Super Steampunk (by Lesley Ebdon)

Hello again everyone, time for my second post for this month and this time I've used the pretty awesome Steampunk Butterfly set to create an MDF plaque.

I've used acrylic chalk paints, texture paste, Antiquing Cream, gilding paste and Archival Ink on the plaque with rusty metal bits raided from my stash.  The fab butterfly is painted with water based metalic paints.

As always if you would like more information on how I created this project please hop over to my blog.  I'll be back next Wednesday with my final project for this month and hope you can stop by.

Hugs
Lesley  XX

Steampunk Babushka (posted by Claire)

Good morning folks, Claire here with a  fun card using one of the gorgeous new Babushka stamps from Chocolate Baroque, these stamps are so cute but I thought it would be fun to give this little lady a bit of a steampunk twist.

I began by creating a 'marbled stains' background using Burnished Pewter, Walnut Stain, Tarnished Brass, Picket Fence and Tea Dye. Next I cut a square for my background and stamped Babushka on another scrap of the background with Archival black ink and coloured her with coloured pencils. I stamped the cogs from Punky Romance on the background with versamark ink and embossed with Gold embossing powder. It looks almost black in the pic but that's my bad photography lol. I stamped 'Imgine' (from Artistic Expressions) with Versamark and again embossed with gold embossing powder.

 I took a scrap of vellum and stamped the 'bat' wings from Steampunk Butterfly and embossed with black embossing powder. I cut them out and stuck them to the back of Babushka and layered her up on the background with 3d foam pads.

 Don't forget to keep popping back to see what my talented teamies have been creating. Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

Dreamy Steampunk travel (by Miranda)

Hi there lovely people,

For now my last blogpost....again with one of the images of the Steampunk travel sheet. This time I have used the mobile phone.......the lovely ornament from the Steampunk Butterfly sheet and some gears from the Steampunk Christmas and the Punky flowers sheet. All gorgeous sheets which combine with each other perfectly. And of course there are more Steampunk sheets at CB.....just type steampunk into the search area and you will see them all!

Here is the card..... 

I have made an inky background using fluid inks and stamped the ornament twice in each corner. I have coloured the mobile phone using color pencils and embossed the gears using copper embossing powder. 

a close-up......I have coloured the gear on the telephone using a copper gelli-pen.

Hope to have set your' gears' in motion with this steampunk inspiration and I will just say we will ' see' each other again in blogland or somewhere in digital space! I just can't leave the Chocolate Baroque scene.........

Thanks for all your lovely comments and encouragement through the years!

We sure will meet again on our creative path!

Colourful Punk (by Lesley)

One of the sets featured on the last TV show was Steampunk Butterfly, a set that can be used in so many different ways.  Today I want to share a DL tag with you which I made some time ago. It shows two of the images from this set which rarely get a look in, the rose stem and rose bud. And as you know I love colour so get out the sunglasses!

• The background was created on a DL piece of stamping card using the acrylic block technique and Dylusions Spray inks
• The music image from Music Fanfare was stamped around the edges with Versafine Onyx Black.
• The two rose images were stamped on another background, which was made on a self adhesive label with spray inks using the acrylic block technique. Only the heads of the flowers were cut out.
• Finally the roses were stamped on the main background and the rose heads stuck over the top.

Once again a self adhesive label allowed me to introduce more colour to the original background without the need to mask. I really do enjoy using these techniques and hope you will give them a try.

More super designs are still to come from the girls so please visit us again tomorrow.

Girly Gears and Soft Steampunk (by Asha)

Good morning, friends. I'm back with two projects featuring stamps from the Steampunk Butterfly A5 sheet.

First up is this this feminine number with soft colours. I inked up the background with Distress Inks and stamped the gears from Steampunk Butterfly with light grey ink. Then I heat embossed the large butterfly on purple cardstock with gold embossing powder and popped it up with foam tape.  The sentiment is from Patchwork Landscape A4 sheet.

My second card is a striking red-black-white combo. For this card I stamped the quarter lace fragment from the Steampunk Butterfly A5 sheet to form a complete circle and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. And voila - a lace doily! Keeping it simple with a sentiment from the  Pretty Poppies A5 sheet, heat embossed in red onto a piece of vellum. In keeping with the focal image, I also rounded the corners of the card.

There you have it - my feminine take on the steampunk style. I hope you'll have fun playing with these stamps.

Thank you for stopping by today and don't forget to come back for more mind-blowing designs from the rest of the team.

Beijinhos,
Asha 

Two Butterflies (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I love to revist old stamp sets, to mix them up with newer sets, and to use materials that I did not have the first time around. The Steampunk Butterfly stamp set featured on the recent Craft Channel TV shows is no exception; it is a really versatile stamp set, with some lovely stamps in the set.

I created a background using gelatos, and then stamped the cog fragment using Distress Ink. I used some pretty background papers from the Crafty Individuals range to create a bit of paper weaving, and also stamped and embossed two of the large butterflies onto the same papers, using silver embossing powder. I stamped a sentiment from the Awesome Diva clear stamp set onto the background. Finally, I used some co-ordinating card to mat and layer the background.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Steampunk Butterfly (by Julie)

Hello, thanks for stopping by. Today I have two projects to show you that have been created with the very versatile Steampunk Butterfly set.

I covered the canvas with a base of pink and green liquid watercolour before inking up the decorative corner with black acrylic paint and stamping in opposite corners of the canvas. I found I got a better image by just using the rubber stamp pressed onto the stretched canvas with my fingers as the stamp block makes it harder to get a clear impression. When the black paint was dry I over-stamped with Picket Fence Distress paint.

The cogs have been die cut from chipboard, painted with black acrylic paint and then stamped with Picket Fence Distress paint using the cog stamp.

The butterfly was inked up with Onyx Black Versafine, stamped into white polymer clay, cut out and baked according to the packet instructions before being painted with watercolour and finished off with gilding wax. The little key stamps were inked with Brass Distress paint and randomly stamped around the canvas followed by black acrylic paint dabbed around the edges of the canvas.

My second project is a DL card. The base has been coloured with Pan Pastels and then sprayed with a fixative before being over-stamped with the cogs. The butterflies and bat have been stamped with Sepia Versafine and coloured with Pan Pastels, sprayed with fixative, before being finished off with black Stickles. To add interest I inked up the trio key stamp with Onyx Black Versafine and stamped around the base card, I then took a white opaque pen to add highlights to the keys.

Please stop by again soon to catch some more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

Celebrate the New Year with New Stamps (by Lesley)

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and happy New Year and are feeling ready to face 2016.  I wouldn't blame you if you weren't. Rubbish weather, back to work, dark mornings and nights - not a lot to put a smile on your face there. So I hope that seeing these gorgeous new stamps will gladden your heart just a little and inspire to get back to stamping and crafting.

Last month we exclusively launched two new individual cling mounted stamps on the Craft Channel and today they are now on general release.  Walled Garden and Another Brick in the Walled Garden are cling mounted and cut out ready to use as soon as you receive them. And both stamps benefit from having a Free unmounted bonus stamp included in the pack.

Here is the Walled Garden, with the silhouette tree that stamps perfectly in the archway.

Another Brick in the Walled Garden (and yes the association with Pink Floyd's immortal song is intentional!) has a silhouette flower stem that can be used to add extra interest around the wall.

Sue has drawn two wonderful images that will be can be stamped and coloured with whatever medium you choose.  Whether you are a novice stamper or you have a wealth of experience these stamps will be so useful for a variety of projects and occasions.

You will have already seen some of the excellent samples from the Design Team girls and I have to say they really did the stamps justice with all their TV creations. They featured on the TV along with our Steampunk Butterfly and Steampunk Travel sets, so watch out for more inspiration using all these stamps during this month.

Steampunk travel (by Miranda)

Hi lovely people,

Hope you all did enjoy your Christmastime and holidays! The Old year is gone and a whole New year is ahead of us........

Maybe you have already heard the news on my blog but I will quit doing DT work. I am a bit sad about it because my time with this DT was precious to me. We have and had(all the other DT girls which have been on board during the years) a lovely time together. Always encouraging each other and also in the private sphere.
But sometimes life demands taking action and doing necessary things.
So I won't disappear completely but at this time I don't know exactly where life is taking me.......

Anyway, I want to thank you also for your lovely comments and encouragement along the way! Stay creative and keep on loving Chocolate Baroque!

I will be finishing my promised blogposts for Chocolate Baroque and this time I have worked with the great Steampunk Travel sheet. It's in a multi-buy with the Steampunkery sheet.

I had this background left over from one of the Colour challenges so these colors matches perfect with this theme I think.

I just stamped the center image in plain black and the other ones with gray ink. Coloured with color pencils and added some gears from the Steampunk butterfly sheet. Chocolate Baroque has some lovely Steampunk sheets with that elegant twist.

Hope to have inspired you to get your ' gears' going!

Have a lovely day,

brick wall

Happy New Year everyone, hoping that you have all had a happy Christmas and received loads of crafty goodies - if by any chance you haven't, the Chocolate Baroque sale ends today, so you still have time to put the lack of goodies right!

I have shown a couple of samples from the last TV shows for you today - the first one uses the steampunk butterfly set with a background technique I learnt from Lesley using crackle medium and brusho powders, as well as Lesley's sticky label method.


The second sample uses one of the new garden stamps, which are only now on the website after being exclusive to the Craft Channel. Both of these are big stamps, and come with a mini stamp as well.
I chose to use the brickwall stamp, stamped in sepia versafine onto kraft card, the the bricks coloured with white and brown pencils. I added white and pale blue pencils to the shutters, and green to the leaves of the bush and the ground.
The mini stamp was used to create the background on the card blank.
More details on my blog if you would like to check it out

Thank you for looking, and don't forget to check everyday for some fab samples from the rest of the team - there are some real goodies coming up!

Veronica

His and Hers Steampunk (by Asha)

Happy Boxing Day, fellow chocoholics! Hope everybody had a lovely Christmas.  I've got a couple of card projects to show you.

The first card features the Open Weave cling stamp. I heat embossed it in white on a piece of vellum.  To create the underwater scene I stamped, coloured, fussy cut and adhered elements form the Funky Fish A5 sheet.

The second card is a girly glitzy number featuring the Baroque Orchid cling stamp.  This time I've heat embossed it with Verdegris embossing powder and inked the bckground with Seedless Preserves, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks. The rose is from Steampunk Butterfly, coloured with alcohol markers. And to glam up the card I mounted the design panel on purple glitter foam.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to come back for more creative inspiration form the rest of the design team. Happy Holidays!

Beijinhos,
Asha

pastel steampunk

A bit of a change for me, a heart shaped hanger.
I covered with hanger with white gesso, then brushed the edges  with emulsion paint, using those little tester pots
Once the paint was dry, I stamped the new studded lattice background stamp across the whole shape, using a silver grey ink pad. The butterflies are from the steampunk butterfly set, stamped in dark blue ink, so that the antenna would be there.
I then stamped the butterflies again, once onto a sticky label (thanks Lesley for that tip) and once onto card, fusy cut out and glued over the original stamping. A lilac ribbon completed it.
                                                                                   The Country Market that I bake for is based at a local ex-Servicemen's club, and they always have loads of beer mats from the brewers, so I also altered some of these to make posher coasters. Same paints and inks, but the cog stamp from the set as a background, and butterflies on sticky labels again.
I did cover the back of the beermats with felt to hide the brewer's logo.

The steampunk set wasn't on my want list when it came out, as I only really loved the one stamp, but I found that it has become quite addictive since I started playing with it...............and you can use it for pretty as opposed to grungy. So don't write off that set you were dubious about - wait until it is on offer and then have a go, you may be as surprised as I was!

Thank you for looking, there is some lovely stuff coming up - best wishes for a happy Christmas

Veronica

Steampunk Valentines (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I have two designs to show today using the fabulous new Punky Hearts set.

The card above has a batik painting look to it (at least to me it does).   I used Sapphire Distress spray in the background.  I stamped gears from Steampunk Butterfly with Sapphire & Mahogany Distress Inks.

Next I stamped the roses with Cobalt Archival ink and bleached (using bleach, water & brush and blotting with a paper towel roll) where I wanted to paint.   I used Distress Paints to colour and highlighted a little with a white pen.   I embossed with a cog folder on the white mat.

 And below is the large steampunk heart from the fabulous set:

I created the small background with Tea Dye, Tattered Rose and Bronze Distress Stain Sprays but you could also use Distress Inks.     I stamped using the hearts with Walnut Distress Ink and painted with copper acrylic paint using a harlequin stencil.

The large heart was embossed with copper and painted with Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress ink (using water and ink on my craft mat).

The large background was created with Broken China Distress Paint and stamped with a fragment from Harlequin Fragments with Broken China Distress Ink.

My husband likes both of these designs, I think I'll give him the bottom one.

Thanks for your visit and have a great Valentines Day!
Shirleyx

Steampunk Funky Fish/Steampunk Sea World By Florence

Hi everyone

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas.

Today I would like to share some cards made using some of the fabulous little creatures from the Steampunk Funky Fish and Steampunk and Sea World Stamp sets

These stamp sets are so addictive and such great images to craft with.  The more I use them the more I love them.

The stamps really work in lots of styles whether you want a more simple style of project or whether you want to get inky and create an imaginary underwater scene.

The images also work so well with other Chocolate Baroque Rubber Stamps so you can mix and match the stamps to create your own unique little master pieces.

I made all of these cards in the same way.
If you are new to stamping these cards may look complicated but they are not when you know the order of layers of the colors and stamping.

First stamp your main images that you wish to appear at the forefront of your project ie., the sea monster or the jelly fish.
Mask the images with either a paper or a liquid mask.
  Leave the mask on until the near the end.
Using some Cut-n-Dry foam, colour the whole piece of card (over the masked image) with Distress Inks of the colors of your choice.  Start with a lighter color and then build your colors up.
Take a stencil or mask and place it over the piece.
 Take a darker or a complimentary colored Distress Ink and sponge (over the mask) in areas of your choosing and leave to dry.
Now you can start stamping other images ie., the cogs or background patterns.
If you wish to multi-stamp ie., stamp the same images over the top of each other then it is best to start stamping with a lighter coloured ink first and then use a darker ink to stamp over the top. This helps to create a little bit of depth.  Please see the top of the first card above as an example.
When you have added all of the color and all of the additional stamping you can then take the masks off and color your images and add the highlights.

Tip: Optional -  I fix my ink with a spray fixative and then I add a coat of Mod Podge before I add the high lights. The Mod Podge makes the colors more vibrant.  It also stops the colored ink from contaminating your high lights.

Please feel free to case any of the projects on this post if you wish to.

Thank you for looking.

Wishing you all Health and Happiness for 2015
Florence x

Set Sail (posted by Judith)

Hello everyone, this is my final marine themed post for this month. I have really enjoyed working with these stamps, and have lots more ideas for them.

My project this time around uses the large ship image, which I wanted to portray sailing through a forest at the bottom of the ocean. I stamped the images and then embossed some cogs from the Punky Flowers stamp sheet. I coloured the background using Distress Inks, and then stamped a cog fragment from the Steampunk Butterfly stamp set over the top.

I coloured the images with Inktense pencils and added some fronds at the bottom of the page using the legs from the octopus taken from the stamp of the month set. Finally, I added a sentiment taken from the Steampunkery stamp set.

 Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Steampunk Sea World - Quick Cards By Florence

Hi everyone

Today I would like to share with you two cards I made using the Ship stamp from the new Steampunk Sea World Set.

For these cards I have kept the design pretty simple.  Apart from cutting out the ship, which I have to say didn't take too long at all, these cards were put together in a matter of minutes.

.....and the same card in shades of green and tan.

To make these cards is really straight forward.
Stamp the sentiment along the edge of the base card.
Stamp the ship image onto a separate piece of white card and cut it out.
Color the ship and leave to one side for the moment.
Cut out a small frame and stamp on to it the Cogs pattern (second card).
Cut a piece of backing paper slightly larger than your frame.
Make up the card as seen using foam tabs to attach the small frame and the ship.

For these cards I used Archival Ink for Stamping and water color crayons for coloring the ship.
White Base card size 13.5 cm x 13.5 cm.

Thank you for looking
Happy Stamping

Florence

A Bit of Diversity (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, my post today shows just how versatile the Harlequin Fragments/Tangled Fragments multibuy set can be. I have created some very different looking cards using these great new stamps.

My first card was created using the watery background stamp, which I stamped onto a strip of white card, using black ink several times. I then created three pieces of decorated stampbord, using three layers of embossing powder and stamping into them while the last layer was still molten. I brushed a little bit of gold pearl powder into the crevices to pick up the detail of the stamp.

I matted the background onto a piece of toning card, and stuck this onto a larger piece of black card. I added a sentiment taken from the Artistic Affirmations stamp set.

 

My second card was created using a piece of smooth watercolour paper, which I sprayed with diluted Distress Ink. I then stamped the dotty stamp and the stone effect stamp, using the same colour Distress Ink over the background. I embossed the single stone spine in the centre using a silver embossing powder. I added some ferns around the edges, taken from the Wild Meadow stamp set using green and purple inks.

I stamped and embossed a flower from the Tangled Garden stamp set, plus the leaf fragment using silver embossing powder, which I then painted with water based acrylic inks. I decoupaged the flower, added the larger leaves to the stem, and used the smaller leaves for a grass effect. Finally, I added a sentiment from the Amazing Birthday clear stamp set to the background.

 

My final card was again created using a piece of smooth watercolour paper for the background. This time, I sprayed it with Dylusions spray to create a base for the rest of the background, rolling off some of the intense colour with a paper towel.  I stamped the large bubble background, and the dotty harlequin stamp using a turquoise archival ink.

I embossed the butterfly from the Steampunk Buterfly stamp set and some flowers from the Punky Flowers stamp set, using copper embossing powder. I coloured them with water based acrylic inks. I added a stamped swirl from the Artistic Expressions stamp plate to resemble leafy tendrils behind the flowers. The sentiment was taken from the Amazing Birthday clear stamp set.

I hope that I have given you a couple more ideas for these stamps, and that you will try them out for yourselves. Keep checking back for more inspiration from my team mates every day this month. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Guest Post - The Fairy Glen by Shelagh Metselaar

Our guest blogger this week is Shelagh Metselaar who has combined the delicate October Fairy set with the ever popular Steampunk Butterfly. A great 'in depth' step by step here, so have fun.

Materials needed

• Chocolate Baroque – October Fairy, Steampunk Butterfly
• Inkpads – Staz-On Black, Versamark,  Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Inks – Mowed Lawn,    Mustard Seed, Iced Spruce, Festive Bough, Picked Raspberry, Festive Berries
• Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder
• Gilding Flakes
• Gilding Adhesive
• Watercolour Paint (in tubes):- Light Yellow, Light Green, Brilliant Red, Phthalo Blue.
• Artists’/Canvas Board
• Acetate; Double sided sticky sheet.
• Gold glitter
• Button
• Cardstock:  black, kraft card

Instructions

1. Ink ‘October Fairy’ stamp with Staz-on black and stamp to the bottom left of the Artists’ Board. Stamp fairy twice more, again using Staz-On onto acetate. Allow to dry.
2. Take the piece of double sided sticky sheet and peel off one protective sheet. Sprinkle with clear, holographic fine glitter. Set aside.
3. Cut out a complete acetate image. Now from the other stamped acetate image; roughly cut out the wings. By partially uncovering the sticky side of the glittered sheet gently place under the stamped acetate wings and cut out. Set aside.
4. Now for the fun!
5. Using Light Yellow and sparingly, Brilliant Red and Phthalo Blue, repeat on and around image from top of wings an
6. Squeeze pea-size spots each of Light Yellow and Green on and around the stamped image, starting from the foot of the board.
7. d around head upwards towards the sky.
8. Continue with Phthalo Blue, repeat to the top of canvas.

N.B. At this point, I left a couple of areas of canvas blank to form clouds.

1. With a medium flat paint brush, gently spread the paint over the entire board. Dab gently without ‘muddying’ the colours too much.
2. Allow to dry for a few hours.
3. Pool a spot of water over the top image. With kitchen roll, blot the watercolour paint to reveal the stamped image. Repeat over the other images. This can be continued over the whole board if you wish. (This is the magical part for me. There is no indication of the colour mixes until this point!) Warning – this is messy and lots of absorbent kitchen roll is required. Try not to rub or dab as this will lead to a muddy blend.
4. Allow to dry again. You will now be able to see where you can further adorn your canvas.
5. Lightly distress around the canvas with Festive Berries.
6. Attach the cut-out acetate image of the fairy using a small glue dot. Attach the glittered wings over the image using another small glue dot.
7. Apply ‘Duo Embellishment Adhesive’ to the leafy image from the October Fairy set with a piece of foam and stamp at the right hand side of the canvas to suit. Gently gild with gilding flakes.
8. On a piece of super smooth paper and with Versafine Black Onyx, stamp the large leafy swirl and emboss with clear detail, enough times to fill the page. Stamp the calligraphy butterfly from the Steampunk set in the same manner; cut out and set aside.
9. To a blending mat, add Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Iced Spruce and Evergreen Bough. Using foam or a blending tool, colour the leaves to suit. Cut out and glue onto image to suit, bending and shaping each frond as you go. Clean mat.
10. Using the same technique as at 8), stamp the flower three times and gild. Colour one image with Festive Berries and two with Picked Raspberry as in 9). Cut each out, cut into petals and curl to suit. Layer up to form a flower. Glue a button to centre. Colour the butterfly with the remaining ink on mat and add to suit.
11. Mount onto matted and layered black and kraft card.

Love the getting messy part Shelagh!  A big thank you from us for designing this wonderful card and for mixing the two themes so well. Shelagh doesn't have a blog right now so please leave your comments here and hopefully this may encourage her to start one - I'm know we'd all like to see more of her work.