Spring Primroses (by Carole)

Hello everyone, today sees the first of three posts this month by our regular Guest Design Team member Carole. She has created a beautiful Spring themed project for your inspiration.

Carole writes:

 

Hello everyone.

I'm delighted to be doing a GDT session again.

I have revisited some older stamps as these are often neglected and it's not until I start using them again that I realise how much I enjoyed them the last time I used them.

So many ideas buzz around and no time to do them!!!

As the weather has been gorgeous here for a little while, and the garden is bursting with life, my first sample is using Spring Awakening. This is a lovely stamp for Spring birthdays and Mother's Day cards. 

The colours look a bit washed out in my photo unfortunately.

Stamps used: Spring Awakening, Amazing Mackintosh Words, Essence of Nature

I stamped the face onto a piece of backing paper that had been coloured with different yellows and sage Distress Inks. This was then spritzed to was the colour out a little.

The primroses were stamped a few more times, cut out and coloured.

The main image was coloured with watercolour pencils, still one of my favourite ways to add colour.

The loose primroses were then added to the areas required.

Hope you are enjoying some lovely Springtime weather where you are too.

See you next time for another of my samples.

Happy Crafting

Carole 😊

The Magic of Nature (by Carole)

Hello everyone, Carole is back with her final post of the month, a beautiful Spring themed card. 

Carole writes:

Hello again, another project for February, it is a little busier than my previous projects.
As Spring is in the air, or so they say, (it's got to come some time), I have used the pretty Spring Awakening stamp. She is one of the Four Seasons stamps, all of which I like.

Products used:

Spring Awakening stamp
Distress inkpads: Squeezed Lemonade, Dusty Concord
Versafine Smokey Gray, black permanent inkpad
Clear embossing powder, parchment paper
The words are made up from a section of one of the sayings from Let's Get Festive and Essence of Nature.

It is useful to be able to use parts of sayings from different sets. It makes them go further. Like the Autumn card I made for a previous Guest Design Team post, the hair can be inked separately to make a good background. This I did with Versafine, onto a background made with Squeezed Lemonade and Dusty Concord Distress inkpads. The Lady is stamped and embossed, then coloured with the same colours as the background. I stamped the primrose clump three times and cut around them to make an added feature.
I wanted to pick up a little of the violet colour so have mounted the background onto a violet coloured card and then the white card base.
The words are stamped with a permanent inkpad onto the parchment and when this had dried thoroughly, I tore around the relevant words.

Thank you for visiting and I look forward to my next session later in the year.
Bye for now and happy crafting,

Carole.

Awesome, Creative, Amazing (by Brenda)

Morning Peeps, just popping in with my final few shares made with the stamps Lesley showcased on Hochanda recently.

If I had to choose a favourite from the lovely Seasonal Ladies I think it would be Autumn Medley  featured on the card above, mainly because I just love working with Autumnal colours. My starting point was to stamp the image with Versamark and emboss with detail copper before colouring in with Distress Inks. Using a mask and texture paste I added some branches across the top and when dry replaced the mask and rubbed over some Distress Inks and glue here and there and some Gilding Flakes although that doesn't really show up in my photo I'm afraid. Finally I stamped three words from the Amazing Mackintosh Words stamp set, cut them out and added to the finished piece.

Here I stamped the image from Mackintosh Beauty stamp set three times and coloured in with Distress Ink, matted and layered with coordinating card and stamped a sentiment from Mackintosh Sentiments set.

The background of my next card is Distress Inks with a spritz of mica spray which helps the colours blend into each other. The lovely Spring Awakening image is stamped with Versafine black and heat embossed with detail clear and pencils used to colour the flowers in her hair. Using the new masks which compliment the Seasonal Ladies I inked some leaves, the sun and word.    

My final share used an image from Mackintosh Beauty, stamped with Versafine black and heat embossed with detail clear onto a piece of card created with the shaving foam technique.........I tend to have a session with different colours so I have a stock of them ready to stamp onto. I coloured the image with pencils, matted her into the base card, tied some ribbon and stamped and cut out a rose from the same set to place in the centre.

As always my thanks for you visit today.

Spring Awakening (by Marga)

Hello everyone.

What is more relaxing than colouring, I think nothing.

This one I coloured with Distress Inks.

I used the stamps : Spring Awakening, Amazing Mackintosh words.

Hugs 

Marga

Spring Love (by Magda)

I have been inspired by a "Spring Love Song" that I heard few days  ago and Chocolate Baroque has the right stamps for giving life to my project.

Step by Step :
1.  Stamp with Versafine Onyx Black the single stamp Spring Awakening  on a white cardstock card.
2.  Colour the figure with water colour pencils and blend with a Watercolour brush
3.  Stamp twice with Versafine Onyx Black  the heart from the set Music Fanfare and colour them as
     done at point 2.
4.  Blend lightly and randomly the background with Distress Ink Pad Worn Lipstick
5.  Stencil some small hearts around the figures  using Distress Ink Pad Antique Linen
6.  Stamp with Versafine Onyx Black the sentiment of set Mackintosh Sentiments

Your mat is now ready and you can assemble your card.

Thank you for passing by.
Magda 

Spring (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a couple of projects to share with you today, showcasing some of the fabulous products featured on last month's second show on Hochanda.

For my first project, I used a piece of background watercolour paper from my stash, already coloured with Distress Inks, and added some stencilling, using the Useful Leaves Stencil and two different colours of green ink. I coloured some texture paste with green ink, and spread it through the Seasonal Journey Stencil, choosing the word 'Spring'. Once the paste was dry, I added some green gilding wax to darken the colour slightly, and add some shimmer.

I stamped two butterflies from the Just Butterflies stamp set onto acetate using Versafine Onyx Black Ink, and embossed them with clear embossing powder. I coloured the reverse of the images with alcohol markers,and cut the images out, before attaching them to the background. I chose a bright green card to mat the background.

For my second card, I stamped the lovely Spring Awakening image onto a piece of smooth watercolour paper, and masked the image. I coloured the background with Distress Inks, and added some stencilling with a honeycomb stencil in two opposite corners.

I drew through the twig section of the Seasonal Elements Stencil, using a water based marker, and then added some leaves, using a bright green marker. I used the same green to add the word Spring from the Seasonal Journey Stencil. I added some detail to the leaves with a darker green pencil.

I stamped a bee and butterfly from the Patchwotk Butterfly and The Rose Tree stamp sets onto acetate, embossing and colouring them exactly as I did in my first card. I removed the mask, and coloured the main image with pencils. I added some deeper shading around the edge of the card, and matted the background onto some purple card.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Stained glass window (by Brenda)

Good morning, I hope you are all enjoying the Summer weather and as it's 4th July a Happy Independence Day to all our American friends.

This month myself and the Design Team are sharing some of our creations made for the June shows on Hochanda when Lesley shared the most beautiful Machintosh inspired stamp sets during the first batch of shows and on the second the lovely Seasonal Ladies, all of which were a joy to work with.

My card at the top uses two of the images from Mackintosh Window stamp set, stamped with Versafine Black and heat embossed with Detail Clear powder, coloured in using Distress Inks, added some Liquid Pearls to the flower centres and matted and layered onto a landscape card.

For this card I stamped three of the words from Amazing Mackintosh Words onto a square of white card and then flicked some watered down Distress Ink and then stamped the large swirl from Patchwork Butterfly set using Blue Versafine ink.

Next I stamped Large Crackle Background around the edges of a small chipboard frame using the same blue ink and lightly inked the edges. I made a template of the inside of the frame and drew around the shape on a craft mat, heated some clear and blue UTEE and poured onto the shape on my craft mat and quickly stamped the image from Mackintosh Windows using white ink. I cut away the excess from the edges whist still warm, fixed inside the frame and then onto my card and added some twine and flowers.

Here I used Brushos, stamped abound the edges using Distress Ink and two of the individual roses from Mackintosh Windows, a sentiment from Amazing Mackintosh Words and then the beautiful Spring Awakening image. I coloured the flowers in her hair with pencils and added some pearls to the centres.

The background for this card was made with watered down blue Distress Ink and mopped with a piece of kitchen towel to keep it as pastel as possible. Next Winter Dawn was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with white detail clear powder and the colour bleached out before colouring with Distress Inks........a good tip when bleaching away colour is to allow the bleach to dry properly and leave for half an hour or so, otherwise added colour can fade.

Using the new stencils that match the Seasonal Ladies I added some snowflakes and the words using Distress inks.

Many thanks for popping in to have a peek today.

Spring Awakening (by Julie)

Hello, thanks for stopping by. Today I have two cards to share with you that I made for Lesley's most recent Hochanda TV show. They both feature the rather lovely Spring Awakening  lady and I have shown two ways of using her. The first one is if you fancy using your colouring pencils and the second would suit you if you're not really in a colouring mood.

For my first card I started by inking up the Spring Awakening lady with grey archival ink and then stamping in the centre of the card base.  Hopefully you will have the new stencils that were launched on Hochanda as you will need the Seasonal Journey. I placed the stencil on the card and applied Gesso through SPRING, heat setting as I went so that I could get on and do the next bit of stencilling. Once the Gesso has dried place the SPRING back over the dried Gesso but slightly off set it and apply brown dye ink through the aperture. Once you have completed the 4 stencilled Spring words take the Useful Leaves stencil and apply green acrylic paint through the aperture. Before moving onto the next set of leaves dry with a heat gun.

Once the stencilling is complete colour the lady with coloured pencils and then sponge Squeezed Lemonade and Old Paper Distress inks over the background. I have finished of the card with white paint pen highlights and dabs of Crystal Stickles.

For my second card the lady was stamped onto Kraft card with black Versafine. I used Polychromus pencils to colour the main image. You don't have to go into too much detail with the colouring as the Kraft card is very forgiving. The background is stamped with Spring Foliage stamps and blue dye ink has been applied with a wet wipe. The card has been finished off with a few die cut flowers and a narrow frame cut from Kraft card was placed around the outside edge.

Thanks for looking and please call back for more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

Spring Awakening (posted by Claire)

Good morning folks, Claire here with  an 8x8 canvas for our texture theme. I love this gorgeous lady,  and although it's Autumn here I couldn't resist colouring  'Spriing Awakening' for this project. You can find her here.

I added texture to the background using texture paste, I scored some 'rays' for a little spring sunshine with an old credit card and stamped into the texture paste with some of the stamps from Nature Fragments. Once it was dry I added a little stencilling, once it was dry I set to with acrylic paints to add some colour. I distressed the edges with walnut stain distress ink.

I coloured the image with Graph'It markers and cut her out before glueing her to the canvas.

I used my glue gun and acrylic paint to create the word Spring and then added a little gilding wax here and there and lots of embellishments for some more texture.

Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

Four Seasons for Four Ladies (by Anne)

Good morning. I am so loving the new Four Seasons Collection of stamps. I love the new Tangled Birch too – will have to make something with that very soon.
Running behind with time to get my post done for you today I thought that I had better make something quick and easy with a clean and simple style (CAS). The stamps are so gorgeous in themselves that they really do not need much adding to them. I started with the gorgeous Summer Fair, simply stamped with Versafine (Onyx Black). I then quickly coloured the flowers and foliage by scribbling with watercolour pencils and brushing over with a water brush. Voila! A lovely CAS quick card – all I had to do was mount her on a card blank.

However …… those of you that know me, know that I struggle a little with this style. I am definitely a ‘more is more’ girl – tee hee. I thought … ‘well I have to do a set of 4 to include all 4 seasons’. Off I went to make the others with Autumn Medley, Spring Awakening and Winter Dawn.
But then I thought … ‘wouldn’t they look good with my Art Nouveaux style die cut frame’. This then involved die cutting, matting and layering. Cutting the oval from the stamped images also required a little bit of care as parts of the image overhung the frame. I have included a pic for those that are new to this technique. You need to snip into the image so that you can leave the overhang free from the die.

But I didn’t stop there! I then thought ….. ‘oooh, wouldn’t they look good with some of my die cut flowers and leaves’. So my quick to make single CAS card turned into a mammoth make. I did have fun though.

I hope that you like them …. And you could always stop at the CAS stage. Anne xxx.

Four seasons by Veronica

 Four cards using the lovely new seasonal ladies stamps - big stamps that are an absolute delight to colour in.
The first uses spring awakening, stamped with black versafine, clear embossed, and coloured with pencils.
Die cut, then mounted on a 7" square white card blank randomly stamped with an old flower stamp from my stash using old paper distress ink.(Briar rose butterfly,  can't find it on the website at the moment, but it is avaiable from the Craft Channel website)

 Summer fair is the next stamp, again stamped in bl;ack versafine and clear embossed before colouring with pencils. I stamped a mask using masking tissue and masked the image before adding a gelli plate background uisng distress inks.
Again an oval die cut, and a 7" square white card blank stamped with a stamp from poppy meadow across the bottom using peeled paint distress inks.

 Autumn medley also has a gelli plate background added after colouring and masking the image, this time using acrylic paints and leaves from the garden.
This time the mount is an 8" square white card.
The wood -effect background is thanks to a link from Eileen Godwin.

Last lady is winter dawn, stamped with versamark onto light blue card and embossed with silver. Coloured with pencils again, white chalk marker, rhinestones added to the snowflakes.
Base card was 8" square in silver pearl, randomly stamped with a snowflake stamp from a child is born using silver pigment ink.
The mats are dark and light silvers.

My teamies have made some wonderful creations, so keep checking to se them all!

Spring and Summer Beauties (by Julie )

Hello and welcome. Today I have two more cards created with the fabulous new Seasonal Ladies.

My first card is with the lovely Summer Fair lady which I stamped onto Kraft card and coloured with Polycromos pencils. The base card was stamped with Pretty Poppies and coloured with Polychromos pencils. I wanted to create a washed out, bleached kind of look so added Picket Fence stain to the main design and base card. To finish off I added a die cut butterfly coloured with gilding wax and a piece of gold cord threaded with beads.

I have loved working with the Polychromos pencils and Kraft card so for my last card it will come as no surprise that the lovely Spring Awakening lady has been created in a similar style. I have just added die cut flowers around the main image and stamped bubbles from the Rustic Fragments in the background to add some extra interest. To finish off I have added dabs of Crystal Stickles and sentiment.

That's all from me this month, but please pop back very soon to see some more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

Absolutely Fabulous new stamps launch today (by Lesley)

I am almost bursting with excitement as I am so proud to be bringing you five new designs from Sue that will blow your socks off!  

Today we are launching our Four Seasons Collection, plus a new tangled style stamp, and boy are these something.  They are all A6 size individual unmounted stamps, although they are available as part of our cling and cut service for a small additional charge. Anyway enough of the boring stuff here are the images you are waiting for.

The Four Seasons starts with Spring Awakening

followed by Summer Fair

then Autumn Medley

and finally Winter Dawn

I am sure you will agree that Sue has created something really unique with these stunning images and for all colourists, in any medium, they will be an absolute dream to play with. You can purchase these individually or we also have our usual money saving multi-buy available.

The fifth new release is entitled Tangled Birch and is another outstanding design.

All five of these stamps are so new we don't even have any finished artwork yet, but I really didn't want to keep these hidden any longer so I have released them ahead of time. Please watch out for loads of inspirational artwork to come from the Design Team who, I might add, have all nearly fainted with excitement at being able to work with these glorious images. 

Looking at these I am not sure which I would purchase first, but suffice to say that I remain in envy of Sue. Being able to draw this kind of beauty and quality of image is a wondeful talent to have and we are lucky enough to be able to share that in these exquisite new stamps. I am sure you will all agree.

In the meantime please don't forget to keep dropping by to see tons of inspirational and colourful artwork from our equally talented Design Team.  Now which one should I play with first!