Colours of Autumn (posted by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping dry and warm in the changeable weather that we are having at the moment. It really feels like Autumn now, doesn't it?

I have a project using the Autumn Poppy stamp set to show you today. I created a background using my gelli plate, covering the plate with ink, and then stamping some of the images around the edge to create a frame, before I took a print. I then stamped some of the mushroom images onto adhesive labels, and coloured them with a mixture of water based markers and pencils. I cut the images out, arranged them onto the background, and then added some grey shading with a pencil.

For my next two cards, I stamped a sentiment taken from the Amazing Birthday stamp set onto a piece of smooth watercolour paper, and then added some images from the same stamp set as before. I coloured the images with water based markers and a water brush. To see how I made my backgrounds, you can pop along to my blog.  

These will be great store cupboard cards for that occasion when I need a card in a hurry, and could suit either a male or female. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

AUTUMN AND MUSHROOMS (by Maria)

The mushrooms on the stamp set Autumn Poppy are super, I really love them, so I made some samples here to show you how I have used them. I hope you like them!

The leaves that I used are all from the same stamping set,  this is really a set that  you can't miss, all the stamps on the set are so beautiful and useful I really adore them!

For the background  of the first two cards I've used the Indian Elephant stamp set! My background itself is made with an acrylic  block and Distress Inks. The moths I found on the Poppy edges stamp set.  I have used all the autumn colours I had in my collection (watercolours).  These were very easy cards, made with very beautiful stamps, and I think the result are quite good aren't they? I wish you a very good stamping time in Autumn and enjoy!

Greetings
Maria

Simply Bewitching (by Lesley)

 Today's card is really quick to make and the slim, tall 'A' shape is useful for a variety of styles of card.

1. To make the card take a piece of A4 thick white cardstock and cut two strips lengthways measuring approximately 6cm in width. Cut one of the strips to 24.5cm in length and score the other at 24.5cm. Attach the two strips togther using strong double side tape to create the top folding card.
2. Attach a strip of doubled sided tape down the centre of the front of the card and adhere the black spider's web ribbon from the Twilight Limited Edition pack. Add another strip of tape on top of the black ribbon and adhere the orange ribbon.
3. Die cut a circle measuring approx 9cm and another measuring 4.5cm. Colour both with Adirondack Purple Twlight ink. Stamp the tree image from Things that go Bump onto the larger circle with Versafine Onyx Black and the sentiment from Halloween Edges onto the smaller circle. Stamp the tree image again on a white self adhesive label and then cut out just the moon. 
4. Remove the backing from the label and stick in place as illustrated. Attach both circles to the front of the card using foam pads.

I hope you will try making this style of card, and if this is too tall you can always adjust the height to suit. This slim card acts like an easel to showcase your art on the front. And remember, there are still plenty of inspiring creations to come from the rest of the Design Team. Have fun

Spooky fun (posted by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with some Halloween inspired projects created using this months new stamps (you can find them here). I adore the colours of Halloween so I really enjoyed making these cards.

This project was made using Halloween Edges

I stamped the pumpkin edge and coloured with PanPastels adding some green in the foreground. I added Violet PanPastel and the shade to create the sky and then used a scalloped piece of card as a mask and applied black PanPastel to create the clouds. I stamped in the cobwebs and the spider from Book of Spells and used a pencil eraser to create a misty effect around the smoke.

I adore house stamps and this one is fabulous, there are so many gorgeous little details from the hanging basket pumpkin to the ghosts at the window. I stamped the images from Book of Spells and Things that Go Bump  and then coloured with Distress inks and distress markers. I stamped the cobwebs with versamark and then applied silver mica powder.

My next card was a very quick project made using pearlescent PanPastels for the background, its really shimmery in real life but very difficult to photograph.

I applied the Pan Pastels, masking of the moon and simply blending green, purple and orange pearl PanPastels. I stamped the ruined castle from Things that go Bump with versamark and embossed with Black embossing powder. I then stamped the cobwebs from Book of Spells with versamark and the bats (which are from Nevermore). I was intending to emboss them too but found that the versamark removed the ink and left a great shadow effect so I left them and just dusted orange Mica powder over the sentiment. I left the bloom around the sentiment for a spooky misty effect.

My last Halloween project was a quick make with Stampbord and PanPastels

I stamped the image from Things that go Bump over a background created by applying shades of blue PanPastel to a Stampbord ATC. I love stampbord and have used it with lots of different inks and it gives a beautiful effect with PanPastels too. I used a battery operated pencil eraser to remove the blue from the clouds and the ship. The beauty of stampbord is that you can use a variety of tools to scratch the surface and remove colour, this is great for creating highlights but its also very convenient for removing colour on detailed parts of the image. You can find Stampbord in lots of different sizes here.

Thanks for visiting today,

Claire xx

Poppy Edges - By Florence

Hi Everyone

 

Thank you to everyone for your lovely comments and kind words left on the posts.  We all love to hear from you.

Today I would like to share with you all two cards made using the beautiful new Poppy Edges Rubber Stamps.

 

These stamps are brilliant for making tags, cards, altered art projects, lovely boarders/embellishments for scrap-booking.  They also stamp brilliantly onto wood.

For my first card, I mixed the Poppy Edge stamp with one of the boarder stamps from the Elegant Edges set which was released a few months ago.

 

For the main focal piece I coated a piece of basic white card stock with White Gesso.

 

I stamped the purple flowers first, masked them with Masking Tissue and then stamped the poppies.

 

I then, using a piece of Cut'n'Dry, covered the surface, avoiding the flowers as much as possible, with Distress Ink. 

I dribbled some water, mainly around the flowers, onto the background to give it a mottled look. 

I placed a mask/stencil over the card and applied more of the Distress Ink.

I then cleaned up my stamped images by removing any unwanted ink.  By using Gesso for the base, it is easy to remove any unwanted ink from the stamped images using a clean damp paint brush and paper towel.

 

I stamped my little bees. They are adorable!! 

I colored the flowers and bees with felt pens and added highlights and shadows by moving around and removing the ink with a damp paint brush.

I gave everything a quick spray with a fixative, made up the card as seen and added a touch of Gel Medium to just the flowers.

 

 

For my second card I just used one of the flower boarders from the set and repeat stamped it using Masking Tissue.

 This was a really quick card to make.

 

I stamped the images using Archival Ink onto Coated Card Stock for my main piece.  

 

I colored the flowers roughly using some diluted Distress Ink and a damp paint brush and then fussy cut around the stamped piece.

 

I punched some holes in the top of the card and thread some ribbon through.

I made up the card as seen using pretty papers which I scuffed up the edges and added a little bit of bling to the center of each flower.

Thank you for looking.

Happy Stamping.

Florence x

Guest Post - Clockwork Poppies by Angela Drummond

Hello everyone, this week I would like to introduce you to Angela. She is our guest blogger for the next three weeks and has some wonderful projects lined up for you, all based around our Stamp of the Month - Autumn Poppy. The first one makes great use of chipboard and is a much more gentle way of looking at the clock. 

Using a chipboard clock I created a crackle effect as follows;

Paint the base coat in one colour of  matt chalk paint and allow to dry. Paint over this with a coat of crackle medium and again allow to dry. Add another coat of chalk paint in a contrasting colour; the crackle will appear during this final drying stage. Tip: Do not apply the crackle medium too thinly otherwise the depth of 'cracking' will be quite shallow or even non-existent.. Leave all stages to dry naturally, this is one of those times you need patience to get the best effect.

Next stamp the image from the Autumn Poppy using a pigment ink and emboss with clear powder. To colour the image I used a selection of mica powders, mixed with a little water to create a paint.

To finish I attached a a variety of paper flowers and the butterfly as illustrated. A hot glue gun is helpful here, but if you don't own one then use silcone or other strong clear drying adhesive.

Thank you so much for this gorgeous clock Angela, something I would definitely like to see standing on a table in my house and we look forward to seeing what you have in store for us next week.  Please welcome Angela by leaving a comment and if you wish to see more of her fab ideas please visit her blog A Crafty Blether. 

 

Toadstool Fairy (by Debbie)

 

 

My card is made using the Toadstools from Autumn Poppy

 and a Fairy from August Fairy.

 

 

I started with stamping the toadstools onto the card and also onto paper to use as  masks.

The toadstools were coloured with alcohol pens. I cut a mask for the moon and placed it high so that the sentiment could be stamped over it later and the masks were laid over the toadstools

I haven't used my soft brushes for a while so I applied the ink with them as I wanted a soft blue

although it's a darker blue ink.

A little more colour was added to the base of the toadstools to ground them.

The masks were removed and the fairy and wording was stamped with Onyx Black Versafine.

I like the Versafine as it gives a good coverage with solid stamps.

 

Thanks for visiting

Debbie

 

Witches Brew by Doreen

Hello to you all, I am back again sharing another sample made from the new stamps that have just been released for October . 

 My card uses a couple of stamps from "Book of Spells"stamp sheet.I first die-cut an oval to use as a stencil for my moon and sky I used Shaded Lilac distress ink and Egg Plant Adirondack inks for the background .I then stamped my main image with Black Archival and coloured the flames with Promarkers.Last of all to be stamped  was the cobwebs and sentiment.xxx

Autumn Peppers and Halloween Treats (by Asha)

Hello fellow Chocoholics. It's wet, cold and windy... perfect weather to play with your new Chocolate Baroque toys. I'm here to help you get delightfully inky, so let's get right to it, shall we?

Here's a step centre step card featuring a stalk of peppers from the Autumn Poppy A4 stamp sheet.  I created the background by blending distress inks in blue and yellow. On the side panels I stamped some leaves from the Autumn Poppy set and on the central panel I used a stamp from the Texture Fragments A4 stamp sheet. I coloured the peppers with alcohol markers, fussy cut and adhered it to the card. The sentiment is from the Loving Sentiments A5 stamp sheet.

I confess... I have a thing for Halloween. Playing dress up is fun but the real joy of Halloween for me is the treats. With that in mind I made a couple of Trick or Treat bags for our Halloween party. And to keep our guests guessing, these bags are tied ... so there will be no peeking!

The shorter bag features a pumpkin from the Things That Go Bump A5 stamp sheet, coloured with alcohol markers and fussy cut. For the background I used a stamp from the Harlequin Fragments A4 sheet, then finished with a greeting from the Spookylicious A5 stamp sheet and some black ribbon to secure the contents of the box.

The taller bag showcases the bubbling cauldron from the Book Of Spells A5 stamp sheet. I inked up the background with distress inks, heat embossed the image in black and tied the box with some black & white twine.

These are just a few projects that will keep you busy in the run up to Halloween. I'll post details of the products used on my blog. In the meantime, make sure you drop by the Design Team blog regularly for more wonderful creations by my team-mates. You are in for a treat, friends... no tricks!

Beijinhos, 

Asha 

Halloween Hall (posted by Judith)

Hello everyone, the colder weather and darker nights are bringing thoughts of the Autumn now. The crispy leaves and blustery winds are a sure sign that we are into October. I have a Halloween make for you today, using a combination of old and new stamps.

I started off by making a crackled background, and then stamped and embossed a tree from the Design a Tree multi-buy stamp set and the ruined building from the Things that go Bump stamp set. I added a couple of birds and some bats from the Nevermore stamp set and some cobweb edging from the Book of Spells stamp set, all using black block printing ink. I painted the windows in the ruin using yellow ink and a water brush.

I added a little bit of Distress Ink underneath the tree and the ruin to ground the images. Finally, I matted the background onto a black card blank.

Keep checking back for more project ideas from my Design Team mates, Judith xx

Halloween by Miranda

Hi there,

I am back again and I have two Halloween creations for you. I have made backgrounds using vibrant inks( like Ecoline), water misting and some salt. I've used this great stamp sheet:

Halloween edges and a Dutch Doobadoo spiderweb stencil. I've used also a Memorybox die, the spiderweb edge. I've embossed the bat with WOW Halloween embossing powder, a lovely mix of black and orange glitter.

And the 2nd one.........here I've used some salt in the background, always like the effect of that. I've used also the Tangled fragments. They match perfect with these tangled toadstools. I've stamped with plain black and coloured with pencils and gave accents with a white (Sharpie) marker.

Thanks for visiting and hope to have inspired you for your Halloween cards,

till next time,

Halloween (by Maria)

Hey halloween lovers!

 I have made some samples with the gorgeous new halloween stamps sets Book of Spells/Things that go Bump from Chocolate Baroque, I just love them. So I hope my samples will  give you some inspiration to make some cards as well!

All three cards are made in the same way. Spray the Dylusions inks (using the colours that you like), over your white smooth paper. Dry it with your heat tool, then you can take your spider web mask, place it on your coloured paper, take a baby wipe with a tiny bit of bleach on it,  and wipe over the top. You take the colours away, so when you take away your mask the spiderweb appears on your paper as a scary background.

On the first card my colours totally vanished, so after it was dry,  I replaced my spiderweb in its original place and with some Distress Ink, I coloured it again with soft yellow.  I was not satisfied, I wanted some more glitter on it. Again I put my mask in its place and with a baby wipe and some golden perfect pearls I went in every corner of the mask to have some shiny accents!

On the second card I took away the colours on some parts of the card with a lot of bleach at other parts with less bleach,  to have the special effect as you can see.

On the third one, I didn't use bleach, I just went with a wet baby wipe on the mask to lightly undo the colours. Please watch your paper, never rub but just dab your colours away.

The pumpkins I cut out and placed higher on the cards with 3D foam (once again)!
Have fun creating your Halloween cards, and don't forget to enjoy!

Greetings
Maria

Guest Post - A patchwork bag by Stempelientje

Our guest post this week is by Stempelientje Stempy who lives in the Netherlands. Her project is this fabulous craft patchwork bag featuring the Fantasy Castles stamp set, please enjoy.

For this bag I used:

Fantasy Castles stamp set

Printed cotton fabric

Cream colored fabric (washed and ironed)

Fabric stamping ink

Sewing thread

PanPastels

Derwent Pencils

Fixative

Ric rac ribbon

I also used a Iron and a sewing machine.

• I stamped the castle image on a square of the cream cotton and waited for it to dry.
• After drying I ironed it to fix the image.
• The image was then coloured with Panpastels.
• I then sprayed it with fixative and ironed it again.
• I finished colouring it with my Derwent pencils and ironed it again.

• I cut 8 matching square pieces of fabric, all the same size as the cream square I just stamped.
• When sewing all of them together I've put the stamped square in the middle. Make sure the corners fit together for a neat finish.
• Sew a piece of fabric on top, and a large matching piece on the back. Sew them together so you have a bag.
• Make a  shoulder band out of fabric and decorate top of the bag and the shoulderband with ric rac ribbon.

Crafty greetings, Stempelientje

Thank you for this beautiful idea, we loved it and I know that those of you who love working with fabrics will be inspired by this.  If you wish to see more creative work please check out the Stempelientje blog for lots more colour and interesting projects.