Fifteen Minute Cards

Hello everyone, it's time for our monthly bumper packed post full of inspiration, brought to you by the Design Team, sharing lots of their quick cards and projects. The aim of this monthly post is to show you how you can use lots of the fabulous stamps from Chocolate Baroque in fifteen minutes or less to create cards and other items. Whether you are new to stamping, or a more seasoned crafter, you will hopefully find something to inspire you in these posts. We bring lots of great ideas that can be used for craft sales, for Wedding cards, or other occasions like Christmas, when you need to make lots of cards in larger numbers. If you need to make a card in a hurry, or want to make several cards to put by for later, we have some ideas for you. There are no limits on the number of cards that you can make with our stamps, as long as they are all hand stamped.

So, grab a cuppa, and enjoy what we have to share with you this month.

I have made two cards for you, the first card uses some of the incredibly versatile Drawing Cartridge available from the website. I have coloured the background with Distress Inks, then stamped a variety of foliage stamps over the top using dye based inks in first and second generation stamping, to create lots of depth. I have added two bees, and given their wings some sparkle with Stickles glue. A great sentiment finishes off the card. The stamps are from Essence of Nature, Honey Bee, Fragrant Honeysuckle, The Rose Tree.

To create my second card, I used some of the fabulous Textured Art card, which has a linen like texture to the surface. I added some tinting medium, coloured with Brushos to the surface, almost dry brushing the colour over the background. I stamped the words from the Essence of Nature stamp set all over the large background using Jet Black Archival Ink. I then stamped the tree panel onto a smaller piece of card, and mounted both pieces onto black card.

Carole has made a pretty floral card for us this month. The background has been randomly stamped using Bundled Sage and Stormy Sky Distress Ink. This was cut to fit a square card base and the border drawn around with black pen. Another piece of card was also coloured in the same way and was cut into a heart shape, and over stamped with black ink.
The words were stamped first on the left hand side, so that Carole knew how much space she had left for the roses.

Two cards by Anne next, the first is a small 7cms x 13cms card. The background was created with pink and purple ink spritzers. A little sparkle was added with a clear sparkle pen. The tree and sentiment were stamped with Versamark and embossed with silver sparkle embossing powder. A little silver sparkle was also added around the edges.

The second card measures 11.5cms x 15cms. The images were stamped with Versamark and embossed with white powder. The background was created by painting green and orange water based inks onto wet card. A watercolour pen was used to draw in some grasses. The edges were roughed up with the edge of a pair of scissors.

We have a selection of cards from Magda up next. She has created a background using Distress Ink and then inked her stamp using water based markers to create her first card:

For her next card, she has stamped the tree panel onto a background where she has also stamped the same image in colour, but used third generation stamping for added depth.

For her final card, she has used a gelli plate background, stamping the tree with Versamark, and embossing once with clear embossing powder, and also with white. The clear tree appears to be in the background, owing to its shadowy appearance.

Doreen has been busy creating some projects for us, and her bookmark would make a lovely little gift for a book loving friend. The honey bee book mark is stamped and embossed onto white card. Before adding any colour, take a clear gel pen and dot a few trails. Colour the bee, by which time the gel pen will have dried. Add the colour of your choice to the background, matt onto backing card, then pop into the bookmark sleeve. Add ribbon if desired.

For this next card, she simply stamped the tree image and sentiment using Versafine Ink, and added a bit of colouring. She added a bit of grounding for the tree, and matted and layered the background onto a card blank.

Doreen's final card has been stamped onto a background that she had in her stash, made in a previous crafting session.

Two lovely cards from Julie are next, both using stamps from The Rose Tree stamp set. Her first card uses the two tiny stamps that might often be overlooked. She has used the images to create an all over background, adding a touch of colour. The black, red and white colour combination is just fabulous.

Sticking to the same colour theme for her second card, Julie has used an ornate central coloured panel, stamping the pretty silhouette flower stamp in black ink. Some flat backed gems complete this all occasion card.

A bright and cheery card from Penny is next. She has taken a piece of white colouring card and stamped a sunflower image using grey Versafine ink. She masked the image and stamped two more flowers, then coloured them all with alcohol markers. She added a shadow line around the flowers with a pale blue pen.

She stamped the honeycomb image using pale blue Distres Ink randomly around the flowers, using first and second generation ink. She then blended the ink around the edges of the focal panel, matted onto some blue card and attached it to a white card blank. She added a sentiment, stamping each word separately and cutting them out in little plaques. She edged the plaques with blue ink as before, and attached the words to the card with foam pads.

We have three striking cards from Rachel next, using the Essence of Nature stamp set. Her first card was created by simply stamping onto some background paper.

Her second card was created by using Brushos to make a background, then once they were dry, she stamped the images over the top.

Her final card was created by stamping onto background paper once again, and also directly onto the card blank.

Our last offerings are from Brenda. She has created some beautiful cards as always. Her first three cards demonstrate how masking areas of the card and inking a panel creates the Clean and Simple look very easily. Some quick stamping over the top can create a card in just a few minutes, and by vaying the colours and the images, the possibilities can be almost endless.

These cards are just lovely, aren't they? Stamping an image, and masking it to add another layer creates some depth. It does not have to be a very complicated card, and can still have a very clean and simple feel, as Brenda has expertly demonstrated in her next card. She has added some soft colouring to the foxgloves, and echoed the same colour in the foliage behind.

Finally, a background created with white embossing, which acts as a resist, and honey coloured tones to complete the effect. A little bee as the focal point and a lovely sentiment completes this uplifting card.

That's the end of our projects for this month. We hope that you have enjoyed our post, and we will be back with more quick and simple makes again next month. Do keep visiting the blog for a daily dose of inspiration from our regular Design Team posts.

Thanks for stopping by,