Rainbows & Reflections (By Tracy Thompson)

 I would like to share a couple of creations I did for the November Craft Store shows

My first creation is all about reflection. I took the Trees A Crowd stamp set and selected some of the trees, I did a waterline so I could line my trees up, I used a gel plate to make the reflections, then I just built up the colouring creating the scene.  I die cut some frames to put around my images in contrasting colours.

I loved creating this card, now I know it's not for everyone but I have to say I find fussy cutting relaxing.  So to start I chose five colours of Distress inks and then applied them with stencil brushes in  rainbow stripes.  I stamped five butterflies from the stamp set Happy flower's day, and cut them out.  Always cut your image before colouring it as the ink weakens the card and you don't get as crisper cut.  For each butterfly I took the colour from the background so for instance for the pink one I used Kitsch Flamingo, I then picked two other co-ordinating colours, Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry to shade and colour the butterfly.  I then proceeded to do the other butterflies in the same way.

I stamped the butterfly image on the background where I wanted the butterflies positioned, then glued the cut out butterflies over the top with the wings free and shaped.  All I did then was added a sentiment from the set.

I hope to see you later in the month for some more of my samples from the shows.

Happy crafting

Tracy x

frosty trees

this stamp set is definitely appropriate at the moment, my part of the country has got away lightly so far with the weather, but it is still very cold. Hopefully those who lost their electricity during the recent storm will all be re-connected by now and gradually thawing out.

My first sample uses one of the snowy stamps to create a sheet of gift wrap. This was just a sheet of copy paper with the stamp repeat stamped using a multicolour ink pad. It is a solid stamp, and quite easy to line up the images - any squiffy ones probably won't be noticeable once you have wrapped something up, especially with any ribbon decoration -I didn't have any ribbon, so used some silver cord.  I also made a matching gift tag, using the sentiment from the same set.

The next samples are very similiar, using the triangular tree and a stamping platform to create a star. The first one I used the same blue inkpad as before, keeping the lighter ink to the top of the tree . The sentiment in the centre was stamped in versamark and gold embossed, The mat is actually silver mirri card

For this version I used a grey ink pad - I didn't have a silver one - and the sentiment was inked with the blue inkpad. The mat was white card sponged in blue using the darker part of the inkpad.
 

Hearts and Flowers (by Sandra)

Hello, I'm sharing some of my cards from the November show on The Craft Store.

My first card uses the beautiful Magnolia stamp from Happy Flower's Day. I stamped the magnolia in Memento ink onto smooth white cardstock and coloured with alcohol markers. I added a sentiment from the same set and some splatters from Numerology. 

My next card uses the Artist Trading Heart stamp set.  I stamped the heart with archival ink and carefully cut it out. I then stamped the butterfly from Happy Flower's Day into the heart and coloured with pencils. I blended some Distress Ink around the edges of the heart, going lighter towards the centre. I made a few light pencil marks on the card base where the heart would be placed and used the small leafy stamps from Filigree Trading Hearts to create a border around the heart. I added the number stamp and sentiment and then adhered the heart to the card with foam pads.

My next card uses A Heart Full of Love stamp set. I stamped this pretty image in Memento Ink and coloured with alcohol markers. I added a sentiment from Artist Trading Heart as I thought it very apt.

My last card to share today. I stamped this corner stamp from A Heart Full of Love using my stamping platform and Archival Ink. I then coloured with water colour pencils. I stamped the sentiment onto a die cut and mat and layered all pieces onto a 8x8 card base.

Thanks for looking

Sandra x

Blog Comment Winner for November

 

Hello and welcome to the Chocolate Baroque Design Team Blog.

 

We truly appreciate the time you take to let us know your thoughts about our designs, so each and every comment is very important to us.

 

Each comment in November was assigned a number and we used Random Org to draw a winner.

 

Congratulations to GWEN you have won this month's £15.00 voucher to spend on Chocolate Baroque stamps.

To claim your prize, please email here to confirm your email address and Lesley will send your gift certificate.

 

Lesley will be giving a £15 gift voucher to another lucky winner drawn from the December comments.

 

The more comments you leave, the better your chances of being the winner.

 

Thank you so much for all the kind comments you leave.

 

Good luck from all on the Design Team

 

Here is another chance to see the beautiful creation by Tracey.

.

 

Happy December (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope you are keeping well. Many of you have been experiencing the cold weather lately, and it really feels like Winter has set in, doesn't it? I have just come back from a trip to Mexico, where it was lovely and warm, and the sunshine was very uplifting. I wanted to share a feeling of that sunshine with you with the colours that I have used in some of my projects today. I cannot promise to make you feel any warmer, but perhaps the cheery colours will brighten your day.

My first project was created by blending some Distress Ink onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge. I chose shades of blue and yellow throughout the whole project for continuity. I added some stencilling and stamped segments of the Small Graph Paper stamp using the stamp in my hand, not on an acrylic block, so that I could curve the stamp, to get smaller sections on the background. I also stamped the butterfly definition from the Happy Flower's Day stamp set on the background.

I stamped the large butterfly from the same stamp set first onto the background twice, and then again onto a piece of spare smooth white card. I coloured the images on the spare card using pencils, cut them out, and attached them to the background.

For my second project, I chose a piece of patterned paper and stamped the magnolia from Happy Flower's Day twice, masking the image as I went along. I added the flower definition and the main sentiment in the background. I coloured the image with pencils. I attached the panel to a chipboard panel using matte medium. When the adhesive was dry, I sanded the edges to give a white edge. 

My third project was created by placing Distress Oxides onto a craft mat and spritzing them with water. I placed the Drawing Cartridge onto the mat and picked up the colour. I used a whiteboard heart to do the same with the remaining colour on the craft mat, giving a paler version.

I stamped the flower definition over the background, and the fritillary flower and sentiment onto the heart. I picked up a bit of the Distress Oxide colour from the craft mat and painted the flower with a water brush.

For my final project, I chose to use grey card for a completely different look. I stamped the floral sprig from A Heart Full of Love around the edge of the background, and then added the floral heart in the middle. I coloured the images with pencils. I used white pencil first on the flowers, and added the other colours afterwards, this really helps on darker coloured card.

It's actually my Birthday today, and I would like to wish you all the best of days today. I will be back later in the month with more projects to share with you, take care, and thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

Masking Ideas by Natalie

Sketchy, textured or broken image stamps all look fantastic when combined with masking techniques. There are a number of masking products you can use to achieve this but I tend to stick to paper based products when working with inks. There are two approaches: positive and negative we shall call them.

Positive Masking

This is where most beginners start with paper masks. You can stamp your image onto masking paper, tissue or tape and then cut it out to create your mask. You should trim slightly inside the image to prevent a halo when apply another image or ink to your design. The resulting mask then masks the original image so you can ink outside of the image for background techniques, glows or shadows. It is also how we can build scenes using multiple stamps. 

Using From Nature 1, stamp and cut out the mask of your chosen leaf image. Depending on your material, you may want to allow the paper to dry before cutting out to save inky fingers.

Stamp your image onto your card blank using any stamping ink and even embossing powder if you wish. Heat set the ink and apply your mask. Using a blending brush, sponge or dauber apply ink over the top - Distress Oxides were used in the sample below. Stamp any textural images you want to add using any inks; you could even stencil over the top.

Peel off your mask and allow to dry. Stamp and mount a sentiment to complete the card.

Negative masking

This is where we mask the background instead; this makes colouring your images a much quicker process. This time trim slightly outside the image to prevent an inner halo using a craft knife or scalpel using a cutting mat beneath your masking material.

This process enables us to then apply colour to our stamped images quickly. Stamp your image onto your card, in the above sample this was inside a card blank. Apply the mask to your card carefully, working from the aperture outwards. Apply dye based inks over your image; this prevents your original stamped image looking faded.

In the sample above, I then used a light box to sketch the outline of the stamping trimmed the card about 1 inch shorter to the front and around the image. I then applied some rub on stitching designs as well as a sentiment border from the stamp set. Then use the same inks you coloured with to add leaf designs to your envelope.

Autumn Leaves (Tracy Thompson)

 I'm here with my third post for this month, using From Nature and Numerology from Octobers shows.

For the background on this I used four different coloured inks blended together.  I then used the splatter from Numerology to stamp over the inking.  The leaves were inked with sprays before being  fussy cut and adhered to look like falling leaves.  then all that was left to do was add a sentiment.  I stamped the word Autumn and a mini bulldog clip to the top.

Another inky background done in a couple of colours,  I then stamped leaves to one side of the card and the numerology stamp down the opposite side, then some smaller leaves floating down the centre.  I layered up a couple of sentiments from the same set and added to the card.

Happy crafting

Tracy x