Chocolate Baroque Blog Challenge entry - Week 20.....I said I was going to be early, lol!

Morning All,

Quick post from me this morning as I have to be out for an appointment shortly.  As I promised myself after missing last months lovely colour challenge over on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog I have made sure I get one done early for this one.  I have to be honest and say these colours did take me out of my comfort zone a bit as they are quite strong colours and I usually go for more subtle but I enjoyed doing it.

I stamped 'fragments' from CB sets Gothic Fragments and Texture Fragments onto 9 x 4 cm tiles using Potting Soil Archival Ink after having blended Picked Raspberry, Squeezed Lemonade and Wild Honey Distress Inks firsts.  The centre tile is a sentiment from CB clear set Mackintosh Sentiments.  I added a bit of 'dotting' with a white pen to add a bit more interest and edged each tile with Potting Soil Archival using a piece of Cut n Dry before arranging the tiles on a dark brown card base (looks black on here to me, lol).  The centre tile is raised on 3D foam pads.

Said it was going to be quick didn't I ;-)!  Off to link up to the challenge and I'll be back over the weekend hopefully.  Happy Friday all!

Hugs
Lesley  Xx

A Little Hint of Summer - Guest DT post for Chocolate Baroque

Morning All,

This is my final design for this session of Guest Designer spots over on the lovely Chocolate Baroque Blog.  Again I have made a card and again it is totally different from my previous two CB designs.  This one is more mixed media in style and as my post title suggests brings a hint of summer.  I don't know about you but I personally am longing for a few brighter days which we will hopefully get come Spring (my favourite season).

For my final card I started with a 14.5 cm square of 350gsm white card and gave it a coat of Fresco Finish brown paint.  I followed this with a patchy coat of FF crackle glaze and when it was dry covered it with FF Nougat paint.  I tinted some Grunge Paste* with Fresco Finish and applied it through a stencil to the top left corner.  I also added little random touches of Treasure Gold gilding paste once the GP had dried.

When it was all dry I stamped the beautiful image from the Honeysuckle Butterfly set using black Archival Ink and coloured it with Derwent Coloursoft pencils.  I used a Derwent blender pencil over the image which gives a lovely sheen in contrast to the chalk paint on the background.

I added a small piece of diecut honeycomb over the butterfly and then went round the edges of the square with a black pen, stamped the sentiment and attached the piece to a 15 cm square card base.  I then restamped the butterfly section onto card, coloured with the pencils, cut it out and adhered it by the body over the original image.

I hope you've enjoyed my card inspiration this month using the beautiful Chocolate Baroque stamps.  Do visit their DT Blog on a regular basis as the team blog almost daily sharing their lovely designs.  There is also a fab monthly challenge blog which is fun to play along with as well as giving even more ideas.

See you again soon.

Hugs

Lesley  Xx

*  NB  :  I hadn't used my Grunge Paste for ages and found it was getting pretty dry and too stiff to use through a stencil but when I added the Fresco Finish paint to tint it it went back to a lovely consistency.  I shall now use what's left in the pot in this way rather instead of throwing it away.

PaperArtsy new stamp releases .....Elizabeth Borer stamps Part 2!

Hello Everyone

I'm back with details of the remainder of my creations that I had the pleasure of making as one of Elizabeth Borer's support team to launch her new designs for PaperArtsy this week.  If you haven't already been to look there is some amazing inspiration from Elizabeth and the other two lovely team members over on the PaperArtsy Blog.   These stamps were pretty much right up my street with beautiful elegant flower images, gorgeous flourishes and a couple of lovely quotes.

Here we go with my 3rd project, a 6" x 4" plaque and all the stamps for this design come from EEB08.

I applied a coat of Vanilla Fresco Finish Chalk Paint to a piece of Heavy Smoothy card and followed this with a random coat of FF Crackle Glaze.  When it was dry I topped it off with a coat of Plum FF.

I stamped the corner image with Versamark Ink and embossed with Wow Vanilla White embossing powder.  I added a few touches of Treasure Gold around the edges.  I then used a Versamark pen to draw in the lines and embossed those too before painting the leaves with FF.  When it was dry I also gave the leaves several coats of FF Gloss Glaze and  painted the flower with one coat of Blush

With an old credit card I scraped a layer of Vanilla FF over a sheet of the thin smooth white card followed by a layer of Blush. I didn't worry about the colour being patchy/streaky. I then stamped  several of the various flower images from the set using Versamark ink and embossed them with Wow Vanilla White embossing powder. 

 

I added colour with Fresco Finish paints, plus Gloss Glaze to the leaves and then fussy cut them all.

 

I then started to layer up the flowers using Heavy Body Gel Medium to give a little dimension.

 

I had a wooden round frame with I painted with Frescos and then added some Treasure Gold.  I stamped the quote onto a piece of my painted card, cut it out and adhered it to the back of the frame before sticking it to the plaque.  I then arranged the flowers and leaves around it, making 3 layers to the big flower.

 

You can see the dimension a little better here.

Project #4 is a 6" x 4" tag.

I found making this so relaxing I completely forgot to take step by step photos ;D!

 

I started with a 6" x4" piece of Smoothie Card and rounded off the corners. I then stamped the Morning Glory image with Black Archival Ink and cut a rectangle of card with which I masked part of the image, drawing a very light pencil line around the card.  I then very roughly brayed the fabulous new Fresco Finish paint colour Wintergreen with just a spot of Chalk added over the whole tag.  I deliberately went for patchy!

I randomly stamped the single bloom image using the same paint and then added colour to the main image, using paint for the leaves and pencils for the flowers but only inside the rectangle that had previously been masked.

I then drew lines with a very soft pencil around the rectangle making them darker and smudging them slightly to create a shadow effect on one side and the bottom.  This gave the effect of having layered a second image, a simple but neat technique I saw demonstrated by the lovely and talented Lesley Wharton.

 

I stamped three more of the single flowers onto separate card, coloured with pencils and fussy cut just the flower heads which I added to the tag with Heavy Gel Medium.  I pinched the single word Nature from the quote and stuck that with thin 3D foam pads.  Finally I added some tiny beads to the flower centres and the co-ordinating fibres.

 

That completes the how to's for my designs to showcase these beautiful stamps and I do hope I have done them justice.  I already have plans for more makes with them as there are so many options with the images Elizabeth has designed.

Thanks for visiting again today and see you later in the week I hope.

Hugs

Lesley  Xx

Whoohoo! More new PaperArtsy stamp releases!!!

Hello Everyone

Tonight I've been thrilled to act as one of Elizabeth Borer's wingmen for the release of her new stamp designs for PaperArtsy.  It's been sooooo difficult keeping these under wraps for what seems like months as most of the other PA designers revealed their gorgeous stamps nearly 3 weeks ago.  Well, we're off and running now so if you've come here first do hop over to the fabulous PaperArtsy Blog to see the stamps in all their glory and the stunning projects created by Elizabeth and my partners in crime (the other wingmen, lol).

As promised on the PA post I'll be sharing more details about each of the projects I created here but so as not to send you to sleep I'll do two per post over the next few days. 

When I first saw the beautiful Morning Glory spray design my first thought was of chintzy wallpaper and fabric with that slightly faded look.  It reminds me of the lovely wallpaper in my Grandmum's bedrooms when I was a little girl even though they were probably roses, lol!

Using a clean wet wipe for each colour I created a deliberately steaky blended background of Vanilla and Blush Fresco Finish Chalk Paints with tiny touches of Plum.  It was a tad too bright so I toned it down with a few smears of Chalk FF and then edged the square with a co-ordinating plum pencil.

I then stamped the spray design from EEB07 using Black Archival ink onto the prepared square and again onto old bookpages.  I painted the flowers with Fresco Finish, fussy cut them and stuck them over the main image. 

I painted the leaves directly onto the main card image.

I then stamped out several of the small flowers from EEB08 onto card and coloured them with Derwent Coloursoft pencils before cutting them out and brayered a small piece of card with Vanilla FF, stamped the quote, trimmed it and edged with the plum pencil.

Although I don't think you can see it in the photos I also stamped the lovely flourish from EEB07 onto the background using Vanilla FF before adhering it to my card base and then arranging the quote and small flowers in the bottom left. 

Now on to card #2

I loved this double bloom image from EEB08 (mind you, I loved every single image on these new sets, lol) and decided I would like to do this on Stampbord.  These images are perfect if you like spending time adding detail with colouring and in this case, etching.  I find both very relaxing.

I again started with a square of PA smoothy card and using a piece of Cut n Dry foam I blended Blush, Vanilla and Chalk Fresco Finish paints until I was happy with the background.

I then randomly stamped the beautiful flourish using Versamark Ink and embossed with gold embossing powder.  I also gold embossed around the edges and then stuck the square to my basecard.

I then blended the same paints onto 3 Stampbord tiles, taped them together at the back and stamped the double bloom image with Archival ink.

I painted the image with FF and then added more detail with the etching.  To finish the tiles I added the same gold embossing to the edges to tie it in with the background piece.

I used Heavy Gel Medium to adhere the Stampbord tiles to the card as it allows you to move them about slightly to get the positioning perfect and once dry it's very strong.

So there you have my first two designs which I hope you enjoyed but please don't forget to visit the PaperArtsy Blog as I am sure my fellow wingmen with have some wonderful inspiration for you.  (As I am scheduling this post I haven't seen their makes so I'm really excited to see what they have done.  I'm sure there will be lots of variation.

I hope you can pop back on Sunday when I'll give you the step by steps of my other two designs.  In any case, thanks for your visit today.

Hugs
Lesley  Xx

Brushos, Book Pages and Doodle Bugs! ....Week 2 on the Chocolate Baroque DT Blog.

 Hi Everyone,

It's week 2 of this session of my appearances on the lovely Chocolate Baroque DT Blog and I have another card.  I have a lot of birthdays (not me personally of course, one a year is more than enough ;D) at the beginning of the year so quite a few cards are needed and what better to make them with than beautiful Chocolate Baroque stamps and I get to kill two birds with one stone.

From the recent Chocolate Baroque sale I managed to knock a couple of stamp sets off my wish list and I used two of them to make todays card.

I cut a 14.5 cm square from a piece of brusho'd card I had from a play session with these lovely pots of powder.  As it was a bit too dark for the background I wanted I brayered a very rough coat of white acrylic paint to tone it down a little. I then stamped the images from the Sketchy Doodle Landscape set and single stamp SKF Leaf Stem once onto the background and the two main ones again onto old book pages.

I painted the areas I wanted with Distress Inks, cut them out and glued them over the images on my background except for the butterfly which I stuck onto white card before cutting it out. 

 

I stamped the sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments set (another sale purchase ;D) onto a scrap of the brusho'd card, stuck it in position and then went round the edges with a black Pitt pen before adhering the whole thing to a 15 cm square card base.  Finally I attached the little butterfly. 

I'm so glad I bought these quirky stamps and I hope you like my card.  I'll have my final Guest Designer spot piece for you next Wednesday.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Hugs
Lesley  Xx

A bit of Waxwork - PaperArtsy Challenge Topic #3

Morning everyone,

It's a fabulous bright, frosty morning here today, perfect for lifting spirits I think ....just hoping the possible snow tomorrow gives us a miss... ;-)!

Over on the PaperArtsy Blog the current challenge is anything to do with wax....beeswax, wax crayons, Portfolios and anything else waxy you can think of.  Darcy did a fab post over there on Sunday which included using the wax skin from mini cheeses, lol!  My grandkids could supply plenty of that as they love those lovely creamy little cheeses.  Anyway, there has been some wonderful inspiration from the DT guests over the past week, Sue Carrington's project last night is gorgeous for example and still more to come before the end of the week so do pop over for a look.  I managed a play over the past couple of days and, with a few hiccups along the way, here's my entry to the challenge......

I wanted to try my Portfolio pastels after seeing my friend Lin's post here as I've not used them before and it's ages since I had the Melt Pot and beeswax out.   I started by blending Portfolios with my finger for the background, heated it to take off the shine and then stamped the beautiful Geisha from LPC021 before layering melted beeswax.  I've added some mica flakes and powders, Treasure Gold to edge, stamped on tissue (symbols from LPC025) and added some metal embellishments. 

Above and below a couple of closeups to try and capture the shine after I had buffed with a soft cloth. 

 

I had a couple of problems in that I originally used two manilla tags glued together but, of course, once I added the beeswax and started heating to fuse, the tags warped and all the wax ran to the edges, lol!  It also melted the Portfolios again so they ended up much more muted than they originally were but I still liked them.  Anyway, to combat the warping I blended some similar colours of Fresco Finish onto an MDF tag and then stuck my tag(s) to it with Heavy Gloss Gel.  I then remelted the wax to even it out, taking it over onto the MDF and proceeded from there.  I ended up fairly happy with the final result but need more practice ;-)

Ok, off to link up to the PA Challenge and then get some chores done.  Have a sunshiny day!

Hugs

Lesley  Xx

Take one Flower ...My 2nd Guest Designer stint on the Chocolate Baroque Blog.

Hello All,

Crikey I've not started my blogging year off very well have I?  To be fair to myself I have been creating but it's stuff I can't share yet for various reasons and haven't had time to make something just for fun.

Well, today I have a card to share which I have created for the first of my Guest Designer spots this month over on the Chocolate Baroque DT Blog.

I started with a white 15 cm square card base and used a brush to dust all over with dye ink.  Confession time now.....I can't remember what colour inks I used but I do remember one was Adirondak and one was Distress Ink, lol!  I then positioned a butterfly stencil and again used my brush to deepen the colours deliberately not going for a solid, even look.  When the ink was dry I used a Sakura sparkle pen to partially outline the butterflies and to finish the background I spritzed all over with Dew Drop Glimmer Mist.  Unfortunately it has been so dull and gloomy here most of the time recently and the sparkle is very subtle (just the way I like it, lol), I couldn't catch it in the photos.

I then stamped the two flowers and the leaf x 3 from the lovely Tangled Garden stamp set onto separate card and coloured them with Spectrum Noir pencils, added little highlights of the Sakura Sparkle pen and cut them out.  I layered up the flower and glued it and the leaves onto my base card.

As is my usual habit, I left it till the rest of the card was finished before risking all and stamping the sentiment, from my favourite sentiments set, Amazing Birthday clear stamp set, directly onto the card base. 

I will have two more Wednesday spots on the Chocolate Baroque DT blog this month and hopefully a few more things as well so I hope you'll pop back when you can.

Thanks for your visit today.

Hugs

Lesley  Xx

PaperArtsy Blog Challenge #2 ......I made it!

Well Hello there......

.....long time, no see.......as they say!

I can't believe how long it is since I last managed to post something.  I do hope everyone is doing ok and surviving relatively unscathed by the awful weather we are still having here.  I know I always say I hate snow for the inconvenience of it but I think even that would be preferable to this incessant rain and terrible scary high winds.  Yesterday I was convinced my craftroom/conservatory roof was going to fly off and all my lovely craft stuff would be ruined but it's still in place ......for now ;D!

I haven't been idle on the crafting front over the past month but it's been stuff I haven't been able to show yet.  The rest of February will be a different kettle of fish starting today thank goodness and I actually managed an entry for the PaperArtsy Blog Challenge too.  Have you been watching Leandra's wonderful videos this past week?  She has been demoing live on Periscope (my new online addiction, lol) every night showing some wonderful painty techniques and introducing their new stamp releases.  OMG I want them ALL!!!  I think PaperArtsy designers go from strength to strength with each new release and there are two lovely new designers, Kay Carley and Kim Dellow who are now part of the PA family.  If you haven't been hooked yet do pop over to the blog and look at the past week's posts starting HERE.  The artwork from the designers and their wingmen has been stunning and such fantastic inspiration!

Anyway, enough of my waffle, here is my entry to Challenge #2 which has a theme of Hearts.  After watching Leandra's painty demos I decided to make a large tag and I used the very first set I bought of lovely Darcy's stamps.

I used Snowflake, Concrete, Slate and a spot of Blueberry Fresco Finish paints to create the brushed background.  The background stamping was done sing FF paints and I then stamped the images using Watering Can Archival Ink before painting them using Blueberry and London Bus.  The quote was stamped with Black Archival Ink.

I added a few tiny highlights with a white pen, a bit of sparkle to the zip and droplet with a Sakura clear sparkle pen and finally some Frantage embossing to the corners.

I'm off to link up to the PaperArtsy Challenge and also the Stamping Sensations Challenge which I saw from my friends Sally and Lynne's posts this morning has an 'Anything Goes' theme.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone and I hope you have chance to drop by later in the week.

Hugs

Lesley  Xx