Old as the hills

This is a 50th Birthday card for a male friend, people think that it is hard to do cards for men, but I think this is a nice unisex card applicable for either.

Materials:

Card:

Black Card Stock

Watercolour Paper

Paperado Chocolate Card

Inks:

Spectrum Noir Aquatints: Landscape

Stamps:

Cherry Pie Art Stamps - P430 Two Celtic triple knots

Cherry Pie Art Stamps - R515 MONOLITH (Stonehenge)

Ink:

Distress Aged Mahogany

Memento Bamboo Leaves

Memento Gray Flannel

Versafine Black Onyx

Embellishment:

Rope on a Bobbin (woodware) from Chocolate Baroque

Method:

1) Load up the stonehenge stamp with versafine Black Onyx and stamp onto the watercolour card, allow to dry

2) Take the celtic knot and load the stamp with the aged mahogany - stamp 3 times (you might want to do a few spares)

3) Next matt some balck card onto the white card base covering it, then matt the chocolate coloured card on top of this - I left 5mm either side. 

4) Allowing for a 5mm indent from the mated chocolate card stock, cut a rectangular piece of watercolour card

5) Using the landscape aquatint inks create a back ground. At the bottom I used the dar brown and the honey brown and then overlaid the green on to this.

6) The sky was done using a combination of the two blues and the grey, the clouds use a "faux bleach" technique. Set aside and allow to dry

7) Returning to the stonehenge print, load up a water pen brush with gray flannel and then use this to colour in the henge, set aside and wait for it to dry.

8) Clean the nib of the water pen brush and load it with bamboo shoots (stamp the ink pad onto an acrylic stamp board and pick the ink up from there). Colour in the white parts of the celtic knot with the bamboo laves green.

9) Carefully cut out the henge and the celtic knots.

10) Using PVA glue seal the rope on a bobbin at both ends and apply to the card (mine is roughly 4cm in from the left) and then attach the knots

11) Matt the henge onto the card.

Dancing Dragonflies

This is a submission for the Chocolate Baroque Challenge 11. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it!

Materials:

Card:

White Card Stock

Scrap Paper

Watercolour Paper

Inks:

Spectrum Noir Aquatints: Perfect primary

Stamps:

Chocolate Baroque - May AYOS

Ink:

Versamark
Memento Grape Jelly

Distress Picked Raspberry

Versafine Black Onyx

Pens:

Sakura stardust silver

Quilling Paper:

JJ Quilling Opal Green 3mm

Embossing Powder:

WOW Silver super fine

Method:

1) Load up the stamp with versafine black and stamp onto scrap paper, this is to be used as a template for husking the dragonfly wings.

2) Place pins around the "clear" dragon flies wings and husk using a triple wrap, do each wing individually using the opal green paper. Repeat this until you have done all the wings on all the dragonflies. (husking involves wrapping quilling paper around the pins to create a shape).

3) Once you have constructed all the wings, cut 1 and 3/4 inch strips of the opal green quilling paper and create S scrolls to fill the wings. 

4) Put all the quilled piece in a box, arranging the wings in the order on the stamp (so you don't get confused later)

5) Using versafine black load the AYOS May stamp and print onto white cardstock, once dry cut out the dotted background.

6) Get some watercolour paper and using the two blues from the perfrect primary aquatint range, apaint a background to look like water (I alternated and used water to blend), allow this to dry.

7) Once the watercoloured background is dry matt the cut out stamp on to it, colour in the background of the plain dragonflies using the silver sakura pen and start to mount the quilled dragonfly wings, I did all the wings and then added the scrolls. Make pegs (tight circles) for the bodies using the opal green.

8) Using versamark, load up the stamp and imprint onto the watercolour card and emboss using the silver powder.

9) Using water pens colour the embossed wings using the grape jelly and picked raspberry inks to colour the wings, cut them out.

10) Mount the embossed dragonflies at different heights using the decoupage foam and the quilling to create depth.

11) Use the grape jelly ink to create a border with the water pens.

Head in the clouds

I am calling this called "Head in the Clouds" it is for the WOW embossing May contest.

May WOW embossing winner

Materials:

Card:

Black Card stock
White Card stock
Paperado Amerena
Paperado Orange
Paperado Lilac

Stamps:

Chocolate Baroque - Tranquility 

Ink:

Versamark
Memento Summer skies

Embossing Powders:

WOW Primary Ebony superfine
WOW Metallic lilac ultra high
WOW Metalline violet regular
WOW Primary Indigo Super fine
WOW Earthtone grape regular
WOW Primary Bark regular
WOW metallic pink ultra high
WOW Fluorescent pink regular
WOW Fuchsia Regular 

Pens:

Spectrum Noir Alcohol Pens
OR2
OR3
TN4
TN5
TN7
LG5
FS9
BG2
BT1
BT2
BT4

Dies:
Xcut Extra Large Dies 13.5cm diameter circle

Stencil:
Clarity stamp clouds

Extras:
Compass
Ruler
Scissors
stencil paintbrush

Method:

1) Using the 13.5 cm diameter circle die cut a white circle

2) Load up the tranquility Buddha with versamark and stamp onto the circle, sprink the ebony black wow embossing powder and cure with a heat tool.

3) Using the FS9 pen add the skin tone to Buddha

4) Use OR2 and OR3 to colour in the robes 

5) BT1, BT2 and BT4 are used to create the pool of water

6) TN7 is used for the bullrush heads and also for the hair

7) LG5 is used for the leaves

8) Apply the cloud stencil over the top of the image and load a stencil brush with Memento blue skies and apply clouds to the image

8) From white card stock cut 4  rectangles that each measure 5.5 by 12.5 cm, two of these will be used for the cherry blossom and 2 for the wisteria.

9) Load up the wind chime stamp with versamark, and orient one of the rectangle so it is in portrait (up right) and stamp at the bottom. Apply the Bark coloured embossing powder, remove excess and cure with a heat tool. Repeat this on another rectangle. Colour in with TN4 and TN5, set aside and let the alcohol blend.

10) Take the remaining two rectangles in landscape view and, load the cherry blossom stamp with versamark and add WOW metallic pink ultra high, repeat this again so you have two metallic print stamps. Cure between each re-inking.

11) Next add at least part of the cherry blossom stamp and this time using WOW Fluorescent pink regular, cure the powder between each re-inking

12) Next add the WOW Fuchsia Regular cherry blossom to the rectangles.

13) Using the cloud stencil and the memento blue skies ink add the clouds to the two cherry blossom rectangles.

14) Taking the portrait rectangles with windchimes start to layer the wisteria starting with WOW Metallic lilac ultra high, emboss and cure between each stamp, the next layer is WOW Metalline violet regular, followed by WOW Primary Indigo Super fine and finally WOW Earthtone grape regular.

15) Using the cloud stencil and the memento blue skies ink add the clouds to the two wisteria/wind chimes rectangles.

16) Using a pair of compasses create a 14cm diameter circle on the Paperado Amerena card and cut out using scissors

17) Next cu 2 rectangles measuring 6cm by 13 cms from the Paperado Orange card, and another two of the same dimensions Paperado Lilac card.

18) Mount the cherry blossom onto the purple card pieces and the wisteria on to the orange, and mount buddha on to the circle,

19) Cut a piece of square card that is 20cm by 20cm

20) Assemble the pieces of card as per the image above

Checkmate

A good friend did well in a chess competition so I made this card to congratulate them, it is also an entry for the Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge 10 and the WOW Embossing Powder Challenge for May.

Materials:

Card:

Pink Card

Orange Card

Mulberry/Raspberry Card

Purple Card

Stamps:

Chocolate Baroque - The Art of Chess 

Ink:

Versamark

Embossing Powders:

WOW Rich Metallic Gold superfine

Pens:

Spectrum Noir Alcohol Pens
LV3
BP2
OR2
PL3

Method:

1) Cut 3 triangles in, one each in orange, raspberry and purple.

2) Matt the orange triangle on to the top half of the card

3) Using a protractor measure out 9 degree (45 degrees divided by the 5 segments) and then use a ruler to mark the line on both the raspberry and the purple cards.

4) Cut each of the triangles into the 5 segments and retain them all

5) Taking the first purple segment, matt this onto the card up against the orange triangle, then take the 2nd segment from the raspberry triangle. Repeat this process alternating the colours until you have a striped triangle underneath the orange one.

6) Assemble the remaining segments starting with raspberry on a cutting matt and then using low tack tape adhere them at the top to stop them moving. Cut across the triangle every 2 cms on the cutting matt 

7) use the pieces you have just cut in step 6 to layer over the lower triangle on the card, you will use alternate rows (2,4,6 or 1,3,5)

8) Using versamark stamp 4 chess pieces on to white card stock and emboss using the gold powder,  and colour them in making each piece a different colour using the spectrum noir pens. Use a corner rounder to finish it off.

9) Using the queen stamp, load it with versamark and stamp onto vellum. Be carfeul when using the heat tool so as not to burn them vellum, colour the queen in using the BP2 ans then cut out using your craft scissors.

10) cut 2 strips of purple card and one strip of raspberry, then cut 2 raspeberry square and 1 purple square. Matt the squares into the middle of the strips

11) Assemble the card as above.

Colourful Klimt

This card was inspired by two of my favourite artists, Gustav Klimt and Andy Warhol. It's a second submission for the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Number 10 and also for the WOW Embossing May Challenge.

Materials:

Card:

Black Card stock
White Card stock

Stamps:

Chocolate Baroque - Klimt Panel 

Ink:

Versamark

Embossing Powders:

WOW Rich Metallic Gold superfine

Pens:

Spectrum Noir Alcohol Pens
LV3
BP2
OR2
PL3

Method:

1) load up the Klimt Panel stamp with versamark and stamp onto the white card, apply the wow gold embossing powder removing the excess and then heat to set the powder.

2) Repeat step 1 so that you have to gold embossed copies of the panel.

3) Take you versamark ink pad and stamp it around the edges of the card, so that you get an embossed border. Add the gold embossing powder and heat.

4) Using the corresponding Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers (LV3, BP2, OR2, PL3) Colour in one of the klimt panels changing colour when the pattern dictates / it looks right.

5) Set to one side and trim 1cm off from the left side of the klimt panel.

6) Taking the remaining panel turn it on it's side and cut 4 1.5 cm slices to form the panels.  

7) Use the ALcohol Markers to colour in the slices in one colour (LV3, BP2, OR2, PL3) 

8) Cut white rectangles and then matt the 5 panels on to the them.

9) Cut a black rectangle and matt onto the card base with the embossed edge and arrange the panels gluing with the adhesive of choice.