AWH Heart of Christmas 2021 #5

Christmas with Bright Baubles

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

Thanks so much for dropping in.

Tonight's projects include a slim-line card and a Christmas decoration. I started with a concept for a card, but as the creative process evolved, my thought process went through "Hmm, that's not quite right" and "Hmm, that needs to be different" so the card evolved and changed along the way, ending up different from my initial ideas. I'm sure you can relate! This also led to the development of a Christmas decoration.

I started my colour blending the background, using Stampin' Up!'s Blending Brushes. They are brilliant to use and make it easier to attain a delightful ombre effect. The Classic Stampin' ink colours used were: Highland Heather, Fresh Freesia, Balmy Blue, Misty Moonlight and Night of Navy. The background was flicked with White Craft ink using the medium Water Painter. It also needed some shine and shimmer, so I also splattered the background with Wink of Stella. I squeezed it a little first so I would get some larger splatters.

The large, slightly elongated bauble from the Bright Bauble stamp set was stamped on Basic White card-stock in Versamark ink and heat embossed with Silver Emboss Powder and a Heat Gun. The bauble was then coloured with Balmy Blue, Highland Heather, Misty Moonlight Stampin' Blends Combos and of course my trusty Blends Colour Lifter. While you may have heard that the Colour Lifter is important if you slip when colouring or go over the edge and add colour where you don't want it; it is also fantastic to add highlights and to soften edges of colours. It is a must have tool.

The bauble was die cut using the coordinating Delicate Baubles dies. I then decided that I wanted a Silver Foil edge so I fussy cut the bauble, cutting away the white edge and adhered a pre-cut silver bauble outer frame cut from the silver sheet from the gorgeous Silver Foil Speciality pack.

The ombre background competed with the coloured bauble so a layer of Vellum card-stock was added to soften the background. To help to distinguish the bauble a little more, a second layer of Vellum was used to just outline the bauble. The bauble was added with Dimensionals. Some of the Silver Elegant Trim was added to indicate the bauble hanger. The Elegant Trim together with a strip of the Metallic Mesh ribbon was tied in a bow that was adhered with a couple of Glue Dots.

The decorated card front was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Silver Foil. This in turn was mounted onto a Fresh Freesia card-stock base. The words "Merry" & "Christmas" were heat embossed on Fresh Freesia card-stock and trimmed down, then added with Dimensionals. A number of Rhinestone Basic Jewels were added to give a little sparkle.

A piece of Basic White card-stock was stamped and heat embossed with the same bauble from the Bright Baubles stamp set. This was added inside the card. As I created a slim-line card using dimensions from memory I thought I should create a custom made envelope.  A piece of Designer Series Paper from one of the Hostess options in the Annual Catalogue - the Party Play DSP. It is a great deal as you get 48 sheets of 12"x12" DSP with designs coordinating with a number of the stamp sets contained in the catalogue. The second smallest die from the Scalloped Contour dies cut a Basic White card-stock label to be able to write recipient details on the front of the envelope.

Project 2:

One of the concepts I had initially, was to incorporate a die cut detailed bauble from the Delicate Baubles dies. The detailed bauble was cut from Silver Foil, but it wasn't used on the card. I kept looking at the gorgeous die cut bauble and then thought it would make a gorgeous Christmas Decoration. 

I die cut a number of the same bauble design from Basic White card-stock. (I used off cuts from my pack of scraps.) I also die cut a bauble from Balmy Blue card-stock as I had a scrap of it on my desk. Finally I die cut the detailed bauble from the light mauve Silver Foil Speciality pack, die cutting from the back, incase the die design was not exactly symmetrical. 

All the die cuts were adhered together, with Silver Foil on top and the mauve Silver Foil at the bottom, ensuring all die cuts aligned. The Light Fresh Freesia Blend was used to colour all the die cut edges and give the decoration a cohesive finished effect. A piece of Silver Elegant Trim was looped through the top of the bauble with a knot at he end to create the hanger. A strip of the Metallic Mesh ribbon was tied in a bow and adhered (with a couple of Glue Dots) to the top of the bauble.

Thank you for visiting Valley Inspirations with Andrea. I really enjoyed creating this card and the Christmas Decoration using the Bright Baubles bundle. As mentioned previously, I love colour play, so had fun with the blended colour background. I want to make more bauble decorations and thought I could create a number of blended backgrounds, perhaps including the emboss resist technique, and turn them into cards. Then attach a Bauble Decoration to the card front as part of the card design. Giving a Christmas card to a friend would include the gift of a bauble decoration as well.

 

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. Also, 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 "onto the next" graphic to be taken to a special lady, Kate Morgan's blog. I am looking forward to checking out Kate's creation as well as everyone else's. 

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 a great time to start Christmas card-making.

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

Andrea XXX

  

It is always a delight to see 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 or you started part way through, please head to the blog of this week’s host for the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Rachel Woolard, and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating.

#heartofchristmas