Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the first Heart of Christmas 2020 Showcase.
It's July and already we are talking about Christmas! I know, it seems sooo early, however, experience says the next five months will speed by very, very quickly - especially when you are wanting to create special Christmas cards and other projects to give to family and friends. Stampin' Up!s new August-December 2020 Mini Catalogue goes live on 4 August. This catalogue features so many gorgeous Christmas stamps, dies, punches, embellishments, kits and more ... to help you create amazing Christmas projects. Please let me know if you would like a Catalogue (if you are in Australia) and I will pop one in the post for you.
My project for this month features the gorgeous Poinsettia Petals bundle:
Creating Christmas projects, be they cards, boxes or other projects, give me so much joy, so it is great to start creating Christmas cards for this year. While Poinsettias are usually portrayed in some form of red and green, I decided to create my first Christmas card for 2020 in another colour scheme based on one of Stampin' Up!s Christmas colours for 2020, that is Balmy Blue.
I started by creating a Balmy Blue ink wash on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. While this background was drying naturally, the Poinsettia dies were used to cut the different sized poinsettia petals from Balmy Blue card-stock; the holly leaves from Whisper White card-stock; and a few berry sprays from Silver foil. Before the water-coloured paper fully dried it was embossed with the Subtles 3D embossing folder.
The edges of each of the poinsettia petals were daubered (if that is a word) with Frost White Shimmer Paint. The leaves had a slight Balmy Blue edging applied with a Sponge Dauber. The poinsettia petals were adhered together in descending size with a dot of liquid glue added to the centre. Two of the larger Tasteful Labels were cut from Vellum card-stock with the longer thin one dry embossed with the all over folder from the Greenery Emboss Folders.
The two vellum labels were adhered directly to the card front with one on top of the other (ie the embossed one on top) at a 90deg angle. A piece of the oh so gorgeous Snowflake Splendor ribbon was "swished" over the top label, ensuring this delightful ribbon would be seen once the arrangement was positioned. The poinsettia flower was popped up on Dimensionals and the leaves and berry sprays tucked under the flower. One of the sentiments from the matching stamp set was stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with Silver Stampin' Emboss powder. The sentiment was fussy cut, as I only wanted a few of the words and not the whole sentiment. The three fussy cut words were arranged and popped up in Mini Dimensionals. A large Blue Adhesive-Backed Gem was added to the centre of the poinsettia and two smaller gems scattered on the card front. Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems seems such a bland name for these gorgeous gems - they are faceted in Balmy Blue and Night of Navy and glitter beautifully. The card front was mounted on a piece of Whisper White card-stock and then on the Balmy Blue card base.
The card inner has a piece of Whisper White card-stock stamped with a sentiment from the Dove of Hope stamp set in Balmy Blue ink with a second generation stamped poinsettia from the Poinsettia Petals stamp set. The matching envelope also was stamped with the lovely poinsettia in Balmy Blue.
Thank you for sharing our first Heart of Christmas 2020 Showcase. I hope you are enjoying it and finding inspiration.
The lovely Judy May is hosting the Heart of Christmas 2020 Showcase each month as we run up to Christmas. If you haven't finished checking out all of the team's Christmas creations, you can visit/revisit Judy's page at Just Judy Designs, where she hosts all the links to the other Showcase participants. I'm certainly looking forward to being inspired by everyone's creations.
Members of the Art with Heart team currently are conducting a number of regular blog hops:
- The Heart of Christmas 2020 Showcase will be back on 17 August, that is the 3rd Monday of the month.
- Every Wednesday we are holding the Colour Creations Showcase where we feature a different Stampin' Up! colour each week. This coming Wednesday, members of the Team will share projects that hero the gorgeous "Calypso Coral".
- Our monthly Art with Heart Team Creative Showcase occurs in the middle of each month on a Thursday. The August Creative Showcase will go live on 13 August and is focussing on "Rainbows". I'm looking forward to that one.
As mentioned, please don't hesitate to contact me if you are in Australia and would like a copy of the Stampin' Up! 2020-2021 Annual Catalogue or the newly released August - December 2020 Mini Catalogue; or if you have any queries that I could help with. If you are interested in buying Stampin' Up! products, I would delighted to serve you.
Look after yourself and your loved ones. For those of you who live in Victoria and New South Wales, I so feel for you and hope & pray that there will be speedy control of the current outbreaks of COVID-19 and your level of lockdown will ease soon.
Take care
Andrea 😘
List of Products used to create these projects:
Stamps, Dies & Punches
- Poinsettia Petals stamp set - #153475
- Poinsettia dies - #153522
- Dove of Hope stamp set - #153406
- Tasteful Labels dies - #152886
Inks & Applicators
- Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' ink pad - #147105
- Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' ink refill - #147168
- Frost White Shimmer Paint - #147044
- Water Painter - #151298
- Stampin Spritzer - #126185
- Sponge Daubers - #133773
- Versamark ink pad - #102283
- Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder - #109131
Paper
- Whisper White card-stock - #106549
- Thick Whisper White card-stock - #140490
- Balmy Blue card-stock - #147007
- Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper - #149612
- Vellum card-stock - #106584
- Silver Foil - #132178
- C6 Whisper White envelopes - #106589
- Snowflake Splendor 6.4mm Ribbon - #153548
- Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems - #153547
Adhesives
- Multipurpose Liquid Glue - #110755
- Mini Glue Dots - #103683
- Tear & Tape Adhesive - #138995
- Mini Stampin' Dimensionals - #144108
- Stampin' Dimensionals - #104430
- Subtles 3D Embossing Folder - #151775
- Greenery Embossing Folder - #152716
- Take Your Pick Tool - #144107
- Bone Folder - #102300
- Paper Snips - #103579
- Paper Trimmer - #152392
- Stamparatus - #148187
- Block C - #118486
- Block D - #118485
- Block E - #118484
- Block H - #118490
- Grid Paper - #130148
- Silicone Craft Mat - #127857
- Stamping Sponge - #141337
- Simple Shammy - #147042
- Heat Tool - #129056
- Stampin Cut & Emboss Machine - #149653
- Magnetic Cutting Plate - #149656
Love, love love this card Andrea, so subtle and pretty
ReplyDeleteWow, Andrea! Your card is as amazing as ever! You really do delight in the small details that combine to make a spectacular card.
ReplyDeleteOh, this is so pretty, Andrea! I love the effect you achieved, sponging the petals with shimmer paint; beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAndrea your card is so soft and simply divine - the poinsettia looks amazing in blue!xx
ReplyDeleteOh wow Andrea your card is stunning. Not a usual colour combo but it works beautifully
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful work of art Andrea. Gorgeous layering and texture, so pretty.
ReplyDeleteOh Andrea I love it! I was looking at your poinsettia and wondering how in the world did you get it to look so real and life like! Gorgeous! The frost white shimmer paint daubered yes I will allow it to be a word on the edges is perfect!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I love that background wash and the poinsettia is stunning. It has a real velvety look to it and I think it is wonderful in these tones!
ReplyDeleteYour card is both stunning and beautiful, Andrea. Gorgeous colours from your watercolour wash to the added shimmer on the petals edges. I love the extra little touches of ribbon and silver foil. A real "WOW' card! Love it!
ReplyDeleteLove your card Andrea, Poinsettia in Balmy Blue with the shimmer white around the edges looks stunning. Thanks for the inspiration to try more colours.
ReplyDeleteOh Andrea your beautiful card is such an inspiration. I have this set and love it but never thought of using it with blue hues. It is just so dreamy and sparkly.
ReplyDelete