My own unique self (By Marga)

Hello everyone, here I am again, my own unique self.

This time with a card. I made the background from this card with Brusho and stamped the edges and the sentiment with Versafine Onyx black. I put some white gel pen drops in the bubbles and in the flower edge I put some colour with my pencils.

Stamps I used are: Artistic Affirmations and Decorative Edges

Hugs 

Marga

Edged Perfectly (by Julie)

Hello, my cards for today are created with Decorative Edges, Floral Edges , Amazing Mackintosh Words and Butterfly Lady

I love Chocolate Baroque's Edge collection as they have so many uses. You can use them as the main feature of a design or as the name suggests, edge your finished design.

To start with I inked up the harlequin diamond design from Decorative Edges with a blue dye based ink and stamped it top and bottom of my card. Don't worry about the middle looking messy as that is covered by the black card-stock strip and stamped sentiment from Amazing Mackintosh Words. Once you have your background, ink up the leaf design from Floral Edges with Onyx Black Versafine and stamp over the top of harlequin background. Then do the same for the grass edging at the bottom of the design. 

Trim the card, mount onto black card-stock, before attaching to the front of your card blank.

The flower border from Floral Edges which has been stamped top and bottom on this DL card, matches really well with the Butterfly Dress. I stamped the Butterfly Dress onto spare card-stock before colouring with Polychromus pencils. Once coloured I buffed the design with a soft cloth to blend the colours and create the soft edging that surrounds the Butterfly Dress lady. The design was then cut out and matted onto black card-stock before attaching to the front of the DL card. The sentiment is from Amazing Mackintosh Words which was stamped with Onyx Black Versafine before being cut out and mounted onto black card-stock.

Thank you for taking a peek. Please call back for daily Design Team inspiration

Julie xx

A stepper and using gold relief paste (by Rachel)

Hello there! Rachel here with a couple of cards from the September shows. The first is made using the auricula script stamp and one from the floral edges set. The card is a ready made stepper that I decorated using distress inks then added the auricula stamp as a topper.

In this second one I used the gold soft form relief paste on the birdcage collage. I love this stuff - you just spread it on, wait around 24 hours then once dry, peel it off! I have used the decorative edges stamp at the base of the card and stamped in flitterglu and added flake. I think the two techniques compliment each other.

I hope you have enjoyed these two makes and I look forward to sharing more with you next month.

Hugs Rachel x

Red Tag (by Magda)

Hello, it is time for my last post of October.
I used for these two projects some of the stamps Lesley featured in September on Hochanda.

I stamped Auricula Script with Versamark , embossed it hot with gold Embossing Powder and coloured all around with a light coat of red Distress Ink Pad, while I stenciled roses with more colour on the background. This let the Auricula flower stand out quite well on the tag.

For the Journaling Page I stamped with Versafine Onyx Black,  Butterfly Dress.
I used a very saturated watercolour Brusho to highlight the flowers and the butterflies of the dress in contrast to the pale Background.

Thank you for passing by. 

Magda

auricula (by Veronica)

 Two versions today using the auricula script stamp from Chocolate Baroque - I have never been a fan of this particular flower, but a lot of gardeners seem to be, though I do like the script background on the stamp!

The background card blank was randomly stamped using the unmounted stamp and just inking up the flowers.
Image was stamped onto white card using versamark and gold embossing powder, then coloured using brusho powders.
I ran the red ink pad used for the background stmaping round the edges of the trimmed card before adding a bit of spotty ribbon and mounting onto the background.




For the second card the image was stamped with black versafine and embossed with clear powder, and this time I used watercolour paints to colour the leaves and flowers, aiming for a more masculine feel.

Christmas Card (by Corine)

Hello everyone, Corine is here today with her final post of the month as a Guest Team Designer. She has created a beautiful Christmas card to inspire you.

Corine writes:

Hello!

Today it is my third and last time to post a card as guest designer. I hope you enjoyed my samples.

I used stamps from the sheets:
Pears and Baubles
Seasonal Fragments


Apply Distress Oxide Faded Jeans, Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio on a craft sheet. Place watercolour paper on it. Repeat this and dry with a heat tool.
Stamp background with Peacock Feathers. Stamp mistletoe with Memento dewdrop Olive Grove.
Colour the mistletoe with green markers.
Stamp Christmas ball with Memento Luxe Teal Zeal on watercolour paper, emboss with clear embossing powder. Colour in with markers.
Stamp text 'Happy Christmas' with Memento Luxe Teal Zeal and emboss with clear powder.

Kind regards,
Corine van Kuilenburg

Corine will be back in the New Year with more projects to share with us all. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Kim Moody Collection

Hello everyone,  earlier this month, Lesley introduced an exciting new range of stamps on Hochanda created by Kim Moody. These quirky designs drawn by Kim have been manufactured by Chocolate Baroque, so you know that they will be of great quality. Some of the Design Team from Chocolate Baroque were very lucky to work with Kim's designs for the show, and we thought that we would share our projects with you in a one off blog post. You can check out the Design Team members' blogs for more information. If you are interested in purchasing any of Kim's designs, check out the Kim Moody section on the website.

Penny created a vibrant steampunk image using La Maison, adding a couple of airships from our Steampunkery and Steampunk Travel stamp sets. She extended the wall, and masked all of the images and colourwashed the background with Distress Inks, also adding some grounding underneath the wall at the bottom of the panel. She removed the mask and painted the images with Distress Inks. She stamped a sentiment and distressed the edges before adding it to her project.

For her next project, she stamped Head Office, coloured the image, adding sunrays behind with a stencil, and an image from the Floral Edges stamp set at the front. The sentiment comes from the Words of Inspiration stamp set.

For her next card, she stamped In an English Country Garden and masked the image. She added the wall and the little birds from the Landscape Edges stamp set, she added trees, hand drawn hills, and then removed the mask and coloured the scene before adding a sentiment and fussy cut foliage and a butterfly.

For her final card, she stamped Loft Conversion and masked it before extending the wall and masked that as well. She stamped the Orchard Design a Tree before removing the masks. She watercoloured the picture and added glitter to represent snow. She matted the panel onto a white card blank, adding die cut snowflakes, and adding a sentiment.

For my first card, I die cut an oval aperture from a piece of card, and stamped some of the flowers from the Patchwork Landscape stamp set along the bottom of the card. I coloured these with watercolour pencils, and ran over them quickly with a water brush afterwards. I stamped In an English Country Garden onto another piece of card, and coloured this with the same pencils, adding splotches of colour in the foreground to represent the flowers growing in the garden. I attached the image behind the oval before adhering the panel to a black mat layer and then to a card blank.

I stamped Head Office and masked the image. I coloured the sky using a stencil and blue dye ink, then used a green Distress Ink for the grass. I used watercolour pencils to colour the image,and added some hand drawn birds.

I stamped La Maison, and again masked the image before stamping Glade Design a Tree. I added foliage using shades of green and orange in first and second generation stamping for added depth. I used Distress Inks to watercolour my image and background.

Julie has used La Maison with a die cut New Home. She coloured the house with pencils as well as the sun rays. She drew in the pebbles alonng the path and continued the wall with a fine tipped pen.

She stamped In an English Country Garden and coloured the image with pencils. She drew the clouds with a fine tipped pen and stamped the Holloyhock flower from the Honey Bee stamp set.

She stamped La Maison and coloured it with pencils. She then die cut a circle to act as a mask over the house. The background was stamped with images from Wisteria Lane and coloured with Distress Inks and white paint pen highlights.

Loft Conversion was stamped and coloured with pencils. She then created a mask for the house and stamped Spinney Design a Tree. The background was coloured with Distress Inks and some of the colour was lifted with a wet paintbrush to create the moon. The extra stamps are from the Nature Swirls stamp set. She used Picket Fence Distress Ink to stamp the a corner stamp in the sky, then stamped a larger image in the foreground using Versafine Onyx Black, overstamping with Picket Fence Distress Ink. She completed the card with die cut bats.

Finally, she stamped Loft Conversion and coloured the image with pencils. She masked the image and stamped Spinney Design a Tree once again. Various shades of pink and green dye inks were used for the tree blossom. The sky was coloured with a cloud mask and Distress Ink. Swirls and foliage were added to the foreground.

Pat created her first card using La Maison by stamping onto a piece of cork sheet and embossing with white embossing powder. She coloured the image with pencils. For the background she used a piece of patterned gold card and a piece of hessian. She pulled the threads to make a fringe. Some of the threads were twisted to form a cord and some more put together and knotted. She used a computer generated sentiment and cut it into a banner shape.

For her second card, she stamped the image in grey and heat embossed using clear embossing powder. She coloured the image using Distress Inks and a waterbrush. She added a background using more Distress Inks. She added a computer generated sentiment cut into strips.

Brenda used a wooden fairy door for her first project, colouring it, adding embellishments and images from some of our fairy collection of stamps. Behind the door, she added La Maison coloured to match her overall colour scheme.

For her next card, she has chosen Autumnal tones for her colour palette. She has stamped Head Office, adding one of our Design a Tree images, and added foliage. She has created a Distress Ink background, creating a sun with masking.

Another design using Head Office, with a soft green/brown colour scheme. Brenda has used a piece of corrugated card as her background layer, which gives a rustic feel to her project. The punched holes at the top with string through, make this an ideal masculine project. She has added stencilling to the background for extra texture and interest.

Her next project is a sepia coloured card. She has stamped Loft Conversion using brown ink, using a circle mask behind to create a sun. She has added one of our bird images at the front and partially stamped it again, using just the foliage. She has used a sentiment from the Artistic Affirmations stamp set.

This next project is so cute! It will be sure to bring back memories of childhood and make you smile when you read the words, I know it did me, anyway. This little canvas is full of detail and dimension. Brenda has stamped Loft Conversion over a crackled, painted background, with a computer generated sentiment added. Die cut leaves and mushrooms finish the piece off perfectly.

A tryptich is next, featuring three of the houses, all with beautiful coloured backgrounds. The houses do not need much colour themselves, just a touch here or there. Brenda has added images from the Design a Tree stamp sets and a sentiment to finish.

To create her next card, Brenda stamped In an English Country Garden, masking an oval area, and inking within that area, using Distress Inks. After removing the mask, she stamped a sentiment, and matted the panel onto coloured card.

Her next project is a lovely home decor piece, she has added stencilling to the background and die cut letters.

Added texture using a brick stencil adds interest to her next project. She has used the Design a Tree stamps in the background too, and the unusual colour combination of pink and yellow shows that you can use your imagination with these fabulous images, and use whatever colours you want to when creating your projects, they will look amazing.

Combining two of the houses, masking and adding some of our trees to make a scene is how Brenda chose to create her next card. She has added some pretty bunting as an embellishment.

For her next card, Brenda has created a monochrome card once more, stamping Loft Conversion onto book paper. She has chosen to add a vibrant pop of colour using red in the foliage, fences and the door.

She has created a lovely scene for her next card, adding hand drawn hills, a tree from our Design a Tree range of stamps and a rabbit from our Springtime range of stamps.

This next card has a real wow factor, using white embossing against a bold background makes the image really pop.

For her next card, she has used the sun ray stencil once more, and added extra foliage to complete the picture.

La Maison looks completely different on the following card, where she has used Summery colours and added a pretty bunting embellishment.

That brings our projects to a close. We hope that you have enjoyed our blog post and that we have inspired you with our various ways of using Kim's new stamps. If you make something, why not share your projects on our Facebook page, we would all love to see what you make with them.

Thanks for stopping by,

Autumn Ball by Penny

Hello peeps I hope you are all well.  I'm here again to share another of my samples from last month's

shows, so grab a cuppa and spend a few crafty minutes with me.


 I have used several stamps for this design, Butterfly Dress, a sentiment from Loving Sentiments, and some flowers from Floral Edges.   I also used Distress Inks, alcohol pens, glitter, black Versafine ink, clear EP and a die from my stash.

I stamped the Butterfly Dress image onto white colouring card using black ink, and embossed it with clear powder.  I coloured the image with pens and added some glitter to the flowers. I masked the image and blended Distress Inks onto the card to create a background.  I then used an edging die along the top and bottom of the panel, and blended ink on the outer edges of the panel.

I matted the focal panel onto black card and set it aside.  I stamped and embossed the floral edges image onto white card and coloured it with the pens.  I cut some of the flowers out as embellishments.  I coloured a white base card with Distress inks, stamped the Floral Border along the top and bottom edges using one of the colours then stamped a sentement in black on one side of the card.  I attached the focal panel and the flowers to the card using 3D foam pads to complete the design.  

Thank you for dropping by and taking a little time to join me today.  I hope I've tickled your crafty taste buds, take care and happy crafting,

                                 x Penny x  

A Collage of Colour (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a mixture of projects to share with you today, showcasing the stamps featured on last month's TV shows from Hochanda.

My first project uses the lovely Birdcage Collage stamp as my focal point. I created a colourful background using Brushos spritzed with water, and pressed a piece of crumpled cling film over the top, to add a bit of texture to the background. Once the Brushos had dried, I removed the cling film, and stamped some of the words from the Amazing Mackintosh Words stamp plate over the top, using black ink.

I stamped the Birdcage Collage onto a spare piece of Drawing Cartridge, and coloured the image using water based markers and a water brush. Finally, I cut out the image, and attached it to the background.

For my second card, I created a piece of background using Distress Inks, which I had added to my craft mat and spritzed with water. I picked these up on the Drawing Cartridge a couple of times, drying each layer in between. I coloured a piece of Stampbord with the same colour of inks, and the stamped the deco edge from the Decorative Edges stamp set on both the Stampbord and the background, using a plum coloured ink. To finish, I added a piece of ribbon, and some Little Birdie flowers.

My final sample is a reproduction of one I made a long time ago, however I liked the design, so why not? I stamped the Butterfly Dress image onto a piece of smooth card, and masked the image. I stamped the Floral Edges image across the bottom twice. I added clouds using a stencil and blue ink, but you could use torn paper or a frilly die cut to achieve a similar look.

I stamped the Butterfly Dress image twice again onto spare card, and then coloured the flowers and butterflies, plus the main images all with pencils. I added the extra butterflies to the background flying around the lady, and along the floral border.

Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

Sentimental Canvas (by Jodie)

Hello everyone, today sees the final post this month frrom our Guest Design Team member Jodie. She has created an icy blue mixed media project for us this week.

Jodie writes:

Good morning everyone, this is my third project for Chocolate Baroque.
Because the set contained many great images, it was difficult to choose just one to use on my card, so I didn't!

Supplies:
Stamps- Nature Fragments, Loving Sentiments
Ink- Distress Inks: Evergreen Bough, Faded Jeans, Tumbled Glass, Broken China
Stencil- Crafter's Workshop Specimens
Palette knife
Molding paste
Sparkly embossing powder
5" x 7" canvas board

First I taped the stencil to the board and applied a thin layer of the molding paste over the stencil using the palette knife.
Once dry, I blended the ink onto the board. I spritzed the piece with a bit of water to add more texture to this layer and let dry.
Next I chose one of the stamps from the set Nature Fragments, and using the same ink colours, I randomly stamped the canvas.
While the ink was still wet, I sprinkled the embossing powder over the top and heat set the powder.
Then I stamped the sayings from Loving Sentiments and attached them to the canvas.

Jodie will be back in the New Year with more inspirational projects.

Thanks for stopping by,

Colourful Butterflies (by Zoe)

Good morning Lovelies, I'm back with my final post for this month featuring these beautiful stamps.

My first card I created the background by laying down Sparkle pens onto my mat, spritzed with water and picked up the colour onto my card. Istamped the image twice, once onto my background and second onto a spare bit of card. I coloured both images using Sparkle pens and cut out the flowers and butterflies from the spare card and decoupaged. I used the floral border stamp for the edges, it matches the flowers on the dress perfectly.

Second card I used Distress Inks to colour the card. I then used the Butterfly stencil and used a coordinating colour, dried well then stamped all the sentiments which I carefully stuck to an acrylic block, and heat embossed using white embossing powder. I then used the border stamp to finish it off, again in white embossing powder.

Third card, I made the background using the Shaving Foam technique and simple stamping using Versafine Black ink. I coloured the image using watercolour markers and added glitter to the centres of the flowers. The mat I layered onto was Brushos spritzed with water in coordinating colours.

Thank you so much for visiting. Have a wonderful day xx Zoe xx