AWH Heart of Christmas Blog Hop #3

Heart of Christmas and Penguin Place

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart 2021 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop.

When I first looked through Stampin' Up!'s July - December Mini Catalogue 2021 I smiled when I saw the cute little penguins from the Penguin Place stamp set. My mind started buzzing with ideas. One idea was to show them in an Aussie Christmas context. Christmas at the beach is a tradition for many Aussies. It is a great way to keep cool in the heat, chilling out by happily splashing around in the sea. The sun is high in a blue sky. I have attempted to show this with the scene and the penguins. I hope you like it.

The sea was created by using one of the B-sides from the Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper (DSP). (NB Don't miss out on buying this DSP while its on special this month.) A piece of the DSP was torn into 3 pieces, ensuring some white showed on the edge to represent foam on waves and the horizon line. 

One of the sentiments from the stamp set was stamped on the lower piece of DSP and as the stamp set was photopolymer I was able to bend the sentiment to align with the torn line above it. The sentiment was stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed using White Emboss Powder and a Heat Gun. To give the sea some texture, it was embossed with the Hammered Metal 3D embossing folder. If I created this design again I would probably try a different embossing folder, ie the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder may be more "sea like".  

The sky was created using Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' ink and a Blending Brush on a card front of Basic White card-stock. I found a small circle of card-stock on my workspace (it was actually the centre of a sunflower cut with the Sunflower dies) but any small circular die could be used. It was placed in the sky area and held it in place as the sky was coloured. After colouring the light blue sky a little So Saffron ink was lightly added with a Sponge Dauber to the uncoloured 'sun' area. To give the sky some extra interest, a little background stamp from the same stamp set - one with dots and asterisks was added with white heat embossing.

To give the horizon line a little interest and as it's reminiscent of beachside views for me, there is a partial "peninsula" with trees in the distance. Trees were stamped in second generation Evening Evergreen ink on a spare piece of Basic White card-stock using a stamp from the Mountain Air stamp set. It was trimmed down and fussy cut.

Putting all the pieces together, the trees were adhered near the centre of the card front at the horizon line and the sea pieces of DSP were added with either Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Dimensionals. The little penguins were double stamped using a Stamparatus and Momento Black ink. The double stamping provides a nicer solid black for the penguins. The beaks were stamped with Mango Melody ink, the tie with Soft Succulent ink and the antlers with Soft Suede ink. A lIght Pool Party Blend was used to add a thin line of Pool Party around the edge of the penguin's white body. Little presents were also stamped in Mango Melody, Soft Succulent and Cherry Cobbler inks. The penguins, antlers and presents were all fussy cut. As all the pieces couldn't be cut with the coordinating punch, I decided to fussy cut everything for consistency sake.

The little penguins were tucked in under the waves and a present was added near one of the penguins. A piece of White Bakers Twine from the Bakers Twine Essentials Pack was tied around the card front, ending in a bow. Three different coloured presents were adhered near the bow. The card front was adhered directly to a Misty Moonlight card-stock base. I couldn't resist adding a touch of bling, so added a few Artistry Blooms Adhesive Backed Sequins.

A second "standing" penguin was adhered to a card inner of Basic White card-stock together with a balloon that had been stamped with Cherry Cobbler ink and the string with Momento ink. As the balloon was a "light" red (because I need to re-ink my inkpad) I strengthened the colour using Cherry Cobbler Blends Combo. The sentiment, from the same stamp set, was stamped in Momento ink using a Stamparatus as I wanted to ensure I stamped it straight (so love the Stamparatus to ensure sentiments are straight). I also had a spare "swimming" penguin so adhered him to a C6 Basic White Envelope to coordinate the envelope with the card that it will contain.

Thank you for visiting Valley Inspirations with Andrea. I had quite a bit of fun playing with the cute little penguins and creating this project with an Aussie summer slant to share with you. 

 

If you are in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue and or the new July - December Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send one to you. Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

There is more Christmas creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "next" graphic to be taken to the lovely Rosa Leyton's blog. I am looking forward to checking out Rosa's creation and everyone else's. If you started part way through or if you missed someone go to Sharon Davern's blog as she has all the names and their links of those who are taking part in tonight's Heart of Christmas Blog Hop.

Hope to see you next week for another AWHT Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. There is so much Christmas inspiration to share and Christmas in July is the right time to start Christmas card-making.

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

Andrea XXX

  

As mentioned, I always love seeing everyone's creations and the way they use the amazing Stampin' Up! products. I am sure there will be gorgeous Christmas projects on show. Don't miss checking out each blog. 

If at any time you find a broken link and the next blog doesn’t come up, please head to the blog of this week’s host for the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Sharon Davern, and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating.

#heartofchristmas