A little bit of sewing by Rachel

 Hello there! Rachel here today with my third and final installment from the February shows. This first piece gave me lots of joy in the making. I used a piece of calico and stamped on it using the main honeysuckle butterfly image in versafine ink. I then painted it using translucent paints and then I got my needle out and simply stitched around the outline of the flowers plus the stamens. I then added the ring and folded the extra fabric into the back and covered it with felt to make a small hanging picture.

This next piece was made using one of the wooden plaque/signs from the website. First I used gel medium to adhere one of the black and white papers to the plaque then stamped butterflies from the butterfly blush using pink ink onto card and then overstamped using the corresponding stamps from the just butterflies set before fussy cutting.

This final accordion card was made using all of the butterfly floral stamps each stamped in versamark on black card and set with white embossing powder and then roughly cut out and mounted onto black and white papers.

Hope you have a lovely day - I will see you next month!

Hugs

Rachel xx

Keeping it Simple

Hello, I am here to share some more of my samples from the February show on Hochanda.

These were all relatively quick to make with some stamping and embossing and a little bit of colouring.

My first piece uses an MDF board which I have covered with Chocolate Baroque Black and White Paper (Series 2) using a gel medium. I'm not sure if these are still available, but Series 3 are!  I have then added some watercolour inks, starting with purple, then blue and green. When it was completely dry I stamped the Carnation from Fresh Florals and a sentiment from Artistic Affirmations and embossed in white.

For my next card I used alcohol inks in shades of purples and blues at the top and greens at the bottom on some yupo paper. I then stamped a dragonfly and a few butterflies from Butterfly Blush using Alcohol Lift ink. I did the same with some of the foliage stamps that were also on the show and added a sentiment from Sow the Seeds.

My next card uses the Daisy stamp from Fresh Florals. I stamped with Archival and used watercolour pencils for the flowers and Distress Ink for the edges. I have added a sentiment from Fly Away with Me.

This card uses two of the foliage stamps from Eastern Grasses. I used my stamping platform and stamped the larger of the stamps first, rotating my card each time. I then used the smaller stamp to fill in the gaps. I coloured the open seed heads with a red glaze pen and added the sentiment to the centre. Very quick, but effective.

My last piece features an accordion style card from a die. I stamped the butterflies and dragonflies from Just Butterflies onto some white card and die cut the panels out and glued onto the card base.

 I love how the stamp sets mix so well with each other.

See you soon

Sandra x

Bold and Beautiful Butterflies (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I am sharing more butterfly cards with you, following on from my last post. Butterflies are such a universally popular image, and I hope that you will enjoy what I have to share with you today.

I created my first card using the Just Butterflies and Butterfly Blush stamp sets. I coloured a piece of drawing cartridge using Distress Oxides and then stamped some of the butterflies from Butterfly Blush using Versafine Clair. I added some white dots using charcoal through a stencil, however, you could achieve a very similar look by using white paint and one of the dotty stamps from Make Your Mark.

I added some texture paste to a piece of MDF, and once it was dry added some paint and gilding wax. I stamped and embossed the butterflies, cut them out and layered them up onto the panel. The sentiment from Butterfly Mind was stamped onto a spare piece of background.

The following two cards are older projects, but once again, I hope that you do not mind me sharing them with you. I masked off  the edges of the cards, and added Distress Ink in the centre of the cards. I was aiming for aurora borealis effect, and hopefully achieved that feeling in these cards. I added water splatters, and then stamped the foliage from Briar Rose Butterfly along the bottom using black ink. The butterflies were stamped onto sparkly acetate using Archival Ink and I added coloured vellum to the back, but you could just stamp them onto card, colour them as normal and use a sparkly pen over the top to achieve a similar look. The sentiments come from the Birthday Words stamp set.
 

By changing the colours and foliage, you can create a completely different look, these are really pretty and would make a nice set to give as a gift as well.

 

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe and take care,

Judith xx

Rose spotlight by Brenda

Morning everyone, hope you are all OK , I have a few shares from my samples from last month Hochanda TV shows.

As is the norm for me the first two follow an inky route, above Oxides added from acetate and dabbed away to give a soft finish followed by some stencilling using the squares from Strip Stencils and circles using the coffee stain from Make your Mark. Focally Briar Rose Butterfly coloured in and the Butterflies stamped again and decoupaged and a metal spotlight placed over the bud.  Onto some offcuts I stamped the numbers from Edgy Edges, tore the edges and fixed into place. Finally some washi tape. 

For this one I sprayed Oxide Sprays across the top of a pice of card, spritzed with water and held at an angle to persuade the colour to run down the page. I used worker stamps from Make your Mark and Gerbera and Friends to build up the background, quote from Words of Inspiration heat embossed in details gold EP, three Butterflies from Just Butterflies and metal embellishments for their Thorax.

A fairly simple one for my final share, papers from the 8x8 Designer Papers, stamped around the edges with Butterflies from Just Butterflies using Versafine Clair, Honeysuckle Butterfly stamped focally and coloured in with pencils.

Have a good weekend and many thanks for popping by today.

Flutter with me (by Magda)

 Hello girls,

I like to see the first butterflies flutter in the mild spring air and this feeling of joy inspired                       me to create these three cards with Chocolate Baroque stamps. 

Happy Dance 

On a blue Brusho colored white cardstock I stamped Butterfly Dress and colored it with                          Pan Pastel. The little butterflies and the decoupage butterfly are in Just Butterflies, while                        you can find the sentiment in the Butterfly Perfumery plate. I used Distress Ink pad   for                    coloring the butterfly, blending through the stencil and stamping the sentiment Happy Dance. 

Hello

Here I just played with Distress Ink pad   for the background wash, stenciling several                       layering with matching and contrast colors and for coloring the butterfly. You can find                                the butterfly in the big selection of Just Butterflies and the sentiment in                                                Butterfly Flourish Swirls

Spring

For this card I prepared several stamped script paper pieces, I cut them randomly and glued                     on the cardstock.   

I blended with different green and red shades of Distress Ink pad  and colored the decoupage            butterfly of Just Butterflies with watercolor pencils. 

"Spring" of March Fairy was for me perfect to be used for the label 

I hope you liked my butterflies card of today, I wish you all a very nice spring, hugs

Magda

Bright and Cheerful Flower (by Christine)

Hello everyone, today sees the first of three posts this month by our Guest Design Team member Christine Patch. She has created a colourful card to inspire you.

Christine writes:

May I start off by wishing you a very Happy New Year - let's keep our fingers crossed that it will be a considerable improvement on the year just finished, even if it might take a bit of time!

I decided to kick off my turn on the Blog with a very bright and cheerful design to be added to my journal.

I chose one of the designer papers and added some additional stamping to give it more detail. I used a Versafine Clair in a toning purple to add some butterflies and hatching.

Having picked one of the lovely postcards for a mat, the lovely large flower stamp allowed me to choose strong bright colours as decoration. I decided on Memento Tuxedo Black ink as I wanted to use Alcohol Pens for the colouring. I stamped two of the butterflies on white card and one on the same postcard for a point of difference. Glossy Accents added dimension to the bodies.

I found a wooden button in my stash that was the perfect colour and added that as an embellishment to the flower centre. I used the same flower stamp to edge the postcard and then the designer paper to bring it all together. Finally, I added a sentiment that I think is so pertinent to us all: Live life to your own design. 

Chocolate Baroque products used:

Designer Papers 8" x 8" - Chic Script                

Seriously Gorgeous A6 Postcards

Flower stamp taken from Tangled Garden stamp set

Open Weave cling mounted stamp

Just Butterflies stamp set

Sentiment taken from Freesia Blueprint stamp set 

Happy Crafting!

Christine

xx

Rather a lot of purple by Brenda

Good morning everyone, today I have some cards to share using the stamps from the June shows on Hochanda where the lovely Katya featured. She really is a lovely image and a delight to work with and it seems that without realising it I was having a bit of a purple day when I created these two.

The above card has an Oxide ink background onto an arch shaped base card created with dies. Katya was then stamped with Versafine black as were the Butterflies from Just Butterflies and sentiment from Words of Love and a few pearls added to embellish.

For the background to this one I used a piece of acetate which I dabbed with Oxide ink and a spritz of water and dabbed onto the card as I only wanted hints pf colour rather than covering the whole piece. I then randomly stamped with images from Rustic Fragments, Baroque Ephemera and Edgy Edges and a sentiment from what remains my favourite Chocolate Baroque sentiment set Words of Inspiration. Finally I stamped and cut out two clock faces from Timeless along with two wire circles (sourced from one of hubby's greenhouses!)

Have a lovely day.

F is for..........by Brenda

Good morning everyone, today I have a couple of shares and the first at the top features F is For....... stamped in Versafine Clair onto a shaving foam background and some colour added to the flowers I have also used one of the worker stamps from Small Graph Paper to create a border and added some splats using another worker stamp this time from Butterfly Mind.

Here I have one of the MDF tags which I coloured with Distress Oxides, then stamped flowers from Doodle Birds in Versafine Clair, added some Butterflies from Just Butterflies  and the sentiment from has been stamped onto some Aida embroidery fabric.

Thanks as always for popping in today.

Butterfly Waltz ( by Magda)

Hello and nice to meet you again.

This time I have been inspired by Brian Crain's  calm melody "Butterfly Waltz".
 The pictures of a quick step by step will help you to create something similar on a gessoed page.

1.  Just Butterflies and Music Fanfare stamped with Versafine on very light paper and glued
2. Tim Holtz Distress Crayons set 2, scribbled and blended with baby wipe
3.  Stencil
4. Mesh
5. Decoupage of  Just Butterflies coloured with water color pencils
6. Glue n'seal 

 

Crackled background Tag

For this tag I used the Large Crackle Background stamp, colored the decoupage flower and leaves of Sketchy Doodle Landscape  with Distress Ink Pad  and used the sentiment of Butterfly Flourish

Thank you for passing by,  hugs

Magda 

Spring part 2 - (by Magda)

Here I am again with butterflies which are dancing in the warm air and in my projects of today.

Sadness flies away card

I used  a Brush wash on a white cardstock for the background

Stamped with Jet Black Archival the sentiment from Butterfly Perfumery rubber sheet, and 

Gothic Fragments  while  the butterfly from Butterfly Poppy Collage is stamped with Carnation Archival  

Happy Dance page
                                   

step by step

1.  Colour a pice of white cardstock with Distress Ink Pad green, blue and yellow
2.  Stamp on in the Butterfly from Just Butterflies in black and randomly a swirl from Butterfly Florals in
     red with Distress Ink Pad
3.  Cover all with white Gesso
4.   Squeeze a tissue towel and glue it on top of the cardstock with  Inkssential Glue n Seal

5.  Blend again with the colors of point 1.

6.  Stamp with Archival Jet Black the flower from Wisteria Lane

7.  Stamp with Archival violet  the butterflies from Just Butterflies, on a white cardstock, colored

     with a light coat of Distress Ink Pad Seedless Preserves and cut them out

8.  Stamp with Archival Jet Black the sentiment from the plate Butterfly Perfumery  on a white     

     cardstock coloured with yellow Aquarelle Pencil

9.  Glue the butterflies, the sentiment on the mat  as shown

10. For the big background of the page :  blend Distress Ink Pad Seedless Preserves  ( same color of 

      point 7. used for the butterflies)

11. Stamp randomly with water all around butterflies of  Just Butterflies plate.

12. Glue  the mat on the page.

I hope you enjoyed my March "Spring" month.  Thanks for passing by

Magda

Katja dreams Spring (by Magda)

Hello everyone,
Here my second post for this month, I would say Katya represents me well, because Winter isn't
really my favorite season. Therefore this journaling page wants to be an anticipation of the Spring.

White Gesso, colours such as grey, blue, green, yellow, orange of Distress Ink Pad, stencils, swirls and feather from "Dawn Chorus", birds and sentiment from "Let Your Heart Sing", embellishments  are all dancing as a dream around " Katya".

I hope you liked my Journaling Page. Hugs
Magda

Butterfly frame by Brenda

Good morning to you all, Brenda here and I hope you are almost prepared for Christmas, only 6 sleeps now!!

My first share this time is a little frame which I stamped with Distress Ink and the lovely Fern from the Wild Meadow set, I used two colours to ink the stamp to give a variegated look and then distress the edges with the same colours. Inside the frame I used one of the Designer papers and stamped a sentiment from Shared beauty and stamped, coloured and cut out three Butterflies from April Fairy and Just Butterflies.

Here I have a tent card using Movie strip collage which I stamped once, masked and stamped a second time, coloured with with pencils and added some Distress Ink around the blooms.

I loved the colour of this particular sheet from the Designer papers and followed the colourway stamping images from Wild Meadow and Floral grunge with Versafine Clair inks. I made the base shape with the Tagtastic stamp stamping three times with Versamark and embossing with detail white, then cutting out the three tag shapes slightly larger to create a black frame. I fixed the thee together with card hinges in the back, fixed the stamped papers, some cord and embellies. I also stamped sentiments from Be Kind and Shared beauty.

This is my last post before Christmas so I would like to wish everyone a peaceful Christmas season.

Fragrant flowers by Brenda

Good morning all you crafty Peeps, I hope you are enjoying Spring now that it has finally arrived.

Today's it my turn to share some inspiration using the beautiful stamps Lesley showcased on Hochanda recently, it's was all about Floral's which was right up me street. The collection at the top uses stamps from both the Honey Bee and Fragrant Honeysuckle stamp sets all stamped using Distress Markers direct to stamp and a spritz of water to help blend the colours. The base cards and matching box were all made using dies and before I assembled the lid I stamped around the edges with the same stamps, used a honeycomb die to created the inner of the lid and added little bees stamped, coloured and cut out from the Honey Bee set.

For this one I created a central square mask and then a narrow square mask using dies, with them in place (the white areas) I repeat stamped one of the images from the Fragrant Honeysuckle set, again using Distress Markers and then coloured the flowers with sparkle pens.........only after doing all of this did I remove the masks to reveal the finished 'pattern'. Finally a Butterfly form Just Butterflies.

This fan was just a bit of fun rally, I came across the chipboard kit hidden in a box and long forgotten so it seemed the perfect time to give it some paint and ink as the Digitalis from the Honey Bee set fitted the panels beautifully. I painted all the elements of the fan with purple and gold acrylic paints and then stamped the Digitalis using Versamark and detail gold embossing powder on the purple sections and Versafine black on the gold section, colouring those flowers with the same purple paint. Once dry I fixed the top section of the fan over the decorated base and added a tassel and embellishment.

More Digitalis using Honey Bee, this time stamped onto an Oxide DI background which I applied after using masking fluid to cover a circle before applying. I stamped the flowers with Versafine black and coloured in with sparkle pens and stamped some of the smaller Digitalis onto the background before adding some stenciling and a sentiment from Words of Inspiration.

Happy weekend everyone and my thanks for popping in to take a peek at my shares.

Autunm & Spring ( by Magda)

Today I want to share with you two journaling pages, as I always return with lots of fun and pleasure to this technique.

For both projects I used the following products :
1. Dylusions Creative Journal
2. White Gesso :  apply randomly with the spatula on the pages and let dry
3. Distress Ink Pad : blend the different colours for the backgrounds with Blending Sponges

For the Autumn Page :
1. Chocolate Baroque Stencil "Seasonal Journey":  stencil the word "Autumn" using Distress Ink
    Pad - Walnut Stain
2. Chocolate Baroque Stamp "Nature Table" : stamp the mushrooms and the leaves with Versafine
    Onyx Black,  Vintage Sepia and Olympia Green and colour with watercolour pencils
3. Chocolate Baroque Stamp "Nature's Peace" : stamp the text with Versafine Onyx Black and repeat
    it in second and third generation

For the Poppy Page :
1.  Chocolate Baroque Stencil "Seasonal Journey":  stencil the word "Spring" using Distress Ink
     Pad - Mowed Lawn
2.  Chocolate Baroque Mask "Kaleidoscope of Butterflies": use White Gesso through the butterfly
     stencil and let dry
3.  Chocolate Baroque stamp "Just Butterflies": stamp the matching butterfly with Versafine Satin Red 
     and Deep Lagoon on the gesso
4.  Chocolate Baroque stamp "Poppy Meadow": stamp the big poppy with Versafine Onyx Black
      and colour with watercolour pencils
5.  Chocolate Baroque stamp "Autumn Hedgerow" : stamp the flower branch with Versafine Olympia  
     Green and Satin Red
6.  Chocolate Baroque stamp "Loving Sentiments": stamp the sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black
     on the page and randomly in second and third generation here and there again

I hope you enjoyed looking at my pages and I wish you a relaxing crafting time.

Magda

Flora Musica (by Brenda)

Good morning all you crafty Peeps, I hope you week is going well.

Today I have some creations to share using the stamps that Lesley showcases on Hochanda in August, the first show featured a wonderful collection of Vintage inspired floral stamps and the second show was all about Winter and Christmas. I will share a few of my samples for both shows with you next week.

Starting with the card at the top which features Flora Musica which I stamped onto a Distress Oxide background and the used DI's to colour the image. Using Decorative Edges I stamped some random harlequins using the same Oxide inks, a little Butterfly from Just Butterflies and sentiment from Words of Inspiration which I think is my all time favourite Chocolate Baroque sentiment set.

For this card I again created an Oxide ink background and the overstamped with the holly from Winter Birds using Versafine blue ink. The central panel has a sentiment from the new Christmas Word Plate and again the same holly around the edges.

This one was a bit of an experiment !! Yet another Oxide ink background............yes I am a bit obsessed with them and over stamped with Harlequin Bouquet which I stamped with Versafine black and coloured in with the same DI's. I then covered the whole piece with three layers of  Versamark and heat embossed each layer with detail clear poweder and then the madness set in..........I cut the piece into seven piece and rearranged onto a piece of coordinating cardstock, but do quite like the finished effect.

For my final card I used Kraft card, a mask and a white inkpad to create the Christmas bauble shape and with the mask still in place stamped the house from New England Winter using Gathered Twigs DI and finally the little sentiment set from Frosty Trees and a white bow to finish.

As always my thanks for popping in today and I hope I have inspired you to go check out the lovely stamps from the shows.