Black and White collection - by Magda

Hello
Here I am with a quick way to prepare a last minute card for an unexpected circumstance using only black and white pencils and a little colour touch for creating a contrast.

I used the following stamps

Blossom and Grow
Scrumptious Succulents
Texture Fragments

I hope you had fun in following me during my new succulents adventure and liked my projects
Magda

Positive Thoughts Blossom (by Anne)

Good morning. Today I am sharing the last of my recent Hochanda TV show samples using the Scrumptious Succulents and Blossom and Grow stamp sets.

The blossoms were stamped directly onto a 6 X 6 inch pink card blank using Versamark Ink and heat embossed with detail gold powder. Tip: Stamp the four corners first by stamping then turning the card and stamping again, keeping the stamp and block in the same orientation. Then repeat the process stamping the other blossom in between. I used a stamp press which makes this really quick and easy (not essential but it does help).

The blossoms were coloured with Distress Oxide Ink (Carved Pumpkin), green and gold sparkle pens and a damp brush. Metallic orange/silver and gold gel pens were used to add highlights to the flowers.

Next I created a stamp mask by stamping the cactus onto scrap copy paper and cutting out. I used a few dots of Zig 2 Way glue to give a tacky temporary stick to the reverse to hold the masks in place while stamping. Alternatively you could use the special Masking Tissue to create masks.

The cacti were then stamped onto white stamping card using Versafine (Vintage Sepia), covering images with masks as required so that some images appear to be behind the foreground stamped images. The sentiment was stamped onto pink card.

The cacti were coloured using watercolour pencils and a damp brush to smooth and blend the colour. The topper was then cut out and lightly shaped to give dimension before sticking to the card with foam pads.

The sentiment was cut out using a small decorative panel die. A little Distress Oxide was used to colour the edges. This was mounted with 3D glue gel along with a small die cut flower and sprigs (Tattered Lace).

My next sample was stamped onto a patterned paper using Versafine (Onyx Black). Again I used masks where needed to build up the scene (prepared as above). Coloured with pencils and added a little yellow glaze gel pen to the blossom stamens.

The panel was edged with black alcohol marker to frame before mounting onto white card and gluing to the green card blank (6 X 6 inch).

For my next sample I dug out an inky background paper from my stash. This one was created with ink sprays and Brusho powders. I thought that it would make a lovely tropical background for a scene.

A background panel was created in the same way as my first sample but using Distress Ink (Old Paper) for a subtle effect. A little clear sparkle pen was used to add petal highlights. The panel was edged with green alcohol marker to frame and mounted onto green card before gluing to the card front (6 X 6 inch).

The scene was built up, stamping with Versafine Ink (Onyx Black) onto the coloured panel, using masks where needed (made from copy paper as given above). Images were coloured with Distress Oxide Ink (Carved Pumpkin), watercolour and sparkle pens. The panel was edged with black alcohol marker to frame and glued to the card front with foam pads for added depth.

I had so much fun with these gorgeous stamp sets.

Happy stamping x.

Mixed Media Flowers (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I am back with my final shares for the month showcasing the fabulous products that we featured on last month's TV shows on Hochanda.

I have a real mixture for you in this blog post; my first project is a fabric covered coptic bound journal that I made myself. I had already made the journal just prior to receiving the stamps, using a lovely vibrant fabric. I decided to add a fabric panel to the front of the journal, and I stamped the floral spray from the Blossom and Grow stamp set using Plum Archival Ink. I painted the image using watered down acrylic paints. The sentiment was from the same stamp set, and makes a brilliant statement for a journal cover.

My second project was created using lots of the Little Birdie products available on the shows. I used a piece of cork for my background, and then painted a large portion with Faded Denim paint. I added some of the Crackle Medium and then painted Tattered Lace over the top. I let each coat dry before adding the next. These are all from the Chalk Paint and Crackle Kit.

I stamped several of the foliage images from Blossom and Grow, which I coloured with pencil and cut out. I then combined these with some of the flowers from the Little Birdie Grey Sky range. (Camila and Serenade). I also added a piece of hessian from my stash. To help everything coordinate, I dry brushed the flowers, hessian and seed heads with some of the paint. Once I had adhered everything to the cork background, I placed the background into a small deep frame.

Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

In the secret garden by Brenda

Hello everyone, Brenda here with some more floral inspiration using the lovely new stamps which featured on Hochanda recently, all of which are now available on the Chocolate Baroque website as well.

The top card was inspired by our own Secret Garden within our grounds, we created it many years ago and although it has seen changes over the years still hosts an abundance of Cottage Garden flowers and shrubs and recently moved into the twenty first century with the addition of a hot tub. The beautiful flowers on the new Blossom and Grow stamp set are to my mind Hollyhocks which I stamped onto a soft Distress Ink background after first stamping a window from Echoes of Italy Using a stencil I added some brickwork with texture paste which I coloured with acylic paint to soften the whiteness and added a sentiment from the same stamp set.

For this one I used black gloss cardstock for the base panels and stamped the images from Captivating Cacti and Scrumptious Succulents using Versamark and brushing over with gold mic powders, leaving to settle for a few moments before brushing off, the assembling the panels along with a bow.

And one from a few months ago that I found lurking unused in my folder. The stamped sets used are Medici Flower in the centre and to the sides Floral Delight and Wish Flower, all were stamped onto Distress Oxide backgrounds, the images bleached out and the glittered.......unfortunately this doesn't show up very well at all in the photo.

I always appreciate you visits and comment and thank you for taking the time to pop in.

Let love Blossom ( By Marga)

Hello everyone. I have another card to share today.

This time I stamped the image with Distress Antique Linen to get the no line technique.

I then coloured the image with my pencils

The sentiment I stamped with Versafine Onyx Black.

This is the stamp set I used.

Blossom and Grow

Hugs 

Marga.

Blossom and grow, be scrumptious and captivating (by Rachel)

Hello there! I hope you are well! Rachel here today with some more samples from the June TV shows...

This mini canvas and frame were made using the Blossom and Grow stamp set. I stamped on tissue paper and painted the flowers before scrunching and gluing directly to the frame. The canvas was made by stamping the central image, masking then re stamping and then painting with the micaceous paints.

I made these next two pieces using scrumptious succulents and captivating cacti. I loved making this 3D piece using stamps and colouring with sparkle pens before fussy cutting.

For this final piece I used the same stamps to make an eclipse card. I think there is one of the blossom and grow stamps in here too. Lots of masking going on here to create the image and then I used dies to cut the letters before remounting them raised and with black card in the gaps to create a shadow.

I do hope you have enjoyed looking at some of my samples today!

Big hugs

Rachel x

Blossom and Grow Cacti (by Anne)

Good morning. I created these samples for the recent shows on Hochanda TV using Captivating Cacti, Blossom and Grow and Scrumptious Succulents stamp sets.

My first sample was created using a 5 X 4.5 inch card blank. The lower third of the card blank was embossed using a lacy textured embossing folder. The background was stamped using the Square Bubbles stamp and Distress Ink (Tattered Rose). Distress Ink, purple dye based ink and pink glitter glue were applied over the embossed section to colour and highlight.

The sentiment was stamped from the Blossom and Grow stamp set using purple dye based ink. The card was edged using purple alcohol marker to frame and a ribbon glued down to create a base for the flower pot.

I used a flower pot die to cut the pot from Kraft card. A little colouring was added using watercolour and clear sparkle pens before shaping and gluing to the card front with 3D glue gel.

Cacti from the Scrumptious Succulents set were stamped onto smooth stamping card using Versafine (Onyx Black). Images were then coloured with watercolour pens, dragging out colour and blending using a damp brush, then cut out. The large ‘face on’ cactus image was stamped several times, cut out, shaped and layered up. Elements were shaped using a ball tool and foam mat then glued down with 3D glue gel.

For my second sample I used the gorgeous Captivating Cacti stamp and a sentiment from Blossom and Grow.

I prepared a decorative card blank from a 6 X 6 inch Kraft card blank, extending the edges by adding die cut borders from white pearl card. Finished by adding faux stitching with a fine tipped pen (opaque white) and PVA pearls.

Images were stamped onto textured watercolour card using Versafine (Onyx Black). Watercolour and sparkle pens were used for colouring. Colouring was extended at the base to give the cactus grounding.

A little gold sparkle pen was flicked across the image for added texture. I didn’t intend to do this initially but I had to cover up an accidental splodge! I liked the result, so a ‘happy accident’ as they say – tee hee. The card was edged with dark brown marker to frame before gluing to the card front.

scrumptious succulent (by Veronica)

This time a flowering cactus from the scrumptious succulents plate and a sentiment from blossom and grow, just to swop things around a bit.....
Afraid it's still brusho though - images stamped with versamark and white embossed before sprinkling leaf green brusho over the background and orange over the flowers and sentiment before spritzing with water. It looked a bit washed out when dry, so i sprinkled more brusho over the stems and the flowers and used a wet paintbrush to add more colour - once everything is dry, just tap off any excess powder.
A mat of black card and mounted onto a 7" square white card blank to finish off.

A Burst of Colour (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I am back to share more of my prickly projects with you today, featuring the stamps from last month's TV shows on Hochanda.

To create my first card, I trimmed two pieces of drawing cartridge slightly smaller than A5 in size. I sprinkled Brushos over one piece of card and spritzed the card with water. I then placed the second piece of card over the first, to create two coloured backgrounds. I left both backgrounds to dry. The second background will be useful for a project at a later date.

I stamped three of the images from the Scrumptious Succulents stamp set onto the background, then covered the images with masks that I had already stamped and cut out. I stamped two more images in between the masked images and then drew a line between all of the images to create a landscape, using a fineliner pen. Using the Square Bubbles stamp, I stamped below the landscape line using second generation stamping. The stamp creates a stone effect, which is perfect for the cacti to stand upon.

I used the same colours of Brusho powders to colour the cacti images, adding a couple of additional colours, (red, orange and yellow). I sprinkled a little bit of each colour onto a large acrylic block, but you could use your craft mat, and added a bit of water to them, so that I could use them like watercolours. More water creates a paler colour, but you can then go over the images with a bit of stronger colour to add shading. You can be as creative as you like with the colours, I had a lot of fun creating a vibrant fantasy collection of cacti. I then painted the little stones in the same colours, being completely random. I added a sentiment from the Blossom and Grow stamp set.

My second project is full of colour too. I wanted to create a lovely sunset, and stamped the tall leafy image from the Blossom and Grow stamp set a couple of times first of all. I masked the images and masked an area for the sun, then coloured the background with Distress Inks. I chose vibrant pinks, oranges and yellows, blending them, and adding a spritz of water.

I stamped some foliage from the Wild Meadow and Silhouette Grasses stamp sets, using coloured dye based inks. I added the little birds from Landscape Edges and a sentiment from Scrumptious Succulents. I removed the masks and coloured the foliage with pencils.

I hope that you will be inspired by my projects to try out some of these ideas. Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

Glorious Poppies by Brenda

Good morning Peeps, Brenda here with some shares from my samples for Lesley's June shows on Hochanda which featured some beautiful floral and succulent stamps. It occurred to me as I was scheduling this post that today would have been my maternal Grandmothers Birthday, she loved her cottage garden so my cards seem a very fitting tribute to her.

For my top card I repeat stamped what I have decided is a Poppy from Scrumptious Succulents around the borders of my base layer and coloured in with pens. Next an oval aperture at an angle which I edged with a pearl string and stamped a sentiment from Loving Sentiments to fit in the frame.

Here I have a bookmark, the base piece is 600gsm Fabriano which takes water really well without warping so perfect for purpose. After adding Distress Oxides, I stamped the lovely flower which I think looks rather like a Hollyhock from Blossom and Grow.............although there's a bit of atistic licence with the colours..........and coloured in with pens, then stamped part of one of the Cacti from Scrumptious Succulents around the edge using Versamark and heat embossed with details gold.

I have always liked the shape of the boxes and cards using this die set so I decided on another offering using the new stamps, the flowers on the top are from Captivating Cacti, stamped several time, coloured and cut out to build. I then used a mixture of stamps from the three sets mentioned above, colouring all with sparkle pens adding some stenciling and sentiments from the same sets.

My final card today has a background using Distress Inks blended with a little glycerine which seems to give a lovely soft finish, a sponged sun and the blooms from  Blossom and Grow stamped in versfaine black and left un-coloured as I felt there was enough drama in the strong background colours.

My thanks as always for popping in today and I hope I have offered some inspiration to those of you who already have the stamps and if you don't, then I hope you will want to pop over to the shop and treat yourself.

Fat Plants - by Magda

Hello,
do you like fat plants? To be honest I didn't until I received the new "Succulent and Cacti" stamps from Chocolate Baroque to work with. During this month I will show you the samples I have made.

Just for you card  :  
Stamp the big Captivating Cacti image with Versafine Onyx Black on 250 grams white cardstock and colour the background and the cacti with Brusho watercolour powder diluted in water. The sentiment is from the Words to Dazzle and Sparkle plate

Grow positive thoughts card:
On  250 grams white cardstock stamp the image using Distress Ink Pad  according to the colour that will be used to colour the flower from the Scrumptious Succulents plate.  Use colouring Pencils for the background and the flower. While the frame behind and the background of the sentiment are made with  Distress Inkpad green and brown blended together.  Stamp the sentiment from the Blossom and Grow stamp set with Versafine Onyx Black

S.w.a.l.k. card :
Stamp the flower from Scrumptious Succulents plate on craft paper with Versafine Sepia.  Colour the flower with white and brown pencils; stencil the bricks with Distress Ink Pad Walnut.  You can find the sentiment S.w.a.l.k. among the stamps of the Mail Art rubber plate

Thank you for passing by and see you on the 17th again.

Magda

Growing Blossoms (by Anne)

Good morning. Today I am sharing a couple of my samples for the recent shows on Hochanda with the Blossom and Grow and Scrumptious Succulents stamp sets.

This one was created with a 6 X 6 inch Kraft card blank. First the flowers were stamped onto scrap copy paper and cut out to create a mask. A little Zig 2 Way glue was dotted on the back to provide a temporary tac. Alternatively you could use the special masking tissue.

The images were stamped directly onto the card blank using Versamark and embossed with detail white powder. The foreground florals were stamped first, covered with masks before stamping the background foliage.

A little texture was added using a little ‘pricking wheel’ and a ruler. Just something I have in my tools, like a mini pastry crimping texture wheel. Opaque white pen was then used to add faux stitching and dots. Light colouring was brushed over with watercolour pens, using a clear sparkle pen to dilute the colour.

The flower was stamped again onto white stamping card using Versafine (Onyx Black) and coloured with watercolour and sparkle pens. The image was trimmed out and mounted with 3D foam. Finished with PVA pearls.

My second is a wreath created with one of the small flower heads. A 6.5 X 5.5 inch textured card blank was randomly stamped using the Square Bubbles stamp and Versafine (Majestic Blue). I used various dies to cut mats and layers and to build out decorative sides to the card blank (using white and blue card). 

I used the Inkadinkadoo Stamping Gear to stamp the wreath using Versafine (Majestic Blue). This can be done manually by dividing the circle into 8 segments (mark lightly with a pencil). Tip: Stamp the first image and turn the card before stamping the next, keeping the stamp orientation the same as you go. It’s easiest to stamp the 4 quadrants first then go around again and fill in between. Practice on some copy paper.

The flowers were coloured with watercolour pens and clear sparkle pen to dilute out colour and give shading. 3D foam was used to add depth and dimension to layers.

in all things of nature (by Veronica)

Good morning everyone, today I have the first of my samples using this lovely spiky flower, and, of course, my favourite brusho powders - very appropriate weather for cacti and succulent stamps, if not for todays show featuring Christmas stamps!
The spiky flower is from the blossom and grow plate, and the sentiment from scrumptious succulents.
A very quick card if you ignore the drying time - both images were stamped with versamark ink and white embossed. A good sprinkling of black brusho powder and a fairly heavy spritzing with water was all that was needed.
Once it was dry, trimmed to size and a mat of bronze/red  card to pick up the colours in the brusho, them mounted on a 7" square white card blank.

Another version, different colours, this time stamped using black versafine and clear embossed with green and orange powders.  An accidental more watery effect, not really cacti-like, but I liked it - think I will try to get the same effect with the mermaid queen stamp.....

Happiness Within Nature by Penny

Hi everyone, it's my turn to share a couple of my samples from last months shows.  Can you believe it's July already?!  Where IS this year going?  Anyway I hope you are all well and enjoying the 'heatwave', on which note my first card has something of a hot, dry theme to it.

The Happiness Within.

For this card I have used stamps from the Blossom and Grow, Captivating Cacti,  Scrumptious Succulents and Large Crackle Background sets, Distress Inks,  gold embossing powder, and Masking Tissue.

I stamped and embossed a couple of images in gold onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge and masked them.  I then blended inks all over the card in colours that would convey a hot, dry enviroment.  I stamped the Large Crackle randomly around the edge of the panel giving a kind of 'cracked earth' effect, and added a sentiment.  I then removed the masks and painted the images.  I matted the focal panel onto dark card, stamped and coloured a single flower in each corner of a white base card before attaching the focal panel to it.

Positive Thoughts (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have three projects to share with you today using the stunning Captivating Cacti stamp featured on last month's Hochanda TV shows. This super image has been an absolute pleasure to work with, and I hope that my very different projects will give you lots of ideas.

For my first project, I decided to create a little mixed media piece, and used a 6" x 6" canvas as the base for the design. I chose three colours of acrylic paint, and mixed them directly into blobs of white gesso, and applied each colour onto the canvas with a large wet brush. I was not too precise about this coat, as it was simply a base for further layers of paint. I dried the layer with a heat gun. I applied the next layer of paint with a baby wipe, and used long strokes, blending the colours into each other, to get a soft effect. I dried the layer again. While I had the paint on my craft mat, I used some to paint a watery wash onto some drawing cartridge to use later.

I stamped the Captivating Cacti image onto drawing cartridge three times, (I also stamped the image once onto the canvas). I coloured parts of the images with watercolour pencils and a water brush.  I added darker colours for shading to create depth and then I cut out the images. I glued yellow seed beads to the centre of the smallest piece of flower head and let this dry thoroughly. I adhered the cacti image to the canvas, building up the layers. I added some shading to the base of the image on the canvas, to 'ground' the picture, again using watercolour pencils and a water brush.

I stamped a sentiment from the Blossom and Grow stamp set onto the spare piece of drawing cartridge. I masked the words so that I could stamp each word separately, using masking tape before I inked the stamp. I cut each word out and edged the pieces of card with Distress Ink, before adding the sentiment to the canvas.

My second project was a much quicker design! I used a piece of kraft card, and stamped the image using Versamark and white embossing powder. I painted the image using Koh-I-Noor paints. The image pops off the background, and the paints work really well on kraft card. I have used the same sentiment, but in one piece this time. This card would make a great pick me up for a friend who is down.

 Finally, I made a little brooch using Soft Form Relief Paste. We often tell you on the blog and on the TV shows how versatile Soft Form Relief Paste can be; how you can use the medium for so many things, that you can sew it onto your bags and mixed media projects, etc. I decided to make a practical demonstration of how this can be done. I coloured some Pearl Soft Form Relief Paste with some purple Brusho powder, and spread it over the main flower head of the image that I have been using throughout this blog post. I then left the paste to cure overnight. Once the paste has set into a film, I peeled it from the stamp, and trimmed around the flower image. I adhered the image to some felt, using some strong double sided tape, then sewed some seed beads to the centre of the flower. I also added a brooch back at this point.

I very carefully dry brushed a tiny amount of paint onto the brooch to add some extra color to the flower, using red and teal tones. If you add too much liquid to the Soft Form Relief paste when it is a film, you will dissolve the film, so a light touch is essential.

I will be back later in the month with some more projects for you, but in the meantime, do keep checking back for inspirational projects from my Team Mates. Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx