Floral Grid (by Christine)

Hello everyone, today sees the first of three posts this month by our Guest Design Team member Christine Patch. She has created a delightful card for your inspiration, and kindly provided a step by step tutorial for you. 

Christine writes: 

Hello everyone

It's my turn again on the blog to share some crafting ideas using lovely Chocolate Baroque stamps. So much has happened in the world since I was first on this blog but crafting with beautiful products remains a joy.

I thought I would share a 'how to' on this occasion. It started very simply with a die cut circle in white card. 

My idea was to create an image using several flower and leaf stamps, with a bit of added extra (in this case butterflies). I decided against adding any background to the white card since I wanted the images to stand proud.

Next step - add a grid. Out comes a black fine liner pen and ruler. I added temporary adhesive on the back of the card so that I can use the lines on my black glass mat to ensure the lines were straight. My ruler has a one centimetre line so I used that as a spacer.

On to colouring using Polychromos pencils and some shading to give additional depth. I also added some small circles with the fine liner pen where all the lines intersected.

Finally, I added two of the butterflies from my original stamping, colouring again with the pencils, but adding some clear sparkle gel for a little impact. A sentiment stamped in black and mounted on white then red card finished the card.

It's not a quick card to make but I think it's worth the effort.

I hope you like this design and might consider trying it yourself but adding your own spin. The stamp sets I used were:

Celebration Bouquet

Rose and Thistle

Rose Duo

Autumn Hedgerow

Butterfly Mind

Happy crafting!

Christine

xx

Creating Layers (by Christine)

Hello everyone, today sees the return of Christine with her second blog post this month. She has created something for everyone this time with a range of cards and techniques.

Christine writes:

Hello everyone, I'm back with my second blog post for March.

I used Drawing Cartridge for this first project since I intended to use a fair amount of water through the process. I started off by tearing some paper and, using different shades of Distress Oxides, created the hills and the sky. I masked off an area on the sky for the sun.
The next stage was to stamp trees from the Trees a Crowd set. I used Smokey Grey from the Versafine Clair range as I did not want them to be too prominent; to that end, I also used second and third generation stamping to build up depth.
I then chose Fired Brick Distress Ink and used a tree and texture brush to add colour to the two large trees and then the same ink using a couple of the very small flower stamps from the Orchard Design a Tree sheet to add detail.
The main feature is the lovely Tree House which I stamped directly onto the card with black ink and then separately on white card which I then fussy cut minus the top branches. I added colours that I thought would blend well on the fussy cut and then adhered it to the main images. I added grey watercolour pencil aroumd the house to give it some shadow and depth.
I had kept the mask on the sun area so added some yellow Disress Ink and carefully swept it around the edges. When the mask was removed, I added a little yellow to blend the colour. The sentiment is from the Tree House stamp set.
I added some birds via stencil in my stash and the little MDF owl just finished off the piece.

I went for a clean and simple look for this piece. I cut three pieces of square card, each about an inch bgger than the next and temporarily centred them together. I chose two stamps from the Autumn Hedgerow set and stamped them evenly across the cards. I then cut black mats for each of the three white cards, allowing a narrow border on each one. I then adhered the white cards onto the mats ensuring the stamped images were as exact as possible.
The focal stamp is called Shared Beauty. I used Versafine Satin Red for all of the stamping. I used a circle die to cut it out and the next larger die to cut out a black mat. The mat is adhered to the smallest square and the circle image raised for dimension.
This could be a card or it could be framed. I am not yet sure!

My last card today used alcohol inks and a lifting ink. First order of the day was to cover Yupo Paper with alcohol inks- I used three in the pink/plum spectrum. Once the inks were totally dry, I used the beautiful large flower stamp from the Celebration Bouquet set, covered it with lifting ink, and then stamped it straight on to the Yupo paper. A soft cloth rubbed fairly firmly over the stamped area revealed the image below. The ink was still on the stamp of course and I added it to some cartridge paper. The resulting image gives a lovely watercolour effect.
I created the background paper using Seedless Preserves Distress Oxide Ink and the same stamp with Dusty Concord Distress Oxide Ink. The sentiments are from the same stamp set.

I hope you enjoy looking through these.
Happy Crafting!

Christine.

Autunm & Spring ( by Magda)

Today I want to share with you two journaling pages, as I always return with lots of fun and pleasure to this technique.

For both projects I used the following products :
1. Dylusions Creative Journal
2. White Gesso :  apply randomly with the spatula on the pages and let dry
3. Distress Ink Pad : blend the different colours for the backgrounds with Blending Sponges

For the Autumn Page :
1. Chocolate Baroque Stencil "Seasonal Journey":  stencil the word "Autumn" using Distress Ink
    Pad - Walnut Stain
2. Chocolate Baroque Stamp "Nature Table" : stamp the mushrooms and the leaves with Versafine
    Onyx Black,  Vintage Sepia and Olympia Green and colour with watercolour pencils
3. Chocolate Baroque Stamp "Nature's Peace" : stamp the text with Versafine Onyx Black and repeat
    it in second and third generation

For the Poppy Page :
1.  Chocolate Baroque Stencil "Seasonal Journey":  stencil the word "Spring" using Distress Ink
     Pad - Mowed Lawn
2.  Chocolate Baroque Mask "Kaleidoscope of Butterflies": use White Gesso through the butterfly
     stencil and let dry
3.  Chocolate Baroque stamp "Just Butterflies": stamp the matching butterfly with Versafine Satin Red 
     and Deep Lagoon on the gesso
4.  Chocolate Baroque stamp "Poppy Meadow": stamp the big poppy with Versafine Onyx Black
      and colour with watercolour pencils
5.  Chocolate Baroque stamp "Autumn Hedgerow" : stamp the flower branch with Versafine Olympia  
     Green and Satin Red
6.  Chocolate Baroque stamp "Loving Sentiments": stamp the sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black
     on the page and randomly in second and third generation here and there again

I hope you enjoyed looking at my pages and I wish you a relaxing crafting time.

Magda

Autumn Scenes (by Julie)

Hello, hope you are well. Today I have a couple of Autumnal cards to show you. 

My first card has been stamped with Nature Table. I started my card by applying masking tape around the outside edges of the card blank and then I stamped the group of 7 mushrooms onto copy paper so that I could make a mask. I then stamped the mushrooms that appear behind them onto the copy paper and cut out both images.

Ink up the group of 7 mushrooms with Onyx Black Versafine and stamp onto your card blank. You then need to cover them with the mask. Ink up the second mushroom stamp and stamp over the mask that you have just put in place. Now you need to place the mask you previously cut, over your second image so that you can stamp the foliage that appears to be growing behind the mushrooms. Stamp the foliage in any green or yellow dye ink that you have to hand. Once you have stamped everything remove your masks and colour with coloured pencils. Apply Squeezed Lemonade and Broken China Distress ink to the background and then remove the masking tape from around the outside edges of your card. Finally take a fine tip pen and outline the centre panel you have just created. You don't need a ruler, freehand looks best.

My second card is similar to the first but is super quick to make. 

Start by applying masking tape around the card edges, then take your Autumn Hedgerow  stamp set and ink up your chosen foliage stamps and stamp to the bottom left of your card. Stamp the lighter colour first and then over stamped with the darker brown ink. 

Apply Weathered Wood and Wild Honey Distress inks through Kaleidoscope of Butterflies stencil 

ans then apply Squeezed Lemonade and Antique Linen Distress Stain to the background before removing the masking tape from the outside edges. To create some depth run a pale grey colouring pencil around the outside of the panel you have just created, smudge it with your finger and you should start to see a faux shadow.

Finish the card off with a sentiment stamped with Onyx Black Versafine.

Many thanks for stopping by and please call again very soon to see more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

Looking at the Little Stamps (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a few projects to share with you today which were featured on Lesley's recent TV shows on Hochanda. I am focusing on the three DL sets that were on the show, using some of the little worker stamps, and showing how they can be used in a variety of ways.

For my first card, I created a very pale wrinkle free distress background, using a blue and lilac Distress Ink, before adding an oval mask over the top. I added a bit more Distress Ink, and some shading around the edge of the mask and the edge of the card with a deeper blue ink, to give the feeling of some shading and depth to the background. I also added a bit of grey pencil around the edge of the oval mask.

Using one of the silhouette images from the Autumn Hedgerow stamp set, I stamped over the background, using a variety of ink colours, using first and second generation stamping, to give a bit of depth to the background. I removed the mask, and stamped an image from the Pretty Poppies stamp set and added a sentiment from the same stamp set inside the oval. I coloured the image with Distress Inks and a waterbrush.

For my second project, I created a gelli plate background, by brayering some green Distress Ink onto my gelli plate, and then scrunched up a piece of cling film and dabbed some red Distress Ink onto the gelli plate with the cling film randomly. I took a print from the gelli plate and trimmed a piece of background to size. From the spare offcut, I stamped and embossed the two butterflies from the Butterfly Poppy Collage stamp set, using copper embossing powder, and added some extra colour, using Distress Ink.

I created another panel using green and orange Distress Ink, and then using a mixture of the small stamps from the Autumn Hegdrow stamp plate, I stamped and embossed the focal image using copper embossing powder. I added background stamping afterwards, using a mixture of Autumnal colours and first and second generation stamping, building up the design until I was happy with the result.

To create the card, I added some hessian ribbon and some olive green ribbon to tone in with the overall colours that I had used. I added my all time favourite sentiment, taken from the Nature's Peace stamp set.  I adore this sentiment, and love the opportunity to use it whenever I can.

For my final card, once I again, I created a gelli plate background, in much the same way as the previous card, using the same colours. From the offcut, I die cut a small rectancle, and stamped the small berry image from the Nature's Peace stamp set over the background, using second generation stamping, as I wanted a very pale effect. I stamped and embossed the verse from the stamp set, using dark brown ink and clear embossing powder.

For the main background, I stamped another small image, the leaves and nuts this time, again using brown ink. I coloured the images using pencils, for a vintage feel. I matted my layers using dark brown card, and created a very masculine card, great for lots of different occasions.

I hope that my projects have given you lots of ideas using these great little stamps, either by themselves, or mixing and matching with stamps from other stamp sets. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx