AWH Heart of Christmas Blog Hop #12

Christmas with Jolly Delivery

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 12th Art with Heart Team Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2025. We are sharing Christmas inspiration each Monday evening until the end of November. Wow, where have the last few months gone??? Our last Blog Hop for 2025 is next week. 

I so missed sharing with you last week but health issues and other commitments made it difficult. Recently, I have been thinking of creating a Joy Fun Fold card so decided to create one this week and also feature the Jolly Delivery bundle and North Pole Delivery Speciality Designer Series Paper.

Time was limited this week so rather than stamp and colour some festive animals from the stamp set I used the pop out images from the DSP to decorate the card. This DSP is brilliant as the pack of pattered paper includes 2 sheets of 12” x 12” of pop outs. The critters are all so happy and make me smile.

Using a Basic White card base, half of the front was cut away on the diagonal. The underneath section of the card was covered with a panel of the Pool Party design of the DSP. The top half front was covered with a triangular panel that had been stamped randomly in Secret Sea ink  using the 4 smaller stamp images. A little Pool Party blending had been added around the edges.

A folded piece of Pool Party card-stock was cut with a Branching Out die. Two smaller die cut labels were prepared in Basic White card-stock. The folded Pool Party label was adhered to the back of the card inner with the fold to the right. This will allow the front section of the card to slot between the folded label. Photos of opening the card come shortly.

The front panel of the label was decorated with some of the pop out images and a sentiment from the Jolly Delivery stamps was white heat embossed on Secret Sea card-stock. A few Traditional Sparkling Sequins added a little shimmer.

The photo below show the card opening by lifting the top section of the label.

And here is the open card ready for a personal message to be added.

Another sentiment was stamped in Secret Sea ink and a couple of extra pop out images were used to decorate. The back flap or a C6 Basic White envelope was decorated with some of the Pool Party DSP.

Thank you so much for dropping in on your way around the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. I know I am a bit of a dog tragic, but I do have fun creating with the happy North Pole Delivery Speciality Designer Series Paper.

There is more Christmas creativity, so do continue with this blog hop. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Kate Morgan. I always look forward to checking out Kate’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyone’s' projects - there is so much inspiration.

Also, many of us participate in the Colour Creations Insta Hop on Instagram. The hop goes live every Wednesday night where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. We would love you to also check in on us for more creative inspiration.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself.

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or would like to view the full list of participants go to Sharon Davern’s blog @ Rhapsody in Craft. Sharon is our amazing Art With Heart Team Heart of Christmas Coordinator.  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 2025-2026 Annual Catalogue and or the September-December 2025 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 queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2025 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #artisandesignteam  #artisandesignteam2025  #jollydelivery  #branchingout  #northpoledelivery

Funky Folds Blog Hop #11

ANYTHING GOES WITH A FUNKY FOLD

Welcome to the eleventh 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. Most of the Blog Hops have an 'anything goes' theme using any type of 'funky' card fold. 

A male friend has a birthday coming up so I thought of him as I created this card. He is an active fella so I’m hoping he loves the beach. Here is my card …

I have created a 3D card with a hexagon base featuring the Beach Day stamps and dies. To fold the card so it can slide into an envelope, it’s pushed down in the centre, as shown below.

Keep squeezing the card till it is flat - well flattish. With all the card-stock layers it won’t be totally flat like a card with a fold in the middle. See the folded flattish card below. I must confess that I was so intent on creating this fold (for the first time), that I didn’t stop to think about placement of  all the pieces to enable the folded card to fit into an envelope. Oops!  It just means that I will need to make a specially tailored envelope for this card. The envelope will need an to be a bit bigger than a standard 15.5cm x 15.5cm square envelope.

The card base was cut and scored from Pool Party card-stock and the Beach Day pieces were either stamped on or die cut from Basic White card-stock.

Some of the pieces were stamped in Misty Moonlight Classic Stampin’ ink and then coloured with Stampin’ Blends Combos, including Blueberry Bushel, Azure Afternoon, Granny Apple Green / Lemon Lime Twist, Crumb Cake and the Colour Lifter. The reeds were stamped in Granny Apple Green, the sandcastles with Crumb Cake and the Sea Gull in Smokey Slate inks. The Life-saver ring was partially coloured with a Real Red Dark Blend. The Life Saver station was lightly coloured with some Basic Beige ink and a Blending Brush. Similarly, the palm tree trunk was coloured with a little Pecan Pie ink and the palm leaves with Granny Apple Green. I think the latter Blending Brush may have previously been used with some Old Olive ink as the green looks a bit muted.

The outside edge of the hexagon base was decorated with some retired Designer Series Paper, called Waves of the Ocean DSP. The “B” side of the Season of Elegance Speciality DSP was used to create a sandy beach.

The “Happy Birthday” sentiment from the Beach Day Stamp set was stamped in Misty Moonlight ink onto some Pool Party card-stock. The sentiment was fussy cut and separated. The final touch, the addition of some Riverside Flattened Pearls.

Thank you so much for dropping in on your way around this Funky Folds Blog Hop. I do so appreciate that you spent time with me. I hope you like this fun project.

Up next is the lovely Cathy Pinchbeck. I am looking forward to seeing Cathy’s funky fold and to hop around to check out everyone’s’ creations in this March 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 - March 2025

1. Cindy Mitchell-Clark ~ UK 2. Tammy Fite - USA 3. Bronwyn Eastley - Australia 4. Julia Quinn - Handmade by Julia Quinn (Australia) 5. Tracy Held - Australia 6. Andrea Sargent - Australia  < You are here 7. Cathy Pinchbeck #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations  #beachday   #artisandesignteam2025  #artisandesignteam

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #40 Pool Party

Pool Party with Beach Day & Stippled Roses

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 pale teal blue called Pool Party. Pool Party is part of the Subtles Colour Family and is a wonderful teal blue that can coordinate with so so many colours. This colour is lovely for water, skies and so much more. It is a wonderful as a background, whether fully coloured, a patch of blended colour or just an line around the edges of images.

Pool Party 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; Subtles Designer Series Paper as well as a number of other Designer Series Papers. There are a number of Saleabration products that are free with the purchase of sufficient SU products.  The Stippled Roses DSP, Crinkled Ribbon and Opaque Faceted Gems are all Saleabration items which include Pool Party.

Pool Party ink, card-stock, Stampin’ Write Marker, Stippled Roses DSP, Crinkle Ribbon, Opaque Faceted Gems  have been used in the creation of the project above with a range of non-Pool Party bits and pieces.  The second card below has used Pool Party card-stock & Blends Combo plus other non-Pool Party bits and pieces.

I created a card with the fun Beach Day bundle from the January-April 2024 Mini Catalogue. The bundle seemed just right for the South Pacific market and perfect now during summer. The background was water-coloured using Pool Party, Azure Afternoon, Crumb Cake and touches of Pecan Pie Classic Stampin’ inks on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper.

When dry, the water-coloured panel was trimmed down with a Deckled Rectangle die and mounted onto a slightly larger Pool Party panel. The palm trees and grass were also cut from Fluid 100 paper and water-coloured with Old Olive, Shaded Spruce, Crumb Cake and Pecan Pie inks. The beach chair was stamped in Pecan Pie ink on Basic White card-stock and then again on some of the Stippled Roses DSP. The fabric part of the chair was fussy cut and pieced onto the chair. A surf board was stamped on a different design of the Stippled Roses DSP. 

Both the chair and surf board were partially coloured with the Pool Party Blends combo to give shading and a sense of dimension. Some grasses were also stamped at the base of the water-coloured panel. A Smoky Slate Stampin’ Write Marker was used to draw in some seagulls in the sky and a Pool Party Marker to add some splattering. 

A panel of Basic White card-stock was embossed with the Twisted Rope 3D embossing folder before being adhered to a Pool Party card base. A piece of Pool Party Crinkled Ribbon was cut in half lengthwise and laid across the white embossed background panel and adhered to the back prior to the embossed panel being adhered to the base. The focal panel was popped up on Dimensionals.

A sentiment from the same sets of stamps was white heat embossed onto Pool Party card-stock and fussy cut.  The final touches were a Linen Twine bow and some of the Saleabration Opaque Faceted Gems. Some extra Pool Party splatters were added to the background.

A panel for writing a personal message was adhered inside the card. It was simply Basic White card-stock decorated with an extra surf board and water-coloured grass.  A C6 Basic White envelope was stamped with some surf boards and sea gulls in Pool Party ink with a little blending on a couple of edges.

I thought the sky needed something so some thin white clouds were lightly added with White craft ink and the fine Water Painter. I had so much fun creating this scene. 

CARD 2

I am so thankful for Emma Goddard, Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator at Coastal Crafter in the UK for inspiration for this card. It’s Emma’s layout but colours, stamps, sentiment and twine are different. I so love the layout and thought it would be brilliant with a Pool Party background.

The roses from the Stippled Roses stamp set were stamped in Smoky Slate ink onto the 4 Perennial Postage die cut labels. Pool Party Blends Combo were used to colour around the edges of the stamped images and across the whole background on the labels. The depth of colour is purposely darker near the images and lighter further away. The background Basic White panel was dry embossed with Exposed Brick 3D embossing folder before being adhered to a Pool Party card base. The sentiment from the same stamp set was white heat embossed onto Pool Party card-stock and fussy cut. A Basic White double Bakers Twine bow was tucked under the sentiment. Some gorgeous Iridescent Basic Pearls were added as the final touch.

Thank you so much for dropping by on your way around this Colour Creations Blog Hop. Continue on your way around the Blog Hop as I am sure there will still be so much Pool Party inspiration. Don’t miss it.

To continue with the Pool Party blog hop just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely 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 do hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Poppy Parade 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 Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the newish January-April 2024 Mini Catalogue and Saleabration Brochure, 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   #stippledroses   #beachday  #deckledrectangles. #twistedrope3d

AWHT Colour Creations #39 Pool Party

Pool Party with Rain or Shine

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 soft blue with a touch of green called Pool Party. Pool Party is part of the Subtles Colour Family and is a delightful versatile colour. This colour is lovely when used for water, sky, sea backgrounds, glass and so much more. It coordinates with so many colours. 

Pool Party is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends Combo; Subtles Designer Series Paper as well as Fancy Flora, By the Bay, Texture Chic, Design a Daydream and Hues of Happiness DSPs; plus Kindness Kits, Texture Chic Memories & More cards; Grosgrain Ribbon & Sheer Ribbon; Solid Faceted Gems & Glossy Dots Assortment. That’s a great list demonstrating the colour's versatility.

Pool Party card-stock, ink, Stampin' Write Marker, Sheer Ribbon, Grosgrain Ribbon and Glossy Dots Assortment have been used in these projects plus a range of non-Pool Party bits and pieces. Here are my cards:

Numerous Pool Party ideas have been tumbling through my mind and I have started creating - also turning a couple of ideas into reality, however, time and energy have gone and some projects are not finished, so there are only 2 cards this week.

As health has continued to be problematic and I haven’t been able to do much, I nudged myself to do some fussy cutting, including cutting out these oh so cute critters from the Rain or Shine Speciality Designer Series Paper.

CARD 1:

Pool Party is such a versatile colour and one of its brilliant uses is as a blended background. A blended Pool Party background works so well with the “rain or shine” concept - and has been used in varying strengths on both cards.

Some Pool Party Classic Stampin' ink was blended over part of the right side of a Basic White card-stock panel that had been embossed with the Raindrops Embossing Folder. The blending is delicate and not well picked up by the camera - it blends out a little larger that the Vellum circle cut by the largest circular Stylish Shapes dies. The blended panel was adhered to a slightly larger Pool Party card-stock panel.

A fussy cut little fox was added with Dimensionals to the Vellum circle, which in turn was adhered to the blended panel using Multipurpose Liquid glue underneath the fox. A little fussy cut puddle and some flowers were also added. A sentiment from the Something Fancy stamp set was stamped in Momento ink and then fussy cut out, cutting away 3 of the words and reforming a sentiment which was added with Dimensionals. A thin strip of Pool Party Grosgrain ribbon was cut and tied into a bow before being tucked under the fox’s tail. Some Pool Party Glossy Dots were added to give a little shimmer.

The card inner was simply created with a Basic White card-stock panel was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Pool Party card-stock with a little fussy cut edge image adhered to an edge. I don’t like to unnecessarily waste anything including partial images from DSP edges - they are great to use on the edges of card inners and on envelopes. The photo below shows the C6 Basic White Envelope that has also been decorated with partial images.

CARD 2:

The second card uses a darker blended background, in my mind, indicating a heavier rain than the card above.

The focal panel stretches the width of the landscape card. It is a piece of Basic White card-stock mounted onto a larger piece from the Rain or Shine SDSP. They were adhered together near the edge of the panels so the second smallest Stylish Shape circular die that cuts out the 3 aperture’s leaving 3 white circles & 3 seperate SDSP circles. A seperate Basic White panel was cut to the same size of the card. This piece was also embossed with the Raindrops EF before having Pool Party blended in areas that would lie beneath the 3 die cut holes. The card front was mounted over the embossed blended panel using Dimensionals. Some splattering was added using a Pool Party Stampin’ Write Marker.

Two fussy cut critters and a little patch of flowers were added with Dimensionals. A sentiment from the Happy Labels stamp set was stamped in Momento ink on Basic White card-stock and fussy cut out before being added with Dimensionals. A Pool Party Sheer ribbon, cut in half lengthwise, was tied in a bow and slipped under the sentiment. Pool Party Glossy Dots add a little shimmer.

A Basic White card inner was decorated with a couple of strips of coordinating SDSP and a partial fussy cut critter. As with the first card, the C6 Basic White was decorated with a couple of partial fussy cut images from the edges of the SDSP.

Thank you so much for calling in. I so appreciate you and the time you have spent here.

There is more Pool Party creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click the  "onto the next" graphic below and be taken to the blog of the lovely Theresa Gerrard. It’s great to check out Theresa’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 Poppy Parade, one of the Brights Colour family, as we continue the weekly 2022-2023 Colour Creations Blog Hops.  

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 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 Stampin' Up's 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue and or the new January - April 2023 Mini Catalogue and Saleabration Brochure 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   #happylabels #rainorshine  #somethingfancy  #raindrops   #stylishshapes