same, but different (by Veronica)

 This is the very last-minute card I made for the TV shows last month - having done all my samples, I  had a midnight inspiration....I suddenly realised that there was a small fire in among the teepees (it can take me a long time to see the obvious sometimes!) so the idea for a night time card came.
I started with grey card base for speed, the only one I had was a bit dark, and  came out rather dramatic. 

I thought I would try to recreate it , and take some photos as I go, to give an idea of how I made it. It wouldn't be the same, but something similar....

 I had more grey card to choose from this time, and chose a more midtone colour. 
Despite coming from a same-make pack of card as the original, it didn't take the watercolours as well so the shades are not as well blended
I started with a 7" square of card, and stamped the large cactus  in black versafine clair ink and clear embossed it, then stamped the tepee in black without the embossing.I used a fine liner pen to extend the hills

The sky was created using smoothie sponges and white Ranger pigment ink pad for the moon and the lighter clouds and black soot distress ink and hickory smoke distress oxide ink for the clouds. I used Koh-i-noor watercolour palettes for the rest of the colouring, starting with black in the shadows of the cactus.








I used a  paintbrush and clear water to draw out the colour to give a dark grey, adding more black if it ended up too light a colour as most of the cactus would be in the shade, with just the tips catching the light.
Using a grey base card gives a medium grey automatically, which saves time.

 I used very duluted paint to cololur the landscape and the camp, with white paint on the tips of the cactus flowers and on the tents, blended in with water again. 

i addded tiny dabs of red and yellow paint into the fire

The last bit of highlighting was done with a white posca pen before the grey card was mounted onto an 8" square cream card blank

As you can see, definitely different and not as dark as the original.

I hope this gives you some ideas..... you can just as easily start with the lighter colours and go to the darker ones, I just think it is easier to start with the dark

 Both my cards today use the captivating cacti individual stamp, which is quite a big stamp.
Sorry if you were hoping for a brusho-less card, but the first one is rather less obviously brusho!
I stamped and embossed the image onto white card before sprinkling red, green and orange brusho lightly over the background. I then painted the cacti with red and leaf green brusho using a wet paintbrush to activate the powders.
I stamped the tall cactus from scrumptious succulents across  the white card blank to give a background before adding a mat of black card

My second card is more obviously 'normal' brusho, with a background square of card coloured with red and yellow brusho. I used the same colours after stamping and embossing the image with white embossing powder, trying to get most of the red on the flowers and the yellow on the cacti.
The mat of black card was stamped using the sempervivium?  image from scrumptious succulents stamped randomly using a white ink pad, which doesn't really show up on the scan. I have a large collection of different makes of white ink pad, and am not really happy with any of them so far!

Blooming Summer Cactus

Hello, today I have two cards featuring the rather lovely cactus and succulent images.

My first card is stamped with Captivating Cacti, which is a large single image design.

I started by stamping onto white card-stock followed by stamping a couple of extra images onto spare card so that I could cut out the flower heads and add as 3d decoupage. The main image has been coloured with Polychromos pencils and the background is Distress inks. For added interest I have stencilled a dotty design in the background using blue and green Distress inks. White paint pen highlights were added as a finishing touch.

My second card has been stamped with Scrumptious Succulents.

The base card has been stamped with the succulent flower head and coloured with Polychromos pencils. I have also stamped the succulent onto spare card, again coloured with Polychromos pencils, before cutting out and adding as 3d decoupage using foam pads. The rest of the background was then coloured with cut n dry foam and Distress inks.

The flowering cactus image was stamped onto spare card and coloured with the pencils as before. Taking a pair of scissors I then cut around the largest flower head, before placing a metal, circle die around the image and underneath the cut petals so that the image could be cut out with a circle surround and the middle bloom looks like it is peeking out of the design.

The circle design was then mounted onto black card-stock and attached to the front of the card.

Thank you for looking and hope to see you again soon for more daily Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

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.

Inspire and Create by Penny

Good morning everyone, I hope I find you all well and keeping cool! I am loving this weather  but I am also careful to spend time in the shade and keep hydrated.  I'm doing all my crafting in the garden at the moment  :)  

I have a piece of mixed media for you today featuring the beautiful Captivating Cacti stamp and some of the words from Bird of Joy  I have also used some clear texture paste and a stencil from my stash, and some gilding wax.

I began this project with a greyboard substrate and painted it with black gesso.  When dry I stamped and embossed the beautiful cacti image in gold, then painted it with pearlescent paints.  I took a stencil from my stash and some clear texture paste which I added through the stencil to create a textured background.  I left it to dry naturally before rubbing gilding wax over it to accentuate the pattern.  I edged the art work with a gold pen.

I then took a piece of white card and stamped the words using black Versafine ink, and embossed them with clear powder.  I die cut the words into two panels, one an oval and one a banner, and attached them to the art work in 3D.  I punched two holes at the top of the panel and threaded Baker's Twine through them to hang it up by.  A lovely little wall hanging to cheer up any room  :) 

Thank you so much for dropping by today, I hope I've inspired some of you to try a bit of mixed media yourselves. 

                                                                          Penny  x

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.

Make a wish... ( By Marga)

Hello every one, hoep you are all well. Today it's my turn to let you see something.

This card I stamped with Versafine Onyx Black and coloured it with Distress Ink.

The sentiment I stamped also with Versafine Onyx Black

Stamps I used are:

Loving Sentiments and Captivating Cacti

Hugs 

Marga

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

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