AWH Heart of Christmas #4

Heart of Christmas Blog Hop: Hippest Hippos

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the fourth Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2022. 

Here we are - nearly at the end of July. I am so glad I have made a start with my Christmas creations as I am sure the coming months will speed by. I had a bit of fun creating my project for this blog hop using non traditional stamp and dies for a 3D Christmas card.

I had the water-colour panel left over from last week's creativity, so decided to use it as the background. As previously mentioned, July is Watercolor Month internationally. The paper was water-coloured with Orchard Oasis and Highland Heather Classic Stampin' inks and a wide brush Water Painter on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. Before it had fully dried the paper was passed through a Cut 'n Emboss machine with the Merry Melody 3D embossing folder.

The dancing hippo from the Hippest Hippos stamp set was stamped in Basic Gray Classic ink on Basic White card-stock. This stamp set is so cute and can be earned for free with a qualifying order of $90 in Australia during the Sale-a-bration promotion. The coordinating dies are another Sale-a-bration product and can cut out the Hippos plus many other cute accessories. It is brilliant! The hippos were coloured with Stampin' Blends, including Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride, Pool Party, Polished Pink, Tahitian Tide, Orchard Oasis combos and the Colour Lifter to add highlights.

The tree from the Majestic Mountain dies was used to cut 3 trees from Basic White card-stock. The die cuts were adhered together down the centre, which allowed the boughs to be separated to give the white "Christmas" tree some dimension. 

The card base used Balmy Blue card-stock that was cut into 2 pieces which were scored on each end. I scored twice at 6mm and 12mm in from each end. However, the space between the scores should have been larger - upto 1cm to enable more dimension for the scene and also more stability for the card to stand on display. I wasn't using pre-tried measurements so am keen to try again to be surer of my measurements. A stitched rectangle from the Stitched Rectangles dies cut a hole in the centre of the front panel. The frame die from the Fabulous Frames Die Set cut a couple of frames that were layered to strengthen the front panel. Here is the top view.

As the dancing hippo started me thinking about the Nutcracker Ballet which is based on a story set at Christmas Eve I had decided on a Theatre scene. The top scalloped pelmet and the curtains used some of the delightful Awash In Beauty Designer Series Paper. The scalloped pelmet was cut with a die from the Scalloped Contours dies.

To ensure the card recipient and other viewers easily understood the Christmas card's theme, I needed to make reference to the Nutcracker Ballet, however, there was only room for small lettering so decided to print from my computer to card-stock. My printer was temperamental and wouldn't accept the thickness of card-stock. In the end, the words were printed on printer paper and some Balmy Blue and Fresh Freesia inks were blended over the words using a Blending Brush. It was cut down with Stampin' Up!s Trimmer. 

2021-2023 In Color Opal Rounds were added to the tree and Adhesive-Backed Stars were added to the background. As I was writing this blog and adding the photos, I was becoming more and more concerned with the bow, so I have now removed it and added 3 more Opal Rounds. I love adding embellishments to my projects but the photos reinforced to me the bow wasn't right. It is dark outside so can't re-take photos now. Will do so tomorrow.

A left over strip of the water-coloured embossed background was added to a piece of Basic White card-stock and an extra ballerina hippo and a star embellishment also were adhered. A 5th hippo was adhered to a C6 Basic White Envelope. When colouring the hippos, I hadn't decided how the hippos would be arranged so stamped and coloured 5 hippos. It was the perfect number for this project.

Thank you so much for calling in and spending some time with me. I do appreciate you. I hope the Hippo Ballet gave you a smile.

It is always a delight to see everyone's creations and I am sure there will be gorgeous Christmas projects on show so don't miss checking out each blog. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "onto the next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the talented Rachel Woolard. I always look forward to checking out Rachel's creations together with everyone else's. 

Don't forget the weekly Colour Creations Blog Hop by the Art with Heart Team that also launches every Wednesday at 8.00pm AEST. 

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

Andrea XXX

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 our Heart of Christmas Blog Hop Host, the very special Sharon Davern, and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating in this blog hop. Check out her beautiful creation while you are there.

If you are 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 July - December Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Pease don't hesitate to contact me with any other queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

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