Black and White collection - by Magda

Hello
Here I am with a quick way to prepare a last minute card for an unexpected circumstance using only black and white pencils and a little colour touch for creating a contrast.

I used the following stamps

Blossom and Grow
Scrumptious Succulents
Texture Fragments

I hope you had fun in following me during my new succulents adventure and liked my projects
Magda

Little Robin (by Autumn)

Hello everyone, today sees the final post this month from our newest Guest Design Team member, Autumn Clark. She has created another inspirational Christmas card to share.

Hello friends! Autumn Clark of http://sewpaperpaint.blogspot.com/ with you today for my final guest designer post this month. Today's card continues with my Christmas in July theme and features the Robin the Spruce stamp set. To begin, stamp the bird on the branch image with a Versamark inkpad and emboss in gold. Die cut the image with a stitched oval die. Sponge the image with Fired Brick Distress Ink. Sponge a small scrap with the same colour and die cut the sentiment. Sponge a hand cut pennant with Antique Linen Distress Ink and adhere the bird and sentiment onto it. Emboss two of the branch images repeatedly in gold on a background panel. Sponge with Pine Needles Distress Ink. Layer as shown onto a green card. Thanks again for joining me this month!

Thank you so much Autumn for sharing your projects with us this month. Autumn will be back with us in a few months' time.

Positive Thoughts Blossom (by Anne)

Good morning. Today I am sharing the last of my recent Hochanda TV show samples using the Scrumptious Succulents and Blossom and Grow stamp sets.

The blossoms were stamped directly onto a 6 X 6 inch pink card blank using Versamark Ink and heat embossed with detail gold powder. Tip: Stamp the four corners first by stamping then turning the card and stamping again, keeping the stamp and block in the same orientation. Then repeat the process stamping the other blossom in between. I used a stamp press which makes this really quick and easy (not essential but it does help).

The blossoms were coloured with Distress Oxide Ink (Carved Pumpkin), green and gold sparkle pens and a damp brush. Metallic orange/silver and gold gel pens were used to add highlights to the flowers.

Next I created a stamp mask by stamping the cactus onto scrap copy paper and cutting out. I used a few dots of Zig 2 Way glue to give a tacky temporary stick to the reverse to hold the masks in place while stamping. Alternatively you could use the special Masking Tissue to create masks.

The cacti were then stamped onto white stamping card using Versafine (Vintage Sepia), covering images with masks as required so that some images appear to be behind the foreground stamped images. The sentiment was stamped onto pink card.

The cacti were coloured using watercolour pencils and a damp brush to smooth and blend the colour. The topper was then cut out and lightly shaped to give dimension before sticking to the card with foam pads.

The sentiment was cut out using a small decorative panel die. A little Distress Oxide was used to colour the edges. This was mounted with 3D glue gel along with a small die cut flower and sprigs (Tattered Lace).

My next sample was stamped onto a patterned paper using Versafine (Onyx Black). Again I used masks where needed to build up the scene (prepared as above). Coloured with pencils and added a little yellow glaze gel pen to the blossom stamens.

The panel was edged with black alcohol marker to frame before mounting onto white card and gluing to the green card blank (6 X 6 inch).

For my next sample I dug out an inky background paper from my stash. This one was created with ink sprays and Brusho powders. I thought that it would make a lovely tropical background for a scene.

A background panel was created in the same way as my first sample but using Distress Ink (Old Paper) for a subtle effect. A little clear sparkle pen was used to add petal highlights. The panel was edged with green alcohol marker to frame and mounted onto green card before gluing to the card front (6 X 6 inch).

The scene was built up, stamping with Versafine Ink (Onyx Black) onto the coloured panel, using masks where needed (made from copy paper as given above). Images were coloured with Distress Oxide Ink (Carved Pumpkin), watercolour and sparkle pens. The panel was edged with black alcohol marker to frame and glued to the card front with foam pads for added depth.

I had so much fun with these gorgeous stamp sets.

Happy stamping x.

 Both my cards today use the captivating cacti individual stamp, which is quite a big stamp.
Sorry if you were hoping for a brusho-less card, but the first one is rather less obviously brusho!
I stamped and embossed the image onto white card before sprinkling red, green and orange brusho lightly over the background. I then painted the cacti with red and leaf green brusho using a wet paintbrush to activate the powders.
I stamped the tall cactus from scrumptious succulents across  the white card blank to give a background before adding a mat of black card

My second card is more obviously 'normal' brusho, with a background square of card coloured with red and yellow brusho. I used the same colours after stamping and embossing the image with white embossing powder, trying to get most of the red on the flowers and the yellow on the cacti.
The mat of black card was stamped using the sempervivium?  image from scrumptious succulents stamped randomly using a white ink pad, which doesn't really show up on the scan. I have a large collection of different makes of white ink pad, and am not really happy with any of them so far!

Be grateful (by Miranda)

Hello there,

Today my 3rd and last guest DT post for now. Again I have used the lovely Crafty Individuals patterned paper pad 6"x6" (weekend in Seville) and coloured them using color pencils.

This time I have used the 'Bird of Joy' stamp. I stamped direct onto the patterned paper and coloured it using color pencils. After attaching it to the right front flap I decoupaged it.

When I mounted this stamp I cut of the words from the bird so I can use them separately. But it is a risky job.......

Here you can see the card........

On the left flap I stamped one of the beautiful Art deco floral corners. 

Also coloured with pencils. Than I stamped the words from the 'Words of Gratitude' and die cut it.

On the inside of the card I used the full paper because it has such a beautiful framed pattern. Only stamped the sentiment from the Words of gratitude onto it. Such a beautiful and true sentiment.

And here the card from another point of view.......when it's closed.....

Well, I hope you liked it and maybe you get some inspiration to take out your patterned papers and have a play!

Thanks for your visit and always appreciate your comments,

Till next time,

Cacti in the Sunset - by Penny

Goodly morning lovely peeps, it's Penny here again with some more craftiness to share with you.  I think this card is especially suitable to the weather we've been enjoying lately, it captures the feel of hot,dry weather.  I also wanted to create a 'mock Terrarium' - we used to have one at home.  

For this project I have used stamps from the Srumptious Succulents set, Distress Inks, Versamark Ink, gold EP, gold gilding wax and an embossing folder from my stash.

To begin this project I stamped the two 'low' succulents in Versafine ink onto cartridge paper and embossed them in gold.  I then masked them and stamped and embossed two cacti images in the same way and masked them.  I created the background by blending inks onto the card.

When everything was dry I removed the masks and painted the images with DIs.  I matted the panel onto dark card then attached it to the base card.  I created the terrarium using strips of black card which I embossed and gilded, and acetate.  I used red liner tape to attach it to the card.   I then  created a sentiment panel in the same way as the background and attached that to the card.

  

Thank you all for dropping in today and reading my post.  If you'd like more details and pictures of this project then check out my blog.  I shall be back next month with more creations to show and hopefully inspire you,


                                                          x  Penny  x

Mixed Media Flowers (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I am back with my final shares for the month showcasing the fabulous products that we featured on last month's TV shows on Hochanda.

I have a real mixture for you in this blog post; my first project is a fabric covered coptic bound journal that I made myself. I had already made the journal just prior to receiving the stamps, using a lovely vibrant fabric. I decided to add a fabric panel to the front of the journal, and I stamped the floral spray from the Blossom and Grow stamp set using Plum Archival Ink. I painted the image using watered down acrylic paints. The sentiment was from the same stamp set, and makes a brilliant statement for a journal cover.

My second project was created using lots of the Little Birdie products available on the shows. I used a piece of cork for my background, and then painted a large portion with Faded Denim paint. I added some of the Crackle Medium and then painted Tattered Lace over the top. I let each coat dry before adding the next. These are all from the Chalk Paint and Crackle Kit.

I stamped several of the foliage images from Blossom and Grow, which I coloured with pencil and cut out. I then combined these with some of the flowers from the Little Birdie Grey Sky range. (Camila and Serenade). I also added a piece of hessian from my stash. To help everything coordinate, I dry brushed the flowers, hessian and seed heads with some of the paint. Once I had adhered everything to the cork background, I placed the background into a small deep frame.

Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

Season's Greetings (by Autumn)

Hello everyone, Autumn is back with another post today, sharing a beautiful Christmas card.

Hello lovelies! Autumn Clark of http://www.sewpaperpaint.com with you again today. Today's card features the Hark the Christmas Rose individual stamp. To begin, stamp the Christmas Rose stamp in Fired Brick Dtstress Ink two times. Watercolour the images with Fired Brick, Frayed Burlap, Peeled Paint and Crushed Olive Distress Inks. Fussy cut out the large flowers from the second image and mount onto the first image with foam tape.

Apply liquid enamel dots to the centre of your flowers. Curl up the edges for extra dimension. Sponge the edges of the base panel with Antique Linen Distress Ink and layer with red cardstock and printed designer paper onto a red card. Attach a sentiment sticker along the bottom. Thanks so much for joining us today!

We look forward to seeing Autumn's final project for the month next week,

In the secret garden by Brenda

Hello everyone, Brenda here with some more floral inspiration using the lovely new stamps which featured on Hochanda recently, all of which are now available on the Chocolate Baroque website as well.

The top card was inspired by our own Secret Garden within our grounds, we created it many years ago and although it has seen changes over the years still hosts an abundance of Cottage Garden flowers and shrubs and recently moved into the twenty first century with the addition of a hot tub. The beautiful flowers on the new Blossom and Grow stamp set are to my mind Hollyhocks which I stamped onto a soft Distress Ink background after first stamping a window from Echoes of Italy Using a stencil I added some brickwork with texture paste which I coloured with acylic paint to soften the whiteness and added a sentiment from the same stamp set.

For this one I used black gloss cardstock for the base panels and stamped the images from Captivating Cacti and Scrumptious Succulents using Versamark and brushing over with gold mic powders, leaving to settle for a few moments before brushing off, the assembling the panels along with a bow.

And one from a few months ago that I found lurking unused in my folder. The stamped sets used are Medici Flower in the centre and to the sides Floral Delight and Wish Flower, all were stamped onto Distress Oxide backgrounds, the images bleached out and the glittered.......unfortunately this doesn't show up very well at all in the photo.

I always appreciate you visits and comment and thank you for taking the time to pop in.

Let love Blossom ( By Marga)

Hello everyone. I have another card to share today.

This time I stamped the image with Distress Antique Linen to get the no line technique.

I then coloured the image with my pencils

The sentiment I stamped with Versafine Onyx Black.

This is the stamp set I used.

Blossom and Grow

Hugs 

Marga.

Wish flower (by Miranda)

Hi there,

Today my second guest DT post and it was fun to play more........

This time I coloured using alcohol based  markers. And I have stamped the ' Wish flower' onto Crafty Individuals patterned paper. Than I have stamped again onto marker paper, coloured the flowers with alcohol based markers. I have decoupaged the flowers and put them on the patterned paper.

Than put it all on the front of the card and decoupaged again. The open squares are a die cut from Crealies and attached on mica sheet. 

On the inside of the card some lovely patterned paper from Crafty Individuals which I stamped on using the words from the ' Wish flower' and the ' Bird of Joy'. It was a precise job but I cut the words from the bird and the flower stamp so I could use them separately.

And here is my card........

Thank you for your visit and hope you liked it,

till next time,

BewarenBewarenBewarenBewaren

Blooming Summer Cactus

Hello, today I have two cards featuring the rather lovely cactus and succulent images.

My first card is stamped with Captivating Cacti, which is a large single image design.

I started by stamping onto white card-stock followed by stamping a couple of extra images onto spare card so that I could cut out the flower heads and add as 3d decoupage. The main image has been coloured with Polychromos pencils and the background is Distress inks. For added interest I have stencilled a dotty design in the background using blue and green Distress inks. White paint pen highlights were added as a finishing touch.

My second card has been stamped with Scrumptious Succulents.

The base card has been stamped with the succulent flower head and coloured with Polychromos pencils. I have also stamped the succulent onto spare card, again coloured with Polychromos pencils, before cutting out and adding as 3d decoupage using foam pads. The rest of the background was then coloured with cut n dry foam and Distress inks.

The flowering cactus image was stamped onto spare card and coloured with the pencils as before. Taking a pair of scissors I then cut around the largest flower head, before placing a metal, circle die around the image and underneath the cut petals so that the image could be cut out with a circle surround and the middle bloom looks like it is peeking out of the design.

The circle design was then mounted onto black card-stock and attached to the front of the card.

Thank you for looking and hope to see you again soon for more daily Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

Blossom and grow, be scrumptious and captivating (by Rachel)

Hello there! I hope you are well! Rachel here today with some more samples from the June TV shows...

This mini canvas and frame were made using the Blossom and Grow stamp set. I stamped on tissue paper and painted the flowers before scrunching and gluing directly to the frame. The canvas was made by stamping the central image, masking then re stamping and then painting with the micaceous paints.

I made these next two pieces using scrumptious succulents and captivating cacti. I loved making this 3D piece using stamps and colouring with sparkle pens before fussy cutting.

For this final piece I used the same stamps to make an eclipse card. I think there is one of the blossom and grow stamps in here too. Lots of masking going on here to create the image and then I used dies to cut the letters before remounting them raised and with black card in the gaps to create a shadow.

I do hope you have enjoyed looking at some of my samples today!

Big hugs

Rachel x

Succulents in arid landscape (by Magda)

This time I have been inspired by the arid land where the succulents grow so well, therefore my project has a sandy tone, a page that reminds me of the desert

1. Trace the horizon line and blend several brown and green shades of Distress Ink Pad for the ground
     and blue shades for the sky.
2.  Stamp with Archival or Versafine the grass in green, the clouds in blue and the sun in red.
     You can find the single stamps in "Seashore Scenes"
3.  Stamp the succulent plants with two archival colours,  pink for the flower and green for the plants
     and the grass
4.  Cover all the page with a very light coat of white gesso and let dry
5.  Repeat gently points 1 and 2
6.  Stamp the succulent plants again on a white cardstock, colour all with Aquarelle Pencils and cut
     the images out.
7.  Colour the sun in orange/yellow
8.  Prepare the sentiment and glue all the single pieces with Zig 2 ways Pen on the page as shown
9.  Add some stickles 

Thank you for saving the date of our next appointment at the end of the month.
Magda

Welcome to Autumn!

Hello everyone, it is with great pleasure that we welcome Autumn Clark, a new Guest Design Team member from America to the blog today. Autumn will be sharing three posts with us this month, but first, here is an introduction from Autumn herself, so that you can get to know her a bit better.

Hello! Autumn Clark here, happily joining you as a guest designer. I am a mixed media artist, who has been passionate about stamping for nearly two decades. Creativity is my outlet, passion and purpose. I define my style as grunge meets elegance. Though I love to distress everything, I like to balance my work with a touch of pretty and neat. In addition to stamping, I love to draw and paint and have found that mixed media allows me to blend these skills and create rich artwork, filled with depth and texture. I am thrilled and honoured to be joining the amazing talent here at Chocolate Baroque. Visit my blog at http://sewpaperpaint.blogspot.com/

This month I will be sharing some Christmas in July samples with you. Today's card features the Robin the Spruce stamp set with one of my favourite techniques, embossing resist.

To begin, stamp the bird scene with a Versamark inkpad and emboss in white. Use a combination of Chipped Sapphire and Evergreen Bough Distress Inks to sponge over the embossing for a resist effect. Flick water onto the panel and allow it to sit for thirty seconds, then dab with a dry cloth. The ink will lift away and leave a snow-like pattern. Emboss a second panel in black and fussy cut the bird. Watercolour the bird with Fired Brick and Frayed Burlap Distres Inks. Sponge a small scrap with Fired Brick Distress Ink and hand cut a tiny star. Use the remainder to die cut a sentiment. Adhere the bird, star and sentiment as shown. Thanks so much for joining us today!

Thank you Autumn for sharing your beautiful card today. Autumn will be back next week with another inspirational project.

Fifteen Minute Cards

Hello everyone, it is time for our monthly crop of projects from the Design Team as a whole; cards and miscellaneous items that we have made to inspire you, taking no more than fifteen minutes to complete. We aim to share tips and ideas with you for time saving ways of creating projects that will look as if they have taken much longer to complete. These ideas will be great for batch cards, cards in a hurry, craft fairs and fund raising. There are no limits as to how many cards you can make with Chocolate Baroque stamps, as long as each image is hand stamped.

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

Lots of our projects are based on last month's TV shows stamps, and you will see a general theme running through the stamp images. However, it will show you how much variety can be achieved by changing the colours, background and layout of a card. This will be very useful for you to see the versatility of a stamp and how much variety you can achieve, how much you can stretch a single stamp. If you have a stamp in your stash, imagine how much use you can get from it by changing small things.

The Blossom and Grow stamp set features heavily this month, I think we all felt that these images were ideal candidates for quick cards! Rachel has treated this image in two very different ways, for her first card, she stamped and embossed the image onto kraft card, using Versamark and white embossing powder. She then coloured the image using pencils.

Her second card was created by stamping the image and colouring it with Distress Inks. She then masked an area around the image off and coloured the rest of the card with Distress Inks.

Her third card was made using a premade background from her stash, created using mica based powders spritzed with water. She stamped using Archival Ink and the image was coloured with sparkle pens.

Two cards from Anne next, using the same images, but showing how different the cards can look. She has gone with the blue and white theme that she loves so much. She stamped the images and sentiments with Versafine (Majestic Blue) and coloured with a dark blue watercolour pen. Colour was scribbled onto areas requiring the darkest shading and the colour dragged out with a damp brush. A good quality stamping card or watercolour card is needed for this technique to work.

Extra colour was sponged around the edge of the second card, splashed with water and lifted off with kitchen paper to give added texture to the background.

I have chosen to use soft vintage colours when using one of these images. I stamped the image using green ink onto linen texture card, and painted the image using Distress Inks and a water brush. I created a background using an image from the Scrumptious Succulents stamp set, stamping randomly over the linen textured card once more, using the same green ink. I edged both pieces of card with the green ink to create a border. I have left the card without a sentiment for now, and can choose my sentiment later to fit any occasion.

We have a mixture of cards from Magda up next. She created a series of Birthday cards for some male relatives this month. She needed to make several cards, and by varying the layouts slightly, everyone received a unique card. This is a great idea if you have lots of cards to make.

Another Birthday card, mixing background stencilling, stamping and a bit of decoupage:

Finally, a watercoloured card, the warm pinks and oranges really set off the green cacti.

A card from Gerrina next, using one of our Steampunk Birds. She has used Perfect Pearls and Versamark with a stencil to create an interesting background.

Next up is a selection of cards from Brenda. Her first card was created by using a stencil and Distress Inks over the background. She stamped and coloured a butterfly on a spare piece of card, using Distress Ink. She cut the butterfly out and decoupaged it onto the background.

For her next card, she created a soft background with Pan Pastels, inked and stamped the floral images with water based markers and heat embossed them with clear detail embossing powder. She fixed the background behind a die cut frame. She used a stencil and Pan Pastels to add the wording.

For her third card, she used a circle mask, inked around the edges, inked the rose image with Distress Inks and dragged out the colour with a waterbrush.

For her next card, she created her background with Pan Pastels, stamped and cut out the flower three times, and added some twine and some gems.

Now we have Brenda's take on the Blossom and Grow stamp set. She stamped the sentiment and image with Versafine Onyx Black ink, and coloured the image with sparkle pens:

For her final card, she stamped the setiment with Versafine and inked the image with water based markers, dragging out the colour with a waterbrush. The toning ribbon on both of these cards adds a lovely touch, and really pulls out the colour of the focal images.

A pretty card from Carole is next.
Stamps used: Essence of Nature , The Rose Tree and Pretty Poppies. The top of the Rose Tree is stamped with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and brushed over with a damp brush to bleed the colour slightly. The butterfly tree is stamped with Versafine and coloured with the same Distress Ink as the background. The words are stamped onto parchment paper with a permanent inkpad, but you could use Versafine and clear embossing powder. The parchment gives a softer look to the sentiment. She used spray mount to attach the parchment to the card.

Vronnie has created a very simple but elegant card. She has used Versamark and silver embossing powder to create her finished card, stamping the image and sentiment with Versamark, then rubbing around the edge of the card as well. She has added the silver embossing powder, heat set everything, and then attached the card to a plain white card blank.

A softly coloured card from Julie is next. She has added a blended background to the images and complimentary matting, bringing the whole card together.

Finally we have three cards from Pat. Her first card has a Brusho background, and she has stamped and embossed the images using white embossing. She has then painted the images with a waterbrush, also using Brushos.

She has created an alcohol ink background for her second card, and stamped the image and sentiment using a permanent ink. She has coloured the image using alcohol inks and a blending solution.

Her final card was also created using an alcohol ink background. She has used a blue permanent ink to stamp the image twice, and coloured the images using water based markers.

As you can see, we finished up with the same image that we started with, but it looks very different!

We hope that you have enjoyed our selection of projects for this month. We will be back next month with another bumper selection of quick projects to share with you. In the meantime, do keep visiting the blog for a daily dose of inspiration from our regular Design Team posts. Thanks for stopping by,