Green & Blue Christmas Magic

Hello dear blog friends I hope you are doing well.  I managed to get back into the craft room, life is getting back to normal, it's wonderful :)

I'm on the same colour theme, but this time for Christmas using a beautiful new stamp set that was released this month by Chocolate Baroque and I couldn't resist ordering.   I love the 'negative' style snowflakes.  I'm looking forward to be back 'working' with the Design Team soon.

Chocolate Baroque stamp sets used for above card:  A Child is Born and Christmas Magic.  The pretty die cut snowflakes are by Joy.

The background for this card was created again with Dylusions inks and gold Glimmermist spray.  I added some 'blobs' of Gesso as well.   I stamped over the background using a couple of the snowflakes from the set.  I coloured the angel with Inktense pencils and added lots of stickles.

Here is a look at the complete stamp set, it's gorgeous:

Well that's all for this morning, thanks for your visit and have a great day,
Shirley x     

Working with new Stencils in a pink room!

Hello blogging friends, I hope you are all doing well.     We are finally settled into our new home, happy to have most of the big projects done, it was a busy summer and suddenly Fall has arrived.   We are still working on our new gardens but I finally found time for crafting, which sure feels good :)

I was frustrated one day while still waiting for my 'craft studio' to be painted and decided it could stay pink for a while.  I'm not a 'pink girl' and it's the only room in the house that needs re-painting.    My husband has been working hard and ran out of time so I unpacked all my boxes, put away the drawers, a new desk was assembled and I'm able to 'play' again!

Ryn from Design by Ryn sent me her fabulous new stencils prior to our move, two were still waiting for me to 'work' with them.    What I came up with seems very familiar, either I've created similar designs or I've been influenced by my talented DT teammates.   I did have fun and as you can see I've used my 'go to' or 'fav' colour combos !

I used Dylusions inks, gold Glimmermist and Gesso on both Designs.

Design by Ryn stamps above:  Sea Bubbles Set and Candra (the Moth)
Design by Ryn stencils above:  Flowing Branches (faint) and Maidenhair Fern (with Gesso)

Design by Ryn stamps above:  Striped Reed Set.  The words are from a freebie from the Craftstamper magazine.
Design by Ryn stencils above:  Flowing Branches (with Gesso), Floral Spirals, Maidenhair Fern

It was great to have a creative 'interlude' but I'm back working on gardens and getting ready for a family visit from overseas, so my blogging time is still limited for a while.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week,
Shirleyx

Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge 2

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a great week.   This is a scheduled post while I'm in the process of moving.   The move went smoothly but it's a lot of work as anyone who has moved knows.  It doesn't get easier as we get older.

We are very pleased with the fantastic response to Chocolate Baroque's new Colour Challenge.  I created this tag for Chocolate Baroque's Colour Challenge No 2 using the inspiration design colours (shown at the bottom of this post).    

I embossed the cogs from Steampunk Christmas with white.  I blended the following Distress Inks over the embossing to create the background:  Dried Marigold, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo.  I stamped two flowers from Punky Flowers with Dried Marigold and Rusty Hinge at random.   I blended Dried Marigold and Chipped Sapphire on the butterfly from Steampunk Butterfly that was stamped with Cobalt Archival Ink, decoupaged and popped up over the background.  I also stamped the butterfly on the background so that the antennae didn't need to be cut out.  Art is from Artistic Expressions.  I used a white Gellyroll pen for highlighting and added Glossy Accents to the body which is hard to see in the photo).

Below is the gorgeous Colour Inspiration created by DT member Doreen:

 
If you have time we would love if you could join in the fun and for a chance to win £15 gift voucher at Chocolate Baroque.

All the details for the Challenge Blog can be found here.

I will continue to be on a blog break until the Fall while we get settled into our new home and create new gardens.   My craft room is still sitting full of boxes and needs work.  Thanks for your visit and have a great day.

Shirleyx

Blog Break

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well and enjoying the summer.    Just a reminder of my earlier post that I'm on a Blog Break as we have moved into a new home.  I would like to thank my kind blog friends for all your wonderful words of support.  It has been an emotional roller coaster ride and we have been quite tired at times.   While we have some adjusting, we are happy with our new smaller, cozy home.  I'm excited about the new adventure :) 

My craft stash is in boxes so I will not be creating for a while as we unpack and create new gardens.   My craft 'studio' needs new tables, my husband will build shelving into the closet (I am lucky he is good at that) and the room needs to be painted before I can unpack and set up - I can't wait. 

I could not believe how many boxes were required to pack my craft 'stash'.  I wondered how I had it all organized and tucked away.   Seriously, it makes me think about how much do I really need?  I had purged, gave away stamps and other goodies to friends and charity but still so much left.   I feel grateful but I also question myself.  Do you feel that way at times?

We had to leave our massive gardens behind but we will be creating small ones and will start digging and hauling soil soon.   We have the challenge of gardening on a slight slope and making sure water drains away properly.   We moved a lot of plants from this garden below:

Take good care everyone and enjoy being creative,
Shirleyx

Partridges, Turtle Doves, Pears and an Elegant Tree

Hello everyone,  I hope you are doing well.    This is a scheduled post as I'm on a 'blog break' while we move.

It was fun last month creating Christmas cards (they helped ease the stress) and I have two designs to show today that feature stamps from Chocolate Baroque's gorgeous new Turtle Doves set.

The background above was created with Raspberry & Persimmon Distress Inks using the acrylic block technique.   I stamped a flourish from Fancy Flourishes with Raspberry DI.

The pear tree branches & turtle doves from Turtle Doves and pear from Pears and Baubles were stamped with Imperial Purple Versafine ink.   I coloured the background branches with Prisma pencils.  The pear and birds were coloured with distress inks (using a mat, water & brush), decoupaged and popped up over the background.  I also added glitter paint to the larger birds and outlined with a white Gelly Roll pen.   Merry Christmas is from Warm Christmas Greetings.

And the card below is in a clean style:

I embossed a tree from the Turtle Doves set with gold and embellished with lots of little half pearls.  I added gold embossing to the edge of the background.  The die is from Spellbinder - Elegant Labels 4.

Thanks for your visit and have a great day!
Shirley

Thistle Butterfly

Hello everyone, I hope your day is going well.  

This is another scheduled post for this month as we are busy with moving so I'm still on a 'blog break'.     I have two cards to show featuring stamps from Chocolate Baroque's beautiful new Thistle Butterfly A5 set:

I stamped the main image on melon designer paper and coloured with Prisma pencils.   I stamped a Texture Fragment on the second layer with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink.   Spellbinder Die:  Decorative Labels Eight.

I also have a CAS style card below using an image from the same set.

I blended Rasberry & Persimmon Distress Inks in the oval space and stamped a Harlequin Fragment over top before stamping the main image with Purple Archival ink.   I stamped with a Harlequin Fragment using Lavendar DI on the white background.  I stamped off on a sheet of paper so that the image was faint.   I highlighted the flower with Gelly Roll pens and added glitter.  It's a bit difficult to see the detail in the photo.   'Just a note' is from the fabulous Mackintosh Sentiments set.

Thanks for your visit and have a great day,
Shirley

Snowy Scenes in August

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.   This is a scheduled post, I'm still on a 'blog break'.

I have a couple more Christmas designs featuring the beautiful new stamp set Snowy Scenes by Chocolate Baroque.    I love winter landscapes they can be so beautiful.

The background above was created with Dylusions inks - Turquoise and Midnight.  When dry I stamped and embossed Big Bold Background Snowflake Outline with silver.   I stamped the church scene from Snowy Scenes with Cobalt Archival ink and then added a wash of Midnight Dylusions to the sky to darken it and blend with the background.  The actual colours are more purple than the photo shows, it's so difficult to photograph the purple.    I painted the rest of the scene with Inktense pencils, added lots of glitter and the beautiful die cut snowflakes by Joy.

I combined a few stamps from Snowy Scenes for the card below:

I stamped the images - house in the snow, bird on the fence and the beautiful sentiment,  "All hearts" with black Archival ink.   I used Dylusions inks as a wash for the background and coloured the images with Prisma pencils.  I stamped a little snowflake from the set with Lilac Distress Ink.   Again I added some pretty snowflake dies cuts from Joy and lots of Stickles, glitter and bling.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day,
Shirley

Purple Honeysuckle & Butterflies

Hello everyone,  I hope you are doing well.

I have a couple of cards today featuring  Chocolate Baroque's gorgeous new Honeysuckle Butterfly.   They also released another set Thistle Butterfly,  both are available individually or as a multi-buy.  

This first card was a bit of an experiment.  I worked on it in a few stages, partly because I've been very busy and partly to let it dry between layers.   These are fantasy as I've never seen Honeysuckle this colour :)

I started by stamping the flower & butterfly image from Honeysuckle Butterfly with black Archival ink on mixed media paper and then dry embossed with the swirls.  Sorry but the embossing folder doesn't say which company it's from.     I used coral chalk ink to darken the embossing.

Next I sprayed with Purple and Midnight Dylusions inks.  After drying I painted here & there with white Gesso and finally I painted with Silks Acrylics over top.

I coloured the main image with Prisma pencils.   I stamped the image a second time on separate card stock, coloured and 'fussy cut' the butterflies.  I embossed them on the back with a stylus for dimension, added stickles and popped them up on the background.   I also added lots of clear rhinestones on the background as you can see.

Next I have similar colours again using Dylusions inks but I did not add acyclic paints.

I stamped the daisy image from Honeysuckle Butterfly.  I coloured it with Prisma Pencils.   The background is Midnight and White Dylusions inks.  I stamped the thistle (which I coloured with Prisma pencils) and flourish from the same set in the the background.   I stamped, coloured and 'fussy cut' two butterflies from the set to pop up onto the card.  Die set used:  Spellbinder Opulent Ovals.

And here is a look at the two new sets.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing more butterflies, I love these beautiful stamp sets, Chocolate Baroque's designer is very talented :)

This is a scheduled post, I'm on a 'blog break'.
Have a great day
Shirley