Birdcage Collage (by Carole)

Hello everyone, today sees the first of three posts from our regular Guest Design Team member Carole Cann. Carole has created a beautiful card using one of our lovely collage stamps. 

Carole writes:

Hello everyone.

I am pleased to be doing another GDT slot and will have three projects for you over the next three weeks, using some of the older stamps. Hope you enjoy looking at them.

My first sample uses Birdcage Collage, a lovely stamp which is very versatile and much used.

You will find some other samples on my blog page.

I have stamped onto black card with Versamark Ink and embossed with silver embossing powder, then coloured the image with pearlescent paints. The left hand edge has been cut away around the cages.

The edging uses one of the Floral Edges stamps and again is stamped with Versamark and silver pearlescent powder brushed over. I sealed this with a quick spritz of cheap hairspray.

The words are from the Loving Sentiments stamp set.

I hope you like this stamp as I have had fun using it again.

Thanks for visiting, and hope to see you again next week.

Happy crafting, 

Carole

 

 

Having Fun with Backgrounds (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well. I have a couple of projects to share with you today on an 'Anything Goes' theme. There are so many stamps to choose from in the Chocolate Baroque stamp collection that I had a hard time narrowing down my choices for my final blog post this month!

For my first card, I decided to make a useful Birthday card to add to my stash box, handy for when I need a card in a hurry. I took a piece of fabric and frayed the edges. I painted the fabric using watered down acrylic paint. Using Archival ink, I stamped an image from the Brocade Backgrounds stamp set. I stamped a sentiment from Loving Sentiments onto an inked die cut rectangle. To complete the card, I added some pretty pleated ribbon and some metallic card as a mount.

 For my second card, I had a left over background from a previous project created using Brushos. I stamped the large butterfly from Patchwork Butterfly in one corner. I masked the butterfly using masking tissue, and stamped images from Make your Mark and Numerology over the background, plus the sentiment from Patchwork Butterfly. 

Once I had built up the background sufficiently, I removed the Masking Tissue, and coloured the image with pencils. I added a couple of grey pencils around the edges of the butterfly to give a shadow and to create the feeling of depth.

I have really had fun dipping into my library of stamps this month, and hope that you have enjoyed my posts. Thanks for stopping by, take care,

Judith xx

Beautiful Poppies (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I am back with some projects featured on last month's TV shows. 

My first project was created by using Distress Ink on some Drawing Cartridge. I then stamped the main image from Polygon Poppies, adding a smaller corresponding stamp and a bee from the Honey Bee stamp set. I coloured the image with pencils, and decided to add pops of blue to coordinate with the bee wings. I added the silhouette hexagon stamp in blue and edged the background using the same colour. Finally, I chose a couple of the sentiments from the stamp set and added them to the background.

I created another Distress Ink background for my second card using a pale pink and bright green. I stamped the image from Flora and Fauna around the edges and coloured it with pencils. I added a sentiment from Loving Sentiments in the centre. 

For my final project, I created a plain coloured background using a gel plate and Fossilized Amber Distress Ink. I used a variety of hexagonal images from Polygon Poppies, creating a collage, and sticking to a palette of black, orange and red. I added some of the numbers into the blank hexagons, and coloured the images with pencils. I added a few bees from the Honey Bee stamp set, and overstamped a few of the words from Polygon Poppies.

Poppies are one of my favourite flowers to work with and these stamps are no exception. I hope that you have enjoyed some of my ideas. Thanks for stopping by, take care.

Judith xx

Butterfly trio by Brenda

Morning Peeps, popping in with a few more of my shares from last month Hochanda shows, starting with one showcasing three Butterflies from Butterfly Blush, using Versafine Clair and kiss stamped onto various CB background stamps. The background is stamped with the postcard from Baroque Ephemera 2 and to finish some watery DI's in coordinating colours flicked onto the background.

Another Oxide background with gold paint flicked over it, Briar Rose Butterfly stamped and heat embossed with detail gold EP, coloured and cut out. The lovely sentiment is from Loving Sentiments.

A simple one to finish using another of the images from Briar Rose Butterfly stamped and coloured onto a fancy die cut mat and a bow added to carry the colour.

Pink Auricula (by Jodie)

Good morning everyone.

The month of August has flown by. Hard to believe that this is my third and final project as this month's Guest Design Team member. It's been wonderful.

 

We're going to end with the flower theme and colouring with Distress Inks. 

Supplies:

Stamps- Loving Sentiments Rubber Stamp Sheet - A5, Auricula Script

Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry, Dried Marigold, Twisted Citron, Worn Lipstick

Ranger Archival Ink- Jet Black

White cardstock, dark pink & pink cardstock

Waterbrush- Detailer tip

Double sided foam tape

Gold cardstock

Corner punch

Gold sticker strips 

 

Stamp the image onto white cardstock with Archival ink.

Taking the Distress ink pad, Picked Raspberry, smush it onto a non stick surface.

Then pick up the colour with your waterbrush and begin painting in your image.

Start with your lightest colour, let dry slightly, then come in with your darker colours for contrast.

In order to get deeper colours, use less water, to blend, add more water.

If you feel you've got too much water, simply dab with a paper towel. 

You may have to go over certain areas a few times to create depth of colour.

Once piece is dry, fussy cut out image, leaving a small border.

Cut white cardstock to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" (13.97cm x 21.59cm) and fold in half.

Cut a piece of pink cardstock to 4"x 5 1/4" (10.16cm x 13.34cm). Punch corners with corner punch, and add gold strips of stickers for interest.

Cut two strips of dark pink cardstock, one 1/4" x 5 1/4" (.60cm x 13.34cm), and the other one 3/4" x 5 1/4" (1.90cm x 13.34cm) and attach to middle of pink layer. Attach to front of card.

Attach image to card front with foam tape.

Stamp saying with Archival ink onto white cardstock, trim and mat with gold cardstock. Use corner punch to punch corners of saying and attach to card.

Thank you for stopping by and remember to check out all the new stamps and wonderful colouring mediums.

Distress Oxides With Dark Cardstock (by Jodie)

Good morning everyone,

Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these crazy times. I'm creating my next project for Chocolate Baroque and I hope it provides a bit of inspiration for your creative imagination.

I'm continuing with the flower theme, this time using inks as a painting medium.

Supplies:

Stamps- Loving Sentiments Rubber stamp sheet-A5, Floral Perfumery Rubber Stamp sheet-A5

Distress Oxide inks

Versamark Watermark stamp pad

Versafine Onyx Black

White embossing powder

Paper- Black cardstock, light blue cardstock, dark blue cardstock

Waterbrush- Detailer tip

Double sided foam tape

Heat tool

Silver photo corner stickers 

Stamp the image onto black cardstock with Versamark ink. Sprinkle on white embossing powder, tapping off excess. Heat set the powder with your heat gun.

Taking the Distress ink pad, smush it onto a non stick surface.

Then pick up the colour with your waterbrush and begin painting in the image.

The unique thing about the Distress Oxide inks is that they are opaque on dark coloured cardstock and dry permanent.

Use less water if you want to have deeper colours.

You may have to go over certain areas a few times to create depth of colour, and remember to let each layer dry before adding the next coat.

Once piece is dry, fussy cut out the image, leaving a small border.

Cut the black cardstock to 5 1/4" x 10 1/2" (13.34cm x 26.67cm) and fold in half.

Cut a piece of light blue cardstock to 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" (11.43cm x 11.43cm) and layer onto cardstock base. 

Next cut dark blue cardstock, 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" (10.80cm x 10.80cm) and place onto card.

Attach image onto card using foam tape, towards right side of card.

Stamp the saying onto the white cardstock with the Archival ink, and mat with light blue cardstock.

Attach the saying to the front, then adhere the photo corner stickers.

Thank you for stopping by and remember to check out all the new stamps and wonderful colouring mediums. 

Lady's Slipper Orchid (by Jodie)

Hello everyone, today sees the first of three posts this month from our Guest Design Team member Jodie Heuser.

Jodie writes:

 

Good morning everyone,

I'm extremely excited to have been asked to be a Guest Design team member for this month.

Chocolate Baroque has so many new and exciting designs in stamps it's often hard to choose which ones to use.

 

Since we are in the middle of the dog days of summer here in Florida, I decided to go with a flower theme. 

Supplies:

Stamps- Loving Sentiments Rubber Stamp sheet- A5, Ladys Slipper Orchid

Colour- Brusho Crystal Colour (Set of 24- Crimson, Violet, Lemon Yellow, Sea Gree, and Turquoise)

Ranger Archival Ink- Jet Black

paper- Watercolour paper, cardstock

Waterbrush- detailer tip 

Water Spritzer Bottles- 2 pack

Double sided foam tape

Gold photo corner stickers

Cut the watercolour paper to 4" x 5 1/4" (10.16cm x 13.34cm) and stamp the image using Archival ink.

When you first begin using your Brusho colours, take a thumb tack, and pierce a hole in the top. I cannot stress enough that a little goes a long way.

Lightly spritz the paper with water. This will help the colours blend easier.

Begin by sprinkling which ever colour of Brusho you want to start with onto a non stick surface, then using your watercolour brush, mix a bit of water with the crystals and begin painting in the image. 

Use less water if you want to have deeper colours, and you can mix the colours together to create a specific shade.

Let each colour dry before going on to the next colour, which will help lessen the chance of colours bleeding together.

Once the piece is dry, cut a piece of purple cardstock to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" (13.97cm x 21.59cm) and fold in half.

Cut a piece of light purple cardstock to 4" x 5 1/4" (10.16cm x 13.34cm) and layer onto cardstock base. Next cut a strip of medium purple cardstock, 4" x 1 3/4" (10.16cm x 4.45cm) and place on the right hand side of mat.

Cut out your image and layer onto card using foam tape.

Stamp the saying onto white cardstock with Archival ink, and mat with gold cardstock.

Attach the saying to the front, then adhere the photo corner stickers.

Thank you so much for checking out my project, and please join me next week, when I will use inks to colour in the stamps.   

A Splash of Colour (by Judith)

Hello everyone, as the nights are pulling in, and the days are often a bit grey and gloomy, I thought I would share a few colourful projects that I made for last month's TV shows on Hochanda. I hope that these projects will brighten up your day and inspire you to get your inkpads out and have some colourful creative fun yourselves.

My first project was created using drawing cartridge and Brushos. I wanted a zingy background, and chose yellow, red and orange to create the first layer. I sprinkled the Brushos first, and added water to get the lovely mixture of colours. I blotted another piece of drawing cartridge over the top, and saved that piece for another day's project. I added some stencilling using red and yellow ink, and stamped randomly over the background using the Klimt Panel cling mounted rubber stamp. I held the stamp in my hand rather than on a block to get just bits of the image here and there.

I stamped and embossed some chess pieces from The Art of Chess stamp set onto black card using gold embossing powder, and cut them out. I also stamped the sentiment onto a spare piece of my background card. I mounted the backgrounds before adding them to a tag shaped card.

The backgrounds for the next three cards were all created in the same way, I simply finished them off in different ways. The colours are so pretty, and I really enjoyed making the backgrounds. I made a lot, and still have some left for another creative session. I used Distress Oxide Ink spread onto a craft mat, which I spritzed with water. I placed my drawing cartridge over the top, and then added some gold mica spray, giving it a generous spritz. I put some crinkled cling film over the background and left it to dry completely. When the cling film is removed, you are left with some beautiful patterns, highlighted by the mica spray. There are lots of variations for this technique out there on the Internet, so do give it a try.

For the first of the three cards, I stamped the heart from Music Fanfare five times on a pink background, and once on green. I cut the green heart in half, and edged the cut side with black ink. I stamped the large music segment twice using a toning ink, and added a piece of velvet ribbon to the background. I scrunched, then arranged the hearts into a flower, tucking the green segments behind to resemble leaves. I wanted the flower to look more 'crumpled', and by scrunching the petals first, it gives them far more texture. I added a big black button in the centre. To finish, I added a sentiment from the Loving Sentiments stamp set and matted the background onto black card.

For the next two cards, I used the beautiful Floral Grunge stamp. I used patterned papers for the first card, paper piecing the image, and adding a butterfly cut from the papers themselves. I added one of the ephemera stamps using toning coloured ink, matching the background colours. You can really see the shimmer of the mica spray in this photo.

Finally, I added a bit of pencil colouring to the image on this last card, adding some grey pencil around the flower to give some shading and to give a feeling of dimension. I chose toning colours once again, and although this was a very quick card, it would make a lovely Birthday card. I used a sentiment from the Birthday Words stamp set.

I hope that I have given you a few ideas, and that you will try out some of the projects that I have shared with you today. Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

Roses in July part 2 (by Magda)

Hi and welcome back.
Are you ready for my second Post? This time I decided for a blurred background of this Love Journaling page.

Step 1:
As you can notice all the first stamping and coloring has been covered with a light coat of white gesso.

Step 2:
On the dry surface I stenciled several layers of colour using randomly different stencils

Step 3:
I stamped directly on the pages and colored the roses I have chosen

Step 4:
I cut some decoupage-roses and sentiments and glued on the journaling pages, I attached Washi-tape too.

For this page I used the following products :
Rose and Thistle
Rose Set
Harlequin Rose
Loving Sentiments
White Gesso
Distress Ink Pad
Watercolour Pencils



Heartfelt Thanks card :   the only difficulty in this card is to stamp in a reflex way the stamp you will find in Rose and Thistle using Archival Jet Black.  Both backgrounds are dabbed gently with Distress Ink Pad,  the flowers are coloured with Watercolour Pencils and the sentiment Words to Dazzle and Sparkle is stamped with Archival Jet Black

Thank you for passing by, hugs

Magda

Brushos With Stamping (by Jodie)

Hello everyone, Jodie is back with another project for your inspiration, using Brushos to create a bright, bold background.

Jodie writes:

Good morning everyone, this is my second project for Chocolate Baroque. This time I wanted to try Brusho Crystal Colours with Stamping. The results came out better even than I expected.

Supplies:
Stamps- Loving Sentiments, Exquisite Edges
Colour- Brusho Crystal Colour (Set of 24, Yellow & Brilliant Red)
Inks- Versafine Onyx Black inkpad, Versamark
White embossing powder
Paper-A4 white cardstock, watercolour paper, red cardstock
Water spritzer bottles- pack of 2
Double sided foam tape
Heat Tool
Sequins
Die cut

Cut the watercolour paper to 4" x 5 1/4" (10.16cm x 13.34cm)
Using Versamark, ink up the stamp from Exquisite Edges and stamp onto watercolour paper.
Sprinkle white embossing powder, tap off excess and heat set.
Repeat above two steps on other side of watercolour paper.
If using your Brusho colours for the first time, take a thumb tack and pierce a hole in the top. I cannot stress enough that a little goes a long way.
Sprinkle a tiny bit of both Yellow & Brilliant Red onto the watercolour paper.
Next spritz the paper using the water spritzer bottle and watch the crystals explode with colour.
At this point, you can either add more crystals to deepen the colour, or add more water to get more blending, slightly diluting the colour's intensity.
Where you've embossed, this will act as a resist, really popping out the stamp's design.
Once happy with the result, simply dry the paper using your heat tool.
Next, cut the red cardstock to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" (13.97cm x 21.59cm) and fold in half.
Layer your background onto your card base.
Stamp the saying onto the white cardstock with Versafine Onyx Black ink, and cut out the saying using a die cut.
Attach the saying to the front using foam tape, then adhere the sequins for a bit of added sparkle!

Don't forget to swing by my blog, where I have a few more samples of Brusho Crystals using stencils and embossing folders!

Jodie will be back next week with another dose of inspiration. Thanks Jodie!

A Walk in the Garden (by Carole)

Hello everyone, our Guest Design Team member Carole is back today, sharing a delightful card which uses a background that she found in her stash. We often make extra backgrounds and 'file' them away for later, why not have a rummage through your left overs, and use Carole's project as inspiration for a project?

Carole writes:

Hello everyone.
Time for my next post. Where does the time go?
When I was tidying my craft stuff, I use this term loosely, I found a beautiful background piece that I had made with my Brushos.
I have teamed it up with an image from one of my other favourite sets, the Mackintosh Beauty.
I have used her in one of my previous Guest Design Team posts, in fact exactly a year ago, but because you can snip away various parts of the design, she can look different each time you use her. I like this versatility in a stamp.

Products used:

Stamps: Exquisite Edges, Mackintosh Beauty, tiny butterflies from Essence of Nature, words from Loving Sentiments.
Brushos, Versamark, clear embossing powder, an Aloe Vera coloured inkpad, Majestic Blue Versafine, black permanent inkpad, parchment paper.

I stamped the background with Versamark and clear embossed it.
I used a paintbrush to wet the inside of all of the flower shapes and then lightly sprinkled a blue Brusho over. The water tends to be contained within the embossed areas so the colour doesn't spread too far and the splatters spread into the sky area.
I left this to dry and then coloured the lower section with the Aloe Vera inkpad.
The lady and the tiny butterflies were stamped with the blue Versafine and clear embossed. Her dress was coloured with the same colours as the background.
The words were stamped with the permanent inkpad onto parchment.
It was a little time consuming to cut the butterflies out but I thought they were cute.

Thank you for visiting today and I hope you enjoyed my card.
It is always a pleasure creating projects with such beautiful stamps as these.
Bye for now and happy crafting,

Carole.

Briar Rose (by Veronica)

for my second post this month i have variations using the briar rose stamp, and back to my favourite brusho powders - sorry!
The first is very simple, stamped with versamark and embossed in white before sprinkling the brusho is roughly appropriate places before spritzing with water.
Base card blank was randomly stamped with the roses using pale inks from an ancient set of mini ink pads, with the pink smudged round the edges.








for the second version the image was stmaped in grey versafine ink and coloured with watercolour pencils to get a misty effect. the butterflies were stmaped with black versafine onto scraps of spare brusho-ed card, cut out and glued over the original images.
i used a foliage image from honeysuckle butterfly to stamp randomly onto the base card in two shades of green ink to create the background.








My final card uses foliage stamps from both sets to create the wreath, very easy to do if you have a stamp press.Butterflies from both sets were stamped onto the wreatjh, then again onto spare card.
The spare inages were coloured with marker pens, the wings cut out and glued into place.
the sentiment is from loving sentiments

Painting with Bleach (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I am back with another project to share with you showcasing the stamps that we brought to you on last month's TV shows on Hochanda. I wanted to revisit a technique that I love to use in conjunction with Distress Inks, painting with bleach, it works so well, and these stamps are a great way to show off the technique. I made a larger project a while back using the very same technique, and I will share a couple of photos of that project with you at the end of my post.

I started my project by creating two panels, one large and one smaller, shading them with Distress Inks in a rainbow panel. I started in the middle with yellow, and worked out using orange and red on one side, green, blue and purple on the other side. I made sure to blend the colours smoothly, going back over the joins where necessary with the previous colour. I matted both layers with black card, and turned them so that they were facing the opposite way to each other when I put them together.

I coloured some spare card with Distress Inks, and stamped a couple of flowers and a butterfly from the Butterfly Daisy Collage stamp set onto the card using Archival Jet Black ink. I painted parts of the image with neat household bleach and a fine brush. IMPORTANT: do make sure that you are working in a well ventilated area when you do this. I cut the images out, and stamped a foliage image onto the smaller background a couple of times using black ink. I curled the petals of the flowers and butterfly slightly before adhering them to the background. I added a sentiment from the Loving Sentiments stamp set.

As you will see, I was very much inspired by my previous project! This flag book uses lots of our other stamps, but incorporates stamps from other companies too. Lesley is a huge advocate of mixing and matching our stamp sets together, but encourages you to use your Chocolate Baroque stamps with your other stamps as well.

I used the same techniques throughout this book, Distress Ink backgrounds, stamping with Archival Ink, and painting with bleach. I have added a bit of stencilling here and there for added texture, and a few small embellishments. I hope that you will give this technique a try, it's a lot of fun, and depending on the colour of ink that you use, the results vary.

I will be back later in the month with more inspiration, thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

Autumn Ball by Penny

Hello peeps I hope you are all well.  I'm here again to share another of my samples from last month's

shows, so grab a cuppa and spend a few crafty minutes with me.


 I have used several stamps for this design, Butterfly Dress, a sentiment from Loving Sentiments, and some flowers from Floral Edges.   I also used Distress Inks, alcohol pens, glitter, black Versafine ink, clear EP and a die from my stash.

I stamped the Butterfly Dress image onto white colouring card using black ink, and embossed it with clear powder.  I coloured the image with pens and added some glitter to the flowers. I masked the image and blended Distress Inks onto the card to create a background.  I then used an edging die along the top and bottom of the panel, and blended ink on the outer edges of the panel.

I matted the focal panel onto black card and set it aside.  I stamped and embossed the floral edges image onto white card and coloured it with the pens.  I cut some of the flowers out as embellishments.  I coloured a white base card with Distress inks, stamped the Floral Border along the top and bottom edges using one of the colours then stamped a sentement in black on one side of the card.  I attached the focal panel and the flowers to the card using 3D foam pads to complete the design.  

Thank you for dropping by and taking a little time to join me today.  I hope I've tickled your crafty taste buds, take care and happy crafting,

                                 x Penny x  

Sentimental Canvas (by Jodie)

Hello everyone, today sees the final post this month frrom our Guest Design Team member Jodie. She has created an icy blue mixed media project for us this week.

Jodie writes:

Good morning everyone, this is my third project for Chocolate Baroque.
Because the set contained many great images, it was difficult to choose just one to use on my card, so I didn't!

Supplies:
Stamps- Nature Fragments, Loving Sentiments
Ink- Distress Inks: Evergreen Bough, Faded Jeans, Tumbled Glass, Broken China
Stencil- Crafter's Workshop Specimens
Palette knife
Molding paste
Sparkly embossing powder
5" x 7" canvas board

First I taped the stencil to the board and applied a thin layer of the molding paste over the stencil using the palette knife.
Once dry, I blended the ink onto the board. I spritzed the piece with a bit of water to add more texture to this layer and let dry.
Next I chose one of the stamps from the set Nature Fragments, and using the same ink colours, I randomly stamped the canvas.
While the ink was still wet, I sprinkled the embossing powder over the top and heat set the powder.
Then I stamped the sayings from Loving Sentiments and attached them to the canvas.

Jodie will be back in the New Year with more inspirational projects.

Thanks for stopping by,

Fireworks (by Magda)

Good Morning
Today it's up to me to give you some more ideas about how you could use the stamps of August.
I loved the final result of my "Fireworks" card and want to share with you the way I did it.

Step by step:
1.  Colour a piece of white cardstock with Distress Oxide Squeezed Lemonade, Fired Brick and
     Spiced Marmalade and let it dry
2.  Stamp Taj Mahal from the Indian Textiles set with Versafine Onyx Black
3.  Mask the inside of the peacock stamp with a piece of Masking Tissue
4.  Apply Versafine Onyx Black on the stamp
5.  Remove the masking piece
6.  Position the stamp around the Taj Mahal and stamp firmly
7.  Lighten the fireworks with Stickles Crystal all around as shown
8.  Use two pieces of leftover of the background, one for the sentiment and one as decoration to put
     behind it
9.  Seal the sentiment on the decoration, the strip behind the background and place all of the pieces on a black card.

For this tag I used the  Tree stamp of Indian Elephant which I coloured with Aquarelle Pencils, while the background is blended with Distress Ink Pad blue shades.

See you soon again with other projects for this month and thank you for reading till the end my post.
Magda