The new Patchwork stamps and Tyvek (posted by Maria)

Hey everyone,

Aren't they magnificent??  I really love these stamps!!!!  They really bring these trees alive with all this Patchwork!!  Here you can see some other creations of mine, the first one is again made with dylusion inks. The house and the tree are stamped with archival jet black ink.  The tree canopy was stamped on an other piece of paper (coloured with red dylusion ink) cut out and I than I've glued it over the tree canopy on the card.

I bleached out the house and coloured the roof with copics, the  border is from the new Elegant Edges stamp set,  isn't it pretty?? Then to have some more structure, I took a piece of Tyvek envelope and coloured it with the same colours I already used on my card, heated it with my iron and put it on the border of this card!! Don't you feel Spring already!!??

On the second card, I took the big Patchwork Tree, isn't it wonderfull?? The big tree can really be used on is own for a lot of occasions, I love it!!! Here I first made the background with distress ink and I used the background stamp from the set Texture Fragments to give some structure to the background!! Then in the front I used some Tyvek again, combined with a flower and leaves from the stamp set Sunny Sunflowers.

I hope you enjoy my creations and that I have inspired you all!!

Greetings and have a great creative time!!

Maria

Note from Glenda: If you haven't heard of Tyvek before, it's an interesting paper like material that is used in house construction and to make non tearable envelopes.  You can also find decorator's overalls made from it in many DIY stores which can be a cheap way to get hold of some.  It takes inks well and reacts to heat to give interesting shapes.

A different view (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, I have a card to show you today using the new Reindeer Landscape stamp set. I wanted to show the versatility of these stamps, and that they can be used all year round, not just for Christmas. I have chosen to create an Autumnal card with the lovely reindeer landscape stamp, embossing it with copper embossing powder, and colouring it with Distress Markers.

I created a wrinkle free distress background, and stamped some leaves using the Sunny Sunflowers stamp set, which I coloured with pencils. Finally, I added a sentiment from the Nature's Peace stamp set.

Keep checking back for more samples from my Design Team mates over the coming days. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Steampunk Script Flowers (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, I have another steampunk project to show you today, using the Punky Flowers stamp set. I have used a round canvas to which I added some texture through a stencil and then painted with acrylic paint. I stuck some pages from a cheap Thesaurus to some grungepaper, and coloured these with Pan Pastels. I then stamped some of the flower images from the stamp set onto the grungepaper and cut them out. I dipped the flowers into my Melt Pot to get a clear coating over them. I also stamped several leaves from the Sunny Sunflowers stamp set onto the grungepaper and cut these out as well.

To complete the canvas background, I stamped parts of a script stamp from the Eccentric Edwardian stamp plate using a brown ink pad, and brushed some metallic cream over the raised areas. As I assembled the canvas, I added some die cut silver cogs, some stamped cog trees, and some metal coils.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Bright Sunny Flowers

Chocolate Baroque continues to amaze many people with the new stamps they are producing! I'd like to share some of my projects made with some of the new stamps, and I'd appreciate your comments at the bottom of the post. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

These are from the Sunny Sunflowers set.

I stamped the images on white cardstock, with Only Orange ink from Stampin' Up. The shading was done with Copic markers. The background is from a summer stack of paper, and I used two embossing folders on the white panels. Pearl brads completed the centers. The bottom border was a die cut given to me by a friend, and the word, "Happy" is from the Chocolate Baroque Artistic Expressions set. I don't have any sentiment stamps from Chocolate B yet, so I used one from my collection. I love the patterned background paper, so I cut a thin strip 1/4" wide, and wove it through the eyelets on the border strip. 

These Sunny Sunflowers are so bright and cheery!  You can't go wrong with flowers like these!

Happy Birthday Daisies by Debbie

Hello. I think I've said in the past when I get new stamps I have to stamp them out with black to see the detail and impression they make. Well, I got carried away with this flower and stamped an A4 sheet. I stamped the large flower with Versafine Onyx Black and heat embossed with clear powder as I wanted to colour the flower with Alcohol pens. I used a selection of shades of purple pens when colouring the flowers. I cut a strip of the card and I distressed the edge with Dusty Concord then mounted onto black card. I cut out a out a single flower and placed it onto the corner of the sentiment which had been stamped onto a nestability label. The base card was embossed with a cuttlebug folder and dots of white placed where the lines crossed. Thanks for stopping by Debbie

Tall Trees and Sunny Sunflowers (posted by Claire )

Hi there, Claire here with a card made using the beautiful new Sunny Sunflower stamps and one of my old favourites, Tall Trees. I love these delicate trees and created a little forest to co-ordinate with the backing paper from Essence of Nature with PanPastels

To create the little forest scene I used permanent red shade panpastel and black panpastel then added a little white for a misty effect. I stamped and embossed the trees with Pearl White WOW EP  and then stamped again with black archival ink. 

I made the flower using the large and small flower from Sunny Sunflowers, coloured with distress markers and cut out. I added Sepia glossy accents the the centre and some deep red ribbon.

Claire xx

Vellum Sunflowers (Posted by Claire)

Hi there, Claire here with another card made using the beautiful Sunny Sunflowers stamps. 

For this card I've stamped and embossed the flowers and leaves onto vellum using WOW White Pearl embossing powder and coloured the flower and leaves on the reverse with PanPastels from the tints set. The sentiment is from the 'Loving Sentiments' set, its one of my all time favourite sentiments and the font is so beautiful too. 

Thanks for visiting today, I hope you're getting lots of crafty ideas from my team mates beautiful samples. 

Claire xx

Flowers and Ambrosia (posted by Elaine)

This is another sample from me, using another lovely Bo Bunny collection of papers called Ambrosia.

I stanped the flowers and leaves onto different papers from the collection and decoupaged two layers for the flower. I added jewels for the centre of the flower to echo the stamped design. I added script stamping in turquoise and a sentiment in burgundy. I wanted to piece everything together like a bright, sunny patchwork quilt, just right for the lovely sunny weather we finally seem to have got!

Elaine

It's not yellow!

Well hello there, thought I had better start contributing to the DT blog and what better way than with these gorgeous sunflowers. This brand new stamp set, Sunny Sunflowers, is so versatile that it just inspires you to play.

The first thing you will notice, apart from the stunning detail of the stamps, is that these are not yellow.  I decided I wanted to create something a little different, and as I have said many times "this is my design and if I want purple trees/green sky etc then I shall".  It was actually the colour which inspired me first so I began by sticking a page from an old encyclopaedia to a hand cut tag ( I used Claudine Hellmuth multi medium - great for all sorts of projects).  I then lightly painted over the top with matte acrylic paint, just to shabby it up a little.  Once dry I used a stipple brush to add Tumbled Glass distress ink around the edges and followed up with some toning oil pastels to build up colour.

For the sunflowers and leaves I stamped several images onto self-adhesive labels* using Adirondack pigment ink in Pitch Black.  Then I set to and coloured them using a selection of alcohol markers and oil pastels. Once completely dry I cut them all out, peeled off the backing paper and stuck them in position.  I used a grey marker to create the shadow around the images.  Finally I added some paper flowers, pins and gems. So even if they are not yellow I'm quite pleased with my sunny sunflowers.

Thank you for visiting and please keep coming back to see what other goodies my DT buddies have come up with.

Lesley

* Self adhesive labels are brilliant for stamping on.  You can colour the images with a variety of mediums and then once you cut them out you have an instant sticker - no trying to glue awkward, fiddly little areas.  Also fabulous for printing your downloads and backing papers onto.  You can punch them, die cut them, use them for matting and layering.  We currently sell A4 single sheet labels on the Chocolate Baroque website, why not give them a try.

Pastel Sunflowers (posted by Judith)

Hi folks, I'd like to show you another sample that I have made using the lovely 'Sunny Sunflowers' stamp set from Chocolate Baroque.

I have chosen to create this sample using Pan Pastels in shades of yellows browns and greens, reminiscent of a field of sunflowers. There is a local farmer that grows sunflowers near where I live, and I love to see them in the Summer.

I created a base for my card using two shades of Yellow Pan Pastel, and then sponged Versamark through the Mini 'Art Is' Crafters Workshop Template in two opposite corners of my card. I swirled a mixture of yellows and green Pan Pastels over the top of this, and then burnished the surface with some paper towel. I stamped the large swirl from the Butterfly Dreams stamp plate in the two remaining corners using Versamark. I then again used a mixture of yellow and green Pan Pastels as before to cover the Versamark.

I stamped two large sunflowers, two smaller flowers and several leaves before heat setting these with a heat gun. I coloured them using a small Sofft tool and Pan Pastels. You can pick the colour up with these small tools and use them just like a paintbrush with really good accuracy. I have used two colours of green on my leaves, and two colours of yellow on the petals, to give shading, just like I would when using pencils.

Finally, I used a Nestability shape which I coloured with Pan Pastels and stamped a greeting from the Loving Sentiments stamp plate.

These flowers are just so cheery aren't they? Don't forget to keep checking back to see what the other Design Team members have been making over the coming days. Judith xx

Sunny Sunflowers (posted by Claire)

Hi there, I've used traditional sunflower colours for this card, combined with some added sparkle from stickles for this card.

I've used distress markers to colour the flowers and leaves from Sunny Sunflowers, and layered the flowers up for dimension. I've added stickles to the centre for some sparkle. The backing paper is from the Essence of Nature cd and I've added some kraft core'dinations card which I embossed and then sanded. I've added a sentiment from the Essence of Nature themeplate and an organza ribbon bow.

Claire xx

Lovely leaves (posted by Elaine)

As anyone who knows me well will be aware, I love natural images and I especially love leaves, so I my first sample uses the leaves from the Sunny Sunflower plate.

This is an easel card, using paper from the Bo Bunny Serenity 6 x 6 pad as a background. I embossed the leaves in Ranger Queen's Gold embossing powder. I love this EP for it's wonderful brightness. I embossed onto white card and then added citrus and pesto Adirondack dye inks to shade the leaves. I curved the leaves slightly to give some dimensions before mounting with silicone glue.  I added an embossed sentiment and green ribbon to finish.

Hope you enjoy the samples from the team from this lovely sunny set of stamps.

Elaine

Paper pieced flowers and panpastels (posted by Claire)

The new Sunny Sunflowers themeplate has some gorgeous detailed flower images but as soon as I saw these stamps I thought how useful the plain flower stamp would be for making paper pieced flowers. No matter how many paper flower you have in your stash you sometimes can't find just the right colour. For this project I made flowers to match the papers I used from the Kaisercraft Play Pack 

The focal image was made using PanPastels, its so easy to create a beautiful scene with panpastels I hardly ever seem to use my brayer these days. I masked a moon and used green yellow and blue shades from the tints set, applied in layers with a sofft sponge. I used stamps from some of my all time favourite Chocolate Baroque stamps Nature Table and Autumn Hedgerow stamped with distress inks. PanPastels are perfect with the honesty stamp from Nature Table as you can use a pencil eraser to rub out the colour and leave a lovely white papery finish. The ribbon is also from the Kaisercraft playpack and the swirls were cut with Die-namics fancy flourish die.

I hope your enjoying all the inspiration from my teamies. There's lots more to come too so keep checking in 

Claire xx

You are my sunshine (posted by Claire)

Hi there, Claire here with my first sample with the beautiful Sunny Sunflowers stamps. 

To create the flower I stamped the large flower and small flower twice on white card with clear embossing powder and coloured with Diarylide yellow panpastel before cutting out. The flowers are layered up with 3d foam and a little glitter in the centres. These stamps are perfect with PanPastels as they pick up the detail and shade the flowers without any effort at all.

The background was a bit of an experiment, I had some Heidi Swapp Invisibles in my stash which I'd been hoarding for ages. I just swiped Diarylide yellow panpastel over the top and then buffed up with some tissue. I added a computer generated sentiment and a couple of die cut swirls created using  a Die-namics fancy flourish die.

I think you're going to love these new stamps, my very talented teamies have certainly come up with some beautiful artwork so keep popping back so you don't miss out

Claire xx

Sunflower Spool (posted by Judith)

Hi folks, the weather is warming up nicely now, and there's no better time of year to be working with Glenda's fabulous new stamps 'Sunny Sunflowers'. The bold blooms are just lovely for all sorts of projects and full of detail.

I decided for my first project that I would combine the stamps with one of Lesley Wharton's super Downloads; Patterned Spools set 5, which is a lovely gold and plum colour combination. I had a wooden cotton reel that was about the perfect size for the project I had in mind, and I set about firstly priming this with gesso, and painting it a soft lilac colour. I nearly always mix my own colours by combining a cream acrylic paint with a darker colour until I get the colour I want. I make sure that I have enough paint to finish my project though, as you never get the colour the same second time around! I then printed two of the spool sets onto card, and stuck two of the correct size together so that they would fit around the cotton reel. I edged the card with a little bit of Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I then stuck the downloads to the cotton reel.

I stamped three smaller flowers, and several leaves, colouring these with Distress Markers, toning the colours in with the download colours. I also stamped a couple of tiny Butterflies from the 'Just Butterflies' stamp plate, and coloured these in as well. I stuck the flowers around the cotton reel, adding the leaves, and one of the butterflies.

My next step was to move onto shrink plastic, and stamp a larger flower, and two of the smaller flowers. I also stamped two leaves and two more butterflies, choosing a larger size this time. I sanded the shrink plastic before I stamped the images, to give a bit of tooth to the surface. I coloured the images with pencils, and punched a hole in all of them except the large single flower.

I placed the large flower with two leaves that I had coloured on card earlier and the last remaining small butterfly onto the top of the cotton reel over a circle download. I punched a hole into the middle of the download where the hole in the cotton reel was situated.

My Husband very kindly provided me with a metal rod with three wires which he had attached through holes along the top part of the rod. I bent these to look like branches, and stuck beads on the end, and inserted the rod into the hole in the cotton reel, turning it into an earring holder.

I added leftover beads and jewellery findings to the shrink plastic images that I had made and hung these on my little 'tree'.

Here's a close up picture of the earrings:

I hope that I have shown you just how versatile these lovely stamps can be. Keep popping back to see what my Design team mates have made with the stamps over the coming days, Judith xx

New Sunny Sunflower Stamps and TWO chances of winning a set

Today we are launching a gorgeous new A4 set of stamps called Sunny Sunflowers.  This is a large (A4) set with a mixture of big and small flowers and some gorgeous leaves too.  Altogether there are 17 stamps - enough to build a beautiful garden!

From June we are introducing a regular feature on the Chocolate Baroque website - the "Stamp of the Month" which is an introductory or special price on one stamp set for a whole month.  Our former Guild members are familiar with the concept, but as we are no longer running the Guild, we are making the Stamp of the Month open to all our customers, including our trade stockists.

We will be starting this properly in June with a 'Stamp of the Month' page on the website, but you'll be pleased to know that this particular set is being launched with an introductory price for it's first month!  Click here for details.

We have one set to give away here on the blog and one set on our Facebook page.  Please 'like' our page on Facebook to be in with a chance of winning over there, or leave a comment on this post here.  (Do both and you stand two chances of winning!)  I'll announce the winner on June 1st.

The card shown above was done with Versamark and PanPastels and the sentiment is from one of my most frequently used word sets - Loving Sentiments.

The Design Team have come up with some very creative projects using these stamps - please check back to see what they come up with, or why not become a follower?  You can also keep up on Facebook as we automatically link to all our blog posts over there too.