Autumn Edges (by Julie)

Hello lovely people, Julie here. I have a cute little tag and card idea to show you today and they are both made with the very versatile Autumn Edges set.

I created the background of the tag by scribbling Distress crayons onto my stamp block, spritzing with water and then picking the colour up with a sponge, before splodging all over the tag. Heat dry to set and then stamp the row of leaves all over the background with a dye based ink. I stamped the trees so the centre one was captured onto a heart die cut and coloured with Distress inks. The tag was finished off with some die cut leaves that I spritzed with some shimmer mists and added string, suede cord and beads for decoration.

I decided to stamp the rows of leaves downwards this time and as before used a dye based inkpad. The background is a selection of Distress inks and the Mushrooms have been water-coloured with brush-markers with added glitter and white pen highlights. To make them stand out from the background I went around the edges with a white Distress Crayon. Pale grey brush marker was also added around the leaves to create a shadow so they to didn't disappear into the background.

The finished design was mounted onto a plum coloured card and a sentiment from the rather lovely Artistic Expressions was added.

Thank you for stopping by. Please be sure to call back very soon to see some more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

The forest in October (by Dominike)

Hello
In October, French tradition is to choose literary prizes. For the occasion I think about a beautiful event, named La Forêt des Livres. It is writers' big meeting in a small village of Chanceaux Lès Loches.

I made this card with Hocus Pocus stamps.

1. stamp the book on a piece of paper and emboss it with clear powder.
2. same for  the bird but on another piece of white paper and cut around the bird embossed. 
3. stamp the trees.
4. glue the bird on the book.
5. dry with a heat gun.
6. with a sponge colour the background with dried marigold Distress Ink
7. with another sponge, with broken china Distress Ink
8. and with a last one sponge, with chipped sapphire Distress Ink
9. glue the card onto the cardstock.

The tag is inspired by Halloween.

1. stamp the lady on a piece of sheet
2. stamp the bottom of the stamp on a piece of paper you don't want to throw out
3. link the pattern and sew the two parts
4. take on old piece of sheet you don't used and sew the three pieces in the top.
5. Stamp "let it be" on the bottom.

Framed Poppies (by Brenda)

Hello everyone, today sees the first of three posts in October by Brenda, one of our regular Guest Design Team contributors. I am sure that you will enjoy what Brenda has to share with us this month, her first project is a delightful home decor piece, that would make a beautiful gift.

Brenda writes:

I started with a 8" x 10" frame, and cut a piece of 300gsm watercolour card to fit inside the mount.

Next I stamped Poppies from the Pretty Poppies and Autumn Poppy stamp sets onto the watercolour card, taking care to space them for the stencilling.

Once I had the placement of the Poppies, I used texture paste and a palette knife to stencil the wheat onto the glass front of the frame, taking the stencilling right to the edges, so that it overlapped the mount when placed back into the frame, and sprinkled gold and copper fine glitter over the wet paste.

While the paste was drying, I coloured in the Poppies with sparkly pens and lightly inked the edges with Distress Inks before re-assembling the frame.

Thank you Brenda for a wonderful idea. We look forward to seeing another project from Brenda next week. You can visit Brenda's Blog to see more of her fabulous designs.

Table Decoration (by Magda)

My second post for a Halloween party will give you some ideas for decorating the table.

I started with the napkin rings

1. Stamp the large border stamp of Dusky Damask with Versafine Onyx Black first on a sheet of paper, in order to have less colour on the rubber stamp
2. Put a coat of Soft Relief Paste Copper on the stamp and let it dry completely for about 24 hours or more
3. Remove the shape from the rubber stamp and trim the excess
4. Glue the ends of the shape to form a ring
5. Repeat points 1 to 4 for the second napkin ring
6. Stamp the cat from the Twilight Zone stamp set with Versafine Onyx Black twice, and cut the images out
7. Glue one cat on each ring as decoration

Place card

1. Cut a piece of cardstock 21cm x 6.3cm, score at 7.5cm (front) - 4.5cm - 7.5cm - 1.5cm
2. Colour the front portion with Distress Stain Brass and Carved Pumpkin
3. Stamp the cat from the Twilight Zone set stamp with Versafine Onyx Black
4. Fold the cardstock at the score lines
5. Blend Distress Inkpad Black Soot on the small 1.5cm fold (front side) with the sponge
6. Write the name of your guest on it

Pot

1. Use a white small pot
2. Colour the inside and the border of the pot with acrylic black paint
3. Repeat points 1 to 3 of the napkin ring
4. Glue the shape on the pot
5. Stamp with Versafine Onyx Black twice the cat from theTwilight Zone stamp set and cut the images out
6. Stamp with Distress Inkpad Picket Fence three times a flower from the Punky Flowers stamp set and cut the images out
7. Use the decoupage flower as a mask and cut again 3 flowers from black cardstock, as the back of the flower to cover the stick
8. Assemble and glue the flowers on the sticks
9. Fill the pot with raffia, put the flowers inside and the black cat on the raffia as decoration

I had fun in preparing these projects for you.

Magda

Autumn Medley Stepper Card (by Anne)

Good morning. Today I have an Autumnal project to share with you. I simply love this Autumn Medley stamp. I have used an acorn die from my stash but elements could be cut out and decoupaged from the stamped image too.

Materials:

• Autumn Medley and Mackintosh Sentiments stamps
• A5 ready made stepper card, white stamping card, A4 thick cartridge paper and waste shredded paper
• WOW embossing powders (extra fine White and Metallic Gold Sparkle)
• Inkpads: Versamark, Versafine (Vintage Sepia), dye based (dark brown)
• Ink Spritzers: Reds, oranges, yellows and greens – some with gold mica 
• Dye based liquid inks: Orange and yellow (or watercolours)
• Watercolours with mica: Reds, oranges, yellows, browns and greens (can make your own by adding mica powder to paint))
• Alcohol ink marker and pencil (dark brown)
• Paper raffia (yellow)
• Dies: Acorns, square, and mini tags 
• 3D glue gel

How to make it:

1. Spritz the cartridge paper and waste paper strips with autumnal coloured inks and leave to dry. Trim the background panel, edge with brown marker and glue to the card front. Die cut tags and acorns from the remainder.
2. Edge the mini tag and sentiment panel with brown marker. Stamp the sentiments with Versamark and heat emboss with white powder.
3. Add some shading to the acorn and leaf die cuts using the brown dye based ink, and shape using a ball tool and embossing mat.
4. Stamp the Autumn Medley onto stamping card using Versafine. Quickly add gold sparkle embossing powder to the hair (avoiding the face) and heat emboss. Colour with watercolours (with mica) and inks. Use the brown pencil to add extra shading.
5. Lay the square die onto the image and mark the position of the overhang and trim around with a craft knife (i.e. the foliage and hair that extends beyond the die edge). Lay the overhang behind the die cutting edge (so it won’t cut through) and cut out the square. Edge with brown marker and blend brown ink in from around the edges.
6. Scrunch up a bundle of the waste paper strips and raffia and lay the die cut topper over the top. Put everything together using 3D glue gel.

Merci - Canadian Thanksgiving (by Asha)

Good morning, friends! It's October and that means, autumn, falling leaves, harvest, thanksgiving, fruits, pies and halloween. And that is the theme at Chocolate Baroque this month.

Here's my autumn offering for the Canadian Thanksgiving which falls on October 10 this year. The fruity border is from the Mellow Fruitfulness A5 sheet. I decided on a simple greeting in French from the Pretty Poppies A5 sheet as this card is going to friends from Quebec.

I inked the edges with Distress Inks, coloured the image wth alcohol markers and finished the card with a gingham ribbon.

I have more pictures and details of tools and products over at my blog. Thank you for stopping by today and come back soon for more amazing creations by the rest of the Design Team.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian friends and fans!

Beijinhos,
Asha

autumn medley

I used the autumn medley stamp, partly because I like it and also because I could find it! (am trying to declutter my craft space, which only seems to create an even worse mess - hopefully only temporary).

My first was an experiment that didn't quite work, stamping and masking the lady then using a gelli plate to create the background - I was trying to get a leafy image using actual leaves, works fine with sponges and inks , but not with a gelli plate and paints. Still, it was an interesting mottled effect, so I used it! The lady was coloured with watercolour pencils, timmed down, matted onto a piece of kraft card that had been embossed with a woodgrain folder and sponged with brown and green inks, Final narrow mat of gold card, base card is A5 kraft card.

Second card I went for a very muted colour scheme, using shades of brown and green pencils. It ended up a little too muted, so Ioverpainted with red and yellow inks using a waterbrush, then highlighted some of the leaves with glossy accents.
Base card is A5 kraft again, with a single gold mat. The 'ribbon' strip down the edge was yellow card randomly stamped with the leaves from the autumn edges set in orange, green and brown, then sponged over with brown ink to tone the yellow down.Cut a thin strip off and added gold card mat.

The tag used up some of the stamping errors, where I managed to smear some of the ink - no way could I hide them, so cut the lady down to tag size.
I coloured leaves with pencils, then fussycut them out. Two sets were glued over the stamped images, the rest just dotted round.
To be honest, this one is my favourite so far.

Sunny Autumn Morning (posted by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with my first project for October. I love this time of year with the beautiful colours and chilly mornings, perfect for dog walking and of course a little crafting too. I've made a little wall hanging using stamps from Autumn Poppy A4 stamp sheet

I began by creating a distress ink background on a strip of white card. I used Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade and a little Barn Door. Once that was dry I stencilled in the sun using acrylic paints in shades of yellow and orange. Next I stamped in the images which are all from Autumn Poppy A4 stamp sheet using Potting Soil Archival Ink.

I coloured the images using  pencils, I was really pleased with the way the sun rays just show through the leaves and berries a little bit. I used my pencils to add some shading and grass around the toadstools and added some white spots with white gesso.

I distressed the edges with Forest Moss and Gathered Twigs distress ink and layered it up on brown card. Next I used corrugated card to create a base layer. I misted the card with water and peeled off the top layer and then just randomly applied shades of brown, red, orange and green acrylic paint. Once the paint was dry I added some highlights with gilding wax.

To finish off I added some string, a bow topped with a button and brass leaf.

Thanks for visiting today, 

Claire xx

Autumn Trees (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I love this time of year, when the countryside is filled with warm colours, and the leaves are turning shades of orange, brown, gold and plum. It is still warm enough to go for brisk walks and enjoy the sunshine and appreciate the vibrant colours that Mother Nature still has to offer us before we hunker down for the Winter months.

I have created a card using some left over pieces of watercolour card from a previous project. I simply added some stencilling and stamping to the top layer, and then added some shading around the edges of the layers, using Seedless Preserves Distress Ink, to add a warm plummy tone to the background.

I have used a lovely tree from the Nature's Peace stamp set, which I inked with water based markers, enabling me to incorporate the various colours that I had used in my background. I also stamped around the edge of the background using a favourite tree from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set.

This really was a quck and easy card to make, and by varying the colours, could become a very masculine card.

Do keep checking back for more Autumnal inspiration from my team mates this month. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Chocolate Baroque Reader's Gallery

Hello everyone, it is time for the Design Team to take a day off, and we are spending a little while looking at some of your artwork that you have been creating this month. It is always a pleasure to see what you have been making with the wonderful array of stamps from Chocolate Baroque, and we love to share your projects here on the blog.

We have been scouring Facebook, Pinterest and Blogland, for photos of your creativity. This what we found this month:

On the Chocolate Baroque Facebook Group:

Helenmarie:

Hazel Davey:

Shirley Deatcher:

Regina:

Akkina:

Found on Kate's Blog:

Pat created this funky underwater card:

Here's one from Marga's blog:

Finally, a pretty creation from Brenda's blog:

We hope that you have enjoyed this month's round up of beautiful card creations. There is so much talented creativity going on out there, and we would love to share more of it with you. If you would like us to add one of your creations to the blog post, please email a good quality photograph along with your name to sales@chocolatebaroque.com and we will be happy to share you project in one of our monthly posts.Please do not be shy! We will be back with another selection of your artwork early in November.

Thanks for stopping by,

Autumn tag by Zoe

Good morning Lovelies, I hope you're all well?

Today I'm sharing with you my first project for this month, the theme is Autumn or Halloween, I've made an Autumn tag, I hope you like it?

I started by second generation stamping in brown ink the Mini Script, I then stamped one of the stamps from Autumn Poppy using Versamark inkpad and heat embossing with black EP, I inked all around using a couple of brown shades and Mustard Seed Distress inks, splashing water and blotting to create some texture, I painted my image using water colour paints, once dry I gave it a light spray with a copper mica spray, it doesn't show so well in the photo but it shimmers very subtly but pretty.

Thank you so much for visiting, please leave a comment, I love to read them, have a wonderful day xx Zoe xx

 

Posted with Blogsy

Halloween Magic (by Julie)

Hello, thanks for popping in. I can't believe that we are now in October and of course with October comes Halloween, so I have two Halloween themed cards to get you in the mood.

This spooky lady has been stamped with the fantastic Put A Spell On You. The base card was covered with cream PanPastel and over stamped with Put A Spell On You sentiment. Weathered Wood Distress ink has been added along with black liquid 3d dots. The spooky lady stamp was inked up with black Memento ink and stamped onto glossy card and coloured with Alcohol markers. The cute little ghost was stamped onto distressed green cardstock before the topper was assembled and glued into place with double sided tape.

My second spooky card was created with the very fun Hocus Pocus set. To start with the base card was stamped with the naked tree. I stamped the tree three or four times before re-inking so that the trees look like they are fading into the background. 

The crow on the fence was used in front of the trees. I just inked up the fence part of the stamp to continue across the card and then the bats were stamped across the top of the card. Dark blue Pan pastel was sponged over the trees for the nights sky and a mixture of greys and browns for the foreground.

The main image is the curious bat creature that I stamped and then coloured with Polychromos pencils and Distress inks. The image was cut out with a circle die and mounted onto the front of the card with 3d foam.

Thank you for your visit and hope to see you again soon.

Julie xx

Blog Comment Winner for September

Hello everyone, we 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 September was assigned a number and we used Random Org to draw a winner.  Congratulations to Pat Moore (What a wonderful background effect Asha and the sihouette figures are perfect over the top, also lovely twinkly stars to finish. x )  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 October's comments. 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!

Necklace for Halloween (by Magda) - Put a Spell on You

I am thinking of a Halloween Party, so my posts for October will be dedicated to this event.
Here a self-made necklace and earrings, that could be a good idea to wear.

For this project I used Put a Spell on You rubber stamp, Soft Relief Paste Copper, black string and
parts for jewellery.

1.  Stamp the pumpkin first on a sheet of paper with Versafine onyx black, in order to have less       colour on the rubber stamp
2.  Put a coat of Soft Relief Paste Copper on the stamp and let it dry completely for about 24 hours
3. Remove the shape from the rubber stamp and trim the excess
4. Repeat points 2 and 3 four times using the Ghosts rubber stamp
5. Colour randomly the black string with some spots of Soft Relief Paste copper 
6. Assemble the shapes of the pumpkin and two ghosts for a necklace and two ghosts for the earrings 

I hope you liked my project and see you soon again

Magda

Fifteen Minute Cards

Hello everyone, welcome to our second Fifteen Minute Blog post of the month. In these posts, we aim to bring you lots of ideas that are simple and quick to make, but still have lots of style and creativity that will please and impress the recipient. We will give you lots of tips alongside our projects and links to our own blogs where you can see the projects in full. We are joined by members of the Guest Design Team each month, who also share lots of their beautiful designs with us.

Anne has created three pretty floral cards for us this time, using delicate blues and lilacs to enhance the images, creating a soft water-coloured effect:

Dominike has used vibrant yellow tones to create gelli print backgrounds, adding stamped images, and leaving lots of white space for a classic CAS feel to her cards:

Rachel has made two beautiful cards for us using some of our bird stamps. She has used water based markers, stencils and Distress Inks to complete her cards:

I have made a card using stamps from the Butterfly Blush stamp set to create a background, and then added a co-ordinating image from the Just Butterflies stamp set, you can find further details here:

Vronnie has created a fun steampunk card using images from the Steampunk Birds stamp set. The muted background draws the eye to the vibrantly coloured birds:

We have two delightful tags from Magda to share with you. The first is a pretty floral tag, using Dylusions to create the background:

The second is a textured Christmas tag:

Brenda has created some beautiful cards again for us this month. The first was made by creating a background using Brushos. She then stamped a sentiment from the Words of Inspiration stamp set and a focal image from the Butterfly Flourish Swirls stamp set, using gold embossing powder:

She created another Brusho background for her second card, onto which she repeat stamped leaves from the Autumn Poppy stamp set, and heat embossed with copper embossing powder. Using the same ink and powder, she embossed a sentiment from the Words of Inspiration stamp set onto a strip of vellum, and embellished the card with some twine and two leaves die cut from offcuts of the background.

For her third card, she created a background using an acrylic block which had gridlines, inking with different colour Distress Inks, and spritzing with water before stamping and overlapping the colours. She then stamped an image from the Glorious Spring stamp set and added a sentiment from the Words of Inspiration stamp set with Black Archival Ink.

She stamped the Flora Musica image with Versafine Onyx Black Ink, and embossed with clear embossing powder. She coloured the image with sparkly pens and inked the edges with Distress Inks. She matted and layered the image with co-ordinating card and tied some organza ribbon.

Creating a background with Distress Crayons, she then randomly stamped sections of the harlequin stamp from the Decorative Edges stamp set and added a sentiment from the Words of Inspiration stamp set. She stamped and cut out an image from the Tangled Butterfly stamp set and coloured it with the same Distress Crayons.

With the remembrance season drawing near, Breanda has created a lovely Poppy card for us, and we have so many poppy images on the website that could be used for this idea. She masked a circle and a sun, and brushed Distress Inks to create a background. She stamped a poppy image and coloured with sparkly pens and stamped a sentiment from the Words of Inspiration stamp set. After matting onto co-ordinating cardstock, she added black seed beads to the centres of the poppies.

Zoe has created a series of floral cards for us, all using gelli plate backgrounds:

Thank you so much girls for your beautiful projects.

We hope that you have enjoyed our selection of designs, and please do visit the individual Design Team members' blogs for more detailed explanations of their cards and tags. We will be back next month with more short cuts and time saving tips for you.

Thanks for stopping by,