AWH Heart of Christmas #17

Christmas with Joy of Christmas & Tiny Christmas Trees

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the final Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2023.  Christmas is just around the corner. 

This week I am showcasing a range of products including elements of the Joy of Christmas suite on one Christmas card and the Tiny Christmas Tree die on another card. Here are my two cards.

CARD 1:

If you joined me last Wednesday evening for the Colour Creations Blog Hop, I mentioned I had been inspired by the Global Design Project colour challenge. For that project I coloured Basic White card-stock with Lemon Lime Twist and Pool Party Classic Stampin’ inks. I had enough of the coloured paper remaining to create this card.

The colour combo is Lemon Lime Twist, Pool Party and Poppy Parade inks on Basic White card-stock and touches of Silver (embossing and foil). This selection of colours would not be my go to but it is always good to challenge oneself. I found, I do love the combination. Poppy Parade Blends were used to colour Basic Rhinestone Jewels and “Joyous” was stamped in Poppy Parade ink.

The Basic White background was embossed with the Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder.

The Lemon Lime Twist coloured paper was die cut with the Holly Leaf from the Christmas Classics dies, while the Pool Party coloured paper was cut with the pine needles twigs. They were alternated and positioned in a wreath. I used the Deckled Circles dies to cut a ring from silver foil to help me form a wreath. Some little sprigs were cut from Silver Foil with a die from the Joy of Noel dies.

NOEL was stamped using the Joy of NOEL stamps in Versamark ink and silver heat embossed. A die from the coordinating Joy of NOEL dies perfectly cut out the letters. I had added some Foam Adhesive Sheet under the heat embossed letters before die cutting the letters. As mentioned, the word “Joyous” was stamped on Basic White card-stock and fussy cut. “NOEL” was adhered in the centre of the wreath and “Joyous” was adhered on top.

A couple of split lengthwise sections of the Silver & White Sheer ribbon were tied into a double bow and tucked under the pine and holly leaves with Glue Dots.  The Basic Rhinestone Jewels that had been coloured with the Dark Poppy Parade Stampin’ Blends were sprinkled over the wreath, and NOEL.

The card inner was simply decorated with a strip of Silver Foil, a left over Lemon Lime Twist holly leaf and a little foil twig.

CARD 2:

The Tiny Christmas Trees die was used to cut a mask to colour the little trees through the mask. I used Balmy Blue, Fresh Freesia, Lemon Lolly, Bubble Bath and Soft Sea Foam Classic inks and randomly blended the little trees through the mask. 

As has been my story of late, I ran out of time to make two cards, so decided to use the blended mask that had been splattered with water to blend the colours a little and give gorgeous texture. A card with the tiny trees background will need to be finished later.

The background panel was trimmed and mounted onto a piece of Basic White card-stock. Some  Silver & White Sheer ribbon was wrapped around the mounted background before being adhered to a Basic White Thick card base. A double bow of the same lengthwise cut ribbon was positioned later with Glue Dots.

The newly released On-Line Only Mini Alphabet dies were used to die cut PEACE & JOY and the “to you” came from the Joy to You stamp set - silver embossed onto Basic White card-stock. Some little silver foil twigs left over from Card 1 were added to embellish the sentiment. Some Basic Rhinestone Jewels were added for the final touch of shimmer.

The card inner was simply decorated with a silver embossed sentiment also from the Joy to You stamp set and a couple of left over little foil twigs.

Thank you for joining us for our last Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2023

I so appreciate you spending time with me on my blog. I hope you found something of interest and to inspire.

There is more Christmas creativity so continue with the blog hop. Just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Christine Blain. I am looking forward to checking out Christine’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

Thank you so much for joining us over the last 4 months for the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. I hope you have enjoyed the blog hops and been inspired for your papercrafting.

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. This Blog Hop is continuing to the second Wednesday in December. It would be fantastic if you couple join us.

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

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 wonderful 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, the September-December 2023 Mini Catalogue and or the coming January - April 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!. 

#heartofchristmasbloghop  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #joyofnoel   #chritmasclassics  #joyofchristmas  #tinychristmastrees   #joytoyou

AWH Heart of Christmas #13

Christmas with Handcrafted Elements

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 13th Art with Heart Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2023.

This week I am showcasing the Handcrafted Elements dies with 2 different Christmas cards. 

Looking at the cards created for the Heart of Christmas Blog Hops recently I realised that I must be in my “Blue Period”, that is, nearly all of the cards included blues, whether light or dark and perhaps some greens, teals or mauves. I determined that I would use traditional Christmas reds and greens this week.

CARD 1

I had a couple of ideas to use stripes with the Handcrafted Elements die cut bauble. This is one to add stripes to part of the bauble. Some thin strips of a number of designs from the Joy of Christmas Designer Series Paper were cut and then adhered to a piece of Basic White card-stock. The bauble die was cut from a piece of Basic White card-stock and the oval die was used to include some of the striped area. Also a panel of red DSP from the Joy of Christmas DSP was adhered to the front of the card base.

A Deckled Rectangle die was used to cut a panel of Basic White card-stock. Some Shimmery Embossing Paste was applied diagonally over one of the Foursquare Decorative Masks. This was left to dry while some holly leaves from the Joy of NOEL stamp set were stamped in Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin’ ink. The holly was coloured using a Blender Pen and colour was drawn from the stamped image. The images were die cut using the coordinating dies and some pine needles were also die cut from Basic White card-stock.

The sentiment was silver embossed, using one word from the Joy of NOEL stamps and one from the Christmas Classics stamps. These stamp set were designed to intermingle. The words were fussy cut. The bauble pieces were adhered together with Mini Dimensionals and it was adhered directly over the embossed paste. The pine was coloured with some Old Olive ink and a Blending Brush.

All the pieces were arranged around the white bauble and the sentiment adhered across the base of the bauble and some Mini Dimensionals were added to firm parts of the sentiment that hung off the bauble. some of the red Loose Holly Gems & Sequins were scattered around. A double bow of White & Silver Sheer Ribbon (that had been cut in half lengthwise) was added with Glue Dots.

The Basic White card inner was stamped in Shaded Spruce ink with a different sentiment from the Christmas Classics stamps and some holly (from the same stamp set) was second generation stamped along one side. A thin strip of DSP - the same as the card background, was adhered down one side. A C6 Basic White envelope was similarly stamped down one side with the holly and Shaded Spruce ink.

CARD 2

The die cut bauble from the Handcrafted Elements dies seemed perfect for a shaker card using the Loose Holly Gems & Sequins. The bauble die was used to cut Gold Foil and a number of times in Basic White card-stock. The what baubles were layered one over the other finishing with the Gold Foil die cut. This gave solid dimension. NOEL was cut from Basic White card-stock with a layer of Foam Adhesive Sheet underneath. 

A large oval was die cut from a piece of Basic White card-stock. The larger oval die with intricate leaves was used to cut the oval. This panel was dry embossed with the Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder. As I didn’t want the embossing to overpower the decorative design but to just add some subtle texture, this panel was just run through the Cut ‘n Emboss Machine to soften the image. 

Window Sheet was adhered under the oval hole and then Adhesive Strips were added on the back around the hole. A little bit of mottled Lost Lagoon DSP from the Winter Meadows DSP was a very subtle background to the shaker section. All the layers were adhered in place to form the shaker part of the card.

Some Shaded Spruce splattering was added with a Shaded Spruce Stampin’ Write Marker. The bauble sections and NOEL were adhered over the Window Sheet with Multi-purpose Liquid Glue. Some shaded spruce holly leaves that were created at the same time of the leaves described above for the first card were added with a couple of holly gems. Red gems also from the Assorted Holly Gems & Sequins were added to the holly leaves and more were scattered around. A double bow of Gold Elegant Trim with a bow of Red & Gold Dotted Ribbon (that had been cut in half lengthwise) were added with Glue Dots.

The card inner and envelope was decorated in a similar way to card 1, above. 

Thank you so much for dropping in. I hope you found something of interest. I so appreciate you taking the time to call by.

There is more Christmas creativity so to continue on with the blog hop just click the "next" graphic below and you will be taken to the blog of the lovely Michele Taylor. I am looking forward to checking out Michele’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I do hope to see you next week as we continue the weekly Heart of Christmas 2023 Blog Hop series. Also, many of us are participating 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 fantastic if you couple join us then.

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

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 wonderful 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 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 these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2023  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #handcraftedelements  #joyofnoel  #christmasclassics

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #26 Gorgeous Grape

Gorgeous Grape with Handcrafted Elements & Joy to You

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 rich purple called Gorgeous Grape. Gorgeous Grape is one of the Regals Colour Family and is a warm deep purple. This colour is lovely for flowers, and anything with strong purples.

Gorgeous Grape is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, ink spots & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Watercolor Pencils Assortment 2, Soft Pastels; Regals Designer Series Paper as well as Saying Thanks Kit & Glossy Dots Assortment. 

Gorgeous Grape card-stock, ink, Stampin’ Write Marker and Glossy Dots have been used in the creation of these projects plus a range of non-Gorgeous Grape bits and pieces.

It is easy to miss the Handcrafted Elements dies in the current September-December Mini Catalogue. A couple of the dies can be used to create a gorgeous Christmas bauble. This card uses one of the dies and cuts it in half to fit around a gorgeous sentiment from the Joy to You stamp set. This idea was CASEd from the Mini Catalogue although the rest of the card is quite different. Also, please accept my apologies as my photos do not capture Gorgeous Grape well - the photo process has turned this beautiful colour quite blue.

The background panel was lightly wet-on-wet water-coloured with Gorgeous Grape Classic Stampin’ ink on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper before being trimmed with a Deckled Rectangle die. The sentiment from the Joy to You stamp sets was stamped with Gorgeous Grape ink. The background panel was stamped with pine from the Christmas Classics stamps and gold embossed. A little blending with some Blackberry Bliss ink was added over the edges before being adhered directly to a Blackberry Bliss card base.

A Basic White card inner was stamped in Gorgeous Grape ink down two edges using the same pine stamp that was used on the card background. A Basic White C6 envelope was stamped similarly around all edges.

CARD 2

The second card also has a water-colour background using both Gorgeous Grape and Blackberry Bliss Classic inks. This is a darker background to the first card. It was also trimmed with a Deckled Rectangle die and mounted onto a panel of Gorgeous Grape card-stock. 

The two coordinating Handcrafted Elements bauble dies were used to cut Basic White card-stock. The 2 pieces were adhered together with Dimensionals and the bauble was added to the Fern 3D Embossed water-coloured background with another layer of Dimensionals. The card front was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Gorgeous Grape card-stock.

I won’t take you through the numerous failed attempts to finish the card, enough to say a Basic White panel was embossed with Shimmer Embossing Paste and lightly blended with Gorgeous Grape ink. As it didn’t look right a slightly smaller panel of Basic White card-stock was adhered over the top, leaving a small boarder. A bow of the White & Silver Sheer Ribbon was added at the top of the bauble - I’m not sure this is right??? A few Gorgeous Grape Glossy Dots were scattered. I tried some different sentiments but wasn’t happy, so left the card front without a sentiment. I’m still not 100 percent happy, but have ran out of time to play further.

The card inner was simply stamped in Gorgeous Grape ink on Basic White card-stock. It is really hard to see, but the flap of the Basic White C6 envelope was embossed with the same Fern 3D Embossing Folder. I left a strip of the flap un-embossed so the sender details could be written more easily on the back flap.

Thank you so much for dropping by on you way around the Colour Creations Blog Hop. I know we are a smaller group this week but I am sure there will still be so much Gorgeous Grape inspiration.

To continue with the Gorgeous Grape blog hop just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of my special friend and fellow South Australian, Tina Gillespie. I am looking forward to checking out Tina’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I do hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Granny Apple Green as we continue the weekly 2023-2024 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. We are also sharing Christmas inspiration through the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop every week, going live Monday nights. We would love you to drop in then.

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

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.

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 September-December Mini 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 these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#colourcreationsbloghop  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #joytoyou   #handcraftedelements

AWH Heart of Christmas #9

Christmas with Stars at Night and Radiant Light

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

This week I am showcasing the Stars at Night bundle in two Christmas cards. I am also sharing the finished card referenced in the Colour Creations Blog Hop #21 featuring Daffodil Delight. I showed a partially done created card, so below shows it finished.

CARDS 1&2:

I saw the current Colour Inkspiration Challenge #152 and loved the colours so determined to play with them. 

I started by water-colouring a background panel. It was wet on wet water-coloured using Starry Sky and Night of Navy Classic Stampin’ inks and the flat brush Water Painter. When partially dry, the panel was stamped with a stamp from the Sea Turtle set in Gray Granite ink. The panel is only part finished in the photo below. I still needed to add Wink of Stella and White Craft Ink splatters. I forgot to photograph the final panel. It was cut into 2 to create these 2 cards and die cut using the 2nd largest Deckled Rectangle die.

In the card below the water coloured panel was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Starry Sky card-stock. The Night of Navy card-base was stamped in White Craft ink with a stamp from the Stars at Night stamp set ensuring it aligned with some of the lighter sections of the water-colour panel. The panel was popped up with Dimensionals.

The star was layered with die cut pieces of Vellum, Silver foil, Gray Granite card-stock that had a light layer of Shimmery Embossing Paste and the White & Silver design of the Snowflake Magic Speciality Designer Series Paper.  A Mini Dimensional was added between a couple of layers to give it distinct dimension.

The nativity die from the Night Divine die set was used to cut Night of Navy card-stock. The shepherd and wise man was cut away leaving Mary, Joseph and the cradle. A little White Craft ink was blended over part of the die cut before being added with Mini Dimensionals.

A sentiment from the Night Divine stamp set was Silver heat embossed onto Night of Navy card-stock using Silver Emboss powder, Versamark ink, the Accessory Tool kit and a Heat Tool. The sentiment was fussy cut and added with Mini Dimensionals. A few Adhesive-Backed Sparkle Gems were added near the sentiment.

The other Christmas card was created in a very similar way. The water-colour panel was cut with the 2nd largest Deckled Rectangle die. It was mounted onto the White/Silver SDSP. A panel of Starry Sky card-stock was stamped with the small starry stamp in White Craft ink and then adhered to a Night of Navy card-base.

While larger, the star was layered using die cut pieces from card-stock & SDSP listed above. Some tiny stars from both Silver Foil and Gray Granite Embossing Paste covered card-stock were sprinkled around.

A different sentiment from the same stamp set was White heat embossed onto Starry Sky card-stock. It was fussy cut into separate words that we then added with Mini Dimensionals. The final touch was the sprinkling of some Adhesive-backed Glitter Sequins.

The card inner of both cards were stamped in Starry Sky ink with the same smaller stars stamp. Basic White C6 envelopes were also stamped with the same stamp in Starry Sky ink. Isn’t it a beautiful colour.

CARD 3:

As mentioned above, I wasn’t able to finish the second card for the Daffodil Delight Colour Creations Blog Hop. I showed a photo with the card base and the centre water-coloured panel. Here is the finished card.

The candle arrangement from the Radiant Light stamp set was gold heat embossed onto Basic White card-stock. It was coloured with Water-coloured pencils and a Blender Pen. A sprig from the Winter Meadows dies cut a number of sprigs from Basic White card-stock. Little berries were cut from some left over Daffodil Delight water-coloured Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. The card was finished with a gold embossed sentiment from the same stamp set, a double bow of Gold Elegant Trim and some gold pearls from the Festive Pearls.

A Basic White card inner was decorated with the left over candle and a couple of die cut sprays. waste not want not. The card will fit into a 6x6” square envelope or you could make your own envelope from DSP.

Thank you so much for dropping in to check out my Christmas creations. I hope you found something to inspire your creativity.

There is more Christmas creativity so continue with the blog hop. Just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely 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.

I do hope to see you next week as we continue the weekly Heart of Christmas 2023 Blog Hop series. Don’t miss us this coming Wednesday night for the Colour Creations Blog Hop where we will be showcasing Flirty Flamingo.

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

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 brilliant Art With Heart Team Heart of Christmas Coordinator.  She is an amazing 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 new Stampin' Up 2023-2024 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 these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2023  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #starsatnight  #nightdivine #radiantlight #wintermeadow