A Tree for Christmas (by Linda)

Hello, how are we all? Finding a bit of "me" time for crafting I hope.

For this card I used the bare tree from The Tree of Knowledge stamp set showcased in the August shows on Create and Craft. I confess, I did not at first realise these trees are sprouting from books, what a beautiful design!

I stamped the tree onto kraft card as I like the contrast in the finished piece with the black and white tree, coloured baubles and beige colour of the card. You, of course can experiment with any colour tree, it would be great to see some of your ideas on the Chocolate Baroque Facebook Page! 

I decided where I wanted the tree to be dusted with snow and to help me keep the "snow" on the correct sides of the branches, I stand something like a pencil sharpener on the side the snow is falling to remind me. This also works for me when adding shadows.

I used a white gel pen to draw along the branches. This is easier if you emboss the tree with black embossing powder so the pen follows the raised edge.

I then added "baubles". These I created by drawing round the lid of my water spray which happened to be the right size. They are coloured in with metallic pens, a line is then drawn up to the branch above, and a simple bow drawn, like rabbit ears.

I extended the base of the tree stamp with a black pen to ground it.

The "Christmas" is from the Slim Word Strip 2 stamp set. That section being stamped on a separate piece of card, rubbing the ink off the words that I did not want. I cut the card into a rectangle and rounded the corners with a punch. I attached it to the card with foam tape. This is actually an easy, quick card to make that looks far more complicated than it is. Perfect.

I think this technique may well have been used by a Chocolate Baroqu'er some time ago. If this is you, please claim the well deserved praise!

I hope you have enjoyed my first three blog posts ever, and look forward to your feedback.

Linda x

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Travel With Nature

This is my last post for this month using samples made for August's shows.  I started with the background and in tones of green and brown I stamped leaves from the stamp set From Nature 2,   Then using the Nature strip word stamp from Word Strip 1 I stamped it across the background in black.  I lined up the Tree Of KNowledge to sit on the strip word.

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This card I started with the Word Strip 1 set and using the solid strip I inked it up in several colours of Versafine Clair, the colours reminded me of tropical colours to go with the Travel texts, I stamped some leaves from  From Nature 2, coloured them and cut them out.  I added them to the centre strips then matted and layered everything up.  

Thank you for popping by

Happy crafting

Tracy x

 

Some Wall Art by Sandra

 

Hello, I am sharing some more of my samples from the August shows on Create and Craft.

My first piece is a wall hanging made with The Tree ofKnowledge, From Nature 2 and  Slim WordStrip 1 and Slim Word Strip 2 stamp sets.

First, I used an A5 sheet of grey board which I used gesso and acrylic paints on. I used ink to distress the edges and stamped some leaves using From Nature 2.

I then tore out some pages from an old dictionary and used gesso and distress inks to age them. I stamped on the pages using parts of the stamp from Slim Words Strip 1 and 2. On the front page I stamped The Tree of Knowledge in Archival Ink and coloured with distress ink.

I then sewed the pages together and glued onto the grey board along with the sentiment.

                                                        

Here is a closer view of the pages. 

                              

For my second piece I used a grey board heart which I coloured with acrylic paints.

I stamped the Positivity words from Slim Word Strip 2 and tore along the edges and inked them.

For the background I used Distress inks and more stamping.  I assembled all the pieces adding some die cuts for texture. I finished with an MDF butterfly and some cord.

A close up of some of the detail. 

                                                    

 

 Thanks for looking

Sandra x

 

Fab Frames Number 2! (by Linda)

I have used the From Nature 2 stamps again, from the August Create and Craft show. If you watch on rewind, you will see this frame in the background. More about the photograph later.

I made a frame with Chocolate Baroque Super Smooth Card, keep the excess for later.

I folded the frame into shape without sticking it down and marked where to stamp the tree tops so they would all be up the right way. I stamped the top of the tree from The Tree of Knowledge stamp set, roughly centrally on each of the sides. Fold and stick the frame.

I then stamped 4 large ivy leaves and 8 of the smaller ivy leaves from the From Nature 2 set, on the spare card with Versamark and embossed with gold powder. I painted them with various mica/metallic paints to give a bit of a glow. I find it easier to do it this way then cut out as the embossed lines act as a resist so you do not have to worry about going over the lines. If I cut then colour, I tend to end up with very messy fingers and you can bet that a finger print will end up somewhere I do no want it!!

As I mentioned in my last blog post, the leaves are very forgiving to cut out, any little slip just makes them more natural looking. 

I folded and creased the leaves arranged, then glued on the corners. Add your photograph. You can then mount the piece on a card, on top of a box, or leave it as it is.

Now about the photograph that I used. Sadie is a beautiful dog we loooked after for a friend. She was a rescue from a puppy farm, with the most fantastic nature ever, not wanting to get up before 9, thank you very much, perfect. She was an incredible friend to her family through really tough times, but sadly, she passed away as I was making my samples for the August shows. She always loved a good sniff amongst the leaves so this frame was perfect for her. I have since made another for her family with a selection of photos they could swap around. We were all thrilled when she became the TV star she deserved to be for a few moments.

Thank you for spending some time reading my blog post.

Have a go, but most of all, enjoy!!

Linda x

 

A Bit Of Christmas And A Tree

I have popped by to share a couple of creations from August's show, for the first one I used the Word Strip 2 stamp set.  I started by doing an inky background in Distress Oxides, then stamped the background strip first in light blue, it has circles in it which I hoped looked like falling snow.  Then in a darker blue I stamped the words which are lots of Christmas words.  I then added some glitter to the word Christmas to finish it off.

 

For my second card I used the stamp The Tree Of The Knowledge, starting with the background using Distress Oxides and a mask I created some hills,  I used a mask to create a sun in yellow and orange Distress Oxides.  I then moved onto the sky using a cloud mask, before stamping my main image.  I stamped the tree in Versafine Clair, and with a white gel pen coloured in the fruit/blossoms.  I added the sentiment to the bottom.

Thank you for looking

Happy crafting

Tracy x

tree of knowledge (by Veronica)

For my second post this month I am sharing samples using the lovely tree stamps that were featured on the Create & Craft shows last month.

I may not be a tree hugger, but I am a sucker for tree stamps - aprt from looking good, they are great for all occasions. As an avid reader, I loved the books as tree roots!

The first is very simple, if you already have a ready made background - in this case using distress inks splodged onto a crafrt mat and spritzed with water - then this literally takes only moments to do.Tree and sentiment stamped in black versafine ink and the fruit coloured with a marker pen, edge with a black marker pen and mount onto a card blank.

The second version also has a distress ink background, but overstamped in green with the large leaf stamp from nature 2 . The winter version of the tree stamped in black versafine ink again, sentiment on a scrap of card and cut out

For the final sample i made a book mark using a die cut tag shape in green card. A torn page from an old paperback was given a thin coat of gesso and smudged round the edges with distress ink. The intention was to make a pile of books, buit once I had cut them out they looked more like birds (seagulls?), so were added at angles with the sentiments stamped between them

Dotty Strip (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a couple of projects to share with you today showcasing stamps featured on last month's shows from Create and Craft.

I started my project with a large card blank, and drew along the opening edge using one of the Chocolate Baroque Draw and Tear Rulers Set 1 using a pencil. I cut the excess card away. On the inside of the card, I stamped the long dotty strip from Slim Word Strip 2 with a yellow dye based ink. I stamped a word strip from Slim Word Strip 1 over the top. I used one of the leaves from the From Nature 2 stamp set to stamp randomly over the front of the card using second generation stamping. I wanted a paler background because I did not want to detract from the other parts of the card.I added a splatter stamp from Timeless, using green and yellow ink. 

I took a whiteboard heart and coloured it with the same yellow and green inks, and then stamped the same word strip as I had used along the card edge. I filled the heart, moving the strip across each time I stamped, to get a random compilation of the words. It looks great on one of these hearts. 

This card was fairly quick to complete, and I can see lots of possibilities for adapting the design to suit lots of occasions. Using the big word strips, especially now we have two sets for you to choose from gives lots of choices, and I hope that you will try out this idea, or a variation of the theme.

I decided to make another card featuring the dotty strip from the Slim Word Strip 2 stamp set. I stamped the strip onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge several times using shades of green and orange Distress Ink to create an ombre effect. I stamped the fruit tree from The Tree of Knowledge stamp set onto a piece of book paper, and coloured it with markers. I added some shading around the edges using green distress Ink. This card would be suitable for lots of occasions- a graduation, a book lover's birthday, or even just to show someone you are thinking about them.

 Thanks for stopping by, take care,

 

Judith xx