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.