AWH Heart of Christmas 2021 #8

Christmas with Festive Foliage 

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

I have 2 cards to share for this week's projects, both featuring the Festive Foliage stamp. I love it with its all over design of leaves that will cover most of a standard card front. The stamp can be found in Stampin' Up!s 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue. I had an idea that I thought the stamp would be great for; then more recently saw Emma Goddard create with one of the large card front stamps from the new Mini Catalogue, which inspired me too. A couple of other ideas also came to mind. 

I had hoped to create 3 cards for this week's blog hop which all used the same stamp set but each project would use a different technique. Time ran out and the first concept I had wasn't made - perhaps I'll make it in a coming week. Here are this week's Christmas cards:

Both cards used a colour scheme inspired from the Whimsy & Wonder Speciality Designer Series Paper, that is Mint Macaron, Blushing Bride, Polished Pink, Basic White, some Mossy Meadow and iridescent shine (which I interpreted as silver). I added some Soft Succulent as It goes well with Mint Macaron and didn't include Misty Moonlight. Both cards started with a card front of Mint Macaron but as you can see one looks so much darker.

The Festive Foliage stamp was stamped onto Vellum card-stock with Versamark ink and then heat embossed with Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder and a Heat Gun. I still get a buzz seeing embossing powder melt and turn to silver or gold. The design was coloured on the back of the Vellum with Stampin' Blends, ie Flirty Flamingo (as Blushing Bride is one of the few Blends Combos that are not produced), a little Polished Pink, Mint Macaron, Soft Succulent, Mossy Meadows, Old Olive & Soft Sea Foam.

The coloured vellum was mounted onto Mint Macaron card-stock with opposite edges of Vellum being wrapped around and adhered to the Mint Macaron card-stock. The was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Silver Foil from the Silver Foil pack in the Mini Catalogue. A piece of the luscious Mint Macaron Soft Velvet Ribbon was wrapped around to the back of the card front and adhered in place with Tear n' Tape. A piece of the Silver Simply Elegant Trim was added too. This card front was mounted onto a piece of Blushing Bride card-stock and then onto a Thick Basic White card-stock base.

A label was die cut in Basic White using a rectangular Stitched So Sweetly die. A slightly larger label was die cut from Blushing Bride card-stock. I needed to further trim 2 edges to make it a little smaller.  A small sentiment from the Heartfelt Wishes was stamped in Soft Succulent Classic Stampin' ink and a larger sentiment was stamped on an extra piece of Basic White card-stock and then fussy cut out. The fussy cut sentiment was added to the label with Dimensionals. The Basic White label was adhered to the Blushing Bride label and they were added over the ribbon with Dimensionals.  

A bow of thinly sliced Mint Macaron Soft Velvet Ribbon was tied with a piece of the Silver Simply Elegant Trim and added at the side of the label with Glue Dots. Two little die cut sprigs of leaves were cut out of Mint Macaron card-stock and added around the sentiment. The addition of Soft Succulent Genial Gems were added as the finishing touch. Just love a little glimmer.

The Festive Foliage Stamp was also stamped on the envelope flap using Soft Succulent ink. I do like to coordinate the envelope with the card design in some way as I do the card inner. I missed taking a photo as I was trying to duck in and out around the rain.

CARD 2: This second card was inspired by Emma Goddard. I attend by Zoom, Emma's Card & Cuppa each week on a Friday evening. Emma and the group of delightful ladies have helped my survive COVID and lockdowns, etc and it is always a delightful hour sharing a laugh and creativity. My card is not a direct CASE of Emma's but my mind went to the Festive Foliage Stamp when I watched Emma create.Then many aspects changed as this card developed, but I so appreciate Emma's inspiration.

Starting with a piece of Mint Macaron card-stock the Festive Foliage stamp was inked with Soft Succulent ink and stamped using the Stamparatus. This tool is great for large stamps as you can always restamp if aspects of the design don't stamp clearly. Using the amazing Stampin' Blending Brushes, Mint Macaron and Soft Succulent was blended over the edges of the card front. The blending doesn't show as strongly as in person, but I think you get the idea. 

The card front was mounted onto a piece of Silver Foil from the Silver Foil Pack. A trimmed down piece of Blushing Bride Frayed Grosgrain Ribbon was laid across the card front and adhered to the back with Tear n' Tape. White Bakers Twine from the Bakers Twine Essentials Pack was also wrapped around twice. The card front was mounted onto a piece of Blushing Bride card-stock, and then to the Thick Basic White card-stock base.

A Basic White card-stock label cut using a rectangular Stitched So Sweetly die was stamped in Soft Succulent ink with a sentiment from the Tidings and Trimmings stamp set. This label was added with Dimensionals. A bow tied with a sliced piece of Blushing Bride Frayed Grosgrain Ribbon and some Bakers Twine was added at the side of the label over the centre piece of ribbon. Holly leaves were cut from MInt Macaron card-stock with a die from the Christmas Trimmings dies. Some small Pearl  Basic Jewels that had been coloured with the Dark Flirty Flamingo Blend were added.

A strip of Mint Macaron card-stock that had some blending on one edge and was stamped with the Festive Foliage stamp was added to to the outer edge and with a thin strip of Silver Foil alongside. A small spray of leaves and a twig with buds were added as a little decoration. A C6 Basic White Envelope was also stamped on the flap with the Festive Foliage stamp in Soft Succulent ink and this time the envelope was positioned so the design would show on the top front of the envelope.

I had fun playing with the Festive Foliage Stamp. As you can see I used the same layout, yet each card can stand on its own. Well, that's two more cards for my Christmas card stash. How are you going? I need to have cards ready early as I am hoping to post around the world, interstate and across SA. The stamping community draws so many lovely friends together.

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 July - December Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Also, please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

There is so much more Christmas creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "onto the next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Theresa Gerrard. I always look forward to checking out Theresa's creations 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 using Stampin' Up!'s products and now is a great time to prepare early for Christmas.

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

Andrea XXX

  

As mentioned, it is always a delight to see everyone's creations and the way they each 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, Tina Gillespie, and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating in this blog hop.

#heartofchristmas #heartofchristmas2021 #awhtheartofchristmas