Be Inspired - July 2026 - Creating Backgrounds

Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop

CREATING BACKGROUNDS

Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the July Be Inspired Blog Hop where we are focusing on projects that show wonderful backgrounds. However you have arrived here, whether from Melanie Hocking or directly here, I am so delighted that you are here.

As I was thinking about the type of background I would use my minds flittered around thinking “oo, I could do that; and then - well how about that … or that …. There are many types of backgrounds to try and many old favourites. In the end I decided to share one of my favourite backgrounds, that is Dry Embossed backgrounds. I love the subtle tone on tone texture that allows the focal point to shine while providing interest to the project.

You may recognise the gorgeous Floral Spray 3D Embossing Folder that was used to emboss the Basic White background. This is a wonderful embossing folder. I love that some parts of the background are left in-embossed to contrast with the embossed sections.

To provide a simple focal point a Party Banner die was used to cut the end of the Basic White banner that was mounted on Hydrangea Hue In Color Shimmer Speciality Paper. Violets were both stamped and die cut using the Pressed Violets bundle. I love working with this bundle as it brings warm childhood memories of picking violets for my Mum. The violets were coloured in Hydrangea Hue and the leaves in Soft Sea Foam with a touch of Peaceful Pine to add a little shading & depth.

Iridescent Pearls Basic Jewels add a little shimmer to the flower centres and around the sentiment. White ribbon was cut in half lengthwise and tied into a double bow then ticked in between the violets and sentiment.

The card inner was simply stamped with it of the violet stamps in Secret Sea Classic ink. I often use this ink instead of black. If you have time, the violets could be coloured with Stampin’ Blends, but my time was running away with speed so it is simply stamped.

A Stampin’ Basic White C6 envelope was also stamped with the violets in Secret Sea ink.

Thank you so much for dropping in on your way around the July Be Inspired Blog Hop. I so appreciate you.

I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else has created for the Creating Backgrounds Blog Hop.  Next in line is the amazing Angela Meiritz-Reid. Just click on the "Next" graphic below to head over to Angela’s blog.

The full list of those participating in this Blog hop is:

Andrea Sargent <you are here

Angela Meiritz-Reid

Annette Ball

Annette Elias

Brian King

Emma Goddard

Lynn Cheesmur

Maheswari Rajaguru  

Melanie Hockin

 

CASEing the Catty #578 - Case July On-line Exclusives

CASE Stampin’ Up!s July On-line Exclusives meets Butterfly Flight

Hello, welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea & #578 Challenge with CASEing the Catty.

I am so glad you have dropped by. You may have come from Peta Stephen, as you take this week’s Blog Hop or perhaps arrived directly here; either way I am delighted you are here. At the end of my blog, I have linked to Judy May so you can continue with the Blog Hop.

At CASEing the Catty we love to use the samples from the Stampin' Up! Catalogues and On-line Exclusives as inspiration and each week we have a different theme to guide our CASEing. To CASE is to "Copy And Selectively Edit" or some say "Copy And Share Everything". This week we are CASE-ing the samples created to show the newly released On-line Exclusives. So many wonderful products.

As you can see, I more closely CASED the layout as well as the butterfly concept of a sample to showcase the Gilded Wings Accents. I had opened my new Stampin' Hot Foil System yesterday and was wanting to play with the Butterfly Flight bundle. It is a delightful layout. I also love how the DSP covers the whole card front.

The gorgeous Valley in Bloom Designer Series Paper was used as the background of the card as well as for the background for the butterfly panel.

My butterflies were hot foiled on to Basic White card-stock using Gold Foil and the stunning Butterfly Flight Hot Foil Dies. This bundle comes with a set of Decorative Masks. They are amazing. I used Fresh Freesia, Cloud Cover and Blackberry Bliss (the latter being one of the colours named in the DSP). The sentiments from the Sweetly Sentimental bundle incorporate a range of different sentiments. It is brilliant, you make a handful of sentiments in one process. The dies align so well.

Extra butterflies were die cut from Pearlised 2026-2028 In Colour Speciality Paper. Extra wings were added beneath the large butterflies and 2 small butterflies are flying around. Some foliage was also cut from the Peaceful Pine Pearlised Speciality Paper.

A Gold Striped Mesh Ribbon was tied into a bow and tucked to the side under butterfly wings. A few Pearlised Faceted Circles were scattered around.

Very simple decoration was added inside the card, including a left over foiled butterfly and another of the foiled sentiments.

Some of the DSP was also added to the envelope flap. I do appreciate the quality of the Stampin' Up! C6 envelopes and love to ensure they coordinate in some way to the card they carry. I remember Shelly saying - you must never have a naked envelope!

Thank you so much for dropping by on your way around the CASEing the Catty Blog Hop to launch Challenge #578. There are so many gorgeous products in the July On-Line Exclusives and as always so much inspiration created by Stampin' Up!

Don’t miss any of the inspiration from this creative CASEing The Catty Crew. The next blog in the hop is by the wonderful Judy May. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to her blog. I wonder which project she has CASEd - I am sure her project will be something special.

Join In The Challenge: We would love you to share a project that you create for this Challenge which has been inspired by the July Online Exclusives release. To share, all you need to do is go to the CASEing The Catty Challenge Group on Facebook. If you aren't a member, it’s easy to request to join and once anpproved all you need to do is upload a photo of your project to the main section. You can click on the graphic below to be taken to the group on Facebook. We would so love to see your creation.

 

#ctc578 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations  #butterflyflight  #sweetlysentimental #gildedwings  #caseingthecatty #artisandesignteam2026  #artisandesignteam #hotfoilsystem

Be Inspired - June 2026 - Creative Sentiments

Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop

Creative Ways to Use Sentiments

Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the June Be Inspired Blog Hop where we are focusing on projects that demonstrate Creative Ways To Use Sentiments . However you have arrived here, whether from Maheswari or directly here, I am so delighted that you are here.

Generally, I use a sentiment to pull my design to a focal point and to set the reason for sending a card. This card is to help a friend celebrate her birthday. To add some creativeness in the use of a sentiment I have also used a sentiment from the Words & Wishes bundle in the background, that is, repeatedly die cut the word "Happy" and adhere it randomly over the background panel to give tone on tone texture and to subtly reinforce that sentiment, ie try to heighten a wish for happiness on the recipients birthday. To add a little depth to part of the background and show the sentiment technique a little more , some Berry Burst ink blending was added to the edges of a Bubble Bath background.

The Lily of the Valley bundle was used for the focal piece and one of the Nested Essential dies was used to cut a background piece to "ground" this focal panel. It was cut from the Moonlit Flora Designer Series Paper. 

Leaves and flowers were both stamped & gold heat embossed and die cut. Both were coloured with a fine water painter and Bubble Bath, Berry Burst and Peaceful Pine inks. 

The sentiment was white heat embossed on Blackberry Bliss cardstock and fussy cut. Sunset Sparkle Sequins add a little sparkle and retired Gold Twisted Thread was sued for a double bow.

The inner panel for writing one's personal message was repeatedly stamped with a sentiment down the LHS of the panel. This is another way to use a sentiment creatively.

Some subtle Bubble Bath stamping on a C6 Basic White envelope using the smaller Lily of the Valley image ties the envelope to the card it will hold.

Thank you so much for dropping in on your way around the Be Inspired Blog Hop. I so appreciate you spending time with me.

I am so looking forward to seeing what other members of the team have created and to check out how they have used sentiments creatively.

Next in line is the amazing Angela Meiritz-Reid. Just click on the "Next" graphic below to head over to Angela’s blog.

The full list of those participating in this Blog hop is:

Andrea Sargent  <you are here

Angela Meiritz-Reid

Annette Ball

Annette Elias

Brian King

Jaqueline Tobiczyk - only on Instagram

Lynn Cheesmur

Maheswari Rajaguru 

The list of Be Inspired Design Team Members hopping over on Instagram this month are:

Andrea Sargent @andreaksargent

Annette Ball @stampinwiththebees05

Annette Elias @de_kijkkast

Jaqueline Tobiczyk @touchofjoycs

Lynn Cheesmur @lynncheesmur

Maheswari Rajaguru @maheswarirajaguru

#instahop #cardmakersofinstagram #stampinupaustralia #ADT2026 #artisandesignteam2026 #stampinupdemonstrator #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupofficial #InstaHop #valleyinspirationswithandrea #beinspired

CASEing the Catty #568 CASE Annual Catalogue Stamp Set

CASE Stampin’ Up!s Annual Catalogue Stamps meets Flowering Meadow

Hello, welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea & #568 Challenge with CASEing the Catty.

I am so glad you have dropped by. You may have come from Monique Fielder, as you take this week’s Blog Hop or perhaps arrived directly here; either way I am delighted you are here. At the end of my blog, I have linked to Rebecca Scurr so you can continue with the Blog Hop.

At CASEing the Catty we love to use the samples from the Stampin' Up! Catalogues and On-line Exclusives as inspiration and each week we have a different theme to guide our CASEing. To CASE is to "Copy And Selectively Edit" or some say "Copy And Share Everything". This week we are CASE-ing our favourite Stamps from the Retiring Annual catalogue. The card I have CASEd is found near the bottom of page 53 of the 2025-2026 Annual Catalogue.

I love so many stamps from the 2025-2026 Annual Catalogue but having to choose one, I chose the gorgeous Gallery Blooms stamps. Loving a wreath, especially one made of flowers I couldn't go past the wreath card on page 53. What I thought I would also show is CASEing with a completely different set, that is CASEing old and using new, so selected the beautiful Velvet Meadow suite. I had planned to stamp and colour my flowers but time and my body gave out on me so ended up fussy cutting flowers and leaves from the super gorgeous Velvet Meadow Speciality Designer Series Paper.

The stamp and die bundle from the suite is the Flowering Meadow bundle. This card is mainly created wth DSP and die cutting, The sentiment was stamped and white heat embossed on the new Peaceful Pine card-stock. I love this new In Colour.

With a Thick Basic White card base and mount layer, the background is one of the B sides from the SDSP - so soft and subtle. The fussy cut flowers from the DSP are Bubble Bath and Berry Burst and the leaves are Peaceful Pine. The die cut pieces are cut using the detailed dies from Basic White card-stock.

The bow is tied in the new Barely Blush ribbon. It is so subtle and I cut the ribbon down so it blended well with the colour scheme. The front design was finished with some gorgeous 2026-2028 In Colour Flat Pearls - they are so so beautiful.

The card inner is fairly simple - just a thin left over strip from the background DSP and some left over cut flowers and leaves. I love to simply tie the inside of the card with the front design.

I don't think I have mentioned previously, that I currently only add a little adhesive to the top in the inside insert so that it can be easily removed and a new one added if the recipient would like to re-use the card.

Don’t miss any of the inspiration from this creative CASEing The Catty Crew. The next blog in the hop is by the wonderful Rebecca Scurr. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to her blog. I wonder which project she has CASEd - I am sure her project will be something special.

Join In The Challenge: We would love you to share a project that you have created for this Challenge which has been inspired by the retiring 2025-2026 Annual Catalogue. To share, all you need to do is go to the CASEing The Catty Challenge Group on Facebook. If you aren't a member, it’s easy to request to join and once anpproved all you need to do is upload a photo of your project to the main section. You can click on the graphic below to be taken to the group on Facebook. We would so love to see your creation.

 

#ctc568 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations #galleryblooms #floweringmeadow  #velvetmeadowspeciality #caseingthecatty #artisandesignteam2026  #artisandesignteam #stampinupofficial

Be Inspired - April 2026 - Layout that Always Works

Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop

A LAYOUT THAT ALWAYS WORKS

Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the April Be Inspired Blog Hop where we are focusing on projects that are show a layout the always works. However you have arrived here, whether from Maheswari or directly here, I am so delighted that you are here.

I was excited to create under this theme and I hope you are inspired as you hop around to other members of the Design Team. Sometimes it can be hard to start with a blank piece of card-stock but if you have a layout in mind it makes creating so much easier - especially if they are tried and tested.

The layout I am sharing today has a central smaller panel for the focal section of the card. It is usually popped up on Dimensionals and sits over a background that complements central panel. The background can have blending - whether partial or across the full background. It could also have partial stamping of smallish images or words that compliment the reason for the card.  

I was planning on only partial blending but was carried away after seeing a beautiful photo of bluebells. The background panel was coloured in an ombre style using Shaded Spruce, Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green and Balmy Blue. Water and White craft ink were both splattered over the ink blended background. Some silver embossed stamping also was added to the background using the smaller Lily of the Valley image.

Leaves and flowers were die cut from Basic White card-stock using the Lily of the Valley dies. The leaves were coloured with Blending brushes with Shaded Spruce and Granny Apple Green Classic inks.  As the flowers and stems were fiddly, they were coloured with Stampin Blends, ie Shaded Spruce combo and Hydrangea Hue combo with the Colour Lifter. The die cut mesh was left white to add some subtle interest behind the flowers. 

A white ribbon was tied around the central panel with a bow just tucked underneath a white embossed sentiment from the coordinating stamp set. The finishing touch - some of the gorgeous 2026-2028 In Color Flat Pearls. While the pearls are Peaceful Pine the coordinate beautifully with this arrangement.

Thank you so much for dropping in on your way around the Be Inspired Blog Hop. I so appreciate you.

I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else has created for the A Layout That Always Works Blog Hop.  Next in line is the amazing Angela Meiritz-Reid. Just click on the "Next" graphic below to head over to Angela’s blog.

The full list of those participating in this Blog hop is:

Andrea Sargent <you are here

Angela Meiritz-Reid 

Annette Elias

Brian King

Emma Goddard

Heather Thomas

Lynn Cheesmur

Maheswari Rajaguru