Art With Heart “Heart of Christmas 2019” - Week 11

So Many Stars & Bubble Technique

Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea to see another Christmas card for the Art With Heart Team's Heart of Christmas 2019 Blog Hop for Week 11.  I really appreciate you dropping in to check out my blog. I hope you are enjoying this week's blog hop. My fellow demonstrators are soooo talented.

This week I started designing my card by selecting a background that I had prepared a few weeks ago using the Bubble Technique. Back in Week 8 of the Heart of Christmas 2019 Blog Hop I experimented with the Bubble technique (which was such fun) and created a few backgrounds. I made a card using one of the backgrounds for Week 8's Blog Hop which you can see by scrolling down a little way on my Blog.

This background was created by blowing bubbles in soapy water that also contained some drops of Stampin Up's water based Re-inkers. There were 4 layers of bubbles - Seaside Spray, Pacific Point, Rococo Rose and Night of Navy.  While the watercolour paper was still damp from the bubbles, I embossed it with the Swirls and Curls Embossing folder.

Looking at this background, it communicated "a sky" and so again I went to the So Many Stars bundle. This is such a gorgeous stamp set and dies, which includes a range of stitched star dies in different sizes, a swirly group of stars and some filigree stars. I started playing with the products and then realised that my developing design had been influenced by a card displayed in Stampin' Up's quarterly magazine and one by the talented Katherine Mangelsdorf.  It's amazing how one can be influenced by things we have loved and are tucked somewhere in our brain.  Here's my card:

To complement the So Many Stars bundle, Stampin' Up also released Mercury Glass Designer Acetate. It is amazing! One of the designs looks like splatters of mercury have been removed and you can see whatever is behind this acetate in those areas. This design complemented the effects of the bubble technique on the background.  I die cut a number of stars out of different colours of cardstock as well as silver foil cardstock and one from the designer acetate. A little stamping was added to the whisper white star and both the whisper white and balmy blue stars were sprayed with a touch of Frost White Shimmer paint mixed with rubbing alcohol. It was hard to capture the glimmer effect in the photos, but is delightful when it shimmers in the sun.

When cutting out stars, as well as in mounting the card front, I played with different colours, including the colours used in creating the background. It seems that in creating the background the colours visually blended into different hues, so I couldn't go to the cardstock that matched the individual ink colours. I am fascinated with the interplay of colours and it was interesting to experiment with which colours would be best for the layered stars. I ended up using Balmy Blue cardstock, which was not a colour used in creating the background. You may also notice a very, very fine layer of Night of Navy under the embossed background. I originally had a wider mount but then cut down the Night of Navy so it was less dominant.

In this close up you have clearer look at the layered stars as well as the background effect.  It's also easier to see further swirls made with Silver Metallic Thread. The layered star was finished off with a silver Faceted Gem. I love using the wide range of Stampin' Up products that so delightfully coordinate with each other. Their coordination certainly makes it easier to create.

The card inner used a greeting from the So Many Stars stamp set and a grouping of stars (which was stamped off first to ensure it was lighter than the greeting). Hmm, what do you call a grouping of stars - as there are only 5 stars in this stamp it can't be a galaxy???

Tina Gillespie, a very special person and colleague, is hosting the Heart of Christmas 2019 blog hop this week. To check out the Art with Heart team’s festive creations you can visit the amazing Tina Gillespie’s blog. She has links to all of this week's blog hoppers where you will find a wealth of inspiration.

Thanks for dropping by to check out my blog. I so appreciate you spending time with me. I have loved sharing with you. 💕🐾

So Many Stars & Bubble Technique

Hi, thanks for checking out my blog and my contribution to the Art with Heart Team “Heart of Christmas 2019’ blog hop. This is my first time being part of this blog hop - or any blog hop for that matter.  Here we go ...

Heart of Christmas 2019 - Week 8

Stars, and especially the star followed by the Wise Men, are a special part of Christmas. For this week’s blog hop I chose to feature Stampin Up’s “So Many Stars” bundle. The images in the stamp set and “Stitched Stars” dies are gorgeous and there is so much potential. Also, I recently saw someone prepare a background using the bubble technique and thought it would be great to give it a try to create a Sky background. Here is the card I created:

I did find inspiration from a card shown in the current Stampin' Up “Holiday Catalogue” (pg 3), but changed the background technique as well as various colours, card stock, greetings and accessories.

Creating the background using bubbles was so much fun. I felt I was connecting with my inner child as I blew bubbles from soapy water coloured with our ink refills and then scooped the bubbles on to whisper white card stock. Watching the bubbles disappear and leave colour where the bubbles had been was amazing - I can find joy in all sorts of crafty places. No background will be the same as another. I used Seaside Spray, Pacific Point and Night Of Navy with some Rococo Rose as the colours for my Sky background. Once the background had dried thoroughly, I stamped tiny stars over the background in Versamark and then sprinkled it with Shimmer White emboss powder. Heat setting the emboss powder is another process that gives me a buzz. I love watching the dry powder turn into shiny raised lines and seeing this powder turn shimmery white on the bubble background was certainly a buzz.

Also, I made this background at the same time. It’s lighter and shows more of the Rococo Rose. Before the paper had fully dried I embossed it with a different form of embossing that used the “Swirls & Curls” embossing folder which embedded a swirly design across the background.

Inside the card I stamped a different greeting and a few stars.

There are lovely cards in this week’s Heart of Christmas 2019 blog hop. Click here to head to Tina Gillespie’s blog. Her blog has links to all the other blog hoppers.

Thanks for dropping by.