AWHT Colour Creations #28 Mint Macaron

Mint Macaron with Poinsettia Petals and Whimsy & Wonder

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 28th Art with Heart 2021-2022 Colour Creations Blog Hop.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a light green called Mint Macaron. Mint Macaron is part of the Subtles Colour Family and is a gorgeous colour for greenery, a pastel Christmas theme and anything needing a soft green. It is a subtle green that works brilliantly with various greens and other subtle colours. 

Mint Macaron is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends and the Subtles Designer Series Papers as well as Expressions in Ink, Hand-Penned and Whimsy & Wonder Designer Series Papers (the latter is now sold out), plus the Hand Penned Memories & More cards, soft Velvet Ribbon and Genial Gems. The cards below have used Mint Macaron Card-stock, Classic Stampin' ink, Stampin' Write Marker, Stampin' Blends and Whimsy & Wonder SDSP plus a range of other non-MM bits and pieces.

Here are my cards showcasing Mint Macaron:

LOOSE WATER-COLOUR TECHNIQUE:

I recently watched a couple of Paula Dobson's (of New Zealand) Facebook Lives where she demonstrated a water-colour technique called "loose water-colour". I loved the relaxed effect and decided to give it a go. While I was happy with my first attempt I am unsure about the second try, ie the second card - what do you think? I must keep practicing to improve my application.

CARD 1:

Using Fluid 100 water-colour paper the poinsettia stamp from the Poinsettia Petals stamp set was stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with White Emboss Powder and a Heat Gun. Some water was applied with a medium Water Painter where the first colour is to be applied and then ink is applied over the area to be coloured but is applied loosely, ie going over the lines of the image. The loose water-colour technique applies colour roughly in the desired areas and doesn't colour an image exactly. Apart from Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' ink for the Holly leaves, Blushing Bride, Polished Pink, Daffodil Delight and Mossy Meadows Classic inks were also used to create this water-colour card front. Mint Macaron and Polished Pink Stampin' Write Markers were used for some splatter.

Once dry, the water-colour panel was adhered to a slightly larger Mint Macaron card-stock base. Some White Bakers Twine was wrapped around the card front and tied with a double bow. The card front was then added to a Thick Basic White card-stock base.

A sentiment from the Merriest Moments stamp set was stamped in Mint Macaron ink on Basic White card-stock and fussy cut. The sentiment was popped up with Mini Dimensionals and laid over the Bakers Twine. A few 2021-2023 In Colour Jewels give that touch of sparkle.

A Basic White card inner was stamped with holly leaves in Mint Macaron ink. A touch of a Polished Pink poinsettia was added in the corner and a different sentiment was stamped in Mossy Meadow ink. A couple of strips of Mint Macaron card-stock were adhered along the two long sides.  A C6 Basic White envelope was also stamped with the holly leaf in Mint Macaron.

CARD 2:

I continued with the loose water-colour technique on the second card. The triple bauble stamp from the Whimsical Trees stamp set was stamped in Versamark ink along the top of the Fluid 100 Water-color paper panel. It was sprinkled with Silver Emboss Powder and set with a Heat Gun. Using the same inks as the first card the baubles were loosely water-coloured using a fine Water Painter. 

I didn't really like the effect I had created so I added a little colour along the baubles' hangers and also allowed the ink to drip down the bottom half of the panel. It still wasn't right so I decided to stamp the baubles again and this time colour them with similar colour Stampin' Blends (to get a stronger colour) and cut them out with the coordinating die from the Christmas Trees die set. The die cut baubles were popped up on Mini Dimensionals.

In my effort to see if I could adapt the water-coloured panel, I forgot to add some splatter to the lower section of the panel. I think it would have worked well. The water-coloured panel was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Silver Foil and then onto a slightly larger piece of Mint Macaron card-stock. Before mounting it onto a Thick Basic White card base a piece of Mint Macaron "b" side of Whimsy & Wonder SDSP was added to the card base.

A piece of Silver Simply Elegant Trim was looped around and adhered to the card-front. My favourite sentiment from the Whimsy & Wonder stamp set was also silver heat embossed. The sentiment label was popped up on Dimensionals over the Simply Elegant Trim. 2021-2023 In Colour Jewels were also added to give a hint of sparkle. (I had intended to add some MM Genial Gems but totally forgot. As a brief word of explanation about my forgetfulness, while I was designing/working on this card yesterday I realised there was an internal flood, affecting 4 of my rooms and their contents. Yesterday then disappeared with plumbers, clearing the floors, drying, cleaning and the like; so I finished this card this morning. Hence initial ideas slipped my mind.)

The card inner was stamped with the baubles in Mint Macaron ink and a few extra coloured baubles were adhered over stamped baubles. A C6 Basic White envelope was also stamped with the baubles in Mint Macaron ink.

Thank you so much for dropping by. I do value the time you spent 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 Mint Macaron creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a wonderful lady, Rachel Palmieri. As always, I am looking forward to checking out Rachel'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 Misty Moonlight. There is only one more Colour Creations blog hop 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 Christine Blain’s blog, our lovely AWHT Colour Creations Coordinator for tonight's blog.  Check out her delightful creation while you are there.

#colourcreationsbloghop  #colourcreationsbloghop2021  #stampinup  #artwithheartteam #poinsettiapetals #whimsy&wonder #watercolour

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

AWH Heart of Christmas # 16

Christmas with Poinsettia Petals

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 16th Art with Heart Team 2021 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. 

So glad you are joining us for this Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. When we commenced our Blog Hops, Christmas seemed so distant, but now it is certainly getting closer. How are your Christmas preparations going? I have another Christmas card for you - I hope you like it:

I had a number of concepts as possibilities to create for last week's Colour Creations Blog Hop where we hero-ed Granny Apple Green. One was inspired by this wild rose photographed while walking along the Sturt River with my dog Gemma. I was disappointed that I ran out of time to follow-up this concept so I decided to run with it for this Heart of Christmas Blog Hop.

I also wanted to try different techniques using the Soft Pastel Assortment. Again, I scraped some pastel dust off both the Granny Apple Green and the Daffodil Delight pastels, then tried applying pastel dust with a stiffer bristle brush, a Water Painter and a Sponge Dauber.

I started by embossing a piece of Shimmery White card-stock with the pine fronds embossing folder from the Wintry 3D set of Embossing Folders. It gives a gorgeous effect. A Sponge Dauber was used to lightly apply some Granny Apple Green pastel powder over most of the embossed background. Love the effect. The embossed panel was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Granny Apple Green card-stock.

 

The three sizes of poinsettia petals from the Poinsettia Petals stamp set, were stamped in So Saffron Classic ink. Using a stiff bristled brush, powder from the Daffodil Delight soft pastel was applied to the centre of the poinsettia petals. I wanted the colour at the centre to be a stronger yellow so used the mid-sized Water Painter to wet apply extra Daffodil Delight pastel. Similarly, the Holly leaves were stamped in Granny Apple Classic ink and then coloured with the Granny Apple Green soft pastel. To add some interest and sparkle, a little Shimmery Embossing Paste was applied to the edges of the poinsettia petals and tips of Holly leaves.

The flower petals were crinkled up and the flower put together with dots of Multi-purpose Liquid Glue. The poinsettia was adhered with a Dimensional and the Holly leaves tucked underneath. The arrangement needed something else so I die cut some Basic White card-stock using one of the pine fronds dies from the Christmas Pine Cones dies and separated the pine fronds. I also cut some berries using a die from the Poinsettia dies from left over surrounds from the Wonderful Snowflakes.

Sentiments from the Heartfelt Wishes stamp set were stamped in Evening Evergreen Classic ink and fussy cut. A bow tied with White Crinkled Seam Binding ribbon was attached with Glue Dots and Genial Gems were added to the centre of the flower and near the sentiment.

A Basic White card inner was second generation stamped with So Saffron Classic Stampin' ink and the mid-sized poinsettia from the Poinsettia Petals stamps. The "Merry Christmas" sentiment was stamped in Evening Evergreen Classic ink and a thin strip of Granny Apple Green card-stock adhered to the base of the card inner. A C6 Basic White envelope was also stamped on the front of the envelope with a light So Saffron poinsettia. 

Thank you so much for spending time with me. I so appreciate you.

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

To continue with the blog hop, click on the "onto the next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the amazing Claire Daly - the leader of the Art with Heart Team.  I always look forward to checking out Claire's creations together with everyone else's. 

I hope to see you next week for another AWHT Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. Stampin' Up!'s products are amazing, providing brilliant inspiration for creating lovely Christmas projects. Also, don't forget the weekly Colour Creations Blog Hop by the Art with Heart Team that goes live every Wednesday at 8.00pm AEDT.

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

Andrea XXX

  

As mentioned, it is always a delight to see everyone's creations and the way they each use the amazing Stampin' Up! products. I am sure there will be gorgeous Christmas projects on show. Don't miss checking out each blog. 

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 this week’s lovely host for the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Tina Gillespie, 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.

#heartofchristmas #heartofchristmas2021 #awhtheartofchristmas

AWH Colour Creations #5 Blackberry Bliss

 Blackberry Bliss with Poinsettia Petals

Hi. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart 2021-2022 Colour Creations Blog Hop. We are continuing to progress through colours starting with "B" as we work our way through all the Stampin' Up! colours.

This week we are focusing on Blackberry Bliss, a deep red/purple. It is a lovely colour and is included in the Regal's Colour Family and is a strong and rich colour, as you can see in the floral graphic below. 

Blackberry Bliss has been produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends, Rainbow Glimmer Paper, Pansy Petals & Regals Designer Series Papers (DSP) as well as some products that are retiring tonight, ie 30 June 2021. Even though it is retiring tonight I couldn't resist using the Blackberry Bliss ribbon - it is so soft, beautiful to work with and was perfect for the card's design.

In preparing my Blackberry Bliss project for tonight's Blog Hop, I decided to explore experimentation with the colour and further my watercoloring experience. I had numerous ideas but as often happens time ran out and I could only create one project. As I pondered on Blackberry Bliss I thought about poinsettias, so decided to create my first Christmas card for 2021. The colour combination for this Christmas card is Blackberry Bliss, Fresh Freesia and Soft Succulent with a touch of Evening Evergreen and some gold embossing.

Firstly, the poinsettia flower from the Poinsettia Petals stamp set was stamped in Versamark ink on Fluid 100 Water-colour paper and heat embossed with Gold Emboss Powder and a Heat Gun. Both large and small holly leaves from the same stamp set were embossed in the same way. The flowers and holly leaves were water-coloured using a fine Water Painter and Classic Stampin' inks, that is Blackberry Bliss for the petals, Fresh Freesia for the flower centres and Soft Succulent with a touch of Evening Evergreen for the leaves.

The background was formed by wet on wet water-colouring on Shimmery White card-stock with Fresh Freesia ink. When it was almost dry it was embossed with the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder. Blackberry Bliss and Soft Succulent Stampin Write Markers were used to add splattering over the background before it was mounted on to a slightly larger piece of Blackberry Bliss card-stock. A piece of Blackberry Bliss Striped ribbon was tied around the card front.

The flowers and dies were cut out using the coordinating Poinsettia dies then shaped a little by hand. They were arranged and adhered in place with either Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Dimensionals. I just realised as I write this that I had intended to add some Gold Foil die cut sprays of berries - totally forgot this white I was creating the card. Ah well, I think it is fine without - what do you think?

A sentiment from the same stamp set was stamped in Versamark ink on Blackberry Bliss card-stock and also heat embossed with Gold Emboss Powder and a Heat Gun. The words were fussy cut out. Looking at the the sentiment in the photos, I am disappointed that it doesn't seem to show up as well as in real life. It was adhered in place with Dimensionals. 

A piece of the Blackberry Bliss Striped ribbon was cut in half lengthwise and tied in a bow. The bow was tucked under the sentiment and some flower petals and adhered with Glue Dots. The card front was adhered directly to a card base of Thick Basic White card-stock. Fresh Freesia 2021-2023 In Colour Jewels were added to the poinsettia centres together with a couple of others as the finishing touch. I do love these delightful jewels. They shimmer beautifully.

The card inner was decorated with a left over water-coloured poinsettia, a couple of holly leaves and a thin strip of Blackberry Bliss card-stock. A C6 Basic White envelope also was stamped with the poinsettia in Blackberry Bliss ink to link it to the card it will carry.

Thank you for visiting Valley Inspirations with Andrea. I had fun experimenting further by water-colouring with Blackberry Bliss and creating this project to share. 

 

If you are in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send one to you. Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

There is more Blackberry Bliss creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "next" graphic to be taken to the lovely Diane Furniss' blog. I am looking forward to checking out Diane's creation and everyone else's. If you started part way through or if you missed someone there is a list below with all the names of those who are taking part in tonight's Colour Creation Blog Hop.

Hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Blushing Bride; and don't forget, the AWH Heart of Christmas Blog Hop is commencing next Monday. There is so much Christmas inspiration to share and Christmas in July is the right time to start card-making.

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

Andrea 💕🐾

  

I am so appreciative of Catherine Proctor, our dedicated host of the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. She is an amazing lady and so patient with us and the idiosyncraties that arise as we prepare for our blog hops. Thank you for your coordination Cathy.

I always love seeing everyone's creations and their interpretation of the amazing Stampin' Up! colours. I am sure there will be inspiring Blackberry Bliss projects on show. 

Here are all the participants for the Colour Creations Blog Hop launching 30 June 2021:

Michele Taylor

Kate Morgan

Sharon Davern

Ros Davidson

Catherine Proctor

Rachel Palmieri

Andrea Sargent

Diane Furniss

Tina Gillespie

Theresa Gerrard

Christine Blain

Caroline Manwaring

Rosa Leyden

Vicki Boucher

#colourcreationsbloghop