AWH Heart of Christmas - #9

Christmas with A Little Christmas

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the ninth Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2026. We are sharing Christmas inspiration each Monday evening until the end of November. I do hope you will check us out as often as you can.

My week has again been filled with commitments, and time disappeared when it came to creating for this Blog Hop. Monday comes around so quickly. Then I remembered that I had already fussy cut images from the oh so cute A Little Christmas designer series paper. The pack contains a number of sheets that are wonderful for fussy cutting, including carolling mice (you may remember a previous post), cooking preparation and putting up Christmas decorations - that's the one used this week. The pack also includes a range of background designs. It is a fun pack to help with Christmas card making.

The colours used came from the DSP design, especially Very Vanilla, Mossy Meadow & Basic White. The background is a panel of Very Vanilla cardstock mounted on a slightly larger panel of Mossy Meadow cardstock. A small piece of the lightest Wood Grain Wonders Designer Series Paper was used to create a sense of a floor. A little Golden Glow ink blending was added to give a sense of cosy light and some Basic Beige ink stamped starbursts added a little texture.

As mentioned, a number of images had been fussy cut from one of the designs from A Little Christmas Designer Series Paper. They were arranged to create a little story and then adhered flat with Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue or popped up with Dimensionals.

The sentiment is from the coordinating Christmas Mice stamp set. It was White heat embossed onto Mossy Meadow cardstock the fussy cut before being added to the card with Mini Dimensionals. A Linen Twine bow was tucked under the sentiment and a few red sequins from the Adhesive-backed Sparkle Sequins were sprinkled around. I couldn't resist adding a little splatter of Wink of Stella to add some extra Christmas sparkle.

Open the card to find a little pop up mouse (fussy cut from the DSP) running with presents. The card inner started with a couple of small Mossy Meadow panels adhered at each end and a Basic White cardstock inner adhered to span the card inner, with a small section cut at the centre fold to pop up when the card opens. The fussy cut image was adhered to the pop up section. There is plenty of room to write your personal message. A C6 Basic White envelope had a partial fussy cut image adhered in place. It was taken from the edge of the DSP.

Thank you so much for dropping in to check out my Christmas card. I hope you have found some inspiration for Christmas creating.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with this blog hop. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Kate Morgan. I always look forward to checking out Kate’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is so much inspiration.

Also, many of us participate in the Colour Creations InstaHop that goes live every Wednesday night on Instagram where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. This week we are highlighting Granny Apple Green. We would love you to check in on us for more creative inspiration.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself.

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or would like to view the full list of participants go to Judy May's blog @ Just Judy Designs.  Judy is coordinating the Blog Hop while Sharon is away. Check out her delightful creation while you are there.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Stampin' Up 2026 September-December Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact regarding any queries about this projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2026 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #artisandesignteam2026  #alittlechristmas #stampinup

Be Inspired - October 2026 - Die Cutting

Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop

FEATURING DIE-CUTTING

Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the October Be Inspired Blog Hop where we are focusing on projects that feature Die Cutting. However you have arrived here, whether from Melanie Hockin or directly here, I am so delighted that you are here.

As I was contemplating what sot of project would best display die cutting, my mind immediately went to the gorgeous Pretty Poinsettia dies that coordinate with the Impressions Plate, (which is what I see as a squishy mat). These dies not only cut out shapes but, combined with the Impressions Plate, give the die cut pieces extra dimension. I also thought of anther newish product to Stampin’ Up! - the hot foil machine that requires specific "dies" to use with the hot foil machine to add foil to your projects. I have used both new types of dies together with standard dies when creating my Christmas card. Here it is:

On the weekend I attended a Stampin' Up! event which was the first Stampin' Up! event in Adelaide for a long long time. Checking out the display I was taken by some beautiful pink and Basic Beige cards. I loved the colour combo so decided to use a similar combination but added some gold touches. The colours used here are Barely Blush, Flirty Flamingo, Basic Beige, Gold and White Willow.

The background was created with Barely Blush Two-Tone cardstock and the Swiss Dots Hot Foil die, together with Gold Foil.

The sentiment was also Hot Foiled on Barely Blush Two-tone cardstock and the Magical Christmas Hot Foil dies. This die is a-maz-ing.  As you progress through the Hot Foil process and then use the traditional die cut to create multiple sentiments in one go. Apart from using another sentiment inside the card, I am left with a number of sentiments for other Christmas cards. It is soooo satisfying.

As mentioned in the intro, the poinsettias and leaves were die cut using the Pretty Poinsettia dies on watercolour paper. The flowers were water-coloured with Flirty Flamingo Classic ink and the leaves with Basic Beige ink.

Some White Textured ribbon was tied around the centre panel before it was popped up on Dimensionals. Some new Pearl Adhesive-backed Faceted Dots were sprinkled around. They are gorgeous and similar to an embellishment from a few years ago. The final touch - a splattering of Barely Blush Shimmer Brush.

The card inner is fairly simple with one of the hot foil sentiments, a left over strip of the Swiss Dots background and the left over Basic Beige leaves.

Thank you so much for dropping by on your way around the Be Inspired Die Cutting Blog Hop.

I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else has created for this Die Cutting 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

Maheswari Rajaguru 

Melanie Hockin

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

Andrea Sargent @andreaksargent

Angela Meiritz-Reid @stampingbeautynz

Annette Ball @stampinwiththebees05

Annette Elias @de_kijkkast

Emma Goddard @coastalcrafter

Jaqueline Tobiczyk @touchofjoycs

Maheswari Rajaguru @maheswarirajaguru

Melanie Hockin @melsinkyfingers

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

AWH Heart of Christmas - #7

Christmas with Shining Stars 

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the seventh Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2026. We are sharing Christmas inspiration each Monday evening until the end of November. I do hope you will continue to check us out as often as you can.

I have two different projects to share this week. Again, being time poor this week I had further ideas of things to do with these projects but needed to cut my creating time short so I could take the photos and write my blog. I had seen similar projects online this week and was inspired to play with the concepts. I hope my projects inspire you too?

PROJECT 1:

I created a set of star decorations using the wonderful Shining Stars dies. The dies are the Product of the Month for October, which means that during October if you spend $125 online with Stampin' Up! you have the opportunity of purchasing the Shining Star dies for only $9. Only one set can be purchased during the month. They are a fantastic opportunity.

My star decorations have been created with the All Wrapped Up Speciality Designer Series Paper. This paper os one sided and is a solid card rather than the normal paper thickness, making it perfect for 3D projects.

Once the largest die has cut out the star shape, the star is scored from tip to the opposite inner corner. This is carried out for all 5 points. You then fold and burnish each score line before folding the star into shape. You can then decorate the stars as you see fit.

Here are close-ups of each of the 3 star decorations. All stars have a small stitched silver foil star adhered at the point. Two of the stars were also decorated with a bow or leaves fussy cut from the SDSP.

The star above has a mini silver star and sequin adhered in place.

The photo below shows the back of one of the stars. It is a neat finish. Having said that I would like to try creating a star with two stars adhered together so it could hang free and it wouldn't matter if it twisted.

Apart from Decorations for the home or the Christmas tree, I think these stars would make a lovely decoration on wrapped gifts. The question is - will I have enough time to make a range for gifts?

PROJECT 2:

This second project is a small gift basket.  I created this one using the Neutral Noel Speciality Designer Series Paper. It is soooo gorgeous and a similar weight to the All Wrapped Up SDSP. I had visions of decorating the inner star with something else but ran out of time so just added a tiny gold star in the middle. I also wanted to decorate the gift tag as well - but not time for that.

The box/basket was created with two of the largest stars together with a strip of Basic Beige cardstock. The cardstock was scored, burnished, and trimmed before being adhered to the two stars - first one then the other.

A hole was punched into the 2 ends and ribbon poked through with a knot tied to hold it in place. You can see the ribbon and knots in the photo above. The ribbon is long enough so the star basket can hang on the tree ready to be given. I couple of tags were cut from the SDSP and cardstock and then tied with twine to the ribbon

Thank you so much for dropping in to check out my Christmas projects. I hope you have found some inspiration for Christmas creating.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with this blog hop. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Judy May. I always look forward to checking out Judy’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is so much inspiration.

Also, many of us participate in the Colour Creations InstaHop that goes live every Wednesday night on Instagram where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. We would love you to check in on us for more creative inspiration.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself.

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or would like to view the full list of participants go to Sharon Davern’s blog @ Rhapsody in Craft. Sharon is our amazing Art With Heart Team Heart of Christmas Coordinator.  Check out her delightful creation while you are there.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Stampin' Up 2026 September-December 2026 Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact regarding any queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2026 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #artisandesignteam  #artisandesignteam2026  #shiningstars  #neutralnoel   #allwrappedup

AWH Heart of Christmas - #6

Christmas with Welcome Noel

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the ninth Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2026. We are sharing Christmas inspiration each Monday evening until the end of November. I do hope you will check us out as often as you can.

Again being time poor I decided to re-create a fun fold I had used the day before as I thought it would be quicker. Having said that, I found some of my choices didn't gel as well as I had hoped and having run out of time I have just photographed the open view of the card and not the closed aspect.

Here is a couple off close ups of the open card:

Here is the back of the card including the panel for writing a personal message.

Here is a top-down view:

Thank you so much for dropping in to check out my Christmas card. I hope you have found some inspiration for Christmas creating.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with this blog hop. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Sharon Davern. I always look forward to checking out Sharon’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is so much inspiration.

Also, many of us participate in the Colour Creations InstaHop that goes live every Wednesday night on Instagram where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. We would love you to check in on us for more creative inspiration.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself.

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or would like to view the full list of participants go to Sharon Davern’s blog @ Rhapsody in Craft. Sharon is our amazing Art With Heart Team Heart of Christmas Coordinator.  Check out her delightful creation while you are there.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Stampin' Up 2025-2026 Annual Catalogue and or the September-December 2025 Mini Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact regarding any queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2026 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #artisandesignteam  #artisandesignteam2025  #  #