Chocolate Baroque GDT post 3 - Autumn Medley

Hello again.

My final project for this GDT session for Chocolate Baroque is autumn based, a beautiful time of the year.
As the foliage is changing colour rapidly where I live and leaves are falling, I have used a favourite stamp of mine called Autumn Medley and an Autumn Edges stamp.

I love the colours of autumn and you can really 'go to town' with the colouring on this one.
I think this is a beautiful image and the foliage hair can be used on its own, to create lovely autumnal backgrounds.

Products used:- Autumn Medley stamp
Autumn Edges stamp
Essence of Nature words
Versafine black
Versafine Satin red
Versafine  Spanish Moss
Gold glitter embossing powder
Distress inkpads - various autumn colours
Gold gell pen

 I created a background using a variety of Distress inks in autumn colours.
This was spritzed with water so the colours bled into each other then I over-stamped with the border  while it was still damp, so this bled too. It was left to dry and then over-stamped again with the red and green Versafine inkpads.

The main image was stamped with black Versafine and covered with the embossing powder, but only over the hair foliage. When heated this gives a very pretty effect over the black. Unfortunately my photograph does not show this well.

The image was coloured with the Distress inks and the hair highlighted with a gold gell pen.
It was then cut out and the edges inked and splatted lightly with water to give a bit of interest.


Hair section used on its own as a background.

Autumn Medley also looks great on a 15cm. Artcuts heart too, as seen below.
This has been coloured , then sealed with Americano sealant. The back has  felt adhered to it and I use it as a coaster for my coffee cup to sit on. Always essential when crafting.

I hope you try this beautiful stamp out and enjoy it as much as I have.

I shall show another few ideas in my next post.

Thank you for visiting and happy crafting.

Carole

Chocolate Baroque GDT post 2 - September 2018 - Serena

Good morning everyone.

This is my second spot as a GDT.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'.

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.

Stamps used: Serena, Hark the Christmas Rose, words are part of a Let's Get Festive stamp.
 Distress inkpads
Versafine black
Versamark
Clear embossing powder
Water-colour pencils

For the background I clear embossed a swirly tree design  and then lightly coloured  with Distress inks.
Serena and the Christmas Roses were stamped with Versafine and clear embossed.
The halo and candles are easily cut away from Serena, and the candles can be cut off and 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 is blended with a water brush.

Serena is also perfect for making a decoration for your Christmas table as shown below.

This is the candle lit. It looks very pretty when it's dark.

She fits perfectly onto a 12.5cm. plastic faux candle.
Ink the stamp well with a StazOn 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 in the picture, or coloured with alcohol inks.


The following sample also uses Serena and a stamp from Floral borders.
This was one I blogged a while back, which I had submitted for the challenge when it was on.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoy this beautiful stamp as much as I have.

Bye for now and I'll see you next week for my final project this month.

Happy crafting

Carole

Chocolate Baroque GDT post 1 - September 2018 - Butterfly frame

Hello everyone.

I am delighted to be showing you my first sample as a guest designer for September.

I have used the small butterfly from Butterfly Poppy Collage, a stamp from Poppy Meadow and the words from Pretty Poppies.  The ivy at the top is from the Tall Trees set.

Stazon permanent inkpad - ( Brilliance and VersaMagic inkpads can be used too, or any other inkpad that does not bleed. You should have a crisp image).
Watercolour pencils  
Glossy accents
Versa Magic inkpads - Aloe Vera, Tea leaves
15cm birchwood frame (Artcuts).
25cm square frame I had in my stash

I have started with a 15cm. wooden frame which has a 8.5cm. heart aperture in the centre.

When I do a project like this I always try it out on a piece of paper first. This enables me to make mistakes in the positioning and layout, which I can correct before stamping onto the real frame.
I did work out beforehand that the butterflies would stamp evenly around this size aperture.

Of course, it does not need to be an aperture necessarily, you could make a 15cm card with a heart die cut in the centre and butterflies surrounding it.

When I stamped the butterflies I started with the top three and then stamped one side, trying to space them as evenly as possible. I then 'mirrored' the butterflies on the other side.
Make sure they are completely dry before colouring them in.

I covered each butterfly with Glossy Accents and left it to dry thoroughly.
Then I wiped over the background with the Aloe Vera Versa Magic inkpad. 

The background, in the larger frame, is stamped with the darker green using another of the Poppy Meadow stamps and the ivy.

For the centre I used the frame as the template and drew lightly around the aperture with a pencil, onto a square of green card. This helped me position the words and flowers correctly. Stick this to the back of the frame and attach the frame to the background.



This size butterfly also fits well around a 8.5cm circular hole as can be seen below. Haven't got around to making one of these yet.

 

 Thank you for visiting and I look forward to showing you my second project next week.

                   Bye for now and Happy Crafting.

  Carole