Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #42 Rococo Rose

Rococo Rose with Butterfly Brilliance

Hi. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 42nd 2020/2021 Colour Creations Showcase by members of the Art with Heart Team.

This week we are showcasing a gorgeous colour, Rococo Rose. It is one of the soon to retire In Colours for 2019-2021. It's last day as a Stampin' Up In Colour will be 3 May 2021. I use this colour often so will miss it, however, my sneak peak of the new In Colours for 2021-2023 indicates the 5 colours are also gorgeous.

Please excuse the brevity of tonight's post. I have had numerous commitments this past week and with not feeling well, I have run out of "me" to create for this blog tonight. I had intended to message Cathy saying I would sadly have to pull out. I was soo disappointed but was trying to be practical. However, while I was out today, I realised I hadn't sent the message. Panic. 

Then I remembered I had just made a set of cards with the retiring colours, including Rococo Rose. As 6 cards were shown in the one blog last Saturday - 1 showing the continuing In Colours and 5 cards featuring each of the retiring In Colours I am taking the liberty of just focusing on the Rococo Rose card as, in effect, it was not discussed. Also, the close up photo was not shown in Saturday's blog. Here's my card:

The background water-colour wash used Rococo Rose Classic Stampin' ink on Fluid 100 Water-colour paper. There was some flicking of ink using the Rococo Rose Stampin' Write Marker as well as some Frost White Shimmer Paint. The little holes were die cut using one of the extra textural dies from the Butterfly die set.

A butterfly was stamped in Gray Granite Classic Stampin' ink using the Butterfly Brilliance stamp. The stamp is so gorgeous - really love the detail in the 6 Butterflies. The butterfly was coloured with Stampin' Blends, ie Rococo Rose, Petal Pink and Highland Heather with Gray Granite Combos (including both light and dark shades of each colour). While the detail of the colouring is not really noticeable when looking at the full card; if you take a peak from the side as seen above, the colouring does add to the overall design. The butterfly was die cut using the coordinating Butterfly dies. A detailed die from the same set cut a filagree version of the butterfly from Basic White card-stock. The two butterflies were adhered together just at the body, allowing shaping of the wings to add a sense of movement. A tiny butterfly was also die cut from Basic White card-stock.

The water-coloured background was mounted at an angle onto Rococo Rose card-stock. White twine from the Snail Mail Twine Combo was tied around the mounted panel and finished in a bow. Petal Pink Elegant Faceted Gems add the finishing touch - always love a touch of shimmer. The central panel was then mounted with Dimensionals onto a Thick Basic White card base. The sentiment is from the Many Messages bundle.

If you want to check out more detail on how this card was created you can visit my previous blog for Saturday 27 March.

I will create another Rococo Rose project tomorrow and include it in this blog over the weekend - stay tuned.

Catherine Proctor is the 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 the links to the participating blogs so you can find everyone's Rococo Rose creations. Checking out everyone's creations and their interpretation of the amazing Stampin' Up! colours is always a treat. 

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team share projects that hero Terracotta Tile, another one of the retiring In Colours for 2019-2021.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others as these strange times continue. Hopefully life with settle to an improved normality before too long. 

Andrea 💕🐾

Social Stamping - #22 In Colours

In Colours with Hot Dog and Butterfly Brilliance

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the second Social Stamping Blog Host for 2021. Currently, we are focussing on each of Stampin' Up!'s Colour families.

This month the nominated sets of colours are the In Colours. To ensure Stampin' Up colours are 'on trend' they introduce a new group of 5 colours every year that stays around for 2 years. There are always 2 sets of In Colours complementing the range of colours. At the moment the In Colours include: for 2020-2022 - Magenta Madness, Misty Moonlight, Just Jade, Bumblebee and Cinnamon Cider; and for 2019-2021 - Seaside Spray, Purple Posy, Rococo Rose, Terracotta Tile and Pretty Peacock.  The latter are about to retire.

PROJECT 1:  A Card featuring 2020-2022 In Colours

I am a bit of a dog tragic and so when I saw the cute little sausage dogs in the Jan-Jun Mini Catalogue I knew the Hot Dog stamp set would make its way home. It is a great set. A friend of mine (who loves her little dogs) has retired recently so I thought I would make this card to celebrate her stepping into the next phase of life. Balloons are often a part of a celebration, so 5 balloons were water-coloured in each of the In Colours.

The balloons and one dog were stamped in Versamark on Shimmery White card-stock and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss Powder. Some bones and hearts were also stamped on a card front size piece of Shimmery White card-stock. As mentioned, each balloon was water-coloured using the fine Water Painter with either Just Jade, Bumblebee, Magenta Madness, Cinnamon Cider or Misty Moonlight Classic Stampin' ink. The dog was water-coloured with Crumb Cake ink. The little envelope was stamped in Crumb Cake and the heart coloured in Magenta Madness.

The card front was water-coloured with Seaside Spray ink using the mid-sized Water Painter. The heat embossed bones and hearts resisted the colour to a subtle effect. When almost dry, the card front was embossed with the Tasteful Textures 3D embossing folder. A sentiment from the same stamp set was stamped on a scrap of Shimmery White card-stock and punched out with the Classic Label Punch.

The stamped and coloured balloons were fussy cut, removing the stamped string and pieces of White Twine from the Snail Mail Twine Combo were adhered to the back of each balloon. The balloons, dog (which also had been fussy cut) and sentiment were arranged and then adhered with Dimensionals. The little envelope was added to an edge of the sentiment label. Tail wagging lines were drawn in using a Soft Suede Stampin' Write marker. Little White Resin Hearts were scattered around.

PROJECT 2: A Set of 5 Cards with each card featuring one of the 2019-2021 In Colours. These colours are retiring as of 4th May. They are gorgeous colours and I will miss them, however, I am looking forward to the new In Colours - they are gorgeous too.

The cards are all created with the same process and techniques, just different colours and a few minor changes to give some uniqueness. 

Featuring Pretty Peacock

This card features Pretty Peacock. The background was water-coloured with Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin' ink on Fluid 100 Water-colour paper using the mid-sized Water Painter.  I water-coloured each background at the same time and left them all to dry. The Butterfly Brilliance stamp has all the butterflies joined in one stamp so the Stamparatus is great when stamping. I stamped in Smoky Slate and then coloured the butterflies in different colours using Stampin' Blends. I used the focal In Colour and other coordinating Blends. 

Featuring Rococo Rose

The butterflies were die cut using the coordinating Brilliant Wings dies. The detailed butterfly dies were used to cut the lacy butterflies in Basic White card-stock - they are delightful. A few little butterflies were also die cut.

Featuring Terracotta Tile

The Brilliant Wings dies have some have cute little accent dies, eg little holes, cross hatch lines and brick work. Different dies have been used on each of the cards. The water-coloured background was mounted on the relevant focal colour. Some white twine from the Snail Mail Combo pack was tied around the mounted background. The coordinating stamped and coloured butterflies were matched with the filagree white butterflies and then adhered together with a Glue Dot. 

Featuring Seaside Spray

The backgrounds were splattered with a Stampin' Write marker in the focal colour and some Frost White Shimmer Paint. The sentiments were on hand from previously created Many Messages bundle - such a great bundle. Elegant Faceted Gems were added as a finishing touch to add a little shimmer. 

Featuring Purple Posy

I've loved creating these projects, using both In Colour groupings. It was great to be able to bid a fond farewell to the retiring In Colours for 2019-2021. 

That's it from me this month. I hope you are enjoying this Social Stamping Blog Hop which is focussing on the In Colours. If you started at the beginning with our amazing Social Stamping Host, Kelly Kent, then the next talented crafter is Sharni Haines at Stampin at the Maples. Either click on Sharni's name or click on the "next" graphic to be taken to her blog.

  

To see the full list of participants, click on this link and be taken to Kelly Kent's Host Blog Post at My Papercraft Journey where you will find all the individual links that can take you to each person's blog

I hope to see you again next month, when we will be focussing on the Neutral colour family. 

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 - #41 Rich Razzleberry

Rich Razzleberry with Fancy Phrases

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 41st 2020/2021 Colour Creations Showcase by members of the Art with Heart Team.

The week we are showcasing a deep rich colour, Rich Razzleberry. Rich Razzleberry is part of Stampin' Up! Regals colour collection and it is a strong red purple. Rich Razzleberry is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, re-inkers & ink spot); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends, Watercolour pencils; Designer Series Paper including the Artistry Blooms DSP; and the Artistry Blooms Sequins.

Rich Razzleberry has not been a highly used colour for me, however, as I played with it for this blog hop it has found its way into my heart. It is amazing how water-colouring gives me a deeper understanding of the colour. For this week's card I water-coloured the flowers and leaves with a fine Water Painter. This technique requires a higher level of detail & I need to practice more.

I started by stamping the large floral arrangement from the Fancy Phrases stamp set in Grey Granite Classic Stampin' ink onto Shimmery White card-stock. This card-stock is an off white, that is not as bright a white as Basic White and not as cream as Very Vanilla. It has a delicate shimmer throughout. It is great for water-colouring where there is not an abundance of water. As I was water-colouring the image, I needed to do something to stop the stamped Classic ink from bleeding into the colouring.  I stamped in Versamark ink directly over the Classic ink stamped image (my trusty Stamparatus was brilliant for this) and heat embossed it with Clear Stampin' Emboss powder. This trapped the Grey Granite ink under the clear embossing.

The floral image was stamped four times - one for practicing and 3 for use on the card. I decided on a colour scheme of Rich Razzelberry for the roses, Flirty Flamingo for the open flowers and stayed with Grey Granite for the leaves/stems. As mentioned, I used the fine tipped Water Painter to colour the image, keeping the tip wet and just picking up colour from a large Block where I had added a light layer of ink by pressing my stamp pads on the block. I refined my colouring technique as I progressed. So glad I had stamped an extra image to practice the technique! When dry, the floral arrangements were fussy cut - as the stamp set has no coordinating dies.

For the background, I prepared a card front size of Shimmery White card-stock and laid a light water-colour wash using Seaside Spray Classic Stampin' ink. I didn't want the background wash to compete with the flowers so it was very light - so light in fact that you can hardly see it. Oops! (If you squint, you may be able to see a little of the water-colour wash in the photo below.) When almost dry, this background was embossed using a Painted Texture 3D Embossing folder.

The embossed background was mounted on a piece of Rich Razzleberry card-stock. Linen twine was wrapped around this background twice and tied in a bow. The water-coloured flowers were arranged over the background, with focal flowers being popped up on Dimensionals and other flowers adhered directly to the background. The arrangement needed something, so extra central flowers and some leaves were fussy cut out and layered on top with Dimensionals.

As I was thinking about the sentiment, I saw my bowl holding pre-prepared sentiments using the Many Messages bundle. This is such a handy bundle with a great range of sentiments. I decided to use the "Happy Birthday" sentiment which I had previously heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss powder on Merry Merlot card-stock. While a different colour, it seemed to coordinate well with the overall colour scheme & design. The sentiment was mounted on a piece of Vellum that had been die cut using a small scolloped rectangle from the So Sentimental dies. I couldn't find my Artistry Blooms Sequins, so added some clear Elegant Faceted Gems as the finishing touch. So love these embellishments.

To coordinate the inside panel of the card with the front, some remaining small pieces from the water-coloured floral sprays were adhered to the card inner. After adhering another 2 floral images to a C6 Basic White envelope, there were only a few little leaves remaining. It was just the right amount although, I also used the "practice" water-coloured flowers.

Gemma, my companion & fur family, stayed close by as I photographed the card for the blog. Today she even let me take a photo of her with the card - she normally moves away.

I had fun creating this card and experimenting further with water-colouring. Time disappeared so ideas for a second card didn't come to fruition. I am sure the concepts will be used later. Thank you for calling by.

Catherine Proctor is the 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 the links to the participating blogs so you can find everyone's Rich Razzleberry creations. Checking out everyone's creations and their interpretation of the amazing Stampin' Up! colours is always a treat. 

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team share projects that hero Rococo Rose, one of the retiring In Colours for 2019-2021.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others as these strange times continue. Hopefully life with settle to an improved normality before too long. 

Andrea 💕🐾

Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #40 Real Red

Real Red with Love You Always Suite & Many Messages

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 40th 2020/2021 Colour Creations Showcase by members of the Art with Heart Team.

The week we are showcasing a strong primary colour, Real Red. Real Red is part of Stampin' Up! Regals colour collection. This colour is a true red. Real Red is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, re-inkers & ink spot); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends, Watercolour pencils; a number of Designer Series Papers, including Snail Mail & Playful Pets Designer Series Papers; Resin Hearts embellishments and Double Stitched Satin Ribbon and Red Rhinestones Basic Jewels.

Red is a great colour and one I used to love to wear when I was young. These days it isn't my "go to colour" especially when creating, however, I still love it as a colour. I have a bright red rose in my garden and it is currently flowering again (which is quite something as I hardly water my garden). This beautiful rose inspired my choices this week and led me to use the True Love Designer Series Paper with my Stampin' Blends.

I have created two cards using similar products, so they are similar but different.

CARD 1: I started by colouring flowers on one of the sheets of True Love DSP. This DSP is so gorgeous and only uses black and white. A number of the designs are great for colouring. I coloured a few groups of flowers using the Real Red Stampin' Blends combo, together with light Flirty Flamingo, dark So Saffron, light Mossy Meadows and Old Olive combo and of course, the Colour Lifter.

I coloured a piece of Basic White card-stock using a Blending Brush with Real Red Classic Stampin' Ink, giving an ombre effect. This sheet of hand coloured card-stock was then flicked with water. The effect isn't noticeable on this card but one of the photos of the second project provides a close up. A label was cut using the larger elongated die from Hippo & Friends dies.

A card front was cut from Basic White card-stock and de-bossed with the Dainty Diamonds 3D embossing folder. De-bossing means the "other" side of the embossed card-stock was placed up-ward to be seen. Both sides are equally gorgeous - it just depends on the desired effect for your design. I was wanting some subtle interest, so decided the flatter side worked well. The de-bossed card front was adhered directly to the Thick Basic White card base.

A background of a white with black dot design from the True Love DSP was mounted on a slightly larger Basic Black card-stock mount. This was centralised and adhered with Dimensionals on the de-bossed card front. The hand coloured die cut label was also attached with Dimensionals.

The coloured flowers were all fussy cut out and arranged over the label and card front. The flowers were shaped a little with fingers and a Bone Folder. This gives added life and dimension. The flowers were adhered with Tombow Multi-purpose Liquid Glue.

A previously prepared sentiment strip was added using Mini Dimensionals together with 3 Matte Black Dots as the finishing touch. The sentiment label was created at a recent card class on the Stamparatus using Versamark ink on Basic Black card-stock and heat embossed using a Heat Gun and White Stampin' Emboss powder. The Stamparatus is brilliant when stamping the Many Messages stamp as it is a large stamp and if all of the sentiments do not come out clearly, the Stamparatus enables the image to be stamped again in the same place over the initial image. A whole set of messages is created when the messages image is die cut with one pass through the Cut & Emboss Machine using the coordinating dies. All of my students went away with a set of sentiments to use on other cards. They were delighted.

The card inner was created from Basic White card-stock with a thin strip of Basic Black card-stock and a very thin strip that had been trimmed off when neatening the piece of red blended card. An arrangement of partial flowers from the edge of the DSP were fussy cut. They are perfect for the card inner.

A C6 Basic White envelope was stamped with flowers from the coordinating stamp set, Forever & Always stamps. I so love Stampin' Up!s coordination of products.

CARD 2: As mentioned, the same/similar products were used for this second card but he card layout is different. As with other strong colours, I wanted to hero Real Red but didn't want it to be overpowering. I added a second challenge to creating these projects, that is also working with black. For some reason in the past, I have avoided using black on my projects, instead using dark colours that coordinate with the projects colour scheme. Of late, I have consciously endeavoured to incorporate black. I really appreciate the dramatic effect of black in project designs by others, but for some reason, I have had an aversion. Basic Black and Basic White can be stunning with Real Red, so I decided to use this as the base colour way for this week's projects.

A Basic White card front was also embossed with the Dainty Diamonds 3D embossing folder. This was adhered directly to the Thick Basic White card base.

A strip of the hand blended Real Red card was adhered to the embossed card front and a thin strip of Basic Black card-stock was adhered over the edge. See below for a close-up of the effect of water being sprinkled over the Real Red blended card. I love the way the water droplets lift the colour and in this case, there is an orangey edge around the lighter circle. I find colour and the effects of various techniques fascinating.

A double flower spray, that had been coloured with blends (at the same time as flowers from Card 1), was fussy cut. Another leaf was coloured with light Mossy Meadow, light & dark Old Olive Stampin' Blends and the Colour Lifter. Leaves and budded twigs from the coordinating Always In My Heart bundle were die cut from Basic Black card-stock. The flowers, leaves and die cut pieces were arranged and adhered with Multi-purpose Liquid Glue.

A different sentiment from the pre-prepared sentiments using the Many Messages bundle was adhered with Mini Dimensionals along part of the black card-stock strip. Matte Black Dots were added as the finishing touch.

Similar to the first card, the card inner was created from Basic White card-stock with a thin strip of Basic Black card-stock. An arrangement of partial flowers from the edge of the DSP were fussy cut and adhered abutting the black strip. The perfect touch for the card inner and the partial flowers are not wasted.

A C6 Basic White envelope was stamped with flowers from the coordinating stamp set, Forever & Always stamps, as with the first project.

As i was taking photos of my projects late morning, my fur family, Gemma was relaxing watching me - from a distance. Normally she would be much closer, but she was reinforcing her earlier communication - that it was time for a walk. So cute. (Thank you for indulging me with a tale of my fur companion.)

I love colouring and enjoyed creating these two cards - and am becoming more comfortable using black. Thank you for spending time on the Valley Inspirations blog. I hope you have found something of interest.

Catherine Proctor is the 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 every link to the participating blogs so you can find everyone's Real Red creations. Checking out everyone's creations and their interpretation of the amazing Stampin' Up! colours is always a highlight. 

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team share projects that hero Rich Razzleberry. 

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others as these strange times continue. Hopefully life with settle to an improved normality before too long. 

Andrea 💕🐾

#colourcreationsshowcase

Art With Heart Creative Showcase - March 2021

Card Sketch with Butterfly Brilliance and Pierced Blooms

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Creative Showcase for March 2021.

This month we are basing our projects on a card sketch. We can interpret the sketch "literally" or go wherever the sketch may take us.

I have created two cards using the sketch - both similar to each other though different dies sets and colours were used.

CARD 1: The design for the first card had been fluttering around in my heard for a little while. The Butterfly Brilliance suite has been released early by Stampin' Up! to whet our appetites for the coming release of the new 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue. It is such a gorgeous suite - I couldn't resist, especially as I love butterflies. This is the suite used for this card.

The Butterfly Bijou Designer Series Paper is stunning. One of the beautiful butterfly sheets was cut to provide the lower section of the card design. The background of this piece of DSP has a watercolour effect using Magenta Madness, Calypso Coral and Bermuda Bay, so I decided to water-colour a background piece that would extend from the DSP to the top of the card. I used the same colours of Classic Stampin' ink on a piece of Fluid 100 Water-colour paper. When almost dry, it was embossed using the Brick & Mortar 3D embossing folder. 

The embossed water-coloured piece and the DSP were adhered to a Calypso Coral card-stock mount - leaving a very fine border. Some white twine from the Snail Mail Twine Combo was wrapped around the card front twice and tied in a bow. I had a bowl of sentiments on my table and one seemed perfect for this card and it stretched all the way across the card front. The Many Messages stamp set was stamped using Versamark ink on Basic Black card-stock and heat embossed with White Emboss Powder. I just love the way a range of sentiments can be stamped and cut out with this amazing bundle. The sentiment strip was popped up on Dimensionals covering the join between DSP and water-coloured paper.

Delightful filagree butterflies from the Butterfly Wings die set were cut from the beautiful Pearlescent Speciality paper. The butterflies represented the ink splotches on the sketch however, positioning is a bit different given the size of the butterflies. Two were adhered to the card front and 1 was popped up on a Mini Dimensional. White Elegant Faceted Gems were added to the card front for a little glimmer.

The card front was adhered to a Thick Basic White card-stock card base with Dimensionals. The card inner was decorated with a strip of the same DSP and 3 fussy cut butterflies. A C6 Basic White envelope is to be stamped with butterflies from the Butterfly Brilliance stamp set. (Not pictured.)

CARD 2: I created a couple of cards for last night's AWHT Colour Creations Showcase featuring Purple Posy. One of the cards wasn't ready for 'go live' and still needs to be finished. That card used stitched flowers from the Pierced Blooms dies.  As there were left over die cut pieces sitting on my table, I designed this card around them, with the flowers replacing the ink splotches on the sketch.

A card front of Basic White card-stock was passed through the Cut & Emboss machine twice using the leafy Greenery embossing folder. The embossed card front was adhered directly to a Purple Posy card base. A piece of Hydrangea Hill Designer Series Paper was adhered directly at the bottom of the card front. A different pre-stamped and cut sentiment using the Many Messages bundle with Momento ink on Basic White card-stock was popped up on Dimensionals over the edge of the DSP.

Stitched flowers, pre-cut using the Pierced Blooms dies with Basic White, Purple Posy, Highland Heather and Mint Macaron card-stocks were sponged with White Craft ink on the outer edges. Three large to mid sized flowers had different colour centres adhered in place. The 3 flowers were positioned with Dimensionals similar to the sketch's ink splotches. Five little flowers and a number of white Elegant Faceted Gems were scattered around. 

A few remaining pierced blooms were adhered to a Basic White card inner. As the card will be hand delivered to a lovely customer who is grieving the loss of a a special friend, a few pierced blooms will be added to the envelope to give a hint of what may be inside. 

I hope you like the cards. It is a versatile sketch and could be used with a range of Card-stocks, DSP, Stamps and Dies. A sketch is a great starting point if you are looking for inspiration for your project.

I am blessed to be apart of a talented team. Knowing each of my colleagues in this Creative Showcase, I am sure they have amazing projects to share with you that have been inspired by the sketch. Don't miss having a look at each of their blogs. Rachel is our amazing host of the Art with Heart Monthly Creative Showcase, so if you haven't finished visiting all of the team's 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 interpretation of the sketch. 

I hope you join us again on the second Thursday of April for our next Showcase. 

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you are in Australia and would like a copy of the coming Stampin' Up! 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue or the continuing January - June 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. I hope you stay safe, stay heathy and stay sane in these strange times.

Have a great month.

Andrea 😘