Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #41 Rich Razzleberry

Rich Razzleberry with Fancy Phrases

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 41st 2020/2021 Colour Creations Showcase by members of the Art with Heart Team.

The week we are showcasing a deep rich colour, Rich Razzleberry. Rich Razzleberry is part of Stampin' Up! Regals colour collection and it is a strong red purple. Rich Razzleberry is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, re-inkers & ink spot); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends, Watercolour pencils; Designer Series Paper including the Artistry Blooms DSP; and the Artistry Blooms Sequins.

Rich Razzleberry has not been a highly used colour for me, however, as I played with it for this blog hop it has found its way into my heart. It is amazing how water-colouring gives me a deeper understanding of the colour. For this week's card I water-coloured the flowers and leaves with a fine Water Painter. This technique requires a higher level of detail & I need to practice more.

I started by stamping the large floral arrangement from the Fancy Phrases stamp set in Grey Granite Classic Stampin' ink onto Shimmery White card-stock. This card-stock is an off white, that is not as bright a white as Basic White and not as cream as Very Vanilla. It has a delicate shimmer throughout. It is great for water-colouring where there is not an abundance of water. As I was water-colouring the image, I needed to do something to stop the stamped Classic ink from bleeding into the colouring.  I stamped in Versamark ink directly over the Classic ink stamped image (my trusty Stamparatus was brilliant for this) and heat embossed it with Clear Stampin' Emboss powder. This trapped the Grey Granite ink under the clear embossing.

The floral image was stamped four times - one for practicing and 3 for use on the card. I decided on a colour scheme of Rich Razzelberry for the roses, Flirty Flamingo for the open flowers and stayed with Grey Granite for the leaves/stems. As mentioned, I used the fine tipped Water Painter to colour the image, keeping the tip wet and just picking up colour from a large Block where I had added a light layer of ink by pressing my stamp pads on the block. I refined my colouring technique as I progressed. So glad I had stamped an extra image to practice the technique! When dry, the floral arrangements were fussy cut - as the stamp set has no coordinating dies.

For the background, I prepared a card front size of Shimmery White card-stock and laid a light water-colour wash using Seaside Spray Classic Stampin' ink. I didn't want the background wash to compete with the flowers so it was very light - so light in fact that you can hardly see it. Oops! (If you squint, you may be able to see a little of the water-colour wash in the photo below.) When almost dry, this background was embossed using a Painted Texture 3D Embossing folder.

The embossed background was mounted on a piece of Rich Razzleberry card-stock. Linen twine was wrapped around this background twice and tied in a bow. The water-coloured flowers were arranged over the background, with focal flowers being popped up on Dimensionals and other flowers adhered directly to the background. The arrangement needed something, so extra central flowers and some leaves were fussy cut out and layered on top with Dimensionals.

As I was thinking about the sentiment, I saw my bowl holding pre-prepared sentiments using the Many Messages bundle. This is such a handy bundle with a great range of sentiments. I decided to use the "Happy Birthday" sentiment which I had previously heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss powder on Merry Merlot card-stock. While a different colour, it seemed to coordinate well with the overall colour scheme & design. The sentiment was mounted on a piece of Vellum that had been die cut using a small scolloped rectangle from the So Sentimental dies. I couldn't find my Artistry Blooms Sequins, so added some clear Elegant Faceted Gems as the finishing touch. So love these embellishments.

To coordinate the inside panel of the card with the front, some remaining small pieces from the water-coloured floral sprays were adhered to the card inner. After adhering another 2 floral images to a C6 Basic White envelope, there were only a few little leaves remaining. It was just the right amount although, I also used the "practice" water-coloured flowers.

Gemma, my companion & fur family, stayed close by as I photographed the card for the blog. Today she even let me take a photo of her with the card - she normally moves away.

I had fun creating this card and experimenting further with water-colouring. Time disappeared so ideas for a second card didn't come to fruition. I am sure the concepts will be used later. Thank you for calling by.

Catherine Proctor is the wonderful host of the Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase. If you haven't finished visiting all of the team's colour creations, you can visit/revisit Catherine's page at What Cathy Made, where she hosts the links to the participating blogs so you can find everyone's Rich Razzleberry creations. Checking out everyone's creations and their interpretation of the amazing Stampin' Up! colours is always a treat. 

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team share projects that hero Rococo Rose, one of the retiring In Colours for 2019-2021.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others as these strange times continue. Hopefully life with settle to an improved normality before too long. 

Andrea 💕🐾

Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #20 Gray Granite

Gray Granite with Prized Peony and Fancy Phrases 

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 20th Colour Creations Showcase for 2020 with members of the Art with Heart Team.

So glad you are joining us as we focus on a rich neutral that, as the name suggests, is a colour similar to granite. Gray Granite sits within Stampin' Up!s Neutrals family of colours. Gray Granite can be found in Stampin' Up!s card-stock; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, re-inkers & Stampin' Spots); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends;  Water-colour Pencils, a range of Designer Series Papers, incl Peony Garden DSP, In Good Taste DSP, Feels Like Frost DSP; and Shimmer Ribbon. There is so much gorgeousness.

This week I have created 2 cards with different colour combinations. The cards look quite different given the variations in colour ways, but the Gray Granite does give them some commonality. Both "Get well" cards were created with 2 friends in mind. One friend underwent surgery a couple of days ago and the other had an accident and ended up in hospital. Here are this week's projects:

CARD 1:

My first card used Gray Granite card-stock as the card base, also the beautiful Peony and the sentiment were stamped in Gray Granite Classic Stampin' ink.

The top flap of the Gray Granite card base and a Whisper White card-stock front were cut with the large Many Medallions die. A piece of Window Sheet was cut a tad smaller. This was adhered to the tiny front flap and then the Gray Granite medallions were adhered on the underneath side. The white medallions were adhered to the front of the acetate together with the small top and bottom pieces forming the card front. Prior to die cutting the Whisper White card-stock, a piece of Adhesive Sheet was attached. This made it so easy to remove the backing sheet and adhere the die cut medallions to the acetate. 

It may be worth noting that initially I added a light water-colour wash in Petal Pink Classic ink, however, as I was creating the card front design I felt the Petal Pink wash didn't look right. It had been adhered in place, so a second Whisper White medallion piece (with Adhesive Sheet) was die cut and adhered over the Petal Pink water-coloured piece. The two layers of medallions adds a little extra dimension.

The Peony came from the Prized Peony stamp set. It was coloured with a number of Stampin' Blends, ie Light & Dark Rococo Rose, Light & Dark Petal Pink, Light & Dark Old Olive Blends and the Colour Lifter. I used the Colour Lifter to enhance soft highlights to the petals and leaves. 

Once coloured, the peony was die cut using the Peony dies. The peony bud was trimmed off and then added in a different position, peaking out from beneath the flower to allow room for a sentiment which came from the Many Mates stamp set. The sentiment was stamped directly onto a die-cut label using one of the Hippo & Friends dies. The label was adhered directly to the medallions panel and the peony was popped up on Dimensionals.

The card inner was decorated with a piece of Gray Granite DSP from the Peony Garden DSP and the same label shape that was used on the card front was added inside the card, ensuring it sat exactly beneath the front label. The Gray Granite medallions add a beautiful effect when opening the card. The large peony was also stamped in Gray Granite Classic ink onto the Whisper White C6 envelope.

The card was finished with the addition of five delightful Elegant Facetted Gems with one of the larger ones partially tucked under a leaf.

CARD 2:

My second card also used Gray Granite card-stock as the card base. The floral arrangement and sentiment were stamped in Gray Granite Classic ink and the card was embellished with Gray Granite Shimmer Ribbon.

 

The card front was created from Fluid 100 Water-colour paper that had a light Pool Party Classic ink water-colour wash. Following the water-colour wash and prior to it having fully dried, the paper was embossed with the Scripty 3D embossing folder. This was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Pool Party card-stock at an angle, that was then adhered directly, at an angle, to the card base.

The floral spray from the Fancy Phrases stamp set was stamped four times in Gray Granite Classic ink onto a piece of Whisper White card-stock. Two of the floral sprays were considered as the two base sprays and the smaller open flowers were coloured with Light & Dark Pool Party and Light So Saffron Stampin' Blends. These two floral sprays were fussy cut. 

On the other two floral sprays, the larger rose flowers were coloured with Light & Dark Bermuda Bay and Light & Dark Pool Party Stampin' Blends together with the Colour Lifter. A few of the smaller flowers were also coloured. The coloured flowers were fussy cut, lightly shaped and adhered over the same flowers on the base sprays. The smaller flowers were adhered with a tiny dot of Multipurpose liquid Glue, while the roses were lifted on Mini Dimensionals.

The sentiment came from the Fancy Phrases stamp set and was stamped on Whisper White card-stock. This was die cut using one of the rectangular Stitched So Sweetly dies. The die was positioned to align with the bottom of the sentiment and passed through the Cut and Emboss Machine. Then the die was moved to align with the top of the sentiment so the label edge was cut close to the sentiment. This two-step die cutting process can give more flexibility than simply die cutting with one pass through a Cut & Emboss Machine. The sentiment was adhered with Dimensionals over a doubled over piece of Gray Granite Shimmer Ribbon.

The card inner was made from a piece of Whisper White card-stock which was similarly stamped in Gray Granite Classic ink using the floral arrangement from the Fancy Phrases stamp set. A very thin strip of the water-coloured paper was added to the side. A Whisper White C6 envelope was also stamped with the same floral stamp in Gray Granite Classic ink.

I hope my cards have provided some ideas and inspiration. I have enjoyed creating them to share. I love Gray Granite as a colour. As a neutral, it coordinates with many colour combinations.

I have a beautiful girl for my fur family - Gemma is such a sweetie. She was groomed this morning and is looking so gorgeous, so I thought I would take a photo of my cards with her in the close background. I set the cards on the ground and Gemma moved away and sat with her back to me. I don't think she wanted to be photographed with the cards. 😉 

Thank you for spending some time with me at my blog. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any queries, would like me to send you a Stampin' Up! catalogue or if I can help you with any products.

Catherine Proctor is our amazing host of the Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase. If you haven't finished visiting all of the team's colour creations, you can visit/revisit Catherine's page at What Cathy Made, where she hosts all the links to the other Showcase participants. I'm looking forward to checking out everyone's Gray Granite creations. It is always inspiring to see the amazing projects created by my colleagues and their application of the nominated colour.

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team will share projects that hero Highland Heather. 

Do look after yourself and your loved ones. Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others in these strange times. 

Andrea 💕🐾

#colourcreationsshowcase

Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - # 13 Crushed Curry

Crushed Curry with Celebrate Sunflowers and Fancy Phrases

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the thirteenth 2020/21 Colour Creations Showcase by members of the Art with Heart Team. 

This week we are focussing on Crushed Curry, a strong yellow with some depth. Crushed Curry is part of Stampin' Up!'s Regals family of colours. As with all of Stampin' Up!'s colours, products in Crushed Curry span their range, including: Card-stock, Classic Stampin' Ink Pad and Ink Refill; Stampin' Write Marker; Watercolour Pencil, Designer Series Paper (Regals 6x6 Designer Series Paper, etc) and the Playing with Patterns Resin Dots.

As suggested last week, I have created a project with the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set. Crushed Curry is a great colour for sunflowers. Both cards used Crushed Curry in their water-colour backgrounds.

CARD 1: The water-colour background was created using the smooshing technique, that is my Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' ink pad was dabbed onto a piece of acetate and water was misted over with a Stampin' Spritzer. A piece of Fluid 100 Water Colour paper was laid over the ink and then lifted. The water-colour paper was then dabbed back into the ink on areas where I thought I would like some more colour. This water-coloured background was put aside to dry and then was embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder. The background was mounted with a thin mount of Cinnamon Cider card-stock before being popped up on Dimensionals onto the Crushed Curry card-stock base.

The large sunflower and leaves from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set was stamped onto Shimmery White card-stock with Saddle Brown Stazon ink. Sazon ink was needed as I wanted to water-colour the sunflower and leaves using a Blender Pen. Crushed Curry, Cinnamon Cider and a little So Saffron ink was used to colour the sunflower; with Old Olive and Pear Pizzaz used to colour the leaves. The water-coloured pieces were die cut with the coordinating Sunflower dies.

The Sunflower dies were also used to die cut the gorgeous sunflower overlay out of the delicious Brass foil. The Brass foil that is new to the current Annual Catalogue is such a rich colour and is delightful to work with. Little leaf twigs were also cut from the Brass foil.

Together with a piece of Flowers for Every Season Whisper White Faux Linen Ribbon, the sunflower, leaves and twigs were arranged with the sunflower popped up on Dimensionals and the leaves tucked under. A sentiment from the same stamp set was stamped in Versamark ink on Crushed Curry card-stock and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss powder. The sentiment was fussy cut and positioned with Mini Dimensionals. Gilded Gems added the finishing touch.

A small sunflower, which had been similarly coloured to the larger sunflower was adhered to the card inner and another sentiment was stamped in Crushed Curry ink. The Whisper White C6 Envelope was stamped directly with the smaller sunflower in Crushed Curry ink.

CARD 2: The background for this card was created by stamping the large floral spray from the Fancy Phrases stamp set multiple times over a piece of Fluid 100 Water-colour paper with Versamark ink and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss powder.  Water was spread over the embossed paper with the mid-sized Water Painter and then Crushed Curry ink was added for a Wet on Wet watercolour with the emboss resist technique. Once dry the water-coloured background was mounted on a piece of Gray Granite card-stock leaving a fine mount. Then this was adhered directly to the Crushed Curry card base.

A frame was cut from Crushed Curry card-stock using the Stitched Rectangle dies. I must admit, I cut a number of frames in different colour card-stocks to help me assess which colour would be best and ended up with the Crushed Curry frame.

The same stamp that was used on the heat embossed water-coloured background was stamped on Whisper White card-stock with Gray Granite ink. The floral spray was coloured with Stampin' Blends, ie Light and Dark Misty Moonlight blends for the flowers with Dark So Saffron for the flower centres; and Light and Dark Mint Macaron blends for the leaves. The floral spray was fussy cut and positioned using Dimensionals.

The sentiment also came from the Fancy Phrases stamp set. It was stamped twice - once with Crushed Curry ink on Whisper White card-stock and another time with Versamark ink on Crushed Curry card-stock and heat embossed with White Emboss powder. Both were fussy cut with "When I count my" on the Whisper White card-stock being cut in two and adhered directly to the card front; and "blessings" on the Crushed Curry card-stock being popped up on Mini Dimensionals.

The card front was finished with a few Wonderful Gems. I did think about adding ribbon or twine and tried a number of different options but in the end decided not to add anything.

The card inner was stamped with the floral spray in Crushed Curry ink; as was the second part of the sentiment. I had an "oops moment". After I had adhered the card inner in place I realised that I hadn't added the second part of the sentiment. I practiced on a piece of scrap paper before stamping directly on to the card inner - and you guessed it, it didn't stamp well, so I needed to add a small label with the sentiment. Making the most of this, I added a small piece of the water-colour background under the label to link to the card front's water-colour. The coordinating Whisper White C6 envelope also was stamped with the floral spray in Crushed Curry ink.

Thank you for spending some time at Valley Inspirations. So glad you dropped in. I hope you are enjoying this week's Colour Creations Showcase, which is focussing on Stampin' Up!s Crushed Curry. 

Catherine Proctor is our amazing host of the Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase. If you haven't finished visiting all of the team's colour creations, you can visit/revisit Catherine's page at What Cathy Made, where she hosts all the links to the other Showcase participants. I'm certainly looking forward to checking out everyone's Crushed Curry creations. No doubt they will be amazing. I am always inspired by my colleagues.

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team will share projects that hero another yellow, Daffodil Delight. 

Do look after yourself and your loved ones. Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others. 

Andrea 😘

#colourcreationsshowcase