Funky Folds Blog Hop #7

ANYTHING GOES WITH A FUNKY FOLD

Welcome to the seventh Funky Folds Blog Hop.

We are a group of like-minded paper crafters who love to make cards with funky folds. Funky actually means "modern and stylish in an unconventional or striking way"... so we are featuring cards that are not your usual rectangle/square portrait or landscape style. Think 'easel', 'pop-up', 'gatefold', 'z-fold', 'shaped' or 3D cards etc. The list is endless. All Blog Hops have an 'anything goes' theme using any type of 'funky' card fold. 

Here is my card. It’s not what you think …

It’s not just a square card. The fold chosen for this blog hop is an oldie, but a goodie, the Never Ending fold. You start with a square card then open the card to a different design/facade; open it again to a third design/facade and then again to a fourth design/facade. When you open the card a fifth time you are taken back to the beginning. You can keep opening the card endlessly, hence the name of the fold. Here is the second design:

I have an arty friend who started making cards a year of so ago and I wanted something special for her - something that would stretch her mind like this endless fold card. When completed this card is 6 x 6” or 15.2cm x 15.2cm for the metrically minded. The measurements are more straight forward using inches. You start with 4 panels of 3” x 6”. Here is the third design:

There are a few tricks in creating this card, but it is easier than it looks. As I wanted it to be a special card for a special birthday of a special lady, it needed to remind her of special things. This card incorporates 4 separate but related designs. Here is the fourth design:

As mentioned this card was made for a special friend and so it incorporates things that mean so much to her. i am not going to share the specifics of how this card was made as there are numerous U-tubes that show how to made an Never Ending fold. The Designer Series Paper used is a mix of the Thoughtful Journey DSP and the Country Woods DSP. They are my 2 favourite DSPs in Stampin’ Up!s 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue.

We met walking our dogs through local parks. We developed into a group of like minded folk. The linear park follows a local river and so has many beautiful aspects of nature, whether flowers, fish, skinks, birds and other native flora & fauna - all bringing delight.

I mentioned we met walking our dogs. We all love our dogs dearly and my friend is no exception. The dogs above represent different dogs that belong to individuals in our walking group. 

The dogs above represent my friend’s much loved dogs. They are so so special to her and her partner. We also meet many other dog walkers along the way and often share treats with their dogs, hence the background which was stamped with the Doggone Friends large stamp. It was stamped in Pebble Path and then clear heat embossed over to give it a little shimmer. My friend has chooks who she loves dearly so I had to bring some chickens onto the card. I used a recently retired Stampin’ Up! stamp set, Hey Chuck, as there were no current stamps showing chickens/roosters. I do love the attitude shown by the birds. Her chooks aren’t very colourful, so they have been coloured in black/grey. I couldn’t resist adding a little colour. 

Thank you so much for calling in and spending time with me checking out my blog.

Up next is the lovely Cathy Pinchbeck. I am looking forward to seeing Cathy’s funky fold and to hopping around to check out everyone’s’ creations in our 7th Funky Folds Blog Hop. Just click on the graphic below to be taken to Cathy’s blog.

Here is a list of everyone participating in Funky Folds Blog Hop - September 2024

1. Bronwyn Eastley

2. Tammy Fite, Stamp with Tammy

3. Rochelle Blok

4. Andrea Sargent

5. Cathy Pinchbeck

6. Cindy Mitchell-Clark ~ USA

7. Tracy Held - Trace Of Creativity

8. Julia Quinn - Handmade by Julia Quinn (Australia)

9. Lou Kitzelman

If you love to make cards with creative folds and would like to join in with our monthly Funky Folds Blog Hops, you are welcome to head on over to our community group on Facebook to be part of the fun.

facebook.com/groups/funkyfoldsbloghops

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 the Stampin' Up 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue and or the new September-December 2024 Mini Catalogue then let me know. I will be delighted to send them to you and to be your Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator.  Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

#stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #doggonefriendly  #thoughtfulwishes   #gratefulblessing   #thoughtfuljourney

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #13 Blackberry Bliss

Blackberry Bliss with Hey Chuck and a Christmas Bonus

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 deep berry colour called Blackberry Bliss. Blackberry Bliss is part of the Neutrals Colour Family and is a warm red purple. This colour would be a lovely when used for flowers, berries and chickens (wink).

Blackberry Bliss 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 the Stargazing DSP. 

Blackberry Bliss card-stock, ink, Stampin’ Write Marker and Stampin’ Blends combo have been used in the creation of this and the Christmas project below plus a range of non-Blackberry Bliss bits and pieces.

A friend of mine is celebrating her birthday tomorrow but we enjoyed a lunch together yesterday. This friend loves her chooks, so when I saw the Hey Chuck bundle I knew I needed to buy this set. Even though I created this card for her, I hasten to add that her ‘girls’ aren’t Fresh Freesia & Blackberry Bliss - but I think my chook looks cute. I did start by water-colouring a background panel but as the design developed a different background was needed.

This background was created by randomly stamping the chosen sentiment in Fresh Freesia Classic Stampin’ ink down the left side of a piece of Basic White card-stock. Fresh Freesia and Blackberry Bliss Classic inks were applied with a Blending Brush over the stamping. A Blackberry Bliss Stampin’ Write Marker was used to add splatter. The background panel was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Blackberry Bliss card-stock and then onto the Basic White Thick card base.

One of the Hey Chuck chickens was stamped onto a piece of Fluid 100 Water-colour Paper in Versamark ink and then gold heat embossed with Gold Emboss Powder, the Embossing Additions Tool Kit and a Heat Gun. The fence, cake and skate board were also gold embossed. The sun and wind direction arrow were die cut from Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. The stamped and die cut pieces were all water-coloured - the chook with Fresh Freesia & Blackberry Bliss inks; the skate-board in Misty Moonlight ink; the arrow with Pretty Peacock ink; the sun with Lemon Lolly ink; and the fence with both Pretty Peacock & Misty Moonlight inks. When the chicken had dried I wanted some extra depth so added touches with Blackberry Bliss Stampin’ Blends and to the fence with Pretty Peacock Blends. It’s OK to mix media.

A label from the Nested Essentials dies was cut from Basic White card-stock and then embossed with stripes from the Stripes and Splatters 3D Embossing Folders. It was added with Dimensionals. All of the water-coloured pieces were arranged with either Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Dimensionals. A Linen Twine bow was tied around the arrow. The sentiment was white heat embossed onto Blackberry Bliss card-stock and some Versamark ink was added with a Blender Pen and then a little gold Emboss Powder was heat embossed - to link the sentiment with the gold embossed images. The final touch - the addition of some Iridescent Basic Rhinestone Jewels. I love adding a touch of glimmer. 

Another chook had been coloured with Stampin’ Blends, ie Blackberry Bliss, Pretty Peacock & Fresh Freesia Blends combos. Initially I had been playing with colours for the chicken, but decided it wasn’t the preferred colour combo for the chicken on the card front - however, she was perfect for inside the card. I couldn’t waste her. Basic White card-stock was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Blackberry Bliss card-stock. The same chicken image was gold heat embossed onto a C6 Basic White envelope.

Christmas Card:

I know it seems so so early, but I needed to start creating Christmas cards to build my card stash for Christmas. The Heart of Christmas Blog Hop is coming soon but before we start blog hopping I am hoping to create a Christmas card as well for the Colour Creations Blog Hops.

As mentioned, I had created a water-colour background but then decided it wasn’t right for the card above so in creating a Christmas card I started with the piece of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper that had been coloured with Blackberry Bliss and Misty Moonlight inks.

It was stamped with the Snow Crystal stamp in Versamark ink and then heat embossed with Gold Emboss Powder. The water-colouring wasn’t quite right so I added more Blackberry Bliss ink using the wet on wet water colour technique and the emboss resist technique. Once dry White Pigment Craft ink was splattered over to add extra highlights.

The dried water-colour panel was trimmed down with a Deckled Rectangle die and then mounted onto Distressed Gold Speciality Paper. Three snowflakes from the Chic dies cut snowflakes from Gold Foil.

A sentiment from Hope & Peace stamp set (currently an Online Exclusive) was white heat embossed onto Blackberry Bliss card-stock and some of the words were fussy cut out. They were added with Mini Dimensionals. The Gold Foil snowflakes were arranged and adhered with Liquid Glue or a Dimensional. A number of Adhesive-backed Sparkle Gems and a double bow of the Gold Elegant Trim were added.

A Basic White card-stock inner was stamped with part of the Snow Crystal Stamp in Blackberry Bliss ink as was a C6 Basic White envelope.

Thank you so much for calling in to check out my Blackberry Bliss projects. x

There is more Blackberry Bliss creativity so continue with the blog hop. Just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the very special 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 when we will be featuring Blueberry Bushel 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   #heychuck  #snowcrystal #hope&peace