steampunk butterfly (by Veronica)

My final post this month uses the gorgeous steampunk butterfly stamp - perfect for masculine cards!

My first simple sample uses the cogs stamped in versafine clair in one corner, and gold and silver embossing powder sprinkled over quickly.  The butterfly was stamped once over the cogs in black in - too lazy to cut the antenna out!-  and once in versamark onto black card. White, silver and blue embossing powder sprinkled over, fussy cut out and glued over first image. Black mat onto white card blank to finish

this one is more grungy, black soot distress ink sponged round the edges, then the small butterfly stamped along the four edges in black ink, and again twice onto spare card. The spare images wwere sponged with black ink, and the single wings cut out and glued down to fill in the gaps in the rather wonky wreath shape. The flower from punky romance was stamped in the centre, then the large butterfly stamped in versamark onto black card and white embossed was cut out and glued at an angle on top- and this time I did cut out the antenna.....

 The prettier version has the large image from punky romance stamped in grey and coloured with watercolour pencils. Antique linen and old paper distress ink brushed round the edges, and the small cogs randomly stamped in the same inks. 
The large butterfly stamp was put on an acrylic block and inked in black versafine ink, then sprinkled with mica powders. The whole image was then covered with pva glue and left to dry. Depending on the depth of the glue it will take at least 24 hours to completely dry. Once dry, peel off the glue and trim the image with scissors, then glue in place. Cheap pva works just as well as the dearer stuff, so if you're planning to do several buy the kid's version!

 I owe Lynnda Worsnop for this idea, and Doreen Sympson on whose blog I originally saw this - thanks ladies!

Junk Journal Inspired Stamping (by Natalie)

I love the look of junk journaling: vintage illustrations, centuries old ephemera and worn paper and lace. I thought I would have a go at replicating the look with my Chocolate Baroque stamps.

You will need:

Just Useful stamp set

Make Your Mark stamp set

Flora and Fauna stamp set

Beige ink pad for stamping

Distress Oxide Weathered Wood

Coloured pencils

Assorted ephemera

Assorted ephemera and papers from a vintage pack

Starting your layout

Start by combining ephemera elements into a rough pleasing layout. Keep in mind the elements from your stamps you want to include; for my card these include a stamped image for the photo mount, and each of the two rings. This also gives you a rough idea for positioning the texture images into the background of the card. 

Colouring your stamped images

Stamp your main image three times onto some white card using the beige ink. The card you use should be suitable for coloured pencil colouring; I recommend testing a scrap piece prior to stamping.

One image should have the larger circle overlaid, another smaller circle and the last image I roughed out an area that would fill the frame. The circles should highlight focal points of your main image.

Starting with a cream or pale warm yellow (mine was Golden Yellow) colour the back petal around the stamen. Fade the colour out as you move further away from the stamen.

Colour the stamens with orange, tan and brown - orange at the edges and getting darker towards the centre. Colours used from the set I used: Cadmium Orange, Terracotta Light, Raw Umber and Burnt Umber.

The rest of the petal should be coloured from the base up; starting with a touch of light green (Leaf Green Light) to the very base blending from the stem. Then apply grey from the petal base upwards past the green (Payne's Gray). Finally, blend into the white with pale blue (Cerulean Blue Light). Do the same blue grey mix to the shaded areas of the petal.

Stems are coloured in light green as we don't see much of them on these pieces.

Leaves are coloured all over with light green, then the veins are shaded with a darker sage green (Sap Green) and blend with a mid green tone (Permanent Green).

As I was colouring on shimmer cardstock, it did make it a little difficult to get a smooth blend; I think the results fit the theme well though. Trim out your pieces ready for assembly. 

Stamp your card blabk with your texture images using both the beige ink and the Distress Oxide; keep your stamping as close to 90 degrees as possible.

Assemble the card

With your pieces now cut, redo your layout without sticking anything. Take a photograph of your layout. Try to keep your elements to a 90 degree - horizontal or vertical to stop your layout looking messy. The photo will help you as you adhere your pieces.

Working back to front adhere your pieces with a little PVA glue; by using less we can always lift at a later stage if needed. Consider your materials; for example, the photo frame I used had been die-cut from vellum which meant a little planning with the adhesive. The coloured panel was aligned to the aperture and the adhered to the back of the frame. Position each piece using a T ruler to keep them straight.

In my card, I found I needed some elements to go over the edge of my DL card blank for them to fit. Instead of cutting them off and losing colouring etc., why not change your design a little. I added a card inset into my design that extends past the card blank size. To make it look intentional, I added a lacy edge using a die.

You can use additional embellishment with washi tape or stickers, but avoid full on bling.

Its all about the sea - by Rachel

 

Hello there - Rachel here today with some more inspiration from the June shows. In this first card I have used mostly stamps from the Mermaid Queen set. I did a little stencilling lightly in the background then stamped the images and created the scene. I painted the scene using mica powders.

In this next card I used the Seashell Collage stamp set - I used distress oxide in the background then I created a little 'wreath' using the images then stamped the beautiful verse and seagull stamp centrally. 

My final piece is a ceramic plate  - I used the Ammonite stamp to make this - I wanted it to look like a bed of rock with fossils in it! 

Have a great day!

Hugs

Rachel xx

Where Imagination Meets Reality.......by Sandra

 Hello, I am sharing some more of my cards made for the June show on The Craft Store.

The stamps I have used are Steampunk Butterfly and Punky Romance.

For my first card I made a background using watered down blue and brown distress inks onto watercolour cardstock. When it was dry I used the same inks and stamped the cogs from Steampunk Butterfly randomly.  I stamped the corners and the bat wings in black archival ink and coloured with a darker blue. I finished the card by adding the sentiment, some pen nibs that I cut on my silhouette and a few small bats* from the Nevermore stamp set.

*The small bats were also included in last years Comfy Pyjama Online Retreat which was absolutely fabulous and it's happening again this year!

My next card uses the wonderful machinery stamp, pretty and grungy at the same time.

I stamped with archival ink, then used pencils to colour.  Once it was all coloured I used a blending solution to soften the edges of the pencils. I added the sentiment from Punky Expressions.

For my last card I used distress oxides for the background. I then used the large corner stamp to make a "dreamcatcher". I stamped in archival and used glitter gel pens to colour. I then stamped the keys and used a black pen to join the keys to the "dreamcatcher". I added a sentiment from Punky Expressions.

Thanks for looking

Sandra x

Under the Sea (by Doreen O'Brien)

Hello, Doreen O'Brien here, back with another blog post to share with you.

I first cut an oval to use as an aperture for my card. I inked the background with Distress ink and then inked over a stencil. I stamped my images from the Mermaid Queen set and coloured them with Distress inks. The sentiment was stamped onto card and attached with foam pads.

Well, that's it for another week.

Bye for now.

Doreen

Punky Posy

Punky Posy

Hello all Chocolate Baroquers, I'm back for my second visit this month. I would like to share this Steampunk floral tag with you today.

Using a sparkle paint to cover the MDF Tag used in one coat, leave to dry and stamp the Roses onto Drawing Cartridge, I coloured the roses using Inktense Pencils and after shaping slightly I used a crackle glaze to add a sheen to the roses.

Returning to the tag I stamped and heat embossed the cogs randomly directly onto the tag using a black inkpad and clear embossing powder.

Apply the roses to the tag using a gel of to aid the depth required, I also added a metal cog from my embellishment stash. To finish I used a little glitter and some variegated coloured organza ribbon for a bow and to hang the tag from.

A4 Drawing Cartridge 220gsm - pk 10

Steampunk Butterfly Rubber stamp sheet - A5

I also used the Steampunk Butterfly stamps to create this card, which actually contains the beautiful Steampunk Butterfly.

Thank you so much for looking in today 

Love Doreen

 

Mermaid Queen (by Andrew)

Morning Peeps thank you for stopping by. 

Another card for you today again from the recent Chocolate Baroque TV show.

This time I will be using the Mermaid Queen stamp set.

Take an A5 piece of card and trim 2cm from one long and one short edge.

Using Broken China, Salty Ocean and Salvaged Patina Oxides and a stencil cover the card. If you don't have a stencil, use your paintbrush and paint thick and thin lines. Matt and layer on to blue card. Leave to one side. 

Take a piece of card big enough for the mermaid stamp and stamp in Momento London Fog, tear the edges.

Stamp the image again on to a scrap piece of card.

With the second image colour the tail and bra using the Artway shimmer paints, cut out and put to one side. 

With your main image colour the mermaid using alcohol markers and also the coral and seaweed.

Dab Distress ink pad (not Oxides) in Broken China on to acrylic block and with a water brush apply colour to the background of the mermaid.

Take the same ink pad and go around the torn edges.

Cut out the bra and tail from the second image. If you look at the stamp at the bottom, I left the two 'fins' either side of the tail, and just cut the V shape and up to her waist. Stick on to the main image using foam pads or gel glue.

Go around the torn edge with Broken China. Attach to the main panel.

Apply gems to hair, belly button, and four corners.

Job done.

 

 

Yellow Roses by Brenda

Hello Peeps, I have some more shares from the Steampunk and Ocean TV shows.

Above the Roses from Steampunk Butterfly and wings just seemed to be a perfect match to me so I stamped them onto card coloured with Mustard Seed Oxide, cut out and arranged onto an acrylic ink background. I added random stamping with Make your Mark and Just Useful and some washi tape.

Another Oxide background and stamping using Mermaid Queen which I coloured in with sparkle pens. The quote from Seashell Collage was stamped lightly over the background along with Make your Mark and a monocle placed over the Mermaids serene face.

Here I used the fishes from Something Fishy  stamping them into the circles of a stencil colured with Distress Inks. The sentiment is from Seashell Collage.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone.