Copper Tree scene card created for the Chocolate Baroque TV show on The Craft Channel

I created this one for Chocolate Baroque as a TV show sample for the recent Brusho’s show on the Craft Channel. Lesley was brilliant! You can still watch the show on catch up if you missed it.

Materials:

• Design-A-Tree Glade and Woodland, Words of Inspiration stamp sets
• Kraft card blank (approx. 18 X 14.5cm), black card for mat, watercolour card (approx. 14 X 11cm)
• Brusho’s (yellows, greens and brown)
• Inkpads: Versafine (Vintage Sepia and Onyx Black)
• Alcohol ink marker and fine tipped marker (black)
• Glue pad for stamping and gold mix gilding flakes (Honey Doo Crafts – Rolling Hills)
• Organza ribbon (green)

Step By Step:

1. Paint Brusho onto the watercolour card. Whilst still wet drop on some of the crystals and spritz with water to create the tree foliage and foreground. Dry.
2. Stamp the tree with glue and apply the gilding flakes. Press down the flakes and leave for a few minutes before buffing off with a sponge (to remove the excess). Clean the stamp quickly to remove any glue residue.
3. Use the fine tipped pen to add some shading to the tree and draw in a base to anchor the tree.
4. Stamp the leaves with Sepia ink, and the sentiment with black ink.
5. Edge the card with black marker. Attach the ribbon and bow and mount onto black card, and then glue to card front.

Quick and easy notelets created for Chocolate Baroque

I have created another set of quick and easy notelets using the Punky Flowers stamp set along with some patterned papers from my stash.

Check out the Design Team Blog for more quick and easy projects from my Teamies this week.

Materials:

• Punky Flowers stamp set
• A6 white card blanks and mixed patterned papers (from my stash)
• Glitter pens in colours to match papers
• Alcohol marker (black)
• Versafine Inkpad (Onyx Black)
• WOW embossing powder (Clear Gloss)
• Organza ribbon in colours to match papers
• PVA pearls (black)

Step By Step:

1. Choose patterned papers with a subtle Baroque style pattern. Trim to 10 X 14.5cm to fit the A6 card front leaving a border. Edge with the black marker to frame.
2. Stamp with Versafine and heat emboss the image using the clear powder. This makes colouring really quick and easy and adds a bit of textural interest.
3. Colour with glitter pens choosing a darker colour version to match with the paper.
4. Attach a ribbon strip and glue to the card front.
5. Finish with PVA pearls.

Quick and Easy scene card created for Chocolate Baroque

This is a quick scene project using the Tall Trees stamp set. This set is gorgeous and is on a special offer at the moment.

Do have a look at the Chocolate Baroque Blog to see some more quick and easy projects from my lovely Teamies this week.

Materials:

• Tall Trees and Mackintosh Sentiments stamp sets
• A6 white card blank (suitable for stamping)
• Inkpads: Distress Inks (Gathered Twigs and Peeled Paint)
• Fine tipped pen (green and brown)
• Gold glitter glue
• Water brush

Step By Step:

1. Stamp the tree with the green and brown Distress Ink.
2. Extend the scene and anchor the tree using the fine tipped brown pen. Quickly colour the scene with the Distress Inks and a water brush.
3. Draw a border with the green pen and blend the edges using Distress Inks.
4. Stamp the sentiment with the brown Distress Ink.
5. Finished with a little glitter glue.

Really quick and easy.

Scene card created with the new digital paper download from Chocolate Baroque

The new digital paper this month is a stunner. I decided to make a fold back scene card so that the full beauty of the paper can be seen as the card is pulled open.

Open Card

Closed Card

Materials:

• Design-A-Tree Orchard, Spinney and Woodland, Landscape Edges and Words of Inspiration stamp sets
• 8 X 8 inch white card blank
• Digital paper (Imperial Birds Background) printed X 3
• Small blossoms die cut (or punched) from scrap card in pink and cream
• Die cut shapes in green card (for mat) and white stamping card to create topper
• Inkpads: Distress Ink (Old Paper, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo), Versafine (Vintage Sepia), Archival Dye Ink (multicolour light to dark browns)
• Acrylic Paint – light pink
• Glitter glues: Stickles (Star Dust) and green
• Pink PVA pearls
• 3D glue gel

How to make it:

1. Score the front panel of the card blank vertically down the centre and fold back the panel. Trim the digital paper and glue to the inside back panel.
2. Trim another print out panel and cut in half vertically to stick on the inside front and left hand fold back front panel. Check that the front panel pattern aligns with the inside back panel. Glue the inside panel but do not glue down the outer front left panel yet.
3. Lay the green mat onto the front printed panel and mark the position of the bottom left hand section with a pencil. Trim a slot around the leaves with a craft knife so that the mat can be tucked into the paper (i.e. under and behind the leaves). Glue the printed panel to the card front taking care to omit glue from the cut slot area. Stamp the sentiment with Versafine.
4. From the third sheet of digital paper cut out the vine leaves and shape slightly for decoupage. Shape the tiny blossoms. Add green glitter glue to the leaf veins and Star Dust to the flower centres.
5. Stamp the stone wall onto the bottom of the topper panel with Versafine. Stamp the tree (Orchard set) with the multicolour stamp pad so that the trunk is dark brown, blending to lighter brown for the upper branches.
6. Stamp the leaves in the light and darker green Distress Inks (Woodland set).
7. Stamp the blossoms with pale pink acrylic paint (Spinney set). Dot with Star Dust glitter glue.
8. Colour the wall and landscape using the Distress Inks and a damp watercolour brush. Ink the edges of the scene with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. Glue to the green mat.
9. Glue the topper onto the card front tucking the bottom left corner into the cut slot of the patterned paper. Glue on the leaves and blossoms with 3D glue gel. Take care not to add glue to the topper overhang section. Finish with a few PVA pearls.

Flowering Baroque Heart Easel Cards created for Chocolate Baroque

I love this month’s new Flowering Baroque Heart stamp from Chocolate Baroque. I just had to combine it with heart dies from my stash and some die cut flowers that I shaped to co-ordinate with the stamped floral image. I love creating shaped cards so decided on a set of easel cards using a large die cut bloom as a stopper.

I haven’t used my opaque gouache paints in ages so thought I would do something a little different with the colouring and stamp the image onto black card. I love the dramatic effect.

Materials:

• Flowering Baroque Heart clear stamp
• White, black, blue and teal plain card
• Versamark Inkpad
• Paints: opaque gouache (colours mixed: red, blues, teals, pinks) and gold water based paint with mica
• Spectrum Noir alcohol ink pens (blues, teals, pinks)
• WOW embossing powder (Clear Gloss)
• Black PVA pearls
• Stickles glitter glue (Diamond)
• Fine tipped markers: black and white
• Heart Dies: Tattered Lace Pin Dot Hearts and Pearl Pin Dot Hearts
• Floral Dies: Tattered Lace Floral Layers (All About The Middle, Leaves 4 and Rose die sets)
• 3D glue gel

How it was done:

1. I first cut the largest decorative heart, one in teal and one in black. A plain black heart was cut and glued onto the teal decorative heart. The Flowering Baroque Heart was then stamped directly onto the black card using Versamark. The images were then heat embossed with clear powder.
2. The images were coloured with the gouache paints, using the gold mica paint to colour the stamens. The outer border of the black decorative pearl heart was also coloured with gouache.
3. I used the plain heart dies to create the card blanks (in blue and teal) and inner black mats. The card was folded in half and the upper edge of the heart die placed so that it extended above and over the fold (cutting through both layers of card). The front panel was then scored horizontally to create the fold back for the easel. The topper was then glued onto the lower half of the front fold back.
4. The leaves and flowers were cut from thin white card and coloured with alcohol markers. I like using alcohol markers on 3D shaped items as the ink bleeds through colouring both sides of the card at once. They were shaped with a ball tool and embossing mat. To create the large flowers I snipped the petals to separate them and glued to a small circle of card to create the 5 petalled flowers. The stamens were cut in black card. The smaller petals were used to create the buds.
5. Fine tipped pens were used to add faux stitching around the hearts. Black PVA pearls were dotted around the pearl heart frame. Glitter glue was applied to the flowers and stamped image for extra sparkle. The flowers were attached using 3D glue gel.

I have been making Kanzashi Flowers

I have finished my first set of Kanzashi fabric flowers using wonderful kits available from Gina-B-Silkworks. Gina’s instructions are so easy to follow. Loved making these. They are a great technique for using up tiny fabric scraps too.

Now I have to decide what to do with them. I think that I will use them to decorate a little sewing box.

Fern Scene created for the Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge 22

Here is another project that I created for the Chocolate Baroque Challenge 22 this month. It is quick and easy to make too.

Materials:

• Wild Meadow stamp set and sentiment from Words of Inspiration
• 5 X 5 inch card blank suitable for stamping and inking
• Distress Inks: Carved Pumpkin, Mustard Seed, Crushed Olive and Mowed Lawn
• CutNDry Foam
• Sunburst stencil

Step By Step:

1. Using CutNDry Foam blend Distress inks straight onto the card, using Carved Pumpkin at the top, blending into Mustard Seed, then Crushed Olive at the base. Dry  with a heat gun or hair dryer.
2. Place the stencil over the card and sponge through gently with water. Lift the ink by patting with tissue. Dry. Tip: Do this quickly and do not rub the card or the fibres may start to break up.
3. Stamp the ferns and sentiment with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. Stamp the ferns quickly, inking the stamp and stamping 2 or 3 times in succession (i.e. without re-inking) to get the more faded ferns in the background. Repeat until you are happy with the arrangement.