again before pressing them into the ink and then ironed them dry between copy paper. I followed this with background stamping on the tags and then this time I stamped the chess pieces onto Glassine using Versamark ink and Sticky Stuff before adding the metal leaf, cutting out and adhering to the tags.
I'm sure there's more to come from the rest of the team so keep watching.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

A bit of paper weaving (posted by Judith)

2011-09-04T08:00:00.000+01:00

I was very pleased to be able to work with the new set of stamps 'The Art of Chess' when Glenda sent these to us, as I thought that they would be perfect for men's cards. (I also have a fabulous idea for a girly card too, using these stamps!) I decided to keep my colour scheme very simple, and just use black and white.
I marked 11/2 cms sections at one side of my card, and wove white card strips through my top black piece of card, to create the illusion of the chessboard fragment. For balance, I used a fabulous large swirl from the 'Butterfly Dreams' stamp set, which I embossed in white in the opposite corner. I stamped the sentiment, and mounted it onto a Nestability frame, fixing it to my card with two white brads. Finally, I stamped two large chess pieces onto glossy card, one black, and one white.

These are great stamps, look out for more Design Team samples coming your way this week. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Colour my life with music by ikki

2011-09-03T08:29:00.002+01:00

When I first saw this new stamp from the Music theme set, I knew I wanted colour and a dramatic look to set of the beautiful image! Black, White and Orange gave me this look.......

I really enjoyed creating this card with my distress inks and a masking technique using post-it notes. I stamped the image on the slant to correspond with the PC generated sentiment, then placed 3 post-its round the image and applied ink. With the completed section covered with another mask you can continue to colour the other sections with different but toning inks by just moving the masks about. This is a simple way to give drama and highlight an image if you don't mind getting inky fingers!

Materials used:
White textured 6 x 6 card
Cardstock: black, white
Nestabilies: Large square #7/ Grand square #1
Stamps: Music
Ink: Black Memento
DI's: rusty hinge, dried marigold, spiced marmelade, mustard seed
Scoreboard
PC generated sentiment

Thanks for dropping by,

If Music be the Food of Love! (posted by Elaine)

2011-09-02T18:00:00.000+01:00

When I saw the music and hearts on this lovely stamp plate this quote popped into my head!

I strated off with a cream background and added treble clefs and the curvy music staves part of the violin stamp to make up a background using Hazel Adirondack dye ink and colouring with Peach Bellini Addirondack and Frayed Burlap and Vintage Photo DI.I then heat embossed various elements from the stamps onto gold and copper pearl card using contrasting gold and copper EP and cut them out using tiny scissors. Using the curled leaf from the Brocade Background plate, I stamped in Russet Archival ink and coloured in Wild Honey, Frayed Burlap and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. I mixed these with some brown paper leaves to make a trail across the card. I finished the card with a computer generated sentiment coloured with the same inks and cut out with a nestie, added gold ribbon and ric rac and some amber gems.

Keep popping over this week to see what the other girls have been up to with these new stamps. We hope you feel inspired by our ideas.

Elaine

Ebony and Ivory? (posted by Lesley E)

2011-09-02T08:00:00.001+01:00

Hello Everyone,

When Glenda first sent us these lovely chess stamps I immediately thought of cards for men but once I got to work with them I thought they would also make lovely feminine cards too especially with the scenic image which is rather romantic. I don't play chess myself but when I see chess sets I always think of Steve McQueen and Faye Dunnaway in The Thomas Crowne Affair, lol!

Anyway, here is my first project using this lovely set of stamps.

I started with an ivory 8" x 8" base card and punched a border across the top and bottom front edges. I punched the same border along the edges of a piece of black perlescent card and trimmed them off the main piece adhering them behind the borders on the front of the card. The piece of black card which was left I embossed down the right half using the Tim Holtz Texture Fades Checkerboard embossing folder and then sanded off the black surface before adhering to my card front.

I stamped the main image onto ivory card using black Versafine ink, trimmed to the size I wanted and then added touches of colour with Coloursoft pencils. I masked the image and dusted Stormy Sky Distress Ink round the top half of the border and Bundled Sage round the bottom border and I then matted it first onto black perlescent card and then ivory card before mounting onto the card front. Finally, I stamped the King onto white card with black ink and the Queen in white onto black card before cutting them out and positioning them together with the stamped sentiment onto the right side of the card.

I think the chess pieces on this stamp set are excellent for making tags or ATCs too and they also combine well with several other sets. Keep an eye on my own blog for a card I made recently combining them with the lovely music set and I know there are more projects coming up from my Design Team buddies so lots of inspiration to come.

Hugs
Lesley Xx