AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #8 Balmy Blue

Balmy Blue with Iconic Imagery +

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 light blue called Balmy Blue. Balmy Blue is one of the  Subtles Colour Family and is a delightful colour that can coordinate with so many colours. It would be wonderful for sky, water, snowflakes, cards for babies, flowers and so much more.

Balmy Blue is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Stampin’ Blends Combo; Watercolor Pencils Asst 2; Subtles Designer Series Paper as well as Mediterranean Blooms, Lily Pond Lane, Full of Life, Meandering Meadows, Countryside Inn DSPs; Say Something, Labels & Layers, Something for Everything, Fully Flowering Mix & Match Ephemera Packs; Sunny Sprigs Mix & Match Cards & Envelopes; Frog & Friends Kit; Bakers Twine Three Color Pack; Rainbow Adhesive-backed Dots and The Best Destination Kit. That is quite a list of products with this gorgeous colour.

My card has used Balmy Blue in the form of Balmy Blue Classic ink, card-stock, Stampin’ Write Marker, twine from the Bakers Twine Three Color Pack and Rainbow Adhesive-backed Dots.

Balmy Blue is the key colour with Pool Party, Fresh Freesia, Lost Lagoon and Misty Moonlight plus touches of Coastal Cabana and Night of Navy. 

I recently saw Susan Wong of The Crafty Carrot Co fame and as a past Stampin’ Up! Artisan, demonstrate this waterfall card and she inspired me to give it a go, however, having just received my pre-order with the Iconic Imagery bundle I wanted to use it instead and create a Christmas card. This is my first Christmas card for 2024 - I know, but I need to start early to be able to create enough to send to all on my Christmas Card List.

The background was stamped in Versamark ink with the snowflake from the Iconic Imagery bundle. The snowflake was white heat embossed and then Balmy Blue Classic ink was blended over the edges with a Blending Brush. The effect is due to the emboss resist process. I love it. The word “Celebrate” from the same stamp set was stamped in Misty Moonlight ink with a light Balmy Blue blending over. The word was fussy cut and added to the card front with Mini Dimensionals. I have used a number of other stamp sets as the flip panels were decorated - more details below.

The flip panels were die cut using a Countryside Corner die and Basic White card-stock before being cut in half with a Stampin’ Trimmer. The first flip panel was partially blended with Balmy Blue over a white heat embossed snowflake. A sentiment from the same stamp set was white heat embossed on Balmy Blue card-stock. The second flip panel was blended with Pool Party ink then decorated with the small bell from the Golden Greenery bundle (another pre-order of new On-Line Exclusives that will be available to all in July). The bell was stamped in Coastal Cabana ink directly onto the flip panel. Another bell was silver heat embossed onto Basic White card-stock, die cut with a coordinating die from the Golden Greenery dies. A little bow of Balmy Blue Bakers Twine from the Bakers Twine Three Color Pack was added with a Glue Dot.

The third flip panel was blended with Fresh Freesia ink then decorated with presents from the Labeled with Love stamp set - the small presents stamped in Coastal Cabana ink and the larger present with Balmy Blue ink and silver heat embossing.

The fourth flip panel had some blending with Lost Lagoon ink. The leaves were stamped in Lost Lagoon ink then silver heat embossed with the line image - both stamps from the Iconic Imagery set. The berries were stamped in Fresh Freesia and the line image was silver heat embossed.

The fifth panel was blended with Misty Moonlight ink then stamped with trees in Night of Navy ink using a stamp from the Encircled in Nature set. The silver heat embossed star came from the Iconic Imagery star stamp. A tiny Silver Foil die cut star used a die also from the Iconic Imagery dies. 

The end of the pull tab was punched using the Sparkling Snowflake punch.

The card front was adhered to a Balmy Blue card-stock base. A splattering of Balmy Blue was added with a Stampin’ Write Marker to the card front and flip panels. The final touches: a Silver Edged Sheer White Ribbon was tied around the cut out snowflake, a few Balmy Blue Rainbow Adhesive-backed Dots were scattered near the sentiment and a light splattering of Wink of Stella added a gentle little shimmer.  The bow indicates the pull tab to flip the panels.

The Basic White card inner was simply stamped with Balmy Blue snowflakes and a little Balmy Blue blending was added to the RHS and base. Similarly, a Basic White C6 Envelope was also stamped with snowflakes and a little blending.

Thank you so much for dropping in on your way around the Colour Creations Blog Hop. Keep hopping so you won’t miss any Balmy Blue gorgeousness.

To continue with the Balmy Blue blog hop just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a special lady, Kate Morgan. I am looking forward to checking out Kate’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Basic Gray as we continue the weekly 2024-2025 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 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it 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   #encircledinnature  #goldengreenery #iconicimagery  #labelswithlove  #thecraftycarrotco  

CASEing the Catty #474 CASE a Technique

A Technique meets Citrus Blooms

Hello, Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and #474 Challenge with CASEing the Catty. You may have just come from Julia Quinn's Blog or perhaps another way. At the end of this post just click on the next graphic to be taken to Peta Stephen’s blog.

The Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue includes much information useful for paper-crafting, such as various techniques. This week the Challenge is to CASE a Technique. 

I have CASEd a couple of the water-colouring techniques shown on the Catalogue’s pages 118-119, specifically the “Spritz Bliss” and “Paint with Water” techniques. Combining these techniques can result in a technique known as “Loose Water-colouring”.

I coloured the larger rubber stamp from the Citrus Blooms stamp set with Stampin’ Write Markers and stamped on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. To do this I used a positioning tool (my retired Stamparatus) so I could ink a section of the stamp and stamp it on the paper before the ink dried on the stamp. It is possible to colour a stamp with different coloured markers and then “huff” on it to breathe moisture onto the stamp so the ink is dampened. Since COVI|D, I have hesitated to “huff” on the stamp, finding stamping with a positioning tool extremely effective.

As mentioned, the red rubber stamp from the Citrus Blooms set was markered with Stampin’ Up!’s Stampin’ Write Markers, ie Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Lost Lagoon and touches of Early Expresso. A Mister that was filled with tap water and water was spritzed over the inked image then left to allow the ink to bleed (see above). As the stamped image is only an outline image, it was coloured in using the “Paint with Water” technique. While water-colouring the image, I wanted to maintain the softness of the spritzed ink and so encouraged the colours to ooze over the image’s outlines. This can be known as “Loose Water-colouring”.

Water and more ink was applied with the fine tip Water Painter. The image was coloured with Stampin’ Up!s water-based Classic inks, ie Peach Pie & Pumpkin Pie for the oranges, Lemon Lolly and Daffodil Delight for the blossoms, Lost Lagoon and Garden Green for the leaves,  touches of Early Expresso for the twigs and Balmy Blue ink for the background. Once dry the outline image was stamped again, but this time with Versamark ink and then heat embossed with Gold Emboss Powder and a Heat Tool to give definition to the image. 

The image was die cut with the large outline die from the Citrus Blooms dies. A second piece was cut out with the same die from Balmy Blue card-stock to layer behind the water-coloured panel.

A background piece of Basic White card-stock was dry embossed with the Exposed Brick 3D Embossing Folder.

Some gorgeous Iridescent Striped Trim was tied around the front panel and into a bow. A sentiment from the Unbounded Love stamp set was white heat embossed onto Balmy Blue card-stock and fussy cut. I had wanted to use one of the coordinating label dies from the Unbounded Love dies, but in this instance it wasn’t right. Having said that, the numerous labels in the set of dies are so gorgeous and well worth checking out. The final touch - a few of the delightful 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer Gems.

I love to simply decorate the inside of the card with something to coordinate with the card front so a different stamp from the same set was inked in Balmy Blue. A second sentiment - also from the Unbounded Love stamp set was stamped in Balmy Blue. As with the background, a little Balmy Blue ink was blended over the stamped image with a Blending Brush.  Similarly, a C6 Basic White envelope was stamped with the same image and a little Balmy Blue ink was lightly  blended over.

Thank you so much for spending time with me. I so appreciate it. 

Don’t miss any of the inspiration from all the participating Crew. The next blog Crew Member in the hop is the lovely Peta Stephen. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to her blog. I am sure her project will be wonderful.

Join In The Challenge: We would love you to share a project you have created that has been inspired by the new 2024-2025 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue. To share, all you need to do is go to the CASEing The Catty Challenge Group on Facebook. If you aren't a member, it’s easy to request to join and then all you need to do is upload a photo of your project to the main section. You can click on the graphic below to be taken to the group on Facebook. We would love to see your creation.

#ctc469 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #citrusblooms   #unboundedlove  

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #7 Azure Afternoon

Azure Afternoon with Adventurous Sky & Fields in Bloom

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. After focussing on the newly introduced colours, this week we are starting to work though the continuing Stampin' Up! colours in alphabetical order, showcasing one colour each week.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a bright turquoise called Azure Afternoon. Azure Afternoon is one of the Brights Colour Family and is a wonderful strong blue that can coordinate with  many colours. It would be great for sky, water/sea, flowers and anything with requiring bright blue.

Azure Afternoon is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Stampin’ Blends Combo; Brights Designer Series Paper as well as Bright & Beautiful DSP; all the Ephemera Packs, the Sunny Springs cards & Envelopes; the Frog Friends Kit and the Rainbow Adhesive-backed Dots.  

I have used Azure Afternoon ink, card-stock and Stampin’ Blends Combo in my card (below).

I remember that not too long ago, I looked up at the sky and it was such a beautiful blue - it was an Azure Afternoon blue. And what could I have soaring through a bright blue sky other than a plane from the Adventurous Sky bundle. My thoughts also went to a stamp set that was yet to see ink - my Fields in Bloom stamp set.

I started with a piece of Basic White card-stock and stamped it with the 2-step meadows stamps in Granny Apple Green and Daffodil Delight Classic inks - and wow, it was so effective and so simple. I’m sure you will be seeing this stamp set again soon. I love it. To colour the sky, Azure Afternoon ink was used with a Blending Brush, ensuring it was darker at the top, lightening down to nothing near the meadows. A little Daffodil Delight ink was blended on the meadows near the skyline and a little Granny Apple Green ink was blended near the bottom of the meadows.

The larger plane from the Adventurous Sky stamps was silver heat embossed. It was coloured with Stampin’ Blends, that is Azure Afternoon, Balmy Blue, Smoky Slate and a little Pebbled Path combos together with the Colour Lifter to help with highlights. Some clouds from the Adventurous Sky set were white heat embossed in the background sky. More clouds were stamped in Azure Afternoon ink on Basic White card-stock. White Embossing Paste was dabbed onto the clouds with the finer of the Palette Knives and put aside to dry. The separate clouds were fussy cut as I didn’t want the embossing paste to be squashed. (Next time I would die cut the clouds first and then add the Embossing Paste.)

A mid-sized circular label was cut using an Everyday Detailed die. The label was added with Dimensionals and the two larger clouds were tucked in and around. The die cut plane (cut with a coordinating die) had some Dimensionals added to the back. A piece of Silver Trim from the Gold & Silver Trim Combo pack. The piece of trim was deconstructed with silver threads pulled out and the threads were wrapped around my fingers and then adhered to the Dimensionals before the plane was added to the circular label.

A sentiment from the Adventurous Sky stamps was white heat embossed onto Azure Afternoon card-stock and cut out with the long thin label die from the coordinating die set. The final touch was the addition of some Industrial Trinkets embellishments. As they are fairly solid, a couple of the embellishments were partially tucked under the sentiment and label.

The card inner was a piece of Basic White card-stock edged with a strip that had been cut off the background. A different sentiment was stamped in Azure Afternoon ink. A small cloud and plane were adhered to the side.  A C6 Basic White Envelope was stamped with a couple of planes.

Thank you so much for dropping by. I hope you found something to CASE (Copy And Share Everything or Copy And Selectively Edit) or inspire.

To continue with the Azure Afternoon blog hop just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of my lovely friend, Christine Blain. I am looking forward to checking out Christine’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I do hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Balmy Blue as we continue the weekly 2024-2025 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, then go to Catherine Proctor’s blog @ What Cathy Made. Cathy is our wonderful Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  She is a special 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 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it 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   #adventuroussky #fieldsinbloom

Colour Inkspiration Challenge #167

 Welcome to Valley Inspiration with Andrea and the Colour Inkspiration Challenge #167

The colours for this Colour Inkspiration Challenge #167 are beautiful and striking. Pretty in Pink is one of Stampin’ Up!s newly released In Colors for 2024-2026. Pretty in Pink is combined with Basic White and Basic Black in this colour combo.

I started by creating a Pretty in Pink water-colour wash on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. When dry the panel was die cut with an outline die from the Citrus In Bloom dies.

The background was a piece of Pretty in Pink Unbounded Beauty Designer Series Paper that had a little Pretty in Pink blending added with a Blending Brush. This panel was added to a Pretty in Pink card-base.

Different sized butterflies from the Sketched Butterflies stamps were Black heat embossed on to Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. The butterflies were water-coloured with Pretty in Pink Classic ink and the fine Water Painter.  Once dry the butterflies were die cut with coordinating dies.

The leafy border die from the Citrus in Bloom dies cut out a leafy frame from Basic White card-stock. Half of the frame was trimmed away and the other half was adhered over the water-coloured background. The remainder of the leafy frame was carefully cut into seperate leaf sprays plus some more leaves were die cut. The extra leaves were arranged to develop a fuller leafy trellis. 

A sentiment from the Unbounded Love stamp set was white heat embossed on Basic Black card-stock and it was fussy cut. The butterflies and sentiment were arranged and a bow of the Silver & White Sheer Ribbon was tucked under the sentiment. The final touch was the scattering of some Iridescent Pearls and 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer Gems.

I always like to decorate the card inner and Basic White C6 Envelope so they coordinate in some way with the card design.

Thank you so much for dropping in. I so appreciate the time you spend with me here on my blog.

I do hope you will join in Challenge #167. All you need to do is create a project with the Challenge colours, as shown above, and upload a photo of your creation to the genera discussion wall of the Colour Inkspiration Challenge Facebook group. If you aren’t already a member, all you need to do is answer the required questions and submit your request.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Stampin' Up 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

#colourinkspirationchallenge167  #cic167 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #sketchedbutterflies #citrusblooms. #unboundedlove

CASEing the Catty #473 Bundles

CASE A Bundle meets Friends For Life, Country Flowers & Latte Love

Hello, Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and #473 Challenge with CASEing the Catty.

Thank you for dropping in to check out my project for this week’s CASEing the Catty Challenge. There was so much inspiration to choose from for this challenge. 

You may have come here from Monica Fielding' Blog. I'm looking forward to checking out her project.

I selected to CASE the framed project on page 42 of the Annual Catalogue that is showcasing the Full of Life Suite. I have used some of the elements from this suite, but have changed it up by focussing on the Country Flowers bundle with a couple of bits from the Latte Love bundle (an On-line Exclusive). I have used a different colour combo too.

My project is CASEing the concept of creating a project to display. Mine is framed to hang on the wall or stand to display. I have a special friend who is a wonderful lady. She has an online tea business and has recently opened a gorgeous tea house in Blackwood, South Australia. I was thinking of her as I created this framed project. 

(By the way, please bear with me this week as I have had trouble trying to photograph the project given the glass in the frame. My apologies.)

The background had a little Pool Party Classic ink blended using a Blending Brush on some Basic White card-stock. Hearts from the Friends for Life dies were die cut and layered over the background - they represent the beautiful heart of my friend and her love for people … and for her delicious Brackendale Tea. A piece of Country Lace Designer Series Paper represents a tablecloth.

The various elements of the design were either stamped with the Country Flowers stamps, gold heat embossed on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper and die cut with the coordinating dies or extra detailed leaves & tea pot lid from the same set of dies were just die cut. The little hearts were die cut using a die from the Friends for Life dies and the little tea cups from the Latte Love dies. All the pieces were water-coloured with Classic Stampin’ inks and Water Painters. The ink colours were Pretty in Pink, Bubble Bath, Berry Burst, Lost Lagoon and Pretty Peacock.

The sentiment has been combined from both the Friends for Life bundle and the Coffee With Friends stamp set. The word ‘friend’ was cut from the Textured Metallic Speciality Paper and the other words were stamped from the Coffee with Friends stamp set onto Pretty Peacock card-stock, white heat embossed and fussy cut.

Thank you so much for spending time with me. I so appreciate it. 

Don’t miss any of the inspiration from the talented CASEing the Catty Crew. The next blog in the hop is a Guest Designer - Christina Barnes. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to her blog. I am sure her project is wonderful.

Join In The Challenge: We would love you to share a project you have created that has been inspired by the new 2024-2025 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue. To share, all you need to do is go to the CASEing The Catty Challenge Group in Facebook. If you aren't a member, its easy to request to join and then all you need to do is upload a photo of your project to the main section. You can click on the graphic below to be taken to the group on Facebook. We would love to see your creation.

#ctc473 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #coffeewithfriends   #friendsforlife #countryflowers #lattelove