Serenity by Brenda

Good morning, Brenda here with some of my samples from Lesley's Hochanda shows featuring the lovely Serenity and other Eastern inspired stamps. 

My first card uses the beautiful Serenity which I stamped onto a background created with Distress Oxide inks, adding a sun and rays using gilding flakes which I did my using a mask and adding glue through the marks..............do make sure you wash quickly! The focal image is stamped with Versafine black second generation ink and coloured in with Distress Markers and a fine line gold pen. Some hanging wisteria from Wisteria Lane stamp set and a few flowers across the bottom also from Serenity which I used sparkle pend direct to stamp and a spritz of water to soften the look.

This one used the flowers from Serenity repeat stamped with versafine black and colored in with sparkle pens, a sentiment from Artistic Affirmations which really does have some most beautiful sentiment and inspirational quotes and a set we all need in our craft stash. Finally I flicked some watered down distess ink.

A bit of inky indulgence here using acrylic paint onto a 330gsm piece of card and mopping with a kitchen towel with releavls some of the pattern, random stamping using the Agapanthus stamps from  Wisteria Lane and sentiment from Artistic Affirmations using Versafine black. Some stencilling using texture paste and a stencil made using heart die cuts and when dry painted with rusty patina paints in brown and blue. A strip of hessian and a flower made with punches and inks and all mounted onto a piece of corrugated.

I used Serenity again here onto a background of Distress Inks over which I lightly stamped one of the images from Indian Textiles, using Distress Inks stamped two of the waterlilies from the same stamp set, several Wisteria from Wisteria Lane, cut them all out and decoupaged. Much to the distress of my eldest daughter who is a senior humanities lecturer (and told me only Orange is authentic) I coloured Serenity in purple with distress markers, she wasn't convinced in my argument of artistic licence.

I hope I have inspired you to get inky today and if you don't have any of these stamps you may want to indulge yourself.

Serenity Canvas - (by Magda)

You already had the opportunity to see my canvas during the TV shows on Hochanda last month, therefore I now will give you some instructions for the project.

Step by Step :

1. Colour a canvas with acrylic Distress Paint Salty Ocean
2. Cover all the canvas with Tim Holtz Melange Wrap Tissue
3. Apply Acrylic white Gesso on the darkest sections of the Wrap Tissue
4. Salty Ocean, Pistacchio, Picked Raspberry Distress Ink Pad on the surface
5. Apply directly through a stencil using a Versamark  pad
6. Emboss Gold Embossing Powder with a heat gun
7. Stamp on a white A4 cardstock   Serenity and the border of Indian Textiles rubber stamp
8. Colour the stamps with watercolors Aquarelle pencils and cut around the edges
9. Glue all the pieces on the canvas

I hope you liked my first project for April.

Magda

In the pink by Brenda

Good morning Peeps.

I am back with some more shares from Lesley's recent shows using the some of the beautiful Tree stamps which as with all Chocolate Baroque stamps were a delight to work with.

Above I have used Dylusions to create a background over which I stamped (second generation) one of the images from Indian Textiles  as I wanted to create some subtle background interest, then stamping one of the trees from Fantasy Woodland with Versafine Black and colouring in with sparkle pens and adding white highlighter. The sentiment is again from Birthday Words.

I will be the first to admit I am not a particularly frugal crafter but I do save all the smaller pieces of Fabriano which I always seem left with after cutting square pieces from the A3 sheets as they are the perfect size for creating a triptych card. I inked all three pieces with Oxide inks and using Black Versafine stamped three trees from Fantasy Woodland and Tall Trees stamp sets and a sentiment from Birthday Words.

My starting point for this card with a Dylusions background and my usual spritz of pearl mica spray to blend the colours followed by stamping around the edges with Large Crackle Background.............such a useful stamp that we all need in our stash......... using Versamark and embossing with detail gold powder. I then stamped Poppy Meadow Words of Inspiration with Versafine black and bleached out the colour, but as I added the bleach I mopped each flower with a piece of kitchen towel so it left some of the colour to give a pinkish finish. I stamped the sentiment onto an offuct sprayed with the same Dylusions and added some ribbon to finish.

I am really still not sure about this one, it's all rather dark although did look better in the flesh. I stamped the main panel onto a piece of card coloured with Oxide inks using a stamp from Butterfly Daisy Collage and Butterfly Poppy Collage multi buy. I then used Versamark and detail clear embossinng powder to glaze the panel, giving it three coats of both. I stamped the flowers from the same multi buy onto card coloured with the same inks, cut out and covered them as well with embossing powder before layering up. I placed the panel inside a die cut frame and arranged the flowers and some ribbon.

I hope you have a lovely day.

Dreams Rise In The East (by Asha)

Good morning, friends! I'm back with 2 more projects featuring the brand new Teardrop Baroque Ornament.

First up is an Art Journal page. Actually, its my very first attempt at art journalling. The design is inspired by a Dreamcatcher dancing in the wind at sunrise. I heat embossed the Teardrop Baroque Ornament, with black EP, onto a piece of vellum. I also heat embossed the tassels in the same way. These little elements are from Indian Textiles and Indian Elephant. To create the background I used Distress Paints. For texture and interest, I used the Miniscript from the Mini Stamps Multibuy set and randomly stencilled in some texture paste. To put it all together, I fussy cut the Teardrop Baroque Ornament and supporting elements and adhered them to the page. Finally, I added some string to the tassels.

The second project is an easy one. This time I heat embossed the Teardrop Baroque Ornament onto some black cardstock using white EP and coloured it with Faber Castell Polychromos. For a dramatic finish I added little dots a Silver Sharpie.  And there you have it - a super simple all occasion card.

If, like me, you find Art Journals intimidating, I'd like to encourage you to give it a go. It can be a stratifying experience. Unlike a card, an Art Journal isn't going anywhere. It's for your pleasure and, best of all,  you don't have to worry if the recipient is going to like it. Over at my blog I've got more pictures and details of all the materials used on this project.

Have a lovely weekend and don't forget to swing by often for more fabulous ideas from the rest of the team.

Beijinhos,
Asha

Baroque Ornament Palm Fan Silhouette Card (by Anne)

The Baroque Ornament stamps are simply gorgeous. Here is my first project using the Palm Fan Silhouette stamp. I combined it with a pretty background paper from Crafty Individuals.

Materials:

• Palm Fan Silhouette Baroque Ornament stamp and Indian Textiles stamp set
• 6X6 inch Crafty Individuals background paper – 2 sheets (Weekend in Seville)
• 7X7 inch white card base
• Inkpad: Versamark, dye based (pale ochre)
• Watercolour pens (purple, pink, yellow)
• Alcohol ink marker (black)
• WOW embossing powder (Blueberry and Honey)
• Gold PVA pearls
• Fine crystal glitter
• Glossy Accents and glue pen

Step By Step:

1. Stamp the ornament onto the centre of the patterned paper with Versamark. Emboss with a mix of the embossing powders to create a vintage effect.
2. Colour with the aqua pens and cut out. Cut around the central petals and lift to give shape. Glue to another patterned paper sheet.
3. Colour the outer border with the yellow pen and edge with the black marker.
4. Stamp the border onto the cad base with the pale ochre ink. Edge the card with the black pen to frame.
5. Glue to the topper onto the card front.
6. Add dots of glue around the border and sprinkle with the fine glitter. Add PVA pearls and sprinkle with glitter. Remove excess glitter when dry.
7. Finally add Glossy Accents to the outer layer of the ornament.

Lovely Babushka (by Anne)

Good morning. I have been playing with the new Babushkastamp set. This set is so much fun and really different. I also love the Russian buildings that are included too – great for scene building.

Materials:

• Babushka and Indian Textiles stamp sets
• C6 shaped card and white stamping card
• Inkpads: Distress Ink (Broken China) and Versafine (Onyx Black)
• Watercolour pens (Spectrum Aqua)
• Glitter marker (gold), black marker and gold glitter glue
• 3D glue gel

 

How it was done:

I created masks for the buildings by stamping onto copy paper and cutting them out. The buildings were stamped with Versafine, covered with the masks and I then stamped with the background silhouette buildings with Distress Ink.

The images were coloured with watercolour pens. Some colour was applied directly, and some by picking up colour from a pallet using a damp brush. I then finished with touches of sparkle pen and glitter glue.

Happy Friday - Hugs, Anne xxx

Guest Post - An Indian Summer by Brenda Weatherill

I just love seeing how everyone interprets our stamps in such different and interesting ways and this week our Guest Designer Brenda has created a zingy garden by combining a stamp from the East with one of the stamps from our Fairy Collection. Over to you Brenda.

Hello to you all, Brenda here again, this time with a card using the gorgeous Chocolate Baroque Indian Textiles and June Fairy stamp sets.

• I started by dabbing Distress Inkpads Mustard Seed and Broken China on to a craft sheet and spritzing liberally with water then dragging the reverse side of a piece of single sided cardstock through the wet inks.
• When dry, I use a heat gun to speed the process. I took the lids from two different sized pots of embossing powder and ‘inked’ the edges with the same two distress inks and randomly ‘stamped’ circles onto the inked cardstock. It’s a good idea to give another quick blast of the heat gun before moving on as distress ink can tae a little time to dry.
• Using a Versafine Black Inkpad I stamped the large flower from the stamp set, added Detail Clear Embossing Powder and heat set. Next I bleached out the colour from the flowers using household bleach and a fine paint brush.
• I coloured the bleached out flowers with Dylusions Lemon Zest, Pure Sunshine and Vibrant Turquoise. I then stamped the trailing Ivy from the June Fairy stamp set an also added a hint of Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise to the berries.
• After matting and layering on to co-ordinating cardstock I added a matching organza bow.

Many thanks for visiting us today and you can find more of my work on my blog Floral Fantasies.

B x

Such a beautiful and bright card to put a smile on all our faces, thank you Brenda.  Can't wait to see your third and final post next week.

Exquisite Celebrations (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 Exquisite Edges A5 sheet.

First up is a Christmas card in silver and green. I inked the edges of the card with Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink and stamped a border stamp from Exquisite Edges on opposite sides of the card. The focal image is the 3 bells from A Child Is Born. I added some glitter and bling to embellish the card-

My second card is an explosion of colour. This time I've gone for bold and sumptuous colours by  heat embossing a stamp from Exquisite Edges in gold. Then I blended several Distress Inks to create a rich and vibrant background. The peacock is from the Indian Textiles stamp set, coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos.

Thank you for taking a peek. 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

Feathery Fragments & Presents (by Asha)

Good morning, fellow crafters. Today I have 3 cards to share with you, featuring stamps from the brand new Harlequin Fragments A4 sheet. A full description of inks, markers and other materials used in these project is available on my blog.

My first card is a bright and cheerful number. I started by inking the background in various shades of yellow. Then I fashioned the border by repeat stamping around the card. Next I stamped the feathery backdrop in blue ink. The end result is an image in turquoise green - perfect for the fussy cut peacock from the Indian Textiles A5 sheet. The greeting is from Birthday Words A5 sheet.

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My second project is all about the calm blue waters. Here I'm using a stamp from the Harlequin Fragments A4 sheet to create bubbles and foam by inking in blue and white. The supporting cast - clouds and gulls - are from Seashore Scenes A5 sheet and Seashell Collage A5 sheet respectively. That sentiment is from Words Of Comfort And Cheer A4 sheet.

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My final project for today is a birthday card, created with the help of the pile of fussy cut pressies from A Gift Of Christmas A4 sheet.  First I prepared the background with warm pink inks and the harlequin stamp from Harlequin Fragments A4 sheet. The sentiments is from Birthday Words A5 sheet.

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Thank you for stopping by today. Make sure you drop in regularly to see more inspirational work from the rest of the Design Team.

Beijinhos,
Asha

Springtime Moon (by Asha)

Good morning, folks! I'm back with another look at the lovely April release stamps. I have 2 cards to show you.

The first is an exotic birthday card featuring a floral stamp the Springtime Edges set.  I used Memento Inks to colour this card. First, I did a colour wash on heavy weight watercolour paper, building layers of colours on the night sky and dessert. Next I fussy cut the Moghul Palace from the Indian Textiles set, and adhered it on the horizon. Finally, a row of exotic flowers from the Springtime Edges set, also coloured with Memento Inks, then fussy cut and adhered to the foreground.

Here's a close-up of the Springtime Edges. These stamps are so versatile, you don't have to limit yourself to just spring projects.

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For my second card, we're moving from night to dawn. I'm featuring a tree from the Patchwork Landscape set. My colouring mediums of choice for this project are Tim Holtz Distress Inks and watercolour pencils.

First, I stamped the tree from Patchwork Landscape, with VersaFine Black Onyx. Then I worked on the background by blending various coordinating Tim Holtz Distress Inks for the sky and grass. The greeting is from the Patchwork Landscape set, stamped with VersaFine Majestic Blue.

Here's a closer look. I masked out the moon before blending, of course! And then applied some watercolour pencils on the patchwork treetops. Whimsical and so much fun to colour!

I hope you've been inspired to ink up your new April release stamps! Watch out for more great ideas from the rest of the Design Team.

Beijinhos,
Asha

Fantasy Castle (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a great weekend.  It's still very cold with piles of snow here in Ontario, Canada.  We are looking forward to Spring, it's been a very long, cold winter, the toughest that I can remember.    However the sun has been shining a lot in the last month which always feels good.

I have a design today featuring a castle and clouds from the gorgeous new Fantasy Castles.  I love the details in all the new designs they are quite beautiful.  I wanted to create a true fantasy with a castle in the sky surrounded by clouds.   

I used Teal & Cut Grass Dylusions Inks to create the smaller background.   Next I stamped the castle and clouds with Cobalt Archival Ink.    I bleached the ink away from the clouds and painted them with Midnight Dylusions Ink (using my craft mat, water & brush).   I coloured the castle with Prisma pencils and added glitter to highlight some areas.  

The larger background was created with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink using an acrylic block.   I stamped with a decorative textile stamp from Indian Textiles using Shaded Lilac Distress Ink. 

I distressed all the edges and added a little Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink.   I added a strip of background between the layers that I had cut away from the smaller background.

To see who won February's commentor prize  please see this post here :)

I hope you can come back often to see what my talented teammates have created using the new stamps.

Thanks for your visit and have a great day,
Shirley

Sanskrit Proverb by Glenda

This simple card features stamps from Indian Textiles and the saying is from Live Out Loud.  
The proverb really means a lot to me - you can read more about this card over on my own blog, glendawaterworth.com.

I've been trying to get into the habit of blogging about our Stamp of the Week on a Friday, but the last few weeks have been a bit of a struggle to fit it in.  So I've decided that instead of writing a whole blog post about it, I will simply put a link in the sidebar.  You should be able to see it there on the right.  It's at the top now, but I will probably move it down a bit, so don't forget to check in on a Friday to see what is on offer each week.

Indian Gold (posted by Claire)

Good morning folks, Claire here with a quick card made using the gorgeous new stamps, Indian Textiles

I've stamped the lace and the large Taj Mahal silhouette and gilded them, created a border around the edge with more gilding flakes adhered to red line tape. The background was made with the large ornate flower from the same set, again gilded. 

I do hope you're enjoying all the inspiration from my talented team mates, 

Thanks for popping by, 

Claire xx

Mandala Design (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.

I have a Mandala style design today created by using images from the beautiful Indian Textiles set. While this isn't as symmetrical as I wanted, it is bright & again I fun with these fabulous stamps.

I created the background by spraying Pink Dylusions Ink, spritzed with water & blotted.  I blended Peacock Feathers Distress Ink around the parameter once it was dry.    I stamped the main image four times with black Stazon ink & the small flower with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink between the main images.  (click the photo to enlarge to see detail)

I bleached the main images and then coloured with Dylusion inks using a fine point water barrel brush.  I spent some time with black pigment & white Gellyroll pens to highlight.  I found the outlining relaxing & meditative which creating Mandalas should be.     I edged the background with a Gold Leaf pen.  I added lots of rhinestones and the metal center piece to finish the design.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Shirley

Reflections of India (posted by Elaine)

I am loving working with these Indian themed stamps and working with silhouettes is one of my favourite techniques, especially when combined with ink shading as I have done here. This card uses the Taj Mahal image from the Indian Textiles stamp set. I wanted to create a feeling of peace and tranquility and the sun setting over water.

I started by stamping my image in Cobalt Blue Archival ink. I added the reflection by stamping into acetate and laying it ink side down under the original stamped image to transfer the ink and make the reflection. I then masked the sun using two circles die cut out of Eclipse tape. I masked off the top of the card above the horizon first using post it notes and then added pink, lilac and pale blue dye inks inks and added hills using a torn piece of paper and Eggplant ink. All my ink shading is done using Cut and Dry foam, working to build layer on layer of ink and depth and range of colour. Once the sky was complete, I moved the masking and then inked below with shades of turquoise and blue and added the reflection of the hill with more Eggplant ink. I added some touches of darker blue here and there in the water to get a more watery effect. I stamped the water lillies from the Lily Pad clear stamp set and added birds from the Landscape Edges set. I added colour to the lilies with Prisma coloured pencils. I finished with a lattice work die cut border which made me think of looking out of a window in a ancient building with pierced stonework.

I am sure you will be enjoying the work of all my DT colleagues this month, there are some delicious designs coming your way inspired by these great new stamps.

Elaine

Indian Design with Mixed Media (by Shirley)

Hello everyone,   I hope you are doing well.

I have another card today using the new Indian designs which I had fun creating with mixed media.  

I started with a sheet printed from the new Leafy Brocade printable.    You can't see it too well in this design as I've added layers of media, but it shows through.

The flower & small border are from Indian Textiles, the small Taj Mahal Silhouette stamp is from Indian Elephant and "Bliss" is from Artistic Affirmations.   If you would like to read the steps I took to create this design, they are included in my blog post here.

Please keep checking here as my talented team mates have lots of beautiful designs to share!

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!
Shirley

Indian inspired jewellery box (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, here's another sample using the Indian Textiles rubber stamp sheet, and the Indian Elephant rubber stamp sheet.

I have covered a 6" x 6" box with panels of card which I coloured with Distress Ink and then stamped with various designs from the stamp sheets, using Cobalt Archival Ink. The top section of the box is a large piece of Stampbord, which I have coloured with inks as before, and then used the Leafy Brocade Big Bold Background stamp.

I then took a piece of mountboard cut into the shape of an oval, and covered it with UTEE before stamping into it with another Indian stamp.

Keep checking back fror more great samples from my Team mates, thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Indian Sunset (posted by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with another card featuring the beautiful new Indian Textiles stamps, you can find them here. I wanted to create a brayered sunset scene so I set to with my Memento inks and brayer:

Memento inks are perfect for brayering and the colours are beautiful and clear, they blend beautifully too. For this project I used Dandelion, Canteloupe, Tangelo  and Ladybug for the sky. I tore some copy paper to create a mask for the hills and used Lilac Posies, Sweet Plum and Paris Dusk. I then brayered a little Paris Dusk all around the edges. I stamped the large Taj Mahal Silhouette with Memento Tuxedo Black and added some white highlights with an inksentials pen. I also stamped a few trees on top of the highest hill with a stamp from Terrific Treescapes

I've used a backing paper from the Leafy Brocade downloads and added some black organza ribbon and a little paper flower.

Have a good weekend and thanks for popping by

Claire xx

Indian Designs with Zingy colours (by Shirley)

Hello everyone !  I hope you enjoyed the long weekend.

We've been having so much fun creating with the two new sets -  Indian Textiles and Indian Elephant, which inspire the use of vibrant colours & lots of bling!

Today I'm showing my first two designs using these gorgeous new stamps that feature the Peacock image. 

I created the background with Orange Dylusions ink and also blended Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink over a TCW Mini Solace Stencil.    The background images are from Indian Elephant which I stamped with black Stazon Ink.  I bleached the colour from the images & painted with my Tombow markers using a brush & water.  I also highlighted with a white Gellyroll pen.

I painted the Peacock from Indian Textiles with my Tombow markers, cut him out and attached as shown.    I used Spellbinder Majestic Elements S4-383 for the die cuts.    I added glitter, rhinestones & liquid pearls for accents.

This second design while still vibrant is more subdued in colour.

I used Peacock Feathers (Turquoise) Distress Ink using the Acrylic block technique to create the background.   I stamped the decorative textile image from Indian Textiles and a flower from Indian Elephant with black ink.  I coloured the flowers with my Prisma pencils and painted the peacock with Tombow markers.  I used gold UTEE around the edge.  Next, lots of bling & feathers are added!

These two stamp sets give you so many creative possibilities.   Please keep checking here as my talented team mates have gorgeous designs to show you.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Shirley

Indian Sunrise (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, I have a sample to show you using the new Indian Textiles rubber stamp sheet and the Indian Elephant rubber stamp sheet.

I have created a scene by first stamping and embossing the building with white embossing powder. I wanted to evoke a feeling of the Taj Mahal. I then used a paper mask to cover first the bottom of the page, and then the top, as I used various inks to colour the background. I stamped the tree from Landscape Edges clear stamp set along the horizon, and added some flowers from the Floral Edges clear stamp set in the foreground.

I coloured the elephants with Distress Markers before cutting them out and attaching them to the scene.

Keep popping back to see what my Team mates have got in store for you over the coming days. They have some fabulous designs to inspire you with these great new stamps. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx