Quick Cards Cacti, Succulents and Flowers

Hi there everybody.  Once a month over on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team Blog they post some examples of quick cards, and if you would like to see more from some other members of the team please do go and take a look.  Here are my three cards using the Cacti and Succulent sets which were introduced recently.

This first card uses the Scrumptious Succulents and I made a smooshed background using Brushos in turquoise and yellow and then stamped three of the images from this set using Versamark and WOW Opaque Bright White Embossing Powder.  I then coloured using more Brusho powders by dropping a little on to my glass mat and mixing with water before colouring with a waterbrush.  This keeps the colours quite light.  I die cut the sentiment mat and added a sentiment from Blossom and Grow using Versafine Smokey Gray ink.

This second card uses the Captivating Cacti stamp.  I made a background using glossy card and three colours of alcohol inks, Indigo, Pool and Stonewashed by placing dots of it on to an alcohol ink blending tool, and then added some blending solution to them.  I swiped and dotted the tool over the card and finished up with this mix.  When dry which is almost immediate, I stamped the image in my Misti using Black Archival ink, second generation ink just to give a  light outline.  I allowed a little time to let it dry and then coloured very quickly with more of the alcohol inks with a small brush using Watermelon and Clover, and I think I also added some more Pool, but obviously because they are going over the blues the look of the colours were influenced by that.  I finished the middle of the flower with some Lemonade and I just dropped it straight into the centre to get maximum yellow coverage over the blue.  The Watermelon on the flower became purple because of the underlying blue too.   The original lines had got blurred by the added ink so I re-inked the stamp and placed the card back into the Misti and stamped it again which strengthened the outlines nicely.  When that was dry I added some white gel pen to the body of the cacti and the flower, and also a few of the foreground pebbles.  I finished with a sentiment from the Scrumptious Succulents set stamped with Versafine Majestic Blue ink on to a small spare piece of the background  backed with a piece of parchment die cut using two sizes of a set from The Works.  This was a fast card as you have to work extremely quickly as alcohol inks do not stay wet for long on ordinary glossy card which is different to Yupo paper.

The last card uses the Blossom and Grow set.  I had some alcohol ink left on my blending tool so I added some more blending solution and a little light green called Limeade, and then covered this piece of textured card.  I then dropped more blending solution on to the card which took away some of the colour.  When dry I stamped using Versafine Majestic Blue ink and coloured with my Lyra Aquamarkers.  I decided to leave it without a sentiment for now.

Thank you for taking a look at my blog today and I hope to see you again soon.

Script Heart Anniversary

Hi there.  This is an anniversary card which I made for my DH for our 36th anniversary last week.  I  had to make a card in a bit of a hurry as we were getting ready for a week away in Pembrokeshire, booked just a few days before going which left me short of time to make a card and consequently have only put it up now on our return.  Needless to say with the good weather we had a great time and the lovely sunny weather made the wonderful coastal scenery looking even more beautiful.  I will try and show a few photos once DH has sorted them out.

I used this heart shaped sentiment die by Lil'inkers which I was lucky enough to win over at Pixie's Playground back in February and had in mind to use it for our anniversary.

I kept it relatively simple with an inset die cut technique using a snippet of dark blue self adhesive glitter paper, and then cut the die again using a snippet of light blue card (unfortunately it looks grey in the photo, but in reality it is a lovely soft blue).  I cut the piece of blue card to fit the white base card before cutting the die into the card just a little above the centre, and making sure to keep all the little pieces which need to be put back into the words.

After cutting I adhered a snippet of card to the back of the piece of blue card behind the script which I had covered in Stick It adhesive, and then inset the blue glitter card words and then used the blue pieces to fill in the background, i.e. the loop of the 'l' and the 'y' and the middle of the 'e's and 'a's etc.

I then embossed using an XCut Hearts and Kisses Embossing Folder which had the added effect of pushing the pieces down firmly as well as adding the pretty pattern.  I ran it through twice to make a continuous pattern across.

I finished by adding this to the approximately 7 " square white card.

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 330 where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - 178 All About Occasions.
Happy Little Stampers July Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.

Flowering Cactus

Hi everyone.  This was a relatively quick card to make as I already had this Brusho snippet in my stash and needed a birthday card so I stamped the cactus onto it using Archival Black Ink and heat set using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  This is from a recently added set of stamps by Chocolate Baroque called Scrumptious Succulents.  There are actually three wonderful new designs featuring cacti, succulents and flowers.

I used Brushos on the background, Scarlet and Brilliant Red, Ultramarine and Lemon.  I also coloured the cactus with the Brushos using a waterbrush, and they covered the image well considering the background was quite a bright colour, although where I stamped in the middle was lighter.

I used orange, yellow and red for the flowers and yellow with the emerald green for the cactus itself.  I added white in places using a gel pen for highlights, and shaded around the cactus base with some brown to ground it.  I also darkened the yellow around the cactus itself to make it stand out more from the background.

I finished by adding the sentiment using Black Archival and heat set again using the Clear Gloss EP.  I die cut it using a Crealies Pierced Rectangle and backed it with a snippet of black card before mounting it on to an approximately 7" x 5" white card.

Thank you for joining me today.

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No 329 where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
Happy Little Stampers July Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes/Birthday.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Rudolph Days June Challenge

Hi there everybody.  It is that time in the month when Mo has her Rudolph Days Challenge and it goes on until the end of the month.  My card today is a very quick one with some recycled bits which have been sitting  in a bag waiting to be used.

This is a 6" square white base card and I added the partridge which I thought had nice bright colours and the large sentiment in glittery gold complements it perfectly I think, and the ribbon was on the sentiment anyway so left that on too.

Hope you are all enjoying the lovely hot and sunny weather at the moment and certainly not the weather to be thinking Christmas which is why I opted for  a quick and easy card this time.

I am also entering the following challenges:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - No. 32 Anything Christmas Goes.
Sweet Stampin' Christmas Challenge - June - Anything Christmas.

Watercoloured Jellyfish

Hi there everyone.  I am back with my entry for the CAS Watercolour Card Challenge, and the theme this time is Ocean so I have used these fun Funky Fish, part of a set from Chocolate Baroque.

I started by making an underwater background using Brushos in Turquoise, Emerald Green and Ultramarine, well watered down to give a nice washy look.

I then stamped the Jellyfish twice onto a piece of white card.using Versmark Ink and heat embossed the images in WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder.  I watercoloured them with my Distress Inks using Fossilized Amber, Carved Pumpkin and Blueprint Sketch and fussy cut them out.

I cut a white overlay and die cut a circle from it using a set from The Works, and placed the watercoloured background behind it before fixing it down on a 6" square white base card.

I added a sentiment from a Crafty Individuals set called Seaside Treasures which I thought went well, again using Silver EP, and then mounted the two Jellyfish either side of  it letting them overlap the white layer a little bit.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am also entering the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers June Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes (no twist).
The Artistic Stamper June Challenge - Colour it Blue (I hope this is considered to be enough blue with my ocean background).
Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Seaside.

Birds in Circular Frame Anniversary

Hi everybody.  I did this anniverary card quite a while ago but for some reason I have never shown it.  I used a Chocolate Baroque set for the birds called Fluttering Hearts and a Sue Wilson Orange Blossom Leaves die for the foliage.

I started with a background for which I think I used Brushos and which had been sitting on my desk awaiting an opportunity to be used.  I then embossed it with a Cuttlebug folder which I have had for a long time and sadly is not available any longer.

I cut a circle with a set of dies from The Works using a snippet of white card to frame the background, and before adhering I tucked the white die cut leaves cut from snippets under the edge of the circle.

I then stamped and embossed the birds, again using a snippet of white card and Versamark Ink, and heat set them with WOW Gold Metallic Embossing Powder.  After gluing the leaves to the background I added the fussy cut birds letting them overlap the edges of the circular frame.

I finished by adding the sentiment again using the Gold Metallic EP.

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 328 where we use our snippets of paper and card etc.
Uniko Challenge - No. 47 using a photo inspiration ( I have got green and gold in the background and there is some white on the suitcase which is my other main colour so I hope this works for the challenge)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anniversary/Wedding.
Happy Little Stampers June Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.

Vintage Bicycle

Hi everybody.  This is a card I made for one of our good friends, a few weeks ago now, and just haven't got around to showing it before.  We went for a visit to the Isle of Wight  and whilst out and about passed this craft shop, well, who can resisist going in for a quick look round, and I found this Memory Box Vintage Bicycle die which had to come home with me, but have found it on line with the link above, much cheaper too so should have waited, but was too tempted at the time.

I decided to do a technique which I have done a few times which is to cover the raised parts of the die with Versamark Ink, lay this on to your piece of white card inked side down, place your embossing mat, then the card with the die on top, and use your usual sandwich of plates, though sometimes it does require shimming, and run it through your machine. Then add your embossing powder and heat emboss.  This should give a debossed image with your chosen finish, in this case WOW Metallic Silver.   I die cut this using a Crealies Pierced Rectangle Die and used Distress Oxide in Salty Ocean having left the centre lighter, and then used Squeezed Lemonade which mixed with the blue to make a bit of green too.  I added several layers of the yellow as it is quite a pale yellow.  I then finished with a bit of Blueprint Sketch DI around the edges.  When dry I mounted this on to a piece of white card a little larger.

Unfortunately after adding the colour the silver embossing was very faint so I decided to add in a die cut bicycle over the top of the outline and die cut it in white card and then using Versamark Ink heat embossed with the WOW Silver EP.  I did this two or three times to get good coverage.  I did question myself afterward as to why I didn't just cut it from Silver Mirri.  I think I had it in my mind that it would match in better if it was embossed but really it made no difference and would certainly have been a whole lot easier..lol.

I then used the die as a stamp in the background on to a piece of blue card which I had cut with the largest Crealies Pierced Rectangle.  Instead of running it through my machine I inked the die with the Versamark Ink and just pressed it on to the card with my hands quite firmly.  I did this randomly over the blue card and then heat embossed again with the Silver EP.  It just left a nice random pattern on the background, not a strong outline but enough to see the bicycle shape, although it doesn't show up well here.

I finished by die cutting a sentiment using some Silver Mirri card and added it after layering the other elements on to a 7" x 5" card. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge - All Things Bright and Beautiful.