AWH Heart of Christmas - #10

Christmas with Noel Greetings

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the tenth Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2026. We are sharing Christmas inspiration each Monday evening until the end of November. I do hope you will check us out as often as you can.

This week's card is an alternative to one of the cards in October's Paper Pumpkin Kit. This is a wonderful kit that makes 5 card each of the 2 different designs. Each of the designs are lovely as is. Having said that, it is always fun to create alternatives. I have used a number of the kit's bits and pieces for my card and altered other aspects. Here is the card with the Kit's instruction sheet to show the kit cards.

The background on the card was one of the kit's card bases. I have only used half of the base and mounted it onto Basic Beige and Basic White card-stocks before being mounted onto a Basic Beige card base. The mounting enabled an imperial sized card to be converted to a metric sized card - the latter being the standard size we use in Australia.

The background is a beautiful design, perfect for the oval label. Some light brown jute from the Neutrals Jute Combo Pack was twisted and adhered to the edge of the label with Glue Dots. The tree near the house and trees across the background was cut from a Mossy Meadow background piece from the kit using a pack of dies - the Layered Tags Dies - that are designed to coordinate with this and the next two Paper Pumpkin Kits. The dies can only be purchased by folk who have subscribed for Paper Pumpkin. They are great for alternatives.

The sentiment was White heat embossed onto a scrap of Real Red card-stock and trimmed down. The kit includes a background layer with a decorative edge. Part of the edge of a decorative kit layer was cut away and tucked under the sentiment. Pine sprigs (from the kit) were stamped onto Basic White in Mossy Meadow ink (from the kit) and tucked under the left edge of the sentiment.

A few Basic Rhinestone Jewels were coloured with a Dark Real Red Stampin' Blend before being added as "berries". The stars in the sky and for the large tree were cut from Gold Foil.

A Basic White panel was added inside the card for writing a personal message. The tree stamp from the kit was repeatedly stamped in Mossy Meadow ink across the bottom of the insert.  A Basic White C6 envelope was also stamped in Mossy Meadow, but with the pine sprig stamp from the kit.

Thank you so much for dropping in to check out my alternative Paper Pumpkin Christmas card. I hope you have found some inspiration for Christmas creating.

PS. My plan to create 3 cards with a similar layout but different colours and focal points needed to be put on hold. I was starting to create the 3 cards but then realised that I wouldn't get them finished in time to photograph and include in this blog. Here is a sneak peak of the card backgrounds. Come back next week to see the finished cards.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with this blog hop. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the amazing Kate Morgan. I always look forward to checking out Kate’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is so much Christmas inspiration.

Also, many of us participate in the Colour Creations InstaHop that goes live every Wednesday night on Instagram where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. This week we are hero-ing Gray Granite, a warm grey. We would love you to 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.  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 2026 September-December 2026 Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact with any queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2026 #stampinup #stam  #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #artisandesignteam  #artisandesignteam2026  #paperpumpkin  #noelgreetings

AWH Heart of Christmas - #9

Christmas with A Little Christmas

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the ninth Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2026. We are sharing Christmas inspiration each Monday evening until the end of November. I do hope you will check us out as often as you can.

My week has again been filled with commitments, and time disappeared when it came to creating for this Blog Hop. Monday comes around so quickly. Then I remembered that I had already fussy cut images from the oh so cute A Little Christmas designer series paper. The pack contains a number of sheets that are wonderful for fussy cutting, including carolling mice (you may remember a previous post), cooking preparation and putting up Christmas decorations - that's the one used this week. The pack also includes a range of background designs. It is a fun pack to help with Christmas card making.

The colours used came from the DSP design, especially Very Vanilla, Mossy Meadow & Basic White. The background is a panel of Very Vanilla cardstock mounted on a slightly larger panel of Mossy Meadow cardstock. A small piece of the lightest Wood Grain Wonders Designer Series Paper was used to create a sense of a floor. A little Golden Glow ink blending was added to give a sense of cosy light and some Basic Beige ink stamped starbursts added a little texture.

As mentioned, a number of images had been fussy cut from one of the designs from A Little Christmas Designer Series Paper. They were arranged to create a little story and then adhered flat with Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue or popped up with Dimensionals.

The sentiment is from the coordinating Christmas Mice stamp set. It was White heat embossed onto Mossy Meadow cardstock the fussy cut before being added to the card with Mini Dimensionals. A Linen Twine bow was tucked under the sentiment and a few red sequins from the Adhesive-backed Sparkle Sequins were sprinkled around. I couldn't resist adding a little splatter of Wink of Stella to add some extra Christmas sparkle.

Open the card to find a little pop up mouse (fussy cut from the DSP) running with presents. The card inner started with a couple of small Mossy Meadow panels adhered at each end and a Basic White cardstock inner adhered to span the card inner, with a small section cut at the centre fold to pop up when the card opens. The fussy cut image was adhered to the pop up section. There is plenty of room to write your personal message. A C6 Basic White envelope had a partial fussy cut image adhered in place. It was taken from the edge of the DSP.

Thank you so much for dropping in to check out my Christmas card. I hope you have found some inspiration for Christmas creating.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with this blog hop. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Kate Morgan. I always look forward to checking out Kate’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is so much inspiration.

Also, many of us participate in the Colour Creations InstaHop that goes live every Wednesday night on Instagram where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. This week we are highlighting Granny Apple Green. We would love you to 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 Judy May's blog @ Just Judy Designs.  Judy is coordinating the Blog Hop while Sharon is away. 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 2026 September-December Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact regarding any queries about this projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2026 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #artisandesignteam2026  #alittlechristmas #stampinup

AWH Heart of Christmas - #7

Christmas with Shining Stars 

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the seventh Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2026. We are sharing Christmas inspiration each Monday evening until the end of November. I do hope you will continue to check us out as often as you can.

I have two different projects to share this week. Again, being time poor this week I had further ideas of things to do with these projects but needed to cut my creating time short so I could take the photos and write my blog. I had seen similar projects online this week and was inspired to play with the concepts. I hope my projects inspire you too?

PROJECT 1:

I created a set of star decorations using the wonderful Shining Stars dies. The dies are the Product of the Month for October, which means that during October if you spend $125 online with Stampin' Up! you have the opportunity of purchasing the Shining Star dies for only $9. Only one set can be purchased during the month. They are a fantastic opportunity.

My star decorations have been created with the All Wrapped Up Speciality Designer Series Paper. This paper os one sided and is a solid card rather than the normal paper thickness, making it perfect for 3D projects.

Once the largest die has cut out the star shape, the star is scored from tip to the opposite inner corner. This is carried out for all 5 points. You then fold and burnish each score line before folding the star into shape. You can then decorate the stars as you see fit.

Here are close-ups of each of the 3 star decorations. All stars have a small stitched silver foil star adhered at the point. Two of the stars were also decorated with a bow or leaves fussy cut from the SDSP.

The star above has a mini silver star and sequin adhered in place.

The photo below shows the back of one of the stars. It is a neat finish. Having said that I would like to try creating a star with two stars adhered together so it could hang free and it wouldn't matter if it twisted.

Apart from Decorations for the home or the Christmas tree, I think these stars would make a lovely decoration on wrapped gifts. The question is - will I have enough time to make a range for gifts?

PROJECT 2:

This second project is a small gift basket.  I created this one using the Neutral Noel Speciality Designer Series Paper. It is soooo gorgeous and a similar weight to the All Wrapped Up SDSP. I had visions of decorating the inner star with something else but ran out of time so just added a tiny gold star in the middle. I also wanted to decorate the gift tag as well - but not time for that.

The box/basket was created with two of the largest stars together with a strip of Basic Beige cardstock. The cardstock was scored, burnished, and trimmed before being adhered to the two stars - first one then the other.

A hole was punched into the 2 ends and ribbon poked through with a knot tied to hold it in place. You can see the ribbon and knots in the photo above. The ribbon is long enough so the star basket can hang on the tree ready to be given. I couple of tags were cut from the SDSP and cardstock and then tied with twine to the ribbon

Thank you so much for dropping in to check out my Christmas projects. I hope you have found some inspiration for Christmas creating.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with this blog hop. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Judy May. I always look forward to checking out Judy’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is so much inspiration.

Also, many of us participate in the Colour Creations InstaHop that goes live every Wednesday night on Instagram where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. We would love you to 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.  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 2026 September-December 2026 Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact regarding any queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2026 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #artisandesignteam  #artisandesignteam2026  #shiningstars  #neutralnoel   #allwrappedup

AWH Heart of Christmas - #6

Christmas with Welcome Noel

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the ninth Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2026. We are sharing Christmas inspiration each Monday evening until the end of November. I do hope you will check us out as often as you can.

Again being time poor I decided to re-create a fun fold I had used the day before as I thought it would be quicker. Having said that, I found some of my choices didn't gel as well as I had hoped and having run out of time I have just photographed the open view of the card and not the closed aspect.

Here is a couple off close ups of the open card:

Here is the back of the card including the panel for writing a personal message.

Here is a top-down view:

Thank you so much for dropping in to check out my Christmas card. I hope you have found some inspiration for Christmas creating.

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

Also, many of us participate in the Colour Creations InstaHop that goes live every Wednesday night on Instagram where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. We would love you to 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.  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 2025-2026 Annual Catalogue and or the September-December 2025 Mini Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact regarding any queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2026 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #artisandesignteam  #artisandesignteam2025  #  #

AWH Heart of Christmas - #5

Christmas with A Little Christmas

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the fifth Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2026. We are sharing Christmas inspiration each Monday evening until the end of November. I do hope you will be able to check us out as often as you can.

With health and time issues, I again needed something that would come together easily. My choice this week was to fussy cut images from the Oh so cute A Little Christmas Designer Series Paper. There is so much cuteness in this DSP, but I couldn't go passed the carolling mice and some of the critters on the same sheet of DSP. There was some time fussy cutting the images out and being careful not to cut mice tails but I had so much fun in creating a scene on a mini slimline card.

The background was built on a Basic White panel that, once blended and stamped was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Basic White cardstock. Pool Party ink was lightly blended near the top of the background panel using a Blending Brush. Also, it was stamped with snowflakes in Pool Party Classic Stampin ink.  Te panel was then adhered to a Pool Party cardstock base. Some torn pieces of Basic White cardstock were layered near the base of the card to give a sense of snow drifts/ground.

As mentioned, images were fussy cut with Stampin' Snips and then arranged over the background panel. Both Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Dimensionals were used to adhere the fussy cut images in place.

A sentiment from the coordinating Christmas Mice stamp set was white heat embossed onto Pool Party cardstock and then fussy cut out. A White Twine double bow was tucked under the sentiment and adhered with Glue Dots. The final touch - some Basic Rhinestone Jewels were coloured with a Pool Party Blend and scattered around the sentiment and over the card to add a little sparkle.

A Basic White panel formed the card inner. I little blending and some stars were added at the top of the panel. A leftover fussy cut mouse and bits of holly were added together with a sentiment from the same stamp set.  A little blending and some stars were added to a Slim Line envelope to provide a little coordination.

Thank you so much for dropping in to check out my Christmas card. I hope it gave you a smile.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with this blog hop to the Art with Heart Team Leader, the amazing Claire Daily. I always look forward to checking out Claire’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is so much inspiration.

Also, many of us participate in the Colour Creations InstaHop that goes live every Wednesday night on Instagram where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. We would love you to 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.  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 2026 September-December Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact regarding any queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2026 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #artisandesignteam  #artisandesignteam2026  #christmasmice  #alittlechristmas