AWHT Colour Creations #32 Night of Navy

Night of Navy with Sweet Candy Canes and Pretty Medallion

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, featuring one colour each week.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a deep navy blue called Night of Navy. Night of Navy is part of the Neutrals Colour Family and is a beautiful colour that works with so many colours. This colour is lovely when used for dark skies or waters and so so much more. I love Night of Navy and at times have used it instead of black. 

Night of Navy is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends Combo; Watercolor Pencils; Soft Pastels Assortment; Neutrals Designer Series Paper as well as Fitting Florets, Abstract Beauty, Beauty of the Earth, Storybook Gnomes, Lovely Linen, Sweet Symmetry, Brushstroke, Sun Prints, Hues of Happiness, Hey Sports Fan and Waves of the Ocean DSPs; Robot Buddies Kids and Light The Candles Card Kits; Love Santa Tag Kit; Ombre Specialty Paper, Abstract Beauty Ephemera Pack; plus Resin Stars, Fan Bakers Twine, Rhinestone Waves Basic Jewels and Solid Faceted Gems. Wow, that is quite a list demonstrating the colour's amazing versatility.

Night of Navy card-stock, ink, Stampin' Write Marker and Stampin' Blends Combo have been used in this project plus a range of non-Night of Navy bits and pieces. Here is my first card:

CARD 1:  

Night of Navy is a dark colour, however, I used a wet on wet water-colour technique and purposely endeavoured to create a light water-colour wash that would show the colour's base colour(s). Given the collation of elements centred over the background wash it is hard to see the beautiful effect of the water-colour purple and blue patches. The water-colour wash was created on a panel of Fluid 100 Watercolor paper using only Night of Navy Classic Stampin' ink and the large flat Water Painter. This panel was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Night of Navy card-stock. A panel of Basic White card-stock was embossed with the snowflake embossing folder with Night of Navy splatters added using a Stampin Write Marker before it was added to the Night of Navy card base.

A couple of candy canes from the Sweet Candy Cane stamp set were stamped onto a piece of Basic White card-stock. Both were coloured with the Light Fresh Freesia Blend and one of them also had some Night of Navy Blend added to make the focal candy cane a darker navy on one edge. Must admit my NoN ink pad could do with a re-inking.

Dies from the Christmas Banners dies were used to cut some foliage out of either Silver foil or Basic White card-stock. Small snowflakes were cut using the Frosted Flurry dies from White Glimmer paper (Real Red & White Glimmer Paper) and the lighter end of the Tahitian Tide Glimmer Paper (2022-2024 In Colour Glimmer Paper). It may seem a strange combination but earlier in the week I wasn't well and needed a doze during the day. As I woke, I seemed to be dreaming of creating a project using the Sweet Candy Cane bundle with some foliage and  snowflakes for this week's project. My card started there. A Basic White label was cut using the Label Me Lovely Punch. 

All the pieces were arranged together with a Wonderful Snowflake and adhered with Dimensionals, Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Glue Dots. A bow was tied with White Crinkled Seam Binding ribbon and the Silver Simply Elegant Trim. A sentiment from the stamp set was white heat embossed on Night of Navy card-stock using Versamark, White Emboss Powder (Basics Stampin' Emboss Powders) and a Heat Tool. 2021-2023 in Colour Opal Rounds (Fresh Freesia) added that finishing touch.

The second stamped and coloured candy cane was added to a Basic White card-stock card centre with a remaining Tahitian Tide Glimmer snowflake. Another sentiment was stamped in Night of Navy ink. A C6 Basic White envelope was stamped with a couple of candy canes in Night of Navy ink so it coordinated with the card it will carry.

CARD 2:

I have had electricians and other trades people around all week, with work taking longer than  estimated and power outages at relevant times. All this absorbed time and which almost ran out, leaving minimal time to finish my second card. 

One of my ideas for a Christmas card was to use the Pretty Medallion stamp as a larger bauble. Having water-coloured with Night of Navy in the previous card I decided to continue the colour combo and combine blending of purples with blues, especially Night of Navy. I started with Balmy Blue card-stock and blended Balmy Blue and Fresh Freesia around a square piece of card-stock. I knew the impact would be minor but wanted to start softly. I then blended Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape and Rich Razzelberry for a purple tinge before finishing with Night of Navy blending. The Pretty Medallion stamp was Silver heat embossed. As the medallion turned to silver under the Heat Tool I wondered why it had taken be so long to ink this gorgeous stamp. A splattering of water and White Craft ink was added over the panel.

The heat embossed and splattered panel was mounted to a slightly larger piece of Balmy Blue card-stock before being mounted to a Night of Navy card base. A bauble topper and some tiny lights were die cut using dies from the Spruced Up Outline dies in Silver foil. The final touch was the addition of numerous small Rhinestone Basic Jewels to key points of the medallion. There was no time for finishing the card inner and custom made envelope. That will happen in the next few days.

Thank you for spending time with me on my blog. I so appreciate you.

There is more Night of Navy creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click the "onto the next" graphic below and be taken to the blog of my lovely, talented fellow South Aussie, Tina Gillespie. I always look forward to checking out Tina's creations - she is amazing. I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is so much inspiration.

I hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Old Olive, a versatile green, as we continue the weekly 2022-2023 Colour Creations Blog Hops. After that we will have a break over Christmas/New Years before re-commencing in January 2023.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others. 

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the full list of participants on Catherine Proctor’s blog @ What Cathy Made. Cathy is our  Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  She is an 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 Stampin' Up's 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue, the July - December 2022 Mini Catalogue and or the January - April 2023 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 #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #stamper  #valleyinspirations   #sweetcandycanes #christmasbanners 

AWH Heart of Christmas #21

Heart of Christmas Blog Hop: Joyful Flurry with Hope & Peace

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2022. 

So glad you are joining us for our second to last 2022 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. I have really enjoyed playing with the Joyful Flurry Christmas bundle with an extra Christmas sentiment set and banner dies. Here are my cards:

Prior Card:

I created a card for a Christmas Challenge a couple of months ago using the Joyful Flurry Bundle. I wasn’t really pleased with it, so not wanting to be thwarted, I wanted to have a descent play with this bundle. The 3 cards above were the result of my play.

The card above, that was created a couple of months ago, started with a water-colour wash on Shimmery White card-stock using Pool Party, Balmy Blue and Fresh Freesia Classic Stampin’ inks. Snowflakes from the Joyful Flurry stamp set were stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with White Emboss Powder and a Heat Tool.  A few of the snowflake dies from the Frosted Flurry dies partially cut snowflakes in the water-colour panel. The “pop up” sections were poked up from behind using the pointy poker attachment of my Take Your Pick Tool. 

Smaller snowflake dies cut snowflakes from White Glimmer paper from the White & Red Glimmer Paper. A sentiment from the stamp set was white heat embossed on Pool Party card-stock. The sentiment was layered over a piece of White Glimmer paper and a bow of silver Metallic Mess ribbon before being added with Mini Dimensionals. Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels were added to the centre of snowflakes.

CARD 1:

When I started the card above, I had in mind the combined use of some pine/leaves etc with snowflakes from the Joyful Flurry bundle but at that time I couldn’t make it work and took a different tac. I thought I would try again this week using different colours, etc.

Starting with a piece of Sahara Sand card-stock, snowflakes from the Joyful Flurry stamp set were white heat embossed. Some White Craft ink was splattered over the panel using the mid-sized Water Painter. The small snowflake die from the Frosted Flurry dies again cut small snowflakes from White Glimmer paper from the White & Red Glimmer paper. Pine fronds and a rounder leaf sprig (Mistletoe???) were cut from Basic White card-stock and then coloured with either Mint Macaron or Soft Sea Foam inks using Blending Brushes.

A sentiment from the Hope and Peace stamps were white heat embossed on a piece of Crumb Cake card-stock. And then it was fussy cut in two. All the pieces were arranged together with some Gold Holly Leaves embellishments and adhered with Mini Dimensionals, Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Glue Dots. A double Linen Twine bow was tucked under the top sentiment with Glue Dots. The final touch was the addition of Pearl Basic Jewels coloured with a light Flirty Flamingo Blend.

The card inner was created with Basic White card-stock stamped with snowflakes using second generation Sahara Sand ink. A second sentiment from the Hope and Peace stamp set was white heat embossed on Crumb Cake card-stock, then fussy cut before being adhered on the card inner. The Basic White panel was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Sahara Sand card-stock before being adhered to the Thick Basic White card base. A C6 Basic White envelope was also stamped with snowflakes in Sahara Sand ink.

CARD 2:

The idea for the second card started with a layout that I had recently seen Emma Goddard, a UK Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and previous Artisan, demonstrate in one of her Card & Cuppa classes. The layout morphed into the card below using different stamps, colour scheme and embellishments plus the addition of blending.

Fresh Freesia ink was applied to a piece of Basic White card-stock with a Blending Brush and snowflakes were stamped with a combination of Fresh Freesia and Balmy Blue inks. This card front was adhered to a Fresh Freesia card base. 

A snowflake was die cut from Silver Foil (the mid mauvish foil) using an open die from the Frosted Flurry dies before being die cut with one of the intricate dies that only partially cuts certain bits. This was adhered to a plain die cut snowflake so that the snowflake could be added with Dimensionals. A sentiment was white heat embossed on Fresh Freesia card-stock and then fussy cut and added with Mini Dimensionals. Iridescent Basic Pearls were added to snowflake centres as the final touch. 

A Basic White card-stock inner also was stamped with Fresh Freesia & Balmy Blue ink snowflakes. A different sentiment from the Joyful Flurry stamp set was stamped in Fresh Freesia ink. Part of an extra mauvish Silver foil snowflake was adhered near a top corner. A Basic White C6 envelope was stamped with the same snowflakes and the remainder of the foil snowflake was added.

CARD 3:

As I was creating Card 2, the idea for this card was formed as a simpler version that could be created more quickly in a number of different colours. I so love the effect of the partially die cut snowflakes. 

Balmy Blue ink was blended over a Basic White card front and some White Craft ink with a little Wink of Stella was splattered over. Once dry, two partial die cut snowflakes were cut in the card front and the small snowflake stamp was white heat embossed a number of times. The card front was added to a Balmy Blue card-stock base. 

A sentiment from the Joyful Flurry stamp set was white heat embossed on Balmy Blue card-stock and fussy cut. It was popped up with Dimensionals. A double Silver Elegant Twine bow was tucked under the sentiment and adhered with Glue Dots. Basic Pearl Jewels were added as the finishing touch.

A Basic White card inner was stamped with second generation Balmy Blue inked snowflakes. A Basic White C6 envelope also was stamped in Balmy Blue ink.

That's it from me for this week. Thank you for dropping in for this penultimate 2022 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop.

It is always a delight to see everyone's creations and I am sure there will be gorgeous Christmas projects on show so don't miss checking out each blog. To continue with the blog hop, click the "onto the next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Kate Morgan. I always look forward to checking out Kate’s creations together with everyone else's. 

Don't forget the weekly Colour Creations Blog Hop by the Art with Heart Team that launches every Wednesday at 8.00pm AEST. We are focussing on a delightful colour this week, Mint Macaron. 

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others.

Andrea XXX

If at any time you find a broken link and the next blog doesn’t come up or you started part way through, please head to the blog of our Heart of Christmas Blog Hop Host, the very special Sharon Davern, and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating in this blog hop. Check out her beautiful creation while you are there.

If you are in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue and or the July - December Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Pease don't hesitate to contact me with any other queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas #heartofchristmas2022  #awhtheartofchristmas #Stampin'Up! #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #stamper  #valleyinspirations #joyfulflurry #hopeandpeace #christmasbanners

AWHT Colour Creations #29 Merry Merlot

Merry Merlot with Sweet Candy Canes 

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 featuring one colour each week. 

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a deep red that has a touch of purple called Merry Merlot. Merry Merlot is part of the Neutrals Colour Family and is a rich muted colour. This colour is lovely when used for flowers, at Christmas time and so much more. 

Merry Merlot is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Neutrals Designer Series Paper as well as Awash in Beauty & Rustic Harvest DSPs.

Here is the card I created using Merry Merlot card-stock, Classic Stampin' Ink & a Stampin' Write Marker plus other bits and pieces: 

I started with a piece of Shimmery White card-stock and added a Merry Merlot Classic Stampin' ink water-colour wash. It is interesting to try water-colouring with darker colours as it often gives a sense of the colours that make the colour - it can be surprising. Once the panel dried I added die cut stripes that had been created using the Candy Cane background die. Something different with this die cut was that it had been used as a mask on a different background where Shimmer Embossing Paste had been applied. The camera hasn't picked up the shimmer that can be seen in real life.

The background water-coloured panel was mounted to a slightly larger piece of Merry Merlot card-stock, which in turn was mounted onto a Thick Basic White card base. Candy canes from the Sweet Candy Cane stamps were stamped on Basic White card-stock, one stamped in Merry Merlot ink and the other coloured with Merry Merlot and Blushing Bride Stampin' Write Markers. They were die cut with the coordinating dies from the Candy Canes dies. 

Some pine branches were cut from Basic White card-stock using the largest detailed die from the Decorated Pine dies. Using the detailed dies from the Christmas Banner dies, smaller pine branches were cut from Basic White card-stock, sprigs of leaves were cut from Soft Succulent card-stock, rounded leaf twigs were cut from Brushed Gold foil and little twigs were cut from Crumb Cake card-stock. An oval label, left over from a previous project featuring the Florets Frames dies, was added to the background with Dimensionals. A little splatter using a Merry Merlot Stampin' Write Marker had been added.

The candy canes were also added with Dimensionals. A touch of added colour was partially added to die cuts and then all the die cut pieces were arranged around/under the candy canes. A triple bow was tied with Linen Thread and it was tucked under a sentiment strip that had been white heat embossed using Merry Merlot card-stock, Versamark ink, White Emboss powder and a Heat Tool. Some Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels were scattered around.

The Basic White card inner was stamped with a Merry Merlot sentiment (sentiment from the Sweet Candy Cane stamp set). A strip of Merry Merlot card-stock was adhered at the base and a Blushing Bride stamped candy cane and a left over pine branch were adhered to the left side. A C6 Basic White envelope was stamped with candy canes in Merry Merlot ink.

Thank you for spending time with me on my blog. I hope you find some inspiration while Blog Hopping this week. 

There is more Merry Merlot creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click the  "onto the next" graphic below and be taken to the blog of the lovely Christine Blain. I always look forward to checking out Christine's creations. I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Mint Macaron as we continue the weekly 2022-2023 Colour Creations Blog Hops.  Also, don't forget that many of us are joining the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop on Monday evenings to share delightful Christmas projects to give you some ideas to help with your Christmas preparations. There are only two Heart of Christmas Blog Hops to go for this year.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others. 

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the full list of participants on Catherine Proctor’s blog @ What Cathy Made. Cathy is our  Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  She is an wonderful lady. Check out her gorgeous 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 Stampin' Up's 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue and or the July - December 2022 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 #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #stamper  #valleyinspirations   #sweetcandycanes #christmasbanners #sweetestchristmas

AWH Heart of Christmas #15

Heart of Christmas Blog Hop: Leaves of Holly

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2022. 

I am so glad you are joining us for our fifteenth 2022 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. I have had fun creating these cards using the Leaves of Holly bundle from the July-December 2022 Mini Catalogue. Here are a couple of my cards:

 

In one of Emma Goddard’s recent Card & Cuppa sessions, I saw Emma create a set of Autumnal cards using the Baby Wipe technique. This led me to think about using this technique for a set of Christmas cards. It is a great way to create 4 lovely cards relatively simply.

I started with an A4 piece of Basic White card-stock and the Leaves of Holly stamp set. Four different green inks, ie Evening Evergreen, Shaded Spruce, Mint Macaron & Parakeet Party Classic Stampin’ re-inkers were dripped onto some layered and folded Baby Wipes creating a multi-coloured ink pad. The 2 more detailed holly leaves were stamped down and across the centre areas. Another “ink pad” was created with Cherry Cobbler, Blushing Bride & So Saffron re-inkers and the holly berries were stamped. This sheet was then cut into quarters, pictured above. Some splatters were added using the Evening Evergreen and Cherry Cobbler Markers.

I actually stamped 2 A4 sheets as the first set of stamping initially appeared to be a little washed out. I wondered if this was due to the baby wipes having dried out. I tried again, first misting the baby wipes before adding ink and I added a few more drops of ink. The picture shown above was the second try which was a tad darker than the first. As they both looked good, I decided to turn both sheets into cards. The set below were created from the first stamping.

Each quarter was trimmed to card-front size and layered onto a card base. I decided to use 4 different colours for the bases - selecting from the ink colours, ie Basic White, Evening Evergreen, Shaded Spruce and Cherry Cobbler card-stocks. As such, 2 cards were made in each colour of card base. To give variation, half of the cards were created in portrait and half in landscape. 

As you can see, different sentiments were used and different labels. Most of the sentiments were white heat embossed, using Versamark ink, White Emboss Powder and a Heat Tool. Some cards had ribbon added and a number didn’t. The ribbons used were the Real Red & Garden Green Ribbon Combo Pack. Most cards were embellished with Real Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels and the Basic White based cards with Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Confession time: After die cutting both labels in Basic White card-stock using the Holly Berry dies and stamping a sentiment from the Leaves of Holly stamp set, the small label die dropped and cannot be found as yet. So I haven’t finished one of the Cherry Cobbler based cards as I wanted to use that label. Also, I ran out of time creating the 8 cards and so haven’t yet added Holly stamped card inners nor have the envelopes been stamped. I will finish the cards later.

I really enjoyed playing with the Baby Wipe technique again.  The stamping layout is different from a fully stamped design and creates similar but different cards to add to my Christmas card stash. How are you going at creating your Christmas cards? If I had more time, I was thinking of doing a similar process but use the Sweet Candy Cane bundle. I wonder how it would go???

Thank you for dropping in to check out my Christmas project. I so appreciate it.

It is always a delight to see everyone's creations and I am sure there will be gorgeous Christmas projects on show so don't miss checking out each blog. To continue with the blog hop, click the  "onto the next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Christine Blain. I always look forward to checking out Christine’s creations as well as everyone else's. 

Don't forget the weekly Colour Creations Blog Hop by the Art with Heart Team that launches every Wednesday at 8.00pm AEST. This week we will be featuring Granny Apple Green.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others.

Andrea XXX

If at any time you find a broken link and the next blog doesn’t come up or you started part way through, please head to the blog of our Heart of Christmas Blog Hop Host, the very special Sharon Davern, and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating in this blog hop. Check out her beautiful creation while you are there.

If you are in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue and or the July - December Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Pease don't hesitate to contact me with any other queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas #heartofchristmas2022  #Stampin'Up! #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #stamper  #valleyinspirations #Leavesofholly #christmasbanners #hopeandpeace