AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #Coastal Cabana

Coastal Cabana with Under the Moon + 

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 beautiful teal colour called Coastal Cabana.  Coastal Cabana is part of the Brights Colour Family and is a green/blue or is that blue/green that can coordinate with many colours, including blues, yellows, Crumb Cake, purples, etc and it would be wonderful for sea scenes (I think the name gives it away), flowers, sky …  and anything needing a bright teal.

Coastal Cabana is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, spots & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Stampin’ Watercolor Pencils; Soft Pastels: Brights Designer Series Paper as well as Full of Life DSP; Light the Candles Kit, Confetti Birthday Kit, Rock Legend Kit; and Ombré Matte Decorative Dots.

This project has incorporated Coastal Cabana as Classic Stampin' ink, card-stock, Stampin' Write Marker and the Ombré Matte Decorative Dots. 

My card evolved as I worked on this week’s project. I had planned to use the Full of Life Designer Series Paper, but forgot about it early in the creative process. It is such a bright and happy DSP and I love it - just not this time. I love the Under the Moon stamp set but it hadn’t seen ink so decided that Coastal Cabana would be great for the sea section - and in the end didn’t use the water stamp. Have you designed a card that ended up completely different to initial ideas???

Some Coastal Cabana Classic stampin’ ink was dabbed onto the B side of the So Swirly Embossing Folder and then misted with water using a Stampin’ Mister. I was so careful not to add too much ink that it hardly shows on the background so I needed to do something else to give the background some character.

As I was waking early this morning, I saw someone adding stripes over a circular hole on the front panel of a card and my mind started whirring. On a Basic White card-stock panel that was a little smaller than the card base Coastal Cabana ink was ombré blended over the panel. A little Misty Moonlight ink was added near the top of the panel to darken that edge. Water was splattered over the blended panel and it was left to dry.

A hole was cut through the blended panel using one of the larger Spotlight on Nature dies and it was used to cut through the card front in the same spot. The embossed background was cut into 1cm strips and laid over the blended background panel, leaving a small gap between strips. Next time I try this technique I may leave bigger gaps to better show the hole underneath. When the card is standing open the effect of the hole does have a lovely subtle effect but it’s hard to pick it up in the photos.

The Under the Moon stamp set is a Distinktive stamp that gives different depths of ink by simple stamping. I love the effect. The rising moon and clouds were coloured using Coastal Cabana, Misty Moonlight and Fresh Freesia inks. The clouds were inked in Coastal Cabana ink and then some Misty Moonlight was added with a Blending Brush. The moon was stamped twice, one with Fresh Freesia ink and Coastal Cabana and Misty Moonlight blending. The second moon was inked with Coastal Cabana and Misty Moonlight blending. This moon was later fussy cut along the centre white area and was then popped up over the Fresh Freesia moon with Dimensionals. The dolphins were stamped in Misty Moonlight. As this is a stand alone stamp set, all the pieces were fussy cut and arranged in place with either Dimensionals or Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

Splattering was added with a Coastal Cabana Stampin’ Write Marker. A sentiment from the You are beautiful Stamp set was white heat embossed onto Coastal Cabana card-stock and then fussy cut. Some threads from the deconstructed Shimmery Striped Ribbon was swished behind part of the sentiment and a few Ombré Matt Dots were scattered.

I decided not to waste the die cut circle from the background so the same Spotlight on Nature dies cut a double circle with a fold on one edge. The blended label was adhered to the top of the folded Basic White piece and it was positioned back in the hole. Multipurpose Liquid Glue was applied to the back of the circular label and the card was closed. Thereby adhering it in place inside the card. it was stamped with 2 sentiments from the Grateful Blessing stamp set were stamped in Misty Moonlight on the blended section and inside the folded section providing a hidden message. Some left over images helped to decorate the card inner.

Some clouds were stamped onto a C6 Basic White envelope.

Thank you so much for calling by to check out my Coastal Cabana Under the Moon card. I have decided to give it to a friend for Fathers’ Day from his fur family. I will need to work out how I can get it to him as a surprise from his girls.

To continue with the Coastal Cabana 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 do hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Copper Clay as we continue the weekly 2024-2025 Colour Creations Blog Hop series.  Also, many of us are hopping Monday evenings till the end of November for the 2024 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. We share a range of Christmas projects to provide inspiration for your Christmas preparations. We would love you to call by.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself.

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.

Living 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  #stampinupdemonstrator  #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #underthemoon  #gratefulblessing  #youarebeautiful  

AWH Heart of Christmas Blog Hop #4

Christmas with Winter Meadow

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the fourth Art with Heart Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2024. We started this series early August and will be hopping every week until the end of November. I hope you can check us out each week as I know there will be so many inspirational ideas and different projects on show to help your Christmas preparations.

I love sharing Christmas creativity with you and hope that you will be inspired in your preparations for Christmas. This week I have been time poor so decided to go 3D with simple gift bags and coordinating tags. If you haven’t tried creating boxes and bags you may not realise just how easy they can be. It’s a lot of fun.

I love the ability to custom create a bag or box to a size suitable for a specific gift. However, in this instance, I certainly do not have Christmas presents purchased in readiness for the coming Christmas season - I am nowhere near that organised. As such, I have created 2 gift bags, one using half a sheet of Designer Series Paper ie 6”x12” (15.25 x 30.5cm) and the second gift bag using a full sheet of 12”x12” (30.5 x 30.5 cm) Designer Series Paper. With Stampin’ Up!s current sale of DSPs from the 2024/2025 Annual Catalogue, I have selected one of the set of papers that is ‘On Sale’, the gorgeous Winter Meadow Designer Series Paper.

This DSP was introduced last year and has carried over to this year’s Annual Catalogue. I adore this paper so have stocked up during the Sale and plan to use it during a coming class. It is a great opportunity if you have been interested in any of the standard DSPs, so don’t miss out as Stampin’ Up!s DSP sale finishes on the 31st August.

This first gift bag uses a full sheet of DSP. When designing a bag for a specific item, it’s about measuring the width, height and depth of the item and add a little extra to each measurement so there is room to manoeuvre your item without tearing the bag. Don’t forget to add cm for a seam to join edges together. Think about the closure at the top of the bag and add enough height so the bag can close easily. It’s also about considering the size of the paper you are going to use and whether you need to join sheets of DSP or card-stock. Then, using the Stampin’ Trimmer, score along one edge (for front, gusset, back, gusset and seam) and turn the sheet 90deg and score bottom section, bag height and turn back. Burnishing the folds with a Bone Folder is really important to give nice edges to the gift bag. For this bag, the finished dimensions are 22.2cm height x 10.2cm width x 4.5cm depth. 

The adhesive needs to have a sound grip so it doesn’t unstick when the bag is containing its goodies. I usually use either Tear ‘n Tape or Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue. Pieces of Basic White card-stock were trimmed a little smaller than the turn back and slipped in to hide under the turn-back. This is to strengthen the opening and also reinforce the punched holes that the ribbon feeds through to tie the opening closed. Another piece of card-stock was added inside the bag at  the base. My aim was to strengthen the bag so that it could maintain a good condition to enable it to be re-used. The gussets were gently pushed in and the top of the bag was pinched together at the top. The ribbon that tied the bag closed was white ribbon from the Petal Pink & White Diagonal Trim Combo Pack. 

Tags were cut from both Basic White and Pool Party card-stock and an extra piece of the same DSP used to make the bag. The die that cut the tags came from the Greetings of the Season dies. There are many different shapes and sizes and cuts a hole for ribbon or twine. The dies are amazing. The sentiment came from the Peaceful Season stamp set (from the coming September - December Mini Catalogue). The tags were tied together with white bakers twine from the Bakers Twine Essential’s Pack. In turn, the tags were tied around the ribbon bow. The final touch - a few Iridescent Faceted Gems.

GIFT BAG 2:

This second gift bag was created from half a sheet of DSP, ie 6” (15.25cm) x 12” (30.5cm). It was created in the same way as the gift bag (above), including the reinforcing panels under the turn back and at the base. The finished dimensions are 9.6cm height x 10.8cm width x 3.8cm depth.

A different tag die from the same set was used to cut a Basic White card-stock tag and a DSP tag. The same ribbon and Bakers Twine were used. The sentiment stamped on the white tag comes from Greetings of the Season stamp set. A few Iridescent Pearl Basic Jewels provide a touch of shimmer.

Thank you so much for calling in. I hope these gift bags give you ideas instead of wrapping a gift in the traditional way.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with the blog hop. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a wonderful lady & friend, Sharon Davern. I am looking forward to checking out Sharon’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

Also, many of us participate in the Colour Creations Blog Hop which goes live every Wednesday night, where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. It would be wonderful if you could also check in on us for more creative inspiration.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself.

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 amazing Art With Heart Team Heart of Christmas 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 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the coming September-December 2024 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  #heartofchristmas2024 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #wintermeadow  #greetingsoftheseason  #peacefulsseason

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #17 Cherry Cobbler

Cherry Cobbler with Nests of Winter

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 beautiful rose red called Cherry Cobbler.  Cherry Cobbler is part of the Regals Colour Family and is a rich deep cherry red. It can coordinate with a range of colours, including complementing greens, pinks, neutrals, etc and it would be wonderful for berries, flowers and is a staple for Christmas crafting.

Cherry Cobbler 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; Regals Designer Series Paper as well as a number of other products, including Iconic Celebrations, Meandering Meadows, Traditions of St Nick and the coming Nests of Winter DSP; Shining Christmas Speciality DSP; and the Rustic Christmas Countdown Kit. 

This project has incorporated Cherry Cobbler as Card-stock, Stampin' Write Marker, Watercolor Pencil (Assortment 2) and Nests of Winter Designer Series Paper.

The Nests of Winter Suite is one of the suites in the soon to be launched September-December 2024 Mini Catalogue. I love it. It can be used for Christmas as well as for everyday use. I have used 3 different designs of a Nests of Winter DSP packet. Two of the designs incorporate a range of beautiful birds. I have fussy cut 2 different birds (plus a 3rd for the message panel) from these sheets. The third DSP design is used inside the card to be seen when the card is open - more of that later. For a little extra shading, a Cherry Cobbler water-colour pencil from Stampin’ Up!s Assortment 2 pack was used to give more depth to the Cherry Cobbler birds.

The front labels were cut using 2 mid sized Countryside Corners dies - one from Basic White card-stock and one from Cherry Cobbler card-stock.  When I looked at the labels together, the Cherry Cobbler mount seemed too dominant and needed to be reduced. The 2 labels were adhered together and then the mount width was trimmed down with a Stampin’ Trimmer. I had initially planned a wider Cherry Cobbler border but in wanting an even mount all around I needed to keep trimming to attain an even straight mount. I must admit, when I scooped up the off cuts for the bin there was an abundance of extra thin Cherry Cobbler strips!

Basic White card-stock panels for the card front were embossed with the suites Birch Wood 3D Embossing Folder.  You may have guessed that this card is a fun fold. When designing the card I remembered seeing Sue Campfield, a USA SU Demonstrator, create this fold months ago. She called it a Majestic fold as when the card opens it forms a “M” shape. I have converted the dimensions to suit our A4 dimensions so 2 cards can be created from 1 sheet of card-stock. Below is a down-ward shot of the open card.

As you can see, panels of the 3rd DSP design have been adhered on the outer sections of the inside of the card. I had wondered about placing the DSP in the central panels, but it distracted the eye from the focal section. More embossed Basic White panels were adhered in the central sections and the DSP panels frame the focal area as you can see below.

The white & red mounted label had a little Pool Party Classic ink blended in the centre using a Blending Brush. A piece of the luscious Striped Iridescent Ribbon was tied around the label ending in a bow. Two fussy cut birds were arranged and adhered in place with Dimensionals.

A sentiment from the Greetings of the Season stamp set was white heat embossed onto Cherry Cobbler card-stock and then fussy cut. It was popped upon Dimensionals. A little splattering was added with a Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Write Marker. The final touch - a scattering of a few Iridescent Faceted Gems. 

Basic White card-stock panels for writing a personal message were adhered to the back of the card. Before adhering in place another sentiment from the Greetings of the Season set was stamped on one of the panels in Momento ink. A third little fussy cut bird was added onto the other panel and a berry & pine fussy cut image was added to the bottom of the sentiment panel. The same sentiment also was stamped onto a Basic White C6 Envelope. 

Thank you so much for calling in to check out my Cherry Cobbler Christmas card. I hope you like it. I plan to create a second similar card over the weekend with left over bits and pieces. It was really quite simple to make. I will probably use different fussy cut birds so the 2nd card is similar but different.

To continue with the Cherry Cobbler 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 as there is always so much inspiration.

I hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Coastal Cabana as we continue the weekly 2024-2025 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. Also, many of us are hopping Monday evenings till the end of November for the 2024 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. We share a range of Christmas projects to provide inspiration for your Christmas preparations. We would love you to call by.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself.

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 wonderful Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  She is a special lady. Check out her delightful creation while you are there.

Living in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Stampin' Up 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue or the coming 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  #stampinupdemonstrator  #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #nestsofwinter  #countryside corners    #greetingsoftheseason

AWH Heart of Christmas Blog Hop #3

Christmas with Reindeer Days 

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the third Art with Heart Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2024. We are hopping every week until the end of November. I hope you can check us out each week as I know there will be so many ideas and different projects on show to help your Christmas preparations.

I love sharing Christmas creativity with you and hope that you will be inspired in your crafting. This week I needed a simple-ish card as my body has been playing up and creative time has disappeared. I had in mind a different card, but then was inspired this morning by Kayla Renee, an amazing Australian Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and past Artisan. She had created a fancy fold card using the Double Diagonal Fold. Also, I have only just received a paper share of coming Designer Series Papers from the September - December 2024 Mini Catalogue and when I saw the oh so cute Reindeer Days DSP, I immediately thought of fussy cutting the cute little deers, etc to create various card designs. Putting the happenings together I came up with this card:

The Double Diagonal Fancy Fold is usually shown in portrait form so for something a little different, the fold was flipped on its side to create a landscape card. 

This card used 3 of the designs from the Reindeer Days DSP, ie one to fussy cut the images, one on the triangle that flips down and the 3rd on the triangle that flips across. Oh, I should also mention that the card base uses a full piece of Thick A4 Basic White card-stock. It is scored in quarters and then sections are cut away. See below for a photo of the open card. One could create a second card from the card-stock. I ran out of time this week.

Two Thick Basic White labels were die cut using 2 mid sized Countryside Corners dies. The labels will be layered together with Dimensionals after the smaller one has been decorated. The smaller label was lightly coloured with Pool Party and Granny Apple Green Classic inks and Blending Brushes. The fussy cut reindeers and trees were arranged, with the reindeers popped up on Dimensionals.

I found a gold heat embossed ‘Happy Christmas’ sentiment on my desk and thought it would be perfect for this card. It had been stamped using the Greetings of the Season set. It was fussy cut out and then adhered in place with Mini Dimensionals. 

A little splattering was added using a Coastal Cabana Stampin’ Write Marker. The final touch to add to the scene and give a little gold bling was the addition of a few birds from the Adhesive-backed Dragonflies and Birds embellishments. They are so cute and I love the way there are different birds that fly in opposite directions.

The card inner had a little green blending and a couple a fussy cut trees, positioned so they complimented the card design. A different sentiment from the Greetings of the Season stamp set was also gold heat embossed. 

A C6 Basic White envelope was simply decorated with a left over triangle of DSP.

Thank you so much for calling in. I hope this cute reindeer fancy fold card gave you a smile.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with the blog hop. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a beautiful friend, 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.

Also, many of us participate in the Colour Creations Blog Hop that goes live every Wednesday night where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. It would be wonderful if you could also check in on us for more creative inspiration.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself.

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 amazing Art With Heart Team Heart of Christmas 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 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the coming September-December 2024 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  #heartofchristmas2024 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #reindeerdays