Flora Musica (by Brenda)

Good morning all you crafty Peeps, I hope you week is going well.

Today I have some creations to share using the stamps that Lesley showcases on Hochanda in August, the first show featured a wonderful collection of Vintage inspired floral stamps and the second show was all about Winter and Christmas. I will share a few of my samples for both shows with you next week.

Starting with the card at the top which features Flora Musica which I stamped onto a Distress Oxide background and the used DI's to colour the image. Using Decorative Edges I stamped some random harlequins using the same Oxide inks, a little Butterfly from Just Butterflies and sentiment from Words of Inspiration which I think is my all time favourite Chocolate Baroque sentiment set.

For this card I again created an Oxide ink background and the overstamped with the holly from Winter Birds using Versafine blue ink. The central panel has a sentiment from the new Christmas Word Plate and again the same holly around the edges.

This one was a bit of an experiment !! Yet another Oxide ink background............yes I am a bit obsessed with them and over stamped with Harlequin Bouquet which I stamped with Versafine black and coloured in with the same DI's. I then covered the whole piece with three layers of  Versamark and heat embossed each layer with detail clear poweder and then the madness set in..........I cut the piece into seven piece and rearranged onto a piece of coordinating cardstock, but do quite like the finished effect.

For my final card I used Kraft card, a mask and a white inkpad to create the Christmas bauble shape and with the mask still in place stamped the house from New England Winter using Gathered Twigs DI and finally the little sentiment set from Frosty Trees and a white bow to finish.

As always my thanks for popping in today and I hope I have inspired you to go check out the lovely stamps from the shows.

Blue Poppies (by Penny)

Hello everyone, here is the second post this month from Penny Butler. She has made a pretty card incorporating some stunning blue poppies.

Penny writes:

Hello again, I hope everyone is well and still enjoying our Summer. Today I have a lovely 'worker' card for you, my second post here as Guest Designer this month.

I have used the Poppy Meadow and Words of Inspiration stamp sets, Kraft paper, black card, Distress Crayons, Onyx Black Versafine Ink, metallic colouring pencils, and bits and bobs from my stash.

I scribbled the crayons onto the Kraft paper and blended them with a little water. I added Distress Ink around the edges, matted the background onto black card, and attached it onto a white base card. On another piece of black card, I stamped and embossed a poppy. I coloured it in with pencils, then cut around it leaving a small border. I attached it with dimensional glue. I then stamped and embossed a sentiment in black onto a piece of Kraft paper, die cut it into a tag, and added ribon. I added the same ribbon, some lace and a button to the card with some adhesive tape, then added the tag. I finished the design with some Stickles glitter glue.

Penny will be back with her final project of the month next week,

Butterfly Joy ( by Magda)

I did an interesting investigation and found a large use of butterflies throughout the centuries in Art, no matter in which culture, religion, in drawing or painting.
These little creatures are symbols of an immortal soul, a new start, a change, happiness and colourful joy.
Therefore sending a card with a butterfly fits anyone, man or woman, fits any occasion and means much more than the sentiment you put on the bottom of it.
Here is my card today and the Step by Step :

1. Colour your white card lightly with Distress Ink Pad Antique Linen
2. Stencil randomly part of the 6x6 Cell Theory Template with Distress Ink Pad Old Paper
3. Stamp with Versafine Onyx Black in second generation, the stamp from Silhouette Grasses 
    Rubber Stamp Sheet A5
4. Mask with Masking Tissue part of Katya Single Rubber Stamp A6 stamp it with Versafine
     Deep Lagoon and stencil "Joy" on the background and around Katya's neck.
5.  Ink with Versafine Deep Lagoon and Versafine Toffee the butterfly of Patchwork Butterfly and
     stamp it on Katya's head
6.  Ink with Versafine Deep Lagoon and Versafine Toffee the small butterfly of Just Butterflies Rubber 
     Stamp Sheet DL
7.  Stamp it with Versafine Deep Lagoon the sentiment of Words of Inspiration

I am sure that the beautiful butterflies stamps from Chocolate Baroque will give a unique and precious touch to your cards.  

Magda

Easel Drawer Card (by Brenda)

Hello everyone, today sees the final visit of the month from our Guest Design Team member Brenda. She has created a lovely dimensional project for your inspiration today.

Brenda writes:

My project this week is an easel drawer card. It's a very long while since I made one of these, but I had the idea to do something with Easter eggs, using the beautiful new Russian Floral Egg which Lesley launched on Hochanda TV a few weeks ago.

After making the box elements, (a link to the instructions are below if anyone would like them), I stamped the egg with Versafine Onyx Black ink, and heat embossed with detail clear powder. I did the same thing a second time, along with several more flowers, cutting out elements of the second egg and the flowers to decoupage and colouring in with pencils.

Next I used some designer paper to add decorative panels to the sides of the base, drawer and top base panel, and used a silk tassel on the drawer front, threading it through an eyelet. The top and base layers either side of the drawer are stamped with the Large Crackle Background, which is such a useful stamp, and heat embossed with detail clear embossing powder to give a resist, then inked with Distress Inks.

The sentiment is from the Words of Inspiration stamp set, which I cut out with an oval die, and inked the edges with the same colour Distress Ink. I fixed it to the card with foam pads and finally added the flowers.....and of course put the mini chocolate eggs into the drawer, but they may not last very long!

If anyone would like to make one of these, the instructions are posted on a tutorial on my blog here, it's a long while ago since I wrote it, but the principal remains the same as it did then.

Thank you Brenda for your beautiful project and detailed instructions. Brenda will be back with us later in the year.

Primrose Card (by Brenda)

Hello everyone, today sees the first of three posts this month from one of our regular Guest Designers, Brenda Weatherill. Breanda has created a lovely Spring themed card for your enjoyment.

Brenda writes:

Using a circle die, I cut an aperture into a 6 x 6 piece of card and then stamped the primroses from the Glorious Spring stamp set and coloured them in with pencils.

I then took a slightly smaller piece of card and using a circle mask for the sun I created a background with Pan Pastels. Taking the rabbit image from the same stamp set, I masked over the branch before inking the stamp with Archival Black Ink, so that I was left with just the rabbit and the rocks.

I stamped one of my favourite sentiments from the Words of Inspiration stamp set. I used foam pads to raise the aperture layer, added green card as a backing, and mounted the background onto a card base.

Thank you Brenda for an inspirational design. Brenda will be back next week, with another project to share,

You Inspire Me (by Asha)

Good morning, friends! What do you think about the lovely new Russian-themed stamps showcased by the team this month? Seriously amazing, right?!

Here's an Art Journal page from me, featuring the lovely Katya. I embossed her with WOW Rich Gold EP and coloured her with alcohol markers.

I added texture around her by stamping the Large Crackle Background using Ranger Archival Ink Plum. Along the bottom edge of the page, I stamped the smaller stamp from the Silhouette Palaces set using Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black. The sentiment is from Words Of Inspiration, also stamped with Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black.

Hope you're having fun with these new stamps. I have more pictures and details of products used over on my blog. Don't forget to swing by often for more amazing projects by the rest of the DT. Thank you for stopping by and have a magical day!

Beijinhos,
Asha

Tulip Dream (by Corine)

All too soon it is the final week of Corine's guest designer spot and this week she has designed another beautiful project using her Gelli plate and several of our stamp sets.

Hello!

Today it is my 3rd and last time this time to post a card as guest designer. I hope you enjoyed my samples. On this card I used tulips of the sheet Spring Bird Tulip stamp set. 

I used stamps from the sheets:

Spring Bird Tulip

Texture Fragments

Words of Inspiration

• On a Gelli Plate Background I started with embossing the window with gold embossing powder. 
• Then I masked the window and used stencils, stamps and ink to create the background over the Gellie plate print.
• Next I embossed the tulips with gold embossing powder and coloured with markers and a waterbrush.
• Finally the sentiment was stamped with black ink.

Till next time,

Corine

I just love the depth that Corine has given to this background with her layering of stencils and stamps, really should try this myself at some point. Anyway a huge thank to Corine for the fabulous inspiration she has given to us these last three weeks and we look forward to seeing her again later in the year.

Meanwhile our regular girls still have tons of wonderful creations to share so please pop back again soon.

Butterfly Inspiration (by Corine)

Today is the second in her series of three posts this month and this week Corine has put together a wonderful collection of our stamps, displaying them on a beautiful Gelli Plate background.  Here's another one for you to enjoy.

Hello!

Here I am again. This is my second post in January. I will show you today a card with a butterfly stamp from the sheet Briar Rose Butterfly.

I used stamps from the sheets:

Briar Rose Butterfly

Spring is in the Air

Words of Inspirations

• On a Gelli Plate background I used stamps, templates and ink. 
• I stamped the text with black ink.
• I also embossed the butterfly and tulip with gold embossing powder and coloured them with Zig-markers. 
• Finally I cut the tulip and butterfly and added them to the card.

Thank you for looking and I hope you try something like this with your stamps.

Corine 

I totally love the contrast of the colours on this card and all the detail in the Gelli Plate background.  This is another lovely project, thank you Corine.  If would like to see more of this talented lady's work then why not pop over to her blog and have a little nosey around!  

And don't forget to keep dropping in here to nose about at more fabulous designs from our team featuring the gorgeous stamps shown on Hochanda at the beginning of this month.