Reuse, Recycle

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a few projects to share with you today featuring stamps from this month's TV shows on Create and Craft.

My first project features a bit of recycling, and when I showed it Lesley, we both laughed, as we had both thought up very similar projects! I started by creating a vibrant background using red, orange and yellow Brushos on a piece of Drawing Cartridge. These backgrounds are a great starting point for a project and you could have a crafty afternoon making lots of them and save them for later.

I then cut up a brown paper shopping bag, the sort that you get your groceries in from a supermarket, and ironed a smalled piece nice and flat. I stamped the Poppy Ledger image using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink. I put a small amount of yellow, orange, red and olive green Brusho onto an acrylic block and gently spritzed each colour with water. I used a brush and some extra water to paint the image with these colours. I then used a couple of the colours to splat the image with my brush afterwards, to make it look a bit older. 

I added a piece of scrap card behind the image to make it a bit stiffer, then attached it to a piece of corrugated card that I had trimmed to become a mount. I think that this card would look great with some little tickets and some twine added to finish it off, don't you?

I have a couple of older projects to share with you. On my next project, I decided to stamp the lovely focal image from Fragile Wings onto dark blue card for a change. I used white pencil for highlights and than added some blue and green pencil for a pop of colour. The blue/green background uses a couple of useful background stamps that tie in well with the main image.

 

Next, this card featuring Floral Study is another older card, but I like the greens contrasted with the pinks and oranges, it feels quite warm. I have added stamping from the Glorious stamp set in the background, and used watercolour pencils to colour the main image.

I am also sharing some projects using some stamps from the tree house stamps that we brought to the shows. My next project uses the fabulous Tree House stamp set, and I chose to stamp the image onto a piece of patterned paper created by Lesley a while ago. The paper had lovely pink and green elements, and this became the basis for my colour scheme. I created a background for the card using Picked Raspberry and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks, then added a tree image and sentiment from the Trees a Crowd stamp set using a dark green ink. I stamped both repeatedly over the background.

I coloured the focal image with pencils, and then added extra shading around the main image and background using the Picked Raspberry Distress Ink.

You could create a similar look if you did not have the patterned paper, using a piece of black and white script paper or a piece of plain smooth white stamping card. You could add script and a subtle floral image to the plain background, or some coloured stamping to the script background, plus a bit of shading. You can very easily achieve a patterned background that looks every bit as nice as the one that I started out with.

I have some older 'house' projects to share with you today, to round off this month's selection. I hope that you enjoy them. 

This one is created using the Mushroom House, and the moon reflecting on the house at night.

This one is the Heath Robinson House. I stamped the main image on a tag, coloured it with pencils, and used one of the sentiments to create a background over a gelli print.

 This one is Italian House, with a couple of Trees from Orchard Design a Tree, words from Words of Wisdom, and circles from Make Your Mark. I have added texture paste through a stencil and coloured the images with pencils.

This card was created using the Dutch House, and a tree from Trees a Crowd. I wanted the colourful houses to look like a street in Amsterdam in the Spring. 

Finally, a project from the Garden House. I stamped the image onto book paper, using the Tagtastic stamp as a frame. I added a couple of bees from the Honey Bee set and a sentiment onto the watercoloured background.

Thanks so much for stopping by and take care xx

Colourful Bookmark Houses

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well and that you have been enjoying some better weather. I have a few projects to share with you over the next few weeks that will hopefully make you think of sunnier days, the colours are certainly bright and cheerful!

My first card was made using one of the bookmark style houses featured on last month's TV shows on The Craft Store, Turret House. This has a fairytale castle feel, with Russian elements in the rooftops. I have coloured the building in bright colours to match my background, which was created with Brushos. I placed a stencil over the top and added some Distress Ink. I used the Orchard Design A Tree stamp set, to create a forest around the building. 

I used pencils to colour the image, a fairly cheap set this time from Faber Castell. I seem to go through phases of what I like to use, but I am trying to use some of my neglected stash if I can at the moment. These pencils work quite well, and although they did not cost much to buy, I like the effect that I can achieve with them.

My second card was created using the lovely Italian House. I used lots of stamps from Make Your Mark to create the background, and added texture paste through a stencil. I coloured the images with pencils. The text comes from  the Words of Wisdom stamp set, and I have used the Orchard Design a Tree stamp set once again. I chose not to add any foliage this time, simply added a bit of pencil colouring to suggest the feeling of leaves on the branches.

I will be back soon with more projects to share with you. 

Thanks for stopping by, and take care.

Judith xx

Rainbow Tree

Hello everyone, I have a project to share using stamps from last month's TV Shows from Hochanda. I have created a cheery card using the Tangled Birch stamp and a sentiment from the Words of Wisdom stamp set.

I stamped the Tangled Birch image using Versafine Onyx Black ink, and extended the landscape using a fineliner pen. I coloured the image using Koh-I-Noor pencils, and then covered the coloured image with Acrylic Wax. You could use masking fluid and rub it off afterwards, but the acrylic wax is so quick. (Or you could use bleach to take the colour out of the tree if you apply the background colour first, and then colour the image afterwards). I added shading over the background with seven different colours of Distress Inks to create a rainbow effect, and buffed the image with a piece of paper towel.

Rainbows are a symbol of hope and unity right now, I felt that this background would be so uplifting for someone who is feeling down, or for a special person that needs a card sending to them during this time.

Look after yourselves, and stay safe. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Another Fifteen Minute Card

Hello everyone, it's time for another epic blog post over on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team Blog, featuring cards made by the Design Team, that take fifteen minutes or less to create. This monthly feature shows how the lovely stamps from Chocolate Baroque can be used to create simple cards in a flash, as well as the more elaborate cards often produced for the Design Team Blog. We want to share quick ideas for beginners, or for those of you who need cards in a hurry. Maybe you want to make a batch card for Christmas, a wedding, or perhaps you need ideas for a craft stall even, that do not take hours to create.

I have made a simple little card as part of the blog post, using a gelli plate to create a background. I brayered two colours of Distress Ink onto a smaller gelli plate, (the 3" x 5" plate), and then pressed some bubble wrap onto the plate to create a pattern. I stamped the gelli plate onto a white card blank, like a stamp.

I stamped the bird from the Spring Fairy Collection stamp set onto the background, adding some coloured detail with Polychromos pencils. Finally, I added a sentiment from the Words of Wisdom stamp set.

Changing the words on this card could make it suitable for so many occasions, both masculine and feminine. It was a really quick card to make, and I hope that it has given you a few ideas to make some cards of your own. Do check out the rest of the blog post on the Design Team Blog, and see the fabulous projects from my Design Team mates.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Speedy Distress Ink Cards

Hello everyone, I have a couple of quick cards to share with you today. These form part of a much bigger blog post over on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team Blog, that is a regular monthly feature, entitled Fifteen Minute Cards. The aim is to create cards in fifteen minutes or less, and we aim to share our tips and techniques for both beginner and more advanced stampers, to create both stylish and speedy cards.

For my first card, I created a wrinkle free distress background, using Fossilized Amber Distress Ink on my craft mat, spritzing it with water, and then patting a piece of smooth watercolour card onto the ink to pick up the colour. I dried the card, and then gently picked some of the droplets of ink left on the craft mat, to create a second layer of colour over the first, before dying the card again.

I used a stencil on two corners of the card, inking through the stencil with both Fossilized Amber and Tea Dye Distress Ink, to add a deeper colour. I stamped three bees from the Honey Bee stamp set, and coloured these with pencils. Finally, I added a sentiment from the Words of Wisdom stamp set.

I used a strip of left over card that had already been coloured in the same way as the first background, left over from another project, this time in shades of blue and green. I used the Silhoutte Palace 1 and Silhouette Palace 2 masks, joining them together, as I wanted a longer line to fill the card, and inked two shades of green through the masks. I also stamped the Large Crackle Background through the masks, using Versafine Onyx Black Ink. I used an image from the Floral Edges stamp set to stamp along the bottom of the background, without an acrylic block, so that I could use small portions of the image here and there, exactly where I wanted it. I used first and second generation stamping for more depth. I added some birds from the Landscape Edges stamp set, and a sentiment from the Words to Dazzle and Sparkle stamp set. I adhered the background to a large black card blank for added drama.

Head over to the Design Team Blog to see the rest of the cards designed by my Team mates. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Autumn Journal Pages

Hello everyone, I have a final Autumn project to share with you this month, and decided to mix up some of my old favourite stamps to create a couple of pages in my Pink Pig journal. I created these pages using lightweight cotton fabric and used iron on interfacing to attach the pieces to my journal pages.

I coloured the fabric with Distress re-inkers, I chose Ripe Persimmon, Shabby Shutters and Fossilized Amber. I created lots of fabric, and then worked out which images I wanted to use as my main focal images, stamping these in Black Archival Ink. When stamping on fabric, you do not need to press extra hard, just allow a bit more time for the ink to settle onto the fabric.

Once I had stamped all of the main images, I added some background stamping to the larger pieces of fabric, using Sepia, Plum, Olive and Potting Soil Archival Ink. Although some of the background images are different, I used some co-ordinating images to tie the pages together. I frayed the edges of the fabric before adding the interfacing, as it is much harder to do this afterwards.

I love the texture of fabric and when I am working with it, I often wonder why I don't create more projects in this way! Here are some close ups of each page:

 
I  have chosen lots of Autumnal stamps from my favourite sets: Autumn Poppy, Essence of Nature, Nature's Peace, Autumn Fairy Collection, Words of Wisdom, Woodland Design a Tree, and used rich, warm colours that remind me of the season. Although I have created journal pages here, you could easily use the general design that I have created to make cards, and they would suit both men and women, with these rustic colours.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

It's all about the Texture

Hello everyone, this month over on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team, we are exploring texture. It can be in a variety of ways, using stencils, stamps, patterns, layers, but as long as it represents texture in some way. I knew that I wanted to create this piece as my first project, as it incorporated lots of my favourite things. I hope that you enjoy what I have created, and use some of the tips along the way.

Those of you that know me, know that I adore poppies, and I decided to create a project using one of my all time favourite Chocolate Baroque stamps. I have used this stamp so many times over the years, and I decided to make it the focal part of my design. I covered a Tando plaque with a very thin layer of texture paste, do not make your layer too thick, or this will not work. I spritzed my poppy stamp with water, and stamped the excess off onto a non-stick craft mat, before gently pressing the stamp into the texture paste. I also used a small texture stamp from the Tangled Fragments stamp set around the edges. I set the plaque to one side to dry.

I covered a square canvas with gesso, and dried this completely. Using texture paste, I added some poppy heads to the canvas with a stencil. I let the canvas dry completely. I then took one of the Gold Aztec Paints, possibly Antique Gold, (mine do not have colours on them, so I do not know, but it is the duller of the gold options in the pack), and poured out two large blobs onto my non-stick craft mat. I added Vermillion Brusho to one blob, and Sea Green to the other blob. I painted the canvas using the paints, half red, half green, blending wherever they met. I also painted the Tando plaque, using mostly green, but added a small amount of red around the edges.

Once both of the pieces were dry, I added some stamping to the canvas, using a corresponding stamp from the Harlequin Fragments stamp set, using red and green Archival Ink. I added some gilding wax to the textured areas on both pieces, and edged both pieces with Gold Soft Form Relief Paste. This makes a super edging, as it is very easy to apply.

I added some pretty green/grey lace to the canvas before attaching the Tando plaque. I wanted this piece to provide a bit of a boost on those days when I am feeling a bit grey, and so I added an inspirational quote from the Words of Wisdom stamp set.

The picture taken outside shows the shimmer from the paint and the gilding wax, whereas the photograph taken inside shows up the texture detail a bit better.

I will be back later in the month with another texture piece to share. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Mixed Media projects

Hello everyone, there is a new Mixed Media show airing today on the Craft Channel, featuring our lovely Boss Lesley Wharton, and some great stamps from Chocolate Baroque. These stamps have been around for a little while and it has been fun to pull them out and create some new samples with them.

 If you catch the TV show, you may see some projects that I created for the Design Team some time ago, when the stamps made their first outing:

I have made a couple of new projects, and it has been great to use materials that I did not have when I first had the stamps, giving them a bit of a new twist.

For my first project, I mixed all of the stamp sets from the show to create a card, based on a design that I used when the stamps first came out. I made a collaged background, laying down some colour with Distress Ink and water, and then adding various stamped images in different sepia tones. I made some mini postcards using images from the Curiosities stamp set, using the little corner stamps to create a border around each one. I edged all of the layers with a terracotta coloured ink by swiping the ink pad along the edge of the pieces of card.

My second project is a mixed media canvas created with Decoart paints. I covered the canvas with gesso, and added detail through a flower stencil with texture paste, before adding colour with the paint using baby wipes to blend the paint. I coloured a Tando greyboard panel with paint in the same way. I cut two small strips of Tando canvas, and watered down some of the paint on a craft mat, before painting the canvas strips. I dried everything with a heat gun before moving onto the next stage.

I stamped the words onto the canvas strips using Archival Ink. I stamped the foliage onto the greyboard panel using a variety of coloured Archival Inks, and then added a couple of birds from the Landscape Edges stamp set. I added a bit of gilding wax to the textured flowers on the background. I used Library Green Archival Ink to edge all of the layers before assembling the project.

I hope that you manage to catch the show, and Lesley's other shows currently airing on the Craft Channel at the moment. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Gelli Good Fun

Hello everyone, I have some projects to share that are actually part of a brand new TV showing on the Craft Channel, presented by our lovely boss Lesley Wharton. She is going to be one of their regular presenters from now on, which is fabulous news, and will be a regular treat for anyone wanting to learn some great crafting tips and techniques from a very talented lady.

For the gelli plate show, we wanted to create some projects that catered for all abilities, from beginner to advanced, and the first project that is shown is this one.

To create my cards, I made a mask using a piece of acetate, cutting an oval from the centre. This makes a really robust template, much stronger than paper, and the added bonus is that you can see where you are stamping, and it wipes clean for further uses. I was so happy with this idea, and I have developed it further for later projects, as you will see. I'm sure that others have done similar things, but as I do not watch gelli plate tutorials or YouTube demos, etc., I can honestly say, that this was something that I worked out for myself!

I chose a couple of colours of Distress Ink for my background, and loaded up my brayer with the first colour, and rolled it across the middle of the gelli plate. I cleaned off the brayer, by rolling it onto a piece of scrap paper, and loaded up the brayer with the second colour of ink. I then rolled the brayer across either end of the gelli plate, blending the two colours where they met.

I placed the oval mask into the centre of the gelli plate, and then placed a sheet of bubble wrap over the top of the gelli plate, pressing gently. I took the bubble wrap and oval mask away, and placed a sheet of white card over the gelli plate, smoothing over the back of the card, evenly, to ensure that I got a good coverage of ink. I peeled the card away from the plate, and laid it flat on my craft mat, placing the large acetate sheet over the top. Using a black fineline pen, I drew two wobbly borders inside the oval cut out.I chose two co-ordinating images from the Wild Meadow stamp set and using Versafine Olympia Green, I stamped the images onto the background. I removed the acetate sheet, and trimmed the card to size, before adhering to a large card blank.

For my second sample, I repeated the process, but used a scrunched up plastic bag, instead of bubble wrap, to create the background marks. The oval piece of acetate created air bubbles on the cental section, but this looks quite pretty behind the flowers. That's the beauty of gelli plate prints, each one will be different.

I chose to add a faux stitching effect with the fineliner pen on the second sample, I always find this to be very therapeutic!

For my final card, I created another acrylic mask with three apertures. I used two colours of Distress Ink as before to colour the gelli plate, and then added the three circles to the plate. I took the large crackle stamp from the Echoes of Italy stamp plate, and stamped repeatedly across the gelli plate to take away some of the ink. I then removed the circles before taking the print with white card.

I added the piece of acetate, lining up the largest circle first, and stamped a flower from the Autumn Fairy collection using Versafine Ink. I stamped it a couple of times before re-inking, to get a group of flowers. I also spread the flowers up through the circle, heading towards the next circle.

I covered the largest circle with a piece of paper, and lined up the second circle, then stamped the same flower image into the second circle a couple of times. I also added a butterfly from the same stamp set. Finally, I added a sentiment in the smallest circle. I trimmed the card, and added a bit of shading around the edge of the background before adhering it to a white card blank.

Check out the new gelli plate show on the Craft Channel, and look out for Lesley presenting regularly too. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx