A Serene Christmas (by Deborah)

Hello everyone, today sees the first of three posts from our Guest Design Team member Deborah Wainwright. Deborah has created a beautiful Christmas cad for your inspiration today. If you are still making some last minute cards, here is a lovely take on this image for you.

Deborah writes:

Hello everyone, Debs back with you for my Guest Design spot with some Christmas inspiration.
For this post, I made a pretty Christmas card using the lovely Serena stamp. For those of you that know me, you will know that I just love faces and flowers, so this stamp has it all for me.

I stamped the image with permanent black ink and heat dried it to set the ink. Then using watercolour paints I painted the image. First I added layers to the face to build up her complexion, then moved onto the foliage. I mixed different greens for each foliage to add richness. I then painted the flowers keeping the colours traditional for Christmas. Once it was completely dry I mounted it onto a sparkly pink paper to add to the Christmas spirit.

There isn't long to go until the big day, but there is always time for a few extra cards, so I hope I've inspired you to make a few extra. I'll be back next week with some Christmassy ideas. Until then, take care and hugs, Debs xx

Not Only for Christmas (by Carole)

Hello everyone, Carole is back to share a couple of super projects with you today. She is showcasing the versatility of one of our individual stamps, Serena, and showing you how to make two beautiful projects.

Good morning everyone.
This is my second spot as a Guest Design Team member for September.

I have used the beautiful Serena stamp, which is a great design, as it can be used for Christmas but, 'not only for Christmas'.
It is always useful to have stamps with versatility.
This is my 'not only for Christmas', as I thought it would be beautiful as a Winter Birthday or Winter Wedding card too.

Stamps used: Serena, Hark the Christmas Rose, words are part of a Let's Get Festive stamp.
Distress inkpads
Versafine Onyx Black inkpad
Clear embossing powder
Watercolour pencils

For the background, I clear embossed a swirly tree design and lightly coloured with Distress Inks.
Serena and the Christmas roses were stamped with Versafine and clear embossed.
The halo and the candles are easily cut away from Serena, and the candles can be used on another card. The Christmas roses were cut away from their background.
I have coloured the design with watercolour pencils, which is still a favourite method of mine, and the colour was blended with a water brush.
On my blog I have another sample that I showed a while back which is a 'not only for Christmas' sample.

Serena is also perfect for making a decoration for your Christmas table as shown below.
She fits perfectly onto a 12.5 cm plastic, faux candle.
Ink up the stamp with a permanent inkpad, keeping it flat on the table.
Position the candle and roll it over the stamp, putting a little pressure on as you do so. Try not to slip, or the image will look smudged.
This can be left uncoloured, as I have done, or coloured with alcohol inks.

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you enjoy these stamps as much as I have.

Happy crafting,

Carole.

Lets Get Festive

Hello there! I have a few more samples from July's shows using the Serena stamp, Hark the Christmas Rose stamp, Robin the spruce  and Let's get festive stamp sets.

In this first one I created a background using inks and stamped the serena image onto a cut out round piece of card. I used inks to colour this too. 

I stamped the hark the Christmas Rose stamp in archival ink and coloured it in water soluble inks. I then added this to a background created using a sentiment from the Lets get festive stamp set.

For my tag I used paints to create the background and coloured the stamped image (from robin the spruce stamp set) in distress inks.

I hope this has given you some ideas of projects you can make using these stamps!

Have a great day!

Hugs

rachel x

Christmas roses (by Veronica)

 My last samples for this month 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.

I hope that you enjoyed Christmas in July, there are loads of lovely samples coming up from the girls, so keep looking!

Shabby Chic Roses by Brenda

Hello all, Brenda here with some more inspiration using the beautiful new stamps that featured in Lesley's recent TV shows on Hochada.

The beautiful Hark the Christmas Rose was a big hit with all the Design Team and the above card was the first I made when I inked it up, it just said Shabby Chic to me so I went down the Kraft card and soft pinks route. The image was stamped with Versafine black, a little colouring added with pencils and the edges 'ruffed' up after adding tea dye DI before matting and layering on to coordinating card stock.

The backgound of this one has been repeat stamped using Distress Markers and images from the new Robin the Spruce set. The lovely Robin is from the same set, again stamped with Versafine black, a mask and Pan Pastels for the sky then coloured in and mounted on foam pads over the background.

This is Serena and her name really does befit the beautiful image whic after stamping with Versafine black I coloured in with sparkle pens, lightly inked the background, framed her and uased some organga ribbon and a snowflake brad.

My final share today has a Distress Ink background which brayered on randomly to give varying textures, then overstamped with stamps from Robin the Spruce and Pears and Baubles alsong with Large Crackle Backgrund around the edges stamped with Versamark and embossed with Detail Gold. The pears are also from Pears and Baubles stamped on to a background created in the same way as the main piece, heat embossed with detail gold again and cut out. Finally a sentiment from Lets Get Festive.

Many thanks as always for your visits and kind comments.

Winter Beauty (by Julie)

Hello, today I have a winter themed card that would be suitable for a winter birthday or a Christmas card. I have used Robin The Spruce and Serena

To start with I inked up Serena with grey Versafine before stamping onto white stamping card and then coloured with Polychromos pencils. The border around the edge of the card was stamped with the foliage stamps from Robin The spruce. I started the border with the lighter green coloured branch and then added in a darker shade so that it over-stamps without the need for masking.

My base card was covered with silver mirri card and then I cut my design to size and added it to the front of the card.

Thanks for stopping by and please call back for daily Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

"A Chocolate Baroque Christmas" on 3rd July (by Magda)

The July shows on Hochanda were a beautiful presentation of Christmas stamps and interesting preview samples made with

Pears and Baubles
Let's Get Festive
Winter Edges
Serena
Bearing Gifts
Robin the Spruce
Hark the Christmas Rose

Here below I share with you the projects I realized with "Serena " the sentiments are from
"Let's Get Festive"

A monochromatic card

A piece of home decor

A white and gold wrapped card

Thank you for passing by and see you soon again with other projects
Magda 

Two Faces of Serena by Penny

Hello lovely peeps!  Is everyone warm enough lol?!  I'm back again with a couple of my Christmas samples from last month's shows, both featuring the beautiful Serena.

Golden Serena 

For this card I have used stamps from Serena, Robin the Spruce, and Let's Get Festive sets; Distress Inks, alcohol pens, Versamark ink, gold embossing powder and pen.

I stamped Serena onto white colouring card in grey Versafine ink and coloured her in with the pens.  I blended DI around the edges of the card and used a gold pen.  I took a white base card and stamped several foliage images around the edges.  I blended ink onto the outer edges then attached the focal panel.  I stamped and embossed a sentiment in gold onto acetate, cut around it and attached it to the card.  Lastly I added some gems and red pearl drops from my stash.

A Serene Christmas

For this project I have used stamps from the Serena and Robin the Spruce sets; pearl paints, Distress Inks, Versamark ink, gold embossing powder and pen, and some silver sparkle thread from my stash.

I took some black card and stamped Serena using Versamark ink, then embossed her in gold.  I used pearl paints to colour her, I love using them on black card!  I edged the panel with a gold pen and used a corner stamp to cut notches on the corners.  I then attached the silver thread to the back of the panel with red liner tape and threaded it through the notches to create another frame for the artwork. 
I took a white base card and stamped some berries in each corner then attached the focal panel to it.

On a spare piece of black card I stamped and embossed the candle poem as before, added gold pen and notched the corners as before then attached the panel to the card. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post today, I hope that I have helped to spur your mojo on if it's a bit tired.  I'll be back later this month with more crafty fun!

Take care all,

                                                                 xx  Penny  xx

Christmas Compilation (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have several projects to share with you today, showcasing the fabulous Christmas stamps from last month's TV shows on Hochanda.

For my first project, I decided to combine the lovely Serena, with some of the images from the Robin the Spruce stamp set to make a triptych. I used drawing cartridge for the front of all of the sections, and painted the back and sides with an olive green acrylic paint, adding a touch of quinacridone gold for a touch of opulence. I stamped Serena onto the main section, and masked the image, before colouring the background with Distress Ink and a blending tool. I coloured the other two sections at the same time.

I added some stamping with the Large Crackle Background around the edges, to age the background , and the added the sentiment to one side panel, along with the foliage stamps. On a separate piece of card, I stamped the floral part of the Serena image again three times, and coloured these, along with the main image with water based markers and a water brush. I decoupaged the images onto the side panels to complete the project.

For my second project, I used some kraft card to stamp and emboss the Hark the Christmas Rose image, using Versamark and white embossing powder. I painted the image using Koh-i-Noor paints. The white paint was most useful for the roses to create a softly coloured Christmas Rose, as the white shows up so well on darker cardstock.

I used a blend of Distress Ink colours for the larger background, and stamped a foliage stamp from the Robin the Spruce stamp set randomly over the background, using green ink and second generation stamping, for a softer effect.

My final card was created using some left over background from a previous project. I had used Tinting Medium and Brushos on Textured Art card. I stamped and embossed all of the images from the Robin the Spruce stamp set using Versamark and white embossing powder, choosing to pick out the robin himself  and the berries as the highlighted areas. A simple red bow finished off the card.

Thanks for stopping by, I will be back later in the month to share some more Christmas projects with you. Judith xx

Hark the Christmas Rose by Brenda

Good morning Peeps, Brenda here with some Chrismtas creations from Lesley's recent Hochands shows which featured some rather beautiful seasonal stamps. And a heads up that she has two shows today at 8am and 2pm which you won't want to miss, it's all rather Eastern!

My first piece of artwork features the lovely Hark the Christmas Rose which really is the most beautiful image. I am sure the shape of this card has a name although I'm afraid I don't know it. I used a sheet of A3 card which gives you two base cards, I score twice at 6" intervals then cut vertically to create the two cards, then cut the two end panels diagonally so that they fold in on onanother.

This is the central panel stamped and coloured with sparkle pens, I then stamped the flowers several more times and cut out to decouapge on the frot panel and layered over the background with I stamped with Large Crackle Background.

A nice inky background using Distress Oxides, then the Pears from Pears and Baubles, the first stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with detail silver, masked to stamp the second pear stamped and embossed with purple embossing powder, then repeated again to add the thrid pear. Finally three sentiments from Let's Get Festive.

Another appearance for Robin the Spruce, he seems a very popular fellow with the DT and viewers, stamped with Versafine Black, twice onto the back panel and a third time onto a small piece of card, cut our and coloured and raised centrally over the background.

A final share using the beautiful Serena. I brayers white acrylic pain onto a piece of Kraft card purposely leaving uneven edges. I then added a wash of Twisted Citron and Peacock Feathers Oxide Inks, to get the ink where I wanted it I put the ink onto a pice of acetate, water down and then dabbed the piece of painted Karft into it.........messy but works a treat as you can see the ink and are in more control of where it goes.

I then stamped Serena with Versafine black, added some seam binding and coloured and cut out a couple of flowers from Hark the Christmas Rose.

Thank you so much for your visit today.

Serena the Winter Lady (by Debbie)

Good morning

I have the pleasure of being the last post of the month. There are many, many inspirational cards and projects lined up for the month of September and I know that Lesley has some fantastic ideas lined up for the future.

 

I truly gasped when I saw Serena, her name suit her so well.

 

She was stamped onto white card with Black Versafine ink and embossed with clear powder. I feel comfortable using alcohol pens for skin so did her face first and the rest was watercolour pencils. I used lighter and darker pencils for her hair, to give depth to her hair. Serena is a large stamp and the dies I chose frames her well. The sentiment was added under Serena.

 

Thank you for stopping by

Debbie

Christmas angels......day and night (by Miranda)

Hi there,

Today I will show you my creations made with  Serena, the lovely Christmas Angel.

 I have made an Angel of Day and an angel of Night, at least that is my interpretation! I love working with faces and these beautiful designs are a joy to work with, thanks to our talented designer! 

I have worked on a background made with acrylic paints and fluid inks, like Ecoline.  Also sprinkled some Iridescent medium which creates lovely shimmer.
The ' Angel of Day' has pale colors and I've combined her with the flowers of the Christmas rose sheet. They are a perfect match with the flowers of the image. I have colored the image with colour pencils and  decoupaged them.

Here is the card.........

And the Angel of Night........here I've added another stamp, an ivy leaf that I've colored with all the matching colors. It's from the New England Winter sheet. Here I have colored the image and the decoupaged items using waterbased markers and gave some accents with a white acrylic marker.

Well, I hope I have inspired you with these beautiful angels! Thanks for your visit and I always enjoy reading your comments!

It's Christmas! (by Lesley)

No don't worry, you haven't woken up in another world, it is still only the end of July but for us here at Chocolate Baroque Christmas has arrived. And by that I mean I am thrilled to bits to be launching the first of our Christmas stamps for this year.

This is also my first official Christmas release as owner of Chocolate Baroque so I'm doubly excited and I hope you are going to be as delighted with these new stamps as I am; I have to say Sue has really done us proud.  So without further ado here we go.

To begin with we have two A5 sets, Christmas Candlelight

followed by Sparkling Trees

and of course both are available as a money saving multi-buy

We have a wonderful mix of traditional and contemporary here, so whatever style you prefer I am sure there is something here to help make your Christmas projects special.

In addition to these sets, we are also releasing five individual cling mounted rubber stamps that are truly beautiful.

First we have Serena, Bearing Gifts and In Her Arms

and finally Rejoice! and Welcome Home.

If you would really like to treat yourself these are available as a brilliant money saving multi-buy

There are so many possibilities with these and, of course, they complement many of our other Christmas designs. I haven't had time to play with them much myself yet, but as a colourist I can't wait to try these images with my pencils and paints.

However, there are a few ladies who have been flexing their crafting muscles and over the course of the next month there will be some fabulous projects and ideas from our Design Team, so please keep tuned. In fact if you are not yet a follower please click on the 'Follow this Blog' link located in the right hand column and then you will never miss another inspirational post.

Is it too soon to say 'Merry Christmas'?