Love with a Steampunk Owl

Hello everyone,

I have a card today featuring the fun Owl from Chocolate Baroque's new Steampunk Birds set.  I plan to give this to my husband on his next birthday as he really likes the steampunk designs. 

 

The background is Turquoise Dylusions Ink which I stenciled over with TCW Gear stencil.    I stamped the cog fragment from Steampunk Butterfly with Peacock and Walnut Distress Inks.    Love is from Artistic Expressions.   The Owl was embossed with copper powder and coloured with Tombow markers.  I carefully cut him out and popped him up on the background. 

Thanks for visiting and have a great day,
Shirley

Spiral Branch with a Hummingbird

Hello everyone,  I hope you are doing well.

I have a card today using Designs by Ryn stamps that makes me think about summer instead of the winter that is upon us and will probably be here for while.   

The background was created using the green Dylusions inks along with a little white linen and Turquoise.    I blended a little Mowed Lawn Distress Ink using TCW Cell Theory stencil.

I stamped Sea Bubbles with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink around the background and then stamped the beautiful Spiral Branch with Cobalt Archival ink.  I coloured the leaves with a white Prisma pencil.  

Flying Hummingbird 3 was stamped on watercolour paper and coloured with my Inktense pencils.   I added lots of holograph glitter with a glue pen.

Let the Adventure Begin is from Chocolate Baroque and available as a single clear stamp or in a complete collection of Fairyland Words.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend,
Shirley

Abstract Light and Dark

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I have something different to share today and again it's not a card and it's not for Christmas.     I took an Acrylic painting workshop with Karen Ellis in the summer and finally showing the result - an abstract painting :)   We were free to paint what we wanted and not following a design but learning techniques.  However I was inspired by a painting of Karen's that hangs in her studio.   I continued to paint on this piece after I got home, as I could not finish it in the afternoon.

I'm joining in at Art Journal Journey's Light and Dark challenge.    I hope this is OK as it's not my Art Journal, but it matches the theme.  I see the light shining on the 'trees' with dark in the background.

This is a large canvas, I used Acrylic paints, molding paste and stencils.  

Thanks for looking and have a great day!
Shirley

Mixed Media with Butterflies

Hello everyone, I hope all is well.   Our snow melted two days ago and now it's back !  

I have a Mixed Media Collage (on canvas) to show you today. 

 

I started with a 10 x 10 inch stretched canvas.  I covered it with a sheet of Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap - Melange using Matt Gel Medium.   When dry, I added lots of greens & blues with Neocolor II (water colour) crayons, spritzed with water, let it run and then let it dry.   Next I added texture using TCW - Solace stencil with light molding paste and let it dry.   I added the diamond pattern with TCW Harlequin stencil and black acrylic paint.   Next I painted with Silks Acrylic Glazes.

I stamped the large Butterfly from Chocolate Baroque's Tangled Garden set with black on 140lb mixed media paper.   I cut it out & adhered with Glossy Gel Medium, added wires for the antennae and then painted with the Acrylic Glazes. I added lots of stickles to the body.  

I covered everything with clear Distress Crackle paint.   The final step was to add the metal centers to the 'flowers' and the 3 metal butterflies which I also painted a little and added liquid pearls to the center.

Here is a close up where you can see the 'crackle' in the finish.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your day !
Shirley

Bliss with gorgeous Floral Stamps

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

Chocolate Baroque also announced four new gorgeous Floral clear stamps which are on special for the month of December.   I love flowers and thoroughly enjoy working with these. I used the new beautiful Snake's Head Fritillary on this card:

   
The background was created with Vibrant Turquoise and Cut Grass Dylusions spray inks.   I added a little sea salt while the inks were still wet.   I stamped branches from Spring Foliage with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink and the rest of the stamping was done with Cobalt Blue Archival ink.   The foliage at the top is also from Spring Foliage and the bottom edge is from Floral Edges.   I highlighted the Fritillary and branches at the top with Prisma Pencils.   Bliss is from Artistic Affirmations, another word stamp set that I use frequently.  I also added glitter on the top branch and on the leaves of the Fritillary.

Here is a look at all four new beautiful clear floral stamps available individually or as a multi-buy.  These stamps are on special for the month of December.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend,
Shirley

Snowflake Ornaments

Hello everyone,

I have a card today that I'm entering into Impression Obsession's - Think Snow challenge which closes Tuesday, December 17th.  Click on the link for more details.  I've used favourite stamps, the two Damask Snowflakes, to create ornaments.

IO Stamps used:   Cover a Card - Flourishes CC027, SM Damask Snowflake D2259 and Damask Snowflake F2258, Christmas Magic B3585

IO Die used:  The bow hanger is from DIE032-J Vintage Ornament

I started with a sheet of coloured and lightly patterned paper from Basic Grey.   I stamped over top with Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink using the CC027 Flourishes.  (you can see it in the close up below).    Christmas Magic was stamped with Blue Memento Dye Ink.  I edged the background with a silver leaf pen.

I embossed the two Damask Snowflakes in Gold, coloured with Inktense Pencils, cut them out and attached.  I added stickles, liquid pearls and large pearls to each.     I added the 'hangers' from the Ornament Die set.

 
Thanks for your visit and have a great day!
Shirley

Christmas cards with beautiful Chocolate Baroque stamps

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.   It's getting a little milder here and the sun is shining, it feels so good :)   I have several Christmas Cards to show you today.

I recently ordered the beautiful Steampunk Christmas set from Chocolate Baroque which had been on my wish list for a long time.   My husband likes the Steampunk designs a lot, so I made this card for him.

The background is Dylusions Inks mopped up from my craft mat.    The cog trees were stamped with Mowed Lawn DI.   I stamped the bottom of the smaller tree around the edge.   The larger tree in the centre was stamped with Cobalt Ink over another Dylusions inked piece of cardstock.    I cut it out and then embossed the entire image with a Kaleidoscope powder.  I coloured the cogs over top of the embossing with purple Smooch Ink.

Die- Spellbinder Sprightly Sprockets

You can see the sparkle better below but the photos are not doing it justice.

I used the gorgeous flowers also from the Steampunk Christmas set for the card below.     This set has a lot to offer, for non-steampunk as well.

 

The background on the above card was created using Festive Berries and Mahogany Distress Inks using the acrylic block technique.    I stamped the Holly edge from Christmas Edges and Joy with Seedless Preserves DI.   The Holly Flourish is by Cheery Lyn. 

The flowers were embossed with Bronze Metallic power, I blended Seedless Preserves and Mahogany Distress Inks to colour them.  I cut them out, popped them up and added a large bling piece to the centers (which covered up the cog center as this card is not steampunk theme).   I didn't have purple bling in this size but found that I could colour them with Alcohol ink.   

Here is a look at the beautiful Steampunk Christmas A4 set. 

I have one more card that I created recently with the beautiful New England Winter A5 set that I've had for a while, also by Chocolate Baroque.  I love this house and enjoyed colouring it. 

The background is Broken China, Tumbled Glass and Evergreen Bough Distress Inks using the Acrylic block technique.   I picked up drops of ink after drying.  I stamped the corners from the New England Set with Evergreen Bough ink.   The house, star and sentiment from Warm Christmas Greetings were stamped with Black Versafine Ink.   I coloured the image with my Prisma Pencils, added red glitter to the ornaments on the tree and a little clear glitter here & there (hard to see in the photo). 

Thanks for visiting and have a great day,
Shirley

Steampunk Tropical Garden

Hello everyone I hope you are having a great weekend.

Chocolate Baroque has just launched a fabulous and fun new rubber stamp set,  Steampunk Birds.   As soon as I saw the 'punky' Parrot I wanted to create a tropical garden for him to hang out in:)     It's been colder than normal here in Ontario, Canada so it would be great to feel warm tropical sunshine.   

I started by stamping cog plants from Punky Flowers on the background with white Colorbox Pigment ink.   I blended a few colours of green pigment ink over top and then rubbed off ink over the images (ghost stamping), but they are hidden into the 'garden'.   Next I stenciled with Distress Inks and TCW Gears (at the top) and TCW Ferns in the centre.

I embossed the Parrot from Steampunk Birds and the flowers from Punky Flowers with copper on watercolour paper, coloured with Tombow markers and cut them out to attach.    I added die cut leaves and a small metal cog.    Imagine is from Artistic Expressions.

Here is a look at Steampunk Birds A4 set, which is on sale until the end of December.  

If you have a chance please visit Chocolate Baroque's Design Team blog to see what my talented teammates are showing.

Note:  The photo that I used for my new blog header was taken right after snow storm in February.  We have some snow right now, but not this much ! (thanks again to Donna for teaching me how to create these).

Thanks for visiting and have a great day,
Shirleyx