Any egg-scuse for Chocolate

If you read Craft Stamper, you may already have spotted that our advertisement this month features a new set of stamps called Baroque Eggs.

 

There are some eggsquisite designs on this plate and some eggcellent phrases - eggsactly what you need for Easter.  OK, ok, I'll stop with the eggstraordinarily bad eggy references now ...

I find myself very drawn to imagery of eggs, both natural and decorated.

 

I love the huge variations in colour that you find in nature.  

 

or the lavish fantasies of the Fabergé eggs - very baroque

and not forgetting a little chocolate of course!

Well you can indulge in as much Chocolate as you like this Easter - Chocolate Baroque Eggs have absolutely no calories whatsoever!  Oh, if only all chocolate was the same ...

Here are a few cards I've made with these scrummy new stamps - I'll post more details of how I made these over on my blog.

I seem to have been in a yellow and aqua kind of mood - it's a nice fresh spring palette don't you think?

Before I go, I suggest you keep a close eye on Miranda's blog - she may have a little surprise for her followers coming up soon.

We have more new stamps coming out this week too

Introducing a new designer - Clare Curcio

Since launching Chocolate Baroque nearly a year ago, we have had a lot of interest from outside the UK, particularly the USA, so I am delighted to introduce you to our first American Design Team member, Clare Curcio.

Clare doesn't have many of our stamps (yet), so you will have to wait a couple of days before seeing more of her artwork with our latest collection which goes live this week.  In the meantime, you can read more about Clare in the interview below.

* How did you first hear about Chocolate Baroque?

I first heard about Chocolate Baroque from another crafter, who had the link on her blogsite.  The name "Chocolate" enticed me to check it out, and the word "Baroque" lured me in because it's my favorite period.  I clicked on the link, and I've been a "baroquer" ever since!  I would have loved to wear the gowns of this time in history, and the paintings are absolutely gorgeous!  And then Chocolate Baroque's "Baroque" stamps are even gorgeouser!  (is that a word?)

* What is it you like about our stamps?

The rubber that the Chocolate Baroque stamps are made from is extremely nice, very soft, pliable, but holds up very well under stamping and inking pressures, and is easily cut apart to mount and use!  Very good quality and ease of use are the two things that I hold most importantly in a rubber stamp.

* What was the first set you bought?
 

The first set I purchased was the Home Sweet Home set.  Glenda had a tutorial on her website that instructed how to blend and color the suns rays and the little house in this set.  Once I saw the striking card, I knew I had to have the stamp set and try her technique!  I've made many cards with this set, using the same method - I like the results so well that I can't seem to do it any other way!

click for larger view

* Do you have a favourite stamp set?
 

There are many "favorites" that I have!  It's so hard to place that label on just one set, because they are ALL beautiful!  I think the Christmas stamps, and the fancier stamps with the intricate details are my favorites right now.

* Where do you get your inspiration?

I am a crafter at heart, and have been since I was a little girl.  I look at everything for inspiration - nature, babies, people, flowers, insects, landscapes, objects, etc.  The design team members of Chocolate Baroque have beautiful samples posted!  I love perusing through the postings at Splitcoast Stampers where I post some of my cards/projects, and there are tons of tutorials and places to see there that have instructions, tips and photos on how to do different techniques, or really anything you want!

* Do you have a favourite technique?
 

I love to color, but I don't like going out of the lines.  I think I use heat embossing more because of the ridge it creates on the image lines.  When I color the image, the ridges help me stay in the lines!  Is that cheating?  ;)

* Do you have any tips for beginners?
 

Have fun!  Experiment!  Don't be afraid to get inky!  When I get a new stamp, I like to stamp it a few times, then color it in with different colors, or use one color of heat embossing to see which looks better.  Some stamps look better done in monochromatic tones than in color.

* What’s on your Chocolate Baroque wishlist right now?
 

Oh, this is a very easy question to answer!  Glenda has some beautiful Christmas (any and all), Damask, and Kelmscott Bauble stamps on the retired list that I'd love to get before it's too late!  I love the birds, birdcages and butterfly stamps that she has on the regular list!  Anything floral, too!  I could go on and on and on...

click for larger view

I'm very blessed to have been allowed to be a design team member for Chocolate Baroque!  I feel so humbled by Glenda's generosity and friendship!

It's great to have Clare on board and I know you are going to enjoy seeing her approach to working with our stamps.   Please join me in giving her a warm welcome to Chocolate Baroque!

You can see more of Clare's work on her blog Clare's Paper Works or on the Chocolate Baroque community website. 

Floral gift tag - great for Mother's Day

Hello, Joanne here again.

While I had the colouring supplies out on the desk for the seed packet project in my last post (here if you missed it and would like to see) I coloured the floral spray from the Fragrant Honeysuckle set and turned it into a pretty tag. I think this would be a lovely addition to a gift of a bunch of flowers.


I stamped and cut out with a Beaded Oval Nestability die and then carefully cut the beads off, cutting round the flower head and leaves that extended beyond the basic oval shape,. I coloured the image with Copics and Prismacolor pencils and then sponged ink round the edge. I stuck the coloured piece onto a second beaded oval die cut and finished with a simple ribbon at the top.

I used a Copic marker to colour white silk ribbon on both of these projects - it's a great way to get a match for the colours in your image.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Seeds of Friendship

Hello, Joanne here - I'm delighted to be doing a guest post here on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team blog. I've been playing with the lovely florals from The Rose Tree - perfect for spring!

I made this little gift presentation package. It's perfectly sized to give an actual packet of flower seeds as a token gift but you could also use it to present something like a necklace or earrings - perhaps made with seed beads or seed pearls to continue the theme!


I created a document to make a seed packet "framework" for the image. It's easy to do with a word processing program but if you'd like a quick and easy starting point, Glenda has made mine available as a pdf that you can find on the downloads page. There are some instructions included on there, too.

The image is coloured with a combination of Copic markers for a base layer and Prismacolor pencils to add some detail and depth. I even gave the large flower centers some texture by tapping a brown pencil straight down onto the cardstock with a piece of fun foam underneath.

Thanks for joining me today!
Joanne

Joanne's artwork is featured regularly in Craft Stamper magazine and you can see more of her beautiful work at her blog, Ambrosia & Iron.

Primula in Sepia by Debbie

For my card today I used the Primula stamp from Elegant Spring Flowers.


Onto white card I stamped the flower with Brushed Corduroy twice. I used a water brush to colour the flowers with the same ink. The centre flower was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with various Alcohol Ink pens then cut out. I softened the edges with Brushed Corduroy and mounted onto brown. The backing paper for the card is a download from Chocolate Baroque, Love Letters. This paper comes in various colours and I love it.





Thanks for stopping by

Debbie

Mica Mosaic (by Claire)

Hi there, my card this morning features Corinthian Butterfly by Crafty Individuals and i've also used  one of the Crafters Workshop Templates to create the background

The image is simply coloured with Derwent Watercolour pencils. I've decoupaged the butterflies for a little dimension. The backing paper is from Echoes of Italy.

To create the mica background, I used some black cardstock and used masking tape to position the template. I decided to experiment with  and found a pot of magi-tac glue which I'd had for years and spread it over the surface. I then created some texture by using a hard rubber brayer. I left it to dry and then gently brushed over various colour mica powders to created the tiled effect. You can use all sorts of things to add texture, for example bubble wrap, corrugated cardboard, an embossing folder etc. It its something you want to use again just make sure you wash it straightaway. I've also tried using thick pva glue and microbeads which gives a lovely effect too.

I didn't want to use too many embellishments so I just added a couple of ribbon flowers, a flower created with old book pages and Crealies 10 and some black die cut foliage (Crealies 11)

I really enjoyed making this card, I hope it gives you some inspiration

Claire xx

Blue Tag (by Debbie)

Hi there,
The Ladies over on the Chocolate Baroque Forum are involved in a tag swap and they are wonderful. I love making tags as you can let your creativity run wild.
I used the Crafty Individuals Britannia stamps. The edges are distressed with Stormy sky and stamped over with the same colour. I cut a piece of acetate the same size as the tag and stamped Britannia with black Stazon. I stamped it again on to white card, coloured and cut it out then placed on the top of the acetate. The flowers are attatched with a brad that I bought from Graphicus a few years ago.




Thanks for stopping by

Debbie

Up, Up, and Away (posted by Judith)

Hi folks, well this is the last of my samples for this batch of cards. I have had so much fun creating my projects with these great stamps, and still have so many ideas that I want to make. I have combined Crafty Individuals stamps and the new Artistic Expressions stamps in this project.

I started by creating a background with Distress inkpads, and using a Crafter's Workshop template, sponging some colour through, and then stamping the large swirl over the top. I stamped the large 'inspire' in the bottom right hand corner. I stamped the ballon stamp onto another piece of card, and coloured that with Distress inkpads too. I stamped several Crafty Individuals clocks, and cut them out, arranging them around the balloon image, as if it were travelling through time. I added some Glossy Accents to the clocks. I decoupaged the balloon image, curving the balloon before I attached it to the card. Finally, I added some texture paste through the Mini Punchinella template from Crafter's Workshop, which I coloured with gold paint when the stars were dry.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

In England's green and pleasant land

Hi there, here's my second sample combining the gorgeous new Artistic Expressions and Crafty Individuals stamps with some of my old favourites from Home Sweet Home.

As soon as I saw the sentiment 'In England's green and pleasant land' I knew I wanted to combine them with a country scene so of course Home Sweet Home were the perfect stamps for them. The gorgeous bold swirl stamps are from Artistic Expressions and the Britannia image at the top of the frame is from Crafty Individuals 'Britannia . I've made the flowers and leaves using Crealies dies.

For more details, pop over to my blog

Thanks for visiting today. 

Claire xx

'Love' Artistic Expressions (by Miranda)

Hi there,

Today a card made with a background which I already had for quit a while. I've used the doodle butterfly stamps and coloured them with pencils on kraft paper. I've cut a nestie label and used the word 'LOVE' from the Artistic Expressions sheet. Again I have die cut a butterfly out of metal foil and have been busy for quit a while taking out all of the metallic pieces.
Also use a Go Kreate die for this card model.

See you next time and have fun crafting........

Breath of Spring (posted by Judith)

Hi folks, I'm back with another sample to showcase the great new stamp set Artistic Expressions available at Chocolate Baroque

The full details of how I made this piece can be viewed on my blog so you can hop over there if you are interested.

I thoroughly enjoyed making this piece, but with stamps like these, it's hardly surprising! I've used 'Artistic Expressions', 'Rose Tree', and 'Breath of Spring', all available on the website.

Keep checking back for more samples from the other Design Team members, and I'll be back in a few days. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Vintage, Inky heart with wings (by Debbie)

Hi there. I wanted to create a vintage grungy style card using the heart with wings and a crown from the new Artistic Expression stamp set. I chose the colours for the backgrounds first, coloured and then stamped with the Small Script from Mini Scripts with the same inks. To add more of an aged feel I used an Ink Splat stencil and distressed into the splats with the Spiced Marmalade.
The heart and crown have been stamped seperately onto white card, cut out, coloured with Alcohol pens and glued on. I stamped the words from Crafty Individuals - UM Britannia below in black so that it became a focal point.



Ingredients
Distress Ink - Antique Linen, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo
Versafine - Onyx Black
If you would like to see the stamps I have used click on the underlined words and it will take you to the Chocolate Baroque website where they are.

Thanks for stopping by

Debbie

brown and blue butterflies.... (by Miranda)

Hello there,

Today another one with the Crafty Individuals...( CI1333)and some swirls of the Artistic Expressions. This time with brown and blue shades. I find that always a beautiful combination.
Again I've used the acrylic bloc technique. The image is stamped on kraft paper and shaded with brown and white pencils. The butterflies are decoupaged and also coloured with pencils. The big butterfly is a die from Cheery Lynn and cut from metal foil. Than treated with some dabber's to make it look less shiny. Just added some pearls and voila!

Creative greetz,

Keep Calm and Carry On Pastel Easel Card (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, I'm back again with a sample using the great Crafty Individuals stamps available at Chocolate Baroque. The whole Britannia theme is so popular at the moment, isn't it?

I wanted to create a card using colours that weren't traditional for this theme, and set about using aqua as my basic colour. I have used a lovely Crafty Individuals swirl to decorate the background of the card, and stamped the sentiment onto seam binding ribbon. I added a large acrylic circle over the Britannia image, to represent a coin, and it makes a great stopper for the top half of the card. I had a great threepenny charm in my stash, and it was ideal for this card.

I pieced the flag together by stamping it three times in various colours onto a spare piece of background paper, then cutting out the pieces I needed. A piece of lace completes the vintage feel that I wanted for my card.

Keep checking back for more samples from the other Design Team members over the coming days. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Keep calm and carry on (by Claire)

Hi here's my first sample with the new Artistic Expressions stamps which i've combined with some of the new Crafty Individuals stamps. 

The backing paper is from the neutrals collection from Decadent Brocade cd, overstamped with the swirl from Artistic Expressions and embossed with beige embossing powder. The Crafty individuals Union Jack and the sentiment are stamped on printable canvas coloured with antique linen distress stain. I've used the wings and crown from the heart stamp on Artistic expressions,stamping the wings on vellum and the crown on beige and black card for a bit of contrast. 

I've matted the sentiment on Shapeabilities Fancy Tags 2 and attached it with some seam binding ribbon. I've added lots of faux pearls and a few gems to finish off.

I'm hope you're enjoying all my teamies beautiful projects. These new stamps are irresistible aren't they?

Claire xx

purple and greens (by Miranda)

Hello there,

Today I will show you a card with the same CI stamp as I shown before but with a different technique, colours and lay-out.
I've used the acrylic bloc method using distress inks, mist spray and perfect pearls. For the two tiny balloons I've used the Creative Petals no.1 from Crealies. On the balloons I used the mini stamps mail art en scripts.
I've stamped the main image from Crafty Individual with Archival black. The text is from the Word of Inspiration sheet. Attached some thin silver threads around this card and layered on purple cardstock.

So, this was another variation with the same stamp, have a nice day,

Artistic Expressions Winner

Thanks so much to everyone for all your comments - it's time to pick a winner.  The random number generator has been called into play and the lucky winner is ...

* * * Sharon * * *

Congratulations Sharon - I will leave a comment on your blog, but could you get in touch with your postal address and we will get your stamps sent out to you.

Travel Journal Card (posted by Judith)

Hi folks, I'm back again, with another sample using the great new Artistic Expressions stamp plate recently released over at Chocolate Baroque and some new Crafty Individuals stamps.

This time I was aiming for a much more masculine feel to my project. Glenda has some great Crafter's Workshop stencils over on thewebsite, and I decided to use one of these to help create my background. I sponged Versamark through the stencil, and then used clear embossing powder, to create the design. I have added the large cogs and clock stamp from 'Punky Romance', masking off the flowers before I inked up the stamp.

I created a little book by stamping and embossing the crackle stamp from 'Echoes of Italy' in gold onto black card. I added a book plate with a computer generated title, and the great Crafty Individuals balloon image on the top. I stamped some Crafty Individuals tickets onto Kraft card, which I crumpled slightly, then stuck down the edge of the book, as if they were spilling out.

The sentiment that I used is a great one for scrapbooking, and I felt that it went really well with this project.

The other Design Team members have been really busy too, creating some great projects, keep popping back to see what they have been up to. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Masculine card with the new stamps..... (by Miranda)

Hello there,


My creation today is a masculine one......don't make them so often but the new Crafty Individuals stamp(CI 1336) was perfect for this. I stamped the image with Archival brown on kraft paper and coloured with Derwent pencils. The car is a Marianne design die and was cut from metal foil and treated with a black dabber.The text 'Imagine' and 'Dream' is from the new 'Artistic Expressions' sheet. Also used an embossing folder from which I cut out the clock and sanded the paper. As additional stuff I've used a TH embellishment and some rope ribbon on the background.

Hope to have inspired you with these stamps!

till next time,

Dream (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, as you know Glenda has recently released a fabulous new stamp plate called Artistic Expressions over at Chocolate Baroque I absolutely love this stamp plate, as it has everything that I could possibly ask for to finish off a card or mixed media project. I love the big words, the swirls and the heart with wings. This plate is so inspiring, that I can't stop thinking of ideas!

Anyway, here is one of the ideas that I came up with, and I will be back over the next few days with some of the others, hopefully to show you how versatile these stamps really are.

I wanted to create a dreamy feel to my card, and so I used several colours of Distress inkpads to colour a piece of white card, and then spritzed the whole thing with a pearl shimmer spray. I stamped a tree from the 'Woodland Dreams' stamp plate, and a fairy from 'Dragonfly Faeries' before colouring them in with pencils. I embossed the big swirl around the edges of the card with a white pearl embossing powder for an ethereal feel.

I created a plaque using an offcut of mountboard, colouring it with Distress ink, and stamping it with the large crackle stamp from 'Echoes of Italy'. I then stamped the word 'Dream' before triple embossing it to give it a cracked tile effect.

Don't forget to keep popping back to see what the other Design Team members have created with these amazing stamps, and I'll be back in a few days. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Artistic Expressions - a blog giveaway

We have launched a new set of stamps today called Artistic Expressions.  This makes a great partner to Artistic Affirmations and contains some really big words which work really well as the focal point for a card as well as being great for scrapbooking and mixed media pieces.  There are some lovely heartfelt sentiments too.

It's a full size A4 sheet and if you would like to win this set of stamps, please leave a comment and I'll pick a winner next Tuesday.

Check back for DT artwork coming along soon.

A Posy of Daisies (by Debbie)

My card is from the Rose Tree stamps and I love the arrangement of the flowers in the posy. It is a stamp that can be used for so many occasions. A simple thinking of you to a wedding card, coloured with the brides bouquet colours.



I used dies to cut the easel card with white card and my favourite moss green as layers. The posie is stamped with Memento black the the flowers are coloured with alcohol pens, pastel pinks, lemons and greens. I used one of my nestabilie shapes chopped it up and created a border. I stamped the posie a second time and coloured and cut out the flowers to place around the bottom of the base.

Stay warm
Debbie

Orange Honeysuckle (by Debbie)

My card today is from the Fragment Honeysuckle stamps and I wanted to keep use oranges as it's a colour I don't use often when card making. I stamped the flower with Memento black and coloured with Alcohol Ink pens. The delicious backing paper is from the Essence of Nature cd, a definate favourite of mine

.

I have a few more cards that I will post over the weekend.

Stay warm
Debbie

Dandelion frame (by Claire)

Hi there, here's another sample using some of the gorgeous new stamps from Chocolate Baroque. These beautiful delicate dandelions are from Rose Tree and the sentiment is from Words of Gratitude

Its one of my all time favourite sentiment stamps, I've used it so many times and never get fed up of it.

This was a really quick and simple card to make using distress inks and memento inks

For more details pop over to my blog.

I hope you're managing to keep warm in this wintery weather, at least its perfect for crafting and all the new stamps are a wonderful reminder of better weather to come

Claire xx

'Fragile glittering' (by Miranda)

Hello there,


Today a card I've made using the new CB stamp sheet 'the Rosetree'. The stamp I've used is a beautiful fragrant flower and I like it very much to work with. I've  made a background using oil pastel crayons and a blending solution. Also used a lot of glittering which I like always! I am really like a magpie........Also used my indispensable white gel pen this time for the centre of the flowers. I've also used the same background behind the image and embossed that with a crafts too folder. A lovely lime coloured ribbon for the finishing touch. And I've also added a sentiment from the sheet 'Artistic affirmations' 
On the picture below you can see the shimmer better, always difficult to catch on the camera.

Till next time,

 

Stylish Flower and one Inkpad (by Debbie)

My card today has been made using the flower from Wisteria Lane stamps. The flower has been popular with my Design Team buddies.



I searched around for my Big and Juicy Waterfall inkpad to use with the stamp. I inked the flowers from different areas of the pad to achieve the difference of colour and used clear embossing powder. The background was made by masking off pieces of the white card, brayering then moving the tape and repeating. I stamped the tiny single flower head that also looks like an ink splodge. I mounted onto navy blue cards and placed onto a fresh green card base.

Stay warm and have a crafty weekend

Debbie

Dandelion sympathy card (posted by Elaine)

As soon as I saw this dandelion stamp from the Fragrant Honeysuckle set, I thought it would make a very suitable stamp for a sympathy card. I stamped the images and sentiment in Versamark on a white card panel slightly smaller than DL size and embossed in the silver detail powder I seem to use so much!  The words are from the CB With Sympathy set which is very useful for these sad occasions. I edged with more silver embossing using a Versamark pen. I then matted onto medium grey. I wanted to keep the design deliberately simple.

Hope you enjoy  looking at all the ideas from the DT for these lovely new stamps

'art deco' flower (by Miranda)

This time I want to show you this creation, a very stylish one with a beautiful flower from the 'Wisteria Lane' sheet. If you like these 'art deco' stylized images then this is your sheet! Personally I like this style very much.
I 've used masking tape and sponged with only 2 colors Versa magic ink, Aegan blue and Sage, both beautiful powder colours. After sponging and a little bit of drying I rubbed some perfect pearls onto the card. You can see the shine in the close-up.....

Well that is my contribution for today........have a great day