Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #15 Early Expresso

Early Expresso with The Right Triangle and Gilded Autumn

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 15th Colour Creations Showcase with members of the Art with Heart Team.

This week we are focussing on a dark brown called Early Expresso. As the name suggests, it is the colour of black coffee. This colour sits within the Neutrals Stampin' Up! colour family. Early Expresso can be found in Stampin' Up!s cardstock, Classic inks, Stampin' Write Markers, Watercolour Pencil, a number of different packs of Designer Series Paper and a gorgeous Faux Suede Trim. 

Early Expresso is a strong colour and could easily dominate a design, however, in small amounts and combined with other colours, it can add depth and compliment other colours. Depending on the design it is also a colour that could be used instead of black. 

This week's cards have included a couple of the Designer Series Papers that have touches of Early Expresso. 

CARD 1:  The In Good Taste Designer Series Paper (DSP) is so gorgeous depicting a range of textures including natural wood, tiles and textiles. I chose one of the dark wood designs where Early Expresso is naturally featured and die cut a triangle from the Stitched Triangles dies. Recently I had seen a lovely photo of a pretty little bird that had areas of dark brown with a lighter brown and the tummy feathers a couple of shades of blue. I decided to use this little bird as inspiration for my colour combination. Smaller triangles were die cut from Misty Moonlight and Seaside Spray card-stocks. The Misty Moonlight triangle was embossed with the Pinewood Planks 3D embossing folder. A narrow strip of Seaside Spray card-stock was die cut with a row of tiny triangles.

A Whisper White card-stock card front was stamped in Seaside Spray Classic ink using one of the background stamps from The Right Triangle stamp set. A sentiment from the Many Mates stamp set was stamped in Early Expresso Classic ink. This card front was embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder. (I so love this embossing folder. As its name suggests, it adds some subtle linen like texture.)

The stamped/embossed card front was mounted on Early Expresso card-stock at a slight angle. A piece of the Misty Moonlight In Colour ribbon was tied around the mounted card front. The die cut strip was laid over the ribbon and the triangles were arranged, popping them up on Dimensionals / Mini Dimensionals.

A lighter section of the darker woodgrain design of DSP was adhered at an angle directly to the Early Expresso card base. The card front was popped up on Dimensionals also at a slight angle. To finish the card three clear Elegant Faceted Gems were added. These gems are so gorgeous with a faceted top and come in clear, white and Petal Pink - so beautiful.

A Whisper White card inner with a thin strip of the wooden DSP at the base had a 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from the Many Mates stamp set was stamped in Early Expresso Classic ink and the same background stamp was stamped around the sentiment in Seaside Spray Classic ink.

A Whisper White C6 envelope was stamped with a small triangle from The Right Triangle stamp set in Early Expresso Classic ink and the background stamp was stamped in Seaside Spray Classic ink.

CARD 2:  Looking at the other DSPs which include Early Expresso I was inspired to use the Gilded Autumn Speciality DSP and other products in the Gilded Autumn Suite. It is such a gorgeous Suite and even though we are heading into Spring rather than Autumn I think gilded leaves are always in style.

Prior to a strip of striped SDSP being adhered across the middle of a Very Vanilla card-stock card front, some seeds were stamped on the card front in Crumb Cake Classic ink. The card front was mounted, with a very fine mount, to the Bronze Brushed Metallic card-stock. A rectangle was die cut from Very Vanilla card-stock using the Stitched Rectangles dies. This piece was also mounted onto Metallic card-stock.

A piece of the Metallic Ribbon from the Basket Weave & Metallic Ribbon Combo pack was stretched across the stitched rectangle. I had initially thought of tying some of the ribbon to a metallic acorn and adhering it to the trim, but later decided this would detract rather than add to the card design. Often it's what you leave off that is just as important as what is added to a design.

A sentiment from the Beautiful Autumn stamp set was stamped in Early Expresso Classic ink onto Very Vanilla card-stock, which was then die cut using the smallest long stitched rectangle die. This sentiment was popped up on Mini Dimensionals over the trim. The mounted stitched vanilla rectangle was centred on the card front and adhered with Dimensionals.

One of the SDSP designs is covered with gilded gold and bronze leaves and acorns. The coordinating set of small punches match some of the leaves and the acorns on the SDSP which enabled them to be punched out using the coordinating punch set. The small leaves were easily fussy cut. Two of the Oak leaves were punched from the Brushed Metallic card-stock. Each of the leaves were shaped and either adhered with liquid glue or Mini Dimensionals across the card front.

A thin strip of the striped DSP, featuring Early Expresso, was added at the bottom of the Very Vanilla card inner, which was adhered in the card. A few leaves and an acorn were also adhered flat to the card inner. A Very Vanilla C6 Envelope was stamped with the oak leaf in Early Expresso Classic ink.

I hope you like my cards. Do make contact with me if you have any queries. Also if you live in Australia, please let me know if you would like me to post a copy of Stampin' Up!s 2020-2021 Annual Catalogue and or the August - December Mini Catalogue.

Catherine Proctor is our amazing host of the Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase. If you haven't finished visiting all of the team's colour creations, you can visit/revisit Catherine's page at What Cathy Made, where she hosts all the links to the other Showcase participants. I'm certainly looking forward to checking out everyone's Early Expresso creations. I always find the others creations inspiring.

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team will share projects that hero Flirty Flamingo. 

Do look after yourself and your loved ones. Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others. 

Andrea 💕🐾

#colourcreationsshowcase