Dreamy notebook cover (posted by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with a quick and easy notebook cover made using some of this months new stamps Briar Rose Butterfly (have a look at these and all the other new stamps here)

I began by masking a moon on a piece of kraft card and then used some cut and dry foam to apply White Brilliance Ink, smearing it here and there to create a misty effect. Next I stamped the foliage stamps with both White Brilliance Ink and Tea Dye distress ink I stamped the butterflies with versamark ink on to kraft card and embossed with WOW embossing powder  before cutting them out and adding them to the front of the cover. The sentiment is from Artistic Expressions, stamped with Vintage Photo distress ink. I've added some faux pearls in the corners to finish off.

Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

Summer Fairies in Greens & Blues (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well. 

I have a few designs to show today using the beautiful Summer Fairies Collection.     

The first design above features the beautiful fairy and butterfly from July Fairy and the Freesia from June Fairy.  The sentiment is from Fairyland Words.
 
I blended Peacock Feathers Distress Ink at the top and Mowed Lawn on the bottom of the background.  I used a ripped piece of cardstock to vary the shades.  I also used Mustard Seed Distress Ink with a piece of cardstock with a circle cut out as a mask for the sun,  which I also outlined with a white Gelly roll pen.    The Freesia was stamped with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.

The rest of the stamping was done with Cobalt Archival Ink and the colouring with Intense pencils.   The butterfly is decoupaged and popped up.  I also used lots of stickles on the fairy wings and a little on the butterfly.  I added holograph glitter with a glue pen on her dress.

You can see the glitter in this close up below:

This next design above features one of the silhouette fairies, vine & miniature sunflower from June Fairy along with flowers from Sunny Sunflowers (which compliment the Summer Fairies very well). 

The large background above was created with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink using the Acrylic Block technique.   I also stamped the Vine and Freesia with Mowed Lawn DI.

The smaller background above was created with Mustard Seed DI using the Acrylic Block technique.  The flowers were stamped with Peacock Feathers, Mustard Seed and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks.  The Fairy was stamped with black Archival Ink.  I bleached her wings and added Diamond Stickles.

The little flowers and leaves were coloured with Distress Inks as well.  I highlighted with a white Gelly roll pen.    The flourish are die cut using Crealies CL CS 02.

The third and last design today features the beautiful August Fairy and the mushroom from November Fairy.    Joy is from Artistic Expressions.

The background was created using Lemon, Calypso Teal & Cut grass Dylusions Inks.   I spritzed with water and then sprinkled course sea salt.   After letting it dry & shaking off the salt,  I stamped the images with Cobalt Archival Ink.   I bleached out the colour from all the images and then painted with Dylusions Inks (on my craft mat, using water & brush).   When everything was dry I outlined with a white Gelly roll pen and added stickles to her wings.

Thanks for stopping in and have a great day,
Shirley

Guest post - Art with everything by Bernie Simmons

This week our guest contributor is Bernie Simmons who has not only designed this colourful card, but has taken photos along the way to illustrate. Over to you Bernie.....

Taking the largest stamp from Butterfly Dreams I inked in Versamark Onyx Black and stamped onto a piece of  7" x 7" card.  

Once stamped I covered the edge of the image with low tack masking tape.  Then using Barn Door Distress inkpad I brushed the ink on the top corners of both sides of the card, gradually building up the colour. The next colour used under the red, was Spiced Marmalade, again working gently from the edges into the middle blending as you go. Squeezed Lemonade was the next colour, just to give a gentle hue of a sky at sunset, then Mowed Lawn. I wanted no harsh lines here, more a dreamy feeling so you can't tell where the land ends and the sky begins.

Now to colour with Pro-markers. I chose Tangerine, Apple Cider, Poppy and Sky Blue. Now to be honest when I had coloured the larger butterfly with the Sky Blue I was not happy with it, so I picked a more vibrant blue and went over it with Azure....I think it works better. 

I used a white pen to highlight plus Wink Of Stella which glistens and makes the whole card really stand out, but I can't seem to pick it up on the photo  I stamped Inspire, from Artistic Expressions, as the sentiment along the bottom of the card and Art is everything from Artistic Affirmations down the right hand edge. Then mounted it on black, added a little ribbon on the top and bottom corners and then onto an 8" x  8" card.

I hope you like what I have done here and the colours I have used ....Have a wonderful day.

We love the vibrancy of this card Bernie and a big thank you from us for being this week's guest blogger. Please add your thanks by leaving a comment and don't forget to pop over to Bernie's blog, Arty Crafty, to see more of her creations.

More Beautiful Florals (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well and enjoying this busy time of year. 

I have two more floral designs using the new beautiful Floral clear stamps.

For the card above, I stamped the Big Bold Background - Wildflower on an orange/yellow sheet of designer paper with brown dye ink.  I also stamped the Peony with the brown ink and coloured both the background and main image with my Prisma pencils.  Joy is from Artistic Expressions.

And below is another design using the gorgeous Magnolia in a different colour combo.

The background was created with Seedless Preserves Distress Inks using the Acrylic Block technique.    All stamping was done with black Versafine Ink.   I coloured the Magnolia with Prisma pencils.  The corner flourishes are from the beautiful Fancy Flourishes clear set which I highlighted with a Gelly Roll pen and turquoise Pencil.

Thanks for your visit and enjoy the Season !
Shirley

Love with a Steampunk Owl (by Shirley)

Hello everyone,  I hope you are enjoying the weekend.

I have a card today featuring the fun Owl from the new Steampunk Birds set.  I plan to give this to my husband on his next birthday as he really likes the Steampunk designs.

 

The background is Turquoise Dylusions Ink which I stenciled over with TCW Gear stencil.    I stamped the cog fragment from Steampunk Butterfly with Peacock and Walnut Distress Inks.    Love is from Artistic Expressions.   The Owl was embossed with copper powder and coloured with Tombow markers.  I carefully cut him out and popped him up on the background. 

Thanks for visiting and have a great day,
Shirley

Steampunk Tropical Garden (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a great weekend.

As soon as I saw the 'punky' Parrot from Steampunk Birds  I wanted to create a tropical garden for him to hang out in:)     It's been colder than normal here in Ontario, Canada so it would be great to feel warm tropical sunshine.   

I started by stamping cog plants from Punky Flowers on the background with white Colorbox Pigment ink.   I blended a few colours of green pigment ink over top and then rubbed off ink over the images (ghost stamping), but they are hidden into the 'garden'.   Next I stenciled with Distress Inks and TCW Gears (at the top) and TCW Ferns in the centre.

I embossed the Parrot from Steampunk Birds and the flowers from Punky Flowers with copper on watercolour paper, coloured with Tombow markers and cut them out to attach.    I added die cut leaves and a small metal cog.    Imagine is from Artistic Expressions.

I hope you can come back often as we have lots to show you this month.
Thanks for visiting and have a great day,
Shirley

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

Poppies in Pastels and Brights (by Shirley)

Happy Weekend everyone, I hope you are enjoying the summer. 

I have contrasting card designs today using the beautiful new Poppy Meadow set.    I took some of my dies & an embossing folder out for play as well.

For the card above I stared by creating a little scene using Distress Inks, ripped card stock and a mask created with a circle negative.     Next I stamped one the gorgeous poppies from the Poppy Meadow set with Cocoa Memento Dye Ink and coloured them with my Prisma Pencils.

The white background was embossed with Acanthus Cuttlebug folder.   I used Crealies CL CF 20 & CL CS 23 for the flowers & leaves which I punched from a light blue sheet of solid designer paper which I added colour by blending Distress Inks over top.   I stamped with a fragment from the Lace Fragment set on some of the flowers.   I used a little brad from my stash to hold them together.

This next card below is quite bright with Dylusions inks, maybe you'll need sunglasses for this one !

The card above started out different but that happens a lot.  When I stamped the Poppy image onto the background I realized it was lost with the busy background.   So I decided to outline it with a Spellbinder die, using a pigment pen, and bleached the area inside the outline. I painted with Pink, Blue & Green Dylusions (I just add a little ink to my craft mat with the end of the sprayer and paint with a brush & water).    I stamped the corners with Salty Ocean Distress Ink and also used TCW Harlequin stencil with Salty Ocean DI.   Love is from Artistic Expressions.    This design is different, but I thought I would show a contrast to the first design.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Imagine (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.    

I have a design today using the newest release-  the gorgeous Punky Flowers set.

I visualised the cog trees as a Delphinium type plant and wanted to create a field of cog plants along with a cog sun in a fantasy design.   I created the background with Distress Inks, sponge blender, ripped card stock & a mask created with a circle shape cutter.   I used the TCW Mini Gears stencil to create the image in the sun.   The main cog plants were embossed with a metallic embossing powder and the rest stamped with Distress Inks.  I added some little brads at the top.   Imagine is from the Artistic Expression set.

Thanks for your visit and have a great day!
Shirley

Under the Sea (Posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, I have an underwater project to show you today showcasing the lovely new Punky Flower stamps. I have created a background using Dylusion sprays, and added some depth with a texture stamp. I've used some of the bulb flowers, mixing in some of the flowers with the coiled stamens, and some seaweed to create a flowery ocean floor. I've decoupaged a mermaid, and added silver embossing powder and blue glitter glass to the corners. Finally I chose one of the words from the Artistic Expressions stamp set.

Please keep checking back to see what my Design Team mates have created with these lovely stamps. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Think Spring ! (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are keeping warm and enjoying your weekend.

I'm looking forward to Spring, especially when I started 'working' with the gorgeous new stamps launched this month!   I love to garden & get very excited when the first flowers from the Spring bulbs pop up.

My card today features the two Crocus designs from the new Spring is in the Air set .  This A5 set includes a variety of beautiful & detailed designs that are wonderful for colouring.  

I started with designer paper that has very little design, stamped the Crocus over top & coloured using my Prisma Pencils.  I also blended a little Distress Ink around the outside of the sheet.   The narrow purple strip is a piece of Dylusions painted paper that was cut off another design (which you will see later).     The pretty Crocus with the writing behind was also coloured with my Prisma Pencils.   I added a little glitter, blended a little Distress ink around the edges & used a die cut from Spellbinder (S4-202) behind it.    "Beauty" is from the wonderful Artistic Expressions set.

Here is a look the beautiful  Spring is in the Air set.  

I hope you have enjoyed this little taste of Spring and stay tuned for beautiful designs by my Team mates !

Thanks for your visit,
Shirley

Dancing Poppies (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, here's a samples using one of the new clear heart stamps, Poppy Baroque Heart, combined with one of the stamps from the Pretty Poppies unmounted rubber stamp plate.

I make no secret of the fact that I love poppies, so it has been a real pleasure working with these stamps for this sample! I stamped some of the poppies across the bottom of the card, masking the images where necessary. I then coloured the background with Pan Pastels to create a hazy sky effect. I coloured the poppies with Distress Markers, and stamped and decoupaged an extra butterfly. I added a sentiment from the Artistic Expressions stamp plate to complete the background.

I stamped and coloured the poppy heart before glazing it using ultra thick embossing powder.

These poppies certainly help to make me think of warmer days, and chase away those Winter blues! Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Beauty in a Single Rose (by Shirley)

Hello everyone ! 

Today I have a card created with the single rose from the gorgeous Rose & Thistle set.   I enjoy the challenge of one-layer, clean & simple cards and decided to create one with this beautiful rose.  If you follow my blog then you've already seen this design.  I apologize but it 'got away' on me during a 'fumble finger' moment.   

 

I drew lines with a fine pencil on the right hand area of folded heavy card stock.    I embossed the single Rose with black.    I created masks with scrap paper to cover the area that I wanted to keep white & blended Shabby Shutters Distress Ink in the open area.   Next I used Peeled Paint Distress ink with the Mini-Harlequin TCW Stencil.   

After removing the masks I stamped Love from the Artistic Expressions set (I use this set a lot!) with black versafine ink.   I coloured the rose with co-ordinating Distress Markers and blended a little with water.    Very easy & quick to create !

Thanks for your visit and have a great day !

Shirley

A ring of roses (posted by Elaine)

When I saw the new Rose and Thistle stamps I felt another garland card coming on! I love making wreaths and garlands out of images and die cut elements.

I recently treated myself to a new set of Prisma colouring pencils and this project gave me a chance to put them through their paces for the first time. I stamped the rose panel image three times and the rose hip sprig 8 times in Olympia Green Versafine ink. I then shaded the flowers and leaves in shades of red, pink and greens. This is not one of those cards that is quick to make, but the three hours of colouring was very relaxing while watching the TV.

I then carefully cut out the images, selecting separate rose images from the panels to make as many separate elements as I could use. I mounted all the flowers and sprigs of rose hips around a sentiment from the Artistic Expressions plate stamped onto pale green card, matted onto dark green and an 8 x 8 cream card blank.

Hope you are enjoying all the inspiration from the DT with these lovely new stamps.

Elaine

Rococo Baroque Heart (by Shirley)

Hello everyone !    I have a card today featuring one of the new clear Baroque Hearts stamps.  They are such beautiful & romantic designs.

When I first saw the Rococo Baroque Heart my mind went immediately to a Romantic Victorian style but I wasn't sure what the name meant.   So I 'googled' to learn that Rococo was an 18th-century artistic movement and style which was ornate and made strong use of cream & pastel colours, asymmetrical designs, curves and gold.  The talented designer used lots of ornate detail for this heart, I love it.
 

The background behind the Rococo Heart was created with Salty Ocean & Picked Raspberry DI & water.   I added a pattern using the TCW mini Harlequin Stencil with Shaded Lilac Distress Ink.  I embossed the heart with black, coloured with my Tombows, & cut-out to attach.

Love is from CB's Artistic Expressions set (which I use a lot!).   The rolled rose dies are by Die-namics and the leaves are Crealies - #CLCS11.    To create the flowers I used white cardstock coloured with Picked Raspberry & Salty Ocean Distress Inks.    I also added texture with a flower fragment from Texture Fragments before I cut the flowers out (inspired by Miranda!).    I used a  lacy Rectangle Die cut (Spellbinders S5-090) behind the blue background.

 

Thanks for your visit and stay tuned for more creations from my talented team mates !
Have a great day,
Shirley

A Steampunk Valentine (posted by Shirley)

Hello Everyone,  I hope you are enjoying the festive season. 

I know a lot of us are thinking about Christmas but I have another card using the beautiful new Steampunk Butterfly set that could be for Valentines day.    I love this metal rose and my husband, who is quite intrigued by the Steampunk Butterfly designs, thinks they work well for 'manly' cards! 

I started with a piece of Basic Grey paper from my stash that has a faint pattern.     I over stamped it with the wheel/window fragment & Wheat Chalk and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.  Love is from the Artistic Expression set which I stamped with Fired Brick Distress In.

I embossed  the window fragment along with the metal roses with a metallic embossing powder. I painted the roses & fragment with Vintage Micacolor paints, cut them out and arranged as shown.  I decoupaged the large rose to add dimension. (I stamped it 3 times)   I added Gold keys from my stash for the finishing touch.

And here is a closer look:

Stay tuned for more creations from my talented team mates !
Seasons Greetings, 
Shirley

A Steampunk Butterfly (posted by Shirley)

Hello Everyone

I'm super excited to be here today to post my first Design Team creation  !     The new Steampunk Butterfly set is beautiful and has been so much fun to 'work' with.     The number of creative possibilities using these designs are endless.   

To create the background I started with Vibrant Turquoise Dylusions Ink, spritzed it water and blotted with paper towel.    Next I used CraftersWorkshop Mini Gear stencil with Tea Dye Distress Ink.   I over-stamped using the beautiful Window/wheel fragment with Salty Ocean and then Vintage Photo Distress Inks. 

I embossed the Deco Corners & Steampunk Butterfly with a metallic embossing power and painted with my Tombow markers.    And for the finishing touch I added some little cogs & a key that were hanging out in my stash.   I also raided my husband's garage for some copper wire to use for the antennae. 

Imagine is from the Artistic Expressions set which I tend to use a lot, it's very versatile.   I stamped it with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Here is a closer look:

I hope you enjoyed this design.   My new team mates have amazing creations to post, so stay tuned for more from the beautiful Steampunk Butterfly set !   

Have a great day
Shirley

Tangled Flutterbys

I hope you are enjoying seeing all of the newly released stamps by Chocolate Baroque, and the inspiration provided by some very talented and creative design team members!

This new set, called Tangled Garden, is now one of my favorites!  Although I do love fall and winter the best, I love flowers and butterflies as well!  Click on the name above, and you will be instantly transported through cyberspace to this set on the CB website!  The detail in these clear rubber stamps is exquisite, and so fine and tiny, but very, very detailed!  To color my large butterfly on the front of my card below, I actually had to use a magnifying glass!  I can't say I have a favorite, because they are all so lovely, but I think my top two would be the detailed flower and the floral butterfly.

My first thought was to make a mirrored-image of the butterfly, but I had trouble getting it lined up.  I don't know whether it's my eyesight, shaky hands, or what!  hehe  Anyway, I used white cardstock, and was given a gift of a new and improved Stampin' Up Melon Mambo classic inkpad, along with some plain and patterned cardstock in the same shade.  I think this color and black and white are striking together!  The sentiment stamp is from the Chocolate Baroque set called, Artistic Expressions, and I love the way it describes the "big" butterfly!     The little butterflies are punched with a little punch from my stash.  The border punch is one called Fancy Flight from EKSuccess.  I tried the masking technique for the inside, but I'm not really happy with the white spaces left.  I had trouble getting the stamps to print the image completely, especially when stamping over one of the masks.  I'd love to know if you have a better way of masking that you wouldn't mind sharing with me!     The antenna on the front butterfly was just a piece of wire, coated with white paper that I found somewhere.  I cut it shorter, then wound it around a small paintbrush handle, pulled it out a little lengthwise, then glued in place. Thank you for visiting!  

Dreaming spires (posted by Elaine)

When I saw the spires on the new Gothic Fragments stamps, my fingers were itching to ink some skies. This one uses shades of blue 

I masked the sky with some masking film, before using the scallop nestie mask method to make a cloudy sky.

I embossed the spire and dome and the word Dream from the Artistic Expressions plate in metallic blue EP and finished with some shading with Derwent Coloursoft pencils.

Hope you are enjoying seeing the variety of ideas the girls on the DT are coming up with for these lovely stamps.

Elaine

Bright Sunny Flowers

Chocolate Baroque continues to amaze many people with the new stamps they are producing! I'd like to share some of my projects made with some of the new stamps, and I'd appreciate your comments at the bottom of the post. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

These are from the Sunny Sunflowers set.

I stamped the images on white cardstock, with Only Orange ink from Stampin' Up. The shading was done with Copic markers. The background is from a summer stack of paper, and I used two embossing folders on the white panels. Pearl brads completed the centers. The bottom border was a die cut given to me by a friend, and the word, "Happy" is from the Chocolate Baroque Artistic Expressions set. I don't have any sentiment stamps from Chocolate B yet, so I used one from my collection. I love the patterned background paper, so I cut a thin strip 1/4" wide, and wove it through the eyelets on the border strip. 

These Sunny Sunflowers are so bright and cheery!  You can't go wrong with flowers like these!