Swirly Mannequin by Penny

Goodly morning peeps, I hope you are all well.  This is my last post this month and it features another sample from the CB shows.    I have used stamps from the Haberdashery, March Fairy, and Artistic Affirmations sets, Distress Inks, black Versafine ink, clear embossing powder, silver pen and alcohol markers.

I stamped the swirly mannequin in black Versafine ink and embossed it with clear powder.  I then masked it off so that I could create the background.  I also stamped and embossed a pair of cotton reels, then coloured and masked them as well. 

To create the background I blended three shades of pink Distress Inks, then stamped a few worker stamps randomly over the panel, using the same inks.  I added black ink around the edges, then matted the panel onto black card.  I removed the masks and attached the panel to a white base card.  I then stamped and embossed a pair of scissors onto acetate, coloured them on the reverse with a silver pen, and cut them out.  On a spare piece of card I stamped the word 'Create' in black and embossed it with clear EP.  I edged the word panel with pink ink before matting it onto black card.  I then attached the word panel and the scissors to the card.

Thank you for taking time out to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it and found it inspiring.  Stay safe and well everyone, and I'll see you in April with another project,  

                          xx  Penny  xx  

Positive Thoughts (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I am sharing my final makes with you for this month. I hope that you have enjoyed what we have created using the sewing themed stamps and the fabulous new Folk Art Garden set of stamps.

I have two projects for you today, the first was created using a limited edition kit that we brought to Hochanda last month featuring a wide paintbrush, which I decorated. I painted the brush using a pale blue paint and dry brushed it with a magenta paint for an accent colour. I stamped some linen fabric which had also been painted with the blue paint, using Plum Archival Ink. I chose one of the ribbon trim images from the Floral Mannequins stamp set. I cut the image out and gathered it up around the top of the bristles with cotton, and stuck it down using double sided tape. I added some Little Birdie Flowers that had been dry brushed with the magenta paint. To complete the project, I stamped part of the large image from The Folk Art Garden onto card, coloured it with water based pens and cut it out, before adhering it to the paintbrush.

To create my second project, I cut a piece of smooth 160 gsm ivory paper to the required size, and made a gelli print. I used two colours of Distress Ink, and added a textured pattern to the plate before I pulled a print. I added the stamped image from The Folk Art Garden all over the background using Sepia Archival Ink. I stamped the sentiment onto a spare piece of paper created in the same way.

To complete the card, I added a strip of hessian, and some toning ribbon before adhering the background to a card blank. The sentiments on this stamp set are so useful to add to a card for someone who needs a bit of encouragement or positivity.

I will be back next month with more projects to share with you. Don't forget to look out for Lesley and I on Hochanda on Tuesday at 10.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. with some brand new stamps. Lesley will also be featuring on the screen on Sunday and Monday, so you will have lots of opportunities to see her in action!

Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

Ornate Floral (by Zoe)

Good Morning Lovelies and welcome to my final post this month.

Whoa! These stamps are stunning, I really loved using these, especially the large one, and boy is it large! Such a versatile set tto.

So I used a greyboard tag from the website, I did gesso it first and used spray inks to colour it. I had to apply it several times to get some depth of colour as they don't seem to like gesso. Once I was happy and it was dry I just heat embossed using a Versafine Clair inkpad in Nocturne and clear embossing powder. I used a white paint marker pen to highlight some areas, which I think makes it 'pop', a couple of glassy gems, and gold gilding wax around the edge, and voila!

I used the 'Wrinkle Free Distress' technique using Distress Oxides and Distress Inks. I edged using Distress too, simply stamping, coloured a few areas using Sparkle Brush pens, and a white paint pen. I stamped again onto some scrap card for the butterfly which was also coloured with Sparkle pens and cut it out. I added some dots and dashes around the edge to create some depth with a fine nibbed marker pen.

Now this is my favourite! I heat embossed in white onto watercolour card, I wet it and just added watercolour paints and watched the magic happen, such a simple but effective technique. I mounted it onto some card from packaging that I had gessoed and edged with silver gilding wax to create a plaque.

Three little greyboard tags from the website, I just coloured them using Distress Oxides. I used a harlequin stencil from my stash. In the same shades of Oxides to add some texture, I added simple stamping incorporating second generation stamping to get some interest going. Little greyboard hearts I had in my stash that I'd added texture paste to through a stencil.

Thank you for visiting. We will be back next month, have a wonderful day.



xx Zoe xx

Dressmakers window by Brenda

Hello all, Brenda here with my last post of March and some more Sewing Room inspiration.

My top creation was inspired by a recent trip to Paris and the fashion houses and I saw one that didn't have any beautiful dresses but instead was luring their clientele with the lure of a window display of dressmakers mannequins. So I stamped three of the images from Floral Mannequins, The Sewing Room and Haberdashery, created a window with a die and used some lace, a window box, and a brickwork wall using an embossing folder.

Next a canvas, a base of gesso and texture paste through stencils and sanded it down a little when dry then sprayed dylusions which I watered down a bit to tone down the colour. The same colours onto the chipboard Butterfly which I then stamped with the beautiful new Folk Art Garden and added some of the sentiments from the same sent.

My final piece is another using Folk Art Garden stamped with Versafine onto purple vellum and heat embossed with detail white powder. I stamped the Butterfly twice more and cut out to decoupage mounted onto a white card base and some purple ribbon down the side.

My thanks for your visit today, your encouragement is always appreciated.

Fashion ( By Marga )

Hello everyone, Marga again to show you something

This card I made with a scrap paper and the stamps I embossed with silver embossing powder, and then cut them out and put them on the card.

The background I made to fit, stamped the edges with Versamark and then embossed it with white embossing powder. Then I made the background with Distress Ink in different colours. I stamped the images with red ink and some parts I cut out and then put it on the card. I also put some lace and buttons on the card.

Stamps I used are: Floral Mannequins, Haberdashery, The Sewing Room.

Hugs Marga

Fantastic Florals (by Corine)

Hello everyone, here is Guest Design Team member Corine's final post for this month, a beatiful card featuring one of our square panel design stamps for your inspiration.

Corine writes:

Hello!

Today it is my 3rd and last time to post a card as guest designer. I hope you enjoyed my samples.

I used stamps from the sheets:
Fantastic Florals

The basis for this card is a previously made Gelli Plate print with acrylic paint. On this I stamped the collage of Fantastic Florals with black water resistant ink. I coloured the balls of the flowers with red pencil and on top of that I applied gloss with a clear sparkle pen. The butterfly is embossed with gold embossing powder on a separate piece of white paper. I cut it out and stuck the butterfly over the black print.
I finished the whole thing on a white card.

Kind regards,
Corine van Kuilenburg

Folk Art Garden Two Ways (by Julie)

Hello, I have two cards created from the brand new stamp set, Folk Art Garden, that was recently launched on Hochanda

For my first card I inked up the main image with Onyx Black Versafine ink and stamped onto white stamping card. I then inked up the design again but concentrated mainly on the area where the butterfly is, stamped onto spare card before cutting out the butterfly. Both the main design and extra butterfly were coloured with polychromus pencils. The design was then cut to size and then mounted onto black card stock before attaching to the card blank. The extra butterfly was glued into place with 3D glue gel and dabs of Crystal Stickles were added for interest.

The central image has been stamped with the smaller stamps from the Folk Art Garden set and stamped in a medallion style. I had help with making this design as I used a Stamping Gear from Inkadinkado, however a stamping platform could also be used or you can be really brave and wing it  and stamp by eye... The centre of the medallion has been stamped and then die cut with a circle and then layered upon a larger kraft card circle. The kraft card is echoed in the card base, which has also had white paint pen, faux stitching added.

The stamps used in the medallion have been used in the background and the whole card has been coloured with Distress inks.

Thank you for stopping by and please call back very soon.

Julie xx

Folk Art Garden and more sewing...(by Rachel)

Hello there. Rachel here today with some more samples from the February shows.

This one shows the stunning Folk Art Garden stamp simply coloured using water colour pencils.

In this sample I stamped onto tissue and added this to a painted chunky ATC and then added more paint.

Back to a sample using the sewing room and floral mannequin stamp sets. This one involved brushos and watercolour pencils.

Finally in this layered sample I used the floral mannequins set.

I hope this is gives you some ideas.

Rachel xx

Brusho Flowers (by Jodie)

Hello everyone, we are joined today by Guest Design Team member Jodie for her final project this month. Jodie has brought us a series of cards using Brushos, and this is another card using these versatile powders to inspire you.

Jodie writes:

Good morning everyone, today is my third project as a Guest Design Team member. This month has been so much fun, being able to play with new materials, well at least new to me, and hopefully provide inspiration for you to start your own creative journey.

This is another technique that you can use the Brusho Crystal Colours with.

Supplies:
Stamps- Floral Perfumery Rubber Stamp Sheet-A5
Colour- Brusho Crystal Colour (Set of 24, Green, Crimson & Violet)
Versafine Onyx Black & Versamark ink pads
Paper- A4 black cardstock, A4 white cardstock, watercolour paper
Water spritzer bottles- pack of 2
Double sided foam tape
Heat tool
White embossing powder

Cut the watercolour paper to 4" x % 1/4" (10.16cm x 13.34 cm)
When you first begin using your Brusho colours, take a thumb tack, and pierce a hole in the top. I cannot stress enough that a little goes a long way.
Ink up the stamp using Versamark, stamp the watercolour paper, sprinkle the white embossing powder, tap off the excess and heat set with the heat gun.
Now sprinkle the Violet crystals in the centre of the large flower. Sprinkle the Crimson around the flower and finally sprinkle the Green crystals around the leaf.
This will be very abstract colouring, and you'll never get the same result twice.
Use the spritzer bottle, and add water. If you find you've got too much colour, simply blot the piece with some paper towel.
Once happy with the result, simply dry the paper using your heat tool.
Next, cut the black cardstock to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" (13.97cm x 21.59cm) and fold in half.
Layer your piece onto the card base.
Stamp the saying onto the white cardstock with Versafine Onyx Black ink, add the black card and trim the black cardstock so that there is a border around the saying.
Attach the saying to the front using the foam tape.

Once again thank you to Chocolate Baroque for having me and don't forget to swing by my blog for another sample of Brusho Crystal Colours.

Thank you Jodie for inspiring us this month.

Jodie will be back with us later in the year.

Sewing Room in a page ( by Magda)

My page of today is dedicated to all who love to sew.

Step by step

1. Stamp randomly with Archival the stamp you like from The Sewing Room plate
2. Blend Distress Ink Pad colours on the page
3. Cover all with a thin coat of white gesso and let dry
4. Stamp the mannequin of The Sewing Room on a white cardstock and cut the contour
5. Stamp on fabric in red and yellow Distress Ink Pad  a ribbon and a spool of the same plate
6. Decide the look of your Layout arranging all the pieces on the page.
7. Stamp now the background with other stamps of the plate The Sewing Room
8. Glue all the pieces with Glue n' seal

Wonderful Life card

1. Blend on the white cardstock yellow, green and grey Distress Ink Pad colours
2. Stencil with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink Pad  Chocolate Baroque Mask Silhouette Palace 1
3. Put Crackled Paste on the top of the card up as a cloud and down for the ground, let dry and
    colour it
4. Stamp the flower of the new stamp  The Folk Art Garden with Archival Jet Black and colour it
    with Faber Castell Art Grip Aquarelle Pencils
5. Stamp the sentiment of  The Folk Art Garden with Archival Jet Black on a left over piece of point 1
    and fix it on the card.

I hope you liked my posts,  hugs

Magda

folk art 3 ways (by Veronica)

I loved this huge stamp, whcih makes a card on its own.

While it is a very detailed stamp, just crying out to be coloured in, I wanted to try it in monochrome. It was stamped in black versafine ink onto a dull silver card ( using a stamp platform as it is so big) and clear embossed. I then coloured the butterflies and three flowers using white watercolour paint. It was then mounted onto a 8" square white card blank.







My second card has a pale brusho background , image again stmaped using versafine and clear embossing powder. I used brusho to colour the butterflies, flowers and foliage before trimming it down to fit onto an A5 card blank and edging with a black marker pen.







The final version has a brusho back ground again, with the image stamped using a toning distress oxide ink pad. This time it was cut down to fit a 5"x7" card blank, edged with black marker again, and the sentiment stamped in black.  I used one of the chipboard circles to stamp part of the image using black versafine ink, then coloured the flowere with watercolour paints before edging the circle with black marker pen and gluing in place.

Colourful Inspirations by Penny

Hello again peeps!  I'm back again with my second post of the month.  I hope you are all well and not too hampered by the weather.

I began this project by taking one of the CB designer papers My Floral Soul and stamping a mannequin image from The Sewing Room stamp set in black Versafine ink, and embossing it with clear powder.  I then coloured it with alcohol pens.  I blended black Distress Ink around the edges of the paper and matted it on black card.  On a spare piece of card I stamped and embossed a pin cushion  from the Haberdashery set, and a card of cotton from The Sewing Room set, then on acetate I stamped and embossed a pair of scissors.  I coloured them all with pens and cut them out.  I then stamped and embossed a sentiment in black onto the background paper.

On a white base card I stamped a border image around the edges.  I then attached the focal panel to the base card and added the embellishments. 

To complete the design I added clear Sparkle pen to the flowers on the background paper.

Thank you for dropping in today and spending a little time with me to read this post.

Take care,


                          
                        xx  Penny  xx

Springtime Tulips (by Corine)

Hello everyone, Corine is back with her second post for this month, a beautiful Spring themed card.

Corine writes:

Hello!

Here I am again. This is my second post in March. I will show you today a Spring card with tulips.

I used stamps from the sheets:
Spring Bird-Tulip
Texture Fragments

Stamp the tulips on watercolour paper with black water resistant ink. Mask the first print and then place the second print. Colour the image. I used watercolour paint for this.
Use Distress Oxide to create a background on watercolour paper with the colours Worn Lipstick and Seedless Preserves. Stamp the fragment with Wilted Violet.
With a white gel pen I put dots in the background.
Stamp the text with Archival Dusty Concord on a separate piece of paper.
Sponge the edges with Distress Oxide Wilted Violet.

Stick the background on a white card. Then stick the 'tulips' with foam tape on the background and attach the text to the right of your card.

Kind regards,
Corine van Kuilenburg

Folk Art Inspired Garden (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have two projects to share with you today, featuring The Folk Art Garden stamp set, which we shared on one of last month's TV shows on Hochanda. This beautiful stamp set features a wonderful intricate stamp, along with some delightful smaller images all hand drawn by our designer Sue Page, and some fabulous little sentiments added by Lesley.

I created my first project by stamping the main image onto some 160 gsm Luxury Smooth White Paper which is perfect for this kind of project. This paper is the same paper that the colouring pages, and the designer papers are printed on. You can colour with pencils, add inks, or watercolour on the paper, it is very versatile. I used Versafine Clair ink in a dark blue, rather than going for a stronger black colour. I partially masked the image using Masking tissue, and added some of the little worker stamps around the edges, to create the effect of a garden running along the bottom of the page.

I added some Distress Ink along the top of the card, masking off a circle for a sun, and using torn paper to create hills. I used a mixture of blue and pink to create the sky. I added yellow for the sun, and stamped a sentiment. I added two little birds from the Landscape Edges stamp set. I used pencils to colour the flowers and butterflies. It may seem like it would take ages, but I sit in front of the TV, and the time passes without me noticing!

For the purposes of a TV demo, I needed to create a quicker version of this card. I used the big acrylic block that we sold with the stamp, and covered it with two different colours of Distress Oxide Ink, one blue, and one green, and spritzed them with water. I smooshed the block across a piece of drawing cartridge, (that had a circle mask already added), covering the background in one go. Once the background was dry, I stamped the large image in a dark colour at the bottom of the page, as before, but towards the middle this time. I used the large image to stamp around the edges, filling in the gaps, so that the image was not floating by itself.

I coloured the image with Koh-I-Noor paints, as these cover the Distress Oxide Ink really well. I stamped a sentiment from the same stamp set to complete the card.

By varying the amount of Distress Ink that you add to the block, you can alter how vibrant your background will be. If you do not want such a strong background, add less ink to the acrylic block.

I will be back later in the month with more projects to share with you. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Fifteen Minute Cards

Hello everyone, it is time for our monthly compilation of quick cards made in fifteen minutes or less. Each month, the Design Team come together to bring you a host of designs and tips to help you create projects in next to no time. If you are looking for batch cards for Christmas, for a Wedding or moving house, etc., then we can help with design ideas to inspire you. If you sell cards at craft fairs or for charity, you can use Chocolate Baroque stamps to make your cards, no problem. If you are a beginner crafter, or someone with a bit more experience, there is something within these blog posts that will appeal to you. So, grab a cuppa and enjoy what we have to share with you today.

Carole has created a pretty card in blue tones, using stamps from Briar Rose Butterfly, Harebell Butterfly and a sentiment from Amazing Mackintosh Words. She has used Distress Inks Blueprint Sketch and Peacock Feathers. She stamped the bobble spray image in a circular pattern using the peacock colour, adding second generation stamping in the gaps. She spritzed the card with water so that the colour bled. She pressed the blue inkpad onto a small piece of white card and overstamped with the butterfly section of the Harebell stamp.

Rachel has created a stunning card using one of our newest stamps The Folk Art Garden, stamping the image onto kraft card, using white embossing powder. She has added a pop of colour to key areas of the design with watercolour pencils.

 For her next card, she used some of the smaller images from our Haberdashery range of stamp sets, and repeat stamped them over the background, adding some mica powders once she had finished.

Finally, she stamped the scissors repeatedly to create a background, then using a topper made with alcohol inks, stamped the mannequin using ink to lift some of the background.

Vronnie has created a beautiful Brusho background, adding a white embossed image. She has added more Brusho to the flowers, activating the colour with a damp brush.

The same image takes on a completely different look in this card by Magda. She has stamped the image using black ink, and coloured the flower with watercolour pencils and glitter glue. You can add as much or as little colour to this image as you like, the choice is yours.

Magda has created the following two backgrounds using Distress Ink. The first card she has stamped the images, stencilled with water, and added glitter glue.

For her final card, she has spritzed the background with water and stamped the images with Versafine.

We have some fabulous mail art from Zoe up next, these lovely envelopes are quick to make, but would certainly brighten up anyone's day when they were received through the post.

 Penny has created a romantic card, using bold red and black which adds a bit of Ooh la la to this card! She has coloured the images with alcohol pens and then coloured over the top with a clear sparkle pen.

An assortment of cards from Brenda are next, this pretty floral card in shades of blue and green could be made in lots of different colour options to suit a personal preference.

She has stamped the lace ribbon repeatedly to create a background before adding some of the lace flowers as a focal point.

Adding The Folk Art Garden to a vibrantly coloured background avoids the need to colour the image at all, a very effective way of creating a quick card.

Finally, Brenda has used one of the smaller floral sprays to create a larger image, using a single colour of ink. This monochrome card is fabulous, and could be made in lots of different colours to make a set of cards for a gift or to keep and send for cards in a hurry.

Another monochrome card here from Julie, stamped onto kraft card, using a white pencil for detail and faux stitches added. Such a stylish design, which looks simple, and takes very few materials to create.

We have three beautiful designs from Pat using the sewing stamps. For her first card, she used Distress Inks to create a background. She then added borders down each side using a blue Distress Ink, and added extra blue ink along the edges for shading. She stamped one of the mannequins with the same ink and watercoloured it lightly with both inks using a fairly dry waterbrush. The sentiment was also stamped using the blue ink.

For her second card, she used a gelli print created with white acrylic paint and red Brusho, then a layer of white acrylic and blue Brusho, with the buttons stamped around the edge of the plate with the blue Brusho paint mix before pulling the print. She then stamped the mannequin, some buttons, the small scissors and the sentiment using a dark blue and a light green Distress Ink. She blended some more of the green around the edges before adding the background to a card blank.

Her last card uses stamps from the Haberdashery and Floral Mannequins stamp sets, and for all stamping she used a blue Distress Ink. She added spritzed Brushos in two shades of green to the topper, which was layered onto blue card. She stamped the frilled and floral lace pieces onto the card blank before adding the topper, and finished with a sentiment.

That concludes our collection of cards for this month. We hope that you have enjoyed the inspiration that we have shared, and will try some of the ideas out for yourselves. We will be back next month with another crop of quick projects for you. in the meantime, do keep visiting the blog for our regular Design Team posts. Thanks for stopping by,