colour challenge 30

Colour challenge 30 over at Chocolate Baroque, and this was my offering.
Background was a piece of card that nearly got thrown out in the pre-Christmas clear up until i realised it matched the colour swatch!
It was created using spray starch and mica powders on white card, and I did wonder if it would take stamping - but it did. The stamp is from the floral notes set, and coloured using the same mica powders and a waterbrush. Black and lavender mats on a white base card to finish it off

floral notes

 For my last post this year I have made two cards that could be used as thank you cards

Both cards have brusho backgrounds, and use the same stamp from the floral notes set. For both cards I stamped the image first using versafine and clear EP, then masked it using masking fluid.  I have finally found a fluid that works on smooth stamping card, all the ones I have tried before work beautifully on watercolour card but rip the surface of stamping card.  This one by Talens was recommended by Jane Aldridge, and works beautifully, as well as being easy to clean off the brush.

I sprinkled the brusho powders over and spritzed with water, then rubbed off the masking once the card was thoroughly dry.






For the first card I coloured the image with promarkers, then diecut it and added a diecut matt.




The second card I left the image white, and used silver mirri and black matts, and added the sentiment from Mackintosh sentiments clear stamp set.

I wish you all a  very happy, healthy and crafty New Year.

two very quick tags

two very quick - and very last-minute!- tags to show today.
I used white tags, as they were handy - for this one, a blue tag would have been even quicker.
I just stamped the larger snowflakes from the winter edges set across the top of the tag using versamark and embossed with white EP., then sponged chipped sapphire distress ink across the tag.
Of course, if you have a pristine versamark pad, you can just emboss with clear powder,but all mine are varying shades of grey, so white powder it was......

Second tag uses the bells from a child is born, stamped with black versafine and clear embossed. Coloured with watercolour pencils and a waterbrush, with the green of the pine needles brushed out around the bells.

Hope you are all more up-to-date for Christmas than I am, I still have cards to make and post, but at least I have the stamps ready (both rubber and postage)

Veronica

angel of light

 I have been playing with one of my favourite Christmas images, the lovely angel of light from Chocolate Baroque.

This one was stamped directly onto a 5"x7" black card blank, (with fingers firmly crossed that it would be straight!), using versamark and stamp'n'bond powder, then a gold mix of gilding flakes.I had originally thought of trimming it down and layering it up, but decided to leave it as it was, especially as it was straight!



The second version was actually started first, using the silver soft form relief paste to cover the stamp after brushing some areas with mica powder.

Once it had dried, I found that I hadn't put enough powder on to add colour, so painted over with more mica pigments mixed with water. I wanted a starry background, so sprayed the black base card with white decoart shimmer mist - got a bit more of a nebula than starshine though,,,,,,,







The final version was stamped onto white card with versamark and a black sparkle embossing powder, then coloured with mica powders mixed with water.
I tore the card close to the image, using a ruler to get the torn edges as straight as possible, then added blue, silver and lilac matts before mounting onto a white card blank.
The blue and lilac matts were coloured round the edges using the same mica powders used on the angel.




I have left plenty of space to add a greeting, once I have decided where this one is going, I shall leave the first two without a greeting on the front.

holly script

Playing with the soft form relief paste and mica powders, and the large image from the
holly script set of stamps.
I dusted the stamp with mica powders in red and green before covering the stamp with silver soft form relief paste and leaving it to dry. The mica is held in by the paste, and doesn't rub off.
Very simply peeled the pste off and mounted it onto black card, then onto a 15x15cm white card blank

colour challenge 29

 The new colour challenge for Chocolate Baroque features lovely autumnal colours, so to be awkward I did a Christmas card......
I used a bauble design stencil, sponging white pigment ink through it on a kraft card base. Once the pigment ink was dry, I stamped the new single Christmas stamp Christmas post through the aperture using black memento ink- should have used a stamp positioner, then the postbox may have been straight! (or maybe not, as I don't tend to get on very well with those gadgets!)
Coloured image with my favourite watercolour pencils and a water brush, with white sharpie pen highlights for the snow.





I used the same stencil, this time on white card with peeled paint distress ink for the bauble for my second card. Stamp this time is from the new set floral notes, again stamped in black memento ink and coloured with watercolour pencils - and again with a squiffy image! My excuse this time is that I was trying to get as much of the stamp in as I could - having it straight would have lost the smaller buds............
Sorry in advance, but I am becoming quite addicted to this stencil, so you will probably be seeing more of it that you would like....................

brusho postbox and trees

 Good morning, even if it is cold and rainy here, hoping you have better weather!

I have the threatened card using brusho powders and the new Christmas Post stamp.
A very simple card,stamped with black Versafine onto white card, and painted with brushos. The tree was stamped a second time onto a scrap of card, coloured and cut out, then decoupaged onto the original image. The baubles were dotted with glossy accents, and glitter added along the top of the wall and to the bare branches of the tree.
Matts are black and gold mirri, and the base card is 5"x7" white.








For the second card I went for a night-time effect, and a non-Christmas feel. The stamp  may be called Christmas tree tangle, but it is not an obviously Christmas image and could be used all year.
Stamped in black versafine again, and painted with brushos, using just grey and leaf green, with the moon masked off. Matts are black and silver mirri card, and the base card is A5 green.

Christmas post

Today I have two versions  of a very minimal card using the new Christmas Post single stamp from Chocolate Baroque to show you - the brusho version will follow!

 The first one is coloured with water-based marker pens. The mount is gold mirri card, which is showing very dark on the scan, but it was too dull to take photos by the time I finished this.
This one is on a 5"x7" white card blank.

For the second I tried using small ink pads to colour the stamp - it's not as successful as they were square, and teardrop shaped ones would have been easier to use.
This was cut down to a rough square, and glitter added. Chunky flakes for the snow on the wall, brown glitter on the tree branches and a finer clear glitter on the baubles and ground. Having done it, i think it was a bit of a glitter overload, it would have been better with just the 'normal' glitter.
Matts on this one were black, gold mirri and more black, and the base card is white 7" square.

I used the same method to create a tag, just inking up the christmas tree and the using a water brush to draw some of the colour out. . The baubles were coloured with marker pens and glossy accents.

gilded trees

A very quick play with the new Christmas tree tangle stamp from Chocolate Baroque and some gilding flakes that surfaced when I was looking for Halloween stamps!
This version is a tad dramatic, but I think this is going to be my go-to stamp for quick Christmas cards this year - thinking white embossing on blue card........
Am linking this to challenge 31 Moving along with the times - trees or leaves

brusho halloween

Watching Lesley on the Craft Channel last week I saw her demo a different way of using brusho powders, much more controllable but still with all the varied colours - naturally I had to try it out!
Having found a set of Halloween stamps - needless to say not the one I was looking for! - I decided that it would be ideal to try on the skies.
Tags were a nice size, not so much space in which to go wrong but still big enough. The  base tag was cut from white card, and the top from a pale kraft card.
I stamped the images from the nevermore set in black versafine, then added a moon mask. Black brusho powder was sprinkled sparingly over the images. The brusho powder is then activated using a brush and water, sort of splodging a little water on one small area at a time, keep wiping the brush clean as you go before moving to the next bit. You can see where i didn't quite get a smooth transition of colour, but it looked like clouds anyway.
Once dry, I removed the moon mask and coloured the tree, tombstones,  fence and grass with marker pens. I stamped the window from gothic fragments at the top of the second tag and cut out the window shape. More black powder on this piece, more heavily this time, and the same water and brush technique. Once dry, this second part tag was glued over the first one.

same basic technique for the second tag, apart from both tags being cut from the kraft card.
Images this time were stamped with versamark and embossed with lava black EP before adding the moon mask and the black brusho. The top tag was stamped with the same window stamp, but this time at the bottom of the tag using brown ink, and only the actual window cut out. I added some more stones using a marker pen, then used yellow ochre brusho powder to add colour to the stonework.

autumn medley

 The Chocolate Baroque DT theme for this month is autumn or halloween - had to start with autumn as haven't unearthed the halloween stamps yet!
I used the autumn medley stamp, partly because I like it and also because I could find it! (am trying to declutter my craft space, which only seems to create an even worse mess - hopefully only temporary).
My first was an experiment that didn't quite work, stamping and masking the lady then using a gelli plate to create the background - I was trying to get a leafy image using actual leaves, works fine with sponges and inks , but not with a gelli plate and paints. Still, it was an interesting mottled effect, so i used it! The lady was coloured with watercolour pencils, timmed down, matted onto a piece of kraft card that had been embossed with a woodgrain folder and sponged with brown and green inks, Final narrow mat of gold card, base card is A5 kraft card.

Second card I went for a very muted colour scheme, using shades of brown and green pencils. It ended up a little too muted, so Ioverpainted with red and yellow inks using a waterbrush, then highlighted some of the leaves with glossy accents.
Base card is A5 kraft again, with a single gold mat. The 'ribbon' strip down the edge was yellow card randomly stamped with the leaves from the autumn edges set in orange, green and brown, then sponged over with brown ink to tone the yellow down.Cut a thin strip off and added gold card mat.

The tag used up some of the stamping errors, where I managed to smear some of the ink - no way could I hide them, so cut the lady down to tag size.
I coloured leaves with pencils, then fussycut them out. Two sets were glued over the stamped images, the rest just dotted round.
To be honest, this one is my favourite so far.

steampunk butterfly

 For my last DT post this month I did another canvas.
I used a brick wall stencil and texture paste on two corners, the acrylic paint over all the canvas. I wanted a sort of peeling paint effect, so added some Decoart antiquing cream in patina green and rubbed it off over the bricks. It wasn't quite right, so I added distress rock candy crackle paint , which was better.
I stamped the steampunk roses onto tissue paper with archival ink, then coloured on the reverse with alcohol marker pens. I tore them out, then added to the base with a matt multimedia medium.
They didn't quite blend in with the background, but I didn't dare trying to get them off and trim them some more!

For the butterfly I brushed some metallic mica powders over the stamp before I added the black soft form relief paste over the whole stamp and left it to dry.
Once it was dry - about 30 hours this time - I peeled the paste off the stamp, trimmed the edges and glued onto the canvas.

tangled birch

 The colour challenge for Chocolate Baroque this month features blues, which fitted in nicely with my current fix on night scenes!
Both versions use the tangled birch  stamp, stamped in black versafine ink.
First one was stamped onto a piece of previously done card coloured with brusho powders that ended up in pale blue with pinky tones. I masked the moon before sponging blue and purple distress inks across the image to create a cloudy sky. The trees and foregorund wee coloured with a dark blue promarker, then clear glitter added to the moon and edges of branches.
Matts are dull silver and dark blue card, base card is a 5"x7" white.

For the second card I used a smooth watercolour card, sponging distress inks across the image to create a more stormy sky. I used clear water and klitchen roll to lighten the moon. I used the brusho liquid wax to edge the branches and the hill behind the trees before colouring them using distress inkMatt is a dull silver, and the base card is 15x15cm dark blue. and a waterbrush. I think I wasn't using enough wax most of the time, but I did still get some of the moonlit effect i was trying for!

seashore scenes

 Thought I would show you the cards that were shown on Lesley's recent show on the Craft Channel featuring seaside stamps. There are some lovely stamps on other sheets, but I only had the
seashore scenes set of stamps - others are still on the want list, especially the mermaid, sea horse and the quotes!
For the first card I used a sheet of paper coloured with my favourite brusho powders that had been around for a while - the sunset colours went well with the lighthouse! I tried to stamp the image (in black versafine) so that the sun was on the yellow part, but did add some extra colour to it with watercolour pencils. Also used the pencils to add colur to the sea and the cliffs and some shading to the lighthouse.
Matted onto dull gold card, base card is 15x15 cm.

Second card is another sunset version. again in black versafine but this time onto a very light grey card. Extra colour added with watercolour pencils

 Somewhat different for the third card, this time using the single image of the lighthouse, stamped at the bottom right of a white 15x15cm card blank. Cloud stamps added , also the grass stamps to give sand dunes. The seagull was stamped on a spare bit of white card, coloured with watercolour pencils, and die cut. Matching diecut in dull gold card,  added to top left of card blank.

 This card used an A6 kraft card blank as a base, again coloured with watercolour pencils.

For the final card I tried to create a night-time scene, stamped in black onto a medium grey card.Coloured with a mix of watercolour pencils and distress inks using a waterbrush. White pen to add highlights and the beam of light from the lighthouse. Matts are white and dull silver.

I really enjoyed playing with this set and the pencils!

seashore 2

For my second DT post this month I decided to use a bargain canvas from a supermarket - think the heat must have been affecting my brain, as not my usual thing at all!
I found an old pot of grunge paste, added a little hot water as it had gone very stiff and stirred it in well, then spread the paste round the edges of the canvas. Stamped into the corners using stamps from the harlequin fragments set, then sponged with distress inks when the grunge was dry.
Fish and seaweed from something fishy and gulls and lighthouse from seashore scenes were all stamped onto white tissue paper using black versafine and coloured with alcohol markers, torn out and added with matt multimedium.- another old pot, seemed a bit discoloured, but then I had no idea what it looked like new, and it worked anyway.
Main image from seashore scenes stamped onto white card, coloured with watercolour pencils then embossed with clear EP, then glued into the centre of the canvas, Small pearls for the bubbles from the shell, then two seashells found on a craft swap table added to finish it off.
Have still got 2 canvasses left from the pack, so I shall have to think of some way to use them before they get lost in the normal chaos of my craft space.............................

textured steampunk

 Apologies to anyone who is getting fed-up with my current steampunk craze, you will be pleased to hear that I am running out of ideas!

For the first of my DT  posts this month I have a card and a couple of Lesley-style notebooks to show you.

Our theme this month is textures, and my card is a very simple one using embossing folders and soft form relief paste together with the  owl from steampunk birds.
I embossed the two Tim Holtz folders on white card, cutting down to 6.5cm wide and and then into 2 slightly different lengths.
The background was a piece of textured matt silver card sprayed with walnut stain ink.
I used silver soft form relief paste on the owl, then carefully trimmed the spare round the edges.

 If you saw Lesley's recent shows on the Craft Channel, you will have seen her make some lovely notebook
 covers using brushos and tissue paper. If you missed them, try the catch-up on the website, though I think it only goes back for 7 days...... I am always happy to play with brushos, and crumpling tissue paper is dead easy, so I just had to have a go.
In hindsight, I should have gesso-ed the covers first, as some of the print on the covers shows through, but I was very happy with how they turned out.
The first one used blue and green brushos, and the window from gothic fragments covered with black soft form relief paste . I added some decoart antiquing cream in patina green over the window, then some gold wax to highlight the masonry.




For my second try I used leaf green, turquoise and purple brushos, and the cockerel from steampunk birds with the silver soft form relief paste.
I will definitely be making more of these notebooks, they are great fun to do and will make nice small gifts.

shaving foam

When I saw the latest challenge from The Male Room, I was having a break from attempting to restore some sort of order to my craft space, and had just unearthed some backgrounds made during a brusho/shaving foam playday earlier this year.
This one got a reprieve from the binbag, as I fancied it looked like a turbulent sea, and it went with a previously unused stamp from Crafty Individuals.........
The shaving foam had just been sprinkled with blue and green brusho powders and swirled round without adding any water, and the powders spread in streaks when the shaving foam was scraped off.
The stamp was stamped separately on white card with black versafine, clear embossed, and coloured with some ancient H2O paints, cut out and added with foam pads. I cut out the wording, added to to scraps of the same blue card I used for matting and then to the top of the brusho card/
Base card is a 15x15 cm white.
I am entering this for the Male Room challenge 42 - use shaving foam
and Addicted to Stamps and More challenge 207 - make your mark

seashore

Our theme this month is summer, which to be honest is really what you would expect!
My first thought was to use some of my favourite poppy stamps, but they have had a lot of use, so I went for seaside - bit limited for choice there, so maybe I should have stuck with the poppies!
My first card uses stamps from seashore scenes, and I tried to create a slightly different scene.
The seagull was stamped first using black versafine ink,, then masked with masking tissue and the scene stamped over him - I didn't ink the stamp all the way to the bottom, as I wanted it to be background. The dunes at the front were stamped using the larger sand/grass stamp stamped several times to form foreground dunes.
Dunes and stump were coloured with alcohol markers, bird and everything else with watercolour pencils..
Base card is 15cm square, stamped with the sentiment several times to form a background using a pale brown inkpad. The scene was matted onto black and gold card.


My second card used the something fishy set of stamps, and the main image was stamped in black versafine, then the larger fish image added beside it.
Simply coloured with watercolour pencils, and glossy accent added to the bubbles from the shell.
Base card this time is A6

Thanks for reading this - my teamies have some smashing ideas to show you, so keep checking, you won't be disappointed!

hummingbirds?

 Sunday was another ClarityEast day at Bawburgh with Janet Pring, and these were the results.
I think the stamp set we used was hummingbirds - am sure Janet will correct me if I'm wrong!- at least, they look like hummingbirds to me....
Birds stamped onto a strip of white card with black archival ink, background sponged with distress inks in tumbled glass, peeled paint and salty ocean, then the foliage stamp around the edges in salty ocean.
The circles behind the birds were cut out - it went very quiet while we all concentrated! Double-sided adhesive behind the cutouts, then gilding flakes added - long time since I used these.
Narrow mat of bluegreen added, then mounted onto a white DL card blank.




Being me, I had stamped another couple of images onto spare card while i waited for the gilding flakes, and these are the ones I finshed off at home yesterday.
 The first is another DL size card, but with greater use of the foliage stamp along two edges, distress inks tumbled glass, broken china and peeled paint. Coppery gilding flakes on this one.

The second one I repeat stamped the foliage in hickory smoke and black soot distress inks, and sponged hickory smoke ropund the edges.
A final stamping in black archival of the foliage to give more depth to the background. I used silvery gilding flakes behind the birds this time.
Narrow black mat onto an A5 card blank - I really liked the monochrome effect.

                                                             

In the afternoon we played with bleeding art tissue to create the background - loved the random watercolour effect.
We used the foliage stmap again from the morning, and I used a butterfly stamped onto white card and coloured with marker pens - there is glitter on the wings, added with stickles.
Most other people used a parchment butterfly and a groovi board - happy to say I wasn't the only awkward one this time!

Thanks to Janet for another lovely day crafting - and the extra bits of tissue to play with

punky birds

 I borrowed the Chooclate Baroque  steampunk birds recently from a friend - think I may have to buy this one for myself! - because I liked one of the stamps (the cockerel).

Needless to say, I started playing with some of the others in the set........ and these are the results.

The first two used the springy birds and the lettering - as the birds were springy, I reckoned the letters should be wobbly too. For the first one I stamped them at random in all directions, added wobbly lines round the edges and some smudges of black soot distress ink.
Images were all stamped with black versafine ink, and the birds coloured with watercolour pencils. Base cards are A6.

My favourite stamp from the set was simply stamped with black versafine at the bottom of an A6 card blank - the sentiment doesn't belong with this set, but was in the bag, and it fitted!
Image again coloured with watercolour pencils. This one took a little longer than the springy birds, but still a quick card.

This set is not currently on the CB website, but is listed on the Craft Channel site

challenge 25

two wintry tangled trees from me this month - loved the chocolate theme, but brain refused to come up with anything!
The lovely new tangled birch stamp came to my rescue, along with  craft card - one version very plain, the other more atmospheric.
The first one is my favourite of the two, stamped in black versafine onto light craft card and clear embossed.
Wild honey distress ink sponged over the moon, and brown and blue sponged over the sky. Snow was added with a chalk marker pen. Mats are black and gold onto a white 7"square card blank.





Second card is on a cream 8" square card blank. with offset mats in white, copper and black.
Image stamped in versamark and white embossed onto a medium craft card.
Moon again sponged with wild honey, and a diecut oval mask was used when sponging aged mahogany ink round the trees. More snow with the white chalk marker pen, and edges of the card inked with black versafine before matting onto the white card.

I think the new autumn medley stamp would work well with this month's colour scheme, just haven't got around to trying it yet.......

Four seasons

 Four cards using the lovely new seasonal ladies stamps - big stamps that are an absolute delight to colour in.
The first uses spring awakening, stamped with black versafine, clear embossed, and coloured with pencils.
Die cut, then mounted on a 7" square white card blank randomly stamped with an old flower stamp from my stash using old paper distress ink, then sponged round the edges (Briar rose butterfly, currently available through the Craft Channel website)

 Summer fair is the next stamp, again stamped in black versafine and clear embossed before colouring with pencils. I stamped a mask using masking tissue and masked the image before adding a gelli plate background uisng distress inks.
Again an oval die cut, and a 7" square white card blank stamped with a stamp from poppy meadow across the bottom using peeled paint distress inks, with some of the colour dragged out with a waterbrush.

Autumn medley also has a gelli plate background added after colouring and masking the image, this time using acrylic paints and leaves from the garden.
This time the mount is an 8" square white card.
The wood -effect background is thanks to a link from Eileen Godwin - I used weathered wood, peeled paint and wild honey distress inks over the glue onto white card.

Last lady is winter dawn, stamped with versamark onto light blue card and embossed with silver. Coloured with pencils again, white chalk marker for the snow , rhinestones added to the snowflakes.
Base card was 8" square in silver pearl, randomly stamped with a snowflake stamp from a child is born using silver pigment ink.
The mats are dark and light silvers.