A King Is Born (by Asha)

Good morning, friends! It is my turn to bring you a little Chocolate Baroque inspiration. Today, on the Second Sunday of Advent, I want to share with you a festive Art Journal page.

This project showcases the Angel from A Child Is Born, coloured with alcohol markers. I also used the Gothic window from Texture Fragments to add interest to the background.

I applied lots of sparkle and shine to the Angel and to the Texture Pate swirls for that magical effect To create the night sky, I painted the background with acrylic paints and finished it with some white splatters.

I have more pictures and details of tools and products over at my blog. Thank you for stopping by today and come back soon for more amazing creations by the rest of the Design Team.

Beijinhos,
Asha

Mini Indian Elephant Canvas (by Anne)

Good morning. Today I am sharing a mini canvas for this month’s texture theme.

Materials:

• Gothics Fragments, Texture Fragments, Indian Elephant, Words of Inspiration stamp sets
• Mandala Stencil (Martha Stewart) and fossil stencil (Andy Skinner)
• Mini stretched canvas (21 X 14.5cm), watercolour card (20 X 14cm), scrap stamping card
• Mod Podge (Matte)
• WOW embossing powder (Gold detail)
• Ink sprays with mica – archival type, waterproof when dry (teal, pale pink)
• Inkpads: archival dye (teal), Versamark
• Sakura Starlite pens – archival glitter (green, blue, pink, purple)
• Coloured pencils (greys)
• Viva Décor Glitter Paste (603 teal)
• Microbeads (pink multi)
• Alcohol marker (teal) and fine tipped marker (cerise)
• Acrylic paint (cerise pearl)
• Decorative corner punch
• 3D glue gel

How it was done:

1. Spritzed the watercolour card with water, teal and pale pink inks. Laid down the fossil stencil while wet and left to dry overnight. The ink gets pulled under the stencil by capillary action giving a negative image.
2. Randomly stamped the background with the texture stamp and teal archival ink.
3. Stamped the gothic arch and sentiment with Versamark and heat embossed with the gold powder. Coloured with the glitter pens and fine tipped pink marker.
4. Applied glitter paste with a palette knife through the mandala stencil. Whilst wet dropped on some microbeads – pressed lightly into surface. Dried overnight.
5. Stamped elephant with Versamark onto scrap stamping card and heat embossed with gold powder. Coloured with glitter pens and grey pencils, Cut out and shaped slightly. Glued to card with 3D glue gel.
6. Punched corners and outlined with teal marker.
7. Coloured outer edges of canvas with acrylic paint.
8. Glued the card to the canvas with Mod Podge. Also applied over the top to seal the image. Note: I thought that my pink fine liner was archival but it was water soluble! Hence it bled and smeared across the canvas when I applied the Mod Podge – eeeek! However it did add to the texture effect – tee hee.

Wild Roses (by Asha)

Good morning, fellow Chocolate lovers! We are continuing our adventures with textures here on the DT Blog. Today I want to show you that you can have plenty of textural interest on a simple and delicate project.

My card features the beautiful sprig of wild roses from the Pretty Birdcage A5 sheet.

Here's how I put together this card:

1. With a stamp from the Texture Fragments A5 sheet stamp along the outer edge of a piece of square card stock with VersaMark ink. 
2. Apply white embossing powder and heat set.
3. Ink the card with Distress Inks. I used: Mowed Lawn, Cracked Pistachio and Mermaid Lagoon. 
4. Stamp the wild rose image from the Pretty Birdcage A5 sheet with Memento Tuxedo Black.
5. With a stencil apply Texture Paste around the stamped imaged and let it dry. I used Tim Holtz Layering Stencil Flourish.
6. Colour the image with alcohol markers.
7. Apply VersaMark on the raised texture paste design, sprinkle with WOW Clear Sparkle embossing powder and heat set.
8. Back with foam tape and adhere the design panel to the prepared background piece. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Please visit the DT blog often for more design inspiration by the rest of the team. I've got more pictures on my blog.

Have a beautiful day!

Beijinhos,
Asha

Brusho Journal pages (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a project that is a departure from my usual projects today. We are exploring texture on the Design Team Blog this month, and I decided to create a two page journal spread, using layers to give a feeling of texture to the pages.

I started by sprinkling Brushos onto the pages, (which I had placed newspaper underneath, so that I could keep the rest of the journal dry), and then spritzed the pages with water. I used two large spare pieces of watercolour paper to blot the pages, so that the excess water did not run everywhere, and I now have two extra pieces of background for later.

I added some stencilling with both Distress Ink and white paint. I chose to use in particular Three Quarter Face, and added a stamped image from the Texture Fragments stamp set below to give the suggestion of a lacy dress. I also added an image from the Tangled Fragments stamp set to build up the background layers.

Finally, I added sentiments from the Positive Pants and Rockstar Diva stamp sets.

Keep checking back for more colourful inspiration from my Team mates. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Sunflower Trio (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I am back for my second post of the month, sharing some of my texture themed projects with you again.

I have created a card, using stamps from the Sunny Sunflowers stamp set, stamping the flowers and leaves, masking them as I went along, to create a cluster of flowers in the corner of the card. Once I had masked all of the images, I created a Brusho background, using reds, yellows and browns.
I embossed an image from the Texture Fragments stamp set around the edge of the background, using gold embossing powder. I then coloured the images in using water based markers, and added some shading with pencils.

Finally, I added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set, and matted the background onto a black card blank.

Once I had created my card, I had quite a bit of left over colour on my craft mat. I used a large watercolour tag to mop up some of the colour, and dried it completely. I repeated the process a couple of times, until I was happy with the overall colour on the tag. I stuck the tag to a thick piece of burgundy card, and added some shading, using Seedless Preserves Distress Ink.

I stamped some more sunflowers and leaves onto some spare watercolour paper, and coloured them in using water based markers. I arranged the flowers and leaves onto the tag, adhering them with a dries clear glue. I added some micro beads to the centre of the main flower for some added texture. Some toning ribbon completes the tag.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Birthday Calendar (by Gerrina)

Hello everyone, this month we are welcoming back Gerrina, one of our regular Guest Designers to the Design Team Blog. She will be featuring throughout September for the next three weeks. Today, she has brought a delightful project to share with you, a calendar created using a canvas. This is such a clever idea that you will want to try for yourselves.

Materials:

Stamps: Texture Fragments, Nature Table, Fantasy Meadows
Distress Inks: Salty Ocean, Fired Brick, Mowed Lawn, Wild Honey, Gathered Twigs, Hickory Smoke
Canvas
Gesso
12 x postcards, 12 x white cardstock, 12 x stamping paper
Watercolour paper postcards
Blending tool
Water based markers
Water mister ans water brush

Instructions:

I used the back of the canvas so that it could hold my twelve calendar months.
To start, I painted the canvas with gesso and let it dry before I stamped and sponged it. A sturdy band holds the paper calendar months in place when hanging, which I stamped as well before I put it in place.
The calendar months are printed on postcards and the edges are sponged carefully in the colours of the seasons.
Winter = blue, Spring = green, Summer = yellow, Autumn = red.
The background papers are white cardstock, and on some I stamped the same stamp as I used on the main image in a lighter colour.
The cards of the month images are all the same size as a postcard and made from different designs, depending on what the month requires.

I will be back next time with more of the calendar months!

Creatieve groetjes,


Gerrina

Thank you so much Gerrina for your beautiful project, we will look forward to the second instalment next week.

He Rides The Tide (by Asha)

Good morning, everyone! I'm back on the DT Blog with an Art Journal page for our month-long Texture fest. This project features 2 stamp sets by Chocolate Baroque. The sea elements are from the Underwater A5 sheet. I stamped and coloured these with alcohol markers before fussy cutting and adhering to the page.

The deep sea background is a mix of acrylic paints in shades of blues and greens with a little black to add depth. The seabed is a mix of pale yellow and terracotta paints. To create movement, I used a stamp from the Texture Fragments A4 sheet.

And not forgetting our theme - Texture - I added bubbles with Texture Paste and  and splashed some gesso to finish the project.

I have more pictures and details of tools and products over at my blog. Thank you for stopping by today and come back soon for more amazing creations by the rest of the Design Team.

Beijinhos,
Asha

Clouterie by Spring Art competition winner Romana Isova

Back in April we ran our very first Spring Art Competition, which was a fabulous success, and we received many wonderful entries.  One of the prizes for the overall winner was to become a Guest Designer for a day and to have a spot on this blog.

Our talented winner was Romana Isova and today she takes her place for the very first time. I am absolutely delighted to introduce her to you, first with a little about her and then with a fantastic project.  This is a long post but very well worth the read, so pull up your chair and enjoy.

I asked Romana how she started stamping and to tell us how she felt about winning the competition.

'I think it started in 2013. That year I wanted to make some birthday and Christmas cards for my relatives. At the same time I discovered creative videos on YouTube, about paper crafting and art journals and together with it I also found the whole creative world out there. I wanted to try to see if I could also create something like that, so on March 2014 I made my first art journal page. Great thing about art journaling is that the pages could be much bigger than cards, so there is more space to express the creative ideas. And with mixed media techniques, the possibilities really are endless'.

How did I feel about being a Spring art competition winner?

'I need to say, that it was a great surprise. I did not expect it, so I could not believe it for the first time. And then I was so happy and bowled over by it at the same time. And when I read that I should make another piece of my art for a Guest Design Team spot, my head was completely out of any ideas in that moment and I was afraid that I will not be able to create anything like my competition piece. But fortunately, after few hours only it was a pure pleasure...and I really enjoyed this new GDT project'.

And here it is.

Materials:

Stamp sets from Chocolate Baroque: Floral Mannequins and Haberdashery, Texture Fragments for "textile" patterns, Damask Panel for background pattern and corner stamp from SteampunkButterfly. 

Colors: 

for the shop window: mix of Brusho watercolor powders - Scarlet, Crimson, Prussian Blue and Emerald green and Color Burst watercolor powder - Merlot, 

for background: mix of Prussian Blue Brusho powder and Merlot Color Burst powder, 

for drapery and carpet: Tim Holtz Distress ink pads Milled lavender, Seedless preserves, Dusty concord, 

for fabrics: Distress ink sprays Spun sugar, Mustard seed, Spiced marmalade, Twisted citron and Tumbled glass and Distress ink pads Milled lavender, Wild honey, Carved pumpkin, Peeled paint and Broken china and for the haberdashery pieces: Distress ink pads in all these colors, 

for brown pieces: Distress ink pad Vintage photo and 

for shading of all pieces: Distress ink pad Hickory smoke. 

Papers: 

Slightly textured 90 lbs watercolor paper - 24x32 cm for background and shop window, 

Canson Mix Media 138 lb for all stamped pieces

Silk (flower wrapping) paper for "fabrics".

Method:

1. First I made a colored paper for a shop window. I sprayed watercolor paper with water, added red Brusho powders and a pinch of blue. Then I used a brush to make a first layer of color. Until I had the final color I wanted, I kept adding the water and red powders and also just a little bit of Brusho Emerald green, because it is an opposite color of the red on the color wheel and make the red more dull. I always moved the brush in the same direction (from right to left and back), so at the end I had a texture  resembling the wood grain. After everything was completely dry, I used a matt acrylic medium as a sealer. I cut the paper into strips, scored them a little bit for the texture, finished the edges with Jet black Archival ink and used the double sided tape adhesive tape to connect them into the shop window.

2. Next I sprayed my background watercolor paper with water, I added Merlot powder and with the brush made my base flat color layer (quite pink). I let it air dry, so the final color was more vibrant. After that I stamped background stamp repeatedly with clear Versamark ink on the dry page and than sprinkled the page gently with the Merlot and also Prussian Blue powders. With the dry brush I worked the powder into the pattern stamped with Versamark. Than I sprayed the page with water again and spread both colors on the page with brush . The stamped pattern remained darker, but it's necessary to be careful with the water (with too much water the dry pattern will be too blurred and also with too much powders, they are very intense, the whole page will be darker and the pattern less visible at the end. I trimmed the paper a little bit, so it is slightly narrower than the shop window and can be completely hidden under it.

3. I stamped drapery, carpet, mannequins, corners, shop sign and haberdashery pieces on the mixed media paper with Jet black archival ink and heat set it with my heat tool, so I could color them with Distress ink pads without smudging. I cut them out and finished all the edges with black waterproof Faber-Castell India ink marker. For the haberdashery I cut out separate masks (from sticky masking tape I stamped the pictures on) for brown and colourful parts, so I could color them safely without mixing the colors. I used  foam applicators and also daubers for smaller pieces.

4. I cut out rectangles from white silk wrapping paper I had from my birthday flowers and I sprayed them with Distress sprays in rainbow colors. I dried it with my heat gun. After that, for every piece I used a darker Distress ink pad color, stamped a pattern on it and dried it again.  I crumpled the papers several times so it was easier to work with it and arranged them around the mannequins. I used the colored paper ribbons from my stash and stamped buttons to finished the look of the textiles.

5. Finally I completed the page. For more dimensional look I used also a black adhesive fun foam. I used two layers under the shop window and also the drapery and one layer on the back of the mannequins and lower step of the carpet. So the final layers of the page are - black card stock in the same shape as the shop window as a base for the whole page, violet background patterned paper, one layer of the fun foam frame around the page, upper carpet step directly on the background violet paper and lower carpet step with one layer of the fun foam on the back . Then the mannequins with one layer of the fun foam on the back and the haberdashery on the upper and lower steps of the carpet. After that the second layer of the fun foam around the page and under the top drapery and on the top of it the corners with shop window and shop sign.  

For bigger parts I used the double sided adhesive tape, but the mannequins stands are glued with Distress collage medium and the haberdashery with Rangers Glossy accents which I also used (in small spots) under the "fabrics".

I hope you have enjoyed my project and that you might want to try it too.

Romana

Thank you Romana for entering our competition and for designing this colourful and inspiring project. I am sure you will all share in our thanks to Romana and hope that we see her again on this blog some time in the future. In the meantime you can always catch up with her on her blog.