AWH Heart of Christmas #21

Heart of Christmas Blog Hop: Joyful Flurry with Hope & Peace

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2022. 

So glad you are joining us for our second to last 2022 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. I have really enjoyed playing with the Joyful Flurry Christmas bundle with an extra Christmas sentiment set and banner dies. Here are my cards:

Prior Card:

I created a card for a Christmas Challenge a couple of months ago using the Joyful Flurry Bundle. I wasn’t really pleased with it, so not wanting to be thwarted, I wanted to have a descent play with this bundle. The 3 cards above were the result of my play.

The card above, that was created a couple of months ago, started with a water-colour wash on Shimmery White card-stock using Pool Party, Balmy Blue and Fresh Freesia Classic Stampin’ inks. Snowflakes from the Joyful Flurry stamp set were stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with White Emboss Powder and a Heat Tool.  A few of the snowflake dies from the Frosted Flurry dies partially cut snowflakes in the water-colour panel. The “pop up” sections were poked up from behind using the pointy poker attachment of my Take Your Pick Tool. 

Smaller snowflake dies cut snowflakes from White Glimmer paper from the White & Red Glimmer Paper. A sentiment from the stamp set was white heat embossed on Pool Party card-stock. The sentiment was layered over a piece of White Glimmer paper and a bow of silver Metallic Mess ribbon before being added with Mini Dimensionals. Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels were added to the centre of snowflakes.

CARD 1:

When I started the card above, I had in mind the combined use of some pine/leaves etc with snowflakes from the Joyful Flurry bundle but at that time I couldn’t make it work and took a different tac. I thought I would try again this week using different colours, etc.

Starting with a piece of Sahara Sand card-stock, snowflakes from the Joyful Flurry stamp set were white heat embossed. Some White Craft ink was splattered over the panel using the mid-sized Water Painter. The small snowflake die from the Frosted Flurry dies again cut small snowflakes from White Glimmer paper from the White & Red Glimmer paper. Pine fronds and a rounder leaf sprig (Mistletoe???) were cut from Basic White card-stock and then coloured with either Mint Macaron or Soft Sea Foam inks using Blending Brushes.

A sentiment from the Hope and Peace stamps were white heat embossed on a piece of Crumb Cake card-stock. And then it was fussy cut in two. All the pieces were arranged together with some Gold Holly Leaves embellishments and adhered with Mini Dimensionals, Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Glue Dots. A double Linen Twine bow was tucked under the top sentiment with Glue Dots. The final touch was the addition of Pearl Basic Jewels coloured with a light Flirty Flamingo Blend.

The card inner was created with Basic White card-stock stamped with snowflakes using second generation Sahara Sand ink. A second sentiment from the Hope and Peace stamp set was white heat embossed on Crumb Cake card-stock, then fussy cut before being adhered on the card inner. The Basic White panel was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Sahara Sand card-stock before being adhered to the Thick Basic White card base. A C6 Basic White envelope was also stamped with snowflakes in Sahara Sand ink.

CARD 2:

The idea for the second card started with a layout that I had recently seen Emma Goddard, a UK Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and previous Artisan, demonstrate in one of her Card & Cuppa classes. The layout morphed into the card below using different stamps, colour scheme and embellishments plus the addition of blending.

Fresh Freesia ink was applied to a piece of Basic White card-stock with a Blending Brush and snowflakes were stamped with a combination of Fresh Freesia and Balmy Blue inks. This card front was adhered to a Fresh Freesia card base. 

A snowflake was die cut from Silver Foil (the mid mauvish foil) using an open die from the Frosted Flurry dies before being die cut with one of the intricate dies that only partially cuts certain bits. This was adhered to a plain die cut snowflake so that the snowflake could be added with Dimensionals. A sentiment was white heat embossed on Fresh Freesia card-stock and then fussy cut and added with Mini Dimensionals. Iridescent Basic Pearls were added to snowflake centres as the final touch. 

A Basic White card-stock inner also was stamped with Fresh Freesia & Balmy Blue ink snowflakes. A different sentiment from the Joyful Flurry stamp set was stamped in Fresh Freesia ink. Part of an extra mauvish Silver foil snowflake was adhered near a top corner. A Basic White C6 envelope was stamped with the same snowflakes and the remainder of the foil snowflake was added.

CARD 3:

As I was creating Card 2, the idea for this card was formed as a simpler version that could be created more quickly in a number of different colours. I so love the effect of the partially die cut snowflakes. 

Balmy Blue ink was blended over a Basic White card front and some White Craft ink with a little Wink of Stella was splattered over. Once dry, two partial die cut snowflakes were cut in the card front and the small snowflake stamp was white heat embossed a number of times. The card front was added to a Balmy Blue card-stock base. 

A sentiment from the Joyful Flurry stamp set was white heat embossed on Balmy Blue card-stock and fussy cut. It was popped up with Dimensionals. A double Silver Elegant Twine bow was tucked under the sentiment and adhered with Glue Dots. Basic Pearl Jewels were added as the finishing touch.

A Basic White card inner was stamped with second generation Balmy Blue inked snowflakes. A Basic White C6 envelope also was stamped in Balmy Blue ink.

That's it from me for this week. Thank you for dropping in for this penultimate 2022 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop.

It is always a delight to see everyone's creations and I am sure there will be gorgeous Christmas projects on show so don't miss checking out each blog. 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 together with everyone else's. 

Don't forget the weekly Colour Creations Blog Hop by the Art with Heart Team that launches every Wednesday at 8.00pm AEST. We are focussing on a delightful colour this week, Mint Macaron. 

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

Andrea XXX

If at any time you find a broken link and the next blog doesn’t come up or you started part way through, please head to the blog of our Heart of Christmas Blog Hop Host, the very special Sharon Davern, and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating in this blog hop. Check out her beautiful creation while you are there.

If you are 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 Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Pease don't hesitate to contact me with any other queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas #heartofchristmas2022  #awhtheartofchristmas #Stampin'Up! #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #stamper  #valleyinspirations #joyfulflurry #hopeandpeace #christmasbanners

AWH Heart of Christmas #17

Heart of Christmas Blog Hop: Joyful Flurry & Christmas Lights

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Team's Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2022. How quickly the year is going! Christmas will be here before we know it. As I am sending Christmas cards to the UK, I need to get my card writing act together.

So glad you are joining us for our seventeenth 2022 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. I saw Susan Campfield, a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator in the USA, yesterday when she created a new fancy fold card. Susan had altered a project she had seen. As I was intrigued with her fold, I converted her measurements to make the most of our A4 sized card-stock. I also used different stamp sets, Designer Series Paper, colour scheme and added a belly band. 

Here is my card (closed view):

The other inspiration for this card was to play with the Frosted Flurry dies. I had created a card for a The Stamping Cove Design Team using the Frosted Flurry dies, but, I wasn't happy with it. I loved the effect of the die cut snowflakes but didn't feel I had showed them at their best. I didn't want to be beaten, rather to redeem myself. I am happier with the effect seen on this project. What do you think??? 

A Very Vanilla Thick card-stock base was scored and burnished and an extra piece of Very Vanilla card-stock was cut to create a flap that will hide the personal written panel and have a decorative panel in the centre. Here is a top view photo of the standing card to give you a sense of the folds.

A Very Vanilla and gold design of the Lights Aglow Speciality Designer Series Paper was ombre blended with Blushing Bride and Polished Pink Classic Stampin' inks. One 6"x6" piece of SDSP was the perfect size for this fold. The front panel was decorated with gold heat embossed snowflakes from both the Joyful Flurry & Christmas Lights stamps. The front centre panel of the back flap was also gold heat embossed with snowflakes. Both front panels and the front flap panel also were coloured with ombre blending using the same colours, although I brought the colouring down further on the front panels. I didn't intend to recreate the SDSP, but there are similarities.

Gold foil panels were embossed with the snowflake embossing folder from the Wintry 3D Embossing Folder pack. When standing open the foil panels are only minimally seen but I like the drama created when looking more closely at the card panels.

I thought I would experiment and layer the detailed snowflake dies from the Frosted Flurry dies over snowflakes from a non-coordinating stamp set. The dies only cut part of the snowflake card-stock. It doesn't cut out the whole snowflake but cuts in such a way that segments can be lifted to give added dimension. The photo below endeavours to capture the partial die cut effect. 

A sentiment from the Joyful Flurry stamp set was gold heat embossed on Very Vanilla card-stock. It was cut with the Stampin' Trimmer and then the word "wonder" was fussy cut. I wanted to alter the sentiment. The sentiment was added with Mini Dimensionals. Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels were added at the centre of larger snowflakes. The pink and yellow tones of the rhinestones go brilliantly on this panel.

A Very Vanilla card-stock belly band was wrapped around the closed card and overlapped at the front, knowing that the snowflake embellishment would hide the seam. Polished Pink Open Weave ribbon was wrapped around the centre of the belly band and then the Gold Elegant Trim was wrapped over the Polished Pink Ribbon. The largest snowflake from the Christmas Lights stamp set was gold heat embossed and then die cut with one of the Frosted Flurry dies to give it added dimension. The snowflake was cut out with the coordinating Twinkling Lights dies, however, some of the edge section fell off - I guess as I was mixing 2 different die sets to prepare the large snowflake there is likely to be some “issues”. I had already cut an extra blank snowflake so I was able to adhere the snowflake pieces onto the blank one. Even with that issue, I am impressed at the ability to use the dies with gold embossed snowflakes from a completely different stamp set. More Iridescent Rhinestones were added to this focal snowflake. A bow, tied with the ribbon and trim, was added at the side of the belly band.

Lifting up the inner flap shows the panel for writing ones personal message. This panel was stamped with garlands from the Christmas Lights stamp set using Blushing Bride, Polished Pink and heat embossed gold. A thin left over strip of the SDSP was added at the base and "Happy Christmas" from the Joyful Flurry stamps was gold heat embossed at the top. A C6 Very Vanilla envelope was gold heat embossed with the largest snowflake from the Christmas Lights stamps.

Thank you so much for dropping in and spending some time with me. I do so appreciate it.

It is always a delight to see everyone's creations and I am sure there will be gorgeous Christmas projects on show so don't miss checking out each blog. 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 together with everyone else's. 

Don't forget the weekly Colour Creations Blog Hop by the Art with Heart Team that launches every Wednesday at 8.00pm AEST until the end of November 2022.

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

Andrea XXX

If at any time you find a broken link and the next blog doesn’t come up or you started part way through, please head to the blog of our Heart of Christmas Blog Hop Host, the very special Sharon Davern, and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating in this blog hop. Check out her beautiful creation while you are there.

If you are 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 Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Pease don't hesitate to contact me with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas #heartofchristmas2022  #awhtheartofchristmas #Stampin'Up! #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #stamper  #valleyinspirations #joyfulflurry #christmaslights

AWH Heart of Christmas #11

Heart of Christmas Blog Hop: Cottage Wreaths

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2022. 

So glad you are joining us for our 11th 2022 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. We are half way through the Blog Hops for 2022 and I have realised that I need to speed up my production of Christmas cards to ensure I have enough to send to friends and family in December. As such, I have created 2 very different cards for this blog, although they both use the same bundle, Cottage Wreaths. Here they are:

 

CARD 1: Cottage Wreaths WV Funfold

Last week after starting designing last weeks card with the concept of a WV funfold, I thought I should create a true WV fold this week, even though I altered the size of the "V" panel. 

The wreath from the Cottage Wreaths stamp set was stamped in Soft Succulent Classic ink on Basic White card-stock. This is a distinctive stamp, stamping in a variegated way - it is so gorgeous. The twiggy wreath stamp overlaid the first image using stamped off Crumb Cake ink. The panel was die cut with one of the Scalloped Contour dies, selecting the die that framed the wreath. The die was moved to shorten the label with a second pass through the Cut n' Emboss Machine to form a square.

Using the measurements of the scalloped panel as the base, the Cherry Cobbler Lights Aglow panel as well as the Basic White and Soft Succulent card-stock panels were cut to size. The Soft Succulent card base was cut, scored and burnished. I used the measurements of a card made by my up-line Kathryn Mangelsdorf to prepare my card base. A different design from the Lights Aglow Speciality Designer Series Paper was cut to size to mount on the card base. This SDSP design uses all the colours in my card, ie Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen and Cherry Cobbler on a white-ish background.

The focal panel was finished with a sentiment from the Joyful Flurry Stamp set stamped in Evening Evergreen ink. The sentiment was cut out with a small Rectangular Stitched die and it was added to the wreath with Dimensionals. Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels were coloured with a Dark Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blend and then scattered over the wreath. Some Gold Simply Elegant Trim was tied into a triple bow and attached with Glue Dots.

The inner panel of the "V" section used a part piece of Cherry Cobbler SDSP that was mounted onto a Basic White card-stock panel, which in turn was mounted onto the back of the "V" panel. The thinner wreath die from the Country Wreath dies was used to cut a Basic White wreath that was coloured with Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen inks and a Blending Brush. Coloured Rhinestones and Simply Elegant Trim adorned the wreath and another sentiment from the Joyful Flurry stamp set was stamped in Evening Evergreen ink and die cut with a Stitched Rectangle die.

A Scalloped Contour die cut a Basic White panel to adhere directly to the inner back panel of the card. A C6 Basic White envelope was also stamped with the wreath in Soft Succulent ink.

Here is another photo of the card standing part open.

CARD 2: Cottage Wreath Door

Do you hang a wreath on your front door at Christmastime? Often, I do and or have a wreath hanging inside on one of my walls. This was the inspiration for the card below.

I love Crumb Cake and Basic White together and so after cutting a card front from Crumb Cake card-stock plus 4 die cut panels using one of the Rectangular Stitched dies. The same die cut all the rectangles, however, 2 of them were passed through the Cut 'n Emboss Machine a second time to shorten these rectangular panels. All were embossed with the Timber 3D Embossing Folder before a White Craft Pigment ink pad was gently swiped over all embossed panels thereby highlighting the woodgrain. The die cut panels were positioned with Dimensionals.

The 2 different die cut wreaths using the Country Wreaths dies were cut from Basic White card-stock. The fatter wreath die cut a wreath in such a way as to enable loopy leaves to be separated and lifted. The thinner wreath was adhered on top and the full wreath was added to the "door" with Mini Dimensionals. Poinsettia flowers were die cut from Basic White card-stock using dies from the Pretty Pillowbox die set. The flowers were coloured with Blushing Bride ink and a Blending Brush before being scattered over the wreath and adhered using Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

The "Happy Christmas" sentiment from the Joyful Flurry stamp set was stamped in Versamark ink onto a hand coloured Blushing Bride piece of Basic White card-stock and then heat embossed with White Emboss Powder and a Heat Tool. The embossed sentiment was cut into a long thin strip that was curled at both ends, with one curling underneath and the other curling to the top. A triple bow was tied with White Bakers Twine that had been coloured with Petal Pink Stampin' Blends. Iridescent Pearl Basic Jewels were added to the centre of the little poinsettias.

The card inner is simple. A piece of Basic White card-stock was stamped with part of a wreath from the Cottage Wreaths stamp set in Crumb Cake ink with a left over Basic White die cut small poinsettia added. A C6 Basic White envelope was also stamped with a part wreath.

Thank you for dropping in. I do appreciate the time you spent with me.

It is always a delight to see everyone's creations and I am sure there will be gorgeous Christmas projects on show so don't miss checking out each blog. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "onto the next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Michele Taylor. I always look forward to checking out Michele's creations together with everyone else's. 

Don't forget the weekly Colour Creations Blog Hop by the Art with Heart Team that launches every Wednesday at 8.00pm AEST. 

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

Andrea XXX

If at any time you find a broken link and the next blog doesn’t come up or you started part way through, please head to the blog of our Heart of Christmas Blog Hop Host, the very special Sharon Davern, and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating in this blog hop. Check out her beautiful creation while you are there.

If you are 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 Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Pease don't hesitate to contact me with any other queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas #heartofchristmas2022  #awhtheartofchristmas #Stampin'Up! #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #stamper  #valleyinspirations #cottagewreaths #joyfulflurry 

AWH Heart of Christmas #6

Heart of Christmas Blog Hop: Joyful Flurry

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the sixth Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2022. 

So glad you are joining us for the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. I have quite a bit of fun creating a number of cards using one of the Christmas bundles from the July-December Mini Catalogue. Here is my set of cards:

Like snowflakes, they are all similar but also different. Recently, I have seen crafters stamp an A4 sheet of card-stock with floral images (not all over, but with significant coverage). The sheet is then cut into quarters and 4 cards are created with the stamped sheet as the feature. I decided to do something similar with a set of Christmas stamps. The idea morphed into the following process.

An A4 sheet of Shimmery White card-stock was covered with multi-coloured blending, using Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Mint Macaron, Balmy Blue, Pacific Point, Fresh Freesia and Highland Heather Classic Stampin' ink. Water was flicked over the coloured sheet - I love the effect this causes. Once dry, various sized snowflakes from the Joyful Flurry stamp set were stamped across the card-stock using Versamark ink and heat embossed with Silver Emboss powder and a Heat Gun - as you can see above. The sheet was cut into 4 equal pieces to use as the focal image for 4 cards.

I decided to create each card with its own individuality. The flurry of snowflakes are differently placed on each panel given the way it was created. A different colour card base was used for each card, ie Balmy Blue, Pool Party, Mint Macaron or Fresh Freesia card-stocks. Two snowflake pieces were trimmed so they could be mounted on Silver Foil with the panel stretching from top to bottom of the card showing card-stock to the left and the right. The other two snowflake panels were mounted onto foil with a boarder around all 4 sides.

The edges of each card base were dabbed with White Craft ink using a Dauber to soften the colour of the card-base that shows on the front of the card. The card-stock for each of the sentiments is the same colour as its card base.

Sentiments from the Hope & Peace stamp set were all Silver heat embossed using Versamark ink, Silver Emboss Powder and a Heat Gun. The "Merry Christmas" sentiments were trimmed down with a Trimmer, where as the "God's Blessings To You" were fussy cut with Snips. Each sentiment was popped up on Dimensionals and a couple were trimmed with a thin strip of Silver Foil underneath.

Silver Elegant Trim was tied into a bow (or double bow) and tucked under the sentiment with a Glue Dot or two. By the way, the card shown below was mounted on the mauve-ish Silver Foil as it harmonised with the card base. A Stampin' Up! packet of Silver Foil comes as a pack of three 12x12 sheets with one sheet a traditional silver; another with a mauve-ish tinge and the third as a deeper grey/purple-ish colour foil.

Rhinestone Basic Jewels were added near the sentiment and to the centre of each snowflake. I love to add embellishments, though am usually more restrained with the addition of gems, however, I decided the snowflakes would be delightful with a rhinestone at the centre of each.

The Basic White card inners were each decorated with a left over strip of the blended snowflake embossed panels. A couple of die cut Silver Foil snowflakes (using the Frosted Flurry dies) were also added.

Each of the 4 Basic White C6 Envelopes were stamped and Silver heat embossed with a couple of snowflakes and a little colour coordinated blending was added over the top.

Starting with an A4 sheet and either blending & stamping or just stamping is a great way to build up your Christmas card stash in readiness for sending cards nearer Christmas.

Thank you for dropping in. I so appreciate it.

It is always a delight to see everyone's creations and I am sure there will be gorgeous Christmas projects on show, so don't miss checking out each blog. To continue with the blog hop, click the "onto the next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the talented Catherine Proctor. I always look forward to checking out Cathy's creations, together with everyone else's. 

Don't forget the weekly Colour Creations Blog Hop by the Art with Heart Team that launches every Wednesday at 8.00pm AEST. 

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

Andrea XXX

If at any time you find a broken link and the next blog doesn’t come up or you started part way through, please head to the blog of our Heart of Christmas Blog Hop Host, the very special Sharon Davern at Rhapsody in Craft and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating in this blog hop. Check out her beautiful creation while you are there.

If you are 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 Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Pease don't hesitate to contact me with any other queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas #heartofchristmas2022  #awhtheartofchristmas #Stampin'Up! #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #stamper  #valleyinspirations #joyfulflurry