AWHT Colour Creations #7 Basic Gray

#7 Basic Gray with Blessings of Home and Whale Done

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. Each week we focus on a Stampin' Up! colour as we consecutively work though the Stampin' Up! colours in alphabetical order. Some weeks are more challenging than others but it is always interesting.

This week’s Blog Hop is featuring a neutral colour called Basic Gray. Basic Gray is part of the Neutrals Colour Family and is a mid grey. This colour works well with mid blues or pinks or yellows and many other colour combos. I have explored two of these colour combos with this blog's two cards.  

Basic Gray is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, spots & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Watercolour Pencils, Neutrals Designer Series Paper, Happy Forest Friends DSP, Kindness Card Kit, Classic Matte Dots, Christmas Whimsy Card Kit and Heart and Home DSP, Doilies, Memories and More Card Pack and Cards & Envelopes. The cards below have used Basic Gray Classic Stampin' ink, Card-stock, Stampin' Write Marker and Color Pencil plus a range of other non-BG bits and pieces.

I have created 2 cards to showcase Basic Gray:

While I love using Basic Gray I did find it stretched me to use it as the hero of the projects.

CARD 1:

I love combining pink with grey and couldn't go past this combo for my first card.

I decided to have a floral arrangement part hanging off the edge of the card and thought I would achieve this by using an off-centre gatefold - well the join is way over to the right side as you look at the card. The large floral image from the Blessings of Home stamp set was stamped a couple of times onto Basic White card-stock in Versamark ink and heat embossed with Silver Emboss Powder and a Heat Gun.

The flowers were coloured with Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends combo with some Pale Papaya Blends for the flower centres. The leaves were coloured with the Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends combo. The Dark Smoky Slate Blend colours in a Basic Gray shade, but to ensure some Basic Gray was used on the leaves I added a little Basic Grey Watercolor Pencil to give extra depth. A Colour Lifter Blend was also used to add highlights. Some of the flowers and tiny leaves were coloured on the second embossed image. Extra flowers were fussy cut and layered over the arrangement to provide extra dimension and interest.

A woodgrain piece of the retiring Blessings of Home DSP was layered on the right little flap and a piece of Basic White card-stock that had been embossed with a Timber 3D embossing folder was adhered to the larger card-front. A light blending of Blushing Bride ink was added with a Blending Brush over the embossed woodgrain panel and some Basic Gray ink splatters were added with a Stampin' Write Marker. The coloured and layered floral arrangement was centred over the edge of the larger card front so that the flowers would hang off the edge and over the woodgrain DSP when the card was closed. Some of the delightful Glittered White Organdy ribbon was cut in half and tied in a bow together with some Silver Elegant Trim. The bow was tucked under the layered large flower with a couple of Glue Dots - they are so handy.

The card front was finished with a Silver heat embossed "Thank You" sentiment from the same stamp set with the lower smaller words cut away. Tiny coloured leaves and a tiny collection of flowers were added to look as if they were floating over the background. Some beautiful Iridescent Basic Rhinestones added a touch of sparkle.

Some of the woodgrain DSP also was added inside the larger front flap and a strip on the centre panel. Coloured and fussy cut flowers and leaves were added to the card inner as well.

A C6 Basic White envelope was stamped and Silver heat embossed using the smaller flower arrangement from the Blessings of Home stamp set.

CARD 2:

As I was working on Card 1 I started thinking of a shaker card with a Basic Gray Whale. I just had to give it a go with the whale also moving when the card is shaken.

A background panel of Basic White card-stock was stamped with the large wave from the Waves of Inspiration stamp set using Balmy Blue, Coastal Cabana and Pacific Point inks and a Sponge Dauber. Clouds from the After the Storm stamp set were added with third generation Basic Gray ink. The clouds were more somber than I wanted so I over stamped with White Craft ink. A few birds from this last set were added in Basic Gray ink.

A whale from the Whale Done stamp set was stamped in Basic Gray ink on Basic White card-stock. This was punched out using the Whale punch, which also cut out "a spirt of water". A piece of sewing thread was laid down the back of the whale and a white punched out whale was adhered on the back gluing the thread in place. 

Dimensional Strips were added to the edge of the background panel and the thread was centred at the top and bottom, ensuring there was some leeway with the thread to allow the whale to move when the card is shaken. Tear 'n Tape was applied to the top and bottom lengths of the Dimensional Strips. Two frames were layered on top of the Dimensional Strips. A piece of Window Sheet was layered over the framed area after some Sparkle and Shine Sequins (plus a few extra sequins from the retired sequins that had been part of the Whale suite when it was first been introduced) were sprinkled over the whale and scene. A little Balmy Blue ink was blended over the final frame and it was adhered in place. 

The wooden poles & Pelican from the Waves of Inspiration set was Silver heat embossed, trimmed down and added to the corner of the frame. A sentiment from the same stamp set was also Silver heat embossed on Basic White card-stock and fussy cut before being adhered directly to the acetate. Some White Bakers Twine was coloured with a Basic Gray Stampin' Write Marker before tying it in knots and then curling the twine around the pelican and sentiment.

The Basic White card inner was stamped with the wave from the Waves of Inspiration stamp set that was coloured with Coastal Cabana and Pacific Point inks and a Basic Gray whale from the Whale Done set was added. Some Balmy Blue ink was very lightly blended over the sky area. Some wooden poles with a pelican were stamped on the front of a C6 Basic White envelope.

That is it from me for this week. Thank you so much for dropping by. I do value the time you spent with me.

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 January - June 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 these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

There is more Basic Gray creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the talented, Rachel Woolard. I always look forward to checking out Rachel's creation (I wonder what she has in store this week). I do love seeing everyones' projects - always so much inspiration.

Hope to see you next week when we will be featuring a lovely colour, Bermuda Bay, 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 wonderful Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  I so appreciate all she does in coordinating this blog hop each week. She is such an amazing lady. Check out her wonderful 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 coming 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 #whaledone 

#blessingsofhome #wavesofinspiration #valleyinspirations

Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #22 Just Jade

Just Jade with Whale Done 

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 22nd 2020-21 Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase. While I have only missed one Colour Creations Showcase as I  haven't been well - it feels much longer. I'm so glad to be participating tonight, even though I only have one card to share.

This week we are focussing on a gorgeous green called Just Jade. Yes, is it the colour of Jade. Just Jade is one of the 2020-2022 In Colours and it can be found in Stampin' Up!s card-stock; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, re-inkers & Stampin' Spots); Stampin' Write Markers; Stampin' Blends; a range of Designer Series Papers, packs and embellishments, incl Whale of a Time DSP and Sequins. There is so much gorgeousness.

Tomorrow I am visiting a friend and customer who is interested in seeing the Whale of a Time Suite of products. As Just Jade is one of the colours featured in the Whale of a Time DSP and Sequins,  I thought I would use this Suite for my project and then be able to take the card as an example.

This card was one of those projects where I started off with an idea in mind and then the card morphed into a different design. First, I used the wet on wet water-colouring technique with Fluid 100 water-colour paper, the mid-size Water painter and Just Jade, Mint Macaron and Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin' inks. It was left to dry naturally and before fully dry, it was embossed using the Seabed 3D embossing folder.

The Whale of a Time Designer Series Paper is so delightful and some of the designs have underwater scenes that could be used with an added whale or turtle and a sentiment to create a simply gorgeous card. Other sheets are covered with whales or turtles or other sea life. I fussy cut a larger turtle, some smaller turtles and a couple of seahorses to be added to  another sheet that showed sea plants and Pool Party water. Two strips of another watery design of the DSP were cut to adhere with a little showing either side of the central water-coloured/embossed card-front piece. 

Sea plants (are they Seaweed???) from the Whale Done stamp set were stamped in Just Jade Classic ink and fussy cut out. 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation stamping was used. Further sea plants were die cut from Vellum card-stock using a die from the Smooth Sailing dies. A strip of the Shaded Spruce & Just Jade DSP design (the same as the background) was stamped with a sentiment from the Whale Done stamp set in Versamark ink and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss powder.

An oval was die cut using the second to largest oval from the Layering Ovals dies in the centre of the water-coloured/embossed card front and a piece of Window sheet was adhered with Multipurpose Liquid glue on the inside of the card front across the oval hole. Foam Adhesive strips were adhered around the cut oval and on the underneath edges of the card front. The piece of seaweed & watery DSP was adhered to the card base, ensuring that it sat underneath the oval hole. A number of the fussy-cut turtles & seahorses were adhered to this background piece of DSP, enhancing the sea scene that will be background to the shaker section.

The Whale of a Time Suite includes these gorgeous sequins. The colours are gorgeous and as you can see above, the sequins include delightful little shells. A couple of pinches of these sequins were placed in the centre of the background piece of seaweed DSP and the card front was lowered in place, creating an enclosed shaker. The stamped and fussy cut seaweed and the Vellum sea plants were arranged and the sentiment strip positioned. One of the smaller fussy-cut turtles was adhered directly to the Window sheet. A larger fussy-cut turtle was popped up on the front of the Window sheet with Mini Dimensionals.

To decorate the card inner, a left-over piece of the water-coloured embossed Fluid 100 Water-colour paper and some of the remaining sheet of DSP, that had been used as the background on the card front, were trimmed and adhered on the RHS of a piece of Whisper White card-stock. Tiny fish from the Whale Done stamp set were stamped across the card in Just Jade Classic ink, with only one inking of the stamp, ie 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th generation stamping. A fussy cut turtle from the Whale of a Time DSP was added. The tiny fish were also stamped across the bottom of a C6 Whisper White envelope.

I came in from photographing the card only to realise that I had forgotten to add a bow using to shimmery Pool Party Sheer ribbon, so I needed to rephotograph after adding the finishing touch - a largish bow. Looking at the card without the bow, I thought it would be more suitable for a fella. What's your preference - with or without the bow?

Thank you for spending some time with me at my blog. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any queries, would like me to send you a Stampin' Up! catalogue or if I can help you with any products. The Whale of a Time DSP is one of the DSPs on special for the month of October. The month is almost over - don't miss out on this great special.

Catherine Proctor is our wonderful host of the Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase. If you haven't finished visiting all of the team's colour creations, you can visit/revisit Catherine's page at What Cathy Made, where she hosts all the links to the other Showcase participants. I'm looking forward to checking out everyone's Just Jade creations. It is always inspiring to see the amazing projects created by my colleagues and their application of the colour.

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team will share projects that hero Magenta Madness. 

Do look after yourself and your loved ones. Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others in these strange times. 

Andrea 💕🐾

#colourcreationsshowcase