cyclist (by Veronica)

A slightly more cheerful card than my last post, using the same stencil and die cut, but this time with a distress ink and brusho background. I sprinkled grey brusho powder over a square of card and spritzed with water before sponging hickory smoke distress ink through the stencil.
The larger cyclist from eccentric edwardian was stamped in black versafine and the smmaller one from curiosities in grey versafine. I added a corner die cut in black card and a sentiment from steampunk travel before inking round the edges with black versafine and adding to a white card blank

A couple of cards (posted by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with a couple of cards that would fit the bill for male cards, something I always struggle with! The first card was made using stamps from Steampunk Travel.

I began by stamping the words and the two images with versamark on black card and embossed with white embossing powder. Next I used the soft white coal from the Ko-I-Noor White Coals set to create the clouds, just scribbling with the coals and then blending with my finger. I used one of the harder coals to add some whispy clouds and to add faux stitching around the edge. I also added a little colour to to images with the coals.

For this next card I stamped the focal image, from Eccentric Edwardian with black versafine ink, masked it and stamped the script background. I layered it up on red and then black card and added a little twine bow tie and some lace and ric-rac trim.

To make the background I took lots of stamps from the same set and just stamped and masked until I'd filled the card. Again I layered on red and black card. The sentiment is from Punky Expressions I inked up the stamp with bright red ink and then carefully inked with black ink, trying to miss out the word punky so that would be highlighted with red.

Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

Cycling Steampunk Style (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a couple of cycling themed cards to share with you today, using the stamps featured on last month's Steampunk shows on Hochanda.

To create my first card, I stamped the penny farthing image from the Steampunkery stamp set, and then masked the image using masking tissue. I created a series of hills using Distress Ink, and added some trees from the Tall Trees stamp set, using dark green Versafine Ink. I added a bit of pencil shading to 'ground' the smaller trees. I used blue Distress Ink to create the sky, masking off a circle for the sun. I stamped the sentiment from the Punky Expressions stamp set, and added some birds from the Landscape Edges stamp set.

I removed the mask and coloured the penny farthing with pencils. Finally, I matted the background onto a large black card blank.

For my second card, I wanted to create a collaged feel, using lots of stamping to build up backgrounds. I started by using a patterned Crafty Individuals tag, and added some images from the Eccentric Edwardian stamp set in muted colours. I also added the gentleman on the bike as the focal image, using darker ink.

I made a larger background in toning colours on a piece of kraft card, picking the same images that I had used on the tag to create the background. I picked a grey card to mat the background, as it was a colour running through the tag. I added a cheery tan ribbon to the tag, and stamped a sentiment from the Punky Expressions stamp set onto a small piece of scrap card.

I hope that you have enjoyed my Steampunk inspiration this month, and that you will try some of the ideas for yourselves. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Steampunkish by Zoe

Good morning Lovelies, welcome to my second and final post this month, I’m showcasing my samples that featured on Lesley’s Steampunk themed show for Hochanda last month.

My background on my first card is all Distress Oxides including the stamping, the Car and sentiment I used Black Onyx Versafine Inkpad.

My Grey/white board tag was first sprayed with chalk finish spray inks in a pale green and taupe colour, I then stamped using the Crackle background stamp and words from the “Key to my heart” set. I used hot foil on part of the tag to create some depth, then texture paste through a stencil, one dry I applied gold Gilding wax, the keys and Sentiment I used the same spray inks, heat embossed.

Ok so I might be a bit old fashioned here? But I was going by the song “ you got the key to the door, never been 21 before” anyhow, I simply stamped the keys with Versamark ink and heat embossed using Gold, Silver and Copper sparkle  EP, the 21 is dies cuts that I hot foiled.

Thank you for your time, have a wonderful day xx Zoe xx 

Time Flies by Brenda

Hello again, I am back with some more of my Steampunk shares from last months Hochanda shows.

The starting point for the card at the top was an embossed background with lots of gilding waxes added. The Scarab Beetle (and as we have horses there are a good few of these, also known as Dung Beetles, if one cares to search !!)from the Steampunkery set has been stamped several times using Vesamark Toffee, lightly coloured, gilding waxes added then placed over the base piece. Several of the sentiments from the new Punky Words have seen stamped and cut out to intersperse between the Beetles.

Like so many of us crafters I reach for my Oxide inks time and again, it's hard to remember life before them although they are relatively new, on this one I used Spiced Marmalade, Fossilised Amber and Twisted Citron. Using Versafine Toffee and masking off parts of the images I stamped clocks from Steampunkery and Steampunk Travel around the edges of the piece and using the same ink the three large images from the same stamp sets. The sentiment is from Birthday Words and a piece of ribbon and buckle tied across the top.

The background of this piece has been painted with Actylic paints and the DI Tea Dye and a stencil used to add some circles. Various elements from Key to my Dreams and Punky Words have been stamped with Versafine Blue on both the background and focal panel and some seam binding and a tassel to embellish.

As always my thanks for your visit today.

Old car ( By Marga)

For this card I used watercolour paper and Distress Ink.

I first stamped the sentiment background with Versamark Ink and embossed it with a gold embossing powder.

Then I made the background paper with Distress Ink.

The car was also embossed with gold embossing powder. And then I cut it out and put it on the card.

I used the stamp sheet Eccentric Edwardian .

Hugs Marga

Steampunk Travel (by Julie)

Hello, hope you are well. Today I have a couple of Steampunk inspired cards for you which I have created using the rather fabulous Steampunk Travel

For my first card you will need a Kraft card blank. I decided to have a go at a very simple wood grain effect for the background. I started by drawing vertical lines with a ruler and dark brown pencil at approximately 2 cm intervals and then filled in the gaps with white chalk. I set the chalk with a pastel fixative spray and once dry I went around the edge of the card with Walnut Distress ink.

On separate card I stamped out the traveller's hat and sentiment, coloured with pencils and then cut out and attached to the front of the card.

My second card is super simple. I just stamped the winged boot around the card blank before colouring with Polychromus pencils. I went over the background with Distress inks and then spritzed with water, before dabbing off the excess with a kitchen towel and then stamped the sentiment which comes from the rather wonderful Punky Expressions.

Thank you for stopping by and please call back soon for more daily, Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

Roses in Red (by Penny)

Well here we are already at Penny's last week of her current Guest Design Team posts.  And this last project is a veritable feast for the eyes, a real study in red. So without further ado it's over to Penny.

Hello everyone, Penny here for my third and final GDT blog post this month - I've had so much fun bringing you these three projects!  Today's post is a lovely card that features a couple of Chocolate Baroque's many beautiful floral stamps - Floribunda Net, Harlequin Rose, and words from the Loving Sentiments set.  I have also used grey Versafine ink, Candied Apple Distress Ink, clear Sparkle pen, alcohol pens, and a gold marker pen.  

I began by creating the focal panel, stamping the rose in grey ink onto white card then colouring the image with alcohol pens.  I added clear Sparkle pen to the net in the background and die cut the image to create a panel.  I added distress inks through the die, using it like a stencil, then added gold pen around the outer edges of the panel.  To complete the panel I matted it onto black card.  

I stamped a single rose image using distress inks into each corner of a white base card.  I then used water to pull the ink out and paint the roses, and added Sparkle pen. I then stamped a sentiment at the bottom of the card and attached the focal panel. 

This is quite a simple design from me for a change, but it is still as much fun to create as other more complex  projects.  I think this pretty card would be great for many occasions and for any age.

  

Thank you for reading this post, I hope you've enjoyed it.  I know it's early but I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas!  

Penny  xxx

You know I think roses are right for any season, including Christmas, so thank you Penny for this beautiful finish on your final week.  We have loved having you as our guest and look forward to what you will bring us in the New Year.

Well that's all from me too but don't foget we have a new piece of inspirational artwork everyday from one of our lovely, and talented, design team. So please do join us again soon.

Tea Time (by Dominike)

Hello,

It is always time for a tea.
C'est toujours l'heure pour un thé.

1- prepare a tea. Préparez-vous un thé
2- drink your tea. Buvez votre thé
3- save the tea bags. Mettez de côté vos sachets de thé
4- let them dry. Faites-les sécher
5- prepare your images. Préparez vos images
6- stamp your Chocolate Baroque rubberstamps. Tamponnez
7- stick your images. Collez vos images
8- stick the tea bags onto aquarelle papers. Collez les sachets de thé sur du papier aquarelle
9- bind your pages. Reliez vos pages.

I wish you a good day. Kind regards.
Bonne journée. A bientôt.

Take Flight (by Magda)

"Take Flight" with an air-balloon and dream, or if you like, give an interpretation to my Journaling page.
Here below I have listed the items that I used for this project:

1. White Gesso  for the undercoat
2.  Blend Distress Ink Pad in green, blue, yellow and brown shades
3.  Stamp with Versafine Onyx Black  on Tissue Paper the poppy from the Poppy Meadow plate set  
     and the small air-balloon from the Steampunk Travel plate set
4.  Place the stamped tissue paper and more pieces of tissue paper randomly on the page, covering all
     the page again with  White Gesso and let it dry completely
5.  Apply Soft Form Relief Paste on Specimens Stencil  and let it dry
6.  Use Distress Ink Pad in green, blue, yellow and brown shades directly with the pad on the page
      and blend where necessary
7.  Colour the poppy stamp with Faber-Castell Art Grip Aquarelle pencils
8.   Stamp with Versafine Onyx Black the air-balloon from the Steampunkery stamp set, colour it with Faber-  
      Castell Art Grip Aquarelle pencils and cut it out
9.   Glue the image on the background with Glue n'seal
10.  Stamp "Take Flight" from the  Steampunkery stamp set
   

I hope, that you not only could really relax and dream looking at my page, but you could be inspired and "take flight" on the page, I am here to help. Thank you.

Magda

Airship Pirate Steampunk Card (by Anne)

Good morning. Today I am sharing one of my recent samples created for the Steampunk shows recently on Hochanda. I used a few of my dies to create this nautical themed card. I hope that you like it x.

Materials:

• Steampunkery and Punky Expressions stamp sets
• 8 X 8 inch white card blank; white, blue and brown kraft card; recycled acetate from packaging
• Versamark and Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)#
• WOW embossing powders (white plus mix of Copper and Gold Rich)
• Koh-I-Noor Charcoals (White)
• Glitter and glaze pens (red)
• Dies to cut a circle frame (approx. 16cm diameter), steampunk cogs and nautical themed embellishments

How it was made:

1. I trimmed the blue card to fit the card front and leave a small white border. The sentiment and airship were stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with the white powder.
2. The circle porthole frame was cut from Kraft card. A piece of acetate was cut to fit behind.
3. The cogs and wheel were cut from Kraft card and coloured with gold embossing powder or red glaze pen. The gulls were cut from white card.
4. The scene was built up and coloured using the white charcoals. A little red glitter pen was added to the boat and a small die cut gull stuck down. The frame was glued over the top using 3D shaker foam. Note: you could add some sprinkles or glitter for added fun.
5. The scroll was created from a rectangle, rolling the ends around a paint brush to curl. A little Distress Ink was added to the edges to age. The die cut embellishments were used to decorate.

edwardian (by Veronica)

Today I am sharing a couple of samples using the e
ccentric edwardian stamps.
The first is a rather grungy card.
Background used a cog stencil and a very elderly walnut stain ink spray that I was given ages ago and had never used, I added another lighter layer of spray after removing the stencil. The car was stamped in black versafine ink, then the man alsoin black versafine but clear embossed to make him stand out a bit more.
A few diecut cogs from dark brown card were added in the corners, then a mat of the same brown card before adding to a square white card blank






I  also recycled an empty instant coffee tin, these are so useful as a pen/brush holder.
This time the strip of white card cut to fit round the can with a lsight overlap was coloured with grey brusho powder, then randomly stmaped with the large crackle stamp using a grey ink pad. I used a die cut as a stencil and brushed more grey ink over it.
The man was stamped using black versafine ink and clear embossing powder before using the cyclist stamp and the small cyclist from the curiosities set to fill in the gaps.
I stuck the card to the can using redline tape stuck onto the can first along the edges with one vertical strip, then a final vertical strip onto the slightly overlapping edge of the card.

Fifteen Minute Cards

Hello everyone, it is time for another offering of cards and projects from the Design Team, using a range of techniques and styles, all made in fifteen minutes or less. Our aim is to show you how you can make a fabulous design in a matter of minutes, perfect when you need a card in a hurry, or need a card for batch making, perhaps for Christmas or a craft fair. If you are new to stamping and feel that a complicated design is a bit much for now, you will hopefully find something in these blog posts to inspire you. Even if you are a seasoned crafter, we hope that something will catch your imagination, and have you reaching for your craft supplies to try out some of our ideas. So, grab a cuppa, and enjoy what we have to share with you this month.

Magda has created a series of beautiful Diwali cards for us this month, she has chosen some lovely colour combinations, and has combined the images in a very clever way to create her theme:

She has also created a Steampunk tag adding some stencilling to the background for extra detail. The little balloon tied through the hole is a great addition:

Next up is a card from Anne. She has stamped the images with Versamark, and used white embossing powder onto a piece of Crafty Individuals paper. She has used a heart stencil, and applied Distress Ink to add shading onto the background. She also coloured the images with Distress Ink and a waterbrush. The background was matted onto a card blank and she added PVA pearls, glitter glue and Glossy Accents as finishing touches.

Claire has created to fabulous CAS style cards. The first card was made by adding Brushos to a piece of linen card, and stamping the image using Versafine Ink. She added a bit of colour to the image.

For her second card, she added splats of colour to the background, using Distress Stains, before stamping the image several times with Versafine Ink, and also gilding flakes. This gives a feeling of movement to the image.

Carole has created a monochrome card for us, using the Floribunda Net stamp. She has stamped the image several times onto white card and trimmed the card to fit a square card blank. At this point, you can either draw a black line around the edge, or mat the background onto black card, the choice is yours. She stamped the image again onto a piece of spare card and tore around the edges. She matted this onto a piece of black card and tore around the edges again. Finally she added the sentiment.

We have a beautiful collection of cards from Brenda this month, starting with a masked panel, created with Pan Pastels. She has stamped the images with Distress Inks.

For her second card, she has stamped the foliage using Distress Inks, and added a vellum strip with a sentiment.

For her next card, she added Pan Pastel through a butterfly mask, stamped the images and added a sentiment.

She has added Pan Pastels through a circle mask to create this next card. She stamped the poppy image before removing the mask, and then added a sentiment.

Brenda has also made a couple of Steampunk cards:

Finally a simple card from me, I have used the Penny Farthing image, masking the stamp to use just the large wheel each time, to create a modern bicycle themed Birthday card, using bright colours of Versafine ink.

That concludes our projects for this month. We hope that you have enjoyed our collection and we will be back to share more tips and tricks with you next month. In the meantime, do please check back for a daily dose of inspiration from our regular Design Team posts. Thanks for stopping by,

A Punky Baroque Chest (by Penny)

I hope you enjoyed last week's post from Penny with her fabulous steampunk airship card.  This week sees her continuing on the theme with a fabulous piece of home decor. Sit back and be inspired.

Hello everyone, Penny here with the second of my Guest Designer posts.  This is a little chest of drawers that I created for the recent CB Steampunk Shows, and as I LOVE Steampunk this was a joy to make!  

I used stamps from the Eccentric Edwardian, Steampunkery and Key to My Dreams sets; gilding waxes, black gesso, Aztec Paints, embossing powders, an embossing folder, paper clay and wooden embellishments from my stash.

I painted a small chest of drawers with black gesso and added gilding waxes to the edges of the drawer fronts and the handles.  I then embossed two sheets of black card in a folder and added gilding waxes to create a sheet metal effect.  I stamped and embossed some more black card for the drawer fronts, having cut each piece to fit first.  I then painted the panels and cut holes in the centers to put the handles through. I cut the sheet metal card into panels to fit the outside of the frame, leaving enough of a margin to fold over each side, making them look neat.  I added some waste from die cutting cogs as 'rivets', having gilded them first for a metallic effect.  

I created the embellishments for the top; some were stamped and embossed onto card, some were made with paper clay, and I painted a wooden frame from my stash.  I arranged the embellishments on the top of the chest and attached them with strong glue.

These little chests are great for keeping all sorts of bits and bobs in on a desk or side table, and they make great presents!  Thank you for taking the time to read my post, I'll be back next week with my third and last project.

Penny  xx  


Having seen this beautiful box in real life I know it would be so admired and would make a fantastic gift to treasure. 

Thank you once again Penny for your stunning creation and if you want to see more amazingprojects from one of our talented DT then please drop back again tomorrow.