Social Stamping - #18 Get Better Soon

Get Better Soon with Playful Pets and Healing Hugs

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 18th Social Stamping Blog Host. 

This month's Social Stamping theme is Get Better Soon. When thinking about what I would make I decided to create a card for my dog, Gemma, and I to send to her groomer. Gemma is a Lhasa Apso x Shih Tzu and requires grooming professionally every 3 months or so. Gemma's groomer is brilliant in handling dogs and has amazing skill with the clippers. I have been taking my dogs to her for many, many years. She has been going through a barrage of tests recently and so I thought it would be great for us to send her a card to let her know that we are thinking of her and appreciate her.

This is a Slimline 3D Box style card, with a middler layer sitting between the front and back. It will lay flat and fit into a standard DL envelope. The front and back base pieces were cut from a piece of A4 Thick Whisper White card-stock; with the front piece being 1 1/2" longer than the back piece. Both ends of the front piece were scored in from the edge at 1/4" and 3/4"; so the front sits 1/2" away from the back. The 1/4" section was used to adhere front to back.

Before forming the box, a woodgrain piece of In Good Taste Designer Series Paper was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Real Red card-stock; which in turn was mounted to the front base piece. A rectangular hole was cut in the centre of the front section using a rectangular die from the Stitched So Sweetly dies. As it was cutting through 3 layers of paper, it needed to be passed through the Cut n Emboss machine a few times. The rectangular hole was to be longer than the die, so the die was moved further along ensuring it aligned with the cut scallops. Part of the cut rectangular piece was used to create the in-between layer.

A number of dogs were fussy cut and one die cut from a couple of designs from the Playful Pets DSP. The red stripe that has been used for the background also came from the same focal central grey dog was popped up on Dimensionals, a couple of dogs were adhered to the middle layer, and one of the dogs (the one doing the "downward dog") was adhered to the front layer. One of the dogs (probably a Lhasa Also or Shih Tzu, is wearing a healing collar that was cut from Vellum card-stock with a small circular die from the Layering Circles dies. A second fussy cut head was added to give the appearance of wearing the collar and add further dimension. 

The letters to form the word "Doggone" were cut from Real Red card-stock that had been adhered to an Adhesive Sheet. A second set was cut from Real Red card-stock to add to the back of the letters as I realised that the letters would partially hang over the edge of the cut out centre. The letters were adhered at the base in a wonky fashion. A piece of twine from the Playful Pets Trim Combo pack was attached to one of the dogs (as a lead) and partially looped around some of the letters, with the end frayed a little. A rolled Glue Dot held the twine in place behind the 'N'.

A sentiment from the Healing Hugs stamp set was stamped in Early Expresso Classic Stampin' ink onto Vellum card-stock and then over stamped with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss powder. The Stamparatus was used for stamping which enabled the double layer of stamping to stamp directly onto of the Early Expresso sentiment. I do love my Stamparatus. As the sentiment didn't show well in position, a small piece of Whisper White card-stock was adhered to the Vellum and the sentiment was also popped up on Dimensionals.

A piece of Whisper White card-stock was mounted on Real Red cardstock and then onto the back panel. Prior to mounting, the panel was stamped with a dog, dog bowl and butterflies from the Pampered Pets stamp set in Early Expresso Classic Stampin' ink. The same dog was also stamped on the front of a DL envelope.

To finish off the Slimline 3D Box card a bone trinket from the Playful Pets trinkets was adhered with a Glue Dot to the focal dog and butterflies were stamped in Early Expresso Classic Stampin' ink.

I thought I would take a photo of my special girl with the card that is to be sent to her groomer. It wasn't an easy process as she had positioned herself in the garden. To take the photo I ended up in the garden, kneeling in the wet dirt. Most of the photos showed her looking anywhere but toward the camera. Peta of Stampin' Cat, I am in awe of you and your photos of your cards with your cat. I have decided that the ol' adage about actors never working with children or animals also applies to taking photos of dogs and cards together!!! 

Here's Gemma with the card:

I hope you are enjoying this month's Social Stamping Blog Host that has focused on a "Get Well Soon" theme. If you started at the beginning with our amazing Social Stamping Host, Kelly Kent, then this is the last blog, however, If you started part way through you can either click here to be transferred to Kelly's blog at My Papercraft Journey to see her gorgeous creation or click on the 'Next' graphic below; or if you would prefer to go to the full list of participants click on this link to be taken to Kelly Kent's Host Blog Post at My Papercraft Journey where you will find individual links that can take you to each person's blog.

Hope to see you again next month (Saturday, 28th November) when the Social Stamping Blog Host theme is "Merry & Bright".

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

Andrea 😘

  

Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #22 Just Jade

Just Jade with Whale Done 

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 22nd 2020-21 Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase. While I have only missed one Colour Creations Showcase as I  haven't been well - it feels much longer. I'm so glad to be participating tonight, even though I only have one card to share.

This week we are focussing on a gorgeous green called Just Jade. Yes, is it the colour of Jade. Just Jade is one of the 2020-2022 In Colours and it can be found in Stampin' Up!s card-stock; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, re-inkers & Stampin' Spots); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends; a range of Designer Series Papers, packs and embellishments, incl Whale of a Time DSP and Sequins. There is so much gorgeousness.

Tomorrow I am visiting a friend and customer who is interested in seeing the Whale of a Time Suite of products. As Just Jade is one of the colours featured in the Whale of a Time DSP and Sequins,  I thought I would use this Suite for my project and then be able to take the card as an example.

This card was one of those projects where I started off with an idea in mind and then the card morphed into a different design. First, I used the wet on wet water-colouring technique with Fluid 100 water-colour paper, the mid-size Water painter and Just Jade, Mint Macaron and Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin' inks. It was left to dry naturally and before fully dry, it was embossed using the Seabed 3D embossing folder.

The Whale of a Time Designer Series Paper is so delightful and some of the designs have underwater scenes that could be used with an added whale or turtle and a sentiment to create a simply gorgeous card. Other sheets are covered with whales or turtles or other sea life. I fussy cut a larger turtle, some smaller turtles and a couple of seahorses to be added to  another sheet that showed sea plants and Pool Party water. Two strips of another watery design of the DSP were cut to adhere with a little showing either side of the central water-coloured/embossed card-front piece. 

Sea plants (are they Seaweed???) from the Whale Done stamp set were stamped in Just Jade Classic ink and fussy cut out. 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation stamping was used. Further sea plants were die cut from Vellum card-stock using a die from the Smooth Sailing dies. A strip of the Shaded Spruce & Just Jade DSP design (the same as the background) was stamped with a sentiment from the Whale Done stamp set in Versamark ink and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss powder.

An oval was die cut using the second to largest oval from the Layering Ovals dies in the centre of the water-coloured/embossed card front and a piece of Window sheet was adhered with Multipurpose Liquid glue on the inside of the card front across the oval hole. Foam Adhesive strips were adhered around the cut oval and on the underneath edges of the card front. The piece of seaweed & watery DSP was adhered to the card base, ensuring that it sat underneath the oval hole. A number of the fussy-cut turtles & seahorses were adhered to this background piece of DSP, enhancing the sea scene that will be background to the shaker section.

The Whale of a Time Suite includes these gorgeous sequins. The colours are gorgeous and as you can see above, the sequins include delightful little shells. A couple of pinches of these sequins were placed in the centre of the background piece of seaweed DSP and the card front was lowered in place, creating an enclosed shaker. The stamped and fussy cut seaweed and the Vellum sea plants were arranged and the sentiment strip positioned. One of the smaller fussy-cut turtles was adhered directly to the Window sheet. A larger fussy-cut turtle was popped up on the front of the Window sheet with Mini Dimensionals.

To decorate the card inner, a left-over piece of the water-coloured embossed Fluid 100 Water-colour paper and some of the remaining sheet of DSP, that had been used as the background on the card front, were trimmed and adhered on the RHS of a piece of Whisper White card-stock. Tiny fish from the Whale Done stamp set were stamped across the card in Just Jade Classic ink, with only one inking of the stamp, ie 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th generation stamping. A fussy cut turtle from the Whale of a Time DSP was added. The tiny fish were also stamped across the bottom of a C6 Whisper White envelope.

I came in from photographing the card only to realise that I had forgotten to add a bow using to shimmery Pool Party Sheer ribbon, so I needed to rephotograph after adding the finishing touch - a largish bow. Looking at the card without the bow, I thought it would be more suitable for a fella. What's your preference - with or without the bow?

Thank you for spending some time with me at my blog. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any queries, would like me to send you a Stampin' Up! catalogue or if I can help you with any products. The Whale of a Time DSP is one of the DSPs on special for the month of October. The month is almost over - don't miss out on this great special.

Catherine Proctor is our wonderful 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 looking forward to checking out everyone's Just Jade creations. It is always inspiring to see the amazing projects created by my colleagues and their application of the colour.

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

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

Andrea 💕🐾

#colourcreationsshowcase

Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #20 Gray Granite

Gray Granite with Prized Peony and Fancy Phrases 

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 20th Colour Creations Showcase for 2020 with members of the Art with Heart Team.

So glad you are joining us as we focus on a rich neutral that, as the name suggests, is a colour similar to granite. Gray Granite sits within Stampin' Up!s Neutrals family of colours. Gray Granite can be found in Stampin' Up!s card-stock; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, re-inkers & Stampin' Spots); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends;  Water-colour Pencils, a range of Designer Series Papers, incl Peony Garden DSP, In Good Taste DSP, Feels Like Frost DSP; and Shimmer Ribbon. There is so much gorgeousness.

This week I have created 2 cards with different colour combinations. The cards look quite different given the variations in colour ways, but the Gray Granite does give them some commonality. Both "Get well" cards were created with 2 friends in mind. One friend underwent surgery a couple of days ago and the other had an accident and ended up in hospital. Here are this week's projects:

CARD 1:

My first card used Gray Granite card-stock as the card base, also the beautiful Peony and the sentiment were stamped in Gray Granite Classic Stampin' ink.

The top flap of the Gray Granite card base and a Whisper White card-stock front were cut with the large Many Medallions die. A piece of Window Sheet was cut a tad smaller. This was adhered to the tiny front flap and then the Gray Granite medallions were adhered on the underneath side. The white medallions were adhered to the front of the acetate together with the small top and bottom pieces forming the card front. Prior to die cutting the Whisper White card-stock, a piece of Adhesive Sheet was attached. This made it so easy to remove the backing sheet and adhere the die cut medallions to the acetate. 

It may be worth noting that initially I added a light water-colour wash in Petal Pink Classic ink, however, as I was creating the card front design I felt the Petal Pink wash didn't look right. It had been adhered in place, so a second Whisper White medallion piece (with Adhesive Sheet) was die cut and adhered over the Petal Pink water-coloured piece. The two layers of medallions adds a little extra dimension.

The Peony came from the Prized Peony stamp set. It was coloured with a number of Stampin' Blends, ie Light & Dark Rococo Rose, Light & Dark Petal Pink, Light & Dark Old Olive Blends and the Colour Lifter. I used the Colour Lifter to enhance soft highlights to the petals and leaves. 

Once coloured, the peony was die cut using the Peony dies. The peony bud was trimmed off and then added in a different position, peaking out from beneath the flower to allow room for a sentiment which came from the Many Mates stamp set. The sentiment was stamped directly onto a die-cut label using one of the Hippo & Friends dies. The label was adhered directly to the medallions panel and the peony was popped up on Dimensionals.

The card inner was decorated with a piece of Gray Granite DSP from the Peony Garden DSP and the same label shape that was used on the card front was added inside the card, ensuring it sat exactly beneath the front label. The Gray Granite medallions add a beautiful effect when opening the card. The large peony was also stamped in Gray Granite Classic ink onto the Whisper White C6 envelope.

The card was finished with the addition of five delightful Elegant Facetted Gems with one of the larger ones partially tucked under a leaf.

CARD 2:

My second card also used Gray Granite card-stock as the card base. The floral arrangement and sentiment were stamped in Gray Granite Classic ink and the card was embellished with Gray Granite Shimmer Ribbon.

 

The card front was created from Fluid 100 Water-colour paper that had a light Pool Party Classic ink water-colour wash. Following the water-colour wash and prior to it having fully dried, the paper was embossed with the Scripty 3D embossing folder. This was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Pool Party card-stock at an angle, that was then adhered directly, at an angle, to the card base.

The floral spray from the Fancy Phrases stamp set was stamped four times in Gray Granite Classic ink onto a piece of Whisper White card-stock. Two of the floral sprays were considered as the two base sprays and the smaller open flowers were coloured with Light & Dark Pool Party and Light So Saffron Stampin' Blends. These two floral sprays were fussy cut. 

On the other two floral sprays, the larger rose flowers were coloured with Light & Dark Bermuda Bay and Light & Dark Pool Party Stampin' Blends together with the Colour Lifter. A few of the smaller flowers were also coloured. The coloured flowers were fussy cut, lightly shaped and adhered over the same flowers on the base sprays. The smaller flowers were adhered with a tiny dot of Multipurpose liquid Glue, while the roses were lifted on Mini Dimensionals.

The sentiment came from the Fancy Phrases stamp set and was stamped on Whisper White card-stock. This was die cut using one of the rectangular Stitched So Sweetly dies. The die was positioned to align with the bottom of the sentiment and passed through the Cut and Emboss Machine. Then the die was moved to align with the top of the sentiment so the label edge was cut close to the sentiment. This two-step die cutting process can give more flexibility than simply die cutting with one pass through a Cut & Emboss Machine. The sentiment was adhered with Dimensionals over a doubled over piece of Gray Granite Shimmer Ribbon.

The card inner was made from a piece of Whisper White card-stock which was similarly stamped in Gray Granite Classic ink using the floral arrangement from the Fancy Phrases stamp set. A very thin strip of the water-coloured paper was added to the side. A Whisper White C6 envelope was also stamped with the same floral stamp in Gray Granite Classic ink.

I hope my cards have provided some ideas and inspiration. I have enjoyed creating them to share. I love Gray Granite as a colour. As a neutral, it coordinates with many colour combinations.

I have a beautiful girl for my fur family - Gemma is such a sweetie. She was groomed this morning and is looking so gorgeous, so I thought I would take a photo of my cards with her in the close background. I set the cards on the ground and Gemma moved away and sat with her back to me. I don't think she wanted to be photographed with the cards. 😉 

Thank you for spending some time with me at my blog. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any queries, would like me to send you a Stampin' Up! catalogue or if I can help you with any products.

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 looking forward to checking out everyone's Gray Granite creations. It is always inspiring to see the amazing projects created by my colleagues and their application of the nominated colour.

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

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

Andrea 💕🐾

#colourcreationsshowcase

Art with Heart Creative Showcase - October 2020

Designer Series Paper and Snowflake Splendor

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Team Monthly Creative Showcase for October 2020.

This month the Team is focussing on the delicious and delightful Designer Series Papers (DSPs) that Stampin' Up has on offer. There is such an amazing array of styles, colour themes and topics, ranging from various styles of florals, bright colours, photographic, abstract designs, wood or textural and Christmas papers  - there is so many to choose from to ensure you can find something suitable for your projects. The difficulty is choosing which pack to buy!

The really great news is that all through October, there is a sale on many of the DSPs offered by Stampin' Up! - its 15% off. Any of the demonstrators participating in this Creative Showcase would be delighted to help you if you have any questions or would like to take advance of the sale price.

One of my favourite ways of using DSP is in making boxes and with Christmas coming up I decided to made a number of boxes to hold gifts for giving this Christmas. They have been decorated and tied with ribbon. I hope you like them. 

As I was making boxes, I decided to make a couple extra to give as a hostess gift for a Technique Class I was asked to hold last night. I also made a Christmas card to match one of the boxes. Here we go:

All my projects use the gorgeous Snowflake Splendor Designer Series Paper. It is so beautiful with soft muted tones. One side displays a range of beautiful snowflakes and the other side has even more of a watercolour feel with less defined snowflakes.

Project 1: A Set of 3 Boxes

As mentioned, my first project is a set of three boxes. The bases were made with coordinating card-stock and the lids created with three different designs of the Snowflake Splendor DSP. Each base has a depth of 2" (5cm), while the lid has a depth of 1" (2.5cm). These days I usually work in centimetres but with box making I often go back to my early years and work in inches. With the different depths of base and lid, both base and lid can be seen from the side. This also facilitates easy removal of the lid.

The largest box is 8"x8" (20cmx20cm) square with a depth of 2" (5cm). The base was made from 12"x12" (30cmx30cm) Coastal Cabana card-stock and the lid was cut to 10"x10" (25cmx25cm). When box creating I usually use my Simply Scored Scoring Tool with my Take Your Pick Tool, however, Stampin' Up! has a brilliant Paper Trimmer that includes a scoring blade along with the cutting blade - so this tool can be used instead - it's so versatile. The Snowflake was die cut from the Rainbow Glimmer Paper and Coastal Cabana card-stock using the So Many Snowflake dies. Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems that had been coloured with a Light Bermuda Bay Blend were adhered in the centre. 

The 2nd box is 6"x6" (15cmx15cm) square with a depth of 2" (5cm). The base was made from 10"x10" (25cmx25cm) Balmy Blue card-stock and the lid was cut to 8"x8" (20cmx20cm) from DSP. The Snowflake was cut from Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper and Balmy Blue card-stock using the So Many Snowflake dies with a Blue Adhesive-Backed Gem adhered in the centre.

The 3rd box is 4"x4" (10cmx10cm) square with a depth of 2" (5cm). The base was cut to 8"x8" (20cmx20cm) of Highland Heather card-stock and the lid cut to 6"x6" (15cmx15cm) from DSP. The Snowflake was die cut from Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper (which was then coloured with a Light Highland Heather Blend) and Highland Heather card-stock using the So Many Snowflake dies. A Blue Adhesive-Backed Gem that had been coloured with a Dark Highland Heather Blend was adhered in the centre.

The labels for each of the boxes were cut from Whisper White card-stock using the Tasteful Labels dies. Each was stamped with tiny snowflakes from the Snowflake Wishes stamp set the different sentiments all came from the same stamp set. Aren't they lovely sentiments? The colour of Classic inks to stamp the sentiments were all chosen to coordinate with the particular DSP. Each of the boxes were tied with the luscious Metallic Mesh ribbon. It is so beautiful.

Project 2:

One of the boxes in this box stack is the same as the 3rd box shown above. In fact, it was this box that inspired me to make a stack as a hostess gift, as the DSP for the lid was cut to 6"x6" (15cmx15cm) so I could make a 2nd box from a pre-cut piece of DSP. 

The smallest box is 2"x2" (5cmx 5cm) square with a depth of 2" (5cm). The base was cut to 6"x6" (15cmx15cm) of Pool Party card-stock and the lid cut to 4"x4" (10cmx10cm) from DSP. 

The two boxes were stacked together and tie with the same Metallic Mesh ribbon. The Snowflake was die cut from Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper and Highland Heather card-stock using the So Many Snowflakes dies. Both a Blue Adhesive-Backed Gem and the Glimmer Paper were coloured with a Dark Pool Party Blend. The "Thank You" sentiment also came from the same stamp set.

My hostess was delighted with her gift and mentioned she would use the Box Stack as a Christmas decoration this year.

Project 3:

A Christmas card was created to coordinate with the Balmy Blue mid size box from Project 1. I was able to use for the card, the DSP that remained after cutting the piece of DSP out of a 12x12" (30x30cm) piece of DSP for the lid.

A standard card size (in Australia), ie half a A4 piece of Balmy Blue card-stock was scored in half and then the front scored in half again. Two labels were cut from both Balmy Blue and Whisper White card-stocks using the 3rd largest dies from Hippo & Friends dies. Tiny snowflakes were stamped in Balmy Blue Classic ink on the white labels; with one of the labels also being stamped with the sentiment in Misty Moonlight Classic ink. The Balmy Blue labels were both cut in half and adhered to the underneath side of the white labels with a tiny bit of blue showing on either side of the front of the label. 

A piece of the DSP was cut so that it would show a small boarder of the card base on the bottom half a card and a 2nd piece was cut to similarly show a boarder and adhere to the top quarter of the card. The label without the sentiment was adhered directly to the middle of the decorated bottom of the card base. The label with the sentiment was adhered on the LHS to the top decorated card front, ensuring it fully covered the label underneath.

In line with the box, Snowflake pieces were die cut from the Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper (1 x large and 2 x small snowflakes); and from Balmy Blue card-stock (2 x mid-size snowflakes). To create the larger snowflake the 3 different size pieces were adhered together and a Blue Adhesive-Backed Gem adhered in the middle. The smaller snowflake was created from the remaining 2 snowflakes. This smaller snowflake was adhered to the side of the top label and the larger snowflake to the side of the bottom label ensuring most of it would be seen when the card was closed.

Thank you for visiting Valley Inspirations. I really appreciate you spending time on my blog as we showcase some gorgeous Designer Series Papers that are on sale throughout October.

 

I am so blessed to be apart of such a talented team. Knowing each of my colleagues in this Creative Showcase, I am sure that they have some amazing DSP projects to share with you. Don't miss checking out each of their blogs. Rachel is our brilliant host of the Art with Heart Monthly Creative Showcase. If you haven't finished visiting all of the team's amazing masculine creations, you can visit/revisit Rachel's page at Handstamped by Rachel, where she hosts all the links to the other Showcase participants. I'm certainly looking forward to checking out everyone's creations. I always find inspiration.

I hope you join us again next month for October's Art With Heart Team Creative Showcase. when we will be showcasing cards that only use 5 products. This is going to be a challenge for me but I am sure my colleagues will inspire you with #simplestamping using the Stampin' Up! products we love. 

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 August - December Mini Catalogue; or if you have any queries that I could help with. Also, if you are interested in buying Stampin' Up! products, I would delighted to serve you.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Stay safe and stay heathy and sane.

Andrea 😘