Movie strip collage

 Good morning everyone, I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas Day, with lots of crafting goodies to unwrap - and even better, they're calorie free!
Today I have more brusho samples, this time using the movie strip collage stamp from Chocolate Baroque
The first one I stamped the image using versamark ink and white embossed it. I sprinkled black brusho powder around the image, then used a wet paintbrush to spread the brusho powder - you still get the random effect, but you have a lot more control over where the colour goes.
Once dry, i sprinkled turquoise over the flower head, and used a wet brush again
Tear the edges when it is completely dry, then mount onto black card , then onto a square white card blank.


The second version uses  the same
technique, but this time with black embossed image and grey brusho powder for the background, and a mix of yellow and orange for the flower.
Torn closer to the image this time, then a thin black mat. A strip of the my floral soul  designer papers was added to the left half of a white card blank, and the image added in the centre.

I hope that you all have a very happy New Year in 2019

Gift box

 Today I am sharing a couple of samples using the shared beauty stamp from Chocolate Baroque.
I had some hexagonal boxes lying around that hadn't been used, and one just fitted this stamp....
The box was white, so it got a base coat of peeled paint distress oxide ink, and was then stamped with the fern from wild meadow in iced spruce distress oxide ink.
I stamped the image several times in black versafine and clear embosssed them.
On one image I coloured the ferns and leaves with green brusho powder,  the word with yellow, and the flowere with orange then I cut the entire image out and stuck it onto the lid.


The remaining images, I coloured the flower only using orange brusho powder activated with a damp paintbrush.
 Once they were dry, I cut out sections of the flower and decoupaged them onto the original base image.

I also made a very grungy looking card with this stamp, using a white embossed image and black brusho powder.
The background was randomly stmaped with the ferm from wild meadow using a dark blue ink pad, and the same ink sponged round the edges.

brusho grunge

 Good morning everyone, if you have seen Nikki's guest designer posts on the Chocolate Baroque blog, or saw the show on Hochanda last month, then you will have had your appetite whetted for this month's DT offerings!
So as not to disappoint anyone here are my brusho offerings - and yes, I can do a card without brusho......I just love the random effects of the stuff!
I used the lovely floral grunge stamp, perfect for brushos, though I am sure Sue didn't  design it deliberately.....
The first one was stamped with versamark and white embossed before sprinkling black brusho all over and spritzing with water. Once dry, torn edges, mat onto black card, then onto a white sqaure blank card - done. A very quick card, takes longer for the brusho to dry than for anything else!

 My second version took a bit longer, started out the same with white embossed image. Then I carefully sprinkled grey brusho round the image, and activated it using a wet paintbrush - you still get the random colour effect, but only where you want it. Once dry,I tapped off any excess grey powder before sprinkling the flower with orange brusho and activating it the same way.
Torn round the edges again, double mats of black and orange and mounted onto a white square card blank.
I almost always do my cards without any sentiments, then they can be used for almost any occasion, that and brusho are my main crafting perversions!
There were some fantastic samples on the TV show, so keep a lookout on the Chocolate Baroque design team blog, lots of inspiration coming up this month!

brusho rose

I have variations using the briar rose stamp, and back to my favourite brusho powders - sorry!
The first is very simple, stamped with versamark and embossed in white before sprinkling the brusho is roughly appropriate places before spritzing with water.
Base card blank was randomly stamped with the roses using pale inks from an ancient set of mini ink pads, with the pink smudged round the edges.








for the second version the image was stamped in grey versafine ink and coloured with watercolour pencils to get a misty effect. the butterflies were stmaped with black versafine onto scraps of spare brusho-ed card, cut out and glued over the original images.
i used a foliage image from honeysuckle butterfly to stamp randomly onto the base card in two shades of green ink to create the background.








My final card uses foliage stamps from both sets to create the wreath, very easy to do if you have a stamp press.Butterflies from both sets were stamped onto the wreath, then again onto spare card.
The spare inages were coloured with marker pens, the wings cut out and glued into place.
the sentiment is from loving sentiments

batch makes

having rediscovered my mini gelli plates for making backgrounds, I felt that I ought to use them before they vanished again, and the oval one was ideal for these quick cards.
Variations in different colours and stamps, but basically the same.
I used a stamping platform, but it is easy to use the gelli plate
just by pressing the card down onto it. I inked it up with distress oxide inks and spritzed with water then stamped onto white card.
Once the ink had dried thoroughly I over stamped with black versafine, using one of the smaller  flower images from honeysuckle butterfly and briar rose butterfly stamp sets from Chocolate Baroque.
I used watercolour paints to colour the images, but any medium will work well.
They only need a mat in a toning colour and mounting onto a 5x7 card blank to finish them off, although i did go mad and add a sentiment on to the last one as well as sponging the gray round the edges.

honeysuckle butterfly

I loved playing with the floral stmaps for last month's Chocolate Barqoue tv shows, and it was hard to choose which to show, but I  finally went for two versions of the honeysuckle butterfly. For a change, no brusho involved! Instead I used a small circular gelli plate to create the background.
I did several backgrounds and then chose the ones I used, and to be honest I am not sure now which colours of distress ink I used - I think the first one used oxides.
I inked the plate up roughly with the yellow direct from the pad, spritzed with water and pressed onto the card. Spritzed again and pressed onto a different part of the card. Repeated using two different green inks, then stamped the honeysuckle butterfly using black versafine ink and clear embossing powder. Coloured using the Koh-i-noor watercolour paints, added turquoise and black mats and mounted onto a white card blank



For the second card I just used one colour of ink and added it to the gelli plate using a brayer, so a much more even coverage. Stamped four times to get the background.
Image stamped using grey versafine and coloured with watercolour pencils. The butterflies were stamped onto spare card in black versafine and coloured with watercolour paints, then cut out and stuck over the original images to give a feeling of distance.

auricula

 Two versions today using the auricula script stamp from Chocolate Baroque - I have never been a fan of this particular flower, but a lot of gardeners seem to be, though I do like the script background.
The background card blank was randomly stamped using the unmounted stamp and just inking up the flowers.
Image was stamped onto white card using versamark and gold embossing powder, then coloured using brusho powders.
I ran the red ink pad used for the background stmaping round the edges of the trimmed card before adding a bit of spotty ribbon and mounting onto the background.




For the second card the image was stamped with black versafine and embossed with clear powder, and this time I used watercolour paints to colour the leaves and flowers, aiming for a more masculine feel.

quick cards with brusho

 Both my quick cards use brusho powders - no surprises there then!Seriously, though, they are a great way to add colour quickly, especially if you like the random effect.
For the first card I stamped the birdcage collage stamp onto white card using versamark ink and white embossing powder. The embossed image will resist the brusho powders, and also helps to tame the spread when they are sprayed with water. I used lime green, turquoise and ost red powders, sprinkling the colours carefully over the stamped image, with the red over the flowers and the blue over the bird, green over the leaves and the background.
Using plenty of water spray over  the background helped the blue and green to spread. Once everything was dry, I painted the birdcages and tassels with a gold mica paint, trimmed the image, added mats of  gold and deep turquoise and mounted onto a square white card blank.

The second card is rather more dramatic, using the butterfly dress stamp and grey brusho powder. The image was stamped in black versafine and clear embossed onto white card. Grey brusho powder scattered round the edges and spritzed with water, leaving the image area clear. When dry, the butterflies were painted with pearlescent paints using the colours in the brusho. Trimmed down toa  squarte, mounted onto black card and then onto a square white card blank.

lady's slipper orchid

For my second post this month featuring stamps from the Chocolate Baroque
 September TV show I have gone back to form and used brusho powders.
I created a pile of backgrounds with the brusho first - they take a bit to dry, so I like to do several at a time,( and I often blot them using another sheet of card if they come out too dark, so you get two for one)  and the ones I don't use always come in handy later on....

For both cards I stamped the lady's slipper orchid using versamark and embosssed with white embossing powder.
The first card has a darker background, and I used more brusho as a watercolour to colour the leaves and the flower. I added a purple card mat the same size as the trimmed image, and glued both at an angle onto a square white card blank.

The second was a much more delicate image, and I again coloured the flower and some of the  leaves, but this time with very watered down brusho.
The card blank was randomly stamped with the flower head using an almost-dried out purple ink pad before adding a mat of purple card

butterfly lady

 I can't believe how quickly this year is going, October already!
To remind us of the lovely summer, I have chosen the lovely butterfly lady stamp from Chocolate Baroque, though I haven't seen many butterflies this year.
The dusky background was created using iced spruce distress ink, blending sponge and a leaf from the garden - a very effective technique learnt from Elaine, one of the original CB DT members, if I've got it right, the link should take you to her how-to post.
The lady was stamped with black versafine ink, and her hair coloured with watercolours.
I stamped the bottom half of image again on to scraps of left-over brusho card , cut the flowers and butterflies out and decoupaged them onto the original image.
I added clear wink of stella to the butterflies, though it doesn't show up on the scan.

Indian journal

My apologies, but this is a long post, and picture heavy, so you may want to get a coffee first!

Usually I just play with new stamps and see what happens, but this time I had a new die from Sizzix to play with that created a mini book that I really wanted to try out - I had a slightly crazy idea of using it with the new Indian themed stamp sets  and trying to use all the stamps ........by the time I tried to take the photos, I was sure that it was crazy, but didn't have time to go with anything else for the tv shows.
Anyhow, here goes , and you can decide!



The first pic is of the slip case I made for the book, using the script stamp in black onto a brusho background. The fastening is a loop of plaited embroidery threads with embossed elephant buttons glued back to back over the ends.
 The cover from black card was simply stamped in versamark and gold embossed with the script stamp , and you can see the embroidery threads holding the inner pages in down the spine.



 the diecut pages were coloured as spreads before decorating, so I had to try to arrange them in colour groups before fastening them into the cover. Most of the backgrounds were brusho, but some were distress inks.
The silhouette on the first page was stamped in grey versafine, elephant stamped onto white card and cut out after colouring using the Koh-i-noor paints






 Images gold embossed on both pages, strip of matching card added to create the pocket, and a strip of glitter netting added. Small tag stamped  and embossed in gold, coloured with distress inks

 Images again embossed in gold, coloured with pearlescent paints

 More gold embossing, gold is a colour that I associate with India for some reason, along with jewel colours, which is why all the embossing is in gold.

 Similar to first page on the left, but more of a lighter sky.
Feather stamp is from the I shall be your wings set, stamp covered with mica powders and then silver soft relief paste,. trimmed once dry and glued in place.

Pocket stamped with border stamp from indian textiles set , flower stamp on tag from same set.

The stamp on the right is an older single stamp that has a definite eastern theme, and I thought it fitted with the other sets. It was coloured with brusho used as watercolours

Last page!

Congratulations if you made it this far!

eastern script candle

 I am a sucker for script stamps, so the letter stamp on the paisley elephant stamp sheet from Chocolate Baroque immediately caught my eye!

Having a small candle sitting on the shelf waiting to be used solved the question of what to do with it - decorate with the script stamp.

I stamped the image twice onto white tissue paper with black versafine ink, tore carefully round the edges once the ink was dry then fused them to the candle using a heat gun.




I then made a box to fit the candle using an envelope punch board and black card and the handy calculator from the crafty owl.
Before gluing the box together I stamped the script stamp on the sides using versamark ink and white embossing powder.

Once the box was assembled, i needed something to fasten it, so a trip to my local craft shop was needed. What I was hoping to find was an elephant charm, but they were either tiny or way too big - what was the right size was a pack of elephant buttons -thanks for hunting them out Jane! They were decorated with printed flowers , so I covered them with a few layers of versamark ink and gold embossing powder and then pressed them onto the stamp while the powder was still hot. A strip of plaited embroidery threads was looped and the ends sandwiched between two buttons to make the fastening.




I used what was left of the sheet of tissue paper to wrap the candle inside the box, simply repeat stamping the script in black and grey versafine ink in a fairly random pattern.

Christmas roses

 My last samples for the Christmas Chocolate Baroque  tv show  share a theme of Christmas roses, and both stamps are great for colouring in.


The first stamp is called 'hark the Christmas rose'  and has a background of music for the carol 'hark the herald angels', which i thought was a lovely combination.
 The first one was stamped with versamark onto black card and gold embossed before painting with some very ancient mica paints - I think this one used H2Os. Trimmed down, mounted onto gold card, then onto a white card blank that had been randonly stamped with the roses using a gold inkpad.

 The second version is very similar, but embossed in silver and the paints were from an anonymous palette of mica paints - it is so old that the clear lid has disintegrated, but the paints still work fine!
This time i stamped and white  embossed the snowflakes from winter edges to make the background, then sponged a light grey ink round the edges before adding matting layers of black and silver









The serena stamp does count for this theme as it has a small bunch of Christmas roses!
My first card was the simplest, stamped with versamark onto cream card and gold embossed.
Painted again with the mica paints, a thin gold mat and mounted onto a white base card randomly stamped using the Christmas roses which were gold embossed. The sentiment is from 'lets get festive'.










The final version I stamped serena three times,  once onto white card and twice onto black and silver embossed all the images.
One of the black cards was trimmed to size, and a versamark pad dragged roughly round the edges which were then silver embossed.
Serena was painted with the mica paints on the white card and fussy cut out, then glued onto the image on the black card.
The roses and candles were painted on the third image, then fussy cut out and glued on.

Christmas wreaths

 Since I got my stamping platforms I have been somewhat addicted to making cards with wreaths - I could never do this before, and lived in total admiration of those who could do it just marking points with a pencil!
Once I discovered how to do it with the platform there has been no stopping me - I found the best way was to start in one corner, do all four corners, then fill in the gaps.

Both of these used the same small stamps from Robin the Spruce and sentiments from Robin the spruce on the first card and from lets get Festive on the second card (both from Chocolate Baroque).





I coloured the stamps using distress markers before stamping, and the sentiments were gold embossed. Edges of the card were also gold embossed beforee mounting onto white card blanks.

I am entering these into challenge 398 , anything goes
http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/
and this one, , merry Christmas challenge ,also anything goes

three kings

 I don't know about you, but Christmas in a heatwave just didn't seem right!

This is a big stamp, so for my first card I opted for simple - red and yellow brusho powders sprinkled over a square of white card and spritzed with water to create my background ( the colours also reflected how hot I felt at the time!)
The stamp was then inked with black versafine and stamped into the centre. I used a black fineline pen to extend the stonework either side of the archway before mounting onto a white card blank.








My second card started off with a white card blank randomly stamped using a window from the gothic fragments stamp set using a light brown ink, which was also brushed round the edges.
I stamped the kings three times onto white card. The kings themselves were coloured and fussy cut out from one image and the archway from another - the third was used as the base and just the gap through the archway and the floor coloured with grey brusho. The archway was coloured using sandstone brusho and a waterbrush. I used glue to add the kings in the background and foam pads for the leading king and the archway.

Gnomes & stitchy flowers

 A much smaller group than usual joined Moira Walters for the Hobby Art workshop at Costessey on Saturday. The hot weather probably had a lot to do with the low numbers, but we had a lovely day in an air-conditioned hall, we did have to ask for the aircon to be turned down eventually!

We used the gnome and stitchy flowers  ( it's actually called floral patchwork but stitchy flowers is a perfect description!)
sets of stamps designed by Lisa; the first sample is sort of following Moira's sample,with the card split into sections.
I used fewer sections and added shading between sections rather than thin strips of card - life is too short to be cutting thin strips of card! Images were coloured using Koh-i-noor watercolour palette with a water brush.

 My second gnome card was because I couldn't resist playing with masking tissue to create a diffeent new home card. the gnome was stamped first, then the house, then the sign board and finally the sentiment. Coloured with alcohol markers once I got home.

 This one had a distress oxide background before stamping the flower pots and colouring them with watercolour again. Mats of brown and white card and a brown card base.

 For this one one of the flower pots was stamped onto a distress oxide background on a small tag, then again onto patterned paper and paper pieced. A matching tag cut out of patterned paper, both mounted onto slightly larget tags and then onto a base card stmaped with the buttons in a matching colour of distress oxide ink.












 My last two used the corner stamp and the buttons to create a wreath shape - very easy to do with a stamping platform, I could never do them just using a circle guide, and I live very much in awe of those who can!

You need a square of card, position the main stamp in one corner, stamp it, turn the card 90 degrees, stamp again, continue till you have done all four corners. Then all you need to do is fill in the gaps - dead easy!
Two different colourways, both coloured at home with alcohol markers.