Spring bird Daffodil and Spring bird Crocus (by Maria)

Hey everybody! Here some more samples with the Spring stamps:

To make this card I took the two small flower stamps from the new Spring Birds multi-buy stamp sets and on kraft paper I have stamped them the way I like them to be, using black ink.
I coloured them with pencils, in yellow, orange and some greens. I took a smaller piece of kraft paper, stamped the flowers once and coloured them again. In the middle I placed my "Thank you". I put some   dragonfly embellishments next to each flower, and placed some orange ribbon at the top and bottom of this piece of card.  I placed the small card with some 3D foam pads underneath on my main card. I placed everything on my black cardstock.

This card I made with some Brusho. I used a white card (14cm x 9cm). I just took a very tiny bit of Brusho, spread some water on it and dried it with my heat tool.
Then I cut out an oval of white card, I stamped my tulips on it and coloured them in with some watercolour markers. Then again I took a tiny, tiny bit of Brusho to colour the oval card. You do not need to spread too much water because the flowers can 't be touched by the water! I've placed a orange bow with a glue pad
on the tulips.
I placed my card again on a black cardstock card as usual, (15cm x 11cm).

Have a lot of fun with your stamp sets!
Maria.

Simply Black and White (by Lesley)

I have always loved black and white, not just in stamping but in photography, fashion, art etc. So my card today is just that, clean and simply black and white.

• Using the least acute curve from the Tonic Shape Mate Rulers draw a faint pencil line along the curve across a piece of A4 160gsm paper, then cut along the line.
• Ink up the flower from the Spring Bird Crocus set with Versafine Onyx Black and stamp three times as illustrated. 
• Use a A4 piece of black card to make a DL card. Trim 0.5cm off both long sides of the A4 160gsm white paper. Now trim approximately 7cm off the short straight edge and fold in half. This becomes the wrap around for your card. Stamp the sentiment from the Thinking of You Sentiments clear set in position using Black Onyx.
• Place a small strip of double sided tape on the front and back of the card next to the fold and attach the wrap. Finish with a length of black satin ribbon tied around the inside of the card and fastened in a bow at the front.

A plain black and white card can be used for a variety of occasions but you could just as easily use a pastel or strong colour as the base for your DL card and stamp in a co-ordinating ink. 

Thank you for dropping by, I hope you keep visiting to catch up with all the gorgeous designs coming your way from our talented girls.

A Taste of Spring in Pink and Orange (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I have a few designs to show today featuring stamps from the new gorgeous Spring Bird- Tulip, Daffodil and Crocus sets.  The pretty images are just we need to cheer us up as we are weary of snow and extreme cold temperatures here in Ontario, Canada.  

The background above was created with Ripe Persimmon and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks using an acrylic block, heat drying and then picking up the drops left on the block.

I stamped the decorative design, bird and flowers from Spring Bird - Daffodil and the foliage from Spring Foliage sets.  'Best Wishes' is from the Spring Bird - Tulip set.    I enjoyed colouring these images with pencils.

And below are four ATC's that I created using stamps from Spring Birds with Tulip, Daffodil and Crocus sets.   I'll use them as gift tags, but they are cut in the ATC size.

The backgrounds above were created with orange and pink Dylusions spray inks.  I added white Acylic paint using Memory Box stencil.  The images were again coloured using pencils.

I have one more design to show today which was very quick to create.

I painted the tulip stamp from Spring Bird - Tulip with water colour markers and then stamped onto water colour paper.  Using a water barrel brush I blended the paint.  I added a little green Brushos crystals with water to the bottom to create grass.

Thanks for your visit and have a great day,
Shirleyx

Springtime Flowers on Kraft (posted by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a couple of cards to show you today using the Spring Birds multi-buy stamp set. These stamps are so versatile and you can use them to make cards suitable for occasions across the year, which hopefully my first card will demonstrate.

I hand cut a circle from the front of a kraft card blank, by drawing around a circular die with a pencil as a guide. I then stamped the small motif using Versamark and white embossing powder around the edge. TIP: I stamped the four main points,  top, bottom, left and right, as if I was making a clock, to start. Then I filled the rest of the spaces in afterwards, it was much easier that way.

I stamped the flower image seven times, starting at the bottom, masking them as I went along, so that I did not stamp over the previous one. I then used a couple of sprig stamps from the Briar Rose Butterfly/Harebell Butterfly multi-buy stamp set, which I coloured with water based markers. I stamped these a couple of times, before re-inking so that some of the images are less defined, giving the impression of the images being in the background. I added a couple of butterflies, and coloured all of my images with waterbased markers and a waterbrush. Finally, I stuck the card behind the circle aperture.

My second card uses a piece of scrap card left over from another project. When I was colouring some seam binding recently, I used some watercolour paper to mop up the excess moisture from the ribbon, and the background on this card is the result. It provides a perfect match to the ribbon that I have added to the card.

I stamped the tulips onto the card, masking one set, before adding the second. I then stamped two rows of the small motif along the top and bottom of the background using black ink. I also added a sentiment from the stamp set, before matting the background onto black card. I stamped the tulip images onto spare card, and coloured them using watercolour pencils. I cut them out and added them to the card.

I stamped two rows of another small motif onto orange vellum, using Versamark and white embossing powder to create a lacy border effect. I cut this out, and attached it to my panel, before sticking the panel to a kraft card blank.

I hope that I have given you some inspiration for using these lovely stamps, particularly some of the smaller motifs, which are often overlooked on a stamp plate. They make great borders and edges for your cards. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Spring Bird Daffodil - By Florence

Hi everyone

I hope you are all well and looking forward to the weekend.

The Spring Bird Daffodil Set is one of three sets of rubber stamps released this month.  They are all fabulous sets and the epitome of Spring Time.  I don't know about you but I am definitely looking forward to Spring arriving this year.  It's been knocking on the door for a couple of weeks now and will certainly be met with a warm welcome.

 Below are two of the projects I made using the amazing  Spring Bird Daffodil  set.  I don't want anyone to miss out so please do check out the multi-buy offer which can be seen here.  The designs are exquisite.

To make this tag

Stamp the large daffodil and mask
Stamp the large daffodil again and mask
Stamp the large daffodil for a third time and mask
Stamp the Bird so it appears behind the daffodils and mask
Leave all of the masks on
Pat some Distress Ink on a piece of plastic sheet or acrylic block and spritz with water.
Swish the stamped tag around in the diluted ink and dry
Repeat the above process using a different color Distress Ink and dry
Remove the masks and color your stamped images
Finally, add a small sentiment.

Tip:  I used masking fluid on both of these projects. 

To make this card

Stamp the bird and mask
Pat some Distress Ink onto a piece of plastic sheet or acrylic block and spritz with water
Swish the card around in the diluted ink and leave to dry
Stamp the music panel so that it appears behind the bird  (I used Lavender Memento ink)
Remove the mask from the bird and color the image
Make up the card as seen using some pretty papers for mat and layering.

Unless otherwise stated, I used Black Archival Ink to stamp my images on both of these projects.

That's all from me today. I hope you like the projects.

Thank you for looking.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Florence x

Pastel Pretty Tulips (by Debbie)

 

Good morning.

I always think that when the current set of rubber stamps lands on the door mat, they are the best yet until the next month and the next set arrives. I adore these stamps and will be using them all during the year although they are of a spring theme.

 

I recently received a set of new alcohol pens so set too and stamped the tulips from Spring Birds Tulip with memento black ink. I love that the images colour so well because of the way they are designed. I added the sentiment and matted onto yellow and purple.

 

 

Thanks for visiting

Debbie

Daffodil Gift Box (by Julie)

Today I am hi-jacking the beginning of this post as I have a couple of announcements to make with regard to our Design Team. First, it is with sadness that we are saying goodbye to Doreen, who has been a terrific member of this team for the past year and whose designs have captivated all of us.  We wish her all the luck for the future, long may she continue creating her beautiful artwork.

So now I have the pleasure of welcoming our newest recruit, Julie Smith. You may remember Julie was a guest on this blog back in January and she is now going to be a regular member of the team. By way of an introduction here are a few snippets about Julie.

My first Chocolate Baroque stamp was probably something like the beautiful Harlequin Rose stamp plate and one of my favourites is Texture Fragments. Because of its versatility, if a design needs just that little bit extra you can probably find it in this set.

I think my favourite type of stamps are ones that are more versatile and that can lend themselves to many different styles and techniques. I am also becoming more drawn to the Steam-punk style and have my eye on the Funky Fish and Sea World stamp sets.

As well as looking at the fantastic designs of other crafters I get my inspiration from looking at everyday things such as the colour of something, a page in a magazine or the way a display has been put together in a shop and it will trigger an idea that I could use in my crafting.

If I were to describe myself in just a few words it would be something like this.  I am a forty-something Mum who loves family days out that include our border collie and of course time in my craft room so that I can just play.

I know you will all make Julie welcome as she settles into her new role. And with all that said I shall hand over to her so she can share her lovely project with you.

Good morning to you all. I am so excited to be posting my first blog post as an official Chocolate Baroque Design Team member! I really enjoyed my guest spot in January and was thrilled when I was asked to be a full time member and join this fabulous team of inspirational ladies. I really hope I can live up to expectation......

 

I have used the large daffodil stamp from the brand new Spring Bird Daffodil set and the small decorative stamp from the new Spring Bird Tulip set, but you could easily use the decorative stamp that comes with the Daffodil set to make this up-cycled chocolate box which measures approx 11cm x 11cm x 6cm.

I started by giving the outside of the box a good coat of white Gesso, followed by a coat of yellow acrylic paint. Whilst it was drying I stamped the images onto tissue paper and coloured the daffodil design with water colour pencils. The tissue was then glued into place using matte Mod Podge. 

When dry I then layered on some Soft Form Relief Paste in a pearl finish, through a 12x12 Crafters Workshop Template (Texturized) onto two opposite corners of the lid. In the remaining opposite corners I just spread the Relief Paste straight onto the lid and dragged through a Contour Tool to add texture. When the paste was dry the lid was sprayed with red, yellow and orange alcohol pens, followed by a very small amount of black acrylic paint on a dry brush to define the texture. As the Relief Paste has a pearl finish it gives the colour a soft pearl finish as well.

As you can see from the picture I have added a strip of burlap ribbon around the edge of the lid and finished off with a 10mm wide white ribbon which I have coloured with a yellow alcohol pen.

Many thanks for stopping by, please pop back tomorrow for some more design team inspiration.

Julie

Garden Fresh Crocus and A Spring Bird (by Asha)

Good morning, fellow Chocoholics! Spring is most definitely in the air and things can only get better now that we have some new stamps to play with. I've got a couple of projects to share with you featuring stamps from the brand new Spring Bird - Crocus DL set.


My first card showcases the beautiful crocuses. I stamped a cluster of the taller ones from the set and coloured them with alcohol markers. Then I coloured and fussy cut the smaller cluster and adhered in in front. And to fill all the gaps I added some die cut grass with coincidentally match the leaves of the crocuses! The greeting is from Butterfly Easter and the butterfly is from Harebell Butterfly.

Here's my second project. This time the spotlight is on the nesting bird. I've moved away from fresh bright colours and used warm neutrals instead. As before the image is coloured with alcohol markers and fussy card before adhering to the card base. I've also used the greeting and the itty bitty accent stamp from the same Spring Bird - Crocus set.

I love how this one set of stamps gives 2 different looks - garden fresh or warm & cosy. I dare say this set will get some use in the Autumn months too.

In the coming days the rest of the Design Team will show lots more projects to inspire you. So make sure you swing by often. I'll post details of how I made this card on my blog tomorrow... it's a little hectic there today! :)

Beijinhos,
Asha