Be Inspired - February 2026

 Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop

COLOUR PAIRINGS

Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the February Be Inspired Blog Hop where we are focusing on projects that highlight Colour Pairings . However you have arrived here, whether from Stesha Bloodhart or directly here, I am so delighted that you are here.

As I thought of Colour Pairings, my mind went to colour buddies that work brilliantly together and have certain similarities. It was hard to choose, but I decided on a stunning pairing of two 2025-2027 In Colours, ie Secret Sea and Cloud Cover. The latter is almost a lighter version of the former. To lift these two colours to extra heights Fresh Freesia was added to provide a clearer and pretty contrast. What do you think of this colour combination?

Together with Cloud Cover, Secret Sea and Fresh Freesia this card also showcases a soon to be released bundle (and coordinating suite) called Delicate Whispers. I adore the stamped images and detailed dies - so beautiful.

The images were stamped in Secret Sea and coloured with either Secret Sea, Cloud Cover and Fresh Freesia using ink in the stamp pad lid and a Blender Pen. Some feathery leaves were cut from Cloud Cover Peaceful Garden Designer Series Paper and the little berries from the Secret Sea Lovely Blossoms Designer Series Paper. A strip from both of these DSPs were layered down the left side over a Basic White panel that had been dry embossed with the Paradise Garden 3D Embossing Folder.

All the stamped and die cut pieces were arranged down the card front near the DSP. Some Secret Sea Bordered Open Weave ribbon was wrapped around the card front and tied into a bow. A sentiment from the Delicate Whispers stamps was white heat embossed on Secret Sea card-stock. The final touches -  Frosted Iridescent Dots (from the Last Chance List) were sprinkled around.

The inside of the card was simply decorated with a little torn DSP and some extra stamped and die cut pieces.

A C6 Basic White Envelope was stamped with the flax flower images in Secret Sea ink. The card inner and envelope only need simple adornment to coordinate them with the card design.

Thank you so much for dropping in on your way around February's Be Inspired Blog Hop. I so appreciate time spent with you.

I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else has created for the Colour Pairings February Blog Hop.  Next in line is the amazing Angela Meiritz-Reid. Just click on the "Next" graphic below to head over to Angela’s blog. I wonder what colour pairings Angela has chosen. I know her project will be special.

The full list of those participating in this Blog hop is:

Andrea Sargent <That's me

Angela Meiritz-Reid

Annette Ball

Annette Elias

Brian King

Lynn Cheesmur

Maheswari Rajaguru

Stesha Bloodhart

#beinspired  #beinspireddesignteam  #stampinup   #stampinupofficial  #stampinupaustralia #valleyinspirations  #artisandesignteam #artisandesignteam2026  #stampinupofficial 

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #25 Fresh Freesia

Fresh Freesia with Frozen Edges

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 beautiful pale purple called Fresh Freesia.  Fresh Freesia is part of the Subtles Colour Family and is a soft mauve that can coordinate with a range of colours, including other subtles, such as Bubble Bath, Balmy Blue & Pool Party, other purples including Highland Heather and it works beautifully for flowers, snowflakes and so much more.

Fresh Freesia is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Stampin’ Blends Combo; Watercolor Pencils (Assortment 1), Subtles Designer Series Paper as well as a number of other products. 

These projects have incorporated Fresh Freesia as Classic Stampin' ink, card-stock and a Stampin' Write Marker.

CARD 1:

I recognise that many folk in the South Pacific won’t go for snowflakes as Christmas comes during our summer, however, I love snowflakes and have many friends in the Northern Hemisphere who may appreciate a snowflake Christmas Card.

Fresh Freesia is great for snowflake cards, especially when mixed with Balmy Blue and Pool Party / Coastal Cabana. I was going to use this colour combo for a project but ran out of time for a third card. In fact, I ran out of time to add a card inner and to decorate a coordinating envelope to share with you. I’ll have to do that later.

A Basic White card-stock background panel was silver heat embossed with a sentiment from the One Of A Kind stamp set. Then some ink blending was added with Fresh Freesia Classic Stampin’ ink and a Blending Brush. Some white splattering was added using White Craft ink.

The edge die from the Frozen Edges dies cut 2 edges from Basic White card-stock. I love the way it partially cuts some snowflakes to give the snowflake definition while holding the edge panel together. Single snowflakes were also cut from Basic White card-stock and from Silver Foil. Snowflake edges were added to the top and bottom edges of the blended panel and the other snowflakes were scattered around.

The decorated panel was layered onto a slightly larger piece of Fresh Freesia cardstock before being adhered to a Thick Basic White card base. The final touch - Silver Drusy Adhesive-backed Embellishments were added to a number of snowflakes.

CARD 2:

The 2nd card started with an ombre blended background using Fresh Freesia ink and a touch of Highland Heather ink near the top. A splattering of water droplets was added and left to dry before both white splatters and some Fresh Freesia splatters using a Stampin’ Write Marker were added. The panel was embossed with the Snowflake Sky 3D Embossing Folder.

The snowflake edge die cut a Basic White card-stock edge which was later added with Mini Dimensionals. Single snowflakes were die cut from White Glimmer Paper from the Berry Burst, Old Olive and White Glimmer Speciality Paper pack. I had also white heat embossed a snowflake onto some Petunia Pop In Colour Glimmer paper. It’s a wonderful technique that Sara Douglass demonstrated on her Facebook page yesterday. In this instance, the embossed snowflake dominated the card, but I will be using the snowflake in the future.

A sentiment from the One Of A Kind stamp set was white heat embossed onto Fresh Freesia card-stock and then fussy cut apart. Both the sentiment and single snowflakes were popped up on Mini Dimensionals.

The final touch, a scattering of White Loose Snowflakes that were adhered in place with Multipurpose Liquid Glue. There certainly is a flurry of snowflakes.

Thank you for dropping in on your way around the blog hop.

To continue with the Fresh Freesia blog hop just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a lovely lady, Ros Davidson. I am looking forward to checking out Ros’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I do hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Garden Green as we continue the weekly 2024-2025 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. 

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 Catherine Proctor’s blog @ What Cathy Made. Cathy is our special Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  She is a wonderful lady. Check out her delightful creation while you are there.

Living in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Stampin' Up 2024-2025 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! 

#colourcreationsbloghop  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards  #stampinupdemonstrator  #papercrafting #frozenedges  #oneofakind 

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #24 Fresh Freesia

Fresh Freesia with Wishes All Around

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 pale purple colour called Fresh Freesia. Fresh Freesia is now one of the Subtles Colour Family and is a lovely light mauve. This colour is a delightful  colour when used for flowers, babies and combines beautifully with Balmy Blue for snowflakes.

Fresh Freesia is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Stampin' Blends Combo; Watercolor Pencils; Subtles Designer Series Paper as well as Delightful Floral, Masterfully Made, Stargazing Delightfully Eclectic, Bright and Beautiful DSPs; Bright & Beautiful Memories & More Card Pack and Cards & Envelope pack; White Centre Speciality Paper, plus Tinsel Gems Three-pack. 

Fresh Freesia card-stock, ink, Stampin’ Write Marker and the Tinsel Gems Three Pack have been used in the creation of these projects plus a range of non-Fresh Freesia bits and pieces.

I love a wreath, especially for Christmas, so the Wishes All Around bundle was a must have for me. The photos look much darker that the real thing, which is a pity as it looks more subtle than pictured and the sparkles don’t show. Having said that, when I finished the card I felt it needed something so I added different splatters, etc - I think I over did it. 

I started with a piece of Fresh Freesia card-stock and added blended colour, using Fresh Freesia, Highland Heather & Boho Blue Classic Stampin inks and Blending Brushes. A section was left unblended near the centre and then colours were added blending darker towards the edges. A little Highland Heather ink blending was also added to the centre later after the snowflake wreath had been positioned. White Craft ink with some drops of Wink of Stella was splattered over the card front.

The Snowflake wreath from the Wishes All Around die set was die cut from Silver Glimmer paper (Gold & Silver Adhesive-backed Glimmer Paper is an online only product and is so beautiful). A wreath was also cut from the White & Silver paper from the Snowflake Magic Speciality Designer Series Paper and Basic White card-stock, plus some single little snowflakes from both papers. The silver glimmer paper has an adhesive backing so it was laid directly onto the background. The white card-stock wreath had a little Shimmer Paste added. The 2 snowflake wreaths were laid over, moving them a little one way and then the other to enable the sparkle to shine through. Some single snowflakes were popped up on Mini Dimensionals to give some dimension variation.

Some Silver & White Sheer ribbon was cut in half lengthwise, tied into a bow and added to the wreath with Glue Dots. A sentiment from the Wishes All Around stamp set was white heat embossed onto Fresh Freesia card-stock and fussy cut, then positioned with Mini Dimensionals. Some of the Fresh Freesia Tinsel Gems were added to the centre of some of the snowflakes and around the wreath and sentiment.

As mentioned, the card needed something else so a few tiny snowflakes were stamped randomly. Some extra blending was added with Highland Heather ink, including a touch within the wreath. Some water splatters and Fresh Freesia splatters were added, the latter with a Fresh Freesia Stampin’ Write Marker.

A Basic White card inner was stamped in Fresh Freesia ink with a different sentiment and some tiny snowflakes from the same stamp set. A C6 Basic White envelope was also stamped with some tiny snowflakes in Fresh Freesia ink.

Thanks so much for dropping in to check out my Fresh Freesia project. I so appreciate it. xxx

There is more Fresh Freesia creativity so continue on 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. 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 Garden Green as we continue the weekly 2023-2024 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. 

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 new Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual 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   #wishesallaround 

World Cardmaking Day 2022

Kathryn’s Blog Hop: Water-coloured Wisteria Wishes

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and Kathryn’s Blog Hop for World Cardmaking Day. 

To celebrate World Card Making Day, I am participating in Kathryn's Blog Hop with a number of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from all around the world to share a card that I created recently.  Kathryn also challenged us to post our cards within a week to someone special. She doesn't want us to forget to send the cards we make and just store them in a box. Mine will be heading to a friend who is visiting Aus from USA.

One of the Blog Hops I participate in is the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. It goes live every Wednesday evening. We are focussing individually on all the Stampin' Up! colours. A couple of weeks ago we were showcasing Fresh Freesia. I ran out of time to finish a second card so I am using it for this Blog Hop. I love playing with water-colour and recently had watched Tami Hewlett, a current Stampin' Up! Artisan from the USA, demonstrate a different technique, ie lightly misting the stamps and then stamping on damp paper. I so love the effect and it is perfect for the Wisteria Wishes bundle to create an abundance of wisteria. A neighbour used to have wisteria growing across the front of her house. It had been there for years and each year there was an abundance of flowers. I thought of my neighbour as I created this card.

A panel of Shimmery White card-stock was spritzed with water using a Stampin' Mister. The wisteria flower stamps were inked with Fresh Freesia, initially stamping off then spritzed with water and stamped. The next layer was similarly stamped but this time in full strength. The next layer was stamped off Rich Razzelberry. As it dried there was some extra stamping to gain a little more definition. The lower section was lightly water-coloured with Balmy Blue. Using the Wisteria dies, a number of flower heads, leaves & a stem were die cut from Shimmery White card-stock. All these pieces were water-coloured - I LOVE this technique. The inks used were Crumb Cake, Soft Succulent, touches of Evening Evergreen, Fresh Freesia and Rich Razzelberry Classic inks.

A frame was die cut from Basic White card-stock using one of the Fabulous Frames dies. The front panel was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Splendid Day Speciality Designer Series Paper, that in turn was mounted on a Thick Basic White card base. The sentiment is from the same stamp set and was stamped in Gorgeous Grape ink before being fussy cut. A swoosh of Pool Party Sheer ribbon was layered under the sentiment and a few In Colour Opal Rounds added extra sparkle.

The card inner shows a Basic White panel mounted on the same SDSP as used on the front of the card. Some left over die cut and water-coloured wisteria also decorates the inner panel and a second sentiment was added with Gorgeous Grape ink. A Basic White C6 envelope was simply stamped with the wisteria flowers along the top edge. A bit of Highland Heather was used. The envelope was stamped well after the card was first created and I had forgotten that I hadn't used HH on the card. Oops!

Thank you for spending time on my blog. 

There is more inspiration to see this World Cardmaking Day. Do continue with the blog hop and click the  "onto the next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely and talented Rachel Palmieri. I do love seeing Rachel's creations as well as everyone elses' projects.

I hope you have a wonderful long weekend. 

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

Andrea 💕🐾

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   #wisteriawishes #wisteria #worldcardmakingday

AWHT Colour Creations #21 Fresh Freesia

Fresh Freesia with Wisteria Wonder

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 across a 12 month period.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a light purple called Fresh Freesia. Fresh Freesia is part of the 2021-2023 In Colour Family and is a beautiful soft mauve colour. I will miss it when it disappears next June. This colour is lovely when used for flowers; when mixed with pool party, Coastal Cabana, Highland Heather & Balmy Blue it is delightful for snowflakes and it can be used in so many other ways - just check out the range of Designer Series Papers referenced below. 

Fresh Freesia is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends; In Colours Designer Series Paper as well as Butterfly Kisses, Tea Boutique & Hues of Happiness DSPs plus the Splendid Day Speciality Designer Series Paper; In Colour Open Weave Ribbon, In Colour Opal Rounds, Adhesive-backed Sequins, Loose Flower Flourishes, Fun Flowers Resin Shapes; and Tea Boutique Cards & Envelopes. 

My card uses Fresh Freesia Classic ink, card-stock, Splendid Day SDSP and 2021-2023 In Colour Opal Rounds. Here it is:

But there is more … as the card front panel looks through a circular hole to a seperate middle panel underneath. You just need to open the front flap to see the second panel in full. The scene was created on Basic White card-stock and then mounted on Fresh Freesia card-stock.

The middle panel opens to the right to reveal the inner panel for writing a personal message. The inner panel of Basic White card-stock had 2 con-joined snowy trees adhered and a little Fresh Freesia shading at the base of the trees.

So lets briefly talk about the process. The front panel of Basic White card-stock was adhered to a slightly larger piece of Fresh Freesia Splendid Day Speciality Designer Series Paper. The largest stitched circle from the Stylish Shapes die cut a hole in the centre of the card front and then also in the front flap of the card base.

Some Masking Paper was die cut with the second largest Deckled Rectangles dies and added to a Basic White panel. When using Masking Paper, it is important to reduce the stickiness a little either with an Embossing Buddy or by laying it on your clothes. Fresh Freesia and Rich Razzleberry inks were blended across the masked rectangular hole with one of Stampin’ Up!s delightful Blending Brushes. Before lifting the Masking Paper 2 trees were stamped to the left. The trees were stamped in second generation Soft Succulent and a third generation of Evening Evergreen. Other trees were stamped on a seperate sheet of Basic White card-stock with first generation Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen inks. All the trees were heat embossed with Versamark ink, White Emboss Powder and a Heat Tool to give a sense of snow. The extra trees were die cut with the coordinating Wisteria dies.

A sentiment from the Brightest Glow stamp set was stamped in Rich Razzleberry ink. As I was adding the sentiment to a panel that had a fair bit of work on it,  I used a Stamparatus to first ensure that the sentiment was straight and then to ink and stamp a couple of times to ensure a clear & well inked sentiment. In stamping the above trees I accidentally smudged the white panel near the sentiment - hence the addition of the little tree.

To finish off the card, the trees were positioned and adhered on the middle panel and the card front. They were initially positioned by looking from the front and then checking the arrangement from the inside. A touch of Fresh Freesia ink was added with a Blender Pen to give the trees some shadowing to ground them. Wink of Stella was flicked over the front and middle panels - although the camera doesn’t pick up the subtle sparkle. I tried a number of ribbons & twine but decided they didn’t add to the overall design. It felt strange, as I do like adding either ribbon or twine. Some In Colour Opal Rounds (in Fresh Freesia) were added for some extra glimmer.

A Basic White C6 Envelope was stamped with the 3 joined “Wisteria” trees in Soft Succulent ink and topped with Evening Evergreen ink. I must add a little shadowing to them as well.

Thank you for spending time with me on my blog. I am off to finish the other Fresh Freesia card that I started to create. It was the project that first came to mind in my planning for this Blog Hop. I then decided to also make a Christmas card so I could add to my card stash. Somehow it was finished first. The other card is finished but rather than adding a photo of it here, after the event, check back on my blog on 1 October for Kathryn’s World Card-making Day’s Blog Hop.

There is more Fresh Freesia creativity. 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. I do love seeing all blog hoppers' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Garden Green 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 provide some ideas to help with your Christmas preparations. 

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 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   #wisteriawonder, #brightestglow, #hopeandpeace