Relish the day

This is a card I made for my Sister's friends Birthday. They love to cook so I thought this would be fun.

Fan of peacocks

I love the extravagance an opulence of peacocks so I have tried to capture it in this card, which is a submission for the Chocolate Baroque Challenge 11.

Materials:

Card:

White Card stock A3
Watercolour paper
Scrap card
Vellum

Stamps:

Chocolate Baroque - Tangled Peacock
Chocolate Baroque - Peacock Parade
Chocolate Baroque - Peacock Fan 

Ink:

Versamark
Distress - Mowed Lawn
Memento - Grape Jelly
Memento - Angel Pink
Distress - Picked Raspberry

Embossing Powders:

Green Glitz 
Blue Glitz
Purple Glitz

Quilling
JJ Quilling Pink 3mm

Extras:
Quilling tool
Quilling board
Stencil brush
water pens
PVA Glue

Method:

1) Start by printing the Peacock parade peacock onto some scrap card to make a template for the centre piece. I made mine "egg" shaped

2) Turn the template over and draw round it in pencil cutting it out of watercolour paper. I flipped it over so that the pecil marks would be on the back

3) Stamp the peacock on your watercolour egg shaped paper using versamark and then sprinkle with the blue glitz embossing powder. Shake off excess blowing where necessary and then cure with a heat tool. When set place in a heavy book to flatten it.

4) Cut 65 strips of 3 inch quilling paper and quill into 8mm coiled circles, use a quilling board to help with the sizing and glue - leave these to dry.

5) Take the fan piece from peacock fans and load up with versamark stamp this onto the vellum and cover in blue glitz, using the heat tool to cure. Remember not to scorch the vellum, repeat until you have 5 blue pieces.

6) Load up the "feather" from tangled peacock and stamp this onto vellum using versamark. Sprinkle with purple glitz and cure with heat tool. Do this until you have 10 pieces of the purple feathers

7) Take the small leaf shaped feather from the peacock parade set and stamp this in vrsamark 6 times onto vellum, sprinkling green glitz embossing powder. Cure the powder with the heat tool.

8) Fussy cut out all the blue, purple and green pieces from the vellum paper and slightly curl the purple ones so that they have some dimension. I gentle squeezed them in half.

9) Retrieve the egg shaped watercolour stamped paper from the heavy book and then blot some of the mowed lawn ink onto the back of an acrylic block, pick up the ink from the acrylic block onto the nib of the water pen and colour and shade the peacock as per the image.

10) Add the grape jelly purple colour in the same way as the mowed lawn colouring the segments as in the image

11) Clean the acrylic block and blot some angel pink onto it, load your stencil brush with the pink, practice swirling on some scrap paper and then move the swirling so that there is a border of light pink around the peacock which is heavier towards to the edge.

12) Run the edge of the egg shape over the distress ink picked raspberry (think of the edge of the card as a knife so it is at right angles to the ink pads) and lightly coat the very edge

13) Let the peacock dry and then flatten again using heavy books

14) Take the quiled circles and using your fingers shape them into tear drops. If you use the "join" where you stuck the paper as the point of the teardrop then it gives the best results.

15) stick the blue fan pieces behind the egg shaped template as per image, next glue the image onto some A3 card, and then add the purple and green feather of the peacock tail.

16)Put the quilled teardrops as a border around the egg shape leaving space at the bottom

17) Cut the outline around the peacock tale leaving a flap at the top (this is to fold over to add the back of that card as it is a custom shape

18) Make the back of the card, using the front as a template - you can skip the blue pieces if you like - it is an "igloo" shape. Stick the back onto the folded flap you created in step 17.

Beach huts

The lovely weather has had me thinking of the British seaside and the sand and beach huts as well as fish and chips by the sea. The beach huts and bright colours make me think of summer, so I will also be submitting this to the WOW embossing challenge for June which has the brief of "Summer".

Materials:

Card:

White Cardstock

Sandpaper

Stamps:

Chocolate Baroque: Seaside Dreams

Ink:

Versamark

Embossing Powders:

Primary Lagoon regular

Primary Apple Red regular

Primary Lemon regular

Paper strps:

JJ Quilling kit pack

Method:

1. Stamp the beach huts on to the white cardstock, using the blue embossing powder shake this over the first hut and then using the yellow shake this over the last beach hut (use different scrap paper to capture the excess so you don't contaminate your colours) and use the heat tool to cure

2. Stamp the huts again, this time using the red powder to cover the middle hut, and heat emboss using the tool.

3. Cut three pieces of sandpaper that measure 5.5cm by 6.5cm, cut out the beach huts and then adhere them to the sandpaper

4. Cut 3 piece of card stock measure 7cm x 6cm, dab versamark around the edges directly from the ink pad, add blue powder to one, red to the next and yellow to the last one. This creates the backgrounds. Use the heat tool to cure the powder.

5. Matt the sandpaper huts onto the embossed backgrounds

6. Lay a strip of quilling paper horizontally behind where the matted huts will sit and adhere to the card, placing the hut over it.

Ring of roses

This card was inspired by the Chocolate Baroque Challenge 11, I wanted to make something that was reminiscent of the stained glass windows in cathedrals but that also went beyond the card, so the leaves of the long roses and the ribbon roses are "off the edge". The bottoms ones are folded to make "feet".

Materials:

Card:

White Card Stock

Stamps:

Chocolate Baroque Mackintosh Windows

Chocolate Baroque Mackintosh Beauty

Ink:

Versafine Black Onyx

Versamark

Pens:

Spectrum Noir alcohol markers

GT2

TB5

PL4

BP3

FS1

TN8

Embossing Powders:

WOW! Embossing powder Metallic Silver - regular

Extras:

Scissors

Craft Knife

Compass

Method:

1) Load up the ladies face from Mackintosh windows with Versafine Black Onyx and stamp onto white card, allow to dry.

2) Next load up the small roses from the windows set and stamp 21 onto white card using the black ink

3) Get the "long" rose from the beauty set and stamp 8 of these, again using the black onyx versafine

5) Finally get the rose and ribbons from the beauty set and stamp 4.

6) Colour the face using FS1 and the hair using TN8, then use the other 4 pens to colour in as per the picture above.

7) Using compasses draw a circle with a radius of 5.8 cms and cut this out

8) Stamp the versamark ink on the circle and then cover with the silver embossing powder, use the heat tool to cure the powder.

9) Next you want to create a ring start by drawing a circle that has a radius of 6.3 and then around that draw one that has a radius of 7.8cm cut this out so you have a ring and colour with GT2

10) Next to create the blue ring you need a circle with a radius of 8.3cm followed by 10.8cm

12) Finally draw a square that is 20cm x 20cm and the draw a circle (starting at the centre) with a radius of 11.3cm to create the purple corners

13) colour in the roses as per the image above (small ones in BP 3) long ones in a combination of BP3 in centre with PL4 and then use GT2 for the stems

14) Colour the rose and ribbon using BP3 and GT2

15) Cut out the face and all the roses using a sharp craft knife

16) Assemble the card as per the image (face on the silver circle, pink roses on green circle, long roses on blue, and the rose and ribbons on the purple)

17) Fold the ribbon roses on the bottom to make "feet" for 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.