Zingy Challenge

Hello everyone, there is a brand new challenge starting this week over on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog. This month, the colours are very hot and spicy, really warm colours, just right to banish the chills that we are all feeling with the cold weather at the moment!

I am providing a project as part of the Design Team inspiration this week in the form of a Valentine's card. My project served a dual purpose, as it was also given to my lovely Hubby at the weekend.

I created the background to the card by stamping and embossing the heart fragment from the Punky Hearts stamp set using Versamark and clear embossing powder onto some smooth watercolour paper. I blended Squeezed Lemonade, Ripe Persimmon and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks across the background, and then added a touch of Fired Brick around the edges. I then placed the background between some sheets of cheap copy paper, and using an iron on a medium heat, I melted the embossing powder again, and removed it from the background. I randomly stamped a small script from the Mini Scripts stamp set, using Plum Archival Ink.

I diecut an oval, and leaving the die in place, I inked the oval using Squeezed Lemonade and Ripe Persimmon Distress Ink. After removing the die cut, you are left with a white border where the die cut has been. I stamped a sentiment from the Sweet Nothings clear stamp set, using Rhubard Stalk Memento Ink.

I placed the background and sentiment onto a plain white card blank.

Hop over to the Challenge Blog to see the inspiration offered by my other Team Mates, and to see how you can win a voucher to spend on Chocolate Baroque stamps. We would love to see you there. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Hearts and Flowers

Hello everyone, it's time for another week on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, and this week there is a free digital download for you to collect. It's a beautiful download, just great for those floral cards that you might like to make, but if you pop over to the challenge blog, you will see that Florence has made something very different!

I have chosen to make a romantic card that could be used as an Anniversary or Wedding card. I have combined the download with kraft card and cream lace for an alternative colour scheme. I stamped the Poppy Baroque Heart onto a spare piece of kraft card using Versamark and vanilla white embossing powder. I stamped the image again onto a piece of pale scrapbook paper. I coloured the second image using watercolour pencils, toning in with the digital download, before blending the colours with a waterbrush. I cut both images out and layered them up.

I stamped and embossed the sentiment from the Sweet Nothings stamp set onto the download background, and then stuck this to a kraft card blank. I added a piece of cream lace, and then adhered the heart using 3D foam pads.

Hop over to the blog to see Florence's inspiration, join in the current challenge yourself, and find out how to win a £15 voucher to spend at Chocolate Baroque. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A supporting role

Hello everyone, I have a couple of cards to show you today using this month's sewing stamps from Chocolate Baroque in a supporting role. This way, you can stretch their usesand you can see how versatile these stamps really are.

My first card uses one of the lacy borders on a wrinkle free distress background. I used a simple colour palette of black and green to keep the card looking quite masculine. I added some background stamping using a stamp from the Harlequin Fragments stamp set. I stamped a heart image from the Punky Hearts stamp set onto a piece of scrapbook paper, colouring in some of the details with Inktense pencils, and then cut it out and used 3D foam pads to attach it to the card. Finally I added a sentiment from the Sweet Nothings stamp set onto a die cut.

My second card uses another one of the borders to create a masculine romantic card using the Key to my Dreams stamp set. This border reminded me of keyholes when I first saw it, so it seemed to match this stamp set very well. I stamped one of the locks onto the background before adding the border on either side. I coloured the background with an acrylic wash, and added some shading with Distress Ink around the edges. I coloured the images with Polychromos pencils and added some background detail with a stamp from the Lace Fragments stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by, xx