Rose Wreath (by Julie)

Hello, today it is my turn to show you two of my creations from Chocolate Baroque's June   Hochanda TV show's.

My first card is stamped with the Rose and Thistle set. 

To start with I stamped the central heart design onto spare card, before colouring with Polychromus pencils and then die cutting with a circle die.

For the base card I stamped the larger rose bud stamp in an overlapping circle design to form a wreath shape that fits around the circle die cut. You can fill in any gaps with the smaller rose bud and then colour with Polychromus pencils.

The single rose stem was stamped around the background with a pale grey ink, before Distress inks were applied with a sponge over the top.

To finish off, a sentiment from Words to Dazzle and Sparkle was added.

My second card is a simple DL design that I have stamped using the Rose Set. I inked up the rose tile stamp with Onyx Black Versafine ink and stamped in a chequer board style. No measuring was needed, I just lined it all up by eye but of course you can use a stamp positioner if you wish.

In the spaces I added the rose bud stamp and then coloured with a red Polychromus pencil. The sentiment is from Words to Dazzle and Sparkle. I then cut the design to size and mounted onto red card before adhering to the front of the card blank.

Thanks for stopping by. Please call back soon for more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

A rose garden (by Rachel)

Hello there! Its Rachel here today sharing the first of my samples from the June shows. For these samples I used the stamp sets Rose and Thistle and Rose set. I used various techniques to create these samples. In this first card I created a background using inks and the gelli plate  and stamped the main image from the rose stamp set onto the plate itself without any ink. I pulled the print and then added further stamping to that using the single rose stamp from the rose and thistle stamp set.

Next I made a monolith - I covered it in blue paint then overstamped with the small rose image that I painted in using translucent paints. I added the main image then from the rose stamp set which I had painted and fussy cut.

This next one was made using the rose and thistle set - I stamped in grey on the background then added the same image to a piece of card developed using a gelli plate and ink again. The image was then coloured in water colour pencils.

Finally I decorated one of the paint brushes from one of the show specials..I think it was from the May show.

I used the fabric and flowers that also came with that special set and added some paint too and some fussy cut stamped images!

I hope you can find some inspiration here!

Big hugs

Rachel xx

Introducing Debbie Frost a New Design team Member

Hello everyone, we are pleased to introduce the first of two new Design Team members to our Design Team today, Debbie Frost. We asked Debbie to tell us a little bit about herself, and this is what she had to say:

Hi I'm Debbie Frost and I live in sunny Exmouth, Devon. I've been a card maker and paper crafter for many years. I regularly run my own workshops in Exmouth which are very popular. I would describe myself as a paper crafter as I love all aspects of card making especially. My favourite thing is stamping but love mixed media too, canvases especially. My first Chocolate Baroque stamp was Mosaic Flower.... followed by many, many more. I just love the detail and vintage look of Chocolate Baroque designs and am thrilled and honoured to have been asked to join their Design Team.

Debbie has created some beutiful projects for her first blog post with us, and here is what she wrote:

Hi everyone, I'm Debbie and this is my first blog post as a Chocolate Baroque team member, so I'm just a bit excited!
I was recently asked what was the first Chocolate Baroque stamp that I bought? What better way to introduce myself to you all!

So let's start off with Medici Flower stamped onto a Brusho background with a black inkpad and simply coloured with water based pens. The image was then mounted onto black card and I've added thin strips of black card to the background to add interest. The background has been created with Studded Lattice which I have embossed with white powder and sponged with Distress Inks Worn Lipstick and Spun Sugar. The sentiment comes from Amazing Mackintosh Words. I've mounted the design onto an A5 white card blank.

 
For my second design I've used French Heart which has also been stamped onto a Brusho background and water coloured using Brusho powders. I have used Chocolate Baroque White Silk Board which is a great quality card especially for this technique.
I have used a 7" x 7" ivory card blank and this has been stamped with Open Weave using a brown inkpad and I've also sponged lightly around the edges of the card blank.
The sentiment also comes from Amazing Mackintosh Words and both stamped pieces have been mounted onto orange and then brown card before attaching to the card blank.

For my third and last design I've used one of my favourites Lords and Ladies. I've embossed in white onto a circle of Kraft card a coloured with watercolour pencils which have not been activated with water. I find that you get a stronger colour when using kraft card than with ordinary pencils.
I've used a 7" x 7" white card blank which I've stamped with Square Bubbles using Distress Ink Seedless Preserves. I've also softly sponged around the edges using the same inkpad. As before the sentiments which I've randomly stamped around the edges of the card blank come from the very versatile Amazing Mackintosh Words. To finish I've addeed some faux stitching around the edge of the circle using a white gel pen before attaching to the card blank.

I hope you've enjoyed my designs. See you again next time, Debbie.

Roses in July, part 1 (by Magda)

Hello,
the subject of this month are "Roses" and I have really a great choice among all the "Roses" stamps from Chocolate Baroque. For this post I used the same sentiment and tried to create a monochromatic atmosphere.

1. Birthday Wishes Card:
This card has a soft colourful Distress Ink Pad, layered stenciled background on which I glued a decoupage.  I stamped  on a white cardstock the rose composition from Rose and Thistle  with a mix of Distress Black Soot and Brushed Corduroy,  blended the stamp with a watercolour brushed and fussy cut the shape. The sentiment of Amazing Mackintosh Words  is stamped with Archival Jet Black on a left over piece of the background.

2. Birthday Wishes Tag:
Stamp on a craft Tag with Distress Ink Pad Walnut Stain the big Rose stamp of the Rose Set.
Use white and brown charcoal pencil to highlight and to darken roses and leaves. Stamp the sentiment of Amazing Mackintosh Words with Archival Carnation  Red the sentiment to give a contrast to the tag.

3. Birthday Wishes Bookmark :

Blend lightly a white bookmark with Distress Ink Pad Brushed Corduroy.  Stamp the 4x4 cm rose of the Rose Set in several brown Distress Ink Pad, and the sentiment of Amazing Mackintosh Words  with the same colour used for the roses. Assemble all the cuts as shown in the picture.

I will meet you soon with "Roses in July part 2 " and have a nice rest of July,
Magda

brusho roses (by Veronica)

 The lovely flower stamps on last month's tv shows were perfect to use with my favourite brusho powders - promise my next post doesn't have brusho in it!
The first card uses the rose panel stamp, from the rose and thistle set, simply stamped with versafine black ink and clear embossed onto a piece of papwer coloured with brusho powders. Trimmed to leave a border around the stamp, then matted onto first white card and then black card before mounting onto a white card blank.

 The other cards were done the other way around, stamping and embossing first onto white card, then colouring with the brusho powders.
For this one I used grey and yellow powders - i had a sympathy card in mind, but it would also be suitable for a man. The stamp is the large rose from the rose  set, which was used for both cards.

This one was coloured with red, yellow and turquoise powders - the turquoise got a bit too far up on the top left, and I ended up with a rather strange coloured  rosebud! Once dry, it was trimmed right down to just the rose, then cut into four pieces, which were glued onto black card.
The stamp was stamped without reinking  onto the outside edge of the square card blank to make a faint background (my ink pad had been reinked recently, so was quite juicy so the ink had stayed fairly wet on the stamp)

To Have and To Hold and Purple Sunshine by Penny

Hello everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the lovely weather - if you have any in your area lol!  This is my first post of the month, and I have a couple of 'golden oldies' to share with you today.  

To Have and To Hold Heart.

I have used stamps from the A Heart Full of Love set; Versamark ink, silver EP, pearlescent paints, silver Brilliance ink, CB Masking Tissue, a die cut, some gems and some paper flowers from my stash.  

I started with an A4 piece of white pearl card which I scored and folded to create my base card.  I then stamped the large floral heart with Versamark and embossed it with silver EP.  I then masked the image and stamped another heart image randomly with silver Brilliance ink.  I removed the mask and painted the floral images.

On another piece of pearl card I stamped and embossed the floral image again, painted it and added glitter to the centers of the flowers.  I cut the image out and decoupaged it  in 3D onto the focal image.  I stamped and embossed a sentiment in silver onto another piece of pearl card then die cut it with a heart shaped die from my stash.  I attached the heart to the card with 3D foam then added some paper flowers from my stash.  I added some gems to the sentiment heart and added another sentiment with die cut letters from my stash, cut from silver card.  I added a couple of blue gems from my stash to accentuate the die cut sentiment and complete this simple and lovely design.



Purple Sunshine.

This is a bright cheerful design that could be used for many occasions.  I have used stamps from the Mushroom House, The Toadstool Garden and May Fairy sets; grey Archival ink, alcohol markers, Distress inks, CB Masking Tissue, and some shrink plastic from my stash. 

On a piece of matt silk card I stamped the Mushroom House image centrally and masked it.  I then stamped it twice more either side of the first image.  I removed the masking tissue and coloured all the images with my pens.  I matted the focal panel onto some colour co-ordinated card.

On a white base card I stamped one of the worker stamps from the Toadstool Garden set repeatedly around the edges of the card, I then attached the focal panel.  I stamped a couple of silhouette fairies onto some white shrink plastic using DIs, and cut them out.  I then shrunk them using my heat gun and attached them to the card.  On a spare piece of card I stamped a sentiment in DI and partially stamped the worker image  around the edges.  I matted the panel to coloured card and attached it with 3D foam.


Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you have enjoyed this post, and that I might have tickled your crafty fancy and inspired you to have a go.

I shall be back later in the month with more crafty fun, until then I hope you will keep checking out the DT blog to see what my teamies are up to.

Take care peeps,


                                xx   Penny  xx 

June's Blog Comment Winner

Hello everyone, 

We truly appreciate the time you take to let us know your thoughts about our designs, so each and every comment is very important to us.

Each comment in June was assigned a number and we used Random Org to draw a winner.

Congratulations to Pat, you have won this months £15.00 voucher to spend on Chocolate Baroque stamps. To claim your prize, please email here to confirm your email address and Lesley will send your gift certificate.

Lesley will be giving another £15 gift voucher to another lucky winner drawn from July's comments. The more comments you leave the better your chances of being the winner.

Thank you so much for all the kind comments you leave.

Good luck from the Design Team

A Bunch of Roses (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have two projects to share with you today using little worker stamps. These small stamps are often overlooked on a stamp set in favour of the bigger images. You can quickly create a lovely card using the small images by creating a bckground, and adding a sentiment or topper.

My first card uses some images from the Rose Set, with a Rennie Mackintosh feel to them. I love this style, and chose soft colours to create a vintage look for the card. I placed a circle mask onto a piece of drawing cartridge, then added colour to the background by placing some chalk ink onto a large acrylic block, spritzing it with water, and dragging it across the drawing cartridge. Once the background was dry, I stamped the two small rose images with burgundy and green ink, and stamped them in first, second and third generation stamping randomly over the background.

I removed the mask and embossed the sentiment in the middle using gold embossing powder. Using gold embossing powder again, I stamped the larger circle image nine times onto a spare piece of card. I coloured the image using the same colours of ink that I had used on the background, adding the colour with a water brush. I cut the circles out and attached them using 3D foam.

For my next card, I stamped the little rose sprigs from the Rose and Thistle stamp set randomly over the background. I added a topper stamped with an image from the Rose Stem Script stamp set. In my fabric sample, I added a sentiment from the Words to Dazzle and Sparkle stamp set. The images were coloured with Inktense pencils.

In the second sample, I stamped onto Textured Art Card to give a feeling of fabric, and coloured the images with Koh-I-Noor paints. The sentiment comes from the Rose Stem Script stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx

Mushroom house

Hello every one, I hope you are all fine. Today it's my last post as a Design Team member for Chocolate Baroque. I had a great time in this team and I am going to miss them. Thank you all also for all the lovely comments on my posts.

Here I stamped the image with Versafine Onyx Black and I coloured it in with Distress Ink.

Hugs Marga

It is always sad to see a Design Team member leave, we want to wish Marga all the very best in the future. We will miss her and her amazing artwork, Good Luck Marga!

A Trio of Mushrooms (by Julie)

Hello, today I have three cards with a mushroom theme.

My first card is from a new set called the Toadstool Garden. It is such a beautiful design and takes any hard work out of designing a card as it's all done for you. I simply stamped the image with Warm Breeze, Versafine Clair ink and coloured with pencils. I sponged Distress ink in the background with a few dabs of Crystal Stickles for added interest and the card was done.

My second card is made with Autumn Poppy and Autumn Edges

To start with I inked up the mushroom design from Autumn Poppy using Sepia Versafine ink and stamped in the centre of my card blank, followed by colouring in with pencils. The leaf border was inked up with the same ink and stamped around the edge. By more luck than judgement  I chose a card size that fitted the border and did not need masking, making this quite a quick card. To finish off I applied Mustard Seed Distress ink around the edges

My third card is stamped with another new design called Mushroom House and can be used very simply by just stamping and colouring with pencils. I have just layered the design onto a DL card and added some glitter glue to the tops of the mushrooms.

Thanks for stopping by. Please call back soon for more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

More Mushrooms by Rachel

Hello there! Rachel here today with another offering using the Mushroom house stamp.

I created this card by starting with a gelli print. I had already taken one print from an inky plate and this is the very soft and muted second print. Onto this I stamped the Mushroom house. I chose blues and browns for the colour scheme as they work so beautifully together... I thought blue mushrooms might be quite unusual too! All colouring was done using water colour pencils. I also edged the card blank in the blue colour too. Lastly I created a lanscape behind the image and also coloured that in blue. 

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Big hugs

Rachel xx

Indian Vase (by Debs)

Hello everyone, Deborah is here with her last post of the month, a stunning decorative item that will hopefully inspire you to get creative yourselves . Here's how she created her project:

Hello everyone Debs here with the last project for my spot on the blog this time round and I have another home decor piece for you. I love creating items to have around the home and the stamps I've used Indian Elephant and Indian Textiles are just perfect for this kind of project.

I used this vase substrate but you can use a host of other substrates such as photo frames, drinks and place mats, etc. Try not to use anything too circular as it can be difficult to stamp (or it is for me).

So to begin I covered the whole thing in a light coat of crackle glaze, roughly dried it and then sprayed it with a white acrylic paint. It must be an acrylic paint to make the crackles. I gave it three coats drying each one in between. Be careful not to touch until completely dry.

Next I applied a gold embossing powder to the bottom segment all the way round. First using Versamark I covered the area I wanted the powder to stick and heated it with a heat gun, once it's melted sprinkle it with more powder to form a thicker coat. I repeated this around the top of the vase as well.

Once completely dry plan out your design; I wanted mine to have a central design with elements moving away from the centre, but it's just as effective to stamp randomly. I used a dark brown Stazon ink as I wanted a vintage feel. Once the ink was completely dry I cut some string and wound it around the vase to give more interest. You could just as easily add gem stones or pearls, whatever matches your individual style.

Well that's it for me, I'd like to thank David and Lesley for having me and the fabulous Judith for organising me and the posts.
Goodbye for now,
Hugs
Debs xxx

Spot Card - (by Magda)

Hello,
Lesley Wharton  has released recently this big stamp, that is very versatile and could be used in different ways.

Step by Step

1. Blend lightly red Distress Inkpad on and in your card
2. Stamp randomly in several generations with Archival Jet Black the sentiment of the plate
    "The Toadstool Garden "
3. Punch holes in different sizes on the front of the card
4. Stamp with Archival Jet Black the big stamp "The Toadstool Garden " on the inside of the card
5. Color with Faber Castel Art Grip Aquarelle Pencils some details of the image, especially the
    sections the stamp that you can see through the holes
6. Put some gold Stickless to highlight

Flower Card

This cute flower and the sentiment are in  "The Toadstool Garden " plate.  For this card I used blue, yellow and red Distress Inkpad for blending the background and stencil and the white cardstock pieces.  Archival  Jet Black  for stamping the sentiment on the card, Archival Red and Violet  for the flower on a white cardstock.   

Thank you for being here today. 

Magda

colourful world (by Veronica)

 More samples from the May tv shows to share with you today. A lovely variety of designs in this show, really something for everyone.

My first samples use the mushroom house, a  quirky stamp that will go well with fairy stamps and can also make a different new home card....
the first card was simply stamped in black versafine ink and painted using Koh-i-nor watercolour paints. these are very vibrant colours, so Iwent a bit crazy and created a rather psychedelic house, adding the spots with white pen afterwards.

A more normal version, again stamped using black versafine ink. The mushrooms were masked using masking tissue, and a cirsle for the moon as well. The sky was created using chipped sapphire distress oxide ink and a blending brush plus some yellow for the moon. again painted with the watercolours, but more 'normal' mushrooms this time!











This uses the artichoke stamp, stamped in black and clear embossed  -this time I used masking fluid to cover the image before sprinkling with brusho powders in blue and red and spritzing with water. Once everything was totally dry, i rubbed off the masking fluid. Toning blue and red mats for a change onto a white card blank.

I used the border stamp from the same plate here to create a frame onto a square of wite card using a dark green dye ink pad, and rubbing the ink pad along the edges to create a dark edge.  I used the same ink pad to stamp the apples onto a smaller piece of white card before colouring with watercolour pencils.











My final card was a little different, and I used a stamping platform to create this.  The leaf spray was stamped 4 times using a light green dye ink pad, and then a waterbrush to spread the colout into the leaves.  I used the same ink pad to stamp the rose hips into the gaps left by the leaf stamp. I cololured the leaves with watercolour pencils and then painted the hips orange to make them stand out - the stems came together in the centre to create a squiffy square (purely accidental) so I painted this as well to create a focal point.

Mushrooms and Apples by Penny

Hello peeps, I hope you are all well and enjoying some sunshine after all the rain we've been having.  I have a couple more samples from last month to share with you today, featuring some of the gorgeous CB stamps.  

Shrooms Galore!

For this first project I have used stamps from the Mushroom House,  The Toadstool Garden, Mellow Fruitfulness and Tagtastic sets; Koh-I-Noor paints, pearlescent paints, black Versafine, silver and clear EP.

I began by stamping a tag onto black card and embossing with silver EP.  I cut it out, then stamped and embossed one of the 'holes' at the top.  I stamped the Mushroom House in black ink and embossed it with clear powder, then painted the image.  On a spare piece of card I stamped and embossed a sentiment with silver EP.  I used a silver pen around the edges before attaching to the tag.   To complete the tag I added the cherry branch, which I had stamped, embossed, painted  and cut out of black card, and some red raffia.

On a piece of white card I stamped the Toadstool Garden image in black ink and painted the toadstools and leaves with watercolour paints.  I added silver pen around the edges then attached it to a black base card.  I then attached the tag to the card beside the focal panel.  

Colourful Orchard.


For this project I used stamps from the Mellow Fruitfulness and Artistic Affirmations sets; grey Versafine ink, red Versafine ink, clear EP and alcohol markers.

I started with a piece of smooth white colouring card and stamped the apple branch image with grey ink.  I masked it with Masking Tissue and stamped the image twice more.  I removed the mask and coloured all the images with alcohol pens, adding light and shading to make the apples appear 3D, and did the same with the leaves.  I added some highlights with a white pen, and a shadow line around the images.  On a spare piece of card I stamped and embossed the apple branch three times and coloured them as before.  I then cut the images out.

I stamped a sentiment in a bottom corner of the focal panel using red Versafine ink and embossed it with clear EP.  I added gold pen around the edges of the panel then matted it onto red card before attaching it to a white base card.  I attached two of the cut out branches to the top corners of the card with 3D foam, and the other to the bottom of the card.

Thank you for popping in today and taking time out to read this post, I hope you've enjoyed it.  I loved creating both cards and I hope these samples give you a little inspiration.

I'll be back next month with more crafty fun, so until then take care,



                               xx  Penny  xx

               

A Mixture of Mushrooms (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a few projects to share with you today showcasing the fabulous mushroom stamps that we brought to you on last month's TV shows on Hochanda.

For my first projects, I stamped some Mushrooms from the Autumn Poppy stamp set onto large sticker sheets before cutting them out. This is an alternative to stamping and masking images, and allows you to add your images to patterned backgrounds very quickly. I found a lovely speckled background in my stash box which was a great colour for some mushrooms, which I had created using the wrinkle free distress method.

I stamped the sentiment onto spare card, splitting it in two, and colouring the edges with coordinating Distress Ink.

The next two cards show how backgrounds which are not altogether successful can be used when adding something over the top. The first, a remake of an old project that I made a long time ago, I actually spilled my cup of tea on the background! However, I liked the colours, so carried on anyway.

The next is the TV demo itself, and although I do not like this background so much, perhaps with a bit of pencil shading around the mushrooms, it will grow on me.

I used The Toadstool Garden next, embossed in white on a piece of kraft card, then added some paper piecing for a change. I simply rummaged through my stash box again for scraps of backgrounds left over from other projects, and stamped parts of the image using white embossing powder as before. I cut out the flowers and mushrooms before adding them to the main image.

So there you have it, a few more ideas for you using these fabulous images. I hope that you will try some of them out yourselves. Thanks for stopping by,

Judith xx