Happy New Year to You All

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well. It's been a while since my last blog post, so firstly I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. 2023 looks set to be a very busy year for us on the personal front as our Daughter is getting married. We have lots of planning to look forward to, and no doubt the months will fly by as we head towards the big day.

I have lots to share with you today, as I did not manage to post last month. I will add a few projects from last month's TV shows, as well as some from the shows that we did just last week. I hope that you managed to watch the shows, we were very busy. The shows were our 6th Anniversary shows with the TV studios, it's amazing to think that we have been affiliated with the Company for that long. They have gone through a few name changes in that time, but we have enjoyed a good working relationship with them throughout the changes. I have been with Chocolate Baroque for a lot longer than six years, as those of you who know me will be aware. I have been on the Design Team for about twelve and a half years now, and Design Team Leader for eight and a half years. Goodness, I had to check, as I couldn't believe that it had been so long! 

Unfortunately Lesley was rather unwell last week, and so I needed to do a few more demos than I would do normally. I really enjoyed working with the beautiful stamps and so I had created lots of projects. I was ready to help out and show how to use the stamps in lots of different ways. My first project was created using some Drawing Cartridge, and stamps from the Technical Butterfly stamp set. I stamped and embossed the vacuum flange image using white embossing powder and Versamark over the background, and added Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink over the top. On a piece of scrap card, I stamped and embossed some of the butterflies, using Versafine Clair Nocturne and clear embossing powder, then coloured them in using a variety of Distress Inks and a blending brush. I cut them out and attached them to the background. I used a little strip of card and stamped the sentiment, brushing a bit of Distress Ink around the edge. 

The TV demo sample was a smaller version of my finished card, simply for speed.

 My second demo on the show was a journal page. I used stamps from some of our older stamp sets; Timeless, Make Your Mark, and Floral Parapernalia Elements. I also added colour to the background with a circle stencil and our own Chocolate Baroque Mask - Kaleidoscope of Butterflies. I used Distress Ink and blending brushes for the stencils, and Versafine Clair in toning colours for the stamps. I chose some stamps from Technical Butterfly to add to the page and then added the fabulous Friendship strip from the Mini Slim Words stamp along the edge. I added some coloured pencil accents to the images, sticking to a limited colour palette of blue, pink, yellow and green. 

 I only added the word strip partway along each page, but as I showed on my TV demo, you can easily join the word strip to stamp all the way along the page. I felt it was well balanced having it just along part of the side in my design, but it is really up to you how you use it.

As Lesley and I mentioned in the shows, we discussed the design of these stamps over a cuppa in the Green Room after one of the shows, we often do our brainstorming that way. We live so far apart, and we only meet up at the studios nowadays. Hopefully this year will see a few more new stamps in the pipeline, including some designs that I have had mulling over for a while now....

Anyway, here are one or two projects from last month's shows that I did not get a chance to share with you before. 

The first card is a remake of an old design, but I added some words from Words of Inspiration to the background. I used two of the little trees from Fantasy Woodland to make the flower.

I created an inky background for my next card by adding Distress Ink to an acrylic block and spritzing it with water. I placed it onto textured card. I have added stamps from Essence of Nature and Baroque Meadow, using Versafine Clair Inks.

These next two cards were very quick and simple to make. I simply took a piece of white or kraft card, and added the splatter stamp from the Timeless stamp set, using coloured Versafine Clair ink. I then added words from Words of Gratitude over the top. I created a matching tag for a gift.

This was another quick card, using a piece of brown kraft paper for the background, to which I added Brushos and spritzed them with water. I stamped a sentiment from Essence of Nature all over the top, to make the background look like a book page. I coloured some Drawing Cartridge with the same Brushos, and stamped two more images from the Essence of Nature stamp set. I used clear embossing powder over the top.

I reworked an old design once again for this card, using the Patchwork Landscape stamp set. I stamped several of the images onto some Drawing Cartridge upon which I had already created a wrinkle free Distress background, and used a fine liner pen to add lines to create more hills and attach the images to each other. I used a circle mask to add more Distress Ink, to give the appearance of a sun. Using the fine liner pen, I added some birds freehand. I coloured the scene using pencils, choosing a palette of five colours, plus the slightly darker versions for shading.

I created an alternative colour option which is more masculine in grey and terracotta tones. You could use kraft card and add white accents too, or create a black, red and white version. There are so many possibilities, why not create a monochrome version in blues, or greens?

I hope that you have enjoyed my projects. I will be back later in the month to share more of this month's demos with you. Thanks so much for stopping by, your visits are always appreciated.

Take care, xx

Launching Fifteen Minute Cards Again!

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I am sharing a few projects to launch an old favourite on the Chocolate Baroque Facebook Group and also on Instagram today. I used to run the Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge Blog, and a regular monthly feature was the Fifteen Minute Card feature. Myself and the Design Team used to create cards in fifteen minutes or less using stamps from Chocolate Baroque. We used up scraps from our stash, or made clean and simple cards, any style of card was achievable really, but this style of card was great for batch cards, craft fairs, Christmas cards, Wedding Invitations, etc. If you needed a card in a hurry, or wanted to make a quick card or two for your collection, being able to make a card in fifteen minutes is such a good idea. It's great for beginners too, as you do not need to make anything complicated, and can try out lots of ideas quickly.

I am sharing lots of familiar ideas in this post, and I will be creating a post once a month, roughly around the middle of the month. I won't post on exactly the same day, life gets in the way; holidays, and other commitments, but I will always share what I have made, and let you know where you can post your projects if you would like to create along with me and the Chocolate Baroque family. I hope that you will enjoy yourselves, just playing with your stamps and materials for fun. After all, hopefully we can all spare fifteen mintes every now and then!

For my first two cards, I created backgrounds using an acrylic block. I added Distress Ink to the block for my card, and spritzed it with water. I placed the block onto a square piece of Drawing Cartridge, pressing down all over the block. I peeled the block away and left the background to dry. (I created several backgrounds all at the same time while I was doing this background, and so I timed myself for four cards in an hour). I could have dried the background of with a heat gun, but it would have faded the background colours a bit.

Once the background was dry, I stamped the tree from Fantasy Woodland onto the background. I added foliage from Silhouette Grasses along the bottom, and a sentiment from the From Nature 2 stamp set randomly over the background. I coloured the tree with Koh-I-Noor pencils, just using two colours for the fruit, and two colours for the leaves. It was really quick, and took me just a couple of minutes. I trimmed the panel and edged it with green ink before attaching to to a piece of linen card.

For the second card, I used Distress Oxides on the acrylic block, creating a background as before. I chose a selection of stamps from the Silhouette Grasses stamp set, and using Versafine Clair Ink, I created a meadow scene. I added a sentiment from Words to Dazzle and Sparkle.

My third card was stamped directly onto a card blank, and was so quick to make. I used a circular gelli plate, and added Distress Ink to the plate before 'stamping' this onto the card blank. I stamped two dragonflies from The Phenomenal Butterfly Elements stamp set onto the card, and masked them, before adding a couple of script rings from the same stamp set. I masked these as well, and then added a couple more stamps to complete the collage effect. I removed the masks and coloured in the dragonflies and script rings with pencils. The coloured circles are from the Floral Paraphernalia Elements stamp set.

My final card was created by using a piece of patterned paper. Lots of the work is already done for you when using patterned papers, but you can add so much detail over the top. We all have bits and pieces lurking in our stash, don't we? I stamped the beautiful dandelion clock from Not More Flowers! and added elements from Making More Marks, all using Archival Ink.

I hope you have enjoyed my selection of cards this month, and that you will join in making a few quick cards yourself. Head over to the Chocolate Baroque Facebook Group, where I have created an album, look for Media at the top of the page and search for the August 2022 Fifteen Minute Cards Album. Alternatively, head over to Instagram, and upload your cards with the hashtag #chocolatebaroquefifteenminutecards

Take care, and thanks so much for stopping by,

 

xx

Autumn Tree

Hello everyone, over on the Design Team blog today, you will be able to see a fabulous jam-packed blog post containing lots of inspirational projects from the Design Team that have been made in fifteen minutes or less. We contribute to this post every month, written by yours truly, to show how the stamps from Chocolate Baroque can be used in lots of different ways to create cards quickly and easily, but still end up with amazing creations in a very short amount of time.  I know myself that I spend far more time thinking about a design than actually putting it together, and once I have a design in mind, I can often just change a colour, or create a production line of cards, turning the process into a set of batch cards quite quickly. Lots of our ideas in these monthly blog posts could easily become great batch cards for Christmas cards, Wedding invitations, thank you cards, etc. or you could make multiple cards for craft fairs if you wanted to.  Do take a look at everyone else's samples over on the blog, as there are some gorgeous designs.

To create my card, I cut a piece of smooth cartridge paper, and coloured the tree image from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set with Distress Markers, choosing a range of Autumn colours for the leaves, and dark brown for the trunk and branches. Once I had stamped the image, I added a mask, and sponged Peeled Paint Distress Ink along the base of the tree to ground the image, creating a landscape.

I stamped some leaves from the Nature Table stamp set, using Distress Markers as before, across the top corner of the background, as if they were blowing away in the wind. Using a waterbrush, I pulled some of the colour from the edges of the leaves. I added my favourite sentiment from the Nature's Peace stamp set using Potting Shed Archival Ink. Finally, I added a border of shading around the background using Fossilized Amber Distress Ink.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Nature's Peace

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.We still have plenty of warm sunshine to enjoy the changing season, and it really is a time to marvel at the natural colour palette all around us.

I have created a card using some left over pieces of watercolour card from a previous project. I had created a Brusho background, and used these pieces of watercolour paper to blot the originals. 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 Distress 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. I used Seedless Preserves and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink to add the leafy pattern.

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

Brusho Trees

Hello everyone, it's time for another weekly post on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, and I am providing part of the inspiration this week. I have created a card using Brushos, choosing Vermillion, Orange, Lime Green and Emerald Green as my colour choices.

I die cut a rectangle from smooth watercolour paper, and added a circle mask, before sprinkling the four colours of Brusho across the paper. I spritzed the paper with water, and used a second piece of paper to blot the excess water. I repeated the process with the larger background piece. The beauty of this mehod is that I have two more pieces of watercolour paper ready for another project!

I removed the mask, and added some colour using Squeezed Lemonade and Wild Honey Distress Ink. I then stamped the tree from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set, and added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set. I added a small amount of shading under the tree using Peeled Paint Distress Ink, to ground the tree.

Finally, I matted the background onto olive card, and added a toning ribbon, before adding the main image.

Do pop over to the challenge blog, and check out all of the details about the challenge itself. You will also find lots of inspiration on the blog fromk my Design Team mates. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Spring Greens

Hello everyone, we are taking a bit of a retrospective look at our favourite stamps over on the Design Team Blog at the moment.  I have been a fan of Sue Page's images for many years, pretty much since I started stamping in the 1990's. So, I have a lot of Chocolate Baroque favourite stamps in my stash, as you can well imagine!I am sharing a card using just a few of my favourites with you today. For my card, I have chosen a lovely tree stamp from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set. I love the versatilty of this stamp set, so many different stamps, offering many possibilities.

To create my card, I stuck an old book page onto some thin card, and then stamped the tree image onto the card. I coloured the image with Inktense pencils and a water brush. I also tore some jagged strips of book page, and coloured them with various colours of green Distress Ink, darker at the top of each strip, and paler at the bottom.

I added a circle mask to a white card blank, and coloured the top portion of the card pale blue, using Distress Ink. I then removed the circle mask, and added a bit of yellow ink to the circle. I stuck the book page strips to the lower end of the card, and trimmed off the rough edges.

I stamped the tree image directly onto the card, using Versafine Onyx Black Ink, and added a bit of shading under the image using a dark green pencil. I decoupaged the image that I had stamped onto book paper over the background image. I stamped three birds from the Landscape Edges clear stamp set over the sun, and added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments clear stamp set.

This was a simple, card to make, and could be used for lots of different occasions. I feel that it has a rather Spring-like feel and have named my blog post 'Spring Greens', a bit of a pun there, sorry!

There is a competition running at the moment at Chocolate Baroque, as the Company is celebrating its fifth Birthday this month. We would like you to create a project using the theme of 'Spring', and email a picture to sales@chocolatebaroque.com you can find all the details here. There are some great prizes, and a chance to grab a guest spot on the Design Team! So get your thinking caps on and have a go, as it would be lovely to see what you create.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Oranges and Lemons

Hello everyone, I have a cheery project to share with you today, one that will hopefully banish the Winter blues, and bring thoughts of warmer days. I have made a card using the new Another Brick in the Walled Garden shutter stamp, and created a garden scene.

I drew a square frame onto a piece of kraft card, roughly the size of the walled shutter stamp, and then stamped the orange tree from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set on either side, with the leaves from each tree creeping over the edge of the frame slightly. I lengthened the stem of one of the trees by drawing in the extra stem to the bottom of the background, (this meant that the tree was not floating in mid air), by using a permanent dark brown marker. I created a mask for each tree, and then stamped the small brick texture stamp from the Abstract Fragments stamp set over the background. I then trimmed away inside the frame, cutting around the tree leaves where necessary.

I stamped the walled shutter image onto a spare piece of kraft card, and coloured the images with pencils. I added the foliage to the tree on the main image by colouring the stamp with a Distress Ink Marker, the colour I used was Abandoned Coral. I added some shading around the edge of the frame with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I adhered the frame to a piece of dark olive card, and trimmed inside the frame, leaving a narrow border of olive green card showing. I then stuck the main image inside the frame. Finally, I added some Glossy Accents to the lemons on the tree.

The orange tree stamp goes really well with this new stamp, and really creates a Mediterranean feel to the card. I hope that it has given you some inspiration. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A Get Well Card

Hello everyone, it's time for another week on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, and my turn to provide a bit of Design Team inspiration this week. I have made a Get Well card for someone special who is having an operation this week, and wanted a lovely cheery feel to the card.

I created a wrinkle free distress background using Scattered Straw Distress Ink, and then added ink through a stencil over the top, using Latte Adirondack Ink, and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink. I then stamped a tree from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set around the edges, using Memento Ink in Pear Tart and Grape Jelly, plus Seedless Preserves Distress Ink.

I coloured some cartridge paper with Shaded Lilac Distress Ink, and Pear Tart Memento Ink, and then stamped two small trees from the same stamp set several times, using darker ink. I cut these out, curled them slightly, and stuck them onto the background. I added a green button into the centre of the flower. I added a sentiment from the Card Sentiments clear stamp set.

I matted the background onto purple textured cardstock, and die cut three butterflies from some of the left over card. I added these to the background to finish my card.

Hop over to the challenge blog to see some more DT inspiration, and find out how you can take part and win a £15 voucher to spend at Chocolate Baroque. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Summer Fairies

Hi Folks, there is now a fourth set of fairy stamps which has been recently released at Chocolate Baroque completing the seasonal collection. This one is the Summer Collection. This set is full of lovely fairy images, and some great floral images as well.
My first card uses one of the large silhouette fairies, which I have placed on an inked background, made using Distress Inks. I chose several colours which I blended across the page, and then placed a leafy stencil over the top, and used the same colours again to stipple colour through the stencil. I added some deeper colour around the edges of the background to create a frame, and then stamped the trailing ivy across the top of the page, using Paris Dusk Memento Ink. I added a border around the bottom half of the card, using a tree stamp taken from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set. The two trees are a stamp from the same stamp set. I added some shading underneath the trees using a paper mask, and Old Paper Distress Ink. I stamped the silhouette fairy, and the little butterfly, which comes from the Autumn Fairy stamp set, using Versafine Onyx Black Ink.

I added some glitter glue to the fairy and butterfly wings for a little bit of sparkle.

My second card uses a couple of the flower stamps from the collection to create a fairly clean and simple card. I cut a rectangle of smooth watercolour paper, and stamped the freesia stamp at the bottom of the card. I covered the image with a mask so that I could stamp the image again on either side of the original image.

I coloured the silhouette freesia stamp with Distress Markers, blending several colours, and stamped the background with the mask in place. I placed the mask on top of each freesia image in turn, so that I did not stamp over them. I then coloured the three freesia images with Distress Markers and a waterbrush.

I matted the picture onto a piece of dark green card, and then placed this onto a larger square of light green card, adding some orange and green ribbon to my main image. I added three Crealie butterflies to the large background. These Crealie butterflies are great, they co-ordinate to create dimensional butterflies. You can use them individually, or layer them together as I have done for my sample.

My last card was created using lots of masking again, and a hand cut stencil. It is very easy to cut your own stencils using blank stencil sheets.

I used one of the large fairies from the collection, which I stamped and masked off, before stamping poppies from the Poppy Meadow stamp set. I then masked these flowers and stamped the little silhouette flower from the same set. I love this little stamp and it is going to be a favourite from now on. That's the beauty of revisiting older stamp sets, you often discover stamps that you have never used before! I added the stencil and coloured the sun rays using Distress Inks, before inking the remaining sky with blue. I have added a shimmer spray over the top.

I have coloured the fairy and flowers with Distress Markers. The two tiny butterflies are half of a butterfly stamped twice, taken from the Spring Fairy stamp collection. I simply covered half of the stamp with masking tape before I inked it up, then removed the masking tape before I stamped it onto the page. I have decoupaged them, and added glitter glue to their wings. The sentiment is taken from the Fairyland Words clear stamp set.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love poppies, and I had great fun creating this card. I hope that it has given you a few ideas as well. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Orange Tree

Hi Folks, I have another card to show you today, using the stamps of the month from Chocolate Baroque. I have combined them with an older stamp set, Fantasy Woodland to create this card.I have used some fairly plain background paper, the reverse is extremely patterned, from my stash, and stamped the images, using archival ink. I then coloured the images with Polychromos pencils, adding some white highlights. I used one of the gorgeous Mackintosh sentiments, the fonts are just great on these stamps, and I know I will use these stamps so much.

I have matted the design onto orange and black card, and simply added some little mosaic tiles, as a nod to the Mackintosh detail so prevalent in the designs of the time.

 

The beauty of Chocolate Baroque stamps is that lots of the newer designs have details that tie in with the older designs, so the leaves and orange motif match perfectly on both of these sets. If you are a CB fan like me, I hope that I have reminded you to look back through some of your old favourites and use them with your new best friends. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Stamp of the Week and a Valentine card

Every week, Glenda offers a stamp sheet at a special price over at Chocolate Baroque This week, the stamp set is Rose Stem Script, a little A6 stamp set that has been around for a little while, but is so useful for all sorts of occasions. A couple of years ago, I used the rose while I was making a DT card and some newer stamps at the time. I carefully cut the rose out, omitting the script background, and made a bouquet with the roses. I set the bouquet onto a piece of linen that I had stamped with a smaller rose, and edged with a piece of lace, making it look like a handkerchief. The card eventually became a Mother's Day card for my Mum, as she has lots of pretty printed hankies, and it reminded me of her.

The little roses are coloured with Copic markers, and the backing paper is from the Essence of Nature CD.

So up to the present day, I have used the rose script stamp to make my OH a Valentine's card. I've kept the design fairly simple, using a monotone colour scheme. He's not much of one for cards, but I can't let the day pass without sending him a token of my love, can I? I've stamped around the edge using a tree from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set, this is fast becoming one of my favourite stamps. The sentiment is an old Elusive Images stamp which fits the bill perfectly, and I've used Distress Markers for the two tone effect.

Rose Stem Script is on offer until Friday, when there will be a different stamp sheet up for grabs at a bargain price:

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Enchanted Forest

Hi Folks, here's a card that I made using lots of tree stamps to create an enchanted forest scene. I used Distress Inks to create a soft background, and paper masks to form the hill shapes for the trees. I have used Memento Inks to stamp the trees, and then coloured the trees with pencils.

I added Glossy accents to the flowers on the focal tree, and Stickles to the fairy's wings. The little flowers are made from glassine paper and edged wth ink before heat setting them.

There are a couple of sneaky peeks of as yet unreleased stamps on this project! I have been given permission to blog this card and to let you know that if you would like to take a look in the What's New department over at Chocolate Baroque on Valentine's Day, you will be able to see the items that I have included in my project.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Verdigris Tree

Hi Folks, here's a sample using the Fantasy Woodland tree set again. I've stamped the image of an orange tree onto some Prima Firefly paper, and coloured it with pencils. As it is a fantasy tree, I have used my own colour scheme, and so the fruit have become a rather fetching plum colour! I then edged the paper with Verdigris embossing powder.

For the background, I used a deep purple iridescent card, which I embossed, and then painted with Vintaj patina paint. Once it was dry, I rubbed some of the paint back, to reveal the dark card underneath, to give the feeling of old lead. I added a word on a label made from the Firefly paper again, and some burgundy satin ribbon.

This is the first time that I have used these paints. I had them set aside to use with metal, but they work really well on card, so I'll definitely use them again this way.

Glenda is currently doing a giveaway on the Design Team Blog if you are quick and make a comment on the giveaway post, you are in with a chance of winning some of the fabulous new stamps.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Woodland Flower

Hi Folks, I have a sample that I'd like to show you today using some fabulous new stamps from Chocolate Baroque The set is called Fantasy Woodland, and is full of all kinds of trees and foliage, it's a great set of stamps.

For my sample, I've taken two of the small trees, and stamped them onto card that I have coloured with yellow ink. I chose two different coloured inks in shades of plum to stamp the trees. I cut these out, and once I'd worked out where they were going on my card, I stamped another tree twice to resemble leaves. I assembled my flower, made from the tree shapes, curling the top layers for dimension. I then added a green button, tied with paper string in the centre.

I added one of my favourite Chocolate Baroque sentiments to the card. I use this time and time again, as it is such a lovely expression, and the curly font is really pretty. I created a background for the card using Dylusions sprays in various shades of pink and purple.

This card is showing on the Design Team Blog today. The girls have made some fabulous samples, so do keep popping over there for a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx