AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #23 Early Expresso

Early Expresso with Traditions of St Nick

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 showcasing on a deep brown called Early Expresso.  Early Expresso is part of the Neutrals Colour Family and as the name suggests, it is the colour of roasted coffee beans. Like most neutrals, it can coordinate with many colours, including yellows, reds, greens (think of nature), other neutrals, etc and it would be wonderful for wood, trees, animals, shoes, biscuits (hopefully not too brown), spices …  the list could go on.

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 (Assortment 1); Neutrals Designer Series Paper as well as Traditions of St Nick, Sweet Days of Autumn, Snowy Scenes, Reindeer Days, Sentimental Christmas, A Little Bit Festive, Mediterranean Blooms, Wildly Flowering, Country Woods, Frames & Flowers & A Little Latte Designer Series Papers, plus a number of other products. Wow, that is quite a list and demonstrates this colour’s versatility.

This project has incorporated Early Expresso as Classic Stampin' ink, card-stock, Stampin' Write Marker plus Traditions of St Nick DSP and Country Woods DSP.

The wonderful Traditions of St Nick Designer Series Paper has carried over from the previous Stampin’ Up! year and is currently an On Line Exclusive. I love the gorgeous images of St Nickolas and have used one of the images, fussy cutting him out of the DSP. This St Nick is carrying an Early Expresso sack of presents. The Mossy Meadows DSP at the base of the card is from the same pack of papers. Two Early Expresso woodgrain DSPs came from the Country Woods DSP.

Detailed trees from the Peaceful Evergreen dies were die cut from Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper and then water-coloured using Mossy Meadow and Wild Wheat Classic Stampin’ inks. These colours coordinate with the St Nick papers. Some Balmy Blue, Mossy Meadows and Wild Wheat were applied with Blending Brushes to a piece of Basic White card-stock and then it was die cut with the large hexagon label from the Wildflower Designs dies. Prior to die cutting, the panel was splattered with water and later with White Craft ink.

The same die cuts the central hexagon and a frame. A frame was cut from one of the dark wood designs in the Country Woods DSP. The other dark wood design was added as a diagonal torn layer beneath the Mossy Meadows design. A Basic White card-stock background panel was dry embossed with the Painted Trees 3D embossing folder and lightly coloured with Soft Sea Foam over the trees and a light Balmy Blue as sky.

The hexagon label was adhered directly to the background while the frame was popped up on Dimensionals. St Nick and the trees were either adhered with Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Dimensionals. A sentiment from Peaceful Season stamp set was white heat embossed onto the same DSP as the frame. Some Garden Green linen twine from the Natural Tones Linen Thread was over-coloured with Dark Mossy Meadows Blend and then tied into a double bow that was popped under the sentiment. Some Gold Textured Adhesive-backed Dots were scattered to give a touch of shine.

The card inner is simply a piece of Basic White card-stock with some fussy cut trees from the same sheet of DSP as St Nick plus a thin strip of wooden DSP. A little Early Expresso splattering was added using a Stampin’ Write Marker. A Basic White C6 envelope also had some fussy cut trees adhered in place. I love to use partial images from the edges of DSP both inside the card and on the envelope so they aren’t wasted.

Thank you so much for calling in to check out my Early Expresso Traditions of St Nick card. This card morphed into a different card than initially imagined. It ended up with touches of Vintage and Shabby Chic.

To continue with the Early Expresso blog hop just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a lovely lady, Di Furniss. I am looking forward to checking out Di’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 Flirty Flamingo as we continue the weekly 2024-2025 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. 

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 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  #stampinupdemonstrator  #papercrafting #traditionsofstnick  #peacefulevergreens  #countrywoods  #peacefulseason