AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #22 Early Expresso

Early Expresso with Joy of Noel and One Horse Open Sleigh Fun Fold

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. We are working though the Stampin' Up! colours in alphabetical order, focussing on one colour each week.

This week’s Blog Hop is featuring on a deep brown called Early Expresso. Early Expresso is one of the Neutrals Colour Family and is a warm rich brown. The colour would be a lovely neutral when used for trees, wood, earth and is great colour to dig up for fellas.

Early Expresso is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Watercolor Pencils; Neutrals Designer Series Paper as well as One Horse Open Sleigh, Traditions of St Nick and Fresh As A Daisy DSPs; All About Autumn SDSP; plus Cosy & Bright and Sentimental Rose card kits.

Early Expresso ink, Stampin’ Write Marker and One Horse Open Sleigh DSP have been used in the creation of these projects plus a range of non-Early Expresso bits and pieces.

I am trying to build my Christmas card stash and so wondered how I would go featuring Early Expresso as it is a colour I use in-frequently, usually for trees/wood and the like. In checking out the DSPs that incorporate Early Expresso I decided to use the One Horse Open Sleigh DSP and remembered a fun fold that Rachel Tessman, a lovely US Demonstrator, had demonstrated recently. Also, I saw a quilting fabric that combined an Early Expresso type colour with Pool Party and Balmy Blue within a roses design so wanted to try a floral style card too. Here it is:

CARD 1

The One Horse Open Sleigh DSP (it’s an online exclusive) has an Early Expresso woodgrain design and it was torn and used with some Dry Brushed Metallic Speciality DSP for the card background. The Very Vanilla card base was stamped with the textural stamp from the Joy of Noel stamp set in White Craft ink. While it could be seen when the ink was wet the effect disappeared when the ink dried. Partial stamping was added to the woodgrain DSP.

A Very Vanilla card front was cut using a mid-sized Deckled Rectangle die. The label was stamped with the larger floral spray in Early Expresso Classic Stampin’ ink. A little Early Expresso splattering was added to the label with a Stampin’ Write Marker. The spray was stamped again on a separate piece of Very Vanilla card-stock, but this time in Versamark ink and heat embossed with Gold Emboss Powder, the Embossing Accessory Kit and a Heat Tool. This second spray was coloured with Lost Lagoon, Pool Party, Balmy Blue and Blueberry Bushel Stampin’ Blends combos together with the Colour Lifter. Some leaves and berries were fussy cut.

Some of the leaves and berries were laid over the same shaped leaves/berries that had been stamped in Early Expresso. They were adhered in place with Mini Dimensionals and touches of Multipurpose Liquid Glue. NOEL (from the Joy of Noel stamp set) was gold heat embossed and die cut with the coordinating die from the Joy of Noel dies. Some Foam Adhesive Sheet was added behind the sentiment prior to die cutting to give the letters added dimension. I had a water-coloured flower left over from a previous project and added it to the card to give extra interest and dimension. It had been created using the Paper Florist dies and coordinated with these berries. Some Iridescent Basic Pearl Jewels were coloured with the 500 Stampin’ Blend to give them a vanilla tinge. They were scattered around. A triple Linen Twine bow was tucked under the flower with a couple of Glue Dots.

A Very Vanilla card-stock panel was partially stamped with the Christmas arrangement in Early Expresso ink. A left over strip of woodgrain DSP was adhered partially over the stamping and down one side. A Very Vanilla C6 envelope was also stamped with the same stamp in Early Expresso ink.

Earlier today, before writing this post, I checked out a Stampin’ Up! Facebook post where they used some similar products to this card but kept the colour combo to neutrals. I love their neutral toned design - it’s worth checking out if you have time. It’s interesting how similar projects are created independent of each other but with similarities. It has happened to me before. One could say, “great minds think alike” or even “There is nothing new under the sun”. 

CARDS 2, 3 & 4

As mentioned, the One Horse Open Sleigh DSP is gorgeous. Each 6”x6” sheet has a winter scene on one side and a more subtle design on the B side. While we don’t have wintry snow scenes - especially for Christmas I thought this DSP would be brilliant for my overseas friends. I wanted a way to show the beauty of the scenes and so ended up with what Rachel Tessman called an Autumn Hidden Scenery Z- fold. I converted Rachel’s measurements to suit our A4 sized card-stock.

A card-base was chosen to suit the DSP design and it was cut, scored and burnished. The Scenic DSP was trimmed into 3 panels and a 4th piece was cut to the same size from another piece of DSP that coordinated with the scene. The pattern chosen for the card pictured above was a bit dominant so I embossed some Vellum card-stock with the Snowflake Sky 3D Embossing Folder to tone the DSP down.

Another piece of the card-stock used as the card base was cut and folded in half before being trimmed with a mid-sized square from the Stylish Shapes dies. The die was positioned so it wouldn’t cut the fold off but would add the stitching all around. One size smaller square die cut 2 Basic White squares for each card. The front square was stamped with Early Expresso ink to coordinate with the scene. The card above was stamped with trees from the Grassy Grove stamp set, where as the two other cards were stamped with a twig wreath from the Cottage Wreath stamp set.

A coordinating die cut wreath from the Country Wreath dies cut Basic White card-stock. Both the card shown above and the one below were coloured with Old Olive ink and a Blending Brush. Wreaths were chosen as both cards had snow covered houses as part of the scenes and so I thought of wreaths for their front doors.

Sentiments were stamped with coordinating colours and fussy cut. They were added with Mini Dimensionals. Gold pearls from the Festive Pearls were added to each card for that bit of shimmer. A piece of Red & Gold Dotted ribbon was deconstructed and then some of the strands were tied into a bow for card pictured above. The other 2 cards had Linen Twine bows added with Glue Dots.

The second Basic White Stylish Shape square was stamped with a sentiment and image to coordinate with the overall card design. Early Expresso ink was used for the Petal Pink card pictured above. There is room for a brief personal message, but if you are long winded (like I tend to be) a message could also be written on the back of the card or a separate sheet added within the envelope. A Basic White C6 envelope was also stamped to coordinate with the card it will hold.

Here are each of the cards opened to show the gorgeous wintry Christmas snow scenes.

Thank you for dropping in to check out my Early Expresso cards. I hope you liked them and found something of interest. I do so appreciate you. 

There is more Early Expresso creativity so continue with the blog hop. Just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a special lady, Rachel Palmieri. I am looking forward to checking out Rachel’s creation. I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I do hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Flirty Flamingo as we continue the weekly 2023-2024 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. 

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

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or would like to view the full list of participants go to Catherine Proctor’s blog @ What Cathy Made. Cathy is our brilliant Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  She is a wonderful lady. Check out her delightful 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 the new Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the September-December 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!. 

#colourcreationsbloghop  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #valleyinspirations   #onehorseopensleigh  #joyofnoel

AWH Heart of Christmas #8

Christmas with Forever Forrest

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

This week I am showcasing the Forever Forrest bundle for a few Christmas cards. I started with the emboss resist technique and some water-colouring. Afterwards I was looking at the Mini Catalogue and really liked one of the decorated presents using the Forever Forrest dies. The following day, I saw Sue Campfield, a US demonstrator, create a fun fold card. My mind started whirring and ended up combining the 2 concepts.

CARDS 1/2: Emboss Resist with Water-colouring

A group of trees from the Forever Forrest stamps was stamped in Versamark ink onto Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper and then heat embossed using White Emboss Powder, the Embossing Accessory Kit and a Heat Tool. This was repeated a number of times to enable me to play with colours. The two cards shown are coloured to create part rainbows - one using yellow/greens/blue and the other blues and purples. Both cards were wet on wet water-coloured using the flat brushed tip from the Water Painters set of brushes. The Classic Stampin’ inks used were Daffodil Delight, Lemon Lime Twist, Granny Apple Green, Garden Green, Blueberry Bushel & Boho Blue on one panel and Starry Sky, Blueberry Bushel, Boho Blue, Fresh Freesia & Highland Heather on the other panel.

Both water-coloured panels were cut to span a landscape card layout, with the yellow/green/blue combo fully spanning across the card base, where as the other panel showed the mount on all four sides. The card above was mounted onto to thin strips of Silver Adhesive-backed Glimmer paper (an online only special) and then onto Pretty Peacock card-stock. The card below was only mounted onto Boho Blue card-stock. Both mounted panels were popped up on Dimensionals when adhered to Thick Basic White card bases.

As the Forever Forrest bundle doesn’t include sentiments, I chose the ‘Merry Christmas’ sentiment from the Beary Christmas stamp set. The sentiment was white heat embossed onto card-stock that coordinated with the mount. 

Both cards had bows using the Silver & White Sheer Ribbon. It is a beautiful ribbon and copes very well with being sliced in half or into 3s. The blue water-coloured card was finished with the Facetted Gems Trio pack, where as the yellow/green combo was given some extra shimmer with the Silver Festive Pearls. Basic White tree die cuts were added to the sentiment panels.

Trees were stamped along the base of a Basic White card inner. A strip of coordinating card-stock was layered at the bottom of the card inner. A C6 Basic White envelopes were also stamped with the trees.

Two other Fluid 100 paper panels were also water-coloured in rainbow like colours. These panels are yet to be created into alternative colour Christmas cards. They are brighter than my usual style, but I love the rainbow effect.

CARD 3/4: Swinging Forrest Fun Fold and Gift Tag

As mentioned, I saw Sue Campfield demonstrate a fun fold yesterday. I converted her US measurements into our centimetres and A4 size card-stock. As I heard a friend’s voice in my head about the extravagance of having a card using more than half an A4 piece of card-stock, I scaled the card down a little to enable 2 cards to be made from one piece of card-stock. It easily fits within a C6 envelope.

A piece of Thick Basic White card-stock was cut, scored and burnished. The small tree design from the gorgeous Winter Meadow DSP was cut 2mm smaller than the panels of the folded card. DSP was adhered to all the forward facing panels.

The largest Tailored Made Tag dies was cut from a piece of Lost Lagoon card-stock. A little White Craft ink was added to the tag’s edges. The hole was die cut larger using the circular hole reinforcement die. Trees, clouds and rocks were cut from Basic White card-stock, together with the smallest Stylish Shapes circle.

One sentiment from the Hope and Peace stamp set was stamped on Basic White card-stock and fussy cut, while the other was stamped on the panel that will carry the personal message. The rocks were lightly coloured with a little Lost Lagoon ink. The were all arranged on the tag and adhered with Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Mini Dimensionals. Wink of Stella was spattered over and little die cut silver stars were added.

A swinging mechanism was based on a Mini Dimensional, with the tag laid over and the stitched circle adhered on top. A bow was created from Silver & White Sheer ribbon (cut in half lengthwise) and Silver Elegant Trim. The bow was attached with Glue Dots. and a little cloud was adhered on top. The tag can swing from side to side - see the pictures above and below.

Here is a photo of the panel for writing one’s personal message.

A Basic White C6 envelope was stamped with the multiple tree stamp in Lost Lagoon ink.

The card easily stands upright for display.

Thank you so much for dropping by to check out this week’s Christmas projects using the Forever Forrest bundle - both stamps and dies. It is a wonderful bundle. I have many other ideas for Christmas projects so please call by again over coming weeks to see if some of my ideas come to fruition.

There is more Christmas creativity so do continue with the blog hop. Just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Rachel Woollard. I am looking forward to checking out Rachel’s creation. I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I do hope to see you next week as we continue the weekly Heart of Christmas 2023 Blog Hop series. We are also blogging for the Colour Creations Blog Hop on Wednesday evening where we are featuring Early Expresso. I think I may be creating a different fancy fold.

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

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or would like to view the full list of participants go to Sharon Davern’s blog @ Rhapsody in Craft. Sharon is our wonderful Art With Heart Team Heart of Christmas Coordinator.  She is a special lady. Check out her delightful creation while you are there. It may be another fun fold.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the new Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the September-December 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!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2023  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #foreverforrest  #bearychristmas. #hopeandpeace

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #21 Daffodil Delight

Daffodil Delight with Radiant Light

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. We are working though the Stampin' Up! colours in alphabetical order, focussing on one colour each week.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a bright and happy colour called Daffodil Delight. Daffodil Delight is one of the Brights Colour Family and is a bright clean yellow. The colour would be lovely when used for flowers, including daffodils (as the name suggests), sun/sun rays or light and chickens, plus so much more.

Daffodil Delight is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, ink spot & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Stampin' Blends Combo; Watercolour Pencils, Soft Pastels; Brights Designer Series Paper as well as Les Shoppes, Beary Christmas, Hello Irresistible DSP; plus Light the Candles kit, Forever Friends kit, Kindness Cards kit, Sentimental Rose Kit and Saying Thanks kit; together with Loose Frosted Dots. and the Glossy Dots Assortment. It is another solid list of products.

Daffodil Delight card-stock, ink, Stampin’ Write Marker and Stampin’ Blends combo have been used in the creation of this project plus a range of non-Daffodil Delight bits and pieces.

As intermated above, Daffodil Delight is a perfect colour for light or for a candle flame so I thought I would christen the Radiant Light stamp set. These stamps stand alone so fussy cutting was required for the project. I started by embossing the Basic White background panel with the Fern 3D embossing folder. A little Daffodil Delight from a Stampin’ Write Marker was splattered over the panel before it being adhered to a Daffodil Delight card base.

A half a sheet of Fluid 100 Watercolor paper was wet on wet water-coloured using Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin’ ink and a little Lost Lagoon ink. Once dry, it was cut down with the second largest Radiating Stitches die. Some torn Daffodil Delight card-stock was adhered to either side to add a little something extra. Some foliage was cut using the Magical Meadows dies and then coloured with either Lost Lagoon or Shaded Spruce inks.

The arrangement of candles from the Radiant Light stamp set was stamped in Smoky Slate ink onto Basic White card-stock. Some extra leaves and berries were also stamped out. The images were coloured with Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Shaded Spruce, Lost Lagoon & Pretty Peacock Stampin’ Blends and the Colour Lifter were all used to colour the images. The coloured images were fussy cut, together with an extra candle from another arrangement as I wanted an odd number of candles. The candle images and die cut foliage were lifted on the card with Dimensionals.

A sentiment from the same stamp set was stamped in Pretty Peacock ink and trimmed down, Each end was torn and a torn edge of Daffodil Delight card-stock was tucked underneath. The stamped and coloured berries as well as the die cut berries all had a little Red Enamel Effects added. Looking at it afterwards, I think I should have reduced the number of berries with the Enamel Effects. What fo you think?? Some Gold Butterfly embellishments were added around the candle flames and some deconstructed Gold Simply Elegant Trim was added around the candles and arrangement. 

A Basic White card inner was stamped in Pretty Peacock ink with a different Christmas sentiment. (I think my ink pad has dried and needs re-inking.) The remaining coloured candle arrangement was fussy cut and added with little left over pieces of coloured die cut foliage. A Basic White C6 Envelope was simply stamped in Smoky Slate ink with the candle stamp.

Second Card

A number of things have conspired against me and taken time from my crafting for tonight’s Blog Hop. I have made a start on a second card. This is as far as I have come. I am disappointed it wasn’t finished in time - my sincere apologies to you. By the way, the yellow panel in the centre is another Daffodil Delight water-coloured background.

I wonder how the card will be finished? [Edited] Here is the finished card. More details can be found at the AWH Heart of Christmas #9 blog.

Thank you for calling in to check out my Daffodil Delight project. I so appreciate it.

There is more Daffodil Delight creativity so continue with the blog hop. Just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the very special Kate Morgan. I am looking forward to checking out Kate’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I do hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Early Expresso as we continue the weekly 2023-2024 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. 

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

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or would like to view the full list of participants go to Catherine Proctor’s blog @ What Cathy Made. Cathy is our brilliant Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  She is a wonderful lady. Check out her delightful 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 the Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the September-December 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  #valleyinspirations   #radiantlight