AWHT Colour Creations #29 Merry Merlot

Merry Merlot with Sweet Candy Canes 

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 featuring one colour each week. 

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a deep red that has a touch of purple called Merry Merlot. Merry Merlot is part of the Neutrals Colour Family and is a rich muted colour. This colour is lovely when used for flowers, at Christmas time and so much more. 

Merry Merlot is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Neutrals Designer Series Paper as well as Awash in Beauty & Rustic Harvest DSPs.

Here is the card I created using Merry Merlot card-stock, Classic Stampin' Ink & a Stampin' Write Marker plus other bits and pieces: 

I started with a piece of Shimmery White card-stock and added a Merry Merlot Classic Stampin' ink water-colour wash. It is interesting to try water-colouring with darker colours as it often gives a sense of the colours that make the colour - it can be surprising. Once the panel dried I added die cut stripes that had been created using the Candy Cane background die. Something different with this die cut was that it had been used as a mask on a different background where Shimmer Embossing Paste had been applied. The camera hasn't picked up the shimmer that can be seen in real life.

The background water-coloured panel was mounted to a slightly larger piece of Merry Merlot card-stock, which in turn was mounted onto a Thick Basic White card base. Candy canes from the Sweet Candy Cane stamps were stamped on Basic White card-stock, one stamped in Merry Merlot ink and the other coloured with Merry Merlot and Blushing Bride Stampin' Write Markers. They were die cut with the coordinating dies from the Candy Canes dies. 

Some pine branches were cut from Basic White card-stock using the largest detailed die from the Decorated Pine dies. Using the detailed dies from the Christmas Banner dies, smaller pine branches were cut from Basic White card-stock, sprigs of leaves were cut from Soft Succulent card-stock, rounded leaf twigs were cut from Brushed Gold foil and little twigs were cut from Crumb Cake card-stock. An oval label, left over from a previous project featuring the Florets Frames dies, was added to the background with Dimensionals. A little splatter using a Merry Merlot Stampin' Write Marker had been added.

The candy canes were also added with Dimensionals. A touch of added colour was partially added to die cuts and then all the die cut pieces were arranged around/under the candy canes. A triple bow was tied with Linen Thread and it was tucked under a sentiment strip that had been white heat embossed using Merry Merlot card-stock, Versamark ink, White Emboss powder and a Heat Tool. Some Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels were scattered around.

The Basic White card inner was stamped with a Merry Merlot sentiment (sentiment from the Sweet Candy Cane stamp set). A strip of Merry Merlot card-stock was adhered at the base and a Blushing Bride stamped candy cane and a left over pine branch were adhered to the left side. A C6 Basic White envelope was stamped with candy canes in Merry Merlot ink.

Thank you for spending time with me on my blog. I hope you find some inspiration while Blog Hopping this week. 

There is more Merry Merlot creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click the  "onto the next" graphic below and be taken to the blog of the lovely Christine Blain. I always look forward to checking out Christine's creations. I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Mint Macaron 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 give you some ideas to help with your Christmas preparations. There are only two Heart of Christmas Blog Hops to go for this year.

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 wonderful lady. Check out her gorgeous 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   #sweetcandycanes #christmasbanners #sweetestchristmas

AWHT Colour Creations #27 Merry Merlot

Merry Merlot with Poinsettia Petals

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart 2021-2022 Colour Creations Blog Hop.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a strong deep red called Merry Merlot. Merry Merlot is part of the Neutrals Colour Family and is a lovely colour for Christmas, flowers and hearts to name a few. It is a great deep red that works brilliantly with various greens, pinks and mauves. 

Merry Merlot is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; and the Neutrals Designer Series Papers as well as Beauty of the Earth and In  the Wild Designer Series Papers. The card below has used Merry Merlot Card-stock and Classic Stampin' ink plus a range of other non-MM bits and pieces.

Here is my card showcasing Merry Merlot:

When I thought of Merry Merlot, I knew I would use a Poinsettia or another flower. My plan was to create 2 similar but different cards using different water-colouring techniques. Given time constraints I have only completed one card at the time of writing this blog. I would still like to try the different water-colour technique that gives a more relaxed feel. If I get to it in the next day or two I will add photos here as well.

Recently I found some Christmas slim-line envelopes that had been purchased years and years ago in the post Christmas sales ... so I sized the card to fit the envelopes. 

I started with a long piece of Shimmery White card-stock as I initially thought I would only colour the poinsettias, however, I ended up using water-colouring all over and used a fair bit of water so it would have been better to have used the Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. This is a brilliant paper to use when water-colouring.

The card front panel was stamped with Versamark ink using the full poinsettia stamp from the Poinsettia Petals stamp set. The images were heat embossed with White Emboss Powder using a Heat Gun.

As you would know, its not easy to see the stamped images when it's white embossing on white paper, however, with a squint and an extra light, the poinsettias were water-coloured using the fine Water Painter with Daffodil Delight, Fresh Freesia and Merry Merlot Classic inks. Daffodil Delight was used for the flower centres; Fresh Freesia for the inner sections of the petals and Merry Merlot for the tips, etc of the petals. Some Balmy Blue ink was used to loosely watercolour the background, that is the colouring gives variations of blue. Hmm, not sure if it was the best colour to use. What do you think?

The sentiment is from the same stamp set. It was stamped in Versamark ink on to Merry Merlot card-stock and heat embossed with White Emboss powder and a Heat Gun. I had a bow of White Glittered Organdy ribbon on my work table and it seemed just right for this card, so it was added with a couple of Glue Dots. A number of Subtle Shimmer Sequins were sprinkled over the card and then glued in place as the finishing touch.

A Basic White card inner was stamped with the poinsettia together with a different sentiment - both in Merry Merlot ink. It was then mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Merry Merlot card-stock.  The slimline envelope was also stamped with the poinsettia around one edge.

Thank you so much for dropping by. I do value that you spent time with me on my blog.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue and or the July - December 2021 Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. The Mini Catalogue finishes on the 2nd January and from the 1st December many discontinued products are discounted. If there is something you have had your eye on, act quickly as once discontinued products sell out they are gone. Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

There is more Merry Merlot creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a very talented lady, Tina Gillespie. As always, I am looking forward to checking out Tina's amazing creation and everyone else's. I do love seeing everyones' projects - so many ideas and such great creations

Hope to see you next week when we will be featuring delightful colour Mint Macaron. There are only a couple more Colour Creations blog hops for 2021, but don't worry, we will commence again in the New Year.

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, our amazing AWHT Colour Creations Coordinator.  I so appreciate all Cathy has done and continues to do to coordinate this blog hop each week. Check out her delightful creation while you are there.

#colourcreationsbloghop  #colourcreationsbloghop2021  #stampinup  #artwithheartteam #poinsettiapetals