Three final samples by Rachel

 Hello there - Rachel here today with the last of my makes from March's shows.

In this first one I used the circular Gel press to create the background using inks and the crackling rose stamp to remove some of that ink creating a ghost image of the stamp in the background. I then overstamped and coloured the image (in watercolour brush pens) and decoupaged the rose up 

For my ceramic piece I used the Klimt panel and stamped it onto the bowl before going over the lines in glaze - I also added more glaze inside the bowl. The bowl was then fired. 

My final card was made using the songthrush silhouette - this time I repeat stamped the image over the card then made the topper using veramark on black card and brushing over it in mica powders.

I hope you have a great day! Can't believe its May tomorrow - where is this year going?

Big hugs

Rachel xx

Inspirational Heart (by Carole)

My third and final project for this session is my Inspirational Heart.

I like making these and tend to use them as decorations as well as coaters. They are larger than normal coasters and I am in less danger of missing it when I put my cup down, if I'm not concentrating.

Products used:- 15cm heart. Mine is wood but you could use other mediums.

Black acrylic paint

Versamark inkpad

Anti static bag

Pearl powder - silver

Pearl paints

Silver embossing powder

Stamps:- Artistic Affirmations- lots of inspirational sayings on this set, lovely and bold 

Pretty Poppies - flowers

Autumn Poppy - leaves

The heart was painted and left to dry thoroughly.

I then wiped it over with the anti static bag. This is important, I think, with the metallic embossing powders in particular.

Stamp the saying first with Versamark and silver emboss so you can position it where you would like on the heart.

Position the flowers and heat emboss with silver.

The leaves were done differently, to give a softer look, although they could be silver embossed like the rest.

I stamped with Versamark and then used pigment, silver powder, to brush lightly over.

The inkpad was wiped around the edge and embossed to finish off.

The flowers were coloured with pearl paints.

If I have used the pearl powder I would normally give it a light spray with a matt sealer as the powders will lift or smudge if touched.

When making it into a coaster I would normally seal with a matt varnish.

Well that's my contribution to the GDT slot for a while.

Hope you have enjoyed my projects and I look forward to seeing other lovely samples from the DT.

 On my blog cchotchpotch.blogspot.com I have posted a few other hearts I have made. Some as coasters and others as gifts.

They became a bit of an obsession with me especially as there are some lovely inspirational sayings in the Chocolate Baroque collection.

Hope you have a good day.

Happy crafting.

Carole.

 

Imagine triptych by Brenda

Hello Peeps, time to share some more samples from the March Hochanda shows. I recently purchased this new die which lends itself to the shape of these stamp panels perfectly. I started with with a background of oxides in shades of green then stamped Arched Landscape, Garden Lace Scene and a quote from Words of Inspiration, once the ink was dry I covered all three with clear embossing ink and Speckled Egg Distress Glaze which gives a lovely gloss finish but leaves the detail of stamping perfectly clear and sharp.

For this one I have used (again) Floribunda Net stamped on to an acrylic background which had some random stamping in white using Just Useful and then the focal images stamped and heat embossed with detail gold EP. Some colouring of the blooms using Distress Markers and a die cut sentiment.

I hope I have given you a little inspiration this month.

brusho flowers (by Veronica)

This was experimental, but I liked the result and decided to repeat it using all the floral stamps from this month's show

.

The first was a card using the crackling rose stamp, just stamped onto white card using black versafine and clear embossed before sprinkling with grey brusho powder and spritzing with water. A black mat, and a base card sponged with grey distress ink and randomly stamped with part of the rose stamp in the same grey.

The base of the concertina was an A3 sheet of gold card cut to give 3 panels 5x7". The four main images were stamped in black and clear embossed before adding the grey brusho powder. On the last two panels the crackling rose was stamped in grey in the corners , and sentiments stamped using black versafine.

 

Rosy, Rosy.

Hello. I'm sharing the last of my samples made for the Hochanda (now known as The Craft Store) show in March. Lesley was showcasing some beautiful, individual floral stamps.

My first card uses the Floribunda Net stamp. Such a pretty stamp.

I stamped with VersaMark and embossed with Pink powder, I then used watercolour inks to colour. I used a punch on the corners and mat and layered onto some mirror card.

 

My next card uses the beautiful Crackling Rose stamp. A lovely stamp, especially if you like to colour.

For this card I stamped in brown archival ink and coloured with watercolour pencils. I added a die cut rose leaf and some pretty pink design papers.

This card uses the Flora Musica stamp. 

I stamped in Memento ink and used alcohol markers to colour. I layered onto an oval die cut. For the background I used a stamp from the Dusky Damask stamp set.

My last piece today is a grey board heart which I covered with some design paper and Brushos. I stamped the Harlequin Bouquet stamp in Archival ink and coloured with watercolour pencils. I then added some crackle glaze, being careful not to move the pencil. When it was dry I added some antiquing cream to highlight the crackles. I finished with a sentiment from Life is So Much Better.

Thanks for looking

Sandra x

 

Florals in Reds and Golds (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a few more projects to share with you, featuring stamps from last month's TV shows. 

My first card was created using a Brusho background, I have lots of these in my stash, waiting to be used when I need them. I make a batch in lots of different colours, which I can pull out when I need them in a hurry. Very handy when I am making DT samples!

I stamped a leafy sprig from the Autumn Poppy stamp set randomly over the background. It is not an exact match to the main image, but is close enough. I coloured the image with pencils, choosing a lovely olive green and soft red.

I die cut an oval and stamped the Flora Musica image, adding a bit of Distress Ink around the edges to soften the whiteness of the card. I coloured the image with pencils once more, coordinating with the colours of the background. I chose some toning ribbons to pull the project together. 

To create my second project I made a wrinkle free distress background, using Distress Inks on a craft mat, which I mopped up with a piece of drawing cartridge. I stamped around the edges with the Large Crackle Background, and added the splatter stamp from the Timeless stamp set. 

I die cut a rectangle and stamped the Crackling Rose which I coloured with pencils. The sentiment comes from the Life is so much Better stamp set.

The stamp from my final card was not actually featured on the show Song Thrush, its silhouette companion made an appearance. I made this card and so will share it as you could create something very similar. I used a tea stained background, and stamped a leafy image from Brocade Backgrounds over the top.

I stamped the main image twice, and coloured the images with pencils. I decoupaged some of the flowers before matting the layers onto brown card. The sentiment once more is taken from Life is so much Better. 

I had so much fun this month working with a lot of these older stamps. For some of you they will be brand new. It was great to revisit the images and get to use them again, mixing them with newer stamps that were not around when the stamps first came out. I hope that you have seen lots of inspiration from the rest of the Design Team as well. 

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe and take care,

Judith xx

A Celebration of Flowers part - 3 by Zoe

Good morning Lovelies and welcome to my third and final post of the month.

I’m showing some of my samples from last months Hochanda shows featuring these beautiful and versatile stamps.

No Envelopes in this post, but a selection of cards and tags, I hope you like them.

See ya next month. Thank you so much for visiting.

Have a wonderful day xx Zoe xx

All things bright and beautiful (by rachel)

 Hello there! Rachel here today with some more makes from Lesley's March shows. 

In this first sample I really wanted to use colour - the background of the tag was paint brayered onto to a gessoed greyboard piece - the topper was simply stamped Garden Lace scene onto smooth card) in black and coloured in using watercolour brush pens.

For this simple card I stamped the arched landscape image in black ink then set with colourless embossing powder before again colouring using watercolour brush pens. 

For this third make I used the landscape collage image and stamped it on smooth card and set with clear embossing powder. Next I coloured it in more subtley using translucent paints. I then fussy cut the image. I used the same translucent paints to create the colour in the background, drying between colours to prevent muddying. I also added background stamping in orange ink.

I hope I have given you a few more ideas of ways to use your stamps.

Big hugs

Rachel x

Gentle butterflies (by Carole)

Hello again. 

For my second GDT post I have used the Floral Clock stamp with my favourite colours. Very difficult sometimetimes to get out of my comfort zone with colours, although it does happen occasionally. 

Stamps used:- Floral Clock, Harebell Butterfly, words from Parsley Clock

25cm frame which I had in my stash, just the right size!

The background is done with Distress Inks and spritzed. I love the unpredictability of the backgrounds you get with this technique.

Floral Clock was then over stamped in black and several spare butterflies stamped onto card scraps and cut out.

When this was dry it was mounted onto a piece of card with a thin border.

The other harebells from Harebell Butterfly were then over stamped across the bottom and lightly coloured.

The saying is very poignant to me recently and I feel it goes well with the soft blues.

Hope you have enjoyed my project and I shall be back with my final sample next week.

Stay safe everyone and happy crafting.

Carole.

Live, Laugh, Dream by Brenda

Brenda here again for more shares of work from last months Hochanda shows. 

I went for a bit of bold contrast with the above creation using Flora Musica stamped onto an oval and coloured in with Koh-i-Noor paints and placed over the edge of a card. The border to the left is from Harlequin Rose, a strip of red ribbon to carry the colour of the blooms and a sentiment from my Life is so much Better inspirational quote set which featured in the show.

I have used one of Lesley's new Say it Vertically sentiment sets down the side of this one and Landscape Collage stamped in black and colour added just to the sun with matting and layering to carry that colour.

May thanks for your kind visits and words of encouragement.

Spring Time - (by Magda) March Fairy, Another Brick in the Walled Garden, Curiosities, Steampunkery

 Hello everyone and nice to see you here again.

My page of today has a lots of layers and items :

I used several Distress Ink Pad colors, watercolors pencils, acrylic colors, white gesso, stencils, baby wipe, archival ink for stamping the Clock of "Curiosities",  Spring of "March Fairy", and Time of "Steampunkery". 

Thank you for passing by, hugs

Magda

flower power (by Veronica)

One of my favourite stamps was in the shows last month, the lovely flora musica and i have two versions to share today. The first is a very CAS card, simply stamped onto a  square of white card. The stamp was inked with distress marker pens and stamped using a stamping platform. I used a damp brush to draw the cololur out into the flowers and leaves and stamped the sentiment from birthday words in the bottom corner. The card was edged with ablack marker pen before mounting onto a white card blank.

The second version was again stamped using marker pens, this time edged with distress ink and mounted onto a dark red car. The background panel was sponged with matching distress inks, and randomly overstamped using just the flowers and a swirly music stamp from the music fanfare set. The same sentiment was stamped onto spare card and cut out using a punch,

the next cards use the harlequin bouquet  stamp, the first stamped in grey versafine onto white card and then again using black versafine onto spare white card, The first piece of card was coloured using wild honey distress ink and water on a craft mat, and the harlequin part of the stamp stamped randomly using the same distress inkpad to create the background. The flowers and leaves on the second image were coloured with marker pens, cut out and glued over the first images.

The base card was sponged with hickory smoke distress ink, then the image stamped randomly using the wild honey distress ink

The second version is more muted, inked first with distress markers then overstamped qwith black versafine. Background card sponged with hickory smoke and a pink distress oxide 

( probably worn lipstick, but not sure!) then randomly stamped with the harlequin part of the stamp using the grey.

Sentiment from say it vertically
 

My final card uses the floribunda stamp, stamped in versamark onto kraft card and white embossed. I sprinkled truquoise brusho powders over the flowers and spritzed with water. Mounts were white and turquoise card onto a square card blank , and the sentiment stamped in turquoise ink onto a scrap of white card edged with the same inkpad and matted onto a scrap of kraft card

Pretty Song Thrush

Hello I'm sharing more of my samples from the March show on Hochanda (now known as The Craft Store).

My first cards are made using the  Song Thrush set.  

This card uses soft blues and yellows. I used Archival ink and watercolour pencils and left a lot of the area white. I have mat and layered onto toning card.

The second card, in contrast, uses vibrant orange, yellow and black. 

I used a technique called Joseph's Coat. 

*I used a blending tool to add areas of colour all over my base card - I used Distress Inks. 

*When it was dry, I stamped  the Song Thrush with VersaMark and heat embossed with clear powder.  

*I then covered with black ink and buffed it off with paper towel to reveal the colours below the embossing. 

* I mat and layered some Chocolate Baroque papers onto a Gatefold card base and added the Song Thrush to the front. 

(Remember to only put glue on the one side or you won't be able to open your card!)

Thanks for looking

Sandra x

Spring Primroses (by Carole)

Hello everyone, today sees the first of three posts this month by our regular Guest Design Team member Carole. She has created a beautiful Spring themed project for your inspiration.

Carole writes:

 

Hello everyone.

I'm delighted to be doing a GDT session again.

I have revisited some older stamps as these are often neglected and it's not until I start using them again that I realise how much I enjoyed them the last time I used them.

So many ideas buzz around and no time to do them!!!

As the weather has been gorgeous here for a little while, and the garden is bursting with life, my first sample is using Spring Awakening. This is a lovely stamp for Spring birthdays and Mother's Day cards. 

The colours look a bit washed out in my photo unfortunately.

Stamps used: Spring Awakening, Amazing Mackintosh Words, Essence of Nature

I stamped the face onto a piece of backing paper that had been coloured with different yellows and sage Distress Inks. This was then spritzed to was the colour out a little.

The primroses were stamped a few more times, cut out and coloured.

The main image was coloured with watercolour pencils, still one of my favourite ways to add colour.

The loose primroses were then added to the areas required.

Hope you are enjoying some lovely Springtime weather where you are too.

See you next time for another of my samples.

Happy Crafting

Carole 😊

Blue Florals (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well. I have a couple of projects to share with you today featuring stamps that we brought to the TV shows last month. Both projects share a common theme, I have used blue tones to colour the flowers. You can colour the images however you like, so why not use blue, or whatever colour you prefer? You can match the colours that the recipient loves, a favourite colour scheme, or the gift that you might be giving. 

To create my first card, I created a Brusho background, using green, turquoise and purple, and once this was dry, I inked through a stencil, using the same colours of Distress Ink. I stamped a verical sentiment from the Say It Vertically stamp set over the top.

I die cut an oval and stamped and embossed the Harlequin Bouquet, using Versafine and clear embossing powder. I coloured the image with watercolour pencils and lightly blended the colours with a water brush. I edged the oval with Distress Ink.

Another Brusho background formed the basis for my second card. I stamped the Floribunda Net over the top using Versafine once more. I added some stencilling with a mesh stencil using gilding wax this time, adding a bit of subtle shimmer. I coloured the roses with pencils, and then used a glittery pen over the top for more sparkle. I used a sentiment from Life is so much Better to create a frame.

I will be back later in the month with more projects to share with you. 

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe and take care,

Judith xx

A Celebration of Flowers part - 2 by Zoe

Good morning Lovelies and welcome to my second post for this month.

I hope you’re all keeping well.

So I’m back with some more of my samples from last months Hochanda shows.

This post is featuring the amazing new sentiments, I particularly love the Vertical ones, they are so versatile.

My first card I used my Gel press to create the background.

I hope you like my creations. 

Thank you so much for spending your time visiting today.

Have a wonderful day xx Zoe xx