flower power (by Veronica)

 I hope everyone had an enoyable Christmas, with lots of crafty goodies coming your way! It was nice to be able to sit and watch Lesley on tv on Saturday, even though I should have been sorting stuff out.....

 Here are the last of my samples using  the flower stamps.
I made notelets using kraft card, with white embossed images, coloured using some ancient pots of H2Os.
I made a folder to hold them, just a sheet of card folded into three. The background stamp was stamped using vintage photo distress ink, and the fuchsia stamped and embossed in white onto an oval die cut in brown card.








My final card used the lovely big lily stamp, stamped in black versafine and clear embossed. It was coloured with brusho powders, trying to keep most of the powders in appropriate places -not always successfully.
After spritzing with water I used a paintbrush to spread the colour into the petals. Once dry, the sentiment was stamped and the image trimmed to fit onto a 5"x7" white card blank with a red mat layer.

flower power (by Veronica)

 Today I am sharing some of the flower samples for the recent shows on Hochanda - something cheerful to brighten a very cold (but not yet snowy) day.


My first one uses the lovely hanging fuchsia stamp, simply stamped in grey versafine in the top corner of a 7" square card blank, and coloured with watercolour pencils. The greeting using black versafine was stamped in the bottom corner - I used a stamp press to make sure I got it straight.










I also used the stamp press to create the wreath on the next card, using a 7" square of white card as the base. I used two of the small foliage stamps from the lily set inked in iced spruce and peeled paint distress inks, then added the small solid fuchsia stamp using picked raspberry distress inks. The greeting stamped in grey ink in the centre.
The 8" square card blank was sponged with hickory smoke distress ink and randomly stamped using the small foliage stamp used in peeled paint foer the wreath.

 My final card used the big hyacinth stamp, stmaped in black versafine onto white card, and coloured with watercolour pencils. I edged the card with purple ink - think it was dusty concord distress ink - before mounting it onot a 7"x5" white card blank that i had coloured with distress oxide inks and spritzed with water then blotted to give a marbled effect.
Greeting stamped onto a spare piece of white card and edged with the purple ink before mounting in the corner.

We all really enjoyed using these versatile sets of flower stamps, there are some beautiful samples from my teamies still to be shown..........

Birthday Flowers (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I am sharing two cards today that were featured on one of last month's floral TV shows on Hochanda. Although both cards are similar in style, I have used very different methods to create them.

For my first card, I chose to concentrate on the Fuchsia stamp plate, and masked an oval area in the centre of a piece of smooth watercolour paper first of all. I stamped and embossed the small fuchsia silhouette stamp, and then covered the background with Distress Ink. I added a touch of shading around the oval using a grey pencil to add the impression that the oval was layered on top of the background.

I removed the mask, and stamped the large fuchsia and sentiment from the Birthday Words stamp set inside. I coloured the image with Distress Inks and a water brush. Finally, I attached the background to a large black card blank.

For my second card, I coloured a piece of drawing cartridge with Distress Ink, and then spritzed it with water, to achieve a mottled effect. Using the same colour ink, I stamped a tiny flower sprig from the Hyacinth stamp set randomly over the background. I attached a scrap of book page, some cream lace and brown ribbon across the centre, before moving on to the focal point of the card.

I coloured the edge of a die cut oval with the same colour ink as I had used on the background. Using dark brown ink, I then stamped the daisy head from the Lily stamp set three times, masking them with masking tissue. I stamped the grass image from the Hyacinth stamp set, filling in the gaps between the daisies, and using second generation stamping at the back, for depth.

I removed the masks, and using a brown fineliner pen, I extended the stalks of the daisies, to complete the image. I coloured the images with Distress Inks and a water brush, before attaching the oval to my card. Finally, I added a sentiment from the Birthday Words stamp set onto the background.

I will be back later in the month with some more floral projects for you. Do keep checking out the blog for a daily dose of inspiration from my team mates. Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xxx

Decorative Milk Cartons (by Gerrina)

Hello everyone, today sees the last of our posts from our Guest Team member, Gerrina this month. She has created an inspirational project for you to try, in bright cheery colours.

Gerrina writes:

It is already time for the third and last of my Guest Design Team posts at Chocolate Baroque this month. This time, two boxes for a present in the shape of a milk carton. The first, a fresh and CAS one, the second one with a fantasy look.

Used Materials:

Stamps: Fuchsia
Die
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Inks- Twisted Citron, Spiced Marmelade, Wilted Violet
Others: Aquarel paper, blending tool, ribbon

Work process:

Cut the milk carton from aquarel paper and make a background with the blending tool and Distress Ink. Stamp the flowers with black ink and glue the milk carton together. Make a hole in the top and tie some ribbon through it.

Used Materials:

Stamps: Fantasy Castles
Die
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Ink- Salty Ocean, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Back Soot
Others: Aquarel and masking paper, blending tool, water brush, ribbon

Work process:

Cut the milk carton from aquarel paper and stamp the castles, trees and clouds. Mask the castles and sponge the background with Distress Ink and a blending tool. Remove the masks and colour the castles with Distress Ink Black Soot and a water brush. Make some black splatters using the Black Soot and water brush. Glue the milk carton together. Make a hole in the top and tie some ribbon through it.

Creatieve groetjes,

Gerrina

Thank you Gerrina for another fabulous project. Gerrina will be back again in a few months' time.