Sunday, 6 June 2021

We love Chocolate Baroque

Today is a very exciting day for me, as it marks my first post as a designer for the we love Chocolate Baroque challenge. I am sure you will all be very familiar with the challenge, it is a monthly stamping challenge and you can use any stamps you like, but it is always good to use Chocolate Baroque stamps if you have any. The designers always use Chocolate Baroque stamps on their inspiration posts, which is very good for me as it gives me an excuse to buy more stamps and get to know this little company a lot better. I also hope that I will improve my stamping skills. Thank you to Brenda and the team for inviting me to join them. I do feel very honoured.


Chocolate Baroque is a small independent art and craft company, based in the historic market town of Barnard Castle in County Durham in the North-East of England and is owned and run by Lesley and David Wharton. 

They design their own range of natural rubber art stamps from hand drawn originals, complemented by typography from Lesley.  The rubber stamps are made in house, by David, to their very exacting quality standards. Nothing gets past his eagle eye!

***The challenge for June is for a hand coloured or paper-pieced image ***

Here is my card:

I used potting soil archival ink to stamp my image onto watercolour paper and then I painted it with Zig Clean Colour real brush pens and a size 4 brush with water. I coloured the bees wings with a silver sparkle pen. As you can see from the photo above I also stamped the insert on the corner and the whole image on the back of the envelope.


For the background I took 2 pieces of A2 card, glued them together and ran them through my big shot with the background die. This did not cut the card but left a lovely embossed pattern. Then the panel, that I cut from shiny copper coloured card, fitted beautifully onto the solar white base. I saved just a few of the millions of little hexagons to add a little extra interest.


I used a word die to create the bee happy sentiment, I just cut it up and glued it together again. A bit fiddly but I think it works.

You have until 30th June to join us, I do hope you will. I shall look forward to seeing you in the gallery.

I am also sharing this at:
Double D Challenge - Bee inspired


Supplies:
Cardstock: Hot pressed watercolour; Nina solar white 81/2 x 11; Xcut adhesive metal effect A5 sheet
Ink: Ranger potting soil archival ink; Zig clean colour real brush pens
Stamps: Honey Bee by Chocolate Baroque
Dies: Concord & 9th Hexagon Designer Dies and parts of sending happy thoughts

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 



29 comments:

brenda said...

It's a really lovely creation Hilary and just says Summer with the Bees (a few made their way to my post today as well) and Hollyhocks which to me are always a clear indication along with Digitalis that Summer has arrived. The use of the honeycomb die frame compliments the image perfectly.

I am so pleased to have you are part of our little team, my thanks for agreeing to be part of it.

B x

Mervi said...

So gorgeous card Hilary, you are so welcomed to the team;-))m

Alice (scrAPpamondo) said...

Welcome to the team Hilary, and congrats for your first inspirational card, it's just delightful!! Love so much the way you framed the beautiful honeycomb, so well coloured, and the copper layer with the matching sentiment looks really great!!
I'm impressed by the fact you saved ONLY a few of those lovely millions of tiny hexagons :D I surely would have saved them all LOL :D Thanks for the tip about the double cardstock to emboss and enhancing the pattern.
Have a lovely Sunday!

Ashwini Rao said...

First of all, congrats on your new DT post - you are totally worth it, Hilary, and I hope you enjoy your new stamps to come!! ;)
Secondly, your card is totally fantastic! I love the image and your coloring, of course, but the shiny honeycomb background looks fantastic! Love the overall effect.

aussie aNNie said...

Fabulous loving the colours and great design. x

Mac Mable said...

Many congratulations Hilary and of course I think they are so lucky to have you on their team x.
What a beautiful 'Bee' card with a fabulous design layout and an amazing honeycomb background. Such a striking card Hilary x.

I Card Everyone said...

BEE-U-tiful coloring! Congratulations, Hilary! Yay to new, and MORE!
=]

crafty-stamper said...

Congratulations on your new DT Hilary,Fabulous card love the beautifully coloured image with the little Bees and perfect die cut background
carol x

Bunny said...

A lovely card. Especially the honeycomb background. Congratulations on your new position as DT member.[Bunny]

Ros Crawford said...

Congratulations!! And what a beautiful card! So pretty and so serene at the same time...Beautifully done

GerJanne said...

Ah, yes, I saw this card at Double D. So beautiful with the flowers and the bees.
Very beautifully coloured.
Maybe I will join youtomorrow...

GerJanne said...

p.s. I'm not sure if it is Digitalis or Hollyhock...?

Darlene said...

This is awesome Hilary! Awesome coloring & design! Thanks so much for joining in the fun at our Double D ‘Bee-inspired’ challenge! Good Luck and we hope you’ll come back often.
Darlene
DOUBLE D Challenge Blog
DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS
Please stop in for a visit!

Kathleen said...

A really super make, love the background die and the super image, great colouring and choice of colours.

Kath x

Christine Alexander said...

Congratulations on your new DT position and awesome kick off card :)

aussie aNNie said...

Gorgeous designed card and love the bees so delightful for our current challenge, "BEE inspired. " Thanks for joining in at [aNNie Designer for Double D challenges
https://thejourneyisthestarthere.blogspot.com/{My Blog}

Congrats on your new DT spot.x

papierelle said...

Beautiful card and everything fits together perfectly. The background looks amazing !!

Bonnie said...

Congratulations, Hilary! And what an awesome way to start inspiring for Chocolate Baroque! Love the bee hive and bees all so beautifully colored and paper pieced! A great idea to emboss the background before adding the metallic die cut! Very clever!

Cat Craig said...

Oh yay, Congratulations Hilary. Sweet card and I love the metallic bits on the honeycomb.

Mia said...

Congratulations for your new DT, Hilary. Chocolate Baroque is a company I love. And you made a beautiful card, my friend. Lovely stamp and a gorgeous background. Kisses!

Tracy said...

I absolutely love this Hilary, I think I need this stamp. Gorgeous creation.
Happy crafting
Tracy x

Loll said...

Congratulations Hilary!!! I'm so happy to hear your exciting news. Looking forward to seeing your cards as a member of the Chocolate Baroque family!! You've started out with a bang. LOVE this sweet bee hive and honeycomb card. The image is gorgeous with the flowers in the background. Beautiful watercolouring! And that copper honeycomb outline is amazing, especially how it fits into the embossed outline. Great tip! Love, Loll

Diane said...

Wow, this is a fabulous design and colored beautifully with your Zigs and then of course had to check out the potting soil ink! Congrats on your design team spot too! Thanks for joining our challenge at Double D!
Diane DD DT {Nellies Nest}

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

What a beautiful stamp that is Hilary, it really does speak summer with it's flowers and Bee's. Lovely composition. Big congrats on you DT position.
Creative wishes Tracey.

Judy Woodland said...

I absolutely LOVE that background the texture is so fabulous and the copper die cut on top is GENIUS!!! Your sweet image reminds me of a country garden. Great take on the Mood Board, thanks so much for playing along with us over at the Double D Bee Challenge.
Judy~ DD DT

Linby said...

Welcome to the team, sorry for my delay in commenting, I have been on holiday for the week.
This is just so delightful, the image is beautifully coloured and your die complements it perfectly. The envelope is also so pretty.
Lynn x

coldwaters2 said...

Hi Hilary congratulations on your debut card with WLCB it is beautiful I love the techniques you have used that Honey Pot, flowers and that background look amazing, superb work
hugs
lorraine x

Greta said...

Hurrah, hurrah! Big congrats on joining the team, Hilary! Your card is wonderful! Love how you did the background & your coloring is beautiful!

Leslie Miller said...

Oooh, I love this stamp and your card! I saw you were honored at Double D and I really wanted to come take a closer look. This is so beautiful! I've looked at Chocolate Baroque stamps, but don't have any in my collection. I do really like their style, and so cool that they make their own. Congratulations on your new DT position and on your honors at Double D!