AWH Heart of Christmas Blog Hop #17

Christmas with the Season of Green and Gold

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the final Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2024. We started this series early August. Where oh where have the last 4 months gone. Thank you so so much for joining us this year as we have shared Christmas creativity with you.

I love sharing Christmas creations with you and was so disappointed to miss joining the Blog Hop last week. This week I am sharing a card with you using the elegant Season of Green & Gold Suite. It is an On-line exclusive and so gorgeous.

This fancy fold first shows one central panel surrounded by a gorgeous design with gold from the Season of Green & Gold Speciality Designer Series Paper. When the card is open, 2 central panels are seen, each coming in from a side panel. When the card folds up, one of the panels tucks underneath the other. A big thank you to Emma Goddard for the showing this double front panel fancy fold and for the dimensions. When Emma created this beautiful fold during one of her Card & Cuppa sessions I wanted to create one of my cards with it. I am so grateful for her dimensions. 

The colour scheme from the Season of Green & Gold SDSP was maintained throughout, with a Very Vanilla card-stock base with Mossy Meadows and Old Olive card-stocks for the central panels. Very Vanilla card-stock was used as the front panel on the focal panels. The 2 panels of Very Vanilla card-stock were dry embossed using the delightful Birch Wood 3D Embossing Folder. The panels were splattered lightly with a Mossy Meadows Stampin’ Write Marker.

As mentioned, the 2 front panels were decorated with one of the designs of Season of Green & Gold SDSP. The next panels in on each side were decorated with a different golden design from the same SDSP - one that is just Very Vanilla and gold. The tops of the panels were blended with Soft Sea Foam, Old Olive and Mossy Meadows Classic Stampin’ inks and Blending Brushes, creating an ombré blended coloured panel with the darkest shading at the top of both panels.

The central section was covered with the “B” side design from the SDSP. A Very Vanilla panel was added for writing a personal message. A sentiment from the coordinating sentiment stamp set - the Greetings of the Season stamps, was stamped in Mossy Meadows ink. While I had left it to dry before closing the card, the word “year” must have been extra juicy - so it has smudged a little - how annoying! A couple of fussy cut leaves from another design of the SDSP were added to the left bottom corner.

As referenced above, a couple of the SDSP designs consisted of different christmas-y leaves. Some can be cut out using the coordinating dies but others needed to be fussy cut. The coordinating dies also had some detailed dies to cut leafy shapes. The more heart shaped leafy sprig was cut from Gold Foil. The rounder shaped leafy die was used to cut the mottled white vellum from the Graceful Greenery Speciality Vellum.

The front central panel was decorated with the gold foil heart shaped leafy sprig with a pine sprig and a round Garden Green leaf sprig partially layered over each other. A piece of Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon was cut in half lengthwise and used to wrap around the panel, which had been mounted onto a slightly larger panel of Mossy Meadows card-stock. The ribbon was tied into a bow. A number of the Cherry Cobbler Adhesive-backed Berries were scattered around.

The right panel used the mottled White Vellum from the Graceful Greenery Speciality Vellum pack to die cut the rounder shaped leafy sprig spray. Two other sprays cut from the SDSP were layered over. A fussy cut set of golden bells were added on top. Some of the Twisted Gold Thread was used to tie a tiny triple bow that was added over the olive-y bow on top of the bells. A different sentiment from the Greetings of the Season stamps was gold heat embossed onto Very Vanilla card-stock and then fussy cut. More of the Cherry Cobbler Adhesive-Backed Berries were scattered around.

Here is the card stretched open. The photo below shows a decorated Basic White C6 Envelope that was stamped with the 2-step pine stamps using Old Olive and Soft Sea Foam inks.

Thank you so much for dropping in on your way around the final Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2024. I so appreciate you spending time with me.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with this blog hop. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a lovely lady, Kate Morgan. I always look forward to checking out Kate’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is so much inspiration.

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. We would love you to also check in on us for more creative inspiration.

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 Sharon Davern’s blog @ Rhapsody in Craft. Sharon is our amazing 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 new September-December 2024 Mini Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact regarding any queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2024 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #goldengreenery  #seasonofgreenandgold  #greetingsoftheseason   #gracefulgreenery

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #26 Garden Green

Garden Green with Golden Greenery + 

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 lovely green called Garden Green.  Garden Green is part of the Regals Colour Family and as the name suggests, is a rich green that is the colour of many plants in the garden. It coordinate with many colours and would be wonderful for leaves/plants, trees, some vegetables and anything needing a strong mid-green. It is a colour often featured at Christmas time.   

Garden Green is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Stampin’ Watercolor Pencils; Regals Designer Series Paper as well as Reindeer Days, Snowy Scenes, Sentimental Christmas, Take a Bow, Splendid Autumn, Nests of Winter, Mediterranean Blooms, To Market, Meandering Meadows and Winter Meadow DSPs; Season of Green & Gold, Frames & Flowers Speciality Designer Series Paper; Graceful Greenery Vellum; Festive Glimmer Paper; Garden Green Two Tone cardstock, Snowy Day Two Tone Cardstock Pack, Reindeer Memories Two Tone Cardstock Pack, Reindeer Memories Scrapbooking Workshop Kit, Snowy Day Scrapbooking Workshop Kit, Snowy Scenes DSP & Sticker Sheet, Reindeer Days DSP & Sticker Sheet; Gold Dipped Mix & Match Speciality Cards & Envelopes, Joyful Images Mix & Match Speciality Ephemera Pack, Joyful Sayings Mix & Match Ephemera Pack, Tags for the Season Mix & Match Ephemera Pack, A Little Bit Festive Mix & Match Speciality DSP, Reindeer Days Memories & More Cards; plus Earth Tone Shimmer Gems, Adhesive backed Dots for Days, Transparent Adhesive-backed Dots, Blooming Pearls; as well as a number of kits and Ephemera Packs and  other products that I may have missed listing. Wow - what a list of products, which shows the usefulness of this colour.

This project has incorporated Garden Green as Classic Stampin' ink, card-stock, Stampin' Write Marker and some of the Graceful Greenery Vellum.

I had a number of ideas for Christmas projects featuring Garden Green, as mentioned, it is a great green for Christmas, which is affirmed by the number of Stampin’ Up! products currently available. In the end, I decided on a Christmas wreath using one of my favourite techniques,  blending on die cuts.

The background is a piece of Basic White card-stock that was embossed with the Forever Plaid 3D embossing folder and adhered to the Garden Green card base. Some Garden Green splattering was added with a Stampin’ Write Marker.

The smaller pine die from the Golden Greenery die set was used to cut out numerous sprigs from Basic White card-stock. They were coloured with Garden Green ink and a Blending Brush. I like to die cut a circle with 2 circular dies to provide a circular base on which to build the wreath. As this wreath would be a larger wreath, I used the Deckled Circles dies with Garden Green card-stock but have found out that the dies have just been retired from Stampin’ Up!s Online store. They will be missed. Pine from the Graceful Greenery Vellum was cut with a coordinating die. These sprigs were slotted in under every 2nd blended sprig.

I was planning to use the gorgeous Cherry Cobbler and Gold Satin ribbon, but searched high and lo for it to no avail, so have used the wonderful Iridescent Striped Trim and coloured it with a Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blend. This trim is so luscious. (By the way, I found my missing ribbon near my photography area when I came to photograph this card.) A sentiment from the Reindeer Fun Stamp set was white heat embossed on Cherry Cobbler card-stock. Some of the beautiful Cherry Cobbler Adhesive-backed Berries were scattered around the wreath. The final touch a couple of bells fussy cut from the Season of Green & Gold Speciality Designer Series Paper.

Inside the card a Basic White panel was stamped with the pine sprig stamp (from the Golden Greenery stamps) in first, second and third generation Garden Green ink. Some berries (from the same stamp set) were stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink. A second sentiment from the Reindeer Fun stamps was also added in Garden Green ink. Don’t forget to also decorate your envelope - I stamped it with the same spray of pine and berries.

Thank you so much for calling in on your way around the Garden Green Colour Creations Blog Hop.

To continue with the blog hop just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a lovely lady, Di Furniss. I am looking forward to checking out Di’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 Gorgeous Grape as we continue the weekly 2024-2025 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. Many of us are also “Hopping” on Monday nights (until the end of November) with the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. We would love you to join us then.

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 brilliant 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 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 this project or Stampin' Up! 

#colourcreationsbloghop  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards  #stampinupdemonstrator  #papercrafting #goldengreenery  #reindeerfun

AWH Heart of Christmas Blog Hop #11

Christmas with Golden Greenery

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 11th Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2024. This series commenced early August and we will be hopping every week until the end of November. I hope you can check us out each week as there will be an array of projects to help your Christmas preparations.

I love creating projects for Christmas and hope that sharing my passion will help to inspire you in some way.  This week I have used the beautiful Golden Greenery and Greetings of the Season bundles. (They an Online Exclusives, which means they are not in a catalogue but can be found in the Stampin’ Up! Online store. You can still order them through your demonstrator.)

The colour combo is a bit non-traditional for Christmas. Lost Lagoon, Pretty Peacock and gold Vellum are fine but Bubble Bath and Berry Burst are a bit left field. I’m wondering if I might create a second similar card using Cherry Cobbler instead of Bubble Bath/Berry Burst. What do you think?

A Basic White card-stock background panel was embossed with the Forever Plaid 3D Embossing Folder. A Greetings of the Season die was used to cut a label from a piece of Pretty Peacock Regal Distressed Pattern Speciality Paper. This was cut off-centre in 2 and positioned with points facing to give a sense of a Belly Band.

The rounder stem of leaves from the Golden Greenery Stamp set was stamped in Pretty Peacock ink (full strength and 2nd generation) and the spruce in Lost Lagoon ink (full strength and 2nd generation) while the berries were stamped in Berry Burst and Bubble Bath inks.

Flowers were die cut from Bubble Bath ink using dies from the Country Birdhouse die set and some Berry Burst ink was blended partially over. Using the Golden Greenery dies, the heart shaped leaves were die cut from Gold Mercury Vellum and spruce was die cut from Basic White card-stock together with a sprig of roundish leaves. The latter had a little Pretty Peacock ink blended over it.

The leaves, flowers and berries were arranged, then adhered in place with either Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Glue Dots. A bow was tied using the gorgeous Iridescent Striped Trim. A sentiment from the Reindeer Fun stamps was white heat embossed on Pretty Peacock card-stock. Some beautiful Regal Foil Adhesive-backed Dots were added to the flower centres and near the sentiment. A little splattering was added with a Pretty Peacock Stampin’ Write Marker and some Wink of Stella.

A Basic White card inner was stamped in Pretty Peacock ink with a sentiment from the Greetings of the Season stamp set. An extra Lost Lagoon sprig was added together with some berries. A Basic White C6 Envelope had some extra spruce and leaves adhered in a corner.

Thank you so much for dropping ink to check out this week’s Christmas card. We may be a smaller group this week, but don’t miss out on the amazing projects everyone in the Blog Hop are sharing.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with the blog hop. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a lovely lady, Kate Morgan. I always look forward to checking out Kate’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is so much inspiration.

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. We would love you to also check in on us for more creative inspiration.

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 Sharon Davern’s blog @ Rhapsody in Craft. Sharon is our amazing 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 2024 Mini Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact re any queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2024 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #goldengreenery  #greetingsoftheseason  #reindeerfun

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #20 Crumb Cake

Crumb Cake with Golden Greenery + 

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 versatile neutral colour called Crumb Cake.  Crumb Cake is part of the Neutrals Colour Family and is a pale tan that can coordinate with many colours, including greens (eg Old Olive), blues, pinks, white and other neutrals, etc and it would be wonderful for country scenes, sea scenes, trees, ground …  and so much more.

Crumb Cake 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; Neutrals Designer Series Paper as well as Nests of Winter, Wildly Flowering, and Country Woods DSPs; Season of Elegance Speciality Designer Series Paper; Earth Tones Shimmer Gems; Baker’s Twine Essentials Pack and a number of kits. 

This project has incorporated Crumb Cake as Classic Stampin' ink, card-stock, Stampin' Write Marker, Country Woods DSP and Season of Elegance Speciality Designer Series Paper, 

I love Crumb Cake as a neutral and the way it coordinates with so many colours. It can be used in many different ways. Having said that, I must admit I struggled to create something I liked and started afresh a number of times. To help me break through I pulled out a couple of gorgeous Designer Series Papers that incorporates Crumb Cake, ie the wonderful Country Woods DSP and the Season of Elegance SDSP.

After a piece of Country Woods White & Crumb Cake wood design was embossed using the Birch Wood 3D Embossing Folder, it was mounted onto Basic White card-stock. A panel of  speciality DSP was cut to a size so it would be framed with a wide frame of the DSP. I later thought it would be better to have a Basic White panel in the centre so mounted the white card-stock onto the SDSP. Different leaves were die cut using the Golden Greenery dies, 3 pieces from Basic White card stock and the rounder leaves in Old Olive card stock. The rounder and heart-shaped leaves were partially blended with Old Olive Classic ink and the pine fronds with Crumb Cake ink.

Some Crumb Cake splattering was added using a Stampin’ Write Marker. The leaves all had a little gold heat embossing added to one side of each piece. Both the Silver Trim (from the Gold & Silver Trim Combo Pack) and the Cherry Cobbler & Gold Satin Ribbon were both cut in half lengthwise. One of each Ribbon was tied together into a bow. Some Linen Thread was tied into a double bow.

A sentiment from the Peaceful Season stamp set was gold heat embossed on the non-gold side of some Season of Elegance SDSP before being die cut with a label from the Greetings of the Season dies. The final touch was a scattering of Cherry Cobbler & Pearl Adhesive-backed Berries. They are a beautiful embellishment.

A Basic White panel was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Crumb Cake card-stock. Some pine fronds were also gold heat embossed onto the inside panel. Similarly, a C6 Basic White envelope was also gold heat embossed with the pine fronds.

Thank you so much for calling in to check out my Crumb Cake Golden Greenery card. What do you think of this country style Christmas card?

To continue with the Crumb Cake blog hop just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a special lady, Kate Morgan. I am looking forward to checking out Kate’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 Crushed Curry as we continue the weekly 2024-2025 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. We would love you to also check in on us each week on Monday evenings until the end of November for the 2024 Heart of Christmas Blog Hops.

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 wonderful Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  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, 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 this project or Stampin' Up! 

#colourcreationsbloghop  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards  #stampinupdemonstrator  #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #goldengreenery  #greetingoftheseason  #peacefulseason  

CASEing the Catty #476 CASE a Sketch - page

A Sketch from page 68 meets Season of Green & Gold

Hello, Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and #476 Challenge with CASEing the Catty.

You have probably hopped here from Monique Fielder's blog on your way around this week's Blog Hop. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's creations.

Challenge #476 is all about CASEing one of the layouts from page 68. As you know, CASE stands for Copy And Share Everything or Copy And Selectively Edit. When CASEing you may be inspired by a layout, a colour combination, a technique or even an embellishment. This week its a specific sketch:

I have combined this sketch with something I recently saw and wanted to try. Earlier this month I saw Cindy Schuster of The Crafty Carrot Co fame share a Gift Card Holder featuring the Attention Shoppers bundle. I was taken with her project and wanted to CASE it - so decided to do a double CASE, ie the sketch and Cindy’s Gift Card Holder. My project is a Christmas card with a gift card holder inside. The soon to be released Season of Green & Gold Suite (an online exclusive) has been featured in this special card.

The Season of Green & Gold Speciality Designer Series Paper is so so gorgeous. One of the designs has been used for the bottom panel. It has touches of gold running throughout the leafy design. The colours of this SDSP have been used as the colour combo for the project, ie Old Olive, Garden Green, Very Vanilla and gold.

Detailed die cuts from the Golden Greenery dies were cut from Very Vanilla card-stock and 2 of the bigger die cuts were coloured with either Old Olive or Garden Green Classic Stampin’ inks and Blending Brushes. The pine fronds were left uncoloured Very Vanilla card-stock. A stitched oval from the Greetings of the Season dies was also cut from Very Vanilla card-stock and then gold heat embossed using the Greetings of the Season stamp set. Some of the luscious Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon was trimmed lengthwise and tied into a bow through the little hole in the label. Some of the pearl berries from the Cherry Cobbler and Pearl Adhesive-backed Berries were added to give some subtle shimmer.

The top panel was embossed using the Fern 3D Embossing Folder. A belly band was cut from one of the other designs in the Season of Green & Gold SDSP and the die cut pieces were arranged over the front of the band with the oval label sitting on top on Dimensionals. Peaking out from beneath the label are 2 strips of Gold Foil. The ends of the foil were angled inwards to give a sense of the fishtailed label on the sketch. The sketch could be interpreted as a simple card with different layers and an angled cut, however, for this project the embossed top section will open when the belly band is removed - the edge has been angled.  The SDSP underneath is a full panel.

When the lower section is opened, a little shopping bag is revealed. This is where a gift card is to be placed (or a small gift could be added). Isn’t it cute. The same SDSP as the front panel was used for the internal shopping bag. Some gold trim from the On-line Exclusive Gold & Silver Trim Combo was used to create the bag handles.

The bottom panel was decorated with a detailed leafy die cut, a strip of the SDSP and another sentiment - this one from the Merriest Trees stamp set.  The sentiment was gold heat embossed and cut into a strip the width of the card - and was popped up on Dimensionals.

Thank you so much for spending time with me. I hope you like this different interpretation of the sketch for Challenge #476.

Don’t miss any of the inspiration from this talented Crew. The next blog in the hop is the lovely Kathryn Mangelsdorf. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to her blog. I am sure her project will be wonderful.

Join In The Challenge: We would love you to share a project you have created that has been inspired by the new 2024-2025 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue. To share, all you need to do for to the CASEing The Catty Challenge Group. If you aren't a member, its easy to request to join and then all you need to do is upload a photo of your project to the main section. You can click on the graphic below to be taken to the group on Facebook. We would love to see your creation.

#ctc469 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #thecraftycarrotco   #goldengreenery  #greetingsoftheseason  #seasonofgreen&gold  #merriesttrees  #thecraftycarrotco