Concertina Journal (by Christine)

It's my turn again on the blog and this time I am sharing the first three pages in a watercolour paper concertina journal. The Chocolate Baroque items used are listed at the end.

On the opening page, I stamped a number of images and then coloured them with watercolour paints. I then used gold metallic paint to fill the negative space, a technique I really like.

Mackintosh Windows stamp set

Rose and Thistle stamp set

Rose Set stamp set

On the second page, I chose a few Distress Oxide inks and blended them together. I then stamped the images using toning metallic paints (I seem to be in to metallic paints at the moment!?!)

Woodland, Orchard, Glade & Spinney Design A Tree Multibuy

On the final page, I used Distress Oxide Sprays through a stencil and then stamped the images using Versafine Clair in black. I coloured the images using glitter paints and then added some of my own doodles with a black fine liner pen.

Steampunk Birds

 

I am planning my final blog for January as I write this and it will involve a black tag and possibly some embossing powder- still to be decided.

Happy crafting!

Christine

Quick Cards (by Christine)

Hello everyone, today sees the final blog post this month from our Guest Design Team member, Christine. She has made some speedy cards for your inspiration.

Christine writes:

Hello everyone.

My final blog post for March!

The first project comprises four examples of quick cards to have available in your stash! I used four mini gelli plates of different shapes, Distress Inks and stamps from Rustic Fragments set to give detail. I then chose some beautiful floral stamps, colouring in two of them with sparkle pens, but leaving two of them simply stamped, (I thought the colour from the gelli plates was enough). Floral stamps used are:

Rose Set
Rose and Thistle set
Medici Flower
Rose Stem Script

The second card was also quite a fast one to achieve. I had a circles stencil on my desk so chose blue, pink and yellow Distress Oxides and mixed them across the stencil. I cut the resulting image into different widths of strips and glued them across a piece of white card on the diagonal. Once complete, I cut out a 5" square then stamped one of the Geometric Trading Hearts with Versafine Clair Onyx Black in the centre. On a remaining piece of the striped background card, I stamped one of the sentiments from the same set.
Mounting on black card was the final step before adding to the card blank.

My final card showcases the stunning stamp sheet called The Folk Art Garden.
The first step was to create the background using the Open Weave stamp and Distress Ink. I then stamped the image with Versafine Clair Onyx Black ink and coloured it with pencils. When I was finished I added Glossy Accents to the butterfly and then glitter around some of the elements. The sentiments are from The Folk Art Garden stamp set.

I hope you have enjoyed my blog posts and look forward to catching up with you later.
Happy crafting!

Christine
xx

The sweet scent of a Rose by Brenda

Hello Peeps, it's Brenda here today and when you read this post all going to plan I will be away taking in some Italian and French sunshine.

It's more Roses and these beautiful new sets launched by Lesley on Hochanda last month were a delight to work with. I stamped the above from the Rose and Thistle set with Versafine Clair and heat embossed with detail clear EP then coloured in with Koh-i-noor paints and added a sentiment from Words to Dazzle and Sparkle.

Those of you who saw my post earlier this month will know I am a big fan of using Distress Markers and a water direct to stamp and this was another using that technique after adding masking tape to the edges of the piece of card. After stamping the focal from the Rose Set I used DI's to add shading and some stencilling.

A fairly simple one here, the image had been stamped onto white cardstock using Versafine Clair and then heat embossed with detail clear EP, cut out and matted onto white and then an embossed back panel using a Rose folder onto which I added black DI before running through the e.bosser.

Using another of the small worker stamps I repeat stamped using different colours of DI, spritzed with water which gave a nice faded vintage feel.

My final one using this beautiful focal image along with the small Rose repeat stamped on the background, all stamped with Versafine Clair which gives a lovely crisp image to these detailed stamps.

Many thanks for your visit today.

More roses....by Rachel.

Hello there! Here are my second set of samples from June's shows using some of the beautiful Rose sets.

This first one used the rose set stamp that I cut down having stamped multiple times.

This one used flake and glue and the rose and thistle stamp set and the rose set. 

This one using the rose set was done using the gelli plate...I inked up the plate then stamped directly into the gelli plate with no ink on. I then pulled this print!

Finally I made this one using the rose and thistle stamp set and the rose set. I stamped the small stamp from the rose set in the background and coloured up the image to go on top!

I hope you have enjoyed todays inspiration!

Hugs

Rachel x

Roses in July part 2 (by Magda)

Hi and welcome back.
Are you ready for my second Post? This time I decided for a blurred background of this Love Journaling page.

Step 1:
As you can notice all the first stamping and coloring has been covered with a light coat of white gesso.

Step 2:
On the dry surface I stenciled several layers of colour using randomly different stencils

Step 3:
I stamped directly on the pages and colored the roses I have chosen

Step 4:
I cut some decoupage-roses and sentiments and glued on the journaling pages, I attached Washi-tape too.

For this page I used the following products :
Rose and Thistle
Rose Set
Harlequin Rose
Loving Sentiments
White Gesso
Distress Ink Pad
Watercolour Pencils



Heartfelt Thanks card :   the only difficulty in this card is to stamp in a reflex way the stamp you will find in Rose and Thistle using Archival Jet Black.  Both backgrounds are dabbed gently with Distress Ink Pad,  the flowers are coloured with Watercolour Pencils and the sentiment Words to Dazzle and Sparkle is stamped with Archival Jet Black

Thank you for passing by, hugs

Magda

candle gift (by Veronica)

 For my second post this  month i am back to playing with another favourite, a decorated candle.

I used the small rose from the rose set  - you don't necessarily have to use the larger images to create an impressive effect.....

I stamped the rose three times onto white tissue paper and coloured on the reverse with marker pens. Paint with a wet paint brush round the edges of the design and tear out carefully.  Lay the images one at a time onto the candle, wrap a sheet of copy paper firmly round to hold in place and heat with a heat gun on a low setting to set the image into the candle (I use a very old hairdryer type gun that has a fairly low setting anyway). Repeat placing the other images equally around the candle - the eagle eyed will have spotted that I reversed one image, purely accidental as I dropped it and didn't notice the mistake until too late!

The box was made using an envelope board, with the rose stamped onto the sides before assembling it, and again onto matching card to make a closure using velcro dots.

I added a set of notelet cards using 4" square card blanks using a yellow mat to pick up the cololur of the rose. The back flap of the envelope was also stmaped with the same image, using second generation stamping for a fainter image.

Smell the Roses by Brenda

Good morning, Brenda here with some of my samples using the new Rose and Thistle and Rose stamps that Lesley launched on Hochanda TV last month, such perfect images for making Summer cards........and confetti, I have been dehydrating rose petals on a daily basis to fill little boxes to hand out to guest as they arrive at Church for our eldest Granddaughters wedding.

The panel of the top card was masked before stamping the Rose from Rose Set using Distress Markers direct to stamp and spritzed with water to bleed the colours before stamping. With the masking tape still in place I used DI's to create the frame and a brick stencil to add some background interest, finally stamping a sentiment from Birthday Words.

Next a card with matching envelope, I masked the bottom of the card both front and back and repeat stamped the Rose and Thistle from the set of the same name using Distress Markers direct to stamp along with a spritz of water before stamping. Next I added some shading with DI, then 'splodged'......a very technical term......more of the same DI onto my glass craft mat, a little water and inked up a fan brush and flicked it over the stamping to give the effect of grass.  I masked the envelope with a post it note, stamped the flowers and again some shading with the same DI. The sentiment is from Words to Dazzle and Sparkle.

                                                    

  

For this one I stamped the image with Versafine onto black card and embossed with detail gold EP. I ripped the edges, inked and added more gold EP and the same with the sentiment panel.

I love purple and teal together so those two colours of Distress Ink were the inspiration for this one. Using my stamping platform I repeat stamped this pretty bloom by inking the image with Distress Markers and water.........and yes, this is a favourite technique of mine as you might have guessed from this post. It doesn't work with all stamps but where there is a lot of detail and rubber it works brilliantly.

My final share and yes you guessed right, the stamp platform and Distress Markers again and here I have tried to show how east it is to get a totally different look from the stamp as using this method to add ink you can focus on just the focal blooms and leaves and leave out the other areas of the stamp. I then added some stencilling to the background.

My thanks as always for your visit today, myself and the Design Team always appreciate your words of encouragement.

Rose Wreath (by Julie)

Hello, today it is my turn to show you two of my creations from Chocolate Baroque's June   Hochanda TV show's.

My first card is stamped with the Rose and Thistle set. 

To start with I stamped the central heart design onto spare card, before colouring with Polychromus pencils and then die cutting with a circle die.

For the base card I stamped the larger rose bud stamp in an overlapping circle design to form a wreath shape that fits around the circle die cut. You can fill in any gaps with the smaller rose bud and then colour with Polychromus pencils.

The single rose stem was stamped around the background with a pale grey ink, before Distress inks were applied with a sponge over the top.

To finish off, a sentiment from Words to Dazzle and Sparkle was added.

My second card is a simple DL design that I have stamped using the Rose Set. I inked up the rose tile stamp with Onyx Black Versafine ink and stamped in a chequer board style. No measuring was needed, I just lined it all up by eye but of course you can use a stamp positioner if you wish.

In the spaces I added the rose bud stamp and then coloured with a red Polychromus pencil. The sentiment is from Words to Dazzle and Sparkle. I then cut the design to size and mounted onto red card before adhering to the front of the card blank.

Thanks for stopping by. Please call back soon for more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

A rose garden (by Rachel)

Hello there! Its Rachel here today sharing the first of my samples from the June shows. For these samples I used the stamp sets Rose and Thistle and Rose set. I used various techniques to create these samples. In this first card I created a background using inks and the gelli plate  and stamped the main image from the rose stamp set onto the plate itself without any ink. I pulled the print and then added further stamping to that using the single rose stamp from the rose and thistle stamp set.

Next I made a monolith - I covered it in blue paint then overstamped with the small rose image that I painted in using translucent paints. I added the main image then from the rose stamp set which I had painted and fussy cut.

This next one was made using the rose and thistle set - I stamped in grey on the background then added the same image to a piece of card developed using a gelli plate and ink again. The image was then coloured in water colour pencils.

Finally I decorated one of the paint brushes from one of the show specials..I think it was from the May show.

I used the fabric and flowers that also came with that special set and added some paint too and some fussy cut stamped images!

I hope you can find some inspiration here!

Big hugs

Rachel xx

Roses in July, part 1 (by Magda)

Hello,
the subject of this month are "Roses" and I have really a great choice among all the "Roses" stamps from Chocolate Baroque. For this post I used the same sentiment and tried to create a monochromatic atmosphere.

1. Birthday Wishes Card:
This card has a soft colourful Distress Ink Pad, layered stenciled background on which I glued a decoupage.  I stamped  on a white cardstock the rose composition from Rose and Thistle  with a mix of Distress Black Soot and Brushed Corduroy,  blended the stamp with a watercolour brushed and fussy cut the shape. The sentiment of Amazing Mackintosh Words  is stamped with Archival Jet Black on a left over piece of the background.

2. Birthday Wishes Tag:
Stamp on a craft Tag with Distress Ink Pad Walnut Stain the big Rose stamp of the Rose Set.
Use white and brown charcoal pencil to highlight and to darken roses and leaves. Stamp the sentiment of Amazing Mackintosh Words with Archival Carnation  Red the sentiment to give a contrast to the tag.

3. Birthday Wishes Bookmark :

Blend lightly a white bookmark with Distress Ink Pad Brushed Corduroy.  Stamp the 4x4 cm rose of the Rose Set in several brown Distress Ink Pad, and the sentiment of Amazing Mackintosh Words  with the same colour used for the roses. Assemble all the cuts as shown in the picture.

I will meet you soon with "Roses in July part 2 " and have a nice rest of July,
Magda

brusho roses (by Veronica)

 The lovely flower stamps on last month's tv shows were perfect to use with my favourite brusho powders - promise my next post doesn't have brusho in it!
The first card uses the rose panel stamp, from the rose and thistle set, simply stamped with versafine black ink and clear embossed onto a piece of papwer coloured with brusho powders. Trimmed to leave a border around the stamp, then matted onto first white card and then black card before mounting onto a white card blank.

 The other cards were done the other way around, stamping and embossing first onto white card, then colouring with the brusho powders.
For this one I used grey and yellow powders - i had a sympathy card in mind, but it would also be suitable for a man. The stamp is the large rose from the rose  set, which was used for both cards.

This one was coloured with red, yellow and turquoise powders - the turquoise got a bit too far up on the top left, and I ended up with a rather strange coloured  rosebud! Once dry, it was trimmed right down to just the rose, then cut into four pieces, which were glued onto black card.
The stamp was stamped without reinking  onto the outside edge of the square card blank to make a faint background (my ink pad had been reinked recently, so was quite juicy so the ink had stayed fairly wet on the stamp)

A Bunch of Roses (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have two projects to share with you today using little worker stamps. These small stamps are often overlooked on a stamp set in favour of the bigger images. You can quickly create a lovely card using the small images by creating a bckground, and adding a sentiment or topper.

My first card uses some images from the Rose Set, with a Rennie Mackintosh feel to them. I love this style, and chose soft colours to create a vintage look for the card. I placed a circle mask onto a piece of drawing cartridge, then added colour to the background by placing some chalk ink onto a large acrylic block, spritzing it with water, and dragging it across the drawing cartridge. Once the background was dry, I stamped the two small rose images with burgundy and green ink, and stamped them in first, second and third generation stamping randomly over the background.

I removed the mask and embossed the sentiment in the middle using gold embossing powder. Using gold embossing powder again, I stamped the larger circle image nine times onto a spare piece of card. I coloured the image using the same colours of ink that I had used on the background, adding the colour with a water brush. I cut the circles out and attached them using 3D foam.

For my next card, I stamped the little rose sprigs from the Rose and Thistle stamp set randomly over the background. I added a topper stamped with an image from the Rose Stem Script stamp set. In my fabric sample, I added a sentiment from the Words to Dazzle and Sparkle stamp set. The images were coloured with Inktense pencils.

In the second sample, I stamped onto Textured Art Card to give a feeling of fabric, and coloured the images with Koh-I-Noor paints. The sentiment comes from the Rose Stem Script stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

An old rose (by Miranda)

Hello there,

Happy to be here again and show you my play with one of the older CB stamps called Rose Set.

 It's a very detailed rose but it is gorgeous I think...it took me some while but as I love to color it was not a punishment.......

I made the background again with a favorite technique I am using quit a lot these day, fluid inks.....like Ecoline and used also white to get that soft coloured finish. Some parts are coloured using Distress inks and some are coloured using pencils. It's tricky to use water based mediums over the top because the background stays reactive........

Randomly I stamped partial the small text fragment from Eccentric Edwardian sheet using Memento Toffee Crunch.

The next step was stamping several ornament stamps from the Fancy Flourishes clear stamp sheet. I have embossed them using clear mat embossing powder and blended afterwards with Distress inks to let them pop......

Than just some plain stamping with these ornaments and adding some crackle effects using the crackle fragment from the Echoes of Italy.

Well, enough text for now, onto the card......

Hope you did enjoyed it and hope to see you next time!

Thanks for your visit and I always like to read your comments, any questions....feel free to ask!