CASEing the Catty #479 CASE Mediterranean Blooms

Mediterranean Blooms meets A Different Take

Hello, Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and #479 Challenge with CASEing the Catty.

I am so glad you have dropped by. You may have come from the amazing Rochelle Blok, as you take this week’s Blog Hop or perhaps you have come straight here. Either way, I am delighted you are here. At the end of my blog, I have linked to Julia Quinn so you can continue with the Blog Hop.

At CASEing the Catty we love to use samples shown in the Stampin' Up! Catalogues as inspiration and each week we have a different theme to guide our CASEing. To CASE is to "Copy And Selectively Edit" or some say "Copy And Share Everything". This week we are CASE-ing projects shown in pages 34-35 that display the Mediterranean Blooms Suite from the 2024 - 2025 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue.

As I looked at these cards I was taken with the oval-ish frame shown in 3 of the cards. Focussing on the frame, I decided to create a card in this shape. I also loved the leaf detail but wondered about featuring it a different way than being part of the frame. The other inspiration taken from these cards was the blue backgrounds.  Here is the result of my CASEing the Mediterranean Blooms Suite:

After die cutting a folded piece of Thick Basic White card-stock with the open die for the frame, a second single layer of Basic White card-stock was cut to be used as the card front. This piece was blended with Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel and Misty Moonlight Classic Stampin’ inks. The colours were applied with Blending Brushes, starting with Balmy Blue in the centre, then Blueberry Bushel and Misty Moonlight nearer the edges to create an ombre feel. I love the organic effect of splattering water over blended backgrounds so added some spatters.

While I was blending I coloured some scrap pieces of Basic White card-stock with a mix of Pretty in Pink and Calypso Coral inks ensuring there were sections of light and dark. These pieces were also splattered with water.  When dry many different sized tiny flowers were die cut. 

As you can see, I have still used parts of the Mediterranean Blooms Suite, but not the stamped images and no fruit. I cut 2 of the centre leaf detail die from Basic White card-stock and laid the pieces next to each other at an angle. A couple of other little leaf die cuts were added to finish off the background. Smaller stems of leaves were also die cut. Colour was applied with Blending Brushes and Soft Sea Foam and Lost Lagoon inks.

A friend has recently lost the love of her life and I wanted a sentiment to let her know I was thinking of her and sending much love so I chose a sentiment from the Unbounded Love bundle. The sentiment was stamped in Misty Moonlight ink on Balmy Blue card-stock. One of the coordinating frame dies from the Unbounded Love dies was selected, but it was a little long so it was die cut twice to create a shorter label.

As you can see, White Bakers Twine from the Essentials Bakers Twine Pack was wrapped around the card-front before the sentiment label was added with Dimensionals and flowers and coloured leaves were arranged. A little splattering of Blueberry Bushel was added with a Stampin’ Write Marker.

Pearlised Enamel Effects Basics was added as flower centres and a few Transparent Adhesive-backed Dots were scattered near the sentiment. 

Another piece was die cut with the open frame die in Basic White card-stock and a thin slice was taken off the left side so that the card inner piece wouldn’t inhibit the card closing. A couple of remaining coloured stems of leaves and flowers were adhered to provide a little decoration to coordinate with the card front. 

As the card would be hand-delivered, a C6 Basic White envelope was decorated simply with the same pieces as the inside of the card.

Thank you so much for spending time here with me. I so appreciate it. Don’t miss any of the inspiration from this talented Crew. The next blog in the hop is the lovely Julia Quinn. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to her blog. I am sure her project will be wonderful.

Join In The Challenge: We would love you to share a project you have created that has been inspired by the new 2024-2025 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue. To share, all you need to do for to the CASEing The Catty Challenge Group. If you aren't a member, its easy to request to join and then all you need to do is upload a photo of your project to the main section. You can click on the graphic below to be taken to the group on Facebook. We would love to see your creation.

#ctc469 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #unboundedlove   #citrusblooms  #mediterraneanblooms  

 

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #10 Berry Burst

Berry Burst with Encircled in Nature plus

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 rich pinky mauve called Berry Burst. Berry Burst had been an In Color a number of years ago and during the recent colour refresh it returned as part of the Brights Colour Family. It is a beautiful colour that is wonderful for flowers, berries and so much more.  It coordinates with greens (including Granny Apple Green, Lost Lagoon, etc) and with Bubble Bath, Fresh Freesia and Blackberry Bliss to name but a few. 

Berry Burst 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; Brights Designer Series Paper as well as Full of Life, Unbounded Beauty, Flowering Zinnias, Perennial Lavender, Bright & Beautiful  DSPs; Tinsel Gems Four Pack, Adhesive-backed Sequins Trio, Purple Fine Shimmer Gems; Unbounded Beauty Memories & More Cards; Hooray for Honeycomb kit, Garden of Thanks kit, Your Day To Shine kit; and more. 

This card has incorporated Berry Burst as ink, card-stock, Stampin’ Write Marker and gems from the Tinsel Gems FourPack. Berry Burst has been coordinated with Bubble Bath, Lost Lagoon and Basic White. As Berry Burst is a dominant colour it has only needed touches of the colour to make its presence felt.

Dies from the Encircled in Nature die set were used to cut a wreath with berries and multiple pine fronds from Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. The twigs and pine fronds were water-coloured with Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin’ Ink and the Water-painters, while the little berries on the wreath were water-coloured with Bubble Bath ink. Tiny flowers were cut using a couple of dies from the Citrus Blooms dies and they were water-coloured with Berry Burst ink.

While the water-coloured pieces were drying the Basic White card-stock background was embossed with the gorgeous Dashing Designs 3D Embossing Folder and then mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Berry Burst card-stock. A light splattering was added with a Berry Burst Stampin’ Write Marker.

The “friend” die from the Friends for Life dies was used to die cut the word “friend” from Basic White card-stock that had been layered onto Adhesive Foam Sheet. The word was coloured with Blending Brushes with Bubble Bath and Berry Burst inks.

The second part of the sentiment was taken from the Unbounded Love stamp set. It was white heat embossed on Berry Burst card-stock, White WOW Emboss powder, the Embossing Accessory Kit and a Heat Tool. The Embossing Tool Kit is soooo helpful. Love it. A piece of the Iridescent Striped Trim was cut lengthwise, tied into a bow and added near the “f” with Glue Dots. Final touches were added with Pearlised Enamel Effects Basics to the centre of the tiny flowers together with a scattering of Berry Burst Tinsel Gems from the Four Pack.

A Basic White card-stock panel was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Berry Burst card-stock and adhered inside the card. A sentiment from the Encircled in Nature set was stamped in Berry Burst ink. Some extra pine fronds and flowers were added to give a sense of the card front design. A Basic White C6 envelope was stamped in Berry Burst and Bubble Bath inks using another image from the Encircled in Nature set.

Thank you so much for calling in on your way around the Berry Burst Colour Creations Blog Hop. I really enjoyed creating this card. I hope you like it.

To continue with the Berry Burst blog hop, just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a special lady, Sharon Davern. I am looking forward to checking out Sharon’s creation(s). I wonder if it will be a fun fold - they are one of her specialities. 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 Blackberry Bliss as we continue the weekly 2024-2025 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 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it 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   #encircledinnature #citrusblooms #friendsforlife  #unboundedlove 

CASEing the Catty #474 CASE a Technique

A Technique meets Citrus Blooms

Hello, Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and #474 Challenge with CASEing the Catty. You may have just come from Julia Quinn's Blog or perhaps another way. At the end of this post just click on the next graphic to be taken to Peta Stephen’s blog.

The Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue includes much information useful for paper-crafting, such as various techniques. This week the Challenge is to CASE a Technique. 

I have CASEd a couple of the water-colouring techniques shown on the Catalogue’s pages 118-119, specifically the “Spritz Bliss” and “Paint with Water” techniques. Combining these techniques can result in a technique known as “Loose Water-colouring”.

I coloured the larger rubber stamp from the Citrus Blooms stamp set with Stampin’ Write Markers and stamped on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. To do this I used a positioning tool (my retired Stamparatus) so I could ink a section of the stamp and stamp it on the paper before the ink dried on the stamp. It is possible to colour a stamp with different coloured markers and then “huff” on it to breathe moisture onto the stamp so the ink is dampened. Since COVI|D, I have hesitated to “huff” on the stamp, finding stamping with a positioning tool extremely effective.

As mentioned, the red rubber stamp from the Citrus Blooms set was markered with Stampin’ Up!’s Stampin’ Write Markers, ie Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Lost Lagoon and touches of Early Expresso. A Mister that was filled with tap water and water was spritzed over the inked image then left to allow the ink to bleed (see above). As the stamped image is only an outline image, it was coloured in using the “Paint with Water” technique. While water-colouring the image, I wanted to maintain the softness of the spritzed ink and so encouraged the colours to ooze over the image’s outlines. This can be known as “Loose Water-colouring”.

Water and more ink was applied with the fine tip Water Painter. The image was coloured with Stampin’ Up!s water-based Classic inks, ie Peach Pie & Pumpkin Pie for the oranges, Lemon Lolly and Daffodil Delight for the blossoms, Lost Lagoon and Garden Green for the leaves,  touches of Early Expresso for the twigs and Balmy Blue ink for the background. Once dry the outline image was stamped again, but this time with Versamark ink and then heat embossed with Gold Emboss Powder and a Heat Tool to give definition to the image. 

The image was die cut with the large outline die from the Citrus Blooms dies. A second piece was cut out with the same die from Balmy Blue card-stock to layer behind the water-coloured panel.

A background piece of Basic White card-stock was dry embossed with the Exposed Brick 3D Embossing Folder.

Some gorgeous Iridescent Striped Trim was tied around the front panel and into a bow. A sentiment from the Unbounded Love stamp set was white heat embossed onto Balmy Blue card-stock and fussy cut. I had wanted to use one of the coordinating label dies from the Unbounded Love dies, but in this instance it wasn’t right. Having said that, the numerous labels in the set of dies are so gorgeous and well worth checking out. The final touch - a few of the delightful 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer Gems.

I love to simply decorate the inside of the card with something to coordinate with the card front so a different stamp from the same set was inked in Balmy Blue. A second sentiment - also from the Unbounded Love stamp set was stamped in Balmy Blue. As with the background, a little Balmy Blue ink was blended over the stamped image with a Blending Brush.  Similarly, a C6 Basic White envelope was stamped with the same image and a little Balmy Blue ink was lightly  blended over.

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

Don’t miss any of the inspiration from all the participating Crew. The next blog Crew Member in the hop is the lovely Peta Stephen. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to her blog. I am sure her project will be wonderful.

Join In The Challenge: We would love you to share a project you have created that has been inspired by the new 2024-2025 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue. To share, all you need to do is go to the CASEing The Catty Challenge Group on Facebook. If you aren't a member, it’s easy to request to join and then all you need to do is upload a photo of your project to the main section. You can click on the graphic below to be taken to the group on Facebook. We would love to see your creation.

#ctc469 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #citrusblooms   #unboundedlove  

Colour Inkspiration Challenge #167

 Welcome to Valley Inspiration with Andrea and the Colour Inkspiration Challenge #167

The colours for this Colour Inkspiration Challenge #167 are beautiful and striking. Pretty in Pink is one of Stampin’ Up!s newly released In Colors for 2024-2026. Pretty in Pink is combined with Basic White and Basic Black in this colour combo.

I started by creating a Pretty in Pink water-colour wash on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. When dry the panel was die cut with an outline die from the Citrus In Bloom dies.

The background was a piece of Pretty in Pink Unbounded Beauty Designer Series Paper that had a little Pretty in Pink blending added with a Blending Brush. This panel was added to a Pretty in Pink card-base.

Different sized butterflies from the Sketched Butterflies stamps were Black heat embossed on to Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. The butterflies were water-coloured with Pretty in Pink Classic ink and the fine Water Painter.  Once dry the butterflies were die cut with coordinating dies.

The leafy border die from the Citrus in Bloom dies cut out a leafy frame from Basic White card-stock. Half of the frame was trimmed away and the other half was adhered over the water-coloured background. The remainder of the leafy frame was carefully cut into seperate leaf sprays plus some more leaves were die cut. The extra leaves were arranged to develop a fuller leafy trellis. 

A sentiment from the Unbounded Love stamp set was white heat embossed on Basic Black card-stock and it was fussy cut. The butterflies and sentiment were arranged and a bow of the Silver & White Sheer Ribbon was tucked under the sentiment. The final touch was the scattering of some Iridescent Pearls and 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer Gems.

I always like to decorate the card inner and Basic White C6 Envelope so they coordinate in some way with the card design.

Thank you so much for dropping in. I so appreciate the time you spend with me here on my blog.

I do hope you will join in Challenge #167. All you need to do is create a project with the Challenge colours, as shown above, and upload a photo of your creation to the genera discussion wall of the Colour Inkspiration Challenge Facebook group. If you aren’t already a member, all you need to do is answer the required questions and submit your request.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Stampin' Up 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

#colourinkspirationchallenge167  #cic167 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #sketchedbutterflies #citrusblooms. #unboundedlove

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #5 Summer Splash

Summer Splash with Seaside Wishes

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. We have been focussing on the new In Colours and this week we hero the 5th of the In Colours. Soon, we will return to the continuing Stampin’ Up! colours, working though them in alphabetical order, focussing on one colour each week.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a bright turquoise called Summer Splash. Summer Splash is another of the 2024-2026 In Colours and this colour sits nicely in between Pool Party and Bermuda Bay. In comparison to the retired Coastal Cabana, Summer Splash is a stronger colour. This colour is lovely for bright colour combinations, it would be great for water themes, and so much more.

Summer Splash 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; In Color Designer Series Paper; In Color Glimmer Speciality Paper;  Unbounded Beauty DSP; Unbounded Beauty Memories & More Cards; Bordered Ribbon; and In Color Resin Dots & In Color Shimmer Gems. 

The name of this colour made me think of water, water colouring and the new Seaside Wishes bundle and so designed around these thoughts. Recently, I saw a fella wearing a Summer Splash coloured jacked with Night of Navy trousers - it was so striking so this became the start of my colour combo.

The creativity process started with a water-colour wash using Summer Splash Classic ink on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper for the card background. The wide Water Painter was used. Once dry a Summer Splash Stampin Write Marker added some splatter. One of the smaller textural stamps added Summer Splash images underneath the skeleton sea dollars. Only a little of the stamping is visible on the finished card.

The sand dollar was stamped in Basic Beige Classic ink onto Very Vanilla card-stock. The star fish were stamped in either Night of Navy or Summer Splash inks. Little white dots were added with a white pen (from the stationery shop). A little of the other colour was blended on to a section of the star to give a bit of shading. The coordinating dies and the Seaside Wishes Hybrid Embossing Folder cut out the stamped images and the skeleton sand dollar dies cut the filigree pieces from Very Vanilla card-stock.

The background was embossed with the new So Swirly Embossing Folder. I thought this folder reinforced a sense of the swirly sea.

The water-coloured panel was mounted to a slightly larger piece of Summer Splash card-stock and some Linen Thread was wrapped around the panel. All the pieces were arranged and adhered with either Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Mini Dimensionals. A sentiment was white heat embossed onto an off-cut of Summer Splash card-stock and fussy cut.

A Linen Twine bow was tucked under the end of the sentiment and adhered with a Glue Dot.  The final touch - a scattering of some Flat Adhesive-backed Pearls. Love these pearls.

A Very Vanilla card inner was stamped with a Summer Splash sentiment (from the same stamp set). A thin strip of Summer Splash card-stock was adhered near the bottom and a left over skeleton sand dollar and a few star fish link inside the card to the front design. As I custom cut the slim-line card, an envelope was made from some of the Unbounded Beauty DSP - Summer Splash design. A Very Vanilla label, cut using the Unbounded Love dies  was adhered to the front of the envelope for writing the name and address.

I also created this card with a friend in mind who really helped me out recently - I hope she likes it. Thank you so much for dropping by on your way around the Summer Splash Colour Creations Blog Hop. 

To continue with the Summer Splash blog hop just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the wonderful Judy May. I am looking forward to checking out Judy’s amazing 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 the newly introduced Basic Beige as we continue the weekly 2024-2025 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 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it 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   #seasidewishes