Floral Mannequins, The Sewing Room and Dressmaker's Window By Florence

Hi everyone

I hope you are enjoying the weekend and the weather is being kind to you.

Today I would like to share some projects made using some of the new stamps. They all work so well together.  To see the new stamps sets in full please click on the individual links:  Floral Mannequins, The Sewing Room and The Dress Maker's Window.   Do also check out the website for the multi-buy offer on these stamps.

Just a thought on the Dress Makers Window stamp.  This stamp can be used in so many different ways not just with the sewing stamps.  Personally, I have been after a window stamp for a many years and this one is perfect.  An absolute delight to craft with.  The design and size of it is fabulous.

My first project is a box style card.  

Box cards are really easy to make and a lot of fun.

The inside of the box is made in exactly the same way as you would make up a front of a card.  The only difference with box cards is that you score the card more times to give you the box shape.

Front view

The next project is a quick and simple card

For this card I have just stamped the frilly ribbon and the sentiment directly onto the card and added a hint of color on the ribbon using water color crayons.  The flowers have been stamped onto separate card stock and cut out.  The card has been made up as seen with foam pads behind the stamped flowers and the addition of a little die cut.

The next card is simple in style but it did take a little time to cut out the bottom of the dress form.  Having said that it was quite easy to cut out with a craft knife.  I found it easier to make all of the downward cuts and then make all of the across cuts.

I mixed and matched the dress forms and made a little modification to the body piece.

For this card I started by stamping the sentiment and the lace trim. I then stamped and cut out all of my pieces and decoupaged them onto the base card using foam tabs.


That's all from me today
Thank you for stopping by

Happy Stamping
Florence x

Flower Power (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I have a couple more designs to show today using the fabulous Sketchy Doodle Landscape set.

The background was created with Dylusions and Brusho inks.  I over stamped with fragments from Abstract Fragments.and Harlequin Fragments.   I also added circles with white Acrylic paint and a small empty bottle.

The flowers were stamped with archival ink, sprayed with Fuchsia Dylusions ink, highlighted with a white pencil, carefully cut out and attached to the background.

The card below was quick to make:

The background was stenciled (TCW Echoes) and the main image was coloured with pencils.  Best Wishes is from Mackintosh Sentiments.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirleyx

Vibrant Retro Flower (by Shirley)

Hello everyone,  I hope you are doing well.

I've been working with Sketchy Doodle Landscape this month.  These stamps are great fun and seem to beg for vibrant colours but they are also great in subdued designs.

The background was created with Dylusions Inks along with white Brusho crystal inks.  It's not difficult - I spray Dylusions inks, spritz with water, sprinkle a tiny bit of white Brusho powders and spritz a little with water (if needed) again.   Once the background was dry I over stamped with a fragment from Abstract Fragments.  I embossed the main images from Sketchy Doodle Landscape with black, coloured with Dylusions ink (using a brush and water on a craft mat).    'With Love' is from Mackintosh Sentiments.

Thanks for your visit and have a great day.
Shirleyx

Nouveau Love Birds by Florence

Hi everyone

I hope you are all well and that the weather if being kind to you in your part of the world.

We had a glorious start to the month here in Spain but it seems autumn has come back.  I am chicken watching at the moment.  One of my hens is sitting on some eggs so I am waiting for the little balls of fluff to appear.  I will let you know when there is any news.  So excited!

Today I wanted to share a little card using this months  Nouveau Love Birds Stamps.

Talk about exquisite designs!  There are so many possibilities with these stamps....truly.

 The stylized flowers in this set are just amazing and stamp beautifully.  They are also a great size and work wonderfully not only in card making but in artful journaling.

  

please click on the image to see the detail

For this card I stamped the flower image just onto bulk standard white card stock using black archival ink.

I colored in the image using some water color crayons (direct on to the dry paper over the image) and then softened and blended the colors using a damp paint brush.  To create the high lights, I just moved some of the color around with the damp paint brush and removed some of it with a piece of kitchen paper towel where appropriate. 

I lay my piece of stamped card onto an ordinary plastic document wallet and applied some Evergreen Bough Distressing Ink to the card edges using some Cut-n-Dry foam. 

When the distressing ink was dry I used one of the Abstract Fragments Background Stamps and black Archival ink to create a stamped frame.

To finish off the focal piece, I stamped the small butterfly from the Butterfly Blush stamp set, again using black Archival ink.

I gave everything a quick spray with an artists watercolor fixative to set the distressing ink.  This is not necessary but it does protect the surface of the card.

To complete my card, I mat and layered the card pieces and added some bling.

Before I leave you today

Thank you to everyone for your lovely comments left on the previous posts.  They are very much appreciated.   Please feel free to use the comments box to let us know what style of crafting, card making or stamping you enjoy. 

Happy Crafting.

Florence x

Fabulous Flappers - By Florence

Hi everyone

Thank you to everyone for calling in and for your lovely comments on the previous posts.  They are truly appreciated.   It is always great to hear from our CB family.

I am so excited!!!!  The Fabulous Flappers are amazing.  All credit to Sue who designed these stamps.  They are a stampers dream and absolute delight to use.

You don't need to take my word for it, you can tell how wonderful and versatile they are by looking at the incredible projects from the DT. 

I have always loved Art Deco styles and the artwork by people such as Erte and George Barbier so I didn't think twice about taking my inspiration from those artists to make my cards.

I have mixed and matched some other Chocolate Baroque stamps with the Fabulous Flappers.

I hope you like them.

I started off by making masks of all my ladies using some masking tape.

I used white coated card stock and Black Staz-On ink.

I stamped my (yellow) lady and covered her with a mask.

I then stamped the (blue and red) lady so that she appears behind the (yellow) lady.

Leaving the masks on both of the ladies, I stamped the pillar bases (The pillar bases are from the retired Antiquities set) at the top and bottom.

I then drew two lines using a micron pen to create a column connecting the bases.

I masked off the edges of the column and added some distress marks using one of the Abstract Fragments background stamps.

I stamped the decorative corner (from the New England Winter set) and then just added some straight lines, again using the micron pen, to tie everything in and to ground the ladies.

Whilst everything was masked off I added some blue distressing ink to the background.

I removed my masks and colored my images in.

To finish off I just added some bling and a flower flourish which I made using a die.

For my second card I used exactly the same technique as above using lots of masks.

I started by stamping and masking the lady.

I then stamped the pillar and masked it.

With all of the masks in place, I colored my card with Wild Honey distressing ink and stenciled on some patterns using Rusty Hinge distressing ink.

I then stamped my peacock.  Do check out the Peacock Stamps available from Chocolate Baroque. They are one of my hot picks to go with the Flapper Ladies.

I removed all of the masks and colored my images with my jumbo felt pens.

I used some of the little flowers from the flower vase to create a climbing flower around the pillar.

Again I added some bling and a florish.

My third card was the result of some incorrect stamping on my part.

I stamped and masked my ladies as above but then went and smudged the Chinese Lanterns.

So, being a great believer in waste not want not, I cut around my images and used them separately.

I attached a piece of pretty paper to my base card and then added all of the little stamped pieces to create a scene.

It was a case of adding a bit here and there to see what evolved.

The lanterns are from The Chinese Lantern set.

The bush in the Urn is the small tree from the Patchwork Landscape set.

The pattern on the pillar is a stamp from the Abstract Fragments.

That is all from me today. 

Take care and happy stamping.

Florence x

Patchwork Landscape - By Florence

Hi everyone

I have had so much fun using the Patchwork Landscape stamps.

Here are a few cards that I would like to share with you all.  I hope you like them.

For my first card all I have done is stamp the image, using black Staz-On, onto white coated card stock and colored the image using felt pens.  I then just mat and layered.

For my second card,  I had in my mind just neutral colors.  I wanted to use the new Cornflower Blue Archival ink which is a more bluish grey in real life.  Love this color.  Please click on the link to see the other colors in the range.

Again, this is a really simple card.  I stamped my tree onto white coated card stock.  I then stamped around the edge of the card using Pumice distressing ink and one of the background stamps from Abstract Fragments.  

I added some postal marks using a stamp from my own stash.

I then just mat and layered using some pretty papers.

I really enjoyed making the third card.  It started out as a bit of an experiment.  As soon as I started using the Patchwork Landscape stamps I did have it in my mind that they could be used for creating patchwork patterns and backgrounds so I thought a patchwork Rooster would be fun.

I cut the Rooster out of coated card stock.  I used a die but there are plenty of free templates on the web.

 I used the tree stamp from the center of the stamp sheet for this card.

I made three masks of just the top of the tree.  To make the masks, all I did was to stamp the image three separate times onto masking tape and then cut them out.

I then stamped randomly, using black Staz-On, over the Rooster shape.  Each time I stamped I covered the stamped image with a mask until I had covered the whole of the Rooster.

When the ink was dry, I colored in the stamped images with felt pens and applied just a hint of Black Soot distressing ink to the edges of the shape of the Rooster using some Cut n Dry Foam.

The Rooster's head is in two pieces.  I colored the comb red and then colored the main piece using Broken China distressing ink and a piece of Cut n Dry Foam.  When the ink was dry I stamped the script (from the Antiquities Stamp Sheet) using black Staz-On.  I also edged this with some black distressing ink.

I then just mat and layered the piece of the Rooster and mounted it onto some pretty papers.

That's all from me today.  Thank you for your company.

Happy Stamping

Florence x

Patchwork Landscape - By Florence

Hi everyone

It's a beautiful day on the mountain today.  Spring has arrived.  The daffs are out and the mountain side is covered with almond blossom.  It just looks like there are giant clusters of candy floss dotted about.  I love this time of year.

Here are two  project I have made using the Patchwork Landscape stamps.

For these have gone for bold colors.

 I stamped my main image onto coated card stock using black Staz-On.  Whilst that was drying I stamped the same image onto some masking tape and cut it out.

I masked my image and started to color the card using Scattered Straw and Wild Honey distressing inks and a piece of Cut n Dry Foam.  

I removed the mask and started coloring the image.  I used felt pens to color the image.  I created high lights by taking off some of the ink with a damp paint brush and I also added shade by adding just a little bit of dark ink to certain areas using again using a damp paint brush.

When the ink was dry,  I placed the mask back on the colored image and  I stamped the script using  black Staz-On.  

I edged the main stamped piece of card with gold pen and then mat and layered my card.

I stamped a sentiment, using a stamp from The Harlequin Rose Stamp sheet, onto white card stock, trimmed it and edged it with gold pen.  I then mat and layered this onto my card.

For the second card.  I made the topper for this card in exactly the same way as the card above.

I cut out my shape.  I cut the lid out from mirror board and rubbed over it with sand paper to make it look more realistic.

The tag is from some pretty papers from my stash and I have just attached it with some string.  

For the background on this, I masked my trees and flowers and used Pumice distressing ink and one of the background stamps from the Abstract Fragments stamp sheet.

Well I think that is all from me today.

I am off to do some work in the garden.

Take care all and happy crafting.

Florence x

Patchwork Sunrise (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, I had a lot of fun creating this 'patchwork' sample with the new Patchwork Landscape stamp set. The stamps are such great designs, and just encourage lots of colour.

I stamped the main image, and then masked this off, by stamping the image again onto masking paper, and covering the main areas. I then covered sections of the background with sheets of paper, just leaving a segment uncovered, which I coloured with Pan Pastels. I stamped the section with a stamp from various texture stamp plates, Abstract Fragments Nature Fragments Texture Fragments using Versamark, and then I covered the Versamark with Pan Pastel again. I moved around the page, completing a segment at a time, covering over any finished area to keep it protected. Once I was finished, I added hand drawn pen lines to resemble stitching. I coloured the central image with Inktense pencils, blending the colours with a waterbrush. I added a sentiment from the stamp sheet. Finally, I made some small flowers from handmade paper to resemble the Hollyhocks on the stamp plate, and added some black buttons to the centre. A die cut flourish completes the card.

 

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Into every life a little rain must fall .... (posted by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with another sample using the beautiful Fantasy Castles, I love this castle image I combined it with the cloud stamps from Magical Landscapes to create a rainy scene.

I coloured the image with distress markers and used Walnut Stain distress ink around the edges of the image. I matted it up on some dark brown card and layered it up over square of card with a brick effect made using a Crafters Workshop Template and distress inks. Again I matted on brown card and layered up over a more muted background made with more distress inks and a brick stamp from Abstract Fragments. The sentiment is on of my all time favourites and is from Loving Sentiments. To finish of I've added a little seam binding bow and an umbrella charm from my stash.

Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

Fantasy Castle with Blue and Green (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope all is well.

I have another design today using the new beautiful Fantasy Castles set.   These castles have so much wonderful detail, I enjoy colouring them with pencils.

The background behind the castle is Broken China and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks using an acrylic block and water.  I coloured the clouds from Magical Landscapes and castle from Fantasy Castles with Prisma pencils which I used Cobalt Archival ink to stamp.   I added glitter to the rain and water fall.

The larger background was created with Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks again with an acrylic block.   I stamped Wisteria from Wisteria Lane and the trees from Magical Landscape with Mowed Lawn DI ink.   I stamped the brick work using a fragment from Abstact Fragments with Salty Ocean Distress Ink.

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day,
Shirley

Mermaid Landscape (posted by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with  a card created using the beautiful new stamps 'Magical Landscapes', such a beautiful selection of images and although they'll work perfectly with all the lovely fairy stamps as soon as I saw this image I knew I wanted to use it with this mermaid from Underwater Kingdom

The background was made using distress inks, tumbled glass, shabby shutters, salty ocean and mowed lawn. I also used some of the ink from my craft mat to colour the ribbon. I overstamped the background with one of the stamps from Abstract Fragments and embossed with white embossing powder.

The image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with Graph'It Markers, I added some 'waves' with a white sharpie pen and glitter. I also used the Crafters Workshop Tile Texture stencil with clear gel medium and once that was dry I inked with more Tumbled Glass and Broken China distress ink.

I've distressed all the edges with my craft knife and added shells, pearls and cheescloth from my stash to finish off.

I hope you're enjoying all the inspiration with this months gorgeous new stamps

Claire xx

Steampunkbirds by Miranda....

Hello there,

Today it's my turn to show you some of my creations with these funny Steampunk birdies! It is such fun playing with them and combine them with gears ,embossingfolders, stencils and also with the TH tissuewrap. I've used  technique tiles this time, a chipboard material in all kind of shapes. I've used the circles.(2nd card) I've combined the steampunk owl with the steampunk trees from the Steampunk Christmas sheet.

I've made the first card in real Christmas colours and used the owl. The quote is also suitable for Christmas I think, because without love it all means nothing mmm? I've used Distress inks Evergreen Bough and Festive Berries. The white dots are a chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous. The owl is coloured with twinkling H2o's and some gold ink.

Now on to the 2nd card where I've used the tissue wrap and the technique tiles. The pattern you see in the technique tile is from the Abstract Fragments, such a versatile sheet to use. I love all the fragment sheets.......The tissue wrap is also great to use in every way and on every shape or material. I've blended the tissue wrap a bit with Distress inks and beneath it I've stamped the fragment of the Punky Romance sheet. You can see a glimpse of it shining through the tissue wrap. I glued the tissue wrap with Glue 'n seal and coloured the butterfly with Distress inks. I've attached all the elements and added some metal wire. 

How did I make the tiles:

I've blended them with Distress inks and stamped the birds or the fragment pattern onto it. The birds were coloured with Distress markers. Than I've triple embossed with clear EP using Versamark and when the layer was still warm I've pressed the clean stamp into it. Than I've applied some perfect pearl powder in the relief which gave it a lovely shine.

Just adding a 3rd card which I've already posted on my own blog but maybe you did not seen it yet.....

if you want more details you can take a look there;

http://miracleartinspirations.blogspot.nl/2013/12/steampunk-birdsnew-stamps-chocolate.html

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask and I hope I have inspired you!

Thanks for watching and your visit and comments are always appreciated,

till next time,

Owl you need is Love (by Debbie)

Hello. I decided to make a bright and colourful background for this little owl to sit against. So out came the inks, stamps and stencils.

For the owl I used glossy card and distress inks and stamped with Archival black as I used Versafine wasn't drying on the card. He is a little cutie and not so tricky to cut out. For the background I started colouring a white piece of card with squeezed lemonade, peeled paint and peacock feathers. With stormy sky I stencilled through a circle mask and then stamped with the wavy lines stamp from Abstract Fragments. I had my melt pot handy and poured UTEE onto the stamp and cut out a wavy edge heart. When it cooled I rubbed with gold wax to highlight the detail. Finally I stamped the sentiment and added to the top corner. The Design Team have lots of beautiful samples to show so please pop back. Thanks for visiting. Debbie

Winter Fairies & Abstract Fragments CAS Style (by Shirley)

Hello everyone,  I hope your weekend is going well.   It's been colder than normal this week in Ontario, Canada and we've had a little snow!  I'm not ready for Winter! 

I have several 'quick make' cards today using the new stamps.

For the above card, I used TCW Starfall Stencil and Distress Inks to create the background.  I stamped the sentiment, "Magic Happens" and the fairy from December Fairy with black ink.  I used Stardust Stickles on her wings.

I used the same Fairy and stencil for the card below but added holly from the Winter Fairy Collection.

The next two cards I used fragments from Abstract Fragments.

For the above card I used TCW Mod Spirals stencil in the background using Shaded Lilac Distress Ink.  Next I inked over top with TCW Butterflies stencil and while the stencil was in place I stamped with a fragment from Abstract Fragments using Seedless Preserves.  Glenda called it 'stampencilling':)    'Best Wishes' is from Loving Sentiments.

. 
For the above card I used the same stencil and another fragment from Abstract Fragments and the same Distress Inks.   The sentiment is from Birthday Words.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your day!
Shirley

Festive Robin with Abstract Fragments (by Debbie)

The crackle background from Abstract Fragments is quickly climbing to the top of my favourite stamps list. I had the colours for this card in my head before I chose the stamp for the main image.

For the background I inked the stamp with Archival Ink Potting Shed and randomly stamped onto white card. The stamp fits together beautifully as it has no straight edges. Around the edges of the card I used Festive Berries Distress Ink. The Robin sitting on the Bird house is form the Christmas Tweetings set was stamped with Versamark and embossed with gold powder. I water coloured the image with Distress Inks, added the sentiment and a little red ribbon. This card will be added to my Christmas card box which will be opened soon. I can't believe how quickly the festive season is coming around this year. Many thanks for visiting. Debbie

Stepping Stones (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, here is another sample using the versatile Nature Fragments/Abstract Fragments multibuy stamp set. I have created a background by covering some watercolour paper with a wash of watercolour ink, and adding some salt while it was still wet. Once the background was dry, I brushed away the salt, and randomly stamped the squiggly texture stamp in Salty Ocean Distress Ink across the paper. I added highlights with a white pencil.

I coloured a piece of glossy card with alcohol inks and then stamped the large and small tree trunk circles several times in black ink. I cut these out, and arranged them across the page. I used another texture stamp and some blue green embossing powder to create a pattern across the wings of a die cut dragonfly.The sentiment was taken from the Words of Multibuy stamp set.

 

Something along these lines might make a great masculine themed card, which is always hard to design. Keep checking back for more inspiration from my team mates over the coming days. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Fragment background with Couture Lady (by Debbie)

Sometimes you just need to play with the goodies that you have in your stash. I was off work last week and gathered a hand full of inkpads, card, paper, new stamp from the texture fragments and my favourite Julie Nutting Couture Lady stamp.

For the background I blended Squeezed Lemonade, Mown Lawn and Peacock Feathers then over stamped with the stamp from Abstract Fragments with Peacock Feathers. I added a few foliage stamps along the bottom to ground the doll. The lady was stamped onto white card and coloured with copic pens and dressed by paper piecing paper. Colouring white flowers is ideal to be able to match the colours used for the background, I sprayed with Dylusion Inks. Thanks for stopping by Debbie

Fall Colours with Texture (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

It's hard to believe but here we are into November already.    I made this card when the Fall colours were in their prime,  which inspired this design.     I used the new fabulous Abstract Fragments together with several other stamp sets.

Stamps sets used:    Abstract Fragments, Gothic Fragments, Fancy Flourishes, Butterfly Daisy Collage and Artistic Expressions.

I also used Crealie- CL CS 24 die cuts and TCW Stencil - Cubist.

The background is Marmalade, Mustard and Wild Honey Distress Inks using the Acrylic Block technique.   I added the cube design with the TCW Cubist Stencil and Wild Honey Distress Ink.   I stamped 'Art' and the Flourish from Fancy Flourishes at the bottom with Walnut Distress Ink.    I stamped the bricks from Abstract Fragments and Window from Gothic Fragments with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink.

Next I embossed the flowers from Butterfly Daisy Collage with Copper on purple designer paper, cut them out, attached them to the background with the Crealie die cuts and added metal medallions that were hanging out in my stash.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you can visit often to see what my talented teammates have created.

Have a great day!
Shirley

New Fragment stamps by Glenda

It's that time of the month again- yes I'm talking about palpitations and chocolate cravings ... it's new stamp time! We have two new A4 sets this month to add to our ever popular fragments range.

 Here is Nature Fragments

and here is Abstract Fragments.

Both sets are just fabulous for creating interesting backgrounds.  Try stamping over Distress or Dylusion sprayed backgrounds or go for a little embossing.  Try using them for mark making on Gelli plates and of course the paint you pick up can be used to stamp over another project.

They're great to add an extra touch to die cut shapes - think frosty snowflakes, psychedelic flowers, woodgrained trees and brick lined paths. And the abstract, pattern making nature of both of these means if you pick the right colours, you can very easily use them to make Christmas or other seasonal cards.

Because we use high quality deep etched rubber, these really come into their own when you start working with texture.  They will give super results on polymer or air dry clay, shrink plastic, friendly plastic and deep embossing.

These are the sort of stamps that are surprisingly versatile and they've been a pretty permanent feature on my studio table since we got the first prototypes to test.  I decided to use them on some chipboard baubles which I'd painted in shades of blue.

The deer trio die cut is stuck over one of the frosted crackle backgrounds and the other large bauble is simply stamped with Archival ink, but the two smaller baubles are both done with deep embossing powder.

If you've not tried stamping into deep embossing powder, here's a quick run through of the technique.

After the paint was dry, I patted Versamark over the whole bauble and covered it with a layer of clear UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel) and heated to melt. I repeated that twice more so I had three layers of UTEE which is a good depth for creating texture.  I used two of the abstract fragments side by side on one acrylic block and inked them up with Versamark.  After heating the final layer of UTEE, I stamped gently into the warm, molten embossing powder and let it harden for 30 seconds before removing the stamp.

I then dusted a little Perfect Pearls over it and turned it over and rubbed gently on a wet wipe.  That left the pearly powder in the crevices, but removed it from the raise surfaces, letting the original painted colour show through.  (I'd started with a purple and blue pattern, so that's what the variation in colour is.)

The second bauble started out as a much more uniform turquoise colour.  I did exactly the same technique, using copper PanPastel to highlight the texture.  However this time, after wiping off the excess, I reheated the UTEE until it went smooth again, leaving the copper image looking as if it is floating on the surface - it has a look of traditional powdered glass enameling.

We couldn't choose between the two sets, so they are both our Stamp of the Month for November which you should know by now means that they are at introductory prices for one month.  And yes, there is a multi-buy deal as well so you can save even more if you want them both.

Let me know what you think of them and don't forget to come back and see what the DT have been getting up to with these stamps.