You Inspire Me (by Asha)

Good morning, friends! What do you think about the lovely new Russian-themed stamps showcased by the team this month? Seriously amazing, right?!

Here's an Art Journal page from me, featuring the lovely Katya. I embossed her with WOW Rich Gold EP and coloured her with alcohol markers.

I added texture around her by stamping the Large Crackle Background using Ranger Archival Ink Plum. Along the bottom edge of the page, I stamped the smaller stamp from the Silhouette Palaces set using Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black. The sentiment is from Words Of Inspiration, also stamped with Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black.

Hope you're having fun with these new stamps. I have more pictures and details of products used over on my blog. Don't forget to swing by often for more amazing projects by the rest of the DT. Thank you for stopping by and have a magical day!

Beijinhos,
Asha

Katya (by Veronica)

I loved doing this sample for the recent TV shows, using the gorgeous big Katya stamp with the larger silhouette palace stamp in the background.
I used brusho powders in the background to try to create a mysterious effect, after first masking Katya with masking fluid and then stamping the buildings twice on each side using a very old dye-based ink pad as I didn't care if the colour bled a bit.
Grey brusho powder for the background, spritzed with water.
Once everything was dry, I peeled off the mask and coloured Katya with alcohol markers. A gold mirri card matt added before mounting onto a white base card.
The team made some fantastic samples for the shows which will be appearing on blogs over the next few weeks, so if you had a favourite from the                                                                                    shows, keep looking!

A message from Russia (posted by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with a large tag made using some of the fabulous new stamps and stencils that Lesley launched on Hochanda recently. I love mail art so I couldn't resist having a play with the new collection.

I began by making a background using distress stains (Tarnished Brass, Vintage Photo, Broken China and Faded Jeans). I stamped here and there with  the beautiful Russian Exquisite Egg stamps but holding it in my hand so I just caught parts of the design and then embossed with gold embossing powder. I also added a little crackle with the crackle stamp using the same technique. I took one of the stencils and inked through it with a deep blue inkpad and then applied a layer of glassy gel medium. While that was drying I made the rest of the elements. I stamped Katya, again with dark blue ink and cut her out, I inked a post card from my stash and used one of the Silhouette Palace stamps and faux postage paper to make the 'stamps'.

Once everything was dry I assembled my tag, adding some flowers, pearl trim, charms, lace and ribbon from my stash.

Thanks so much for visiting today, keep popping back as my teamies have created some really gorgeous artwork to inspire you

Claire xx

Russian Tryptich (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are enjoying the projects shared by my Design Team mates showcasing the fabulous new stamps that were aired on the recent TV shows on Hochanda. If you caught the shows, you will have seen the project that I am going to share with you today.

To create my project, I covered a wooden tryptich with pale pink acrylic paint, and I then stamped Katya and the Russian Floral Egg onto some pale scrapbook paper, using brown ink. I stamped the Large Crackle Background over the top using second generation stamping, as I did not want the crackle stamp to overpower the images. I used the same brown ink as before. I coloured the images with pencils, choosing a fairly muted colour palette, in keeping with an old religious icon that you might find in a church or museum. I added some brown shading around the edges of each section, just with the edge of a pencil, before adhering each section to the tryptich.

I covered the back of the tryptich with a very pretty serviette, using a matte medium adhesive. I chose a design that looked very ornate with gold swirls and a dark base, as I wanted quite a mediaeval feel to the design.

I added gilding wax to the edges of the triptich in shades of green and gold to give an older feel to the piece.

I hope that my project will give you some ideas for using these beautiful stamps, not just for home decor pieces, but for your card making too. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Katya (by Marga)

Hello All, today I may show you a card made with the new stamps. What a great stamp this is again.

I coloured the background with Distress Inks and splattered some water on it. Then I stamped the stamp Katya with a light brown ink and colored it on some places with my pencils.

Then I stamped from the stamp sheet Babushka the oriental homes with black.

Stamps I used: Katya, Babushka

Hugs Marga

Launching our latest stamps (by Lesley)

Well, I bet you thought I was just a figment of everyone's imagination! It is a severely long time since I posted anything on this blog, let alone actually write it from scratch, but as you may appreciate things have gotten a little hectic for us here at CB towers and I have left all the clever talented stuff to our brilliant Design Team.  In fact I feel a little bit of a fraud writing here today as I haven't even got a piece of my own completed artwork to show you. How bad am I?

Anyway, if you have been following our exploits on Hochanda you will know that last week saw us launching a stamp collection entitled A Taste of Russia.  This collection includes five new A6 unmounted rubber stamps and our very first set of masks and stencils. 

The A6 stamps are Silhouette Palaces, Large Crackle Background, Russian Floral Egg, Russian Exquisite Egg and Katya.

The masks are Silhouette Palaces 1 and 2 and then the Russian Spires Stencil.

All of this collection will be available to purchase as from tomorrow, 31st March.  Below are just a few examples from the Design Team's samples which appeared on the tv shows.  You will be able to see more of their inspiring work during April.

I have to say that once again Sue has come up with some brilliant and unusual designs whilst the DT girls really did us proud with their beautiful artwork.  And of course your support means the world to David and I, we realise just how lucky we are to be surrounded by our wonderful team and by you;   please keep sending us photos of your creations with our stamps because seeing what you do with them always amazes and delights us.

So that's me signing off, I'm sure I shall pop up again somewhere soon until then I shall hand the baton back to the girls who have some fabulous things in store for you.