Be Inspired - March 2026

Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop

STAMPING TECHNIQUES TO USE FOREVER

Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the March Be Inspired Blog Hop where we are focusing on projects that showcase Stamping Techniques To Use Forever . 

However you have arrived here, whether from Stesha Bloodhart or directly here, I am so delighted that you are here.

I didn't need to think long about which stamping technique to choose - I adore Heat Embossing! 

I often add Heat Embossing to my creations. No doubt you know what I mean but in case someone is wondering - you stamp the image using a sticky ink, like Versamark; and sprinkle Wow Emboss Powder over the sticky ink and cardstock; then shake off the loose powder. The remaining powder on the cardstock is heated with a Heat Tool. It is always a delight to see the emboss powder melt and change. The impact is wonderfull

For my project I gold embossed the Flowers Fair stamp onto Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper and on the bottom of a Basic White card front.

The images were watercolored with a Fine Water Painter and Pretty in Pink, Petunia Pop, Lemon Lolly and Granny Apple Green Classic Stampin' inks (the first 2 are retiring In Colours that i am going to miss). Some of the flowers were fussy cut from the Fluid 100 panel and added to the central panel. The centre panel was cut with a Textured Notes rectangular die and mounted on a slightly larger piece of Pretty in Pink card-stock.

A gold embossed sentiment using the Springtime Scenes stamp set was also fussy cut and added with Dimensionals. Gold & White Ribbon and Pretty in Pink Gems gave the finishing touches.

The Basic White card inner was gold embossed with the top section of the Flowers Fair stamp.

Similarly, a Basic White C6 Envelope was also gold embossed with the same stamp. I do like to simply coordinate the card inner and envelope.

Thank you so much for dropping in on your way around the Be Inspired Blog Hop. I so appreciate you.

I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else has created for the Stamping Techniques to Use Forever Blog Hop.  Next in line is the amazing Angela Meiritz-Reid. Just click on the "Next" graphic below to head over to Angela’s blog.

The full list of those participating in this Blog hop is:

Andrea Sargent <you are here

Angela Meiritz-Reid

Annette Ball

Annette Elias

Brian King

Emma Goddard

Heather Thomas

Lynn Cheesmur

Maheswari Rajaguru 

Stesha Bloodhart

#beinspired  #beinspireddesignteam  #stampinup   #stampinupofficial  #stampinupaustralia #valleyinspirations  #artisandesignteam #artisandesignteam2026  #flowersfair  #stampinupofficial #springtimescenes

CASEing the Catty #555 CASE a Template

CASE Mini Catalogue's Templates meets Fragrant Layers

Hello, welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea & #555 Challenge with CASEing the Catty.

I am so glad you have dropped by. You may have come from Rebecca Scurr, as you take this week’s Blog Hop or perhaps arrived directly here; either way I am delighted you are here. At the end of my blog I have linked to Monique Fielder so you can continue with the Blog Hop.

At CASEing the Catty we love to use the samples from the Stampin' Up! Catalogues & Online Exclusives 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 the sketches found on page 17 of the 2026 Stampin' Up! January - April Mini Catalogue.

For my CASE this week I chose a scrapbook page layout - the one in the lower RHS. I converted it into a landscape card and am featuring the gorgeous On-line Exclusive Fragrant Layers bundle. Check my card out below:

The larger stamp from the bundle was gold heat embossed onto Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper before being water-coloured with the fine Water Painter using Strawberry Slush, Pretty Peacock, Basic Beige Classic inks and a touch of Pool Party ink around the image.

When dry, the image was fussy cut out and layered over a similar arrangement that was die cut with the coordinating Fragrant Layers dies. A few little leaves were also die cut. The watercolored image and die cuts were arranged over a Branching Out Basic White label that had been mounted on a slightly larger piece of Pretty Peacock card-stock.

The Basic White background panel was 3/4 covered with small Basic White card-stock die cuts, including little double leaves, little flowers and a detailed flower outline. I used these die cuts to mimic the different sized circles on the Scrapbook page background. 

A bow tied with retired Gold twine was tucked under a flower. A sentiment from the Fragrant Layers stamps was white heat embossed on Pretty Peacock card-stock. This was die cut with a label die from the bundle. The final touch was a sprinkling of a few of the Valentines Assortment embellishments.

The card inner and envelope were partially stamped and gold heat embossed using the floral arrangement used as the focal water-coloured design on the card front.

Thank you so so much for calling in on your way around the Blog Hop for Challenge #555 CASEing the Catty Sunday Challenge. Do keep hopping around all the participants from this creative CASEing The Catty Crew.  You won't want to miss the many creative ideas that will inspire.

The next blog in the hop is by the wonderful Monique Fielder. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to her blog. I wonder which template she has CASEd - I am sure her project will be special.

Join In The Challenge: We would love you to share a project that you have created for this Challenge which has been inspired by the templates on page 17 of the January-April Mini 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 once anpproved 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 so love to see your creation.

 

#ctc555 #stampinup #stampinupofficial #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #valleyinspirations  #fragrantlayers  #branchingout  #caseingthecatty #artisandesignteam2026  #artisandesignteam

CASEing the Catty #552 CASE Mini Catalogue

CASE Stampin’ Up!s Mini Catalogue meets Greenery Lane & Extraordinary Flora

Hello, welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea & #552 Challenge with CASEing the Catty.

I am so glad you have dropped by. You may have come from Judy May as you take this week’s Blog Hop or perhaps arrived directly 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 or perhaps finish where you started.

At CASEing the Catty we love to use the samples from the Stampin' Up! Catalogues & On-Line Exclusives 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 the projects in the newly released 2026 Stampin' Up! January-April Mini Catalogue.

There is so much to love in this new Mini Catalogue and so many projects to choose from for this week's Challenge. Eventually I chose the lower card on page 50. My eye was drawn to the floral cut out sections where the peak through background varied. They all had leaves adhered to the top panel. I started by selecting the smallest circular die to cut out rows of circles instead of little tulips.

The background panel was ombre water-colored with Flirty Flamingo Re-inker on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. To combat the waves in the paper after water-colouring I ran the panel through a Cut & Emboss Machine with the Lovely Stripes 3D Embossing Folder. The card base is Flirty Flamingo card-stock.

Both the Extraordinary Flora (Annual Catalogue) and the Greenery Lane (Mini Catalogue) washi tapes were adhered to Basic White card-stock and the corresponding stamp sets were used to apply Versamark ink to the outer edges of the of the flowers & leaves. They were then Gold heat embossed with Wow Gold Emboss Powder and a Heat Tool. The Accessory Toolkit is always useful. The coordinating dies are brilliant for cutting the individual sprays.

The detailed leaf die from the Greenery Lane dies was used to cut sprays from Basic White card-stock. Some Soft Sea Foam ink was gently added with Mini Blending Brushes. The leaf sprays were cut into smaller sections. The washi tape flowers/leaves were arranged together with the die cut leaves and adhered in place with either Glue Dots or Mini Dimensionals.

The White heat embossed sentiment was from the Lovely Arrangements stamps. A White & Gold Twine bow was tucked under the sentiment and a scattering of Gold Sequins were added with dots of Tombow Liquid Glue.

A couple of off-cuts from the background panel were adhered down one side of a Basic White panel that was adhered inside the card and a couple of left over leaves were adhered nearby.

A couple of left over embossed washi leaves were also adhered to a Basic White C6 Envelope.

Thank you so much for calling in on your way around CASEing the Catty Crew Blog Hop. I hope you glean some ideas as you check out everyone's projects.

Don’t miss any of the inspiration from this creative CASEing The Catty Crew. The next blog in the hop is by the wonderful Julia Quinn. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to her blog. I wonder which project she has CASEd - I am sure her project will be something special.

Join In The Challenge: We would love you to share a project that you have created for this Challenge which has been inspired by the March Online Exclusives releases. 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 once anpproved all you need to do is upload a photo of your project you created for this Challenge to the main section. You can click on the graphic below to be taken to the group on Facebook. We would so love to see your creation.

 

#ctc552 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations  #greenerylane #lovelyarrangement #extraordinaryflora  #caseingthecatty #artisandesignteam2026  #artisandesignteam

CASEing the Catty #544 CASE An Embossing Folder Project

CASE Stampin’ Up!s Annual Catalogue meets A Project Featuring an Embossing Folder.

Hello, welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea & #544 Challenge with CASEing the Catty.

I am so glad you have dropped by. You may have come from the lovely Julia Quinn, as you take this week’s Blog Hop or perhaps arrived directly here; either way I am delighted you are here. At the end of my blog, I have linked to Rochelle Laird-Smith so you can continue with the Blog Hop.

At CASEing the Catty we love to use the samples from the Stampin' Up! Catalogues or On-line Exclusives 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 using Embossing Folders from either the 2025-26 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue or the 2025 September-December Mini Catalogue.

The project I am CASEing is this one from page 25 of the 2025 September-December Mini Catalogue:

I had planned to CASE a different project but then changed as I started creating. Here is my card:

I love the Most Wonderful stamp set but haven’t used it much this year so thought it deserved another go. The wreath stamp was gold heat embossed onto Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper and then the leaves were coloured in Granny Apple Green and Old Olive Classic inks. I do enjoy using 2 colours when colouring leaves. The wreath was fussy cut both inside and out.

A B-side from the Traditions of Christmas Speciality Designer Series Paper was layered over a Secret Sea card base. Pine leaves from the Christmas Greenery dies were die cut from Basic White card-stock. A Basic White panel was embossed with the Dotted Circles 3D Embossing Folder and the de-bossed side was used. Some Real Red Shiny Ribbon was tied around the white embossed panel ending in a bow. The water-coloured wreath was popped up on Dimensionals and the pine tucked underneath.

The sentiment from the Most Wonderful stamp set was gold heat embossed onto Basic White card-stock and fussy cut, then added to the centre of the wreath with Dimensionals. Some of the beautiful Delightful Decorative Dots were scattered around the wreath and sentiment.

A couple of thin strips of the background SDSP were layered onto a panel of Basic White card-stock that had been partially gold heat embossed with the stamped wreath.

A Basic White C6 Envelope was also heat embossed with part of the stamped wreath. I do like some simple coordination with the card it will hold.

Thank you so much for dropping in on your way around the CASEing the Catty Blog hop for Challenge #544 where we are CASEing a project featuring an Embossing Folder.

Don’t miss any of the inspiration from this creative CASEing The Catty Crew. The next blog in the hop is by the wonderful Rochelle Laird Smith. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to her blog. I wonder which project she has CASEd - I am sure her project will be something special.

Join In The Challenge: We would love you to share a project that you have created for this Challenge which has been inspired by the a current project featuring an Embossing Folder. 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 once approved all you need to do is upload a photo of your project to the main section of the group. You can click on the graphic below to be taken to the group on Facebook. We would so love to see your creation.

 

#ctc544 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations  #mostwonderful  #traditionsofchristmas #caseingthecatty #artisandesignteam2025  #artisandesignteam

CASEing the Catty #539 - CASE the Peaceful Garden Suite

CASE Peaceful Garden Suite meets Peace on Earth

Hello, welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea & #539 Challenge with CASEing the Catty.

I am so glad you have dropped by. You may have come from Julia Quinn, as you take this week’s Blog Hop or perhaps arrived directly here; either way I am delighted you are here. At the end of my blog, I have linked to Rachel Palmieri so you can continue with the Blog Hop.

At CASEing the Catty we love to use the samples from the Stampin' Up! Catalogues and On-line Exclusives 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 the projects found on pages 32-36 of the 2025 Stampin' Up! September-December Mini Catalogue.

I CASEd the card on the bottom left hand side of page 32. Check out my card below. I have specifically CASEd the layout, water-colour background and splattering but used different colours and converted it into a Christmas card. I couldn’t resist embossing the background.

As mentioned, the background was water-coloured with Strawberry Slush & Timid Tiger Classic Stampin’ inks on Fluid 100 Paper and then embossed as the background was drying using the Traditional Wreath 3D Embossing Folder. Splatters were added with Strawberry Slush and Timid Tiger, plus some white using the White Craft Ink re-inker. It was adhered to a Strawberry Slush card base.

The label was cut from Basic White card-stock using a smaller die from the Branching Out dies. Noticing that the label in the original card was from coloured card-stock, a very light covering of Strawberry Slush was blended over the die cut label. A dove from the Peace on Earth dies was cut from Basic White card-stock and the leaves from Gold Foil.

A sentiment from the Peace on Earth stamp set was gold heat embossed directly onto the label. The gold twig in the doves beak carries the gold through.

A little, now retired, White Iridescent Striped ribbon was tucked under the label with a loop and tail showing. Some Strawberry Slush and Pretty in Pink Gems were scattered around as the finishing touches.

Inside the card a Basic White piece of card-stock had a little light Strawberry Slush blended over a corner and the other die cut dove was adhered in place. The sentiment came from the Greetings for You Mix & Match Ephemera Pack. A Basic White C6 envelope was stamped in Strawberry Slush ink with a different sentiment from the Peace on Earth stamp set. A little blending was added to the edge.

Thank you so much for dropping in on your way around the CASEing the Catty Blog Hop.

Don’t miss any of the inspiration from this creative CASEing The Catty Crew. The next blog in the hop is by the wonderful  Rachel Palmieri. Just click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to her blog. I wonder which project she has CASEd - I am sure her project will be something special.

Join In The Challenge: We would love you to share a project that you have created for this Challenge which has been inspired by the Peaceful Garden Suite in the current September - December Mini 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 once anpproved 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 so love to see your creation.

 

#ctc539 #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations  #peacefulgarden #peaceonearth #branchingout  #caseingthecatty #artisandesignteam2025  #artisandesignteam