A New Year's Eve Wish (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you have had a good Christmas, and enjoyed some time celebrating the festive season, even if it has been very different to your usual celebrations. Many of you will not have been able to have spent the time together with your loved ones, or to have seen as many of your family as you would have done under normal circumstances. 

This year has been such a strange and turbulent year for many reasons, we have been thrown into a life that is so different from what we are used to, and many people have lost their jobs, their businesses, faced floods, illness, or the loss of loved ones. Lockdown has been very hard for everyone, the isolation and separation from friends and family has been really difficult. Social media, and contact through technology has really been a big help. Zoom, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, video calling, have all come into their own as a means to interact with other people to be able to 'see' each other and chat face to face. 

Chocolate Baroque has tried to do its part with the Butterfly Tree get togethers, allowing members of the Choolate Baroque Facebook Group to join in with the meetings and feel part of the community. The sense of belonging that is part of Chocolate Baroque, the community of crafters, learning together, and having fun getting messy and inky, has always helped to make us feel less isolated. Many friendships have been forged through the Chocolate Baroque community, I have several amazing friends that I have made personally, so I can vouch for magic of this wonderful group.

As we turn to thoughts of the approaching New Year, one thing that has continually come to my mind is that we can be grateful for what we have. We have lost so much this year, but we still have friendship, we still have family, we still have a shared love of crafting. My New Year's Eve wish for you all is that 2021 will be a better year. It may not turn out exactly as we would all like, but may you all find peaceful, contented, healthy times ahead. I hope that you will enjoy what we at Chocolate Baroque continue to share with you over the coming year, and that you will keep crafting along with us. Most of all, look after yourselves and be happy. 

I am sharing a project with you today, part of a play session that I had using a few favourite stamps.

Stay safe, and thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

The Magic of Cristmas ( By Marga)

Hello everyone, today it's my turn again to show you a card, this time again a Christmas card. I made a lot this year so I'm sure I have more than I need, but I like to make them.

I used my stamping tool to make this card. I first inked the image with two colours of ink and stamped it and then I sprayed water on the stamp and stamped it again. This gives a watercolour look.

Stamps I used are: Robin the Spruce , Pears and Baubles and Let's get Festive.

Hugs Marga

Not Only for Christmas (by Carole)

Hello everyone, Carole is back to share a couple of super projects with you today. She is showcasing the versatility of one of our individual stamps, Serena, and showing you how to make two beautiful projects.

Good morning everyone.
This is my second spot as a Guest Design Team member for September.

I have used the beautiful Serena stamp, which is a great design, as it can be used for Christmas but, 'not only for Christmas'.
It is always useful to have stamps with versatility.
This is my 'not only for Christmas', as I thought it would be beautiful as a Winter Birthday or Winter Wedding card too.

Stamps used: Serena, Hark the Christmas Rose, words are part of a Let's Get Festive stamp.
Distress inkpads
Versafine Onyx Black inkpad
Clear embossing powder
Watercolour pencils

For the background, I clear embossed a swirly tree design and lightly coloured with Distress Inks.
Serena and the Christmas roses were stamped with Versafine and clear embossed.
The halo and the candles are easily cut away from Serena, and the candles can be used on another card. The Christmas roses were cut away from their background.
I have coloured the design with watercolour pencils, which is still a favourite method of mine, and the colour was blended with a water brush.
On my blog I have another sample that I showed a while back which is a 'not only for Christmas' sample.

Serena is also perfect for making a decoration for your Christmas table as shown below.
She fits perfectly onto a 12.5 cm plastic, faux candle.
Ink up the stamp with a permanent inkpad, keeping it flat on the table.
Position the candle and roll it over the stamp, putting a little pressure on as you do so. Try not to slip, or the image will look smudged.
This can be left uncoloured, as I have done, or coloured with alcohol inks.

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you enjoy these stamps as much as I have.

Happy crafting,

Carole.

Believe in ...( By Marga)

Hello everyone, today another Christmas card from me. I'ts going well with the Christmas cards.

I made the backgound on photopaper, put the ink on it and blew the ink with a straw over the paper.

On another piece of the paper I embossed the pear with gold embossing powder and cut it out and pasted it on the paper. The sentiment I stamped with Archival Ink.

Hugs Marga

Frosty Night in Laketown - by Penny

Hi everyone - Penny here again with a bit more crafty fun to share with you.  Today I have another of my Christmas samples from last month featuring stamps from the Winter Edges, and Let's Get Festive sets; a Blue Sparkle pen, black Versafine ink, clear embossing powder, die cuts and glitter from my stash.

I took a piece of Drawing Cartridge  card and stamped and embossed the town image in black.  I then created a background with the Sparkle pen and added a gold star in the sky.

I created a reflection of the town using acetate as a stamp and used gold pen on the embossed image as highlights.  I then took a white base card and cut an oval aperture into the front, and attached the focal panel to the inside of the card front, so that it showed through the aperture.  I took some Christmas foliage  die cuts from my stash, added some ink and glitter and attached them to the card around the aperture, to frame the scene.  Finally I stamped and embossed a sentiment at the bottom of the card.

Thank you all for popping in today  and taking the time to read this post, I hope you've found it inspiring.  For more details check out my blog:   https://ladypenelopesfabcraftyblogspot.blogspot.com


See you all next time,

                                         x  Penny  x         

Two Faces of Serena by Penny

Hello lovely peeps!  Is everyone warm enough lol?!  I'm back again with a couple of my Christmas samples from last month's shows, both featuring the beautiful Serena.

Golden Serena 

For this card I have used stamps from Serena, Robin the Spruce, and Let's Get Festive sets; Distress Inks, alcohol pens, Versamark ink, gold embossing powder and pen.

I stamped Serena onto white colouring card in grey Versafine ink and coloured her in with the pens.  I blended DI around the edges of the card and used a gold pen.  I took a white base card and stamped several foliage images around the edges.  I blended ink onto the outer edges then attached the focal panel.  I stamped and embossed a sentiment in gold onto acetate, cut around it and attached it to the card.  Lastly I added some gems and red pearl drops from my stash.

A Serene Christmas

For this project I have used stamps from the Serena and Robin the Spruce sets; pearl paints, Distress Inks, Versamark ink, gold embossing powder and pen, and some silver sparkle thread from my stash.

I took some black card and stamped Serena using Versamark ink, then embossed her in gold.  I used pearl paints to colour her, I love using them on black card!  I edged the panel with a gold pen and used a corner stamp to cut notches on the corners.  I then attached the silver thread to the back of the panel with red liner tape and threaded it through the notches to create another frame for the artwork. 
I took a white base card and stamped some berries in each corner then attached the focal panel to it.

On a spare piece of black card I stamped and embossed the candle poem as before, added gold pen and notched the corners as before then attached the panel to the card. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post today, I hope that I have helped to spur your mojo on if it's a bit tired.  I'll be back later this month with more crafty fun!

Take care all,

                                                                 xx  Penny  xx

Merry Christmas (by Julie)

Hello, today I have a couple of Christmas cards to show you.

My first card is made with the New England Winter  stamp set. I started by stamping the bottom pine cone image first. This needs to be embossed so that the house can be stamped over the topped and the excess ink wiped off from the pine cone image, thus making it look like the house is behind the pine cones. To do this I first inked my pine cone stamp with Versamark ink and then coloured over the top with green and brown water colour pens. Press the stamp down and then quickly cover with clear embossing ink and then use a heat gun to set. I didn't bother embossing the other two pine cone images but of course you can if you want to. I used coloured pencils to colour the house, white gesso sprinkled with glitter for the snow effect and finished the design off with a sentiment from Lets Get Festive.

My second card is made with the same stamp sets as before so again you can see the sets are very versatile. I started by inking up the tree and stamping it towards the centre and then just repeat stamped to form the garland. No special measuring was needed, just cut your stamp quite close to the image so that it is easy to line up. The decorative corner was stamped in each corner before gilding wax was applied over the top and the design was finished off with the sentiment that I stamped onto a die cut circle.

Thanks for stopping by and please be sure to pop back again soon for some more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx