Sunny Reflections

Hi folks, I'm back with another project using the lovely Sunny Sunflowers stamps available from Chocolate Baroque

There is a chance to win two sets of these stamps at the moment, by either commenting on the Design Team Blog or clicking 'like' on the Facebook Page scroll down to find the giveaway article. The giveaway runs until 1st June, so you still have a couple of days to be in with a chance of winning a set of these stamps.

My project today features a cheap mirror frame which I have covered with gesso and acrylic paint, adding a layer of PVA to cause the paint to crackle in certain areas. I dry brushed some cream paint over the top, to tone down the green a little bit, as I wanted a shabby feel to the frame.

I stamped the flowers and leaves into some Sculpey, a sort of Polymer clay, that you bake in the oven. After I had baked the various pieces, I painted these with acrylic paint as well. I added some seed beads to the centre of the sunflowers once I had stuck them to the mirror frame.

I cut a couple of butterflies from metal using a Crealie die, ran them through an embossing folder, and wiped them lightly with alcohol ink to remove the colour from the raised areas. I cut a shape using a Nestability, which I coloured with Memento inks, and then stamped a sentiment from the 'Artistic Expressions' stamp plate.

I've just popped a piece of card into the centre to take photographs of the project. The mirror is perfectly clean, as I used Post it notes to mask it off while I was working.

I'll be back in a few days with another project, thanks for stopping by, xx

Altered Spool

Hi folks, just to let you know that I have a project over on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team Blog today. There is a new stamp sheet out called Sunny Sunflowers, full of bold blooms and great leaves to make some fabulous projects. The Design Team will be posting lots of samples over the next few days, so keep checking the blog to see what they have made.

For this project I have combined the stamps with one of Lesley Wharton's super Downloads; Patterned Spools set 5, which is a lovely gold and plum colour combination. I have used a wooden cotton reel that was about the perfect size for this project. I primed this with gesso, and painted it a soft lilac colour, using Eco Green acrylic paint. I nearly always mix my own colours by combining a cream acrylic paint with a darker colour until I get the colour I want. I make sure that I have enough paint to finish my project though, as you never get the colour the same second time around! I then printed two of the spool sets onto card, and stuck two of the correct size together so that they would fit around the cotton reel. I edged the card with a little bit of Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I then stuck the downloads to the cotton reel.

I stamped three smaller flowers, and several leaves, colouring these with Distress Markers, toning the colours in with the download colours. I also stamped a couple of tiny Butterflies from the 'Butterfly Bliss stamp plate, and coloured these in as well. I stuck the flowers around the cotton reel, adding the leaves, and one of the butterflies.


I placed a large shrink plastic flower with two leaves that I had coloured on card earlier and the last remaining small butterfly onto the top of the cotton reel over a circle download. I punched a hole into the middle of the download where the hole in the cotton reel was situated.

My Husband very kindly provided me with a metal rod with three wires which he had attached through holes along the top part of the rod. I bent these to look like branches, and stuck beads on the end, and inserted the rod into the hole in the cotton reel, turning it into an earring holder.

I added leftover beads and jewellery findings to some shrink plastic images that I had made and hung these on my little 'tree'.

Here's a close up picture of the earrings:

These will be great for the Summer and only cost and pound or two to make. They are in my favourite colours, so they will go with lots of things that I wear. There is lots of space on my little holder for plenty more pairs of earrings, so I am going to rummage through my stamps to see what else I can shrink to make into jewellery.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 56- Artistic Outpost offering

Hi folks, well after a couple of weeks without managing to make a project for my Friday slot, I did make something today. We've had a very busy time lately, and with my craft room sort out, I've really not had the chance for any casual crafting. This week however, I wanted to get back into the groove, and dug out these fabulous stamps from Artistic Outpost that hadn't even ben cut out. I bought them ages ago, with another set, that I haven't used either. This set is called 'Loverly London', and the other set is called 'London Underground', which I think are great with all of the different elements on the plate.

Anyway, for my project this week I decided to go for a patriotic theme. I've been to Cambridge today, and everywhere was decked out with bunting, and red, white and blue decorations and stock ready for the Jubilee and the Olympics. It got me thinking that the locals might be a bit fed up by the time that everything is all over, as the tourists will be flocking to the cities in their droves. The couple on the stamp plate both have an air of being fed up. I placed them together, and used one of the phrases as if they had been asked repeatedly by passing tourists to speak in their posh accents far too often. I made some bunting by punching out some triangles, and stamping a Union Jack onto them, using Distress Markers. I stuck them over a piece of Baker's Twine using foam pads. I created a collage background using a couple of different stamps and Distress Inks.

Personally, as I live out in the sticks, I won't be affected by the events of the Summer too much. I'm looking forward to watching the Jubilee celebrations and the Olympics on TV! I sympathise with those of you that will be struggling to get to work or travel over the course of the festivities though.

I actually think that it's great that we have so much to celebrate this year, with both the Jubilee and the Olympics going on. Have you got street parties coming up where you live? Are you making bunting to go up in your neighbourhood? Let's hope that the weather is kind to us this Summer, and we can make the most of whatever we get up to.

Why not have a rummage through your stash and see what crafty items you have that have been neglected. Make something and leave a comment on my blog, and I'll pop along to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A little bit of Love

Hi Folks, this is the last in the batch of my samples using the 'Lace Fragments' and 'Haberdashery' stamp sets recently released at Chocolate Baroque I have chosen to use lots of the lace stamps embossed onto pastel coloured card and cut into 2" squares. I then sewed these together on my sewing machine, just like a piece of regular patchwork.

I added a photograph of my Daughter and my Niece taken a few years ago, matted onto a Nestability shape. I've added a few embossed buttons from the 'Haberdashery' stamp plate and a word from the 'Artistic Expressions' stamp plate to complete the 8" x8" scrapbook page.

I hope that you have enjoyed my samples, as I have loved working with this batch of stamps. Thanks for stopping by, xx

My Buddy's Birthday

It was my crafting friend's Birthday this week, and I made her a card, trying to incorporate lots of things that I know that she likes. She loves the new Wendy Vecchi flower, for example, a stamp set that she hasn't purchased yet, so I knew that I had to incorporate some of 'those' flowers. She loves browns and creams, and script backgrounds, so I broke into a new paper pad that I had purchased recently, using those very colours. She also loves Chocolate Baroque stamps, and has her eye on the new 'Lace Fragments' set, so I managed to incorporate those into the card as well. My OH says that this particular lace stamp reminds him of lace stockings. It might seem a bit racy for a friend's card, but I like the effect of this stamp peeping out from behind another layer.

I have added a piece of cream lace, and a lovely sentiment about friendship to finish my card. I love making cards, but the cards that I make for friends and family are the nicest cards of all. I know that they are going to my favourite people, and this special lady is one of the best.

My mammoth tidying up session is now complete, I have finished sorting and clearing all of my craft stash out of the extension, and my craft room is tidy. It has taken me about a month, and has been a lot of hard work. It really has been worth it to get the job done. There are still a couple of areas that I'd like to tackle, like my large collection of wood mounted stamps for example, but that can wait for another time. I'm getting ready to travel up to see my Daughter at the weekend, and then go to the Happy Stampers Show on Saturday, where I'll meet up with a few of my craft friends. I love going to this show, it is my favourite I think. So it will be a good weekend all round.

Thanks for popping by, xx

A little bit of 'Ooh La La!'

Hi Folks, here's another sample using the fabulous new 'Lace Fragments' and 'Haberdashery' stamps recently released over at Chocolate Baroque I have tried to recreate a French Dressing room feel to this card, using Post It notes to make the stripy wallpaper. I have used Memento Paris Dusk Ink and Spun Sugar Distress Ink as my colour choices throughout.

The mannequins have been stamped and embossed using a navy embossing powder, then coloured using Distress Stains. I have used a Memory Box label to stamp the sentiment on, which came from the 'Paris Postcard' A6 unmounted stamp sheet.

The colours that I used on this project were very unusual for me, and I really enjoyed working outside my usual comfort zone. I'll be back in another few days with my last sample from these current stamp sets. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A steampunk kinda Girl

Hi Folks, I'd like to show you another sample using some of the new stamps recently released over at Chocolate Baroque My sample today has a rather Steampunk theme, owing to the fabulous Vintage Dressmaker embossing folder from Couture Creations. I love the idea of combining steampunk and haberdashery together, so set about to bring together some of my favourite Chocolate Baroque stamps to achieve this effect.

I started making a background by creating a wrinkle free distress base using Distress Stains, then added one of the Lace Fragments stamps using Old Paper Distress Ink. This stamp is such a usuable stamp, and has an almost grid-like element to it, which can be used to give you straight lines as I have used in this sample, or you can use it turned more randomly, as I did in my previous sample. I then added a script stamp from the 'Eccentric Edwardian' stamp plate, and a cog stamp from 'Steampunk Christmas', which I brushed with bronze mica powder. I edged the background with Vintage Photo Distress ink to age the background.

I stamped the mannequin and the heart/wings from 'Punky Romance' onto plain card and coloured these with Distress Stains with a water brush. I love this effect. (This was before I purchased my Distress markers, so I may have a new favourite soon!) I was very excited when I realised that the wings from this particular stamp fitted the mannequin so well, it felt like serendipity!

I added some cogs to the background, and some tiny cogs to the mannequin's skirt, to reflect the design on the embossing folder.

The sentiment was stamped onto a tag cut from shrink plastic, then stuck onto a piece of spare background paper once it was shrunk. I added another cog with a jump ring for movement.

I'll be back in  few days with another sample using these great stamps. The next one is completely different! Thanks for stopping by, xx

Entering some challenges

Hi folks, well the good weather disappeared quickly, didn't it? One day of sunshine, and we are back to rain again. Oh well, it's good for the water shortage, I suppose.

I'm still trying to sort all of my craft stash out, and I'm at the stage where my craft room is tidy, but I still have lots left that needs somewhere to go. I am trying to be ruthless, and am having a really good clear out, but it's very hard! I am selling some of my stuff on Ebay, I'm putting some aside for a table top sale, but the real rubbish is simply going in the bin.

Anyway, I decided to take a break this morning, and do some crafting for a change. I saw a great inspirational photo on a challenge blog the other day, and the brief fits another couple of challenges as well, so that's a bonus. I've based my project on this photo:

which is over at for your inspiration blog my design teamie Miranda made a gorgeous card using these colours, and it caught my eye. You can get to her blog using the link in my sidebar.

I made a background using Pan Pastels, so that I could enter my project into the Pan Pastel  weekly challenge 'Springtime' as well. The colours remind me of crocuses, with the purples, yellows and oranges in there. I'm also entering my project into the Snazzys Design Team Challenge which is to use 'Spring Colours'.

I have stamped over the top of the background using a great Chaspel Road stamp which is made up of lots of different flower names. I love this stamp, and can see myself using this a lot. I used Perfect Medium, and then used a combination of different colours of Pan Pastels to cover it. I also stamped a Wendy Vecchi flower spray on the opposite side in the same way, and used a dark magenta Pan Pastel to cover the Perfect Medium.

I made several grungepaper flowers, and coloured them with Wild Honey and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks. I also cut out two grungepaper butterflies. I wanted to use the same colours, creating a graduated effect across the butterflies. I used Distress Markers in Mustard Seed and Wild Honey, and then used Seedless Preserves Distress Ink around the edge with a blending tool. I was really happy that the two mediums worked together so well.

Oh well, that's the end of my crafty break for now. I'd better get back to the sorting out. Tomorrow, I have a project posting on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team Blog and I'll be posting some details about it here as well,so pop back to take a look if you are interested. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Going Patriotic!

Hi folks, I hope you are all having a great weekend, in spite of the wet weather. It's getting a bit much now, don't you think? An odd dry day here and there wouldn't go amiss.

I've taken a bit of a break from the grand sort out to do a bit of crafting today, and I've been playing with some new downloads available from Chocolate Baroque They are spools, designed by the very clever Lesley Wharton, and they come in six different designs.  During the week, I was blog hopping, and came across a very clever idea for a hidden box that looked like a ribbon spool. 3D PCP Challenge: a ribbon spool with a secret compartment! (tutorial & printables) 

This is the link for you and there are some great downloads, some of which I have combined with Lesley's to make my project today. I printed Lesley's download for the spools out twice, as I needed to make the spool much wider than her original, and backed them onto a cereal box. The tutorial suggests using packing tape reels, but I didn't have any of those. They would have been much better, as they are thicker. I used another one of the Chocolate Baroque downloads to line the spool. I added a couple of flowers and some Crealie leaves to the top of the lid, and painted some Stickles onto these.

Inside my box there is a surprise! I continued with the patriotic theme, and made a handbag charm, using an idea from an item in the June 'Make Jewellery' magazine.

There is a chart for a beaded Union Jack that you can turn into jewellery or a key ring. I have added a few charms and some Swarovski crystals to mine.

My silver beads were a little bit larger than my seed beads, so I had to play around with the number of beads that I used compared to the number of beads on the chart. No worries, I got there in the end! I really enjoyed this project, and would definitely make something like this again.

I'm off to print another one of Lesley's spools out now. There's a yellow and purple combination that has my name on it! Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 55- Clear stamps

Hi Folks, it's Friday again, and time to rummage through your stash to see what items you have lurking that are unused and neglected.

I have been tidying up a bit more this week and making great progress, I'll show you the rest of my room, so that you can see how I've been getting on.

This is the area to the right of my desks, where I store my inkpads, and I have a bank of filing cabinets. I have a small red one, which houses some wood mounted rubber stamps, then the other cabinets also house wood mounted rubber stamps, plus card, ribbon, speciality paper, and all manner of bits and pieces. They still need a good sort out really. Then you can see a huge bookcase to the right which houses my craft books. I have books on drawing, painting, card making, jewellery, cookery, felt making, crochet, knitting, jornalling, mixed media........!!!!!!

This is the side of the room where the shelves are that I showed you last week. It used to be very cluttered, and although I can't keep it completely clear, I have really tidied it up. I have a box with odd card bits in, that I use every day, so I have decided to keep it. It is very useful, and I don't chuck my larger card oddments away, choosing to use them to mount sentiments, or add to tags, etc. The greens are useful for leaves, and the colours are handy for handmade flowers.

Not the most interesting of pictures I know, but proof that I haven't scooped everything up and piled it onto the floor! I can't remember the last time I could walk from my desk to the door!

This is from the door to try to give you a view of the whole room. I painted the room a sunny yellow when I came in here to try and make it a cheery room. I can hear the birds singing outside, and there are lovely trees outside the window, so it is a pleasant place to be......when it is tidy, lol!

Anyway, I have managed a card this week, inspite of all of my tidying up. I decided to rummage through my box of clear stamps for a change. I settled on two sets, one from Inkadinkadoo, 'Meadow', that I bought almost a year ago at the Happy Stampers Show at Port Sunlight, and the other, that thinking about it, I bought from the same show! It's a KaiserCraft set called 'Life Sentiments'.

I covered half of my card with white Pan Pastel, a tip that I got from my CB Design Team buddy Claire before I created some clouds using several blues and turquoises from the Pan Pastel range. I cut a shape from paper using a scalloped circle to create my clouds, a tip that I got from my dear friend Elaine

I then used some torn paper to create some hills using several shades of green, this time without using the white as a base. I stamped the foliage stamps using a mixture of Versafine and Versamagic inks. I love using the chalky Versamagic inks as you can add the lighter colours over the top of darker colours that you have previously stamped, like the lovely Perfect Plumeria that I have used. It makes the flowers appear to be in the foreground. I just couldn't resist that touch of plummy pink! I added a butterfly stamped in black, and the KaiserCraft sentiment before I matted the whole thing onto a piece of co-ordinating card.

The Pan Pastels make such a soft background, and I thoroughly enjoyed creating this card. I don't know why I left this pretty stamp set untouched for so long, but I think that I'll have to make a few more cards before I pack it away.

Why don't you see what you can find to make something with that has been forgotten in your crafty stash? Leave a comment, and I'll pop along to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Decoupaged Lace Flower

Hi folks, here's another sample using the new 'Lace Fragments' stamp set from Chocolate Baroque These stamps are so pretty, and I loved this large flower stamp from the moment I saw it.

I stamped the flower using Versamark and a vanilla white embossing powder, which acts as a resist for the ink that I then applied to the rest of the card. I chose to use a Memento ink called Desert Sand, which is a soft brown.

The butterflies were created using a Crealie die, also available from Chocolate Baroque. I have stamped these with another of the lace stamps and coloured them with the same Memento ink. The full details of how I completed my card are over on the Design Team Blog

Glenda has a giveaway over there at the moment, and if you care to leave a comment, you are in with a chance of winning a set of free stamps. I'll be back with another sample in a few days' time. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A card from Sue

Hi Folks, Sue has sent me a submission for this week's Forgotten Friday post. She has used a lovely La Blanche stamp, and her Distress Markers to colour the stamp.

It's a great image, and those flowers are lovely, aren't they?

Hope you are all having a great week, thanks for stopping by, xx