Poinsettia Lattice (by Judith)

Hello everyone, my second post this month conveniently falls on Christmas Eve. I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, and offer my good wishes for 2016. I hope that Santa brings you lots of crafting goodies, and that you have time to relax and enjoy the festive season, whatever you are doing.

I have chosen to create a Christmas card for my final offering of the year, and hope that you will accept it as a card from me to you. I would like to thank you all for the lovely comments that you have left over the year on my posts.

I have used the Studded Lattice cling mounted stamp to create the background, and added some poinsettias from the Joyful Christmas stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Christmas Farewell (by Clare)

Hello!  It's almost that time of year again!  Christmas!  I cannot believe how fast time is flying by, although having to sit without being able to do much makes time seem to drag by.  I am so sad to say that after having a fourth surgery on my left shoulder, one on my right elbow and right shoulder upcoming, I am stepping down from the design team for a while.  I haven't been able to keep up with all my talented and creative team mates!  I hope you enjoy these few last cards of mine.  I wish each and every one of you Merry Christmas, a blessed holiday, and a prosperous and healthy New Year!  I will miss you all!

This first card was made with two stamps.  The background is from the Winter Edges set, and the main image is from the Reindeer Landscape set.  I used a wood-look embossing folder on the blue base, and placed two rows of glue and blue chunky glitter across the bottom.  The background was stamped in dark blue on white cardstock, then cut in half to fit across the 6" width behind the main image.  The deer landscape was stamped on white and heat embossed in teal blue.  I used a sponge dauber and blue inks in three different shades on the top and bottom.  There is light blue sparkle sheer ribbon 1" wide tied around the top, with a small piece of teal 1/8" wide satin ribbon tied around the center and a plastic snowflake button glued over that. I adhered the main panel over all with dimensional squares.

The card just below was made using the ornament edges from the Christmas Edges stamp set, and a bauble stamp from the Pears and Baubles set.  The white card base background was stamped in dark green with the bauble edge stamp after cutting the card out with a large die. I cut a smaller green panel with a smaller die, then positioned a scalloped-edged die in the middle of the green card cutting it twice to create the desired effect.  A white oval was die cut and lifted off the green panel with dimensional dots.  The beautiful bauble was stamped and heat embossed in white on dark green cardstock, then touched up with a silver marker.  I hand cut this out then positioned it on the white oval with dimensionals.  A piece of 1/8" wide silver ribbon was tied around and rhinestones placed to enhance.  (the green is a dark forest green, not teal as this looks)  The final touch was a thin line of silver marker around the periphery.

The next card is a favorite of mine!  I love the color purple (for royalty) and this turned out so pretty combined with the plum and silver.  My camera shot didn't do it justice!  I made a card base from white cardstock, and covered the front completely with purple/lavender paper.  I heat embossed both the deer image and the trees, using purple and silver, respectively.  Purple and plum ink was daubed onto the top and bottom of the image, as well as on the horizon.  The trees were hand-cut, and positioned with dimensional dots, giving the view some depth.  Some iridescent silver ribbon 1/8" wide was glued around the outside edge of the image, and was very easy to do.  A super CAS card!  The stamp set I used is Reindeer Landscape.

I'm really fond of this next card, because I love Poinsettias, and Chocolate Baroque has really done a great job with these Zentangled ones.  The stark red and black on white is really striking!  I've used two stamp sets on this card - Christmas Edges, and Joyful Christmas.  The card base is white, with dry embossed dots across the top half of the front.  The Christmas Edges poinsettia stamp was used in black across the bottom, and I applied some tiny little shiny red stickers for the centers.  Red was daubed all around the outside edges of the card.  Red 3/8" grosgrain ribbon was glued across the center of the card, with red cording glued over that.  I stamped the larger flowers from the Joyful Christmas set two times, then cut them out and layered them for dimension.  Yellow rhinestones were glued to the centers.  I framed the sentiment with red cardstock after stamping in black, then glued on.  A very easy card to make!
  

This next card is an easel.  It's  4 1/2" wide by 11" total length, scored at the 2" and 4 1/2" marks.  It's folded in half, then the bottom 2" flap is folded up.  I cut a piece of coordinating card stock (red) to 4 1/2" wide and 4" top to bottom, then scored in half widthwise.  Unfolded, I die cut the top edge (inside) with a scalloped edge, the inside the bottom, used another scalloped edge die to make the design through which the white card base is seen.  I stamped the sentiment in black.  With this flap folded down, I glued a little plastic snowflake button in the center for the top front to catch on forming the "easel".  For the top front, I cut a piece of patterned coordinating paper to fit, leaving only 1 3/4" of the white card base showing at the bottom.  Using a scalloped die, I cut the same as on the front in the bottom white edge.  On the bottom right of the patterned paper, I stamped in black the tree grouping from the Winter Edges set.  I placed some red shiny sticker circles on the garlands on the trees.  At the top of the card in the score line, on the left about 1 " in from the left edge, I used a craft knife to cut  a 1/8" cut to thread the yarn through with a needle.  Before tying into a bow, I threaded a plastic tree onto the yarn to finalize the card.

This next card is another favorite of mine, and I love the icy feel of it.  I used an "all-over" punch to make the snowflakes in the white panel which was glued over the white card base, shaded with stamp paints in blue and lavender.  I stamped the three different snowflakes and embossed in silver, tinting the center or the edges with light blue ink and a dauber.  I cut them out by hand.  The snowflakes and trees are from the Reindeer Landscape set.  The trees were stamped on white with silver embossing, then shaded in with markers.  I stamped the sentiment "Winter Wonderland" from the set Bold Christmas Words on blue cardstock then embossed it in white.  I cut it out with a large banner die, and shaded the edges in blue stamp paint.  Before gluing everything down, except for the snowflakes which I adhered with dimensional dots, I tied a piece of 1" wide sheer blue ribbon around the bottom, and tied a bow, gluing a small blue snowflake brad in the center.

This last card is a wonderful image of a winter fairy.  She originally had a fall of roses in her hands, but since I was making her for Christmas, I changed it up with holly boughs.  She was so much fun to color!  Love those wings!  She comes from the new set, February Fairies.  For the top and bottom borders, I used the holly edge stamp from the newly released Christmas Edges. 

Again, I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy and Healthy New Year, and I've really enjoyed working with all the wonderful design team ladies!  Please continue to check back for their amazing work!  Here's to better health, healing and getting back into the swing of everything Chocolate!  Yum, yum! 

I'd like to thank Glenda and Adrian for being so generous, and their patience during my learning how to manage a blog entry, working with editing of photos, and computer glitches.  Lesley, I wish you continued healing, and pray that you will be back to "normal" very quickly!  Sue, thank you for drawing up some gorgeous "must-have" stamps!  You're amazing! 

Merry Christmas, with love!

Clare  



Happy Christmas, Winter Wonderland and a Sneak Peek

Hi, Chocolate Baroque friends!  We are in the midst of releasing new winter and Christmas stamps, and I'm sure you're going to love them!  My first card uses elements from three different stamp sets, that go very well together!  Two were made to match! 

I embossed my white cardstock with tiny dots, then sponged red stamp paint around the edges.  At the bottom of the front, I stamped the poinsettia edge in black, from the new set Christmas Edges.  In the centers, I placed some little sparkly stickers.  I touched up around the bottoms of the flowers with a black marker so they'd stand out a little more.  Red satin ribbon was placed around the card where the embossing stopped, and red cording placed over that.  Next, the large poinsettia's from the set Pears & Baubles were stamped twice in black on white cardstock.  I colored in the flowers with a red marker, and used a black marker to touch up parts of the leaves.  I sparkled the flowers up with red stamp paint, then applied yellow rhinestones to the centers.  After cutting them all out, (the second set was cut apart into two separate poinsettias) I used some dimensional foam to pop them up off the card, turning the second set slightly to offset.  "Happy Christmas," from the Joyful Christmas set was stamped in black on white, then layered onto some red patterned paper.  This was a very easy card to make, and the black, red and white is very striking!

 

Next is a card I call Winter Wonderland, and I have used images from the new Reindeer Landscape set.  This set is fantastic!  The trees were so much fun to color, and I used blue stamp paint to highlight the snowflakes and banner.  The snowflakes were heat-embossed in silver.  The card base is white cardstock, shaded in blues and lavenders, then overlaid with a white cardstock sheet that has been punched out.  The sentiment is a sneaky-peeky to what is coming soon!  I heat-embossed the wording in white on lavender cardstock.  The images were cut out, then popped up with the foam dimensionals, and a lavender ribbon tied around all before mounting it onto the white card base.  The blue snowflake on the bow is from my stash.

These new stamps are certainly getting me in the Christmas mood, and I may start my Christmas gift shopping!  I love this time of the year, but I really want to enjoy the fall colors and cooler weather first.  Watch for more beautiful work from my design team buddies!  Take care!

Peace Arch (by Clare)

Hello, again!  Don't you just love the Chocolate Baroque Gothic Fragments set, released in October this year?  I had stamped several, then colored them differently, and thought this color combo looked striking!  I love the stained glass windows in cathedrals and churches, and this looks regal to me.

I stamped and enbossed the arch in gold, then colored it with yellows and golds, grays and blacks.  I had the background cardstock in my stash (the black and tan embossed pattern), and the gold patterned paper was in a new stack of old-timey Christmas paper.  I cut just a little rectangle from a shiny gold matte from a picture I had taken out of a frame, and layered the "Peace" over that.  It was embossed in silver, then detailed with a black glaze pen.  The inside of the card was stamped with another stamp from the Gothic Fragments set, and the sentiment is from the Chocolate Baroque Joyful Christmas set.  A little bit of gold ribbon, overlayed with some black sequined trim, and that's it!  I hope you're inspired!

 

Wintery Treescape by Debbie

My card today is from the newly released Terrific Treescapes clear stamps which I love. They can be set out in so many combinations, giving so many different looks.

This is an easel card and it didn't take long to make. I stamped the taller trees first and the smaller filled in the spaces to give prospective for distance. I used a Sakura Pigma Micron pen to create the look of the hills that the trees are sitting on. The sky is coloured with Stormy Sky Distress Ink and dots of white to give the look of snow falling were added. I used stickles to give a frosty look. For the stopper I stamped the sentiment from Joyful Christmas and then stamped a line of trees across the bottom. The beauty of these stamps is that you can line them up easily. I hope this has inspired. Debbie

Gothic Fragments Christmas Card by Debbie

This is my first card made with the Gothic Fragment stamps which are going to be so versatile. I have a few friends who like tradtional cards at Christmas time and I had them in mind when putting this card together.

The arched window has been stamped twice with versamark and embossed with silver powder. I wanted to keep the colouring soft so I water coloured with distress inks. I used chipped saphire and antique linen. For more depth I painted more colour around the edges of the windows. I mounted them onto silver mirror card and added them to the fronts of the gatefold card.

For the inside I stamped the sentiment from the new Joyful Christmas clear stamps with black and embossed with clear powder. I cut it out with a nestablitie and framed with the larger shape that has been coloured with the chipped saphire. I also stamped one of the other arched windows and left it uncoloured as I wanted the wanted the sentiment to be the main focus.

There's alot more inspiration from the coming up, so keep popping back. Debbie

Poinsettia Joy

Hello!  Now, don't you just LOVE these images?  The Poinsettia flowers and the word "Joy" are from one of Chocolate Baroque's new clear stamp sets, called Joyful Christmas being released this month!  The chapel image is from a new clear set released last month, called Christmas Creatures.  That's one of the reasons I love, love, love Chocolate Baroque stamps - they coordinate so well with other stamps they produce!

The chapel image was heat embossed in gold, then colored in with
Stampin' Up and Copic markers.

This card was very easy to make.   It consists of two different styles of image, the shadowed chapel image, and the stylized poinsettia's.  The ribbon is 1" wide burgundy grosgrain.  I hope you've been inspired, and please come back soon for more new and awesome stamps and examples!