Colourful Journal Pages (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I am here for an extra post today, and so I decided to have a bit of fun with my project, letting my imagination have a bit of a wander on a double page journal spread. I have chosen to use the really versatile A5 Pink Pig journal containing 270 gsm watercolour paper, as this size of journal allows for a lot of choice in the layout that you can create, without feeling that you have too much space to fill. The watercolour paper is lovely and smooth and will take lots of water.

I started my project by masking the headdress on the Katya stamp, and inking up just the bottom part of the image, before stamping it onto the journal page. I drew some hair freehand, using a pencil at first, until I was happy with the design, and then inking over it with a permanent pen.

I needed to mask the image, and as the masking tissue available on the website is not completely opaque, I was able to lay it over my image, and draw an outline to create my own custom mask.

I added several other images to the pages; the Swirl Centre Flowerhead, and some leaves and a butterfly from the Tangled Garden stamp set. I wanted a subtle floral image in the background and added a favourite texture stamp from the Texture Fragments stamp set, using Acrylic Wax to stamp the image. I added Distress Ink to colour the background, and the acrylic wax acted as a resist where I had stamped the floral texture image.

I drew a few swirls by hand, and added a sentiment from the Artistic Expressions stamp set. A little bit of stencilling completed the background.

I coloured the images using water based markers, keeping the colours bright and cheery to match the vibrant background. I decided to give Katya a modern twist with ombre hair, rather than a conventional colour.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading about my project, thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

Butterfly Card (by Corine)

It is guest designer time again and I am so pleased to welcome back Corine with a gorgeous, bright and sunny card.

Hello!

Here I am again. In July I will post three times a card as guest designer which I am very pleased to do. My first project is a Butterfly Card. and I used stamps from Gothic Fragments, Nature Fragments and Tangled Garden. Hope you enjoy this.

• Create a background with three colours Distress Ink and water. I used Evergreen Bough, Carved Pumpkin, Crushed Olive, Broken China. Dry with heattool.
• Stamp lace stamp from Gothic Fragments with Memento Tuxedo Black and the leaves from Nature Fragments with Memento Flannel Grey. Dry with heattool.
• Take a template and an old credit card to spread the modeling paste through the template. Emboss the modeling paste with Gold Pearl embossing powder.
• Emboss the butterfly from Tangled Garden with Metallic Platinum and colour with Distress ink.
• Mat and layer background on to black and then blue card and attach butterfly.

Kind regards,
Corine van Kuilenburg








Love the combination of stamping, texture and colour on this card.  Thank you Corine for this lovely project.  Really looking forward to seeing what you have lined up for us next week.

And don’t forget our regular Design Team girls have more new projects waiting in the wings to inspire you.

 

Rainbow Garden (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a colourful project for you today, using two of this month's Baroque Ornament stamps.

I created a background spritzing water based sprays onto a damp piece of watercolour paper, and added some more water to blend them. I blotted the paper with a spare piece of card, to help smooth out the colour, and also to create another piece of coloured card for my project. I edged the background with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink, and added some stencilling with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink.

I spritzed some blue, pink and yellow spray onto a craft mat, and picking the spray up with some water, created a wash of each colour onto some more watercolour paper. I dried each piece of paper thoroughly with a heat gun. I stamped several of the Dots 'n Stripes Baroque Ornament the Tangled Baroque Ornament, plus the centre of one of the flowers from the Tangled Garden stamp set, and the clear Tangled Butterfly stamp onto the coloured backgrounds using Versafine Onyx Black ink and clear embossing powder. I cut all of the shapes out, and layered them up onto the background. I added a small amount of colour to the butterfly using water based markers.

I drew some stems for the flowers using a fine-tipped pen and added some colour, before adding some doodles to complement the flower designs.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Guest Post - Take one Flower by Lesley Ebdon

Hello Again Chocolate Baroque friends and a belated Happy New Year to you all!

It's time for my second stint as a guest designer on the blog and today I have a pretty, fairly simple card to share with you.

The stamps used for the flower and leaves are from the Tangled Garden set with the sentiment coming from my much loved and used Amazing Birthday clear stamp set.  I've used pencils to colour the flower and leaves and a stencil with inks and a spritz of Glimmer Mist for a touch of sparkle for the background.

Full details can be found over on my blog...

I'll be back to share with you again next week and until then have a good week and enjoy the wonderful inspiration from the DT proper.

Hugs
Lesley

Guest Post - Mixed Media Butterfly by Corine van Kuilenburg

We are already at the second post from Guest Team member Corine and this week she has chosen to combine Chocolate Baroque stamps with Brushos. Enjoy.

Today is my second post as guest designer. I hope you liked my first post. This time I created a mixed media card. 

• First paste on a piece of card stock book paper. Paint this with gesso. Emboss an image from Dusky Damask with clear embossing powder. Use 2 or 3 colours of Brusho and spritz with water. Make sure your whole card  is covered with Brusho. Let everything dry completely.
• Use stencils and inks to add more detail to your background. Stamp with black ink one or two images from Rustic Fragments.
• Emboss the butterfly from Tangled Garden on watercolor paper and color it in with markers and a water brush. Cut out and glue to your background.

I hope I have inpired you.

Corine

 

You have certainly inspired me to get out a selection of papers, stamps and colour Corine, thank you. And if you enjoy being inspired by our Design Team then please visit us again, there is sure to be something to whet your appetite.

Smiling Flower (posted by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a project to share using one of the new individual cling mounted flowers currently on offer on the website. These beautiful large flowers are perfect as centrepieces for your cards, and are sure to brighten anyone's day. I have chosen to use the Swirl Centre Flowerhead to create my card, as I love the overall design of this particular flower.

I created a wrinkle free distress background on a piece of watercolour card, and stamped the flowerhead twice onto a spare piece of watercolour card. I also stamped a large leaf from the Tangled Garden stamp set twice onto the watercolour card. I coloured the images with alcohol pens and added shading with pencils.

I cut the images out, and stuck them to the card, creating two layers on the flower. I then added some zentangle details using a fine permanent pen. I added a sentiment from the Amazing Birthday clear stamp set, and matted the background onto some black card to finish.

If you would like to know more details about this card, you can stop by my blog. Be sure to keep checking the Design Team blog every day this month for lots of inspiration from my Team mates using these beautiful stamps, Judith xx

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

Background stamps or not background stamps that's the question? (by Maria)

Hey everyone,

Today I have some new samples for you to try out,  I have played with my Pan Pastels, and here are the results:

I have added a butterfly from the Tangled Garden stamp set.

Here, I have added stamps from the Mermaid Queen and Seashore rubber stamp sets.

I have added the word 'inspire' taken from the Artistic Expressions stamp set. What do you think about them, can't they inspire you? I just wanted to show you the possibilities of these gorgeous fragment stamps. I love these stamps only with a text or a word, but they are beautiful with an image as a background as well, the choice is all yours. I love them and I'm sure you will love them too!

Have fun ladies, I'm very curious what you will make with them!

Greetings
Maria

Twenties Tags (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, I have a couple of tags to show you today, using the stamp of the month stamp sets. I wanted to create a peice of artwork reflecting the fashions of the twenties, when the dresses were often beautiful ombre shades, with fringing and feathers, with lots of decorative elements. So my first tag tries to reflect these style features, using a background of Distress Inks, ranging from pale green to dark blue. I have spritzed the background with a shimmer spray to give the impression of a chiffon overlay.

I stamped a portion of the background with one of the slihouette flower stamps from the Nouveau Lovebirds stamp set, and added some fringing and a large feather. I used a tiny portion of one of the flapper ladies dresses from the Fabulous Flappers stamp set, which I coloured with pencils, and encapsulated it into a Nautical Frame with Dome charm.

 

My next tag was made using Gelatos on the background. I had this tag lurking in my stash from a while ago, and decided to try and make something with it.I used a mask, and some stamping with gold embossing using a stamp from the Texture Fragments stamp set. I stamped the flowers taken from both of the A5 stamp sets onto self-adhesive labels , and coloured them with alcohol based markers, adding some leaves from the Tangled Garden stamp set. Some funky crackle gems and ribbon complete the tag.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

More Patchwork ideas...... (by Miranda)

Hello there,

Have you seen the new gorgeous stamps at Chocolate Baroque? The 'Patchwork Landscapes' are so much fun to colour and also to add your own 'patchwork' in every way you can imagine.......

I have made this one using the pillow top background.......I thought it would be a good match with these stamps.......I've stamped with black and coloured with the Distress markers. Scored the squares and sponged the areas in between by masking........You can find the technique here.
You can find the large butterfly on the 'Tangled Garden sheet' and the smaller version is a clear stamp.The wings are partially accentuated with the clear Wink of Stella pen but you can't see the lovely shine here. 

Maybe I did inspire you to give it a try?

Thanks for visiting and have a lovely day!

Rainbow colours in Patchwork landscapes (by Miranda)

Hello there,

Did you seen them? The beautiful new stamps at Chocolate Baroque? Aren't they gorgeous?

I've been playing with the Patchwork landscapes and I wanted to play with some bright colours.......a touch of Spring..... I had this background with some gesso on it already waiting in my stash and I've use the acrylic bloc technique and Distress inks. The flower is an image from the Tangled garden sheet which matches perfect with these stamps.The trees and flower are coloured with the matching Distress markers. And of course for the finishing touch I've used a white acrylic marker and some fine holographic glitter.

another angle......

And with the 2nd one I've used all the rainbow colours. This time I've played with (my neglected) Distress stains. I've misted my paper with some water and let the inks just flow......I've added here the tangled leaves from the Tangled garden sheet and masked them. On the left panel I've used a stencil and added some Memorybox die cuts.

Well, I hope that I have inspired you and gave your day a colour boost! Sometimes we can use that......

Thanks for visiting , always appreciate your comment and hope to see you next time,

Poinsettia Edges (by Shirley)

Hello everyone,  I hope you are doing well.   

We've been having a great time 'playing' with the new Christmas designs.   The following three cards all feature the Poinsettia Edge from Christmas Edges.   The new Edge stamps are fantastic, I love them (yes I know I say that about ALL of CB's designs, it's true I'm 'in Love').

I started with Distress Inks (Festive Berries & Fired Brick) using the Acrylic Block technique.   I over stamped the background using the Mistletoe fragment (another favourite from Pears & Baubles ) with Festive Berries Distress Ink.      I embossed the Poinsettia edge from Christmas Edges along with JOY from Bold Christmas Words on separate cardstock with deep purple powder and coloured with Festive Berries Distress Ink using water & a brush.   I decoupaged all three images and adhered along with purple ribbon onto the background.  I also added lots of stickles in the flower centers.


While I was working with the Poinsettia Edge, I kept seeing leaves from the Bold Bloom and Tangled Garden sets in the petals.   I thought I would try to make a poinsettia from the leaves and below is what I came up with :)

 

For the card above I started with Evergreen Bough and Pine Needles Distress Ink using the Acrylic Block technique.  I stamped around all the edges using the Poinsettia edge with Evergreen Bough Distress Ink.   Merry Christmas is from the fabulous Bold Christmas Words set.    The Holly Flourish die cut is Cheery Lynn B148.   I embossed the leaves from Bold Bloom & Tangled Garden with gold along with the flower center from one of the flowers from Tangled garden.  I painted the flower petals & leaves with Tom Bow markers and used lots of stickles on the petals & liquid pearls in the center.


This next card was a quick make as I used some glittery designer paper from my stash.

 

I stamped the Poinsettia Edge from Christmas Edges and Sentiment from Bold Christmas Words onto white cardstock with Memento Rhubarb Stalk Dye Ink.   I layered as shown and added a bow & stickles. 

We have lots more to show you in October so I hope you can visit often.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Shirleyx

A spot of Tiling (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, here's a project using the Flora unmounted rubber stamp. I embossed the stamp using white embossing powder, and then coloured the card using blue inks. I cut the image into one inch pieces, and stuck it onto some white card, which I matted onto some dark blue card.

I stamped the large open flower from the Tangled Garden stamp set onto a piece of paper using white embossing powder again, and cut it out. I added some die cut flourishes and a button from my craft stash.

Keep popping back to see what my Team mates have been making with these huge stamps, they have made some fabulous samples. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx 

Tangled Garden meets Felt by Debbie

Well, my project today doesn't use card but it does involve stamps and ink. I love the versatility of stamps and immediately new that the large flower would be great stamped onto felt. It gives a great impression as there are no fiddly bits to cut out.

I used Black Stazon and stamped twice then cut them out. The centers are lots of french knots stiched with three strands of embroidery thread. A brooch back is stitched to the back so that it can be moved from the hat to my jacket. This photo gives a better view of the french knots.

We all have crafty things that we hang onto and feel they are to precious to use. I bought this fabric over two years ago and it fell into the strokable catergory. My first thought was to make a cushion but I decided the fabric was a good size for a bag.

I hope this post has inspired you to think about different ways of using your stamps. Debbie

Bottlecap Flowers (posted by Claire)

Good morning Claire here with a project made using the new Tangled Garden stamps. I'd had these little vases for a long time but never found any silk flowers that would look right in them. As soon as I saw the new stamps I new that I'd be able to make the perfect flowers for my little vases.

They were very quick and easy to make. I used watercolour paper as it holds its shape very well when making flowers. I coloured each sheet of paper with ink and glimmer mists until I got the colours I needed and then once they had dried I stamped the large open flower from Tangled Garden twice and the detailed flower twice on each sheet with versamark and embossed with gold embossing powder. I cut the flowers out and layered them up.

The flower centres were made with bottle caps crushed in my cuttlebug, I used the centre of the detailed flower and glossy accents in side the bottlecaps:

I found that drinking straws were the perfect height to be used as the stems for my flowers so I painted some with gesso and acrylic paint. I attached the straws while I was assembling the flowers. I layered up the 3 layers of petals with strong wet glue, once this was dry I punched 2 small holes in the centre of each and threaded some ribbon through before attaching the straw at the back of the flower with a hot glue gun. The ribbon then ties around the straw in a pretty bow so the back looks pretty too.

Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

Blue Butterfly (posted by Judith)

I'd like to show you another sample using the new Tangled Garden stamp set. Although the weather is really cold and our thoughts are turning to Winter now, hopefully this card will make you feel more like Spring!

I have painted the background with a thin coat of Ecoline paint, before stamping a frame of leaves around the edge, using masking tape to allow me to overlap some of them as I went along. I drew small tangle designs in the gaps to complete the frame. These are not regular at all, and I wanted to show that you do not have to be a great artist to enjoy the spirit of Zentangle.

I have then stamped the butterfly onto a spare piece of card, and coloured it with pencils, adding some wire and a couple of pearls for antennae. I coloured the leaves with pencils, and added a lovely sentiment taken from the Patchwork Butterfly stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Tangled Christmas Rose (posted by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with a Christmas card made using the new Tangled Garden stamps. 

The background was made using one of the new M-bossabilities 'Holiday Magic' and brushed pewter Distress Stain, I really love the new metallic distress stains, they give a wonderful finish.

I decided to create a Christmas rose with the detailed flower from  'The Tangled Garden' and stamped it 3 times on to vellum with versamark ink and then embossed with clear sparkle embossing powder. I also created some leaves using the same embossing powder, this stamp sheet really has a great selection of leaves too. The centre of the flower is a crushed bottle cap with a mixure of rock candy glitter, silver microbeads and silver glitter in the centre. 

To finish off  I've added some silver ribbon from my stash and some of the beautiful Scallop Rose Lace

Thanks for visiting today 

Claire xx

Tangled Flutterbys

I hope you are enjoying seeing all of the newly released stamps by Chocolate Baroque, and the inspiration provided by some very talented and creative design team members!

This new set, called Tangled Garden, is now one of my favorites!  Although I do love fall and winter the best, I love flowers and butterflies as well!  Click on the name above, and you will be instantly transported through cyberspace to this set on the CB website!  The detail in these clear rubber stamps is exquisite, and so fine and tiny, but very, very detailed!  To color my large butterfly on the front of my card below, I actually had to use a magnifying glass!  I can't say I have a favorite, because they are all so lovely, but I think my top two would be the detailed flower and the floral butterfly.

My first thought was to make a mirrored-image of the butterfly, but I had trouble getting it lined up.  I don't know whether it's my eyesight, shaky hands, or what!  hehe  Anyway, I used white cardstock, and was given a gift of a new and improved Stampin' Up Melon Mambo classic inkpad, along with some plain and patterned cardstock in the same shade.  I think this color and black and white are striking together!  The sentiment stamp is from the Chocolate Baroque set called, Artistic Expressions, and I love the way it describes the "big" butterfly!     The little butterflies are punched with a little punch from my stash.  The border punch is one called Fancy Flight from EKSuccess.  I tried the masking technique for the inside, but I'm not really happy with the white spaces left.  I had trouble getting the stamps to print the image completely, especially when stamping over one of the masks.  I'd love to know if you have a better way of masking that you wouldn't mind sharing with me!     The antenna on the front butterfly was just a piece of wire, coated with white paper that I found somewhere.  I cut it shorter, then wound it around a small paintbrush handle, pulled it out a little lengthwise, then glued in place. Thank you for visiting!  

Autumn Colors "Waterfall" Card

"Happy Fall, Y'all," as they say here in the South!  The colors are so beautiful, and one more good rain storm and a little wind, and the trees won't have much left on them!  I love the crunch when one walks on fallen leaves!

Here's a new card that reflects the golden splendor of Autumn, using the new Terrific Treescapes clear rubber stamp set from Chocolate Baroque!  Just click on the name above, and you will be taken to the CB website page for this set.  Adding any of these trees to a hilly landscape will give you the perfect panorama view of Tennessee in the fall, and perhaps where you are, too.  Autumn is probably just as beautiful where you are, but I'm partial to my "neck of the woods", with our rolling hills, tall trees and thick forest.  There are birch, persimmon, oak, pine, juniper, Bradford pear, maple, cherry, and so many others! 

 

This type of card is called a "Waterfall" card.  The tab can be added any direction you want, to open the flipping layers.  It wasn't hard to make at all!  As you pull the tab out, each layer flips over.

 



The leaves were stamped using different images from the new Chocolate Baroque clear stamp set called Tangled Garden.  I used metallic gold, copper and other inks.  The gold leaf was stamped in craft ink onto a piece of gold mat board, then cut out.  The sentiment is one from my stash of vellum sayings, and this particular one is from Jim Bishop.  The background paper is from a DCWV stack of just photographs, and the solid cardstocks are from a small 3"x3" stack of textured stock from DCWV, and Stampin' Up.  I used two eyelets to keep the vertical bar in place, and an eyelet and several different types of cord/fibers for the pull.  If you have any questions, please contact us!

 

Have a wonderful Autumn!  Love that cooler air!