Floral Birthday (by Asha)

Good morning, friends! My turn to show you what you can do with Chocolate Baroque's lovely floral singles. Today's card features the gorgeous Crackling Rose. If you enjoy taking time out to indulge in a little therapeutic colouring, then this is the stamp for you.

I started by colouring the rose with Polychromos. The cracking background - now that reminds me of a stained glass window or broken mosaic. But before I could decide, I started colouring. It'll work either way!

The sentiment is from the Birthday Words A5 sheet, which is full of fabulous birthday greeting.

As always, I have details of the tools and products used on my blog. Thank you for stopping by and drop in soon for more designs by the team.

Beijinhos,
Asha

Russian Fairytale (by Asha)

Good morning, friends. Are you having fun with the new Babushka A5 stamp set? If you don't want to play with dolls, this set also has 2 Russian churches that you can incorporate in your projects.

I stamped and masked the larger church 3 times. Then I set the scene by blending Distress Inks to create the twilight sky. To ground the churches I blended earth tones, added some grass and coloured the building with Faber Castell Polychromo pencils.

To finish the project, I added some highlights to the buildings with a white gel pen and stickles for twinkling stars.

As always, more details on tools and products used are available on my blog. And be sure to stop by often for more fabulous projects by the rest of the team. Have a brilliant day!

Beijinhos,
Asha

Canticum Flores (by Asha)

Good morning, friends. It's my turn to share a project with you featuring a stamp from the new floral single stamps collection. You have seen my team-mates create some amazing projects. Each stamp in this set is beautifully drawn with so many delicate details. They are perfect for colouring and they make striking focal images on cards.

Today I bring you a card showcasing the new Flora Musica stamp. I'm calling this the "Canticum Flores" - Singing Flowers.  In keeping with the musical theme, I've paired it with a gramophone from an older set called Music Fanfare.

Just 5 easy steps to make this card:

1. Stamp the images with Versafine Vintage Sepia 
2. Colour the images with Faber Castell Polychromo pencils.
3. Ink the background with Distress Inks. 
4. Matt and adhere to card base.
5. Add sequins and subtle shimmer with a few strokes of Wink Of Stella Bush Tip marker. 

All these products are available from the Chocolate Baroque on-line store.

As always, more details on tools and products used are available on my blog. And be sure to stop by often for more fabulous projects by the rest of the team. Have a brilliant day!

Beijinhos,
Asha

Love In Full Bloom (by Asha)

Happy Valentine's Day! On this day dedicated to love I want to show you what I''ve done with the new Crackling Rose individual cling mounted stamp. I stamped it with VersaFine Onyx Black and coloured it with Faber Castell Polychromo pencils.

I trimmed the image, did some fussy cutting and mounted it on to a stencilled background. To finish - sheer cream ribbon for a soft, feminine look.

As always, more details on tools and products used are available on my blog. And be sure to stop by often for more fabulous projects by the rest of the team. Have a brilliant day!

Beijinhos,
Asha

Give A Hoot Hoot Hoot! (by Asha)

Good morning, fellow Chocoholics. It's my turn to show you the October release stamps in action. My projects today feature stamps from the Owl Hedges A5 sheet.

In this card, I've used the individual owls and the grassy border from  Owl Hedges  to create a scene where the owls are looking out from a crack in the side of a barn.  To create the barn wall I embossed a piece of card stock with the wood grain folder and dirtied it up with distress inks. Then cut it into ½" strips, inked the sides and rearranged them. Next I tore a hole and adhered the strips down. Then came the grassy border and the sentiment from Words of Comfort stamp set on a piece of vellum. Finally the owls: coloured with Faber-Castell Polychromos, fussy cut and adhered in the opening.

More owls on my second card. This time I'm showcasing the row of owls on a branch from the Owl Hedges sheet. I created the background by blending Distress Inks and stamping the the row of owls and added a little movement with a stamp from the Seasonal Fragments sheet.  Then I stamped the owls again on a separate piece of card, coloured with Faber-Castell Polychromos, fussy cut just the owls and adhered them to the card. Finally, a greeting from the Birthday Words sheet.

That's all from me today. The Design Team has loads more projects lined up for you. Don't forget to drop by again ... soon. As usual, more pictures and details of supplies used to make these projects are available over at my blog.

Have a beautiful day!

Beijinhos,

Asha

Halloween Treats (by Asha)

Hello again, friends! I've got a couple of projects ideas to house your Halloween treats.  The first is in the shape of a grave - complete with tombstone and grassy border! The main design is the Bat-Owl from Hocus Pocus, coloured with Faber-Castell polychromos. The web and mushrooms are from Put A Spell On You. The Trick or Treat sentiment is from Spookilicious.

Here's a closer look at the Bat-Owl. After colouring, I fussy cut and adhered it to the headstone.

The second treat bag is a simpler affair. The Cat is from Hocus Pocus, heat embossed in black, inked the edges and matted on die-cuts. The sentiment is from Halloween Edges. To finish, black baker's twine to tie the box.

That's all from me today. The rest of the Design Team have a few more projects lined up over the next week. Don't forget to drop by again soon. In the meantime, I have more pictures and details of supplies used to make these boxes over at my blog.

Have an awesome day!

Beijinhos,
Asha

Paradise found (by Lesley)

Well here we are, almost the end of another month. We have had the longest day already and with a distinct lack of Summer sun I think it is time we all went a little exotic.

Today sees the launch of our July Stamps of the Month and both A5 sets are themed around the glorious Bird of Paradise.

First we have As Free as a Bird

followed by A Little Bird Told Me

and, of course, both stamps are available as our usual money saving multi-buy

The elegance and majestic nature of these images are a treat for those of you who find calm and peace in colouring your stamped designs.  And with the subject matter you can be as flamboyant with your colour choices as you wish.  And don't forget that those swirly tails make great corners and stunning backgrounds.

The card I have made illustrates how you can combine patterned paper with stamping and colouring.

• Using a background paper from the new Crafty Individuals Paper Pad, Weekend in Seville, stamp the bird from A Little Bird Told Me directly onto the paper using Versafine Onyx Black. 
• Stamp just the body of the bird onto a self adhesive label and colour him according to your taste (I used Faber-Castell Aquarelle and Polychromos pencils). 
• Fussy cut the bird, peel of the backing and stick into place matching up with the stamped image on the background paper. 
• Stamp the two birdcages and use a black fineliner and rule to give the illusion of them hanging. 
• Add the sentiment, mat and layer on to red card and then on to a folded 7" square white card.

I am sure you are going to love playing with these and there are masses of inspirational projects to come over the next month from our brilliant Design Team girls. So keep watching and enjoy.