Funky Folds Blog Hop #1

ANYTHING GOES WITH A FUNKY FOLD

Welcome to the first 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.

I have created a card with a range of Stampin’ Up! products, starting with the Trusty Tools bundle.  But you say, isn’t this blog featuring funky folds??? Yes, it is. This card has the surprise inside when it is opened — there is an internal pop-up feature. 

A friend had a recent birthday but what was I to create for him? This friend had taken up painting when he retired. His studio is positioned in an open atrium that is surrounded by his home.  The area itself has no roof and there is a bricked floor with plants in pots and hanging baskets scattered around. My friend’s hobby and his studio area were the inspiration for this card. 

To give a woodgrain background a neutral design was selected from the Perennial Lavender Designer Series Paper and it was embossed with the Timber 3D Embossing Folder. Some Crumb Cake Classic Stampin’ ink was lightly added to allow the timber effect to be softly visible.  A Shaded Spruce design from the same DSP pack was laid beneath a peg board die cut from the Trusty Tools dies. The stamped paint brush and pencils were from the Trusty Tools stamps and coloured with Stampin’ Blends. The die cut foliage came from the Painted Lavender and Notes of Nature sets of dies. The foliage is reminiscent of the plants in the atrium.

The front sentiment comes from the stamp set that is part of the Timeless Greetings kit. Linen Twine and Brushed Brass Butterflies give a special touch.

The pop up scene inside the card used some extra products. To add a basket of smaller brushes and an artist easel the Crafting With You stamp set was brought out. A couple of paintings and a clock adorned the wall above the work bench in the atrium so a part of the Perennial Lavender DSP was cut down and mounted to give an abstract painting feel. When I thought of the clock on the wall, initially I was stumped, but then remembered the clock-face in the Timeless Greetings card kit. Vellum was added to the bench top, with it hanging further down on one end to give a sense of plastic sheeting over the actual bench. The Vellum was also splattered with White Craft ink and Shaded Spruce ink to replicate the plastic sheeting - it may be difficult to see this detail in the photos. The “painting” on the easel was cut down from some of the Meandering Meadows DSP.

Here is a side view. You may see the brickwork ground that was created with an Exposed Brick 3D Embossing Folder and some Crumb Cake ink. The neutral gingham floor rug was cut from another piece of Perennial Lavender DSP.  The sentiment came from the Trusty Tools stamps.

The back of the card was used for writing a personal message. Another painting and some foliage provided linkage to the theme of the card. And yes, the card does fit into a standard A6 Very Vanilla envelope - it’s fat, but it does fit. I was going to hand deliver the card so didn’t need to worry about the card’s thickness to comply with Australia Post processing.

Thank you so much for dropping by on your way around our first Funky Folds Blog Hop.

Up next is our Host and Blog Hop initiator, the wonderful Bronwyn Eastley from Addinktive Designs in eastern Australia. I am so looking forward to seeing Bronwyn’s funky fold and to checking out everyones’ creations in our very first Funky Folds Blog Hop. Just click on the graphic below to be taken to Bronwyn’s blog.

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 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the January-April 2024 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!. 

#stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #trustytools  #craftingwithyou   #perenniallavender  #meanderingmeadows

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #43 Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie with Fun on Wheels

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 strong orange called Pumpkin Pie. Pumpkin Pie is part of the Brights Colour Family and is a solid orange that could be used in sunsets, flowers, fruit & pumpkins or carrots - use of this colour may only be limited by your imagination.

Pumpkin Pie is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Watercolor Pencils Assortment 1; Stampin’ Blends Combo; Brights Designer Series Paper plus Flowering Zinnias, Just Kiddin’, Les Shoppes, Stargazing, Masterfully Made, Zoo Crew, Meandering Meadows DSP as well as Love This Memory Notebook Kit & Adhesive-backed Shiny Sequins. 

Pumpkin Pie ink, card-stock, Stampin’ Write Marker, Meandering Meadows DSP as well as the Adhesive-backed Shiny Sequins have been used in the creation of this project plus a range of non-Pumpkin Pie bits and pieces.

I created a fancy fold that is much simpler than it looks. It was created for a cyclist who rides long distances, whether cycling to work or holidaying in New Zealand. Given the numerous panels, I feel this fold can be used to tell a bit of a story. The Fun on Wheels bundle was featured though combined with a range of other products, from the soon to retire Annual Catalogue or some On-line Exclusives. Did you know that more gorgeous and fun products have just been released as On-line Exclusives? Do check them out. 

I do want to thank Emma Goddard, a UK Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and past Artisan, for inspiration. I watched Emma create this fun fold recently and also vaguely remembered her use a card front layout. When one is struggling to create it is so good to find inspiration in other artists who you admire. Many differences have been made to make the card my own.  This card used Smoky Slate Classic Stampin’ ink for the bike and background road network image. Some Basic Black ink was added to the bike’s seat and handles with a Stampin’ Write Marker. A little Pumpkin Pie ink blending was added with a Blending Brush and some Pumpkin Pie splattering with a Stampin’ Write Marker.

The 4 panels of the card were adhered together with a 1cm hinge and the 4 inner panels were covered with cloud designs from the Meandering Meadows DSP. This worked well, as each design of the 6x6 DSP is repeated x 4. The Countryside Corners dies were used to cut holes in the 2 central panels. One of the die cut panels was added with Dimensionals to the card front. A smaller die cut panel of Vellum card-stock was laid over it to soften the cloud layer and enable the bicycle to be the focus. 

The final touches to the card front was a white heat embossed sentiment on Pumpkin Pie card-stock that had been fussy cut into 3 pieces. Some Pumpkin Pie Adhesive-backed Shiny Sequins were added around the sentiment. I couldn’t resist adding some sort of twine or ribbon so after quite a bit of fiddling a tiny piece of folded Black & White Gingham ribbon was tucked under the die cut panel in line with the bar of the bike. 

Here is the folded inside of the card. One sentiment came from the Fun on Wheels stamps and was stamped in Smoky Slate ink. The other sentiment is from the Beautiful Balloons stamp set and was stamped in Pumpkin Pie ink. A die cut bike was cut out of Pumpkin Pie and Basic Black card-stocks. Balloons were stamped using the Beautiful Balloons stamp set.

As you can see, 2 scenes from the Meandering Meadows DSP were cut down to focus on “bike paths” that incorporate some Pumpkin Pie colouring. I adore the cloudy sky background panels and love the orange tinges  - although its probably not a colour combo I would have thought of for clouds.

The panel for writing a personal message was the 6th smaller panel. A slightly smaller panel was stamped on the edge with the road network stamp together with the “Happy Birthday” sentiment. A Smoky Slate smaller bike was stamped on a Basic White C6 Envelope. A row of bikes was also stamped onto the envelope flap. 

I had so much fun creating this card. I hope my friend likes his card too.

Thank you so much for dropping by on you way around the 43rd Colour Creations Blog Hop. There is so much more Pumpkin Pie inspiration to see so do continue with the Blog Hop. I love the way we use the same colour in so many different ways.

To continue with the Pumpkin Pie blog hop just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely & talented, Rachel Woollard. I am looking forward to checking out Rachel’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Real Red as we move closer to the end of this round of 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 wonderful Art With Heart Team Colour Creations 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 January-April 2024 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  #valleyinspirations   #funonwheels   #beautifulballoons  #meanderingmeadows  #countrysidecorners