AWHT Colour Creations #7 Basic Gray

#7 Basic Gray with Blessings of Home and Whale Done

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. Each week we focus on a Stampin' Up! colour as we consecutively work though the Stampin' Up! colours in alphabetical order. Some weeks are more challenging than others but it is always interesting.

This week’s Blog Hop is featuring a neutral colour called Basic Gray. Basic Gray is part of the Neutrals Colour Family and is a mid grey. This colour works well with mid blues or pinks or yellows and many other colour combos. I have explored two of these colour combos with this blog's two cards.  

Basic Gray is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, spots & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Watercolour Pencils, Neutrals Designer Series Paper, Happy Forest Friends DSP, Kindness Card Kit, Classic Matte Dots, Christmas Whimsy Card Kit and Heart and Home DSP, Doilies, Memories and More Card Pack and Cards & Envelopes. The cards below have used Basic Gray Classic Stampin' ink, Card-stock, Stampin' Write Marker and Color Pencil plus a range of other non-BG bits and pieces.

I have created 2 cards to showcase Basic Gray:

While I love using Basic Gray I did find it stretched me to use it as the hero of the projects.

CARD 1:

I love combining pink with grey and couldn't go past this combo for my first card.

I decided to have a floral arrangement part hanging off the edge of the card and thought I would achieve this by using an off-centre gatefold - well the join is way over to the right side as you look at the card. The large floral image from the Blessings of Home stamp set was stamped a couple of times onto Basic White card-stock in Versamark ink and heat embossed with Silver Emboss Powder and a Heat Gun.

The flowers were coloured with Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends combo with some Pale Papaya Blends for the flower centres. The leaves were coloured with the Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends combo. The Dark Smoky Slate Blend colours in a Basic Gray shade, but to ensure some Basic Gray was used on the leaves I added a little Basic Grey Watercolor Pencil to give extra depth. A Colour Lifter Blend was also used to add highlights. Some of the flowers and tiny leaves were coloured on the second embossed image. Extra flowers were fussy cut and layered over the arrangement to provide extra dimension and interest.

A woodgrain piece of the retiring Blessings of Home DSP was layered on the right little flap and a piece of Basic White card-stock that had been embossed with a Timber 3D embossing folder was adhered to the larger card-front. A light blending of Blushing Bride ink was added with a Blending Brush over the embossed woodgrain panel and some Basic Gray ink splatters were added with a Stampin' Write Marker. The coloured and layered floral arrangement was centred over the edge of the larger card front so that the flowers would hang off the edge and over the woodgrain DSP when the card was closed. Some of the delightful Glittered White Organdy ribbon was cut in half and tied in a bow together with some Silver Elegant Trim. The bow was tucked under the layered large flower with a couple of Glue Dots - they are so handy.

The card front was finished with a Silver heat embossed "Thank You" sentiment from the same stamp set with the lower smaller words cut away. Tiny coloured leaves and a tiny collection of flowers were added to look as if they were floating over the background. Some beautiful Iridescent Basic Rhinestones added a touch of sparkle.

Some of the woodgrain DSP also was added inside the larger front flap and a strip on the centre panel. Coloured and fussy cut flowers and leaves were added to the card inner as well.

A C6 Basic White envelope was stamped and Silver heat embossed using the smaller flower arrangement from the Blessings of Home stamp set.

CARD 2:

As I was working on Card 1 I started thinking of a shaker card with a Basic Gray Whale. I just had to give it a go with the whale also moving when the card is shaken.

A background panel of Basic White card-stock was stamped with the large wave from the Waves of Inspiration stamp set using Balmy Blue, Coastal Cabana and Pacific Point inks and a Sponge Dauber. Clouds from the After the Storm stamp set were added with third generation Basic Gray ink. The clouds were more somber than I wanted so I over stamped with White Craft ink. A few birds from this last set were added in Basic Gray ink.

A whale from the Whale Done stamp set was stamped in Basic Gray ink on Basic White card-stock. This was punched out using the Whale punch, which also cut out "a spirt of water". A piece of sewing thread was laid down the back of the whale and a white punched out whale was adhered on the back gluing the thread in place. 

Dimensional Strips were added to the edge of the background panel and the thread was centred at the top and bottom, ensuring there was some leeway with the thread to allow the whale to move when the card is shaken. Tear 'n Tape was applied to the top and bottom lengths of the Dimensional Strips. Two frames were layered on top of the Dimensional Strips. A piece of Window Sheet was layered over the framed area after some Sparkle and Shine Sequins (plus a few extra sequins from the retired sequins that had been part of the Whale suite when it was first been introduced) were sprinkled over the whale and scene. A little Balmy Blue ink was blended over the final frame and it was adhered in place. 

The wooden poles & Pelican from the Waves of Inspiration set was Silver heat embossed, trimmed down and added to the corner of the frame. A sentiment from the same stamp set was also Silver heat embossed on Basic White card-stock and fussy cut before being adhered directly to the acetate. Some White Bakers Twine was coloured with a Basic Gray Stampin' Write Marker before tying it in knots and then curling the twine around the pelican and sentiment.

The Basic White card inner was stamped with the wave from the Waves of Inspiration stamp set that was coloured with Coastal Cabana and Pacific Point inks and a Basic Gray whale from the Whale Done set was added. Some Balmy Blue ink was very lightly blended over the sky area. Some wooden poles with a pelican were stamped on the front of a C6 Basic White envelope.

That is it from me for this week. Thank you so much for dropping by. I do value the time you spent with me.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue and or the January - June 2022 Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

There is more Basic Gray creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the talented, Rachel Woolard. I always look forward to checking out Rachel's creation (I wonder what she has in store this week). I do love seeing everyones' projects - always so much inspiration.

Hope to see you next week when we will be featuring a lovely colour, Bermuda Bay, as we continue the weekly 2022-2023 Colour Creations blog hops.

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

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the full list of participants on Catherine Proctor’s blog @ What Cathy Made. Cathy is our wonderful Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  I so appreciate all she does in coordinating this blog hop each week. She is such an amazing lady. Check out her wonderful creation while you are there.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue and or the coming July - December 2022 Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

#colourcreationsbloghop  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #stamper #whaledone 

#blessingsofhome #wavesofinspiration #valleyinspirations