Fifteen Minute Cards

Hello everyone, here is the first of our regular bi-monthly fiftteen minute card posts for December. We have included some last minute Christmas makes amongst our projects, just in case you are looking for some final ideas for cards and tags to make and give to your nearest and dearest. These projects will take just a few minutes of your time, especially handy at this busy time of year, when you have so many other jobs to fit into your schedule.

The Design Team have created some stunning designs, as always, so take a few minutes to relax and enjoy their creations. You can click on their names, as you scroll through the post, and visit their individual blogs, where you can see more detailed information about their projects, and also see what else they have been making.

Claire has chosen to use a very clean and simple style for her Christmas cards, and has used a bauble mask to create an outline for her first design. She has inked and stamped part of a large background stamp through the mask, adding a co-ordinating bow, and an ornate sentiment. Adding a hand drawn 'string' to the bauble at the top fixes it in place:

Her second design is created using shaped kraft card blanks and white embossing powder. She has then simply coloured the images with pencils, using a limited colour palette:

Penny has created two cards for us; the first, stamping directly on to the card using stamps from the Steampunk Butterfly and Punky Flowers stamp sets. She painted the images using Distress Inks, and then blended around the edge of the card, again using Distress Inks.

For her second card, she used white embossing powder to add the trees and sentiment. She added snow drifts and then added some glitter.

Dominike has created a series of Christmas cards for us using gelli plate backgrounds and gold embossing. These non-traditional colours look so effective and make a refreshing change from the usual reds and greens:

Rachel's design has been simply coloured with pencils. The edging has been created with one of our Christmas Edges stamps:

Anne has created a series of Christmas cards for us, and these vibrant cards are real show stoppers. She has used either plain or patterned paper for her backgrounds, using a variety of colours to add to the backgrounds so that the cards all feel very individual. She created the 6 x 6 inch cards using the Sparkling Trees stamp set. The images were stamped with Versamark and embossed with various colours of embossing powder. The backgrounds were coloured with Distress Inks, and spritzed with water or ink, and blotted with a paper towel for texture. She coloured the baubles with glitter pens and used peel off sentiments. PVA pearls and Glossy Accents on the baubles completed the cards.

For her second set of cards, she used the Christmas Tree Tangle stamp. Again she used Versamark and various colours of embossing powder.  She used Distress Ink to colour the background and used glitter pens or Distress Inks and a water brush to add some quick colouring to the trees. She added peel off sentiments and stars to finish.

Lesley has created some beautiful cards using gelli plate backgrounds. These CAS style cards look so elegant but just took moments to complete. She created the backgrounds by using a small gelli plate directly onto her card base, just like a stamp. She added the doodle bird to the background, embossing the image using clear embossing powder. She added a bit of colour to the image using the same inks as she had used for the background and a bit of pencil work. She drew a squiggly line with a fine liner and stamped the sentiment.

The following two cards were made in very much the same way:

Zoe has created a range of beautiful bookmarks for us, wouldn't these make beautiful gifts or stocking fillers? She has used a mixture of images, florals for a feminine feel:

She has used gothic images that have created a more masculine feel, adding script to the background, and vibrant splashes of colour:

Brenda has created two cards that have an air of Spring about them. For her first card, she coloured the background with Distress Inks, and stamped the sentiment from the Glorious Spring stamp set, and the snowdrops from the Springtime Edges stamp set using Archival Ink.

For her second card, she used a circle mask and created a background using Distress Inks. She stamped the snowdrop border from the Springtime Edges stamp set and a sentiment from the Words of Inspiration stamp set using Black Archival Ink. She added Glossy Accents and glitter to the flowers and used a green pencil to colour the leaves.

Finally, we have a super selection of projects from Magda. Her simple blue toned floral card makes a great thank you card and can be made in minutes.

She has created some great Christmas projects for us this month as well, some quick and easy gift tags, which can be made in a batch, perfect when you need a lot for all of those presents under the tree:

Her gold and white card is very stylish. she has used simple gold embossing, adding a toning trim to finish the card:

Another blue creation, this time a Christmas card, using white embossing and gelli plate background:

Finally a Christmas bookmark, great for all of those books that you receive on Christmas Day!

Thank you so much girls for your brilliant ideas and speedy creations.

Hopefully there will be lots in our post to inspire you and you will try out some of the projects that the girls have created. We will be back later in the month with more projects to share with you. Keep popping back for a daily dose of inspiration provided by the regular Design Team posts.

Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

A Snowy Aurora (by Rachel)

This week sees our lovely guest design team member Rachel sharing her first project which is all about some Snowy Penguins.

Hi everyone I am thrilled to be back for the next three weeks sharing some of my favourite stamps with you and as it is the festive season I want to start with my take on a winter scene.

I first stamped the main image then added the extra penguins before masking them off. I wanted to create a background to imitate the aurora borealis so I used distress inks to try and give this effect.

I then added colour to the penguins and some Stickles to for that icy feel and finished by mounting it on a square white card blank.  These are such lovely stamps and are really very cute!

Thank you for joining me and I shall see you again next week.

Rachel

Thanks Rachel I think you have captured the aurora extremely well, can't wait to see next week's project.

And thanks to all of you for dropping in to keep us company, please join us again to see what other delights await you from our design team.

Flourish Pear (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all getting ready for Christmas, and not lagging behind like me! I have created a last minute Christmas project for you that could be suitable as a memento to send to someone, or as a piece of decor to place on a shelf or mantlepiece. I have used some of my favourite stamps to create this piece, along with one of the newest Christmas stamps as well.

I took a large greyboard tag, and spritzed it with a variety of green, blue and purple sprays, adding a touch of white to tone down the colours slightly. I added a sentiment from the Christmas Sparkle stamp set, and a flourish from the Butterfly Dreams stamp set, using Versamark and silver embossing powder. I stamped an image from the Pears and Baubles stamp set onto a spare piece of coloured card, which I found in my scrap box. I used the same colour embossing powder as before. I attached the image to the tag using 3D foam pads for added dimension.

Finally, I added some gilding wax to the edges of the tag, and attached some toning ribbon through the hole at the top.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Flower Power by Zoe

Good morning Lovelies, at least I hope it's morning! Im in Canada with my beautiful daughter for Christmas so I scheduled my post.

So onto my projects: I've used the gorgeous new Floral Notes stamps to create these ATC tiles.

I started by stamping the images onto my stamp board ATC's using Onyx Black Versafine Inkpad and coloured them in using distress inks on a tile and a water-brush I then used the Mini script with a Toffee Versafine Inkpad to create some texture, I then lightly inked around with Distress ink, I added a few splashes of black ink and edged with a thick silver marker pen, once dry I then heat embossed using UTEE twice to get a glazed tile.

I hope you like what I've done with these gorgeous stamps, I just love them, so versatile, have a wonderful day xx Zoe xx

 

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Baroque Bracelet With Matching Gift Box (by Julie)

Hello, hope your weekend is going well. Today I have a gift idea, so if you are running out of ideas, fear not, run off and get some lolly sticks and then meet me back here...ha ha!

I had seen this bracelet idea in various forms around the Internet so thought I would give it a go. I started by inking up my Baroque Orchid cling stamp with green Staz-on ink and stamped directly onto the lolly sticks (or tongue depressor). I did a few to take into account of mistakes in the next couple of stages.

Once you have your stamped sticks, place them into boiling water and boil for 5 to 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and let them soak for about 30 minutes.

Remove the sticks from the hot water and bend them into the shape you want. Place them inside a glass jar or something similar to hold the shape whilst they are drying and leave for 24 hours.

When dry, punch a hole in each end of the stick with a Crop-o-dile, add gold gilding wax to the edges and paint a coat of Acrylic Wax over the entire bracelet.

When dry, thread some cord with beads of your choice and attach to the bracelet by threading through the previously punched holes.

The matching gift box was coloured with Distress inks and stamped with the Baroque Orchid stamp using the same green Staz-on ink as before. Once the ink is dry assemble the box, add gold gilding wax along the edges and finish with some ribbon.

The box I have used was cut on my Scan n Cut, however you can easily use a traditional two piece box, created on your scoring board.

Thanks for popping in

Julie xx

Christmas tree by Dominike

You know that I like to use the same stamp in different ways
The Christmas trees Tangle are so beautiful that I tried to make a lot of cards with all sorts of embossing powders. It is always a success.

Vous le savez maintenant j'aime beaucoup utiliser le même tampon de différentes façons.
Ce superbe tampon  permet de belles réalisations. J'ai ainsi fait avec lui toute une série de cartes avec des poudres à embosser. Le résultat est toujours un succès.

First I cut a piece of paper décorated with the Gelli plate.
Tout d'abord j'ai coupé du papier mis en couleur avec la Gelli plate.

Then I stamped the trees with Versamark ans embossed with white, gold and blue embossing powders.
Puis j'ai estampé les arbres avec la Versamark et embossé avec les poudres, blanc, or et bleu.

For the second one, I stamped on a piece of digital CB paper and on a piece of paper decorated with Distress ink and water.

Pour la deuxième, j'ai estampé sur du papier digital CB et sur un morceau de papier travaillé avec des encres Distress et de l'eau comme une aquarelle.

Then I embossed with white, gold and blue embossing powders.

Puis j'ai embossé comme précédemment.

For the last one, I used white, red and gold embossing powders.

Pour la dernière j'ai utilisé des poudres à embosse, blanc, rouge et or.

Do you like them ? It was funny to do and so simple. See you soon.

J'espère que vous aimez. C'était amusant à faire et très facile.

Kind regards.

A bientôt.

White Xmas Box (by Magda) - Fat Robin

It is nearly time to pack up the Christmas gifts, and perhaps you would like to prepare a personalized package.

Step by Step
1. Use a box of 7cms x 6cms
2. Put wall tape on the box to create some texture
3. Cover the box with white Gesso and let it dry
4. Paint the box with white Acrylic Paint and flip with a brush Distress Paint  - Tarnished Brass
5. Stamp theFat Robin on a white cardstock with Versafine Onyx Black
6. Colour the stamp with Distress Inkpad - Brushed Corduroy -  Peeled Paint - Barn Door using a
    brush
7. Cut out the shape of the stamped image and glue it with Inkssentials Glue n Seal matte on the box as
    decoration

Now, I have only to fill my White Xmas Box.
Fat Robin Thanks for passing by and see you soon again

Magda

Christmas Candlelight Card (by Anne)

I have been busy with Christmas makes this week. This one was made with the Christmas Candlelight stamp set. I was aiming for a vintage style – think that it worked as it looks like something that has been dragged out of the attic! Tee hee.

I made the card blank with shaped die cuts using cream and Kraft card.

The background was created by stamping the pine cones and colouring with pencils.

The main image was stamped onto smooth cream card. The border was hand drawn. Again coloured with pencils before cutting out.

The image was mounted onto a scalloped mat cut from gold mirror card.

I finished the card with gold and green ribbons, dark gold PVA peals and gold glitter.

Chocolate Baroque Reader's Gallery

Hello everyone, today sees our monthly review of some of your artwork using stamps from the Chocolate Baroque range. We always love to see what you create using the stamps and like to take this opportunity to showcase your creativity on the Design Team Blog. Sadly this will be the last of these posts, as despite our requests, we have not received any contributions from you via email to add to the blog posts. The posts themselves are very time-consuming to create, searching Facebook, Blogland, Pinterest, etc., and reluctantly, we have decided that this will be the last time that we will share your artwork in this way. We hope that you have enjoyed the posts, and will continue to share your artwork on the Chocolate Baroque Facebook Group.

Seen on the Chocolate Baroque Facebook Group this month:

Marga Dounen has created two pretty floral cards:

Julie Scaysbrook has created two lovely Christmas cards this month:

Chris Offa has created some fabulous Brusho backgrounds and used one to make a card:

She then created a vibrant journal spread using her new elephant stamps, adding beading to the images:

Janny has also used an old favourite, combined with stencilled background to create this fun card:

Akkina's cards have been created using some lovely Christmas images, and this colour combination is really pretty:

Another design from Akkina, using the Russian dolls:

The soft grey colour scheme used in Lesley's card is also very effective, showing that you can create very elegant cards without using dramatic colours:

In complete contrast, Kate Currie's card has a real drama with the bold red and white and touches of green:

Shirley's beautiful blue-toned card shows off the white embossing perfectly:

We have a wonderful selection of cards from Miranda next, a stunning feast for the eyes, all using the same basic design, but so beautiful with the different backgrounds and flower choices:

Sue has created a lovely Christmas card, featured on her blog. The added bling on the tree is a very pretty touch:

Kate's use of the large tree stamp in this card is fabulous. Lovely colours that are not necessarily traditional Christmas colours, which makes a refreshing change:

Finally a card from Pat using a chess design. This is a lovely CAS design, perfect for a masculine card, or simply a chess lover:

So there you have it, our final round up of 2016, and thank you so much, you are a truly talented bunch of people. It is always a pleasure to see what you create using the stamps that are available. We look forward to seeing what you create next year!

Please do keep visiting the Design Team Blog for a daily dose of inspiration from the Design Team girls.

Thanks for stopping by,

Floral tags (posted by Claire)f

Good morning, Claire here with a project made using the beautiful new stamps Floral Notes. I love Christmas crafting but these new stamps are perfect if, like me you fancy a change from making all those Christmas cards.

I took some black tags and used a sticky embossing powder that I've had forever, I wasn't sure if it had gone off so I put it to the test, stamping with versamark and applying the powder before heating. Once I'd heated the powder I applied mica powders with a small brush. I heat embossed the sentiments and applied some gilding wax around the edges of the tags and added some rainbow ribbon to finish off.

Well I'd better get back to those Christmas cards now lol

Keep popping back as my teamies have got lots of beautiful inspiration for you

Claire xx

angels (by Veronica)

 I have been playing with one of my favourite Christmas images, the lovely angel of light.
This one was stamped directly onto a 5"x7" black card blank, (with fingers firmly crossed that it would be straight!), using versamark and stamp'n'bond powder, then a gold mix of gilding flakes.I had originally thought of trimming it down and layering it up, but decided to leave it as it was.



The second version was actually started first, using the silver soft form relief paste to cover the stamp after brushing some areas with mica powder.
Once it had dried, I found that I hadn't put enough powder on to add colour, so painted over with more mica pigments mixed with water. I wanted a starry background, so sprayed the black base card with white decoart shimmer mist - got a bit more of a nebula than starshine though,,,,,,,







The final version was stamped onto white card with versamark and a black sparkle embossing powder, then coloured with mica powders mixed with water.
I tore the card close to the image, using a ruler to get the torn edges as straight as possible, then added blue, silver and lilac matts before mounting onto a white card blank.
The blue and lilac matts were coloured round the edges using the same mica powders used on the angel.




I have left plenty of space to add a greeting, once I have decided where this one is going, I shall leave the first two without a greeting on the front.

There are some beautiful samples coming from the rest of the team, so do keep looking every day. Thank you for all your comments, we love to read them

Veronica

A King Is Born (by Asha)

Good morning, friends! It is my turn to bring you a little Chocolate Baroque inspiration. Today, on the Second Sunday of Advent, I want to share with you a festive Art Journal page.

This project showcases the Angel from A Child Is Born, coloured with alcohol markers. I also used the Gothic window from Texture Fragments to add interest to the background.

I applied lots of sparkle and shine to the Angel and to the Texture Pate swirls for that magical effect To create the night sky, I painted the background with acrylic paints and finished it with some white splatters.

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.

Beijinhos,
Asha

Christmas in Red and Kraft (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I've always loved the clean and simple style of Christmas card. I have made some very quick designs using kraft card to share with you today.

I stamped part of the Christmas Tree Tangle single stamp onto a piece of kraft card using red ink, and added a sentiment. I edged the card with the same ink, and attached some red and white baker's twine. I then adhered the background to a kraft card blank. The card took mere minutes to make, and would be ideal for batch card making. If like me, you have lots of cards to send, speedy cards like this will save lots of time.

I decided to make the same card in a couple of other colour options, and chose a deep blue, and an olive green. I added some tiny gems for a bit of sparkle, and added either baker's twine, or gingham rbbon to finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

November's Blog Comment Winner

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 November was assigned a number and we used Random Org to draw a winner.  Congratulations to Jan Ltc  (Fabulous Zoe) 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 December'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!

Floral notes by Zoe

Good morning Lovelies and happy December, where has this year gone?

I'm so excited to be flying out to Canada on the 9th to spend Christmas with my beautiful daughter for 3 weeks, we've just returned from Morocco after 11 days holiday.

I've scheduled this post so forgive me for not going into holiday details, I needed to get ahead with all my DT work. It's been an emotional time lately with moving our gorgeous foster boy onto adoption, so I think I've deserved the breaks?

So onto my project, I've use one of the stamps from the stunning new set - Floral notes

I started by randomly stamping the wording around the edges using a grey inkpad, then using one of Lesley's fab techniques - inking up an acrylic block with various colours, spritzing with water and swiping across the tag, once dry I then added droplets of water here and there and heat dried to create more texture. I love this technique and the results. I stamped the flowers twice, once onto the tag itself and again onto some spare card, coloured with distress markers and a water brush, cut just the flower heads and buds out and decoupaged.

 

I hope you like it? I'm in love with these stamps, so pretty, different and versatile. Have a great day, see you later this month, while I shall be away enjoying my daughter xx Zoe

 

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Faux Candles (by Julie)

Hello crafters! The countdown has begun...are you ready? What do you mean no!

If you would like a quick decoration idea then you are in luck as I have two faux candles to show you. They are both stamped with the rather lovely Winter Edges and really don't require too much effort.

Firstly take some copier paper and place it down in portrait style. Ink up the Winter Church Edge with Onyx Black Versafine and stamp along the bottom of the page to make a continuous border, then cut your page so it measures approx 8.5 cm high. You will need to cut a piece of acetate the same size.

You will then need to reach for your Pan Pastels and sponge over Blues and Greys, with yellow around the silhouette. Take off the excess dust with a kitchen towel before patting the entire strip of paper with Versamark, or any other clear embossing ink before adding clear embossing powder and heating. Do this twice so you have a nice smooth finish.

Next step is to staple your pre-cut acetate to make a cylinder and then wrap your embossed design around the outside and secure with double sided tape. Dab silver Distress Paint around the edges, top and bottom, then place the finished candle over a battery operated tea light.

The Christmas tree candle is made in the same way, however I allowed more height to take account of the design being taller than the Winter Church scene, so this candle is 10.5 cm tall. The trees were coloured with brush markers and I swapped the dark blue Pan Pastel for a lighter, icier blue.

Many thanks for looking and hope to see you again soon.

Julie xx