Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #50 Soft Suede

Soft Suede with Very Versailles

Hi. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 50th 2020-21 Colour Creations Showcase by members of the Art with Heart Team. We have worked through all the Stampin' Up! colours, except the newly introduced In Colours for 2021-2023 and the basics, Basic White, Basic Black and Very Vanilla. the basics would have been used by us all over the past year potentially as the bases for our creations.

Firstly, my apologies to anyone who checked in last week only to find a post with nothing creative in it. I have been quite sick and was in zombie mode last week, forgetting to delete the draft blog. I am starting to feel like I will "survive" but am still wrung out. I didn't want to miss this week's blog.

This week we are showcasing a neutral colour, Soft Suede. It is a deep brown and is part of the Neutrals' Colour Family. It's not a colour I have used very much, but having worked with it this week, I have decided it's a lovely brown. Soft Suede has been produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends, & the Neutral's Designer Series Paper.

Soft Suede has not been a go to colour. In fact, it has been used very little. However, as I thought about what I would create, numerous ideas came to mind. Initially, the projects would have been suitable for fellas, but in thinking about colour combinations I really liked Calypso Coral with Soft Suede so was thinking of using this combo, together with Very Vanilla and potentially either Crumb Cake or Petal Pink (as a lighter variant of Calypso Coral). I commenced work on a fancy fold, but this morning changed tack completely as friends of mine are grieving the loss of their 17 year old poodle and I wanted to create a sympathy card for them. Here is my Soft Suede sympathy card:

The card base is Soft Suede card-stock with a layer of Very Vanilla card-stock that had been embossed with a new die, Stitched Greenery die. This die punches tiny holes in an all over leaf design. It is a pity you can't see more of this delightful design.

Two Very Vanilla card-stock card fronts were stamped with the scripty stamp from the Very Versailles stamp set. This set is a continuing stamp set, and is so gorgeous. I love it. The script was stamped in Soft Suede Classic Stampin' ink on one card front and with Calypso Coral ink on the second piece. A Blending Brush applied a centre circle of Petal Pink Classic Stampin' ink with Calypso Coral ink around the outer area. This was die cut with the second largest circle from the continuing Layering Circles dies.

The blended die cut circle was layered directly over the Soft Suede script so that script flowed through. The card front was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Calypso Coral card-stock. The leaf spray stamp was stamped twice on Very Vanilla card-stock; once with Soft Suede ink and the other with Versamark ink. The latter was heat embossed with Gold Emboss powder. Both sets of leaves were fussy cut. The Soft Suede leaves were adhered directly to the card front, while the gold embossed leaves were adhered with Mini Dimensionals.

A double bow was tied with the Very Vanilla twine from the Bakers Twine Essentials Pack and the gold trim from the Simply Elegant Trim. A little heart trinket from the Pet Trinkets was tied into the bow - reminiscent of a beloved dog's tag. Glue Dots were brilliant to attach the bows & trinket. A sentiment from the Very Versailles stamp set was stamped in Soft Suede on Very Vanilla and fussy cut out.The sentiment was added with Mini Dimensionals. To complete the design some Champagne Rhinestone Basic Jewels were sprinkled around.

The leaf spray was stamped in Soft Suede Classic Stampin' ink on Very Vanilla card-stock to create the card inner. A sentiment from the Pampered Pets stamp set was also stamped in Soft Suede. A coordinating Very Vanilla C6 envelope was stamped with the leaves in Soft Suede ink and the script in Calypso Coral.

Thank you so much for visiting Valley Inspirations with Andrea. I loved creating this card to share with you, even though with a heavy heart for my friends. A second project, is underway. Given other commitments I won't guarantee to add photos & details of the fancy fold. It will be a surprise!

Stampin' Up's 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue was launched earlier this month. If you are in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send one to you.

Catherine Proctor is our dedicated 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 Soft Suede creations. Checking out everyone's creations and their interpretation of the amazing Stampin' Up! colours is always a treat and I am sure there will be inspiring Soft Suede projects on show.

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team share projects that hero the new 2021-2023 In Colours from Stampin' Up! The new In Colours are gorgeous so am looking forward to creating with them during the week.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others.

Andrea 💕🐾

Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #48 So Saffron

So Saffron with Floating and Fluttering

Hi. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 48th Colour Creations Showcase by members of the Art with Heart Team. Following this blog hop, we have 2 colours to complete our examination of the whole range of Stampin' Up! colours, except ... with the launch of the new 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue 5 new In Colours have also been launched - we will feature these gorgeous colours during June.

This week we are showcasing a soft colour, So Saffron. It is a pale yellow and is part of the Subtles Colour Family. While a light yellow, it still has enough body to stand on its own. So Saffron has been produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends, Designer Series Paper including the Sand & Sea DSP and Seaside Shells.

As I mused over my project using So Saffron I was also aware that the current Mini Catalogue will be ending in a little while. It is so easy to be swept up in excitement for a new catalogue and forget the lovely products within continuing catalogues. When I first devoured the J-J Mini Catalogue and saw the Floating and Fluttering bundle I wanted to use it with the Floating Frame technique. So, to fulfil this desire I have combined the technique with a focus on So Saffron, and a few other colours. Here is my card:

The Floating Frame technique was all the rage a year or so ago - it is a lovely technique. The Floating & Fluttering bundle is perfect for this technique, with 3 butterflies and foliage all combined in a single stamp and can be die cut using coordinating dies. This stamp was used together with Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' ink to stamp multiple images. Stampin' Blends were used to colour these images, ie So Saffron, Mango Melody, Petal Pink, Flirty Flamingo, Soft Sea Foam and Sahara Sand Blends Combos. Once coloured, the images were die cut using dies from the Fluttering dies.

The die cut butterflies & foliage were arranged all over a card-front sized piece of card-stock and a layer of GLAD Press n Seal was laid on top to hold all the pieces in place. A centre rectangle was die cut using a mid-sized die from the Stitched Rectangle set (they are so versatile). The die cut centre section is pictured both in the first and last photos. This is to be used as the focal panel for another card which has not been finished in time for the blog hop.

Dimensionals & Mini Dimensionals were added to the back of each of the die cut pieces and then the piece of Press and Seal was carefully turned over and positioned over a piece of Sea & Sand DSP featuring a water-coloured look with So Saffron and Flirty Flamingo. This piece was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Very Vanilla card-stock, which in turn was mounted on to the So Saffron card base.

Basic Pearl Jewels were coloured with the Light So Saffron Stampin' Blend to enable them to subtly blend with the colour scheme. I so love the way Stampin' Up! coordinates its products. You can always trust its coordination. The coloured pearls were added to some of the bigger spaces within the floating frame section.

A small frame was cut from Very Vanilla card-stock using 2 smaller dies from the Stitched Rectangle dies. The frame was popped in place within the floating frame with Dimensionals. As the Floating & Fluttering stamp set doesn't include any sentiments, a sentiment was chosen from the Pretty Perennials stamp set. This is a great stamp set that isn't continuing past the J-J Mini Catalogue. If you are interested, don't leave adding it to your order before it is too late. Both "Sending lots of" and "happy" were stamped in Crumb Cake ink on scraps of Very Vanilla card-stock. The "Sending lots of" was cut with one of the smallest stitched rectangle dies and adhered directly to the card background, while "happy" was fussy cut and popped up on Dimensionals.

The card inner has a piece of Very Vanilla card-stock mounted on another section of the same DSP from the Sea & Sand DSP packet, which in turn was mounted inside the card on the So Saffron card base. A coloured butterfly and a couple of other partial pieces that had been trimmed off the front frame were added to the inner panel. The C6 Very Vanilla envelope isn't pictured here, but butterflies were stamped on the corner of the envelope using Crumb Cake Classic Stampin ink.

Thank you so much for visiting Valley Inspirations with Andrea. I loved creating this card to share with you. The second card, using the centre piece (pictured above), is underway. I had hoped to show both cards but unexpected work consumed my creative time.

Stampin' Up's 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue was launched earlier this month. If you are in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send one to you.

Catherine Proctor is our dedicated 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 So Saffron creations. Checking out everyone's creations and their interpretation of the amazing Stampin' Up! colours is always a treat and I am sure there will be inspiring So Saffron projects on show.

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team share projects that hero Soft Sea Foam from the SU Subtles Colour family. I so love this colour so am looking forward to creating with it during the week.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others.

Andrea 💕🐾

Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #47 Smoky Slate

Smoky Slate with Hand Penned Petals

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 47th Colour Creations Showcase by members of the Art with Heart Team. After tonight, we have 3 colours plus the new In Colours to complete our showcase of Stampin' Up!s amazing collection of colours.

This week we are showcasing a versatile colour, Smoky Slate. It is a light grey and as one of the Neutrals Colour Family, it is able to be used with so many other colours and in various ways. I love grey with pink so have chosen this as my colour combination to showcase Smoky Slate.

Smoky Slate has been produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends, Designer Series Paper including the In Good Taste DSP; and the new Smoky Slate Textured Ribbon.

As I was planning for tonight's blog hop, I wanted to use one of the new bundles from the newly launched 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue. I so love the sketchy nature of the Hand Penned Petals stamp set and the coordinating dies are delightful. I also wanted to use one of the Scalloped Contour dies as I wasn't pleased with the project I blogged last week and felt I hadn't shown these dies well - I wanted to redress it this week. Having made a start, I separately watched a replay of Emma Goddard's Sunday night Facebook live. One of Emma's layouts was similar to what I had in mind. I'd like to say "great minds think alike" however, I don't put myself in Emma's league. I did think of changing tack but my week has gone somewhat haywire and time was limited so decided to CASE a couple of other elements of Emma's card by adding some blending and stamping to the background as well as the positioning of the ribbon. Thanks Emma for your inspiration. You are amazing.

As mentioned, to create the background for the card front some Soft Succulent Classic Stampin' ink was applied with a Blending Brush to the centre of a piece of Basic White card-stock. A little stamping also was added using stamped-off Soft Succulent Classic Stampin' ink. This panel was then dry embossed using the Tasteful Textile 3D embossing folder. At the same time the top Basic White panel was similarly embossed.

The Basic White background panel was adhered to the Smoky Slate card base. A mid size Scalloped Contour die was used to cut a Smoky Slate panel. The slightly smaller embossed white panel was adhered directly to the scalloped contour panel.

The floral spray from the Hand Penned Petals stamp set was stamped twice onto Basic White card-stock in Smoky Slate Classic Stampin ink. The stamped floral sprays were coloured with Stampin' Up!s amazing Stampin' Blends. The colours used were: Smoky Slate, Soft Succulent & Petal Pink combos and a touch of Light Polished Pink. I am delighted that all of the new In Colours have coordinating Stampin' Blends - I can see more colouring in the future. The 3 larger flowers were fussy cut from one  spray while the other floral spray was cut out using the coordinating die.

The 3 larger flowers were hand shaped and adhered to the full spray, with a little glue at the centre. A piece of gorgeous Soft Succulent Open Weave ribbon was tied around the centre panel ending in a bow. Then the coloured flower spray was adhered on top with Dimensionals. The whole panel was added to the centre of the card background with Dimensionals.

To finish the card front design a sentiment from the same stamp set was stamped in Smoky Slate ink onto a scrap of Basic White card-stock. It was fussy cut into 2 pieces and adhered with a mix of tiny pieces of Dimensionals and Multipurpose Liquid Glue. My fingers felt HUGE as I tried to layer tiny pieces of Dimensionals - looking at the sentiment I had chosen I had to keep saying to myself "anything is possible"! Some In Colour Soft Succulent Jewels were the finishing touch. These jewels are amazing.

To create the card inner, the floral spray was stamped in the corner in Smoky Slate ink and a little Soft Succulent ink was lightly blended at the edges. The C6 Basic White Envelope was decorated in the same way.

Thank you so much for visiting Valley Inspirations with Andrea. I loved creating this card to share with you. I hope you like it too.

As mentioned, Stampin' Up's 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue was launched this week. If you are in Australia and don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and you would like your own copy of the Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send one to you.

Catherine Proctor is our delightful 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 Smoky Slate creations. Checking out everyone's creations and their interpretation of the amazing Stampin' Up! colours is always a treat and I am sure there will be inspiring Smoky Slate projects on show.

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team share projects that hero So Saffron from the SU Subtles Colour family.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others.

Andrea 💕🐾