Guest Post- Winter Skies by Gerrina Poncin

Hello everyone, it's time for Gerrina's second post this month on the Design Team Blog. She has created something a little bit different for you, so relax and enjoy her post.

Gerrina writes:

Today is the second post this month from me, and I have a lot of photos for you. Next to stamping, I really like to take photographs. Through taking photos I started scrapping and by using a few little stamps in my photo scrapbook, I started stamping more and more, so now I can say that I am addicted, (in a healthy way), to stamping....Of course I still take pictures, and there is nothing better than combining these two hobbies in a Project Life kind of way.

Materials:

Stamp sets: Tall Trees, Patchwork Landscape

Versafine Onyx Black Ink
Distress Inkpads: Black Soot, Broken China, Worn Lipstick, Stormy Sky, Weathered Wood, Pumice Stone, Hickory Smoke, Antique Linen
Memento Inkpads: Desert Sand, Peanut Brittle, Elderberry, Rose Bud, Teal Zeal, Summer Sky
Other: Aquarel paper, Elegant Writer pencil, waterbrush, pencil, (and eraser), White Sharpie, Wink of Stella pencil, blue finewriter, brush and water, blue and purple cardstock.

This was the view from my craft room on 25th January this year. I took some pictures. The view inspired me to try and make some skies the same way that Nature showed me, and I put them together in a book:

Stamp the trees three times and use a waterbrush, bigger brush and water with Distress inkpads to colour your scene. Glue the picture and photo onto a piece of cardstock, and then onto a piece of purple cardstock.

For this picture, colour your stamp with the Elegant writer, or other water based marker, and mist some water over the stamp. Stamp it onto aquarel paper, and use a waterbrush, bigger brush and water to let a little bit of the blue and purple pigment show. The sky is made with Distress Ink and a waterbrush.

This is a simple quick card; put the different ink colours directly on the stamp, and stamp on the paper. Place the second image a little lower. Draw three lines and add a sentence that fits the images.

This card is made in a similar way to the second card, just use even more water on the card after stamping, and stamp the text with black ink.

Creatieve groetjes, Gerrina

Thanks Gerrina for such an informative and creative blog post. Your photos are beautiful, and your matching cards capture the feeling of those Winter skies perfectly. Look out for Gerrina's final post of the month next week.

 

Babushka by Zoe pt 2

Good morning Lovelies, well I'm back for my second post this month using the fab new Babushka stamp set

This card I just stamped directly onto my card base, even over the folded bit, I started by making masks for my dolls and one of the buildings by stamping them on some scrap paper and cutting them out, so I first stamped my smallest Doll, covered with the mask then stamped the next using the same method, until they are all stamped behind one another, I opened the card out and did the same with the building and finally one of my favourite stamps Dusky Damask background which I used Blueprint Sketches Distress ink for, I then coloured all the images in using pencils, stamped the sentiment, added a few gems and voila!

Thank you for taking the time to visit today, please pop along each day to see my wonderful teamies creations, have a great day xx Zoe xx

 

Posted with Blogsy

Babushka Doll, Quick Make (by Debbie)

Hello.

I have a quick make card to show today which is very different to my last project.

 

 

I sat one evening in front of the television, colouring an A4 sheet of the Babushka dolls that I had stamped and embossed with black ink and clear embossing powder. They are coloured with distress inks and a watercolour brush then cut out.

I kept the layout to the card simple and haven't added a sentiment as this card is going into my card stash box.

Many thanks for visiting

Debbie

Russian Dolls (by Julie)

Hello! Hope your weekend is going well. Today I have two cards made with the fabulous new Babushka Dolls. I have to confess that after being a little apprehensive about working with this very different set, I am pleased to report that they are loads of fun and more importantly, very versatile so I hope you like them as much as I do.

My first card shows a parade of dolls emerging from the temple. As they are different sizes you can play around with perspective to see what suits you best. A swirly corner stencil was used to create a garden and another texture stencil was used the other side of the pathway. The design has been coloured with a mixture of Brush-markers and Distress inks and finished off with a birthday sentiment from the Amazing Birthday clear sentiment set.

My second card is a very simple card and it is made even easier if you keep the three, smallest Russian dolls together when you cut your stamps out.

I have inked up the trio with Onyx Black Versafine and stamped onto a piece of spare card before water-colouring with brush markers.

I cut the card into a square to fit the centre of my base card and brushed the edges with Tea Dye Distress ink. The crackled edges on the base card were stamped with the crackled egg from the Natural Eggs clear set and finished off with the Tea Dye Distress ink as before.

Many thanks for stopping by and please call back for another Design Team member's inspiration.

Julie xx

Here is Russia (by Dominike)

Hello
I am back with a new birthdaycard . Just for me (it is today). Also for you all Chocolate Baroque lovers.

I love these new stamps. They are so elegant.

Here is a little step by step.

1. Stamp the dolls on a piece of paper with different inks Adirondack Ginger and Espresso, and Versamark for the biggest one.
2. Embosse with clear powder and gold for the largest.
3. Make the background with a Gelli plate and a stencil. I have made mine with my Silhouette machine.
4. Stamp the buildings with Black Archival Ink.
5. Glue the dolls on this piece of art
6. Glue on a card.

I hope you have had pleasure visiting this blog.

Dominike

Bonjour

me voici de retour avec une carte d'anniversaire. Juste pour moi (c'est aujourd'hui). Mais aussi pour vous les amoureux des tampons Chocolate Baroque.

J'aime beaucoup ces nouveaux tampons. Ils sont plein d'élégance.

On part pour un petit pas à pas ?

1. Tamponner les poupées sur un morceau de papier avec de l'encre Adirondack Ginger et Espresso, et Versamark pour la plus grosse.
2. Embosser avec de la poudre transparente et dorée pour la plus grosse.
3. Faire le fond avec la Gelli Plate et un pochoir. J'ai fait le mien avec ma machine Silhouette.
4. Tamponner les bâtiments avec de l'encre Archival noire.
5. Coller les poupées sur votre papier décoré.
6. Coller sur une carte.

J'espère que vous avez pris du plaisir à venir ici.

A très bientôt.

Lovely Babushka (by Anne)

Good morning. I have been playing with the new Babushkastamp set. This set is so much fun and really different. I also love the Russian buildings that are included too – great for scene building.

Materials:

• Babushka and Indian Textiles stamp sets
• C6 shaped card and white stamping card
• Inkpads: Distress Ink (Broken China) and Versafine (Onyx Black)
• Watercolour pens (Spectrum Aqua)
• Glitter marker (gold), black marker and gold glitter glue
• 3D glue gel

 

How it was done:

I created masks for the buildings by stamping onto copy paper and cutting them out. The buildings were stamped with Versafine, covered with the masks and I then stamped with the background silhouette buildings with Distress Ink.

The images were coloured with watercolour pens. Some colour was applied directly, and some by picking up colour from a pallet using a damp brush. I then finished with touches of sparkle pen and glitter glue.

Happy Friday - Hugs, Anne xxx

Russian Fairytale (by Asha)

Good morning, friends. Are you having fun with the new Babushka A5 stamp set? If you don't want to play with dolls, this set also has 2 Russian churches that you can incorporate in your projects.

I stamped and masked the larger church 3 times. Then I set the scene by blending Distress Inks to create the twilight sky. To ground the churches I blended earth tones, added some grass and coloured the building with Faber Castell Polychromo pencils.

To finish the project, I added some highlights to the buildings with a white gel pen and stickles for twinkling stars.

As always, more details on tools and products used are available on my blog. And be sure to stop by often for more fabulous projects by the rest of the team. Have a brilliant day!

Beijinhos,
Asha

Guest Post- Bloom Each Season by Gerrina Poncin

Hello everyone, today sees the return of our regular Guest Design Team blogger, Gerrina Poncin. She is here with the first of her blog posts this month, and you are sure to enjoy her beautiful designs. Gerrina can be found blogging regularly at Gerrina's Creatieve Wereld.

Hi all, and so it is March, and it has been six months since my first post. I am glad to be back for my next turn as a Guest Design Team member; this month you will see several projects from me here.

I started with the beautiful Helebore stamp from the Spring is in the Air stamp set, and on the second card I used the beautiful Magnolia clear stamp. The first card gives a glimpse of what will bloom later in the year, and you can see the Magnolia as the days are a bit warmer.

Materials:

Chocolate Baroque stamps: Spring is in the Air, Bold Blooms
Versafine Onyx Black inkpad
Distress Inkpads: Broken China, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Spun Sugar
Other: Aquarel Paper, Water and brush, Watercolour brush, white cardstock.

Instructions:

Stamp the two Hellebore stamps from the set twice onto a thick strip of aquarel (watercolour) paper and colour them with a Watercolour brush, a brush and water, and Distress Ink. Fold the strip, and glue it onto thick cardstock so that the strip continues onto the back of the card. Stamp the sentiment on the front of the card, below the painted strip using black ink.

Materials:

Chocolate Baroque Stamps: Magnolia Clear stamp, Bold Blooms, Texture Fragments
Versafine Onyx Black inkpad
Distress Inkpads: Wild Honey, Evergreen Bough, Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs
Other: Aquarel paper, masking paper, blending tool, watercolour brush, white pen, pink cardstock



I stamped the Magnolia onto a strip of aquarel (watercolour) paper, and masked the image. Next I stamped the background texture stamp in different Distress Ink colours and sprinkled some water on the stamp before I stamped them to get a watery image. The background was coloured with Distress Ink and a blending tool.

I removed the mask and coloured the Magnolia. I glued the aquarel paper onto the cardstock, and stamped the sentiment using black ink.

Creatieve groetjes, Gerrina

We love your floral designs Gerrina, bringing a bit of Spring and Summer to the blog. We look forward to seeing what you have designed  for us next week. In the meantime, do keep visiting regularly to see what our talented Design Team girls have created for you.
 

 

Pink and Blue (posted by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are enjoying the fabulous artwork created by my Design Team mates using this month's Babushka stamp set. I absoloutely love the versatility of this quirky stamp set, and the many possibilities that the stamps offer. I have two cards to share with you today, in very different colour options.

For my first card, I created a wrinkle free Distress background, and stamped the three dolls onto some white card using white embossing powder. I also stamped the face areas again onto some spare card using black ink. I coloured the images using water based markers and a water brush.

I die cut some hexagons, and stamped the flower head from the Breath of Spring stamp set on to the hexagons, again using white embossing powder. I coloured the hexagons using tones of blue Distress Ink, to match the Babushka dolls.  I ironed off the white embossing from the hexagons so that I could add faux stitching to the edges. I also added faux stitching around the edge of the background. Finally, I added a sentiment from the Amazing Birthday clear stamp set.

My second card became a Mother's Day card for my Mum. She loves Russian dolls, and always wanted to collect them. When we were growing up, I always remember her hankering after them, but never being able to afford them. So, I thought that it would be lovely to incorporate some of the images into a card for her.

I stamped a window fragment from the Texture Fragments stamp set onto my background, and added gold embossing powder. Before using the heat gun, I stamped the large fragment from the Dusky Damask stamp set using a deep purple ink into two of the corners of the background, and added clear embossing powder. I then heat set the images.

I covered the background with a blend of pink and purple inks, before adding a stencil, and repeated the process, to deepen the colours. I stamped the Babushka images onto a spare piece of card, using gold embossing powder, and coloured them using toning colours. Finally, I added a sentiment from the For Mum clear stamp set.

I will be back later in the month with some more ideas using these lovely stamps, but do keep checking back to see what my Team mates have been up to. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Babushkas (by Veronica)

 It was quite a challenge playing with the new babushka doll stamps - I kept wishing they were bigger!
I found some readymade fancy fold card blanks that I had forgotten I had bought - must have been years ago - and the diamond fold ones were just the right size for the dolls, 13.5 cm square when folded.
Backgrounds are distress inks dabbed onto a mat, spritzed with water and mopped up with card - I think I only used tumbled glass asnd peeled paint.
I stamped the dolls onto white card with black Memento ink, and coloured with watercolour pencils before cutting out and mounting onto my diamond panel.
The side panels were cut from the same piece of inked card, but stamped directly onot the card then coloured with the pencils.
I used orange mats to pick up the colours of the dolls.


Apologies for the paler photos, the day was quite overcast when I took the photos, the colour in the first scanned image is more accurate.

Check back over the next few days to see what everyone else has made, some really gorgeous ideas coming up!

I am my own unique self (posted by Claire)

Good morning folks, Claire here with a quick project made using the fabulous new Babushka stamps. I've made a canvas using various sizes of these lovely new stamps and one of the sentiments from an old favourite stamp sheet Artistic Affirmations.

I began by adding a little texture to the canvas using some texture paste and a stencil although you can't see it very well in the photos. Next I stamps the various Babushka stamps on tissue paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I left it to dry and then coloured one of the larger images carefully using Graph'It Markers. To decide which image to colour lay the tissue paper over the canvas so you can see where the edges are and decide which image to colour. I lightly marked the position of the canvas with a pencil and stamped the sentiment with Versamark before embossing with Gold Embossing powder.

I applied a layer of matte gel medium to the canvas and used this to adhere the stamped tissue paper to the canvas. Remember to separate the layers of the tissue and only apply one to the canvas. Once that was dry I used a dark grey pencil to create some shadows. I used a versamark pen to cover the coloured image with ink and applied a layer of clear embossing powder and repeated this several times to create a thick glossy layer  To finish off I added some gilding wax to the edges of the little canvas.

Thanks for visiting today, 

Claire xx

Babushka by Zoe

Good morning Lovelies, today it's my turn to share my creation's using the fab new Stamps.

I went quite Rustic for both tag and card, using Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge and Hickory Smoke distress inks on my tag, I added texture by splashing some water and dabbing dry and stamping in a grey ink pad bits from the Decorative Edges set you can see better in the close up photo, I added some splatters using Hickory Smoke re-inker slightly watered down, my images I stamped using Stazon and then just as bit of "faux bleaching" with a water brush and added some shading using the same colour inks to give some depth and finally touched up with a white fine tipped gel pen.

 

My second card I used a die to create the layers which I sprayed with Fossilised Amber Distress Spray Stain and edged with Walnut Stain distress ink, I used a low tack tape on the back of the die cuts to stick them together so I could stamp the buildings, I layered them up, some on foam pads to create some dimension, the Dolls were simply stamped, coloured with pencils and decoupaged.

Thank you so much for visiting, I hope I've inspired you, have a great day xx Zoe xx

 

Posted with Blogsy

Russian Memories (by Debbie)

It is a delight to be posting one of the first projects using the new release Babushka stamps. I had seen the draft stamps a while ago and they reminded me of my Dads visit to Russia. He was in the Merchant Navy and had told my sister and myself that he would bring us both a set back with him. Unfortunately, the crew were not allowed to leave the ship so we didn't get them. The stamps brought back so many lovely memories of his visits abroad.

I started with a stencil and texture paste onto a piece of MDF board then covered with black Gesso. When the Gesso was dry I lightly brushed many colours of metallic paint building up the intensity of colour. The flowers were painted and seed beads were added to the corners. The Babushka dolls have been stamped onto white card with black Archival ink and water coloured with Distress Inks. I curled the dolls to give them dimension and added glaze to them to make them look highly polished.



There's lots more inspiration to come from the Design Team

Debbie

February Blog Comment Winner

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.
Once again we would like to thank you all for your visits here at the Design Team blog.  We truly appreciate the time you take to let us know your thoughts about our designs.  
Each comment in February was assigned a number and we used Random Org to draw a winner.  Congratulations to Jakki  you have won a £15.00 voucher to spend on Chocolate Baroque stamps!  Please send a quick email here to confirm your email address and Lesley will send you your gift certificate.
Lesley will be giving a £15 gift voucher to another lucky winner drawn from March's comments. The Design Team have many fabulous samples to show over the next few weeks showing how the newly released Babushka stamps can be used. The more comments you leave the better your chances to win!  

Thank you for your kind words and comments,
Good luck from the Design Team!

This tag uses the colours from the

Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge

Balalaikas at the ready as we launch our latest stamps (by Lesley)

Happy March everyone, another month has just bit the dust and it is time for me to throw off some of the winter blues. Bit optimistic I know but hey, Spring must be just around one of the corners. And today is a very happy March day as we are launching our latest stamps.

These are a little more unusual for us, but once again Sue has used her wonderful imagination to draw us these gorgeous images. Babushka is an A5 set that is based on the stacking Russian Dolls and aren't they just fabulous?

You can devise your own stacking doll projects and have loads of fun colouring, decoupaging and creating brilliant artwork. I think the kids would love to join in with the these too, a great set to introduce your young ones to the wonderful art of stamping.

Judith has designed this card by incorporating stamps from our Mellow Fruitfulness set with her Babushka dolls.

And this is just for starters. Wait until you see how creative our Design Team girls have been with these magical new stamps.  There will be lots to inspire you over the next few weeks so please keep coming back to check out their latest samples.

Finally, don't forget all your comments are put into a draw every month so that one lucky person can win a £15 voucher to spend on Chocolate Baroque stamps. Another excellent reason to keep following our DT blog.

Chocolate Baroque Reader's Gallery- Our Monthly Roundup

Hello everyone, it is time for our monthly wander around the airwaves, looking at what you, our readers, have been creating with Chocolate Baroque stamps this month. We love to see what you create with the vast range of wonderful images, and this monthly post gives you a chance to step into the spotlight for a brief moment, and share your creativity. We hope that you enjoy what we have managed to find on this month's journey through Blogland, Pinterest and Facebook.

This month on our very own Chocolate Baroque Facebook Group, there was a decidedly floral theme going on. Hopefully, this will banish some of the gloomy weather!

Kate Currie:

Diny Sprakel:

Akkina van Steen:

Marga Dounen:

Found around Blogland:

Lady Penny:

Corine van Kuilenberg:

Rachel Fisher:

Eileen Godwin:

Shirley Deatcher:

Found on the Chocoloate Baroque Ning Group, as part of the monthly Rainbow bunting swap, a couple of sets of bunting that caught our eye, firstly from Sue Tossell:

Another pretty set from Jean Straw:

We hope that you have enjoyed this month's selection of  artwork, and that it might have inspired you to get your stamps out and have a bit of creative time. We would love to share more of your artwork each month, and if you would like to forward your photos directly to us, because you do not have a blog, or have access to the Facebook group, then please email a good quality photograph, along with your name to Lesley, on sales@chocolatebaroque.com. We can then upload the pictures to the gallery for you. Please do not be shy, as we would really love to share more of your projects with everyone. We will be back next month with another selection of artwork, so keep posting your photos, and let us know what you are creating.

Steampunk Birds (by Julie)

Hello crafty people and welcome to a brand new month here at Chocolate Baroque. 

We have some fabulous new stamps launching here on Thursday, but while you are waiting I thought I would keep you busy with a fun card made with the Steampunk Birds.

The background has been stamped with Studded Lattice, that I inked with Sepia Versafine. To get the gaps in the stamped background, I took the stamp directly to the card, without a mounting block and rolled it over the background pressing random areas. I then applied Peacock Feathers and Spiced Marmalade Distress inks.

I inked up the cockerel stamp with Onyx Black Versafine and stamped onto water colour card and did the same for the little chick, before water-colouring with brush markers. I then cut the cockerel out with an oval die. You will have noticed that the tail feathers overhang the oval, so before you die cut, take some scissors and cut out the fiddly tail feathers and then place the oval die under the cut feathers and around the area of the cockerel you wish to cut.

The cockerel has been mounted onto a larger die cut oval that was stamped with the Studded Lattice and the card was finished off with a sentiment from Positive Pants .

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again soon for more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx