Flowers and Birdies (by Zoe)

Good morning Lovlies and welcome to my first post for this month featuring these amazing stamps.

My box frame was very simple, I used a stamp press, inked up my stamp using watercolour markers and lightly spritzed with water and stamped onto watercolour card. I lightly spritzed the card to allow the colours to wick and run. Once dry, I inked up the stamp again with Versafine Clair Nocturne and stamped over again. I used some markers to create dots and lighten the snowdrops. 

I used an acrylic tag from the website, stamped my images using Stazon inkpad, brayered on my chalk finish paints and once dry painted on Gesso.

And finally, just lots of stamping and over stamping to create an envelope.

Thank you so much for spending the time to visit, I do hope you'll pop back later in the month.
Have a wonderful day xx Zoe xx

Pattern Building (by Christine)

Hello everyone, today sees the first of three posts written this month by our Guest Design Team member Christine. You will have seen some of her samples on the TV shows for the past few months, and she is now joining the Guest Design Team to write for the Design Team blog as well. Christine has created a fabulous selection of projects for your inspiration today.

Christine writes:

I am delighted to write my very first blog post for the wonderful Chocolate Baroque range of stamps and crafting goodness. I have long been a fan: creating samples for the Hochanda shows and now writing posts to share other ideas - well icing on the cake as the saying goes!

I have a bit of a theme for this post; pattern building. All three are 8" x 8" cards.

For my first example, I used one of the stamps from the Rose and Thistle sheet. I made three masks and then stamped on pink card, using the masks to create a full backgrpound as I moved around the card. I chose Versafine Clair Onyx Black ink since I thought that would stand out well against the pink.

I stamped again on white card, cut the image out using an oval die and then chose a larger patterned oval die from my stash as a black layer. I decided against adding a sentiment so that I could add one when the appropriate occasion arose.

Example two uses the large stamp from the Baroque Corners stamp set. I used a stamp platform to ensure that I placed the stamp accurately in the four corners. Once placed on the platform, I simply had to turn the card 90 degrees four times, and voila. That left four areas for another stamp and this time I chose one of the smaller stamps from The Folk Art Garden set.

For the central area, I turned to the Mackintosh Windows set. I used alcohol markers to ensure strong colours then added black glitter to the flower veins, leaves and stalks for added emphasis.

Card three also uses the same stamp set and a sheet from the Chic Script Designer Papers. I stamped the square window four times using Versafine Clair Smokey Grey ink. I used the same ink to stamp the little flower around the edges. I used Distress Oxides to colour the flowers.

I used the same Oxide colours blended on a whiteboard trading heart and then stamped one of the small flowers. I used a glue pen around the flower and then gold glitter for a bit of sparkle.

I stamped the 'face' image in black and then used clear embossing powder. I painted the image using the same Distress Oxide colours.

Finally I added two glass cabochons from my stash that had toning colours.

Happy crafting!

Christine.

xx

A Butterfly in the Window by Brenda

Hello Peeps, Brenda here with a few shares from the creations I made for last months Hochanda shows which featured yet more beautiful stamps, some with a feel of Spring which should be bursting into life any day now....I hope.

I used a stencil to create the window on the top card with the stencil and sponged Distress Inks and with the stencil still in place I stamped one of the backgrounds from Rustic Fragements, then three Butterflies from Doodle Butterflies stamped onto card inked with the same DI's, cut out and decoupaged. Finally a sentiment to finish.

Distress Oxides again in the background applied with a brayer, then Snowdrop Script stamped four times graduating the height and the colour from the Snowdrops bleached out and a sentiment from the same set.

I used the flower head from Doodle Birds and added a stem using one of the worker stamps to create a stem, added a decoupaged Butterfly from Doodle Butterflies along with a sentiment stamped onto a piece of Aida. The background was created with acrylic paint, some over stamping with Distress Ink and bleach.

I have used the Doodle Bird set again here along with the bottom panel stamped with one of the images from Rustic Fragements, some ribbon and little Dragonflies from the Butterfly set.

I incorporated images from all sets in the shows on this one, once again Oxides for the background and Versafine Clair for all the stamping.

Have a lovely day everyone and many thanks for your visits and words of encouragement.

Fragments and Edges (by Sandra)

Hello

Today I am sharing a little project I did for the February shows on Hochanda

I used stamps from Edgy Edges, Rustic Fragments and Words of  Inspiration stamp sets.

I started by cutting a piece of card  8.5 x 8.5 inches. I used Antique Linen Distress Ink and Grey Brushos to make a soft, neutral background.

I then used stamps from Artistic Fragments and stamped with Archival Ink randomly over the card leaving some open spaces.

Then I cut the card into 4 equal squares and stamped a sentiment on each from Words of Inspiration.

I then filled in any gaps with the alphabet stamp from Edgy Edges.

These were then mat and layered onto some co-ordinating card stock.

My next sample is a tag using Artistic Edges and Rustic Fragments stamps along with one of the stamps from Doodle Birds.

I painted the tag with acrylic paint and stamped some of the Rustic Fragments down each side . I stamped the script panel from the Edgy Edges and glued it down the centre of the tag. I then stamped the bird onto acetate and added glitter to the reverse. Sentiment is from the Edgy Edges set also.

Thanks for looking
Sandra x

Doodle Bird Shadow Stamping (by Julie)

The two cards I have for you today have been created from the Doodle Birds set.

I started the first card by applying liquid water colour ink to water colour card and spritzing with water. Once dry I inked up the flower and butterfly in a pale brown/beige dye ink and stamped onto my inky background. Once you have cleaned the ink from the stamps, re-ink with the red dye ink and stamp the flower image again, but be sure to off set the design so that the paler image can still be seen. Next you need to re-ink the butterfly with blue dye ink and over stamp the butterfly and as before, slightly off setting the image so that the paler image can still be seen.

Cut your water colour card to size and mount onto blue card-stock.

Ink up the small butterfly and flower design with Vintage Sepia Versafine ink and stamp around the edge of the craft card. Apply Old Paper Distress ink to the edges of the craft card and finish off with white, paint pen highlights.

This DL card uses the shadow stamping technique but in a slightly different way.

The background was created using the Direct to Paper Technique, which means I  dragged  Old Paper Distress ink pad across my card blank.

I then inked up the bird and feather images by dabbing light green dye ink onto the stamp and then going around the edge of the stamp with turquoise dye ink, before stamping onto the card blank.

Once I had stamped all of the coloured images I then cleaned my stamps and re-inked with Onyx Black Versafine and over stamped the bird and some of the feathers, being careful to off set the design.

The card was finished off with a sentiment from Snowdrop Script

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

Julie xx

Awesome Day by Rachel

Hello there! Rachel here for my first visit this month. I am bringing some of my samples from the February Hochanda shows. This first one was created using the Bluebell stamp from the snowdrop script set. I adore bluebells  and go walking in the same area each year to see carpets of them. If I'm really lucky and time things well I also usually get to see baby owls!

To make this card I first created a very pale landscape using inks having first masked off a circle. Then I filled in the circle with yellow ink to create the sun. Next I repeat stamped those bluebells and coloured in using water colour pencils.

My next sample is my pot that I made using a stamp from the rustic fragments set. I stamped in an orange colour then overpainted inglazes of blues and greens - I was trying to achieve a rough ombre..... Once dry the pot was over glazed and fired.

My final card today involves a distress oxide background and a strip from the edgy edges stamp set. Very simple!

Hope you have  wonderful day!

Hugs

Rachel xx

Spring part 1 - (by Magda)

Hello,
Spring is coming, daffodils are blooming and birds are flying through the blue sky...  this mix of nature inspired my first post of this month.

I used the following items for my page and the tag:
- Chocolate Baroque stamps    Fly Away With Me,    Spring Bird Daffodil
- Archival Jet black for stamping
- Distress Ink pad  in several colours for the backgrounds
- Stencils
- Aquarelle Pencils
- White Gesso
- Mica.

I hope you could smell the spring air looking at my projects, hugs

Magda

February’s Blog Comment Winner

Hello and welcome,

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 February was assigned a number and we used Random Org to draw a winner.

Congratulations to Sandma’s Handmade Cards, 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 March’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

twig wreath (by Veronica)

I have to admit that the doodle birds and butterflies were not my favourite stamps, but fortunately we don't all have to like the same things, it would be boring if we did!

I  did have fun with the twiggy stamp from the doodle butterfly set and my stamping platform though, and here are two versions. Just using a different size of card made quite a difference to the result - the first card used a 6.5" square as a base, and the second a 7" square. The smaller size gave a more traditional wreath shape, and the larger one came out as a very thin hexagon.

On both versions I used a green ink pad to stamp the twigs

 The smaller card I stamped the butterflies from doodle birds and dragonflies from doodle butterflies on white card using a multicolour ink pad, cut them out and added to the wreath shape.
 The larger card I did the same with the butterflies from each set.

Technically Speaking..................by Sandra

Hello

I am sharing some more of my samples from the January shows on Hochanda.

These stamps all work so well together so these cards have elements from  Cala Lily Blueprint, Freesia Blueprint,  Sweetpeas Blueprint  and Wild Cornflower stamp sets.

My first card uses the single leaf image from the Cala Lily Blueprint set which I used with my stamping platform to enable me to create a simple circular design. I used two different coloured Distress Inks.

My next card, again I have used my stamping platform. I have stamped in a soft grey ink and splashed a few drops of Brushos over the top. I have used the spray of flowers from the Freesia Blueprint set and the leaf sprig from the Sweetpeas Blueprint set. The corners are architect drawings from the Freesia set.

Finally, I have used some of the architect drawings from Freesia Blueprint, Sweetpeas Blueprint and Wild Cornflower Blueprint sets. I used a blue card and embossed the images in white to look like old  blueprints. The detail in these stamps are amazing and they are not lost at all when you emboss.

Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoy using these stamps as much as I do.
Sandra x

Cala Lily From Grungy to Clean and Simple (by Julie)

Hello, today I have three Cala Lily themed cards with two distinct styles.

My first project has a grungy style and most of the images come from Cala lily Blueprint. I started this card by stamping the main Cala Lily design and then covered it with masking fluid. You can also just stamp onto copy paper and then cut out and use the copy paper image as a mask as well. With the main image covered I coloured the background with Distress and spray inks, also adding in a dotty stencil for interest. Once everything was dry I removed the mask and coloured the Cala Lily with polychromos pencils and stamped the background images. You can find an extra stamp I used in the background on Wild Cornflower Blueprint.

My second card is a simple DL design. I inked up the single leaf from Cala lily Blueprint and stamped in a zig zag pattern along the left hand edge of the DL card. I then added in the single stem Cala Lily at the bottome and top right. This was then coloured with Distress ink and polycromos pencils. The single stem Cala Lily was then stamped onto spare card and the single leaf was stamped twice either side of the stem before being coloured with polychromos pencils. I then cut out the image with an oval die and added a black card-stock matt, before attaching to the front of the card.

My second card is very clean and simple and again uses the stamps from Cala lily Blueprint.

I stamped the three separate designs along with the sentiment using Onyx Black Versafine ink, before colouring with polychromos pencils. I then applied a teal coloured dye ink through a dotty stencil, across the plain white card-stock background.

So you see, the same stamps can be used in a variety of ways...what have you done with yours?

Please call back soon for more Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

Delightful Dragons (by Doreen)

Hello everyone, today sees the final post this month from our Guest Design Team member Doreen. She has created a project using a stamp set that is a personal favourite of mine, Here Be Dragons. 

Doreen writes:

This card is a bit of self indulgence on my part, I have always held a love for dragons, but I think it stems from a song that was popular when I was young, 'Puff the Magic Dragon'. I remember it well, though many of you I dare say, will be too young to have even heard of it.

I have had this set of stamps for quite some time but never quite got round to using it, but now that I have, I dare say it will be out again soon.

Products used in the making of this card:

Here Be Dragons stamp set
Round Gelli plate image made using inkpads and liquid Brushos
Stamped using Versafine Clair Nocturne
Coloured using watercolour brush pens
Base layer cut from card stash

Thanks for looking,

Doreen

Imagination rules by Rachel

Hello there! Rachel here with my second set of samples from the January shows. 

For this first one I used a gelli print and stamped onto that using stamps from the Cala Lily Blueprint set. I stamped the image twice - once on the gelli background then again on card that I coloured and fussy cut and added to the gelli print. I also used the single leaf stamp to form a border.

These AT coins were made by painting on the MDF blanks and then adding stamped imgaes from the Freesia Blueprint set which I coloured in using sparkly pens.

For this smple I used stamps from the Wild Cornflower Blueprint to create both the background and the centre piece. I chose to colour the central image but left the background black and white.

Another sample using the Freesia Blue print set, fussycut on a painty background.

Finally this is a little treat bag. I created this using a die. I painted then assembled the bag then finally added the Lily stamps.

I hope you have got some more ideas from this post!

Hugs

Rachel xx

My Reading of the Year (by Magda)

Hello,
Do you think bookmarks are still popular and useful ? I was wondering if you were still reading paper books or you prefer only e-books.
Bookmarks are really funny to do and it is also a way to use left over of paper pieces . I show you the here the traditional shape and a different one, where you can write on it notes, sentences, words, whatever you liked in reading the book and save all in a folder.

For my projects I used :
- White cardstock
- Distress Ink Pad
- stencil
- Archival Jet Black
- Spring Foliage
- Spring Bird Daffodils
- Fabulous Flappers
- Mackintosh Beauty
- Aquarelle Pencils


Thanks for passing by,  hugs
Magda

techno florals

 My first card uses the main stamp from the sweetpeas set stamped over a distress oxide background - I used a red and a yellow onto a mat and lots of water to create the background, then coloured the image with distress marker pens.  I stamped the colours separately, using a stamping platform to make sure the images matched up.
I then used a waterbrush to add more colour

Same background technique for this one, using the wild cornflower set - have to admit that I thought this was a thistle, as it didn't look anything like a garden cornflower! - and purple and green inks.
Stamped just in black, with some extra colour added using a waterbrush and ink picked up from the mat.












Same stamp again, this time on a brusho background, stamped in black and clear embossed.
Base card uses a couple of the smaller images stamped in blue with green brushed round the edges to take the white down and tone in with the brusho





I seem to have missed scanning some of the lily samples I did, but this one I did find.
Grey brusho powder on watercolour card,  main image stamped in black and clear embossed before adding colour using watercolour paints.
background images added using grey ink, and the sentiment stamped in versafine and white embossed

Above and Below by Penny

Hello everyone, I hope you're all warm, well and safe today.  With all the horrible weather we're having, the strong winds,the terrible flooding and all the damage to peoples homes I thought I'd share some bright and sunny projects with you.  These are some pages from a couple of calenders I made in 2018 as Christmas presents, having bought them from Chocolate Baroque.

Under The Sea.

The stamps I have used are Mermaid Queen and Underwater Kingdom sets, Distress Ink, Versafine ink, clear EP, pearlescent acrylics, alcohol pens and a stencil from my stash.

I stamped and embossed three images to create an underwater scene then coloured them all in using the paints and pens.  I masked the images then took a stencil from my stash and used blue DI to recreate the currents in the sea.

Sea Palace.

I have used stamps from the Seadragon and Underwater Kingdom sets, and the same products and tools as above.

I stamped and embossed some focal images then coloured them as before.  I then used the same stencil to create the background.  

Sunny Cove.


For this page I used stamps from the Seashore Scenes and Seaside Dreams sets, Versafine sepia ink, Clear EP, and Colouring pencils.

I stamped and embossed a scene  then added a border of shells either side.  I coloured everything with pencils.

Beachside Holiday.


This time I have just used stamps from the Seaside Dreams set,colouring pencils

I stamped and embossed the Beach Huts, and the borders, as before.  I then coloured the images with pencils.

Thank you for stopping by today, I hope my post has cheered up your day .  I shall be back next month with some more crafty fun, in the meantime stay safe.

Take care,


                             x x  Penny  xx