Time Travel

Hi there and welcome to my blog  :)  Today I am sharing a piece of mixed media with a Steampunk flavour that I created for the Country View Crafts Challenge Blog's July challenge 'Things with Wings'.  http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/

I have used Chocolate Baroque stamps from the Steampunk Travel, Steampunk Butterfly and Steampunkery sets; Distress Oxide inks, Sepia Versafine ink, copper embossing powder, white sand texture paste, Copper and Antique Silver Aztec paints, Brass gilding wax, Glossy Accents, Aqua Tints.

I took a piece of greyboard and painted a coat of white gesso onto it.  When dry I sponged wet DOs in three colours all over the panel.  I dried the panel and stamped corner images at the top, stamped and embossed winged images in the bottom corners then stamped cogs in 1st and 2nd generation ink.

Next I placed a stencil over the panel and added texture paste with sand in it, only through random areas of the stencil.  I wanted to give the effect of rusty old wire, broken in places.  When the paste was dry I painted it with Copper Aztec paint, and when that was dry I mixed teal and white Aquatints and added that on top of the copper paint.  This creates a verdigris effect adding to the rusty patina.  I repeated this process around the edges of the panel.  I love using this rusting technique!  

Now that the background was complete I could start making the embellishments and focal pieces.  I stamped a lovely Steampunk lace border onto acetate and embossed it with copper powder.  I stamped some text onto paper, tore the edges and blended DIs over the paper to age it.  I stamped a winged clock image onto a piece of white card and embossed it in copper.  I then painted it with silver and gold Aztec paints, and cut it out when dry.  To complete the piece I used Glossy Accents on the face and left to dry.  I die cut some little cogs out of black card and added gilding wax.

I painted a domino size piece of greyboard with copper paint, stamped some text as before, aged the paper then cut the words out.  I drew lines around the words then attached them to the little plaque.  I then attached all the embellishments to the main panel.

I love Steampunk, as you may have noticed lol!  I also love entering challenges - and this months theme gave me a great excuse to indulge myself!  This project makes a lovely piece of home decor, either for yourself or as a present.  
Thank you for dropping in to my blog today, I hope you've enjoyed this post and that you'll come back again soon  :)  

Flying colours

Hello and a warm welcome to my blog  :)  I'm sharing another of my Chocolate Baroque tv samples featuring  their beautiful butterfly stamps and stencils.  This is a quick canvass that I created for the launch shows and it was a lot of fun to do.

I have used stamps from Butterfly Blush, Just Butterflies and Patchwork Butterfly sets; the Kaleidoscope of Butterflies stencil; black Versafine ink, Distress inks, Liquid Pearls, Silver texture paste, pearlescent shimmer sprays from my stash; tissue paper.

I covered a canvass with crumpled tissue paper then spritzed it with shimmer sprays and left it to dry naturally.  The top picture shows the shimmer in the sprays, the bottom picture shows how vivid the colours are.

I took some white card and stamped several butterflies with DIs, using multi - inking, kiss stamping and over stamping techniques.  I sealed them all with Spray and Shine.

I placed the card butterflies on the canvass in the positions that I wanted them, then I stamped a swirl in black Versafine  a couple of times in opposite corners.  I stamped the Irish blessing using DI randomly over the canvass, then stencilled small butterflies near the swirls.  I then stencilled the large butterfly with glitter texture paste several times.  I added pink liquid pearls to the swirls and left it all to dry.

When it was all dry I attached the card butterflies with strong glue. 

I absolutely loved making this canvass!  I always enjoy working in mixed media, using colour and texture to create beautiful projects, and these butterfly stamps and stencils are perfect.  This lovely design could be created in any colour scheme to suit any decor.  I think it would make a great present for anyone.
Thank you for dropping by my blog today, I hope that you've enjoyed this post  and that you will visit again soon  :)  

Deco Sunburst

Hello and welcome to my blog  :)  Today I am sharing the first of my samples for the recent Chocolate Baroque tv shows that featured their lovely Mackintosh stamps.  These stamp sets are inspired by the amazing artwork of Renee Mackintosh.    I have used stamps from the Mackintosh Beauty, Mackintosh Windows and Mackintosh Words sets; Distress Inks, gold embossing powder; stencils from my stash.

On a piece of white card I used three DIs through a sunburst stencil to create a graduated effect.  I then stencilled some geometric shapes and blended ink around the edges.  I wanted the card to have an Art Deco feel to compliment the stamps.  

I chose these colours to replicate a sunset/rise.

On another piece of white card I stamped the focal images and embossed them in gold.  I used the same DI's to colour the images and then cut them out.

On a white base card I stamped the rose border in DI and used water to drag the colour  a little, then I blended the ink around the edges.

I matted the background panel onto black card and layered it onto the base card.  I then stamped a sentiment onto a spare piece of card, embossed in gold and coloured with DI.  I cut out the sentiment and matted it onto black card.

I attached the focal images and sentiment with dimensional glue.

I absolutely love this beautiful Lady stamp, I think she's very versatile.

I added Sparkle pen between the rays in the sunburst.

I am so pleased with the way this card has turned out, it's exactly as I envisaged it.  The colours are warm and uplifting, and the stencils helped me achieve the Art Deco feel.  This design will make a lovely special occasion card too.
Thank you for visiting my blog today, I hope that you have enjoyed this post.  Feel free to browse a while, I'd love to hear what you think so leave me a comment if you like.  I hope you will pop in again  :)   

Pastel Patchwork

Hello and welcome to my blog  :)  Today I have a quick cheerful card to share with you, which is also  being featured on the Chocolate Baroque DT blog in the 'Fifteen Minute Cards' section.  All the cards there take 15 minutes or less to make which is great when you need something last minute!  

The stamps I have used are from the Patchwork Butterfly and Leafy Background sets and I have coloured with Pastel Aquatints.

I stamped the large Butterfly first and embossed it in black, then masked it.  I then stamped the Leafy Background in grey ink so that it faded literally into the background, and created perspective.

I painted the background then removed the masking fluid.

I then painted the beautiful butterfly image.

To complete the card I matted the butterfly panel with black card and attached it to the base card.  I think this bright and cheerful design will suit a variety of occasions for all ages.
Thank you for visiting my blog today, I'd love it if you leave me a comment and I hope you'll visit again soon  :)

Golden Butterflies

Hello and welcome to my blog  :)  I'm sharing one of my recent tv samples for Chocolate Baroque with you today, featuring the beautiful Butterfly stamps and stencils.  I have used the Butterfly Blush, Patchwork Butterfly and Just Butterflies sets; Distress Inks - Vintage Photo, Mustard Seed, Squeezed Lemonade, Crushed Olive, gold embossing powder, gold marker pen, acetate.

I blended the DIs onto white card and dried it with a heat gun.  I then stamped  some swirls around the edges in the same DIs.

Using the stencil I faux bleached some small butterflies.  I then blended DI around the edges of the panel.  

I  inked up several of the silhouette butterflies with three colours of DIs and stamped them onto white card, then stamped the corresponding line images onto acetate and embossed them in gold.  

I cut out the silhouette butterflies and edged them with DI, then I cut out the acetate butterflies.

I used the gold pen to edge the panel then matted it onto gold card.  I used the stencil to ink some small butterflies in the corners of a white base card and blended ink around the edges.  I stamped a sentiment at the bottom of the card then I attached the butterflies after shaping them. 

I attached the acetate butterflies to the silhouette butterflies using glue along the bodies.  

This card is definitely one of my favourite samples using these lovely stamps and stencils. The acetate overlays give the butterflies a bit of movement whilst allowing the colours to show through.   This design would be suitable for a lot of occasions and for all ages.
Thank you very much for popping by today, I hope you've enjoyed this post - feel free to leave a comment as I love reading your feedback - and I hope you'll visit again soon  :)  

Dew drops on Roses

Hi there and welcome to my blog  :)  This is my entry for the last Chocolate Baroque DT Colour Challenge which is finishing this month.  I have entered the challenge many times, it has been so much fun and it's definitely made me craft outside my comfort zone, try lots of new colour combinations, and ultimately led to me being offered a place as a guest designer on the CBDT - which I love. 

For this piece I have used stamps from Chocolate Baroque's Harlequin Rose, Breath of Spring and Mackintosh Words sets; Distress Inks Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet and Dusty Concord; Black Versafine ink, clear embossing powder; dies from my stash.

I began by stamping the Harlequin Rose image onto white card and embossed with clear powder.  I then painted the panel with DIs and added Glossy Accents as dew drops. When they were dry I matted the panel onto black card.

On another piece of white card I blended the DIs and dried them with a heat gun.  I took a smaller rose stamp and sprayed water on it, then faux bleached randomly all over the panel.  I then took the same image and stamped it with DI randomly.  I also stamped the word 'Create'  randomly, blended DI around the edges and matted the panel onto black card.  

Next I took a white base card  and stamped a couple of corner patterns and a scroll around the edges then blended ink around them too. 

I blended the same inks on a couple of pieces of spare white card then die cut some flowers and foliage from them.  I also cut some flowers from a piece of coordinating patterned  paper, then edged all the petals with ink.  I assembled the flowers, coloured some pearls with an alcohol pen and added them.  I did the same with the foliage.

I attached the panels to the base card, then added the flowers and foliage to complete the card.  I absolutely love these colours!  They look so beautiful blended together as a background, and they also look striking as colours for the images.  This would make a lovely special occasion card, or a beautiful piece of home decor if it was framed.  I shall miss joining in with the colour challenge, but I shall continue to experiment with colour combinations!

Thank you for visiting my blog today, I hope you've enjoyed this post - it would be great if you left  a comment - and visit again soon  :)